The Olympic Hopeful with Two Dads

This picture caught my eye when I was reading Towle Road yesterday. Andy Towle wrote, “Do yourselves a favor and head to the Indianapolis Star to read this story…” I am really glad I did.

With the right wing vilifying the idea of same sex families as unnatural or harmful, it is so great when you get the chance to read something that proves them so very wrong. What a wonderful story of a loving, normal family who happens to be gay. It sounds like this kid is not only an amazing athlete, but an amazing child as well. Adopted by his dad, Jerry, who was single at the time, from a Cambodian orphanage, Jordan showed real promise as a diver at an early age. He will be the grand marshal of the Circle City Indiana Pride Parade this month as well as heading to Seattle for the Olympic trials. All this, and he appears to be a laid back, humble kid who just takes it all in stride.

Its a sweat story about a very cool family – I’m guessing we’ll be hearing about him a lot in the future!

Green Lantern Has a Boyfriend.

A few weeks ago, DC comics revealed its plans to reintroduce one of its “iconic” characters as gay. The only hints they gave were that it was a male. The writer of the comic series Earth 2, James Robinson, was interviewed by The Advocate (read the interview here) and gave some insight into the decision to make Alan Scott’s character gay.

I didn’t realize that there have been several versions of the Green Lantern over the years, but Alan Scott is the original. He was introduced in 1940 and was a very popular character for the comic. DC is relaunching many of their characters in an attempt to revive readership, refresh the characters and attract younger readers. In previous story lines, Alan Scott’s biological son, known as Obsidian, was a gay character. Since the reboot would not included him, he got the idea to make Scott gay. His editors didn’t blink an eye.

This is a true testament to the fact that “gay” is becoming part of the normal experience in American. I think having a strong, handsome superhero who defends the universe will be a positive image for young gay men… and pretty cool for old gay men like me. Count me in to get a copy of Earth 2 #2 – it will be released next Wednesday.

The Real Reason They Oppose Marriage Equality

To me this cartoon is perfect! I truly believe this is what drives many people who say they are against marriage equality. But what about the religion? Marriage licenses are a civil contract. No church has ever been forced to marry anyone against their will. Church’s refuse to marry people all the time. And as the cartoon says, marriages in the bible were about property and domination.

It would be so refreshing if Tony Perkins went on CNN and instead of the usual BS he spouts about traditional marriage and the sanctity of the family, he said, “Thinking about two men having sex is disgusting!” But I have a sneaking suspicion Mr. Perkins finds it rather exciting… You know the bigger the homophobe, the bigger the homo!

Breaking News: DOMA Found Unconstitutional by 1st Circuit Court of Appeals

The Defense of Marriage Act that denies federal recogition to legally married same sex couples has been found, yet again, unconstitutional. This time by the 1st Circuit court of appeals. This 3 judge panel includes two highly regarded GOP nominees, Juan Torruella and Michael Boudin.

Read the news item form Think Progress here.

UPDATE:

Read a more detailed article from the Huffington Post here

California Senate Approves Ban on “Conversion” Therapy

Ted Lieu, CA State Senator

Earlier today the California state senate approved bill 1172. The bill bans the practice by licensed mental health professionals of “conversion” therapy – that is, curing the gay. The bill, sponsored by Ted Lieuwas also cosponsored by a number of entities including Equality California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Mental Health America of Northern California, Gaylesta, and Lambda Legal. The bill still needs to be passed by the Assembly and signed by Governor Brown. Read the press release from Equality California here.

The bill would ban the practice for minors, even if their parents want “reparative” therapy – There are several studies that suggests that the practice is not only ineffective, but extremely harmful. I hope more states come on board soon.

Good going, California!

Christians vs. “Christianists”

Last night I read about a Kansas Paster who thinks the government should execute all gay people. I saw another blog post today. You can read his exact statement here. Beware, it’s vile.

I started thinking how horrid some Christians are. Then I remembered the term “Christisnist”. Coined by conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan, he defined it as the fringes of the religious right that use scripture for power, control and oppression. He uses the term Christianists to equate it with fundamental Islamist who have usurped and twisted the teachings of Islam to overtake entire countries. Read Sullivan’s original blog post here.

Christianists, not Christians, are horrible, hateful people.

Lambda Legal and the ALCU Take on Illinois re: Marriage Equality

This morning the ACLU and Lambda Legal announced it is filing two lawsuit on the behalf of 25 gay and lesbian couples in Illinois. Each couple attempted to get a marriage license at the Cook County Courthouse, but was denied due to the state’s Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, which prohibits same sex marriage. The lawsuit claims the law violates the Illinois state constitution’s equal protection and due processes clauses.

It looks like activists are going to have to challenge marriage equality in the courts rather than rely on the legislature to act fairly. It seems with the victories in the Prop 8 case as well as the five federal judges ruling DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act), that the judiciary may decide marriage equality, much like it did with interracial marriage in the 60’s.

It seems to me that the more court cases we have to refer to when we reach the Supreme Court, the better.

Read about the lawsuits here.

Stereotypes Are a Real Time Saver

This morning, my straight buddy Paul posted on Facebook that he thought it was odd that homophobes spend so much time thinking about the sex lives of gay folk. I told him what most gays have always guessed was the underlying cause. The most anti-gay homophobes are probably closet cases themselves. I shared an article with him about a study at the University of Rochester that shows a high number of individuals with the most anti-gay feelings also have a high degree of same sex attraction. Finally we are seeing clinical proof of what we’ve always known down deep. Read more about the study here.

Paul joked that he was really jealous because he can’t accessorize. It got me thinking – there are so many stereotypes about gays. We see them on TV, in the movies, in magazines. I thought about me and my husband. We can be pigeon-holed on a few things, but for the most part, we don’t fit the stereo type.

I shot back to Paul that when I came out I thought I’d suddenly have fashion sense, decorating skills, be able to style hair and have an undying thirst for cosmopolitans and facials…. but no! I still dress like shit, hate the Golden Girls and our apartment looks like Oscar’s bedroom on the Odd Couple. Our date nights consist of watching UFC at the local sports bar or sharing popcorn at “The Avengers”. And the only antique in our apartment is me!

Tell your man, stereotypical or not, that he’s the one with a romantic gay greeting card.