Following the protest at Volunteer Park, there will be a march downtown to Westlake Center.  Hope to see you there.

I’m reposting this from Join the Impact.  Hope to see y’all out in Seattle and across the country.  You can find your protest location here.  In Seattle, we’ll be outside Seattle City Council Offices: 600 4th Ave # 2 at Volunteer Park (see above.)

I’m sure all would agree that with the election of Barack Obama, this week has been one of amazing wins in the world of equality!  Still, Tuesday night was one of bitter-sweet celebration, as we came together to witness the first black man who will become our president, and watched in sadness as Florida, Arizona, Arkansas, and California all voted down equal rights for all citizens.  Pendants and bloggers alike have put their focus on Proposition 8, trying hard to find an explanation for the anti-gay wins in the face of a huge pro-equality event.  Some have blamed the voters, others blame religious groups, and even others blame the LGBTQ community for not being able to mobilize on a larger enough scale.  And you know what, there is truth in every argument.

As a community, we have to admit to the fact that we are polarized in various ways.  Honestly, I’m not sure what community isn’t and I believe that our polarization is proof to our humanity – we are no different than anyone else, regardless of color, creed, or sexual orientation.  Still, our polarization has hindered us from mobalizing as one strong voice.  We all come together in the month of June to celebrate Gay Pride, but few of us are even aware of why Gay Pride exists.  Gay Pride is a celebration to commemorate the Stonewall Riots of 1969.  Many say that the Gay Rights Movement began in 1969, which means that we are still a young movement and have accomplished a great deal in such a short amount of time.  The generation that fought for us in 1969 deserves our gratitude and respect.  This is a generation of amazing people who fought for our ability to hold hands in the street, to speak out against hate, to dance to our own “thumpa thump”, witness television shows with a queer cast, and come together in the streets celebrating for an entire month!  This is the generation that opened the doors for us to even have a conversation about gay marriage, and this is the generation that deserves our help and our voices now.  On June 27th, 1969, this generation came together in protest, jumping from closets, taking to the streets, and mobilizing in ways this country had never seen before!  And what happened?  The country was forced to respond.  The Queer identity was forced onto the front pages and coffee tables of people’s worlds and people had to once and for all accept that we are human too!

Now, almost 40 years later we NEED to come together again.  We need to show this nation that we are ONE LOUD VOICE THAT DEMANDS TO BE HEARD! We need to be one organized unit.  Our gay pride shouldn’t be something we celebrate one month out of the year.  Our gratitude towards the ones who came before us shouldn’t be ignored and wasted away with one party after another.  We beg to be given a right that requires responsibility and commitment, yet we, as one strong community, have not proven to this nation that we deserve to be taken seriously!  The gay pride parade has become a great party, but it has lost the memory of Stonewall and therefor given the nation another reason to cast us aside as irresponsible.  It’s time we come together for debate, for public recognition, and for LOVE!  Let’s move as one full unit, on the same day, at the same hour, and let’s show the United States of America that we too are UNITED CITIZENS EQAUL IN MIND, BODY, SPIRIT AND DESERVING OF FULL EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW!

On the steps of your City Hall on November 15th at 10:30am PST / 1:30pm EST, our community WILL take to the streets and speak out against Proposition 8 and all of the other pro-equality losses that we have faced in our lifetimes, in our parents’ lifetimes, and for many generations before us.  WE CAN’T DO THIS ALONE! WE NEED YOUR HELP!  We need organizers in every major city to work with us and get out the protest!  I know you’re all tired from all of the work you’ve done for this great election year, but I’m asking for one more push!  Let the country hear our voices together.  Let them see that we are a strong, adamant, and powerful community that deserves equal rights, and CAN’T BE DEFEATED!

Send this post to everyone!  We have one week and must react to the pro-hate votes cast against us!  Let’s help our LGBTQ friends, families, neighbors, and each other to IMPACT this country with a demand for our basic human rights!  Join the cause, join the voice, and JOIN THE IMPACT!

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I had a lot of hope in California.  Quite simply, I really can’t understand how anyone could vote to take away rights from a group of people *after they had already been recognized.*  As far as I know, this is the first time in the history of our country that that has happened and, on top of everything else, it sets a dangerous precedent for the rights of all minority groups.  Whose rights will be taken away next?

It seems to me that leaving decisions related to civil rights for minority groups up to the whim of a majority of voters creates an inherently unequal system where the rights of the minority group are at increased risk (this is what de Toqueville referred to as the tyranny of the majority.)  Especially when it comes to civil rights for minority groups, there are times when decisions should be made by a legislature that is prepared to make potentially unpopular yet just decisions.  That did not happen in this case.

The various queer community groups are amazing in their efforts to bring us together.  And it seems to be working.  Folks are organizing again and fighting back.  And Melissa Etheridge wrote a beautiful post about her reaction and her subsequent decision not to pay her taxes: “You Can Forget My Taxes.”  Here’s a snippet of her post:

Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.

I do believe that every setback has a silver lining, and in this case it seems it has helped bring our community closer together.  I’ve talked with several other Seattle folks who were sure prop 8 would fail and who now regret not putting more time, energy, or money into it.  Although I did give money myself, I also meant to talk to my family about donating, but with school and everything, I didn’t get around to it.  Now, though, folks are feeling the urge to get more involved.  It would be so wonderful if out of this horrible mess of crap there grew an even more vibrant, powerful, and prideful queer movement.

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• This isn’t discrimination.  Theme parks limit the height of their riders and this is no different.
• This isn’t a group for women who are just coming out (because all bisexuals say they’re bisexual because they’re just coming out; once they’re out, they’ll be lesbians.)
• Only Lesbian women deal with my issues (but bi or trans women who are in relationships with women don’t).
• This also isn’t a group for trans folks or people who are poly (even if they’re only with other women.)
• They can form their own group.

I’m really sad that the group was so narrow-minded.  I’m not too surprised, since I had a feeling they were pretty narrow based on some of their postings.  Still, it makes me so sad when groups who are oppressed turn around and oppress others, especially when they do it intentionally.  Whenever we oppress another group, we only distance ourselves, when we could be working together for a more socially just world.  When we oppress each other, we’re only helping those in positions of power to maintain their power.  Is that really what we want?  I don’t.

Someone once told me (kindly) that my theme song should be “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.”  Cheesy it may be, but there is some truth to it nonetheless.  I do believe that we can have a socially just society, we just have to keep working *together* to get there.

Back to the biphobia on the list.  So, after several days, the listowner sent out her announcement that the group would continue to be closed to bisexual women.  As I said I would, I then emailed the group to say I was unsubscribing and why.  Before I actually sunsubscribed, I did get several negative responses.  However, I also received a very sweet personal email from one of the group moderators, saying that she had been out of town and missed much of the discussion, but that she, too, was unsubscribing as a result of the decision.  So we have made a statement and perhaps the other group members will think more about the situation as a result.  Perhaps even more will leave in protest.

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This group is for people who understand the grave risks of gay marriage. Some suggest gay marriage will merely undermine one of our most fundamental societal institutions, causing countless straight couples to get divorced because exclusion of gays was the only thing holding their marriage together.

But we know better. Gay marriage killed the dinosaurs. If we let liberal activist judges in Massachusetts and California set the course, the blood will run in rivers. Mixed with molten lava.

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1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning. Also apparently those homosexual animals have picked up some unnatural behavior.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were
allowed; the sanctity of Brittany Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8.) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

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