hope
hope is one of those words that have been used to clearly be the sole identifier of the current situation we live in, our experiences, our dreams, our troubles with the community around us, with our jobs, with our friends and families. hope is something that most people talk about. they feel it. or they want to feel it. but only very so often it becomes strong enough to stop the complacency of those who carry it, and makes them get up, stand up and fight for a better future, a better tomorrow.
today i saw another perfect example of how cyclical history is. the movie milk, the new film directed by gus van sant, portrays in outstanding beauty and feeling how this same word, that same feeling of hope, was strong enough to create and commence the gay movement.
it’s easy to take for granted our lives as we live them. we get used to things. we live in our own comfort zone. our friends support us, our family too and before we know it we forget how hard it is outside our bubble. life is hard. there are still gay killings in the US happening all the time. people are dying, our own brothers and sisters, just because of their sexual orientation.
i am lucky, and i realize it every day, to have the family and friends i share my life with. people who love me unconditionally and who are willing to help me and my friends, selflessly, to get our rights returned to us. but over the years i have experienced a lot and i have seen how friends of mine and perfect strangers have their lives torn apart only because someone believed that gays are unworthy.
and it’s incredible to sit there at the castro theater, next to where the camera store that harvey milk opened in san francisco, walking those same sidewalks, those same streets, and seeing how a city as liberal and progressive as san francisco came to be. how the innocence and beliefs of a single person, can move and inspire and touch a whole group of people from all ages to truly believe in themselves… to fight for their rights and thus creating a movement that would take the country by its roots.
i wasn’t here in the seventies. but i am here now. and this is our time. our moment of making this a slightly better world for a future generation. our moment to stand up again, to rise up and not be afraid of talking to your friend, your family, your neighbor.
by showing them we are here, we always were and we always will be. to show them that we love and are loved. to show them that we are one. and to show them that we will not give up. we will not give up.
i will be eternally thankful to harvey milk. to mayor moscone. to all the people that started this movement. and to all the people who keep this movement alive, in the most selfless ways. gus van sant did a wonderful job. and on the 30th anniversary of their assassination, we do not forget. we will bring equal rights to the lgbt community.
Harvey Milk
MILK
tonight i am going to the preview screening of MILK, the new gus van sant movie about harvey milk. i can’t honestly express how much i am looking forward to this, and how much i am hoping that this movie helps educating a whole new generation of people about how the gay rights movement started.
me and thousands of friends and other san franciscans all participated in this production as extras in several scenes. it is great to be part of this and to help re-create history for current and future generations.
it’s an inspiring and moving story, and please go see it when it comes out in your local theater. straight or gay, this movie is for everyone. i leave you here with the official trailer and an excerpt of harvey milk’s hope speech.
Obama’s plans for the LGBT community
“While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It’s about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.” – Barack Obama
Official Link* *Expand Hate Crimes Statutes:* In 2004, crimes against LGBT
Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime
reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. Barack
Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal
jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of
race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender
identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, Obama passed
tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit
them against the law.* *Fight Workplace Discrimination:* Barack Obama supports the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our
anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include
sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number
of employers have extended benefits to their employees’ domestic
partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the
workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. Obama also
sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban
employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.* *Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples:*
Barack Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples
legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.
Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act
and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal
legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of
marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions
and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits
include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the
right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and
property rights.* *Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage:* Barack Obama
voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would
have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented
judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other
unmarried couples.* *Repeal Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell:* Barack Obama agrees with former
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other
military experts that we need to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t
tell” policy. The key test for military service should be
patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve.
Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent
millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military
because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300
language experts have been fired under this policy, including more
than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. Obama will work with military
leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps
accomplish our national defense goals.* *Expand Adoption Rights:* Barack Obama believes that we must
ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless
of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit
from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.* *Promote AIDS Prevention:* In the first year of his presidency,
Barack Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive
national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The
strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase
access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. Obama
will support common sense approaches including age-appropriate sex
education that includes information about contraception, combating
infection within our prison population through education and
contraception, and distributing contraceptives through our public
health system. Obama also supports lifting the federal ban on
needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of
infection among drug users. Obama has also been willing to
confront the stigma — too often tied to homophobia — that
continues to surround HIV/AIDS. He will continue to speak out on
this issue as president.* *Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS:* In the United States, the
percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the
last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of
all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. Barack Obama introduced the
Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development
of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS.
Microbicides are a class of products currently under development
that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and
other infections.
25,000 hearts
so today i woke up, grabbed a coffee at four barrel (my current favorite cafe in the city) and walked to a record store to buy a ton of LPs. rainy, made me think. i had an incredible unforgettable and historic night.
i tend to be very active about politics, gay rights and civil rights in general. i try to volunteer as often as possible in all kinds of different ways. but yesterday as you probably know one of the biggest protest marches happened in san francisco. cbs reports about 25,000 people appeared, and marched from 530pm all through the night and basically shut down the main arteries of the city.
it was an incredible vibe. i’ve been to a lot of protests and this one was definitely one of the most unforgettable. it’s right there up with the anti-war march that i participated in London years and years ago. then, 1 million people shut down the whole of central London. this was a similar energy.
i got there right on time at 530pm. i decided to try my best to live tweet from the grounds, so i was doing that on my iphone. we marched from civic center, to the castro, to dolores park. where we did a huge rally with speakers and music. marched back to the castro, and to the civic center. where another rally took place. and then all the way back to castro and 18th, where hundreds of people, myself included, staged a sit in.
and so we did. i didn’t get off the floor until 3am when i was so cold that i was afraid of getting sick again. people stayed there, at the sit in, closing down the castro basically all the way to 8am.
it was amazing. the police let us do that as long as we were peaceful. and we were. we were playing music, singing, speaking and hugging. someone brought coffee for us, a pizzeria nearby donated us tons of pizza. my friends left early so i was alone with a few other people. it was maybe a core of 150 people and pretty soon i made new friends and had company again. we were a family. united for the same purpose and willing to fight for our rights. we would not concede.
at some point, some people went to walgreens and bought hand warmers, gloves and blankets and were giving them around. amazing. i will never forget this moment. someone gave me a flower. a candle. and then a smile. and before you knew it we were enveloped in this happiness and this love that united us through the cold night.
this is it, what life is all about to me. today i am just relaxing at home listening to music. tomorrow will try my best to go to sacramento and march to the state supreme court.
[will add some iphone photos later]
san francisco
and tomorrow join us in san francisco!
where: civic center (market/7th) at 530pm
Protest 8
sacramento
Passing along the word…
Dear Queer friends and allies,
We may have lost one battle, but this fight is NOT over. Please join me this Sunday at 1pm in Sacramento (at the State Capital) to represent the millions of Californians that will not stand for discrimination being written into our constitution. This will be just one of the many protests we will have to organize. We will not be able to win this battle in one day, or even in one year. The fight for our civil rights needs to be waged, and now is the time! We cannot give up! African Americans, Women, Latinos, Jews, and every other group that has been marginalized/oppressed didn’t just have their rights given to them, they took them. Our time is now, we must organize… WE HAVE TO UNITE!
We will be creating flyers, blogs, and contacting the local news stations. I need you all to help me out with this. This is a sad day… but we cannot take this quietly. We can plan carpools to Sacramento, and maybe even rent a bus .
You may be asking yourself, what can I do?
*Call/text every person in your phone book and get them to join us on Sunday (if you live to far, plan your own protest at your City Hall building for the same time).
*Forward this on to every contact you have, post it on your facebook, myspace, blogs… get the word out!
*SHOW UP! This is YOUR time to stand up for your beliefs and NOT wait for other people to defend your fundamental human rights.
Please remember this is not just a GAY issue, this is a human issue.
In Solidarity,
Elana Metz
831-535-2658
CaliforniansAgainst8@gmail.com
thank you
i want to honestly thank everyone who voted NO on prop 8. it means a lot to me and all my friends, all of us who believe we should have the same right of marrying the person we love. i also could care less about the religious meaning of marriage and just want to be able to have a legal civil marriage with my partner, whenever i have one.
although i was ecstatic that obama won, i was saddened by the news of prop8. whatever my religious beliefs might be, same-sex partners should be allowed to have a civil marriage.
and as i thank again each one of you who voted NO on 8, i’d love to welcome those of you who voted YES on 8 to start a healthy, adult and honest conversation, not on this alias, not online, but in person. I’d really love to talk to you and share with you why this is so important to me, my friends and all the gay families that are affected by this discriminatory proposition.
i did not choose to be gay. i’ve just been lucky enough to grow up in a supporting family, even though in a completely catholic country (portugal), and have always been taught that marriage is about love. now that i live in california, where i was born, i still believe that, and i hope that soon enough i will be able to have my family fly here and see me getting married to the person i love.
thanks for listening. there is a march tomorrow in san francisco. please spread the word. gay or straight, this is a cause for everyone. http://protest8.blogspot.com
