In the News:

Reuters - California's gay marriage ban could open the door to legal discrimination against unpopular groups if the state Supreme Court allows the voter-approved measure to stand, blacks, Latinos, Asians and other minorities said.

My opinion:  I wish everyone would have figured this out before they voted. 

I am really glad to see unity in the GLBT community.  If you look at the news, we are finally doing, well, something.  HRC has released a  list of  companies and individuals who supported the Yes on 8 campaign.

Californians Against Hate also released a list with the following statement:


"We want the country to know who gave the $36 million to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign that ended same-sex marriage in California. We have posted all major donors on our web site who gave $5000.00 and more, many much more!"

"We've taken public information from the California Secretary of State’s Office and added telephone numbers and web sites when available. We also included commentary on some of the more interesting and controversial donors. Individuals and businesses gave a vast amount of money to take away our equality, and we want you to know who they are."

I think the next step is to stop spending our money with any company that does not support the rights of all people.  And its not just those who donated to the props.  There are several companies donating millions of dollars every year to gay hate groups and other hate groups as well.

Here's how you can help.  First of all, spread the word.  Post the lists to your websites and blogs.  Tell your friends, add links to your emails.  Just do something. And don't stop.

Now that I am sad, lets talk about housing and cheer me up.

Real Estate in Tucson had some interesting numbers for last month. 

Average days on the market for a listing dropped in October to 78 days.  September's average was 82 days.  The average sales price is up 4.16% over September 2008 from $217,397 to $226,435.  And the listing inventory is down considerably from last year. 

My opinion:  Great time to buy, obviously.  Rates are low, home prices are low and there is still a good inventory to choose from. 

Sellers are looking at less time on the market and more serious buyers.  So, sell if you have to and make sure you use all the latest marketing techniques.  If you do not need to sell immediately, hold on for a few months.
TonyRay
Tucson Home Search  Free Relocation Package

Cell phones and green, the two have finally started communications about being friendlier to mother earth.

Check out FlipSwap.com.  The company will buy your unwanted cell phones.  You enter your make and model, and they give you a price.  For example, my cell phone is the Motorola i880, when I entered it into the search box; the price came back at $53.67.

The really cool thing about this company is that they are reducing the phones going into landfills, they are reusing as many of the phones as possible and the recycle as many of the phone parts as they can.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

On the site they list locations in your area, Tucson had six when I checked, to drop off your phone.  You can also mail it to them and they will mail you a check or donate the money to a charity.   Now that's way cool.

Tony Ray    Tucson Home Search

Free Relocation Package

Single Woman Needs Charming Central Home
I am working with a really nice woman who needs a home in central Tucson.  She is looking for a three bedroom, two bath home in the $250,000 price range.  She is very spiritual, kind and giving.  We are looking for a home that exudes charm, has good energy and a peaceful backyard. 

If you know of someone who has their home listed or someone who may be  thinking of listing their home, and it sounds like a match, please call me.  We have been looking for a few weeks and perfect has not appeared yet.  (520) 631-TONY (8669)

March and Rally
Check my Blog from yesterday (the one below) about the march and rally that takes place tonight.  It starts at 5pm at El Presidio Park.

Pink Banana
If you are a business owner or professional that would benefit from social networking with other GLBT community around the United States, check out Pink Banana Media.  I highly recommend it.  You can contact me if you have any questions of course.  Check out the business pages and look for the Pink Banana Badge and Video for more info.

Tony Ray
TonyRay@GayTucson.com

Tucson Home Search      Free Relocation Package

Hi Tony,
Is it possible for you to post the following info on gaytucson.com about the rally this coming Friday?  Thanks in advance for helping to spread the word and I hope to see you there.
J

Community March and Rally:

Celebrate All of Our Families with FAMILIES YOU KNOW

El Presidio Park and La Placita Village, Downtown Tucson

Wingspan is sponsoring a march and rally on the evening of Friday, November 14.

Date: Friday, November 14

5pm: Assemble at El Presidio Park (115 North Church St., on the Plaza in frontt of City Hall) 5:45pm to 7pm: Rally and March to La Placita Village (201 Church St., Tucson) steps off

6:30pm: Official Presentation for Launch of FAMILIES YOU KNOW at La Placita Village (map)

7pm: Folk fusion with Leila Lopez and band.

Free parking downtown after 5pm.

Cheer on the families in the first videos to be premiered that night! Gather with community to re-energize and renew bonds for the road ahead. We'll have supplies for making signs at El Presidio Park, or bring positive signs from home.

LOVE MAKES A FAMILY

WE'RE NOT HIDING ANYMORE

I LOVE MY QUEER _________.

SÍ SE PUEDE!

Make up your own positive motto or chant. Bring signs in languages other than English. Let's celebrate all of our LGBT families! Dress warmly, bring blankets, snacks, good energy for a great time.

We will no longer hide who we are for the sake of political expediency. We will not take a back seat to poll-tested messaging.
We will rescue the definition of "family," which has been hijacked by the the forces of bigotry and homophobia.
We will use the passage of prop 102 to motivate us to be visible forces for change in our communities.

Now is the time for our community and allies to come together in mutual support, honoring the anger and disappointment we feel about the passage of Prop 102, and to heal.

Even more importantly, we need to channel our feelings, strengths and energy into a positive force for social change.

Key to this effort is Wingspan's FAMILIES YOU KNOW campaign, a video, photography and storytelling project that empowers you to change hearts and minds through sharing your family stories.

We will officially launch FAMILIES YOU KNOW at Friday's event.

Why? Because the narrow definition of "family" espoused by Prop 102 supporters hurts everyone.

We know that families come in many forms, but what defines them is an unbreakable bond of trust, respect, and concern for each other's well being.

The FAMILIES YOU KNOW campaign will feature your families, in which one or more members is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or a straight ally, families where children, siblings, parents, grandparents, and friends are loved, respected, cared for, and nurtured.

Wingspan is excited to sponsor this dynamic, community-driven campaign.

You and your family are not just talking about "values," you're living them - balancing work and soccer practice, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, sharing joys and sorrows.

With your help, we will raise awareness, confront prejudice, and begin a conversation in the community where all families are respected, valued, and not exploited for short-term political gain.

You can learn more about FAMILIES YOU KNOW and watch the first video here.

Please send this announcement out to your distribution lists and post to your MySpace and Facebook pages. Forwarding it is as easy as clicking on the "Forward Email" link at the bottom of this page. We need your help to spread the word!

Jason Cianciotto, MPA

Executive Director

Wingspan

425 E. 7th St.

Tucson, AZ 85705

520.624.1779 x112

jcianciotto@wingspan.org

Any time I find something that can help me save time, I’m thrilled.  Any time I find something that can save me money, I’m really thrilled.  Recently my assistant brought something to my attention that is helping me save both time and money.  I don’t even know what word to use, thrilled is just not enough.

I have gone back to sending out cards via snail mail and have been doing so for awhile.  I have found that they are much more personal and I think most people are just tired of being bombarded by emails now.  I know I get over 100 a day.  And who doesn’t like to get a card in the mail.

Well Beth, my assistant, had me buy a system called Send Out cards.  It lets me send out cards from my computer.  The cards cost me less than a buck each.  I was paying $3.99 and more for most cards and spending the time to go pick em, sign em, stamp em and send em.

Now I just click a button, type a note in the little email like box and hit send.   It takes me all of 2 minutes.  The Send Out cards company mails them and they even put a first class stamp on them (they deduct the cost of the stamp from the money that I keep in my postage account). I can even add my own photos, handwriting and signature with the upgraded package.

They have different packages of course, but you can buy the system for a one time fee of $25.00 or for $99.00 you can use the one I do.  I like adding my own photos to the cards.

One more thing, mass mail outs (for example, over the holidays) are now “stress free” for me. 

The system has a database with date reminders (like someone’s birthday).  Anyway, Beth uploaded our database of over 500 people in just a few minutes. So now, all I have to do is pick the card I want and the company (Send Out Cards) will send it to everyone in my database.  500 cards will be sent out and it only takes a couple of minutes.  Thrilled.

Her website will tell you more about it or you can contact me if you wish.  If you purchase the system, she will make a few bucks (there is a business side of the company, check it out on her site if that is of interest to you).  She’ll be happy, I’m already happy and you’ll be happy.  Can’t ask for more than that.

Tony Ray
Tucson Home Search      Free Relocation Package
GayTucson.com 

Card on Top Left - I picked this one from their inventory of over 15,000 cards

Card in Middle Right - I used their card and added the photo I took at Dove Mtn.  which I use for all of my real estate marketing like on my website and business card.

Card on bottom left - I used their card and added Phaedra's photo to let her know that she is awesome.

While I was out with a client looking at homes last week, we found a home that has a 2 car Garage with a lighted mechanics trench and a lifting beam/trolley.  Of course it also has a workbench and the hot rod garage is heated and cooled.  Just when I thought I had seen it all.

I saw another home, block construction, which has been nicely remodeled.  New paint, new carpet and travertine countertops in the kitchen are just some of the remodeled items.  So what, you might say.  $89,900!  Just when I thought I had seen it all.

In case you haven’t heard, the butterflies are back at Botanical Gardens.  They are beautiful to see in person.  I took some photos of them, you can check out the photo page on MyGreenTucson.com (my real estate website).  I had just bought a new camera, so forgive the photos.  I couldn’t figure out how to focus on objects close up, so some may be a little less than sharp. I’ll learn, eventually.

Speaking of photo pages, this weekend I also added “Tucson Photos” pages to MyGreenTucson.com. I will continue to add more as I have time.  The new photo pages are of Sabino Canyon, La Encantada Shopping Center, Botanical Gardens and Trail Dust Town.

Tony Ray

Tucson Home Search      Free Relocation Package

Now that the weather is so nice, it is the perfect time to get outside and enjoy the beautiful landscapes of Tucson.  It is a great time for hiking, or walking or jogging or whatever gets you out of the house.

Yesterday morning, we went for a three hour walk in Sabino Canyon.  The temperature was about 73 degrees.  The sun felt warm and the air was cool.  Perfect.

Although we didn’t use it, I was excited to find out that the roadway had been fixed and that the tram was running all the way up to stop number 9 again.

Tucson has not had rain for awhile, but there was still water running and I love the sound of running water.  In a river, not a faucet, just to avoid any confusion.

I took my camera with me, so I have posted some photos of Sabino Canyon on a separate page.  I think I like the page so much that I will do more Tucson photo pages on my real estate website in the future.

Let me know what you think.  TonyRay@GayTucson.com

Tony Ray Tucson
Home Search  Free Relocation Package

The fourth annual Day-After-Thanksgiving Grease Collection and Recycling Event (that is a long name, how about, DAT GCRE?) takes place on, you guessed it, November 28, 2008, AKA the day after Thanksgiving.

Recycled grease creates biodiesel, a clean burning fuel.  Clean burning fuel can help to decrease our dependence on foreign oil.

You can go to any of the five drop off locations on Friday, between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm.

Midtown - Pima County Conveyance Division

3390 N. Richey Blvd.

One block east of Dodge Blvd. and two blocks north of Ft. Lowell Road

East – O’Reilly Chevrolet

6160 E. Broadway Blvd.

One block west of Wilmot

Northwest – Pima County Industrial Wastewater Control

5025 W. Ina Road

¼  mile west of I-10

Near North – El Hogar de la Pas Alternative Learning Center

450 E. Wetmore

Empty lot next to the Holiday Inn, one block west of First Ave

South – Tucson Water Plant #2

1102 W. Irvington Road

On Irvington Road, I-19 exit.  Across the street from McDonald’s Restaurant

For more information, call 740-6500

After November 28, call 628-4300 for a list of locations to drop off cooking grease.  You can also get more information at www.Grecycle.com.

Tony Ray
Tucson Home Search

By now most people know that in the 2008 election, voters elected the first African-American President.  But it is possible that there is another first that should not go unmentioned?

It is believed that Stu Rasmussen, elected in Silverton, Oregon, is the first ever openly transgender mayor in the United States.  This is one great big baby step right after another. 

There really are some good things happening out there.  It’s our responsibility now more than ever, to unite and create more.  Watch the news interview and read the story of our first transgender mayor here.

More gay news:
Thousands protest outside the Mormon temple in Los Angeles.  Millions of dollars were spent by the church to defeat Prop 8 in California.  The church has been allowed to impose their beliefs on the state constitution. What happened to separation of church and state?    And something good, Madonna speaks up for gay rights. You should check the news page.

Tony Ray
Tucson Home Search

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales increased last month as home buyers responded to improved housing affordability conditions.

Existing home sales, which include single-family, town homes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 5.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million units in September from a level of 4.91 million in August.  By the way, that’s 1.4 percent higher than the 5.11 million-unit pace in September 2007.

Real Estate, it’s a good thing.

Tony Ray
Tucson Area Home Search

This weekend was so nice.  We decided to stay home and enjoy Halloween in a completely different way than years past.

First, on Friday, we went to Brian and Kelly’s pumpkin patch and tree lot on Broadway near Rosemont (see photos).  We visit with Kelly every year.  She is really nice and very knowledgeable about the produce and how to use it.  We picked up some pie pumpkins and different squash so we could bake them this weekend.

If you want to get into the fall mood, go there, tell Kelly that Tony Ray sent you, and pick up some great produce for your Thanksgiving meal.

They also sell beautiful trees closer to the Christmas holiday.  The trees are very fresh and they last.

For Halloween, we watched the old, black and white film, “The Horror of Dracula”.  It was great.  On Saturday night we watched Disney’s scary films, Hocus Pocus and The Haunted Mansion.  If you have not taken the Virtual Ride of the Haunted Mansion in the bonus features on the DVD, do it, it’s cool.  Turn up the sound.
On Sunday we baked pumpkins, butternut squash, yams and sweet potatoes.  After they cooled down we pureed them and froze them in half cup increments for cooking throughout the year.  I hide veggies in all kinds of recipes.
Call me if you like to cook and want to add more veggies to your family’s meals.  They don’t even have to know.  It can be our little secret.

Tony Ray    Tucson Home Search

So, I fell asleep after midnight.  Don't know why, but I did.  Woke up at 6am.  Showered, ate breakfast, and then I went to the church and voted.

Here is a photo of my tired butt after coming back from voting.

If you have not gone, please go now.  There wasn't even a line.

Please Go Vote.

Tony Ray

I just added a new event to the Gay Tucson calendar on November 21, 2008.  The author of Transgender Voices will be at Antigone Books to discuss her new book.  Check it out. 

Don’t forget to sign up for your chance to win Cirque du Soleil tickets.  The Cirque shows are always incredible.  I posted videos on the Cirque page of a few of their shows, one is very homo-erotic.

Good luck,
Tony Ray
Search Tucson Homes for Sale

Cirque Du Soleil is coming to Tucson at the TCC (Tucson Convention Center) and I am giving away a pair of tickets.
 
The show is fun and exciting and great for everyone.  It's over Thanksgiving weekend which is a great time to relax and be entertained.  Check out the Cirque Du Soleil photos and video link on the Cirque page.

If you have not signed up for the Cirque Du Soleil prize package, go now. 

Have a great day and good luck.

Tony Ray

Tucson Home Search