The jointheimpact.com protests against prop 8 today had huge turnouts. There were protests in all 50 states and 10 countries. I haven't heard the official numbers for San Francisco, but we were in the tens of thousands. The estimate for the LA rally is 30-40,000 people.
We had an impromptu sign making party at our house this morning before we headed over to City Hall.
The buzz from the energy and excitement of millions of new (and old) voters getting involved in the historic election of Barack Obama has barely receded and already that new found empowerment is finding its way to new uses. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to join in simultaneous protests of Proposition 8 this Saturday, November 15 in every state in the Union. It’s all being organized by http://jointheimpact.com. Go now to see where it’s happening in your state.
We’d all love to win the battle of basic human rights while singing a happy tune and joining hands but, let’s face it, being pissed-off is what’s going to make it finally happen. If we want to get what we all deserve, it’s going to take a fight. Luckily that’s just what’s been happening: from the forced resignation of the idiot who donated a grand to the Yes on 8 campaign (http://www.americablog.com/2008/11/scott-eckern-resigns-from-california....) – while working for the California Musical Theatre, no less – to a move to get the Mormon Church’s tax exemption pulled (http://www.americablog.com/2008/11/complaint-failed-against-mormon-churc...). It looks like the bigots might have succeeded in passing Prop. 8 but more importantly they’ve also awoken a powerful, and very pissed-off, queer and queer-friendly, nation.
My usual tip for friends visiting New Orleans is: Never drink anything named after a natural disaster. Now I would add this friendly bit of advice: The best way to encounter a hurricane … is from a distance.
Evading Hurricane Gustav by a day, the husbear and I arrived back home late Sunday afternoon on Labor Day weekend, returning early from our holiday trip to New Orleans for Southern Decadence 2008.
We were two of nearly two million people evacuated in the Gulf region, and two of several hundred daddies, bears, leathermen, and other homomasculine guys and hunters whose “decadent” plans were dramatically altered by the prospect of a hurricane directly hitting the city — not the kind of blowjob savored by the thousands of queer men partying on Bourbon Street over the long weekend.
Queer or not, NOLA residents and tourists alike were keenly aware that Southern Decadence was cancelled during Hurricane Katrina three years ago.
Major gay/bi men’s events scheduled during the weekend were interrupted, including Bear Decadence, a fundraiser hosted by the New Orleans Bear and Bear Trapper Social Club (NOBBTSC). Fortunately, the parties start Wednesday, and like us, dozens of other butch homos came early enough to enjoy a couple of decadent days before flying out by Sunday 6pm, when the airport would shut down.
We arrived in N’awlins Wednesday afternoon, staying at the charming Frenchmen Hotel, located on the eponymous street just outside the French Quarter. Normally we would stay at the Auld Sweet Olive, the gorgeous guesthouse owned by our pals Dale and Dave — I proposed to my husbear there five years ago — but they were booked for the event.
