Hate Crimes Redefined

The House passed a bill updating the definitions of hate crimes to include added protections based on sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability. The bill will also provide a financial support to state and local authorities, with grants for investigation and prosecution of hate crimes. The federal government could step in and prosecute if states requested it or declined to exercise their authority.

This bill was passed especially after President Obama urged the House that the bill would "enhance civil rights protections, while also protecting our freedom of speech and association." Two years earlier, a weaker, yet similar bill was struck down in Congress when George W. Bush (of course) threatened to veto it if it ever made it to his desk.

As always, the Conservatives (Republicans) feel that this bill will divide the country by giving extra protection to "special" groups. They also said it was not fair to give other people such protection. Well I think that the people would not need this extra protection if hate crimes did not exist, but they do. Hate crimes threaten people's right to the freedom that every American is entitled to, but for some reason other people feel they do not deserve, such as the perpetrators of hate crimes. That is why extra protection is needed to ensure that in the end, everyone has the same rights as the other person.

As majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., countered against the Republicans arguments, "We in America have said we believe all people ought to be treated equally. If America stands for anything it stands for equality under the law."

Also, some interesting tidbits are there were 926 active hate groups in 2008, compared to 602 in 2000, as tracked by the Southern Poverty Law Center. An increase of over 33% in eight years. And there are currently forty-five states that have laws against hate crimes, with the five that do not being: Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Wyoming. Now tell me that the current hate crime laws are actually working. Yeah, that's what I thought.

LGBT Educational Sites: REJECTED

The heads of the Tennessee school districts seem to have taken a stance (though stealthily) on same-sex relationships. Although they were covert about it, people still noticed. A librarian (Karyn Storts-Brinks) and 2 Tennessee high school students are asking the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for help when they discovered that their Tennessee school internet filters access to online information on LGBT issues. The filtering software (Educational Networks of America) makes it so students cannot view political and educational information about LGBT issues and well-known nationals organizations such as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), and the Human Rights Campaign.

Oddly enough (meant to be read in the most sarcastic tone you can muster), the filter seems to keep sites that talk about "reparative therapy" for changing your sexual orientation. Side Note: How can you "repair" what was never broken to begin with? Side Side Note: The practice of "reparative therapy" has been deemed harmful and dangerous by the American Medical & Psychiatric Associations.

The blocking of this information "not only violates the law but does a disservice to the education of your students," said the ACLU. The ACLU is also asking for this ban to be remedied or they will be forced to take legal action against their illegal censorship. Karyn Storts-Brinks, the librarian from Fulton High School in Knoxville tried to unblock LGBT sites for her students in August 2007 by contacting the filtering company and individuals in her district to no avail. Storts-Brinks said:

"One of the problems with this software is that it only allows students access to one side of information about topics that are part of the public debate right now. Students who need to do research for assignments on current events can only get one viewpoint, keeping them from being able to cover both sides of the issue."

The whole point of going to school is to get a well-rounded education to prepare you for the future. To make a well-informed decision (like the kinds you are going to make for the rest of your life), you need to have all the facts at hand first. Showing only one side of an issue to the person does not leave them adequately prepared to make a decision on the issue. So shame on you Tennessee school districts for filtering out political and educational information on the LGBT community! You're not turning your students into well-rounded spheres, but more like incomplete dodecahedrons (yes, I did bust out some geometric shapes on you).

Conditional Love

I'm sure some of us have heard of "coming-out"stories from hell, purgatory, or whatever dark, evil place your religious preference tell you bad people go to. You tell your parents and you get either A) Disowned, or B) Accepted for who you are. How about being forced to basically run away from home because you won't "stop being gay".

Then, after you've left home, your mom catches you on the street holding hands with your boyfriend and jumps out of her car furious and chases after you yelling obscenities. No? Really? Yeah, me neither, but this is what happened to 16 year old Stuart O'Neill. Celia Duncan shouted homophobic abuse at her son after she caught him on the street holding hands with his boyfriend.



After calling them a bunch of "poofs," she then proceeded to leave a voicemail saying, "I will get you, believe me, and you will get your head kicked in," and a text message saying, "I will get you and your poof." Personally, I think it should be a crime for a mother to treat her underage son that way, and in a sense it was when the Aberdeen court system fined her £250 (about $370).

Still, no amount of money could make up for the damage she inflicted on her son, especially over a silly thing as sexual preference. Stuart O'Neill said, "I feel really betrayed by my mum. What she said to me was vile and hurtful. My mum didn't like the fact I was gay. She told me to stop being gay or get out of Aberdeen. She basically threw me out of the house."

Welcome, Connecticut!

After a decade long struggle to legalize gay marriage, Connecticut has become the 4th state to legalize gay marriage, joining the ranks with Massachusetts, Vermont and Iowa. Connecticut had already legalized same-sex civil unions, and the bill states that as of October 1, 2010, all those civil unions will become same-sex marriages.

Connecticut did something that I found very interesting. To appease some gay marriage opposition, "lawmakers amended the bill to show they want to protect religious liberties. For example, it says religious organizations and associations are not required to provide services, goods or facilities for same-sex wedding ceremonies." I'm glad to see that they also took into account that religious institutions in this bill. Many of the main arguments that are against same-sex marriage are purely religious based (or so they say), and I feel this bill is a nice compromise between both sides.

Senator Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, had this to say on the amendment to the bill:

"We wanted to make it completely clear that the state of Connecticut fully embraces not only the rights of same-sex couples to marry, but we fully embrace the rights and protections afforded by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Connecticut Constitution to the free exercise of religion."

While I sincerely doubt the battle against same-sex marriage is over in Connecticut (or in any other state that has already legalized same-sex marriage), this is a major victory for all, even if they do not realize it yet.

Crown With Thorns

The Miss America Pageant is a chance for women from every state to show their beauty, skills, and in some rare cases, their intelligence. Most of what I stated was well represented by most of the contestants (especially the winner, Kristen Dalton, apparently), with the exception of Miss California, Carrie Prejean. She was posed a simple question by pageant judge Perez Hilton (gay blogger and television personality): "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?"

Now, think of the most logical response you can to this answer (keeping in mind that you want to win the pageant), and Prejean's was the opposite. Not only does she say that she is glad people have a choice between having a gay or straight marriage (by the way, she's assuming homosexuality is a choice), but she also said she believes marriage to be between a man and a woman. Also, same-sex marriage is not a choice in most states aside from Massachusetts, Iowa, and Vermont, so how is there even a choice? But anyway, this is how it went down:

Not only did she completely not take into account the entire gay rights struggle in California (which I don't see how she was chosen to represent an entire state with her views, but oh well), but she also created dissent among the gay and straight community, which, as Perez Hilton stated in his blog response to the whole incident, a Miss America should not do. His blog response is below:

Perez Hilton's Video Response

Although I am not a big fan of Perez Hilton, I agree with his basic argument of why he thought Miss California lost, which was that she did not make a intelligent response to the question. But if I will go as far as to call her a "dumb bitch" is another point entirely. And the answer to that is yes, I agree with him on that too.

And Tango Makes Three

In 2005, writers Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell wrote a children's book called And Tango Makes Three. For the third consecutive year, this book has managed to make it to the top of the American Library Association's (ALA) Top Ten list of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2008. More books on the list include:

"His Dark Materials Trilogy" (Series), Philip Pullman
Reasons: Political Viewpoint, Religious Viewpoint, Violence

"TTYL"; "TTFN"; "L8R, G8R" (Series), Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

"Scary Stories" (Series), Alvin Schwartz
Reasons: Occult/Satanism, Religious Viewpoint, Violence

"Bless Me, Ultima," by Rudolfo Anaya
Reasons: Occult/Satanism, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Sexually Explicit, Violence

"The Perks of Being A Wallflower," by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Drugs, Homosexuality, Nudity, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Suicide, Unsuited to Age Group

"Gossip Girl" (Series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
Reasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

"Uncle Bobby's Wedding," by Sarah S. Brannen
Reasons: Homosexuality, Unsuited to Age Group

"The Kite Runner," by Khaled Hosseini
Reasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

"Flashcards of My Life," by Charise Mericle Harper
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

Want to know the reasoning behind why And Tango Makes Three is on the list?
Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Anti-Family, Homosexuality, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group.

The story deals with the true story of two male penguins living in New York City’s Central Park Zoo who took care of an orphaned egg. So why is this a big controversy? For the fact that it shows how a homosexual relationship (even in another species) can work. Author Justin Richardson says, "[There is a] great deal of anxiety, especially among conservative parents when it comes to talking to children about gay families. The notion that telling a child about gay people will increase his chances of becoming gay is scientifically untenable, but it sure endures.”

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom had this to say on the matter:

"Books, magazines, and other reading materials should reflect the diverse views and the rich multicultural tapestry of our Nation. While not every book is right for each reader, every reader has the right to choose reading materials for themselves and their families and should be able to find those materials in libraries, classrooms, and bookstores. Our goal is to protect one of our most precious fundamental rights—our freedom to read."

So not only are they attacking our right at marriage, happiness and equality, but they are now trying to take away our rights to what we can read. If that doesn't sound the least bit Fascist, then I don't know what is. But again, my opinion....

Kanye's A Gay FIsh

Yes, the title is rather attractive, and pretty self explanatory, so there is no need to continue reading any further than this period. If you're reading this, you've read too far. If you've made it to this point, then I guess this does require an explanation. South Park, which is an animated show "notorious for its crude, surreal, and often very dark humor, which satirizes a wide range of topics including religion, politics, violence, abuse, sexuality, and mental illnesses," as Vanessa Grigoriadis of Rolling Stone magazine wrote. I believe that is the most accurate description of what South Park is. One thing the quote didn't mention is that South Park also loves to make fun of pop culture, especially its current icons.

This is where Kanye West comes in (or as some people refer to him, "Yeezy." Where they come up with half of those letters I'll never know, but that's for another blog post). He's known for his over inflated ego and sense of self-importance, but aside from all his flaws, his is also known as one of the first black hip-hop/r & b rappers to speak out against homophobia, not only in the black community, but also in the rapping industry. Could his acceptance of homosexuals be why South Park created an episode called "Fish Sticks" where Kanye West is portrayed as a closeted homosexual fish? Perhaps, but no one but me seems to be asking this question... Also, Kanye seems to be taking it well. His blog reaction is one of a sort of understanding with slight undertones of actually being angry at the way the episode portrayed him. Check out a clip below.

The War In Iraq

The war in Iraq has consumed news and blog headlines everywhere for close to a decade, and sadly, it's about to claim another victim. Yes, that's right, I am going to talk about a war in Iraq, but not the one you would think. This war is being fought by the Iraqi LGBT, a human rights group started in 2005 to support Iraqi gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.

Currently, there are over 100 men waiting to be sentenced to death for being homosexual. They were all found guilty of homosexuality by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, which is notorious not only for not giving people a fair trial, but also for ignoring international standards against torture. The Iraqi LGBT has asked for the help of Obama, as well as people around the world to help stop the execution of homosexuals.

Tony To Vatican: Evolve!

If you don't understand the humor, I can break it down for you. It's making fun of the churches view on marriage by showing this minister approving the marriage of a man and a chicken, but not gay marriage. In all actuality, there are areas where it is legal to marry your first cousin. Then again, incest has always been church approved if you look close enough. How do you think Adam and Eve continued their pure bloodline? By keeping it in the family, quite literally. Again, I digress.....

The Catholic church is full of contradictions and some outdated practices, even Tony Blair agrees with me. Tony Blair said the Vatican is out of step with ordinary Catholics and the public over homosexuality. In an interview with Reuters, Blair said:

"When people quote the passages in Leviticus condemning homosexuality, I say to them -- if you read the whole of the Old Testament and took everything that was there in a literal way ... you'd have some pretty tough policies."

Blair, who converted to Catholicism in 2007, has always been an advocate of pro-gay policies. He believes that the church needs to change along with the times. He says that the church's view on homosexual acts (not homosexuality) stems from a "huge generational difference" and should be reevaluated for the current generation.

"Now, my view is that rethinking is good, so let's carry on rethinking. We need an attitude of mind where rethinking and the concept of evolving attitudes becomes part of the discipline with which you approach your religious faith," Blair said.

This is the kind of thinking I love to read about when I hear about reform and change. That's right, Tony Blair, give yourself a round of applause. And as always, England prevails!

Gay Porn Wrangler Dead

Jack Wrangler, a famous gay porn icon who began his career in the 70's, has died. What does this mean to you, you may think? Well, to be honest, not very much if you're not familiar with the gay community. But let's travel back in time to the 1970's. Civil Rights Movements. Free love, not just for women, but also for men. Jack Wrangler emerges out of this time as one of the first gay porn stars. Although I've never seen any of his work, I've heard that it is very inspirational.

As to exactly 'what' is inspired is debatable. But one thing that is certain is his open sexuality and his macho man persona helped paved the way for gay men everywhere to feel just a little bit more comfortable about their sexuality. For that, his life deserves commending.

Below is clip from the 2008 documentary titled Anatomy of an Icon, which depicts the life of Jack Wrangler, as well as Jack Wrangler himself. I recommend checking it out if I have piqued your interest.

Equal Rights Video

This is a little video I cooked up. Enjoy.