Straight Into Gay America: My Unicycle Journey for Equal Rights

by Lars Christian Clausen

Book Overview

Guinness World record setting pastor Lars Clausen unicycles 1,000 miles for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender equality. Through roadside encounters with the ordinary and extraordinary, Clausen... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0971941513
• ISBN13: 9780971941519
• Release Date: July 2006
• Publisher: Soulscapers
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A must read if your trying to understand equality

I'm a straight female who has gay male friends and in efforts to understand I bought this book. I struggle with parents claiming to be "good christians" only to see how they react when their child tells them he or she is a homosexual, a "good christian" accepts you for who you are, regardless of your sexual orientation, skin color, or heritage. It's sad to think that the Evangelicals are so hypocritical. It's a shame that people just can accept others, imagine how boring this world would be if we were all the same. It's great, I had a hard time putting it down. I cried and shared the parts I cried over with my gay friends. It's my feeling that God created us to be different, that's why we have hope. And it's that hope that encourages us to change and strive for equality.

5 Weeks, 1000 Miles

Clausen, Lars. "Straight Into GAY America: My Unicycle Journey for Equal Rights", Soulscrapers, 2007. 5 Weeks, 1000 Miles Amos Lassen ad Literary Pride Lars Clausen, a pastor and Guinness World Record holder is a believer in the rights of all. He unicycled over 1,000 miles to show the world that that we all deserve fair and impartial treatment. Now he has written down his adventures so we may all know about his journey. Here is a personal story of a personal trip by a Lutheran minister and it is just amazing. He rode his unicycle and advocated for humanity and he is a straight man who chose to show his feelings about the injustices the gay community faces on a daily basis. I first read about his book online and took a chance ad wrote to him and asked him to send me a copy so that I could report back to my readers--especially those in Arkansas where we so badly are in need of straight allies.. It is quite natural to question why a straight man and a member of the clergy would undertake such a project. Lars tells us that aside from loving to travel and his sense of adventure that his main reason is "vulnerability, or openness". He explains that people who saw him were curious but because of his vulnerability they responded with amity and hospitality. Because unicycles are slow, Lars rode at about ten miles per hour. He traveled on the safest roads and people gave him directions. If something were to happen, he was completely exposed and discovered that the culture of the United States is highly individualistic and tends to look at vulnerability as a weakness. This is what Lars says connects him to other people. The result of self-sufficiency and independence tends to be isolation and isolation leads to people to live in closed neighborhoods. Lars has learned the value of being vulnerable and he shows how it has led him to make connections to others. As he traveled across America, Lars came into contact with all kinds of people and found surprising allies for GLBT people. Some were 100% straight; some were people one would never assume to be on our side. He interviewed the director of the Human Rights Campaign's Coming Out Project, Mark Shields, who told him that if "everyone came out, we'd quickly achieve equal rights". And so he cycled, asking people's opinions on gay rights. The safety he felt is something many of us have never felt. Youngsters today, for example, have no idea what the members of my generation felt when we were afraid to walk out proudly. Parents, in many cases, may abandon their gay children. Others have lost jobs and other positions. For us, vulnerability once meant danger rather than connection. Lars says that equal rights is directly related the legal struggle for laws that are just. We can only have equal rights when we all feel safe and can be vulnerable and when there are no them and no us and when our living takes place in areas that are inclusive instead of exclusive. And we must be honest with ourselves and accep

Excellent book, may even change the way you think

I was already very open minded about equal rights. But after reading the stories from the people that Lars meets on his journey, I can't imagine it any other way. Lars is an excellent writer and his stories really bring out the humanity (good and bad) in people. I highly recommend this book.