Hi everyone, just recently I shot a commercial with Congressperson Mike Honda, I thought I would give you a little behind the scenes. For those of you that don't know me, I am TLO, I am twelve now and have been on Daily Kos for three years (newbie). I write mostly about Climate Change and have written one diary about sexism. My parents are Glen The Plumber and remembrance. Anyway, I can't wait to see the commercial aired on tv.
When we arrived at the commercial shoot I was supposed to be in the kids part of the commercial where Mike Honda and the young kids played with soap, glitter, and water in a bottle. The kids were three to six years old. I am twelve and feel that I'm too mature to be playing with soapy glittery water. Although, Mike Honda sure seemed to be enjoying himself even laughing and grinning when he spilled the mixture all over himself. Granted I know that I'm not very old, and not very mature, but I don't like getting glitter spilled all over me or water and soap for that matter. I decided to wait for another kids part that didn't evolve so much mess making. Unfortunately, that never happened.
I was not sad or disappointed, because I did not want to be on television playing with glitter and water and soap. And then spilling it all over Mike Honda. My dad did not want to be in the commercial. But in the end my dad and I were both in the commercial, because they had another adult part that my dad was asked to shoot in with Mike Honda. He said only if I was going to be in it. So they asked if I wanted to be in the shoot and I did. I got to stand up in front next to Mike Honda. We walked at the top of the stairs to the Superior Court in Downtown San Jose. Then we had to walk on the sidewalk next to the Superior Court. I stood up front with Mike Honda both times.
Behind the scenes was the coolest. The crew had 2-4 cameras. They were not regular cameras or phones these cameras were massive professional, amazing and beautiful, cameras. They had sun blockers and sun reflectors on opposite sides next to the cameras so the lighting would be perfect. We walked and talked about ice cream pies and karaoke, normal stuff to talk about with a politician. What happened on camera was no act he really is a social and laid back person when you meet him and really get to know him. Unlike other politicians or people running for president cough, cough, Donald Trump, cough, cough, he is not putting on a show for the cameras to win more votes. He doesn't need to he is a great legislator and a great person. Most people that don't know him personally or who he is would not think that he is a legislator because he is not always so stern and serious, but is actually really fun to be around.
Along with my dad, Mike Honda, and me were Judy Rickard and Karin Bogliolo. Judy and Karen are two women that fell in love, the only problem is they lived in different countries. Judy Rickard wrote a book called Torn Apart: United By Love, Divided by Law. Since they could not get married in California because of Prop Eight, they eloped to a different state.
In 2013 Karen received a green card. It took them many long years. “ These two old lesbians (Karin, 76 and Judy, 68) have faced a lot, seen a lot, heard a lot, done a lot.” Huffington Post Article. Meeting them in Mike Honda’s commercial shoot was awesome. “These ladies became famous not because they wanted to, but because they were forced into a fight to get the life they wanted.” GTP
I did some research on Judy and Karen and asked them three questions:
1. As you were fighting to get the green card how did it affect your relationship (or lives)?
“In 2008, Karin was detained at the San Francisco airport after we flew to America together from England. She was questioned and told she was visiting America too often. She was told to leave the country for a long time. That's when I decided to take early retirement (age 61) so we could be together more than apart. At that time, we were married legally."-Judy Rickard
2. How was Congressman Mike Honda able to help you?
“He said he would investigate the issue. He did. He talked to people in DC. He wrote letters. He found sympathetic colleagues who spoke out about the issue. He included it when he was holding or participating in immigration panels and town halls. He understood that the contentious immigration struggle intersected with the LGBTQ community and he did not shy away from the issue. He stood up for us - all of us. Mike has been an ally to the LGBTQ community forever and when this issue came to his attention, he added it to his work.” -Judy Rickard
3. How does it feel knowing that people in your state voted to restrict your right to get married?
"Knowing that people who don't even know us, judged our love and our right to be legally married was hurtful and demeaning. Discrimination in any form is hate - often fueled by fear of the unknown and judging people who are different in some way 'them'. We don't need or want a world of us vs. them. We want a world where love wins, love trumps hate, and in our case love (marriage) is legal and federally recognized." -Judy Rickard
Let me know what you think about the commercial.