General: September 2003 Archives

I'm back into my routine again after my New York City visit. The only casualty was my cell phone. It was lost but it may be mailed back to me. Someone called saying they had it. Now, whether they send it to me is another issue. I guess there are still nice people around, even in big cities.

I had a blast in the city and I'm going to try to make it down there at least twice a year now. It's kind of hard on the pocket book because I like to stay in nice places, but it's worth it.

I came across this article about a Caribbean resort who openly specifies that they will not take gay couples. It's caused quite a rift in London and other areas. When I went to the Caribbean, I made it a point to stay in gay-owned places because I like to support my community. So, I never really had to deal with it. It is kind of surprising that a company that manages resorts would ban gays from participating as guests since there are so many gay people working in that industry.

LONDON - The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has rejected advertisements for a holiday firm that bans gays and lesbians from its Caribbean resorts.

Following a raft of complaints from gay groups and members of the public, the Mayor has decided to bar Sandals from advertising its "couples" hotels on underground carriages.

The firm ran a four-week, £200,000 ($563,000) campaign earlier this year on the Tube, but Mr Livingstone decided to act because the ads offer holidays for "its "romantic, mixed-sex couples only" locations.

Sandals, whose slogan "Love is all you need", is seen as bitterly ironic by gay men and lesbians, has already been subjected to criticism for its discriminatory policy. Complaints about its stance led Barclaycard to drop the firm from its promotions.

If that pisses you off, let them hear about it! You can send a direct email to Sandals here.

After Social and Legal Acceptance, What's Next?

Every year it seems the gay community is up in arms about one issue or the other -- the right to serve in the military, the right to visit our partners in hospital, the right to get married. These fights appear discrete, but their common thread is a much more basic yearning that exists outside the ambit of legislative change -- the need for society to acknowledge that we are not perverse.

Rodriguez sees the Supreme Court less as making history than acknowledging a reality on the ground. When the vice president's daughter does not deny she is a lesbian, it means "the issue of whether or not we can join the American family is following the fact that we already are part of that family." Being gay is no longer the shadowy preserve of the night. The love that once dared not speak its name is part of daytime talk shows, Republican conventions and softball leagues...

Rodriguez thinks our outlaw tradition might survive our newfound legal status. "We are using the words privacy, sodomy, even marriage in this debate. But no one wants to use the word that gets to the central issue -- love." According to him, it's not sex or even marriage with its poached salmon that we are really after. "Society might give us the right to sex in private. But when the Pope gives me the word 'love,' then I'll break out the bottle of champagne."

It's true... everywhere I look I see the undeniable fact that gays are being assimilated into straight society. If you've ever watched Star Trek, The Next Generation series, you will know about a race of beings who's soul purpose is to evolve towards perfection. They do this by assimilating other species into their hive. They are viewed as being very evil. The subjects that are assimilated loose the identity they once had to become one with the hive. They are of one mind, all tied together by the queen, who controls their actions (ok... no off-color jokes about who is going to be the "queen" please). There are no individuals - they are ONE. They call themselves the Borg.

I have recently started to feel that I am gradually being assimilated into straight society. Of course, I've always been part of society, but if you are gay, you know very well that there is a part of your life you don't share with people who are straight. You know... the "gay stuff". The people you don't share with are your co-workers, your family, your friends. They have traditionally felt uncomfortable about such talk. A lot of it is conditioning. They are taught that what gays do is gross. In fact, it's no different from what they do.

I remember when I went to a bar after work with a couple of straight male friends. After a round of drinks, they wanted to know all about what it was like being gay. I said, "pretty much like being straight except that you can't show affection in public at all or show that you might be partners in any way, and if family shows up you have to watch everything you say so that you won't make them feel uncomfortable. In other words, I have to look and act just like.... you". They looked at me and said, "that sucks".

Well, yes it does. Over time, I have distanced myself from people that I would have to explain things to because well, frankly, it takes too much energy to cover up my life, along with the fact that it shoots my ego all to hell. I have only a few straight friends who have been very carefully chosen because they do get it.

Now, I feel like more and more people are "getting it", and that being gay is finally not "gross" to them any longer. There is a gay culture that many do not know about. Are we going to loose that? Will we become just like our straight counterparts with their set of problems? Being gay had it's set of problems for sure, but they were problems I could identify with.

Being an outcast was not always a bad thing. It has made it easy for me to just walk away from my family with all their problems. I haven't spoken to them in 19 years. I last talked to my family at my mothers funeral and no, I never told her I was gay. I wonder if she would have been ashamed of me? Would it have "killed her" if I'd told her, as my aunt said it would? I grew tired of the gay jokes being told in my family right in front of me and having to make it look like I was laughing at them also. Or, the time I took Kent to my aunts house for Thanksgiving dinner when I was in college and was asked by her not to let anyone know that Kent and I were together because my uncles "just wouldn't understand". I finally said, "enough is enough".

Today, the taboo of being gay is gone with 60% of society. It will never be 100%; there will always be the Pope, the Jerry Falwell's, and the Fred Phelp's of the world. But things are getting better as a direct result of more people coming out of the closet and making themselves known. Most everyone knows a gay person. Now, when they hear a gay joke, many don't react well to it because they can see that it's built on harmful stereotypes that drive us apart and ultimately hurts people they care about. I think most people are generally fed up with those types of stereotypes and can see that they only serve to further fragment our society.

A few months ago, Kent and I went to a small pizza place in Coventry, appropriately called "Coventry Pizza" (I never said we were original). We sat down, and ordered our dinner. Off to our left were a couple of families, sitting at a series of tables pulled together to make one large table. At the end of the table, closest to us, were the two men of the families. They were in their early-mid 30's. One of them leaned over to the other and said, "We have a couple of fags sitting at the table next to us." He then nodded towards our direction with a big smile on his face. I heard it word for word and thought to myself, "Here we go again." The other man looked our way and looked back at his friend. He said to him in disgust, "I don't believe you would even say that. Just drop it!". The other man had this look on his face like, "What the hell did I do?".

I don't know why the man scolded his friend for saying that. Perhaps his brother is gay, perhaps he has friends who are gay and knows what those attitudes can do to gay people, or perhaps he knows a gay person who was the victim of violence towards gays. I do know that not so long ago, that man probably would not have reacted that way. He would have agreed with his friend and they would have shared a nice laugh at our expense.

I see things like that, and I realize that we are on a new frontier of acceptance. It warms my heart, but it is also uncomfortable for me. I'm not used to talking openly to others about my relationship with Kent. A few straight friends have mentioned to me that we never show affection towards one another. I said to them, "We won't. We are very well trained not to - not in public." I don't think it's safe for gay people to do that, even today. Perhaps, that is only in my mind. I have a fear of being assaulted, having had several of my friends in life savagely assaulted. We really don't live in a free country.

I have always hated society for making us feel that way. Now that acceptance is growing, I can't just put down my arms and disarm. I have a spent a lifetime putting up these walls and arming myself with the tools I would need to survive in this hostile country. That won't change overnight. I figure that about the time I'm at the end of my life, I will finally feel comfortable fully sharing myself and what I am inside with society, if they want to hear it. I suppose that's not a bad way to leave this life and this world. Until then, I will resist being totally assimilated into society and keep to myself the part that I feel most at home with, the gay part.

It amazes me these days just how courageous many of our young gay people are. I realize that times have changed since I was a teenager. Much of the support these kids have today didn't exist when I was their age. Still, it takes a lot of guts to stand up and make a problem known.

In this case, Allen Wolff met with the Baldwinsville school board on September 8, to urged the school board to make some additions to the code of conduct. Wolff, 17, said he wants students to be protected against harassment based on sexual orientation, gender identity and how these are expressed. The code sets the rules for students in the district. It says nothing about sexual orientation.

Allen didn't graduate in time after failing to complete his physical education requirement last school year. He stopped going to gym class after being harassed. Instead of giving up, he made the school board aware of the problem. Now, it's up to them to step up to the plate and do the right thing.

We have another casualty of the military's don't ask, don't tell policy. I say "we" because we are all paying for this stupid policy in many ways. Many very talented people are no longer allowed to serve their country, just because someone found out that they are gay.

They make no exceptions to this. Even for people who have talents that we desperately need. I'm thinking of the linguists who were trained in Arabic and Korean who were discharged from the Army for being gay. Now, we have a doctor who is serving in the Air Force who is being let go. Not only are they letting him go, they are also asking for the $71,500 back for his medical education.

This is where all of you come in. You paid for his education with the taxes you are paying. The Air Force will no longer have this man's knowledge or expertise.

Making him pay is adding insult to injury. It's a further penalty. He wants to serve but he cannot," said Hensala's attorney, Clyde J. Wadsworth. "That's not a justified reason to discriminate against a gay service member."

Maj. Karen Finn, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the military branch was not immediately prepared to comment.

"Don't ask don't tell" was not at issue in the case. It has already been upheld by the court, which said the discrimination was justified to promote "unit cohesion" and military preparedness.

I honestly didn't think the gays were so powerful as to damage "unit cohesion" or to undermine "military preparedness". If we are that powerful, why are we even debating issues that determine what rights we will and will not have?

I think I am all set on my new computer. It takes me awhile to get used to the new keyboard, which is a bit smaller and more compact. I got the Sony Vaio, which is perfect for this kind of work. And, with the wireless connection built in, I can now blog anywhere. I'm actually sitting on my front porch blogging now. OK... I know what you are thinking... get a life Bill. Perhaps you are right. I'm a bit of a geek.

We are all excited about our trip to New York City this coming weekend, although we have heard that their is a gang of punks going around the Chelsea area beating up gay guys (I have to figure out if that's where we are going to be). We will be staying in Manhattan Midtown. On Saturday, we plan on taking in some of the sites, the World Trade Center, a museum or two, and end up in the Christopher Street area. Hopefully, that isn't where that gang is going to be.

I was reading an article today in Newsday.com about the repeal of the British statute, Section 28. The law was introduced under Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1988. Basically, the law barred local government councils from "promoting" homosexuality. In other words, don't talk about it at all in the schools.

"Today's repeal of Section 28 is a triumph for 21st-century tolerance over 19th-century prejudice," said Ben Summerskill, chief executive of gay justice group Stonewall.

The law, which barred local government councils from "promoting" homosexuality, was the subject of protests from the moment it was introduced under Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1988. It was devised to deal with concerns over homosexual content in sex education, but was condemned by campaigners as discriminatory.

It struck me that for so long homosexuality was something not to be talked about. We are all too eager as a society to experience beautiful art, music, sculpture, or literature and we often times like to know a bit about the creator of that work. I know from my past that it's not uncommon to study a composer of music who happened to be gay. I always took comfort in the fact that if that person could achieve something great in his lifetime with conditions as bad as they were, than I surely could do something with my life worth while.

I remember in college, I was attending a class on romantic composers. I remember that we were studying the Fourth Symphony of Tchaikovsky. If you aren't familiar with the work, I will tell you that it's not an easy listen. Tchaikovsky, who was gay, lived at a time and place when being gay was not accepted. He had to try to hide his orientation, and, through a series of doomed relationships with women and men, finally tried to commit suicide. All because he was made to feel like garbage because of how he felt.

I felt like Tchaikovsky was talking directly to me through this work. It was as if he were screaming his despair at me, to be a witness to what he went through. I remember thinking, "It's not that bad now". Then, one of the girls in the class raised her hand and asked, "Wasn't Tchaikovsky a homosexual?". The room got quiet as if she said something totally inappropriate. The instructor told the class that he was. The students shook their heads in a disapproving manner, and one male student offered the opinion of "that's gross". So much for trying to understand his despair. I remember thinking at the time that I wanted to say to the class, "Is this how you will live your life? You will dismiss anything not in your immediate understanding with 'that's gross'?".

It wasn't just that class. Homophobia was alive and well at the College of Idaho, as you can well imagine. None of us were out, although we had formed a bit of a network on campus. We knew each other on campus, but couldn't risk what would happen and we never spoke with others outside of our group in a way that would indicate that we even knew each other. Especially Kent and me. We live in an all male dorm which consisted of a large number of jocks. In our senior year, people did find out, and it was open season. The people that we thought of as friends, turned out to be total jerks.

I remember one instance where I went to ask our RA something. His name was Dave S. (no last names given, but people who know the college probably can figure out who I'm talking about). I was in the doorway. I asked my question, and they all looked at me and laughed at me. There were probably five other guys in his room. One of them got up, came over to me, and put his arm around me. He then asked me if I'd like to get in his pick up with him, and drive out to the lake, presumably to make out. Of course, it was all part of their way of humiliating me. I removed his arm from my shoulder and promptly told him to get lost, which prompted another outburst of laughter.

It's funny... after all these years, that still hurts. I want to tell Dave how much that hurt, and how much of a jerk he was. I guess you can't make people more than what they are inside, but one would hope that the people who you stick with the label of "friend" would be a bit more understanding.

I want to thank those of you who sent me words of encouragement. You are true friends. We all have our bad days. What makes life so worth living is knowing that the next day or maybe the next day after that will be a better day. In time, maybe the world will be better. We all have to stick together to make all of this work!

ok... I think I'm back on track again. We have a major hurricane about to hit the east coast. Connecticut won't be hit directly by this storm, but will receive some major rain and wind from the storm. I may be home tomorrow because of this and with a little luck, may have my new notebook computer!

I came upon these items in my daily search. There's a little bit of everything here. I call it the good, the bad, and the ugly (and yes, I am a Clint Eastwood fan!).

THE GOOD
New fraternity geared toward gay, bisexual men. It's good to see the inclusion of other groups that were once so unpopular. I'm sure it won't be easy to belong to this fraternity, but hopefully in time, it will become more commonplace throughout the country.

MPs accept gay unions.

OTTAWA -- By a razor-thin margin, the federal Parliament embraced gay marriage on Tuesday by rejecting a 137-year-old definition that preserves the institution for "one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others."

MPs voted 137-132 against a Canadian Alliance motion to maintain the traditional meaning, despite a string of court rulings that allow gays and lesbians to wed.

There are fair-minded people out there. I think with all the bad news in the world now, it's easy for us to forget that we do have friends and allies. Politically, I'm sure it took a lot of courage to come out in favor of giving gays in Canada the right to marry.

MPs hand gay-rights activists another win.

OTTAWA -- Homosexual-rights activists claimed a second straight victory last night as MPs passed a controversial bill to ban verbal gay-bashing.

In a 141-110 vote, Parliament decided to include "sexual orientation" in a law that already bans inciting hatred against people of colour, race, religion or ethnic origin.

THE BAD
Republican Senators Lobby to Prevent Gay Marriage

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Anxious to counter moves to legalize gay marriage, a group of Republican senators lobbied Wednesday for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

"In response to those who are trying to destroy the legal status of marriage and force their will on the American people, a constitutional response is necessary," said Sen. Sam Brownback, a Republican from Kansas.

The "legal status" of marriage that the good senator is referring to are all the federal and state CIVIL rights that come from being able to obtain a marriage license. Yes, I for one am trying to destroy the legal status of marriage as it currently stands. The legal status is a civil issue, not a religious issue. As such, you can't set up a membership (in this case, straight couples) to a class that receives those benefits, excluding others. That is wrong and will be found to be unconstitutional, assuming that strict legal interpretation of the Constitution is observed.

The Constitution, Amendment XIV, Section 1:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

THE UGLY
Gay Israelis Charge Police Brutality.

TEL AVIV -- Gay civil rights activists in Israel have leveled charges of police brutality against members of the Tel Aviv police force, who they claim took part in a violent and unprovoked attack on gay people in a city park last week.

"I was sitting in Independence Park with a few friends, and suddenly about 10 people arrived," a 25-year-old witness told the Haaretz newspaper. "We didn't know yet that they were policemen, because they wore [special patrol unit] uniforms, and we didn't notice this in the dark."

I immediately called the police," the witness said. "The policeman on the telephone told me it wasn't such an urgent case and that we would have to wait."

More calls were made. Haaretz reports that a single squad car arrived about an hour and a half later. The police, who were surly and in no apparent hurry to apprehend the attackers, approached the area. "When the [attacking] policemen saw that they were other police officers, they simply laughed and left," the witness said.

It's odd that in a country such as Israel that such brutality would exist among it's own citizens. Perhaps the police are so used to being in a violent state of mind that they see this as "sport". That still happens a lot in this country. There are still many places that if you belong to an unpopular minority, that last call you want to make is to the police. You never know what you are going to get.

"When the [attacking] policemen saw that they were other police officers, they simply laughed and left," the witness said. I guess that pretty much says it all.

When I was a college student, the most I had to worry about was getting to classes, practicing (I was a music student), and studying. Those were a challenge for me because I was constantly being distracted by other things (parties, and an occasional crush on some good looking guy - before I fell for Kent, that is!). Today, students are more politically savvy and activism is coming back in some circles.

I read this article yesterday about a college student taking on his college over the Boy Scouts (yes, they still are expelling boy scouts and scout leaders who are gay). It prompted me to write the following letter to the college President, Kenneth Ender.

Dear President Ender:

I was very disturbed at an article that appeared on the internet regarding bias and discrimination at Cumberland County College. I would think that at the college level, most people would stop discriminating against students at a college, particularly when that person was the President of the college.

By allowing the Boy Scouts of America to meet on campus, you are allowing your college to practice discrimination. This can be said of any group. In the case of the Boy Scouts of America, it's bias and discrimination against homosexuals. Does your college indeed sanction this kind of discrimination?

Your views on this issue are your own. However, by allowing this to happen, you are saying that it's also ok for the college you represent to practice this discrimination. Since that seems to be the case, I will be posting an opinion to this on my website. It currently receives approximately 10,000 hits a day. Word spreads fast on the internet. It's too bad that you have brought this controversy to your college.

Bill Cannon
Coventry, CT
http://billandkent.com

I guess activism is still alive and well, even in an old activist like me. A bit from the article I cited above:

VINELAND -- When Kyle Brandon arrived for classes at Cumberland County College one night last spring, he didn't expect to come face to face with dozens of members of the Boy Scouts of America.

But that's what happened when Brandon, a 36-year-old openly gay Vineland resident, walked into the college's Frank Guaracini Jr. Fine and Performing Arts Center. The stress of witnessing the start of a Boy Scouts award ceremony for the college's president, Kenneth Ender, was so intense that he broke out in cold sweat, Brandon said.

In the months since that day in April, Brandon's experience has brought the national debate on the Boy Scouts of America's policies toward gays and atheists to the college's pine tree-shaded campus. And school officials are taking the debate seriously.

In a complaint filed with the school's Board of Trustees last month, Brandon asks that the Boy Scouts be banned from CCC's campus because of the organization's refusal to extend membership to atheists and gays.

"The (U.S.) Supreme Court said the Boy Scouts have the right to discriminate," Brandon said. "But that doesn't mean an institution that receives state and federal funding should open their doors to them."

More and more gay couples are opting to become parents. And why not? Many of us have had to form our own families - families made up of friends and hopefully, blood relatives. The older I get the more important family life is to me. I think it would be awesome to bring a child into our household, but it does take a big commitment. In our case, we have decided (me more reluctantly than Kent) not to have a child. I love children and it seems from my interaction with Nicholas, that I have a way with them. I think I would make an outstanding parent.

I came across this story on the internet about two men who decided to become parents. They hope their son, Alexander, will grow up to be straight. They don't say why, but I can only assume it is to save him from the difficulties in this world that come with being gay. If I had a child, I suppose I would want the same for them, although I wouldn't make a big deal about it one way or the other. I know that sexual orientation is not chosen any more than eye color. Whatever they are and become, they would be loved by me and would have my support.

An extraordinary documentary about how two gay men flew to America and hired a surrogate mother to have a son is set to rekindle the debate about what constitutes an Australian family.

In the US they call it the "gayby boom".

In Australia, where laws vary, it is still the centre of emotional and ethical controversy.

Tony Wood, 40, and Lee Matthews, 34, are an upper-middle-class professional couple who decided five years ago they wanted to be parents.

The men each donated their sperm to fertilise eggs donated by a young American woman they chose after studying a catalogue in a process "very cut and dried, like retail shopping".

The resulting embryos were then impregnated into another American woman, who gave birth to a 2.8 kilogram boy, Alexander, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, last December.

In a process which is banned in most countries around the world, the men used a California-based surrogacy and egg donation firm, Growing Generations, which is dedicated to the gay and lesbian community. The firm's website says it has assisted with the birth of at least 196 babies in cases from around the world.

Go here to read this story online.

Well, I'm off to see what's happening at Connecticut PRIDE. Today is the day for our pride festival.

Last January, I wrote about the suicide of a gay teen named Marcus Wayman. Marcus was in a parked car with a 17-year-old male friend when police stopped to question the two, found condoms while searching the car, and arrested them for underage drinking. At the police station, officers lectured the two teens about the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality and threatened to tell Wayman's grandfather that Wayman was gay.

After the 18-year-old Wayman was released from police custody, he went home and shot himself in the head.

His mother sued the town and the officers for police misconduct, discrimination, and violation of the right to privacy. The lawsuit against the Minersville, PA police has been settled. The police officers had asked the federal appeals court to let them out of the case on the basis that it was not clear that the right to privacy protects lesbians and gay men. It's incomprehensible to me that anyone would think this. How would it even enter anyones head that the right to privacy didn't extend to gay people? It's as if to some people we aren't even a part of this society.

For further information on Marcus Wayman, please visit the Marcus Memorial Campaign.

Click on the link below to read the full story. News source: The Advocate

New Source: billingsgazette.com

The politically conservative Montana Family Coalition is planning a media campaign against the new television show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," claiming that the reality-based show featuring five gay men is trash and shouldn't be on TV. ..... "To me, that's not a reality show about gay people," said Julie Millam, who said she watched clips from the show. "A really good reality show for gay people would be five gay men dying of AIDS."

I won't even dignify that last remark with a response, other than to say (I just can't help myself), that perhaps she will feel differently when her son gets AIDS only to find that he has no where else to go for support other than the AIDS organizations... run by and formed by... you guessed it, gay people. But don't worry Julie, we won't turn him away.

I'm used to this sort of ignorance though. It's very close to what I grew up with in Idaho, a neighboring state. I've buried too many friends from AIDS to be understanding of her bigotry and ignorance.

"We don't want to see (gay content) on every single TV show," she said. "I'm hearing from people left and right, that every time they turn on the TV it's something to do with gay people. It's not reality."

Actually, it is reality. She just doesn't want to see it. What she really wants if for the "good ole days" to come back. You remember those. The days where people who were gay wouldn't even think of coming out of the closet and being themselves. Where we had to pretend to be something we weren't just to survive. The reality is, we do exist and most of us are sick and tired of pretending to be something we are not just so some of the more narrow minded of us can fell better and more comfortable AT OUR EXPENSE.

Julie Millam, I love you as a Christian. As a gay person who has gone through hell for the likes of you, you can go to hell.

Ever since I saw the movie Gandhi, I have been fascinated by India. It is a land that I always told myself that I would be going to at some point in my life. I know that it is a land of many religious beliefs. I can appreciate that. To me, that is part of the culture of the country. I enjoy meeting other people from other places different from myself and to try to appreciate their experiences and outlook on like.

I won't say that I live in such a shell as to think that being gay would be popular in India. I didn't expect that at all. I think sexuality is most always one small part of what a person is. It becomes a much larger issue if you feel that your life or freedom may be jeopardized because of it.

(New Delhi) The government of India says the public would never accept the decriminalization of homosexuality. In a brief presented to the country's Supreme Court, the government says that "Indian society is intolerant to the practice of homosexuality/lesbianism."

The high court is hearing an appeal by AIDS and gay groups that the country's sodomy law is unconstitutional. The so-called laws against nature allow for people convicted of homosexuality to be imprisoned up to life, although the maximum sentence is seldom handed out.

The government told the court Monday that society’s disapproval of homosexuality was "strong enough to justify it being treated as a criminal offence even where the adults indulge in it in private."

News Source: 365gay.com

Well, India isn't important enough to me to put myself into a culture that would put someone who is gay away for life. I realize that that would only happen if you were convicted of being gay (how ever that would come about, I don't know), but it wouldn't be worth the risk.

To my gay readership out there... ever notice how the world is becoming somewhat smaller in regards to places that we can travel to and feel safe? I read not so long ago about a cruise ship (with gay passengers) that was not being allowed to dock at some seaport. The cruise line was totally surprised by the event. I guess you can never know what will happen if you travel anywhere that's not the United States. I felt safe traveling to the US Virgin Islands, but then again, we own them. Am I being overly paranoid?

I suppose the only comfort I get from seeing the hecklers of the gay students coming to and from the Harvey Milk School in New York City is the fact that because gas prices are so darn high right now, they paid top dollar to get here!

Some of the worst in the crowd come from the about 10 protestors from Fred Phelps and members from his church (mostly family members). Phelps runs the website godhatesfags.com. Protestors in the street outside the school held up banners such as "Sodomy, It's to Die For" and "Death Penalty for Fags".

But others were on hand to defend the students.

"For those of you who say this school is unnecessary, I would refer you to some of the signs and comments from over there," said City Council Speaker Gifford Miller as he pointed to the picketers.

On September 5, the University of Indiana removed gay-hate postings by a professor to a Web log that was hosted on the school's server.

On September 6, the postings were restored to the university server and the professor was given permission to continue his web log.

There's no denying that the writings of Professor Rasmusen are extremely offensive (read some of his comments below). From doing just a little searching on the web, I can tell that Professor Rasmusen has been saying these kinds of things for awhile now. But, that doesn't mean he doesn't have a right to say them. The university did the right thing in allowing the professor to continue with his posts. I think there may be an issue of his posting on university servers (public property, since the University of Indiana is a public university), but that's for the university to decide.

My feeling is this... give people like that enough rope, and they will hang themselves. There is a truth to be discovered. The truth does not lie in historical teachings of how homosexuals have been treated in the past (something Professor Rasmusen seems to enjoy researching, based on some of his posts). The truth lies with homosexuals themselves (and all of us, for that matter). The truth to behold is the person each of us holds inside. There is no higher truth than that. If you are a decent human being (the highest aspiration any human being can hope for, I think), that will speak volumes. The fact that you may be homosexual may or may not be important to some people. In a perfect world free of prejudice, it wouldn't matter at all.

On September 5 (news source 365gay.com):

(Bloomington, Indiana) Indiana University has removed gay-hate postings by a professor to a Web log that was hosted on the school's server.

Professor Eric Rasmusen who teaches business used the Web log or blog, to condemn gays and call for gays and lesbians to be removed from jobs as teachers, elected officials and doctors.

In one posting Rasmusen stated: "A second reason not to hire homosexuals as teachers is that it puts the fox into the chicken coop. Male homosexuals, at least, like boys and are generally promiscuous. They should not be given the opportunity to satisfy their desires. Somewhat related is a reason not to hire a homosexual as a doctor even though you would hire him as a lawyer: you don't mind if your lawyer has a venereal disease such as HIV or hepatitis, but you do mind if your doctor is in a class of people among whom such diseases are common."

On September 6 (news source Indystar.com):

Indiana University is allowing a professor to continue posting through the school's Web site a personal log with criticisms of homosexuals despite complaints from some staffers.

A university attorney determined that the log did not violate any school policies, a day after the business school dean asked economics Professor Eric Rasmusen to remove it, IU spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said Friday.

In Rasmusen's Web log, which was linked to from his IU biography, he expressed his views about why homosexuals should not be teachers, elected officials and doctors.
.....
Doug Bauder, coordinator of IU's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender services, said a staff member called his office and brought the site to his attention.

"It's not an easy Web page to look at," Bauder said. "From what I read, it is very offensive."
.....
"I did not know it was so controversial to provide arguments for why homosexuals should not be employed as school teachers, but it seems that people at universities get excited about opinions that are common, perhaps even the norm, elsewhere in the United States," Rasmusen wrote in an e-mail to the Indiana Daily Student newspaper.

Reverend Fred Phelps and members of his Westboro Baptist Church are at it again. Protestors demonstrated today in front of the high school for gay teenagers shouting "Die Fags" and carrying anti-gay placards. The school opened for the fall term this morning.

The protestors were kept across the street from the school. In front of the building, the first public high school in America to serve gay students, were about 200 members of New York's gay community, marching in support of the facility.

Alan Van Capelle, the Executive Director of Empire State Pride Agenda denounced the Phelps' protest. Van Capelle said that the 150 students who are attending classes this fall represent the highest risk students in New York. "Some of these kids have been abandoned by their parents, others have been severely beaten at their old schools. These are students who guidance councilors say would be at mortal risk if they weren't admitted to Harvey Milk. This is a last ditch effort to keep these kids in school. Its a tragedy that this kind of school has to exist at all," Van Capelle said.

Previous writings about the Harvey Milk School on this website:
Sept. 4, 2004 | Sept. 6, 2004 | Aug. 18, 2004 | Aug. 8, 2004

This is kind of incredible. It's nice to see support from others in society who have no vested interest in helping us out. The news source for this story was from the New York Post:

September 6, 2003 -- Yoko Ono and other pop music performers are putting out a tribute album to raise $300,000 for the controversial Harvey Milk HS for gay students, supporters said yesterday. .....

The performers hope to raise $300,000 for the Hetrick Martin Institute, which manages the Harvey Milk school in partnership with the city Department of Education. .....

I read this story and was a bit disgusted by it. I was thinking to myself... "aren't we beyond this kind of prejudice?". I know that some areas of the country are still in the stone age in just about every regard. But one would think that Washington, D.C. would be a bit more in the mainstream.

This story involved two gay men who were attacked by a gay basher in a gay-popular area known as Dupont Circle. In a lawsuit filed in 1997, the two men charged that two EMT workers violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the federal Rehabilitation Act by refusing to treat them and refusing to transport them to a hospital. The suit charged that, while the two men did not have HIV, the EMT workers must have assumed they were both gay and HIV positive because there was no other logical reason for the refusal of treatment. The only treatment the EMT's would offer is to hand them (without touching them) gauze bandages. The suit was thrown out by the judge.

Then I started thinking... How safe are we? I mean, if I'm going down the freeway and get into an accident and get injured, would the EMT's refuse help if there's blood involved? Apparently, they can refuse to help anyone they choose, perhaps not legally, but as this case proves, what the law says and what actually takes place in court is up to the "interpretation" of the law. I do understand that, but you would think that the lines of right and wrong would be well defined when you are injured, bleeding, and in obvious need of medical attention.

Now, I'm thinking of going out and buying a first aid kit for my car. Not the ones that have band aids and tweezers, but the big $300 packages that can handle more serious injuries. Am I being paranoid? Well, I don't know. Before I read this article, I would have said yes.

It's truly amazing what gay people have to do to take precautions against stupid people. We pay thousands of dollars to lawyers in an effort to draw up legal papers to protect our interests because of the lack of protections offered by marriage, to this. Some day, we will all look back on this (I'm hoping), and wonder how this country was this messed up.

News source for this was the Washington Blade:

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that emergency medical technicians with the D.C. Fire Department engaged in disability-related discrimination by refusing medical treatment for two gay men injured in a 1996 gay bashing attack.

United States District Court Judge Richard W. Roberts ruled on Aug. 8 that the two men, Joseph Loron Lavoie and Ken Ludden, failed to establish a prima facie case that the EMT workers had reason to perceive them as having HIV and refused to provide medical services to them for that reason.

In a lawsuit filed in 1997, Lavoie and Ludden charged that two EMT workers violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the federal Rehabilitation Act by refusing to treat them and refusing to transport Lavoie to a hospital. The suit charged that, while the two men did not have HIV, the EMT workers must have assumed they were both gay and HIV positive because there was no other logical reason for the refusal of treatment.

This is a response I sent to the Daily Trojan Online, the student newspaper of the University of Southern California. The article was entitled Gay high school will only hurt acceptance of gays. Below was my response.

I'd like to point out a few issues I had with your article on the Harvey Milk School.

From the article:
At a school like USC, you cannot take a class on diversity or civil rights without hearing how evil corporations or government establishments "discriminate based on race, gender or sexual orientation."

Actually, government has passed laws that make it illegal to discriminate against people based on race and gender (so you have legal recourse should discrimination be proven). The same cannot be said for sexual orientation. There are no federal laws what so ever that state that corporations or the federal government can not discriminate against you based on sexual orientation. It is still fully legal in 37 states in this nation to fire someone solely because they are homosexual, without further reason.

In regards to the Harvey Milk School, you state:
"It is undeniably true that gay students are likely to be teased and harassed by their peers. But so are tall students, short students, skinny students and overweight students — all of which may be either straight or gay. Perhaps a school for the overweight would aid in the education of those types of students. If we can create a segregated school, where can the line be drawn?"

I find this to be highly offensive. Anyone who has been perceived to be gay in high school will tell you that you can't even begin to compare the kind of teasing that other students (short, skinny, overweight) receive.

Do they get the windshield and headlights on their car busted out?

Do they get chased home after school every damn night fearful that if they get caught they will be killed?

Do they get kidnapped after school, taken to a remote area out of town, beaten over the course of an hour until unconscious, then urinated on by five boys from the football team for being a "faggot", only to be told later when that gay student tried to press charges that charges would not be pressed, because they are "from good families", and that "boys will be boys"?

After trying to file the complaint, that gay student was shot with a shotgun while in his back yard. The pellets entered the down coat he was wearing, and feathers flew in the air. There was intense stinging and pain, followed by blood dripping down his back. The police never charged anyone for that, but did find the empty casings from the gun.

I was that gay student. I doubt that is the same as being bullied for being overweight. If I had somewhere I could go to finish my high school education without that harassment and intimidation, I would have taken it in a second.

Your comparisons are not the same. I'm against segregation, but I have to vote for the lesser of two evils. If the Harvey Milk School saves one student from going through the hell I had to endure, it will be well worth it!