"Older Americans" Month

Not Seniors, or Elders, but "Older Americans."

Two things come to mind, here. One: it's language like this that leads
to outed right-wing politicians to declare themselves "gay Americans;"
and two: that every American in the country except for the very last
one born in May is an American who is older than at least one other
American, so it must be everyone's month.

I hope everyone has enjoyed their special month! Whether you knew it
was your special month or not.

O'Keeffe in the Morning

One of the things I love about our apartment in San Francisco is all
the beatuiful plant-life. Some of it is just lovely, like this
picture, and some of it is agressive, like the tendrils that try to
strangle the unsuspecting visitor to our front door. Those frighten me.

But enjoy the picture.

(And sorry about the double-posting; I'd typed this on my phone and missed that I'd spelled Georgia's name wrong....)

One more

The party went on for hours. I think that everyone was smiling.
Everyone.

This day just got better and better.

Tired now.

Tired, but happy.

Did I mention dancing in the street?

A little later.

I told you we know how to have a spontaneous party!

Dancing in the Street

Spontaneous street party getting underway in the Castro. This is
"spontaneous" here: a big-ass DJ stage and speakers. As I was walking
to meet friends for drinks, I passed the usual retinue of drag queens,
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, shirtless studs, hot dykes, and
people in full costume. What was unusual was the phalanx of TV crews.
I passed at least seven, as well as any number of indie documentary
crews.

The revolution is being televised!

Some more photos from this morning

I just struck some stills from the video I took this morning and thought I'd post a few.

This is the first person to receive the ruling at 10:00 AM. He's also the first person to squeal with delight when reading the decision. I got his name on tape, but don't have it available right now. If I can retreive the name I'll edit this post.

Here he is squealing. To be fair, there were probably 25 people squealing at this moment.

I wasn't squealing, but I really was getting some tears in my eyes, which made it hard to focus the camera.

Here are two parties involved in the case hugging after everyone realized that it was real.













Some folks unfurled the rainbow flag in the anteroom of the Clerk's office after the announcement.

"It's about human dignity. It's about civil rights. It's about time."

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said the title of this post regarding today's decision by the California Supreme Court which says that limiting marriage to mixed-gender couples "improperly infringes a same-sex couple's constitutional righs to marry and to the equal protection of the laws as guaranteed by the California Constitution."

I took this photo this morning while I was taping for work.

It was one of the most wonderful, happy, emotional moments of my life. I'm glad to have been there for history.

There was a line outside the Clerk of the Supreme Court's office by about 9:30. People were patiently awaiting the handing out of copies of the decision to find out what the outcome of four years of litigation would be.

The first man in line picked up his copy of the decision and started reading. Fritz, the Clerk of the Supreme Court, said, "please try to walk while reading!" A chuckle arose from the crowd as the man started walking out of the office, making room for the next people in line.

About fifteen seconds later, when the man had made it through the first paragraphs and to the paragraph that clearly stated that the Court was finding discrimination to be contrary to the State Constitution, he shouted "YES!" A cheer rose up from other people in line, and soon it was mayhem, as press were trying to get the man's reaction, and others were reading the ruling and reaching the same point.

Outside the State building, reporters swarmed gay and lesbian couples who were choking back tears and wiping sweat from their brows in the unusually hot San Francisco sun. I was taping the event as part of my job, but this was so much more than just taping for work. Repeatedly, tears welled up in my eyes as the realization of what had just happened would strike me. I've rarely had difficulty keeping objectivity when taping professionally, but this was just too much. My hands were shaking as I tried to send a short text to my husband: "We won!"

Today is a day of pure happiness.

It's about human dignity.

It's about civil rights.

It's about time!