On a High!!!

I'm on such a high right now. It's one of my last nights home before I leave to be a counselor and I just got back from the 19th Annual Awards Dinner for Equality Arizona. With everything that's going on these days, espcially around the hot topic of immigration, it's easy to name all sorts of not-so-good things going on in my state. I left the dinner, though, with a lot of hope and enthusiasm [once in the car on the way home, my exact words may or may not have been "I wish I could go back to Duke tomorrow and get started on stuff for BDU"]. Hundreds of people gathered tonight for this dinner, all of whom are well-connected and all of whom actively support efforts towards equality through their money, time and/or energy. I was fortunate to be invited last minute by a good family friend (she's my parents' age; a lady at our table asked us if we were on a date...I'm not making this up) and Equality Arizona made it possible for me to attend free of charge as a "Young Emerging Leader." I joined public officials, business leaders, educators and so many other passionate and hardworking people. Donna Rossi, an out lesbian and senior reporter for CBS News in Phoenix, emceed the event; David Mixner, activist extraordinaire and a contemporary of Harvey Milk, gave an inspiring keynote address.

Last but not least, as the BDU blog (and sports) are always on my mind...I even managed to score (pun intended!) a picture [below] with 2006 Olympic Ice Dancer, Ryan O'Meara. O'Meara shared his story as the evening's prelude speaker. Be on the lookout for a future post featuring O'Meara, who's agreed to let me interview him!

A few more pictures...

With eight-time (count it...that's 16 years, folks) Arizona Legislator Ken Cheuvront (left) and Phoenix City Council Member Tom Simplot.

With Kyrsten Sinema, who visited Duke in February.

With keynote speaker, activist, political strategist and contemporary of Harvey Milk, David Mixner.

With Arizona's Attorney General and Gubernatorial Candidate, Terry Goddard.

hate speech hurts. no homo(phobia).

IT'S HERE! BDU'S ANTI-HATE SPEECH CAMPAIGN IS THIS WEEK, AT LAST!

Our slogan is "hate speech hurts. No Homo(phobia)".

Cause, let's face it. Hate speech sucks and homophobia is stupid.

The point of the campaign is to raise awareness about hate speech. So many people use it without thinking about what they're saying--who they might be offending, the hate they're perpetuating and normalizing, what it really means. BDU is calling those individuals out.

We will be sponsoring various events through out the week.

3/22 MONDAY: If you want to help with the campaign, we're going to be having a work party today, Monday, at 6pm in the BC. Following that, come to bridge painting at 8pm.


3/23 TUESDAY: We're going to be spreading our brilliant posters around campus starting at 10AM. You can meet in the LGBT center to pick up supplies! We also will have representatives tabling on the plaza from 11:00 to 3:00. Tabling on the plaza includes making spray paint t-shirts, serving rainbow cupcakes, and getting people to take a pledge not to use hate-speech and speak up when they hear it in return for a rainbow ribbon!

2/25 THURSDAY: More tabling on the plaza from 11-3! (see above, 3/23 Tuesday for details about tabling).

We need people to sign up to help with tabling! Please visit the doodle poll and sign up. Even if you've never done anything with BDU, come by the table, make friends and lend a hand. In all honesty, tabling for last year's Day of Silence was my first real BDU event--so don't be shy. Tabling is a great way to get to know people and help change the world!!

To sum it all up...BDU's anti-hate speech campaign includes:
1. AMAZING/gorgeous posters w/ snarky, in-your-face messages!
2. Pledge-signing!
3. Banners!
4. RAINBOW CUPCAKES!!!
5. Ribbons!
6. To-die-for t-shirts! (Seriously, you'll want one, they're awesome!)

Questions? Email me, Risa, at rfi@duke.edu.

I effing hate hate speech, but I LOVE BDU!!

---

Kentucky Same-Sex Marriage Ban To Be Brought Up for Repeal: Kentucky Equality Federation applauds legislation pre-filed by Representative Mary Lou Marzian (BR 93) to place the issue of same-sex marriage or civil unions back in the hands of Kentucky citizens.

If this passes both the Kentucky House and Senate and voters ratify it, lawmakers would then be able to legislate domestic-partnerships, or civil unions, such as the new domestic partnership law in the state of Washington."

---

Lambda Legal brings 'equal (gay) pay for equal work' lawsuit against Arizona: "Under the leadership of Gov. Janet Napolitano, the Arizona state government in 2008 created a health insurance benefit for the domestic partners and children of state employees and retirees. This past September, the Arizona legislature stripped those benefits from state employees with now-Governor Jan Brewer's approval. Oh, but they made sure to retain spousal health benefits for heterosexual employees. Who do you think burdens the state budget more, the legions of heterosexual employees, or the handful of gay ones? Lambda Legal is suing."

Election Round-ups: What We've Lost and What We've Gained

As most of you are aware, last week many states across the U.S. held elections to vote on various propositions and mayoral positions. Included in this election cycle were a few pieces of legislation that have specific impact on LGBT Americans and their families, such as Referendum 71, making domestic partnerships completely equivalent to civil marriages in the state of Washington, the election of openly gay canditate Mark Kleinschmidt as mayor of Chapel Hill, NC, and the passage of Ordinacne 1856 in Kalamazoo, MI (where I grew up!), adding gay and transgender people to the city's pre-existing nondiscrimination ordinance.

But the most widely publicized and watched election last Tuesday was the Proposition 1 vote in Maine. With the opportunity to become the first state to legalize same-sex marriage through legislation as opposed to through the courts, Maine voters approved Prop 1 by a margin of 6%, striking down the law legalizing same-sex marriage in their state. Like California this time last year, Maine fell prey to the twisted lies and pandering of the opponents of marriage equality.

However, despite its similarities to Proposition 8, this loss did not feel the same as the one in California. On election night last year, I remember the feeling of elation as I stood and watched Obama's acceptance speech with a full heart and a heady spirit. And then I remember getting back to my room, receiving a phone call from my friend back home in San Diego letting me know that it was starting to look bad for marriage equality in California, telling me that H8 was pulling ahead. I stayed up that entire evening, obsessively refreshing the poll results. I went to class the next day, drained, burnt out, exhausted, all dregs of my euphoria and excitement from the night before long since crushed by the emotional rollercoaster of election night. Before I could even get angry I felt deflated, betrayed, and incredulous.

This time was different. Proposition 8 taught us to be cautious, to not assume that people will do the right thing if prompted by their leaders (in the courts or otherwise) to do so. Gone is the beguiling concept of a "new era" that clouded our perceptions of the race last year, allowed our loss to blindside us.

Our experience in California taught us that we could lose in Maine; it instructed us in how that loss might feel. More than that though, the passage of Proposition 8 demonstrated that these losses, these set backs, they will not define the success of this movement. They will not choke it, or bury it, or deal the final blow. These losses of equality ultimately will serve only to add fuel to our fire. They remind us that while progress can be won, it will not be handed to us. It must be fought for, and it must be taken. "Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals," (Martin Luther King, Jr). Such was the case in California, and once again in Maine. Far from being reasons to lose hope in our government, in our neighbors, or in ourselves, they should become our motivation, armed with the knowledge that through continued education of our peers and an openness about our lives and our humanity, we will be able repeal these hateful measures. And soon.