October 3rd Counterdemonstration At Excel

The Guardians Of Privilege are energizing their freedom-hating, anti-Constitution base by holding a queer bashing festival at Roy Wilkins Auditorium within River Center on Tuesday, October 3rd. Outfront, along with other organizations is organizing a counterdemonstration from 5:30 to 6:30 on the corner of 7th and Kellogg. We're joining them. I hope it's huge.

Wisconsin Incursion

This is on the first overpass on the east side of the St. Croix over 94. We were facing west during Thursday's afternoon drive time to catch the eye of Wisconsin residents commuting home from the Cities. It was a beautiful spot to blog the freeway with a sweeping view of the St. Croix Valley and beyond. There were many honks of support and waves from the freeway below and even some support voiced from motorists passing behind us on the overpass. The sun-drenched, translucent shower curtain must have allowed them to read the sign backwards. It was a heavily traveled overpass and if we use this spot again we should have a sign facing backwards, as well.

The only blemish on the day was a half full water bottle, silently hurled at us from a passing car. It missed us both, bounced of the fence and landed on the road. I tried to get a picture of the car but wasn't fast enough with the camera. They hate our freedom. :)

Hiawatha Blog

Umbrellas, windbreakers and sunglasses were necessary yesterday above Hiawatha for this outing. This location had the added advantage of a clear view from the southbound light rail trains during afternoon rush.

Canada Good

An NDP member of the Canadian Parliment is proposing to make GLBT rights, including gay marriage, an offical part of the country's foreign affairs agenda. Details at 365gay.com.

Cavlan For U.S. Senate...The Gay Marriage Candidate

Friday was a little wet to be blogging for U.S. Senate candidate, Michael Cavlan but what the hell. He's the only candidate I've found that whole heartedly supports full marriage equality for same sex couples and I don't mind getting wet for the cause. The fact that he also is a major proponent of single payer healthcare, which is essentially FREE healthcare for everyone, is a bonus.

Under single payer, you go to the doctor, get treated and you don't get a bill. That sounds free to me. Because the costs of healthcare are greatly reduced by eliminating the health insurers, the cost of government paid healthcare does not present a burden to tax payers and EVERYONE gets healthcare, as opposed to the current system where 50 million people go without. Single payer is the way healthcare is done in every developed, civilized country in the world. It is the only humane and fair way to deliver healthcare.

Fortunately, Bob didn't need a doctor after he took an accidental hit from a passing cyclist this time out. The banner pole bent right around his shoulder but he wasn't hurt and the cyclist apologized. We were just in a bad position.

Gay Marriage, Good For Families, Good For America

This photo was taken on Monday, Sept. 18 while we were freeway blogging over 94 near Snelling. It received many horn honks in the hour or so we had it up. The first time we used this banner was late last winter. It was cold and we were on the grass at the entrance to 394 near 12th St. in Minneapolis. We were maybe 30 feet from the cars so it was possible to see the expressions on people's faces. It was great to see the (presumably) gay and lesbian couples' faces light up when they read the banner and they would lay on the horn. That's one of the things that makes this type of endeavor worth while. You may not be changing a lot of people's minds by holding up a sign near the freeway, but I think it makes the other queers feel supported and maybe lifts their spirits a little as they're driving home from work.

I should mention that when we do this, we stay with the banner the whole time we're there and leave nothing behind when we're done.

Minority Rights Must Never Be Subjected To Popular Opinion

This blurry picture is of Matt Peterson(left), Bob Halfhill and Duane at the bottom of the Capitol's Senate stairs in, I believe, the spring of 2004. It was a Saturday near the end of the session that year. The four of us were the only anti-amendment demonstrators. We were at the bottom of stairs because the bigots occupied the entire staircase. This was when people were allowed to protest on the stairs, which they are not now allowed to do.

Close Encounters of the Bachmann Kind

The first time we used the "THEY LEGISLATE HATE IN OUR STATE" banner was March of 2004, during the session of the Minnesota Legislature after Sen. Michele Bachmann had introduced her anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment. Not yet being acquainted with the best places to stand and be seen with a sign at the Capitol, Bob Halfhill and I stood on the steps of the State Office Building, facing east. It was a sunny day , so there was a fair amount for foot traffic between the Capitol and SOB but most of it did not come directly by us. A few people stopped to express agreement with the sign, though. Former DFL party chair Dick Senese stopped to chat, briefly. I hadn't seen him for years since we worked together in Duluth. We laughed about the fact that I was still pissing people off. Also, someone who identified himself as DFL House staff came out to hurriedly snap our picture then fled back into the building. I guess he'd never seen such a thing.

When we were ready to leave and had rolled up the banner, as we were walking away down the sidwalk, we heard this female voice beckoning from behind us, "guys, guys...I don't hate you. " I knew who it was before we stopped and turned to see Bachmann click clacking after us in her fuck me pumps alongside what we thought was her burly bodyguard. He turned out to be the Senate chaplain. As we began walking toward Bachmann, she stopped and the bodyguard/chaplain continued coming toward us, stopping us to "introduce himself" about ten feet from where Bachmann stood. She said again, " I don't hate you." I said, "If you don't hate us then withdraw your awful amendment." She said, "I can't do that, I have to think about the children." I said, "What about the children of the thousands of gay and lesbian families across this state that will be harmed by your hateful amendment?" She began blathering about some religious thing and had to hurry off.

I was thinking about how she was trying to ravage our families out of nothing but pure bigotry while escaping being called what she is by her timid DFL colleagues or the Republican ass wipe local media. The gall of her saying she doesn't hate us considering what she's trying to do to all of us. As she left, I began screeming at her repeatedly, "YOU'RE A HATEFUL BIGOT" over and over again as she scurried up the stairs and ducked into the building with her bodyguard/chaplain in tow.

Bachmann was obviously put on the defensive by being confronted with the truth of her own malicious intentions. This is why I made this banner. We need to attack the right wing for their anti-social, bigoted behavior. We need to be on the offensive. I am so sick of queers constantly being on the defensive. We are always dancing to the tune of the Bachmanns or the Lindners or whoever. We need to turn this around ON THEM. If they are busy defending themselves, they will not be able to move forward on their destructive agenda.

It's A Human Right All Right

We've gotten a lot of use out of this one. Just two Sundays ago Duane (my husband) and I stood outside St. Paul's Catherdral in St. Paul with this banner and another one that says, "Support The Separation Of Church And Hate." This was the first demontration we've done where there were no negative responses whatsoever from passers by. And, we've been to St. Paul's several times before. No finger, no thumbs down, no "burn in hell," nothing. We didn't even get chatted up by bible-toting young men with lots of personal questions and admonishments. Just honks and waves from motorists and verbal thank yous from pedestrians and cyclists. It was a very uplifting experience.

They Legislate Hate In Our State

This shower curtain features photos of none other than former state Senator Michele Bachmann, Rep. Mary Liz Holdberg and former Rep. Arlon Lindner. Bachmann and Holberg were primary sponsors of the anti-gay marrigage constutitional amendment in the Minnesota legislature. Lindner tried to repeal civil rights for gays, here. He gained notoriety a few years ago when he spewed so much anti-gay rhetoric, including saying that homosexuals were not victims of the holocaust, that his own Republican party denied him edorsement for reelection. He ran anyway and lost.

We got a lot of mileage out of this banner. It was even mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article about Bachmann and the marriage debate in Minnesota. I made t-shirts baring the same image and sold them at some of the demonstrations to cover costs. This photo was taken on the steps of the Minnesota Capitol in May of 2004. It was the National Prayer Day event and we expected the notorious three to be on hand.

We were situated some distance behind the "Prayer Day" participants and well outside of their permitted area, but this nice group of a half dozen or so "Christian" ladies trode righteously up the steps so they could block our banner from view while they huddled in prayer...let's see..."Dear Lord please smite these filthy homosexuals and send them to burn in H-E-double hockey sticks, forever. But of course we don't hate them...that would be wrong." Anyway, they eventually got tired of chasing me back and forth across the steps and just stayed in one place so we could excercise our constitutional rights in this most public of places. They hate our freedom. :)

Gay Marriage Threatens Nothing

We were standing outside the Minnesota Senate chambers on March 27, 2006, protesting the introduction of an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendent. I remember this demonstration well because there were just two of us surrounded by 53 homo-hating fascists with their moronic signs. Still, even though we were so grossly outnumbered by proponents, we got this prominent shot in the newspaper. That's Bob Halfhill on the left, me on the right. The banner is slightly obscured by the cordon leading to the stairs.

When we first got there, a few of our opponents had already assembled and we found a place to stand with the banner in this rather confined space. So since we were standing there, cheek by jowel with our detractors we wanted to be as pleasant as we could be. After all, they're just people, like us. I smiled and said good morning to a woman who was standing in front of us at the time and she returned the greeting. Then she turned to me and stated that she was there (with her anti-gay sign) because she detested sin. I said, "well you must be without sin then." Not that I believe in sin, I don't, but this was her game so I played. She said, "oh no, we're all sinners." So, I said, "then why aren't you taking care of your own sins instead of coming down here pointing at other people?" That was the end of our conversation.