Friday, December 31, 2010

2010...The Year In Review

2010 was quite a ride. As the horizon of a new year begins to sweep its way across the globe. I thought it would be appropriate to take a look back at everything that happened this year. Funny...it never seems like that much until you begin to put it all in one place. Then the enormity of this years happenings really shines through.

 
 Paul the Psychic Octopus passed away before he could predict Jullian Assange and Bradly Manning who Wikileaked into infamy, while the BP oil spill just leaked...for three months. Haiti and Chili weathered intense earthquakes...while in the U.S Economy was ruled officially "out of recession" yet most Americans lost jobs and homes and generally sank deeper in debt. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled that Corporations can be considered as "individuals" and paved the way for unparalleled political corruption. Nuclear proliferation continued in North Korea and Iran and  all the while the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ground on.

 
Had enough? .....Thats not even the gay rights stuff yet. In the back and forth between success and failure that was the DADT repeal and the tragedies of gay suicide or the utter farce of the Rekers "Rentboy" scandal...2010 was an intense year for us all...lets take a look back...

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Our Stories Matter




"History is written by the victors" -Winston Churchill

A very effective piece of anti-gay talking points is that "radical homosexual activists" want to teach homosexuality in schools in order to recruit a new generation of of gays.....(as if gay men and women would just die out if this was prevented). We saw this talking point used to good effect here in California during the Prop 8 elections when the National organization used the children's book "King and King" to threaten that homosexuality will be taught in schools. The homo hostile hysteria this induced in the public was significant to the outcome of the election.

Why am I discussing this now?....well...What if the history of real gay men and women was taught in schools as an effort to eliminate bullying? It might happen here in California and the Fundies are crying foul...

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Miracles

who needs "Its a Wonderful Life" when you have stories like this one about Jim and Dillon of New York, who recieved some 450 letters addressed to Santa...and answered them. It breaks and warms my heart all at once and shows us that good really does exist in the human spirit. If these guys were angels they would have earned their wings this year. Take a look...



The only thing I could hope for is some way to fullfill more of those letters cause you know this is gonna happen again next year. I just wish they didn't blur out the facebook page because more people could have helped. Anyhow...this video just made my heart grow ten sizes larger. I hope it will do the same for you.

Merry Christmas...Happy Holidays...Until next time every one..

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

"My Princess Boy"

2010 has seen some very deep lows with the highlighting of gay suicide. It brought to light that we live in a culture that sends us a clear message that we must hide who we are or suffer grave consequences...so we do and often suffer grave consequences anyway.

But 2010 also offered us a ray of hope in the form of awesome parents who stood by their children and helped them understand that they were loved and "all right" just as they are. We had Nerdy Applebottom, the mother of the little boy who wore a Daphne costume for Halloween...and Katie the Star Wars Girl. Both of these kids had awesome parents who only wanted their kids to grow up healthy happy and strong. Fortunately we have one more to add to the List....Cheryl Kilodavis and her son Dyson, about whom she has written the children's book "My Princess Boy".

So What if it isn't just a Halloween costume, or a star wars thermos...a boy who wears dresses?! This one has caused the Internet to come unglued and the fundies to howl. But the real question is again, "why is a boy in a dress so scary?"

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Yahoo! DADT= Dead As a Doornail Today!

Merry Christmas Everyone! Santa Dropped a present off early. Today is a historic day!..Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone!

In a vote of 65-31, the senate has voted to adopt the DADT compromise repeal measure. My jaw dropped when I heard because I honestly didn't expect it to happen, but score one for justice. It went down a little something like this...Darth McCains forces of discrimination and injustice were closing in on the plucky rebels. There seemed no way out as time became the enemy...would there be enough votes?...It all came down to one fateful moment as a handfull of equality minded Senators staged a last ditch assault against a horrific monolith of evil...



Lol...you know I was gonna relate it to Star Wars some how. But in all seriousness todays vote truly was one in a million. Much as this victory didn't end the war for the rebels it certainly was a massive victory(and saved their bacon). So also is todays vote...it's not an end to the struggle but it is an incredible victory that will change the course of things to come.

But, for now...DADT still has some hoops to jump before it is truly only a memory in the public consciousness. For instance, it must still be signed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of Defense...and the President. Assuming that happens without incident then implementation will occur...and no one knows exactly what the military has in mind for that which leaves us with a some what indeterminate timeline for when a soldier might safely admit to being gay without suffering consequences. That's a lot of room for foot dragging in my opinion In addition, this repeal made no accommodations for Transgendered soldiers, thoughI feel that is just a matter of time with this repeal.

However...lets be thankful for the victory we have. Me being a "glass half empty kinda guy just means I need to go fill it up and raise a toast in thanks.../cheers!

And I have to say...if Gay rights continues to parallel events in Star Wars, than its time to brace yourself for "The Empire Strikes Back"...I'm not sure I'm looking forward to the scene when McCain Captures Ted Olsen and  David boys and attempts to freeze one of them in carbonite...it might make that love scene a little awkward...

Congratulations to everyone and Happy Holidays!...as well as a super congrats to all the gay and lesbian soldiers out there who have just received and incredible vindication for their service.

A tally of how the vote went down can be found below the fold:

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The A-List New York..Stereotypes And Self Hate

Oh stereotypes...they never end. It seems that we can't get enough of stuffing our fellow human beings into little boxes in order to make our world seem under control.

This week, Jay uploaded a video to YouTube in which he gives his view on the LOGO channels "The A-List". In it he also takes LOGO to task for reinforcing a host of negative gay stereotypes...full stop...let the flame war commence....

It's difficult to address the nature of a stereotype without stepping on the realities of someones Else's life and thus inciting a host of angry reactions. What may be gay cliche for one person...loving dance music for instance, may be part and parcel of another persons life. Like me! I love a good house track and yet the second I admit that the person I'm talking too will usually roll their eyes and mentally add a few points to my "gayometer" score....see my point? Heaven forbid I cry at a movie...If I even get red around the eyeballs I feel like I have to sneak out the back door or be instantly outed. Now, did I stereotype myself in these situations by just being me...or is it in the judgement of others that a stereotype resides? And where exactly does self acceptance fit in to all of this?

The topic strikes a nerve in us all and usually ends up with someone feeling as if they have been judges and excluded for something integral to themselves. There are insults thrown and blame handed down by homophobes to gays...by "straight acting" gays to feminine gays...by "non-assimilationist" gays to marriage minded gays. The list of the slighted goes on and on...I got my fire/cat claw proof vest on, so that means...oh yes..lets go there.

Video below the fold:

Monday, December 13, 2010

Plague House

I apologize to my readers for a lack of posting lately. Our house has played host to just about every cold and flu germ in the state lately. Right now, my daughter is yo-yoing between 102 and 105 degrees...with sore throat and stomach aches. She is all tears right now and it just sucks. Not even color books can make her happy. :(

No matter how many times you go through fevers with your kids, when they get really high, they get scary. You ask yourself how high is too high? When do we go straight to the emergency room? How long is this going to go on? Having been feverish to the point of delirium, I know how uncomfortable it is and I hurt for her. This has been going on since Friday and only abated for a few hours this morning to come back again this afternoon...*sigh*...She's been to the doctor and we've all had our flu shots as well as just completing a battery of antibiotics for whooping cough. She's in bed all weekend...getting fluids, cool wash clothes, children's Tylenol, and lukewarm baths but we are still fighting it.

In addition to the whooping cough scare my son was sick...the baby just got over being feverish and sick...even my husband has been under the weather. When will this end? Having five kids..three in three separate classrooms means the germs they bring home are multiplied as they bring home their classmates illnesses. Its too the point now where I'm gonna scrub everyone down Silkwood style as soon as they come in the door. If we can get Selena past this then hopefully we will be sick free for a while.

My apologies to my readers I hope to be back in the saddle again soon (hopefully tomorrow). Until then I'm back on cool wash cloth duty...stay healthy everyone.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

The DADT Repeal and Other Farces

Yesterday Pams House Blend ran a breaking news post that DADT could possibly have been voted on that very day...after languishing in committees and being studied to death, Harry Reid was going to grab everyone by the short and curlies and make them come in for a vote....."Dam" I thought, "That's big news". So I held off blogging to see if I would have big news to share with all of you...and I waited....twitter campaigns were launched...senators were called...and I waited some more. By evening, nothing had manifested. To say I was underwhelmed by the lack of action would be putting it mildly..completely unsurprised would be closer to the truth.

This morning brought an avalanche of blog updates about what went on behind the scenes and most of it is laughable if not downright obscene. A vote is again scheduled for today, 12:00 eastern time. Which means that it could be happening literally as I am writing this blog post...or it could be yet another pause in what I have come to think of as the Don't Ask Don't Tell Comedy hour...if only it wasn't so close to tragedy. You'll, laugh till you cry!...or mostly just cry...

Monday, December 6, 2010

Perry vs. Schwarzenegger..Ninth Circuit Appeal...Day one

Today is the day...In just a few short minutes C-SPAN will begin live coverage of the Ninth circuit appeal of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, challenging the constitution of California's Prop 8 state constiturional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

I haven't found any embeddable live feeds yet but C-SPAN does offer livestreaming on their website found..here.

The Courage Campaign is also running a live thread and chat on their Trial Tracker that can be found at prop8trialtracker.com.

Good luck everyone.

*(update)* livestream via goodasyou.org...much thanks to them for the feed.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Warrior...Show Me The Way..

How would you feel if everyone was talking about whether or not you should be allowed to exist?

You already exist, it's a plain fact..and everyday you do a dam good job of being you. However one day you decide to speak up and say, "Hey, I'm here and my life matters." To which everyone else then feels the need to discuss every aspect of your life, from who you love to the specifics of your moral character and how they relate to going to the bathroom and showering as if your being was contagious. Talking about you as if you just are not there and literally debating whether or not they will allow you to be who you already are. Would you be outraged? embarrassed? mortified to have you life subjected to a microscope to determine whether what you are is acceptable to everyone else?

Isn't this exactly what we are subjecting gay and lesbian soldiers to by purporting to study the effect that allowing them to serve openly would have on the military?

Friday, December 3, 2010

Hatred...Whats In A Name?


The American Family Association....The Family Research Council...Dove Outreach...Illinois Family Institute..American Family Association...All of these names would lead the reader to believe that these are benign, altruistic organizations who's only intent is to help families. Indeed, the image of a dove is synonymous with peace for most of us. Add in the word "American" and it would seem to indicate patriotism and national pride...what could be bad about that? And the word "Family" leaves little intent as to whom the actions of these groups are directed toward.....right?

Except you would be wrong.

What all of these groups have in common is not just their naming conventions but a designation by the Southern Poverty Law Center(SPLC) as hate groups. They spend all their  time and resources lobbying against The GLBT community in Washington, spreading  false and damaging information about the gay community, work to block basic legal protections for LGBT people  and foment discrimination at every opportunity. These are the people who publicly call for us to be criminalized, Blame us for HIV/AIDS, call for us to be placed on deserted islands, and liken us to the greatest danger this country has ever known. These are organizations that, despite their names, work to make an enviroment in which its o.k. to practice violence, discrimination, and utter hatred in the name of religion...in the name of family...and in the name of truth.

And boy are these guys angry now. After years of making gays and lesbians a target...they certainly don't like being treated the same way. Their protests sound like the keening like dying animals....