Lexington rights and giving back...

Lexington Pride Festival is coming up and I hope everyone is eager to help celebrate how far our country has come since the 40 years following Stonewall. Lexington, in particular, is a great city to be in for equal rights. However, Kentucky still lags behind in equality.

I began my fight for equality in fighting Senate Bill 68, which was proposed to ban same-sex adoption. We won our fight, and now it's time to move on. Don't get me wrong, I am fully expecting the bill to be re-introduced during the 2010 legislative session, but there are other fish to fry in the meantime.

So, equal rights... it goes beyond the big picture of adoption and marriage. Visitation is another big item. Shouldn't you be able to visit your partner, if they are in a coma, in the hospital? In many cases, that is not possible.

Equal rights goes beyond the gay aspect as well. Everyone should have equal access to support under the law. We know social mores and norms fight against this daily, but the law is the law and it should be followed. However, when anti-rights legislation is passed, the law gets side-swiped and people use it to their advantage to continue discrimination.

This has been my first post in a long time and I hope to keep up my blogging regularly, as time allows. I'm currently formally representing the Lexington Art League, Lexington Ballet and United Way of the Bluegrass' Get on Board program as a board member. Additionally, I am volunteering with Lexington Fairness and The Living Arts and Science Center. This, of course, is on top of my full-time job with IMG Associations.

So, regularity of posts will entirely depend on activity with my community commitments. I am proud and happy to have the access to serve with these organizations and look forward to giving back to Lexington. The Art League and Get on Board are all about equal rights to respective aspects of the community (art and board service). Lexington Fairness continues the fight for marriage and civil rights for the LGBT community. The Lexington Ballet and Living Arts and Science Center provide equal access to educational programming for the younger generation in Lexington.

I am striving to help make Lexington a better place to live and hope you will help support my endeavors!