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Monday, December 29, 2014

Welcome to Pueblo, Colorado, Westboro Baptist Church!!

Here is the front of the Pueblo County Courthouse where Bo Ortiz foams at the mouth to  marry fag dogs!!!

It was snowing like the dickens when I left the house this morning to attend the counter rally at the court house.  Like a whole bunch of other people, it was a call that could not go unanswered.  When it was time to  have the speakers (I was included in that venue) we all moved inside.  I am anxiously awaiting a head count. I have no idea how many people were there, but when we went to walk around the court house we marched 3-4 abreast and covered the whole area around the courthouse.
Westboro had 6.  We were not allowed to go that direction.  The told us to move right along, but did let me point my camera in the direction of the group.  That might be one on the other side of the fence.  Now, you all know I am a pacifist, so I would have been very kind to them, but since I did not see any, I could not "spread the love".

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This is my son Bret and Misha, his boss who owns Heritage Organics.  I am on the end wearing my "cicil disobedience shirt, other wise known as a "tie dye."

Here is Janet Altmann and myself being very, very good.


But if you want to know what a show of solidarity looks like, please enjoy these pictures.
 They were even hanging from the balcony around the rotunda!


Westboro did not linger long!  All in all, it was sure worth the trip onto town during a blinding blizzard.  I am going to pop this over on youtube and will put a link on here.  I am, in the meantime counting this as a great day.  
And if you missed my speech, here it is in it's entirety!
The gay rights movement in the US is often traced to June 27, 1969, in New York City, when police raided a Greenwich Village bar, the Stonewall Inn, and bar patrons rebelled in protest. Seven years later, in 1976, in Dade County, Florida, Anita Bryant led the first religious campaign against gay rights.
In Colorado an amendment was placed on the ballot in 1992 by a religious group centered in Colorado Springs. 
Amendment 2 reads as follows:
"Neither the State of Colorado, through any of its branches or departments, nor any of its agencies, political subdivisions, municipalities or school districts, shall enact, adopt or enforce any statute, regulation, ordinance or policy whereby homosexual, lesbian, or bisexual orientation, conduct, practices or relationships shall constitute or otherwise be the basis of, or entitle any person or class of persons to have or claim any minority status, quota preferences, protected status or claim of discrimination. This Section of the [Colorado] Constitution shall be self-executing."
At that time there were 2 little gay guys in Pueblo, Colorado.  Fortunately there were also two or 3 mothers and a friend who had lost a friend to AIDS in a loosely held group known as PFLAG.  I found them in 1990 when they were meeting in the basement of the old Red Cross building on Pueblo Boulevard in an unmarked room to protect our identity.  Yep I was one of them.  We spoke out against Amendment 2, but in hushed tones.  We put up NO on 2 signs and they were promptly torn down.
The amendment was passed by a majority of Colorado voters in November 1992, and was to take effect on January 15, 1993. The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the cities of Boulder, Aspen, and Denver, and individual plaintiffs joined forces under the leadership of attorney Jean Dubofsky, a former Colorado Supreme Judicial Court judge, and filed a motion in Denver District Court seeking to enjoin the governor and state of Colorado from enforcing Amendment 2. On January 15, 1993, Judge Jeffrey Bayless granted a preliminary injunction, giving the plaintiffs the first victory in a legal struggle over the constitutionality of Amendment 2. That injunction was later made permanent, but was then appealed to the US Supreme Court.
Now SCEA members!  Listen up.  On the night of the election, when Amendment 2 passed with a clear majority a phone tree went into action and a business on Elizabeth Street opened for a gathering of probably 50-60 gay people.  Many of them wore “Don’t shoot!  I am really a black bear.”  Because a measure protecting the black bears had passed. 
Out of that meeting grew a need to protect our gay friends.  We knew we must let people know that gay existed and existed in Pueblo Colorado.  A group was formed at that time and christened with the name “Pueblo After 2.”  Our symbol was an upside down pink triangle.  We quietly infiltrated the straight world.  The pioneers in this movement were the 2 gay guys, Joe Roderick and our Beloved late David Hackenberry.  Thanks also to Donna, Carolyn, Warren, and the list goes on and on.  As gay people came out of the closet and awareness swept Pueblo and all of Colorado.  When amendment 2 was faded in the background we became politically active and needed a new name.  Up jumped Southern Colorado Equality Alliance.  From that came Out Front Youth Group, and other splinter groups that are now respected and do many good works.  I never thought I would live to see a gay pride parade, but now I actually participate.
We did not get where we are by violence, hatred or intimidating people.  Westboro Baptist Church would have us stoop to their level, but we will not.  We are equal citizens of this great country and we are treated as equals not because of a law, but because we are equal.  I thank Gilbert Ortiz for standing with our friends and family against the forces of evil.
SCEA, that is where you came from.  I was there.  I am a charter lifetime member of Pueblo After 2 and am supposed to get the newsletter from you, but you have forgotten about your roots.  So I just wanted to remind you.

http://youtu.be/hgpZCE6yhYw




Monday, December 22, 2014

Hard working hands and a heart of gold have gone to rest.

Jeannine Lamb
December 21, 2014

Once more our hearts have been broken.  Pastor Jeannine has gone to her final rest, but she does leave us with a legacy of hope, charity, forgiveness and a fire in our bellies!  When she came to us several years back our church was in turmoil as was the United Church of Christ across town.  She came into a "shared ministry" and she was the "shared minister".  Many hills and valleys later she was all ours!

Very seldom do I  find a minister with whom I can work hand in hand, but Jeannine filled needs in me that I did not even know I had.  She challenged me in areas where I did not even know I was lacking.  Under her guidance our church began to grow.  Our people began to thrive.  Any time the church had a function, she was there.  Mother's Day Out which is our pre-school program was the bright spot of her day as she loved the chidren.  

My first official fundraiser for the church was last May and was a high tea.  Pastor was there as a server and she worked tirelessly.  It was a rousing success!  Our soup and bread Lenten Lunches were her idea and she was the server for those.  Clean-up day found Pastor in her jeans and gloves.  From the craft/bake sale to Sunday morning Navajo Taco's or biscuits and gravy, she was there.  World AIDS day found her as our religious center.  She learned early how to handle me!  A simple "Gee, I think I would have done it this way," brought me to heel very quickly and left me thinking it was my idea.  A true master, that woman!

There was no task she would not under take, but yesterday morning when the choir at First Congregational Church marched down the aisle to sing for the very first time, it brought a tear to many eyes.  First Church has not had a choir for many years, but we do now!  Ken Joyal sat at the piano as the organ got a short rest.  The voices that rose to heaven yesterday reached the ears of God and our dear Jeannine and I know she smiled down.  I winked at her and I know that while she may be gone from our sight, she is not gone from our church.  I know that her and my dear Sammi Cody and all the saints that have gone before will lead us to a higher plain and our church will thrive and once more be a vital part of this community.  How can we fail?  We have a congregation held together by love and respect and angels in heaven smiling down at us!  How can we go wrong?


Thursday, December 18, 2014

The day is finally here!

http://alongthemalecon.blogspot.com

I was so excited to see on the news yesterday that Cuba is once more open to us.  My God!  I can remember way back in the dim recesses of my mind when the embargo was placed on Cuba.  I go to the store and find "Made in China", "made in Mexico",  "Made in Taiwan".  I watch the shows on child labor in these countries and hear the atrocities that go on inside these borders and then look at a country 90 miles off our coast that has been ostracized for 50 years and I do not even remember what they did.
I do know that when Sherman was alive he wanted a real Cuban cigar.  Just one before he died.  I do not remember how much that cost on the black market.  Oh, wait.  That is not illegal any more, is it?  And these buses loaded with medical and educationnal materials aren't either, are they?
I do not even remember when this picture was taken.
I see we are releasing 3 prisoners.  There were 5.  The Cuban 5.  I assume that a couple of them could have died.  I will need to look into that.  
But for now, it is enough that we are finally after 53 years doing something.  I am glad Allan Gross is home.  I am glad that the Cuban cigar is now resting in it's place of honor in St. Louis.  I am also very happy that my friends, Amy and Bernardo can now go "home" for a visit.

Peace!!!!!!!!!


Friday, December 5, 2014

A man named David

You all know that I follow myself into the world and into whatever situation presents itself, right?  I have found myself in some rather odd places and met some really strange people, but it has always been for a reason.  The reason is not always readily known, but sooner or later it all clicks into place and I know why I am where I am or sometimes where I was and am not there anymore.  Am I making any sense?  Probably not.
So today I took myself to Sam's club.  I needed to pick up a few things.  I had no intentions at all of buying coffee and I sure do not buy the beans.  See a long time ago I used my coffee grinder to pulverize some dried Habeneros thus rendering it useless on coffee beans because of the flavor that would now be imparted to the coffee.  Habanero never loses its fire and the oil is imparted into the stainless steel blades in the grinder.  Columbian Habanero is nothing that will ever catch on at Starbucks.
So no one was more surprised then I was when I found myself clutching a 2 pound sack of Solar Roast Beans.  Hell, had I known I wanted solar roasted coffee beans I would have gone to the Solar Roast Store on Main Street.  It is a nice little coffee shop and I used to have lunch there with my friend Tere before she forsook me and moved back to Tennessee.  But there I stood and knew I had to have those beans.  The stock girl explained that if I needed them ground the man from the company was set up in the frozen food aisle to grind them.  It was beginning to look like the beans and I were meant to be a pair, so I began the meandering path back that direction.  Threw in a few things I could not live without, namely olive oil, green beans, artichokes, glucosamine, clementines, 25 pounds of flour and 10 pounds of sugar.  Oh, and 4 pounds of butter.
When I finally remembered I was looking for the coffee grinder I was almost out of time (meeting my son at 3 for a late lunch).  I handed him my bag and he dumped it into his machine and hit the button.  I hurried off to pick up eggs and when I got back he was alone and the grinder was doing it's thing.  For some odd reason I started talking about my church and invited him to our service on Sunday.  I love my church.  I explained that it is a UCC church and he told me he was partial to the UCC and usually found one when he was on the road.  He went on to explain that he is a practicing Buddhist and how Buddha searches for the perfect world and Nirvana.  I am very comfortable in my faith and enjoy discussing it with whomever I chance to meet.
Our whole conversation consisted of  a 9 minute discussion on religion.  His name is David and he is from California and he does the chants.  He will google loumercer3 and I may at some point know what I did for him or what he did for me.  Or maybe not.  Maybe that was the extent of the meeting.  I do know I am once more thinking about Buddhism.  I do know several people who practice the meditation thing and I think maybe I do to.  The difference is I call it "thinking about things" or "setting and thinking about nothing".  Or there is this; maybe I just needed to try freshly ground beans to see what real coffee tastes like.  Who knows.  I do know it was a pleasure meeting you, David, and maybe next time you are in this area you will pop into my church.  In the meantime, have a good one!

Another year down the tubes!

Counting today, there are only 5 days left in this year.    Momma nailed it when she said "When you are over the hill you pick up speed...