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Constant Readers,
I’ll be bawling in Berkley this Sunday watching my dear friends Brian Leubitz and Brian Devine (that's them) get hitched.
It is a well-known fact that I am a total hag. Lesbians, too. It's not on purpose. I’m just drawn to people who aren’t afraid to be themselves. Which seems to be a talent lots of gay people (by virtue of being made to feel "different") have to develop much earlier and more definitively than most straight folk. I can’t imagine growing up in Georgia without gorgeous queens like Shane assuring me (via original songs) that I wasn’t crazy for hating Newt Gingrich. Or getting through college without my constant companion, Jessica, who can make me laugh with a look.
Obviously (and thankfully) Shane and Jessica live in California now.
So I’m all over trying to convince my fellow hets to vote no on Proposition 8 on November 4. Prop 8 would amend the California Constitution to add the words: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
I went to the Equality California No on 8 Campaign Kickoff on Saturday to show my support. My friend Alex Tourk and his Dream Team over at Ground Floor Public Affairs put the rally together and Tourk started out the event by getting the crowd fired up to fight the pro-Prop 8 campaign. Yay! Clappin’ and hollerin'! Woot!
Then Geoff Kors, the Executive Director of Equality California invited all the Equality California workers and supporters to stand behind him. Among them were City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Sheriff Mike Hennessey, Supervisors Bevan Dufty, Gerardo Sandoval and Tom Ammiano. (Ammiano was sporting an unfortunate sartorial choice - a striped shirt that looked like it was from Chess King circa 1991.) Mistermayor was next and spoke about Del Martin and what her life meant to the larger issues of The City and equality.
Then Mark Leno (who will be the officiant at The Brians’ wedding!) talked about how gay marriage is keeping California’s economy afloat ("the ice sculptures alone...") and demanded that small-government conservatives be consistent and keep the government out of peoples' relationships.
Kate Kendall (who is Super-Charismatic) from the National Center for Lesbian Rights told us about the amount of work that needs to be done between now and the election. And also Phyllis Lyon already donated $1000 to the No on 8 campaign so anyone who hasn't given time and/or money is a cheap and/or lazy bastard. (Go here to learn more about ways you can help.)
Then Ammiano spoke.
God bless you, Tom. I mean, the shirt was funny enough but then...
He literally walked up the mike and declared “Palin says gay people should be converted, Convert This!” complete with crotch-grab – in case you didn’t know what “this” was referencing. Other gems on Palin: “Sorry a house fell on your sister,” and she has a “PhD – a Pentecostal hair-Do …tease it for Jesus!”
He spoke about a previous time when the gay community had to come together to defeat a ballot proposition. It was 1978 and they stopped John Briggs' initiative that would have banned gay people from teaching in public schools. (Bonus: Ammiano said that the actor who portrays Briggs in the movie Milk is gay. Hehehe!)
Ammiano also made a great point that this is a “vanity campaign” for right wing people and their way of life. That putting Prop 8 on the ballot is a waste of time on so many levels. And Tom knows a thing or two about vanity campaigns.
Last up was Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums. Now, I’ve read some harsh criticism about this man but had never seen him speak.
Y'all.
Seriously.
He was great!
He talked about the recent death of his mother (which made me tear up; tho I’ve been crying at speeches too much lately) and how she endowed him with a sense of self-respect and responsibility. So she'd be proud of the work that Equality California is doing for same-sex nuptials.
He called gay marriage “an idea whose time has come” and said that our generation should not picket outside the gates of power, but should exercise the power of just being ourselves and make other people deal with it. Walk in and say, “I’m here. Pass the coffee and a roll and let’s get on with the agenda.”
He also mentioned that he is about to turn 73. So my friend Paul Hogarth (he's on my left here) and I began whispering and immediately agreed that we'd totally pay to see a septuagenarian smackdown between Dellums and McCain.
And did I mention it was hotter than Georgia asphalt in the room where the rally was held? Sweet tiny baby Jesus. I was sweating like Palin at a PETA parade.
As I was leaving, I saw my friend Mike Medema and his husband Timmy, who came just to see me! “My god, girl,” he said, “you love the gays!”
Nah. I love fabulous people. Don’t blame me for the statistics.
--Melissa
PS - Special shout to Bill Wilson who took these photos at the kickoff.
