Weeks 8 and 9

 We're definitely in the busy season now.  With the CAUSE conference coming up in little over 2 weeks and Lobby Day just around the corner, there are a lot of things that need to be done.  This mostly consists of making sure the newsletters are finalized, training date and times are updated, and making sure the Facebook page has reminders everyday for these events.  It's not too bad by itself, but when other projects come up, it is very important to remember to do those things along with everything else.

Besides this event preparation, last week was pretty crazy.  On Wednesday, we went to West Chester with a LGBT activist group called GetEQUAL to protest outside Speaker Boehner's office.  GetEQUAL had over 30,000 names for a petition against Speaker Boehner's decision to use taxpayers' money to support DOMA -- an act that the Justice Department had declared unconstitutional.  Kim and I went to West Chester to join the protest and support GetEQUAL.  While we were there, a person from Boehner's office came out to take the petitions but refused to let anyone inside the office.  Five people declared that they would not leave until they were granted access inside the office and could get on the phone with the Speaker.  Boehner's office locked the door, so the "Ohio 5" (as they now call themselves) sat outside the office and read the names outloud.  The police were called (actually, they were on the scene from the start) and said that whoever refuses to leave would be arrested for trespassing.  They then proceeded to ask every single person on the scene if they would leave.  I was off the grounds at the time, protesting with some other people on the street, so I wasn't asked.  However, Kim was and she said that she would in fact leave (we were told before we left to make sure we did not get arrested).  The five were arrested, and chanted "I am somebody. I deserve equal rights" as they were led to the police cars.  We were told that they were only held for a few hours.  Because of this protest, last week was largely filled with sending out newsletters, press releases, etc.  It was pretty crazy for a couple of days. 

This week, I have started finding information and reserving tables for Pride events over the summer.  I also have been researching and putting together a list of businesses that provide domestic partner benefits and discrimination policies for sexual orientation and/or gender identity.  Not quite as dramatic as last week, but still enough to keep me occupied!