Election Fever: Maine and Washington State Referendum Watch
Here at our hotel room in Auburn, Alabama, it’s quiet except for the sound of the TV. My wife and daughter are napping.
In Alabama, Ami would be considered my roommate. My “friend.” And that would probably be how the nice people described our relationship. We’ve left the Promised Land, and it’s a long way to California.
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Meeting with Rep. Inslee on the Respect for Marriage Act – Act II: You Again, Barney Frank?
After the crowded waiting room, it was a relief to enter Inslee’s office, where there was plenty of seating. David Bahar, Inslee’s legislative assistant, was deaf and had an ASL translator, so for a little while it was just the four of us: David, the translator, Frances, and me. They assured me we had time to wait for Ami before beginning. I said she’d just be a few minutes, but the truth was I had no idea where–or if–she’d found parking or how long she’d be. I explained our mission and our journey, and talked about why we were running behind.
Lucky for me, Ami arrived a few minutes later, just about the time that the representative’s new communications person arrived, too. He said that he always tried to sit in with David, since he was so knowledgeable. I wondered if this was a way to make us feel like we were meeting with someone important, even if it wasn’t Inslee. We rearranged for the best translation vantage point, and got started.
Read moreMarriage (and Other LGBT) Rights in Pennsylvania
In my childhood, my mother and I vacationed in Pennsylvania frequently. My mother didn’t have much love for the modern world. She hated any musical composition that included the snare drum. She bemoaned tattoos on women: “That’s not ladylike.” And every year over Columbus Day weekend, we went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Amish Country.
Now, I was [...]
This Week in LGBT Activism
On Wednesday President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard & David Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. It was buried in a defense spending bill that had wide Republican support, and in this way found its way to the president’s desk after ten years of advocacy. Yesterday Obama lifted the HIV travel and immigration ban that barred positive individuals from visiting or immigrating to the U.S. And he reauthorized the Ryan White Care Act–having worked for an HIV/AIDS organization in the past, I know how critical these funds are to people living with HIV/AIDS.
Read moreMeeting with Rep. Inslee on the Respect for Marriage Act – Act I: Getting There
Oh, travel. You fickle harlot.
Somewhere along the way, we decided to drive to DC on the day of our meeting with our representative. I think it was partly a comfort concern–we were staying at my cousin Ceil’s apartment near Philly, and it’s got great things like a guest room and a shower. It was also partly a money concern–the park closest to DC is also very expensive–twice the price of some RV parks,–so we didn’t want to stay there two nights. It takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to get from Philly to DC, and our meeting was at 1 p.m. We left at 7:09 a.m. I looked at the clock on the way out. I remember being proud of us for coming very close to making the 7 a.m. goal we’d set.
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