National Equality March 2009

Last Sunday I had the honor of attending the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. Living so close to D.C., I often feel like I take the beauty of our national historic sites for granted. I have seen the White House countless times, given many tours of the area to visitors we have hosted, and protested at the Capitol a few times as well. This time was different, however. The feeling in the air was so peaceful, and there were an estimated 250,000 marchers for equality.

We marched along Pennsylvania Avenue, from the White House to the Capitol, the same route that President Obama's motorcade took on inauguration day earlier this year. Once at the Capitol, there was a three hour rally with countless speakers who demanded full equality for GLBT Americans. I saw a man wearing a tshirt that read, "Legalize Gay." The shirt encompasses all of the issues that the GLBT community is fighting for. We didn't just march for marriage rights, or march to demand the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. There were so many issues that inspired this march, and we marched for every single one of them:

Marriage Equality
Repealing the Defense of Marriage Act
Ending the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy
Passing Hate Crimes Protection Laws
Passing the Employee Non-Discrimination Act


Judy Shepard, the mother of hate crime victim Matthew Shepard, spoke about the importance of passing the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Act, which currently sits in the Senate awaiting a vote. Cleve Jones, a prodigy of Harvey Milk, spoke on the urgency of funding AIDS research, among many other things. Lady Gaga even spoke and demanded that President Obama and Congress pass federal same-sex marriage bills that protect all couples and families.

The spirit of equality was in the air... the march was peaceful... and the crowd was angry and hopeful all at the same time. Let's hope that this movement has inspired many people, both gay and straight, to continue fighting the little battles that will one day add up to a win for full equality. I was blessed to spend the day marching and rallying with my partner and my mother, and thought of our countless friends and family members across the country who were there with us in spirit.

Capital Pride 2009

A lyric in one of my favorite songs asks, “What have you done today to make you feel proud?” As a member of the GLBT community in Maryland, I was fortunate enough to answer that question in many ways today as I celebrated Capital Pride with my queer peers. Five or so blocks along Pennsylvania Avenue were blocked off for a street festival where vendors sold pride gear and attendees could learn of a variety of ways to get involved in their communities through volunteer opportunities, or writing a letter to their Congressman asking for equal rights, just to name a few. The United States Capitol sat in the background of every picture I took, a constant reminder of how far we have come in our struggle for equality, and also of the work that is still left for us to do. I attended with my partner and three of our friends. Our small group was diverse in itself. My partner was using her wheelchair that day, two of our friends there were gay, and another friend was a lesbian who was visiting us from Tampa and wanted to celebrate DC Pride while she was here. Aside from our group, there was much diversity among the crowd. I always feel like the GLBT community is full of diversity, mainly because we know what it means to be discriminated against and are thus open minded and accepting of alternative ideas. This was only my third pride festival, so I am still learning about the subcultures of the GLBT community and the lingo that applies to them. The drag queens entertained us throughout most of the afternoon, and I particularly loved hearing the Gay Men’s Chorus sing songs from their current show “Gay to Z.” I had so much fun being involved in the life of my community that I forgot to stay hydrated and even had heat stroke! All in all it was a great day, and I can’t wait for next year.
So what have I done today to make me feel proud? I donated money to the Human Rights Campaign, pushed my partner around DC in a wheelchair so that she could participate in every festivity that she wanted, and signed up for a ton of mailing lists for local advocacy groups. But the most important thing I did, and the reason that makes me the most proud on this pride day, is that I was there. I simply showed up, and was counted as a member of my community. I think it was the most powerful thing any of us could do today – show up and join together in fighting for the causes that are so near and dear to our hearts.

Cafferty: Obama a leader who actually leads

The following is an awesome article I read this morning on CNN.com, by Jack Cafferty.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- What a welcome change to feel like someone is running the country instead of running it into the ground.

President Obama has done more in eight weeks than George W. Bush did in eight years -- unless you include starting a couple of wars.

While the armchair quarterbacks second guess the new president, he gets up every day and does things, lots of things.

Whether it's creating commissions for women and girls, ordering the investigation of President Bush's use of signing statements, or jamming a huge stimulus package through Congress, the man is working his tail off. And he seems to be loving every minute of it. It's almost as though our president was born to do exactly what he's doing. He's leading, and boy, is that refreshing.

I remember many times when Bush was in office wondering who the hell was running the country. Then he would appear somewhere in front of a handpicked audience to utter some banalities or say something utterly stupid and I would be reminded. I don't miss him.

That's not to say President Obama hasn't stubbed his toe here and there. Signing that omnibus spending bill with all those earmarks in it after campaigning so hard against pork was probably a mistake. The opportunity was right there to send that bill back to Congress with a note that read, "I told you I am against earmarks and I meant it. Now do it over and send me something clean." Nancy Pelosi's head would have probably exploded, but the American people would have been ready to crown him king.

There are serious questions about whether Tim Geithner has what it takes to solve the banking crisis. Either nationalize the big ones in trouble or let them fail. It doesn't seem that just continuing to hand them money is working.

Better background checks on some of his appointees would have saved him some embarrassment. There's no excuse for asking someone like Tom Daschle with his problems to do anything.

But the point, I guess, is this: President Obama is attacking our country's problems on several fronts. He's got ambitious ideas on how to solve them, and he communicates a sense of calm and confidence to the rest of us as he goes about his business. Will all his ideas work? Of course not. But if you throw enough stuff at the wall, some of it will stick.

And at least I don't go to bed at night worried that I'll wake up in the morning to find out we're about to invade someone.

Source: http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1955320308434864424

February 24

My sister bought me a lovely desk calendar for Christmas called, "The Secret Lives of US Presidents and First Ladies." It's a pretty neat calendar and I've learned lots of new things so far. The authors certainly have a sense of wit, as well. I thought I'd share todays fact:

Feb. 24
Tuesday

George H.W Bush invaded Panama in 1989, kidnapping Manuel Noriega to stand trial back in the States for drug charges. But real martial glory was afforded the commander in chief in 1990, when he organized an unprecedented coalition to throw back Iraqi aggression. Unfortunately, nothing is that simple. Bush went a little overboard by comparing Saddam Hussein to Hitler, and people the world over couldn't help feeling that the whole bloody affair was really over oil - a fact driven home when the coalition smashed Iraqi forces only to leave Saddam in power to wreak murderous havoc on his own people.

PS- It's flag day in Mexico.

Collecting Political Pins

History geeks are often known for really enjoying things that the average person might not find all that enjoyable. We like taking pictures of old things on vacation more than going the beach. What others might see as "junk," we see as a glorious piece of history.

That being said, I have a new obsession: collecting political pins. Yes, I like to pay money for pins that are 25, 50, or even 100 years old. I love holding a pin in my hand and knowing that it served an integral political purpose many years ago. The "Welcome Buddy" pin in the picture to the left was issued and distributed as a way to support soldiers returning home from WWII. Jimmy Carters green pin represents the type of change the country needed in 1976. JFK's young face on his political pin during the 1960 election is a reflection of the hope and optimism the country placed in this young leader.

I started my collection in the summer, buying authentic pins on Ebay, or looking for them at independent antique shops in the area. The picture here is just a small portion of my collection, and I hope to continue building it. I've read literature on the relevance, value, and authenticity of political pins and buttons, and even had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Historical Society in Buffalo, NY over the summer to see their large exhibit of political pins.

Call me a geek, but I love owning small pieces of our nations history.

Milk: A Powerful Film with a Purpose

Last evening I went to a movie with Sama. We saw Milk, starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, Victor Garber, and James Franco. For those of you who may not know, Milk is based on the true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to major office in the United States, in mid-70's California.

Director Gus Van Sant used actual footage of gay rights movements and marches from the 1970's throughout the film, which really added to the viewers historical understanding of the actual times in which the movie was set in. It opened with images of police officers beating gay men sitting quietly in a bar in New York City in the early 70's, and then arresting them without warrant or charge.

Sean Penn gave a phenomenal performance as Harvey Milk, one that, in my opinion, is certainly worthy of a Best Actor Oscar nomination, if not a win. It was also great to see an A-list actor playing gay, proving that we've come a long way in recent years as the media and Hollywood embrace GLBT and other human rights issues through their works. He also looked a lot like the real Harvey Milk, too.

I won't go into too much detail about the film, because everyone should go see it, and have a cry for themselves. A+ movie!