That bayonet is simply fabulous!

Hi! I'm back briefly to blog about a... Get ready for it... Gay bomb!
An ingenious idea pursued by our great American Military. Goodness, think how the Battle for the Western Front could have gone! A mass orgy in the trenches. The Christmas Truce could also have been a story of lust and love: two soldiers, separated by country, surpass insurmountable odds to come together in a time of chaos.

The world would be a more fashionable place now, eh?
Mullets would never have existed...
Barbara Streisand would be President...

In all seriousness, how can the U.S. government justify spending my tax dollars on something this ridiculous and downright offensive? I can't really add much to what is expressed in the video clip by the interviewees. The entire notion is so ridiculous and unfathomable - I cannot help but make light and use bad puns.

Now, what's a girl have to do to get a sample of that stuff? I could find a few women to test it on. Kiera Knightly, baby, call me.

I wonder if the government funded this Gay Experiment as well.

I'm feeling really gay today...

I find myself lucky to have grown up, and been a part of, the gay and lesbian rights movement. I'm a collector, I guess you could say. No, despite the fact I've been told I look like Elijah Wood, I am no collector as he was in Everything Is Illuminated. Which is a fabulous movie and a must see.
And I don't look like Elijah Wood - Especially not like him in that movie. Not that I look like him more as Frodo or something.

Ahem. So, I have something from every rally, every Pride, every "gay event" I've attended; then there's magazines. The magazines, all ones I've saved over the years, can be seen as stepping stones for me. Or simply things which had a profound influence on my life. They're in chronological order, not because I'm anal, but because that simply makes sense.

(And I'm anal.)



The Newsweek "Lesbians" edition is from 1993. I was a Junior in high school and just realizing my orientation. I bought this and kept it hidden from my parents. Hehe.

The KD Lang one came out shortly thereafter and it probably is to blame for my slight obsession with her as a Senior. I HAD the damn Rolling Stone where Melissa Etheridge came out but I have no idea what happened to it.

Ah, Glenn Close playing Margrethe Cammermeyer in Serving in Silence. February 1995. I was out then and I recall watching this with my mother.

Ellen coming out in 1997 was groundbreaking. I was a budding Internet junkie who debated and discussed Ellen on the AOL message boards. Whether or not Ellen was gay was a hot topic and it got quite heated in there. I wish I could see some of my posts now. I wonder how my views have changed. Probably not all that much considering...
I became a vehement critic of the show as it plummeted into the abyss of canceled shows. The shows writing changed and I found it painful to watch to the point I stopped watching long before it was canceled. I was very sorry to see it canceled, but I saw such a missed opportunity.

Now that the show had the nation's attention, it should have continued along a similar path that it had been. She came out, yes, but it felt like she did over and over again in each and every show thereafter. What Ellen is doing now is exactly what she was meant to. She has, arguably, the most popular daytime talkshow which caiters to American housewives. She does not remind them daily that she is gay. She is down to earth and, even those who are homophobic, can feel comfortable watching a lesbian woman host a talk show.

Anyway, I rambled there. The Advocate is from the 2000 Millineum March in Washington DC. Sadly, it is a little worse for wear then the others because it was a free handout there. Now that was quite an experience. Apparently I missed seeing the Phelps Pack there but I do recall one guy standing near the stage with some silly sign. No one really paid him any mind.

The Karina Lombard issue of Curve really fits as a 'stepping stone' - She's just hot and that's a hot cover.

Ah, and my sweet Melissa's announcement she has breast cancer. A sad and scary time. Oh, but then when she played at the Grammys with Joss Stone (I dunno if it was the Grammys or Emmys or what, I get them confused.) - Oh, did she bring the house down. What an absolutely inspirational performance.

I think I'll dig around through my boxes for some of the the nicknacks I've saved. Unfortunately, last year I had a 12 pack of pop burst in the trunk of my car which ruined my cork board and everything attached to it. I'm very much regretting leaving that in my trunk for so long. I had to throw away a lot of the stuff I had attached to it. :(

For God's Sake...

Goodness, this is an interesting clip and the first I learned of this luncheon. I have to admit, O'Reilly does have a point at the end. Is it true?

Rosie's behavior was pretty disturbing to me, though I do understand what the guest is saying regarding the context and that it was a closed event. It's no secret I'm no fan of Rosie, I thought it would take a lot for her to shock me -- This did the trick.

Thoughts on Same-Sex Marriage

It seems I have had Gay Politics on my mind lately. I love a good debate and there have been some interesting ones on AfterEllen as of late. I think I need to just get it all out of my system. I won't barrage you with all of them at once, so lets start big.

Why Massachusetts legalizing Gay Marriage hurt the gay rights movement

When the Massachusetts Supreme Court declared same-sex couples had the right to marry, Conservatives immediately proposed a amendment to the Constitution be written, declaring marriage to be between a man and woman. Same-sex marriage was legalized a few months later and San Francisco started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Bush voiced his support for the aforementioned Constitutional Amendment shortly thereafter.

I try to look at issues objectively and with some measure of logic. I feel no amendment would have been drafted if Massachusetts had not legalized gay marriage. Whether Bush wanted to address the issue at all is unknown, but this gave him little option of avoiding the issue. Conservatives were up in arms over this 'sacrilege' and feared granting us the same rights as every other citizen would harm the moral fiber of the country. We're the cloak heterosexuals use to hide their own faults and sins; obviously we're to blame for the 50% divorce rate in this country.

Obviously I am in favor of legalizing Gay Marriage, but I'm more in favor of passing Federal Hate Crimes Legislation. We're focusing too much our attention on Gay Marriage and letting a hugely important issue like that go unspoken. Does anyone really believe we will be able to legally marry before gay bashing becomes a Federal Hate Crime? The same thing will eventually happen again that happened to Matthew Shepard - Only then we'll revisit Hate Crimes legislation. Sad, really.

It will take years to undo the damage this has caused. Individual states will continue to ban gay marriage while the US Supreme Court refuses to address the issue. Some states still have sodomy laws. Hell, Alabama de-criminalized interracial marriage only about 5 years ago. We're still pretty early in the Gay Rights movement - Too early to push the issue of Gay Marriage in my opinion.

Fun fact: The first same-sex divorces began two months after Massachusetts legalized Gay Marriage. Way to show them we're serious about this marriage thing!

Changing of the Guard

Officially the Democrats have officially taken over control of Congress. Wheee! Let's see how they do. I expect the Minimum Wage debate to start in Ernest. I'm not entirely in favor of the increase, but that's another entry.
However, there are still 10 bills which have either failed to reach the floor or pass, that are Pro-Gay Rights.
Here's what they are:

Employment Non-Discrimination Act: Banning private sector employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act: Federal government authority to prosecute hate crimes based on a victim's sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

Military Readiness Enhancement Act: Repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, allows gays, lesbians and bisexuals to serve openly.

John Shalikashvili, a proponent of the policy, recently voiced his belief that the military is "ready" to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly. I see this act having some potential as atleast being reviewed again.

Uniting American Families Act: Amending the US Immigration and Nationality Act to allow foreign nations who are same-sex domestic partners of US citizens to apply for the same immigration rights offered to foreign nationals who legally marry US citizens.

Its a pretty safe bet that this isn't going to happen. Silly bill, waste of taxpayer dollars. The government does not recognize domestic partnerships among American citizens - Why would they recognize foreign nationals?

Domestic Partner Health Benefits Equity Act/Tax Equity of Health Plan Beneficiaries Act: Amending the Internal Revenue Code to end taxation of health insurance benefits for domestic partners. Currently, gay and lesbian employees must pay taxes on similar benefits as if they were ordinary income.

Domestic Partners Benefit and Obligations Act: Define domestic partnerships to provide health insurance and other benefits to same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners of federal government employees.

Clarification of Federal Employment Protections Act: Declares: "Federal employees are protected from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation".

Family Medical Leave Inclusion Act: Calls for amending the Family & Medical Leave Act of 1993 to allow government and private sector employees to take leave to care for a domestic partner who has a serious health condition. Also would allow medical leave for the care of a same-sex married partner or the parent-in-law, adult child, sibling or grandparent of a same-sex partner who has a serious health condition.

Responsible Education About Life Act: Calls for creating a $206 million federal grant program to award funds to states for comprehensive sexuality education that is not linked to advocacy of abstinence-only-until-marriage. Supporters say the bill is needed because existing sexuality education programs funded by the federal government are linked to abstinence-only policies.

...I'm torn on this bill.

Early Treatment for HIV Act: Calls for allowing low-income, childless adults with HIV to become eligible for Medicaid coverage before they develop full-blown AIDS. Under current law, people who meet the income requirements for Medicaid are ineligible for the federal health program if they have HIV but are not "disabled" by having AIDS.