Give them hope…

We are all biting our nails tonight, terrified that we may once again feel the sting of oppression and the pain of rejection. Terrified that we have felt this night before, that we know its outcome. That the simplest of joys and rights can so easily be torn from our hands, ripped away and scattered to the winds. We have seen much sorrow and much sadness in our times, but we are not without our victories. We are not without our strengths and our determination is far greater than any hate speech or scare tactic. We are alive, you and me, all of us together, in the stomach churning, acidic wasteland that is life and the human condition. We are connected and we will overcome. There is little in this world that is certain, but never have a people fought so hard for their freedom, only to be denied.

Oppressors move with history and are taken over by its wake, no matter how long they may find themselves riding the surf. We will be triumphant and no matter the outcome of tonight, we will win. You and I and every freedom loving individual in this world will win this battle and we shall look back on these days with fond memories. Memories of oppression, but of much more… memories of our cohesion and determination to fight

Remember this. We are a more determined to be free than they are to hold us back.

Hopefully the words of the Harvey Milk will remind us jut how far we have come and how far will can and will still go.

OneKalamazoo press release

This just in from OneKalamazoo

ONE KALAMAZOO DECLARES VICTORY IN BALLOT FIGHT
Kalamazoo residents approve nondiscrimination ordinance

“Our campaign started with a very basic idea, and today voters confirmed that we are One Kalamazoo,” said Campaign Manager, Jon Hoadley.

With only absentee ballots outstanding, 65 percent of Kalamazoo voters have approved Ordinance 1856 by a vote of 6,463 to 3,527, adding protections for gay and transgender people to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance.  This margin is larger than the number of outstanding absentee ballots that are currently being counted.

“I am elated with the outcome of the election,” says Yes on Ordinance 1856/One Kalamazoo Steering Committee member and local resident Janice Brown.  “This vote reinforces what our campaign set out to prove – that our fellow residents of Kalamazoo share the belief that all people should be treated fairly and equally, including gay and transgender people.”

The outcome of today’s vote confirmed that all hardworking people in Kalamazoo should have the chance to earn a living and provide for themselves and their families without fear of being fired for reasons that have nothing to do with their job performance.

“Kalamazoo is a great place to live and the passage of Ordinance 1856 makes the city an even better place,” says local resident Rev. Matt Laney, Pastor of the First Congregational Church.  “I am proud to live in a city that recognizes that all people deserve fairness and respect.”

The Yes on 1856/ One Kalamazoo campaign in support of the nondiscrimination ordinance involved hundreds of local volunteers and contributors, and had the endorsement of over 30 local religious, social, business, and political organization.   The campaign would like to thank the Kalamazoo community for asserting their belief in the inherent equality of all Kalamazoo residents, and the countless volunteers for their hard work and dedication in recent months – and in some case, years – to ensure the passage of the ordinance.

FINAL UPDATE:The Maine event or “What do you call two married guys in New England”?

Final Update at 10:29PM (PST)- Well, it looks like we lost. Once again, we have been denied our civil rights and must now fight again. It may well just be this moment in time, but I for one, am exhausted. I am tired, tired of fighting, tired of screaming, tired of writing and tired of changing hearts and changing minds. What do I want to do right now? I want to break some noses and declare open war. I am well aware that violence solves nothing, but onlyt attributes to sensational cable news ratings, but I am angry. When Prop 8 passed in California, my hatred and seething anger towards these people consumed me all night and well into the next day. When do we stop asking and start taking? At what point do we stop saying, “Please sir” and start saying, “Now, or else”?

I do not have these answers. I am tired and angry, but I am far from done fighting. I will walk down the aisle with my boyfriend and one day I will teach my kids of the olden days of bigotry and intolerance. I will teach them of the days before equality, before America kept her promises.

I know we are winning and I know that history is on our side, but for once it would be nice to see some successful blows land into their camps.

For once, I would like to see them cry and see them shed their blood, sweat and tears.

Update at 8:56 PM (PST) – With43% of the precincts reporting in, Approve r-71 is winning by a slight 3 point lead. Great news for us! However with 75! of precincts reporting, we are losing No on 1 by a 3 point lead. Come on Maine!

Update at 8:30 PM (PST)- With 61% of the vote, Yes on 1 is ahead by two points. This feels all too familiar, but I still feel we are going to win this one.

WASHINGTON R-71 - Currently, with 6% of the precincts reporting in, a rejection of same sex domestic partnerships is winning with 59% of the vote.

Update at 7:51 PM (PST) - We are at 50.8% for yes and 49.2% for no. I am a little bummed that so many people have voted to take away the rights of their fellow citizens. I still believe we are going to win this, but it sends an even clearer message if we could do so by a large margin.

Update at 6:55 PM(PST) – The Bangor Daily News site has been inundated with angry prayers and is currently suffering gods wrath for reporting the, as of now, No on 1 campaigns leading edge. You can follow the New York Times live election update for an alternative listing. Thanks to Joe at JoeMyGod for the tip!

Update at 6:39 PM (PST) - Currently, with 17% of the precincts reporting, No on 1 is winning by a slight margin. I have little fingernails left!

Kalamazoo Ordinance 1856 results: OneKalamazoo is claiming victory on ordinance 1856. With a total of 65% of total votes. Absentee ballots have not been accounted for at the moment, but even the HRC is calling in the victory for 1856.

Update at 6:20 PM (PST) – With 13% of precincts reporting and 45% of registered voters accounted for, No on 1 is winning by a slight margin at 52%.

Kalamazoo Ordinance 1856 results: Currently, we are winning by 65% of the vote. (With %12 of registered voters accounted for) 1856 is an ordinance baring discrimination based on a number of factors, sexuality being one of them. For more information about the ordinance, click here.

Update at 5:56 PM (PST) - No on 1 is now ahead with 5% of the precincts reporting and 20% of the voters being accounted for.

The poll results are slowly coming in and at the moment, Yes on 1 is winning by a slight majority. However, it should be noted that currently only 3% of the precincts have been accounted for.

For the time being, all we can do is wait and see what happens. I will try to keep everyone updated as to what is going on in Maine.

Take a moment and visit this wonderful flash video, it will calm your nerves and make you crave horse piss.

You are really sick, sick people.

Love Game – Lady Gaga… kinda

OK, first off, before you watch this… you must know one thing. I was not this fat looking in that costume. The video file has been squished so it just makes me APPEAR to be fat with a muffin top. However, I do want you to think my legs are really that large. So either way I am fat with muscular legs or skinny with no muscle at all. Depending on your physical preference, you imagine me as you wish when you shower tonight.

God, you are really sick. Is there no level to which you will not stoop? Tacky, just tacky.

Later on, we enjoyed other frivolities and danced the night away. I continued to look like an orbiting body.

Chris carves some shit into a pumpkin. I get jealous.

Once again Chris has to go out of his way to prove how talented he is and make me feel as gifted as short kid with a big weenie. Sure, a big weenie has its purpose, but who is going to give a short person the time of day to even find out they have a big old dog dork down there? I know I sure as hell wouldn’t. (That means stop calling me Elijah Wood)

Yet again, Chris set his mind to something artistic and I watched in jealousy.

I was going to try and one up him,  by carving my own pumpkin, but I just watched First Wives club instead.

Talented asshole.

Lady Gaga and other Halloween hideousness

Well, Halloween 2009 has come and gone and it was a pleasant enough experience. Chris and I had started the week off unsure as to what we were going to be doing Halloween night, beside the possible excursion to my sisters house. We figured it would get boring there after a while (they wanted to play bunco… ooh scary) and so we decided to look around for something to do around 10, giving us an excuse to leave before they started filling out their AARP membership cards.

We had spent nearly a week looking for costume ideas and we were unable to think of anything on the cheap. Being that we are operating at the poverty level, Halloween was going to be tight, or sparse. Either way, it was going to suck. Hazzah for holiday spirit!

I had originally wanted to go as Max, from where the wild things are, only because I wanted an excuse to sew. Now, I don’t sew very well at all, so if anything I would have gone as “Clothes and fur fabric wrapped over fat guy.” It’s a look, if nothing else. Thankfully, Chris pointed out, just how unoriginal I was being and we all know how I hate a lack of originality. (Says the gay guy with a snaky liberal blog)

I was tempted to go as Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous again and Chris was going to be my Edina, but sadly we couldn’t find a red pubic wig for Chris. I was hell bent on dressing up as a woman ONLY if I wasn’t the only one doing so.  So naturally, when Chris said he was going as Adam Lambert instead, I figured I would go as Lady Gage. Eh, I forgot.

We spent 80 bucks at the local Halloween store and went home to try on the hideous outfits. It was glori0us.

When Halloween night was upon us we spent several hours shaving and painting up our faces to look either gothic or bat shit crazy. I know very little about make up, other than I hate wearing it, so when it came to do my eye liner and eye makeup, I just starting jabbing my fingers into the makeup tubs like a fat kid at the M&M factory.  At least that’s what I did when I was there. Don’t you fucking judge me.

I looked hideous, Chris looked hideous and we walked out the door. The rest follows. Pray you spend little time in their terrific embrace, lest their images be burnt into your mind.