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Prop 8's passing has pissed off a lot of people, since 48% percent said they wanted gay marriage to be allowed (I'm still confused why this is even a question). Shouldn't all the American people have the same rights? And isn't it considered discrimination if you eliminate the rights to one specific group of citizens? Isn't that why slavery and the holocaust were all about...discrimination? One of my biggest pet peeves through out the election was when prop 8 supporters kept saying that they have gay friends and that they love them to death...well, it seems to me that if you have friends that are gay you would want them to have the same rights and happiness that you have?

Ok, that is really the wildest and most egregious conversation I have ever seen on The View.  I have always thought Sherry Shepard isn't very smart (the world is flat) and Elizabeth cannot even think about any view that doesn't confirm her puny ideas but today they talked without even knowing the nouns they are using and talked as if they had authority.

"Focus on Your Own Damn Family" is a phrase consistently used at gay rights protests, especially when James Dobson and his hateful religious "ministry," Focus on the Family, has anything to do with spurring said protest.  In fact, I saw a few of these signs at City Hall in NYC this weekend.

But the phrase took on an entirely different meaning to me today when I read an article off Huffington Post stating that the group is having to lay off 20% of its employees .

Really, James?!  Really?  I mean, I'm feeling a little bit like Amy Poehler here, but, REALLY?!?  Ohmygod, are you serious ?!

You were so worried about gay marriage ruining the familes of Californians that you donated over $500,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign, and yet you now have so many budget cuts that you can't afford to keep your OWN DAMN MEMBERS in paying jobs.  What about THEIR families, James?  Apparently you don't care too much about families being ruined by hunger or debt, only by the possibility of them being "threatened" or "unsanctified" by a lesbian couple down the street (logic which I don't think I'll ever understand).

It's one thing for you to eat the debt from your own discriminatory donations; it's quite another for you to fire your own employees for lack of funds after so happily giving the money that could have kept them employed to a cause that will undoubtedly be overturned by the courts.

Granted, since they work for/are members of Focus on the Family to begin with, they barely even deserve my symapthy at the loss of income, but somehow I just find this appalling.

James Dobson--asshole to his OWN people, too!

In light of recent events, I thought it would be fitting to revise Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speach for LGBT'S.

My fellow Americans, gay and straight sisters and brothers alike,
I have a dream...

... In a sense, I have come to you to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all people would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We have a humanitarian crisis today that stretches from Maine to California, which is made worse every day by the ignorant behavior and hateful rhetoric of political parties, voters, politicians, churches, and schools, who are using their social and political power to take away the human rights of gay people to be free to love. These shackles of oppression significantly undermine the liberty and pursuit of happiness of all Americans because a loss of freedom for one group is a loss of freedom for all groups who are proud to call themselves Americans.

For the record, I was determined not to write about Proposition 8 passing in California. (Because really, how many times and in how many ways can you say, "I hate you, 52% of California. I hate you. I hate you"?) But then I read the article in this past Wednesday's New York Times about Scott Eckern, the artistic director of the California Musical Theater. He resigned earlier this week after activists outed his $1,000 contribution to the Yes on 8 folks and several prominent gay men in theater complained — including Marc Shaiman, the Tony Award-winning composer ("Hairspray") who called Eckern to say that he would not let his work be performed in the theater.

Now Eckern, along with Frank Schubert, the campaign manager for Protect Marriage, the leading group behind the ballot measure, are defending their bigotry as a constitutional right and complaining that those who protest their actions are being intolerant. Per Schubert: "No matter your opinion on Prop. 8, we should all agree that it is wrong to intimidate or harass anyone for exercising their constitutional rights."

No sense of irony, straight guys. But hearing them play the you're-the-real-bigot-for-punishing-me-for-exercising-my-right-to-free-speech card just got on my last gay nerve. So here we are. I'm writing about Prop 8.

Of course Eckern deserves the anger and disdain of his peers — just as if he had generously given to a movement that amended the California constitution to reinstate racial segregation, or strip Jews of the right to practice law, or forbid Mormons from holding public office, or intern all Muslims in camps for the duration of the "War on Terror." Actively fighting to remand a group of people to second-class citizenship, as Eckern did, is no mere matter of opinion or exercise in free speech: it's an assault on human dignity and human rights. And those of us who know the historical cost of silence damn well better speak up and let the Eckerns and Schuberts of this world know that their behavior is unacceptable — and has consequences.

Because Eckern, who is married with children, is just not getting this on his own. He still thinks, per his statement of resignation, that he can simultaneously be "loving and supportive" of his lesbian sister (!) while refusing her the opportunity ever to have her union and her family be considered equal to his. He still thinks of himself as someone who does not "support any message or treatment of others that is hateful or instills fear."

But he is wrong. And oh to be a fly on the wall at the Eckern Thanksgiving table this year when his sister and her family arrive…

I try to be an understanding person, but more and more, people just make it hard for me. The other day, a little old lady on a street corner tried to hand me a Christan pamphlet, I smiled and said no thank you. A few paces ahead I passed a younger man sitting on a square block of cement. He glared at me menacingly.

    “Take it,” he said. “You should.”

It seems like everyone's edges are a little sharp these days, with the election a little over a week behind us. With oppression and discrimination written into the state constitution, you'd think the bigots would be happy. But they seem even more incensed, perhaps angered by our own shows of force, that we're not just rolling over and playing dead.

What bothers me most about the Yes on Prop 8 crowd is their use of the word “morality”. What morals could be better than to love and be good to one another, and try not to do anyone harm? If we follow their example, morals are just arbitrary rules by which one lives one's life. How can two people marrying be immoral, when taking someone else's rights away is not? The way I see it, they're the ones who are immoral. Heartless. Cruel.

And it hurts. Even more than the first time. You see, I've done this already. Four years ago, I was living in Michigan when Proposal 2 passed in a decisive victory for the homophobia brigades. Gay marriage never did happen in Michigan, but now it's really, really illegal. The language of the proposal banned the government from recognizing same sex marriage or “similar unions,” meaning that now public institutions—like city and state governments, public schools, and universities—now cannot offer same sex domestic partner benefits. Queer folks at my alma mater, Michigan State, used to get domestic partner benefits. Now they don't.

I found this article at work. Because kids seeing their teacher make a commitment of love is sooo inappropriate. I fail to see how this is different from inviting kids to a hetero marriage.

I can see why parents wouldn't want their kids to miss school, but somehow I don't think it would have caused the outrage if the teacher married a man.

written by Tim Love and Morgan J CurtisCross posted at Speaking Out.

TAASA has recommitted itself to social justice work, thus moving our anti-oppression work to the forefront of our efforts. As we have taken our anti-oppression approach to sexual violence prevention out into the communities and rape crisis centers across the state, we've discovered many programs and communities struggling with both oppression in their community and ways to get their organizations to support social justice work in concrete ways. Inspired by the TAASA membership resolution process, we decided to create a personal resolution to address two interrelated forms of oppression that are closely linked to sexual violence - heterosexism and homophobia. We hope you will find the resolution a useful tool as you work to address homophobia in your life, within the organizations you work with and in your community as a whole.The following resolution highlights some key problems with homophobia and heterosexism, including its impact on all people, regardless of sexual orientation. There are a variety of ways this resolution could be used. Hanging it up in your office could spark conversations with co-workers and community partners. Sharing it with people during your anti-oppression and prevention trainings gives them an opportunity to take action in a meaningful way, something that people often seek after attending such trainings. How else can you envision using this resolution? Are there any key points that you think were not included in the resolution?Stay tuned for a follow-up post on additional ways the resolution can be used as well as tips for how to carry out your commitment to ending homophobia and heterosexism. Please indicate in the comments section if you post this commitment and where you post it.You can download a pdf of the resolution here.

Cross-posted from Fundamentally Flawed , where the wit and wisdom of the anti-marriage-equality brain trust is on display for all to enjoy and ridicule.

"Yes on 8, the gays claim its all hate, but that argument is weaker than my sisster Kate, who likes to date (men), lawsuits attempt to retailate, but just like the election they will meet the same fate, so again I say YES ON 8!" --Orange County Register reader comment

No one said the writing life was always great. For hours this tortured soul scratched his pate, pondering the age-old debate: Which to keep straight, the rhyme scheme or sister Kate?

Posted by FundamentallyFlawed - November 11, 2008, at 02:47PM | in Queer Issues