Today is one heck of an amazing day. Why is that? Today is the National Equality March in Washington, DC. No longer sparse events scattered throughout the country fighting for equality, but one large gathering from all stretches of the nation on the footsteps of those who can take action against the gross discrimination that we as LGBT people endure.
Among them, our president.
Put aside whether you think he’s moved fast enough or not, the very fact that he showed up at the HRC dinner last night and spoke is monumental. To speak out in favor of equal rights as freely and openly as he did on video, broadcast around the world, is nothing short of brave and commendable. Keep in mind, the only power President Obama has to change laws is to influence Congress to pass laws. And he clearly sent that message last night.
Then there is Lady Gaga. This is a woman who has fought for her celebrity status for years and only just obtained it. And, unlike so many people in the spotlight, she is ready and willing to put everything she has on the line to see bigotry come to a halt. Could it be that she is the ideal we should all strive to be? Not in the pop-icon-weird-as-heck kind of way, but in that she defies labels. She steps over everyone who stands in her way. She does what she herself things is right and beautiful. Whether you like her style or her music, you cannot disagree that she is a force, and to many, a hero. Her rendition of John Lennon’s classic, Imagine, is a tear-worthy and appropriate update to one of the past century’s most gorgeous and touching songs. I’ve watched it a few times now, and every time she sings “And only Matthew in the sky” I begin crying. Can she license the track and release it? I would pay $20 just for the one song if I knew the money went somewhere worthy.
Thank you to everyone who is in Washington today, marching for the people I love.
The quality isn’t that great, but I’m loving the song. It still needs some polishing (which it is apparently going to get) but word is she’ll be performing this on SNL tomorrow night.
UPDATE: In other Gaga news – she confirmed via Twitter that she will be touring starting in November, but it will be a solo tour. Also that the leaked version below makes her ears bleed. Lucky for her – she doesn’t have to listen to the leaked version 
Download (via Music is the Heart of Our Soul)
More like electro-CUTE-d <3
Hello and welcome everybody to Pride weekend 2009. I can’t imagine the reader of my blog who doesn’t already know the term Pride, the schedule of events, or the many ways in which they will intoxicate themselves this weekend, but sadly I predict that many readers have no clue why.
This year, be different. Have just as good a time, but also know how it came to be.
Forty years ago a little riot broke out in Greenwich Village in New York. In those days, police raids on gay bars were frequent. They weren’t there to break up fights or to check for drugs. They were there to bust people dancing with members of the same sex and cross-dressers (though somehow men wearing makeup were seemingly not an issue). Normally, patrons would go along with it, a few would be arrested, and the bar would reopen later that evening. On the night of June 28, 1969 things went a little differently, however.
It’s that riot that is now commemorated each year. Although “Stonewall” doesn’t necessarily mark the first time a gay man or drag queen stood up for themselves and it certainly wasn’t the largest or most impressive protest in the history of the gay rights movement, it does hold a special significance in how it inspired people not just in NY but all across the globe to begin standing up for their right to be who they are openly, and to be proud of it.
It’s the tireless work of gays, lesbians, transgender people, straights, and many others that has created the environment we have today. Where gay bars have windows. Where men can not only dress in drag but there are television shows about it. Where women are not required to have on at least three pieces of feminine clothing (Although ladies, I do encourage you to. I’ve been fooled one too many times for pointing out cute boys that turned out, in fact, to be lesbians with better hair and clothing than myself.) Living a queer life today is a far cry from the the way things were forty years ago. But our world is not yet perfect.
Tomorrow, when we all gussy up in our finest summer gear to march among our fellow celebrators of queer culture, don’t forget all the work that has gone into making it possible. And on Monday, when normal life resumes, do something a little different:
Stop discrimination dead in it’s tracks each and every time you see it.
Call your representatives and demand marriage equality; an inclusive, nationwide Employment Non-Discrimination Act; the passage of the Matthew Shepard Act.
Come out. To everyone.
And for god sakes, people, this one is really important:
Come together as a group. I really don’t understand why but we have an environment right now where all the different colors
of the rainbow are in separate corners of the room, backs to each other, with their arms crossed. The next person I see judging another person for dressing differently, talking differently, loving differently, or having a different color skin – I’m going to smack them from here to Perez Hilton (too soon?). We all have one common goal – to be ourselves unashamedly. We all know what it’s like to fail to live up to that dream. We should all be together because then we become the majority.
Now get off the internet you dork and go have a vodka soda (low cal, helps you keep your figure), do your hair, listen to some Lady GaGa, and get the heck out because it’s time to live it up for the weekend!
Further reading:
Wikipedia article on the Stonewall riots
I love that she performs her songs a little different each time. This is a really great somewhat rockified version of Poker Face. Oh yeah, and she is wearing a metal dress.
I really really do. If I think something is interesting I will most certainly send it to someone.
This guy seems to have the same obsession: http://skylor.me
Summary: Cute guys, funny memes, and Lady GaGa. <3