11 November 2008

fight, god damned it!!

"be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory." ~ralph waldo emerson

being a non-citizen of the u.s.a., i did not get to vote in the election. being a resident of the u.s.a., i followed the results with a nervous lump in my throat. the vote for the president was interesting, yes. i congratulate obama on his victory. but to me, and to my family, this election was no victory. never have i felt more degraded, humiliated, frustrated and defeated than i did after seeing how my rights and the rights of my family, my beautiful children, were stomped on by strangers.

just the thought of having my basic civil rights voted on, is degrading beyond words. i have never heard of any other civilized country in the world who allows a popular vote do decide on other peoples rights. i can not believe people are not more outraged. i mean....all ppl, not just gays. who will be next? its like a high stakes game of american idol. today the gays get voted off the civil rights list, tomorrow its between women and latinos.

why are u so silent?

why are u not publically outraged?

if this happened in norway, ppl would be screaming in the streets. everywhere. the media would make minced meat out of the bigots. the religious leaders who supported this would be humiliated and hung out to dry. u dont get to treat ppl this way and get away with it.

if u have not seen it, take a look at the editorial from msnbc's countdown. i dont care what u think of the guy, listen to what he says.

then go out and fight. fight for what is yours. fight for ur family. for ur children. im gonna fight for mine.

there is a nationwide protest being put together for nov. 15th.

i will be going. so will kitty litter, *e* and tiger. will u be there? we would love to meet up with u all. jess? tina? sassy? val? weese? anyone else in connecticut?

i will leave u with this link. please, dont sit back and hope someone else will fight this battle for u. take back whats urs.

21 comments:

SassyFemme said...

I looked at the protest site earlier today. It's not striking me as something that's well organized. I've seen nothing on it come out from GLAD, HRC, or LMAF. There's not an organizer listed. So far it seems more fly-by-night. If it gets pulled together, then we'll go to the one in Hartford. You guys going to New Haven?

Jesse said...

This thing is big, and it's real. So what if it doesn't have an organizer! We all know why to go and what we're fighting for. :)

We'll be protesting in NYC on Saturday.

alter rigo said...

we will probably go to new haven. come join us? if nothing else we can go out for dinner or a late lunch or sum'tin. dinner and a protest....sounds nice huh?

Anonymous said...

If I allow myself to really think about it, to even feel one bit of how angry I am about this, I WILL kill somebody. So I can't do it. I can't let myself go to protests, I even had to stop responding to questions/conversations about it at work because I was getting so upset I couldn't do my job, and I need my job. I have never been so ashamed to be an american (see? I can't even capitalize it anymore).

weese said...

can i protest while doing yard work?

alter rigo said...

wow....umm...im stumped...i guess u are all happy to keep things the way they are. us norwegians fought for rights and got federal civil unions in 1991 and now full marriage rights as of january 1st 2009. if u dont care, then im not gonna waste my time either.

weese said...

its not that we don't care...
we have been in this fight for YEARS now. I have been going to rallies, and speeches, and sessions and protests for a long time. and all of us have been to these rallies where 10 people show up. its disheartening for sure.
Sassy makes a good point. None of the connecticut organizations are behind this thing. why?
if we even want a shot at fighting with groups like the Knights of Columbus - then there does in fact need to be not only organization, but a better way to spread the word than for a few blogs which are read by a closed group.
I don't see any mention of these 'rallies' from any other sources. If no one knows about them - no one can show up.

do you know how this started:

"Amy Balliett, 26, used her lunch break last Friday to start a website -- www.jointheimpact.com -- to call for coordinated action across the United States this weekend."
--source CNN

Look - her intentions are awesome. but we need money and backing and more planning than a weeks worth of yammering on a brand new website started by some kid on her lunch hour.
I am all for grassroots efforts - but i have been grassrooting this effort since the 90's. We really should have more than grass by now.

Jesse said...

This is how I see it. We all care about this issue. Some are willing to go out and protest, some are a little bit more silent about their way of fighting.

The fact that this girl's grassroots effort has gotten national coverage gives me the hope that there will be more than 10 people there at any one of the protest sites.

Look at the rally in NYC last night at the Mormon temple. Between 3 and 10 thousand people showed up and it wasn't organized by any big group. It was peaceful, but it made a statement.

I'm not sure why LMF etc isn't publicizing this, I think they should. LMF, HRC and Glad do amazing things for our community, but their sponsorship is not necessary in order for this to be huge. I've reached out to people at LMF to see if they'd mention something, I really can't speak for their silence.

I've sent the press official press release (national and local) to as many local news papers and tv media as I could, as are many others. I know this thing is going to covered in the media on a large scale.

The idea of people in every state at the exact same time protesting for marriage equality and the reversal of prop 8 is the biggest support for our cause that I've seen in my lifetime.

I want to be a part of it.

I've heard so many in the past say that they were waiting for a leader. Waiting for the revolution. Waiting for a movement. This is the movement. It may only be the beginning, but it is happening. LGBT people are outraged right now. They are on fire all over the country over the passing of prop 8. It more than a fight to achieve rights now, that already happened in Cali, was celebrated and now it's been taken away.

Without CA our shot at ever getting marriage federally recognized is slim to none.

To me, it's worth the drive to city hall. If anything to show support for our brothers and sisters in CA who are at a loss so soon after we've made such a gain.

Besides, who needs organizers when bloggers are spreading the word?

We'll be in NYC this weekend but will be attending the protests at city hall in Manhattan.

I have already heard from many queer CT folks who plan to be out there loud and proud.

I can't wait!

alter rigo said...

actually GLAD has been supporting this on their website for a few days. i just got an email from hrc that supports it also:

"Our rights were stripped. Our love was branded unworthy of the name marriage, though our commitments and responsibilities to each other are worthy of nothing less.

We are angry – and that anger has moved to the streets.

This Saturday, thousands of people across the country, spontaneously organizing themselves in a truly grassroots movement, will convene to raise the call for equality"
signed the president of HRC, Joe Solmonese

Truly shows that just a kid on her lunch hour can do more than all the big wigs put together.

Read her story on 365gay.com and be proud, for her and for all the ppl that are willing to stand up and say "this is it! i have fucking HAD it with this SHIT!"

Jesse said...

Wow.. I wasn't aware of GLAD and HRC's mention of the protests! Awesome!

We all know how to stand around with signs and open our mouths, it's got the coverage, let's all get out there and do this!

Ok, so that leaves LMF..

weese said...

ok. so now i am listening.

weese said...

LMF is on board. They tell me they sent an email out yesterday and its posted on their website. (tho i have yet to find it there)

Jesse said...

Better late than never! I didn't get the email from LMF.

At least we know they are supporting it.

So I guess this means y'all have got some sign making to do :)

Anonymous said...

LMF simply have it on their calendar of events....we did not receive the e-mail either. Now...if someone would just work on the weather!

weese said...

yeah...i didn't get their email. i think they are scrambling.
i have to say they are not the most organized group in this fight.
are you going to new haven?

Anonymous said...

yes we are...if it is raining will will make it short cause the kids will be with us.

*KittyLitter hasn't made a protesting sign or gone to a protest since Vietnam war.... I have no bell bottoms left so will just have to look like every other American who is denied rights*

weese said...

i don't think we will stay long either. we really have alot to do that day. but ...we'll make the effort to be there.

*weese did not protest vietnam... but looked great in bellbottoms. perhaps we will make a sign tonight*

SassyFemme said...

Pretty much just take what Weese said, and ditto it for me.

We've got plans in Manchester (CT) on Saturday, so we're going to swing by the Hartford one, if it's not storming too badly, rather than drive down to New Haven.

weese said...

...meaning that you look great in bellbottoms, right Sassy?

SassyFemme said...

Weese... I did, and I was only a toddler. (smirk)

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