Bobservations

There is some hopefulness on Consuelo.

I’ve seen her on the deck, twice, coming for food we’ve left out. But she’s scared and so she won’t come to me or come into the house. She looks a little ragged—it rained one night—but otherwise okay.

We’ve set out old clothes, her scratching post, a cat carrier with blankets, food, w treats, but still she won’t come out when we’re around. I think she’s just scared right now. Our next step, I think, is to get a feral cat trap, and see if we can trap her. That way we can get her back inside.

Fingers permanently crossed.

It’s been more than thirty years since the AIDS Memorial Quilt was created in San Francisco, and in those years,  it has traveled the world and touched millions of hearts. Now, the Quilt is going home for good.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt, spurred on by the NAMES Project Foundation, will be moved from Atlanta to the National AIDS Memorial in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park for long-term preservation and educational purposes; related archival collections will be under the care of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington.

If you’ve never seen it, all or part, it is an amazingly beautiful sad, heartbreaking memorial to those we’ve lost to AIDS. I’ve seen parts in San Francisco and Miami and saw it on the Mall in DC twice.

It breaks your heart, but gives you hope. It deserves a permanent home.

In other good LGBTQ+ news … Cyndi Lauper will receive the inaugural High Note Global Prize from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the High Note Global Initiative.

Lauper is being lauded for co-founding True Colors Unitedin 2008 after learning that while 10% of American youth identify as LGBTQ+, up to 40% of American homeless youth is LGBTQ+. True Colors United works to prevent and end youth homelessness, focusing on the unique experiences of LGBTQ youth.

True Colors United offers free training and resources on how to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness. They advocate in government and media to help ensure critical funding and services for all youth and create opportunities for youth who have experienced homelessness to be key leaders in the effort to end the problem.

Congratulations Cyndi. Girls just wanna have fun, but they wanna help. too.

More LGBTQ+ good news … LGBTQ advocates and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have reached a deal to ban harmful gay conversion therapy for minors in the state of Utah. The deal was announced by Governor Gary Herbert on Twitter.

The proposed rule is expected to be published Dec. 15 and could go into effect as early as Jan. 22, according to a news release.”

But then … The Notre Dame Academy has come under fire after Carly McGoldrick, a parent who identifies as bisexual, reported that when the school took 8th graders on their annual trip to Chicago to see The Nutcracker, the chaperones made the kids leave the theater when it was revealed that Clara’s parents were played by two men:

“I’ve been in contact with an audience member … who said the walk-out was disruptive and confusing. It happened about 5 minutes before the performance actually began, and I can only imagine how humiliated the students were. Waiting for NDA to …  issue an apology for embarrassing [the students] in front of an entire auditorium.”

Kim Grilliot, NDA president, issued an apology, after McGoldrick’s tweet started a firestorm of anger:

“We apologize for our decision for 8th graders leave to a performance of The Nutcracker before it began due to casting choices. The mistake is contrary to our inclusive spirit and reminds us our actions should affirm that we are all God’s children.”

Well, isn’t that special, but … NDA also claims the school’s Spirit of Inclusion statement, adopted in 2014 ,affirms that NDA welcomes "all into our Gospel community including but not limited to people of all colors, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender expression, abilities, economic classes and nationalities.”

Except, I guess when it comes to Clara having two dads. For their part, the 8th graders painted a rock on the school’s campus in rainbow colors with the words “God Loves U” in response to the incident.

Listen to the children is the lesson here.

Ehsan Abdulaziz, a forty-six-year-old millionaire property developer, claims he never raped that 18-year-old girl; he simply tripped and fell on her while his penis was out of his pants.

Seriously.  Abdulaziz had already had sex with the teenager’s 24-year-old friend, whom he already knew, in the bedroom and said his penis might have been poking out of his underwear when he fell on the girl. He says he simply wanted to see if the young woman wanted a t-shirt to sleep in, or a taxi home, but claims she pulled him on top of her and placed his hand between her legs.

Now, his semen and DNA were found inside the girl, but Abdulaziz said it was possible he had semen on his hands from having sex with the 24-year-old earlier.

A jury acquitted him in just 30 minutes of deliberations. Seriously.

It appears he goes by the name Wake.

Hot. The long hair. The facial hair.  The body. The soulful eyes. The smile. The shower.

I’m fully woke. Just sayin’.

Keep The Promise March On Washington: The AIDS Memorial Quilt

It was a fantastic weekend, a long weekend, a weekend filled up nearly every minute with things to do and see sand say. I was so happy to lend my voice and my presence to a cause that asks our government, and governments round the world, to stop cutting funding for AIDS research, for HIV medications, for the AIDS Drug Assistance program [ADAP] which helps thousands of people get their very expensive HIV medications without winding up in the poor house. And since HIV and AIDS aren't going away--any time soon, at least--we need to keep vigilant, and keep our voices heard, and our presence felt, and our votes counted.
But......for me, what brought the whole weekend home, was, once again, viewing the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Several panels were on display during the Keep The Promise rally on Sunday, but on Monday, the official start of a weeklong global AIDS  conference in Washington, DC, a much larger portion of the quilt was laid out on the Capitol Mall.
I have seen pieces in San Francisco, and I have seen pieces in Miami, but I have never seen this much of the quilt on display at any one time, and even this large installation was a fraction of the 48,000 panels created by friends and loved ones, lovers, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and children of those who lost the battle with AIDS.
Had a panel been made for all those who died from complications of AID--through 2008--in the US alone, the Quilt would comprise 617.000 panels. There are roughly 34 million people around the world living with HIV. Think about that Quilt as you look at the pictures.
The AIDS Quilt is a visually striking monument, a movable monument, and it's impossible not to stand in front of it, reading the names of total strangers, without crying. For me, what I felt this time seeing it, was a vast sense of loss. I saw so many names of men who were born the same year as I, yet whose lives ended over twenty years ago.
There but for the grace of God.......
So, I'd like to share some picture from the quilt. Most panels are three-feet by six-feet, though some are larger; most panels have one name on them, though some have many; some panels are elaborate works or art, while others are actual quilts, with remembrances of those who've already gone on, and some are simple and barren and sparse.
And yet each one is as powerful and moving and thought-provoking as the last one and the next one.
Here's the Quilt, and the hope that one day there won't be any additional panels....

for more information The Names Project--The AIDS Memorial Quilt

Random Musings

Careful when listening to the radio these days.
A U.K.-based radio station's programmers are feeling the heat this week after they, ahem, inadvertently aired five minutes of a gay porn soundtrack.
Yup, Jazz FM, which focuses on light jazz, standards and occasional blues, mistakenly aired a recording of what sounded like "two British men in a mostly wordless, but fairly graphic, exchange" on Sunday.
Mike Vitti, the station's head of programming, apologized for the porn gaffe: "Unfortunately we had an unauthorized access to the live feed this evening which resulted in a highly regrettable incident. Please accept our profound and sincere apologies for any offence that may have been caused.”
One man's offense is another man's, er, well, you know......

So, I'm still watching Smash.
I love a good show tune as well as the next queen, and, as Carlos likes to say, "It's Glee for adults."
What that says about the fact that we both also like Glee, I do not know, but....
I am still not really liking Katharine MacPhee. She doesn't come off as naive farmgirl making her way in the Big Apple; she comes off as schemer.
But I am liking Brit actor Raza Jaffrey, who plays her boyfriend.
Cute and English. 
And I does loves me an accent.

2012 marks the 25th anniversary of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which was created to honor and remember those who have passed from the virus.
I remember seeing the Quilt in Miami many years ago, and, knowing I'd be moved, but feeling shock as I walked through the convention center looking at just a partial exhibition, and wiping away tears as I read from the panels.
It was one of those Never Forget moments: 

Billy Graham's son, Franklin, says that not only is Obama not a Christian, according to Islamic law, he's a Muslim. 
Yes, he's waving that tired old flag.
Of course, to Little Franky Graham, Mittsy is also not a Christian.
And, if these things were true, that's bad because......?
Who knows. All I know is that the wacknuts are still out there, and still spouting the same idiotic rhetoric that the mindless minions drinking Tea will use in their next foot stomp.

Seriously Top Chef? Sarah in the finale? 
She served you a dish that was nothing like her vision. A frozen piece of Ginger Mousse that didn't melt into the pasta? How does that say top chef?
Of course, now I know you're gonna give the win to Paul--who deserves it.
Sidenote: Paul has some hot thighs. Just sayin'.
Sidenote 2: Anyone else sick of Sarah's Taylor-Swift-like astonishment when she wins anything?

LGBT Best and Worst [via HuffPoGay]

The effort to legalize same-sex marriage passed a long-standing hurdle in the Maryland House of Delegates when the  House voted 71-67  to give gay couples the right to marry. The measure heads to the state Senate where last year it easily cleared the 47-member body. Governor O'Malley says he will sign it.

"Amelia," a featured HuffPost Gay Voices bloggers, offers her reaction to her 7-year-old son telling her that he's gay:"...[A few months ago] I was on the phone with a relative who had just discovered that I was blogging on The Huffington Post and openly discussing my son's crush on Blaine. I was in another room alone (I thought), explaining, "We're not saying he's straight, and we're not saying he's gay. We're saying we love who he is," when my son's voice piped up behind me."Yes, I am," he said. "Am what, baby?" I asked. "Gay. I'm gay." My world paused for a moment, and I saw the "geez, Mom, didn't you know that already?" look on my son's face. I got off the phone and leaned down to eye level with him and rubbed my nose against his. "I love you so much." "I know," he said, and ran off to play with his brothers.

HuffPost Gay Voices Editor-at-Large Michelangelo Signorile talked with wacknut Victoria Jackson at CPAC, and she had a lot on her mind:On Obama: "This president was raised marxist. His parents, his grandparents, his college professors, his whole life, he's been immersed in marxism, even his church. Jeremiah Wright did not preach Christianity. He preached black liberation theology, which is marxism disguised as religion."On Republican presidential candidates: "Republicans and the Democrats are looking the same these days. Newt Gingrich and Mitt are socialists. I think Santorum is the only conservative."On Prop 8: "We should vote on everything--of course we should vote on everything," she said, though she almost instantly changed her mind: "Oh no, I believe in a republic where we should have elected officials. Democracy turns into mob-ocracy."

The Westboro Baptist Church said it would picket Whitney Houston's funeral because they're all Christ-like, you know. And they posted pictures and stories on the website of their time at the service. Except....they weren't really there. The pictures were photoshopped. Of course that didn't stop them from releasing a parody of Houston's signature song. "I Will Always Love You", entitled "God Will Always Hate You, Whitney." So, so Christ-like.

Filed under Amazing is the news that Oklahoma has elected its first openly gay state senator, when Democratic state Congressman Al McAffrey soared to a landslide victory, besting Republican opponent Jason Reese with more than 66% of the vote. Congratulations, Al, and those people of Oklahoma who voted for you. 

Australian comedienne Magda Szubanski--best known in the US as Mrs. Hoggett, the farmer's wife in the "Babe" movies, and as the voice of Miss Viola in "Happy Feet"--announced on a national television show that she is gay: "Oh yes, yeah, absolutely...people will say, 'Why did [I] take a while to do this?' I needed to be as solid as I could be so I could do this in the strongest possible way and be really clear about myself."

Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued its order finding that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act--the federal definition of marriage--is unconstitutional.Un-freaking-constitutional!

Now, in the Not-so-gay-but-definitely-crazy news: 

At a campaign stop in Phoenix, Rick Santorum was asked to respond to speech he made in 2008, in which he said, “Satan has his sights on the United States of America! Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that have so deeply rooted in the American tradition.”
Now, he backtracks a little, leaving out Satan: “I’m a person of faith. I believe in good and evil. I think if somehow or another because you’re a person of faith you believe in good and evil is a disqualifier for president, we’re going to have a very small pool of candidates who can run for president.”
Oh, Rick, you sweater-vested-delusional-narrow-minded-homophobic-one-note. I would hazard a guess that most people believe in good and evil, good and bad, but we wouldn't use the fear of Satan infiltrating our lives to be elected to office.
And, last time I checked, evil was wearing a sweater-vest and telling everyone else how to live their lives.
M'kay, Frothy?

Lastly, after her six wins at the Grammys, Adele returned to England for the Brit awards where she won the night's top prize.
Overcome with emotion, she began her acceptance speech only to be told her time was up.
Kanye West say what?
Adele smiled sweetly, said a quick thanks and then gave a One Fingered Salute to the suits who cut her short.
Word to the wise: Do.Not.Mess.With.Adele.

World Aids Day

You don't hear so much about AIDS anymore....at least you don't if you don't know anyone living with AIDS or HIV. But the fact is that 33 million people around the world are living with HIV.....up some two-million-plus in 2007. So on this, World AIDS Day, we need to be aware, to remember those we've lost, those we may yet lose. We need to be aware that cases of HIV and AIDS are on the rise; we need to be educated and knowledgeable; we need to be safe.
There are a couple of great places to go and read up on what you can do, from making a donation, to volunteering, to writing letters to keep all governments, all nations, working together to find a cure.
Check out the Gay Men's Health Crisis and World Aids Campaign to see what you can do. I know personally what a difference it would make in my life to have AIDS and HIV a thing of the past.

A few years back Carlos and I went to see the AIDS Memorial Quilt when it was in Miami. It was a shocking site, all those panels and yet many more still dying; and it was a beautiful site, when you realized how much love was in each stitch and what each thread meant to the person who created the panel. These are just a few of the words, the memorials, sewn into fabric, that I saw that day:

Death is nothing at all—I have only slipped away into the next room. Whatever we were to each other, that we still are. Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effort.
Life means all that it has ever meant, it is the same as it ever was; there is absolutely unbroken continuity. Why should I be out of your mind because I am out of your sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well. Nothing is past; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before—only better, infinitely happier and forever—
_____________________________________

William Davis Austin
Even in the final months of his illness Bill would say, “I’m so lucky, I’ve had it all.” Of course, it may be that Bill was no luckier than the rest of us, except that he had the ultimate wisdom to know he was blessed and to live every day of his life in awe and with gratitude.
_____________________________________

The hardest thing is to remember to say ‘I’—not ‘We.’
For Grady Harwell 1952-1991
_____________________________________

God saw you were getting tired,
and a cure was not to be..
So he put his arms around you
and whispered, “Come away with me.”
With tearful eyes we watched you
And saw you pass away.
Although we loved you dearly
We could not make you stay.
A Golden Heart stopped beating
Hardworking hands at rest
God broke our hearts to show us
He only takes the best.
For Desiree p. Pope 1980-1997

Peace