The Times of Harvey Milk

The Oscar-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk is currently showing on Hulu. I would strongly recommend it, especially for those who liked Gus Van Sant's fictionalized portrayal. The documentary focuses less on Milk's private life, and more on his political activism. It also deals more with both Mayor Moscone and with the trial of Dan White.

It's very well made, and if you have the time, you should watch the movie.

National Rally Against Prop 8

This Saturday, across the country, there will be a rally against Prop 8. I had a long conversation with a close friend who worked extremely hard against the California marriage ban, and was rightly devastated when it passed. He expressed some legitimate criticism for these events and the ones that happened previously. The Proposition has already passed, and many of these people (myself included) should have worked before the election to stop Prop 8 from passing. 

On the other hand, I think these demonstrations will show the very real frustration at the lack of progress on LGBT issues. ENDA (even after trans Americans had been sold out) lingered and died in the Democratic Senate. In two years democrats made no effort to overturn DADT or DOMA in the legislature. Barack Obama has promised action on all three, and yet did very little to help with Prop 8, even after his voice was used in Yes on 8 robocalls. 

I do have real hope that in the next 2, 4, and 8 years we are going to see real strides towards equality and prosperity for all Americans, including LGBT Americans. But it can't hurt to make sure we're seen and heard and that we do everything we can to help Obama change our country.

So please turn out at your local event if you can. Below are some links:

The national web site for the event, with a lot of information that isn't always updated.

Also, the Kansas City rally Facebook event page, which has links to most of the Facebook event pages for the rest of the rallies and tend to be a more quickly updated.

Finally, Keith Oberman has an interesting commentary on the passage of Prop 8.