Baby Bottom Cakes

We've finally begun to finalize our business making baby diaper cakes. We've agreed to name our company "Baby Bottom Cakes". Thank you to Grandmother for coming up with the name. Please feel free to print some of the flyers out and place them around your work and neighborhood. We can deliver them by hand in and around Denver, and the diaper cakes can be safely shipped throughout the country in a timely manner. If you have friends or loved ones that have a baby on the way, get with friends and order a cake from us. You won't regret it I promise. One of these will also make the PERFECT gift for a baby's first Christmas

Baby Bottom Cakes Flyer

An Evening at the Circus

Friday evening we had a great date night. We try to make time just for us at least once a month. Last year we went to Cirque du Soleil, Corteo. It's about a clown that is having a vision of his own funeral. We enjoyed the stunning acrobatics and acting.

Some how, this year we had an even greater time when we went to watch Cirque du Soleil, KOOZA. We couldn't have had better seats. We managed to get front row, FRONT ROW, seats. The trapeze performer was swinging and flipping above our heads. Throughout the performance the artists were closer than arms length to us.

KOOZA tells the story of The Innocent, a melancholy loner in search of his place in the world.

The Innocent's journey brings him into contact with a panoply of comic characters such as the King, the Trickster, the Pickpocket, and the Obnoxious Tourist and his Bad Dog.

Between strength and fragility, laughter and smiles, turmoil and harmony, KOOZA explores themes of fear, identity, recognition and power. The show is set in an electrifying and exotic visual world full of surprises, thrills, chills, audacity and total involvement.

The most electrifying point of the show was when two of the actors were running on the Wheel of Death. If you've never seen it in action before, you must. Before they began, plastic was draped on either side of the Wheel. It wasn't netting for a fall, but plastic, I assume for the splattering of blood, should one of the men fall. There was a heart-stopping second when one of the actors tripped while jumping rope on the outside top of the spinning Wheel of Death.

We look forward to next months date at the Buell Theatre. We are planning on seeing the Broadway musical Wicked. It is our hope to join a few friends this time. Of course, we'll still keep most of the night to ourselves, have dinner together and enjoy a slow walk to the Theatre in the brisk October evening.

We haven't bought tickets yet, so if anyone would like to contribute to our evening, or join us, please feel free to. We never object to early Hanukka/Christmas/birthday gifts.

Living Liberally Honors HRC

Each Monday evening, a group of progressives gather to drink wine, eat food, and share their thoughts on politics with like-minded friends. This weeks focus was on the Human Rights Campaign, and the legislation, both locally and nationally, that is being worked on in the 111th Congress. Nancy Cronk, the administrator of the group, made White Knots and handed them out to all present. I was then asked to speak.

I shared what HRC is working on, with the 15-20 people that gathered. We discussed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill, Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, and Don't Ask Don't Tell, amongst several others.

Having met with most of my senators and representatives I had some insight to share of what they would like from the community and where they stand on repealing anti-LGBT laws, and enacting civil rights equality for all Americans. I am happy to say that I live in a district where my elected officials stand on the side of equality, not hate.

Overall, the evening was very informative for the group and for me. I have great input to return to the state steering committee with and share amongst the LGBT community. It was very heartfelt to have so many "straight" supporters want more information on what they can do to progress pro-LGBT legislation. As in all cases, call your Senators and Representatives and tell them you support equality for all Americans.

After speaking, and eating dinner, I had a moment to speak with Nancy. I thanked her for allowing me to speak to her group and share a message that was so personal for me. Something she said to me has stuck in my mind and rolled over and over again over the past 24 hours. She said, "It's all about love." So simple, yet so telling of her heart and love for all people. If we disregard all of the negatives we've been taught, and instead live based on this one statement, "It's all about love," we could accomplish so much more in our world.

No Excuses

Last night members of the GLBT community in Denver and surrounding cities had the opportunity to meet with Senator Michael Bennet's State Director Rosemary Rodriguez.

Rosemary started off asking that the meeting be personal, open and informative both for us and for her.

Prior to the meeting, before she arrived, a few of us were sitting around talking, discussing what we hoped to hear, what we wanted to portray, and offering up questions to ask if the meeting hit a point where there was silence. One of the questions I was hoping to hear was what Senator Bennet did for GLBT employees as superintendent of Denver Public Schools. It was encouraging to hear that he extended benefits to same-sex couples that were previously enjoyed by heterosexual couples.

Senator Bennet is in favor of expanding the definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation and gender identity. To show his support he became a co-sponsor of the Matthew Shepard Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Currently the senator sits on the Homeland Security Committee. Up for discussion is extending medical benefits to same-sex couples(I don't remember which bill this is so if anyone wants to expand on this please do).

There was a great question asked of what we can can do as a community to give the Senator coverage/protection when he votes in favor of pro-equality legislation. Rosemary made it very clear that once the senator makes up his mind whether he supports legislation or not his decision is final. Recently he was in a very unfriendly atmosphere, right outside Colorado Springs(city starts with a "F"?), and someone asked him what he thought about Marriage Equality. He stated that he believed it was a state right, and that if it were up for a vote in Colorado he absolutely would vote in favor of Marriage Equality. I find it very encouraging that in an atmosphere where he felt he had to be on guard he remained resolute in his support of equality and his own convictions.

I'm very thankful Rosemary spoke in depth about DOMA and how she is working with him in the coming days to bring him up to speed on GLBT legislation. Rosemary seemed very interested in having us all be in contact with her and Senator Bennet in the future and sharing our personal stories with him. Preferably, she would like as many stories as possible of how DOMA has adversely affected the GLBT community in Colorado. It is her hope to have these stories to share with Senator Bennet when the meet in the coming days. It is his belief that it is very important to share the stories of Coloradans when he is speaking on the Senate floor and touring the state. If DOMA has had a negative impact on your life please email your story to Rosemary Rodriguez.

There were many other questions asked and topics covered, but these are what I found most compelling. Hopefully, in the coming weeks we will have the opportunity to again sit down with Rosemary and discuss these issues in more depth, after she has had a meeting with Senator Bennet. It is our hope too that he will be present.

Thank you to Senator Bennet for sharing Rosemary with our community, and thank you to those in the Human Rights Campaign that made this meeting possible.

You can read more about this forum on HRC Backstory.

Debunking Canadian Health Care Myths

I just read one of the most enlightening articles comparing our health system to Canada. In addition to reading this article I recently watch a program online from PBS about how inferior our health care is in relation to Canada and nearly all of Europe. I had no idea that we spend nearly 17% of our GDP on health care while others are spending 10%. With their 10% they're covering 100% of their citizens while our 17% leaves out more than 15% of our citizens. That's nearly 47 million Americans!

The fear tactics of "wait times" and "government control" are unfounded. They're simply fear tactics spread by the large insurance and pharmacy corporations to scare us in to not taking the appropriate action of single payer health care, or at the least a public option.

Everyone needs to call their congressmen (DC switchboard: 202-224-3121) and demand either single payer or a public option to bring health care to ALL American citizens and bring the prices of private health insurance down. What would you do with the extra 6% of your yearly income? I know of a few ways I could stimulate my local economy...

I've left my thoughts and comments on the two following articles.

Debunking Canadian health care myths:
http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_12523427

Colorado Senator Polis: Obama will help individuals, economy:
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_12940518

PBS Special:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html

After watching the following PBS special tell me what you think of the the underlying truth about our "best health care system in the world". Feel a little blindsided yet?I've made my phone calls. Now it's your turn.

Date Night

Ryan and I had such a wonderful date night. Back in January we bought tickets to Rent on Broadway. Two of the original cast members, Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, were on tour. What an honor it was to have the chance to watch tonight's production. Thirteen years after it was first performed on Broadway in New York we watched Rent on Broadway in Denver! We had such a wonderful time. The audience was ecstatic from beginning to end. On the news this afternoon, before leaving the house, we saw an interview our local channel had with Rapp and Pascal. The news caster was talking about how loud the crowd was at Tuesday nights opening production. There was the expected range of emotions, from joy to appreciation, love, and sadness and tears.

I failed to put the SD card in the camera, so unfortunately we only have a couple of pictures from the internal memory. We did take a picture on my phone. It turned out, but is a bit grainy. I do wish we had been able to take more.

Before Rent I made reservations at Osteria Marco. It was a chance for me to surprise Ryan and show him how much I love him and appreciate how hard he is working toward getting a job. He knew we were going to dinner, but didn't know where. I was introduced to Osteria Marco a few months ago by some friends, during the campaign. It's an elegant Italian restaurant in Larimer Square, a mere four blocks from the Buell Theatre. If you haven't been there yet, I highly recommend it.

Enjoy the attached pictures and know you're all in our thoughts. We excited and expect an equally impressive production of Wicked in the fall.

Tax Day Inequality

It doesn’t matter how long a same-sex couple has been together, come tax day they are considered single by the federal government. As single people, they must pretend their finances and their futures are not intertwined and forgo access to the many economic safety nets their tax dollars help fund, such as Social Security survivor benefits, estate tax deferral when inheriting property, and the ability to file taxes jointly. Every year, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people are forced to pay taxes on their partner’s health care benefits as if it were additional income. Opposite-sex couples are exempt from this unfair taxation.

Even in Massachusetts and Connecticut, where same-sex marriages are recognized by the state, they are not recognized by the federal government, and all of the above injustices apply.

LGBT people need equal rights for equal taxes paid. There are many paths to this equality, including repealing the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and passing an inclusive Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). I urge everyone to contact their legislators and eliminate this discrimination today.

You can find this blog in the Denver Post, posted April 15, 2009.