UPDATE: Protest and Rally This Weekend

As it turns out, there was just not enough time to acquire all the necessary permits and AV equipment necessary to facilitate the Tucson protest of Prop 8 this Saturday. I am now asking everyone to attend Wingspan's rally tomorrow, November 14th.

Wingspan is a local organization that advocates for equal rights of our LGBT community members and their families. At tomorrow's event, Wingspan will premiere its new "Families You Know" campaign which will feature LGBT families in the hope that the telling of their stories will change the way they are viewed by the society that voted to identify them as second-class citizens and to disallow them equal rights as a family. This event will focus on our community's disagreement with the passage of Prop 102.

I have actually been asked to give a short speech at the rally, which I am MADD NERVOUS about, but also extemely honored to do. Please find all the details below, RSVP to Wingspan's Facebook page, and I hope to see you there!

Love is love...equality for all!

From the Wingspan website...


Nov 12, 2008


UPDATE: Community March and Rally:
Celebrate All of Our Families with
FAMILIES YOU KNOW
El Presidio Park and La Placita Village, Downtown Tucson

Wingspan is sponsoring a community march and rally on the evening of Friday, November 14.

Date: Friday, November 14
5pm: Assemble at El Presidio Park (115 North Church St., on the Plaza in front of Tucson City Hall)

5:30pm: March to La Placita Village steps off
5:45 to 7pm: Rally and Official Presentation for Launch of FAMILIES YOU KNOW at La Placita Village (201 Church St., Tucson)(map)
7pm: Folk fusion with Leila Lopez and band
Cheer on the families in the first FAMILIES YOU KNOW videos to be premiered that night! Gather with community to re-energize and renew bonds for the road ahead. We'll have supplies for making signs at El Presidio Park, or bring positive signs from home. Make up your own positive motto or chant. Bring signs in Spanish! Let's celebrate all of our LGBT families!

Now is the time for our community and allies to come together in mutual support, honoring the anger and disappointment we feel about the passage of Prop 102, and to heal.

Even more importantly, we need to channel our feelings, strengths and energy into a positive force for social change.

Key to this effort is Wingspan's FAMILIES YOU KNOW campaign, a video, photography and storytelling project that empowers you to change hearts and minds through sharing your family stories. With your help, we will raise awareness, confront prejudice, and begin a conversation in the community where all families are respected, valued, and not exploited for short-term political gain.

You can learn more about FAMILIES YOU KNOW and watch the first video here.

Please send this announcement out to your distribution lists and post to your MySpace and Facebook pages. We need your help to spread the word!

Nationwide Protest Against Prop 8 - Tucson, AZ

I wanted to let all my friends know that I will be attending the protest of CA's Proposition 8 (as well as AZ's Prop 102) in Tucson this Saturday, November 15th. The protest will begin at 11:30 local time, and it will take place at Tucson's City Hall. Anyone who wants to meet up there or ride together, let me know, but I'll go by my damn self if I need to.

We need to stand for the rights of ALL people...enough of this sexual orientationism (my new phrase). Not too long ago, it was illegal for a Black person and a White person to marry. And now we have elected our nation's first Black president, just look how far we have come. But we can't keep taking one step forward and two steps back, people. We must unite and take these steps together, or it all falls apart!

Listen, I could not care any less if you are not gay. I would never support someone trying to govern who you were allowed to "marry." If you're not gay, then just don't marry someone of the same sex, it's that simple! All these arguments about the reasons behind your positions against same-sex marriage are just fronts so that you can pass off your discriminatory beliefs on everyone around you. What happened to the separation of church and state? It's a sham, that's what happened. We must not forget that when we speak of all the lobbyists out there who must be stopped, that includes the lobbying churches across the nation continue to do in support of such shameful causes as Proposition 8. Non-profit organizations are not supposed to fund political actions.

And, to address some of the "concerns" out there regarding same-sex marriage:

No one is interested in marrying his/her goat. But if that ever became the case down the line, I'm sure PETA would be all over that with valid claims that marriage must be between two consenting people (notice that there is no mention of race or gender in that argument).
In that case, the goat, aside from the fact that it's not a person, is incapable of giving any such consent!

Also, you cannot hide your children from the reality that people all over the world are in gay relationships. It's your responsibility as a parent to answer their questions and address their concerns. Just because you might want to turn a blind eye to it does not ensure that your children will not ask you about it one day, so be prepared. So, whether or not there was any truth to the churches' claims that allowing gay marriage will lead to schools teaching our children about it as part of their education, the fact remains that they WILL learn about it one way or another.
And keep in mind that the "other" could very well be by being gay themselves, and then what are you going to do? Deny your own children the very rights you enjoy as a heterosexual?

If your claim is that Holy Matrimony cannot exist between two people who are incapable of procreation, will you also then deny the right of marriage to a heterosexual couple who learns they are infertile, or to a woman who must undergo a hysterectomy to rid herself of cancer? Of course not! Because the REAL issue is not that a gay couple cannot produce its own child, it's that their lifestyle does not fit into the picture some people paint for their world. Well, that kind of discrimination does not fit the picture I have for the world my daughters will grow up in either, but I do not dispute the fact that everyone is entitled to his own opinion, no matter how idiotic. All I ask is that this same level of tolerance be extended to all.

Please join me in showing my support of equality for ALL this Saturday, November 15th, whether you can make it to the rally in Tucson, or whether you choose to find your local protest location by visiting http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com. We CAN make a difference once more in this great country of ours! Every voice will be heard...

Thanks for listening,
C

Our Election Night Party

We had an election night party last night to gather friends and family as we watched the election returns and projections be announced. It was so much fun! As I wrote in a previous blog, I made up some ballots for the kids to vote with. I also decorated a ballot box for them to use to sumbit their votes. Then, I made stickers that read, "I voted: Kids vote, too!" Check out the pics...



Anyone who knows me knows I never do any event half-assed, so of course I had Jell-o shots in red and blue. And for dinner we made hamburgers and hot dogs, the most American thing I can think of. I also found a way to make a red, white, and blue layered drink, which was sweet! Then, for dessert, we had little individual strawberry and blueberry shortcake with whipped cream...Mmmmm!!! Got a pic of that stuff, too...



The kids each voted, stood in line at the ballot box, submitted a vote, and got a sticker...it was so awesome that they could practice the right they'll have when they grow up! I'm so glad we did it, they were all so proud of their votes, it was cute!

YES WE DID!!!

We did it...Barack Obama WILL BE our next president!!! And to make it even sweeter, the race wasn't even a close one! America spoke up, and we did so in a BIG WAY!

My unlce is a photographer for the Associated Press in D.C., and he was at Grant Park in Chicago last night to witness Obama's first speech as President-elect. My cousin, also a photographer, was there as well. If I can get additional pictures from either of them down the line, I will be sure to post them for all of you to enjoy. For now, my uncle passed the following picture along to his family, and all I can think of when I see this breathtaking image is, "The future starts now..."