RIP, Del Martin

Del Martin, a pioneering lesbian rights activist who married her lifelong partner on the first day same-sex couples could legally wed in California, has died. She was 87.

Now! Now! Now! or Three years high and rising

What this post is really about is the third annual Rising Tide Conference in New Orleans, set to happen this weekend.

But first I want to talk about a dream I had last week, most of which was forgotten the instant I woke up. The part I do remember has stuck with me ever since, and [...]

“All we have to lay on the line”

Consider this a prelude to my Wednesday guest post at First Draft tomorrow.
There are few people on earth I admire more than the small woman in this video. A warrior, growing frailer each year though she may be, Adrienne Rich’s poetry has been, and likely will continue to be, a powerful guiding force for generations [...]

“but you ain’t lived to tell it yet…”

I’ve made no secret of how I feel about Patty Griffin’s voice, intelligence, storytelling, songwriting, guitar playing, performance, etc, etc, etc. I do go on a bit, I know (she DID make time stand still that one night @ Stubbs- I was there, it happened)  but it’s not just me, folks [...]

08 Pride Post #24: Quotable Pride— “it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence”

“I have come to believe over and over again, that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood…. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you…. and [...]

Barbara Jordan video!

Big Virgo thanks to commenter Rich for the link  to the AVoice:  Women of the Congressional Black Caucus site, which has video files of Barbara Jordan’s speech at the 1974  Nixon impeachment hearings and her keynote speech at the 1976 Democratic National Convention. Files are in Real Video format.

I … what’s your point?

Holden serves up some Friday gaggle, wherein Helen defenestrates third-stringer Scott Stanzel on FISA. And rightly so.
Q What right does the President have to tell any company or any person in this country to break the law?
MR. STANZEL: I — what’s your point?
Q No warrants and so forth; that they can go and spy on [...]

What a day

Was totally dispirited after this morning’s vote, got back to work with a heavy heart, had a medical appt in Austin late this afternoon, and so didn’t hear the good news till I got home much later.
Thank you, Senator.

Bob Kohler, gay activist and Stonewall veteran, dies

via the Village Voice 
Bob Kohler, gay activist, former owner of The Loft on Christopher Street, Stonewall veteran, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front, ACT UP member, and longtime fixture of Charles Street, died on Wednesday at the age of 81. The cause of death was cancer, according to friends.
…
In 1999, Bob helped form Fed Up [...]

Happy Birthday, Boss

Reagan’s speech put him on the spot, and it didn’t take Springsteen long to make his move. Twenty minutes into his first show afterwards, in Pittsburgh on Sept. 21, he stopped to say, “The president was mentioning my name the other day and I kinda got to wondering what his favorite [...]