One Phone Call at a Time

Tonight I made phone calls for HRC on behalf of the Corzine campaign.  Governor Corzine is supportive of equal rights for all New Jerseyans.  That includes my right to marry Rick, my partner of over 11 years.  Chris Christie, his opponent, is very clear that he will support no such legislation.  I am in no way a one issue voter, but this one carries a lot of weight for me.  Do you see me as equal or not?  It's very simple. 

I find making cold calls extremely nerve wracking.  There is a lot of information you need to keep at your fingertips.  And there's a conversational tone that you need to keep at the same time.  And, having gotten my share of calls at home, during dinner, I'm aware that solicitation calls of any kind might not be met with an open mind.  Suffice it to say, I don't much like doing it.  But it's important work.  And a beer helped calm my nerves.  

I spent a few hours finding out where people are in terms of their vote and if they'd be willing to volunteer.  I noticed that a lot of people are extremely busy at work and simply don't have time to help out.  Apparently the only people in the country right now who have work are the people one asks to volunteer.  Interesting.  But that's neither here nor there.  Doing something feels good.  Even something small.  Every little bit helps.  

These are some of the things I kept in mind tonight as I was going through my lists, making calls and hoping to change the world - one phone call at a time:

Annise Parker, a Houston mayoral candidate and out lesbian, had to contend with an email sent out by her opponent.  Here is a sample of some of the words used in that email:  "lifestyle," "role model," "Bible," "lifestyle," "scripture," "lifestyle," "God."

Today I came across this recycled add - literally - from Prop 8.  This time it's being used for Question 1 in Maine.  The gist of the ad?  Allowing marriage equality to continue in Maine will destroy Maine's children.  And by destroy I mean turn them gay.  The defenders of inequality do seem fond of going back to that well again and again and again.  And once again the argument is based on the idea that all people (children) are straight until they are taught (recruited) to be gay.  Taken to its conclusion, if we stop "teaching" kids that there are gay people in the world, then gay people will cease to exist, which is really the point of all of these campaigns.  

Now, does that bear any relation to anyone's sexual awakening or understanding?  Anyone?  Let me know.

ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act - an act that would protect against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity) had its first hearing in the House today.  Finally!  Here are some of the words and expressions used on thelastcrusade.org to describe this long overdue piece of legislation:    "perversity," "hell," "designed to strip all American business owners of their First Amendment rights," "forced," "deviant," "morality."  To be fair, most of the comments below the blog are in favor of equal rights for the LGBT community.  The way I see it, if the people reading thelastcrusade.org are in favor of marriage equality and ENDA, maybe things aren't so bad after all!

But then I saw these two hateful videos of Reverend Harry Jackson, Jr. speaking at the Values Voters Summit last weekend.  As with many things I post, there's too much to say.  I would love to say that he's not worth my time, but he awakens people's fears.  And I find that very much worth my time.  Spreading hate on the wings of fear is dangerous.  Listen to his words and the crowd's reaction.  It is horrific.

In South Africa, a lesbian football star was gang raped, brutally stabbed numerous times (which resulted in her death), dragged "naked towards a stream and dumped."   While some claim that the attack was not motivated by her sexuality, activists claim that it was a "corrective rape," something not uncommon in South Africa.  One of the men who took part in the attack will be going to jail for life.

Deviant.  God.  Bible. Perversity.  Hell.

In other news, Qaddafi stood up in front of the UN...alright, he really isn't worth my time.  He's an insane, brutal, murderous man - who stood in front of the UN and complained about how they haven't sanctioned or investigated insane, brutal, murderous men.

And finally, Obama is making a lot of headlines.  He's on a lot of talk shows.  He's everywhere discussing everything.  Or maybe not.  His education reform seems to be on the dl.  If doing this quietly is what it takes to get it done, then do it quietly Mr. President.  Wait.  Maybe I shouldn't be posting that article here.  

More tomorrow.