Transgender Day of Remembrance

Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Light a candle, march in the streets, and remember the souls we've lost to hatred and fear.

There's a Hollywood protest tonight at 6pm.

Anyone have a link to memorial times & locations around the country?

Looking back on Prop. 8

Shortly after the election, I volunteered at a public school "star party" -- just a few telescopes showing off Jupiter, the Moon, and star clusters to hundreds of school kids and parents. The students were full of questions, the parents were so enthusiastic they yoga-contorted themselves down to the kid-level eyepieces to see what the kids were yammering about. It was a rousing success -- the principal says they've never had such high turnout for an after-school event.

Despite being bone-tired and still in disbelief over passage of Prop 8, I stayed on my feet, slewed my telescope, and adjusted the eyepiece so kids of all sizes could reach. I explained how the stars in an open cluster are drifting away from their birthplace, out into the galaxy at large.

The parents in line with their children, waiting for a look through my telescope -- how many voted for Prop 8? How many realized that we, the volunteers sharing the stars with their kids, were gay? Did anyone notice my small No on 8 button, and second-guess their vote? How many parents stood up for equality & voted No, even if they weren't sure why?

Morning conversation at the Rose Bowl

...
The wife: "Angelinos don't trust pedestrians."
Me: "Why do you say that?"
The wife: "People look at us funny when we're out walking."
Me: "They do?"
The wife: "Yeah, some people."
Me: "Because we're dykes, or because we're walking?"

Prop 8 -- waiting for a full count

Prop 8 is ahead, though provisional and absentee ballots haven't been counted. So we wait, and hope, and know that we did what we could to create a fairer California where everybody is treated equally.

Here's a snapshot of me yesterday, outside a suburban LA polling place, asking voters to vote NO on 8. (Taken to demonstrate that I was standing outside the 100 ft line.)

We tried HARD, we really did.

Beautiful to see Obama win, though. I went to one of the afterparties in LA, tired and grubby from a day at the polls. The ballroom was full of delighted people, many with homemade t-shirts, plurality of African-Americans but with many races represented, dancing & smiling & looking around in wonderment. My wife and I saw both a dark-skinned woman wearing a chador, and a dignified elderly queen dressed in pink. Which is quite a Big Tent.

Update: Can we PLEASE kill the myth that black voters passed Prop 8? They didn't. Old voters and religious voters passed Prop 8. Go read 538's analysis.

Go, Go, Go