and Mama cooked the breakfast with no hog

Last night, disc0 and I attended Equality Illinois' Justice for All Gala. The law firm I work for was a sponsor of the event, so a number of lawyers, paralegals, and significant others got to sit at the firm table. There were over 1500 people in attendance. The speakers were inspired and inspiring. The lifetime achievement award recipient was a pastor from a Methodist church in our neighborhood who almost lost his position with the church because he insists on providing pre-marital counseling and holy union ceremonies for same sex couples. He lives the work of anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-heterosexism, and in his short speech reminded the crowd that we must insist on celebration, not just tolerance.

The whole evening really fed my soul.

I have been ramping up my efforts to get tapped in to the progressive and public interest community here in Chicago. I miss being around activists and lobbyists and public interest lawyers. I have met some great people in the last few weeks, including last night - by chance, we ended up sitting next to a couple who has been involved in Equality Illinois since the beginning of the organization, and we got along famously, with promises to get together again soon. It was also just wonderful to see all of the candidates who attended the gala, because they know that equality matters to so many Illinois voters. Speaking at one point about ENDA, the Equality Illinois executive director said, "last year, we got anti-discrimination protection for sexual orientation and gender identity passed in Peoria. If gender identity plays in Peoria, there is no reason it shouldn't play in Washington, DC." I can't wait to become more educated about the reality of state politics here, but for the moment it is exhilarating not to be disillusioned.



In other exciting news, I was a huge dork and introduced myself to one of the brilliant women of Gayco as she bopped around on the dance floor. The whole situation was super awkward, but fun (like me). Watch for me describing my VIP passes to all Gayco shows in future blogs.

Disc0 and I also picked up some snazzy items at the silent auction: a package of coupons and offers from different businesses in Andersonville; a bunch of tickets to different historical sites and tours around the city; and a weekend getaway at a little rustic cabin called "Wisdom Ridge" outside of Galena, IL. They don't have a website because they don't have electricity or plumbing. Being stubborn, I still scoured the brochure trying to find information on their spa packages - no dice. Seriously though, I am excited about this one. Contrary to popular belief, I do enjoy camping on occasion (I camped out in a tent in the Namib Desert, where jackals tried to steal our food; I am only partly as boujie as I look). I'm thinking we'll hit it up in April when we can still make use of the wood burning fireplace and there won't be too many biting bugs, but we also won't freeze to death. I'm not boujie, I'm just practical.

For now, I will tide myself over with Andersonville coupons...