Miscellaneous: January 2006 Archives

“Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union, A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing, and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages.”

“I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people. But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream to make room at the table of brother-and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people.” (source)

Coretta Scott King

What a great idea! There’s no better way for people to understand our families than to be around our families. This is how stereotypes are destroyed.

Unfortunately, conservative groups are already asking the White House if there’s a way to exclude these families.

(Washington) Same-sex couples are being encouraged by a national organization that promotes gay marriage to bring their children to this year’s White House Easter Egg Roll on April 17th.

Family Pride says that more than 100 same-sex households have signed up with the group to attend the annual event where White House staff each year hide Easter Eggs on the grounds of the Executive Mansion for children to find.

Family Pride on its Web site says gay family participation is not a protest.

“This is a celebration of our families,” it says. “We want to give our fellow citizens the opportunity to see us as real families, participating in a great American tradition on the White House lawn, rather than protesting from the sidelines.” (source)

I couldn’t believe this story. On the other hand, I work in technology so I very much realize just how small the world is in terms of data. What amazed me was just how easy it was for this blogger to obtain the phone numbers simply by paying for it. I don’t know if laws were broken, but I suppose not.

The question we should be asking is, “Is anything safe any longer?” As for myself, I don’t believe I have any data that is that important. Don’t get me wrong. I have private cell phone numbers and many personal contacts that I very much protect. But they aren’t a matter of national security. Not that Gen. Wesley Clark’s numbers were, but I bet he had some pretty interesting phone numbers that were purchased.

It also occurred to me that when I go to the grocery store, I will often check myself out (no jokes please) at the check out stand. I often have wondered, since absolutely everything is bar coded, what they do with all that data. On top of that, they know that it is me that is buying it because I swipe my Stop N’ Shop card prior to scanning anything. So, they know what we eat and what our “shopping trends” are. How could that be used in a harmful way?

On the other hand, the paranoid part of me says, “...somehow they are going to take my grocery data... it will end up in the hands of Al Qaeda... from that data Al Qaeda will be able to deduce my recipe for ‘winter greens’... the Muslim world will grow to love my ‘winter greens’... at some point they will decide that my ‘winter greens’ are ‘evil’ and the ‘work of Satan’ (and America) since their origins were traced back to a gay American... and they will use that against us... making it look like it was me who did it!”

Blogger Buys Presidential Candidate’s Call List

One of the nation’s top political bloggers purchased the cell phone records of former presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark on Thursday to demonstrate the growing privacy concerns highlighted in a Chicago Sun-Times story last week.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to know who [Sun-Times columnist] Bob Novak was calling in the month that [CIA agent] Valerie Plame’s name came out? How about [U.S. Attorney] Patrick Fitzgerald’s phone calls?

John Aravosis, publisher of AMERICAblog.com, said he bought Clark’s records for $89.95 from celltolls.com. Aravosis said he obtained a list of 100 calls made on Clark’s cell phone over three days in November -- no questions asked.

Aravosis, whose liberal blog is critical of the Bush administration, said he called Clark’s cell phone Thursday to make sure the former NATO supreme commander was informed Aravosis bought his records. Aravosis did not publish the numbers on his blog.

“I am not doing this to be mean, I am doing this to help people,” Aravosis said. “I supported [Clark’s] campaign when he was running in the beginning.

“This shows nobody’s records are untouchable. . . . Wouldn’t it be interesting to know who [Sun-Times columnist] Bob Novak was calling in the month that [CIA agent] Valerie Plame’s name came out? How about [U.S. Attorney] Patrick Fitzgerald’s phone calls?” (source)

DOCTOR Who star John Barrowman was told he was “too straight” for TV sitcom Will and Grace - even though he’s about to marry his gay partner.

And the 38-year-old actor, who came out in his 20s, said the fact that the part of Will eventually went to straight actor Eric McCormack is typical of “homophobic” Hollywood.

“And the sad thing is it’s run by gay men and women,” he added. (source)

Aren’t stereotypes wonderful? Of course, I don’t put much stock in Hollywood being able to get much of anything right. But, you have to give them one thing; they put a lot of money into thinking about and researching what will “work” to the American public. Stereotypes of gay men being effeminate and weak sell, because that is what people want to see -- apparently.

And if you portray a gay man who isn’t weak and effeminate (just a regular every day guy who can “pass for straight” in the eyes of the American public), he’d better be dying of AIDS or be the victim of a gay bashing (judging from this last week’s TV listing - cable and regular TV). Heaven forbid that he be happy and living a very fulfilling life.

The irony is, what Mr. Barrowman says is correct. Hollywood is very gay and unfortunately, some of the most closeted and bigoted people around (just like Congress). We do a lot within our own community to reinforce these stereotypes (e.g. Eric McCormack looks “gayer”, and then of course, there’s Jack, from Will & Grace).

I’m not down on people being different and what they are. We are a very diverse community. That’s a good thing and we should embrace that. My issue I suppose is that there seems to be a need to put our community in one big container and put one label on it. This happens even within our own community, to the detriment of individual expression. If you’re not a certain way, you don’t belong. Until we get over that, we will never be anything other than a stereotype.

FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz., Jan. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Kyle Lawson, a 19-year old Army Private who was recently attacked by a fellow soldier who learned Lawson is gay, was discharged yesterday from the Army. Officials at Fort Huachuca, where Private Lawson and his attacker were both stationed, have refused to say if any appropriate action has been taken to hold his attacker, Private Zacharias Pierre, accountable.

“The Army should retain patriotic soldiers like Private Lawson and discharge those who viciously beat their colleagues out of sheer prejudice, like Private Pierre,” said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). “Harassment will continue to flourish and commanders will continue to condone that harassment, as they appear to have done in this case, so long as it remains official policy to discharge soldiers for being gay. Congress and the Pentagon must repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ immediately and impose strict penalties against those who engage in any form of harassment. If America is fighting for democracy abroad, it must abide by those same principles at home.”

Private Lawson’s nose was broken and he was later threatened with a knife after a friend revealed during a Battalion party in October that Lawson is gay. While Private Pierre was originally charged with aggravated assault by civilian police, Fort Huachuca officials have decided not to prosecute the case “for reason fort officials say they are not at liberty to explain,” according to press reports. Lawson says the solider used an anti-gay slur during the attack.

Fort Huachuca officials also continue to refuse any explanation about why the civilian police recommendation to charge Private Pierre with felony assault was overruled, or to explain discrepancies between their various press statements and the police officer’s account of the incident. Officials have also declined to cite any measures that may have been taken to hold Private Pierre accountable for the attack, citing privacy laws. SLDN today disputed that those laws place a complete gag order on the command. (source)

I have little to say about this, other than my total disgust at the actions that were taken by the U.S. Military. We have lost yet another good soldier, and by overruling the felony assault charge against Private Pierre, the U.S. Military, true to form, have stated very loudly that anti-gay biased is just fine.

I can understand what our troops are going through in Iraq. And I can sit here and say that “I support them”, but not the war in Iraq. But when I read crap like this, I’m honestly getting to the point that I no longer want to support our military. Bigotry is wrong. It’s always wrong. Yes, even in the military.

I don’t blame Kyle Lawson for leaving the military. He has to be concerned for his safety among his peers, and since the U.S. Military apparently doesn’t care about his safety, he really has no other choice but to leave.

Related Article
America Losing a soldier, Private Kyle Lawson, for no good reason

Protests by an anti-gay group at military funerals are prompting lawmakers in Indiana and Illinois to consider legislative action.

An Indiana Senate committee today endorsed a bill that would make disorderly conduct a felony offense if it occurs within 500 feet of a funeral or memorial service. [...]

The move comes the same day that an anti-gay group protested the funeral of an Evansville soldier killed in Iraq. [...]

Meanwhile, Illinois’ lieutenant governor says he’ll push for a law that would ban such demonstrations outright. (source)

Just a couple of thoughts....

1) I’m no fan of Fred Phelps and his clan of nit wits. For years they have protested at the funerals of countless gay men, including Matthew Shepard. Where was the concern of these lawmakers then? Yes I know, it’s a dumb question because the answer is

...so it was not an issue for them, but I thought it was important to point that out.

2) “...Illinois’ lieutenant governor says he’ll push for a law that would ban such demonstrations outright.”

How do you become a lieutenant governor without realizing that banning these demonstrations in state law is a violation of the U.S. Constitution?

Security consultant A.J. Reznor points out that every major worm other than the original Morris Worm from 1988 has leveraged a hole in Microsoft products. Reznor refuses to work with Microsoft products but still actively loathes the company because his network becomes “saturated with crap flying out of [Windows] machines.” Spammers route their junk through MS machines infected with a trojan—a harmful computer program disguised as an innocuous one—that turns these machines into “zombies.” “Even if we don’t use them, we suffer from them,” he says. “Kind of like secondhand smoke.” (source)

I could say worse about Microsoft (MUCH worse) than calling them “secondhand smoke”, but I am in a situation of having to use Microsoft products (somewhat like being a crack addict, I would assume). So, I won’t put them down because that would make me a hypocrite I suppose. I just try to protect myself to the hilt from all the nasty stuff out there and to tolerate all the SPAM out there, which I have become numb too.

I thought this was interesting. It’s a report listing the Fortune 500 companies and specifying if they are compliant with non-discriminatory practices. If they are not compliant, they will be marked with a “No” under the compliant column. That means that they do not prohibit the firing (or not hiring) of employees based solely on “sexual orientation”.

My first thought... lose the Mobil/Exxon gas card and switch over to Sunoco. I'm sure I'll be making other adjustments in my spending habits as I examine the list.

A right wing Christian group has warned that Barbie is not just a child’s toy, but also a tool for the “homosexual agenda”.

The Concerned Women for America, a stateside conservative group that “promotes Biblical values”, made the claims after seeing a poll on the doll’s website, which asked users whether they were “A Boy”, “A Girl”, or “I Don’t Know”. [...]

One spokesperson apparently told reporters that, bizarrely, the inclusion of ‘I Don’t Know’ could be Mattel’s attempt to link with paedophilia as any kid who’s not sure about who he is, he’s fair game to try to persuade to have same sex acts. (source)

Huh?

This is exactly why I keep my Barbie doll under my bed and out of sight! I’ve had her since I was four and I think she’s swell!

Illinois will begin tracking HIV cases by name rather than alpha-numeric code. The development occurred in response to increasing federal pressure to bring its HIV surveillance system in line with those operating in most of the other states. (source)

Is this “federal pressure” to keep tabs on the spread of HIV, or is it to be used along the same lines as say, the sex offender list? If it’s to keep tabs on the spread of HIV/AIDS, why the need for the individual’s name?

I thought that the GOP was all about less government intrusion into the lives of Americans (spying on citizens aside). Isn’t that the point Vice-President Cheney was trying to make when he said that the regulation of marriage is best left to the states and that the federal government should not be involved (President Bush’s attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution banning gay marriage aside).

Given this, who on earth would get an AIDS test if your name was going to be recorded? Of course, public health officials claim that the names will remain confidential. Yeah, and I have some ocean-front property I’d like to sell you in Arizona also.

History, like pornography, is defined by the people who see it. - Coventry, Connecticut Town Manager John A. Elsesser (source)

And if I had thought of history the same way I think of pornography, perhaps I would have done better in my history class in high school. It most certainly would have been more... interesting.

So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause. - From Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars)

Apply that to our country today. We put into place the Patriot Act to give sweeping powers to governmental intrusions, imprisonment of citizens without any hope for a trial, and now, spying on us at will. And all the while, we applauded these efforts by our President and our Congress to “keep us safe”.

This is how liberty dies.

I went to see Brokeback Mountain yesterday. I wanted to think about it for a day before I wrote about it. If you haven’t seen it, you may not want to read any further. I’m not going to go into the story but rather, simply the feelings I experienced during the movie.

I’m not going to talk about the story itself because, in my opinion, the movie simply isn’t about a plot - that is the least important thing in this movie. It talks about larger issues of the human experience; our world and it’s failings, people and their shortcomings, bigotry, fear, love, the need for companionship.

The story revolves around two tragic figures where there is no hope of resolution. They are simple people with simple aspirations - to simply make their way in the world, which seems to simply mean having enough money to live from paycheck to paycheck. Over time, they develop a profound relationship with each other that transcends time and the relationships they have with other people, all the while keeping their feelings a secret.

This is a deeply personal experience. Without being condescending, it is unlikely that the straight community will be as highly moved by this movie. I would also venture to say that it is outside a straight person’s comprehension to be able to understand the concepts this movie brings out. It is simply not in their experience or level of understanding to be able to understand the absolute need to keep what you are a secret for fear of losing everything; your family, friends, respect, integrity, love, and finally, your very life. How many straight people have faced the concept that this would happen if any one element of their personality were found out? Not many I would venture.

The audience in the theater was mixed. Gay, straight, young, old, and everything in between. Yet, I could tell exactly who was gay and who was straight, with the lights down. How? Because there were people and couples there who began to cry openly, as did I and they embraced each other for comfort. This is the level of pain that this movie stirred in some of us.

This movie hit close to home for me. In fact, it could have been my life. I grew up in Idaho. I had a friend in high school that I had love for. He was “straight”, yet he invited me to be with him on more than one occasion. But you see, it meant nothing. As he told me, “I’m not a queer.”, exactly what one of the characters in Brokeback Mountain said. I guess that made me the queer. He was telling me that he would in no way acknowledge what was going on beyond the physical. It could go anywhere and it could never be known to anyone - EVER.

That is the impossible predicament the two characters in Brokeback Mountain find themselves in. The difference between me and them is that they carried this charade on for a lifetime. The movie was really about the toll it took on them. It tore at them to the point that it destroyed everything else in their lives. In the end, all that was left was regret - regret for what possibly could have been.

Related Article
December 18, 2005 - The Journey to Brokeback
January 10, 2005 - My Uncle Clive