UK still on track for equal marriage

Peers debated equal marriage on the 3rd and 4th July (x)

Each time a debate on the UK same sex marriage bill approaches, a plethora of articles are released about those who plan to fight against the bill. Most recently these include letters to the Prime Minister from members of the conservative party, complaining that the bill is helping to rip the party apart and is going to result in their defeat at the next election, and the much discussed wrecking amendment from Lord Dear. These are the sorts of articles and incidences that strike fear into the hearts of supporters of same sex marriage, although unnecessarily so. The bill is continuing on its seemingly unstoppable passage through parliament.

In which I attend a conference

(S)

This past weekend I was incredibly excited to attend the National Union of Students LGBT conference in Manchester along with other people from my university. I had no idea what to expect, but the idea of being surrounded by so many other QUILTBAG people, more than I’d ever met before in my life, was just exhilarating.

The Controversial Baroness Thatcher

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died aged 87. (S)

Last Monday, as anyone who lives in the UK will know, The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, died. She was a prime minister from May 1979 until November 1990 and she was immensely divisive and who was hated by many people. The thing she was most infamous for (at least in the part of the country I lived in for most of my life) were the events leading to and surrounding the mid ‘80s miners’ strike, but there were many other questionable things that she did. Some of these things were against the LGBT community, something I had no idea of until this week. 

Why I Don't Say the Pledge of Allegiance

Warning: I'm about to go full 'MURICA. International readers beware.

This article is a bit of a break from what I usually have to offer. While it is definitely pertinent to the LGBT community (of America at least), it also concerns the rest of my country and its relationship with the world at large.

Kathleen Wynne

(S)

 

 

 

 

 

History has been made in the frigid land of Canada! So. Long story short, this guy, Dalton McGuinty who was the Premier of the Liberal Party in Ontario but he resigned. So the Liberals had to choose on their new leader. And they decided.

Tuesday Was So Sweet

USA! USA! USA! (s).

Obama Obama Obama Obama Obama Obama.

I could go on for a while, but you all may get bored. I am very optimistic about Obama’s second term. He now does not need to worry about reelection, and he has four more years to push for liberal values in America. He can support Queer Equality, invest in the future, protect our future climate, push for more open dialogue with other countries and reform the immigration system. 

But on the queer stuff: 

Gay Marriage is already legal in: New York, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C. In Hawaii, Delaware and Illinois, we have civil unions. Wisconsin, Colorado, Maine and Maryland have Domestic Partnerships, which have limited freedoms. Tuesday night, we saw these freedoms expanded. 

No Time to Back Down

Time to (wo)man the barricades. (Artist: Kathe Kollwitz)

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, it doesn't take me a lot to make me actively angry. I threw the remote at my TV and started screaming during a 40 minute anime that failed to live up to my exacting artistic standards. The rendering was awful, the voice acting was stale, and the inconsistencies in the incredibly simplistic plot almost made me flip a table. Here's the thing, though: It only lasted 40 minutes. Those feelings of rage, helplessness, and injustice were only valid for less than an hour. If worst comes to worst tomorrow, I could be feeling like that for the next four years. Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, welcome to The Day Before the End. Welcome to the Day Before Election Day.

If We Don't Have a Queer Agenda, We Better Get One. Fast.

I live in Maine, a state with the question of marriage equality on the ballot. In approximately 72 hours, thousands of LGBTQ individuals in Maine will know if they are allowed to marry in the place they live, ratifying that their state is their home, and that their family is acknowledged and protected by the government. This issue has been building momentum, crescendoing over the past four months, reaching its peak this past week. Hundreds of Yes On 1 (the ballot question in support of marriage equality) supporters have been calling supporters, knocking on doors, and conducting televised rallies in an attempt to assure every LGBTQ individual and ally is voting in favor of Question 1. Plenty No On 1 television commercials have been airing, spreading threatening lies "associated" with equality, such as straight people being fired and persecuted. 

Why You Shouldn't Vote Romney

 “Oh, I’m not voting for Obama, I’m going to vote for Romney. No, I don’t agree with Romney’s social policies, but at the same time his economic plans are more considered. Obama’s just not working for us right now.” 

No, this isn't the GOP's new logo

That’s right, dear readers, election time is almost upon us! I can guarantee that you’ve heard some variation of the above quote recently – everyone is thinking that Romney’s economics are stronger, so he’ll be the best bet to bring the US out of its slump. 

Well, let me tell you exactly why voting GOP of November 6th is a bad idea. Yes, I know I‘m a British person living in the UK, so I’m not exactly the authority on the issues in the US, but I can still have a look at the policies of the candidates involved. That’s where it all gets a bit worrying, you see. 

In my eyes, Obama is the sensible choice. He’s a centrist candidate (actually by British standards he’s a bit right wing, despite the amount of people calling him a liberal), he’s mostly got a good head for international relations, and he’s a charming man. All in all, he’s a pretty decent candidate. Maybe that's just what we see of him over here, but still.

Devastating Plot Twist in France's road to Marriage Equality?

By socialist politician François Hollande being elected President in May of this year, France's hopes for marriage equality had been met with strong promises. But due to the French political system, we knew a socialist majority in parliament would be needed if France were to stand any chance of easily passing a marriage equality bill into law. The parliament was indeed elected with a socialist majority.

So it seemed any gay marriage bill would face few obstacles, yet it may (indirectly), and same-sex marriage might not happen for a long time yet.

This article might be a little skeptic of me, but it covers a very possible plot twist in France's road to marriage equality.

"His Very Act of Protest Confers Dignity on Him"

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, I'd like to start us out with some Ancient Gay History before delving into into the Introduction to Paleolithic Gay History that will be the subject of this article. Because I am a member of Generation Z, by "Ancient" I mean "one year ago" and by "Paleolithic" I mean "like, fifty or sixty years ago, like, you know?". Anyway, about a year ago in the San Antonio area, Democratic Party county chairman Dan Ramos stirred up some trouble by comparing gays to termites, the Tea Party (okay, that one hurt), and the Nazi Party. Yes. The ones that slaughtered gays, lesbians, and other gender nonconformists. Those Nazis. Well, I'd like to spend this article making good ol' Dan look like more of an idiot than he already does, a herculean task no doubt, but we'll give it the old college try, shall we?

On False News and Todd Akin

That's a worrying smile, I think (S)

Todd Akin – already well known for his exemplary knowledge of how science (and in particular pregnancy) works – has now claimed that breast milk can “cure” homosexuality. Criticised by many for saying that in the case of “legitimate rape”, women’s bodies “have a way of shutting that whole thing down”. The Republican Senate candidate for Missouri has had calls from his party to step down so they can replace him. Rather amusingly, he has refused to do this (fully supported, of course, by the Democratic candidate Claire McCaskil).

Hucksters to Watch Out For

Abandon all disgust ye who enter here!

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof and none of the above, I have a gift of being ahead of the curve. In middle school, I was the lame kid who listened to the Beatles instead of new bands. Later that year, the movie Across the Universe and the video game Rock Band came out, and suddenly the very people who had turned up their noses at my favorite songs earlier were gushing over the White Album and Abbey Road. During my freshman year of high school, I had a morbid fascination with the batshit crazy that is the Church of Scientology. To aid my intrepid forays into the wonderful world of Scientology, someone in a public forum recommended an obscure little website that published repressed documents. I checked the site out for a bit and promptly forgot the whole thing until a few months later, when my arcane little corner of the web, WikiLeaks, published thousands of documents about the US military. You could say I have a gift. Now I have a possible new lead that I, out of the goodness of my heart, would like to share with you. I give you the next big thing in conservative insanity: the new face of bigotry.

Why Gay Marriage is a Bad Idea: Part 4 - Sanctity

In this series of posts, I have been tackling some of the most common arguments used by bigots and homophobes against gay marriage.

So far, I've asked some of the world's most radical animal rights activists about marrying pets, I've slammed religious folk who call homosexuality "close to pedophilia" and I've explained how polygamy is biblical, seeing as they like to say gay marriage will lead to that.

But another argument we're up against is that gay marriage will "destroy the sanctity of marriage".

Oops! Romney buys Twitter followers to look (un)popular

"Hold on, you mean I gained 4 followers
last month? Hmm..." (S)

Mitt Romney is feeling a bit left out I think. He recently purchased Twitter followers.

Yes, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Twitter, you can actually spend thousands of dollars to get thousands of Twitter followers over a short time-span.

On July 20th, the former Governor of Massachusetts had just over 673,000 followers, gaining, on average, 4,000 followers a day. But strangely, just 24 hours later on July 21st, Romney's Twits saw a massive hike in numbers. 

Between midnight and 23:59, Romney accumulated 116,922 followers, out of the blue (click here to see the stats).

His campaign team claimed that it was due to his tweets about the Colorado shooting that he gained the followers, and denied that any purchasing took place. But it seems pretty obvious that they were planning to use this tragic event as a coverup, an excuse, all along. It was perfect, sickly timing.

Dear Russia, You Can't Arrest an Idea

Alexei Kiselyov (above) and Kirill Nepomnyashy were arrested in Saint Petersburg
for holding a sign that read "Gay is normal" in April (S)

As we know, Saint Petersburg banned gay rights activism back in March and quite frankly I'm getting a bit tired of talking about this on this blog. But unfortunately, it has to be done seeing as it isn't getting much press from the main news websites.

Another ban was put on  pride parades in June and the law treats gays the same way as paedophiles, arresting them for "perverting the minds of Saint Petersburg's young".

Similar bans have also been put in place in Moscow in a draconian trend that's spreading across Russia.

Why Gay Marriage is a Bad Idea: Part 3 - Polygamy

So far in this series, I have asked radical animal rights activists what they think about marrying animals and I have criticized comparisons made between gays and pedophiles.

This week, I'll be taking a look at Rick Santorum's very "Christian" view of polygamy and marriage as a whole.

It seems Rick likes to talk about this a lot to dodge the gay marriage debate. Either this is the case, or he's using a logical fallacy as a "good demonstration" to prove he's "within reason". Normally people who are within reason don't have to prove themselves, right?

France: Marriage equality and adoption for all is en route!

(S)

As you may know François Hollande was elected French President last month, making him the first socialist President since François Mitterand. Earlier this month, his Socialist Party obtained the majority in the parlementary elections, which means if they want to pass a law there's not much anyone can do to stop them; which is great news for LGBT people in France.

In his presidential campaign, amongst other things, was his promise for marriage equality, and it seems that he is keeping his word. 

Extra, Extra! Dog Bites Man, Texas Conservatives Have Lost The Plot!

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above: it is official. I've been tempted to say this for the past two years, but I've held off until now. I can finally say with no fear of sounding unbalanced and unfair that the Republican Party of Texas has lost its goddamn mind. 

This is the only thing that can possibly save the GOP now.

John Boehner's At it Again, But What Else is New?

Over-compensation. That's all I'm sayin'. 

Here we go. Once again, John Boehner is pretty much begging the Supreme Court to find DOMA Constitutional. The good news is he's lost FOUR times in a row now in the federal courts. I guess this is his last ditch effort at trying to prove a point. I invite the delightful gentleman to try. However, before I get too deep into this, I'd like to explain a few terms for the readers among us who aren't familiar with United States politics.

DOMA is the Defense of Marriage Act, which basically says that if you're gay and get married in a place like New York which allows gay marriage and you move to somewhere like Georgia where it's considered unconstitutional, Georgia is not legally required to recognize a same-sex union. It also defines marriage as between one man and one woman on a national level. That means no tax benefits for us. Yippee.