O, Pioneers!: This statement by Andrew Sullivan stopped me cold:
Added to Massachusetts, more gay people will be able to marry in the US than in any other country in the world. In the end, America still came through as the pioneer of full equality.
Sullivan mystifies me sometimes. I sit there and read a comment like that and wonder what he's been drinking. "Pioneer"? We sure as hell haven't been first on the scene. For that matter, "we," as in "we as a nation," aren't even in the running. (Norway just became the sixth country to legalize full marriage for same-sex couples.) The United States is in with such progressive nations as Zimbabwe and Saudi Arabia as far as recognition of same-sex relationships, and somewhat better than Jamaica in our treatment of gays and lesbians (albeit in some states, only marginally).
One shudders to think what Sullivan would consider retrograde.
Fathers' Day: No, the apostropher is not in the wrong place. Here's a wonderful article -- with video about two fathers and their three young sons.
“All we’re trying to do is raise three healthy boys to be participants in society,” said Geoffery, Devin’s partner for a decade.
That’s a modest description for what the county judge who finalized the adoption in December called an act of heroism. The boys, taken from substance-abusing and incarcerated biological parents, faced long odds against growing up together. Given their treatment by the birth parents, there were far more questions than answers about physical and emotional issues that might arise for them down the road.
"You are heroes in our community," Judge Mary Yu said, beaming from the bench while the boys frolicked about the courtroom, the whole family decked out in red-and-white Mickey Mouse ski sweaters. “Who’s going to assume the burden of taking care of children like this, children who possibly have been neglected or set aside in some way? … People like you, who step up. Thank you.”
Thanks to Good As You.
The "Aiming at the Left Foot" Series: That series of posts, taken along with other notes and news (such as the comments noted in this post by Jeremy Hooper at Good As You) points to a trend among the anti-gay Christianists: if you don't like reality, pretend it's not happening. That's the only explanation I can think of for that whole slew of lawsuits and recommendations that public employees don't do their jobs, and for those who are public employees, simply claim that their religion overrides their oath of office.
So far, we have:
The Alliance Defense Fund has filed suit in the Bronx County Supreme Court asking the Court to instruct Gov. Paterson to ignore the NY courts' recent rulings on out--of-state marriages.
The County Clerk of Kern County in California, Ann Barnett, has decided if she can't exclude gays from marriage, she'll exclude everyone. I initially reported this one in the same post as the note above; Timothy Kincaid at Box Turtle Bulletin has been keeping up with this one, and has updates and links here.
Randy Thomasson of CCF has proposed an ordinance to the Kern County Board of Supervisors that unilaterally overrides the Supreme Court's decision on same-sex marriage.
The Liberty Counsel has filed suit asking a California appeals court to override the Supreme Court's decision, which it has no authority to do.
Do these clowns really believe that people who live in the real world are just going to fall in line?
Stupid Comment of the Week: Joseph Couture, as quoted at Joe.My.God:
As for gays who want to get married, I call them Borg homosexuals. They want to assimilate us, destroy individual choices and turn us all into drones. Or should I say hypocrites? Do you know how many straight married men I’ve done at the baths? And do you have any idea how many of the authentic straight men have affairs or cheat on their wives? Soon I can look forward to a little adultery with the gay married ones, too. They’re the ones who should be embarrassed. At least we sluts have the courage to be proud about whom we are without wearing that breastplate of righteousness.
1) Having the right to get married doesn't mean one must get married. 2) I have nothing against sluts -- been there, done that, wore out the T-shirt. But methinks someone doth protest too much. (And as for the "breastplate of righteousness," does anyone else see the cognitive dissonance there? Not to mention that over-the-top shade of purple in the prose.)
There's a certain dog-in-the-manger element in comments such as this one and Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore's rants that no one should get married. I'm afraid my response still hovers between "If you don't want to get married, don't" and "Eff off!"
There are a couple of really substantial topics coming up over the next couples of days that really are part of FGB, so brace yourselves. And, just to help ease the transition, something pretty, thanks to Queerty:
TTFN
No comments:
Post a Comment