About six years ago, our beloved founder, Fink, found herself participating in the National Day of Silence, at fifteen years of age. That day changed her world completely.
She was a freshman in high school, identified as straight and was participating to support her GLBTQA friends and family. Being a quiet girl, she figured she'd be overlooked and nothing would be any different than any other day.
On April 26, 2006, Fink went to school with her GSA Day of Silence button pinned on and her mouth closed tightly.
She had no idea what she was getting herself into, but she was about to find out.
That day was by far the worst of her young life; She had never gotten so much negative attention at once. She had never really gone against the crowd before, and she wasn't used to the backlash she received. The same words she'd heard and ignored the day before had become inescapable for her. She finally understood what it felt like to be harassed for being herself, and she hated that she was powerless to stop it.
But she was determined to try.
Fink was never the same again. She no longer wanted to follow the crowd, or be quiet about what she knew was right. She wanted to speak out, be heard and help everyone else who wanted to be heard as well.
It was then that she adopted the name 'Fink' and began setting up a profile and group on Myspace that would speak up for those who, like herself, had been SpokenAgainst.
She began the painstaking process of making SpokenAgainst grow and flourish on her fifteenth birthday.
SpokenAgainst is a GLBTQA civil rights activist and support group first. We want to spread as much information on the civil rights movement and its progress as possible, so that every single member of the GLBTQA community has the opportunity to be educated and affect the world around them in a positive way. We also want to offer a safe place where members of the GLBTQA community, including allies, can come for love, support and help with any problem or issue. It doesn't have to be related to GLBTQA civil rights or harassment or anything, we understand that everyone needs occasional help with just the day to day stress that everyone goes through, and we're here to offer that. SpokenAgainst is a community within the GLBTQA community, committed to spreading a peaceful civil rights movement for the entire GLBTQA community, without discrimination, without exception, and with love and compassion for all our fellow man.
As SpokenAgainst began to grow on Myspace, so did the number of people who needed Fink's help, and she was always willing to lend a hand to them all. Sometimes it was finding the right answers to their questions, sometimes it was educating people and helping them to accept their GLBTQA friends and family, sometimes it was just being a willing shoulder to cry on and an ear that would listen. Sometimes Fink has had to talk to people who are against her GLBTQA friends and sometimes she has to give advice on where to go for more help.
She has even talked people out of suicide through Myspace.
Fink has talked to hundreds and hundreds of people, who have all told her how much she has touched their lives, and she is proud to say the same about them.
It has been about six years since SpokenAgainst's inception, and we've had our share of rough spots, but at least here on VF, we are not going anywhere for a very long time.
I'm not Fink, I'm a close personal friend of hers, and I have been a part of her dedicated SpokenAgainst team for nearly six years now. I run us here on VampireFreaks, and I couldn't be prouder of or feel more honored to carry on SpokenAgainst for Fink.
SpokenAgainst has touched the lives of countless individuals, and has taught its members that to be heard, all you need to do is keep talking, eventually someone will listen to you, and be true to yourself and those around you, and you'll succeed.
It's time the SpokenAgainst speak up!
