Religion is Funny

Watch Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian, explain exactly why same sex marriage is a sin.

On Lot's wife: "...so a Bible based marriage can sometimes be between one man... and a kitchen condiment!"

Just goes to show, you should really only take what the Bible says with... a grain of salt!

"I Vote Aye"

Sad, sad, sad. Gay marriage shut down in New York. So odd that in two of the most progressive states of our nation (California and New York), gay marriage has been turned away, banned.

While it totally sucks, there are still people who are making their voices heard in support of equality. People with influence and people outside of the gay community (and yes, that's important).

Check out Senator Diane Savino's argument in support of gay marriage. Funny, smart and right ("right" in a good way).

I Most Certainly Approve: Hilarious, Passive Retaliation

I had to post this story from BoingBoing because it's so funny and it comes from my alma mater, Syracuse University!

A girl with nothing better do came to the Syracuse campus to protest homosexuality, calling it a sin and waving her big sign. (Why do they always use block letters? It's so boring. They should use their own writing for a personal touch.)

Well, some clever kid thought it'd be hilarious to give her a taste of her own medicine by criticizing her fashion sense in the same exact way.

Take a looksey:


Mission accomplished. Hilarious, passive retaliation? I most certainly approve.

Forgive Me For This: Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey covers Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is" and all I want to know is why I love it so much. I'm digging the music video too. I can't embed it from YouTube, but you can watch it here. She even features a gay couple in there, which is super.

Forgive me for this - it truly is a guilty pleasure. At least her album's name is stupid ("Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel") and she's still married to Nick Cannon. If not for these huge errors of judgment, I'm not sure I'd be able to forgive myself.

I Want To Know What Love Is - Mariah Carey

Weekly WTF?: Miss-representing California

I can't believe people hold events like this. I actually think Miss California was probably more moderate before the whole "gay marriage" hoopla. Now the right-wing has just sucked her in and she's totally gone whacko. It really is too bad. I mean, a year ago I was with everyone else who was vilifying her, but now I just sort of feel bad for the girl. Gay rights controversy + revelation of fake boobies + alleged sex tape = a ruined life.

Careful what you wish for.

So, did anyone go to this event last night? Let me know how it went. I'm dying to know. Those GWB and Bill Clinton lookalikes look pretty spot on. Lovin' the shades.

A Lofty Speech, A Lofty Promise, and A Lofty Ultimatum

I've certainly given Barack Obama a hard time on my blog when it comes to his slow progress with gay rights, especially the discriminatory, completely obsolete "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy.

I will admit, it was refreshing to hear his speech to the Human Rights Campaign over the weekend. He basically confessed to doing an inadequate job (without saying those words exactly) and made a pretty clear promise that he would end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (by actually saying those words exactly). As far as I'm concerned, it truly is only a matter of time now - after a statement like that, if nothing moves on this policy he will lose support from gay groups and individuals across the nation with no chance of ever getting it back.

Schwarzenegger also signed a bill declaring each May 22 as Harvey Milk Day in California, the equality march drew thousands of people to DC, and I've been seeing a lot of positive movement on Referendum 71 up here in Seattle (the referendum that would basically make the "Everything, But Marriage" policy totally valid).

These things, they take time. But it's important to realize that they also take courage, solidarity and unwavering relentlessness. Indifference is inaction and inaction is insane. If you read my blog, are my friend or know me through some other arena, please understand that I mean this even at the risk of losing your readership or friendship - if you don't believe that I have the right to legitimate marriage, equal rights and equal recognition in the eyes of the law, then you don't believe in me.

There's no compromise on equality and no exceptions to discrimination. You can't love black people, except for that whole sharing water fountains thing. You can't love Jews, except for that whole don't believe in Jesus thing. And you can't love gays and lesbians, except for that whole marriage thing. If you don't let me show my love the same way you can, then you don't really love me. No exceptions.

It Isn't Equal if It's Sometimes

I Most Certainly Approve: Hubby Hubby!

Today is the first day that same-sex couples across Vermont are legally able to marry. As a "hat's off to you" of sorts, Ben and Jerry's has temporarily renamed their popular ice cream flavor "Chubby Hubby" as "Hubby Hubby" for the month of September. Kudos to Ben and Jerry's for taking a stand on an important issue and not being afraid of the consequences.


It's all so adorable, I can't even take it. I can't eat it though because a) I'm allergic to peanut butter and b) it's only available in Vermont. Still, I most certainly approve!

Difficult to Watch, But Important To See

After the Gay Pride festivities in Minneapolis, this man was harassed by children after simply answering a question.

"Are you gay?" a boy asks.
"Yes," the man responds.

What follows is quite difficult to stomach, but it's important to see. For those of us who already support gay rights, this illustrates why it is so crucial to avoid complacency when it comes to homophobia in our country. It exists - and in fact, it's wide and rampant. When we silence ourselves in these situations, we are just as guilty as those chanting slurs.

This brings me back to a time in college when I was hanging out with a few friends at a party. I was the only gay person in the room. Someone (outside of my immediate circle of friends), said something to the effect of (not referring to me), "Well, he's from California - aren't all Californians faggots?" What hurt more than the burn and anger that immediately enters my chest after hearing that word, was the fact that my friends in the situation did absolutely nothing - nobody spoke up. How will any of us ever learn anything if we just keep silent?

Silence and complacency are dangerous when it comes to advancing a broader understanding of gays and lesbians. Living in a progressive city with a large gay population and even larger straight population that supports gay rights, and coming from a very supportive family, I often forget myself the discrimination that exists surrounding gay men and women in America.

Let this video serve as a reminder that prejudice still exists in our country and let it serve more importantly as an educational tool. What questions come to your mind after you watch this and how do we find adequate answers that will massively decrease the likelihood of events like this happening again? Is it the fault of these children or their parents? Why do those 2 cops just pass by without doing anything? What do you think?

Flaunt This!

What a way to end the month of June. This past weekend, Gay Pride was held in Seattle and it was a ton of fun. All weekend was spent with my local friends as we celebrated each other and our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.

I have heard on many an occasion this sort of backwards affirmation of tolerance for homosexuality: "I just don't get why they have to have a parade and flaunt it to everyone. It's not like we have a straight parade."

Well, listen up straighties - every day is your frickin' parade. To diminish the gay and lesbian community's one week of in-your-face, flaunted to the tenth power, unbelievably gay activities is akin to not understanding the reason for Black History Month or refusing to recognize the struggle of women's suffrage. To ask such a question truly displays an incredible amount of ignorance, which may or may not be your fault. For every commercial I have to watch starring two lovers of opposite sexes advertising jewelry, Pine Sol or dog food; for every couple I have to watch walking down the street with their hands clasped together without fear of judgment or violence; for every action movie hero's female love interest and every male politician's trophy wife; for every blurred same-sex kiss on television; for all of these reasons, I deserve one week where it becomes my turn to shove my flaming, homo-loving gayness in your face.

Thus, let us celebrate the weekend that was Pride with a few pretty gay photographs. Enjoy.

One Small Step...

I have written quite often on my blog about my disappointment in President Obama and his policies related to LGBT rights. Since I do spend a lot of time voicing my opinion about his lack of courage when it comes to overturning "Don't Ask Don't Tell", I think it is only fair for me to highlight his efforts for making progress as well.

Last week, Obama signed an executive order extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. Many progressive organizations already do this (and have for years), so it is about time the federal government caught up. However, the benefits unfortunately do stop short of providing the same health benefits allowed to heterosexual partners of federal employees.

Here is a great broadcast from NPR titled, "Mixed Reaction Over Gay Rights for Federal Employees" from "Tell Me More". It provides great insight into the fight for LGBT rights for gay Americans and the pressure that needs to be put on Obama in order to make progress on this front. As always, NPR's guest speakers are extremely intelligent and diplomatic in their rationale, which although at times boring to listen to, is preferable to the angry protest and demands that more often make widespread news.

Click on this link to get access to the audio version of the broadcast: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105652767

By the way, according to the latest Gallup Poll:
- Two-thirds of the American public support health insurance and other benefits for gay and lesbian partners.
- 69% of the American public favor gays openly serving in the military.

Given these numbers, there really is no excuse that Obama and his administration are moving so slowly on LGBT issues. It's an ethical issue of humanity and civil rights AND the American public also supports change in favor of eliminating discrimination. What's left to consider?

Shame, Shame, Shame

"In court papers, the (Obama) administration said the appeals court ruled correctly in this case when it found that 'don't ask, don't tell' is 'rationally related to the government's legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.'"

Shame on you, Supreme Court justices.
Shame on you, Barack Obama.
Shame on you, Obama Administration.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090608/ap_on_go_su_co/us_supreme_court_gays_military

I Guess That's What Marriage is About...

With all the brouhaha over marriage in the past few years and the obsession with defining it, many of us seem to have forgotten what marriage is in the first place. Yes, marriage is about law. Yes, sometimes marriage is about religion. It's true that marriage is even about equal rights. But, the core of marriage and what it means is much simpler than all of this.

I hope that one day, if I should ever have the legal right to marry, I will not choose to marry for tax breaks or to "take a stand", but I will choose to marry someone based on the basic concepts that Grover and Jesse discuss here:

Is "HOPE" lost?

It was probably September or October of last year. I was still a Peace Corps volunteer in Moldova and it had to be a weekend since I was taking a trip to Chisinau, the capital. I stopped by the Peace Corps office and picked up my mail: OMG, a ballot! Having heard horror stories from other volunteers who previously never received their ballots overseas I was really worried about getting mine and was surprised I actually got it.

My mind was (obviously) already made up - Barack Obama. "Yes, we can!" HOPE! Change!!!!! I connected my arrow to his name, then very prominently voted NO on Proposition 8 and finally, after doing some research on local politics I was clueless on up until that point, I finished the rest of the ballot and mailed it off.

Fast forward a month of so - November 4th. As luck would have it, we education volunteers had a training in the capital that whole week, so we were put up at the Zarea Hotel in Chisinau (0.01 stars). While the accommodations were terrible - no showers, no sinks, creaky beds with ancient mattresses - the one thing this hotel had in each room was a TV. On that TV, in black and white, BBC was available. I stayed up late watching all the election results come in - Ohio! Pennsylvania!! Florida!!! I lay wide awake, my eyes glued to the little TV set, until 4am when it was finally announced that Barack Obama had won the presidential election.

Then he marched out. He made his speech and there was an acknowledgment in the first minute that gave me chills and almost brought tears to my eyes: "It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America."

Wow. The President of the United States of America recognizes who I am and thinks I am an equal citizen of this country. Finally.

Fast forward a few months. Where did that man go? Recently, some extremely qualified servicemen and women have been fired from the military due to their sexual orientation under the policy "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". See this video from "The Rachel Maddow Show" below to get some more information about this.



Yesterday, Ana Marie Cox, a reporter with Air America, was brave enough to actually tackle this issue head on by asking White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, a question regarding the recent firings of gay servicemen and women. See below for the hypocritical response given - it contradicts the first video's statement, which contained official information from the Pentagon stating that no action on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been taken.



So listen, I am willing to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt here - maybe it's just miscommunication existing in his administration or just a disconnect with the Pentagon that needs to be cleared up. But the bottom line is that these are human lives, reputable careers that have been built up, lauded, and sacrificed for the greater good of our nation that are now being shattered for a reason that has absolutely nothing to do with military service. How can our politicians in good faith stand back and just let this happen? How can we accept all of the heroism that gay and lesbian service people have given us, then refuse them equal opportunity and full disclosure?

I know one thing. I cannot, in good faith, support a president who knows that this is happening and does nothing about it. Would I take back my vote if I knew this was going to happen? Probably not. However, I'm glad that tears only ALMOST welled up in my eyes that early morning on November 5th, because tears of relief and hope actually cried would clearly have been in vain.