Friday, October 9: After a very long commute home, I raced out the door to 6th and I Historic Synagogue. There was a Rick Recht service and a Jewish Transgendered speaker that I did not want to miss. It was part of a monthly event called "Sixth and the City," which has dinner and drinks, and tends to involve much awkward mingling. My plan was to just attend the service and talk and bolt out of there. But when I walked in, I saw people I knew! I met T and K at one party, enjoyed talking to both of them, and did not get their contact info. About 4 months later, I walked into another, unconnected party at Rowan's house, and there they were! Again, I had a great conversation with T, and left without contact info. And there they were at 6th and I!!! This time, I got their information. Being there with people I knew made a huge difference. Joy Ladin, the speaker, is a very skilled writer, and the piece she read to us was moving and well-written. She spoke about her experiences at the Wall in Jerusalem, first as a man with his children and wife, and then as a woman alone. It was less about the differences in the two sections of the Wall, and more about her journey as a person. We were all riveted. And then we had dinner at Joy Ladin's table. We stayed until 10:30 talking (with eachother). New friends?
Saturday, September 10: Im et al arrived around 3pm. Im, Kim, Kim's best friend Helene, and their other friend Su all drove down from NJ to sleep on my floor and attend the Equality March on Sunday. We departed my house after a short tour to hear Cleve Jones speak at Busboys and Poets. Cleve Jones is the founder of the AIDS Quilt, and has been a gay rights activist for about 35 years. I heard him speak at Smith, and we were all excited to hear what he had to say. As we walked toward the venue, it was clear that everyone else near us was going the same place we were. We all started smiling, realizing that people were actually here for the march!! Busboys and Poets was seriously crowded.
We could not even get inside, but instead joined dozens of other people in watching through the open walls. We actually had a great view, if tired legs and hungry bellies. The first speaker was Sherry Wolf, a socialist GLBT activist. She was fairly radical, but said many things I agreed with. The main idea I liked was the one that gay people go to work and come home like everyone else--we've got the same things on our plates as everyone else, and should have the same rights. Etc.
The best part was probably the energy of the crowd. When Sherry finished speaking, people inside the restaurant started chanting, "L-G-B-T! We demand equality!" Cleve Jones spoke only for a short time, and didn't say anything too profound. The funniest thing he said was, "How many of you have seen Milk? All I have to say about that film is, I was that hot!" In case you don't remember, he was the curly-haired young guy in the film with the big hipster glasses. Actually, he looks in that film remarkably like many hipster Smithies, despite the time-period and gender differences. 
We met up with Kim and Helene's CDO friend Julia and headed back to Bethesda for dinner. Su was craving Asian food, and everyone else was freezing, hungry and had sore feet, so we headed to Rice Paddies Grill for inexpensive and filling pho. We spent the rest of the evening at Rock Bottom having drinks and snacks 7 Smithies, 1 boyfriend, and 3 of Kim's high school friends. It was good times all around and we were out waaaay past my bedtime. For once I felt like I was actually in my 20s, out with friends at a bar. Everyone bedded down for the night on the floor of the second bedroom in my apartment. It reminded me of when all of my cousins and I used to have a sleepover around Hanukkah.
I will write about the march later, with photos from other people's facebooks. Now I am off for coffee with Rowan.
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