My husband and I were pigging out at our favorite all-you-can-eat Korean bbq when the first text came in, “So when’s the big reception!”

We immediately knew what our friend was referring to: Perry vs. Schwarzenegger and the drive to overturn Prop 8, the ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in California.

From the Restore Fairness blog.

By Harold and Ellen Kameya

Twenty-two years ago, our then 20-year old daughter Valerie told us she was gay. As Sansei from Hawaii, raised in a socially conservative Japanese American culture, Valerie’s announcement devastated us. At that time, we were woefully ignorant on issues of sexual orientation, including that being gay is not a choice. As part of that ignorance, we were saddened that we would never see our daughter get married or have a family.

The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) and other Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations are encouraging qualified AAPIs to apply for the new redistricting commission established by Proposition 11.  The 14-person citizens commission will draw new maps for state legislative and Board of Equalization districts in 2011.  How the new maps are drawn will determine whether AAPI communities are kept together or split unfairly.