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Passionate Words and Salient Thinking

There is so little discussion of anything anymore where substance wins over brevity. Watching Bill Browning from the Bilerico Project interviews with the legendary Cleave Jones was completely refreshing. Take time to watch both parts!

Hammer Pants | Corporate-Flashmob Meme | FAKE

Sadly, here is yet another meme neutered via hostile corporate takeover. This is a corporate commercial posing as flashmob and it signals the death knell for Flashmobs. Hammer Pants is a weak promotion for the A&E's Hammertime reality show. I did my own investigation and found out the dancers were hired, costumed, and directed. The Live! On Sunset store was rented for the shoot back in early May. The shoppers are all actors.

Such a lame ending for a form with it's historical roots in actual activism.

Day of Decision Rally in WeHo 2009

I attended an excellent rally tonight in West Hollywood. The rally was in response to the mixed ruling today from the California Supreme Court. The standout speaker had to be Lt. Daniel Choi. He spoke with conviction, determination, and heartfelt zeal - his leadership training & courage under fire could be a real asset as we take this back to the polls in 2010. Finally tonight, we heard voices from actual Gay families, and it was a such simple, powerful moment. It suddenly seemed so adult, so compelling in a very different way.

MORE PIX HERE

the Big Fat Gay Anti-Hate Collaborate

You have to take 3 minutes to catch the latest in youth culture response to all the hate on the internet. This one is created by the ever-colorful, irrepressible StevieBeeBishop. Sometimes a little online disinhibition effect is a good thing. And a note for my Mom, I know it's an F-bomb attack, but just try to roll-with-it and laugh it off.

Tiny House Battle: Tiny VS. Luxury

It has been a crazy week - what with the twisted logic of anti-tax Right-wing Teabaggers, the sick Gathering Storm warnings (great parody here), and images of would-be-patriots calling for state succession while waving the American flag - a cultural shift is underway. 

Even on the studied displays of Hennessey + Ingalls Bookstore in Santa Monica, the battle is at it's tipping point. Will we question everything and choose quality over quantity? Will we continue with the unsustainable excess that leaves us all with decidedly less? Or can we design our way to a better tomorrow? Finally there's a book, and a message you can believe in, and it's Tiny Houses by Mimi Zeiger! 

Okay, maybe that was a bit overblown, but I can't help but think of Tiny Houses as the-little-book-that-could change some super-size-me minds. Each page of Tiny Houses offers compelling reminders to architects, developers, and would-be home owners alike to consider smaller, better, slower. Now listen up people! In this battle my money is on TINY!

The power of the word

Side-by-side comparison of the meaning of words and actions. It is worth your time to watch it just to be reminded - and disgusted all over again - at what we are up against.

Obama the Bigot

Here is a snippet from an excellent, succinct article by John Cloud from Time.com, about Obama's bigoted nature -- including the selection of Rick Warren. I strongly encourage you to read the whole article.

Gays and lesbians are angry that Barack Obama has honored Warren, but they shouldn't be surprised. Obama has proved himself repeatedly to be a very tolerant, very rational-sounding sort of bigot. He is far too careful and measured a man to say anything about body parts fitting together or marriage being reserved for the nonpedophilic, but all the same, he opposes equality for gay people when it comes to the basic recognition of their relationships. He did throughout his campaign, one that featured appearances by Donnie McClurkin, a Christian entertainer who preaches that homosexuals can become heterosexuals.

Obama reminds me a little bit of Richard Russell Jr., the longtime Senator from Georgia who — as historian Robert Caro has noted — cultivated a reputation as a thoughtful, tolerant politician even as he defended inequality and segregation for decades. Obama gave a wonderfully Russellian defense of Warren on Thursday at a press conference. Americans, he said, need to "come together" even when they disagree on social issues. "That dialogue is part of what my campaign is all about," he said. Russell would often use the same tactic to deflect criticism of his civil rights record. It was a distraction, Russell said, from the important business of the day uniting all Americans. Obama also said today that he is a "fierce advocate for equality" for gays, which is — given his opposition to equal marriage rights — simply a lie. It recalls the time Russell said, "I'm as interested in the Negro people of my state as anyone in the Senate. I love them."

Obama's Faulty Logic

^{A DISPATCH FROM UNDER THE BUS CALLED CHANGE}

Now we hear from Linda Douglass, Obama spokeswoman defending the choice of Warren for the Inauguration, "This is going to be the most inclusive, open, accessible inauguration in American history."

Um, Excuse me?

She continued, "The president-elect certainly disagrees with him on [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] issues," Douglass said. 

He does? Um, let me see...how would you clearly establish you disagree with someone? Hmmm...

"But it has always been his goal to find common ground with people with whom you may disagree on some issues."

Common ground?

So Obama, invite a racist who you completely disagree with on discrimination, but agree with that recycling is good. Cause recycling the religious right and promoting the views and stature of hateful people you definitely are.

Obama tries to defend invitation to hatemonger Rick Warren

I find this completely disgusting that Obama is defending his completely political decision to have Rick Warren speak at his inauguration. If Obama is so happy to invite people who actively work against full equality for all Americans, why doesn't he also invite a racist minister? I get that we are being played. We are all used to it. We know it when we see it. I HOPE Obama will refund the donations from all the gay & lesbian people who worked tirelessly to get him elected. If you haven't seen the underside of the bus before, here is your chance!

Leave a message at CHANGE.GOV

EQCA Act now!

The HRC's Joe Solmonese tries to grow a pair with his letter to Obama.

Love For All - Bjorn Borg

NO on 8 Protest at the Mormon Church

Yesterday was a pretty amazing protest at the gates of the Mormon Church in Westwood, Los Angeles! The protest started at 2 p.m. on Santa Monica Blvd. and then evolved into a march around the sprawling grounds of the church. I have to say that the people who were in their windows, on balconies, and doorsteps clapping, waving signs in support were absolutely great - especially the parents and students at the school we marched by who were all shouting and waving their support. The best moment was when we stopped for a short speech by Lorri L. Jean. When she announced a new wesbsite (where every donation includes a postcard sent to the president of the Mormon Church telling him the donation was made in his name) people rushed up and started handing her cash. Let's get ready to lick those stamps!

Once that long and peaceful, if loud, circle was complete, the action on Santa Monica seemed like it might quiet down. But suddenly the massive crowd began to march down Santa Monica Blvd and then turned north up Westwood Blvd. There were some tense moments on Westwood Blvd. between a group of guys in a truck and a about 20 protesters, and then at Ohio when the LAPD tried to keep the protesters from proceeding up the street. Eventually the traffic was cleared and the march continued up to the middle of the intersection at Wilshire & Westwood. While the police kept the protesters contained they cleared a path east on Wilshire. To make a long description of a long day of marching shorter, we marched into Beverly Hills, turning at Wilshire & Santa Monica and took it back to the Mormon Church for a final rally at the gates of the church. I left shortly after 7 p.m.

I have posted a ton of pix from the NO on 8 protest here.

Momon Church NO on 8 Protest

It is an amazing display of action and peaceful but angry protest today here in Westwood at the Mormon Church. I will post lots of pix when I get back home.

UPDATE: Pix are finally up here! 

West Hollywood NO on 8 Rally

Despite feeling overwhelmed and under-the-weather, I headed to the NO on 8 rally tonight to vent some rage and connect with people who were feeling the same. On the bus ride over, as the traffic slowed to a crawl, a smile grew bigger and bigger on my face as the bus inched closer and closer - all-the-while knowing that the rally had stalled traffic and people were being inconvienenced because we were protesting the mob-rule-run on our rights. I hopped off the bus and glided effortlessly towards the energized crowd overflowing with love. It was a great event with speakers, spotlights, news channels, and when helicopters buzzed repeatedly overhead the crowd went into overdrive! 

Join us Thursday at 2pm for a little conversation we are planning to have outside the Mormon Church - which provided the primary financial backing for Prop 8.

Fundamentalism Seizes Control of California

And most of you just let it happen.

To say I am angry would be an epic understatement. I don't even want to talk to any of you who didn't actively join in the fight against Prop 8 by making donations, by going door-to-door, by phone banking, or by working the polls on election day. Is that really so much to ask? And by-the-way, for all of you who said you would donate, I will be checking for your donations to show up on reporting from the California Secretary of State.

See, if discrimination against any of you was going to be written into the state constitution I would absolutely be in the streets by your side. But Gay & Lesbian people are so completely used to being second-class citizens they are really walking around shell shocked all the time. Despite the clever humor and wry wit wielded by many of us second classers, we are damaged goods so used to being beaten down we don't even realize when we need to fight back. We are so used to being beaten down everyday that we don't directly challenge our friends and family to take a stand with us. And when you don't join us we don't call you on it. There are no consequences for you. We don't want to embarrass any of you any more than we are already embarrassed ourselves, standing there somehow guilty of loving (something you do so casually and openly) and unable to fully protect ourselves on our own. But I am saying today, if you didn't stand with us and actually do something to fight this change in the constitution then the onus is on you. YOU need to do something now that it is too late to do something about this, this time. I will be looking to see what you are willing to do and see if that is enough to remain your friend. Because that is what it has come down to. We have to decide who are our friends. Who is willing to hit the streets and take up arms to protect and defend us from the fundamentalists seizing control of the state? And who among us are siding with the enemy. Because that is what is at stake here.

And for those of you who voted yes on Proposition 8, we are going to be coming for you. I demand the IRS investigate churches, synagogues, and mosques that funneled money from the pulpit into the Yes coffers. That is not what the tax exempt status you received was given for. As Californians, we must demand a stop to the out-of-state money that turned a state-wide challenge into a national referendum on the rights of a minority. We must directly target the leaders and followers of the moment that has eroded the constitution and smeared hate across the state. And if the early reports are correct, people of color have some serious soul-searching to do - is that what all these years of struggle have been about? To then turn around and shit on the people below you?

If you voted yes, you are no longer allowed to say you are friends with Gay people. It's like saying oh yeah, I like black people, I have black friends, whilst you wield a firehose spraying them down. You are talking nice to my face while you stab us in the back. That IS what this is.

For Gay & Lesbian people, remember life is too short, and love is in such a short supply, don't let either slip by so casually. 

Live from the polling place : NO on 8

Yeah that's right - today we are taking it to the streets! I am spending most of the day working a polling place to keep the law free and clear of discrimination (can you say team captain?) Let's do more than hope it is a major smackdown on Prop 8 - GET OUT AND VOTE!