Back From Hiatus!!

I'm finally back! I am SO sorry for not posting anything all summer! Work got busy, and I lost myself for a while there as well. Despite the fact that I haven't put up a post since June, I want everyone who happens to see this blog to know that I never forgot and I never stopped caring. Being an Ally is something that I am SO proud is a part of me and is something that will never go away. Actually, as time goes on and I meet more LGBT members, find more pages devoted to the wondrous LGBT community, and learn more about LGBT issues, the more proud I am of being an Ally. It makes me feel like I have a bit of purpose and definitely a sense of fitting in. So once again I'm so sorry to have been MIA for so long. I promise to do my best to update on a more regular basis. =) Now onto the informative section..........

A lot has been happening in the last few months in the LGBT world. Here in my own state of Washington, we are gearing up to vote on Referendum 74. Enough signatures were gathered earlier this year and on June 12, 2012 state officials announced that enough signatures were gathered to place the referendum on the ballot come November 6. To those of you that aren't in Washington, or even in the US, let me break down what R-74 would do. Referendum 74 would either approve or reject, depending on the vote, the February 2012 bill that would make same-sex marriage in Washington state LEGAL. Yes legal! That would make Washington state only the 7th state in the nation to allow same-sex marriages. While this would be still a big win, the number makes it pretty sad. As of right now only 6, SIX, states say same-sex marriage is legal (New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Vermont). So November is shaping up to be a very nervous month for myself, and many others, as this Referendum will be put to vote here in Washington AND the Presidential election votes are in that month as well. (I'm already an Obama fan, but it is extremely crucial to the LGBT community that Mitt "the twit" Romney doesn't get elected.) As of right now the two organisations for and against R-74 are Washington United for Marriage (for) and Preserve Marriage Washington (against). I am happy to announce, however, that as of July 3, 2012 Preserve Marriage Washington had raised $132,000 for rejection votes while Washington United for Marriage had raised $1.9 million in approval votes! August showed a 13 to 1 fundraising advantage in favor of marriage equality as well. Finally, the most recent R-74 survey (Sept. 9 - 12) had 12% undecided, 37% against, and 51% in favor of. So I'm not getting overly confident that we'll win this vote come November, but I do have hope for this state!

Phew! OK sorry for all the political ramblings. Now I mentioned before visiting  pages devoted to the LGBT community. There is one that is both informative and really joyful/happy that I want to recognize and recommend to those of you that use Facebook. It's called Have A Gay Day (http://www.facebook.com/MyGayDay?ref=ts) and it's a site that brightens my day everyday! I've mentioned it briefly before and would just like to mention it again. The people there are super nice and answer any questions people have as well as post bright, happy pictures that will really make anyone's day a little brighter and every once in a while they have things called Rainbow Takeovers! So please, if you use FB, check it out and let them know how much you like them!

Now I know there is more news then that, but I don't want to overload you with so much in just one post! I do have something to share with you all, but I'm still trying to figure out how to share it......... if that made any sense at all! haha! Post soon! Promise!

Love you all!!! xoxoxo