Ongoing Fight Against Proposition 8

My Open Letter to the LGBT Community and its Allies

Let me preface the following by first stating that I am not sold on the institution of marriage.

With that said, if it is determined that citizens have the right to marry, then that right should be unalienable. How would opponents of same-sex marriage feel if they were denied their right to choose a life partner and get married? Because that's what it's essentially about--CHOICE. These opponents have that choice, and they don't know how it feels to be told by the class bully what to do.

But I'm not here to speak to opponents. No matter how many debates we engage in, how much statistical and scientific evidence I present, I will be unable to sway their stance. They won't listen to me because to them, Proposition 8 is a piece of legislation, essentially, paperwork. In order to change their outlook, us supporters need to humanize Prop 8 by taking the advice of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, who famously iterated in "The Hope Speech":

Unless you have dialogue, unless you open the walls of dialogue, you can never reach to change people's opinion... Once you have dialogue starting, you know you can break down prejudice.

How do we get the dialogue started? Let's use the story of Jerry Sanders, the Republican mayor of San Diego, as inspiration. The former gay marriage opponent went through a defining moment in his personal and political career when his daughter confided that she was a lesbian in a committed relationship. After publicly changing his stance on the subject, he lost support within his party, but worked hard to get re-elected for another term.

Point being, for the LGBT community, there is no better way to start the dialogue than to be true to yourself with your family and friends. Make your voices heard, your stories told, your struggles public. As straight allies, we can protect you from the bully, but he'll still pounce on you when we're not around. The only solution is for you yourself to stand up to the bully in front of the class and proclaim that you will no longer accept being treated as anything less than equal.

Every generation wages its own battles as its gift to the next, fighting for the rights of women and minorities. If this is the battle that defines our generation in history, then for the sake of our future, let us put up a good fight and make sure we emerge victorious.

PS As far as we know, Lindsay Lohan is the child of a heterosexual marriage. Case closed.

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For play-by-play comprehensive trial updates, follow @NCLRights. For the cliff notes version, the Huffington Los Angeles feed has excellent coverage.

Gaining Focus

Never one to subscribe to the idea of New Year's resolutions, I look at the following list as more of motivation to achieve certain goals in the upcoming year, a sort of "focus point," if you will:

1. China
I'd like to consider myself well-traveled in China, having been to more places than I can list. However, some of the visits occurred when I was too young to appreciate the significance. When I was about 13, my grandparents took me to their home village in Shan Dong, China, and while I do remember some of it, most of the experience has been lost. Therefore, while my grandparents are still healthy, I'd love to have them show me around where we are from and match the places to the stories that I hear over and again at the dinner table.

2. Italy
I used to be one of those people who feared being alone. Can't eat alone. Can't travel alone. Can't. 2009 changed that when I had to travel to Houston by myself to visit an ailing friend. I not only enjoyed the independence and freedom to go as I please, but the cliche "now or never" suddenly became crystal clear. Funds or scheduling always thwarted my attempts at planning a European vacation, so next year, with or without companions, I would love to "backpack" (as much as my spoiled city self can endure) through Italy, and hopefully hit up a couple other spots before my funds are depleted.

3. Yelp
Call me an amateur foodie. Never been to Urasawa or French Laundry, do not follow celebrity chefs, uninterested in wine, but still love to eat and finding new places to execute cash outflow. My yelp bookmarks (places to try) have hit an outrageous 128 restaurants across the US. I believe small and expensive does not equate to delicious and authentic, so most of the places are local joints that allow one to experience the culture without traveling. Need to decrease that number by eating (in moderation) at as many places as I can fit into the schedule.

So there you go. A few serious but somewhat whimsical goals that are readily attainable in the next year.