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Valentine’s Day weekend

If you followed my Twitter or Facebook status a couple weeks ago, you know this news: Thom and I are engaged. We’ve talked about this amongst ourselves for a while, so it was kind of planned — no one surprised anyone with a ring in the champagne or got down on one knee — but still special and romantic. We plan to have a wedding in the Bay Area sometime this fall. Although we are already registered domestic partners, there is nothing like a ceremony with our friends and family present. We’ll have it regardless of the outcome of the Prop 8 court challenge, and if the ban is overturned, which we hope will be the case, then we’ll get legally married!

Our Valentine’s Day weekend was spent on a little road trip down the Central Coast. On Saturday we went to Hearst Castle in San Simeon, about a four-hour drive from here in Daly City. That night we had dinner in Carmel at Citronelle, where we popped the question. (We said yes!) We stayed the night at the Hyatt Regency Monterey and the next day visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a lovely getaway (though the drive back on Sunday was stormy and harrowing).

My photos from Hearst Castle are up on Flickr, and soon I’ll add the aquarium photos to the set.

Hearst Castle - Neptune Pool

And so the wedding planning begins!

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Join the impact

Fight the H8 in Your StateTomorrow, Saturday, November 15, simultaneous protests will take place all over the country to speak out against marriage inequality, especially Proposition 8, which eliminated the right to same-sex marriage here in California. The events start at 10:30 a.m. Pacific (1:30 p.m. Eastern). We’re going to the one in San Francisco at City Hall (Facebook page).

Go to Join the Impact to find a protest near you!

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Majority rule and minority rights

I quote from a U.S. State Department publication, Democracy in Brief:

All democracies are systems in which citizens freely make political decisions by majority rule. In the words of American essayist E.B. White: “Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half the people are right more than half the time.”

But majority rule, by itself, is not automatically democratic. No one, for example, would call a system fair or just that permitted 51 percent of the population to oppress the remaining 49 percent in the name of the majority. In a democratic society, majority rule must be coupled with guarantees of individual human rights that, in turn, serve to protect the rights of minorities and dissenters — whether ethnic, religious, or simply the losers in political debate. The rights of minorities do not depend upon the good will of the majority and cannot be eliminated by majority vote. The rights of minorities are protected because democratic laws and institutions protect the rights of all citizens.

This publication is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs. This is the story we tell the world. It’s apparently lost on those here at home who voted to eliminate gay couples’ rights — my right — to marry.

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The fight continues

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Proposition 8 was approved here in California, eliminating the right of same-sex couples to marry. And as you might expect, I am sad and angry, but ultimately resolved to continue fighting. If the newly filed lawsuits don’t overturn Prop 8, then for sure we will have a new initiative on the ballot in a couple of years to restore our equal rights.

There are some silver linings: state domestic partnership, while not equal to marriage, is intact; among various age groups, opposition to Prop 8 was highest among young voters; and on a personal level I am proud of my home county (San Mateo) for voting 62% against it.

Thom and I took part in a massive protest march in San Francisco last Friday (photo of us here courtesy of Julie). The march started at Civic Center and followed Market to Castro, ending at Dolores Park. What an amazing sight. This is the kind of passion and momentum we need to carry going forward.

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No on Prop 8

Thom and JeffThom has written a thoughtful post on Proposition 8. Go check it out.

Lest there be any confusion: same-sex marriage is currently legal in California. Prop 8 would amend the state constitution and take that civil right away from hundreds of thousands of Californians, including me. Let’s not write discrimination into our constitution.

If you live in California, I ask you to vote NO on Prop 8. Ask your friends and family to vote NO. And anyone can make a donation — big or small, every bit helps — to the No on Prop 8 campaign.

Thank you.