New anti-Tina campagin

I've done a lot of volunteering at the Gay Men's Health Crisis working on some of their anti-crystal meth (TINA!) advertising campaigns. I've got to say, if more of the campaigns were conducted this way, there would be none left in the gay community:

See more Kristin Chenoweth videos at Funny or Die

Same Sex Immigration and Obama

I've been reading a lot of Citizen Crain, which is a wonderful blog about LGBT issues and politics. But it also has a large slant towards same-sex immigration. This was a post by the contributor Andoni:

I attended the Obama VIP reception which entailed a photo with Barack and maybe the possibility of 10 seconds chat time while the photo was being taken. I consulted Rachel Tiven of Immigration Equality for her suggestion as to what the best 10 second bite would be. She suggested to be as emotional as possible and gave me, “I have to choose between the love of my life and my country because I am gay. Please support immigration rights for gay and lesbian families.”

I practiced this line over and over. However, when my moment came, I flubbed my lines. I don’t know exactly what I said, but I did manage to get out gay and immigration --- and then I choked up. It was a real emotional choke up, not an act, and not the script. However, I said enough for Obama to know what I was talking about. He put his arm around me and in a very comforting way said, “I know, I know.”

Reading this made me tear up a little. I can't imagine I would do any better and probably would turn into a sweating, weeping mess. This was slightly heartening though:

It was apparent that he [Obama] knew this issue well. He took some time to explain that same sex immigration is going to be a very difficult one because it combines two of the most controversial issues Congress faces, gay rights and immigration. (I heard this from Barney Frank two years ago as well.) Obama also said that to tackle it we were going to have to establish a vehicle to recognize gay couples. I think we both said “civil unions” simultaneously -- me as a question, he as a statement.

I hope Obama keeps up his support as November barrels forward for the LGBT community and then doesn't throw us under the bus the same way Clinton did once in office. Even despite what everyone sees as his move to [duh-duh-duuuuh!] the CENTER, he's been good about still supporting us.

It's a shame how hard this fight is going to be and how much time it will take. Some of us don't have a lot of it.

Marriage Equality in California!

In thirty days from today, same-sex couples can legally wed in California after their Supreme Court's ruling today. Best quote from the ruling:

"In contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual's sexual orientation -- like a person's race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."

Big, California Sized Battle

California's Supreme Court is going to release some of it's rulings starting tomorrow and the big one (for me and many others) is going to be their decision on marriage equality . It's expected to be a positive decision for us gays. Finally!

In case you don't know, domestic partnerships are the law of the land in Cali for committed gays. The legislature has repeatedly submitted laws to legalize same-sex marriage and each time the governors of the state have vetoed it (thanks Arnold). If the court instates marriage equality, anti-gay organizations will push through their ballot initiative to add a ban to same-sex marriage to the constitution. The governor has said he will veto it, though (thanks Arnold).

Looks to be a big big decisions tomorrow with an even bigger battle to follow. California is a huge state and it represents a big, symbolic battle for both sides.

In case you were wondering, the federal government does NOT recognize ANY same-sex unions, so no change on federal recognition (which includes immigration rights). This looks like it will become another big issue in the election and a potential problem for Obama. He has been more progressive on LGBT rights than any one else and favors a full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (the federal law that Bill Clinton signed that forbids the government from recognizing same sex marriages).

If Obama does repeal the federal DOMA, then there is a good chance that any states that haven't passed state level DOMA's will have to start recognizing California and Massachusetts' same sex marriages. This is all sort of off in the distance, but it's a real possibility. Finally.

Clintons: Giving Us An Unenthusiastic Reach Around

BILL CLINTON HATES CHILDREN!!! Look at how Bill Clinton attacks that sweet, stern looking lesbian about his actions against the gay community.

This video brings up a good question and is one of the fundamental reasons why I support Barack Obama. Bill Clinton (and Hillary) argue that the Defense of Marriage Act was the necessary thing to do at the time to protect gay people. Bill here argues that the other option was a constitutional amendment.

Now, no lie, I was really young when he signed that bill. But the whole idea of a federal constitutional amendment didn't really gain traction and credibility until Bush. This seems to me that Bill and Hill are trying to meld two different points in time together and claim some sort of time warp in LGBT history.

Unfortunately, to protect themselves politically and appeal to us 'mos, they have to say that one of the most anti-gay bills in history was to protect us from our selves. The Defense of Marriage act did more than prevent states from having recognize other state's gay marriages, it prevented the federal government from having to recognize them either. This locked us out of all federal benefits (social security!) and other rights conferred by the federal government (immigration!).

Hillary states she wants to repeal parts of DOMA and Obama says repeal the whole damn thing. It's like being fucked unwillingly in the ass while getting a sort of limp reach around. The Clintons are going to get off in us (get our vote) while limply making us get off as well ("We do what's best for you, now stay quiet you nasty bottom!"). As someone in a relationship with a foreigner who will be forced to leave the country soon because I can't sponsor his Visa, I can't side with the someone who says basically it was the best option and now the best option is pick a few things out of it but to leave it largely intact.