Tutorial: The Day We Fought Back

STONEWALL.


The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when gays and lesbians fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted homosexuals, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.

American gays and lesbians in the 1950s and 1960s faced a legal system more anti-homosexual than those of some Warsaw Pact countries. Early homophile groups in the U.S. sought to prove that gay people could be assimilated into society, and they favored non-confrontational education for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike. The last years of the 1960s, however, were very contentious, as many social movements were active, including the African American Civil Rights Movement, the Counterculture of the 1960s, and antiwar demonstrations. These influences, along with the liberal environment of Greenwich Village, served as catalysts for the Stonewall riots.

Very few establishments welcomed openly gay people in the 1950s and 1960s. Those that did were often bars, although bar owners and managers were rarely gay. The Stonewall Inn, at the time, was owned by the Mafia. It catered to an assortment of patrons, but it was known to be popular with the most marginalized people in the gay community: transvestites, effeminate young men, hustlers, and homeless youth. Police raids on gay bars were routine in the 1960s, but officers quickly lost control of the situation at the Stonewall Inn, and attracted a crowd that was incited to riot. Tensions between New York City police and gay residents of Greenwich Village erupted into more protests the next evening, and again several nights later. Within weeks, Village residents quickly organized into activist groups to concentrate efforts on establishing places for gays and lesbians to be open about their sexual orientation without fear of being arrested.

After the Stonewall riots, gays and lesbians in New York City faced gender, class, and generational obstacles to becoming a cohesive community. Within six months, two gay activist organizations were formed in New York, concentrating on confrontational tactics, and three newspapers were established to promote rights for gays and lesbians. Within a few years, gay rights organizations were founded across the U.S. and the world. On June 28, 1970, the first Gay Pride marches took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco commemorating the anniversary of the riots. Similar marches were organized in other cities; today Gay Pride events are held annually throughout the world toward the end of June to mark the Stonewall riots.

Viva La Musica

More music, I've been finding alot of good stuff lately...

Emiliana Torrini - Big Jumps
Natasha Bedingfield - Soulmate
Jonatha Brooke - War
Jonatha Brooke - What We Are
Solange Knowles - Sandcastle Disco
Blaque - Ugly



ok so this list is short, but its GOOD.
Jonatha Brooke has become one of my top favorite artists. She is amazing.
You can find her music on Yahoo Launch (launch.yahoo.com)and on Myspace.

She must not know about me...

bitch, you better ask somebody.


LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT LINDA PORTONOVA.

I work with this miserable old spinster, and all I can say is that she is atrocious. She has the ability to be nice and polite, but I have learned that it is entirely fake. She is a back stabber, a shit talker, and the worst part is that she has been with the company so freaking long that the owners would rather just put up her than fire her ass. So she gets to throw people under buses and talk shit and make all the mistakes she wants...because she has job security.

I first noticed her issues back when I was a temp. She would be all sticky sweet on the phone with vendors or customers "oh sure sweety, you're welcome! you have a great day!" *hangs up phone* "ya fuckin idiot."

Umm, ok weird. SO then, I find out the shit talking is not exclusive to the customers. She talks about all of us. She called Stuart (owner) an unreliable flake, she said Bo (Other Owner) is a Boar with no personality, Tom (my boss) is an idiot, Hillary (co-dispatcher) would be fine if she would stop twitching and flopping on the ground (She has the occasional seizure), all of our techs are idiots for one reason or another according to Linda, and me...well she has it out for me. I'm a YUTZ, she blamed a bunch of HER fuck ups on ME, if the phone rings and its me calling she immediately starts talking shit saying "oh he is gonna call in sick, oh my god, his days are numbered" and I'm calling to let my boss know there is an accident and to let the techs know to avoid the freeway if they are in the area...ya know, courtesy. Yeah, I don't know what it is she has against me, but she does, and she makes it known to everyone EXCEPT ME...she seems to think that I don't find out all the shit she says about me. And then she has the audacity to act all nice to my face! She must not know about me, she'd better ask somebody cuz I didn't come here to play. She is trying to endanger my job, which is the same as trying to steal money from me, and that an offense punishable by DEATH. Don't fuck with my money.

I have talked with my boss about it, and all Im told is "there's nothing we can do, they wont fire her, it is what it is."

And when you have a recurring problem with behavior of an employee, something needs to be done, or said. It needs to be addressed.
Im just waiting for her to mention something about my being gay...oh lord help her if I catch wind of that. I will have a lawyer down her throat so fast. And I will notify my boss of it, and if no disciplinary action is taken, I will have this company in a courtroom too. I don't fuck around.

Anyway, she talks a big game about how stupid everyone is, then she is nice to their faces, she bitches and whines about everything then does nothing about it. Then ya know, when you have a tragedy in your life, or youre sick, all she can say is how weak you are and how "oh god someone died so he/she is gonna take a week off..uggghhh" but she cried her eyes out all day and had US pick up the slack because her senile mother is being put in a home so that she wont hurt herself....isn't that a good thing?
This woman's whole life revolves around Dog Rescue. Which is noble, but omg there is a reason why you are alone lady, cuz you have no personality to speak of, and you are all wrapped up in ...dogs. Just be the crazy neighborhood dog lady and call it a day, stop trying to be a person...be the crazy dog lady you nut bag. She loves animals because they aren't mentally equipped to understand how big a bitch she is. Animals tend to love unconditionally. Which she won't find in any human companion, because she is a BITCH.

So if you ever meet this poorly dressed white trash mess whose license plate says "milk maid"...be sure to let her fake ass know you see right through her.

OH and when she is nervous, her eye twitches...its funny to see people make her nervous. haha

Prop 8, the Sequal: Mormon Money may not be enough this time.

The fight for marriage equality in 2009 hasn't slowed down at all. We have lots of news in the last month and plenty to look forward to in the next.

- Prop 8: the Sequel, opens March 5 -

All eyes are on California as the battle for marriage equality accelerates in preparation for State Supreme Court arguments on March 5. Ken Starr, the legal architect behind the anti-equality movement, has gone on record suggesting the state should exit the marriage business entirely. Is this a sign he already expects a loss?

In preparation for this battle, we've taken a look at the legal arguments of CA Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter, the most strident legal enemy of marriage equality in the Supreme Court decision last May.


- Lies, damn lies, and the Mormon Church -

To no one's surprise, the multi-billion dollar political ringleader of prop 8 donated 100 times more money than previously reported during the election season. Could lying to the election commission be what causes the Mormon Church to lose its tax-exempt status in CA?

As if this deception wasn't enough, during the election the Mormon Church claimed to support full legal rights for gay couples so long as the word "marriage" was reserved for heterosexuals. This was a claim meant to pacify nominal California conservatives whose church told them one thing but conscience another. Now, a bill that would have allowed Utahns to sue if a same-sex partner suffers a wrongful death was killed by Mormon hands.

The church was dealt a blow when its attempts to hide the identities of donors to prop 8 was rejected out of hand by a California judge. "If there ever needs to be sunshine on a political issue, it is with a ballot measure," the Judge ruled. Amen.


- Gay marriage around the Union -

Wyoming has added itself to the auspicious list of states that have shaken off the moral poison of evangelical extremists when the state Senate killed a bill similar to prop 8. Given the dark cloud that hangs over Wyoming as the state that bred the torture and murder of Matthew Shephard, this is a positive step, and proof of the growing strength of the marriage equality cause even in conservative areas.

In New York, the state Senate has said that equality will come in 2010, once the necessary number of votes are secured. This may involve donations in the next New York senate race to deliver the needed votes, so be prepared for future fund raising drives.

Ohio has swung to the right side of the marriage equality battle: a christian church now refuses to grant marriage licenses until marriage equality is a reality for all couples in their state. We need to engage more churches like this to spread our message.

Nationally, support for gay marriage in the US Senate has jumped 300% in the past year. Combine this with the two rulings that raise "serious" constitutional questions about DOMA, and it may mean a full DOMA repeal may not be far away.


Hope/wish/pray for our lawyers who will be fighting our case in March!

F.Y.I.

If you ever do business with a company called "Kelsey National"...there is a woman there with a scratchy raspy voice named Michelle..... sock her in the mouth and call her a cunt. Trust me, she deserves it.

FUCK YOU MICHELLE AT KELSEY NATIONAL, FUCK YOU AND YOUR WHOLE FAMILY YOUR DRIPPING DISEASED FLOPPY CUNT.



ok I feel better now.

Viva La Musica

Here's the newest list of Songs I'm loving:

Christina Milian - Us Against the World
Leona Lewis - Better In Time
Natasha Bedingfield - Angel
Howie Day - Madrigals
Toni Braxton - He Wasn't Man Enough
Toby Lightman - My Sweet Song
India Arie - Ready for Love
Vertical Horizon - You Say
Jonatha Brooke - Eye in the Sky
Jonatha Brooke - I'll Try
Jonatha Brooke - Is This All
Missy Higgins - Don't Need a Reason
Missy Higgins - Blind Water



Hope you all give them a listen and enjoy!!

Douche Baggery: Douche Bigotry

KENNETH STAR.... needs to die a horrible, painful death.



First, how creepy are his stubby old fingers...weird, and could he have chosen a GAYER pose for this picture? AssBag


December 2008:
Kenneth W. Starr, the former U.S. Solicitor General who led the inquiry into President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica L. Lewinsky, will argue the case in favor of upholding a ban on gay marriage before the California Supreme Court.

Starr was today named lead counsel for the official proponents of Proposition 8. This afternoon, the group filed court briefs defending the legality of the proposition, which was approved by 52% of California voters last month throwing into question thousands of marriages performed during the five months the practice was legal in the state.

The briefs are in response to a spate of legal challenges filed by gay rights advocates, including the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Opponents of the proposition argued that it amounted to a constitutional revision instead of a more limited amendment.

A revision of the state constitution can only go before voters after a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or a constitutional convention. Proposition 8 was put on the ballot after a signature drive. The case poses a series of provocative legal challenges.

The first among them is that California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who opposed Proposition 8 but is legally bound to defend the state’s laws, must now weigh in on the challenge. Brown has in recent days been called upon to declare it a revision. In the past, he has said he plans to “defend the proposition as enacted by the people of California.”

But he has also said he believes that the estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages performed between June and November should remain valid.

Because it did not trust Brown to mount a staunch defense of the proposition, the group Protect Marriage intervened in the case and filed its own brief. It argues that the same-sex marriages are no longer valid. Brown’s briefs are due later today.

The court could hear oral arguments as soon as March.


Feb 2009:
The prosecutor who led the campaign to impeach President Bill Clinton has filed a legal brief -- on behalf of the "Yes on 8" campaign -- that would forcibly divorce the 18,000 same-sex couples married in California last year before the passage of Prop 8.

News broke Tuesday that the state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on March 5, and will then make a decision within 90 days on the validity of Prop 8 and these 18,000 marriages.

When Starr's legal brief went public in December, the Courage Campaign immediately launched the "Don't Divorce..." campaign, asking our members to send us pictures with a simple message for Starr and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund.

Those pictures, and the heartfelt messages on them, inspired blogger Paul Delehanty (also known as "kid oakland") to send us a suggestion: Would Regina Spektor allow us to put your pictures to the words and music of her hit song "Fidelity"? So, we asked her and she said yes, very enthusiastically.

Regina Spektor's song, in concert with your pictures, shines a beautiful light on the 18,000 couples that Ken Starr wants to forcibly divorce.


He is a horrible, wretched excuse for a human being, and I intend to dance, piss, and take a fat dump on his grave when he finally DIES. Who's with me? ROADTRIP!!