One thing that has become apparent to me in the weeks after the National Equality March is that the Transgender community is very misunderstood and seldomly appreciated as a part of our LGBT community.

Why don't we demand their equality and freedoms as well? We seek to civil rights for the Gay and Lesbian community, but you never hear about our Trans brothers and sisters anywhere! I met some amazing Transgender men and women at the NEM, and I've been able to keep in touch with quite a few of them, but one thing that has been expressed to me is that they're willing to fight alongside us!

Even though the LGB's have both intentionally and unintentionally brushed our Trans siblings to the side, they still continue to march on the same streets as we march on, they still continue to send the same emails to their electeds that we send to our electeds, and they share the same fear of discrimination and violence that we face both in the workplace and in our daily lives. The "T" in LGBTQ... etc, is a vital part of our umbrella of equality, and they're suffering the same injustices that we are, if not more.

We should all make a united effort to be inclusive within the LGBT community (use however many letters you want, I don't mind)! While ensuring that every color of our rainbow gets the opportunity to fight for their equality just as much as the equality of their brothers and sisters!

Thank you BILERICO.COM and Austen Crowder for the wake up call!

God bless America.

So I'm here in the capitol, and I just left a meeting with Chip Arndt, political big whig with the Democratic party for the LGBT community, and I'm going tomorrow morning to meet up with some other activists to get my press rights so that I can cover and report on everything that's going on here in the capitol.

I'm going to try my best to get a feel for what's really going on here... I've talked to dozens of people already tonight that are feeling the march and are in support of what we're doing! Score! I've also met some pretty unfriendly indfividuals that had some colorful words to say about what was going down this weekend.

No matter.

I'm going to try and get my way into the nitty gritty of the events, and I'll be writing an article for QVegas for the November issue, so stay posted here for updates, go to my Facebook page and my Twitter acounts (go my social stream page) for more to the minute updates on the efforts on the ground here in the capitol.

This is truly a momentous occassion and I'm humbled to be here reporting on it and participating in history.

God bless America.

PS
The religious right is going to protest the President's dinner with the LGBT community tomorrow and they're also going to be alongside us at the march on sunday so keep us in your thoughts as we go against the biggots!

That's the question, isn't it? Sure, we'd like to have equal rights, but that means that you'd actually to do something. We all know how much that we all hate actually doing something! How about I tell you a little story of a lesbian couple that did everything right, but was still denied the basic human rights in the most important time in a persons' life... their death bed.

Picture this, you, your partner for over 17 years, and your 3 of your 4 adopted kids arrive in Miami for a wonderful cruise vacation! Sounds great so far, doesn't it? Alright, as you're getting ready for your cruise, your partner suddenly collapses to the floor and is rushed to the local hospital! Gasp! You arrive to the hospital right behind your partner's ambulance with your kids, and immediately try to offer all the medical history and information that you know about your partner because you've been together for over 17 years and have a family together. Just at that moment, your told by the hospital staff that they won't accept any information on your partner because you're in an anti-gay city and state, and that you shouldn't expect to get acknowledged as anything other than a regular visitor.

Are we having fun yet?

Lets go 8 hours into this ordeal, because we could really be here all day, when you and your kids are finally allowed to see your partner, with the help of the priest that was asked to do the last rites for your partner. Imagine that, a priest helping out a gay couple out in their time of need... only after this entire ordeal are you allowed to see your dying partner before they finally pass away in this hateful and disgustingly inhumane hospital. Just wait, because now the state of Florida and county medical examiner are denying you the death certificate because you're a nobody in Florida's eyes. Yeah, take that in for just a second, because it's not enough that they treat you like a second class citizen while your partner is dying, but now you have to fight tooth and nail to get their death certificate!

This was the sad story for a Washington lesbian couple two years ago. Now, the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida has rejected the surviving partner's suit against the hospital, citing that the hospital doesn't have to allow visitors to see patients. Not even in death can this couple obtain justice...

This is why we march in October, for this and many more stories exactly like this. The fight for equality has been ongoing for decades, but it won't ever end if people like you continue to do nothing.

God bless America.

The month of August started off rocky for the LGBT community as 3 young people were murdered in Tel Aviv after an attack on an LGBT community center.

Lets get to the have beens...

-We were all entrenched to our eyeballs in healthcare reform, everywhere you turned people are talking about reform pro's and con's. We're not going to get away from this one for quite a while so I'm also including this one in the should be's and will be's... fyi.
-The great debate over Sonia Sotomayor came to a close with her being confirmed to the Supreme Court... the conservatives had little to say once they knew they lost this one. Great day for women and minorities everywhere.
-Bill Clinton was making headlines again after his rescure of two journalists from North Korea's grips.
-The Evangelical Lutheran Churches of America (ELCA) voted to allow gays in commited relationships to serve as ministers!

On to the should be's...

-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's senate race is ratcheting up against him, Nevadans should take a close look at how or why they should support Harry Reid's bid in 2010.
-Talk about the equality march with all of your friends, because it's a big deal and it should be treated as such!
-On the lighter side, you should check out the episode of Family Guy that's being talked about with Rush Limbaugh... what a jokester that rush. :(
-Keep an eye on Iran, because the people rose up this summer so there's bound to be more trouble ahead.
-Like I said earlier, talk about healthcare because everyone else will be!

Finally to the will be's...

-I've looked into my crystal ball and I see more talks about healthcare reform, should we overhaul the entire system or just make the proper adjustments?
-Look for possible ways that the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy will affect that debate on either side of the aisle
-We're all going to be talking about gay rights! Support your brothers and sisters by attending the Equality March this October!

Those are my thoughts this time around, let me know if you disagree or if you think I missed something.

Citizenzero

P.S.
I get the feeling that we're all going to start thinking locally again when it comes to entertainment, dining, and politics so get informed on what's cool, what's good, and what's going on.