Rally Time!

Jan. 10 is the big day. It's a nationwide effort, sponsored by Join The Impact, calling upon President-Elect Barack Obama to keep his promises to the LGBTQ community. Chief among these is the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), although no less important are the enactment of vigorous anti-hate crime laws, workplace anti-discrimination laws, and the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

We are also using the opportunity to focus attention on the victims of hate crimes, especially in light of the recent, unconscionably brutal attack on a 28-year-old Richmond woman.

Our rally will take place at San Jose City Hall, 200 E. Santa Clara Street, and run from 12 noon to 2 PM, on Saturday, January 10. We have flyers on our website to print out and distribute, as well as lots of other information about the rally. Please come and join us! And be sure to sign up for our Email Blasts and Action Alerts to keep informed about the latest happenings on the marriage equality front in the South Bay.

Many thanks to the Peninsula Raging Grannies and Join The Impact | San Jose for their invaluable assistance in collaborating with Marriage Equality Silicon Valley to organize this rally.

Getting organized in Silicon Valley

Well, we finally have a name and a website for our new activism group that has been meeting at the Billy DeFrank Center. We are called Marriage Equality Silicon Valley. There is not too much on our website yet (essentially, the same stuff that was in my last post), but the webmaster for the site I have been very busy learning new code, and it's a little overwhelming right now. But I'll get my act together soon, and we as a group will decide what content to put on there. In any case, it's exciting just to be at this point; having the website gives us more legitimacy.

Candlelight Vigil Dec. 20

Candlelight Vigil



Have you seen the "Milk" film yet?

Hopefuly you did not see it at CinéArts at Santana Row.

Why? Because CinéArts is owned by people who gave a LOT of money to the Yes on 8 campaign.

In response, we would like to invite you to a candlelight vigil at CinéArts on Saturday, Dec 20, starting at 5 PM. We encourage you to join us not only with a candle with a little dixie cup on the bottom to catch the wax, but bring some cash. We will provide very bright stickers to wear so we can be seen all over Santana Row. We can then go into the myriad of stores in that area and spend some money. A BUYCOTT! Doesn't have to be much, you can buy something for $1.50. The shoppers and store employees will see LGBT dollars. We will be shopping for a purpose!

Let us carry on Harvey Milk's legacy. We will be out, visible and speaking in terms people understand, money.

I look forward to seeing all of you there, candle in hand and committed to equality.

Meet our cats! Познакомтесь с нашими кошками!

Campbell on the left; Nabby on the right. Aren't they precious? They came to us earlier this year, and chose us as their daddies. I think a couple guys who used to live here in our condo complex were taking care of them, and then stopped. It's sad, but too many people treat cats as expendable. Anyway, they started hanging out at our front step, and we weren't even feeding them. When Nabby hurt his paw, Rick and I decided we had to take them in. So he took Nabby to the vet, who gave him some antibiotics; meanwhile, we bought a litter box, food, collars, the whole nine yards, and took these two sweet babies in. And they are such good indoor cats. At first, they wanted to go out a lot, especially Campbell, but that seemed to subside after we had them fixed. Now they are perfectly happy in our little home, and they give us so much joy. We are pretty sure that they are brothers. We named them after two players (Brian Campbell [Брайан Камбелл] and Evgeni "Nabby" Nabokov [Евгений Набоков]) on the San Jose Sharks, and although Brian Campbell has since signed with the Chicago Blackhawks, we're keeping our Campbell for good. (And Nabby too.)

Although Nabby was the first of the two to approach us, Campbell has settled into his role as the alpha kitty, although in reality he is not mean at all. He just likes to play rough, and he always has to be wherever we are. He'll plant himself on the table while Rick is trying to read the newspaper, and he'll refuse to let him read it. He is also very vocal, meowing as he wanders around the house, and especially when he follows us into the kitchen. He likes to tear up our hands and arms when we try to stroke his belly. And he loves to be petted, stroked and kissed, and purrs very loudly.

Nabby is much more the aloof little thing, although he seems to cherish time spent in the upstairs bedroom with either Rick or me, when Campbell is off on other adventures. He purrs softly and likes to be stroked on the rump. He is also famous for giving "Nabby nibbles," where he nibbles on the tips of our fingers. While Campbell interacts with us all the time downstairs in the living room or kitchen, Nabby likes to sit high up on one of the stairs, where he can observe all the goings on in relative peace. Oh, and he hates everyone (except Rick and me).

Campbell and Nabby get along perfectly together, and often sleep in each others paws, groom each other, and fight with each other. They pretty much only like dry cat food and treats (their favorite is the creamy dairy flavor), and they never seem to want any people food (except the milk from my cereal once in a while). But I think our favorite family moments are when Rick and I get home from work, and we all sit in the upstairs bedroom together and watch the 5:00 news, all sprawled out on the bed.

Saying Hey from the Capitol

Here's Rick and me with our homemade pizza box sign on the steps of the state Capitol in Sacramento. There were about 5000 protesters there, with inspired speeches from Gloria Allred and Darryl Steinberg, as well as a titillating performance by comedienne Margaret Cho.

Golfland Family Discrimination Centers

So it turns out the Kenney family, who runs the strategically-named Golfland Family Fun Centers, donated over $35,000 to the Yes-on-Treating-Gays-and-Lesbians-as-Second-Class-Citizens movement. Fun for (most) families, indeed.

Don't support Golfland. If these loving folks can muster up over 35 grand to wipe their ass with the Constitution, they certainly don't need your help.

Shark Attack

The Sharks are kicking ass. (Очень жаль, Александр Овечкин.)