THANK YOU to everyone who participated in rallies around the country! And a huge thank you to all of our straight-allies who are now stepping forward in solidarity with us! What can YOU DO today to make a difference? Talk to your neighbors, talk to your family, talk to your child's teachers, and your coworkers about why this issue means something to you. When things become personal, opinions change......

Protesters turned out is scores of cities across America to protest the unprecedented stripping of rights from gays and lesbians with the passage of California’s Proposition 8, as well as the passage of anti-marriage amendments in Arizona and Florida.

Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell is now gone, making the Experience complete on the other side, sad to say:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience of the 1960s and the group's last surviving member, was found dead in his hotel room early Wednesday. He was 61.

Message from the Democratic Party of Oregon, LGBTQ caucus:

November 4^th election night has come and passed.  As Democrats, as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Oregonians and Americans we have much to celebrate.

                                                                      UPCOMING CONCERTS

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 19

DUBSKIN FROM COLORADO @ THE GOODFOOT LOUNGE/ SE 29TH & STARK

"PERFECT" ( *** FROM JAMAICA***)

We're presented with a rare opportunity to be a positive force in the history of our country, to stand in solidarity with a minority group fighting for its civil rights.  On Saturday, November 15th, protestors will gather in cities across the country to speak out against the anti-gay politics and sentiment of our recent elections, including California's Prop 8.  Please check out the following link:
 
http://jointheimpact.com/
 
As a lesbian, I'm personally moved by the words of Joe Solmonese, President of Human Rights Campaign:
 

In the past week, the KBOO website has experienced a few hiccups of data loss, some of which we have been able to recover.  The lastest episode happened sometime in the past few days and you may notice that some of the webpages you were working on have lost their recent edits or may not exist at all if they were created recently.

Roger has been dealing with this since the first instance happened and has been communicating with our host about the issue.  For now, I would say go ahead and continue to use the website but know that this issue has not been resolved.

Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

 Apropos of my post below, Obama is planning to review the plethora of onerous executive orders issued by President Bush:

President-elect Barack Obama is poised to move swiftly to reverse actions that President Bush took using executive authority, and his transition team is reviewing limits on stem-cell research and the expansion of oil and gas drilling, among other issues, members of the team said Sunday.

Clearly, much more needs to be reviewed besides the issues mentioned above, but for a guy who's more than a month from taking office, this is a very encouraging start.

-A

 While I'm still processing the full import of Obama's win -- I'll blog about it more later -- one very, very encouraging item that's popped up is his intention to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. From Spencer Ackerman:

Less than a week after his election, and more than two months before he takes office, Barack Obama is signaling that this monstrosity is coming to an end. This, I submit -- to my uncle and anyone else --  is change you can believe in. The AP, via Time:

"President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice."

The news that the Guantanamo prisioners will come to the United States to stand trial is, by any measure, outstanding news. The illegal dentention of War on Terra prisoners has been a long-standing affront to our collective humanity, it's beneath us, and it's high time that it comes to an end. The "creation of a controversial new system of justice" referenced above is, I think, a bit of hyperbole from the AP -- the judicial power of the United States, after all, is "vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish."

So the Constitution already provides for the establishment of courts as necessary, and really, U.S. law already provides ground on which to deal with the people in Guantanamo and the crimes for which they are accused might eventually be accused. That they have been detained as they are, and that they have yet to be chanrged with crimes, is one of the Bush administration's more egregious legacies. Good on Obama for already signaling that Guantanamo will be closed.

-A

This has been an incredible week! In Portland, within a half and hour after the polls closed on Tuesday, voters began loudly celebrating the election of Barak Obama. As a 42 year old woman, I can say that I have never seen an election night like this. With cars honking, people screaming, and assorted fireworks here and there--- it was livelier than any New Year's eves I can remember (indeed, livelier than most 4th of Julys-- possible exception of The Bicentennial), too. The relief and joy felt by so many in this country was palpable.

Earlier this year KBOO Outreach Coordinator Toni Tabora Roberts and volunteer Trillium Shannon appeared on the Portland Community Media program, Face to Face. Watch and enjoy.