C'mon. You knew I would do this.

Yeah, I held a video back from the El Rio show in case I had nothing else to blog about. I got nothing, people. It's been all work and some fun but not the kind of fun that's bloggable. Predictable, three-Tecates-and-dinner, kind of fun. But mostly, work. As in, work-all-day-then-screenprint-then-class-then-screenprint-then-dinner, kind of work.

What's awesome about this video is that it looks and sounds like there are no people there until the camera turns around at the end. Also, the sound person is setting up the room as I am playing, which looks a little funny, like I just showed up and started playing before they were ready. The chairs were a good idea though.

Thank you, sisters-in-law for the foresight of taking video.

This is my family

I know I've been on this huge "I'm such a gay-ass lesbian" tangent lately but check this out. My Aunt Leonor was on NPR's All Things Considered. I talk about my aunt fairly often as I'm pretty sure that she had a lot to do with how accepting my parents (specifically my dad) have become with my soft-butch love parade (we all call it that, right?). It took work and patience, people but my father took part in my gay wedding ceremony last year. So, we've reached an understanding. I'm so proud my aunt went out and made such a difference in other people's lives. I love to tell her story. That's my blood. My tolerant blood.

I'm not interested.

As I was walking home from work today, I saw two young men walking towards me, up the sidewalk. They caught my attention because they were wearing suits with nametags, which really made them look like they worked at a hotel. But as I got closer, I realized that they were not bellboys. We smiled at each other and one of them pulled out a flyer and said, "We're from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Can we talk to you?"

Without even thinking, I waved them off and said, "I'm gay. You don't like my kind." I wasn't even thinking of the whole gay-marriage debacle. I was just thinking, "I'm gay and I have no problem with it." And they say we recruit? Ok, I've recruited one or two for my people, myself. Zing! God, I love being gay.

Ok, we can talk about it now

I'm upset about Prop. 8 passing and at the amount of time and money spent by people to ensure it did pass. I'm upset that voting statistics are being used as a wedge between gays and minorities. I spent a few days looking around distrustfully until I realized this is an opportunity to see which communities we are not reaching, rather than as an excuse for further division. Plus, it's those religious types we really need to hate. I kid. I kid.

I marched in the protest, slowly making my way up Market Street to the Castro, stopping cars in their path. Even though I'm uncomfortable with group chanting, I managed to join in on a few. Not those "hey, hey, ho, ho," chants though. That's just too much. But this vote has hurt me. It's hurt a lot of people and I'd hate to see that hurt turn to anger. The whole thing has me thinking that I need to be more involved in the gay community, especially the gay rights movement. My disappointment is gone and my anger has turned into a kind of resolution to try harder, to do more than talk. We are clearly being misunderstood and rather than continue on as we have with our demanding, perhaps we need to focus on common ground and take it from there. Agreed? My people? Can I get a "yes we can"?

My people

I sent this letter out to almost everyone I know so why not you too?

Hello friends and family,

As much as I keep joking that I'm going to vote yes on Prop 8 so that I don't have to pay the government another $98 for a marriage license when I've already got a domestic partnership license (what, I should have to pay twice?), I'm writing today to ask you to consider voting no on Prop 8. I'm asking you to consider this for several reasons:

#1) I think some people might be confused as to which way they should vote in order to keep gay marriage legal. The way to do that is to vote no on Prop 8. I'm not saying you're dumb. Just lazy.

#2) Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with gays marrying each other, I think we can certainly agree that a bill intended to take away the rights of any group, which is what this bill does, is downright un-American. Even if you don't morally agree with gay marriage, imagine if there were ever a bill proposed that specifically targeted your ethnicity, religion, beliefs, etc to say that since some people do not agree with you on a moral level, your legal rights should be removed. That would be weird and insulting, right? It kind of goes against everything that America was founded upon.

#3) If you vote no on Prop 8, a lot of gay people in California will get married. This will bring much needed money to the California economy. On top of that, you might even be personally invited to one of these weddings and everyone knows that the gay people, as a whole, know how to throw a good party. A no vote on Prop 8 increases your chances of attending a kick-ass, gay party.

Most of you that I'm writing to are already planning on voting no on Prop 8. But what about your family or friends that live in California and are kind of on the fence about it or don't really follow politics? That lazy cousin in Fontana? The confused aunt in Paso Robles? Maybe drop them a line.

I thought about giving money to the "no on Prop 8" people but decided that this email would be more effective. If I get even one of you to change your mind and vote no, then I just saved myself twenty bucks. And if you pass it on and get one more person to vote no, then you owe me twenty bucks, or at least a beer the next time I see you.

Love,

Cristina

Good Gay Citizen

Living in San Francisco spoils us gay people. Sometimes we forget about how a lot of people feel about us, with the fear and hatred and all. I went down to City Hall Monday to get in on the marriage action... not to actually get married but to see other married gay people. We'll see what happens in November. These could all be empty promises.

Here's what went down: First off, it was cold and foggy with a bitter wind on Monday. I wore a hat and gloves. We got down to City Hall around 6:00 and it seemed as though most of the action had already taken place.

Our City Hall is pretty, yes? I tried to get the American flag in there. A little symbolism for you.


The freshly married people came out the front here and every time they did, the gay band would play. How can you hate our people? We brought a band! I'm honestly not sure if the sign about "Homo Sex" being a threat to national security is real or ironic. I will say that one gentleman was wearing a leather jacket that advertised how gay people would burn in hell and he had the most bad-ass flames illustrating his point. I tried, I tried, I tried to get a picture. This gentleman has a website called truthtrucks.com although as far as I could tell from the pictures on the site it's more like "Truth Truck", singular. We were calling it "The Hate Truck" or "The Crappy Toyota?". I mean, if you love America so much, buy American.

I also can't help but notice this truck features a very large picture of two men kissing. Sure, it has a slash through it but still. Also, that whole "not Adam and Steve" thing always makes me giggle. Everyone knows that it would really be "Steven" too. All Stevens are gay.

But really, is this what this guy does with his life? Does he call his friends over to say, "Aw man, wait 'till you see the Truth Truck. I've got this giant picture of two dudes kissing. Then it's got a slash through it. Man, when the American people see this, it will really make them think."?
On the walk back home, we walked by Citizen Cake and saw the first-San Francisco-married lesbian couple inside and everyone was raising their glasses in a toast and well, tears did come to my eyes. Sometimes it freaks me out that the country I live in considers me a second-class citizen not worthy of the tax breaks that straight people get. San Francisco Pride is right around the corner. It's going to be a good one this year.