The Gaytheist Agenda

I’m glad my upcoming wedding will not be in San Jose. I’m now considering going elsewhere for the wedding gown I was planning on buying there after reading this story.

San Jose has a sizeable gay population and many in the community had been waiting to hear where Mayor Chuck Reed stood on Proposition 8, the November ballot measure that would ban gay marriage in California by defining marriage as only between a man and a woman.

In an interview with CBS 5 on Friday, the mayor broke his silence.

“I don’t support changing the definition of marriage,” Reed said, “but whether this is the appropriate ballot measure, we’ll have to wait until it goes on.”

Reed emphasized that even though he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, he supports domestic partnerships for gay couples.

“I support the extension of benefits, and I supported the extension of protections from discrimination for same-sex couples and I’ll continue to do that — but I don’t support changing the definition of of marriage.”

…..

“We’re deeply disappointed by the mayor’s decision,” said Aejaie Sellers of the Billy (De)Frank LGBT Center. “We know that the state Supreme Court came out and said that marriage is an open institution, according to the constitution. It’s unfortunate that the mayor feels that he knows better.”

…..

Despite Reed’s stand, gay and lesbian leaders next week plan to ask the city of San Jose’s Human Rights Commission to go on record opposing Proposition 8.

I imagine half a century ago Reed might have been saying something like “I support the extension of benefits, and I supported the extension of protections from discrimination for interracial couples and I’ll continue to do that — but I don’t support changing the definition of of marriage.”

 

I came across this while browsing the news and had to share it. Tom Keegan and Davidson Lloyd have been together 31 years. They’ve had several commitment ceremonies. On July 3rd they finally had one that was legally recognized as marriage by the state of California. Of course the RRRW still refuse to consider their relationship as valid as opposite sex relationships, and if they have their way in November other couples won’t be able to marry as Tom and Davidson did (and as Sapphocrat and I will be shortly). No, the RRRW has no room in their narrow definition of family for Tom Keegan, Davidson Lloyd and their daughter, and that’s where we all lose out.

For Tom Keegan and Davidson Lloyd, “I do” has become a phrase they know very well – a phrase they have proclaimed time and time again during commitment ceremonies, informal weddings and unrecognized weddings.
…..
No longer will Keegan and Lloyd need to conduct wedding ceremonies that are not recognized by law, such as their first wedding in 1989.
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“Things will be different,” Connor Keegan-Lloyd, the 9-year-old adopted daughter said.
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For this same-sex couple, the private wedding ceremony signified a milestone in their long and public fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights that began 31 years ago when the two first fell in love.
…..
An endless row of shingled houses lines the street of Indiana Avenue. In this muted Venice suburb, a red and orange house stands conspicuously as the home of Lloyd and Keegan. On this day, July 3, 30 friends and family have come inside for the couple’s wedding.
…..

We need to defeat the Marriage Ban, #8, in November. It’s about love and equality. It’s about telling the RRRW that they do not get to define for everyone what marriage and family are. And for couples like Tom Keegan and Davidson Lloyd it’s about time.

 

My better half produced this amazing video from a combination of her footage and some of my still shots captured at the SF Pride Parade and celebration on June 29th. Enjoy.

 

The San Francisco Pride Parade 2008 was fabulous, to say the least. Let’s start off with this video taken by my wife to be. It’s raw footage of the Womens’ Motorcycle Contingent, including Dykes on Bikes. Notice the wedding gowns on some of them. Yay marriage equality!

 

Now here is a still of the lovely ladies:

 

Here’s a really interesting one. Balloon seahorses created by San Francisco’s Balloon Magic.

 

These are just a few of the many same-sex couple headed families that marched. These are the families that the RRRW bigots ignore when they try to define family for the entire nation. They’re also the ones left out in the cold when those same bigots oppose marriage equality.

 

Below are Dustin Lance Black, writer of the script for Milk, and Gus Van Sant, director of Milk. You may recall that Sapphocrat and I were unpaid extras in the movie, which is due to be released later this year.

 

And here’s Stuart Milk, nephew of Harvey Milk.

 

To see the whole album click here. Be sure to view all four pages and enjoy!

 

We found out a few days ago that they finally assigned a number to the Marriage Ban Initiative here and it’s #8 on the ballot. In response, my better half pulled an all nighter and created some new designs. Here they are and as always they’re available on a wide variety of merchandise including clothing, hats, yard-signs, bumper stickers, buttons and more.

There’s also this one, which we wore to Pride this weekend. It got lots of attention and has been selling well the past few weeks.

 

So there they are. The latest designs to help beat down the hateful anti-marriage amendment. Enjoy!

 

As I mentioned I’ll be heading to SF this weekend for Pride. Hopefully we’ll see a few of you there. Nonetheless I’ll be sure to get plenty of pictures and fill you in on the happenings. In the meantime I invite you to vow to vote no on the California Marriage Ban. Click below to do it:

You can also join me and Sapphocrat in our boycott of Bolthouse Farms. Their Bolthouse Foundation just gave $100,000 to our enemies. The Newswire has the whole sordid story.

And remember, Equality for All is still looking for volunteers so you can sign up any time, or you can make a donation here if you don’t have the time to volunteer. The bigots are pulling out all the stops and we need all the help we can get.

 

Sapphocrat and I will be heading into SF this weekend to catch some of the Pride festivities, and also to volunteer for Equality for All. There is so much to be done to defeat the November Marriage Amendment Ballot Initiative. Equality for All is still looking for volunteers to help out, so if you’re available this weekend or anytime between now and November click the link and sign up.

From 3-6pm Sunday we’ll be with Equality for all. Earlier in the afternoon and later in the evening we’ll be elsewhere mingling and having fun. We’ll be wearing our CAN I VOTE ON YOUR MARRIAGE NOW? T-Shirts, and we’ll be handing out matching buttons until we run out. Hope to see you there!

 

Sapphocrat and I got our marriage license yesterday afternoon. It was a breeze really. We purposely waited almost a week and went a county away in hopes of avoiding long lines and it worked. We were able to put in our application online, and after a five-minute wait in line we signed the form, gave our affirmations and got our license. Actually, we got two licenses. The first is the official one that goes back to the state after our wedding, which is going to be next month, and the second is a keepsake license that we keep after the ceremony. Sweet.

 

This is some of the best news I’ve had recently. This means that the November ballot initiative brought on by the RRRW here in CA may be stopped. Sapphocrat has the story. Head over and read it.

 

It has been a whirlwind of weddings since Monday evening at 5:01pm, which was when same-sex weddings could officially begin here in California. Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were the first to be married in San Francisco, with Mayor Gavin Newsom performing the ceremony. The couple, age 87 and 84 respectively, were the first to marry 4 years ago when Mayor Newsom began issuing licenses to same-sex couples in defiance of state law. Their marriage, along with many others, was declared invalid shortly after. They were overjoyed to now be legally married thanks to the recent Supreme Court decision. Below is video footage of the lovely brides and other happy couples who tied the knot on Monday night. Also included are scenes of the Phelps family protest (which I didn’t make it to as I was not feeling well) and some other protesters.

Here is a county-by-county rundown of the marriage licenses issued and marriages performed as per the Contra Costa Times. com:

* Contra Costa: Issued 55 marriage licenses Tuesday, 36 for same-sex couples, and performed 22 wedding ceremonies, 21 for same-sex couples. Three protesters picketed for an hour, but no incidents were reported to police.
* San Francisco: As of noon Tuesday, San Francisco received 172 same-sex marriage license appointments and 114 reserved ceremonies and most were for same-sex couples, according to the mayor’s office.
* Alameda: The county married 65 same-sex couples Monday night. On Tuesday, it issued 63 marriage licenses and performed 26 weddings, mostly same-sex.
* Solano: On Tuesday, the county issued 22 licenses, 19 for same-sex couples; officiated eight ceremonies, seven of them for same-sex couples.
* San Mateo: The county married four same-sex couples Tuesday and issued 45 licenses, 34 to same-sex couples. Outside, the Rev. Terri Echelbarger of the Peninsula Metropolitan Community Church based in San Mateo, married five same-gender couples.
* Santa Clara: Santa Clara issued 111 marriage licenses and conducted 32 weddings, mostly same-sex.
* Sonoma: On Monday, officials married 20 same-sex couples and issued 37 licenses. On Tuesday, it issued 42 licenses for same-sex couples and conducted 28 ceremonies.
* Napa: Issued 22 licenses; 13 for same-sex couples and performed six ceremonies, five for same-sex couples.
* Marin: Issued 35 licenses and performed 15 ceremonies Tuesday.

Sapphocrat and I have applied for our marriage license. I’ve been scouting online for wardrobe ideas, we’ll be shopping for wedding bands sometime this week or next, and we already are fairly sure where we’re going to have the ceremony. Very soon we’re going to join the hundreds (if not thousands) of blissfully married same-sex couples here in California.

Let equality ring!

 

Addendum, a comment has arrived. Linda said:

Phyllis and Del - aren’t they just the sweetest things? To think of being together for all those years and only now being able to properly celebrate their commitment. It must have taken so much devotion and courage to stand up against society for so long. I’m a straight, female, anglo - this means that I can go through my day and no one suspects me of being an evil, liberal-minded, atheist. I joined the Marines in the early 70s and I’m sure that at least half of the women were gay - later I joined the guard and finished with a total of 21 years. What this brings me to is how sad it made me that I could openly discuss my husband and how happy he made me while my gay friends had to keep silent.

I hope your wedding will be everything you’ve always wanted it to be.

I’m glad that Martin and Lyon saw marriage equality in their lifetimes. It’s only fitting considering how much they contributed to the lesbian rights movement.

I applaud your sensitivity to your privilege regarding your ability to speak freely about your relationship with your husband. So many straight people claim LGBT people are “flaunting” their orientations/identities if they even mention that they are LGBT, and especially if they talk of their partners. They don’t realize the extent to which they “flaunt” their heterosexuality, such as talking about dates, referring to spouses, gushing about upcoming weddings, keeping pictures of their families on their desks at work, etc. What’s good for the goose is, apparently, not good for the gander with certain people.