Mixed bag, but mostly good, I think

B4U-Act was founded by a boy lover named Michael Melsheimer with good intentions. They've been able to get some government funding via the Baltimore Mental Health Services organization. I think they've gone a long way in terms of humanizing us with mental health professionals. While I'm not totally gung ho about psychiatry in general, I think that MHP's recognizing that homosexuality wasn't a mental illness in the early 70s was a victory for the gay community, and if we were able to do the same at some point, it would be a big deal for us.

Opening up a dialog with the mental health community is a step in the right direction. It used to be that the average MHP viewed homosexuals much the same way that the average MHP views pedophiles today. Gay rights activists took steps to dialog with MHP's much like B4U-Act is doing today. It won't be easy, and sadly, may not ultimately work, but the best we can do right now is at least try. And hopefully it will come to fruition and we can also achieve goals in other areas of our rights and freedoms.

Personally, I haven't done too much with B4U-Act other than join their Google groups discussion group after an invite from Dissident, but I would be willing to possibly do some more stuff with them if I can. Maybe attend one of their workshops, although this is now harder to do, as I'm about 3x as far away from Baltimore as I used to be. I would just advise that even if a particular endeavor isn't exactly your cup of tea, you should keep your mind open to it and try to see the potential for a general good. Step-by-step is how the wall will come crumbling down. Also try to think of your own activist pursuits if others don't seem suitable to you. Perhaps others will agree and you can build from there...