Girls of Fuse say No on Prop 8

I am guilty of saying some unkind things about the West Hollywood set-- particularly that the club/bar scene is composed of people who care more about what kind of hair product will keep the faux-hawk up when the bartenders at Truck Stop pour some (water) on the (audience) at the end of the night than about social justice, community, or politics.

I received an email that challenges that:

All right, the girls of Fuse know how jazzed up everyone is about making sure Prop 8 doesn't pass...can we stop the hate already! So if you haven't made a plan to come out TONIGHT OCTOBER 16TH BTWN 8-10PM to support our "Vote no on Prop 8"event... It's time to rearrange your evening and join us for a pre-dinner, pre-movie, pre-date, pre-whatever...cocktails compliments of Smirnoff 8-9pm.

And if you really want to really help rock the vote... sit down with that free cocktail and write a postcard to a voter in a swing state telling them why it's so important they put down the remote and get out and vote for Obama! We'll have postcards and pens, all you need to do is write and we'll do the rest. Meet us in the atrium!

Sorry for getting political, we know Fuse-events is mostly known for their parties...but hey, it's no fun to party when your rights have been taken away. So here's your chance to really get involved. We had a great turnout on Saturday for our Country Swingers letter writing campaign on Saturday but we want to get even more of you involved. Bring your friends, bring your co-workers, your family...whoever you like, we're all in this together and we need all the help we can get.

Smirnoff hosted bar btwn 8-9pm and if you write 25 or more postcards the girls of fuse will by you a drink as well. We're always so proud of the people who come out to support our events and how you all rally when it's needed so thank you in advance.

See you tonight!

The girls of fuse,

Here Lounge
696 Robertson blvd.

I have to admit that I was surprised to see this email-- and I shouldn't have been, considering the implications of Prop 8. I forget that when it comes right down to it, we're all a part of a community, all affected, and we all go about doing what we can in the way we can, whether we frequent Here Lounge or The Eagle (yes, I'm guilty of that East v. West Side stuff, too), whether we hold signs on street corners or write post cards at an open bar. The point is to do something.

I had a conversation recently with a friend about the difference between being an activist/organizer in Los Angeles versus being one in the Bay Area. The main difference we noticed was that here in the southland, we seem have less of a work-play balance. In my friend's words: "Up there, we'll take a break, have some drinks and tomorrow we'll do what we need to do. Down here it feels like we never stop going." I can see what he's saying. Sometimes it feels like it's not so much "work hard, play hard" as it is "work hard OR play hard" around here. This is not to say there are no organizers and organizations in LA who do a good job balancing both, this is just what it feels like sometimes. Maybe it's something about getting caught up in maintaining an image that does it. That happens easily in Hollywoodland.

Anyway, consider this an apology for all the WeHo negativity. Cheers to the Girls of Fuse for using their partying power for a purpose. As they said, hey, it's no fun to party when your rights have been taken away. We can always use some more of that around here. Thanks, ladies.