Stay tuned for more memories, pictures and video. I will try to compile links to various people who are putting galleries up on the net. Stay tuned. It takes awhile to digest it all.
Event was sponsored by many organizations, businesses and individuals including Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays P-FLAG.
July 13 2008. Parade down Cornwall Avenue, starts around 11:30 AM in BHS parking lot. Festival is noon to 8 PM in Depot Market Square.
Above picture was taken in a store window along Davie Street in Vancouver, BC when I bicycled there last weekend.
Last weekend, in Vancouver, I danced at Numbers Friday night, then went to a nudist party Saturday night, across the street from this shop window. (Davie St. Cafe seen reflected in store window). Party reminded me of a sauna, or hot spring. For me it was good conversation and nudity. Party sponsored by a group called P-CAN. They rent the Davie St. Cafe.
Earlier, that day, I ate in that cafe. Food was great and inexpensive. I had salmon burger and lots of vegetables.
Wow. My mind is still in Vancouver, but Bellingham is growing. Bellingham, Vancouver and Seattle are all growing together. Soon it will all be one big city anyway. Procreation.
Bicycling to the city, I never deal with gas prices, but boy, the cost of that fancy underwear, the brightly colored stuff, in some of those shops on Davie St. I've never priced it before. Sticker shock.
Happy gay pride anyway, in all our growing cities, including Bellingham.
3 folks were in KGMI Radio talking about the gay pride festival in Bellingham July 10 - 13. Interview was on PM Bellingham, a news magazine show. We were the second half hour. Available on the web also for 30 days after broadcast date which was July 9 2008. Scroll to bottom of page. Our part is segments 3 and 4.
In Canada, gay marriage has been legal even federally for some time now. Has that society unraveled?
Canada may have even more civility and social cohesion than USA.
Canada is a good example of how things aren't falling apart, as far as I know at least. I live close to Canadian border. Canada looks pretty good.
I did hear on radio that California's new marriage law replaces language of bride and groom with "party A" and "party b."
Inclusive, but kind of barren sounding.
Maybe they should just add a few more words and say "bride and groom" or "bride and bride" or "groom and groom."
I've never planned to get married so it doesn't make a big difference to me. I'm glad people have the choice, but being single has some advantages also.
Variety in lifestyles, that creates a more diversified community.
My guide to gay community things in Bellingham has a new home. It uses the blogger system in a new way even though it isn't really a blog. Labels work well for customizing the guide under each topic, such as (for instance) "Churches."
Looking forward to the parade and main Pride day in Bellingham on July 13.
It's actually a GLBTA resource guide. A stands for Friends of GLBT people. GLBT stands for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender.
A includes friends of other sexual orientations. Maybe it's a laundry list, but that's what being inclusive is about.
A friend of mine made this Youtube video about the Lawrence King Candlelight Memorial in Bellingham, WA 3/12/08. Lawrence King was a student in California who was shot for his sexual orientation. Vigils have been held around the country including this one in Bellingham sponsored in part by Whatcom Human Rights Taskforce. I attended and a friend of mine filmed it. There was not only some silence, but also much needed discussion among people in the circle.
A friend's video. 9 minutes 37 sec.
The phrase "Money doesn't always buy happiness" may be worn out, but death of a top Microsoft Millionaire from suicide can underscore this point. Ric Weiland retired a rich man at age 35 in 1988, according to a Seattle Times article. More recently he suffered from depression and committed suicide in 2006.
At least he left lots of money to various causes. 160 million worth.
This included 65 million for several gay rights organizations. More than 19 million to the Seattle based Pride Foundation.
While "high finance" seems a long way from me, I do remember some local things that Pride Foundation is starting to effect.
Image from March 2005 Pride Foundation newsletter. Group photo of people who showed up at a meeting in Bellingham as the foundation discusses becoming more active in this area. I'm in that picture with my bicycle helmet.
Recently, even before that huge donation, Pride Foundation has been getting more active in Bellingham area as it works to build community beyond just the Seattle area.
It will be good to see this organization do more in various outlying parts of the Pacific Northwest such as Montana, Spokane, Yakima, Alaska and here in Bellingham. They sponsor a lot of community building events, educational activities and scholarships.
A friend gave me a ride down to Mount Vernon for the first part of Over The Rainbow Festival sponsored by Mount Vernon High School Gay/ Straight Alliance.
It was a showing of the film "For The Bible Tells Me So" in M.V. High School's ornate old theater. There was also a very thought provoking discussion afterwards.
It's great to see discussion of these issues in a high school setting. Congratulations to all the folks who put this ground breaking festival together.
I wasn't able to be there for the workshops on Saturday, but glad to see the Friday night kickoff.
While most of the audience was supportive of the film, there were a few folks who were critical of the film's viewpoint. The discussion was good as it went beyond just "preaching to the choir" so to speak. I sort of felt for the few opposing voices in the discussion as it must feel kind of funny being in a room of people who are mostly disagreeing with your views.
As a lot of different perspectives on religion were discussed, one person ask if folks believe in any absolutes at all.
Several folks offered some good responses, but I didn't say anything at all. There were a lot of ideas floating about and time was limited. Also, I'm kind of shy about raising my hand.
What I would have said about absolutes would have been my thought that it's kind of presumptuous of us humans to assume that our interpretations of things are necessarily the "absolutes." Yes, maybe there are absolutes, but fundamentalists of various religions tend to think their own interpretations of things are the absolutes. That seems kind of presumptuous to me.
I'd rather think we are all learning and evolving.
Also I often say to people who think they know what the absolutes are this humbling concept. There's an old phrase which says, "Christians are forgiven, but not perfect." To me, this can mean a lot of room for dialog, rather than just saying "We know the absolute." "End of discussion."
Another person pointed out an interesting theological point. It made an impression on me. He said (if I can paraphrase it properly).
"The past has a vote, but not a veto."
To me, that means when people say "the Bible says this or the Bible says that" (other religious documents also), it has input worth considering, but there's more to the equation than just "We read that you must do (or not do) such in the Bible."
Ideas about ethics, right and wrong and so forth are good food for dialog and a reason to put on one's thinking cap.
It was a thought provoking evening. The kind of thing I often enjoy while living my life in Theslowlane.
February 7th 2008 Sound Focus show on KUOW is worth hearing. The archives are permanent.
Architecture professor Lionel Pries was highly regarded at University of Washington. Many of his students went on to design things like the Space Needle. He received a standing ovation at some national convention in 1958, but 6 months later he was out of a job. It was found out that he was gay. In many ways, the social climate was really harsh back then.
The last 10 years of his life were lived in obscurity till his death in 1968; one year before Stonewall.
Now it's 40 years later and the story is finally coming out. Professor Jeffrey Ochsner spent the last 15, or so years piecing together the story that's been hidden all those years. Radio Interview tells it better than me, but I was practically glued to my radio.
It makes me think about how society has improved in many ways since the 1950s.
Imagine what life could be like for future generations.
February 22-23 2008 will be an Over the Rainbow Festival at Mount Vernon High School.
Mount Vernon, WA. is about 23 miles south of here.
The high school has a Gay / Straight Alliance which is sponsoring this festival along with Skagit Valley Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. It will be a ground breaking weekend.
I often wonder what things would be like to be in high school these days.
When I was in school, back in the 1970s, the word gay was hardly mentioned.
Still, I went to a real progressive school and they actually did have a speaker who talked about gay rights. That speaker was invited to a civil rights and civil liberties class. For the 1970s, it was really progressive.
Yes, in some ways, society gets better, but one holdover from past thinking is sure affecting us. The adage about being fruitful and multiplying and subduing the Earth.
Today I pull up Yahoo News and see a story that Lake Meade may go dry in coming years. That's the big lake behind Hoover Dam on the Colorado River.
All those growing cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego that tap water from the Colorado River. Their populations keep growing. Also global warming is predicted to mean dryer years in the American South West; at least according to a lot of scientists. That means there could be years when the lake pretty much goes totally dry by the end of the water season.
Combination of droughts and more demands for the water means trouble.
I keep saying we need more gay people, or at least less procreation to enter the future. Also, of course, we need innovation.
Where's Southern California going to get it's water from, in the future with the Colorado River about as tapped as it can be?
Nuclear power running desalinization from the Pacific Ocean?
Solar desalinization?
We will need a lot of creativity, flexibility and the ability to accept change in the future. Some of the old adages will need adjusting.
In many ways, it does seem like attitudes are getting better. We will need progressive thinking to survive in the future.
It looks like the conservative Republican from Idaho who had that police encounter in the men's room at Minneapolis Airport may have been a victim of tighter airport security.
Yes, there are lots more police around airports these days.
For the most part, for good reason; terrorist threat. At the same time, this society tends to be uptight about sexuality. Tighter airport security, which is needed to spur out terrorists can also be used to police potential sexual activity. Combination of tight security and sexual up tightness can create an Orwellian world.
The president of Iran claims there are no gay people in Iran. Meanwhile President Bush opposes gay marriage. While both presidents feud among one another, they both have opposition to gay rights in common. Maybe Bush isn't quite as harsh as the Iranian President, but watch out when people who play lip service to fundamentalist religions feud amongst one another.
Listening to my radio.
Also just stopped at a filling station in Zillah, WA. It's shaped like a teapot. This historic site is related to the Teapot Dome Scandal of the 1920s. That was during the Harding Administration.
Today, my radio is full of news and comment about the so called "Larry Craig" scandal. That's Republican Senator Larry Craig, from Idaho, who the police thought was soliciting sex in a men's room of the Minneapolis Airport.
Why make a big deal about that? I doubt he committed any crime except for the "crime" (in my book) of being a conservative Republican probably voting against gay rights.
Well, it's interesting to have this topic all over the radio. Talk shows love it.
Back in the 1970s, I remember a book about restroom cruising titled "Tea Room Trade." Now I am at the tea pot filling station.
From tea room to tea pot. There must be connectedness in the universe.
Interesting to note that President Harding's election results are said to be the first program broadcast over America's first regularly scheduled radio station. The 1920 Harding Cox election results broadcast over KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA. Harding was also a Republican.
Also see my Pictures on Flickr, with captions.
Youtube videos below.
More comments and images later, but meanwhile, a friend has already created this great video of the parade. July 15 2007. See his video below.
In his video, it looks like I was having a problem with my back wheel. Actually I was trying to find the switch to turn on a spoke light and I forgot the camera was there.
As I was biking through Western Washington University campus, I noticed the rainbow flag flying proudly. On top of a tall tree in front of chemistry and biology buildings.
Interesting.
Must be a story behind that, but I haven't heard the story. Not sure if it's "official" or not. Rainbow banners have been official along Davie Street in Vancouver, BC and they look nice.
Rainbow flag related to gay community.
Then a friend of mine is traveling in Peru, South America. A rainbow flag flies high over the cathedral in Cusco. It's the official flag of Cusco long before it became an international symbol for gay parades.
Just a coincidence.
He says Cusco is talking about changing it's flag.
Media full of news about wealthy Sonics backers also donating to "anti gay marriage" cause.
Their plea for partial state funding of a replacement for Key Arena stands a "snowball's chance in hell" through the Washington State Legislature.
Partial birth abortion?
Let them run to Oklahoma, I don't really care.
I don't have TV, or time for a TV.
Jogging up my hill to Western Washington University, I'm feeling good, not keeping score.
It would require heterosexual couples to have kids within three years or else their marriage would be annulled.
I doubt it would get enough signatures to make the ballot, but it's sure succeeding in starting a lot of conversations.
Let us add to that conversation a link between "sexual politics" and "environmental politics."
Population, procreation; it doesn't make sense to persecute alternative lifestyles, such as gay lifestyles, while the world's getting too crowded and the north pole is melting. Look at all the traffic.
So, let the conversation roll and let's start talking sexual politics linked to environmental politics.
I doubt that Initiative 957 is a serious initiative. It is basically a conversation starter. Filed in response to a recent Washington State Supreme Court ruling against gay marriage.
Court ruling called Andersen V. King County.
This decision, declared that a “legitimate state interest” allows the Legislature to limit marriage to those couples able to have and raise children together. Because of this “legitimate state interest,” it is permissible to bar same-sex couples from legal marriage.
This initiative to also bar "child free" heterosexual couples from marriage may not go real far, toward the ballot, but it's going a long ways in editorial pages, blogs and radio talk shows. Now that the conversation is starting, it is time to link this discussion to environmental issues. How much procreation do we want to promote in this world, or do we want to embrace some alternatives?
A religious columnist, of the right wing variety, was talking about Islamic extremists. He was saying that they don't mind America's capitalism, consumption or freedoms.
Instead, he said, the extremists don't like America's feminists and gays.
Yes, a right wing religious fanatic would say that.
He thinks USA could reduce the hatred that Islamic extremists hold toward this country if we just decide to hide our feminists and gays. Show the so-called "decent heartland of family life" side of America. Then, extremist anger would soften, supposedly.
Well, it ain't gonna work. Not that way, at least.
America could show it's "family heartland side" till it's "blue in the face," or "red in the face" as in "red states - blue states."
It's not gonna work. It's not enough. The Islamic extremists would not be impressed.
Those type of extremists would still not be satisfied until Israel was wiped off the map.
The extremists would want to eliminate Israel and her people.
Then the extremists would turn on one another. Actually they are already turning on one another.
Sunnis versus Shiites, various tribes, clans.
They're fighting among themselves anyway.
That's what is meant by the term "mean spirited."
We shouldn't try to appeal to that kind of hatred. It would just turn us sour also. Turn us into "angry extremists" ourselves.
Hopefully, the world doesn't have too many hostile extremists in it.
We should appeal to the more humane mindsets that are out there also. Appeal to the more humane mindsets by supporting our gays and feminists; for instance.
As for how to deal with the hostile mindsets in this world, it is hard to say what the best strategy would be.
Ignoring the hatred might be a good strategy.
Yes, ignoring it.
You may think I am crazy.
I know, there is the phrase "squeaky wheel gets the grease." At the same time, when media focuses on all the hostility, rather than more positive things, it does create "copy cat" hostility in it's wake.
Ignoring the angry screamers, in this world, might be worth considering.
America has tried war against hostile elements.
"War on terror," "War in Iraq."
Outcome is dubious at best.
I could do a bad pun and say, "outcome is Dubya at best;" as in George Dubya Bush.
I know that's a bad pun.
USA's war effort, in Iraq, may be just playing into the hands of the hostile ideologies anyway.
Putting one set of religious fanatics in power over another.
We are really stuck trying to play referee.
We've tried to be referee in the Middle East for years and it seems like practically no one is impressed.
Well, there does have to be some defense against terrorism. Defense like having the police around to protect people from crime.
Maybe we should not call it a "war on terrorism" as "war" is too negative a response. "Police work" might be more effective.
Yes, police work, like "good intelligence," "breaking up terror plots" and so forth.
We can still use the military for this. No, I am not advocating disbanding the military and just relying on underfunded local police.
We do need some kind of force to deal with hostility, but we don't need to blow it out of proportion.
Maybe we are allowing ourselves to be dominated by the negative. It's too much "Tit for tat."
Ignoring the terrorists, or at least treating it more as "common garden variety crime" is worth considering.
We should not let the terrorists and bigots of this world govern our thinking.
Former Congressman Mark Foley, the former mayor of Spokane and now Pastor Ted Haggard - conservatives in the news with gay sex issues.
I once had a good talk with a pastor friend of mine. He was a liberal pastor. We were discussing the fundamentalist Christians who say, about gay people, that they, "love the sinner, but hate the sin."
Well, my pastor friend said, kind of jokingly, "what they really mean is this."
"Hate the sinner, but find the sin absolutely fascinating."
He was a liberal minister, himself. Not a fundamentalist.
I remember he used to participate in panel discussions about Christianity and homosexuality. These were sponsored by the Gay People's Alliance at Western Washington University (called LGBTA now). This was clear back in the late 1970s. They used to make up a panel discussion with a gay person, a liberal Christian minister and someone to represent fundamentalist, or "conservative Christian" points of view.
Sometimes these discussions would get heated, but usually they remained civil. Thought provoking.
On another, somewhat related note.
Hurray Democrats
I think everything, I voted for, passed this time. I voted a winning ballot for a change. People voted my way on the initiatives and also all the candidates, here in the 40th legislative district of Washington State.
Hurray Democrats.
Usually, my vote is against the tide. This time it was with the tide.
Just a bike ride away, but it's in another country; Vancouver.
I biked up there on this last weekend before Halloween. Took me around 7 hours from Bellingham. Stayed two nights and went out dancing at some of the gay clubs. The music is much better than I find at bar type places here in Bellingham. I don't go to those kind of places often, but if the music were better down here, I might go.
Places like Numbers on Davie Street have good dance music.
Picture shows some colored lights near Burrard Street. Across the street from where I stayed at the YMCA. It will close Dec 31 for a major remodel, but they say the hotel will still be part of their new plans.
