Do you ever wonder why

Do you ever wonder why people are so afraid of people who they see as different? I guess I will never understand it. You would think we were from another planet. It's discouraging to be defined by one thing that people know about you and then judged for it. But, I'm not going to let it get me down. Just because one or two apples in the cart are rotten doesn't mean the whole cart has to be. Right? You have to try to think positive.

It's easy to see why so many people are depressed today. The world has gone crazy I think, so we try to compensate with drugs and medication. People don't care for their fellow man anymore. We live out our little lives, and it has meaning to our immediate family. But, to the family of man, there is nothing. If that weren't enough, we seem to have a need to ostracize one group over another - one is always above the other - none are equal. To those of us on the lower end of societal popularity, the world is a sad, lonely place. A place filled with hopelessness. So, we form our bonds with the chosen few that we can trust and we settle with that. To fill the time, we go to work or do whatever it is we do to fill our days and just try to find fullfillment in that. It sounds like I'm down and depressed. I think I see things more clearly now than I have in a long time. I'm not depressed or down. It's sad really... we are capable of so, so much more.

Gay Unions Void in Texas. The Texas House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, on a vote of 118-9, sending the bill to the desk of Gov. Rick Perry. The state Senate passed the same bill on April 15, and Gov. Perry will sign it with enthusiasm, making Texas the 37th state to ban the recognition of a same-sex marriage contracted beyond its borders. The bill states that same-sex marriages and civil unions are void in Texas, and prohibits the state or local governments from giving effect to any rights or benefits associated with these out-of-state relationships. It goes on to note that unmarried couples can use private contracts and other legal arrangements to govern their interests, a paragraph that seems designed to protect powers of attorney and other techniques used by life partners to secure their relationships.

District to address gay rights. Those in favor of the students' cause compared discrimination against gay students to the once widespread public discrimination against African Americans. One middle-aged man, describing himself as a "former harasser" of gay students, said he'll never forget the day a constantly assaulted gay student in his high school class committed suicide.

Death-defying dog. Canine survives being hit by a car, gunshot wound and deep freeze.

THE POLLSTERS - Homosexuality: Ultimate Wedge issue of 2004? The noisy and nasty flap over comments by Sen. Rick Santorum’s (R-Pa.) on homosexuality suggests gay rights may become the ultimate and most divisive wedge issue of this election cycle. Even gun control and abortion don’t seem to divide the electorate like sodomy and same-sex marriages...

Santorum offers thanks to Senate GOP colleagues in aftermath of controversy. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) thanked his Senate GOP colleagues in a closed luncheon Tuesday for supporting him over the past two weeks — when his controversial comments about homosexuality received extensive press coverage. “I think some people tried to distort his remarks,” said Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.). Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who earlier issued a statement defending Santorum, said there was “no question” that Santorum would retain his post as chairman of the Senate GOP Conference. “I have full confidence. That’s a non-issue,” he said. “Everybody likes Rick Santorum,” said Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), who had criticized Santorum’s comments. “Reject what he said, but like him as a person.”

Forum barely addresses Santorum. Maybe this is the ultimate insult for Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.: A panel discussing gay politics at Equality Forum last night barely mentioned him. Instead a homosexual man, a lesbian and a transgender leader described "the inside game" of lobbying the Republican controlled Pennsylvania legislature - successfully - for an inclusive anti-hate crimes law. Santorum, whose anti-gay comments last week touched off a firestorm, did get an ironic thank you from a national leader in the homosexual marriage movement. "It helps," said Evan Wolfson, executive director of the Freedom to Marry Project. "Any time we have a discussion about gay people, the wrongness of excluding people from marriage and the deeper agenda of our opponents, we benefit."

New fodder for bigots. The post-Trent Lott face of the Republican Party’s leadership in the U.S. Senate revealed itself last week, pulling back the hood of “compassionate conservatism.” And guess what? It’s not much different from the old face, still trying to appeal to bigoted voters with a tailor-made message. Santorum did generously make a distinction between homosexuality and “man on dog” sex — that must be what they mean by compassionate conservatism — but he also blamed the Catholic Church’s pedophile scandal on homosexuality. Santorum’s comments on homosexuality are as much of a throwback as Lott’s pining for a segregationist past. Even worse is that Santorum, unlike Lott, says he has nothing for which to apologize.

Supersizing Santorum's bigotry. President's faith-based point man has big-time plan to institutionalize discrimination. "One thing is sure: Santorum is not your typical fire-breathing right-wing homo-basher. He's a powerful big-time politician with big political plans and an even bigger legislative agenda. No matter how the Supreme Court rules on the issue, if the senator succeeds in his greater mission, bigotry against homosexuals will be institutionalized through reams of Bush-backed congressional legislation."

Meet The Mullah Omar of Pennsylvania - Santorum: That's Latin for Asshole. Rick Santorum had only been in the senate for a few weeks when Bob Kerrey, then Senator from Nebraska, pegged him. "Santorum, that's Latin for asshole." It was probably the funniest line the grim Kerrey ever uttered and it was on the mark, too. Such a stew of sleazy self-righteousness and audacious stupidity has not been seen in the senate since the days of Steve Symms, the celebrated moron from Idaho. In 1998, investigative reporter Ken Silverstein fingered Santorum as the dumbest member of congress in a story for The Progressive. Considering the competition, that's an achievement of considerable distinction. Sure, Santorum is an asshole. But he's not one of a kind.

High school students forge a gay-straight bond. Youths believe diversity should include sexual minorities. At Garfield High in Seattle, the Gay-Straight Alliance dates back more than 10 years. Senior Sarah Goldenkranz, 18, joined the group as a freshman, and her participation in it earned her a $1,000 award at the 2003 Diversity Makes a Different banquet, an annual event sponsored to the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation to honor teen activists. "The thing that I really feel is really important is that, while a lot of people are becoming more accepting of diversity, they don't always include sexual minorities in their groups when they think of diversity," Goldenkranz said. "To me, it's one of the biggest ones because with most other minorities, at least your family can share that. Sexual orientation is one of the only minorities where you can be alone in your family.

Twins players show mixed reaction on gay issue. Would an openly gay player be accepted in a major league clubhouse in 2003? After former teammate Todd Jones sparked debate on the issue with recent anti-gay comments, several Twins joined the discussion Wednesday with mostly open-minded viewpoints.

"It depends on who the team is, the teammates and the organization," said closer Eddie Guardado, who two seasons ago spent two months in the same bullpen with Jones, now a Colorado reliever. "To me, if one of my teammates was gay, that's his personal beliefs. I wouldn't have any problem with that. But you'd have to ask 25 guys. "It could affect the whole team if somebody had a problem with it. They say there's one on every team, though." Jones contributed to putting the issue in the national spotlight again when he was quoted in a Denver Post story about the Broadway play "Take Me Out," in which a big-league player announces he is gay.

In a follow-up story, Todd Jones apparently made an attempt to apologize for embarrassing his team and making his views public, although he made no apology for having those views.