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If you don’t know who Harvey Milk is (gasp), then here are some facts about Harvey:

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When I first heard about Prop 8, I immediately came crashing down from the high I felt with Obama winning the Presidency.  “What happened?” I thought to myself. I thought that those who voted for Obama would feel that everyone is created equal and that we all have the same rights in life. But I guess I was wrong.  After that, I emailed my friend Ron with HRC Cincinnati and told him that we should have a protest. Ron wasn’t sure what HRC was planning. Then two days later, I get a text from my wonderful and loving friend Barry (www.queercincinnati.com).  He told me that he, Cameron Tolle and Chris Gilbert were planning to plan a protest and wanted to know if I was interested in joining them. HELL YES! I was in it to win it!

In five days, we planned this rally. We got help from GLSEN Greater Cincinnati, Equality Cincinnati and HRC Cincinnati. Cameron Tolle is the one who took the lead on this. Press interviews, radio interviews, working with Xavier Univ….there are so many things he’s done that I can’t begin to list them all here. At 20, he is truly an inspiration for the LGBT’s younger generation to get out there and do something to change the laws that discriminate us and treat us like second class citizens. For this purpose, Impact Cincinnati was born.

Impact Cincinnati is a grass-roots activism team that will keep you connected with the LGBT issues that need your help in making an impact. An impact to change, support and make known. Issues that are important to you. Check us out on Facebook (Click Here!)

Here is our vision and mission statement:

Impact Cincinnati believes that true LGBTQ equality will only be achieved when every interested person has the opportunity to engage and participate in their wider movement and community.Impact Cincinnati, a grassroots network of community activists, strives to energize LGBTQ and allied people in Greater Cincinnati, link dedicated volunteers to a wide range of opportunities to generate change, and supports the efforts of local organizations working for equality.All are welcome.This is, as it always has been, a work in progress.Please email us at impactcincinnati@gmail.comHere are some photos from the Prop 8/Equal Rights Protest (Photos by Amanda Ralston)

Juliet and Barry (www.queercincinnati.com)

My view of the crowd from the stairs of City Hall…amazing!

Thank you to everyone who came out and stood out there in the cold and the rain! We never saw anyone from the opposition. However there was a rumor circulating that there was one person from the opposition there that had a handgun with no permit. This is not confirmed however.

Thanks to Amanda Ralston and Ali Blair for coming up from Lexington, taking time out to help out with security and the photos you see here…And of course my beautiful girlfriend Penny who was lead security and got to escort Ms. Cho up to the stage…I love you baby and I did this for us and for everyone else out there that has a partner they want to marry and for those who are single who one day will.

Me and my girl on our way to protest!

Juliet

COME FIGHT WITH US!!! STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS!!!!!!!

Margaret will be one of several speakers who will be contributing to the day-- she also has plans of sharing a song she has recently written in regards to proposition 8, which should undoubtedly be hilarious. and more importantly, margaret will be standing there with us, holding a sign, and helping send the message of equality to our community.

This is HUGE!! We have a national celebrity helping us promote our protest! and more importantly, she’ll be joining us for the fight!

GET THE WORD OUT. This has the potential to increase our turnout significantly.
Meaning, this will help us make even more of a difference! LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT THEY CAN PROTEST WITH MARGARET CHO!!

After the protest, make sure you have your TICKETS to see Margaret’s show at the Taft Downtown.

Don’t have tickets yet? buy them here: http://www. ticketmaster. com/event/160040E1DE983723?artistid=784761&majorcatid=10002&minorcatid=51

Everyone should go! Margaret is helping support OUR grassroot effort.
Now let’s support her on her national tour! let’s thank her by making cincinnati a sold out show!

Margaret has graciously offered to give all of you DISCOUNTED TICKETS.
when you buy your tickets, you’ll need to print off a flyer [that we’ll send out to you within the next day], and you will get TEN DOLLARS off of your ticket just because you supported equality!

This is just one of many reasons to be ecstatic for saturday. brace yourselves, Cincinnati.
We are about to make a difference!!!!

Saturday, November 15th at 1:30pm all the cities around the country will be takin’ it to the streets to join together against Prop 8 in California. We deserve equal rights!! You deserve to marry your partner and be protected under the law just like everyone else. If you are OUTRAGED by what happened with the Prop 8 ruling in California, then come out with us on Saturday, November 15th to let everyone know that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! We are tired of being treated like second class citizens and we deserve respect and equal rights under the law!!! Tell your friends, family and supporters to come with you! Have a sign making party!  We need you’re support. Our community needs your support. And Californian’s need our support!

THIS ISN’T JUST HAPPENING IN CINCINNATI…PROTESTS WILL BE HAPPENING ALL OVER THE US AT THE SAME TIME! JOIN THE IMPACT!  NOT IN CINCINNATI? GO TO WWW.JOINTHEIMPACT.COM  TO FIND OUT WHAT YOUR CITY IS DOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Here’s the info! (Watch for the press release in your local paper/media outlet coming later this week!)

What: JOIN THE IMPACT RALLY

Where: Cincinnati City Hall (801 Plum Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 - Click Here for Directions)

When: Saturday, November 15, 2008

Time: 1:30pm - 4:30pm

From www.jointheimpact.com:

“On the steps of your City Hall on November 15th at 1:30pm EST, our community WILL take to the streets and speak out against Proposition 8 and all of the other pro-equality losses that we have faced in our lifetimes, in our parents’ lifetimes, and for many generations before us. WE CAN’T DO THIS ALONE! WE NEED YOUR HELP! We need organizers in every major city to work with us and get out the protest! I know you’re all tired from all of the work you’ve done for this great election year, but I’m asking for one more push! Let the country hear our voices together. Let them see that we are a strong, adamant, and powerful community that deserves equal rights, and CAN’T BE DEFEATED!Send this post to everyone! We have one week and must react to the pro-hate votes cast against us! Let’s help our LGBTQ friends, families, neighbors, and each other to IMPACT this country with a demand for our basic human rights! Join the cause, join the voice, and JOIN THE IMPACT!”Juliet

If you want to be apart of change and join the fight for equality, then this is the place to be! Tell all your friends, family and supporters and come down to the Cincinnati City Hall to fight for your rights!!!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PROP 8 PETITION

“We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, amoung which are the preservation of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”  - Thomas Jefferson

Harvey Milk would be proud.

How do these videos make you feel? Do you feel this is how we should handle this? Tell me your views! Voice them here, voice them now.

Juliet

“Justice will prevail,” says Jean, who took the Mormon church to task for urging its members to strip Californians of a fundamental right. Mormons contributed more than $15 million to fund the initiative which would repeal the right of same-sex couples to marry.

I begin with this quote by Thomas Edison today because I think it explains what is going on this week in California with Proposition 8.  For those of you who do not keep up with GLBT news, Prop. 8 is a ballot measure introduced by the conservative christian right which will revoke the constitutional marriage rights given to the GLBT community in the state of California back in June.   Basically, we had the right to marry, over 16,000 couples married between June and yesterday and now because it conflicts with the religious rights of the conservatives, they collected signatures and spent over 75million dollars campaigning to take back the rights that were give to those couples to marry. Now, they are in jeopardy of having the state revoke their marriage rights. This includes Ellen and Portia. Ellen’s quoted as saying, “This morning, when it was clear that Proposition 8 had passed in California, I can’t explain the feeling I had.  I was saddened beyond belief. Here we just had a giant step toward equality and then on the very next day, we took a giant step away.  I believe one day a ban on gay marriage will sound totally ridiculous.  In the meantime, I will continue to speak out for equality for all of us.”

You might be wondering why I haven’t written anything about the wonderful victory we all saw on Tuesday night when Barack Obama was elected President. I still haven’t wrapped my head around that yet.  However, I haven’t written anything on it because I’ve been filled with mixed emotion. How can I celebrate Obama’s victory when our community, our friends, our brothers, our sisters, our mothers and fathers are out there fighting for their right to marry and love who they want to love? It doesn’t seem right to celebrate. The media hasn’t really covered much of this story as usual. Most of the time when it comes to stories related to our community it is overlooked. Ever notice that. How much news coverage did you see when Lawrence King, 15 was murdered by a fellow student for being gay? Doesn’t that make you angry? It makes me angry. I can’t just sit here and say “Well, that’s just how it is.”  NO! It doesn’t have to be this way and in order to change it, it must be left up to us.

I’ve talked to you before about Harvey Milk and all the others who have fought over the years for gay rights. I’ve talked about getting out there, volunteering, making a difference in an attempt to make sure that we, this generation, does not become so complacent that we just sit and watch as the government makes decisions for our lives.  There were people that have died in order for us to have the rights we have today. Don’t let their deaths be in vain.

There is still a gay rights movement out there people! Remember Stonewall (if you don’t, then you need to look it up)…Mark my words, if the Supreme Court of California doesn’t overturn this vote, I can only hope that we will begin to fight all over the country.  If you are in a state that allows marriage, then do what you can to support the ones whose state doesn’t. If you’re in a state that made it a Constitutional Amendment to ban equal marriage rights, like Ohio where I am, then stand up and fight!  If you love your partner then this movement should mean something to you, whether you live in California or not.  And if you’re single, don’t you want to have the right to marry when you do find someone?

Just because this isn’t happening to your state, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening to you. This affects all of us. We need to help support those in California. Do what you can…whether its volunteering for organizations like HRC or NCLR, do something! Know whats going on in our community. Stay informed. And in the words of the lovely God-dess and She “Don’t just talk revolution, act revolution. Stand up.” 

Now is the time.

Here are some photos from last nights protest in West Hollywood:

 Photo Sources: www.abc.com; www.latimes.com

Here is a look into what we are fighting against….these are the ones who want the ban….

Juliet