A Thought for the Boy Scouts

Dear Boy Scouts,

I have already sent you my thoughts on your upcoming decision as to whether or not you should allow openly gay scouts and leaders into the Boy Scouts.

You should take a moment to read this short, powerful note from my husband, Richard Darst, a former scout.

I am a gay man.  The Boy Scouts was a big part of my life as a young boy.  Through the scouts I learned so many practical life skills like cooking and first aid.  But more importantly, I learned what it means to be an honest, caring, and involved citizen. I had many dedicated troop leaders, but it would have been wonderful had there been one to whom I could truly relate.  The Boy Scouts of America’s current policy regarding gay leaders saddens [continue reading...]

April 22, 2013
All, Current Events/Pop Culture/Politics, Write the Power
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A Letter to Orrin Hatch

Yesterday, via The Randy Report, I came across this quote by Orrin Hatch regarding marriage equality:

“I’ll say this, I do believe this could be solved greatly by a civil-union law that would give gay people the same rights as married people,” said Hatch, who mentioned hospital visitations and tax benefits. “I think we can solve this problem without undermining the very basis of marital law in our country.”

Hatch said he doesn’t believe people choose to be gay, but “I draw the line on traditional marriage.”

Oh Orrin!

There’s so much to say, I don’t even know where to begin.  First of all, I think that at this point in history, witnessing the clear trajectory of LGBT civil rights, it is hilariously pompous and hysterically entertaining for you to let us know where you “draw the line.”  Orrin, I don’t know how [continue reading...]

April 9, 2013
All, Current Events/Pop Culture/Politics, Write the Power
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Cooper v Kagan ~ Where Are All the Good Hate Lawyers???

I have not had a chance yet to read the full transcripts from this week’s Prop 8 and DOMA Supreme Court cases.  But I have seen and heard some of the “highlights.”  This particular exchange, from the Prop 8 trial on Tuesday, jumped out at me:

What?????

For one thing, if, as Justice Kagan says while summarizing and clarifying Cooper’s main argument, the government has an “interest in regulating procreation through marriage,” can someone please explain to me why no one is arguing against the legality of single parenthood?  Where’s the ban against that?  If we’re now regulating procreation through marriage, wouldn’t making single parenthood a criminal offense be a good place to start?  Where are the cases of women being jailed for becoming pregnant out of wedlock? [continue reading...]

March 28, 2013
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An Open Letter to Peter LaBarbera Regarding Keeping Marriage from the Gays Because Our Sex is Yucky

Dear Petey ~

Recently, you were a guest on Janet Mefferd’s radio talk show.  You and she discussed the marriage equality bill in Illinois.  During the course of this conversation you asked the (I’m guessing) rhetorical question:  “How do two guys consummate their marriage?

You then proceeded to answer the question yourself:  “Yuck.”

Oh, Pete!  This is your best shot?  Seriously?  After all your years spent in the trenches of professional hate-mongering, you’re reverting to the oldest anti-LGBT rhetoric?  Really had to reach to the back of the sock drawer for that one, huh?  You don’t want us to get married…because you think our sex…is yucky?  You’re using yuck as a legal argument ~ a legal, philosophical and moral argument ~ for creating and maintaining discriminatory laws?

Has your well run so dry ~ is [continue reading...]

March 10, 2013
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Dear Boy Scouts of America ~ It’s Not About Banning Gay Scouts, It’s About Banning Honesty

Let’s be clear, the policy debate you’re currently having ~ or, more accurately, currently hiding from ~ is not about whether to continue your ban on gays in the Boy Scouts.  The debate you’re currently having is about whether to continue your ban on honesty and integrity within the Boy Scouts.

The simple truth is this:  there always have been gay scouts and there will always be gay scouts.  You can not ban them.  All you can do is enforce a policy that forces them to lie about who they are.

And on this issue of honesty, you have decided not to decide.  At least not right now.  In the statement you made to the press you called this an issue with a great deal of “complexity” and said that “the organization needs time for [continue reading...]

February 7, 2013
All, Current Events/Pop Culture/Politics, Featured Posts, Inside Voice
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Stonewall, the President, Jodie Foster, Why Coming Out is Our Duty & Why I’ve Been Tweeting “I’m Gay” Everyday

“Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall.”

A simple sentence.  Yet remarkably powerful.

Before the nation and before the world, my President, Barack Obama, in one single breath, recognized that LGBT history is American history.  He plucked the Stonewall Riots from the sole purview of gay studies programs at colleges and universities and placed it squarely in the path this country has cleared with blood, sweat, tears and perseverance in its quest to fulfill its original promise:  liberty and freedom for all.  A path that bears the footprints of some of our greatest Americans.

Before the nation and before the world, I heard in my President’s words and saw in his eyes that I am an American first ~ that I am here ~ that I am equal ~ and that I deserve my shot at the American dream ~ with all its rights and responsibilities ~ on the exact same footing as my straight [continue reading...]

January 22, 2013
All, Current Events/Pop Culture/Politics, Featured Posts, Inside Voice
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Dear Media ~ Stop Having Crazy Gun People On Your Shows!

I’m begging you, you gotta stop having the 2nd Amendment/Must Arm Ourselves As Protection From Government Tyranny people on your shows.  Just stop.

Why?  Why, in a country with Freedom of Speech would you not have certain people on your shows?  Because this is not a Freedom of Speech issue, it’s a “not all opinions are equal” issue.  You do it all the time.  You self-police.  You edit.  You no longer ask members of the KKK to come on and give their opinions about race relations in the country.  (You still invite professional gayhaters on your shows and ask them to present their opinions as if they’re valid, but that’s another post altogether.  This time I’d like to stick to the gun issue.)  Every time you invite someone who espouses the view that they need unlimited access to military grade weapons in order to prevent government tyranny you are turning your [continue reading...]

January 9, 2013
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Rush Limbaugh Equates Pedophilia to Marriage Equality

It seems we can’t go for very long without some ill-informed pustule equating homosexuality to pedophilia.

Today’s pustule is none other than carnival barker Rush Limbaugh, who really ought to know better than to say incendiary things in order to Ann Coulter his way back to some kind of national relevance.

(In the interest of full disclosure, it was difficult to even type that while maintaining a straight face.  I think we all know that the King of Glass Houses is well adept at throwing stones in order to keep himself in some sort of jaundiced spotlight.  For example, Rush, whose weight would be perfect if he were 6’5″, which he most certainly is not, once implied that First Lady Michelle Obama was fat.  For example, Oxycontin Addicted Rush spoke passionately that [continue reading...]

January 8, 2013
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Twenty-Six Names by Jason Robert Brown

A little Monday night music ~ because it touches us in explicable ways ~ because it heals and hurts and releases ~ because it reaches beyond language ~ because it is communal ~ brought to you by Jason Robert Brown.

December 17, 2012
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Justice Scalia ~ Homosexuality & Murder

The below quote was taken from the LA Times:

“Confronted by a gay student at Princeton University, Justice Antonin Scalia defended his past writings comparing laws against homosexuality to those prohibiting bestiality and murder, saying he was arguing that many laws are based on society’s moral feelings.

“’If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder?’ Scalia asked in response to a question. ‘Can we have it against other things? I don’t apologize for the things I raise.’” (Emphasis mine.  To read the entire article, click here.)

Justice Scalia went on to say that “he was not equating homosexual conduct with bestiality or murder.”  Not equating?  Ok, I guess we could argue semantics, but it does seem undeniable that he puts homosexuality and murder [continue reading...]

December 12, 2012
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