A day of politics

Before I talk about my amazing day, I would like to talk about you for a second. I am only now realizing how many people are reading this journal. Thank you. You give me a reason to keep writing, and makes me feel like I am saying something that at least has some amount of interest. I would like to point out that should you want to, you can subscribe to me (It's free), you will be given an e-mail with any new entry I make. Also, I would like to encourage you to make comments on what you read. Tell me what you liked. Tell me what you hated. I love hearing other's points of view, and I also like to see what you are most interested in. Although I will warn you that as you may already have noticed, I often do not control the direction of what I write, so I make no promises as to the content. Anyway, on to what you are hear for:

I had a very tiring and energizing day (don't you know by now that I always am diverse?). I woke up very early and went to the new HRC Building (it was fun to see my name engraved on the wall) and had a nice quick breakfast before going off to The Hill. At the very top of my agenda were Kit Bond and Jim Talent (both hardcore Christian conservatives from MO who have not supported any HRC initiatives). Talk about walking into enemy territory. I was one of few individuals speaking to those who didn't oppose the recently defeated marriage amendment. Of course, neither one of them came themselves, instead sending staff to the meetings. I can hope that I made some good points that might make it to the ears of my senators, but I am less than optimistic.

One of the statements made by Talent's representative was that Talent had an open mind, and although he believed in "traditional marriage" (I decided not to ask about the divorces) he was "concerned" about some issues such as inheritance and health care benefits for domestic partners. My thought, and final remark was that if this was truly the case, then I felt that Talent could prove a huge benefit by producing legislation supporting these issues. It is one thing for constant allies of the LGBT community to sponsor legislation, but quite another for a right-wing fundamentalist to bring these issues up. I can hope... but I am not counting on it.

I rounded out my time on The Hill meeting with Dennis Moore (D-Kansas) and it was a much better meeting. For one he met with me himself, which was really nice, and as he voted against the amendment, and supports the HRC, it was a much more productive time. Following that, I got some food, my watch fixed, and headed back to get ready for a reception. It was really nice, and I am meeting more and more people that are interesting, and therefore having a really great time.

I finally went to a New York Times panel on LGBT issues, which was very informative. I was also excited as I was one of the four individuals allowed to ask a question. There was another short reception afterwards which again led me to meet more interesting people and have a lot of invigorating conversations. Afterwards I felt so good, I walked back to my hotel, and now I am writing to you. All-in-all, it was a great day that made me feel good about myself and the people that I am associated with, and I am excited to do more in the future. Well, I will end here for now. I am sure that I will have a lot more to say about this whole DC experience, but I will try not to bore you too much at once.