Walk for Choice | Stowaway Travel Writing & Editorial Services

Hello dearest fellow travelers. Some quick notes on this busy Tuesday:

We have one or two posts to go for ACAM: Indonesia (depending on timing — one for sure will be up this Thursday), and then it’s on to Singapore!
The Suggestion Box is a little bare. If you have a spare moment this week, please stop by and add your favorite restaurants, sightseeing spots, city parks, etc. to your favorite cities around the world. It’ll help with my trip so much. Thanks!
The Walk for Choice and Save the American Dream rallies were great! Good turnout on a chilly, snowy day, and a lot of camaraderie between the two groups. My friends and I started at the Walk for Choice, and then peeled off to strain to hear speakers at the workers’ rights rally and cheer with the crowd. I made two signs, one of which was straightforward–“Union Busting is Bad for Business”–and one of which led people to believe I was pro-life! Oh dear. It said “Why is Congress Sentencing American Women to Death?” and then in smaller letters “Stop HR 3 and HR 358.” Sessily pointed out that if you didn’t know about HR 358’s legislation of medical neglect, you might see “Death” and think I was talking about “killing babies.” Oh well! We tried to meet up with the Walk for Choice at its endpoint, but all we saw were pro-lifers releasing a hundred balloons labeled “Life” into the air; we couldn’t decide whether abandoning Life to the elements meant they are now no longer pro-life or if it just turned into a euthanasia rally. Also, someone dressed in a full Chewbacca costume was there, on the wrong side, dancing with the pro-lifers. Perhaps he was just confused without Han there to translate for him. Really, it is a metaphor for the American public. Just Wookieing around until Han comes back with some terse words of direction and a new sense of purpose.

The Good

FINALLY, the Obama Administration has stated that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and ordered the Department of Justice to stop prosecuting those cases.

The Bad

The Wisconsin Assembly passed the despicable anti-union bill, at one in the morning and with barely enough time for Democrats to realize a vote was taking place. Shameful behavior from the Republicans there and it only reinforces the need for a united response.

The House did vote to remove funding for Title X organizations like Planned Parenthood. It will likely die in the Senate or at least stop with the President, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a disgusting move by the Republicans AND Democrats who voted for it. Also, the bill continues to have ramifications as it stigmatizes PP and men and women alike distance themselves from defending women’s reproductive rights.

So to counter this: Join up across the country tomorrow to support the Walk for Choice and the Rally to Save the American Dream. Find your nearest rally here and your nearest walking route here. Let’s get activist on this! We may have missed the midterm elections, but people are truly shaken now that they see what their newly elected officials are really like. Let’s take advantage of that momentum and get some real change for the better!

See you on the streets.