Archive for the ‘Faaabulosity’ Category
To Be A Single Lady
Who could possibly be so cold-hearted that they would not feel an outpouring of sympathy for the plight of this young person, searching only for happiness but subjected to the whims of his gender-imperialist father? Bad father. [YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.] (H/T Joe.M.God)
In: All, Faaabulosity, Laughing Matters
Beard of the Week LXXXVII: The Amazing Randi
This week's magnificent, brilliantly white beard belongs to James Randi, aka "The Amazing Randi". I like this succinct summary from his official biography (bio & photo source): James Randi is a retired professional magician (“The Amazing Randi”), author, lecturer, amateur archaeologist/astronomer. Born in 1928 in Toronto, Canada, where he received his high school education. He […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, Faaabulosity
Lammy Finalists for 2010
The finalists for this year's Lambda Literary Foundation awards ("Lammys"), the 22nd annual event, were announced recently; winners will be announced on 27 May. I am delighted to report that I am again nominated for about 7% of a Lammy. My memoir, "Tom Selleck's Mustache" (written under my usual nom de plume, Jay Neal), is […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Personal Notebook, Writing
Dancing with Humanists
There are many times–unless I can think of a really snarky and sarcastic approach to take–that I take a pass on talking about the seemingly endless stories of self-righteously hypocritical homophobes and ultra-fundamentalist anti-science wackos responsible for many recent headline. There are several good reasons but largely it's because I really prefer to take a […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity, Reflections
Tutu: Lesbians & Gays in Africa Living in Fear
Our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters across Africa are living in fear. And they are living in hiding — away from care, away from the protection the state should offer to every citizen and away from health care in the AIDS era, when all of us, especially Africans, need access to essential HIV services. […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Husbands and Husbands
In this very short, very cute video (via Joe.My.God), a young boy learns about "husbands and husbands" for the very first time. He's so traumatized by the experience that he says "You must love each other very much — I'm going to play ping-pong now — You can play too, if you want to." Alas, […]
A Day for Smiling
On the "Marriage Bureau" page of the Superior Court of [Washington,] DC, there is this note, rendered in red at the top of the page of instructions on how to get a marriage license in DC (thanks Jason): NOTE: Pursuant to the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009, A18-248, effective March […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
No Stay in DC
The news has just this moment reached my ears that the Supreme Court today (meaning, in this case, Chief Justice Roberts) refused to grant a requested stay of Washington DC's implementation of marriage equality starting tomorrow, Wednesday, 3 March 2010. Take all the negatives out of that sentence and it means that, starting tomorrow morning, […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Moyers, Boies, & Olson
I've just listened to the segment of Bill Moyers Journal in which he talks with David Boies and Ted Olson about their case for marriage equality. He talks to them for nearly fifty minutes, not just two minutes for the juicy soundbites. I don't think I can embed the video, but here's the link to […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity, Personal Notebook
Hearing Wedding Bells
When I was very young, my age in single digits, I once declared that I would marry my best friend. Said friend, of course, was also a boy. In those days parents did not get hysterical at the idea because, then as now, young children always say this and it is an announcement that really […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Personal Notebook
Stephen Fry on the Catholic Church
In some sort of debating context, Stephen Fry (noted actor, intellectual, atheist, and gay man — all of which I think of as very positive attributes) argues persuasively for about 12 minutes — 12 minutes that go by very quickly when his speaking is so electrifying — to support the proposition "that the Catholic Church […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Plus Ca Change...
Fear of the Gay Penis
I think my favorite pull-quote from this brief video ("Ac**kalypse Now", from That's Gay), which makes mock of gay panic in the US military and fear of the gay penis, is: "Why go to a gay bar or log on to manhunt.com when you could fly to Afghanistan and risk your life just to sneak […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Laughing Matters
Shalikashvili Calls for End of DADT
“Studies have shown that three-quarters of service members say they are personally comfortable around gays and lesbians. Two-thirds say they already know or suspect gay people in their units. This raises important questions about the assertion that openly gay service would impair the military. In fact, it shows that gays and lesbians in the military […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
NOH8
There has been some rejoicing on the side of equality (and some pursed-lipped tsk-tsking on the anti-equality side) since Cindy McCain came out in support of marriage equality and joined the "NOH8" campaign. I suppose it's gratifying to have a prominent Republican do the right thing, but how many gold stars must one dispense to […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity, Reflections
Sanders on his Move towards Equality
Jerry Sanders, mayor of San Diego, appeared this week as a witness for plaintiffs in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, and he's written about the experience and his own conversion to equality. The pull-quotes: "I realized that all opposition to same-sex marriage, including my own opposition, was grounded in prejudice." "When government tolerates discrimination against any class […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events, Faaabulosity
"Entirely under Priesthood Direction"
I took a few minutes today to glance through yesterday's trial transcript from Perry v. Schwarzenegger (transcript of the proceedings for Wednesday, 20 January 2010, of Perry v. Schwarzenegger (Volume 7, pages 1480–1741), and found a few things that caught my attention. You may recall that during the campaign last fall, accusations were made that […]
In: Faaabulosity, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Nathanson's Almost Testimony: Equality Popping up Everywhere
Today, I watched* a snippet of video deposition of one Paul Nathanson, who was to be called as a defense witness (i.e., supporting the anti-equality side of the argument) in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, until his name was withdrawn. The given reason for withdrawing his name, of course, was incredible fear of persecution at the hands […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Olson & Boies talk to Maddow
So that I can locate it easily, here is the short segment of Rachel Maddow talking with Ted Olson and David Boies, Perry v. Schwarzenegger lawyers for plaintiffs. I have to admit that it thrills me to listen to Ted Olson say, "If you listen to these individuals and you hear our arguments, you are […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Perry v. Schwarzenegger : A Note
Yesterday morning, in a federal courtroom in San Francisco, began the trial of the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger, widely known as the "gay-marriage trial". This is the lawsuit brought against the state of California, challenging the constitutionality of proposition 8, the sate constitutional amendment that outlawed same-gender marriages in that state when they were already […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity, Reflections
More Popery
Creatures, including humans, "can be protected or endangered", the pope, 82, told the Vatican diplomatic corps in a traditional January address focusing mainly on environmental issues. "One such attack comes from laws or proposals which, in the name of fighting discrimination, strike at the biological basis of the difference between the sexes," he said, citing […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Will Rogers Moments