Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Worst Logo. Evah!

Designed for the Catholic Church in 1973. Nuff said.

Read more here.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Things that make a difference.

Angie Zapata's killer was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison yesterday. I wonder if he understands what he did. I have a twelve year old daughter and when I think of her leaving this earth in 6 years ... well I don't want to think about it. There is a lot in this world that needs changing, but I want my children to have a chance to experience life. No matter how many years her killer spends behind bars, Angie won't get that chance. Her family will have to live without her. Every day.

I don't really have a lot of connection to the idea of locking people up, though. I'd rather see him spend the rest of his life doing good in the community. I know, we aren't really set up for the kind of supervision this kind of thing requires, but rather than have my taxes support him for 50-60 years of brooding, I'd rather he spend his time giving back to the community he took from. Maybe raising money for the transgender community to do education in Greely and Colorado?

I want to see some kind of sustainable change, some kind of movement, towards a better world. In some ways, this conviction was that. It sent a message, a strong message, that we value the lives of transgender people. Sadly, it's a message that needed to be sent.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Log Cabin Bestows award to Eight Vermont Republican legislators supporting Marriage Equality

(WASHINGTON) The Log Cabin Republicans announced today that it will award the 2009 Uncommon Courage Award to the eight Vermont state legislators that voted for marriage equality.



“Log Cabin Republicans congratulates our Republican colleagues who have courageously voted for marriage equality in the Vermont state legislature. We celebrate their commitment to the inherent conservative principles of limited government and personal responsibility in addition to basic fairness,” stated Log Cabin Republicans Board Chairman Terry Hamilton. “I am proud to announce that these eight outstanding legislators will receive the 2009 Uncommon Courage Award, highlighting and acknowledging their resolve to vote their conscience in the face of much opposition.”



Vermont State Representative Anne Donahue will travel to Washington, DC to accept the award on behalf of House Republican Caucus Chairwoman Patti Komline, state Senators Diane Snelling and Kevin Mullin, as well as state Representatives Richard Hube, Heidi Scheuermann, Richard Westman, and Kurt Wright. "I think it was a real tribute to our party that in the midst of a very controversial debate, it stayed firm in its philosophy that members have the right to vote their own conscience. There was tremendous public pressure to change our votes and support the governor's veto, but no arm-twisting from within the caucus, and the governor himself honored his word respecting this as a personal issue: he did not try to sway votes,” said Donahue. "There were 11 Democrats who voted against their party in the House, and with huge internal pressure, three changed votes. However the six Republicans stayed firm with their original votes in support of the bill, and each one of those votes proved critical to passage."



Log Cabin Republicans spokesman Charles T. Moran states: “Once again, the linchpin votes for marriage equality is delivered by true Republican conservatives and demonstrates that GLBT causes must be advanced in a bi-partisan format. These Republican votes were crucial in the passage of this legislation and eventual veto-override.”



Log Cabin Republicans & the Liberty Education Forum will present the award on Saturday, April 18 at its annual banquet, as part of a larger convention & symposium being held at the Washington Westin City Center hotel. For more information or to register for press credentials to cover the events, please contact Log Cabin Press Secretary Charles Moran at (310) 774-1258 or via e-mail at losangeles@logcbin.org or charles@charlestmoran.net.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

The Boston Tea Bagging Party

This will make you chuckle.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Same Sex Kiss Day!!


So the folks at Join the Impact have decided it's time to celebrate our love! They suggest showing up at Starbucks on April 15 at 7:15, 12:15, 5:15, or 8:15 and kissing someone of your gender. Lover, friend, best friend. Whatever.

Read more at their website . Guerrilla art meets random kissing. How can you go wrong?

Monday, April 13, 2009

Naughty by Nurture

So after years of struggling, as a movement, over whether or not being queer is a choice, we can rest comfortably in the hope that if it is nurture (rather than nature) we might be able to get more families to nurture  their kids in a queer direction.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Anecdotes and Facts.

I think we all know it's hard to grow up. (I am going to leave off the "these days" because I really think it's just plain hard to grow up.) And, for those of us who grew up queer, we have anecdotal evidence that growing up queer might add a bit of burden to the process of self-discovery. But anecdotes can be argued against -- with other anecdotes, if nothing else.

Thankfully, we now have proof that being a gay teen carries with it extra burden. GLSEN recently released several reports documenting the struggles faced by the younger generation.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Plans for Easter? I won't ask, don't tell...


The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is working on ending the ever so popular "Don't Ask Don't Tell" military ban and has a plan to contact your federally appointed lawmakers and ask them to repeal the ban  over the Easter break. Like marriage, military service is a difficult issue in the queer community. There are entire voting blocks of queers that really don't want to serve in the military and have strong issues with what our military has been doing in our name. I might be one of them ...

But that said, for those of our queer community members that feel a strong desire to serve our country in this way, they should have the choice of doing so as whole people. Their wives and husbands should have equal access to the support services the military provides to its people. Their families should be recognized for the support and sacrifices they make. It is criminal to ask someone to serve and then not acknowledge the cost that has on their loved ones.

So, help the SLDN out. Or at least pass it on.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Marriage in IOWA!


I never thought I’d see the day when Iowa outpaced California in progressive legislation (maybe I need to examine my prejudices a little more closely). But just today, Iowa joins Massachusetts and Connecticut in providing full inclusion to same-sex couples in making civil partnerships!

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Supreme Court legalized gay marriage Friday in a unanimous and emphatic decision that makes Iowa the third state — and the first in the nation's heartland — to allow same-sex couples to wed. In its decision, the high court upheld a lower court's ruling that found a state law restricting marriage to between a man and woman violated Iowa's constitution.

"We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective," the Supreme Court wrote in its decision. "The Legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification."

Read more at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30027685/

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Square Peg, Round Hole.


We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal.

"The age of identity politics is dead," at least according to a cadre of activists recently gathered here in Denver. They might be right. We needed to be identity focused for a time. I went to college at a time when english teachers were still arguing over the inclusive nature of the word men. Sentences like like "all men should breastfeed their babies" brought to the light uncomfortable reality that while we wanted "mankind" to mean everyone, it left a lot of people out of the equation. So we started breaking it up, nationally and even in our subcultures!.

In the 70s it was "gay" culture. Now we have an alphabet soup (LGBTIQAGNCPP are all letters I have heard used and I bet there are more) trying to encompass the fullness of our community. The challenge is that people are not static. And as we change, grow, and discover, the movement we are trying to build must change and grow with us. Queer groups across the country are recognizing that to truly reach our people, we must engage more than just the queer identity of our community members. 

Mankind is not inclusive enough. Neither is fighting for simply "queer" rights. Many of us see our queer self as an important part of us, but it's not the whole package. The power and the challenge of queer organizing is that we span the entire spectrum. There is no factor to determine queerness, beyond who we love, so race, religion, body size, socio-economic status, national origin ... the list of communities we represent is truly staggering, including straight people, because our allies need to be counted. 

We needed to name ourselves. We needed to claim our individual identities and experiences. And I still think we do. I use queer because it's a simple word that covers the complexity of my experiences. But now that we have found a way to be individual and separate, we need to find a way to come together. Not to sanitize or overpower those identities, but to empower our movement to truly effect the changes that will guarantee equal rights, for everyone, even the identities we haven't found yet!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that we are all created equal ...