From http://www.reuters.com:

A recent poll carried out in Australia revealed that a majority of its population is in favour of gay marriage. However, so far, it’s been a slow march down the aisle for gay equality.

Two successive Prime Ministers have strongly opposed reforming Australian marriage laws to allow gay and lesbians to wed. The current leader Kevin Rudd intervened earlier this year in his party’s internal push to modify policy on gay unions and gay marriage instructing there to be no change.

However, it seems a ground swell of support is pushing the country towards allowing gays and lesbians the right to tie the knot.

A survey carried out by Australian Marriage Equality found that 60% of Australians would support same-sex marriage, with 36% opposed and 4% undecided. It also found that 58% would support the recognition of same-sex marriages formed in other countries within Australian law.

Earlier this week the country’s first legally recognized gay civil ceremony took place in Canberra after a bill sponsored by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Greens Party was approved. Many expected the federal government to overturn the new legislation as it has done similarly on three previous occasions, but so far the new law remains in place.

Leading Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald also earlier this week ran an editorial headlined “Whatever the Gender, All Marriages Should Be Equal” in full support of lesbian and gay unions.

“It is time to end legal discrimination against gays and lesbians” the paper said “Spain has done it. So have Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway and South Africa. All these nations have legalised same-sex marriage, without evident undermining of heterosexual marriage and the family relationships based upon it. And in Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Germany and New Zealand, where the law allows same-sex civil unions or registered partnerships, there hasn’t been any shredding of the social fabric, either. Yet Australia, which likes to see itself as a tolerant, pluralist society, has not been able to go as far as deeply Catholic Spain in removing remaining forms of institutionalised discrimination against gay and lesbian people.”

For weekly gay news, chat and soundbites visit www.maleforce.com

By Gary Cosby

My Thoughts and Wishes to All for the Coming Year: Happy Holidays!

Remember the time you drove all night
Just to meet me in the morning
And I thought it was strange you said everything changed
You felt as if you’d just woke up
And you said “this is the first day of my life
I’m glad I didn’t die before I met you
But now I don’t care I could go anywhere with you
And I’d probably be happy”

-Bright Eyes

Bright Eyes: First Day Of My Life

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Facebook users can now check to see “how hetero” the pictures they have posted on the popular social networking site are, thanks to a new web application launched by the organizers of an annual celebration of gay culture in Stockholm.

Take the test : How Hetero Facebook campaign »

It’s Tuesday Night and I still felt pretty crappy. My face still was swollen from the saliva duct infection on the left side of my head. The swelling had gone down a bit. Went to lunch with the guys and spent the afternoon mixing music and taking pain pills for the pain. Went to bed early Tuesday night. Wednesday my face felt pretty much the same. When I don’t eat it feels OK. The minute I eat anything and the saliva ducts react, my face swells and hurts like hell. Not fun to eat at all. Wednesday afternoon we went to see the movie 2012 on the biggest movie screen in Oregon. It was a good movie. If you like disaster movies you would like this one. Spent Wednesday night taking more pain pills and watching stuff we taped all week long. Today we got up to a half Oregonian Newspaper. Had to request a second delivery. Was missing most of the paper. Made eggs and bagels for breakfast and spent the morning continuing on mixing music while Tony napped on the couch. Got Tony off the couch and went to Big Lot the middle of the afternoon. Bought a bunch of stuff we didn’t need. Then went to Walgreens and and the gas station to get the weeks worth of lottery tickets. Stopped off at Apple B’s for a quick late lunch. Spent the afternoon watching TV. Watch the new Michael Jackson movie This Is It. Not a bad movie. Such a shame he is gone. Made soup and and some oven bites for dinner and now will just settle in for the night. I am hoping tomorrow my face will be better. It is so painful to eat. My face is so swollen I can not even touch my back teeth on the left side. I plan on working Monday through Wednesday this next week only again. I think it is best I just work 3 days a week. I keep my sanity much better and I am sure it is better for my health. Thank God that Tri-Met has good health care and is very understanding to my problems.

Vraiment trop forts ces australiens!

Ici, on pique-nique sur le Pont des Arts, eux, sur le Harbour Bridge.

Après la Gay Pride, il y a la Swimsuits Parade.

Et puis, souvenez-vous… Quand nous on a le crachin, ils ont les dust storms.

Bon, par contre, là où on a des p’tits poissons tout mignons , eux, ils ont les Monster Sharks.

Décidément, ce pays est à une autre échelle…

My loyal friend Blue

 Wasted the weekend away doing nothing. Friday night I made soup and bagels for dinner since neither one of us were hungry due to lunch with the guys. Spent the night watching TV. A lunch friend has us hooked on the show White Collar. It is on the USA network right after Monk. The lead guy is very handsome, which I am sure was the hook. Saturday Tony went to work in the morning as I cleaned the house listening to music. Made sandwiches and soup for lunch and spent the rest of the day watching the complete 5th season (but the last three shows) of Weeds. Downloaded the complete season. I love this show. I think I will watch the last three prior to settling in for the Music Awards tonight on ABC. Went to dinner at a local diner. Had a grilled chicken sandwich and a bowl of chicken noodle soup. I did take  Blue for a walk around the block this afternoon. It was in the 50s here in Beaverton today. Not bad for the middle of November. Plan on working Monday and Tuesday for sure. Not sure about Wednesday. Might just take an extended weekend off if no major problems arise. Tri-Met is very understanding about this.  I still have to check and see how I am getting paid for this week.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Jess, Bend, Oregon, 2009

Photography by:  Jeff Sheng, Los Angeles

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Jess, Bend, Oregon, 2009 is a photograph by the award-winning Los Angeles photographer Jeff Sheng.  Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is his new photography project, which consists of a series of photographs of closeted men and women in the United States military. The photographs represent Sheng’s interest in the intersections between public and private spaces, and the government’s ever-intrusive policing of our most private spaces.

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 Spent Thursday morning cleaning the house before going to my CAB meeting at 1 PM. Also drove to Penny’s over at Washington Square  to buy some things for the ATU meeting next week. Hopefully it will be  a productive meeting. Hopefully some changes will happen in 2010 and being a part of the board will be productive. Came home and made dinner, watched TV and went to bed around 10 PM. This morning I did the usual routine which includes firing up the computer and checking emails. I received this wonderful email from a lady named Ellisya: Dear Dave, I have read ur blog and it is inspiring to me. I am a 30 yrs old from Malaysia. I was raped by my uncle when I was 16 and I got pregnant after that. This year I was tested HIV positive as well as my daughter which is 13 now… There’s time when I am so down and thinking that no guys will ever marry me and my future of my daughter is so doom. However after reading your story I am somehow brave enough to face this world once again. You can check my blog at http://www.livelifelikeyouweredying.blogspot.com/ to read my story of life. Its not as amazing as yours but it is my journey in life. I have actually stopped going to see the doctor because the doctor in Malaysia is so discriminate towards people like me. I am working with Radio Station in Malaysia, there s times I feel like quitting because my body kind of giving up on me. But every time I am thinking to quit, people like you will appear and inspire me. Thank you again. What a sweet letter hey? I spent this morning reading her blog. Trust me, my life is and was grand compared to her struggles. It is a must read. I hope to keep in touch with her. As I have said before, it is letters such as hers that keep me posting at this blog. Had lunch with the guys, added a megamix to the blog as well as this post. I think I am going to turn on the stereo and listen to music, maybe nap, the afternoon away. Please check out Ellisya’s blog at http://www.livelifelikeyouweredying.blogspot.com/ . I think you will get a great lesson in life. This lady is stronger than she gives herself credit for. (I mean that Ellisya). Maybe others will get strength from her life story.

In a video recorded especially for World AIDS Day 2009 Gordon Brown commends the early contribution the UK gay community made in addressing the disease.

In reference to the 1980’s when AIDS devastated gay communities around the world Brown said: “”Even in the midst of so much sorrow, those who had lost loved ones refused to accept the silence and the stigma and set up pioneering charities which are still saving and changing lives today.”

It is estimated that more than 80,000 people are now living with HIV in the UK however the number could be far greater because most people with HIV, it is believed, remain undiagnosed.

“More than a quarter of people with HIV don’t know they have the disease because they haven’t been tested” he warns, adding that the government is committed to increasing HIV testing and tackling the stigma that persists.

During the two minute piece recorded for The National AIDS Trust website Brown also praises activists world-wide who have “refused to give up in the face of HIV and AIDS”

Deborah Jack, chief executive of NAT, said: “We are delighted that Gordon Brown has provided a message for our World AIDS Day website.  We are especially pleased he has spoken about HIV in the UK in particular the need to increase HIV testing as well as fighting prejudice.  He is right to say there is no room for complacency in tackling HIV.
We hope the concern and commitment the Prime Minister had expressed today will be remembered beyond World AIDS Day.”

World AIDS day 2009 takes place on December 1st.

By Gary Cosby

For weekly gay news, chat and soundbites visit www.maleforce.com

Related Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnX5KYFk6ss
http://www.nat.org.uk/

I haven’t done Mid-Week Fuggery in a long time, but all oxygen left my body with this one!  LOL!

All his cuteness, confidence, and him thinking that he was da shyd came crashing down like the Twin Towers on 911 after he flipped off that seat!  LMMAOROTGDF!

November 12, 2009 Thursday Morning

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New Moon Chapters 1-2. In Which Bella Manages To Hurt Herself Opening Presents.

A New Moon rises… which means that you actually can’t see the moon at all.  But I assure you, contrary to visual evidence, a New Moon rises.  As Wikipedia informs us (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_moon), “The new moon is also an important event in Wicca.”  I can’t wait to see what mysteries await.

In addition to shaking up our own narrative method a bit, we’ve switched to doing blocks of chapters in an attempt to assuage the existential ennui that a-chapter-a-night inflicted upon us.  As Baudelaire says, “Although it sprouts neither great gestures nor great shouts,/ It would gladly make the earth a shambles/ and in a yawn swallow the world.”  (Au Lecteur)  Commentary by your two lovely hosts shall be in different colors.  Book-narrative will stay black.  Quotes will be green.  Eventually we’ll get some glitter in, and those stick-on rhinestones, and all the colors of the rainbow, and then we can have our Gay-Day Parade.  Who’s gonna bring the May Pole?  I’m going to bring my famous Pride Potato Salad (Untossed).  It’s always a hit.

To sum up everything that happens in the first two chapters: It’s Bella’s birthday.  She’s upset about this, because she’ll get old and not be with Eddiekins.  Then they have a birthday party at the Cullen’s joint.  Bella cuts her finger on wrapping paper, and the vamps go fucking nuts over it.  Carlisle waxes philosophical, and there is Serious Dramatic Foreshadowing, applied with a cudgel.  That’s pretty much it.

So without further ado, Chapter 1 of New Moon:

In Which We Establish that Bad Habits are Hard to Break, and Bella’s Skin is Not.

Preface: I lied, we’re starting with the preface. The preface is basically a book-blurb written by the author. Just like the one for Book One, it’ll have no function except trying to rescue the repeatedly-crashing dramatic tension by moving it slightly to the left.  If you’ll remember, this was basically the function of the last preface, although that one was also a reassurance that there would be dramatic tension at some point.

The preface is wonderfully useless.  “Hey”, it seems to say, “I think there’ll be tension in this one! Possibly dramatic. I’m thinking, conflict, denouement, you know, like a story. Just wanted to give you the heads up!”

It does seem to involve the doomsday clock, which is a wonderful thing. I love it when humanity just gives itself over to its ridiculous attachment to symbolism. Everybody knows there’s going to be some guy running down there to push the clock hands to 12 while the world’s ending, just because somebody’s got to do it. We love symbolism like we love pistachios. Like getting to the bottom of the bag is some kind of crackerjack prize.

Also, Bella’s life means little to her. Surprise surprise. It means little to us too.

Alice is predicting shit again, which means we have no reason to fear any of it coming true. Awesome. Tension, take that sweet kick to the jewels and be one your way. We don’t like your kind here.

Chapter One, for reals this time:

We start our long-awaited sequel to Twilight with a scene of Bella dreaming. Will we learn that the entirety of the last book was a dream? Is Bella actually a kind and thoughtful person? Somehow, I doubt it.

Bella: Hey, it’s my dead grandma! What are you doing in my dream, grandma?

Grandma presumably answers that it’s a dream, and she’ll do whatever she damn well pleases.

Dead Gran showing up is less solid evidence than you think when you’re dating a goddamn vampire and about to jump the hairy bones of a werewolf like an Olympic hurdler. Plus there’s a mirror about.  Could this possibly show Bella as she ages? Also calling your grandma a dried apricot, then talking about her lips, is slightly too sensual to get away with.  Unless you’re Baudelaire.

Bella: Did you and Pop find each other, wherever you are?

Grandma is not pleased at the allegations that she and her husband could have possibly wound up in multiple places. Way to send your Grandpa or Grandma to hell. Even asleep, Bella’s a bitch.

Edward: Sup, I’m in your dream. I put my arm around your shoulder.

Edward shows up like a box o’ prisms, just beaming rainbows out of every pore because it’s daylight.  Bella tries to figure out how to explain this to her ‘grandmother’. I’m sure it won’t be that big a deal. You live to be eighty-something you’re going to have a met a few pretty ‘radiant’ individuals. In dreams things just turn up so literally.

Grandma: Looks upset.

Turns out Granny is actually Old Bella, and Old Bella is upset she isn’t with Eddie. WhatEVER could this enigmatic dream mean?

“‘Happy birthday,’ he whispered.” Dream Edward is a total douche, too. Ha! Look, you’re old! Here’s to another year, withery apricot!

There was no Gran.  There was no spoon.  Gran put on her opaque shades and disappeared into a cloud of pigeons, black leather coat flapping behind her heels.

Bella: I will NOT think of that old dream lady as me. I am very mature.

In the narrative, Bella wakes up, goes on a bit about it being her 18th birthday.  She apparently dreads it.  Bella dreads turning eighteen? What? Who dreads 18? Who dreads porn and cigarettes!? I suppose you could dread being tried as an adult…

Holy Shit, Bella goes into full on barbie-doll fear-mode, checking for wrinkles and bullshit like that. Bella, I have never respected you less. The back of Edward’s hand shows you more respect than I do right now.

Your concern was that ‘Edward would never be’ 18, being now dead and trapped forever in a life he apparently hates, festering melodramatically in his own self-loathing ‘(I will get my ‘Louis stick’, you just wait and see)?  Poor Edward!

So the first thing you go do is check on your own haggish self?  I hate you, Bella.  You’re not even good at being concerned.

-later-

Bella goes to school.  Finds Alice and Edward, who waits for her by his car: “…like a marble tribute to some pagan god of beauty.”

I went ahead and gave a pass on Bella calling Edward angel-face earlier, but I couldn’t let it go unmentioned that this kind of bullshit description is still happening. Here you go, because I’m still going to provide images for this shit. Edward in a nutshell: What’s that under your cloak?

Alice: Happy birthday, here’s a camera!

Bella: God, wretch. Didn’t I TELL you I didn’t want presents or attention for my birthday?

Imagine that! The vampires whose youthful lives were taken from them by violence, accidents, amnesia, and disease are celebrating your birthday.  They act like ‘life’ and ‘youth’ are things worth celebrating in a world filled with harsh truths! WHAT WHORES, GAWD.

“[Edward's] perfect, formal, articulation. It was something that could be picked up only in an earlier century.” Bella represents a humanity devolved, and lacking complex vocal organs. Somebody warn the Clan of the Cave Bear, the neanderthals are comin’ back!

Alice: “Everyone is supposed to be nice to you today and give you your way, Bella.”

Bella: Holy shit, people might be nice to me and give me my way? That hasn’t happened since… well, it’s happened inexplicably since the day I moved here.

Alice: You’re coming over tonight for your birthday party, right?

Bella: I have to work.

What? She has a job now? I don’t buy it. Isn’t money in this book just supposed to appear from the Deus Ex Cashina?

Bella: Edward and I have every class together now. Edward seduced the old office ladies to get his way.

Gee, Bella are you sure you don’t want to get old?

Amazing how he couldn’t do that back in Book One when he wanted to get OUT of Bella’s classes.

Mike: My Golden Retriever Hair is artfully messy now.

Bella: Good luck with that looking like Edward thing, loser. Too bad you CAN’T. Because you’re ugly.

Edward’s ‘look’, like his speech patterns, are apparently something that evolved. Like the noble walrus, I presume the vampires have hit their pinnacle and started losing genes, perfectly fitted to their niche environments (thanks to the ‘perfect’ gene). Also, like the walrus, they seem to possess a ‘douchebag’ gene.  (Walruses are douchebags, just believe it).

Bella: The Cullens are super rich. This is because Alice can predict the stock market.

Way to go, Lazy Writer. Heaven forbid the Cullens have to have jobs.

For fuck’s sake, Alice can’t even reliably predict -lunch-. This is pretty much saying that the Cullens got rich off of guessing, like every other schmuck, which presumably 300 years of practice would make one good at. Why does it have the be the ridiculous Super Friends solution every goddamn time? Why can’t it be that this shit makes sense?

-Later, at lunch-

Lunch Table: I have Bella’s friends at me!

Bella: Except for Lauren.  She’s not my friend, she’s a bitch.

Lunch Table: I have Bella’s friends and TWO bitches at me.

Bella: Edward’s here too.

Lunch Table: I have Bella’s friends and THREE bitches here.

Then there’s some boring crap about Bella’s friends.

Why yes, this single paragraph summation of the lunch table deals with the unhappy task updating us on -all- of the minor characters. Don’t worry, we’re try not to interrupt your whining bitch-fest with any more extraneous details.

-later-

Bella: Hey Edward, let’s go watch Romeo and Juliet for that class assignment. Romeo and Juliet is what we’re learning about in class.  Let’s talk about Romeo and Juliet more! Also, there was a quote in the front matter “These violent delights have violent ends/ And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,/ Which, as they kiss, consume.” (II.vi)

I have my own Romeo and Juliet quote, which I repeated to myself as I saw the front matter quote: “O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day!” (IV.v).

Surely R&J has nothing to do with our current situation. Couldn’t have ANYTHING to do with families of werewolves and vampires? Multiple families of vampires? Bella and Edward as star-crossed lovers? Which inappropriate way will Stephenie go with this?

We’re having serious problems with the whole ‘denied love’ thing to start out with, as nobody’s really denying their love. Except maybe the werewolves, and at this point, what the fuck are they gonna do about it? Send more teenage boys to prom to talk about it?

Yeah, pretty much everybody except Old Man Werewolf seems to be A-OK with this relationship.

Edward: During the movie, I repeat all of Romeo’s lines so that we are VERY SURE there is no relation between these two works.

Edward: Also, I envy Romeo. It’s easy for him to die. I can’t commit suicide.

Sure you can, Eddie. You’ve got no dedication at all. A guillotine, gasoline, and a BBQ igniter on a timer should just about cover it… Some people just aren’t creative.

The aforementioned werewolves would handle it, too, I suppose. Go down fighting? Not to mention it was pretty freaking simple for the vampires to take care of whosie-whatsit-evil-dude in the previous book. Surely Eddie-poo can go get in a catfight with another vampire?

Or watch ‘Saw’ I suppose…

Edward: Apropos of nothing, I’m going to tell you MY retarded suicide plan. It involved pissing off the Volturi, a powerful Italian family of vampires so they’d kill me.

An Italian family of vampires? Probably has NOTHING to do WHATSOEVER with Romeo and Juliet.

Bella: Promise me you won’t do that.

Edward: I won’t promise. It’s a moot point since I’ll never put you in danger.

Hello, Plot Point One (and probably only, unless the mysterious title “New Moon” comes into play).

“New Moon” still pisses me right the fuck off. I can’t wait to see how the title fails to apply.

Charlie: Arrives.

Edward: Mind if Bella comes over to my place tonight?

Charlie: Fuck no, the Sox and Mariners are playing tonight.

Dad Of The Year, right here.

Edward must have ‘finessed’ Charlie too, just like the office ladies…. Or Charlie just knows better than to be a dramatically relevant character. By the by, we got no real reconciliation after Bella dropped the a-bomb of divorcee disses on dear daddy last book. Must have been a good game that night.

Edward officially tells Bella to enjoy herself twice.

Specifically: “The last real birthday any of us had was Emmet in 1935. Cut us a little slack…” When Edward is telling you you’re a bitch, you’re a bitch. This information “startled” Bella. She is so not used to thinking of others, it actually catches her unawares.

They go inside, and there’re pink and red decorations, glass plates, a stack of presents, a cake, etc.

Bella: GOD, NERDS. I told you NO.

I have no idea why all the decorations are pink, or red. Could it perhaps be some allusion? As we know Bella’s favorite color (and gemstone) is “Edward’s eyes”, perhaps this is where he announces he’s going carnivorous? Or perhaps they were simply aware that Bella, like a bull, is distracted by red things, and thus they could make their escape by knocking over flower pots and throwing crepe paper, when she raged incoherent at the sight of joy.

Wrapping Paper: I cut you, Bella!

Oh, wrapping paper, you little vato. I heart you.

Vampires: Go FUCKING NUTS trying to eat her.

Wasn’t she all bloody and shit when she was in Phoenix? For that matter, don’t we have problems for the Cullens every, oh, month or so?

Theory: Bella is constantly on the rag, so they’re immune to that sort of thing. ‘nother Theory: They were okay with that because they cleaned up the crime scene, with their tongues.

Chapter 2:  In which Carlisle is back, and is the cause of much rejoicing.

“Carlisle was not the only one who stayed calm.” So who else stayed calm? Are you going to tell us? Who was it? Hello….?  I think this is a typo… anyone want to check for me?

“Edward’s face was like stone.” Was it now? You don’t say? Was it cold too? Maybe you should stick in the oven to heat it up a bit. Then we can make pizzas on it, to further the ‘Italian’ part of the plot, hm? Goodness knows I feel like sticking my head in a oven.

Carlisle: I fix you up, Bella.

Bella: Poor Edward, the thirst was so much worse for him.

Yeah, ok.  A chapter ago you said “the scent of human blood was much harder for him to resist than the others.” Seems to fit with what you just said.  Only problem is that you were talking about Ol’ Chips and Dip Jasper, not Edward. Lazy Writer, you are so lazy.

I’m beginning to wonder if Bella is purposefully written this stupid, though. Maybe the author really is struggling with an idiotic, brutish heroine. Maybe it’s like ‘Encino Man’. Edward is just the Pauly Shore of the series. ( The Weasel )

We spend like a million pages hearing about Bella’s wound and how the vampires all leave so they don’t eat her. It’s boring.

Carlisle: “Like everything in life, I just had to decide what to do with what I was given.”

This man is wise.  I concur, and feel the need to do so aloud.

Now it’s time for Religion Hour with Carlisle.

Bella: “My own life was fairly devoid of belief.”

I am SHOCKED, SHOCKED I say.

“Renee tried out a church now and then, but, much like her brief affairs with tennis, pottery, yoga, and French classes, she moved on by the time I was aware of her newest fad.” And affairs with men, don’t forget that.

Edward: Thinks that vampires lose their souls.

I’d have to think about this, but I think the doctrine of most established churches would probably disagree with them, considering that vampires don’t choose to be made. Except for Bella, the special unicorn. Her soul might well be damned, I dunno.

Super-special-unicorn-damned.

Carlisle spends some time philosophizing. It’s… well, it’s pretty well done. Good job, Ms. Meyer.

Yes, it is actually pretty well done, but it also taunts us with how good a character Carlisle could be, if he weren’t trapped in this horror-world of teenage-stalker romance. CARLISLE COULD BE SO GREAT IF ONLY THE BOOK WEREN’T OBSESSED WITH YOUTH, THE INTEMPERATE HOSEBEAST.

As he was treating the sick during the flu epidemic: “How I hated to go back to my house, to hide in the dark and pretend to sleep while so many were dying.” Which is when Carlisle took up the cape, and became a masked vigilante.

Carlisle rocks the vampiric Casbah for a while, telling us the tale of Edward’s turning, and venting some cool why-things-were-done philosophy on us, until Bella is fixed.  Esme cleans up the bio-hazard as Bella leaves with Edward: “She was mopping the floor where I’d fallen — with straight bleach from the smell of it.” Ah. Solution- the Cullens house is so white because: bleach.  Also: racism, probably.

-later, as they drive home-

Edward: I HATE BEING A VAMPIRE. If you were with Mike, everything would be better.

Bella: “I’d rather die than be with Mike…”

Oh snap.

Bella: “I’d rather die than be with anyone but you.”

Montague and Capulet plot train, now leaving the station…

Does that make Mike Newton Paris? So who’s Tybalt? Jacob (prince of cats… too faux-clever)? Better question: Who’s Mercutio? (Can I be Mercutio!? I wanna be Mercutio!)

At this point, I think Edward and Bella are officially denying THEIR OWN love.  Dearies, I don’t think Romeo and Juliet worked like this.

-Up in Bella’s bedroom-

Bella: “I snuggled into his stone chest”. Ah, I remember the last time *I* snuggled into a rock. Also, stop it.

Falling asleep on rocks: the biggest downside to drunken camping. Also why you should camp on Ponied Island, where the ponies keep the sand nice and soft, and keep strict control over the wizard population.

-she opens remaining presents-

Esme and Carlisle got our lovers plane tickets.  Apparently Edward and Bella are going to Jacksonville. Who doesn’t like Jacksonville? I assume this is where Bella’s Mom The Tramp has gotten off to.

Edward: “I didn’t realize that you were capable of being reasonable.” Sometimes… sometimes we don’t even have to write jokes.

I should point out here that Edward is now unwrapping Bella’s presents for her. I’m really hoping her went the distance and bought her a helmet for her birthday.

Edward: Got Bella a CD of his own compositions, in case you were wondering.

…Starting with the one written for her. Actually not a bad gift, and indeed, he spent no money on it. It may be the first pretty genuinely romantic gesture Edward has ever done.

I’m sort of surprised he didn’t manage to deliver it in a creepifying way somehow.

Edward and Bella: Make out for a while.  Finally, some normal teenage behavior.

Bella: “His body was cold through the thin quilt.” Who doesn’t like cold vampire dick?

You know who doesn’t like cold vampire dick? Your cats. Your cats don’t like it. Therefore, Tybalt also disapproves of this message.

Edward: Stop it right there, harlot!

Bella: “Which is tempting you more, my blood or my body?“ I challenged.

Damn, girl!

Seriously, that’s some hot stuff. Except for occasions involving knock-out breath, Bella’s usually at her best when demanding lovin’.

Bella: Bella’s worried, because she didn’t “get relief” tonight. “Almost as if something worse was coming tomorrow. It was a silly premonition–what could be worse than today?’ Just the shock catching up with me, no doubt.” No doubt. No doubt.

Et, fini, because the next chapter is 21 pages long and appears to cover several months worth of activity.

This week, a ten-year-old boy was ratted out by a substitute teacher after he refused repeatedly to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. He refused because, in the good ol’  USA, the rights of his tax-paying gay and lesbian fellow citizens have been repeatedly assailed and compromised and, to him, that did not add up to “liberty and justice for all.”

Out of the mouths of babes!

How many people have conveniently forgotten that this country was founded by rebels? They came here to basically form a country where everybody could keep out of everyone else’s private business; things were legislated toward those ends and, the Christian, God-fearing Puritans and the witch-hunters notwithstanding (just to name two early instances), the model has worked well. Of course heads had to be broken and bodies mutilated after being wrung dry in the name of “Biblically sanctioned” slavery, but you know what? It only took a couple of hundred years before our black brothers and sisters were afforded full citizenship. And of course every immigrant group that has come here to slave over railroad-building and Empire-growing has had to be put through the mill of hatred, racism, ignorance, and misunderstanding before the powers-that-be decided that they, just like the people who got here first, should be able to pay taxes just like everyone else.

So, on paper, everyone is equal. However, gay people aren’t equal. Every year, laws are put into place preventing us from actually achieving our full due regarding life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We’re legislated against and told that we CAN’T do this and we CAN’T do that. Our rights are boiled down into initiatives that the lovely, educated masses get to march into a voting booth and vote against. Though many municipalities have voted otherwise, and the progress appears excellent on that level, there still remain many flies in the ointment.

This is nice? Hasn’t anyone in this country learned anything? Judging by today’s level of education, I would have to say no. People are encouraged toward hatred, toward divisiveness, and toward indifference. And these emotional issues are played out within the sacred confines of the voting booth.

Who do I blame? I blame politicians who appeal to the ignorant and to the ill-educated– the sort of politicians who lick the thighs of their constituencies, cajoling and playing up fears within the guise of feel-good, anti-intellectual Americanism. You don’t agree with them? Then you’re a communist, or– these days– a socialist. Does anyone even KNOW what socialism is? Apparently not, because millions of our citizens enjoy the benefits of socialism without even realizing it.

And what gets me– and what everlastingly shames me– is that these attitudes are fed to the people by their religious leaders. Something like “equal rights for all our gay citizens” has been forcibly and horribly twisted into “those perverts want SPECIAL rights!”  And “those perverts want to force the churches to marry them at the altars!”  And “those perverts want to assail and cheapen the sanctity of the marriage sacrament!”

They are entitled to their opinions, of course. But you see, it’s not just a matter of having an opinion anymore– these opinions have been allowed to fester into active discrimination and, in many cases, murderous violence. These, therefore, are no longer people with opinions– because their opinions have succeeded in prevenmting me from living my life fully. And I’m angry!

You know what? Most, if not all of the gay people I know scratch their heads at all this. Storm the altars? No way. The opposition has decided that this issue be called “gay marriage” in order to appeal emotionally to its constituency. More thigh licking, in other words. What’s wrong with “equal rights for all?” I pay taxes toward that end, or I am missing something? My taxes go to fund wars and shenanigans much as they go toward helping the disadvantaged, but I don’t get to choose exactly where my dollars go. I end up paying to keep myself rooted in my second-class status because I don’t see the Feds protecting my rights. Hear that, Mr. President? Can you say “executive order?” I know you’ve got more pressing matters on your mind, but you need to make it a point to ensure that ALL your taxpayers are enjoying ALL the liberties that these endless wars are supposedly being fought for overseas. (And how ironic that forcibly closeted brothers and sisters are sent to Iraq to free the population… don’t ask, don’t tell? How about don’t get me started?!)

I’m grateful for the segment of the population that actually sits down to consider these issues, and who decide that it is 100% wrong to deny gay citizens the rights we were born to. This is NOT a religious issue; if the churches want to become actively involved in politics that foster discrimination, then tax the hell out of them.  I include my own Church within that group, most especially. It’s a cross I bear, ha ha… but I send the eMails and write the letters because they have to know how I feel. And I hear back, and, while it’s always good and encouraging, why can’t it be universal?

Ten years old… out of the mouths of babes, indeed…

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it ?

Three Iranian men are facing the death penalty for having gay sex when they were teenagers.

Nemat Safavi, Mehdi P and Moshen G are currently on death row and human rights campaigners warn that their executions are imminent.

Under Iranian law, “Lavat” (homosexual activity between males) is “punishable by death so long as both the active and passive partners are mature, of sound mind, and have acted of free will”.

It has been reported that all three men were under the age of 18 at the time of arrest.

Campaigners claim Mehdi P. and Moshen G. denied the charges, and that no witnesses have testified against them. Safavi was arrested at the age of 16 in 2006, and tried by a court in Ardebil, where he is being held.

Human Rights Watch has condemned the rulings and has called for Iran to revoke the sentences on the grounds that men were minors at the time.

“Killing people for what they did as children is wrong and repellent, and killing them for alleged homosexual conduct is just as wrong and repellent,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Campaigners argue that the sentences are a gross violation of international law, which forbids, under any circumstance, the execution of juvenile offenders.

Iran leads the world in executing young offenders according to Human Rights Watch. In 2005 footage of two youths being hanged for homosexual crimes was posted on the internet and sparked media attention worldwide.

When questioned two years ago about gay youths being hunted down and executed in Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded that there were no gays in his country. A statement he later contradicted by accusing political rivals of “officially recognizing thieves, homosexuals and scumbags”.

For weekly gay news, chat and soundbites visit www.maleforce.com

By Gary Cosby

Links for this story: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/11/03/iran-revoke-death-sentences-juvenile-offenders

Drivers of Tri-Met, watch and learn.

Click Logo for Video!

For  video from the Emery Awards 2009, click the logo to play!

I was lucky enough to do press for The 2009 Emery Awards & 30th Anniversary of the Hetrick-Martin Institute for rPulse.com (check them out!). For those who dont know, the Emery Awards honor individuals and corporations that exemplify The Hetrick-Martin Institutes mission of providing a safe and supportive environment for all young people regardless of their sexual orientation or identity as well as those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership within the LGBTQ community.

Featuring: Singer Lance Bass, reality television show star Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, Kimora Lee Simmons, Academy Award winning writer of Milk Dustin Lance Black, actress Heather Matarazzo, activist Cleve Jones, actor Cheyenne Jackson, actor Victor Garber, actor Nicholas Rodriguez, comedian Judy Gold, actor B.D. Wong, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Supermodel Veronica Webb, musician Caroline Murphy, actress Lisa Banes, actor Edward Hibbert, actress Debra Monk

Singer Lance Bass - Click Picture for More!

I was lucky enough to do press for The 2009 Emery Awards & 30th Anniversary of the Hetrick-Martin Institute for rPulse.com (check them out!).  For those who don’t know, the Emery Awards honor individuals and corporations that exemplify The Hetrick-Martin Institute’s mission of providing a safe and supportive environment for all young people – regardless of their sexual orientation or identity – as well as those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership within the LGBTQ community.

MORE INSIDE!

The Red Carpet - Click Picture for More!

Click each picture for view more pictures from the night!

Reality Star Kimora Lee Simmons - Click Picture for More!

Academy Award winning writer of “Milk” Dustin Lance Black - Click for More!

And now the 8ryn Psycho-Spiritual Theatre Production Company would like to present:
DR.STRANGESWISH;
Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The “T”

Context; this stuff often gets asked on TG/TS forums and in support circles, “How Okay are you with being Transgender/sexed?” or “Are you proud to be Trans?”…this is a response I recently wrote to one such question, that cumulates my thoughts on being trans as of this hour.

I’m actually really glad to have been born the way I was; as a transguy, not as a male or a female. I like to think that thinking of trans-ness as another subset of sex/gender differentiation helps me deal with it…ie, I’m not a “really a girl”, I’m really a transperson, who ID’s along the masculine spectrum. Which isn’t all too different from being Just Another Dude, imho.

True, being raised as a girl really, really fucked me up in a lot of ways; being that the ideals and values people were placing in me were so contrary to me wanting to be understood as masculine/a boy.

However, if I had been born male, my own fucked up chemistry and weird early life experiences and beliefs I’d been conditioned to…I would be a terribly horrible person; and I honestly believe that being born into this gender/sex conflict was able to keep all the other stuff reined in so that I’d –gasp– have to actually face it and process it, and ultimately address all of that shit. Instead of just acting on it and acting out because of it.

..Not a fail-safe mechanism or anything. But being trans allows me to be more self-reflective; which I contribute to being a centred, more balanced person. The whole metaphor of “balance” shaping how I view how people who’re outside of the traditional bounds of the “gender binary” relating to the “binary” sexes. That I’m choosing to exist in a middle-path [that I, personally, rejected "female" but have not embraced "male".] Which basically puts me in a “gender space” that is both androgynous and trans-male at the same time.

To contrast, some people are born trans and feel they have to accept their anatomical sex; others are born trans, transition, and then completely reject that they were ever “transsexed” and attest that they are now 100% male. Then there’s hundreds of variations inbetween; and I’m just trying to be on the “masculine” side of the androgynous fence.

Ultimately, I’m grateful for being transsexed; because it’s given me a lot more knowledge and insight into myself. And in that light, I try to avoid seeing my transsexual state as anything to be ashamed of; It’s often awkward and embarrassing, but I try to keep a good perspective about myself. Not being ashamed, and finding it to be a positive thing, I guess you could say I’m “proud” of it, and the history and mysterious science around being a transperson. Despite everyone seeming to think being proud of anything means it’s the first thing I wanna say about myself to anyone.

How employable is a unpoligetic homophobic NFL star?

The chiefs have released Larry Johnson, and put him on waivers.

Larry Johnson is about to find that out, first hand. If he is to look for any encouragement, he must remember that even Michael Vick was given a second chance, by the National Football League for killing dogs, but the actor Isiah Thomas has not had that much good luck with his career after using a similar gay slur.

I do not even think it has anything to do with how many gay people are, or not involved with football as they are in the acting profession, I would imagine it is the national average, but what business wants to have this level of a public relations disaster associated with their product?

Larry Johnson is not trying to make amends with the gay community,it all seems to be about him getting out of his contract.

The Chiefs and Larry Johnson are in the middle of a case to determine whether or not the Chiefs have to pay Johnson this year’s installment of his signing bonus. The Chiefs are contending that Larry violated his contract when he was suspended for one game in 2008.

The Chiefs confirmed Monday that they are releasing Larry Johnson the day he was due to come back from his second suspension in a year.

Johnson, who turns 30 on Nov. 19, was just 75 yards away from breaking Priest Holmes’ team rushing record.

The Chiefs were furious with Johnson for a series of actions, including mocking Coach Todd Haley’s lack of football playing experience on his Twitter account; using a gay slur on Twitter and again in the locker room when addressing a group of reporters; and, in the incident that most angered General Manager Scott Pioli, belittling a fan on Twitter by saying he made more money.

They are seeking to have the contract voided.

 Whether they win or lose the case, the Chiefs have sealed the deal. They are over Johnson, and his on-line antics, and characterized  him as a ”Cancer” that is spreading in the locker room.

The Kansas City organization vowed to not allow Johnson to ever take the field again as a Chief, following a drubbing they received from the San Diego Chargers.

The teams rumored to be courting the homophobic running back is the hapless Washington Redskins, which have to replace the injured Clinton Portis, who sustained a concussion in this past Sundays loss.

Just what the Redskin’s need, another disaster of a player to cause even more distractions for them to lose focus on, away from football.

Get ready to protest my fellow D.C. football fans.Your season is about to get that much more worst.

You can not make this stuff up.

Johnson is currently on waivers,which he must clear.

The New York Times is reporting…Johnson is almost certain to clear waivers, because a team that claims him would have to pay his salary of more than $2 million, which the Chiefs will pay if he is not picked up. But if he clears waivers and a team signs him, Johnson will still collect his salary from the Chiefs in addition to whatever he makes with his new team…

Johnson was the subject of an online petition last week calling on the Chiefs not to let him break the team rushing record. His on-line apology came one year after issuing a similar apology for alleged incidents involving women in Kansas City night clubs.

The door has shut for him in Kansas city, so I wonder which team out there has the room for Larry Johnson, who is Americas most notorious unapologetic homophobes.

I wonder how that title will work for his new teams marketing strategy.

Follow the story here, and from these trusted sources…

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/sports/football/10chiefs.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/09/larry-johnson-released-ch_n_350758.html

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/149746-see-ya-larry-johnson-released-by-the-chiefs

Taken during the parade.

The police patrolling the streets telling pedestrians to get off the road.

A large group of Atlanta’s S.W.A.T. team gathers near Christian protesters at the Pride Festival.

A Pride attendee and a Christian protester in an argument.

A protester refers to the Bible during an argument.

A group of Pride attendees stand  in front of the protesters to express their opposition.  Some Pride attendees attempt to tear down the large banner.

A protester standing off to the side.

Another shot of Atlanta’s S.W.A.T. team.

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