A few weeks back there was a listener who posted on my person Facebook page in outrage that Derek and Romaine hadn't posted anything about the recent suicides of several LGBT students. In fact, this listener was furious that we dared comment about what exciting events we were taking part in while we were on a week long show tour in California. He insisted that we should be talking about the teen suicides instead. I explained to the listener then that while we were aware of these unfortunate events that Derek and I spend time talking about these issues on our show regularly and we don't need a rash of suicides to talk about them as we already had been. I added that when we had a plan of how we could have a larger impact he would hear from us again.
Well, that time has come. Not long after this Facebook exchange we had professional wrestler and author
Mick Foley on our show. He has been a guest several times and enjoys doing our show because it gives him an opportunity to talk to an audience he rarely gets to speak with. He is and has been a very strong supporter of the LGBT community and while many may not expect that from this wrestling giant, I for one am not shocked at all. He is after all a HUGE Tori Amos fan and supporter of her non-profit
RAINN (rape, abuse and incest national network). While on our show the topic of the teen suicides due to bullying came up in conversation. Mick expressed his desire to help make an impact in this battle against bullying but he also expressed his frustrating in not knowing how he could help. He vowed to do anything he could and we promised him we would help him come up with a way. After his appearance on the show Derek and I started talking about how refreshing it was that someone like Mick Foley would want to take on an issue like bullying considering his line of work. After all most people think of wrestlers or professional fighters AS bullies because that is what they portray on their TV sets when they tune into a fight. We really wanted to hold true to our promise to Mick and we had been searching for a way that we could get involved in this fight to bring down bullying. That is when Derek suggested a PSA (public service announcement) campaign featuring tough guys like Mick Foley. After all, they are the role models to many young people out there that are not being reached by many of the anti-bullying projects that are currently being hatched. After hearing Derek's idea I was fully on board. To be really honest, I hadn't been this excited about a project since my Laramie Project Special. As promised, I contacted Mick and the planning got under way. After speaking with Mick I contacted
TNA wrestling and asked if they would be interested in joining Mick in the campaign and they jumped at the opportunity.
TNA Wrestling has launched a similar anti-bullying campaign on their weekly show on Spike called, "Eliminate The Hate." I was over the moon at the though of getting many of their wrestlers into the studio to record their PSA's. They were the first group of athletes to jump on board but certainly not the last.
The 1947 version with Edmund Gwenn and a young Natalie Wood is the first and best version of the classic story of a young girl who doesn't believe in Santa Claus and the department store employee who believes that he is. 
