Driving Equality

Day 87

This is my last day in Yellowstone National Park. I went on a 6 mile hike through some of the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen. I saw deer and buffalo grazing about. I was sure to wear my bear bell, as I didn’t want to surprise a grizzly on the path.

Today is day number 87. In the original Driving Equality itinerary, today would be the day I made it back home. For the first year of planning, I was expecting to be home on August 4th. A few months before I hit the road however, I extended the trip to 107 days in order to cover more ground and talk to more folks. As I sit here in Wyoming, twenty days from my homecoming, I wonder how I could have done this is such a short amount of time. Even as it is, I am only in most states for a day or two before moving on. I’m glad I extended the trip. This 107 day plan had me leaving two days after my last final at Tufts and has me returning home one week before starting classes for the fall semester. It’s a tight squeeze, but it’s well worth it to cover more ground.

On day 76 I told you that we crossed the Puget Sound on an automobile ferry. Check out the little video I put together of our crossing.

Day 86

I got a chance to explore a little bit of Yellowstone National Park today. I checked out Old Faithful and the other geothermal sites. Pretty amazing. Unfortunately, I blew the fuse to the power inverter in the van, so I’ve been driving all over the place to find a replacement. None of the shops around here carry a fuse big enough to fit, so I’ve ordered the part. It should be in before I leave the park. I’m going to try and find a hike to go on today and see more of Yellowstone.

Day 85

I’m in Yellowstone National Park. I arrived here at 1:00 in the morning. It was beautiful for the first part of the day, but it is raining hard and very windy right now. The thunder and lighting is blazing. I hope my tent makes it through the storm. To be honest though, I love the rain and the wind. I have always loved storms. I can’t stand the cold, but a good, hard rain is welcome (almost) anytime.

I didn’t explore at all today. I spent the day resting and catching up on a few things. I had a couple holes in my shorts to sew, some footage to edit, and the camera to clean. I’ll do some more writing and a little bit of reading tonight. Then maybe watch a movie on my laptop. Resting…

Day 84

Today was the longest day of the journey. I started off from northern Montana around 10:00 in the morning and didn’t stop driving until I reached Wyoming at 1:00 AM. Along the way I was able to stop, find WIFI, make a bunch of calls, and find an amazing person to interview in Bozeman, Montana. All in all, it was about 12 hours of driving. Yikes. But it was worth it!

I interviewed Ken Spencer. He was born and raised in a small town in Montana. He has an incredible story. Ken realized he was gay at a young age, but stayed in the closet. Homosexuality didn’t fit in well with the cowboy culture. He joined the Navy and was in the department that would research the backgrounds of people that were applying for classified positions. His job was to find out if these people had any skeletons in their closet. During the week, he would kick people out of the military for being gay and doing drugs. Then, on the weekends, he was meeting up with guys and doing drugs himself. It ripped him apart.

Ken went into a downward spiral before coming out and getting sober. Since turning his life around, he has become a beautiful person and a true inspiration. He is now making a difference in people’s lives by working at a recovery house in Bozeman, Montana. He is also an amazing artist. This was a great interview that you have got to watch.

If you like what we are doing, please help us continue the project by making a contribution.

(This video was taken with the ‘behind-the-scenes’ blog camera and is not the actual footage for the documentary.)

Day 83

I spent most of the day searching for WIFI, editing video, and updating the website. What should have been a 1/2 hour process turned into a five hour event. After I finished with work, I got to play in Glacier National Park. This is another amazing place. I hiked for a few hours up to Avalanche Lake. From there I could sit back and look at four waterfalls flowing down the mountain. It was incredible. Tomorrow is a long driving day. I’ve also got to find someone from Montana to interview.

Day 82

I spent the night in Spokane, Washington. This morning I drove through northern Idaho and into Montana. I’m going to check out Glacier National Park before doing interviews in Montana and southern Idaho. This sure is big sky country. It is nice to be back in the West. I’m dusting off my cowboy hat.

Check out this incredible monument near Quincy, Washington. There are all these horses high up on a hill. I’m not sure what it is though. Anybody know?

Day 81

I spent the day in Quincy, Washington. It’s a small farming town in the central part of the state. My friend Gerald grew up here, so I stopped in to see his family. Quincy is just a few hours, but a world away, from Seattle. The rural town has fields as far as one can see, and now has two traffic lights. I was warmly welcomed by the Todd family and had a great time talking about everything from LGBT politics, to worm farms, to life on the road. I felt right at home in Quincy. They fed me well. These were some of the kindest people I’ve met on my journey. Next time I return to the Northwest, I plan on stopping in to say hi to my new friends.

I also had an amazing interview in Quincy. Tracy, a gay man who grew up, and now lives in Quincy, agreed to talk with me on camera. He has an incredible story. Tracy and his partner are registered Domestic Partners. He spoke about how he feels like second-class citizens when he hears about the movement to take his rights away. Before the Domestic Partnership legislation was passed, Tracy and his partner tried to protect their relationship in some ways by drawing up certain paperwork with a lawyer. The process cost them $1,800, and that still didn’t even cover close to what the Domestic Partnership bill law does.

I wonder what Senator Val Stevens would say to Tracy. She is spearheading the effort to repeal the Domestic Partnership bill. When I interviewed her on Saturday, she told me that she wasn’t trying to take anybody’s rights away and that same-sex couples could still receive all the same benefits of a Domestic Partnership by drawing up the correct legal paperwork. I doubt that Senator Stevens cares that it would cost same-sex couples thousands of dollars to file that paperwork. Also, the senator is completely wrong; same-sex couples are not able to receive all the rights that a Domestic Partnership affords by drawing up legal paperwork. There are some benefits that only the state can grant.

If you like what we are doing, please help us continue the project by making a contribution.

(This video was taken with the ‘behind-the-scenes’ blog camera and is not the actual footage for the documentary.)

Day 80

I slept in the van last night, right in downtown Vancouver. When I awoke, I headed to Davie Street, the gay district, and was able to do three street interviews. The first interview was with a gay man who had just emigrated to Canada from the United States. He came up north to live a better life, with healthcare and equal marriage rights. The second interview was with a heterosexual couple, both born and raised in Canada. They didn’t understand why LGBT people are treated like second-class citizens in the US. The third interviewee was a young Vancouver woman who told me to send the gays to Canada where “everyone is welcome!”

I left Vancouver around noon and headed back to the states. Crossing the border was a breeze. I expected to be searched, as I am driving a big white van with no windows. I don’t have any problem with being searched at the national border, it is legal and constitutional. However, when I got to the border, the guard just asked me what I was doing in Canada. He asked what was in the van and how much money I had with me. Then he told me to “stay cool” and waved me along, never asking to look in the van.

After entering the US, I headed back down to Seattle to interview my friend Josh Friedes, the Advocacy Director for Equal Rights Washington (ERW). Josh is taking a leave of absence from ERW to head up the campaign to protect Domestic Partnerships in the state. He is now the Campaign Director for Washington Families Standing Together. I never got a chance to interview Josh while I was in town earlier, he was so busy with dealing with the signature deadline.

My interview with Josh was incredible. He has an eloquent way of making the case for equal rights. He described the process by which the Domestic Partnership legislation came to pass and is now being challenged. We talked about the importance of LGBT folks telling their stories and how to win, we need to be having conversation about our lives. Josh thinks that if Referendum 71 goes on the ballot, it could actually work in our favor. It will cause the LGBT community to have discussions about our families and why we need protections and, in turn, convince the citizens of Washington to support full marriage equality.

If you like what we are doing, please help us continue the project by making a contribution.

(This video was taken with the ‘behind-the-scenes’ blog camera and is not the actual footage for the documentary.)

Crossing the Border into the United States

Day 79

It is hot. I rented a bike and scoped out the gay district. I’m in search of some Canadians to interview, but most folks around here are tourists that are not interested in being filmed. I rode down to the beach and swam in the ocean. It was a nude beach! I couldn’t believe it was legal to be naked in public. Oh Canada.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning out the van, doing research for upcoming interviews, and working through the endless pile of emails that fill my inbox. Administrative work is not fun, but it piles up fast if I don’t stay on top of it.

Tomorrow I’ll try to get a Canadian perspective, them I am heading back to Seattle to interview my friend Josh at Equal Rights Washington. It was so hectic the two days I was in town, we never got a chance to sit down for a formal interview.

Day 78

I am in Vancouver, Canada. I came here to get an outsider’s perspective on the struggle for LGBT equality in the states. I hope to do street interviews Monday or Tuesday.

I almost wasn’t allowed into the country. Upon crossing the border, I was told to park the van and wait inside the building. The van was searched (which is fine and perfectly legal at a national border crossing). Then I was called up to the counter. I was asked about my arrest in 2003. I was arrested for defacing a military billboard. It was a protest against the war in Iraq. (Actually, I was the lookout. Woops.) I did 10 hours of community service to complete my sentence.

However, while the arrest was in the computer, the judicial department never entered the data that I did my sentence. Technically, the Canadian border officials should not have allowed me to enter the country. Yet, the woman at the desk said she believed me and that it sometimes happened that the courts don’t update their computer data. She suggested that, when I get back to Boston, I get a certificate from the court, verifying that I did my time. That way, the next time I try to enter Canada, I won’t have a problem. It was scary.

I slept in the van last night and spend most of the day looking for a campsite. British Columbia is incredibly beautiful this time of year, and all the campgrounds are full. Eventually I found a campsite about an hour outside of Vancouver. It is nice. I am in the mountains, right next to a waterfall. Tomorrow I’m going to check out Davie Street, the gay district in Vancouver.

Crossing the Border into Canada

Day 77

This was an exciting day. The signatures for Referendum 71 were due today. It had been reported in the local news that the anti-gay forces might not have enough signatures to get the referendum on the ballot (R-71 Looks Doomed). I was hopeful that they were going to come up short.

I accompanied the staff of Equal Rights Washington to the state capital building in Olympia. The opposition was supposed to turn in their signatures at 2:00. The Secretary of State’s office opened up this Saturday special for the signature deadline.

We stood on the steps of the capital. Pro-equality clergy joined us to go toe-to-toe with the anti-gay forces. We waited. Nothing happened. I became even more hopeful that they would not show with the required number of signatures.

Then we noticed a table with a group of people at the bottom of the steps. There were about 25 people frantically counting signatures. The Secretary of State’s office would be open until 5:00. That was their deadline.

I went down to film the signature counting. An anti-equality State Representative reprimanded me for filming the gathering, telling me it was a private event. He kept asking me my name as if I would be afraid to give it to him. I told him that I am Chris Mason and that I am making a documentary about gay rights across the country. I gave him the website address and told him that I’d be writing about him tonight. I also informed him that his people were on public property, right in front of the capital building, and that I had every right to film the not-so-private event.

A few other anti-gay folks came over to harass me and take my picture and write down my name in case they had to file a suit against me for filming the signatures on the petitions. It was a bit ridiculous. I could tell they were nervous.

A few more cars showed up with boxes of petitions in the trunk. It was about 4:00 and they were still counting. I was hoping time would run out on them. The pro-equality side took the high-ground, standing on the top of the capital steps, while the anti-equality crowd huddled around the bottom of the steps.

Eventually, the decided that they had enough signatures, and started carrying the petitions inside. They all went into a little room in the Secretary of State’s office where staff started counting the number of petitions.

They needed 120,577 signatures to move on to the verification stage of the process. According to the Secretary of State, they turned in 9,356 petitions sheets. Each sheet can contain 20 signatures, but most sheets were not full. Some sheets only have a few signatures on the page. So, while the anti-gay groups claim they turned in over 138,000, the number may be a bit less.

Now it will be up to the state to verify the signatures. This usually disqualifies 10% to 25% of the signatures, due to double names, invalid addresses, and unregistered signers. Right now, we don’t know if Referendum 71 will go to the ballot or not. It is going to be close.

It will take the state about a month to verify the signatures. If they get the required 120,577 signatures, then Washington state will have a fight on its hands. There will be a ballot question this November asking voters if they approve of the Domestic Partnership legislation. This is going to be a tough campaign if it goes to the ballot.

It was great to spend the day at the capital during such an exciting time. I just wish we had a different outcome. I got a lot of great footage though. After the signatures were counted, I conducted an on-the-spot interview with the anti-gay senator who is spearheading the referendum. I’ll try to upload the video soon. She made no sense. I asked her why she wanted to take rights away from same-sex couples. She told me that they already had all the same rights, that they could get legal paperwork to secure everything that the domestic partnership legislation would do.

Usually in the fight for marriage equality, you will hear people say that it would be fine if they called it civil unions. There are some folks who are still against civil unions, but are fine with domestic partnerships.

It was very interesting to see this push against domestic partnerships. Most anti-equality folks I speak with usually say that they have no problem with same-sex couples having the same legal rights, as long as they don’t call it marriage. That is not the case in Washington state. The anti-gay forces don’t want same-sex couples to have equal rights. This is very telling. It shows that it really is not about the word “marriage,” it is about gay and lesbian couples having legal relationship recognition. They don’t care if it is called “marriage”, “civil unions”, or “domestic partnerships” – if it legitimized same-sex relationships, they are against it.

Pro-Equality Clergy Go Toe-To-Toe with Anti-Gay Forces in Washington State’s Capital Building

It is time for Potter and I to go our separate ways. It has been an amazing 76 days together, but he has to head back to Boston now. Potter has been an incredibly important part of this project, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him. I urge you all to leave comments on this post wishing Potter a safe return and thanking him for all his hard work in advancing LGBT equality.

I’ll be on my own for the next 29 days. Let’s hope I don’t run into too much trouble. Although, as I’ve been saying this whole trip, conflict creates good footage.

Day 76

We crossed Puget Sound and drove into Seattle this morning. It was a fun trip across the water, as we drove the Driving Equality van onto a ferry to make the 30 minute crossing. It was our first time on a vehicle ferry. I was very excited and have a short video to post later. Right now there are more important things going on.

We brought the footage of the antigay signature collector committing fraud to Equal Rights Washington. From there, our friends at ERW edited the video posted it online. Dan Savage’s local Seattle newspaper, the Stranger, picked up the story and posted the video to the paper’s blog. The “Slog” is extremely popular in Seattle and the video has now been seen by hundreds of people.

Truth Wins Out, an organization dedicated to “fighting right wing lies,” has also posted the video on their website. A few other national blogs, and some local sites, have also picked up the story and posted the footage. People are now seeing how these signatures are really being collected.

The referendum signatures are due tomorrow. I’m heading down to Olympia, the state capital, to record the scene. The antigay organization will be turning in their signatures while Equal Rights Washington makes a strong presence in favor of equality.

Unfortunately, fraudulent signature gathering is not illegal in Washington state. The mentality is that one should read and know what they are signing. Of course, in reality, many people who are stopped in a parking lot don’t read the entire petition, they believe what the signature gatherer is telling them.

We can use the footage expose the deceitful tactics used to collect the signatures, but there are no legal remedies for this wrong. Perhaps the legislature will seen the footage and hear enough complaints to change the signature gathering laws in the future. That would be the best outcome in this case.

If you like the work we are doing, please make a contribution to the project. We don’t yet have enough funds to complete the trip and  make it home. Every bit helps. Thanks. You can donate online here, or mail a check made out to Driving Equality to:

Driving Equality
c/o Tom Mason
51 Peninsula Drive
Lunenburg, MA 01462

Day 75

Today was an exciting day. We are in Washington state. There is a push by the anti-gay forces in the state to repeal the Domestic Partnership legislation recently passed by the Washington legislature. Anti-gay organizations are trying to collect enough signatures to bring Referendum 71 to the ballot. This referendum seeks to repeal the Domestic Partnership Expansion Law of 2009, passed by the legislature, that gives registered domestic partners wherever they live in Washington many of the rights and protections already enjoyed by legally married couples.

If the backers of Referendum 71 collect enough signatures to get it on the November ballot, then the question on the ballot will be: Should this bill be approve or rejected?

The anti-gay organizations are using paid signature gatherers in attempt to collect the required number of signatures needed to put the referendum on the ballot. The signatures are due this Saturday.

While in Port Angeles, Washington, we stopped at WalMart for a quick minute. (Interesting Fact: Port Angeles, WA is where the book and film “Twilight” takes place.) As I was walking into WalMart, I was stopped by a signature gatherer who asked my opinion on same-sex marriage. I told him that I am gay and we had a long conversation about equal rights.

After I bought some medicine at the pharmacy, I came back out to the van and grabbed my camera. I filmed the man collecting signatures for a bit, then I went over to talk with him. He was friendly and let me film him for a while.

We talked about his personal beliefs about same-sex marriage. He is in favor of equal marriage rights and would vote against the referendum if it gets on the ballot. He went on for a while about how gays deserve the same rights and that the church is wrong for trying to take those rights away. It was an interesting conversation.

Then it got even more interesting. He approached a woman and asked her if she supports same-sex marriage. When she said yes, he handed her the clipboard to sign the referendum. She though she was signing in favor of equal marriage. He tricked her, right in front of me, on camera. I called him out on it.

He said to her:

“Did you get a chance to sign our petition? We’re giving you an opportunity to decided whether or not you are in favor of giving homosexual couples legal marriage licenses. Not just the same rights as married people, but a marriage license too. Do you have an opinion on that? Yes? No? Or don’t Care?”

The woman said yes, that she will sign, and he handed her the clipboard. It was obvious to me that she was signing what she thought was a petition in favor or giving same-sex couples marriage licenses. So I asked her if she supports same-sex marriage. She said that she did.

That is not it. The bigger deal is that, to collect signatures, he is telling people that the referendum is to stop same-sex couples from getting marriage licenses. That is not true. He is telling folks that same-sex couples would still receive all the rights of marriage with Domestic Partnerships, when in fact, the referendum they are signing has nothing to do with marriage; it would repeal the Domestic Partnership law.

Unfortunately, at the time, I had no idea that he was lying about Referendum 71 being about marriage, not domestic partnerships. I just got into the state and knew nothing about the petition. I believed him when he said it was about marriage. It wasn’t until the next day, when I showed the footage to Equal Rights Washington that I learned he was even lying about the goals of the referendum.

I called my friend Josh, who is the Advocacy Director at Equal Rights Washington and told him about the footage. He was excited about it and asked me if he could use it on the campaign against the referendum. I am giving him a copy of the footage to expose the fraudulent signature gathering.

There is a lot more I could say about this interaction, but just watch the video. It is incredible.

If you like what we are doing, please help us continue the project by making a contribution.

Day 74

We drove through Aberdeen, Washington today. Aberdeen is the hometown of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain. I have been a huge fan of Kurt since I was 12 years old. It was interesting for me to see where he grew up. He was incredibly talented. It is awful to see what depression and addiction can do to people. I think that is why I am so touched by his music. I can relate to the feelings of depression and horrors or addiction. I wish he had found a way out. Unfortunately, so many people don’t find a way out. Since this is my soapbox, let me take a minute to talk about the lack of understanding and treatment concerning depression and addiction.

The two illnesses often go hand-in-hand. And yes, they are illnesses, the same as cancer or diabetes. These are not moral issues. Depression and addiction hit all different kinds of people. Too often in our society we look down on people who are suffering from depression or addiction. We judge them or blame them for their illness. Would we judge a caner patient the same way? I doubt it.

We must realize that depression and addiction is no different than any other illness. It is nothing to be ashamed of and should not be looked down upon. If you, or someone you know, is struggling with depression or addiction, don’t be afraid to ask for help. These are life-threatening diseases, but they are treatable.

I don’t normally disclose this information, but in the interest of helping others who might be suffering from depression or addiction, I will share than I deal with both issues. My family has a tough history of depression. I too am dealing with my own depression. The key is that I’m dealing with it. When I am proactive and doing what I need to do, I have no problem. I am loving life and having a blast.

I also deal with addiction. Almost everyone is touched by addiction in some way or another. Whether it be a family member, friend, or loved one; addiction is a prevalent disease in our society. Know that it is just that: a disease. Once it has a hold on you, it is incredibly difficult to break free. But it is possible. I’ve been sober for years. If you, or someone you know, is struggling with addiction, feel free to email me and we can talk.

That is my personal story. Now time for my rant (I’ll keep it short). We don’t have adequate treatment or understanding of depression or addiction. We need to take these diseases seriously and bring them out of the basement. We shouldn’t be ashamed to seek help or talk about these illnesses. Every family deals with depression and/or addiction in one way or another. Let’s bring these diseases out in the open and shed some light on the matter. That way we can start to seriously deal with what is wrong.

We need improved addiction services in this country. It is nearly impossible to find a bed in a detox or treatment center. Why is that? Why would we turn someone away who is seeking help? Treatment centers lack the funding needed to provide help for enough people. Why are we not adequately funding treatment centers? There are people dying from the disease of addiction everyday, yet we don’t have enough facilities to treat the people that are seeking help.

This is a disease that every family faces. A cousin, nephew, sister, father or spouse; every family is touched by addiction or depression. It is time we speak up and demand that our loved ones be treated with the respect they deserve and be given the care they need to recover. Drag these diseases out of the dark! Once we realize that we all have “one in our family”, then we can stop pretending and start to take down these diseases and save our loved ones.