4 & 20 Blackbirds Fall from the Sky!

OMG!  You have to watch this video.  This has got to be some of the most ridiculous news I've seen in awhile.  It reminds me of all the Jack Van Impe end-times crap my mom used to make me watch.  It amazes me that this 21st century world still has time for this kind of medieval superstitious rambling.  Tell me, Cindy...do you suppose global warming is an answer to the antagonistic and frostbitten hearts of you and your sheeple?
btw...I'm surprised that 500 leopards didn't fall dead from envy after seeing that Wilma Flinstone ensemble.

You can read the transcript of the video here.
4 & 20 blackbirds fall from the sky!

3 o'clock High

I was reading this article this morning, and it brought back some memories.  It's amazing how this kind of subtle hate can gauge popular mindset.
Read through the article and then see if you agree...
It reminds me of high school, with the Republicans as the preps and jocks and the Democrats as the band geeks and artsy theater kids.  We all know that kids can be cruel.  As gay people, we've heard that statement incessantly.  What alot of people fail to see is the motivation behind those hateful comments.  Most likely, it was either to establish or maintain popularity.  Making derogatory remarks strikes something in our funny bone...ask any successful comedian.  It also provides something to rally behind, allbeit a bad cause.
What I'm trying to say is that the modern political climate seems to be nothing more than a high school popularity contest.  What alot of people don't realize is that as gay adults, we are not as easily isolated as we were in high school.  We really are everywhere.  We are the jocks, the preps, the band geeks, the artsy theater kids.  Beware the Revenge of the Nerds scenario, America, and find a cause with some worth and value to everyone.  This Trojan Horse has opened and released its gay soldiers in your midst, and they are poised to fly their rainbow banners from shore to shore.
To close, someone at work once asked me if I was gay.  I replied, "O yeah!  Queerer than a two dollar bill."  He said, "Don't you mean a three dollar bill?  You can find a two dollar bill anywhere."  As I was leaving, I turned and said, "Exactly."

Namaste, my friends.

For The Emo Gays...

Wow!  We're now a commodity!  Tee-Hee.


Gay Coffins


I think my favorite passage from this article had to be:  "We believe you should be able to have a coffin that lets you embark on your last journey in a way that reflects how you lived your life," said undertaker Thomas Brandl.


Honey!  We all wish we we got to spend our gay years in the perpetual presence of naked, young men!  I ain't sayin nothin...I'm just sayin.

Brain-Fart! WTF

Acceptance? Really, Mary?  Jeebus!  How much longer will it take for you people to figure this out?!

Listen very carefully, dear folks.  I'm going to try and put this as simply as possible.  Acceptance and familial attitudes are going to decrease harmful behavior in your children, regardless of whether they are gay, straight, bisexual, transgender or still figuring it out.  If a child knows that they are loved and are encouraged to express themselves in whatever positive way they choose, you are providing a supportive environment.  Good parenting, people...it starts with you.  Namaste.

Study finds that family acceptance could save LGBT youths

By Brooke Johnson, 365gay.com
12.06.2010 11:00am EST

For the very first time, researchers have established a clear link between accepting familial attitudes and behaviors toward their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children and a significantly decreased risk and better overall health in adulthood.

The California Endowment funded study, “Family Acceptance in Adolescence and the Health of LGBT Young Adults,” is published in theJournal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing and has successfully explored a world of study that no other researcher has yet pursued.

The study, authored by Dr. Caitlin Ryan and her team from the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University, has critical implications for changing how families relate to their LGBT children and how LGBT youth are served by a wide range of providers across disciplines and systems of care, including custodial care systems such as foster care.

The study shows that specific parental and caregiver behaviors – likestanding up for their children when they are mistreated because of their LGBT identity or supporting their gender expression – help to prevent depression, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts in early adulthood.

In addition, LGBT youth with highly accepting families have shown significantly higher levels of self-esteem and social support in young adulthood.

“At a time when the media and families are becoming acutely aware of the risk that many LGBT youth experience, our findings that family acceptance protects against suicidal thoughts and behaviors, depression and substance abuse offer a gateway to hope for LGBT youth and families that struggle with how to balance deeply held religious and personal values with love for their LGBT children,” said Dr. Caitlin Ryan, PhD, Director of the Family Acceptance Project.

“Times have changed,” said Stephen Russell, PhD, President Elect of the Society for Research on Adolescence and a consultant to the Family Acceptance Project.

“More and more families want to be accepting of their children. Yet, many families still struggle when a child comes out as LGBT. It’s essential to have research like this to deeply understand the ways that families show their acceptance, so that we can identify how to support families,” he said.

With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Dr. Ryan and her team at the Family Acceptance Project are currently developing a new evidence-based family model of wellness, prevention and care for LGBT adolescents. This model uses a behavioral approach to help ethnically and religiously diverse families decrease rejection behaviors and increase support for their LGBT children–reducing the risk for suicide, depression, substance abuse, homelessness and placement in custodial care and HIV.

This systems-level approach helps communities and providers to engage diverse families as allies in decreasing their LGBT children’s risk, increasing their well-being and while respecting the family’s deeply held values. This work is being conducted in English, Spanish and Chinese with families from all ethnic backgrounds, including immigrant and very low income families, and out-of-home children (those in foster care or juvenile justice facilities).

The existing approach to serving LGBT adolescents by pediatricians, nurses, social workers, school counselors and others has focused almost exclusively on serving LGBT youth alone and through peer support, rather than in the context of their families.

The current approach has not considered the impact of family reactions on the adolescent’s health and well-being, which, as this study shows, is proven to be a crucial element in an effective evaluation and treatment.

In addition to providing direct services for families with LGBT children and working with communities in the U.S., the Family Acceptance Project is collaborating with organizations, providers, advocates and families to develop an international movement of familial acceptance to promote wellness and healthy futures for LGBT children, youth and young adults.

Major Research Findings:

·Family accepting behaviors towards LGBT youth during adolescence protect against suicide, depression and substance abuse.

·LGBT young adults who reported high levels of family acceptance during adolescence had significantly higher levels of self-esteem, social support and general health, compared to peers with low levels of family acceptance.

·LGBT young adults who reported low levels of family rejection during adolescence were over three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and to report suicide attempts, compared to those with high levels of family acceptance.

·High religious involvement in families was strongly associated with low acceptance of LGBT children.

Today's Funny

This was on the bathroom wall in one of the more illustrious gay bars in Pgh. I thought it was hysterical. It's kinda hard to read, but it says:

Blow Jobs

$.50

with lipstick

$.75

with teeth marks

$1.00

without teeth

PRICELESS

BEHOLD! I BRING YOU THE GIFT OF CLEANLINESS...

Now we know why they call it PNC Park...

Syntactic Arrangement...

How 'bout I was on my way home from work the other day, cruisin along & listening to the radio...yes, radio does still exist.

Anywho...an ad came on for that new language learning system, "RosettaStone". The announcer praised the software as being, "...the fastest, most easiest way to learn a new language."

I wonder if they have a program for "ENGLISH?"

On the same note, this morning on Channel 11, meteorologist, Scott Harbaugh, remarked on the fog surrounding the city as, "...so thick, you can't even barely see."

What my ears immediately heard was, "can't heretofore, not noticeably see."

I don't know about all of you, but this really hits home. While I realize that understanding that our education system involves diverse learning styles isn't a cure-all, I also realize that it will at least begin the process of making our students better self-learners.

What do you think?

Is Gay A Sin?

I accidentally or fatefully happened upon this webpage. I found the info to be quite poignant. Whatta you think?

WHAT DID JESUS SAY?

The only place Jesus really addressed or even hinted at sexuality is found in Matthew chapter 19. Here you find Jesus, the disciples and the Pharisees discussing this very topic of marriage between males and females. It is true that God created males and females and instituted marriage. But in Matthew 19 Jesus adds another thing that many ignore or overlook because it doesn't apply to them:

Matthew 19:11-12

Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."

Typically a eunuch is defined as a castrated male. This is incorrect. Castration means to remove the testicles (that were already there) or emasculate. If all eunuchs were castrated males then why would Jesus say that "some were born that way?" A eunuch is a man who has no desire or ability to have sexual relations with a woman. These men were commonly used to protect the harems. Since the Word of God is for everyone we can apply the spiritual concept found in Galatians 3:28 where the Apostle Paul says: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Therefore, a eunuch can be male or female in this passage.

Jesus addressed three types of eunuchs.
1. Those born that way. (That's people like me who are born gay.)
2. Those made that way by men. (Those castrated or those sexually abused people who choose to be gay as a result of this abuse rather than because it is their natural sexual affinity.)
3. Those who elect not to have a sexual relationship for the sake of the kingdom. (For example a priest or nun. This group makes the decision on their own.)

So here, our Lord Jesus states that not everyone will marry according to the custom as in male and female. He also said that not everyone can accept this. He says that those that can accept it should accept it. Can you accept what Jesus said? I can.

Hate Crimes Bill

LGBT advocates expect Congress to enact federal hate crimes legislation this year that includes protections for sexual orientation and gender identity; has been renamed after Matthew Shepard.
WASHINGTON (AP)—Supporters of hate-crimes legislation said Thursday they expect Congress to enact a law this year expanding federal penalties for acts of violence against homosexuals.
They have renamed their latest proposal in honor of Matthew Shepard, the gay college student who died after he was beaten and tied to a fence in Wyoming in 1998.‘’I can’t think of a better way to honor Matthew’s memory. He was a 21-year-old college student just living his life,’’ said Shepard’s mother Judy Shepard, who now heads a foundation in her son’s name.

Asked about potential opposition from religious groups that disagree with homosexuality, Smith said that should not be a problem.
"This act is about the prosecution of crime, not prohibition of speech," Smith said. "Unless they believe part of their religion is the practice of violence against others, they should not be affected by this bill."

One of the main opponents to the bill is Ted Pike of the National Prayer Network. I'm not going to give him a whole lot of narrative, but let's say he's just another radical, conservative, evangelical, Christian fundie with a supposed direct line to God.

This is a excerpt from Ted Pike's website. I'll leave you to do the math:

EMERGENCY ALERT!!!
FEDERAL HATE LAW WILL PERSECUTE YOU
By Rev. Ted Pike30 Apr 07

The federal "anti-hate" bill, to be voted on Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives, says anyone who verbally "intimidates" members of federally protected groups faces indictment as a hate criminal, a violator of federal law. Also, anyone who "aids, abets, counsels" 1 that criminal will face charges. This means any talk show host who interviews me could face a federal "hate crimes" trial!

Since I first sounded the alarm on the federal hate bill last November and warned of its almost certain passage in the Democrat-controlled Congress, I have been interviewed on 114 national talk shows. My message against the hate bill has probably "intimidated" two groups the federal hate bill would especially protect: homosexuals and Jews. Homosexuals are intimidated because I regularly quote Holy Scripture describing their sexual behaviors as an abomination. The Jewish Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith is intimidated by my exposure of them as architect of thought crime laws worldwide. ADL is, in fact, so intimidated they don't dare to mention my name on their website for fear tens of thousands will visit www.truthtellers.org and hear the whole truth about them. The same goes for a cluster of Jewish activist organizations presided over by B'nai B'rith International. ACLU, People for the American Way, American Jewish Congress, American Jewish Committee, Southern Poverty Law Center, etc. rarely, if ever, mention Ted Pike. In contrast, I expose their anti-American, anti-Christian activities to the world from the highest place of attention I can find - talk radio and the internet. If H. R. 1592 becomes law, I and the 33 talk show hosts who have "aided and abetted" me since November are eminently indictable.

I've been arguing this matter for years. Freedom of speech should not include expressions of hate. Many times, these so-called spiritual leaders make such inflamatory remarks that they incite anger & aggressive behavior. Don't think for a moment that Pike's "sheep" are going to feel anything but disdain for the Jewish people after he hurls anti-semitic drivel from his pulpit.

Freedom of speech was designed to allow us checks & balances for our governing bodies. It is in place for our representatives to gage the country's attitudes & social conscience. The United States was founded on spiritual & cultural diversity. We cannot have freedom based on 1 religion's tenets & beliefs. We are a melting pot...& it just keeps getting hotter!

Holy Public Education

I wrote this a few years ago, but thought it may have some relevance now. I've been hearing & reading alot about the possible inclusion of world religions as curriculum for public schools. I'm rather divided on this one. Some of the arguments are convincing...others are questionable. I'm anxious to hear your points of view. So anyway...I thought I'd throw my hat into the arena, if not just for S&G.

There's alot of controversy about the role of prayer to God, in the Christian acceptation, in governmentally or publically established areas of society. Namely, the phrase from the American Pledge of Allegiance, stating, "...one nation under God"; as well as the opening devotional prayer before meetings of governmental depts and benedictions in public shool or college/university events.

Christians say that our nation was founded on an absolute belief in God and removing these religious ceremonies from the public will ultimately result in the removal of God from our nation.

My opinion, here, is that we need to foster and encourage our loved ones to more adamantly follow their own path to God. Why do we need government or public authority to remind us that we all come from something greater and that reverence for a Higher Power is necessary for our own spiritual well-being. No! I believe this controversy will bring others to an understanding of their own personal spirtuality.

You can ask 10 hardcore, fundamentalist, bible-toting Baptists how they worship God, and even though they have all been taught the same strict beliefs, they will still each give a different answer. Spirtuality is subjective. The path to God is a lonely one, for it must be tread alone.

Married: Over, Under & Through

The controversy over same-sex marriage is really getting wearisome, dispiriting, lackluster, banal & just plain blah. I don’t understand how the common folk of these here United States fail to see the religious components of this bigoted dispute. Think for a moment of all of the arguments that you’ve heard concerning them “homersekshalz” wantin to get hitched…and then, apply these tests to each argument:

Three tests have been derived from various court decisions to decide the constitutionality of laws that have a religious component:
The Lemon test: This was defined in a Supreme Court ruling in 1971. To be constitutional, a law must:
• have a secular purpose, and
• be neutral towards religion - neither hindering nor advancing it, and
• not result in excessive entanglements between the government and religion.
The Endorsement Test: Justice O'Connor created this criterion: a law is unconstitutional if it favors one religion over another in a way that makes some people feel like outsiders and others feel like insiders.
The Coercion Test: Justice Kennedy proposed this criteria: a law is constitutional even if it recognizes or accommodates a religion, as long as its demonstration of support does not appear to coerce individuals to support or participate in a religion. Hello, Mary! I’m seein excessive entanglements between gov’t & religion. I’m seein some people bein made to feel like outsiders. I’m seein coercion to support biblical references. What part of this ain’t ya graspin?!

We’re obviously back to the semantics game again. The principal argument against same-sex marriage is based on antiquated biblical references. If you believe that only a man & a woman should be married, you are, in fact, accepting the belief that marriage is strictly for reproduction. Where’s the Love, children. The Constitution is very clear about our rights as citizens of the United States. It is also very clear about individual states not fucking with those rights. I’m not going to go into this again. If you would like to read more about my views on same-sex marriage, read one of my previous blog entries: COURT-ORDERED SACRAMENT. I will, however, leave you with this wonderful definition of semantics.

SEMANTICS: The scientific or philosophical study of the relations of words and their meanings. Note: Semantics is commonly used to refer to a trivial point or distinction that revolves around mere words rather than significant issues: “To argue whether the medication killed the patient or contributed to her death is to argue over semantics.”
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

REPULSED!!!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

A pastor delivering the invocation at the opening of yesterday's Senate session included in his prayer a condemnation of gay marriage.

"We curse the spirit that would come to bring about same-sex marriage," the Rev. Vincent Fields, pastor of Greater Works Ministries in Absecon, prayed as lawmakers listened, heads bowed. "We ask you to just look over this place today, cause them to be shaken in their very heart in uprightness, Lord, to do that is right before you."
Earlier yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation to allow gay couples to form civil unions with the same rights as married couples.
Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), a co-sponsor of that bill, said it was "completely inappropriate" for Fields to include the issue in the invocation.
"I do not think a pastor should be using the microphone in the Senate for a prayer to open the session by lobbying for or against something," Weinberg said. "Usually, if you're going to lobby members you have to wear a lobbyist badge."
Fields could not be reached last night for comment.

And in the news following the incident:
(CBS/AP) TRENTON New Jersey's Senate is banning a pastor who spoke out against same-sex marriage in the invocation that starts the Senate session.

First of all, we don't allow our children to pray in school...so why are we allowing it in our government. Secondly, he should have been wearing "...a lobbyist badge."? That's the best you could come up with, Loretta? What the f***! And..."it was completely inappropriate." No! No, Senator Weinberg, it wasn't. It was an outright, vicious, grossly offensive attack!
You want terrorists, Bush? You need look no further than our nation's radical, overzealous, self-righteous, bigoted churchgoers.

God bless us one & all.

Merry F***ing Christmas to you too, Pastor Fields!

Coming Out: The Conclusion

“Guys, at your age, are often confused about their sexuality”, he said, folding his arms over his chest & leaning back into his chair. This is a gesture I would find out later revealed his apprehension of the subject. I was instantly crushed. My wonderful guidance counselor hadn’t mentioned anything of my confusion. I wasn’t confused, damn it! I was here simply to discuss how this was going to change my life…not to mull over the possible mystification of my feelings.
It was at that moment that I decided to indulge this man, even thought he seemed to know nothing of my “Gordian knot.” I would listen to what he had to say & maybe even comply with some of his recommendations, but he was definitely not to be taken too seriously.
I won’t bore you with the psycho-babble that ensued. I’ll just tell you about the stereotypical antiquated solution I was provided:
“Do you masturbate…you know, play with yourself?”, he said semi-blushing.
“Yes.”
“Do you look at pictures of men?”, he asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you get excited by these pictures of men?”, he said, almost glaring at me at this point. He almost looked as if he might even be at least curious.
“Oh, yes.”, I said smiling.
“Here’s what I want you to do…” You’ll notice that he said “want you to do”, not “would like for you to do”.
“…the next time you masturbate, I want you to reach the point of orgasm & right before you do, look at a picture of a woman.”, he instructed.
What!!! You have got to be f***ing kidding me. This is absurd! It’s beyond absurd. Are you really just a bumbling incompetent!
“Now each time you masturbate, I want you to increase the amount of time you look at the pictures of women & decrease the time looking at the pictures of men”, he said so confidently.
“Eventually, you will be turned on by the sight of women more than men”, he alleged.
I am getting fired up just relating this story to you. In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association removed the term "homosexuality" from the official manual that lists all mental and emotional disorders. I’m going to give my age away here, but this story took place in the mid ‘80’s, and this pompous, sanctimonious hetero was a certified degree-toting Psychologist.
Well, needless to say, I was hardly in a position to argue. I was, after all, only 11 years old & my mother, the conservative, Republican, active in the community, elder in the church was going to make sure that I “did my homework.”
I did try this horrid aversion therapy & did find the vaginal labia to be erotic, but still…I couldn’t seem to get my mind off the jocks in the locker-room.
After almost a year of seeing this moron after school, I was finally released, cured even. According to him, I had responded very well to the therapy. Of course, we all know what really happened. I simply started telling this educated man exactly what he wanted to hear.
As for the rest of my coming out process, there was the usual taunting & occasional violence up until freshman year, when I transferred to a private school that finally appreciated my unique pedigree. I did eventually come out when I went to college…hence, the title extension “: A Reoccurring Story.” And now, I am a well-adjusted happily gay American male in a healthy loving relationship with my first love.
Now, you get to hear my opinion. It was, in fact, one of the primary reasons for relating this story to the vast expanse of the internet. The Ex-Gay movement with its reparative therapy, aversion therapy, radical religious verbosity, & pseudo-scientific theories is a danger to itself, as well as the GLBT community. These practices are unethical. They don’t work and are dangerous and destructive. The damage that can be done by these practices is real. It can destroy someone's self esteem and faith and may lead to self-destructive and suicidal behavior. Pretty scary, huh.
On the other hand, why are coming out stories so important? While I was in college, I started a gay student organization & also belonged to a gay youth group in which I had the opportunity to counsel many young people about coming out. Sharing that aspect of themselves with others is important to their mental health. In fact, the process of identity development for lesbians and gay men, usually called "coming out", has been found to be strongly related to psychological adjustment -- the more positive the gay male or lesbian identity, the better one's mental health and the higher one's self esteem. In other words, my dear queers…Walk the Talk with Pride. Or, in a FABULOUS quote from my favorite Queer As Folk character, Emmett (Peter Paige): “I’d rather my flame burn bright, than be a puny little pilot light!”
So, there you have it! A good story with a sound moral ending & maybe even a little TMI from moi. I await your comments.

Much Love & Light, Cian

DISCLAIMER: Please be aware that if you rely on your parents for support or any kind of financial help & coming out may jeopardize that support, wait until you are more independent.

Coming Out: A Reoccurring Story

Ahh…I remember it well. I was 11 yrs old, in 7th grade. My birthday falls after school lets out for the summer, so it always appeared that I was a year younger than my peers. I had graduated from a small elementary school, where there had been (maybe) 28 fellow 6th graders, to this BIG high school with 3000+ students. To understand the import of such a large high school population in a small town, please refer to my 1st entry.

They bussed them in from every rinky-dink, hokey poke farm, gully, creek, valley & village. Oh yes, the social climate was extremely diverse…the mentality, however, was not.

It wasn’t long before I began being taunted by older students who remembered me playing with Barbie dolls with the girls in K & 1st grades. So, of course, the proverbial grapevine had become tangled & unmanageable & I was pegged, branded, declared a “FAG.” There were, I’m sure, fantastic & preposterous assertions that were added as those long days went by; but all in all, “FAG” seemed to be enough.

It didn’t help that I was tall, lean & rather gangly…and uncoordinated because of it. The hours I had spent putting together outfits from the fashion knowledge I had gleaned from my mother’s extensive collection of catalogs didn’t help matters either. I was fashion conscious, well-mannered, well-groomed & just plain pretty. These are not characteristics normally found with young men from farming, factory, church-going, beer-guzzling communities. I was different & I knew it. Now what?

Who would understand my dilemma? Who would shield me under their wing & tell me everything was all right? Who would sit me down & explain to me that these “feelings” were normal? Aha! Eureka! (insert light bulb directly over head) The guidance counselor! Of course! She would be able to see that I was special, that I had incredible potential. So, how to approach the subject?

I walked into her office with my pink & blue izod polo & white carpenter overalls, belted of course...accessorized with a new pair of Sperry Dock Siders. I was so uncomfortable, but she was very inviting & friendly. “What can I do for you today, sweetie?” she said. “I-I, I think I, I think I might be gay.” There. I said it. Now, everything will be fine. Not quite. Always be leery of very friendly people…a monumental advisory I would learn to live by.

In the conversation that followed, I told her of my attraction to the other boys, especially the large appendages attached to the jocks. FYI, the jocks in smalltown farming “cuntry” look extraordinarily like grown men. Yes, oh yes, the hormones & libido were actively growing at light speed. I continued to tell her of my desires to have a boyfriend, fall in love, marry & eventually have children. Naïve much?

She didn’t say, one way or the other, whether I was wrong for feeling this way, it was a sin, or anything like that. She simply listened with her kind face looking at me with such an understanding expression. She really made me feel as if I were going to be okay. There was another counselor that she wanted me to talk to at the Counseling Center in town. She assured me that this new counselor would help me understand better what was going on inside of me & help me to find my place amongst my peers. She then handed me a slip of paper to give to my mother explaining the need for further “professional” counseling, along with my hall pass to return to the combat zone.

The day had arrived. It was the day of my 1st visit at the Counseling Center. I couldn’t keep my mind on any of my classes. After all, I was going to embark on a journey that could be life-altering. How was I supposed to listen to Civil War droning or learn what happens when you mix common household chemicals together. I was about to find out why God had made me so different, so special, so exceptional, so gay.

My word! The man is really big! Like a football player ( I found out later he had been)! Not gorgeous, but handsome. Just a normal, run-of-the-mill, guy-next-door type of man. “So…why don’t you tell me what you told Ms. N.(the name has been omitted for obvious reasons)” he said. It was hard to find the words. After all, this was a man. My lovely guidance counselor was a woman. She had nothing to gain or fear from me. This big, burly, man’s man could decide he was infatuated with me & try to take advantage. We were, after all, in a locked office at the end of the hall with the other offices being further towards the front of the building. No! I had to be strong. Like Wonder Woman, yes. She was powerful. Even though she was an extremely beautiful & desirable woman, men respected her because of her strength, her wisdom & her authoritative presence. Yes, I would have to make my secret identity a strong-willed & powerful character. I must become an Amazon in the eyes of this man.

To Be Continued…

COURT-ORDERED SACRAMENT

From Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, marriage is defined as such:

A marriage is a relationship between or among individuals, usually recognized by civil authority and/or bound by the religious beliefs of the participants. The fact that marriage often has the dual nature of a binding legal contract plus a moral promise can make it difficult to define.


Gay rights advocates assert that marriage is a right since it is a legal agreement on the governmental level which should not be restricted to opposite-sex couples. Their opponents assert that marriage is not itself a right and should be allowed and/or disallowed on moral and/or religious grounds, as a change in the definition of marriage could lead to the breakdown of civil society. Most of the controversy centers around the government definition of marriage, rather than the blessing of same-sex unions by individual religious organizations, which may or may not be recognized as civil marriages.

The first important excerpt from our definition of marriage is as "...a relationship between or among individuals, usually recognized by civil authority...". Until mid 5 AD, marriage was considered a strictly civil insititution. It wasn't until the 12th century that the Catholic Church and other Orthodoxies formally made marriage a sacrament of the Church.

That brings us to the second excerpt from our definition concerning religion, which defines marriage as "...a relationship between or among individuals...bound by the religious beliefs of the participants. What struck me when I read this was the definite individualization of the statement...meaning that we are bound by our own intrinsic beliefs, not by any outside influence.

It becomes, yet again, my friends a QUESTION OF SEMANTICS.

At present, same-sex marriages are recognized in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.S. state of Massachusetts (for same-sex marriages performed within that state under its own particular laws).
In November 2006, eight states will decide whether to add bans on same-sex marriage through specially placed wording inside their own state's Bill of Rights (constitutions). The state of Colorado will vote on Amendment 43, which will determine whether or not same-gender marriage bans should be included in the legislative codes of the constitution, on Nov. 7, 2006.
New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples on Wednesday, October 25, 2006, but left it up to the legislature as to whether the state will recognize same-sex marriages or adopt a civil union approach to providing those rights. The legislature has six months to make a decision regarding same-sex marriages.

On December 1, 2005, South Africa's Constitutional Court extended marriage to include same-sex couples. The court mandated that changes go into effect by the end of 2006.

Civil unions, domestic partnerships or registered partnership offer varying amounts of the benefits of marriage, which are available in: Andorra, Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom; Tasmania, and the U.S. states of California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, and Vermont; and the U.S. District of Columbia (Washington, DC).

Many people feel that civil unions, even those which grant equal rights, are inadequate as they create a separate status, and should be replaced by gender-neutral marriage. I changed my own personal opinion after researching information to write this blog.

I had always wondered why the gay community couldn't be happy with a law for civil union, since healthcare, survivor benefits & other legal issues seemed to be the main concern. Understanding the restrictions & limitations the State & Federal governments could place on us is the key. In addition, the degrees of separation would become even more distanced.

To be quite "black & white" about it...we would be allowing the government to determine our rights for us and to identify our unions as somehow different from the norm.

Make your choice on Nov. 7 & please don't allow silence to equal consent.

REGISTER TO VOTE

LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD!!!

"NO, Sir! This glamorous domicile in a park-like setting happens to be a public bus stop, however comfortable you seem to think the metal loveseat is. No, sir, you may not have a cigarette."

A picture I took with my cell phone while waiting for the bus at North Ave & Federal on the North Side.

Isn't it bizarre how Xmas is transient & seems to attract transients. Pondering...

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!

Thanksgiving brings out the traditionalist in even die-hard iconoclasts and nonconformists...indeed, Thanksgiving dinner is the only meal in an entire year at which many people encounter a formal place setting. But no matter how fancy your table, it's important to remember that a Thanksgiving meal, like any social dining situation, is about much more than just food.
Thanksgiving dinner is about the people you share it with. One way you can show them how much they mean to you is to put on your best manners (and courtesy goes so well with grandma's lace tablecloth and the good china).
Kerry & I will be spending Thanksgiving with some close gay friends. It promises to be a really good time, I'm sure. We will, of course, look fabulous & show off our years of Vanderbilt etiquette training...with a bottle of good vodka in tow. And, let us not forget, the traditional, after-dinner trip to all your favorite "watering holes."
Whether you'll be spending this Thanksgiving at your in-laws' house or preparing turkey with all the fixings for your chosen family, I wish you all the very best of this Holiday(martinis included).

Holy Presidency, Batman!!!

During a little online research as to the origins of "separation of church and state", I came across this little tidbit and found it very interesting. OMG!!! I can't wait 'til 2008 elections. We have our work cut out for us in the next couple years, my friends.

Writer Garry Wills did us all a service recently in The New York Review of Books with an essay detailing exactly how the Religious Right has affected public policy. It is well worth a read.

Wills begins by pointing out that Religious Right claims that American government has always been Bible based are false. Wills sees the presidency of George W. Bush as unprecedented for the scope of its religiosity. He notes that some previous American presidents were evangelicals but goes on to say that none of the other 42 president prior to Bush “would have answered a campaign debate question as he did.

Asked who was his favorite philosopher, he said ‘Jesus Christ.’ And why? ‘Because he changed my heart.’ Over and over, when he said anything good about someone else – including Vladimir Putin – he said it was because ‘he has a good heart,’ which is evangelical-speak (as in ‘condoms cannot change your heart’).

Interjection: Do you think Bush thought that Sadam Hussein "had a good heart?"

Bush talks evangelical talk as no other president has, including Jimmy Carter, who also talked the language of the secular Enlightenment culture that evangelists despise.”

From there Wills goes on to delineate what the Religious Right has achieved under Bush. These include, according to Wills:

• Faith-based justice, represented by the administration’s constant attempts to curb legal abortion and ban same-sex marriage as well as the creation of a special unit within the Department of Justice to intervene in church-state cases on the side favored by right-wing evangelicals.
• Faith-based social services, represented by the Bush plan to politicize his “compassionate conservative” agenda to win new support for the GOP in African-American religious communities.
• Faith-based science, represented by the administration’s backing of “intelligent design” creationism (to the extent that it even permits the Park Service to sell a creationist book at the Grand Canyon) and its denial of global warming.
• Faith-based health, represented by Bush’s decision to lavish millions in federal money on often overtly religious and usually medically inaccurate “abstinence-only” sex education programs and its reluctance to allow the Food and Drug Administration to approve the use of the “Plan B” pill.
• Faith-based war, represented by Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin, who gave speeches to evangelical groups while in uniform and framed the country’s conflict in apocalyptic terms and the Religious Right’s tendency to back Bush’s global policies with Bible citations.
  

Wills must be some relentless secularist bent on purging religion from public life, right? Wrong. He is a devout Roman Catholic whose books include Why I am a Catholic, What Jesus Meant, What Paul Meant and The Rosary.


Since his perceptive 1990 book Under God: Religion and American Politics, Wills has been patiently explaining to the Religious Right exactly where they have gone wrong. Perhaps some day they will actually listen to him. Until then, more power to Wills’ pen.

Thank you to our wonderful Roman Catholic friend. Even though Catholics worship Mary and idols(according to the fundamental Christianity that I was taught), they still have some awfully good contributions. Wink, wink.

"The Lord is my Shepherd and he knows I'm gay." ~Rev. Troy Perry

I found this earlier today while I was checking to see if there were any updates on the Ted Haggard scandal. It made for a interesting read.

Haggard has condemned homosexuality. In the documentary Jesus Camp, one scene shows a sermon where he preaches, "we don't have to debate about what we should think about homosexual activity, it's written in the Bible."

Under Haggard's leadership, the NAE released "For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility" in the fall of 2004, "a document urging engagement in traditional culture war issues such as abortion and gay marriage but also poverty, education, taxes, welfare and immigration." The NAE has stated that "homosexual activity, like adulterous relationships, is clearly con­demned in the Scriptures."

But, my dear queers, this was the part that intrigued me most:

Haggard focused ministry efforts on homosexuals early in his Colorado Springs ministry by frequenting gay bars and inviting men to his congregation.

Do you suppose this is where he might have met Mike Jones?