So I'm chatting with someone online tonight. Cute guy, seem to have a few things in common. He asks me out for a drink and I think.. why the fuck not? It's Friday night, I'm not in any great hurry for bed and I swore to myself that the next time an opportunity came up where I could go out and meet someone.. I would.
I rush to get ready, it'll take me at least 30 mins to get there with walking the hill, muni then walking up to this place. He's there by now, already finishing a bud light (ugh, a bud light). I meet him, and got myself a drink.
Small talk. Awkward small talk. We're both trying to think of things to say. Sure, we have some things in common but whereas I felt I was putting a good foot forward.. he seemed lazy. Oh well, each of us are nervous in our own way. No biggie.
Well, apparently he goes to this bar quite a bit, because many of the staff and patrons of this place knew him. Kinda cute that everyone approaches him, wants to give him a hug, be friendly with him. But kinda creepy he frequents a bar so much everyone knows him. Drinks alot of bud light methinks. And not once did he introduce me to anyone. Manners suck in this town, or is it just this guy?
We wander over to where the drag show was happening, watch it for a few. He engages this one guy who obviously knows him quite a bit. Then the barback gives him a hug.. next thing you know all 3 of them have their phones out and are talking about them.. booooring. I am standing right there, waiting for him to say anything.
Nothing.
So, I turn around and start watching the drag show (I'm literally 2' from this moron), when suddenly.. he and his friend/Daddy/fb/whatever go shooting off down the hall. His friend says "You still smoke right?" and they head down to the smoking patio. My god this guy was hanging on his buddies every word, was a puppy dog at his heels. And there they go.
Gone.
I thought "this is a sign, boyo" and tossed my drink in the trash, and walked out.
I'm so thankful I went out tonight, even to meet with this moron. I got out of the house, for one. And two, if that's the kind of person he is.. then far be it from me to stand in his way. Good to get this shit out in the open immediately.
At least I would have introduced him to my friends.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Prop 8 -- March Saturday 14 November 2008
Yesterday's march
Saturday morning about 09:30 I got down to the location for the 'action' that was to take place later, for the march against Prop 8. The day was awesome.. beautiful warm weather.
Met with a group of about 30 of us, and we chose our paths along the lines of direct action or peace keepers. The CD (Civil Disobedience) folks otherwise known as being the ones to take direct action were wearing white shirts labeled 'Repeal Prop 8' and they were the ones who would risk arrest. The rest of us were there as peace keepers, designed to keep the crowd back and make sure nothing happened to the direct action folks. We also were to help the crowd understand what was going on, and to keep the chants going.
When we got to 10th and Market we discovered that the rally had already broken up, and thousands were marching already! The energy was awesome. Was wonderful to see so many folks come out against Prop 8.
Prop 8 was/is a proposition of Hate. Designed to amend the California State Constitution to /ban/ same-sex couples from getting married. We've already been through this with the Knight Initiative (Prop 22) when the CA Supreme Court overturned this as being un-constitutional. And now we have to deal with this again??? Only this time it's worse. To place wording in the Constitution restricting one group of people.. that is just wrong. The Constitution should be about inclusion, not exclusion.
Back to the march: We decided at that point to set up our direct action then at the highway exit and entrance to US 101. That would put us right at Market and Octavia. Seeing as how there were already thousands marching and blocking the exit we decided to go for it. Our direct action folks too charge and led the way! They fanned out along the exit for 101 and sat down. 15 people evenly spaced took up quite a bit of room! As crowd control we kept the chants going for a long time and kept folks to a reasonable distance. And the chanting.. we kept chanting over and over. We were claiming our streets back.
The crowd was /so/ very supportive of us and kept the chants, the clapping, the screaming going for a long time. I estimate that we were there for a good 45 minutes.
Our police liaison worked with the commander in charge and he said, after awhile, that he would end up having to arrest the direct action folks, who were now standing, linking arms. He made sure that no one would resist arrest and that things would go peacefully. So, while the rest of us moved away and got back onto the sidewalks he and his officers calmly arrested the folks who had been willing to be arrested for this event. While the crowd was cheering and screaming and taking photos, they were all put into the vans and drove off.
Yes, it wasn't a huge riot that ended up in a fight, but it did show the world that these folks were willing to be arrested for the cause of fighting Prop 8/Hate. I applaud those individuals with all of my heart. Thank you for putting yourself out there and showing the rest of the world what you were willing to do for us.
All in all there were thousands at the Rally at Civic Center, and I counted 3 distinct marches going on throughout the next few hours. And, as I've seen some news footage it looks like this was taking place all across the country and in Canada and the UK.
People, this is our civil rights movement. We need to fight back, we need to make sure that Prop 8 is overturned. Call your Congressional Representatives, call your California Senators. Urge them to fight for our rights.
If we don't.. no one will.
Saturday morning about 09:30 I got down to the location for the 'action' that was to take place later, for the march against Prop 8. The day was awesome.. beautiful warm weather.
Met with a group of about 30 of us, and we chose our paths along the lines of direct action or peace keepers. The CD (Civil Disobedience) folks otherwise known as being the ones to take direct action were wearing white shirts labeled 'Repeal Prop 8' and they were the ones who would risk arrest. The rest of us were there as peace keepers, designed to keep the crowd back and make sure nothing happened to the direct action folks. We also were to help the crowd understand what was going on, and to keep the chants going.
When we got to 10th and Market we discovered that the rally had already broken up, and thousands were marching already! The energy was awesome. Was wonderful to see so many folks come out against Prop 8.
Prop 8 was/is a proposition of Hate. Designed to amend the California State Constitution to /ban/ same-sex couples from getting married. We've already been through this with the Knight Initiative (Prop 22) when the CA Supreme Court overturned this as being un-constitutional. And now we have to deal with this again??? Only this time it's worse. To place wording in the Constitution restricting one group of people.. that is just wrong. The Constitution should be about inclusion, not exclusion.
Back to the march: We decided at that point to set up our direct action then at the highway exit and entrance to US 101. That would put us right at Market and Octavia. Seeing as how there were already thousands marching and blocking the exit we decided to go for it. Our direct action folks too charge and led the way! They fanned out along the exit for 101 and sat down. 15 people evenly spaced took up quite a bit of room! As crowd control we kept the chants going for a long time and kept folks to a reasonable distance. And the chanting.. we kept chanting over and over. We were claiming our streets back.
The crowd was /so/ very supportive of us and kept the chants, the clapping, the screaming going for a long time. I estimate that we were there for a good 45 minutes.
Our police liaison worked with the commander in charge and he said, after awhile, that he would end up having to arrest the direct action folks, who were now standing, linking arms. He made sure that no one would resist arrest and that things would go peacefully. So, while the rest of us moved away and got back onto the sidewalks he and his officers calmly arrested the folks who had been willing to be arrested for this event. While the crowd was cheering and screaming and taking photos, they were all put into the vans and drove off.
Yes, it wasn't a huge riot that ended up in a fight, but it did show the world that these folks were willing to be arrested for the cause of fighting Prop 8/Hate. I applaud those individuals with all of my heart. Thank you for putting yourself out there and showing the rest of the world what you were willing to do for us.
All in all there were thousands at the Rally at Civic Center, and I counted 3 distinct marches going on throughout the next few hours. And, as I've seen some news footage it looks like this was taking place all across the country and in Canada and the UK.
People, this is our civil rights movement. We need to fight back, we need to make sure that Prop 8 is overturned. Call your Congressional Representatives, call your California Senators. Urge them to fight for our rights.
If we don't.. no one will.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Keith Olbermann's Comment Against Prop 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-QG_WEdwcU&feature=related
A wonderful commentary, but Keith, why couldn't you have said something before the Election?
It may have been able to turn the tide just a little.
Or maybe we all need to scream and rally and demonstrate and vote with our feet and flood the airwaves with our messages and cry that we won't take this anymore and tell all of our friends and families that this is it..
Prop 8 is about Hate, not protecting marriage. It's about division, not inclusion. And it's about fear, not knowledge.
A wonderful commentary, but Keith, why couldn't you have said something before the Election?
It may have been able to turn the tide just a little.
Or maybe we all need to scream and rally and demonstrate and vote with our feet and flood the airwaves with our messages and cry that we won't take this anymore and tell all of our friends and families that this is it..
Prop 8 is about Hate, not protecting marriage. It's about division, not inclusion. And it's about fear, not knowledge.
No on 8 Protest
Tomorrow there will be a demonstration against the monstrosity that is Prop 8.
http://www.couragecampaign.org/JoinTheImpact
Join the fight! Don't let the religious /wrong/ win on this
"No one in California political circles has ever seen such a speedy response to a single political event. And it's spreading across the country. More than 10,000 rallied in New York City on Wednesday evening..." -- San Jose Mercury News, November 13
From the Courage Campaign's site:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/JoinTheImpact
Join the fight! Don't let the religious /wrong/ win on this
"No one in California political circles has ever seen such a speedy response to a single political event. And it's spreading across the country. More than 10,000 rallied in New York City on Wednesday evening..." -- San Jose Mercury News, November 13
From the Courage Campaign's site:
This is our moment to stand strong together -- gay and straight -- and say that we refuse to accept a California where discrimination is enshrined in our state constitution.
We hope you will take this stand on Saturday and encourage your friends to show up as well by forwarding this message and asking them to come with you.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Proposition 8
What a week it's been. The lead up to the election was a long and difficult one. I applaud everyone who got out the vote, volunteered for Obama and the No on 8 campaign. Through major effort on everyone's part we now have a President we can believe in. I can't recall the last time I wrote that word using a capital letter. I saw someone outside the White House with a sign that read "Why wait? Evict him now!" and I couldn't agree more.
As President-Elect Obama said, the road will be a long and difficult one. And we see that with the passing of California's Proposition 8 -- a ban on gay marriage. If enforced, this will actually put discrimination into the state constitution. This will be the first time in history where rights were taken away from a set of the population. Is that ok with everyone?
No, it's not.
I don't know how many times we have to fucking tell the world but "Gay people don't want special rights, we want equal rights". We have long been accused of having a gay 'agenda'. I've laughed at that most of my adult life. Agenda? Do we have an agenda? I realized this week. We do. We do have an agenda, a gay agenda.
Equal rights, equal protection under the Constitution. Whether that be the California Constitution or the Constitution of the United States. Why don't people see that basic truth?
Fear. The religious right and the ignorant masses are afraid of gay marriage, saying it will destroy the family, invalidate heterosexual marriages. Um.. straight folks are doing a damn good job at fucking up their own marriages, long long before gay people started pushing for gay marriage. The divorce rate started to climb 25 years ago. Tear apart the family? Yes, it has. How many people out there are from what the term is called "broken families"?
And how in the world can two people who love each other, who have been together through thick and thin, who have worked out their small jealousies, who have learned to get over their partners idiosyncrasies, to come out on the other side.. willing to stand up in front of a group of their loved ones say "Til death do us part", how can that hurt hetero marriages?
IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HETEROSEXUAL MARRIAGES.
It's not about str8 people's marriages. Let me repeat that. Gay people getting married has nothing to do with a heterosexual couple's marriage. It's about that gay couple loving each other, showing the world they love each other, being validated for their love. Straight people who think this has something to do with them bewilder me.
What floors me is that the Church of LDS was one of the biggest contributors to the Yes on 8 campaign. Based in UT, they flooded our state with millions to push this thing onto the ballot. And their ads were despicable. But, apparently effective. Saying that gay marriage will be taught in our schools, and that homosexuality will be encouraged. Give me a fucking break. Do schools teach about marriage now? Do schools teach about heterosexuality? No. This had nothing .. nothing - to do with schools and children, however all you have to say to strike fear into the hearts of every ignorant person out there "gay people will harm your children" or a personal favorite "we don't want gay people adopting because they'll turn the kid gay". How ridiculous is that? As so many progressive radio talk show hosts have mentioned. All you have to do is say "gays, guns, and god" to push the fear factor.
I am encouraged that the Ca Supreme Court has already knocked down one attempt at a ban as being unconstitutional. And right now there are at least 3 legal challenges to Prop 8. I am hopeful, and will keep my fingers crossed for their efforts.
The fight is long from over.
As President-Elect Obama said, the road will be a long and difficult one. And we see that with the passing of California's Proposition 8 -- a ban on gay marriage. If enforced, this will actually put discrimination into the state constitution. This will be the first time in history where rights were taken away from a set of the population. Is that ok with everyone?
No, it's not.
I don't know how many times we have to fucking tell the world but "Gay people don't want special rights, we want equal rights". We have long been accused of having a gay 'agenda'. I've laughed at that most of my adult life. Agenda? Do we have an agenda? I realized this week. We do. We do have an agenda, a gay agenda.
Equal rights, equal protection under the Constitution. Whether that be the California Constitution or the Constitution of the United States. Why don't people see that basic truth?
Fear. The religious right and the ignorant masses are afraid of gay marriage, saying it will destroy the family, invalidate heterosexual marriages. Um.. straight folks are doing a damn good job at fucking up their own marriages, long long before gay people started pushing for gay marriage. The divorce rate started to climb 25 years ago. Tear apart the family? Yes, it has. How many people out there are from what the term is called "broken families"?
And how in the world can two people who love each other, who have been together through thick and thin, who have worked out their small jealousies, who have learned to get over their partners idiosyncrasies, to come out on the other side.. willing to stand up in front of a group of their loved ones say "Til death do us part", how can that hurt hetero marriages?
IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HETEROSEXUAL MARRIAGES.
It's not about str8 people's marriages. Let me repeat that. Gay people getting married has nothing to do with a heterosexual couple's marriage. It's about that gay couple loving each other, showing the world they love each other, being validated for their love. Straight people who think this has something to do with them bewilder me.
What floors me is that the Church of LDS was one of the biggest contributors to the Yes on 8 campaign. Based in UT, they flooded our state with millions to push this thing onto the ballot. And their ads were despicable. But, apparently effective. Saying that gay marriage will be taught in our schools, and that homosexuality will be encouraged. Give me a fucking break. Do schools teach about marriage now? Do schools teach about heterosexuality? No. This had nothing .. nothing - to do with schools and children, however all you have to say to strike fear into the hearts of every ignorant person out there "gay people will harm your children" or a personal favorite "we don't want gay people adopting because they'll turn the kid gay". How ridiculous is that? As so many progressive radio talk show hosts have mentioned. All you have to do is say "gays, guns, and god" to push the fear factor.
I am encouraged that the Ca Supreme Court has already knocked down one attempt at a ban as being unconstitutional. And right now there are at least 3 legal challenges to Prop 8. I am hopeful, and will keep my fingers crossed for their efforts.
The fight is long from over.
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