A Light In the Darkness

Today I looked in my email and received a link to a declaration put out in opposition to the Manhattan Declaration. It is called the Affirmation Declaration and has a page on which to sign in. I urge all people of faith to go to the link below and to sign this to show that not all Christians believe in hate and rejection but instead follow Jesus' command to "love one another".

http://www.affirmationdeclaration.org/

More Hate

As I am sure many are now painfully aware, the vote to deny marriage equality resulted in the striking down of same-sex marriage in Maine. In the comments section to the article

"Maine Gay Marriage Vote: Voters Repeal Law Legalising Gay Marriage"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/03/maine-gay-marriage-vote-e_n_344688.html

Of course there are the incredibly mean-spirited comments that we have come to expect from the "traditional marriage crowd". Finally a poster asked if they couldn't understand the reasons GLBTQ people want to get married. By that time I had just about had it with the BS from the bigots and I posted the following:


Yes, it IS too much for these cretins to understand. They want their religious/moral views shoved down the throats of GLBTQ people everywhere. They think they are ENTITLED to these rights since they are heterosexual and that gay people should be back in the closet. You scratch all these bigots and that is what you will find....they hate the fact that GLBTQ people exist. A lot of the other rights we have gained in the last 40 years cannot be rolled back so they are focusing on one of the few rights left they can deny/roll back. And all you hating BIGOTS who feel that we should just marry an opposite sex partner and then we can be married (insert Religious Wrong smug smirk here) are IDIOTS. You're also morally bankrupt. You want a gay or lesbian person to marry the opposite sex. Have you seen the damage that does to the straight partner when the gay or lesbian person finally realises they can't live such a farce?! The damage it does to the kids, if there are any? If you are true gay man or lesbian NOTHING will make you experience sexual desire for the opposite sex. I was married for six years to a straight man and I would NEVER do that to someone again!!!

I thank the Goddess every day for Canada. Instead of hatred and exclusion, we were welcomed with open arms. In their kindness, knowing of the hatred so much of the world clings to, the right to marry has been extended without regard to citizenship. We were processed like any other couple, gay or straight and in about twenty minutes we had our license to marry. I can tell you, I cried tears of joy when that license was handed to us. The next afternoon, we were able to marry in a lovely ceremony by the Deroit River with all those we love in attendance. My late mother even came and she told me, "When I die, I want to go knowing you are happy. If marrying Anna makes you happy, then I am happy." She fully accepted my spouse as her daughter-in-law--when my spouse addressed her as "Mrs. So-and-So" she said, "No, call me Mom." Now this woman was a devout Missouri Synod Lutheran and yet she found a place in her heart for love, kindness and acceptance.

All you haters on the board here, I PRAY that none of your children ever turn out to be gay. No child would ever deserve the rejection you all would be certain to dish out to them. I DON'T WANT TO TAKE ANY RIGHTS AWAY FROM ANY OF YOU. Why do you want to deny me the right to have legal committment, recognised in the whole country, a committment we live with likely more fidelity than many straight couples? Does it make all you bigots out there happy that a gay or lesbian couple, one who only wants to love and share their lives together, cannot legally do so in Maine? I pity you. Such small hearts, minds, and souls.

Rarely have I come across more mean-spirited, smug, self-satisfied excuses for human beings as I have in the "traditional marriage" movement. When I hear about a couple getting married, I think it is wonderful that two people have decided to commit, settle down and share (hopefully) a long, happy life together. No restriction as to whether they are gay or straight. But the "traditional marriage" people? It's as if by a GLBTQ couple's being allowed to marry and share life, they believe something will be taken away from them. "No! Marriage is ours! We can't allow it to YOU (fill in the reason, here)! Our marriages will mean less!"

We WILL one day have marriage equality across the United States. I only hope I am here to see it.

Hate In the Desert

I was over at rightwingwatch.org and found the following little gem:

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/god-commands-you-kill-gays

This man is calling for the outright murder of GLBTQ people. How do these people just accept what wingnuts like this "pastor" say and not realise that murder is murder is murder...and how about Jesus' statement that if you have murder in your heart it is still murder?

I live in the Phoenix area and I am very concerned that this individual is allowed to spew this level of hatred and bgotry. My spouse and I tend to stay home but with this going on I don't even know if I'd want to go out to a gay restaurant or bar. I feel that one day, one or more of his wingnut parishioners is going to go off the deep end and beat or kill one or more LGBTQ people.

I get asked why LGBTQ people tend to be "down" on Christianity--could it be that they have only recently begun to accept that we have rights to life, liberty and the persuit of happiness? Mmmmm....could be.

Individuals like this "pastor" aren't really interested in preaching the word of God..all they want to do is to drive LGBTQ people back into their closets.

Happy Forth GLBTQ and Childfree America

Well, here we are to yet another July 4th in which to celebrate our freedom. Unfortunately, for the GLBTQ and childfree communities, there is discrimination and inequality. In today's New York Times I found the irritating "'Family Friendly' White House Is Proving Less So." It croons about how awful it is that White House schedules keep PARENTS from a nine-to-five workday. The sentence that burned me was "To support working parents, the Obamas distributed laptops to aides with families--before those without children--so they could work from home." Of course, the CF have no obligations so they can work without the most basic tools 24-7.

WHY is it that the childed are automatically given things like laptops and the chance to "work at home"? Why are the childfree constantly expected to pull more than their share of the load? Why do breeders (as opposed to parents)cthink that they automatically DESERVE a 9-to-5 job? I'm sure many childfree would LOVE to be able to work 9-to-5 Monday through Friday but guess what, my friends? NOT HAPPENING! I am sick and tired of the breeder element thinking that all sorts of perks and preferences should be theirs solely by virtue of their being parents! You deserve no less and no more than any American. To the breeders: GET OVER YOURSELVES! The childfree are sick to death of all the tax breaks, special working arrangements, and all the crap you keep agitating for.

Breeders screamed untiil child-free housing complexes are damned near impossible to find. There is sufficient accomodation everywhere for families, yet when a venue is seen to be childfree, many with children invade said venue with a vengeance. It seems that the childfree are not even allowed to complain if a meal is disturbed by noisy ill-mannered parents and children! Even the 55-plus communities are being slowly infiltrated by children who either visit or are living with their grandparents. This is not acceptable. And yes, you will see the childfree challenging the assumptions of those with children in the future. I certainly will be challenging those assumptions.

As for the GLBTQ community, we are far from even the universal right to marriage. Hell, in Ft. Worth the cops raided a gay bar over Pride weekend! We are forced to fight this battle state by state by state. Even at the start of the 21st Century, we are still fighting people like NOM (who cannot seem to edit their ads) and all the rest of the homohaters who yell about how promiscuous we supposedly are yet will not allow us to be married. They say that our ability to marry will destroy "traditional marriage". We can do nothing to the institution that straights hav not already done.

So my fellow childfree and my fellow GLBTQ Americans we have a way to go til we can truly say "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty we are free at last!"

NOM Fail

Found this and thought I would die laughing. Not only did they misspell "marriage", but they used the word "same" twice. The more that these people open their mouths or put ads on TV, the more ignorant they show themselves to be.

It is incredible that anyone takes these people seriously, but people do. We need to be out there and visible in supporting marriage equality. Even in 21st Century America, nonsense such as this still seems to command credibility.

A Surprise Indeed

Whilst checking out waynebesen.com, I found the following URL;


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carlos-watson/how-the-prop-8-ruling-wil_b_208095.html

More complete story here:

http://www.americablog.com/2009/05/bush-solicitor-general-ted-olson.html

In short, it seems that Ted Olson, former Solicitor General during the Bush Administration is going to bring a suit against Prop. H8. This is welcome news indeed. Why? Because it means that more moderate people may be starting to take back the Republican Party from the religious fanatics. Those like Olson and Steve Schmidt, former McCain strategist who are in favour of marriage equality have come to see that the way of hate and fear espoused by so many in the Religious Right is wrong. It is wrong politically and has cost them big, More importantly, it is wrong morally. If hardcore Republicans have come to realise this then there may be some hope for the Republicans and the Log Cabin Republicans.

The shame in this is that I have yet to hear President Obama say Word One in the wake of the California Supreme Court decision the day before yesterday. His silence is deafening. He promised change yet has not lifted a finger on our behalf. This in and of itself speaks volumes about his personal commitment to change and what it says is that there is a possibility of change for everyone except the GLBTQ community.

Many in the gay community mistrust both Mr. Olsen and his real intentions in bringing this suit. I can understand that. The Republicans have historically been no allies of the GLBTQ community. Mistrust is perfectly understandable under the circumstances. However, I will take a wait-and-see attitude. It is entirely possible that Mr. Olsen has experienced a change of heart and if so, that change will bear fruit.

I believe that sooner or later, the Supreme Court of the United States will have to rule on marriage equality. The religious right will fight this until the government lets them know once and for all that equality is for ALL Americans, regardless of race, religion, physical disability, or sexual orientation. You may believe as you wish, but you do not have the right to force others to live according to those beliefs. It happened in the case of the African-American community (remember, many bigots felt they had the Bible on their side in maintaining segregation and bigotry. The Supreme Court finally put paid to that particular element.

It would indeed be a great irony if marriage equality were to come about at the hands of Republicans--avowed conservatives. In this case, if successful, they would be following in the footsteps of our Founding Fathers by extending the actual rights (as opposed to just words on a piece of paper) of "life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness" to all Americans.

Won't Back Down

I thought I would put up a link to a lovely video on YouTube for people to enjoy and to be inspired by.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfPNO7G7qqY