These are tough times to find good news, so when we find some, it’s a joy to be able to share it. We spotted this story in the Washington Blade (one of the BEST gay newspapers) written by Ron Blake (known as Blake)  about what he politely called an ‘adventure’  back in late 2023. He experienced a brutal rape and beating at the hands of three men who entered his Phoenix home. One of whom was an ex-boyfriend. He didn’t just sustain significant injuries, but when the police arrived, they showed a very marked anti-LGBT bias.

The whole incident sent Blake into a downward spiral to such a low point that one night, he set out to swallow a whole bunch of pills to bring an end to his suffering.   However, very fortuitously, his TV was turned to “The Late Show,  with Stephen Colbert, and something occurred on the program that had him roaring with laughter, and which stopped him there in his tracks.  Blake explains it was the call to action he had needed.  He decided that night he needed to get back out in the world again and start to enjoy and trust people again. Plus, he wanted to to get written support from total strangers in my dedicated mission to become a guest on “The Late Show’!

This totally compelling and uplifting film addresses how he has been doing that by continuing on this exhilarating and riveting journey that’s now taken me across the U.S. and Mexico in pursuit of his goal for 3,473 consecutive days and counting. 

This award-winning documentary was made by high school twin brothers from Arizona,  Ethan and Aidan Sinconis who were awarded the best student film in the U.S. in 2024, beating out more than 2,000 entries. But  as Blake explains, “this documentary is far more than a story about me and my efforts to escape the abyss, despair, and depression that had cloaked me in darkness for so long. This is also a story of 34,291 complete strangers from all walks of life coming together one at a time to help a guy in trouble“

The documentary “I Am” can be found at SinconisStudios.com or on YouTube.