rachel maddow keynote at gay and lesbian bar association dinner

Last night Jenn and I had the pleasure of hearing and meeting Rachel Maddow at the Gay & Lesbian Bar Association Dinner, where Grace Sterling Stowell of the Boston Alliance of GLBT Youth was awarded for her courage and work in the LGBT Community.

If you don't know who Rachel Maddow is, let me tell you! She is queer, very queer - and in the mainstream media. Each night you can catch her arguing with Tucker Carlson on MSNBC at 11pm. She also has a two hour radio show on Air America from 7am-9am every weekday.

Rachel's keynote speech was important for the gay community of Massachusetts to hear. She spoke about our need to fight back against an administration that ignores the rule of law, rather than wasting our time responding to attacks from Rick Santorum. She said we should be proud to be different, proud to be a minority, and not obsess over assimilating. "We will never be normal," she yelled.

After the event Rachel talked with Jenn and I about how she agrees that if we look at all of our struggles through the singular lense of gay marriage it will hurt us as a community, we must broaded our scope and form coalitions.

Grace Sterling Stowell also gave an inspiring speech in which she encouraged the audience to think about the needs of LGBT Youth and the Trans Community who are so often forgotten by the mainstream gay community.

Larry Kessler also received an award. Larry has been an anti-war activist, founded organizations to feed the hunger and shelter the poor, and founded the Aids Action Committee of Massachusetts.

Overall the speeches and awardees were as queer as it gets. I was very happy that the Gay & Lesbian Bar Association made an effort to learn and hear from the grassroots activists in our community.