Pretty good week for the gays

After the conservative voters of California chose to change their constitution to deny gays the right to proclaim their commitment of love with society, there was a collective defeated sigh among gays and their friends across the nation.  How could one of the the most liberal states in the Union have delivered such blatantly bigoted (I'm sorry, there's no other word for it) decision?  Many were scratching their heads.

In the months since we have to ask if this hate-inspired vote in California has done worked to promote gay equality.  Not only did it create an uproar within the gay community throughout the country, it also elicited reaction from rational-minded straight people who understand the implications that are involved in such an un-American action.

Let's take a look at some of the positive developments that occurred just this past week (there may be more):

Delaware - same-sex marriage ban fails to pass in state Senate

Delaware - anti-discrimination bill passes the state House

West Virginia - same-sex marriage ban fails to pass in state House

Iowa - Supreme Court strikes down gay marriage ban

Federal - hate crime bill reintroduced in Congress

Vermont - gay marriage passed in the state House (Governor threatening veto)

Would all of these forward movements for equality have happened without the tragedy in California?  Obviously we can never know.  However, sometimes it takes a fairly strong jolt to startle people out of their stagnant ways.

Keep fighting.

If everyone were as rational as this young man...

Well done, sir.

But you have to respect their views...NOT!

I'm constantly trying to understand people.  I'm infinitely curious as to why people act and think the way they do.  I could sit at the mall for hours and just watch passersby and try to figure out their stories.  I'm especially interested in understanding people who are different than me in some way - this topic has been using a lot of my daily energy as of late.

Most people are aware of my political leaning.  If you are not, it's to the left.  But because of my new obsession with trying to understand those who are different than me, I have been spending a lot of time reading conservative blogs and even the walls of conservative Facebook groups.  This has been an often frightening experience and can keep me up at night as I lay in bed with my laptop, my comforter shielding the heat from my legs.  My mind starts to spiral out of control, almost as if I'm in an alternate universe as I read some of the comments and ideas these people post for the world to see.

Gay marriage is obviously one of the topics that interests me most.  On a daily basis (that's not an exaggeration) I try to understand the thoughts of those who oppose giving this right to gay people.  I go through the basic arguments and try to see things from their point of view.  Each time I come up with the same result:  I don't get it.  

I've generally always thought that I should be the "bigger person" in such discussions.  I should stay calm and be respectful of the views of others.  I thought it necessary to go out of my way to show these people that their views, although different from mine, were theirs and I respected them.  I wanted to prove that gay people could have a rational conversation about the issue and perhaps this would help the opposing view to see that gay people are in fact perfectly normal.  I would say, "Well, I disagree, but I respect their views."

Today, I've changed my mind.  If I am to be completely honest I must say that I don't respect the views of people who oppose gay marriage.  An overwhelming number of people who hold this view think that homosexuality is "wrong" and "immoral."  By saying that I respect this point of view, it suggests that it's okay to make such a statement.  It is not okay.  These hateful, bigoted views must not be respected.  It is time that the discourse on gay marriage move away from the question of homosexuality's legitimacy.  

I'm tired.

I'm tired of accepting that certain people think who I am is "wrong."  I'm not going to do it anymore and I ask you to do the same.  

I'm tired of having to walk on egg shells around people who just might not "agree" with my "lifestyle"  that I have no control over, and I'm not going to do it anymore.  

I'm tired of putting on a gleeful face just to show that their hate doesn't affect me.  It does affect me and I'm not going to stand for it anymore.  They are wrong and I shouldn't have to deal with their hate anymore.

I'm tired of living in a country that speaks of the value of freedom for all people and yet these same people fight to deny me the same freedoms they hold so dear.  It's wrong and they need to know it.

We live in the United States of America.  The year is 2009.  There are still people who get away with preaching hateful, inaccurate views to the world.  These people need to be silenced.  Now.  

So, today I resolve to do what I can to not allow hate to be respected.  Please join me, won't you?  

Many politicians weren't paying attention

We've just come off of an election season in which the victors were those who encouraged hope.  They spoke of the future, of what is possible.  They tempted voters with what it might be like to live in an America in which politicians did more than just bicker like 4-year-olds.  They spoke of working together with all belief systems, with all philosophies to form that more perfect Union.  One candidate even spoke of our Union not being red and blue states, but the United States.

So who won?  It was those folks.  What seemed improbable became a reality.  When people are hopeful, when people are inspired, when people feel they are part of something - they act.

It strikes me that it seems many in Washington haven't learned a thing from this past election cycle.  Or if they did, they didn't pick up on the important pieces.

On January 30, the Republican National Committee elected Michael Steele their new Chairman.  Their first-ever African-American leader.  It's a wonderful thing to see some minority leadership in the Republican party; I praise them for this.  It is wonderful to see Americans from all walks of life be embraced.  However, I think it's the only thing Republicans learned from the last election.

All that stuff about working together and moving forward as one nation - I think they missed that.  

Here is a comment from Chairman Steele during his acceptance speech:  "We're going to say to friend and foe alike, we want you to be a part of us, and to those of you will will obstruct, get ready to get knocked over."

Yes, I can see how that is inviting and hope inspiring?  It's reminiscent of a certain someone who said, "you're either with us or against us."  We saw  how well that sentiment worked.

Now I would add that there are many democrats would also didn't get the message of unity.  Our own leaders, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, are perhaps hurting more than helping the President these days.  These politicians who have been in Washington forever (on both sides of the aisle) that seem so out of touch with real Americans are going to be the biggest road block for President Obama.

So, to Chairman Steele, Speaker Pelosi, and Leader Reid - we don't want fighting, we don't want bull-headed, irrational arguments.  We want action.  We want progress for the United States.  Please put aside your personal desires for power and get something accomplished.  The past election was won on a theme of unity and hope.  Found out what that means.

First openly gay world leader

I woke up this morning to this story on CNN.com.  Pretty sweet.

(CNN) -- Iceland's political parties have reached an agreement that will give the country its first female prime minister and the world its first openly gay leader.

Johanna Sigurdardottir, 66, will lead the government when it is sworn in at 6 p.m. (1 p.m. Eastern) on Sunday, her political advisor Hrannar Arnarsson told CNN via e-mail.

A former flight attendant who entered politics via the union movement, Sigurdardottir was minister of social affairs and social security in the outgoing Cabinet, which resigned Monday.

Iceland has been in political turmoil since October, when its currency, stock market and leading banks collapsed amid the global financial crisis. The island nation's Nordic neighbors sent billions of dollars to prop up the economy, as did the International Monetary Fund in its first intervention to support a Western European democracy in decades.

But weekly demonstrations -- some verging on riots -- finally forced Prime Minister Geir Haarde and his coalition to resign en masse on January 26.

The country's president turned to the Social Democratic Alliance party to form a new government, and they selected Sigurdardottir to lead it.

She has been a member of Iceland's Parliament for 30 years, and was in her second stint as minister of social affairs. She started her career as a flight attendant for the airline that became IcelandAir. She was active in the flight attendants' labor union during her 11 years with the airline, according to her official resume.

She briefly led her own political party, which merged with other center-left parties to form the Alliance party.

Sigurdardottir would become Iceland's first female prime minister, although not the North Atlantic nation's first female head of state -- Vigdis Finnbogadottir became its fourth president in 1980.

Sigurdardottir lists author and playwright Jonina Leosdottir, 54, as her spouse on her ministry Web site. She has two children from an earlier marriage.

Her prime ministership may be short-lived. The government she is forming is only due to last until the next elections, which must take place by May and could be held in April.

But a leading British gay and lesbian rights group welcomed her appointment as a milestone.

"It really does matter. It is helpful" to have an openly gay prime minister, said Gary Nunn, a spokesperson for Stonewall UK. "We are trying to foster the ambition that young people can be anything they want to be."