Amnesty International and Pride 2009

First, I must confess my intense love for Amnesty International–-I am a monthly donor and do fund raising for them! Amnesty is a great organization (OBVIOUSLY!) which fights for human rights for those of you who need the 411. However, in the last two Pride celebrations in my city, and probably for longer, Amnesty has not had any presence. This is just insufficient, so I'm trying to do something about it!

I have spoken with Amnesty International Canada, the organizers of the Pride festivities in my city, and the awesome folks where I work about getting something going. Being its pretty much just me planning and organizing this with the assistance of some awesome volunteers, I want to keep it kind of small, unless Amnesty has some great ideas and resources available. An Amnesty tent with all sorts of information including petitions, ways to donate, how to get involved, why Amnesty rocks, and of course some folks signing up people to be monthly donors is in the works. It would be absolutely amazing to have some picket style signs for in the parade too, but starting small is good.

In Canada we are very fortunate to have many equal legal rights, but there is still so far to go. Gay men cannot donate blood or organs and the age of consent is 18 for anal sex but 16 for vaginal sex for instance. Same sex couples can't safely and happily show romantic affection for each other in public without the risk of personal injury, both physically and emotionally. The rights we have achieved so far are definitely noteworthy and internationally recognized; but, there is still so far to go!

On the note of rights, I am really impressed with the work the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations are doing and have done in the fight for marriage equality in the US. Prop 8 was unfortunately passed, but it is evident that the fight is far from over. Kudos to all you dedicated individuals who are banding together to make a difference.

If you live in my city and would like to volunteer/help or have any ideas, suggestions, and/or experiences to share with organizing Amnesty events at Pride or otherwise, please contact me (link on the upper right) and share, it would be greatly appreciated!

And on a final note, whenever I think of GLBTQ rights in the US I can't help but think of Margaret Cho. She is just amazing, seriously. I love her. I would marry her. I would... yes, I would. Another person who is always brought to mind is Harvey Milk. You must go see Milk, its such an awesome movie about an awesome man!