PRIDE report
HAPPY PRIDE!!!!
Yay! So this was the first Pride weekend that i was actually able to spend with someone :) And the first pride where i actually knew some people in the community. Yay!
Went to the Parade & Festival yesterday. The parade was ok; the route was good, but the parade itself not as good as previous years'. Girl brought her ferret, so that was funny cuz nearly everyone wanted to pet it or hold it or whatever. The ferret sniffed, played in the grass, walked around, and had fun scoping out the scenes. i carried the pro-gay marriage sign that i got at the rally. Details on the rally below.
Festival was ok. i offered to help volunteer for the Library booth (GAGV Library where i normally volunteer), but the guys were content to stay at the tables and hold down the fort themselves.
At night, got to have some good ol' dancin' & drinkin' fun at Tilt, which was positively HOPPIN. Ok, the bars all close at 2am, and as of 2am this morning (last night), there was STILL a massive line of gay boys wanting in. Did a couple of kamikazes with a girl who just turned 21 on Friday while some OTHER peeps i know were drinking RUM and diet coke, lol!! HAHA hellin!! A friend of Girl's showed up with her stripper friend, and turned a few of us into Jell-O, hehehe. Another couple of couples showed up too, and we all danced and had a good time (well, those who didn't dance merely watched).
i dunno if anyone noticed, but last night there was a brilliant red-orange moon that kept hiding behind the clouds. It was gorgeous...
Anyway, today came, and i decided that instead of doing my usual early showing-up at the Picnic & not knowing anyone & walking around in circles for a few hours during the hottest part of the day, i would just stay at my place until i KNEW that someone would go with me. So she showed up after getting back into town, and we headed out to the park. Managed to sneak in rather than paying $15 at the entrance, so that was good. We walked around, said hi to everyone we knew (she more than i, naturally), had some ice cream...wanted to dance for a little bit, but my gay boy friend was being a drunken socialite, so we didn't dance much (that, and i hadn't had anything to drink). i bought a pride bracelet and ring; had a ring in mind that i liked, but Girl already owns one, so i can't very well buy a matching ring at this stage of our non-relationship, lol. But the ring i got spins & won't turn my finger green, so it's all good. i walked around with a squirt gun (procured from the Festival for free) and randomly shot people with water :P Saw some friends play football and wrestle...a good time overall :)
Got a slushie with Girl after we left, and now she's home eating, taking care of her ferrets, watching a movie, and will soon sleep. Did i mention she tans quite nicely? Hehe.
SO. As i'm sure everyone is aware by now, the NY Court of Appeals has decided not to really make a decision re: Gay Marriage. Basically it said that the current NY Constitution doesn't uphold same-sex marriage, and that it should be left up to the Legislature (and we all know how good THAT is) to change the law. It shouldn't have been an issue in the first place...If LGBT citizens need a gay marriage license, then you might as well say we need separate drivers' licenses, and separate ANY licensure given by the state. On the upside, the Chief Justice was one of the two FOR gay marriage, so that was interesting. Anyway...there was a rally here in Rochester at Washington Square Park last Thursday, the day the court issued its (non)decision. i went with Girl (and surprisingly saw ex & twink there); we held signs & wore buttons and stickers. Apparently we were on Channel 8 &/or Fox that night, but i didn't see it. It was a cool rally. i fell in love (not literelly, but you get my drift) with this lawyer whose real estate work i've seen before...She's the only female & lesbian rabbi in Western NY, and she spoke...she's fucking awesome!! If she didn't just have a one-woman firm, i'd totally ask to work for her (i'm not experienced enough to work alone in my field, unfortunately). Supposedly about 200 people showed up (hence the D&C article)...i'm not sure how accurate that is, cuz it didn't look like that many, but i guess it was enough for the local news to cover, so...yeah. Most of the people who spoke mentioned how angry they were with the Court, but expressed hope that Spitzer would be elected Governor (EVERYONE NEEDS TO VOTE SPITZER THIS YEAR!!), and that the incoming Legislature would work hard on this issue. ACT UP!! FIGHT DISCRIMINATION!! Really, with as long a history NY has with progressive civil rights, there's NO FUCKING REASON we should be treated as second-class citizens.
Oh, and one of the points in the Court's opinion against gay marriage (other than the rant on "it's for the children", which is utterly DUMB), was that the gays are too new of a group, and that studies haven't been able to be long-term because we're so new to the population. WTF?? HELLO!! Walt Whitman was gay, Eleanor Roosevelt was gay, most of the Spartans of Ancient Rome were gay...we just haven't been able to be OUT until the 1990s, is all...so WTF. True, we didn't push to have family units until recently, but honestly...c'mon. We ALL know the "it's for the promotion of the hetero family unit with children" argument doesn't WORK anymore (which thankfully was one of the points the Chief Justice made). i don't even NEED to go into WHY. LGBT citizens are trying to PREVENT further discrimination; with the long history against blacks, Natives, the disabled, hispanics, Asians, etc...why can't people realize that LGBTs are yet ANOTHER minority just trying to get the same rights as everyone else? We're trying to do this NOW, beFORE bloodshed, beFORE further idiocies that every other group has gone through.
Speaking of the D&C...WTF. Their editorial on the subject was completely Republican. Even the front page article was mostly biased toward the conservative bent. The whole 'A' section just pissed me the fuck off. (A&S, i'll show it to ya when you get here, you'll see what i mean.)
So, yeah. Rochester Pride happened the weekend directly after the decision. i felt all prideful and stuff, but i don't think the events were as good as previous years', all in all. At least i got to spend it all with someone i like, though :) That was the best part. And i really like that one of the things we do regularly is to get slushies. (Not Slurpies, dammit. They're SLUSHIES! hehehe.)
Oh! and i got stung by a bee/wasp for the first time in like 15 years. Weird.
On the job front, Not Gothic never called me back, and when i tried calling on Friday, no one answered. Ever. So i get to try again tomorrow. Yay. i did see a job posting that my experience would be a perfect fit for, and i left a voicemail for the contact. Hopefully she'll call me back tomorrow too. Back to the week, back to the grind. Need to exercise this week, and see what the fuck i'm doing for my bday.
Next weekend is BOOKED with FUN, so YAY! ;)
Oh! and note to self: August 19th is Pride @ Darien Lake. Woot!
Yay! So this was the first Pride weekend that i was actually able to spend with someone :) And the first pride where i actually knew some people in the community. Yay!
Went to the Parade & Festival yesterday. The parade was ok; the route was good, but the parade itself not as good as previous years'. Girl brought her ferret, so that was funny cuz nearly everyone wanted to pet it or hold it or whatever. The ferret sniffed, played in the grass, walked around, and had fun scoping out the scenes. i carried the pro-gay marriage sign that i got at the rally. Details on the rally below.
Festival was ok. i offered to help volunteer for the Library booth (GAGV Library where i normally volunteer), but the guys were content to stay at the tables and hold down the fort themselves.
At night, got to have some good ol' dancin' & drinkin' fun at Tilt, which was positively HOPPIN. Ok, the bars all close at 2am, and as of 2am this morning (last night), there was STILL a massive line of gay boys wanting in. Did a couple of kamikazes with a girl who just turned 21 on Friday while some OTHER peeps i know were drinking RUM and diet coke, lol!! HAHA hellin!! A friend of Girl's showed up with her stripper friend, and turned a few of us into Jell-O, hehehe. Another couple of couples showed up too, and we all danced and had a good time (well, those who didn't dance merely watched).
i dunno if anyone noticed, but last night there was a brilliant red-orange moon that kept hiding behind the clouds. It was gorgeous...
Anyway, today came, and i decided that instead of doing my usual early showing-up at the Picnic & not knowing anyone & walking around in circles for a few hours during the hottest part of the day, i would just stay at my place until i KNEW that someone would go with me. So she showed up after getting back into town, and we headed out to the park. Managed to sneak in rather than paying $15 at the entrance, so that was good. We walked around, said hi to everyone we knew (she more than i, naturally), had some ice cream...wanted to dance for a little bit, but my gay boy friend was being a drunken socialite, so we didn't dance much (that, and i hadn't had anything to drink). i bought a pride bracelet and ring; had a ring in mind that i liked, but Girl already owns one, so i can't very well buy a matching ring at this stage of our non-relationship, lol. But the ring i got spins & won't turn my finger green, so it's all good. i walked around with a squirt gun (procured from the Festival for free) and randomly shot people with water :P Saw some friends play football and wrestle...a good time overall :)
Got a slushie with Girl after we left, and now she's home eating, taking care of her ferrets, watching a movie, and will soon sleep. Did i mention she tans quite nicely? Hehe.
SO. As i'm sure everyone is aware by now, the NY Court of Appeals has decided not to really make a decision re: Gay Marriage. Basically it said that the current NY Constitution doesn't uphold same-sex marriage, and that it should be left up to the Legislature (and we all know how good THAT is) to change the law. It shouldn't have been an issue in the first place...If LGBT citizens need a gay marriage license, then you might as well say we need separate drivers' licenses, and separate ANY licensure given by the state. On the upside, the Chief Justice was one of the two FOR gay marriage, so that was interesting. Anyway...there was a rally here in Rochester at Washington Square Park last Thursday, the day the court issued its (non)decision. i went with Girl (and surprisingly saw ex & twink there); we held signs & wore buttons and stickers. Apparently we were on Channel 8 &/or Fox that night, but i didn't see it. It was a cool rally. i fell in love (not literelly, but you get my drift) with this lawyer whose real estate work i've seen before...She's the only female & lesbian rabbi in Western NY, and she spoke...she's fucking awesome!! If she didn't just have a one-woman firm, i'd totally ask to work for her (i'm not experienced enough to work alone in my field, unfortunately). Supposedly about 200 people showed up (hence the D&C article)...i'm not sure how accurate that is, cuz it didn't look like that many, but i guess it was enough for the local news to cover, so...yeah. Most of the people who spoke mentioned how angry they were with the Court, but expressed hope that Spitzer would be elected Governor (EVERYONE NEEDS TO VOTE SPITZER THIS YEAR!!), and that the incoming Legislature would work hard on this issue. ACT UP!! FIGHT DISCRIMINATION!! Really, with as long a history NY has with progressive civil rights, there's NO FUCKING REASON we should be treated as second-class citizens.
Oh, and one of the points in the Court's opinion against gay marriage (other than the rant on "it's for the children", which is utterly DUMB), was that the gays are too new of a group, and that studies haven't been able to be long-term because we're so new to the population. WTF?? HELLO!! Walt Whitman was gay, Eleanor Roosevelt was gay, most of the Spartans of Ancient Rome were gay...we just haven't been able to be OUT until the 1990s, is all...so WTF. True, we didn't push to have family units until recently, but honestly...c'mon. We ALL know the "it's for the promotion of the hetero family unit with children" argument doesn't WORK anymore (which thankfully was one of the points the Chief Justice made). i don't even NEED to go into WHY. LGBT citizens are trying to PREVENT further discrimination; with the long history against blacks, Natives, the disabled, hispanics, Asians, etc...why can't people realize that LGBTs are yet ANOTHER minority just trying to get the same rights as everyone else? We're trying to do this NOW, beFORE bloodshed, beFORE further idiocies that every other group has gone through.
Speaking of the D&C...WTF. Their editorial on the subject was completely Republican. Even the front page article was mostly biased toward the conservative bent. The whole 'A' section just pissed me the fuck off. (A&S, i'll show it to ya when you get here, you'll see what i mean.)
So, yeah. Rochester Pride happened the weekend directly after the decision. i felt all prideful and stuff, but i don't think the events were as good as previous years', all in all. At least i got to spend it all with someone i like, though :) That was the best part. And i really like that one of the things we do regularly is to get slushies. (Not Slurpies, dammit. They're SLUSHIES! hehehe.)
Oh! and i got stung by a bee/wasp for the first time in like 15 years. Weird.
On the job front, Not Gothic never called me back, and when i tried calling on Friday, no one answered. Ever. So i get to try again tomorrow. Yay. i did see a job posting that my experience would be a perfect fit for, and i left a voicemail for the contact. Hopefully she'll call me back tomorrow too. Back to the week, back to the grind. Need to exercise this week, and see what the fuck i'm doing for my bday.
Next weekend is BOOKED with FUN, so YAY! ;)
Oh! and note to self: August 19th is Pride @ Darien Lake. Woot!