“I don’t see why anyone on the planet would want to deny you a marriage.”
— Norma Watson to her daughter Moya
I'm not 100% sure how two months went by without a blog post. True, I was incredibly busy at work before, during and after the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC), which had me on Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter and the GHC blog and, there you go, two months just like that. Today I finally broke down and moved the Twitter feed to the top of my blog in recognition of the fact that I'm more likely to post there than here.
Before GHC I started volunteering for the No on Prop 8 campaign by making calls at phone banks. After GHC I took another leap and started training and coaching and running phone banks. Working the phone banks is something I'd never done before, never wanted to do, and never ever imagined myself doing. But this is too important to sit by the sidelines and just donate money. So I held my nose and jumped in.
What's truly wonderful about the phone banks is the volunteers who come to make the calls, every type of wonderful fair-minded person. Gay and straight, young and old, they volunteer because they know it’s wrong to single out one group of people and exclude them from having the same rights as other citizens. They come with their parents, their children, their spouses, boyfriends and girlfriends. Like me, most of them have never done anything like this before. They are my heroes.
My family, too, are my heroes. With my birthday coming in a few days, they knew that there's nothing I want more than to defeat proposition 8. So everyone in the family sent contributions, the perfect gift!
The next couple of weeks will also blow by quickly. There is still so much to do both at work and on the No on Prop 8 campaign. I'm sure you're busy too. But this election is really important, and it's going to be really close. If you are not registered to vote, don't delay! Here in California the deadline is this coming Monday, October 20. Then vote, and don't stop with the presidential race. Every vote will be important. Make yours a vote for fundamental fairness, and vote No on Prop 8.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Of Marriage and No on Prop 8 and Republicans
"The institution of marriage can only be strengthened by allowing everyone to participate in its rights and responsibilities."
— from the Republicans Against 8 web site
Wow, August blew by and we're getting seriously into September. Mrs. Leaping Woman and I have been thoroughly enjoying our marital bliss. We set up our No on Prop 8 fundraising wedding registry and I started volunteering for the campaign. Last Tuesday I went through phone bank training. They gave us all lists of names to call but told us to start with the numbers on our cell phones. I was able to sign up a phone bank volunteer and get some donations from friends, but unfortunately I'd forgotten to bring my phone headset. My gimpy arms gave out before I could get to the calls to strangers, and four days later I've almost recovered. So next time I'll be sure to bring it.
When K and I were married in July, our best friends P&R played a big role in our small ceremony. Tomorrow, we are "best women" for theirs. I've been practicing writing my Hebrew name and my parents' so that I can witness the ketubah, the Jewish marriage contract. It took a little research with my sisters and the Internet to nail down the right names and their spellings, and it's been fun to learn. As a culinary Jew (i.e., primarily I eat my favorite foods that go with each holiday) this is something I've never had to do before.
The November election on Proposition 8 is going to be extremely close. If you support marriage equality, here's how you can help:
— from the Republicans Against 8 web site
Wow, August blew by and we're getting seriously into September. Mrs. Leaping Woman and I have been thoroughly enjoying our marital bliss. We set up our No on Prop 8 fundraising wedding registry and I started volunteering for the campaign. Last Tuesday I went through phone bank training. They gave us all lists of names to call but told us to start with the numbers on our cell phones. I was able to sign up a phone bank volunteer and get some donations from friends, but unfortunately I'd forgotten to bring my phone headset. My gimpy arms gave out before I could get to the calls to strangers, and four days later I've almost recovered. So next time I'll be sure to bring it.
When K and I were married in July, our best friends P&R played a big role in our small ceremony. Tomorrow, we are "best women" for theirs. I've been practicing writing my Hebrew name and my parents' so that I can witness the ketubah, the Jewish marriage contract. It took a little research with my sisters and the Internet to nail down the right names and their spellings, and it's been fun to learn. As a culinary Jew (i.e., primarily I eat my favorite foods that go with each holiday) this is something I've never had to do before.
The November election on Proposition 8 is going to be extremely close. If you support marriage equality, here's how you can help:
- First and foremost, if you live in California vote "No" on Proposition 8 this November.
- Make a donation to the No on Prop 8 campaign.
- Talk to 10 people and ask them to talk to 10 people. You'll find talking points in the No on 8 FAQ.
- Click on Vow to Vote No to have your commitment to marriage equality counted.
- Visit http://noonprop8.com/action/ to learn more about what you can do to protect marriage equality.
North America Bridal Tour 2008
"Love at first sight is easy to understand; it’s when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle."
— Amy Bloom
Our dear friend MGH paraphrased this quote when she officiated at our wedding ceremony. After 17 years together, we find it exciting to be legally wed at last. My wife (I love writing that!) and I are on vacation now, taking what we have come to call our North American Bridal Tour. It started when our dear friends Les Gals recast a planned outing one week after the wedding into a champagne tea at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco. We donned our wedding outfits and Jan made sweet wedding favors with pink and white Jordan almonds. The tea was fabulous, and afterwards we posed for a group photo in the lobby and talked about Photoshopping them into the wedding photos.
Next stop on the tour was Chicago for dinner with family and a night at the Ardmore House B&B. Then off to Mishawaka to see Mom, my sister E and niece H. We modeled our wedding outfits for them, showed the wedding ceremony video, and took a family picture, pondering the best poses for Photoshopping them in. Back to Chicago for another family dinner, and then to Aunt P's apartment. Again we donned our wedding finery and showed the video, took more family photos, and dug into a two-tier "wedding cake" that my sister F and niece G constructed from a cheesecake and a decadent chocolate affair from Whole Foods.
Now we're in Halifax for K's family reunion. We're planning to do it again (outfits, video, photo), probably before Saturday's barbecue. I'm hoping everyone will participate but won't be surprised (disappointed, yes, but not surprised) if not everyone does. I've been accepted into the family (it's been 17 years now, after all) but there are some religious beliefs that still present barriers. But I hope everyone will come. I still love hearing the ceremony, to which MGH had also added this powerful quote from the civil rights movement:
"The right to marry whoever one wishes is an elementary human right compared to which "the right to attend an integrated school, the right to sit where one pleases on a bus, the right to go into any hotel or recreation area or place of amusement, regardless of one's skin or color or race" are minor indeed. Even political rights, like the right to vote, and nearly all other rights enumerated in the Constitution, are secondary to the inalienable human rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence; and to this category the right to home and marriage unquestionably belongs."
— Hannah Arendt in Dissent, Winter 1959
— Amy Bloom
Our dear friend MGH paraphrased this quote when she officiated at our wedding ceremony. After 17 years together, we find it exciting to be legally wed at last. My wife (I love writing that!) and I are on vacation now, taking what we have come to call our North American Bridal Tour. It started when our dear friends Les Gals recast a planned outing one week after the wedding into a champagne tea at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco. We donned our wedding outfits and Jan made sweet wedding favors with pink and white Jordan almonds. The tea was fabulous, and afterwards we posed for a group photo in the lobby and talked about Photoshopping them into the wedding photos.
Next stop on the tour was Chicago for dinner with family and a night at the Ardmore House B&B. Then off to Mishawaka to see Mom, my sister E and niece H. We modeled our wedding outfits for them, showed the wedding ceremony video, and took a family picture, pondering the best poses for Photoshopping them in. Back to Chicago for another family dinner, and then to Aunt P's apartment. Again we donned our wedding finery and showed the video, took more family photos, and dug into a two-tier "wedding cake" that my sister F and niece G constructed from a cheesecake and a decadent chocolate affair from Whole Foods.
Now we're in Halifax for K's family reunion. We're planning to do it again (outfits, video, photo), probably before Saturday's barbecue. I'm hoping everyone will participate but won't be surprised (disappointed, yes, but not surprised) if not everyone does. I've been accepted into the family (it's been 17 years now, after all) but there are some religious beliefs that still present barriers. But I hope everyone will come. I still love hearing the ceremony, to which MGH had also added this powerful quote from the civil rights movement:
"The right to marry whoever one wishes is an elementary human right compared to which "the right to attend an integrated school, the right to sit where one pleases on a bus, the right to go into any hotel or recreation area or place of amusement, regardless of one's skin or color or race" are minor indeed. Even political rights, like the right to vote, and nearly all other rights enumerated in the Constitution, are secondary to the inalienable human rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence; and to this category the right to home and marriage unquestionably belongs."
— Hannah Arendt in Dissent, Winter 1959
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)