Fearless on my breath...

First and foremost a great big thank you to everyone who showed up for the Anti H8 rally on Saturday. We got a great, enthusiastic crowd in downtown MV and only a couple of haters showed up to try to spoil our fun. Thankfully we had a couple of true warrior women in our group who weren't afraid to stand up to them. The rest of us shrugged off their nonsense and kept on waving at the well wishers and displaying our signs.

We also had a great deal of fun encouraging moonlightnrain and her lovely girlfriend L- to kiss for the cameras. A consensus of us in attendance decided that little disposable cameras would be a great wedding favor. :)

If you'd like to help continue the fight I happily point you at Join the Impact and at the very handy Anti-Gay Blacklist, the latter is a very helpful list of local companies that donated to Prop H8 so you can avoid throwing any money in their direction. As TBogg points out:

The kind of person who contributes money to deny their fellow citizens their civil rights are not someday magically going to be part of the solution: they're the problem. These are not people to be reasoned with; they're ignorant, they're haters and they're bigots and the only thing people like that understand is power.

So when they stick their noses in other people's affairs, they forfeit the right to be considered just another "ordinary person". They're involved and they would be foolish to expect that those other people in whose private affairs they have meddled wouldn't return the favor. As they say: you pays your money and you takes your chances.

You don't get to heaven above by trampling someone else's heaven on earth.

Amen. While I'm not terribly happy with the concept of a "blacklist" per se, I don't see why my money should be going anywhere near people who want to take away the rights of my friends and loved ones. So if you contributed to Prop H8 don't expect to get my business.

In other news had a great appointment with my dermatologist this morning who gave me the thumb's up and sent me on my way. And I even woke up to a great dream, which almost never happens. It's looking like I'm off to a great week.

If you're going to be in the city tonight there's apparently a march planned to start on Market at around 5:30 and head for the Castro. Also yesterday there was a big protest outside a Mormon church in LA and apparently they're doing the same today in Utah. And the ACLU is on the case big time as we speak, which is a big relief.

But if you could also take a moment today and sign this petition for the Governator against Prop H8 that would be very cool.

And this quote from Dwayne over on the No on Prop 8 Facebook is definitely worth passing around:

in 1969, the state of Virginia passed a law that made interracial marriage illegal. I supposed [sic] blacks should have just accepted the fact they the law considered them sub human and unworthy of a "good" white person's love. Those poor mixed "mutt children" would be social outcasts... what sound minded person would put a child through such a horrid life...

The fact is, there are some things that aren't up for popular vote. People's rights are one of those things. The court didn't say gay marriage was good or bad, it said that the current constitution and the current law didn't match... that 60% of the voters, tried to vote that some percentage of the population wasn't as good as the rest, and it's their job to reconcile that.

I know not all of the votes have been tabulated yet, but it looks like Prop H8 has won, and it is the one and only thing marring an otherwise perfect day. Given the fact that Prop 2 passed and Prop 4 received a thorough drubbing I can at least take a little comfort. But as pissed off as I am right now (and believe me, I want to personally kick every single bigoted asshole who voted for this measure square in the gonads), all of the other victories are making me look at the bigger picture. If this measure had passed 4 years ago when Emperor Codpiece and his hordes of flying monkeys were in charge, or heaven forfend McMaverick and Bible Spice had made it into office, I'd have been crushed. I mean literally I would've been considering leaving the state if not the country.

But that's not what happened, not by a long shot.

No, we put a black Democrat in the highest office in the land last night, and not by some tiny, contestable amount, but a goddamn landslide. There were a helluva lot of talking heads who said it couldn't be done, that this country wasn't ready for a black president and might not be in our lifetime. Indeed watching Chris Matthews go from pandering to Tom DeLay (and seriously, MSNBC, you brought that jackhole on as a "political expert"? WTF?) and alluding all too ominously to a McCain surprise win, to seamlessly brown nosing his new dusky-hued overlord made me laugh and laugh. As did watching Rachael Maddow verbally spank his flabby white ass repeatedly during the coverage (BTW, Rachael I know you've got a long time partner and all but if things don't work out for you two, call me).

We did it, though, we goddamn did it. People got out and voted in record numbers and they made it pretty fucking clear that they're no longer willing to let fear and hatred rule them. Eight years of living in the new Dark Ages is finally at an end, may we all look back on them with a sort of bewildered pity, future generations certainly will. Now is the time to look ahead. As President-Elect Obama (and I can't help grinning every time I use that phrase) said so eloquently last night, now is the time for us to pull together and start thinking not only of ourselves, our families and closest friends, but of the country as a whole. Pulling ourselves out of the hole Bush, Inc. has driven us into is going to take a team effort. We can't afford to be selfish and self-centered any more. It's time to let that 80's Reaganesque culture of entitlement die its well deserved death and then let's compost that fucking ideology so that at least something positive can come out of it.

Which brings me back to Prop H8. Sure we can sit around bemoaning the fact that a whole lot of people still let their fear and ignorance rule them in this state...or we can decide not to take this lying down. We can get involved in the fight against this constitutional amendment and do everything in our power to stop it from happening. There are going to be lawsuits, and there are already organizations in place that will, over the next few weeks, need your help and donations. Even if all you can do is post to your journal about upcoming events, or talk to a co-worker or just someone you meet on the street about why this measure is such a bad idea, do it. Make a pledge to yourself that you're not going to give up on this, and no matter how dispirited you may become, stick to it.

We proved last night that the majority of people in this country are ready to put one form of discrimination behind them and that's a great first step. But we've still got some work to do and we're energized now to do it. Let's prove to the world that we are, in fact, a true nation of equality and social justice. We can do this. Yes we can.