via Towleroad: The Bozeman City Council has passed a resolution in solidarity with the Montana seven same-sex couples who have sued the State of Montana for Marriage Equality.
Bozeman.
It’s coming, people….
Monthly Archives: September 2010
Cleanup
…in more ways than one.
The estate sale was a great success, but the house needs some help. I’ll be putting things together, and preparing, because there’s still so much STUFF-even after truckloads went out. I’m having dreams about books falling on me…. I think we’re gonna need an auction to clear this place up. Srsly.
I was in Billings Friday and Saturday presenting at Yellowstone AIDS Project, went to the Carroll Homecoming game with some dear friends, then back to Butte. Needless to say, I’m wiped out.
But Ken Spencer gets all the kudos. He’s the hero of the weekend and of my life.
He stayed behind with Karen Barnhardt to make sure it all went well. They both deserve gold medals- and they might even get them. Oh, and if you ever need an estate sales agent, Tim Gordon‘s your man. He and Amy and Nathan rode in like the cavalry and rescued me from an overwhelming situation.
So, recouping and regrouping.
Peace.
Tell Montana’s GOP: Get Criminalization of Homosexuality Out of Party Platform
Change.org has a petition. Sign it here.
Montana, Your Choice Has Never Been Clearer
This Is Important!
Also published on The Bilerico Project
It took almost three months, but the story about the hateful Montana GOP platform plank seeking the criminalization of gays has gone national.
The Associated Press ran a story over the weekend that was picked up by The Boston Globe, The Chicago Sun-Times, NPR, and there was even a story on a Montana NBC affiliate station. And more newspapers, I’m told, will be running the story in the next few days.
Why is this important? I’ll tell you why.
It’s important because this is happening all the time. People in charge are doing things that most of the masses would not approve, crossing their fingers and hoping it will go unnoticed. It’s happening when the Christianist agenda, even when unconstitutional, gets pushed into public policy through the side door. And this time they got caught.
It’s important because most Montana Republicans didn’t even know of the plank’s existence, and many are outraged at the discovery. This is just the kind of sneaky right-wing evangelical behavior that erodes our rights- even if it is happening in rural America.
It’s important because behind the scenes there were tireless individuals who wouldn’t let this go. There were people who realized that this platform plank had an impact on the freedom of all Americans, and they kept the legs under this story. They shared the story on Facebook, they sent it to their friends and local news organizations, they wrote letters and made phone calls. There were even allies in the media, the GOP – maybe unsurprisingly not the Log Cabin Republicans, conservatives and local human rights organizations that knew this was important – not just for gay people, but for everyone.
It’s important because it shows hard work, perseverance and a reasonable sense of moral outrage pays off. There’s a realization that activism still works, that sitting on our collective asses and bitching to each other doesn’t.
And that, my friends, is a victory.
PS, Read this if you think we should rest on our laurels…
Update: Change.org now has a petition for the Montana GOP leadership to take the hate out of their platform.
Sign it. All the cool kids are doing it.
NBC Speaks
….about the Montana GOP Platform plank that wants to criminalize gays-at least on a Montana station. Still waiting for Brian Williams and CNN.
And Jay Stevens on Left In The West has an excellent analysis here.
Is It The Apocalypse?
I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but it’s been 2 1/2 months since I started harping about the hateful Montana GOP plank.
There’s been some press here and there, and I thought, “maybe with the mid-term elections looming, this might become an issue.”
Sigh.
I was about to give up hope, but now, Republican State Sen. John Brueggeman (R-Polson) is speaking out.
You heard me.
Brueggeman’s record isn’t so hot on human rights, but it’s a start. CLICK HERE for the story.
Update: CHA-CHING! Huffington Post story here.
Oh, and the sarcasm is just genetic. Irish, mostly….
Sellin’ The Estate
It’s been quite the process.
I’ve dealt with grief, loss, funeral planning, obituary writing, eulogy delivering and coming back to a (mostly) empty house and working to return to normal life while settling THE ESTATE (it feels like that in my mind)- whatever that is. Normal life, I mean.
I’ve sent boxes and boxes of material to the Butte Public Archives, explored all the nooks and crannies of this enormous old house, hired an excellent appraisal service, had a lot of great help from Ken and my friends, and lived with the anxiety that having price tags on everything in the house entails.
But now it’s time.
We’re having the estate sale next weekend, Sept 24-26th from 8am to 3pm daily. Click here for the flyer and a preview….
I think I’m ready to let go of all of this stuff- and it’s considerable. But I’m not going to watch the process, I don’t think I could stand it, so I’ll be in Billings helping the Yellowstone Aids Project with their Fall Retreat.
“To live in this world, you must be able to do three things:
to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones
knowing your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes
to let it go, to let it go.~ Mary Oliver
Lest We Forget
The blogmance continues between me and MT Cowgirl… I’m completely busy these days working at my real job as a therapist and organizing the OSullivan Estate Sale (Sept 24-26th if you’re interested), and Cowgirl’s doing a great job of keeping the fringe on it’s toes. Well, she would if they really paid any attention- which, as a psychologist, I know that narcissistic ideologues rarely do…. Anyway, if you’re not checking out her blog every day, it’s a good idea. Not only for liberals, but for reasonable conservatives who don’t want their party hijacked- and I know you’re out there….
She has a great story today about Rehberg’s selling out the Republican Party to the Tea Party Movement.
Once again, oh ye students of history, a “movement” insinuates itself into democracy, and ideology desires to trounce representative government….
It usually ends badly.
But Wait, There’s More!
And I have a feeling it will just keep on coming.
Now that the mainstream press is following them a bit more closely (after the initial bravery and perseverence of Montana bloggers), some high-profile Tea Partiers in the Big Sky State are finding more of their personal histories exposed- and it ain’t pretty.
MT Cowgirl Blog has the lowdown on MT Tea Party links to The Church Universal and Triumphant, unpaid taxes and more. Check it out.
And keep your eyes peeled- I’m sure there’s more to come. I do wonder though, whether it will make a difference come November.
Update: Jay Stevens has links on all the pertinent craziness of the last week on Left In The West.
From Eternity To Here 