Charlie Sheen and the maggots.

Today’s Link

It wouldn’t be the end of the year if Charlie Sheen didn’t pop up once more in some sort of random drunken rambling.  This time gay people seem to be the target.  He appeared on stage in Mexico and called us all faggots.  But he has now apologized and blamed it all on the fact that he has a lisp and really meant to say maggots.

Why do I mention this?  Because for better or worse he is someone who a lot of people look up to for some reason.  As soon as people like him learn the error of their ways (if possible) then maybe things will get better for everyone.  Hopefully things will change some in 2013.

Speaking of, have a happy new year tonight.  Be safe and I’ll be back tomorrow!

Big love,

DMx

 

Illinois next?

Today’s Link

Now that President Obama has broken the seal on supporting marriage equality it seems that there is no going back for him. First there was his big support for it as a presidential candidate, then there were various calls at the state level too. Now he has come out in favor of it in his former senate state of Illinois as well.

This is obviously going to continue to ruffle feathers. It also will continue to show others that it is okay to show support for equality which can only be a good thing moving forward. We are already seeing the odd Republican piping up with support for things and hopefully this may encourage a little more.

Big love,

DMx

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Long service awards.

Today’s Link

It’s always good to see people rewarded for their service to the LGBTQ community.  Today it was announced that Michael Cashman, a Member of the European Parliament and former actor, is to be awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire award) in the Queens New Years List).  Cashman has been a tireless campaigner for LGBTQ rights for many years and it is good to see him being recognized for his works.

As more and more people are recognized at these levels it can only be good for our visibility and acceptance.  Recognition is important to being accepted into society and to being placed onto an equal footing with everyone else.  Long may this sort of thing continue!

Big love,

DMx

What price discrimination?

Today’s Link

Back stateside it seems that people are gearing up for marriage equality in the state of Maryland though not in the way I would have hoped. Today’s link talks all about the lengths some people will go to avoid equality.

The cost of being allowed to discriminate for this person is about $50,000 per year it seems. That is how much he makes on wedding bookings at the moment and rather than allow gay couples to use his services he is pulling out of the wedding business all together. Obviously a very wealthy discriminator.

Big love,

DMx

Turning Tides?

Today’s Link

The tide may indeed be turning amongst Republicans in the US over DOMA it seems.  Perhaps they see that things are changing now that the Supreme court has agreed to hear a few cases as now we are up to three prominent Rpublicans who are supporting a repeal.

Let’s hope that a few more have a change of heart in the new year.

Big love

DMx

 

 

The judges now pipe up.

Today’s Link

Now that the church has been busy having its say, it seems that the judges want to start weighing in as well.  One of the High Court judges in the UK now says that the government is going about marriage equality in the UK all wrong.  He say’s this why?  Because it is a “minority issue”.

Clearly this chap is a high court judge because he is as smart as a tack.  Yes, Sir Paul, it is a minority issue.  That’s why we can’t married at the moment.  That’s why we are going through all this at the moment.  That’s why we have equality laws and equality acts.  How many people would you like to be in the minority before you want it to be fixed?  Perhaps you would like it to be a bigger problem first?  The world would maybe better if we allowed things to become bigger problems perhaps?

Big love,

DMx

A Christmas Message.

Greetings all.  Seeing as everyone seems to be delivering Christmas messages, I thought I would too!  After all if it’s good enough for all the priests, bishops, and the Pope to spout on about equality and stuff, then it should be good for me to as well.

LGBTQ folks are here and we exist in this world.  We didn’t just arrive last week.  We have always been here.  We may not have always been as vocal as we have recently but that is for a variety of reasons and it is also not likely to change.  We didn’t just decide that we want to be different either.  There is a possibility that some people may have decided to sleep with someone else because they liked it, but even if they did that really isn’t anyone else’s concern now, is it.  But for most LGBTQ people it seems to be pretty much the way the cookie crumbles.  No amount of berating us, giving us ghastly therapy, making us marry opposite sex people, putting us in the ducking-stool, or locking us up, etc., is going to change us.  There is a lot of history to prove the point so please stop and learn a lesson from the past.  It’s called moving forward.

Also, the vast majority of us have heterosexual parents too.  So ultimately straight people get to carry the can for the fact that we are kicking around this earth.  So wise up, stop being jerks, stop trying to be superior, and stop trying to keep all the toys away from us.  We have lots to bring to the party.  We can cook, we can help you dress better, we can act, sing, and decorate really well.  Lots of us are fantastic at car mechanics, and there are some of us who can build houses, bridges, and fix things.  If you give us guns, tanks, and nuclear bombs, we can also blow up the world and kill people just as well as you can too.  We can also raise stable kids and have nice families.  Granted, we have a few nutters in our communities too, but we never said that we are perfect.  After all, look at who our parents are.  The gene pool isn’t really that large so please own your responsibility.

So, seeing as we all have to get along, how about we make 2013 a year to sort it all out and get along a little bit better?  That would be a good Christmas present wouldn’t it?

Big love,

DMx

The Orwellian Shambles?

Today’s Link

And so the back and forth on equality in the UK continues. Now that I am over here for the holidays I am seeing far more of it in the newspapers than I had imagined I would. All of the archbishops seem to have something to say about it too, particularly in their Christmas messages.

This is seems to be a time for going on the offensive and the churches will, it appears, do anything to stop equality. Marriage is a civil issue and not a religious issue, therefore it is of no concern of theirs as they are not being forced to integrate it into religious policy or doctrine. That should be the end of it. As it should be in the US too.

Big love,

DMx

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Bridging divides.

Today’s Link

Greetings folks around the world. The divides between people are always evident in this world especially amongst those who seek to marginalise others. However all of us have to get along in this world and there are times when we have to pull together. The recent events in Connecticut are an example of that.

The Gay Men’s Chorus in Los Angeles dedicated one of their recent performances to the tragedy and here is a video of the occasion. A fine example of people coming together across social divides and geographic ones too. Long may it continue.

Big love,

DMx

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Holiday Homeless

Today’s Link

As we get a little closer to the holidays we start to see more and more signs about people who are a little less fortunate than others.  One of the groups that we often hear about are the homeless.  One of the subcategories of homeless that we don’t often hear about though are the homeless LGBTQ folks out there, especially youth.  Homeless LGBTQ youth face special challenges due to their sexuality that we should be aware of and today’s link talks a little about some of these issues.

Take a moment to check it out.  Particularly striking is the quote about knowing that you have a family but also  knowing that they won’t help you.  Something to think about as we move into a new year and think about what we can be doing to help other folks out perhaps?

Big love,

DMx