had a late night watching Bring It On with your group and it’s snowing outside and your sleeping bag is warm and cozy. Today was exciting because we didn’t have anywhere to be until around 11, when we left to go have lunch at Same Café. Same Café is a small restaurant that gives you two soup, salad, and pizza options and allows you to donate what you can for your meal. This means that there was a mix of people from the homeless to men in business suits. You also have the opportunity to volunteer by cooking lunch, cleaning, etc.; however, when our group asked to help out we were informed that volunteering fills up two weeks in advance! The restaurant is so neat because it is not only helping the homeless, but it is also environmentally friendly—they compost, recycle, and are solar powered! After
that meal we headed to yet another local coffee shop-St. Marks- recommended by one of the ladies working at the Café where I had the best peanut butter chocolate chip cookie OF MY LIFE. Then, on to the office to prepare for today’s Civil Union Kick Off Rally in Colorado Springs! Sacha and I went to pick up some soda and other necessary items for the event and then helped everyone else make fun posters because coloring is awesome. Next it was time for Colorado Springs! 
Luckily the snow let up right as we were leaving so there was significantly less sliding around than earlier in the day. We arrived around 4pm and helped set up tables, food, and decorations. Before we left, Shannon informed us that we might meet protestors or have a problem with people trying to sneak in and disturb the rally. Colorado Springs is a pretty conservative area. Focus on the Family, the Air Force Academy, and other mega churches and religiously affiliated universities are in the area, so security was on hand just in case there was any interruption or concern. Luckily, we had no problem!
Around 5pm people started to trickle in to the super cool art museum the rally was held at. Shannon also told us that since we were in Colorado Springs we had no idea how many people would attend. I could tell they were nervous that very few people would show up, especially because of the snow. There was nothing to worry about though, because people started crowding in! Since Audrie and I are adorable and wore matching sweaters today we decided we HAD to work the front door. Our job was to greet people, sign them in, and explain to them how the post cards worked. (The ones we sent to state senators and representatives to show their constituents support for civil unions.) KKTV in CO came to do a news clip about it and I even got interviewed!! We’ll see if they use any of the gibberish I said in my nervous excitement, but if they do I’ll basically b
ecome a local celeb. The Gazette also had reporters there! I’d say there was close to 100 people in total, and then it began.
They started out with a video that essentially said, “We’ll keep fighting,” after last years defeat. It was so incredible that only ONE vote was needed for the legislation to pass. Next, there were several speakers: a pastor, a mother of twin sons (one of whom is gay), a couple, and a businessman. Shannon explained to us how important it is to have someone from different types of communities and lifestyles there to show their support. It ended with a woman named Rosemary, a straight ally who works for the ACLU and NAACP, who gave a passionate, motivating speech so that everyone would remember exactly why we are not giving up on equality. She said,
“It’s not about civil rights, it’s about what’s right.”
She highlighted Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia as a comparison for other recent social inequalities that we have corrected and that now seem to be an undeniable right. This fight is no different, and I know that some day we will live in a country that does the right thing and treats everyone with the love, respect, and justice they deserve.
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