Former Wales and Lions [that's rugby--I didn't know either] captain Gareth Thomas has come out. Big burly manly sport that it is, professional rugby is surely not an obvious pick for gay-friendly profession. And Thomas, from what I hear, is about as big, burly, and manly as they get. He describes a terrible time in life, with his marriage to a woman who he clearly loved very much falling apart for obvious reasons. He was, from the sound of it, forced out of the closet. So what happened when he made his announcement? A heartwarming story perfect for the Christmas season, that’s what:

Cardiff Blues utility back Thomas said he had been through “all sorts of emotions” over the issue, since first knowing he was gay in his late teens.

He revealed that he was “anxious about people’s reactions” to him being gay and that he felt he could not have come out earlier in his rugby career.

…

“Somehow, the coach had guessed,” said Thomas. “He took me out of the team room to the medical room, locked the door and I told him everything.

“After keeping it secret for so long, I felt a huge rush of relief.

“Scott said: ‘Right, I’ve got to speak now to three or four players in the Welsh team because you need the boys to surround you and support you. You can’t cope with this on your own,’ and he was right.

“He told two of my team-mates, Stephen Jones and Martyn Williams, and as I sat in the bar waiting for them, I was absolutely terrified, wondering what they were going to say.

“But they came in, patted me on the back and said: ‘We don’t care. Why didn’t you tell us before?’

“Two of my best mates in rugby didn’t even blink an eyelid.”

You can read the full story on BBC online sport.

People on both sides of the issue of Global Warming are thoroughly convinced that they are correct.  Both sides use scientific data to back up their claims.  Those who stand to make a massive amount of money off of this debate are relished with the controversy, but the following verses are what people of the world need to be prepared for and fear the consequences of ending up on the wrong side :

2 Peter 3:7 (New International Version)
7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

Hebrews 10:26-27 (New International Version)

26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

Hebrews 12:29 (New International Version)
29for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Revelation 16:8-9 (New International Version)

8The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. 9They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.

Revelation 20:15 (New International Version)
15If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

John 14:6 (New International Version)

6Jesus [Yeshua in Hebrew] answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

2 Peter 3     The Day of the Lord   (New International Version)
1Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.[a]

11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b]That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul [Shaul in Hebrew] also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ [Yeshua HaMashiach in Hebrew]. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Hebrews 4:13  (New International Version)
¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Mayor Adrian Fenty signed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009, the bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia yesterday. The ceremony was held at All Souls Church.

Photos here.

Image (“The Wedding Couple, after Abbot Handerson Thayer and Richard E. Miller”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Columbus Gay Men's Chorus

Powerful and beautiful, Christmas by the Hearth by Tim Sarsany is performed by the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus. It is an original moving piece that is now added to our Christmas heritage.

Probably everyone has heard about Uganda’s attempt to pass a law that will impose draconian penalties on lesbians and gays.  The law will have a minimum life sentence for anyone convicted of having gay sex and a mandatory death penalty if the person is HIV-positive.  It is absolutely horrendous and, obviously, deserves the condemnation being heard around the world.

As often happens, Ugandan officials are portraying this as a “we can do this because it’s the way it’s done in our culture” situation.  They think that means that they have carte blanche to do what they want.  James Nsaba Buturo, Uganda’s “minister of state for ethics and integrity” (there’s a misnomer for you) said:

What we are doing is what the country wants. I see a clash of cultures here and the need for those who are not us to accept our culture. . .It’s abhorrent that homosexuality should be recognized as a way of life. We understand that in your country it’s normal. But we don’t do that. We don’t even talk about it.

Buturo also said:

If I told you how many foreign diplomats keep coming to me over the homosexuality Bill you would be shocked. But I keep telling them that the integrity of our country and our values are more important than their aid. We shall not allow those people from the Western to define our identity and destiny. In their countries Christ no longer matters. It is our responsibility to define our identity and defend it.”

Many people believe that simply because a country has a culture with customs that are different from customs in other cultures, people should shy away from criticism.  The Uganda situation is a great example of why “culture” and “custom” should never be allowed to be used as a shield against criticism when human and civil rights are involved.

Aurore: One Man’s Sexual Journey Through the Body of Another

Aurore is a hauntingly beautiful, surreal 1-1/2 minute black&white short film by the French filmmaker Jean-Julien Pous, which is part of Louis Vuitton’s Journeys Awards.  The films in Louis Vuitton’s series are based upon the theme “What does a journey mean to you?” Aurore tells the story of a man who travels through his senses, and through the other’s body, in a process of self-discovery becomes aware of his own.

Aurore: One Man’s Sexual Journey Through the Body of Another

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Some of the transgender who attack us seem to think the women here and elsewhere who oppose the transgender lie are engaging in some kind of old-school activism. They want to believe that we are forming some competing movement, or other such nonsense. They like to apply labels like HBS or Taliban, create a faux fight between two arbitrary sides, shout and demean, and basically engage in the sort of politicking that they believe to have been responsible for their “success” in the 90’s. Of course they are wrong.

I basically have two aims with regard to the transgender business. One, I want to provide an alternative viewpoint to the TG dogma that confronts new transitioners as they begin their healing process. The sooner they clear that toxic mess, the sooner they can get through the process. The voice of real women who have come before you telling you that your senses are right about the TG and to stay away from them is a huge help.

In addition to speeding the process in the initial stages of transition, and assuaging guilt for believing your own senses about the sexual fetishists, by exposing the truth I hope to rob the transgender of new recruits. Not recruits from women like us, because we generally know the score and leave of our own accord. But recruits from “gender” philosophy such as the genderqueer who want to use it to challenge society’s rules. If they can see who their so-called allies really are, they may think twice about their priorities and allegiances. The truth is very ugly.

The vast majority of the TG are simply heterosexual transvestite men. And transvestism is tied closely with other, possibly more troublesome sexual behavior. What sets the “full time” transvestite apart from the garden variety crossdresser is that the sexual fetish they both share gets completely out of control in the “transgender” transvestite. The reasons behind this are a subject that needs to be studied if these people are going to be helped.

In a past post I wrote about how I hoped for more research into GID, but not because I believe in “gender problems”. Nobody has “gender problems” as such. People like Ron Gold wrote his famous post on this, and indeed everyone in larger society understands this instinctively. So do the transgenders, in fact, and that is why they twist philosophy and turn logic on its head. Gender itself is merely shorthand for a variety of social phenomena; it can hardly be disordered.

The first myth that must be exposed is that surgery creates a transsexual. There are plenty of transvestites who get surgery, and in fact they make up the bulk of the “transsexuals” among the TG. The goal of this sleight-of-hand is to a) excuse their behavior and b) provide a path for the transvestite to live “full time as a woman”. In other words, ready access to their drug of choice. Getting surgery is how the “transgender transvestite” actualizes their fetish and makes it permanent and inescapable. I have to thank an anonymous source for explaining this aspect of the rather puzzling motivations of the “transgender transsexual”. I’m sure more detailed discoveries will be found as researchers delve into the mysteries surrounding fetish and exhibitionism in neurology.

I also believe it will be found that GID, at is called by puzzled researchers, is an amalgam of other already recognized problems, with the veneer of gender laid over the top. It has been suggested to me that the sexual high that transvestites receive from exposing themselves to the public in women’s clothing is like an addiction. And like any addict, they rage and fume when their drug is taken away, hence their attacks on women like us. It is not because we expose them for being men in dresses that they hate us. They do that to themselves all the time- but on their schedule. They want the control of where and when to do the “Gotcha!” moment and bask in the sexual glow, and anyone who would stand in the way of that must be destroyed.

That is why they rage against those who tell the truth about them. That is why they threaten to write an “expose”, their tried-and-true weapon against us- the threat to ruin our lives by trying to “out” us to our communities and destroy our womanhood.

The fact that they are willing to commit this act which, in their own parlance, puts us at risk for violence and death, simply for continued access to their sexual thrill is despicable. It illustrates perfectly just how unbalanced and aggressive they really are. How selfish. How male.

I and the other women here are no stranger to male violence. Cat has written quite a bit about her experiences with these people. And every woman who ever lived has felt the impact of male aggression in their lives, some with horrifying directness. That is why I write these things and put myself at risk in the face of these all too real threats against me. I care about women like me, who have gone through so much just to survive. We few who know the truth must stand up to the men who would abuse us.

We must tell them they cannot, they will not, silence our voices.

D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty asked ‘You all ready to sign” and cued the city council members to put their names on the marriage equality bill, making it law, at a ceremony in Washington’s All Souls Church. The  council voted 11-2 this week and the bill now goes to Congress for a 30-day ‘review’. If it is not thwarthed, gay couples can get married early 2010. 

Even with churches (the archdiocese is threatening to halt their charity programs in DC) conservatives and antigay politicos (not to mention those Republicans on the DL). Clearly denying civil-marriage accomodations is a violation of Washington’s anti-discrimination statutes.

All that paperwork aside, it is another civil-rights victory of gay America, who can’t wait for the machinations of federal initiatives and divisive referendums. Antigay politics drives a lot of domestic skullduggery in national politics, but at least in DC, gays can plan a wedding. They can have their wedding cake and smash it in the face of homophobia too!

This morning, Adrian Fenty, Mayor of Washington, DC signed the gay marriage bill into law. Last week the DC Council passed the piece of legislation, and today is another step closer to same-sex couples legally getting married. Said Fenty,

“We’ve set the tone for other jurisdictions to follow in creating an open and inclusive city.”

The next step is a mandatory 30 legislative days of Congressional review. If Congress does not block the bill, couples may start getting married in early 2010.

Today was my last post on The Border House, for those of you who have read my few posts over there.  I know it’s a sudden departure, but I think it’s for the best for both The Border House and for myself.

I want to take the time to thank Cuppycake, Alex, Brinstar, and the rest of the staff for taking me on the site and explaining feminist ideals to me.  They’ve been really good and nice in dealing with my non-existent knowledge on the feminist perspective, and I’ve learned a lot from my short time on the site.  It’s really important that we have a site that looks at things from another perspective different from our own, and I wish them all the best of luck with the blog.  It has the potential to do a lot of good for many people.

I don’t want to dwell on my reasons for leaving.  To put it simply: I’m just not a feminist.  I’m a female transgendered person who identifies with pretty much everyone out there in one way or another, but I’m just not a feminist.

But, as I want to reiterate, I’m very thankful for the time I got to write there, I’m thankful for what I’ve learned and read, and I hope they continue to kick ass and do good.

~Sera

Continuing with my “short reviews = happy holidays” plan of action.

The Broken Teaglass by Emily Arsenault
Publication: Delacorte Press; 1 edition (September 29, 2009), Hardcover, 384pp / ISBN 0553807331
Genre: Mystery
Rating:
Read: December 16, 2009
Source: Library

Summary:

The dusty files of a venerable dictionary publisher . . . a hidden cache of coded clues . . . a story written by a phantom author . . . an unsolved murder in a gritty urban park–all collide memorably in Emily Arsenault’s magnificent debut, at once a teasing literary puzzle, an ingenious suspense novel, and an exploration of definitions: of words, of who we are, and of the stories we choose to define us.

In the maze of cubicles at Samuelson Company, editors toil away in silence, studying the English language, poring over new expressions and freshly coined words–all in preparation for the next new edition of the Samuelson Dictionary. Among them is editorial assistant Billy Webb, just out of college, struggling to stay awake and appear competent. But there are a few distractions. His intriguing coworker Mona Minot may or may not be flirting with him. And he’s starting to sense something suspicious going on beneath this company’s academic facade.

Mona has just made a startling discovery: a trove of puzzling citations, all taken from the same book, The Broken Teaglass. Billy and Mona soon learn that no such book exists. And the quotations from it are far too long, twisting, and bizarre for any dictionary. They read like a confessional, coyly hinting at a hidden identity, a secret liaison, a crime. As Billy and Mona ransack the office files, a chilling story begins to emerge: a story about a lonely young woman, a long-unsolved mystery, a moment of shattering violence. And as they piece together its fragments, the puzzle begins to take on bigger personal meaning for both of them, compelling them to redefine their notions of themselves and each other.

Notes:
- The mystery is nicely tied into the lives of the protagonist(s), but it’s not the sole thing that defines them. They have other problems than trying to solve the mystery, and that was nice. It reminded me of Behind the Curtain in that way.
- The mystery is also very interesting, especially since I’m such a book worm and being a lexicographer seems interesting to me. So a lexicographic mystery is exciting! Even if it IS almost stereotypically bookish.
- I didn’t always like the characters, but I did understand them. Billy was almost too bland in the beginning but then something about him was revealed that made him more interesting and complicated, luckily.
- Somehow it got very intense near the end! Kind of a quiet mystery, overall, but very, very intense in some places. Not in a gory way, or anything like that, but emotionally. It was very good! I really enjoyed this book a lot.

Ash by Malinda Lo
Publication: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (September 1, 2009), Hardcover, 272pp / ISBN 0316040096
Genre: Fantasy, YA/Teen
Rating:
Read: December 16, 2009
Source: Library

Summary:

In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash’s capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Notes:
- I wasn’t sure what to make of the beginning. It was kind of interesting, but kind of boring? About 40 pages in I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue, but I was sure the payoff would be worth it (and it’s a short book), so I stuck with it.
- I only made it through the depressing parts because I knew there’d be a payoff at the end, though!
- But at the end– Ash gets her lover but the stepsisters/stepmother don’t get punished?? That’s one of the best parts of the original story!
- Didn’t like the fairy thing– I didn’t see the point or else I just didn’t understand it completely. I know Ash needed a “fairy godmother” kind of thing but outside of that what purpose did they serve in the story?
- Didn’t really feel anything for Ash except maybe pity.
- I always feel bad for the “nice” stepsister.
- Some parts went too quickly, other parts went too slowly. Not that it needed more detail, necessarily, since it was easy to see Ash fall in love, but wtf about the fairy thing? THAT needed more explanation, I think.
- It’s not bad, but it wasn’t as good as it could have been. I enjoyed the development of the story/characters, but felt let down about certain plot points.
- If Malinda Lo ever writes something else I’ll definitely check it out, though! She’s got potential.

Blurb:

Two women thrown together by circumstance fight their attraction for each other.

When banker Taylor Hendry swaps jobs and apartments with her colleague, Samantha Crighton, it seems a good deal until she meets Samantha’s flat mate, Ellie. Taylor lusts after Ellie, from the outset, but is wary of emotional involvement with this tall, dark, sexy, femme after Sam warned her not to mess with Ellie’s vulnerable emotions.

Journalist, Ellie Lawrence, finds her attraction to Taylor confusing. She’s never had a lesbian relationship, not even a girl crush; but Taylor’s arrival provokes intense sexual feelings, which clamor for fulfillment. For the first time in her life, she wants to have full-on mad passionate sex with a woman.

Excerpt:

“Oops!” Ellie giggled as she ricocheted off the doorframe straight into Taylor’s arms, a tingle of excitement shot through her body and ignited a fire in her pussy as one flailing hand made contact with Taylor’s soft breast. “We really shouldn’t have finished that second bottle of champagne.”

“We?” Taylor raised a questioning eyebrow. “You drank most of it by yourself. I hardly touched a drop.”

Ellie frowned. “Did I…?” She tried to focus her mind. A whole bottle sounded scary, and way above her normal limit of two or at the very most, three small glasses of wine. Although the ruinously expensive Bollinger champagne they’d drunk at tonight’s charity do hadn’t seemed nearly as potent as her usual tipple. Besides which, she had definitely needed something to fight off the strange desire to jump another woman.

Was the drink clouding her judgment?

No—she was sober enough to know her own mind. An icy shiver trickled down her spine as the realization dawned. For the first time in her life, she wanted to have full-on mad passionate sex with a woman. Not just any woman either, she wanted to fuck Taylor Hendry so bad it hurt.

Something incredible happened to her the moment this stunning woman walked into her life. Her heartbeat raced into overdrive again just reliving the split second when she’d connected with Taylor’s iridescent cobalt-blue eyes. Then, when her gaze had swept over that sexy body clad in a gray pin-stripe business suit a switch had flipped in her brain.

 “Yes, you did.” Taylor steered her firmly across the room towards the sofa. “Here, sit down and I’ll make us some coffee.”

Already unsteady on her feet, Ellie caught her heel in the carpet and fell backwards onto the floor taking Taylor down on top of her.

Their eyes met and locked and the world stopped turning.

All the air whooshed out of her lungs leaving Ellie a prisoner trapped in a web of incredible mind-blowing sensation, unable to move or breathe, drowning in a maelstrom of erotic imagery.

Then their lips touched and the electric shock brought her world back into sharp reality.

 “Oh…” Ellie expelled her mortification on a ragged breath.

Could I really have kissed another woman?

No. For a start, that fleeting touch of lips wasn’t a proper kiss, and she didn’t even know which of them had initiated it but it had happened and they couldn’t take it back.

“I’m so sorry… I…”

“Shush.” Taylor silenced her apology by resting one slender finger against her lips. After a moment it moved, circling her lips slowly until they parted under the gentle pressure. Something prompted Ellie’s tongue to snake out and touch the tip and then, emboldened, she drew the whole finger into her mouth. Sucking, savoring, sweeping its length with her tongue until overwhelmed by desire, she bit down on it.

Taylor’s groan rang in her ears, as if from a long way away—the sound echoing her own rising excitement.

How did one become so aroused from such a simple act?

Her clit throbbed. No, not just her clit, Ellie marveled how swiftly and urgently her whole body had responded to the stimuli.

Shyly she reached out to touch Taylor’s face. Her fingers drifted across high cheekbones down her neck then on through the valley between her breasts teasing open each tiny iridescent pearl button on her evening shirt as she went. All the time her gaze never strayed from Taylor’s, watching, waiting, for some sign of rejection.

Ellie moistened suddenly dry lips with the tip of her tongue. This was virgin territory; so to speak, with no roadmap to guide her way she had only a vague idea how to reach the ultimate destination. Taylor clearly didn’t intend to help her but neither had she done anything to hinder so, although terrified of putting a foot wrong and messing things up, she’d have to trust in her instinct.

The breath caught in her throat when the front fastening on Taylor’s bra gave way and both breasts spilled out into her hands. A soft fragrance, sultry yet sort of mysterious drifted off her skin, reminding Ellie of the exotic blooms in her grandmother’s conservatory.

Holy cow! I’ve really stepped over the line now.

Without thinking of the consequences, her thumbs moved to caress Taylor’s nipples. As she manipulated them into hard buds, Ellie longed to take one of the jeweled tips into her mouth, to feel them grow, and experience the sweetness on her tongue but shyness prevented her putting that desire into practice.

An all-consuming fire infused Ellie’s body. Her breasts felt heavy, the nipples both tingling and aching, while her pussy throbbed out its own message of urgency.

Now what?

Where do I go from here?

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Dalia
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“I believe in love and I believe in equality, and I believe in marriage equality.” David Grohl

I have been doing a lot of research on gay marriage and the Human Rights Campaign, which in a civil rights group that is fighting for equality for the GLBT community. I was doing it before because I had to write a paper for AP Government on the HRC, but I’ve been doing more and  more and it’s honestly ripping my heart out. I was reading about what the Matthew Shepard Act and what it entails… from then I went to the Matthew Shepard Foundation and read more about the story. At this point, it was starting to seem a little like dejavu. I felt like I had heard the story, then I found the movie and I knew thats where I had seen it before. I had watched the movie.

Here is the story:

The life and death of Matthew Shepard changed the way we talk about and deal with hate in the United States. For the past eight years, the legacy of this remarkable young man’s life has challenged and inspired millions of individuals to erase hate in all forms. Although his life was short, it continues to have a great impact on both young and old alike.

The story of Matthew Shepard begins on December 1, 1976 when he was born prematurely to Judy and Dennis Shepard in the small city of Casper, Wyoming. Matthew attended school in Casper until his junior year of high school when he finished his primary education at The American School in Switzerland. His experience abroad fueled his love for travel. He took the opportunity to explore Europe and learn multiple languages including German and Italian. 

 Matthew was an optimistic and accepting young man. He always put his family and friends first and had a special gift of relating to almost everyone. He was the type of person that was very approachable and always looked to new challenges. Matthew had a great passion for equality and always stood up for the acceptance of people’s differences. Throughout his life he expressed his love for acting by becoming very active in community theater both on and off stage.

Matthew’s college career took him to a number of different universities and later ended up studying political science, foreign relations and languages at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. He was extremely interested in politics and was chosen as the student representative for the Wyoming Environmental Council.

The horrific events that took place shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998 went against everything that Matthew embodied. Two men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, lead him to a remote area east of Laramie where they demonstrated unimaginable acts of hate. Matthew was tied to a split-rail fence where he was beaten and left to die in the cold of the night. Almost 18 hours later he was found by a cyclist who initially mistook him for a scarecrow.

Matthew died on October 12 at 12:53 am at a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. His entire family was by his side for the last few days of his life. His funeral was attended by friends and family from around the world and gained the appropriate media attention that brought Matthew’s story to the forefront of the fight against hate.

This tragedy helped the nation wake up to the fact that hate and discrimination still lives in our communities, our schools and our families. Although his life was cut short, the impact of his spirit is great.

"A light to the world."

Anyone who took the time to read this, thank you. Just by reading this, you are helping erase hate in this world. If you want to know more you should go to places like:

• hrc.org
• matthewshepard.org
• glsen.org
• or simply wiki it

PLEASE HELP ERASE HATE. The Matthew Shepard Act was passed in November 2009, lets nlet someone commit a hate crime for ANY reason at all. PLEASE.

We fell asleep on the floor
with the stereo on repeat.
Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell
was an album we discovered
together, the same way
we discovered B-grade
horror movies
and mutual masturbation.
Your summer vacation
would be my agony,
and I’m gonna need somebody to
make me feel like you do
in “For Crying Out Loud,”
a song that dies in slumber
and then thunders to resuscitation.
When the cymbals crashed
our arms were touching.
I was fourteen and didn’t
yet have a driver’s license.
You were thirteen and
your parents lived
in different states.
When the music finished,
you left to visit your father
in Missouri
and never returned.
I have your baseball cap.
You have the guilt
of a deserter
and a song
stuck in your head.

© Bryan Borland

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has privately instructed the more politically vulnerable Democratic members to not address “controversial” bills in 2010 unless the Senate acts first. This would include such issues as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” immigration reform, and partner benefits for gay federal employees.

Pelosi has decided to shift gears for the 2010 election to help avoid any further action that might put the Democratic majority at risk.

According to The Hill:

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the president of the freshman class, said that Pelosi came to last Wednesday’s freshman breakfast to deliver that message, and that it was met with wide spread approval.

“I think freshmen, particularly, are not enamored of the idea of being asked to walk the plank on a controversial item if the Senate is not going to take any action,” Connolly said.

Earth date: 11/20/2009
Star Trek Phase II released episode 5: Blood and Fire Part 2. The controversial, long-awaited conclusion to the Star Trek gay story line is finally out! www.StarTrekNewVoyages.com

Earlier this year I told you about Star Trek Phase II, the Trekkie fan made webseries that resurrected the unreleased Star Trek: The Next Generation episode deemed to gay for TV story line “Blood and Fire,” written by former Trek TV writer David Gerrold. Though TV executives originally rejected the story as too controversial for broadcast, Phase II adapted the script for its re-created Star Trek online series.

The episode features the nephew of James T. Kirk in a gay relationship as they rescue another ship infected with highly contagious and deadly blood worms that can spread and wipe out humanoid life across the universe. Kinda like space-AIDS. On top of that there is a threat from the Klingon empire.

The fifth episode of Star Trek New Voyages / Phase II “Blood and Fire Part 2″ is now available to watch and download at StarTrekPhase2.com! and you can check out all the webisodes here.

Star Trek Phase II tells the continuing voyages of Captain Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701 as seen in the 1960’s television series, Star Trek. Though the series was canceled after its third season, Phase II continues the series picking up as if it was the fourth year for the crew of Enterprise.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am currently looking for parents of LGBT individuals who are willing to complete an anonymous research, located online at: http://www.genderstudy.info (instead of .com or .org).

I hope that this study will contribute to further understanding of the understudied and underserved population. I also believe the knowledge gained from this study will help therapists in addressing issues related to sexual and gender orientation.

The research study has been developed in consultation with my dissertation committee, LGBT individuals, and was approved by the institutional review board (IRB) at Alliant International University.

I would appreciate if you could help circulate the information about my study. For your convenience I have also attached a flier.

Thank you,

Jennifer Mato, M.A.
Marital and Family Therapy Doctoral Candidate
Alliant International University (San Diego)
jmato@alliant.edu

Dissertation chair: Narumi Taniguchi, Ph.D

I’m back! I finished all my finals yesterday, and I’ve already started reading as many books as I can. I’ve finished five so far this week! Reading books this quickly means it’s pretty tough for me to keep up on reviews, but since I don’t want to get too far behind I’ve decided to do mini reviews instead of full ones. Or, not mini reviews, since these thing turned out pretty long, but “review notes.”

I’m feeling super lazy after pumping out so many essays in the last few weeks, so these’ll mostly be lists of my impressions and main thoughts instead of a coherent paragraph. At this point I’m wondering if I shouldn’t just write some haikus, but I think that’s a little above my current capacity for thought at the moment. It took me three tries just to write this and make it sound good!

So: please forgive me if these aren’t up to my usual review standards, but I hope it’s better than nothing and that you’ll enjoy reading them. I expect I’ll probably be doing this all winter break, to be honest. The reviews will be grouped into threes, so here’s the first set:

The Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt
Publication: Puffin; Reprint edition (June 25, 2009), Paperback, 304pp / ISBN 0142413380
Genre: Mystery, MG/Children’s
Rating:
Read: November ?, 2009 – December 13, 2009
Source: Publisher

Summary:

If it hadn’t been for Lucas’s photographic memory, they might not have remembered the man. It had been almost a year since she and Kari noticed him copying a famous Rembrandt painting in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. But now in the National Gallery in London, they spot the same guy, copying another Rembrandt. Then, when a never-before-seen Rembrandt painting is discovered in Amsterdam, the girls begin to suspect the truth. Convinced that no one will believe them without hard and fast evidence, the teenage sleuths embark on a madcap adventure to find the forger and bring him to justice. (From Amazon)

Notes:
- Protagonists were very YOUNG 14 year olds. They’re supposed to be in high school, but they seemed very naive re: stuff like…oh yeah! Those women standing on the corner of that sketchy part of town are prostitutes, not just random girls hanging out, and so maybe you shouldn’t dress like them and sneak out of your hotel room while your mom is away and go to that part of town, DUH. And they’re supposed to live in Minneapolis! But maybe they were super-sheltered? Or just, uh, stupid naive.
- It’s obviously a MG book but sometimes it seems like it’s trying too hard to be “good” or parent-safe. There was a big thing about substituting “meep” for swear words. wtf? I understand the point, but it would have been less annoying to just not mention it at all and not have the girls swear as a natural personality trait, or something.
- Still, it was interesting mystery with BIG thrills. I actually go so nervous for the protagonists that I had to put it down for a few weeks.
- It’s a really good for younger kids. Scary in some parts, but the story is good and I think practically everyone would enjoy it (except maybe mall goths?). It’s just that some parts annoyed me and the characters were slightly unrealistic– something I tend to have problems with in MG books, unfortunately.
- I have the next book and I’ll read that one, and hopefully when I do I’ll be less grumpy!

The Rose & the Beast by Francesca Lia Block
Publication: HarperTeen (August 7, 2001), Hardback, 240pp / ISBN 0064407454
Genre: Fantasy, Teen
Rating:
Read: December 14, 2009
Source: Library

Summary:

With language that is both lyrical and distinctly her own, Francesca Lia Block turns nine fairy tales inside out.

Escaping the poisoned apple, Snow frees herself from possession to find the truth of love in an unexpected place.

A club girl from L.A., awakening from a long sleep to the memories of her past, finally finds release from its curse.

And Beauty learns that Beasts can understand more than men.

Within these singular, timeless landscapes, the brutal and the magical collide, and the heroine triumphs because of the strength she finds in a pen, a paintbrush, a lover, a friend, a mother, and finally, in herself.

Notes:
- I’ve never read a FLB book before! I did have an assumption that she wrote the sorts of books that teens fall in love with and model their life after (or something like that, anyway). I was kinda worried that I wouldn’t enjoy her books because I’m no longer a teen and a lot of teen antics annoys me now, but I figured this would be fine because it’s fairy tale retellings and how angsty could that be?
- Yeah, more angsty than I thought. Also this is turning out to be more like a regular review! How ’bout that?
- The stylistic elements stands out more than the writing– kind of like The Sounds & the Fury or Ulysses, where the style takes point instead of the actual story– even the page layout overrides the text. It (the text) is all squished together inside these huge margins, and while it’s cool (it feels like a secret, magic book, almost, very intimate) it also kept distracting me.
- The retellings were like a framework of a story rather than a full story. I suppose you’ll just have to read it for yourself to see, but it wasn’t straightforward and clearly understandable, like…I don’t know. Agatha Christie? It was more non-corporeal, more spiritual, like stream of consciousness stuff. Maybe The Sound and the Fury is a good example again.
- There was an interesting combination of past and present in the retellings. I often didn’t know when a story took place until maybe a character pulls out a cell phone, but until that point it feels like a long-ago time. I liked the drama of the old + new.
- Liked some stories better than others: snow, charm, bones, beast.
- Nevertheless, it wasn’t entirely my thing– too…aware of itself, maybe? But I also don’t like the sorts of books that fans of The Bell Jar and , so it probably just is my personal taste.
- Just a random thing, but I couldn’t help notice overwhelming hetereosexuality of the stories. Although there’s a lesbian story somewhere in the middle, it just seems kind of weird there’s not more retellings with gay characters. (I know about Ash– I’m reading it now. Are there more fairy tales with gay characters as protagonists?)

Princess Ben by Catherine Murdock
Publication: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (March 18, 2008), Hardback, 344pp / ISBN 0618959718
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Children’s/YA
Rating:
Read: December 15, 2009
Source: Library

Summary:

Benevolence is not your typical princess and Princess Ben is certainly not your typical fairy tale. With her parents lost to unknown assassins, Princess Ben ends up under the thumb of the conniving Queen Sophia, who is intent on marrying her off to the first available “specimen of imbecilic manhood.” Starved and miserable, locked in the castle’s highest tower, Ben stumbles upon a mysterious enchanted room. So begins her secret education in the magical arts: mastering an obstinate flying broomstick, furtively emptying the castle pantries, setting her hair on fire . . . But Ben’s private adventures are soon overwhelmed by a mortal threat facing the castle and indeed the entire country. Can Princess Ben save her kingdom from annihilation and herself from permanent enslavement?

Notes:
- Ben really annoyed me for a lot of the book. I know she’s sheltered, and naive, and spoiled, and she even says all that herself. But she doesn’t bother trying to change until the very end, and even then it’s because of a negligible outside influence. She’s a princess! I know she wasn’t raised like the heir to a nation (and I don’t know WHAT her parents were thinking, not even to educate her in the ways of ruling a country), but still. Have some responsibility, please!
- Also, I couldn’t really get any sympathy up for her for anything outside of her parents dying. Oh, you’re living in a nice castle, being terrorized into learning graces and other basic stuff rulers need to know? How HORRIBLE. I understand that queens (and princesses) need to know more than just dancing and small talk and that Ben must have been scared out of her mind, living with her “enemy,” but, I mean, c’mon. It wasn’t THAT bad. Grow up a little quicker, y’know?
- I did like the little touch about Ben (over-)eating for comfort rather than sustenance. It was a nice subtle emotional thing that gave the story layers.
- The story had a lot of start something exciting-STOP now we have to do something boring. The beginning was extremely exciting, but I nearly gave up in the middle it was so dull! Luckily something shocking happened soon after that and I kept reading it.
- I did like the romance, although I think it (and the rest of the plot) resolved way too neatly.
- If you don’t think about the plot holes until the very end of the book it’s very enjoyable, but unfortunately I had trouble doing that.
- I had a lot of problems with most of the book, but I like the basic idea and it wasn’t HORRIBLE. Ben-as-an-adult (and as a better princess) seemed really lovely, but the way she acted when she was younger (the MELODRAMA) just killed my connection to her.

Back in early December, the Washington D.C. Council decided that human rights really do apply to all humans.   The District will be joining Vermont, Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut (Maine and California voters (with heavy funding from outside the states) decided that some humans are not eligible for human rights).   

“This is a culmination of the entire gay rights movement,” Richard J. Rosendall, a past president of the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance of Washington D.C., said after the vote. “We have spent many, many, years working toward this.” (from the Washington Post)

Unfortunately, Washington D.C. is not a state.  It is a federal district.  Though they do have home rule now (the days of the U.S. congress voting on parking meter increases is long gone), the congress has 30 days to object.  Luckily, there is no sign of opposition.

Oh.  Wait.  The gentleman from Utah will be heard from (from the Salt Lake City Tribune):

A Utah Republican renewed his pledge Tuesday to prevent the nation’s capital from allowing gay couples to marry after the Washington, D.C., Council signed off on such a measure.

But Rep. Jason Chaffetz acknowledged it will be tough to overturn the newly adopted ordinance, which the Washington mayor is expected to sign before Christmas.

“It’s going to be exceptionally difficult because Democrats have us outnumbered by large amounts,” Chaffetz said Tuesday. “Nevertheless, we’re going to try.”

Chaffetz sits on a House subcommittee that oversees the district. Congress can revoke D.C. laws within 30 days after they are signed by the mayor.

Chaffetz promises to introduce legislation in January.

“If it were put up for a vote, traditional marriage would win,” he said. “It would win with a congressional vote, and it would win with the residents of Washington, D.C.”

Heh.  A representative from Utah (always a hotbed of traditional marriage (think Saint George and the LDS fundies)) wants force a vote on whether humans are deserving of human rights.  Traditional marriage, huh?  That would be no divorces under any circumstances, wife and children are the literal property of the man and parents having the right to kill children for not obeying dad instantly.  These things have changed.  The number of wives a Mormon can have has changed,  but for D.C. to change and become more inclusive?

America is a democracy.  However, majority does not always rule.  The point of the Constitution of the United States of America, specifically the Bill of Rights, is to protect the rights of minorities.  Specifically, to protect the civil rights of minorities.  Civil rights are not a matter for popular vote.  Representative Chaffetz, a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, seems to forget that there was a time when Mormons were a persecuted minority subjected to some of the same legal, social and vigilante restrictions facing gay and lesbian Americans today.

(The comments under the SLCT article are, surprisingly, very anti-Chaffetz.)

I don’t get too worked up about the Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays issue.  I do get irritated if Best Buy makes reference to a Muslim holiday but deliberately ignores Christmas.  If someone wants they can say “Happy HOLY Days.”  Or if someone greets you with Happy Holidays you can reply, “Yes, thanks, I do enjoy the holy day celebrating Christ’s birth.”  (I’m kidding — I don’t think being belligerent about it does much to advance the kingdom).

I have a Muslim employee.  I wish him happy holidays, and he wrote “Merry Christmas” on a present he gave me.  He knows who I worship.  I’d rather save up all my goodwill with him for our next talk about Jesus.

—

Obama’s Safe Schools Czar Tied to Lewd Readings for 7th Graders – a thorough summary on a very perverse man who is the opposite of safe for kids.  Go ask your friends if they’ve heard of Kevin Jennings.  Then ask them to read this and more about him and to wonder why the MSNBC, CNN and their local paper are ignoring him and the perverse GLSEN organizations infiltrating our schools?

And of course the GLSEN group does little for safety and lots for indoctrination.  Jennings wrote Queering Elementary Education: Advancing the Dialogue about Sexualities and Schooling, of which the title alone is enough to disqualify him from his current position.  Consider this from one of their events:

Using images from popular children’s media, we will transform these into a subversive coloring book, writing stories for the characters we always wanted to rebel against.  Because so much of children’s media does not include Transgender, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer, and Feminist characters and ideas, we will deliberately work to contradict this. Don’t miss the chance to make friends, cut-n-paste with a real live glue stick, and change the direction of children’s media. No artistic experience necessary.

—

Pew survey shows that evangelical Christian Republicans are the most rational – well, duh.  Seriously, Liberals and/or non-believers are twice as likely to believe in fortune tellers.  And this polls show how those who attend church regularly are much less likely to believe in astrology and reincarnation than those who aren’t as committed. 

—

Teacher’s unions working to block accountability — Hey, maybe if they worked on being better teachers instead of fighting the obvious.

—

So, we are taking December off from trying. Things are too stressful at work for Brooke and the holidays in general. I think also we never expected this whole thing to be so hard on us emotionally. This weekend we went to visit some friends in Vancouver, BC. and their one year old boy. They are a lesbian couple who went through the same stuff we are now going through. I think it was just what we needed. Brooke let loose and even drank some wine. I was kind of floored. She had given up caffeine and alcohol since we started trying. But I think she really was overdue for a glass of wine. I am so floored at their health care. You know people are so opinionated about health care in the states, whether or not they should have it. People act as though Canada is some communist country with their health care. But they had great care with the birth and all of the insemination were tax deductible for them. In order for ours to be tax deductible it has to be 7.8% of our annual income. And I just found out yesterday my insurance won’t allow me to put Brooke on it because we can’t get married. The whole system is just fundamentally flawed. Somehow it will all work out. I think I am ready to start thinking about babies again. We had so much fun spending time with their little boy. I think it reminded me how excited I am to be a mom. For Brooke I think it was nice for her to talk to a lesbian mom who had to go through the same stuff she has to go through. We definitely have our hetero friends with babies that have been good. But it is definitely not the same thing we have to go through. Too bad we can’t just go back to the old turkey baster!

The District of Columbia Council voted to legalize same-sex marriage in the Nation’s Capital on Tuesday. Several U.S. Congressmen have stated they will moved to block this local law enacted by the duly elected local government.

Televangelist Oral Roberts responded by going into conference with his Maker, so the 91-year-old preacher was unavailable for comment. He was never very vocal on issues of sexuality anyway, perhaps because of his unfortunate first name.

Reverend Roberts commissioned Pentecostal comic books, spoke with a 900-foot-tall Jesus and extorted funds from his followers by threatening his own death, but he will be best remembered for his faith-healing. He even saved the medium of television from extinction for four decades.  Nothing can save TV now.

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length. Yes, we already know that “Granville” was his first name and “Oral” was his middle name.