ACTIVISM TAKES MANY FORMS and one person makes a difference. Here's a list of ways to participate.
The important point is to take part in some way or another. There are many other ways to do so. Use that imagination.
1. Mark all your calendars -- August 28.
2.Take a vacation to Italy and include a stop in L'Aquila on Aug. 28, 12 Noon, to meet informally with people from around the world. Bring a spoonful of earth to sprinkle on his grave. Take along a small flag of your country or state to leave by the grave. If you can't go to L'Aquila, place a flower on Ulrichs' grave at www.findagrave.com
3. Send the e-mail and web site information on to at least one friend -- more if possible.
4. Make copies of the e-mail and web site to hand out to friends, club members or clients who may be interested.
5. Check his books and biography out at the library. If they do not have them request they be acquisitioned.
6. Come out to someone - family or friends.
7. Invite friends out to dinner and raise a toast to Ulrichs.
8. Invite friends to a dinner and serve Italian or German food and of course raise a toast to Ulrichs.
9. Plan a hiking trip to the Apennines and the Gran Sasso with a stop in L'Aquila at noon on Aug. 28.
10. Have your favorite bar plan a military night in his name - Ulrichs was attracted to men in uniform.
11. Encourage your favorite bar to have an Ulrichs night with a special on German beer and Italian if they have it.
12. Patronize a Gay business -- travel agents, bars, baths, restaurants, bookstores.
13. Pride Committees and Gay History Month Committees: make him a central figure.
14. Write Letters to the Editor to remember Ulrichs every August 28.
15. Publishers: have writers do a feature story.
16. Writers: dedicate your book to him.
17. Plan a cocktail party.
18. Remember him and his work in your prayers.
19. Light a candle, burn incense.
20. Teachers: plan a special lesson around his life and works.
21. Lawyers: do a pro bono case in his name. He was a lawyer who often helped those arrested for "lewd" conduct.
22. Students: write a paper on his life and work or give a speech.
23. Plant a flower garden in his name. Ulrichs loved flowers and gardening.
24. Plant a garden to attract butterflies. Ulrichs loved and cultivated butterflies.
25. Bake a cake and share it with family, friends or coworkers.
26. If alone on his birthday raise a toast to him even if it's only with a glass of water.
27. Listen to the "Ave Maria". Ulrichs, on his death bed in a hospital, enjoyed listening to the nuns sing it in the evenings.
28. Carry a placard with his name or picture on it in your local Pride parade.
29. Copy and use his picture on anything you can customize: pens, pencils, T-shirts, note paper.
30. Create a rubber stamp and put it on all outgoing mail.
31. Donate to an AIDS fund or to the P-Flag scholarship or any fund in Ulrichs' name.
32. Encourage translations from all languages to recapture TransLesBiGay history.
33. Establish a scholarship or award in Ulrichs' name.
34. Hold hands. Ulrichs believed touch was paramount to "same-sex" feelings.
35. Fly the rainbow flag on Aug. 28.
36. Frame and put his picture on your desk top.
37. Plan and hold a candlelight celebration or walk.
38. Place your celebration plans in newspaper happenings section.
39. Religious groups: plan a special program.
40. Send flowers to yourself or a loved one.
41. Save this website as your desktop.
42. Tell someone Ulrichs is the first known person to come out of the closet to demand equal rights for oppressed men and women.
43. Serve a special meal: spaghetti with Abruzzo-style sauce (L'Aquila is in the Abruzzo region): pork, red peppers, bay leaf, plum tomatoes, 2/3 cup dry red wine, salt, pepper (vegetarians: substitute meat with broccoli).
44. Vote to repeal all sodomy laws and the so-called U.S. Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA); vote to abolish age of consent inequality (19 for Gays; 16 for others!).
45. Write an E-mail for the Memory Book.
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Celebration
