NCLR's Kate Kendell in Raleigh talks Prop 8 and its impact on NC; I have an 'OMG' fan encounter

Rolling Back Civil Protections For Tr... Idaho pharmacist denies anti-bleeding...

NCLR's Kate Kendell in Raleigh talks Prop 8 and its impact on NC; I have an 'OMG' fan encounter

It was an interesting night at The Borough Restaurant in downtown Raleigh, NC on Saturday night as folks gathered to hear the National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell hold a discussion on how Proposition 8 -- the 2008 ballot measure that stripped the freedom to marry from same-sex couples in California -- impacts everyone, particularly those states that face amendment threats or rollbacks of marriage equality.

North Carolina State University's GLBT Center Director Justine Hollingshead organized the gathering, along with other members of the Center. The event drew several dozen people from around the Triangle to hear Kate's call to strategize and take charge of what will be a challenging time in NC as our General Assembly, for the first time since Reconstruction, is completely under the control of the Republicans. Dem control has been the only thing that has protected us from a marriage amendment getting on the ballot.

Sorry for the dark video; it was shot with my cell phone and The Borough was quite crowded and dimly-lit for video sans lights. UPDATE: Here's the transcript...Kate spoke for about 7 min and this was the meat of the message. There was no public Q&A; Kate went around to speak with attendees individually and in small groups since the restaurant was a bit noisy.

Kate Kendell: You do not want the distraction of anti-gay measures in the legislature. Do your job -- on behalf of all North Carolinians. So what I want -- can we have at least half of the hands raised -- that you will spend some time two weeks from now at lobby day [Equality NC's Day of Action]. Who will do it - take an hour out of your day. (Hands go up).
OK, good! Because Equality NC cannot do it on their own, and what is clear to me in my experience with Prop 8...we lost Prop 8 for all sorts of reasons. "Yeah we should have had different ads for the campaign" and "I wish we had money sooner"... but the main reason we lost was complacency.

We thought we were going to win. "Oh it's California there's no way iProp 8 will pass." I heard that a million times when trying to raise money and advocate for defeating Prop 8. Do not let that happen in NC. You can stop your legislature from doing the worst, but only if they don't hear from you. So that's the first piece of good news.

The second piece of good news is that you are not alone. So you've got Equality NC and you also have the number of national organizations and advocates around the country including The National Center for Lesbian Rights who have your back.

We're not going to let North Carolina slide...we are not going to ignore what happens here. NCLR is the organization that pioneered second-parent adoptions. We made it up, we created it.

Note: there was a short second vid clip that picked up here. The transcript:

Last month that was taken away from you in North Carolina and we are sick about that. We are talking to Sharon Thompson in Durham, an attorney involved in that, we are talking to our colleagues at Lambda Legal. We are not walking away. We are going to do whatever needs to be done to ameliorate the worst of that ruling and to do whatever we can to support equal protections for parent here in North Carolina. We don't care what the Court of Appeals said. We're not done, we're not going away.

Where NC differs from CA is that there is an assumption out there that an amendment WILL PASS if put before the voters. That will make raising funds to fight an amendment tough. That's may be a fair assumption, if we cannot get the many, many private companies and universities that have non-discrimination policies and offer same-sex spousal equivalent benefits out there saying an amendment is bad for the state's economy, growth and attractiveness to firms looking to relocate here.

But we can, as Kate underscored, stave off an amendment by speaking directly to our legislators, a chance every LGBT has at the upcoming Day of Action, sponsored by Equality NC (Feb 15, 2011

from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM). They need to see that they have LGBT constituents, taxpayers who should not have their civil rights put before the people for a vote. As I've said before, North Carolina LGBTs can turn out in the thousands for NC Pride, but it's pitiful that we cannot muster more than 300 to show up and speak with the very lawmakers who profoundly affect their rights.

The great thing about the Day of Action is that ENC makes it easy - it starts out with a training on how to interact with officials, and even schedules appointments for attendees to meet with them. People just need to find the time to show up. After all, can we really allow an ignorant NC lawmaker like this to determine your fate?

"I'm not opposed to helping a child born with HIV or something, but I don't condone spending taxpayers' money to help people living in perverted lifestyles."
-- Rep. Larry Brown (R-Forsyth) who ran unopposed in the November election to win a fourth term.

Kate lauded Equality NC's Ian Palmquist for the org's hard work with legislators to keep an amendment at bay (and to get a trans-inclusive anti-bullying law on the books, and made it clear to all present that the NCLR will be on call to work with us as things heat up on the marriage front -- as well as the issue of second-parent adoption, which is also now legally up in the air.

***

Unplanned Blogmistress fan fest

The event took a turn for the unexpected after Kate's remarks when NCSU GLBT Center's Justine Hollingshead, who was next to me as I was shooting video of Kate, mentioned that I was present as in "Pam Spaulding the national blogger" (or somesuch).

It continues below the fold.
A young woman at a nearby table said "Pam - what's her blog?" Justine says "Pam's House Blend."

I sh*t you not, there was a ear-piercing shriek of "OH MY GOD!" from her when she heard that. It filled the entire restaurant. She lost it. Over yours truly. I love meeting readers who like the Blend, don't get me wrong, but I don't think I'm worthy of a rockstar scream.

(I'm supposed to do that when I get to meet Arnel Pineda and Journey.)

I try to tell people that I'm just a regular human being who fits this blog stuff in around my day job, but somehow that doesn't seem to cut it. I really need to figure out what this phenomenon is about.

Kate my spouse was highly amused, as was Kate Kendell, but NCLR Kate took the time to 1) first note the subsequent PHB fan-based hijack of the event (a line formed of Blenders who wanted to say hi or get a pic), and 2) that this phenomenon is about the writing connecting to voices that need to be heard and PHB speaks to them and at times for them -- and that I should get over fretting that it's undeserved attention, and realize that blogs/bloggers are tapping into something that moves people.

I hope whatever people find interesting about the blog/me by proxy helps readers move from reading PHB to thinking that they too can work for change online and offline and make a difference.

People who really are on the front lines, like Kate Kendell, deserve the rock star greeting.

Of course if I can make even a small difference on the equality front, I'll take a few more "OMG" moments, lol. But I don't think I'll ever get used to it; my fans are quite polite. I haven't had to fend off actual groupies. Something tells me there's not much of a reason to think that situation will develop.

Oh, a fan pic has already come in -- from Bull City Blender Jason Cottrell (also in the pic), who said he originally found the Blend via Mike Signorile's show.

Oh, and I promised the young "OMG" woman that I'd post the photo taken with her on the blog (and properly identify her and her friend), so when she does send it in I'll add it here. :)

With Kate Kendell.