I would like to go on record supporting Larry Craig staying in the senate. I am first and foremost a civil libertarian, and I believe that he--like generations of gay men before him--was the victim of an unconstitutional sting operation, and a culture of homophobia. That he played a part in promoting that culture of homophobia does not make me withdraw my support. To do so would unconscionably hypocritical.
Frank Rich has a great op-ed piece on this. Now that the Times lets people read op-eds, I encourage you all to click this link and read it.
As my loyal blog-readers know, I have a history of grass-roots activism, primarily with the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) and, to a lesser extent, Queer Nation. As part of my work with these organizations, I disrupted a George H.W. Bush speech at the Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas, in 1992. I blogged about that incident previously, prior to my return to Houston a few years ago.
At the age of 36, I think I'm prematurely crusty. Why, you ask? Because the last few days I have heard myself saying "In my day" more often than someone of my age should. In my day, an activist never called attention to herself/himself, we called attention to our causes. When Michael Morrisey and I were arrested at the RNC, we were yelling "WHAT ABOUT AIDS?" We wanted to draw attention to Bush-41's lack of a response to the AIDS crisis, which had reached its fever pitch during his presidency. When the police came to arrest us, we had a simple, rehearsed response: "No violence." We did not resist arrest. We went to jail and were glad to do so. We served time. Period.
It makes me all of the angrier, then, to see YouTube videos of a histrionic person named Andrew Meyer disrupting John Kerry's speech with what is appears to be a self-serving, self-promoting rant. Though one of the points he makes is important (Kerry conceded the election far too soon, given apparent evidence of voter disenfranchisement), his point was lost in his theatrical arrest, and his bizarre subject-switch. Was Kerry a member of skull and bones? What does that matter? Mr. Meyer, in the unlikely case that you actually read this and are open to criticism, let me tell you this: if you were any kind of an activist, you would focus on promoting your message, not yourself. Nobody remembers the names of the people who protested at the 1992 RNC (outside of our circle of friends and compatriots), but many, many people remember the 1992 RNC as a place where GLBT people made a stand that they would not allow themselves to vilified. That's what quality activism gets you. In my day, we knew that.
Tammy Baldwin's Lecture last Saturday night was wonderful. It is very easy to be completely cynical about politics, particularly if you allow yourself to read, view, and believe the mainstream media. Hearing Tammy talk about her career, her political agenda, and her completely uncomplicated and unselfish agenda of public service was inspiring. I left that lecture inspired to do more for the public good.
Plus, she autographed her picture in Kevin's copy of the Advocate.
I hasten to point out that I am not adding a link to the Daily Minnesotan about this lecture, as the article failed to mention that her lecture was supported in part by the Stephen J. Schochet Endowment It did mention that the lecture series is named for Allan Spear. (It also failed to mention that funds were raised--almost miraculously--but the inimitable Beng Chang and Anne Phibbs.) As a Gay (yes, I'm big-G Gay, not small-g gay) professor, gay Minnesotan, and gay-studies scholar, I am equally grateful to Schochet, Spear, and Beng, and a story about the talk should have mentioned all of them.
After a long week (and yes, this one was indeed a long week), nothing takes one's mind off of work more effectively than cooking a large, elaborate meal. Kevin noticed a rather appetizing picture of pastitsio in Amy Sedaris's book I Like You and said it looked good. I grew up eating pastitsio and moussaka at Kostas restaurant in Buffalo, so I was excited to make it.
What and ordeal.
I mean it:
What.
An.
Ordeal.
It was worse than Coq au vin! Three major components! Also, I made a simple Greek salad, too--cored tomatoes, English cucumbers, red onion, garlic, kalamata olives, and feta. And a homemade dressing. The two dishes together were an effing ordeal.
Fortunately, they were also delicious. And they made me forget about my work commitments! As we used to say in high school: bonus.