Premier Queer

Articles from Tumblr

2010-05-31T11:05:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I interesting things I came across on tumblr. (This is me, by the way: Speaking of Non Sequiturs.)

Article 1: Gaydar really exists: Scientists prove gay people are more able to pick out fellow homosexuals

Basically it says that we're more observant - seeing the big picture and the details. It's sorta survival. We have to be on our toes or we won't find each other. I dunno if it's genetic or just how we have to learn to live to get by, but it's pretty cool. However, this doesn't explain why my gaydar is broken.

Article 2: Same Sex Marriage Should Be Legal

This one covers our favorite satire about 12 Reasons Gay Marriage is wrong (the one that starts "Being gay is not natural. And real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, air conditioning, tattoos, piercings, and silicone breasts" - take a look if you don't know it). It also explains civil unions verses actual marriage and why civil unions just won't cut it. For example: "Marriage: over 1,049 federal and state level benefits. Civil Unions: over 300 state level benefits. No federal protection." There are links to other sites and to Orbitz so you can go get married in Massachusetts or Connecticut.

So yeah, fun stuff. Check it out!

Over & Out,

Senate Panel Votes to Repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy

2010-05-27T21:31:00.000-04:00

"The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday voted to let the Defense Department repeal the ban on gay and bisexual people from serving openly in the military, a big step toward dismantling the Clinton-era policy widely known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”"
-New York Times article
Ok, so it's not over, but it's a start, a serious start. If you haven't emailed your Reps get onto HRC and do so. Now! Or write them the old fashioned way (with paper - remember paper?).

Anyways, I got a million things to do, but I had to share that!

Peace,
PQ

What Would You Do?

2010-05-20T08:50:00.003-04:00

ABC set up a gay couple in a straight sports bar and look what happened:
Video
It goes surprisingly well.
I'll try to get the one of the two moms and their kids up when I find it. It's on hulu, but I couldn't make it load.

-PQ

Tumblr

2010-05-19T16:32:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine got me on to tumblr. There goes what remained of my life.
A couple things I wanted to share that I got from fuckyeahlgbt:

http://www.soulforce.org/article/homosexuality-bible-gay-christian
If only the bigoted Christians would take the time to read this, then they'd understand that it really is humanly possible to be Christan and accepting.

Also, ABC is running this thing called "what would you do?" and tonight's is a waiter giving a lesbian couple and their kids a hard time. They're all actors, but they set up a camera to see people's reactions. Here's an article about it.

Anyways, I'll probably be sharing things from LGBTQ-related blogs I follow on tumblr. Here's a link to mine if you want to be a creeper. http://speakingofnonsequiturs.tumblr.com/

Cheers,
PQ

T-Shirt

2010-05-12T14:52:00.002-04:00

Soooo...
Remember that t-shirt that says "I'm just pretending to be gay for the social benefits" that I posted about earlier? Well, I ordered it today! So here's to hoping it gets here before the end of school so I can go out (or rather come out) with a bang before summer!

I let you know how it goes. *devious*

See ya!
PQ

House MD

2010-05-10T20:34:00.002-04:00

Quick random note-
Last week's episode of House MD was so gay. 13 took House to a lesbian bar and a lot of the problems the patient had stemmed from all these horrible treatments he'd undergone to try to "cure" him of being gay. It was so sad! He had the sweetest ex-boyfriend, who really cared about him, but he'd gone and gotten engaged to this woman. In fact, he was at the alter when he collapsed. And even after she left him, he refused to admit that he was "still" gay.
There was another pretty gay episode that I sadly missed a few weeks back where House and Wilson's neighbore thinks they're a couple (fan serivce alert!) and Wilson thinks it's hilarious or something because he ends up proposing to House.
Yet anther episode much further back featured 13, who's openly bi, having a relationship with a female patient. I missed that one too, but someday I will see it!
So yay House for giving the queers some cookies.

Oh and that picture I posted was something I found using stumbleupon and it made me sad and angry so I shared it.

Anyways, gotta run!
PQ

2010-05-10T15:15:00.003-04:00

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

2010-05-07T08:16:00.004-04:00

So who's the nasty and hateful politician du jour? Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates.
In case you missed it, here's what went down: The man is "strongly opposed" to congress making any changes to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy until the military reviews it more - whatever that means. Gates wrote, "I hope Congress will not do so, as it would send a very damaging message to our men and women in uniform that in essence their views, concerns and perspectives do not matter on an issue with such a direct impact and consequence for them and their families." So what does he think we should do? Let the entire military vote on it or something? How is that going to impact straight people's families? That doesn't even make sense! And never mind the people in uniform who aren't telling and the message we're sending them. "Yeah, sure go give up your lives for us, just don't tell us what your lives are like." That's a great message right there. Anyway, what brought this on was a request by "Sen. Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, head of the Armed Services Committee, for comment about the potential for such legislation changes" (CNN). Although there have been improvements (apparently it's a lot harder to kick some out who has been outed by a fellow military type), Don't Ask Don't Tell is still firmly in place. (Here's the CNN article I'm pulling info from: [link]. Yay for not plagiarizing!)
So, here's what I'd like to know? What exactly do they need to figure out about how this will effect the military? I can tell them exactly what will happen. It'll piss off a bunch of old white guys with too much testosterone and make a lot of LGTBs very happy (actually I'm not sure about the Ts; I'd have to check on that one). They'll have a bigger pool of people to pull from for the military and they'll be following the 14th Amendement (remember the Equal Protect Clause, guys?). Remind me why this is a bad thing? Oh yeah, the old white guys. Who cares? I would think that when it comes to fighting, it's the younger people that we should be more interested in. I'm sure the "good ol' boys" didn't want African-Americans to be able to defend their country either, but we got over that one too. So basically, suck it up. We've got just as much right to die as the next person or, to put it more positively, to fight for out freedom and our country.

Alrighty, that was your rant for the day from yours truly.

Over & Out,
PQ

Random Moment

2010-04-16T13:25:00.006-04:00

Stole this off a friend's facebook:

So Larry King is getting his 8th divorce, Elizabeth Taylor is possibly getting married for a 9th time, Britney Spears' first marrage lasted just hours, Jesse James and Tiger Woods are... well... you know.... Yet the idea of same-sex marriage is what is going to destroy the institution of marriage?? Uh, REALLY??.. Feel free to copy and paste if you agree!

I'm not going to rant about it; I think we all know.

Oh and speaking of web comics from last time, this one is probably my favorite: Khaos Komic. Pretty much everyone in it is gay, trans, or both. It doesn't update regularly, but it's super-awesome. The writing style is wonderful and the story's pretty good too. It's not Shakespeare, but it's fun. So go read it!

Cheers,
PQ

Pictures!

2010-04-16T12:04:00.002-04:00

So I know I was here like five minutes ago, but I wanted to quickly share a couple of pictures with you.

The first one is the armband that I'm wearing. I made it for DoS last year and then wore it to prom. (No, I'm not wearing it this year because I'm wearing rainbows!) So here's a picture of that from my deviantArt:

And this is a t-shirt by web-comic author/artist rosalarian that I'm dying to have, but I'm not sure that wearing it to school is such a good plan. (Though I might do it anyway...) Her comics are epic, by the way: Yu+Me Dream - a surreal lesbian love adventure, very long, but totally worth it - and I was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space - I think the title says it all. Anywho, if you want to get me this T-shirt, go for it! (Or if you want to be awesome and wear it, go you!)

Alright, going away for real this time (but hopefully not for too long).

PQ

DoS and Hospital Visitations!

2010-04-16T11:27:00.004-04:00

Hey world! Long time no see.
Two exciting things to report today:
1) Day of Silence
2) Obama did something useful.

Alright so excitement numbero uno (I don't take Spanish...)
Today is Day of Silence. If you don't know, it's an event sponsored by GLSEN. It's teh 15th year, we've been doing this. Basically what happens is that students don't speak to represent the silence that LGBT kids have to live with because they're afraid to speak out. We don't have a big turn out so to speak at my school, but even having a silent "conversation" with a couple of friends can be oddly uplifting because it's such a solid mark of their support. If your school doesn't do DoS, you should try to fix that for next year. We're going to try to have a "Breaking the Silence" chat after school, but I don't know if people are going to show up; we'll see.
There was a nasty indent, thought. Students from another school in my town started a facebook event to protest our protest. Here's what they said on their event page:

This is for everyone who doesnt want to see a time and place where you have to sit in a restraunt and see 2 men kissing. or go to the movies and watch the 2 women in front of you makeout. or see dudes on the beach in bikinis. or women who are more manly than pro wrestlers.
Heres how it is:
WE ARENT HATING.
ok. your gay. thats all good. GO BE GAY IN PRIVATE WITH YOUR GAY PARTNER. NOT IN PUBLIC! you wonder why you get talked about or made fun of... its like wearing nothing but your underwear to school! its not normal! your GOING to get talked about!

GAY RIGHTS ARE NOT CIVIL RIGHTS.
1. A gay person is not going to be thrown out of court with an automatic "guilty" sentence just for being gay. unlike back before civil rights, when it was next to impossible for a fair trial for a non-white.
2. A gay person is not going to be told to "leave my establishment" for being gay.
3. You dont see water fountains around that say "GAY" and "STRAIGHT" do you?
4. etc... etc...

what rights are yall tryin to get? you have the EXACT same rights straight people have. we are all equal as it is now.

Hateful and ignorant. What a lovely combination.
At least they only have 12 people attending and a lot of my friends joined me in reporting them.

I've made it since 12 last night without talking, but I'll have to give it up a bit early for my last class, which only has four people in it... Ah well. I'm doing better than I did last year.

Alrighty, excitement numbero ... two! (Like I said, I don't know Spanish^^;)
Here's a Washington Post article, but the quick version is that Obama mandadted that (nearly) all hospitals have to allow same-sex partners to visit one another and to make medical decisions for them.
Obama finally did something for us! Yay! (Okay there was the Mathew Shepard Act too.) This is a big step. It's not super-controversial so hopefully the conservatives won't get all mad about it, but it also has a huge impact on people's daily lives. (Well, not daily, but you know what I mean... I hope.) However, I still can't help putting it in the "band-aid for a bullet wound" category. We got one right that we've been denied because we can't get married. That's great. We don't have die alone anymore, but still... Maybe I'm just being negative, but I feel like we're just being thrown tid-bits to keep us quiet like we're dogs sitting under the table. It's awesome that things are improving, but it's taking so long that whenever I hear my friends go on dream wedding tears, I can't help wondering if I'll ever be able to get married and still be married no matter where I live. I'm sorry if I'm impatient, but this is my life and I don't want to spend it waiting around. Yeah, Moses and MLK were amazing people, but I want to get to the promise land!
Anyway, go Obama! I really do appreciate it; I'm just a cynical person (in case you hadn't noticed).

Alright, I've gotta head on in the school day, so no time to proof read. ~.~ Sorry. Hope it's not too bad.

Time to go be silent some more.

Over & Out!
PQ

Make the Yuletide Gay

2009-12-24T14:51:00.003-05:00

Happy Christmas/Holidays/Solstice/Some PC Winter Greeting!!!

It's Chirstmas Eve and if you celebrate Christmas and are like me, then you too are putting off getting ready for the big day. I, for one, am very excited. This strange box came to my house a few weeks ago and I'm dying to find out what was in it. Even if it wasn't for me, I have got to know what was in there! Anyway, enough about me.

I was going to post a link to HRC's breakdown of which business treat their LGBT employees like they're real people (imagine that!), but it's a bit late for that now. Of course, people shop all year round so go check it out if you like. (I'd find the link anyway, but my internet's been acting up lately and I don't want it to quite on me while I'm writing this.)

So, what's some gay Christmasy thing to say? (Sorry non-Christian people. I'm not a believer, but I like the tree and the presents and the festiveness.) Well, there's always the "women don't need men to have babies" idea. ... Kidding, sorry. The only thing I can think of, to be honest, is family. I think there's going to be about 20 of us this year, only a few of whom know that I'm not exactly straight, which is fine, I suppose, until someone asks me if I'm dating anyone. I'm still not sure if I'd rather someone just ask me or if I'd rather just die now, but I'm leaving it up to fate. If someone asks, I'm not going to lie (I've been dating this great girl for about a year and half now), but if nobody asks, I'm not going to make some kind of crazy announcement. That's my plan, just for the record. (If any of my family is reading this, hey, guess what?)

Anyway, family can mean a lot of different things for "our people." Of course there's code "family" as in "oh, she's defiantly family; you should ask her out" and then there's dealing with our biological families, which can be anything from the rainbowed-out P-FLAG mom to the parents who kick you out of the house, but usually they fall somewhere in-between. There's also the family we make from ourselves, our friends and significant others. Personally, I'd rather be with that lot than with my "real" family, not that I don't like them, but forced apperception of family at holidays has always struck me as awkward. Anyway, I hope you all get on with your families and that that aspect of the holidays goes well for you.

Alright, I've gotta go finish getting ready, don my gay apparel, etc., but I wish all my families, happy, safe, and fun holidays!

Thought For The Day

2009-12-13T14:35:00.005-05:00

So just to wrap up my little freak out, I did end up going to the dance and I behaved myself and it was rather boring and very loud.

Anyway, that's not what I came here to talk about today. The other day I came across a quote from the novel Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami that I really wanted to share with the world. It's a great book, by the way, but extremely strange. This quote comes right after *spoiler alert* the character speaking is revealed to be a biological female living as a gay male.

"I've experienced all kinds of discrimination," Oshima says. "Only people who've been discriminated against can really know how much it hurts. Each person feels the pain in his own way, each has his own scars. So I think I'm as concerned about fairness and justice as anybody. But what disgust me even more are people who have no imagination. This kind T.S. Eliot calls hollow men. People who fill up that lack of imagination with heartless bits of straw, not even awre of what they're doing. Calluos people who throw a lot of empty words at you, trying to force you to do what you don't want to do. Like that lovely pari we just met." He sighs and twirls the long slender pencil in his hand. "Gays, lesbians, straights, feminists, fascist pigs, communists, Hare Krishnas - none of them bother me. I don't care what banner they raise. But want I can't stand are hollow people. When I'm with them I just can't bare it, and wind up saying things I shouldn't. With those women - I should have just let is slide, or else called Miss Saeki and let her handle it. She would have given them a smile and smoothed the whole thing over. But I just can't do that. I say things I shouldn't, do things I shouldn't do. I can't control myself. That's one of my weak points. . . . But there's one thing I want you to remember, Kafka. Those are exactly the kind of people who murdered Miss Saeki's childhood sweetheart. Narrow minds devoid of imagination. Intolerance, theories cut off from reality, empty terminology, usurped ideals, inflexible systems. Those are the things that really frighten me. What I absolutely fear and loathe. Of course it's important to know what's right and what's wrong. Individual errors in judgment can usually be corrected. As long as you have the courage to admit mistakes, things can be turned around. But intolerant, narrow minds with no imaginations are like parasites that transform the host, change form, and continue to thrive. They're a lost cause, and I don't want anyone like that coming in here."

Still dreaming,

Rant, Books, & Movies

2009-12-04T21:33:00.003-05:00

I am pissed. Sorry to be blunt, but I am not a happy me right now. So I'm going to rant at hyper-space and see if I feel any better. Just as a warning, this may sound trivial, but a) I'm so stressed right now that everything is the last straw and b) it's always the little things close to home that really get to me. Anyway, here is why I'm pissed.

My school's semi-formal is this weekend. So? So, I'd go (and I might just to laugh at the normal people), but I can't bring my girlfriend; it's against school rules. And of course, I've had to listen to the announcements reminding us to get the permission slips for our guests signed by our parents and people talking about dresses and dates, mostly dates. I'd have a date, a good date, probably better than those sketchy guys who think "dancing" means getting your pelvis on a girl's ass, but no, no date for me. That is why I'm pissed. If I do go, I plan on being as gay as possible. I wore an armband with the pink triangle on it to prom last year. I felt a little better about not being able to bring my date, but it was still pretty shitty. I'm thinking about writing the ACLU, but it's a private school so they can't do a lot. Still, it's worth a shot.

Alright, enough of that. (And that was the short version - aren't you lucky?)

Books & Movies:

Here are some good gay books...

Maurice, by E.M. Forster. Written 1913-14, published in the 1971.

Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanches. Not as cheesy as it sounds, I promise.

Annie on My Mind, by Nancy Garden. A classic and a good classic.

And movies...

Wilde - as in Oscar, gorgeous and heartbreaking

Maurice - movie of the book, again a beautiful (if long) movie

Milk - if you haven't seen it, that is now your #1 "to do"

Better Than Chocolate - great lesbian movie, romanic with humor, but some serious stuff too

But I'm a Cheerleader - a funny look at a "straight is great" fail

I could keep going, but I'll stop for now. Maybe I'll give some full-out reviews for some of these later, but they're all great if you're looking for something to do.

Over & Out,

Actual Reality Act Up Fight AIDS

2009-11-30T15:35:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow is World AIDS Day, so don't forget to wear red!

"You've Gotta Give 'Em Hope"

2009-11-27T22:58:00.007-05:00

It's been 31 years, 31 long years. Not that I've been around for all those years or anything, but still. I've seen (and read) enough to understand that it's been a long, hard slog - and it continues to be one.

In case you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, here's the deal. 31 years ago today ex-Supervisor Dan White shot San Francisco's Mayor Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk. If you want to know more about it and Milk's life, I'd suggest The Mayor of Castro Street: the Life and Times of Harvey Milk. It's by Randy Shilts, the same guy who wrote And the Band Played On (about the AIDS crisis? please say you're with me here). It's a really well-written book with a ton of info that's definitely worth checking out.

Anyway, I wrote a paper on all this last year so I thought I'd share some ideas on this whole deal and try not to get too angry. I left in the citations, by the way, so please don't call me on copy right law. So highly edited snipts from my paper:

Harvey Milk did not grow up dreaming of leading a movement and uniting a community. However, Milk became known as the “Mayor of Castro Street” and organized the local and growing population of GLBT people, who had previously had little sense of identity as a group or political power, into a true community.

Although he never intended to go into politics, when Milk arrived in San Francisco he saw that something needed to be done for underrepresented minority groups, particularly gays, who were not protected by civil rights laws. Although there were politicians who considered themselves to be friendly to the gay cause, Milk did not seem to find this good enough; he believed a gay leader should be in government protecting gay interests, just as any other minority group would have. He recognized a position that needed to be filled and filled it.

He charmed and disarmed his public with his trademark opening line: “My name is Harvey Milk and I want to recruit you,” both playing off of the conservative fear that gays wanted to recruit straight people’s children and being totally serious about broadening the movement.

Another reason Milk was popular was that, as City Supervisor, he supported not only his own minority community, but he also stood for all underrepresented groups. Milk worked to better the lives of GLBT people, Asians, and the elderly. When asked the night of his election if he was going to be a “supervisor for all the people,” Milk replied, “I have to be” (Times). Because, as an openly gay man, he understood what it meant to be treated as inferior, he worked to help all minority groups. Milk’s political agenda clearly proved him to be a true man of the people.

Milk “molded the gay community into a united voting bloc” and gave it a sense of political power (Martin). Moments that truly showed the sheer size and therefore the power of this budding community were the times when the Castro filled with people. Milk led many marches and was a major figure in the Gay Freedom Day parade.

A major aspect of the formation of the gay community was Milk’s insistence that gays come out, which helped people become more open and thus more of a community. Although today it is very common for GLBT people to come out, during and before the 1970s the idea of GLBT people not having to hide away in the closet and pretend to be straight was incredibly revolutionary. The modern trend of coming out and being proud is indeed one of Milks’ greatest legacies for it greatly contributed to the formation of a lasting gay community.

After his murder, the streets filled with a candle-lit river of quiet mourners whose very appearance proved just how much Harvey Milk had done for the people of the Castro (Times). Cleve Jones remembers that on the night Milk was shot “‘tens of thousands of men, women, and children of every age, race, and background’” honored their fallen hero by marching with candles from the Castro to City Hall (Martin).

Despite the attention the assassinations and trial brought to Milk’s cause, as Cleve Jones put it, the verdict seemed to send the message “that in America it’s all right to kill” gays (Weiss 405). At the time, Milk’s graphic death drew invaluable attention to the gay cause; however this attention faded and people soon began to forget Milk. The loss of a strong leader and public figurehead was extremely destructive to the gay rights movement; without a high-profile leader, Milk’s cause has not advanced nearly as much as it might have in the past thirty-one years (Martin).

Sorry if that was a bit long, but from an eleven page paper, that's not half bad. So here's the part where I try not to get angry.

Let me be blunt, Dan White killed our MLK. I fervently believe that we'd be miles ahead if we'd had Harvey Milk at the helm or really even anyone. Not that the movement has fallen apart, but there's no leader and without one strong leader for people to look to, we can only get so much done. We need him, but we lost him; we had him stolen cruelly away. So until someone else is able to take up that rainbow mantel, I really doubt we're going to make in all the way. So here's the question: who's going to give us hope now?

Lesbian Worms, WTF or FTW?

2009-08-26T22:31:00.002-04:00

You decide.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/offbeat-news/scientists-create-lesbian-worms

http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2007/10/lesbian_nematodes.html

Told you it wasn't a choice.

Anyway, I was feeling lazy so go read someone else's work.

Cheers,

Catching Up

2009-08-17T15:41:00.005-04:00

Okay, I'm really sorry I've MIA for so long. I had an excuse in July, but lately I've just been lazy and I hadn't heard about anything exciting to report on so I just sort of failed. I'll try not to let that happen again. However, with school starting back up again I don't know how much blogging I'll be able to do. Anyway, here's what's up with the world.

In Religion:

This summer, the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church lead to some not very drastic, yet exciting changes. Anyone who has been baptized and gone through the proper training can now be an Episcopal priest, including gay, lesbian, and transgendered people (everyone, in other words). Also, priests are allowed to bless same-sex marriages where it's legal and I think same-sex unions if they feel like it, depending on the local climate and such. The info I got was in legal (i.e. confusing) terms and rather hard to understand. Priests can provide "generous pastoral support" to same-sex couples, that bit I got for sure as they kept saying it. People can get their legal same-sex unions blessed while the church makes up its mind about the theology of marriage and what have you. It seems to me, that they decided that if God moves two people of the same gender to get married, that no one should get in the way, but I could not wrong (again, it's rather confusing). Some people have interpreted this to be a way of going back to what marriage is about for Christians, that is, love and community, not children and gender roles. Instead of kids being the fruit of a marriage, you just get love, the "fruit of the spirit." They somehow managed to make gay marriage sound very holy and pure. So anyway, good for the Episcopalians.

In Government:

The Matthew Shepard Act passed the Senate! That's exciting. In late July, HRC reported via email that "the bill will soon be on its way to President Obama's desk, where he'll get a chance to make good on his promise to sign it." I'm thinking that if it had been signed I would have heard about it, so, theoretically, the bill is somewhere between the Senate and the president's desk. I know that's kind of useless info, but it's still progresses so it's worth mentioning.

Earlier this month, a fully-inclusive version of ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) was introduced to the senate that would stop people from being fired for being gay as they can be in 29 states or transgender, 38 states. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced the bill. No, I didn't miss type that. According to an HRC email, there's a Republican in on this. (Unless they've changed the "R" from meaning "Republican" to "Radical;" you never know). Anyway, when people are loosing their jobs left and right, the last thing people need is to know they might be fired because of who they are.

Harvey Milk was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in activism. Yay! (Not much of a story 'cause I was too lazy to find out more, but still very exciting as it is, I believe, the highest civilian honor in the US.)

In Psychology:

Recently, the American Psychological Association publicly spoke out against ex-gay programs. (I don't know if they have an official name, but you know those programs that claim to be able to make people straight again and such BS). After having had homosexuality on their list of mental disorders for far too long, it's nice that they're saying some useful.

Random:

Anybody seen that Orbits ad where one of the guys is wearing an HRC polo? Check it out!

Alright, I'm shutting up now.

Over and out,

Queer Rant

2009-07-09T20:20:00.004-04:00

I don’t have a problem with who I am. I mean, I’ve always known I was different and when I realized exactly how different I was I knew I could take it. I’m lucky enough to be in a very supportive environment as far as my family and friends are concerned and I really haven’t experienced any harassment. However, to look at the news and know that people are basically voting on your life or that people are being killed and hurt just because they’re different in the same way that you’re different is really very scary. And even though I’m set on not hiding who I am, some times I just wish I could be like “normal majority.” It’s the little things that get to you. Things like not being able to ask the person you’re dating to go to prom with you or having to monitor what you say so that you don’t get even more ostracized by conservative friends of friends. In all honesty, there are a lot of times when being queer just plan sucks. Not all the time, of course. I’m a big fan of community and all that, but knowing that there are god knows how many people in the world who hate you just because of what you are, of how you were born, isn’t exactly fun. Ok, I’m sounding like my life is ruined because I’m not straight. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just the beginning of a new one that some people can’t accept. Being queer is just another aspect of you identity, just like being African-American or Asian or Hispanic or bi-racial or whatever. It might not always be as obvious as a race, but it comes with the same basic pros and cons. Some people hate you because of who you are, but you’ve got a whole community of people like you backing you up, and so on.

Be Strong,

If You Want To Be Free You Must Act Like You Are

2009-07-01T21:49:00.005-04:00

So right now I'm going to ignore New York 'cause, in all honesty, it's pissing me off, instead we're going to (well, I'm going to) talk about North Carolina.

First of all, the School Violence Prevention Act was signed into law yesterday evening. Yay! Interestingly enough, this evening I met the woman who started the whole thing. She's a 73-year-old (if I remember correctly) lesbian. About 12 years ago an activism group she was in started working on what became the School Violence Prevention Act. I didn't quite get the whole story, but basically they started out trying to work with the local school board and that didn't fly so they moved on to the state level of the school board and that didn't go over so well either. So in the end, as you know, the went to the state government and got the law passed. It was, excuse me, a bitch to get it through, but they did it. At one point they had a billboard up that looked like a blackboard with chalk writing that said something like "Reading. Writing. Hate. What your child is learning in school." That did not make people happy let me tell you. She said a lot of very interesting stuff, some of which I hope will help me as I try to be more of an activist, but I think the best thing she said was something along the lines of "If you want to be free you must act as if you already are." I don't think those were her exact words, but I really liked that thought and I want to stick to it. I don't mean trying to break repressive laws or anything, but people who are essentially being treated like second class citizens can't just lie down and take it. They need to make a big deal out of it every time someone puts them down or tells them they can't do something because they're gay or bi or trans or black or Jewish or have one arm or whatever might be "wrong" with them.

A friend told me a story that a mutual friend had told her about this girl that went to her high school. (I hope I get this right.) This was a straight girl helping to fill the S slot in her school's GSA and one day some people (don't know if they were boys or girls or both) from the Christian group on campus beat her up in the bathroom and, if I remember right, she had to miss 3 days of school because of it. Her principle said that there wasn't any evidence and she didn't push it, so nothing happened. Obviously, I could make a lot of points with that about how we really need the School Violence Prevention Act or how some Christians need to take another look at that whole "love thy neighbor" thing or how much I hate stupid principles, but what I want to say with that is that people cannot afford to silence. I know it's not AIDS and silence doesn't always equal death, but does further violence and prejudice, which can lead to death. Once people think they can get away with something why are they going to stop if no one makes them? It doesn't matter if it's little kids or high schoolers or the government, if no one calls them out on something that's wrong, but socially accepted they're just going to do it again and possibly do something even worse. That ties into another one of my personal button sub-issues: people who can need to come out. Of course, if it's not safe, don't, but if you can, you should. Straight people are massively more likely to support LGBT issues and bills if they know they know something who's LGBT. Also being comfortably out gives people who aren't out someone to look to for advice, comfort, or hope. (But that's a rant for another day.)

Anyway, to get back to what I was doing this evening, I also met a young man who has been fired twice from jobs as a police man because he's gay. Apparently the police can fire you for anything from being gay to have blue eyes, which is absolutely ridiculous, but again, a rant for another day.

Alright, I'm going to give it a rest for tonight, but I'm going to repeat that thought just in case you've forgotten.

If you want to be free you must act as if you already are.

Today in History

2009-06-28T12:49:00.007-04:00

When did you ever see a fag fight back?... Now, times were a-changin'. Tuesday night was the last night for bullshit.... Predominantly, the theme (w)as, "this shit has got to stop!"

—anonymous Stonewall riots participant

(Wikipedia)

Forty years ago today the Stonewall riots took place. I figure you guys probably know all about what happened, but if not the link is to the Wikipedia page on them (it's today's feature article). Anyway, I don't want to talk about what the Stonewall riots were, but what they've meant and what has changed since then.

The Stonewall riots are often considered to be the start of the gay rights/liberation movement not only in America, but in other countries as well. So what has become of that movement today?

We have come a long way as far as rights are concerned. We moved from Prop 6 (1978 Californian legislation that moved to fire all gay teachers and their supporters) to Prop 8. From fear of loosing jobs to fear of loosing marriage. From being considered by many to be less human to being considered by many to be ... oh. wait.

Not to be a total pessimist, but have we really come that far in the last 40 years? Yes, it's a lot safer to be LGBT today than it was then. We can even get married in some states. But at the same time, how many fewer people consider us to be unworthy of that right, unworthy of life itself? I'm going to guess that it's not a ton. But that's not the point I want to make.

So why did the riots stop? why have we not come as far as we might have? There are, of course, many reasons I could discus, but there's one reason that's particularly relevant today. That reason, that problem, is complacency. Sure today we've got organizations like HRC with "over 750,000 members and supporters nationwide" fighting for LGBT rights, but when was the last time a protest or riot made the nightly news? I know we're long past the 60s and all that with massive protests and flower children and everything, but does that really mean we should only do something retroactively? Only make signs when things like Prop 8 get upheld? We lack our rights every day not just when they rub it in our faces. I'm not saying we should all go out and get in a fight with some cops; I'm a pacifist and I don't think violence is going to get us anywhere, but let me just say this: what if every LGBT person in this country refused to go to work or to school? If we all sat down in the streets and proved that this country could not run without us? What then, Washington, what then?

Remember the pictures of the Washington Mall filled with the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt?Imagine that mall, all that space between Washington and Lincoln, filled with live people, with people holding signs, with people using the most important freedom they have, the freedom the stand up and say, "Here I am. This is what I think. This is what I feel," with people demanding to know why they are not free. Wouldn't that be something?

So on this day, forty years after we first really fought back against the government, I have a dream that one day we won't have to protest, we won't have to fight for our rights, but I also have a dream that until that day we never, not for one moment, stop fighting.

P.S. Here's a really NYTimes article from this morning called "40 Years later, Still Second-Class Americans" that I think says a lot of good stuff.

Quick Update

2009-06-24T16:08:00.004-04:00

Alright, so I don't think I'm going to start anything new today (I'm sorry, I'm tired), but I will wrap up some old stuff.

1) NC News:

From Equality NC we've heard that...

North Carolina House passed the School Violence Prevention Act by a 58-57 vote. YAY! I'm not sure if Governor Perdue has signed it yet, but according to the website for the NC General Assembly it's status us "Pres. To Gov. 6/23/2009 on 06/24/2009." So yeah, no idea what that means; I don't speak government, but it sounds good, right? Right. Although it's really embarrassing for NC that the vote was so close, it did pass and in the long run, that's what matters. This is the south we're talking about and, though there are liberals there, it tends to be a more conservative area. However, I would have thought that protecting kids would be something we can all agree on. Apparently it's not Okay in some people's books to want to keep kids safe. Oh, if I could get my hands on those people... Anyway, I could go on, but I'm kinda too annoyed at those people to say anything productive. the point is, it passed. Good.

2) NY News:

Or lack there of...

I searched the Times for New York same-sex marriage articles from today and I didn't find anything with a promising headline so it would seem that there hasn't been news of a final vote yet. I did find an article in in Buffalo's gay paper saying that the Governor has called the state senate into a special season to vote on same-sex marriage in NY. They are/were supposed to vote today, so maybe this time we really will here from them on whether same-sex couples in NY can have, Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle said, "the 1324 rights and protections that come with a New York State civil marriage license." A poll of NY voters this week indicated that NY is split 51% for and 49% against. The other bit of info I've got is that the NY senate was apparently a mess yesterday. It's a bit confusing and not super relevant so just look it up if you really care, but basically the Democrat and the Republican would not only not listen to one another, but seemed to have been fight like elementary school students.

Okay, I'm tried, all this politics is making my brain hurt. I hope we hear that the NC Governor signs that bill and that NY passes their bill soon.

Until then,

P.S. Sorry if this is badly writen; it really has been a very long day for me.

NC School Violence Prevention Act

2009-06-18T14:31:00.006-04:00

I know I said I'd shut up until we heard from New York, but I got an email from HRC today and I'm not about to keep quiet about it. So if you live in/care about North Carolina please take a look at this. (If you don't skip to the bottom for some side notes)

The School Violence Prevention Act, SB 526 passed committee and is going to the NC House within the next couple of days. However, it's not looking great. The Right Wing has already taken at least one vote over to the dark side. If you already know about this bill just skip straight to the link, but if not, I'll fill you in as best I can.

The School Violence Prevention Act, SB 526, which you can read in full here (I think, I don't know a ton about how bills and such work), is a NC bill to prevent, you guessed it, school violence. As NC government people have realized, "a safe and civil enviorment in schools is necessary in order for students to learn." Imagine that! Also, "bullying and harassing behaviors create a climate that fosters violence in our schools." Really? Oh my god! (Sorry, sorry, I'll try to cut the sarcasm and get down to the facts. It's a really important bill that needs to be passed so I'll try to behave myself.) The bill is to protect all kids in school from bullying and harassment, not just LGBT kids and includes "any pattern of gestures or written, electronic, or verbal communications, or any physical act or any threatening communication, that takes place on school property, at any school-sponsored function, or on a school bus" that puts anyone at the school (student or employ) in legitimate fear for themselves or their belongings or creates a "hostile environment" that would hinder a student's learning, performance in school, or opportunities. The bill further defines bullying as including, but not only, "acts reasonably perceived as being motivated by any actual or perceived differentiating characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, socioeconomic status, academic status, gender identity or expression, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, developmental, or sensory disability, or by association with a person who has or is perceived to have one or more of these characteristics." They just slid it in there like it's not big deal, but to LGBT kids this could mean the difference not only between a good school day and a bad one, but life and dead. It sounds dramatic I know, but I also know of people who've tried to kill themselves for reasons relating to their sexual orientation (god that phrase it way too long!)

Anyway, the bill goes on (and on and on and on), but I think I got the most important things in there. (I hope I explained it alright. Check it out for yourselves if I wasn't clear.)

Equality NC has been a major supporter of the bill and has been working very hard to get it this far. However, there's still farther we have to go. It still has to make it through the NC House and Senate and, although one would think protecting kids would be on the top of most people's To-Do Lists, it's not. So here's that link I mentioned:

https://secure3.convio.net/hrc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=277

If you're in NC go and tell your Representative that you think kids shouldn't have to be afraid to go to school. HRC makes it really easy for you to email your Rep so go do it.

SIDE NOTES:

1. I haven't heard of any developments from New York, but they're supposedly giving people an answer by tomorrow so we shall see. I did learn (on Wikipidia) that New York recognizes same-sex marriages from other states and Canada. (Yay Canada!)

2. More proof that being gay is natural: gay penguins!!!! Here's an article on it.

3. Lifesavers need to be considered pride items. I mean, they're freaking rainbows! I'm coming back to this point later, but right now I'm going to leave the world in peace.

Until then,

Standing With New York

2009-06-11T21:22:00.004-04:00

Hey guys!

So I don't have a ton of info on this one, but hopefully we'll be having a party for New York pretty soon here. According to an article on the HRC website, as of the ninth, marriage equality is up to the New York senate. So if you know any New Yorkers, please let them know they need to contact their senator and urge him/her to vote for equality in their state. I mean, this is New York for crying out loud. If I wanted to be really, really gay and didn't want to haul my ass out to San Fransisco, I'd go to New York. I know the NYC isn't the whole state, but it's not like we're talking about Alabama or something (no offence to Alabamians who might be reading this, but it's not exactly known for being a liberal state). Anyway, according to an HRC blog, there's still some debating to do before any voting is going to happen. Marriage Equality New York (MENY) provide a bit more info. Apparently, in NY, marriage leads to over 700 other civil rights, civil rights that same-sex couples are currently being denied. On their blog, MENY said that the senate should vote within about ten days (from the ninth), so we shouldn't have long to wait. I couldn't really get a good prediction at what the outcome of the vote will be, but until we hear something, all I can say is hope for the best, brace yourself for the worst, and be ready to keep fighting either way.

Each time equality come out for a vote is only proof that someday we will get there. I know that right now it's painfully slow, but at least it's moving. Not to be depressing, but I doubt it's going to be doing a lot more than that unless lighting strikes, but you never know. As long as we don't give up, it's only a matter of time. We did this with women and African-Americans so we all know what's going to happen. We will fight and we will win.

Until we hear from New York,

News Flash

2009-06-04T11:59:00.005-04:00

Wow. A lot has happened in the last couple of days so let's make this a multi-part deal.

Do keep in mind that although I'm trying to get the facts across here I'm also getting my opinions (and sarcastic commentary) in there so if you just want the facts, go directly to the articles and such that I have links to.

I. Rock On New Hampshire!!!

On June third, New Hampshire became the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill went through several revisions and does not force religious groups to "participate in ceremonies celebrating" gay marriage. The governor, John Lynch, had previously only supported civil unions, but said he heard “compelling arguments that a separate system is not an equal system,” (no shit, I thought we sorted that one out during the Civil Rights Movement) which changed his mind. He also said that “we are standing up for the liberties of same-sex couples by making clear that they will receive the same rights, responsibilities — and respect — under New Hampshire law." Of course, some people are up in arms because they don't think this civil rights law goes far enough to protect the people of New Hampshire. (Confusing, I know, but people are stupid.) Because the bill only exempts "religious groups and their employees" and not "photographers or florists, for example, from having to provide services" to same-sex couples, conservatives seem to think that forcing people to sell flowers to same-sex couples for their weddings, might be bad or something... (You got me, they kinda lost me on this one. And aren't all the florist gay away?) The law will take effect on the first of January.

(Info and quotes from this New York Times Article.)

Click here to send the NH leaders a thank you email for their courage and hard work for equality. It's via HRC.

II. Official LGBT Month! Thanks Obama!!!

On June first, President Obama declared June 2009 to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month and "call[ed] upon the people on the United Sates to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists." This month also marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots making this proclamation all the more appropriate. Obama is "the first president to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration." In his proclamation, the president praised LGBT government workers as well as the community as a whole. He addressed HIV/AIDS and the LGBT community's efforts to bring attention to both the national and international devastation it caused and continues to cause. Among other things, Obama also mentioned the need to work towards a society in which LGBT youth can feel safe as well as his efforts on the international level at the UN.

(Op/ed alert!) Although, some do not think that Obama has taken enough action on the LGBT rights front and see this as a sort of empty promise, it is a very open step and not something to be ignored. Unless something major changes (like getting one, strong leader) this is going to be a long, slow, and most likely excruciating journey and people need to accept that and start working. Saying that Obama's not doing enough really isn't helpful. He may not be doing enough (I'm not going to pass judgement on that yet), but he is doing something and that, my friends, is a major improvement.

(Some info was from this New York Times article and the quotes and most of the info is from President Obama's proclamation.)

III. Oh, That Kind of Queen

(Slightly old news, I know, but a great story)

In late May, Fairfax High School in L.A. had a rather exciting prom night. 18-year-old Sergio Garcia, an openly-gay student, ran against some of his classmates for a position on the prom court. However, it was female, not male, classmates he ran against. In what started out as a boundary-testing stunt that became a serious and full-out campaign for Garcia to be prom queen, which sparked much talk of gender rolls on campus, the young man was successful in winning the title of prom queen. Upon receiving his crown, Garcia said he "felt invincible." Many students were supportive of Garcia, but some thought he should have run for prom king instead. Although it sounds a bit stereotypical, Garcia "is an aspiring choreographer and hairdresser" and decided to run for prom queen when he saw that the posted notices said nothing about gender. For Garcia "running for king didn't feel quite right," so he took the chance and, with the support of his friends, made it past the opposition to take the crown.

(Info and quotes from this LA Times article)

OK, I think that's about it for this five minutes, but hopefully there'll be more updates of this sort (that would be this good sort) soon. Until then, we'll keep on fighting for them.

Enjoy LGBT Pride Month!

Introductions

2009-05-30T19:02:00.006-04:00

So I said in my first post that I'd do the intro stuff later, so here we go:

Hey guys and welcome to Premier Queer, a blog by me (no shit).

I'll start off with a bit of the back-story on this blog. I'm sure anyone reading this is familiar with facebook and notes, I mean you've got to be if you're reading a blog. Anyway, among my friends I was always the one who posted notes in response to the GLBT events/politics. In fact, the first post here was one of those notes. I figured that if I could do it for my friends, I could do it for the world. So there you go and here I am.

I guess the main purpose of this blog is hope. Not to be cheesy, but between Harvey Milk and Obama, I am all about the hope. Not to say that this is going to be inspirational quotes crap or anything. I'll probably rant about politics and civil rights and talk about the stuff I learn as I wander this queer world. I'll try to throw in links and maybe some pictures, but we're keeping it clean here people so don't get excited (well, expect for some of the language as I've already proven, sorry about that). You'll probably get some bios, book reviews, movie reviews, and god only knows what else, but I'm guessing a high percentage of ranting. I might try to get some other people writing for this every now and then if I feel like it.

What else? Me? Well, I'm a student and I guess I'm starting to become an activist. Nothing extreme as of yet, but I do what I an to try to help and make a difference in people's lives. As I said in box to the left, I don't like to label myself, which is why I go with identifying as "queer," though if you want me to be more specific, I guess I'm somewhere between bi and pan; I'm still working some things out with myself.

Ok, enough abstract stuff.

So not a ton of actual PQ stuff today, but I got an email from the Courage Campaign (http://www.couragecampaign.org) of CA and I thought I'd share some of that update.

With their "Fearless" campaign, they're working to get Prop 8 back on the ballot in 2010 and fighting to make sure that next time we win. It's not yet definite that Prop 8 will be up for the vote again, but hopefully this will all be a thing of past soon. They also aired a 60-second ad, "Fidelity," (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTFNlYp3n20) in CA to try to change the hearts and minds of the people living there. Honestly, I don't think it's that great, but maybe they were going for the homemade feel... They want to get one million people to sign their petition, so here's a link to that: http://www.couragecampaign.org/OneMillion

Alright, enough's enough for one evening.

Peace guys,

They Cannot Uphold Hate

2009-05-27T20:34:00.002-04:00

As Prop 8 was upheld in CA only a day ago, I figured I'd just in now and save the intro for later.

Yes, prop 8 was upheld and we lost marriage, in California. Although roughly 18,000 couples are not going to be forcibly divorced that's like, to steal a friend's words, handing us a band-aid for a bullet wound.

This loss is devastating and stupid. I'm sure when most of you heard about the case you, like me, felt certain that nothing so blatantly discriminatory could ever be upheld. Clearly, we were wrong. I know that's left a lot of people feeling a lot of things: lost, furious, hurt, unwanted, second rate, alone, and probably even hateful. So I'm asking you to please keep in mind that no matter how angry you are, that this fight is for love and that we're not going to stoop to their level of blind hate.

Here's what we have to remember:
No matter what they do, they cannot take away our love, they cannot take away our will to stand up for what we know is right, they cannot take away our freedom to fight for equality. They will try to stop us, they will try to make us think we cannot win, but we can and we will. No matter how long it takes, one day we will win. Just like women won the right to vote, and African-Americans won their civil rights, and inter-racial couples won the right to marry. Some day this will all be a thing of past. I know that may not seem possible right now, but it will be.

The other thing we must hold on to is this:
Every time they try to stop us, every time they throw us down, we will get back up with more strength and more love. We have to stay strong and stay united. They're trying to break us down, but we will not let them. That is only beauty of this thing, every time they think they've stopped us, all they've done is increased our will to fight for our rights.

So here's the deal:
The time has long passed when we can sit by and let others do the work. I know most of you are kids/teens/whatever, but so what? Sign a petition, tell your story so people will understand, make your voice heard. It's only a matter of time before this fight comes here (though, considering where "here" is, it could be quite a lot of time) and when that time comes we've got to be ready. Until then, fight the hate with love, the close-mindedness with understanding and acceptance, the fists with open arms.

We can do this and together we will.