BASTARD NATION - Arizona

NEW YORK CITY, NY From: Mary Hunt This bumbling westerner managed to drive into NY city and not get lost (well almost) or killed....what an experience! The rally went really well. We had I think 9 people - Evelyn (Debbie Keegan's bmom), Damsel's mom, Andy Katz, Liz Powers (akasmith), Marion Cole, Maryann, Joanne and Gerry plus myself. We handed out every single flyer we had made before 12:30 - now I wish I had made a hundred more - and had some great conversations with quite a few interested folks. At about 12:40, Gerry and Maryann, both NY adoptees, marched in to request their birth certificates. Andy and I were taking pictures in the Vital Records office, and were told that we had to get permission to do so. We got shuffled up to the third floor to external affairs, where the woman in charge asked us some questions about what we were doing there - another opportunity to educate - then escorted us back down to vital records.

BN Founding Foundlings A. Katz and akaSmith flank Debbie Keegan's birthmom in front of Vital Records in New York City.

More NY Rush for Records pics.

By this point, Gerry had already been told his birth certificate "didn't exist" (!) and Maryann was very politely but firmly raising a stink. She was AWESOME! She was shuffled to three different windows, then sent to the Vital Records supervisor. Andy and I were happily snapping away. The supervisor told her that her record was sealed. She insisted that they give her this information in writing - then he asked her to come back into his offices, and the external affairs woman told Andy and I we needed to leave. We were polite, and I thanked her for her help, at which point she asked me for a Bastard Nation brochure and asked some questions about the Rush Day. We ended up getting out of there about 1:20 or so. All in all it was a successful day. I'm anxious to hear how the other sites went! - Mary

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