Freedom

This week has turned out to be quite the watershed moment for Nevada. After years of seeing the state government fight equality, its leaders are starting to signal that the fight is finally starting to come to an end. When Governor Brian Sandoval (R) and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto (D) announced their decision to drop their legal defense of marriage discrimination in the Sevcik v. Sandoval suit, we couldn't help but see it as a critical turning point in this story.

Yet even with that occurring, the fight is not quite over just yet. We were also reminded of that this week when a host of G-O-TEA politicians decided to follow Richard Ziser's lead (instead of Governor Sandoval's) and continue fighting against equality.

With all of this taken into consideration, there isn't a better time than now for Freedom Nevada to launch. While the Sevcik suit is working its way up the federal judiciary chain, there's still the matter of SJR 13. Even though it passed the Legislature last year, it must pass there again next year before it can reach voters in 2016.

This is why now is the perfect time for Freedom Nevada and other marriage equality advocates to spring into action this year. In order for SJR 13 to pass the Legislature next year, voters must elect a pro-equality majority to send to Carson City this year. And even should the Sevcik plaintiffs prevail in court in the mean time, it always helps to build a pro-equality majority to cement in place those legal victories.

We're closer now than ever before to securing the freedom to marry in Nevada. But even now, a final push is needed to make it happen. The past decade plus of fights haven't been easy and occasionally offered painful setbacks, but now is the time to finish the job. Freedom is almost here.

#VegasPride 2012: The Parade (& The Candidates Who Joined Us)

There's just something special and something awe inspiring about Las Vegas Pride. Is it the glitter? Is it the the variety of wardrobes? Is it the backdrop of Fabulous Downtown Las Vegas? Or is it simply the people, the diverse array of people coming together to celebrate who we are, where we've come, and what lies next for our LGBTQ community?



As you can see below, we had quite the parade last night. And what made it all the more special were the guests who marched with us. It will make you wonder who's really a "political liability".







Both John Oceguera and Steven Horsford rode in the Las Vegas Pride Parade with HRC Las Vegas and our local Stonewall Democrats. And both candidates were more than happy to greet the parade watchers and share not just their standard campaign pitches, but also their promise to support full equality for Nevada's LGBTQ families. Oh, and did I mention they were riding by a bunch of "militant marching gays" who were dancing to the likes of (the late great) Whitney Houston and Lady Gaga? This was truly a sight to behold.

And what made this even more amazing was the fact that both Horsford and Oceguera face competitive Congressional races. Remember the days when many swing district Democrats preferred to shy away from "controversial issues"? Obviously, Horsford and Oceguera had no "controversial issues" with coming to Pride and openly proclaiming their support for LGBTQ equality. This really showed how far both national and Nevada Democrats have come, as well as the strong character of both candidates present.







In addition to Oceguera and Horsford personally marching/riding with HRC & Stonewall in Pride, Shelley Berkley (NV-Sen), Dina Titus (NV-01), and President Obama's Nevada campaign all had strong representation at Las Vegas Pride. And again, all campaigns were so proud to march with HRC & Stonewall and tout their pro-equality records. I guess now that the Democratic Party has made a bold move in embracing marriage equality and the LGBTQ community in full, Nevada Democrats are now making good policy into good politics.

Oh, and by the way, no prominent Nevada Republicans were to be found at Pride last night. Is this what they mean by saying they're "silent on social issues"? Well, it's not like Mitt Romney, Dean Heller, Joe Heck, and Danny Tarkanian really have anything to be proud about when it comes to LGBTQ outreach.

And that, my friends, was Night 1 of Las Vegas Pride Weekend in the heat of the 2012 election cycle.

A Day Full of Pride

Yesterday was a little extra gay for me. I started off with Stonewall at UNLV Pride. We reminded folks of the upcoming election, of important legislation pending in Carson City, and what else is happening in the community.

And later in the evening, I did Third Thursday with HRC Las Vegas and QVegas at my new favorite Strip hangout (more on that later at Bite of Vegas!). Hard working HRC intern, and recently minted MTV reality star, Mike Manning dropped by to chat with us... And so did Dina Titus! And considering everything in the news this week, there was plenty to talk about.

All in all, it was great to see folks young and old throughout our community get involved yesterday, both at UNLV and at Wynn. It was a nice end to an otherwise insanely hectic week!

So enjoy the Passover/Easter/Earth Day holiday this weekend, and I'll be back next week with even more on the ongoing developments in Carson City.

HRC's Equality Days Reception

Last night, I had the great pleasure of joining HRC Las Vegas and other LGBTQ community organizations at their evening reception at Equality Days here in Carson City. As you can see below, we had some very special guests joining us.





And after the presentation, the legislators started arriving! I'll tell you more about that later. ;-)