The good news - LGBT winning candidates around the country
by: Pam Spaulding
Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 12:00:00 PM EST

I was waiting for this wrap by Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund to give us the good news to offset the ballot initiatives. President and CEO Chuck Wolfe:

"This was a watershed election. Our government became more representative and our democracy became stronger. As we near the 30th anniversary of the death of Harvey Milk, it's enormously gratifying to see his dream realized in so many brave men and women heeding the call to run for office, and doing so openly, honestly and unafraid."

Look at this accomplishment -- out of the record-breaking 111 endorsements of out candidates in 2008, more than 70 percent won as of this AM. See the winners below the fold.
Pam Spaulding :: The good news - LGBT winning candidates around the country
Among the winners in 2008:

* Jared Polis of Colorado became the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Congress as a non-incumbent. He joins Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. Tammy Baldwin, both reelected Tuesday night, as the only openly LGBT Members of Congress.

* Kate Brown became the first openly LGBT Secretary of State in the U.S., and the second-highest ranking elected official in the state of Oregon. Brown is openly bisexual.

* Sam Adams was elected mayor of Portland, Oregon earlier in the year. He will become the first openly gay mayor of one of the 30 largest U.S. cities when he's sworn in next year.

* Jason Bartlett, who came out as gay in his current term, was reelected to the Connecticut State House. He is only the second openly gay African-American state legislator in the nation.

* Thomas Robichaux and Seth Bloom, both gay men, simultaneously became the first-ever openly LGBT elected officials in the state of Louisiana when they were elected to the Orleans Parish School Board in an October primary.

* John Perez became the first openly gay person of color elected to the California Assembly.

* Lupe Valdez was reelected to a second term as sheriff of Dallas County, Texas. First elected in 2004, Valdez was the first woman, the first Latina and the first out lesbian ever to win the post.

* Kevin Beckner won a seat on the Hillsborough County Commission in Florida, unseating an anti-gay incumbent and becoming the first openly LGBT candidate elected in the county.

* Rebecca Kaplan will be the first out lesbian to serve on the Oakland, Calif. City Council after winning her race Tuesday.

We can celebrate these wins, but we must be mindful of the bigotry out there that did affect races:

"The national election was an affirmation of the African-American civil rights movement that is more than a century old. The LGBT movement is much younger, and it's clear we still have much work to do to win true equality. The politics of fear and bigotry are not yet behind us, and we saw some heartbreaking examples of that in this election. On a day that demonstrated Americans' commitment to inclusivity and equality, the sabotage of several openly LGBT candidates and the devastating outcomes of three statewide marriage bans were disappointingly inconsistent. I am confident that history will give us an opportunity to right those wrongs as we continue the journey toward full equality for all Americans," Wolfe said.

* In Oklahoma, Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth was narrowly defeated in a statewide race after last-minute attack ads and mailers suggested he would push a "homosexual agenda" in his role as a regulator of the state's energy industry.

* Garnet Lewis, who was seeking a seat in the Michigan State House, was subject to an onslaught of anti-gay attacks in print and radio media outlets during the final week of her campaign. She lost her race.

... by request. ;)

I met dis girl online, she a loud mouth cutie
Beltane Goddess got me actin like a groupie

She my Egyptian Goddess aromatic beauty
I be sippin on her green faerie, beggin her ta do me

She the girl of my dreams and she got a magic coochie
Italian and Fucking Classy like she a Gucci

I want her to star in my xxx home movie
Cause she know the fax a life better than Tootie

I can be president, she can do her civic duty
when I nominate her to be my Secretary of Booty

A big thank you to skinnylizard for taking me and lunapoppy and the Vikings out to American River yesterday for some exhausting fun. There's no one I'd rather have pop my white water cherry. She fearlessly navigated us through rapids with names like Satan's Cesspool, and Ambulance Run by shouting varied commands in English, Russian, and Icelandic, automatically putting another layer of exciting on the whole thing.

I'm happy to report that no one fell out of our vessel, except when they meant to. Afterward, the alcohol flowed freely at the local trashy watering hole. The day ended with Jackie and I bidding farewell to our Nordic friends as they prepared for their trip to Tahoe, and with Jackie delivering my drunk ass back to my girlfriend, who fed me and watched me pass the fuck out on the couch by 9 o'clock.

I am now sore in places I never knew I had. And I'm grateful. If you ever have space again or need an extra body, skinnylizard, I'd love to go again sometime!!

Lol, I don't think the tests for husband and wife are equivalent. Something tells me it's a bit easier to be a "good" husband in the 1930s.

113 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Ruh-roh. Declan wanted to go to Steph's park fun, but got sick. He came into the bathroom and told Collie he was sick and that his tummy hurt. He wound up puking in the trashcan. Poor guy. He wanted to go but fell asleep on my lap in exhaustion, drooling on my leg. We're just going to grill our food here, and we passed off half the potato salad Collie made onto Cory, who came by to drop some stuff off and pick up a cd.

This is fun!

What Your Music Says About You
1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question.

No cheating!

What does next year have in store for me?
Too Tired (DeVotchKa)


What's my love life like?
Urgent/Anxious (Ursula 1000)


What do I say when life gets hard?
Most Of Us Prizefighters (AC Newman)


What song will I dance to at my wedding?
Faint Heart (Melt Banana)


What do you want as a career?
Media (John Butler Trio - They're going to be at Coachella!)


Famous last words?
Rocky Dennis' Farewell Song (Jens Lekman - at Coachella too!)


Your favorite saying?
Manchasm (Future Of The Left)


Favorite place?
I'm the Man Who Loves You (Wilco)


What do you think of your parents?
Hotel Expressionism (The Streets)


What's your Pornstar name?
Spray Paint (Dirty Projectors) - hahaha, i like that-my mind is filthy.


Where would you go on a first date?
Rub-Alcohol Blues (The Fiery Furnaces)


Drug of choice?
First Love (Uffie)


Describe yourself:
Bad Boy Steppin' (Knight Rider)


What is the thing I like doing most?
Let's Make Out (Does It Offend You, Yeah) - also at Coachella: I downloaded a bunch of tracts from the artists performing there.


What is my state of mind like at the moment?
It Is Familiar (Bodies of Water)


How will I die?
Glassbottom Lights (The Tyde:James Figurine Rmx)

My coworker ate dog hair on purpose. They were making pizza and one of the hairs from her dog got baked in, and she couldn't get it out, so she just ate it. And my other two co-workers were like, 'That makes sense'. 

Now I realize that not everyone is as repulsed by pet hair in your food as I am, but I was like, why not just cut that piece of your pizza off. Why freakin' eat it? And she then rationalized it with, "Well, it's a short dog hair. . . " and "This is really really good pizza. . ." and "At least I know the dog. . ." Blech! This is madness.

Woo I am so happy I, er uh I mean Declan, got a piano!! It needs a tune up which we're getting this Friday, but seriously, I haven't lived with a piano since I was in high school. Declan knows which ones are the low notes and which ones are the high notes --  admittedly he's better at singing those high ones with that squeaky voice he has.

Declan also really likes his marble rally that he got from Violet a couple weeks ago. He asks to get it out nearly every day. And some of us are all too eager to build him awesomer marble tracks every time. . .

There's no point in me forwarding this since all my friends on here have already been tagged I'm sure. But if you haven't been, consider this an honorary tagging and post 7 things about yourself:

1. My father is an entomologist. That means I grew up with weird shit around the house like Igor the headless cockroach. Believe it or not those things can live without a head for over a week, as long as you seal the wound up and inject their belly with food.

2. I have never been stung by anything. No bees, wasps, yellow jackets, or even ants. They probably fear retaliation from my bugologist dad.

3. I work at the school where my parents met and got married. (Side note: My mom grew up in a wealthy part of the bay area and my dad grew up on a vegetable farm in central Alabama. --- I'm from Kentucky.)

4. I once worked for a place called "The Tobacco and Health Research Institute" in kentucky. My work was on how to genetically modify tobacco plants so there leaves would grow bigger. I guess the health part was referring to the plants.

5. I have never broken a bone in my body.

6. I once ran into a high school friend in a park in Paris. Neither of us knew we were in Paris. I was only in the city for 3 days. So in a city of, what, 12 million we happen to be in the same park at the same time. What the fuck are the odds on that?

7. I can play the saxophone and the piano, though I'm years out of practice at this point.