where did he go??

Protest baby...that's what we're doing tomorrow. We are not going silent into that good night. (where did that line come from and why do I keep repeating it????) Anyway my role tomorrow is 'official photographer'. I will have the camera at the ready, and am going to get some great shots while there.

It is hard to imagine that I will be there in the middle of something more than the sum of it's parts. Can you actually 'feel' history when it's being made???

So sleep for me tonight, then the city tomorrow. The off to Sac and help my niece move.

More to follow......

{********************} Hugz to you all

I can't say it any better

So I will not even try to say it any other way. The following is an article from the HRC. Please read it, think about it, no matter where you may live in this country.

Op-Ed from Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese on Defeat of Proposition 8

You can't take this away from me: Proposition 8 broke our hearts, but it did not end our fight.

Like many in our movement, I found myself in Southern California last weekend. There, I had the opportunity to speak with a man who said that Proposition 8 completely changed the way he saw his own neighborhood. Every "Yes on 8" sign was a slap. For this man, for me, for the 18,000 couples who married in California, to LGBT people and the people who love us, its passage was worse than a slap in the face. It was nothing short of heartbreaking.

But it is not the end. Fifty-two percent of the voters of California voted to deny us our equality on Tuesday, but they did not vote our families or the power of our love out of existence; they did not vote us away.

As free and equal human beings, we were born with the right to equal families. The courts did not give us this right—they simply recognized it. And although California has ceased to grant us marriage licenses, our rights are not subject to anyone's approval. We will keep fighting for them. They are as real and as enduring as the love that moves us to form families in the first place. There are many roads to marriage equality, and no single roadblock will prevent us from ultimately getting there.

And yet there is no denying, as we pick ourselves up after losing this most recent, hard-fought battle, that we've been injured, many of us by neighbors who claim to respect us.

By the same token, we know that we are moving in the right direction. In 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22 by a margin of 61.4% to 38.6%. On Tuesday, fully 48% of Californians rejected Proposition 8. It wasn't enough, but it was a massive shift. Nationally, although two other anti-marriage ballot measures won, Connecticut defeated an effort to hold a constitutional convention ending marriage, New York's state legislature gained the seats necessary to consider a marriage law, and FMA architect Marilyn Musgrave lost her seat in Congress. We also elected a president who supports protecting the entire community from discrimination and who opposes discriminatory amendments.

Yet on Proposition 8 we lost at the ballot box, and I think that says something about this middle place where we find ourselves at this moment. In 2003, twelve states still had sodomy laws on the books, and only one state had civil unions. Four years ago, marriage was used to rile up a right-wing base, and we were branded as a bigger threat than terrorism. In 2008, most people know that we are not a threat. Proposition 8 did not result from a popular groundswell of opposition to our rights, but was the work of a small core of people who fought to get it on the ballot. The anti-LGBT message didn't rally people to the polls, but unfortunately when people got to the polls, too many of them had no problem with hurting us. Faced with an economy in turmoil and two wars, most Californians didn't choose the culture war. But faced with the question—brought to them by a small cadre of anti-LGBT hardliners – of whether our families should be treated differently from theirs, too many said yes.

But even before we do the hard work of deconstructing this campaign and readying for the future, it's clear to me that our continuing mandate is to show our neighbors who we are.

Justice Lewis Powell was the swing vote in Bowers, the case that upheld Georgia's sodomy law and that was reversed by Lawrence v. Texas five years ago. When Bowers was pending, Powell told one of his clerks "I don't believe I've ever met a homosexual." Ironically, that clerk was gay, and had never come out to the Justice. A decade later, Powell admitted his vote to uphold Georgia's sodomy law was a mistake.

Everything we've learned points to one simple fact: people who know us are more likely to support our equality.

In recent years, I've been delivering this positive message: tell your story. Share who you are. And in fact, as our families become more familiar, support for us increases. But make no mistake: I do not think we have to audition for equality. Rather, I believe that each and every one of us who has been hurt by this hateful ballot measure, and each and every one of us who is still fighting to be equal, has to confront the neighbors who hurt us. We have to say to the man with the Yes on 8 sign—you disrespected my humanity, and I am not giving you a pass. I am not giving you a pass for explaining that you tolerate me, while at the same time denying that my family has a right to exist. I do not give you permission to say you have me as a "gay friend" when you cast a vote against my family, and my rights.

Wherever you are, tell a neighbor what the California Supreme Court so wisely affirmed: that you are equal, you are human, and that being denied equality harms you materially. Although I, like our whole community, am shaken by Prop 8's passage, I am not yet ready to believe that anyone who knows us as human beings and understands what is at stake would consciously vote to harm us.

This is not over. In California, our legal rights have been lost, but our human rights endure, and we will continue to fight for them.

I will not go silently into that good night. You DO not have my permission to call me your gay friend if you voted yes on Prop 8. That is not the kind of friend I want to have.

Join the fight

Looks like there are quite a few people that are not happy about Prop 8 and it's narrow victory. The next round of the fight has started. Counties in California bringing lawsuits against it. There is even a petition going around that you can sign.

Sign the Petition here

I say do whatever you can to ensure that all groups have the same rights in this great State of California.

To go on to other topics, check out that Obama. Damn he's not even taking the week off to enjoy his victory on Tuesday. He's busy forming his cabinet and consulting with his advisors. Enjoy the holiday season this year, cause we're gonna be busy after that. This country has some major work to do, and yes the tasks seem daunting now, just remember "Yes We Can". (Ok the chills run up and down my body when I typed that. We are on the edge of something major. It's the same kind of feeling I get when I'm working with my Tarot deck)

Ok cooking dinner.. Brats tonight... it's bowling night.

{******************} HUGZ to you all.

Ok so here we go....

Time to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get ready to face the next round. History was made last night, you cannot deny that fact. I would have liked that history to be the defeat of a proposition that changes the constitution of the State of California, and takes away one of my rights. Well you can't always get what you want (didn't the Rolling Stones tell me that YEARS ago???) Years ago Prop 22 passed with a 61% majority. Yesterday Prop 8 passed with a 52% majority. I want to say only 8 years have passed between the two propositions. Do you see what this means?? Yep we're closer than ever to getting there.

I have a feeling that come January 20th some major things will be changing. A new era is dawning in America. There is a shining light that is going to Washington and he's gonna get us on the right path. You know what struck me deeply in Obama's acceptance speech? It wasn't all "Look at how great I am" "I won, I won, I won", no it was quite different. It was "Look at what WE did." and a "Get ready boys and girls, cause we got some work to do." YES WE CAN.

I've never been so moved by any politician in my short time here on this planet. I remember some of Reagans' speeches, but I was in 9th or 10th grade. He had that talent to stir the American people and get them going in the direction he wanted. Barak Obama does the same thing. He touches everyone and makes us see that we need to pull this together and get going. He's not gonna put up with any BS either. He's stepping into one hell of a mess, but I think he's the only guy that could pull us out of this mess.

John McCain, what can you say about that man?? His speech last night was really amazing. If he had run his campaign the way he gave that speech, well I'm thinking things would have been totally different last night. He was gracious, and showing that spirit that truly always has been there. Had he gotten the nomination back in 2004 instead of Bush, well hard to say where we'd be but I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be in the situation we currently are in.

I took my day off, worked through my emotions, and am ready to face the new day. It was not easy, and I KNEW I wanted this one too much. The major questions need to be answered. What does the passing of Prop 8 mean to the thousands of couples that have been married from May til now?? Will their marriages be annuled? Where do we go now?? Now that the State Constitution is being amended to say that a Marriage is between one Man and one Woman ONLY, how do we fight this?

Will of the people?? 52% of the people maybe. What about the 48% that don't agree with that decision??? I thought we'd make it this time. I thought we'd defeat those that oppose us out of fear. Fear is more powerful than I thought. It must be a sad existance to live your life in FEAR. I can't do that. I live my life in the sun, and out, and without fear.

Get ready Boys and Girls, the work still lies ahead of us. At least we now have a leader that can show us the way.

{******************} HUGZ to you all!!!!

How can you ever fight this mindset???

This is why Prop 8 passed. (well it's not official yet, but the writing is on the wall) I recieved this message as a reply from someone after I sent a note thanking her for legislating one of my rights away. She is in a Domestic partnership with a man.

EVEN THOUGH WE ARE REGISTERED DOMESTIC PARTNERS, WE STILL DONT HAVE THE SAME CHOICES AS A REAL MARRIED COUPLE. IF PROP 8 PASSES, YOU WILL HAVE MORE CHOICES THAN DOMESTIC PARTNERS. THEY NEED TO LEAVE EVERYTHING THE WAY IT IS AND KEEP TRADITION GOING FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.
I'M NOT AGAINST GAY PARTNERSHIPS BUT IF WE CANT GET THE SAME RIGHTS AS A MARRIED COUPLE THAN GAY COUPLES SHOULD NOT HAVE THAT RIGHT.
I GUESS MY FRIENDSHIP WASNT WORTH IT IN THE END.
I REALLY HOPE THAT PROP 8 PASSES AND IT STAYS THAT WAY FOREVER......

Barack is President, at least we have that bright spot. I truly think he can bring this country back together and get us on the right track.

{*******************} Hugz to you all.

Living in a bubble

I didn't know it. I guess when you are inside the bubble you don't know. You just assume that everyone OUTSIDE the bubble feels the same way you do. You don't know that you are surrounded by hate and intolerance and that you are a SECOND class citizen. You are NOT WORTHY of your LOVE, your LIFE being recognized.

FEAR won out over LOVE. It's a slap in the face, it's a punch in the gut. I am physically ill. I'm not even going in to work today. I could not face it nor handle it.

I want to be gracious, I want to not seem like a bitter old queen bitching here. It's official a RIGHT is being taken away from me. There is no way to be gracious in this situation. OUTRAGE is what I feel. I am angry, bitter, disappointed. The list is long.

It's 2008, and rights can be taken away from a huge slice of the population. If only there were a way that every gay and lesbian in the state of California could leave today. We obviously are not wanted here. If only we could uproot all of us and move away. Let the rest of California see the impact.

I am NOT directing this at all of my friends. I know you support me in every aspect of my life. I know so many of you that voted No on Prop 8, and I love you all for that. Please don't take this as an attack on YOU. It's my release for those that were so swayed by FEAR. I will grieve, I will try to recover, I will have some serious decisions to make.

What happens to all the marriages that have been preformed from April to now? They will all be made null and void??? Give me something and then take it away 6 months later. Do me a favor and don't give it to me at all.

{****************} Hugz to you all. I think we'll need alot of those in the coming months.

Finally

Shoot me cause it took this long.. it's been bouncing around in my head and I just couldn't get the details down correctly because of all the misinformation going on out there. The blur between State and Federal on Prop 8.

It is the battle of the word "Marriage". The people that support Prop 8 say the following: "Though it would alter the state’s constitution, it would not alter domestic partnerships which under California Family Code SS 297.5 extends to same sex couples the same rights and responsibilities as married heterosexual couples" This is where the lie comes into play. We are NOT afforded the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexual couples.

So a man and a woman are married in the state of California, we'll make it a June wedding for poetic dressing. Come November the wife is offered a KILLER promotion at her work, however it does require them moving to South Carolina. The couple talk, take a trip out to see the area, and for Hubby to check out the chances for his employment, etc. They decide to move.

Let's use the same situation but this time make it a man and a man with their "Registered Domestic Partnership". They do the same things and make the same decision to move to South Carolina.

So what's the difference here?? If both have the same 'rights and responsibilities' whether it be called a 'marriage' or 'registered domestic partnership'. In South Carolina the Man and Woman are still Married and legally recognized as such. They have lost NOTHING. The Man and Man couple are not recognized as 'registered domestic partners' in South Carolina. They do not have the same rights as the heterosexual couple.

So in effect my equal rights and benefits are only good as long as I stay in California. To me that is NOT equal.

Yeah I know, and I did state, it's the separation between State and Federal laws. State says "It's not us it the Federal that is denying you the rights.", Federal says "We represent the will of the states, we'll change when they change." We're not standing for it. We've had enough. "As goes California, so goes the country" or so the saying goes...


Tomorrow is election day. History will be made no matter the outcome. Participate in the Democratic process. Get out there and VOTE.



{*******************}
HUGZ to you all.