Friday, May 29, 2009

Be a part of it, New York, New York!

The message I just posted to everyone I know who lives in the state of New York:

All my people in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, Long Island, upstate, and Manhattan, too: New York's only chance to not be monumentally disappointing and fail to get gay marriage before 2010 is NOW. How embarrassing would that be, to be *behind* the tide of equality that's sweeping the nation?! Gov. Paterson's bill to institute gender-neutral marriage equality is in heavy lobbying in the State Senate, and it's going to be really, really close.

If you live in New York state, PLEASE, JUST GO HERE: http://www.nysenate.gov/, put in your zipcode, and find out your State Senator.

THEN GO HERE: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/05/whip-count-gay-marraige-faces-uphill.html, and see how they're expected to vote. If they're a supporter of the bill, shoot them an email and thank them! If they're undecided or against - especially if they're leaning, not firm - get on the phone or email and give them your most impassioned, most personal pitch as to why they should change their mind! Then tell your parents, friends, classmates, co-workers, cousins, anyone you know who lives in the state of New York - especially upstate and the outer boroughs! - and supports gay marriage to do the same.

I feel so homesick to be missing this fight, all the way out here in CA. As we learned the hard way out here (ahem, Prop 8), it would be SO MUCH easier and better to pass this democratically, with the state's popularly elected legislators, then to have it FAIL and have to rely on a series of court cases down the line! The No on 8 movement out here was disorganized, clueless, and un-courageous -- we failed to have those tough conversations with our neighbors and family members who are of a different class, or a different color, or a different religion, or a different political party from us, BEFORE the vote, when it would (not could, would) have made the difference. The right-wingers are orchestrating a well-organized push and dropping huge amounts of money on this late in the game, too, just like they did out here.

In the hot-and-heavy lobbying that's going on in NY right now, constituents' voices ARE the thing State Senators are listening to. What's changing State Senators' minds IS direct, concrete, anecdotal, personal appeals, like the ones described here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/nyregion/10gays.html.

Just take a second to double-check where your State Senator stands and email anyone you know who lives in a wavering State Senator's district.

I want this so bad you guys - I'm legally married in the state of New York, and I want to be able to feel proud, not sketched out and angry and ashamed, of that and of my state! Let's do this -- get on the email and the phone if you <3 NY!!


I wanna see THIS on the steps of City Hall!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

supreme court weltschmerz - it ain't over

So I love how the central thrust of the Republicans' bashing of Sotomayor as a Supreme Court nominee is telegraphing, loud and clear for the whole country to see, their fundamental belief that ONLY white men from privileged backgrounds can ever possibly be 'objective,' or be qualified to do anything, really, without being labeled scary-fringe-affirmative-action-whatever!

The number of times this judge's "life story" is juxtaposed with scary paranoid ranting about her "ideology" in the conservative media is really telling -- OMG she is sure to be BIASED! Towards POOR PEOPLE, because, you know, she WAS ONE!

Note how conservatives with similar life stories (Thomas, Alito) are lauded as self-made go-getters. And I WISH that some day we would have a discussion about how growing up rich/ white/ straight/ male/ in a prep school bubble/ in a cushy home with every comfort, etc. affects judges' and politicians' ability to do their jobs, whether it would, you know, be a terrible handicap to have a leader who doesn't have any first-hand experience of what MOST of the people in this country go through - dealing with at least one major, systematic kind of discrimination or oppression, all of the time.

The brilliant Bitch, Ph.D. breaks it all down for you here:
http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-are-they-thinking.html

Also, I love that this tool is actually saying we should all be intentionally mispronouncing our names if they don't happen to be Anglo in origin - really, this has to be seen to be believed:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzkwYzY3ZTc4NTkwZjRiMjM3OGVlMzlmNTZjYmY2ZDI=
Earth to this guy, Judge Sotomayor is an American, born in the Bronx, not a "newcomer."

Gah. At least they're showing themselves for the horrible, fearful little racists they are.