In the summer of 2006, a few men living and working in close proximity to the world’s largest mustache – the St. Louis Arch – mused about the sad state of a great institution: the American mustache.

After years of being found only on construction workers, law enforcement and motocross riders – the mustache had reached its low when its only national media presence was in the milk mustache campaign. This, to this august group of men, indicated a serious problem in modern American culture.

So they decided to act, believing the time had come for the "lip sweater" (or in Latin the Labia Sebucula) to return to its rightful place on the faces of men across America.

Thus the birth of the American Mustache Institute.

AMI first decided to take matters under its own respective lips and created a mustache event – 'Stache Bash 2006 – to raise awareness of the issue of mustache discrimination, support mustached Americans, and to raise funds for Challenger Baseball (www.challengerbaseball.org) – a baseball league for disabled kids.

So in the span of three weeks, AMI pulled together the first 'Stache Bash, raising a few hundred dollars, but knowing the organization would truly have its coming out and make a strong push the following Summer – in 2007.

Then, as planned, in 2007 the gloves came off. AMI devised a local and national campaign - one aimed at targeting mustached Americans, the male Gen-Y crowd, and creating tremendous word of mouth buzz, internet chatter, media interest, and, in the end, growing the mustache revolution and second ‘Stache Bash event beyond what was ever imagined.

To date, the Institute is the only national advocacy group for the mustached American and has become the clearinghouse for mustaches across the U.S., with a growing presence on the global front. AMI consider ourselves the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of mustaches, and our web site receives roughly 200,000 visits weekly. Possibly this is why Matt Marrone of the New York Daily news scribe referred to AMI as, "The American Mustache Institute, truly one of the most august bodies in the United States today..."

Moving forward, AMI will continue to defend those who have stood defenseless since the early 1980s - men who choose to adorn their upper lip with luxurious lip hair. And AMI asks that supporters of the mustache take these 10 steps to support those of us with lip sweaters, flavor savers, push brooms, cookie dusters, and whatever other euphemism you can find for the 'stache:

1. If able, grow and wear a mustache as often as possible.
2. If you have to send one of those silly e-mail smiles, never forget to include a mustache :-{)
3. When discussing great actors, always include Billy Dee Williams.
4. Pray twice daily facing the world's largest mustache – the St. Louis Arch.
5. Send e-mails to NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams (brian.williams@nbc.com) encouraging him to wear a mustache. Remind him Walter Cronkite had a mustache, so he should grow one too.
6. Stand at attention whenever YMCA is played.
7. Start a petition making Burt Reynolds' birthday a federal holiday.
8. In full view of a mustached American, confront a clean shaven man and ask him why he's afraid to grow a mustache.
9. Clap whenever Gene Shalit appears on television.
10. Never forget that Tom Selleck's sex appeal was drastically reduced after he shaved his mustache for Three Men & A Baby.