Randy Phillips became a celebrity of sorts last fall through a quiet act he took in a moment of profound isolation. This spring, when he rides in the 11th annual AIDS/LifeCycle, he will be able to share the joy of the moment with the thousands of fellow riders and event onlookers on his way from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Airman Phillips, 21, gave a human face to the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" last September when he returned to his room on Ramstein Air Base in Germany to call his father, back home in Alabama, to tell him he was gay. He videotaped the call and posted it on YouTube, and the video link was quickly circulated throughout the blogosphere as part of the DADT repeal coverage.
[...]
Phillips's videos caught the attention of activist and blogger Ryan Yezak of Los Angeles. Yezak rides in the AIDS/LifeCycle for Team Popular, raising nearly $400,000 in the past two rides for AIDS services at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.
"He hit me up on Twitter when I did the video and talked about the ride," Phillips said. "I said, Okay,' and then within about two hours I made up my mind I was going to do it and made it 'Twitter official.'"
Never mind that Phillips, who says he has been in a steady relationship since around Thanksgiving, isn't a cyclist and has never even been to California. The former high school baseball player and wrestler lifts weights and plays a little bit of tennis and golf, but biking? Not so much.
"I have yet to hop on a bike and I have not been on a bike in years," he said, "but I ran a half-marathon yesterday. I'm trying to get in some cardio and basically do some small rallies around here and in France. It's hard to do it right now; it's freezing here. The high this week has been about 15 degrees."
Read in full HERE.
No comments:
Post a Comment