A Day Without a Gay?

I shudder at the thought, and so should you ( a day without Rachel Maddow is one that should never be!). Click below to find out how to show the world, or at least California Prop 8 supporters, how integral "the gays" are to our society, our economy, and our culture. From the site:

Gay people and our allies are compassionate, sensitive, caring, mobilized, and programmed for success. A day without gays would be tragic because it would be a day without love.

On December 10, 2008 the gay community will take a historic stance against hatred by donating love to a variety of different causes.

On December 10, you are encouraged not to call in sick to work. You are encouraged to call in "gay"--and donate your time to service!

You can be totally lazy and also make this your Human Rights Day action by clicking here. Win-win!

How will you help?

December 10th is Human Rights Day.

The 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights occurs on December 10, 2008, and the UN Secretary-General has launched a year-long campaign to lead up to this anniversary. Because the UDHR holds the world record as the most translated document (with more than 360 language versions available), organizations around the globe will be able to use the year to focus on helping people everywhere learn about their rights.

What will you do to help people learn about their rights? Here are some suggestions:

Join Human Rights Watch or check out what's happening over at Students for a Free Tibet. You can also attend Amnesty International's Human Rights Day conference by clicking here or click here and scroll to the bottom for events being held around the globe.

There is a ton more to do, but I'm too lazy to post more and my son is having surgery so I leave you to your own devices to do something, anything to honor the day.

Letter Writers Needed

Esha Momeni, a graduate student in Film and Communications at Cal State Northridge, was arrested in Terhan two weeks ago for a driving offense and is now being held in solitary confienment. She was filming interviews on a project for women's rights. From the L.A. Times article yesterday:

She began participating in the One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality, a group that connects activists in Iran with Iranian communities in the West.

Activist organizations, many of which advocate peaceful political and social change, greatly irk authorities in the Islamic Republic. Iran accuses them of being fronts for Western powers seeking to topple the government using the "velvet revolution" tactics that contributed to the downfall of regimes in former Soviet states.

A report issued this month by a United Nations human rights watchdog raised concerns about "an increasing crackdown in the past year on the women's rights movement" in Iran.

"Women's rights activism is sometimes presented by the Iranian government as being connected to external security threats to the country," the report says.

On Sunday, security agents blocked Sussan Tahmasebi, a leader of One Million Signatures, from leaving Iran and seized her passport, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Here are news clippings on the situation from CSU Northridge.

Letter writers are needed to help secure her release. Click here to sign a petition. Click here to sign one via the American Islamic Congress. Click here to get talking points and addresses to help you write your own (individually written letters carry more weight than on-line petitions). You can also join a facebook group for updates and information.