Wednesday, December 10, 2008

"Day Without a Gay" may prompt some workers to take the day off


Cris Jones plans to take a personal day off from work today but not because he's feeling sick. The transportation planner with the city of Boulder is going to "call in gay."
He's joining others in a "Day Without a Gay," a nationwide boycott of work prompted by Californians' recent passage of a proposition banning gay marriage.
The Colorado Queer Straight Alliance organized a volunteer day today at the African Community Center in east Denver. The group was expecting at least eight volunteers, coordinator Jules Graves said. Some critics have questioned the wisdom of holding the boycott as the deepening economic recession has many already fearing for their jobs.
"In general, people are nervous about the economic situation, so they're less likely to take the risk and participate," Graves said.
Several Denver-area professionals with ties to the gay/lesbian community said they won't skip work but will observe the day in other ways. Greg Griffin, The Denver Post

Monday, December 8, 2008

Power Hungry Politics

New York Times Magazine writer Matt Bai and author of a must-read book for Democrats, "The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics," recently provided an apt description of American politics for the last sixteen years. Democrats would be wise to remember "The real trend line in our politics - from Ross Perot and Bill Clinton in 1992 to Obama this year - speaks not to any change in governing philosophy but to a growing frustration with incumbency and dogma, a sense that both parties are more concerned with perpetuating their own power than they are with adapting government to a fast-changing world. Voters aren't really identifying more closely with one party or another when they periodically revolt; they are simply defining themselves against whoever happens to be in charge at the moment."

As someone who believes, wholeheartedly, in the importance of voting and the power of the little guy to effect change, the above statement really rang true for me. I am not interested, as a voter or a citizen, in furthering the power of one group over another. My loyalty, ultimately, is to my country, not one party over another. I am excited to see what we can achieve in the next four years. And I really have hope that we will see change, as a proactive response to the world in which we operate, rather than a reactive response to what "the other guy" has been doing.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Prop 8: The Musical

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Monday, December 1, 2008

World Aids Day


Today is a day to mourn the losses we have faced as a community and a day to celebrate the gains we have made. Close to 30 years ago, AIDS was killing us. Admitting you were ill meant censure, job loss, and isolation. There are still challenges to this disease. There is still social stigma. But there is also federal funding, despite the last few years of abstinence only blockades, there is more hope than there was. In some ways our hope has been a stumbling block. The new generation doesn't respect the depth of consequences that AIDS can have for them because they haven't watched their friends dying. 

Join Boulder County AIDS Project tonight for their World AIDS Day Concert, Boulder Dinner Theatre. Contact Kate Hibberd for details kate@bcap.org.