New Bear(s) on California Flag

Courtesy of Joe.My.God

To Go or Not to Go

I was contacted by a high school friend that I haven't talked with since high school. It was a nice suprise and one of the nice things about Myspace and Facebook...old friends can find you.

She talked about our high school renuion. I am not sure I want to go. I never liked high school and my thoughts are why should I go back to see these people. I stay in touch with my friends from high school and that to me is enough.

I haven't gone to any of the other renuions. There are some people I knew in high school that I want to know they are doing well. I was not close to them, but I considered them freinds.

How much do people really change? Do I want to find out?

I think I am going to attend this year.

Here and There

I actually did some living today! I didn't just blog. That means I didn't get to visit my daily blogs, and I'm feeling somewhat disconnected from my community of choice. Nevertheless, I did good things today. I slept some, since I was up way too late last night, I transported my kids to school, got some nails and screws for Superman so he can finish the project (I'll tell you all about it next week!) he's been working on. Diva had an appointment with her counselor, so I took her there after school. We needed a few more things from the grocery, of course, so I did that.

I also, and most significantly, worked on a project; a gift I'm making for a friend of mine. And I got it finished!! This has been an issue with me recently. I've always been bad about finishing projects, but recently it's gotten worse. There are some psychological issues involved, but I don't know what. Anyway, I got this one DONE! I need to look up the address, finish addressing the envelope, write a brief note (we all know how well I do "brief"!!) and it'll be ready for the post office.

Then I will drive to the college town where Light matriculates. Today was her final final, and she has to be completely out of the dorm by noon tomorrow. Her roommate left this afternoon, so I'm going up tonight and will sleep in the roommate's bed. I will be there in the morning and we can pack up the rest of her stuff. There are a few other things on the calendar for the afternoon and evening. More of that "living" stuff. I'll tell you about it when I next have a chance. But now I need to finish up here, finish packing a few things, and get on the road.

So I'll be living a real life instead of being hooked up to this computer on Friday. Mayhaps I'll have more interesting things to tell you after that!

Great News: California Supreme Court overturns gay marriage ban

California Supreme Court overturns gay marriage ban

Moving a One-Hundred Year-Old Church

From a National Geographic show on Monster Moves. The opening scene is AWESOME!



Thanks to Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish...

One Step at a Time

CA Gay Man Shares Spousal Protections

The California Court of Appeal ruled that a gay Orange County man who mistakenly thought his ex-partner had registered their domestic partnership is entitled to the same protectionscovering heterosexual spouses who discover their marriage isn't valid.

Darrin Ellis and David Arriaga were in a committed relationship for more than five years, and in 2003 met with their attorney to draft estate planning documents and a declaration of domestic partnership. When Ellis tried to dissolve their relationship three years later, Arriaga requested that the court dismiss the case, saying their relationship wasn't validly registered. Ellis believed his domestic partnership was registered with the state, only to discover upon their separation that his partner never mailed the form.

Lambda Legal argued that Ellis should have the same recourse available to heterosexuals who honestly believe they were validly married, but later discover they were not. This protection allows good faith "putative spouses" to fairly divide property through family court, rather than being treated as legal strangers.

Quotes

"Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words. "

"A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day. "

This is from my all time favorite comic strip Calvin & Hobbes. I am sitting at work not wanting to do anything and a strange thought popped into my head: "What would Calvin do?"

I think I am going to be mischievous today.

For a day or so, it's the gayest place on earth

Gay Day, which started small in 1991, has now outgrown the park's boundaries.

In 1991, a small gay group donned eye-catching red shirts and gathered at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, having no idea that word of mouth would propel their ''Gay Day'' outing into an event of epic proportions. Within six years, attendance had swelled to 60,000, and a single day had morphed into nearly a week of activities.

When Gay Day unfolds this year -- it's always on the first Saturday in June -- an estimated 135,000 gays and lesbians are expected to converge in Central Florida. The state's largest gay pride festival, held in St. Petersburg, draws about half that number.

With so many people, every year is a different experience, which keeps it exciting, says Brian Rush, a Wilton Manors resident who has attended Gay Day each year since the mid-'90s.

I've gone with a date and I've gone with groups of friends, I've gone to the big parties and the local clubs, but the one thing I always do is uphold the tradition of wearing red to the Magic Kingdom on Saturday. It's the equivalent of going to a gay pride parade and showing support for our community.

Late-night dance parties for gay men dominated post-theme park entertainment choices in the '90s, but now the Gay Days roster includes a lesbian weekend package and designated meeting places at Magic Kingdom and SeaWorld for gay families.

When we started seven years ago, there really were no organized events for women and now there are 10 with national entertainment involved, says Alison Burgos, co-producer of Girls in Wonderland. It's a great effort from the women's community in Orlando. Local and national promoters really work together to make lesbians feel welcome.

Although Gay Days is not Disney sponsored, the company -- which supports workplace nondiscrimination and provides health care coverage for same-sex domestic partners of employees -- embraces its presence. It's a great group of people, Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez says. I was at the park last year for Gay Day and it was wonderful to see all the red T-shirts and multigenerations of families coming together and being at ease in the park.

Inspired by Florida's success, Gay Days Anaheim launched in 1998 and now draws 30,000red-shirted participants to Disneyland the first weekend of October.

As someone who grew up in Florida and has been going to Disney World my whole life, before I came out and after I came out, it's amazing how the park transforms for Gay Day, Rush says.

The workers have bigger smiles on their faces, because everyone is just so happy that day. Normally it's full of families on a mission to have fun, because dad paid a lot of money; whereas on Gay Day they've come from all over the world and they're having fun because they want to. It gives Disney a whole different flair.

THE PARKS

The 1999 arrival of Universal's Islands of Adventure, with its adult-friendly thrill rides, stole some of the Magic Kingdom's thunder, but Walt's original Orlando theme park still attracts the largest group of Gay Day participants on the first Saturday in June. Gay guests gather in front of Cinderella's Castle at 3 p.m. for the Main Street Parade, where chants of ''gay'' and ''day'' fly across the pavement before the floats roll by.

Wearing red is encouraged, but rainbow-colored ensembles that evoke the gay pride flag and Mickey Mouse ears on women/Minnie Mouse ears on men also make frequent appearances.

On this extra-busy day, using the FastPass system to book a slot for popular ''grown-up'' rides like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain helps with wait times.

THE PARTIES

Promoter Johnny Chisholm hosts the most elaborate (and pricey) post-park dance soirees under the One Mighty Weekend banner: the Beach Ball at Typhoon Lagoon (June 6), which includes access to the park's water slides and wave pool; One Mighty Party at Disney's Hollywood Studios (June 7), featuring comedian Mo'Nique, singer Taylor Dayne and unlimited rides on Star Tours and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror; and Universe (June 8) on the Universal Studios Orlando New York back lot.

Downtown Orlando's gay nightclubs Pulse and Revolution and the sprawling gay entertainment complex Parliament House attract full houses without the $100 ticket price. Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney is the Thursday night hot spot and a favorite of gay Disney cast members. Girls in Wonderland produces the largest lesbian events; their namesake party at Downtown Disney's House of Blues draws 2,300 women.

THE HOTELS

Chances are good that any hotel near Orlando will have a gay presence, but it's guaranteed when booking one of the host hotels in Lake Buena Vista.

Party animals flock to the Buena Vista Palace Hotel and Spa, which includes passes to its weekend pool parties with room reservations. The Fairfield Inn and Suites in the Marriott Village has free shuttle service to Girls in Wonderland and access to the lesbian pool parties at the sold-out Courtyard Marriott next door.

Both properties are nearly full, but overflow rooms are available at the lakeside Disney Saratoga Springs Villa Resort, with ferry service to Downtown Disney, and the Disney All-Star Sports Resort, a convenient locale for gay athletes participating in the volleyball, softball, tennis and running events presented as part of One Mighty Weekend.

Story By: Loann Halden
www.outtraveler.com

Ryan Says: I have never been but this year we are going and the people that live in my neighborhood has told me about St Pete Pride I will also be there as soon as I get all the details on where me & Austin will be I'll let you know so maybe those of you going we can meet up! Has anybody been to gay days at the park if so post about it or leave a comment let me know what you thought about it.

Wow, even better shirtless

This American Life

If you’re not listening to This American Life on NPR, their podcast on iTunes, or watching a whole new presentation on Showtime, you’re missing out on a fantastic experience. The stories are unique, interesting, funny, sad, and compelling—you can not hear these stories and not come away without laughing, crying, learning or sitting there slack-jawed.

Here is a funny little story from the Showtime version (with terrific animation):



And if you don't think I have a thing for Ira Glass, you're wrong. I love him something awful...

Two new tributes unveiled in Germany to gay-rights activist persecuted by Nazis

BERLIN _ Seventy-five years ago, the Nazis ransacked the offices of German sex-researcher and gay-rights activist Magnus Hirschfeld, seizing hundreds of books that were burned in a towering pyre four days later.

To mark the day Tuesday, Berlin dedicated a stretch of the Spree river to Hirschfeld, while the city’s Charite hospital opened a new exhibition of his work called "Sex Burns.’’

The tributes to Hirschfeld are "a clear acknowledgment for gays that a persecution has taken place and that reparation is necessary,’’ said Alexander Zinn, head of Germany’s Lesbian and Gay Association, at the dedication ceremony.

"That is a first step in the right direction’’

Nazi Germany declared homosexuality an aberration that threatened the German race and convicted some 50,000 homosexuals as criminals. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 homosexuals, mostly men, were deported to concentration camps, where few survived.

Work is also under way in Berlin on an overall memorial to the Nazi’s homosexual victims, which will be located in Berlin’s Tiergarten Park, across from the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

The euro600,000 (US$932,000) memorial, designed by Danish-born artist Michael Elmgreen, features a gray concrete slab with a window allowing visitors to view a film inside of same-sex couples kissing.

Hirschfeld was a pioneer of research into sexuality and is seen as one of the most important figures in Germany who defended homosexual rights. Persecuted by the Nazi regime, he ended up in French exile where he died in 1935.

He was out of the country on May 6, 1933, when the Nazis plundered and shut down his Institute for Sexual Research, and seized his books and other items.

Urged on by the Nazi leadership, students around Germany burned many of those books and thousands of others deemed to be "un-German’’ on May 10. The event was a foreshadowing of the state censorship and iron-handed control of culture to come.

A bust of Hirschfeld was also tossed by the Nazis into the flames, and the Berlin chapter of Zinn’s organization is currently collecting money to try to recreate it.

"Magnus Hirschfeld constantly tried to free the public from negative homosexual prejudices...’’ said German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries at the dedication of the downtown riverbank.

"His life work and his own fate show clearly how much aggression, injustice and prejudice homosexuals have had to deal with in Germany.’’

The exhibition at the Charite hospital features the work of seven artists, each of whom focus on a different facet of Hirschfeld’s research.

Their exhibits feature parts of Hirschfeld’s collection of notes, photographs posters and other material.

by Franziska Scheven
Associated Press

Ryan Says: This is a good idea and for those haven't seen this movie Bent buy it rent it just watch it. If you watch this movie and don't h ave tears in your eyes at the end there you have no heart! If you want to but it just click on it and it will take you to Amazon.