defenders of marriage

I haven't yet heard whether I will have civil rights today, and I can't seem to find a forecast. I even turned on the bellweather channel but couldn't find the news.

So while we await word on whether our seat assignment will be in second class or possibly steerage, let's cross our fingers and take a listen to the hilarious and spot-on look at the "Defenders of Marriage" by the hilarious Roy Zimmerman:

Prop 8: The Musical

I know I'm the last one in the world to post it, but here it is..

Prop 8: The Musical:

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

The latest news is that some wingnut organization calling itself the Christian Anti Defamation Commission wants an apology. Apparently the piece is so right-on in nailing their hypocritical asses regarding selective interpretation of the Bible that they are offended.

So hurry up and apologize, y'all. Right.

the consequences..

Of gay marriage. From the clever folks at Graph Jam, via Sullivan.

Says it all...

ur doin it wrong

From Reporter-Cub

civil rights in california

From the Washington Post, via Andrew Sullivan:



Pretty much sums it up.

kevlar padre

Father Geoff Farrow spoke on Sunday in Fresno, as he had been used to doing before being suspended by the Catholic Bishop for failure to appropriately promote hate and bigotry as per pastoral instruction letter.

Although he was back in the old hood, things were different. First, he wasn't in the sanctuary, he was on the steps of City Hall. It wasn't his usual parish, it was a No on 8 Rally. He shared the stage with Christina Chavez, the granddaughter of immigrant rights activist Cesar Chavez.

And there was one other difference- it was the first time that he had ever worn a Kevlar vest under his collars. I borrowed it from my ex, Michael, who works in law enforcement and was more than happy to help out. There had been a few concerning messages and just enough Yes of 8 supporters starting fights and getting arrested (and one church promising to let out early for counter demonstrations) that it seemed a wise precaution. Of course, a vest is only so much protection, it wouldn't keep a bullet from entering his brain. But it was a darn sight safer than nothing.

After the rally, one of the undercover police officers came over to him and tapped his chest. "Too bad you have to wear that, Father" he said. Too bad indeed.

But he wasn't wearing it because of anyone from the No on 8 side of the aisle.

Kudos to Father Geoff for going back to Fresno on behalf of No on 8. The Kevlar padre's got guts.

use your voice

Kathy Griffin and friends, urging everyone to oppose the enshrinement of discrimination into law:

urgent threats

From Inch at a Time, a reminder of urgent world threats:



And a reminder that no on 8 urgently needs funds for the final stretch. There's be a mass of flogging praying loonies this weekend on the airwaves. Please help if you can.

a sorry time

Here's an excellent spot narrated by Samuel Jackson reminding California of a sorry time when discrimination was legal..

marrying karl rove

Even though I had been in several relationships, I never really thought about marriage as a concept until he appeared. It was the spring of 2004. I was about to turn a major digit on my odometer and had always assumed I would die a single man in the eyes of the law.

And then Karl came onto the scene- with a round bald head, pasty white complexion, a belly reminiscent of an off season Santa Claus and a heart full to the brim of black bile and unrestrained opportunism. A man who truly earned his nickname of "Turd Blossom". Yes, I fell in love with same sex marriage because of Karl Rove.

Karl all but invented same sex marriage. It didn't come from us. It was he who introduced the need to ban it as an agenda item in the 2004 State of the Union Address. He created a panic in order to motivate the "Christian Evangelical" base and energize the election campaign in favor of an inept and corrupt President.

Because the inept and corrupt president had absolutely no compelling argument of his own why he should be elected (not technically re-elected, darlings, because the first election was stolen), they had to think of something. Turd Blossom engineered the gay marriage threat and energized the wingnut base to call for a pre-emptive ban on the severe threat to civilization posed by... adults professing their love for one another. Egads, the horror of it all!

Then Gavin Newsom threw some Chanel No. 5 onto the fire by actually issuing 4,000 same sex marriage licenses in San Francisco. Thank goodness the State shut him down before the social fabric was irreparably torn. But all this publicity made me think. At that time, I was seeing someone that I was very attached to. And for the first time, I thought about the statement that marriage makes to ones beloved and realized that I wanted to make that promise. I wanted to be able to love, honor, and cherish in sickness and in health.

And I further noticed that a domestic partnership is as woefully inadequate as a colored drinking fountain in a Birmingham Bus Depot. And that's when I decided that I won't settle for a distant second best, I want my civil rights.

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, and they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

I won't settle for anything less than the real thing.

And I owe it all to Karl Rove.

write to marry: ed and larry

In honor of "write to marry" day, here is a repost from earlier this month.

I really like the simplicity of this piece, but I posted it the day before I introduced y'all to Father Geoff, so it got somewhat overlooked.

So let's use "write to marry" day to introduce y'all to "ed and larry":

-----

Ed is my hairstylist, because we don't call them barbers in Beverly Hills. We go all the way back to my first month in Los Angeles, which means we're in our fifteenth year. In that time, I've let exactly one other stylist touch my hair. After that, I learned to wait for Ed to get back. From Las Vegas, from a Hair Show, from Prison, whatever. I wait.

Ed and Larry did their share of waiting too. They're about ten years older than myself, so these guys are no springtime brides. They've been through life. Ed lost his partner Steven to the plague early on. He withdrew from the scene until he met Larry, and then something clicked.

Larry is a pragmatic Midwesterner. He knew what he wanted and just hung in there waiting while it evolved. At first, Ed said Larry would just hold him and let him cry over Steven. As time passed, Ed noticed that he had stopped crying and looked over his shoulder to see Larry there holding him. And that's pretty much how it's been this last seventeen years. I've never known a more stable couple.

When I saw him in July, I asked Ed if they were thinking of tying the knot. Ed said that he asked Larry, but Larry wasn't sure. Ed was rather hurt by the answer, saying that if he didn't know after seventeen years he wasn't sure when he ever would. I quickly changed the subject back to Lindsay Lohan.

I saw him last week and gingerly asked if there was any more discussion on the subject. "Oh, we did it", he replied. "We got married". "What? How did that happen?" I asked. About a month ago, it seems, Larry casually asked Ed to meet him at City Hall on a Friday afternoon. When Ed asked why, Larry said that he thought they should get their license.

Ed met him on the steps of City Hall, and they were the last couple for the day. While filling out forms, the clerk asked if they were getting married that day. "May we"? Ed asked, and was told that they could indeed. "But we don't have rings" Larry interjected. "Yes, we do". Ed had stopped by the bank and retrieved a pair they had bought on vacation one year, just in case.

Ed looked at Larry. Larry nodded. Ed smiled. And so it was to be. Long time friends Peter and John who happened to be there getting their own license stood as witnesses. "It's the darnedest thing", Ed spoke softly. "When we stood under that gazebo and started saying those vows, we both teared up. It really meant something".

I asked him if it was any different now, and he said "in all honesty, yes". He introduces Larry not as his partner, but as his spouse. Even after the implied stability of all the years, this is now a legal bond that requires a court order to dissolve. One can't just walk out on the other in the heat of an argument. "It's real" he said. "We're married".

A Toast to the New Grooms. How about the inimitable Dusty Springfield, Wishin' and Hopin' that we retain the right to choose the one we love:

sing out diane

United States Senator Dianne Feinstein, right on the money in recognizing that Proposition 8 has NOTHING to do with marriage, and everything to do with discrimination.



Now WHERE is the Governator????

if you really care...

message to michael

Goodness, but I'm getting radical in my old age and I'm having outrageous thoughts.

For example, I strongly hold the belief that God's love is for everyone, and not just for a select few. Further, I believe that the majority cannot be trusted to safeguard the rights of the minority. On the same thread, I believe that when Jesus told us to "love one another, as I have loved you" that I, as a gay man, am fully included in that circle.

And as a radical step, I believe that a Church that supports the enshrinement of discrimination is wrong. Dead wrong. Like the Mormons and the Catholics are dead wrong and will be ridiculed by history for their bigoted stance. And while I'm out there, I believe that Father Geoff Farrow will ultimately be seen as a hero for his refusal to incite bigotry and hate among the faithful.

This morning I posted an update on Father Geoff and received this comment from a Michael Ejercito of Long Beach, California. To wit:

"If Geoffrey Farrow can be true to his Catholic faith while supporting same-sex "marriage", then Muslim clerics can be true to their Muslim faith while eating chitterlings".

I would have responded directly, but there was no email attached and his blogger profile is "private".

I did find his myspace page, where he expresses his desire to meet George W. Bush and girls "pretty enough to have sex with. :-)". I sincerely hope I have not confused those two.

I further located his linked-in profile, but it must be out of date as it infers that he has not had a job since April.

And here is his picture: (I like to see who I'm talking with)



Rather than use my own words, which might be unkind, or even address the chittierlings and his indelicate reference to uncleanliness, I will defer to The Reverend Susan Russell of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, who answered a similar question yesterday on her excellent Inch At A Time Blog. She said:

"Interestingly your questions are not unlike the ones Jesus answered in Matthew 22:34-40 which -- even more interestingly -- was the text appointed for our sermon today at All Saints. The answer for us is that same as it was for Our Lord ... we believe that ALL the law and the prophets hang on the two great commandments: love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself. And we believe that we are following both of those commandments when we marry same-sex couples here at All Saints Church ... which we have been doing since June 17th."

Blessings to you, Michael Ejercito, and may you soon realize that Jesus opposed all types of persecution and bigotry. God's love is for all of us.

And just to prove no hard feelings, here's Dionne Warwick with her 1966 Bert Bachrach hit. So take a message to Michael:

rising on the charts

Good news from the LA Times website this morning- Father Geoff's interview with Steve Lopez, which appeared in yesterday's edition, is the second most emailed story of the day.

Here's an excerpt...

Gay priest is true to his faith, at odds with his church

So who is this Catholic priest from Fresno who stood up and spoke out against Proposition 8, putting his career on the line? As a gay man who finds the church's views on homosexuality so objectionable, why has he been a priest for more than 20 years and subjected himself to such moral conflict?

After reading my colleague Duke Helfand's story about Father Geoffrey Farrow and his recent career-suicide from the pulpit, I was curious.

read the entire interview here

and don't forget to visit no on 8

jesus had it right

Has it only been three weeks since I got involved with the task of helping Father Geoff spread his message into the blogosphere? Wow. 10,000 hits later here I am, demonized in some parts of Kansas and energized by Father Geoff and the amazing, loving, affirming people I have encountered. There are some wonderful voices out there to be heard.

I was happy to bump into the Rev. Susan Russell of All Saints Pasadena, a truly outstanding group of people. I attended services there a few years back when I lived in Studio City, and loved the All Saints Family.

Susan writes a blog called An Inch at a Time and has been a terrific friend and supporter to Father Geoff. She's a special lady.

I found this Sunday's sermon on her blog, in which (totally awesome) Father Ed Bacon speaks out against Proposition 8. In his words, if Jesus is right, his directive to love thy neighbor would compel any true Christian to oppose discrimination. Take a listen:




And please, if you can, donate here to help defeat the misguided souls who want to enshrine discrimination.

road trip

Things are a bit intense. I'm becoming relatively obsessed with Proposition 8, which is not the least about marriage but simply a bid to write discrimination into the California constitution. Backed to a huge extent by the Mormons, a group who itself was pretty persecuted 100 years back. Wouldn't you think those fuckers would be a bit more compassionate?

But I really need a break. It would be perfect to take a road trip for the weekend, just 48 hours away. What better way than a cool motor home, specially decorated and staffed by Bill Uechi (bass), Eric Zamora (saxophone), José Castellaños (trumpet) Brian "T-Bone Willy" Williams (trombone), and drummer Marc Harismendy.

Throw in kicky vocalist Monique Powell, and you've got the third- wave ska-punk band "Save Ferris". Which is better than "Save Marriage". Much better.

So for my virtual escape, here's the 80's seen through the eyes of the 90's.

Come on, Eileen:

backwards

Okay, I tend to see many things that the Republicans do as backwards, but they did manage to produce a worthwhile No on 8 called "backwards" that I think is very appropriate. The imagery of Colored drinking fountains and Japanese detainment camps should serve as stark reminder that the Majority have a very uneven record at best of managing the Civil Rights of the Minority.



Donate Here

a pox on your wedding

.....if you dare to outlaw mine. And you know I'm mean enough to do it...



Now I feel better.

But let's not stop there. If the proposition passes, I'm calling for a general strike by gay people. Let these bigots go without hairstyling, and let their goddamn computers crash. Just see how long it takes to get a drink on a cross country flight come December.

Wait till you see next years fashions! Polyester leisure suits for everyone!



courtesy of failblog

missa solemnis

On the morning of February 25, 2000 a young man named Henry Stuart Matis drove to the Mormon Ward House in Los Altos, CA, placed a gun to his head and ended his life.

This is his story.



A play written by Roman Feeser. Directed by Linda S. Nelson.

And all those mormon dollars flowing into California to ram Prop 8 down our throats aren't about discrimination.

Riiiight.

(video and editing by knucklecrack)