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qv5 |
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To our faithful readers, This month of June marks the one-year anniversary of when the production of qvMagazine first began. It is incredible for us to see all the growth and wonderful things that have happened with the publication since our first meeting in a small vacant room in Montebello, CA. Though we've encountered many challenges on this journey, we have done our best to remain faithful to you, our readers and our community, by delivering what we believe are five very solid issues of a respectable, informative, and innovative Latino magazine. Though each and every staff member either works a full-time, 40-hour-a-week job, or is a full-time student, each one of us believes in this project so much that we volunteer countless hours to making this project happen. So what is it that keeps us going? It's faith: faith in our ability to do this project, faith in each other to get the work done, and faith that our readers will be there and support the magazine. Judging from your letters and e-mail, we strongly believe that through your support, there has been a positive change in our Latino community, and we look forward to many more years of the same. We take feedback very seriously and have taken action every step of the way to turn your comments into action. We never want to lose sight of the fact that this publication is for you-it's YOURS! The magazine is what you put into it. We want to thank our many contributing writers and artists for filling up the pages with stories, artwork, and photos from their lives. We have decided to dedicate this issue to Faith because it is such an important concept to talk about. Whether it's having faith in ourselves, other people, or a higher being, we all need something to believe in. Faith is what motivates us in times when life throws us its most daunting challenges. It has a power strong enough to get us through challenges as difficult as coming out. Even the strength of something like a drug addiction is no match compared to the power of faith. As QV men, when we talk about faith in the religious context of the word, many of us are often turned off because of the homophobia we witness or experience in organized religions. What we have to realize is that our faith in God is a personal one. No one has the right to tell us we are sinners or that we are "damned to hell" because of our sexual orientations. What we need to look at is that God has bestowed upon us a very special gift: the ability to love another human being. Every day we should pray to God and thank him for this very unique and special kind of love we are able to feel. No one ever said that being QV is easy: there are many challenges that are unique to us, but we can't sit back and let that stop us. Instead, we have to put faith in ourselves, do what we need to do to survive, and be happy in our lives. We often look at the difficulties of being QV, but how many times do we search for the positive and unique aspects of being QV? ¿Quo Vadis? means, "Where are you going?" We at qvMagazine would like to challenge each and every one of our Latino brothers to put faith wherever you decide to go, continue seeking the positive things in life, and have faith in yourselves as individuals, as a community, and as one familia de nuestro dios. Have a great summer and enjoy qv5!
Faithfully yours, The qvStaff
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