Queer Musings

Senator Describes Today's NY Marriage Vote 'Contagious Lack of Backbone'

2009-12-02T23:41:23-08:00

New York marriage equality bill sponsor Senator Tom Duane - Discussing the defeat of marriage equality

I wasn't expected to be betrayed, and so I have some justified anger. But it's just going to propel me to - I don't want to say redouble my efforts, because my efforts have been pretty strong - but I'm not going to let up. I'm angry. I'm disappointed. I am let down. I'm betrayed. But I am not going away...Unfortunately, I think there was a contagious lack of backbone that occurred here today. And I’m angry about that and sad about that, but it was contagious. Similarly, the opposite would have meant far more votes than anyone had expected but unfortunately that wasn’t the way it went today.

GPOYW - Winter Jacket Edition

2009-12-02T13:45:12-08:00

Winter is moving in. I had to break out the heavy jacket today. There's a freeze warning until tomorrow morning.

Houston Teen Beaten With Metal Pipe

2009-11-19T16:03:01-08:00

A 16 year old Houston teen warned two school principals and a bus driver that he was going to be beaten. Sadly no helped him before he was severely beaten with a metal pipe by classmates.

Luckily the teen survived the attack, but this shows that a long way to hell before children are safe from bullying and beatings from their peers

CNN - Suspect charged with murder in slaying of gay teen in Puerto Rico

2009-11-18T21:51:57-08:00

So here it is late Wednesday and I finally see a mainstream news site reporting on Jorge's horrible murder.

I still feel that Obama and the White House should release a statement supporting a federal investigation of a possible hate crime. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law for crimes like this.

Will we go another day waiting for Pres. Obama to make a statement condeming the killer of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado?

Where is Jorge's Fierce Advocate?

2009-11-17T21:40:03-08:00

Obama and the White House is really letting down. Not a peep out of them after what appears to be the first hate crime commited after the signing of the Matthew Shepard act.

I'm not all that surprised that the mainstream media hasn't picked up this story. Of course that would probably change if Obama would become the fierce advocate he said he was.

I think it's time every LGBTQ American called the White House tomorrow demanding Obama to speak out for Jorge and call this murder what it really is... a hate crime.

(via Another Quiet Day in the LGBT Community and Mainstream Media | The Bilerico Project)

Life in Flux

2009-11-14T23:19:01-08:00

I'm not really sure how much I want to share... all I can really say is depression is an evil beast. I've allowed it to let me get into tail spin that will take me a while to recover from.

I'm currently staying with a friend while I look for a new place to live. Things will be ok, it's just going to take some work on my part.

Stages of Grief Over Maine

2009-11-06T01:59:23-08:00

It's been a couple of days now, and it's starting to sink in that the LGBT community had one win and one loss on election day. On the east coast we had Maine and their attempt to overturn the state's legislatures passage of same-sex marriage; our loss. Then there was the west coast and Washington voting for the passage of their "everything but marriage" referendum; our win.

I think the past two days I've already gone through the five stages of grief over Maine.

Tuesday night while the results were coming in (I was following my Twitter pals to see how we were doing), I experienced denial. I was reading their tweets and thinking, "it's still too close to we'll have to wait a until 100% of the precincts are reporting."

Later Tuesday night on into Wednesday morning I started feeling anger. Anger at the people who would vote to deny my LGBT brothers and sisters the right to enter into a legally recognized union. Anger at our "fierce advocate" President Obama for not making use of his bully pulpit to speak out against Prop1.

Moving into Wednesday I started trying to bribe the higher powers (in my case the God and Goddess) that I would blog more and donate more time and money to the fight for equality if they would please let us have Maine.

In the end depression and acceptance more or less went hand in hand. Funny how those two emotions seem to be married to each other for me when I experience them.

One thing that I saw Tuesday night has really stuck with me. I can't remember which one of my Twitter pals tweeted about supermajorities, health care, and taking a right away from a minority. Basically it was along the lines of why are we going to need a supermajority to pass health care, but a 50% +1 majority is all it takes to deny a minority their equal rights.

I bring up the subject of supermajorities for one simple reason. There's always something to be learned from a loss. I don't know everything that is to be learned from losing Prop1 in Maine. I do think, however, that we should look at this as a lesson in what we need to do to our fix our political system.

If you put it up to the vote of the people, we'd have slavery again.
--Jesse Ventura on CNN, 11/3/2009

As we move forward in our struggle to be treated as full and equal citizens of this country, I think we should also start a push towards reforming our political system. There will always be a minority that is treated differently under the law. One day they will stand up and demand equal treatment just as the LGBT community is doing today. We should make it harder for a simple majority to deny them their rights. As we push for passing of a full and comprehensive ENDA, the repeal of DADT, and the right to marry our loved ones we should also be pushing our lawmakers to require a supermajority when rights are put to a popular vote.

I'm sure there's probably another lesson to learn in how the votes went in Maine and Washington, but I just can't see it right now. I'm still on the cusp of full acceptance and depression. Maybe in another couple of days I'll know what else we should have learned.

Maine Voters Repeal Law Allowing Gay Marriage - NYTimes.com

2009-11-04T00:52:47-08:00

Dear Pres. Obama,

Thank you for saying you're a fierce advocate of the LGBT community.

Oh wait, you've really not shown that you're a fierce advocate. If you were truly our advocate you would have made use of your bully pulpit to encourage the people of Maine to vote no on Prop1.

Gay marriage has now lost in every single state -- 31 in all -- in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine -- known for its moderate, independent-minded electorate -- and mounted an energetic, well-financed campaign.

I'm tired and angry, so it's probably a good idea for me to go to bed before saying something like "hey Obama and everyone that voted in favour of Prop1 go listen to Lily Allen's Fuck You."

Any Canadians or Brits want to get gay married? I'm about fed up with this shit hole of a country.

via www.nytimes.com

Hate Crime Legislation a Symbolic Gesture?

2009-10-23T13:11:34-07:00

It's not often that I find myself disagreeing with Dan Savage. When it comes to the passing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act I have to say he's wrong that it is a purely symbolic piece of legislation.

During the time I lived in Oklahoma City I was a victim of hate crime two different times. The first time the police didn't find my attackers. The second time they did. If I would've had the ability to try and get the crime into federal jurisdiction instead of the state I would have been more likely to follow through on pressing charges.

When I was attacked the second time, I got lucky and an off duty police officer saw what was going on, called for back-up and then stopped my assailants. He then reported to the officers that arrived on the scene that the attackers had been calling me faggot while beating on me.

One would think with an officer making that kind of statement I would have pressed charges. Well this was in Oklahoma which is one of the most homo-unfriendly states around. The on duty officer that took my statement actually seemed to be encouraging me to not press charged. He said that at most the attackers would spend the night in jail, get out the next morning and only have to pay a fine.

Given what I knew about Oklahoma, I decided not to press charges.

If I would of had the protection of hate crime legislation I would definitely have pursued prosecution. With the off duty officer's statement about the attackers calling me faggot, I can't help but think that would have moved it from the state level to the federal level. The one attackers that hit me in the head with a beer bottle would have been facing a lot more than just a fine.

So Mr. Savage, just because the hate crime bill doesn't directly affect every member of the LGBT community, it's still an important piece of legislation. Honestly I feel it's much more important than trying to get the White House to move on marriage as you seem to want them to do. I personally feel that the repeal of DOMA is the least of our concerns.

If you want to discuss something that will affect more LGBT citizens then let's talk ENDA. It is currently legal in 29 states to fire an employee simply for being gay. Surely that would affect more LGBT citizens than the hate crime bill.

Maybe you want to talk about something that affects every American citizen. If so let's talk about DADT. During a time when we are fighting two wars, both in the Middle East, it is insane that we are discharging service members that can translate Arabic. Lt. Dan Choi is a perfect example of this. An Iraq war veteran, and West Point graduate that studied linguistics, and is fluent in Arabic was discharged for challenging DADT. Is America safe now that we don't have him translating intelligence reports that could indicate another attack here in the US?

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for marriage equality. That issue, however, is one that I feel needs to be fought on the state level. Once we achieve a victory in more states would it be necessary to pressure DC to repeal DOMA. Sure Obama could come out and say he opposed Proposition 1 in Maine and for the approval Referendum 71 in Washington where you live. I think that would be a wise move for him. After all he did say he was a "fierce advocate" of LGBT rights.

If I was to be 100% honest, when Mr. Savage and other respected LGBT advocates spend so much time in the national press talking about marriage; it makes me feel like a bad queer for not wanting it as bad as they seem to want it.

I will admit that you are probably right that the passing of the hate crime bill affects fewer members of our community. I still feel having been a victim of a hate crime that it is a much needed piece of legislation. I'm glad to see it finally passed, and that we have a President that has stated he will sign it into law.

(via AC360 Talks Hate Crimes with Corey Johnson and Dan Savage - Towleroad, More than gay news. More gay men)

50 Years Of Pentagon Studies Support Gay Soldiers - The Atlantic Politics Channel

2009-10-21T11:56:01-07:00

It makes me sad, and a bit angry that studies have been conducted to see if allowing gays to serve in the military would be detrimental the national security and no such threat has been found. What's worse was in 1957 when it was determined that the military should not move ahead of civilian society in regards to homosexuals serving.

The DoD has funded studies on the impact of gay servicemembers as far back as 1957, when the Navy's Crittenden Report (pdf) found "no factual data" to support the idea that they posed a greater security risk than heterosexual personnel. Straight officers boasting secrets due to "feelings of inadequacy" were a realer threat, it found. Despite these findings, the report recommended no changes to dismissal policies, for a reason that would define the department's stance on open service into the 21st century: "The service should not move ahead of civilian society nor attempt to set substantially different standards in attitude or action with respect to homosexual offenders."

So there you have it. Heterosexual officers were found to potentially be a larger security threat that homosexuals. Honestly I feel anyone that's hiding a secret straight, gay, or bi has the same potential to be a threat to national security, but what do I know?

From the time I spent in the Navy it would seem I know as much as researchers from 1957.

via politics.theatlantic.com