No Longer a Liberal!

I have renounced my liberal label!

Yesterday I voted and it felt DAMN good to give the big ol’ FU to Bredesen, Ford, and Cooper and to stand up for my right to marry the person I love. I’m really fuckin’ pissed off at the people saying they’re just holding their nose and voting anyway for bigots. They're not the ones seeing their personal lives up for a vote and blatantly disregared and "less than." You guys don't know what it feels like to have THREE neighbors within less than a mile from you have "Vote YES" signs in their yard, letting you know without a doubt that someone nearby hates you so much that they'll vote against you protecting your family.

I swear to God the Democratic Party has become so unprincipled, misguided, and well, scared cowards that they’d vote for Satan himself if he just had a “D” behind his name.

What does liberal really mean anyway?

Dictionary.com provides a few ideas:
7. free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners.
8. open-minded or tolerant, esp. free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc.
9. characterized by generosity and willingness to give in large amounts: a liberal donor.
10. given freely or abundantly; generous: a liberal donation.
11. not strict or rigorous; free; not literal: a liberal interpretation of a rule.
—Synonyms 1. progressive. 7. broad-minded, unprejudiced. 9. beneficent, charitable, openhanded, munificent, unstinting, lavish. See generous. 10. See ample.
Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.

The Democratic Party has taken this definition and twisted its meaning. They want so hard to be “back in power” that they have become too tolerant of unliberal beliefs. In their zeal to “tolerate” others, they’ve opened themselves to the prejudiced and bigoted parts of our world. They’re tolerating the wrong people! They’re listening to hateful bigots while turning their back on the very people who have time and again put them into power. I refuse to be a party to this blatant stupidity and unscrupulous moral blindness anymore.

Take the TN race with Harold Ford, for example (not to mention many others from across the country). Numerous “liberals” have told me they will hold their nose and vote for this unrepentant bigot and homophobe, just because he’s a Democrat. They’ve listened to the lies of false prophets saying Ford won’t be nearly as bad as ANY Republican that might get voted in. They’ve opened their minds to falsehoods and they are falling into the snare of the enemy. Sometimes, being too “open-minded” and “too tolerant” of the opposition is a bad thing.

Liberals have gotten the reputation of being “flaky” and “uncertain,” even “wishy-washy,” not by lies but by their own behavior. They’ve not taken a principled and unwavering stand on unrepentant bigotry and homophobia. They’ve tolerated the middle-road, half-loaf, back of the bus but at least on the bus mindset for too long. Their inability to be principled and firm has led to their demise and it will continue to lead to their failure to win elections.

I can’t even count how many “liberals” I’ve told that if they don’t stand firm, they will lose and continue to lose. You don’t win by mimicking the Other. You win by differentiating yourself from the Other.

I’m no longer a liberal. I’m a principled American.

prin‧ci‧pled  /prnsəpəld/
–adjective imbued with or having moral principles (often used in combination): high-principled.
Based on, marked by, or manifesting principle: a principled decision; a highly principled person.
based on or manifesting objectively defined standards of rightness or morality; "principled pragmatism and unprincipled expediency"; "a principled person"

Spiritual event wants GodMen, not girly men

WHY do these things always start in Nashville? Jesus! (no pun intended) I thought I had improved things by moving from Alabama, but the idiots of this world just keep following me.

Testosterone-fueled alternative to Promise Keepers debuts here

At the daylong GodMen event downtown Saturday, men will be able to cuss, smoke cigars, watch videos of football pileups and car crashes, listen to specially composed Christian rock songs such as "Testosterone High" and attend workshops on how to fight pornography addiction.

It's an effort to connect Christian men alienated by traditional church settings or men's groups with their "spiritual masculinity," said Brad Stine, a Christian stand-up comic behind the conference.

"Men are different," Stine said. "They're aggressive. They connect with sports. They jump. They scream. They've got passions that are more difficult to subdue, like lust. And a lot of things that make men energized just don't make it into church.

"A lot of church is feminine. We want to let men know that just for today, being a guy is OK. It's good enough. There's an army that will help you."

WTF?! Since when has being spiritual (notice they didn't say being Christian) about smoking, cussing, and violence??? They say the church has been feminized. That's a bad thing? Ladies, watch out for any man that would succumb to an event like this. Next thing you know, he'll be proving how Godly he is by slapping you back into your rightful place as his breeder and caregiver.

Maybe it's just me but I don't seem to recall Jesus scratching his balls while watching Nascar then slappin' his ho Mary Magdalene when she didn't watch his feet properly.

The New Jersey Marriage Ruling

The results of the New Jersey marriage ruling left me with a mixed feeling. I wasn’t euphoric over it that’s for sure. Basically, the court said gay couples should be allotted all of the same rights, benefits, and privileges of marriage that heterosexuals have, but they’ve left it up to the legislature to come up with a term for it. The legislature within 180 days will have to decide to include us under the umbrella term “marriage” or create a separate line at the clerk’s office just for the homos.

The good:
•This will now give my partner and I four states to move to (MA, VT, and CT
being the others)
•It does say we should be given the same rights as heterosexuals
•The ruling never brought in the strawman issues of “marriage is for procreation,” “heterosexual marriages are best for children,” or “it’ll lead to men marrying their pet iguana.”

The bad:
•We still get 6 months of torture waiting to see if we will be considered equal citizens or second-class citizens (though without this, we were just NO class citizens)
•This ruling only works on the state level. In NJ there are approximately 65 marriage rights that we’ll be able to participate in. But what about the 1,100 federal rights we don’t get.
•Just don’t leave NJ. With state determined marriage rights, folks need to realize that the rules change from state to state. A couple can get “civil unioned” or “married” (or whatever they’ll call it) in NJ, but drive over to CT, have a wreck, and lose the right to make medical decisions for their spouse. This is the problem with piecemeal rights. Even if they call it marriage, it only applies to the rights of that state.

So many people assume this is automatic equality for us. As someone else said on another blog, this is equity, not equality. It won’t be equality until we are acknowledged by our federal government as legitimate and equal to our heterosexual peers.

That will be a long time coming for sure. The opposition doesn’t want us to be equal to them. Even many heterosexuals, who are nice to our face, hold an innate belief that we are inferior. They want us to go through incredible pains just to acquire what they get with a trip to the clerk’s office and a $20 fee.

Pam’s House Blend grabbed a quote from Victoria Cobb of the Family Foundation out of VA (note: lots of gay Virginians are leaving the state because of the homophobia there):

She said the goal isn't to drive gay people out. She said "extreme homosexual organizations" might be trying to frighten their members by circulating false information about the amendment. She said it wouldn't add new restrictions on gays but would simply underscore the ways their relationships are already restricted.

"I think it's extremely sad they would leave because of something they were never allowed to do anyway," said Cobb, who said she believed gays could go to court to defend themselves if a partner's family members challenged their right to own property in common, arrange powers of attorney or visit each other in the hospital.

Why the hell should we even have to!? WHY?! Someone answer that for me. There’s no other answer but that these hateful people want to make our lives unbearably hard and in turn establish their superiority over another group.

YOU CAN’T AMEND LOVE!

Being hateful won’t make us stop being gay and it won’t keep us from being together and building lives and families together. Since the beginning of time, we have held our relationships together without the benefit and privilege of social acceptance or a piece of .50 cent paper. We’re stronger than any law you can ever come up with. We were here yesterday, we’re here today, and we will continue to be here tomorrow, no matter what you say or do.

Oh The Irony!

These are two front page images taken from our local paper, The Tennessean, a few days back. What do you think when you see this?





For those who don't know, Sara Evans is a country singer and this story has been talked about ad nauseum in our local paper. She's accused him of adultery and porn addiction. Now, apparently, he's accusing her of the same.

I can SOOOO see now how my gay relationship totally destroyed this marriage, can't you?

TN has 33% More Gay Couples

According to a new study, Tennessee has seen a 33% increase in gay couples since 2000.

The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the UCLA School of Law found the number of same-sex couples in the United States increased more than 30 percent between 2000 and 2005. The national population, by comparison, increased 6 percent in that period.

According to the study released earlier this month, 13,570 same-sex couples were living in Tennessee in 2005, a 33 percent increase over 10,189 same-sex couples in 2000.

Approximately 2,033 of those couples were living in Nashville-Davidson County, including domestic partners Ben Papa and Brad Bullock.

"My initial reaction is that there are more people admitting to being gay and living as a couples," Papa said. "I do agree, though, that society is slowly becoming more open."

Same-sex couples increased by more than 30 percent in six of the eight states that have proposed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage this November.
"It appears that one of the consequences of the referendums is that instead of gays and lesbians feeling less willing to be open, our data suggests the reverse," Gates said.

One of our dimwitted state Senators, David Fowler, R (of course)-Signal Mountain, who has given up his senatorial seat to head the nonprofit organization Family Action Council of Tennessee, an advocacy group that supports the proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, claims

He said he had not seen a marked increase in same-sex couples in his district and did not expect the new data to influence voters' decision.

"I think the beliefs of the vast majority of Tennesseans are strongly held and years in the making," Fowler said. "I just don't see it changing their opinion."

I doubt there is a plethora of gay couples living openly around Signal Mountain anyway. How can he make such an idiotic statement? Oh, wait, he's a fundie that's how!

Do you think these amendments have caused more people to come out? Have you been more outspoken since these amendments have started popping up?

Cross-posted on Pam's House Blend.

Another Actor Comes Out

'Grey's Anatomy' star T.R. Knight Comes Out

"I guess there have been a few questions about my sexuality, and I'd like to quiet any unnecessary rumors that may be out there," Knight's statement read. "While I prefer to keep my personal life private, I hope the fact that I'm gay isn't the most interesting part of me."

Guess that's that damn liberal Hollywood again!

Early Voting Problems in TN

Our local organization Vote No on 1, which has been working on defeating our state anti-gay amendment, have been receiving reports that voters are being misled about Amendment 1 to our state Constitution. Evidently, a voter in one county was told that he should vote no if he wanted "two men or three women to be able to marry."

Vote No has been in contact with our Division of Elections and been assured that the counties have been notified that poll workers are not to discuss the amendment with voters, and if anyone has questions, they are not to summarize it but simply tell the voter to read the amendment.

Could these actions be considered voter tampering? I think so. What do you think?

Cross-posted on Pam's House Blend.

Who Says Gays Can't Procreate?!

Melissa Etheridge and her partner, Tammy Lynn Michaels, obviously can. They are parents of new twins, a boy named Miller Steven and a girl named Johnnie Rose. Is it just me or do those names sure set those kids up to be rock stars? Coincidence? Melissa previously had two children, Bailey Jean and Beckett, with her then partner Julie Cypher.

Congratulations to Melissa and Tammy!

Cross-posted at Pam's House Blend.

Truth about the TN Marriage Amendment

This is a story that should make anyone on the fence on this amendment think twice. For those who are on our side, you should feel as sick and disgusted by this as I do.

Our local paper The Tennessean ran an opinion article by Rev. Jerry Sutton of Two Rivers Baptist Church. This is the same church that hosted the Justice Sunday events and will be hosting Dobson's anti-gay rally tonight (Stand for the Family). Of course, being who Rev. Sutton is his editorial was scathing of our relationships.

Our paper allows comments online to the articles and one gentleman retold a touching story. He's 72 years old and had a partner for 30 years. They had had good relations with their families. However, when his partner died, the partner's family came in and took all of their possessions and took this man to court to get the property they jointly owned. He and his partner had done all of the legal paperwork they could to try to protect themselves and their property. Unfortunately, he spent $300K on legal fees and court costs to try and get their possessions and property back. He won the battle for the property but never got their possessions back. He even had to get a court order just so the police would listen to him.

The story many that oppose us tell is that we can get the legal protections we need through a lawyer and that as long as we do that we don't need to get married. As the story above clearly states, this is a bald-faced lie. I've asked several lawyers this question and all say that we can't have any guarantee no matter how much legal paperwork we do. Marriage is the only sure way we are guaranteed to be recognized as "next of kin" and rightful inheritor of our jointly owned property.

If it was this hard before the amendment, imagine how hard it will be AFTER!

The public has been lied to and duped. The allegations of our opposition are FALSE. These amendments are not just about placing us in a second-class status but a NO CLASS status! They don't leave doors open for civil unions or domestic partnerships, but are intended to block recognition of anything that provides similar benefits and privileges of marriage. That includes legal documents. Do not be fooled!

Fortunately, there is a great grassroots movement started here in TN for support of our relationships. I'm pleased to report that even The Tennessean came out in opposition to the anti-gay amendment. In time, these discriminatory amendments will be undone, just like we've undone discrimination in the past. It'll be a long road until then, but let's do our part to make sure we're on the right side of the street. Vote NO!!!

Cross-posted at Pam's House Blend.

Happy National Coming Out Day!

Today, Oct. 11, is National Coming Out Day.

Coming out is, for some people, a very scary process, especially if you are coming out to family or friends. For someone to come out to another person as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered (heck, even unknown!), it takes a lot of courage. However, for us to be honest with those we say we care about, it's a necessary step.

Think for a moment, how many times a day do you have an opportunity to talk about your life and those in it? How many times have you been asked, are you married, what did you do this weekend, are you dating anyone? How many times have you filled out a form and seen the options, married, single, or divorced? I've never seen "none of the above," have you? There's probably at least one instance every day that we have an opportunity to mention something personal about ourselves. Could you imagine not talking about your boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband in everyday conversation? Try it sometime. Try to deliberately not speak of anything that would let someone know you are straight. That's what it feels like for us.

Being gay and not coming out to those we love is hard. We're scared you guys won't love us anymore or might judge us. If someone tells you they're gay, they've just taken a huge step in trusting you and they're being honest so they won't have to put anymore walls up. For someone to tell you they are gay is a badge of honor. It means you are a good enough person and important enough to us that we want to be open and trust you with something so personal and vital to our being that we can no longer keep it a secret.

As our ally, all we ask is that you honor the trust we've placed in you. That you "come out," as well, as our ally. That you speak openly and honestly about having gay family, friends, and/or coworkers. If you don't know something, ask. If you're unsure about something, ask. We need you. We love you. And we're thankful to have you in our corner.

The Short Discussion on Mark Foley

With all of the hoopla about Mark Foley (is he gay/isn't he? is he a pedophile/isn't he? did the pages trap him or not? yada yada yada), the short discussion of this issue is HE WAS WRONG!!!

It doesn't matter if the pages were under 18 or not. It doesn't matter if he's gay or not. It doesn't matter if the pages were trying to trap him or provoke him or not.

In this situation, Mark Foley was the adult. He had the privilege of power over young men. HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!!!

So what if the pages egged him on? He's still the adult and should have kept a professional distance from anyone under 18.

I used to be a teacher and I had more than one female student hit on me. No matter what though I ALWAYS, ALWAYS remembered that I WAS THE ADULT and I knew which lines were never crossed. I honestly don't understand or comprehend what 30, 40, 50 year olds see in teenagers.

It's a stupid discussion, and Mark Foley is simply wrong. He needs to go. Those who covered for him need to go. If a politician can hide, lie, and cover like that, what else are they hiding?