Gay marriage protests in the Bayou State

While most people in Baton Rouge spent Saturday afternoon tailgating before the LSU football game, about 60 staged a pro-gay marriage rally in front of City Hall.
My sister, Michele, was there with this great sign.
My brother-in-law, Eric, was there too (on the right). Thanks for going Michele and Eric. It really meant a lot to me.

In the northwestern corner of the state, Adrienne Critcher (left) was helping lead the protest in Shreveport.

Adrienne is the faculty sponsor of the LSU Shreveport Gay-Straight Alliance and the mother of a 25-year-old gay son. She also is a regular reader of Rex's blog, which from time to time mentions something about me, The Cajun.

Knowing Rex's ties to the Bayou State, she sent him these cool pictures from the rally that was held in front of the Caddo Parish Courthouse.

Thanks for sharing Adrienne.
She said about 150 people took part in the protest - an amazing number for a pro-gay rights event in über-Baptist northern Louisiana.Now, if this little guy gets it, then why can't everyone else get it?

Painted Gorge hike

I spent the afternoon hiking through Painted Gorge, a rugged area in the desert about an hour and a half east of San Diego. As you can tell from this photo, the name comes from the striking colors that run through the layers of exposed rock.
I did the hike with the San Diego Trail Tramps, a group of guys that gets together for an outing usually on the third Sunday of each month. Today's hike covered a 7-mile loop and took about 3 1/2 hours to complete.

Click on any pic to view it larger.
We saw a lot of cool rock formations like this one . . .
. . . and this one.
Me with my friend Tom.
And here's the rest of the group.

The next Trail Tramps hike is set for Saturday, Dec. 14, and it will take us to the snowy summit of Mt. Jacinto overlooking Palm Springs. You know how much I love snow!

Marching for gay marriage in SD

About 25,000 people took part in San Diego's portion of Stonewall 2.0 today, according to police, making it the largest of the dozens of similar protests staged around the country.
This scene stretched for more than 10 city blocks.The march started on the edge of Hillcrest (A), San Diego's main gayborhood, followed the west side of Balboa Park and ended three miles later at the county administration building (D) in downtown.
Go here to see the San Diego Union-Tribune's coverage of the march.

Some of my favorite signs. Click on them to view them larger.

Self portrait.
This was the scene at the rally at the end of the march outside the San Diego County administration building in downtown San Diego.

Stonewall 2.0

CALIFORNIA CITIES WHERE MARCHES ARE TAKING PLACE SATURDAY:
Alameda
Bakersfield
Berkeley
Big Bear Lake
Chico
Claremont
Colton Costa Mesa
Delano
Escondido
Eureka
Fairfield
Fresno
Hemet
Huntington Beach
Irvine
Lake Tahoe
Long Beach
Los Angeles
Mariposa
Marysville
Merced
Modesto
Monterey
Moorpark
Moreno Valley
Mountain View
Napa
Oakland
Palm Springs
Pasadena
Pomona
Porterville
Rancho Cucamonga
Redding
Redlands
Riverside
Sacramento
Salinas
San Diego
San Francisco
San Jose
San Luis Obispo
San Rafael
Santa Barbara
Santa Clarita
Santa Cruz
Santa Rosa
Sonoma
Stockton
Temecula
Tracy
Turlock
Ukiah
Vacaville
Ventura
Victorville
Walnut Creek
Yucca Valley

Credit for the title of this post, "Stonewall 2.0," goes to Rex, who apparently coined the phrase in reference to the upcoming national day of marches in this post last Tuesday.

Palm Springs pride celebration

Star Trek star and newlywed George Takei rode with his husband Brad Altman through downtown Palm Springs during the city's annual Pride Parade Sunday morning. Things kicked off at a horrifyingly early hour of 10 a.m. Isn't it against the law to wake gays before 11 a.m. on Sunday in most cities?
Fellow gay Louisiana native and novelist Christopher Rice did his best impression of an optometry patient while greeting the crowd along Palm Springs' main drag. Rice's famous mom was no where to be seen.
By the time I realized who this was, Lorna Luft (the daughter of Judy Garland) had already past my spot on the parade route.
Only a handful of homo-haters showed up to spew their nonsense.
Me and my buddy Tim spent the rest of the day at the festival, which was held inside a baseball park. The crowd was fairly large, the feel was a bit small-townish and the weather was perfect.