One step closer to equality for all

It isn’t over yet, but a judge in Iowa has struck down a law that prevents same sex couples from marrying. As you may or may not know I find same sex marriage bans to be legalized racism. Discriminating against any person because of who they are is a fundamental wrong. I believe we need to rid ourselves of repressive ideas and reject any ideology that prevents any person from exercising the same rights provided to all others. So today we give a hearty high five to Polk County Judge Robert Hanson.

No 1 of Consequence

Sometimes you have to laugh

I love to play poker. Anyone who knows me really well knows this. I am a solid, if unspectacular player and my only failing is that I really don't play enough to be really good. This past Saturday the wife and I saw an ad on the net that intimated there was a live game at a local club that skirted the gambling laws. Being the outlaw gamblers that we are we decided to give it a try. Did I mention this was a big time redneck club? They have a website... here it is.



Now for me to be in a place like that to begin with? I don't drink or smoke. I also don't like loud music as I suffer from tinitis and this exacerbates my symptoms. So stepping in the door of this place is out of character for me, but I moved my wife to this ridiculous state and sometimes you have to bite the bullet. Also, because I like to play poker I figure the night won't be a total loss.

Unfortunately it was just an ad to bring people in. After paying the cover we found that there was only one poker table and you could buy chips, but not cash them out, so you were basically renting the seat and you could play, but not for money. Playing poker for anything other than money is stupid. However, we already paid the cover and figured we would play for awhile and hang out.

After about an hour I was bored out of my skull. My ears were ringing, my eyes were burning from the smoke and the general amusement I get from people watching had worn off. My wife, who doesn't have a general aversion to these places the way I do was having a good time. She doesn't get to go out much to places like this, so I didn't say anything. I tried to enjoy myself. I did enjoy the live they had. The singer was very talented and while I don't particularly like country music I would have to classify this more as southern rock and I like rock music. Unfortunately the volume was just too high for me.

Finally as we got up to leave the highlight of the evening took place. A seat opened up next to my wife at the poker table and a very tall blonde woman sat down next to her. She leaned over and began chatting up my wife. I couldn't hear much of anything at that point so I had no idea what they were saying. Turns out she thought my wife was pretty hot and wanted to take her home. So the highlight of my evening at the most rednecky place I have ever been was that a blonde redneck lesbian tried to pick up my wife. It was almost worth the ear pain.

No 1 of Consequence

John Corzine, friend of gay Americans

Today the governor of the great state of NJ signed a bill that effectively allows gays to marry. I applaud New Jersey for its progressiveness and hope the rest of the United States will get its collective head out of its ass and stop one of the last forms of legal discrimination.

Read some of my thoughts about New Jersey and Jim McGreevey's homosexuality here.

Read some of my thoughts about homosexuality in general here.

American Airlines is anti-gay

Just read this. It is a story about how a flight attendant on an American Airlines flight instructed a gay couple that they were not allowed to kiss or touch each other on an airplane. The couple balked at the racist treatment. The crew threatened to divert the plane if they didn't stop complaining. That they threatened to divert the plane is total crap. Talk about a massive over reaction to what is a customer service problem. Racism disguised as security consciousness. I won't be flying American Airlines anytimes soon.

Have a pluralistic day,

No 1 of Consequence

Community Mindedness with a Homosexual Twist

Something cool and at the very same time sad is taking place today in my new hometown. On my ride into the office in the morning I listen to The Bert Show on the radio. Howard Stern isn’t on down here and I don’t have my Sirius Satellite Radio hooked up yet so my options are limited. Bert and his gang are kind of a watered down imitation of Howard. They aren’t bad to listen to, but I wouldn’t say there is anything edgy about them. They are non-political, kind of a decaf latte version of a morning show. However, they do some really good work around the city. When Hurricane Katrina flattened New Orleans, Georgia was flooded with refugees. Approximately 7000 children from Louisiana entered Georgia schools over a one month period of time, many of them had lost everything. The Bert Show organized a backpack drive to make sure that all the kids who came into the state had brand new school supplies, and a little money to buy new clothes with. They did an outstanding job on it. They also do something called Bert’s Big Adventure where they take sick and physically challenged children to Disney World. It is another very noble pursuit that has a lot of community benefit. That brings us to today.

One of the cast members, Melissa Carter, is an openly gay woman. Tonight she is hosting a Holigay party at a club here in Atlanta. They are hosting this party because the holidays are an especially troubling time for homosexuals who are not out or able to be out at their offices. She recently talked on the show about how homosexuals are still routinely discriminated against in the workplace and how coming out, or being open about their lifestyle can lead to the unemployment line. So it is a cool thing they are doing, to make a safe and enjoyable holiday event for the gay Atlanta community to bring their significant others to, but at the same time it makes me sad that this is necessary. Imagine it was still OK to fire people because they were Jews, or black, or whatever. It reminded me of something I wrote during the original incarnation of this blog. In relation to today’s topic I thought it was poignant to reprint it.

The gay population

Depending upon the statistics you believe, between 6% and 10% of the population of the United States considers themselves gay. At a population of 290 million that means that between 17,400,000 and 29 million gay people reside in the United States. For the sake of discussion let's say it ranges to the low end and the number of gay Americans comes in at a flat 20 million. That makes the homosexual community the third largest minority in this country behind African American and Latin American ethnic minorities.

How can we stomach discrimination against them? As a society that has grown and advanced socially and tried desperately to rise out of our own intolerance how can suggest that gay couples shouldn't be allowed to marry? How can we suggest that domestic partners don't deserve the same kind of social security and insurance protections that hetero couples do? How can we try and adopt a constitutional amendment that would define marriage and make homosexuals less than full citizens of our country? Wouldn't that be the same sort of legislative discrimination as counting slaves as 2/3 of a free person? Judeo-Christian ideas about marriage have no place in politics. I am a Jew, but I don't care what the Torah says about homosexuals. Society is a lot more complicated now than it was then and we understand a lot more about humanity. We should behave in a just and humane way towards our fellow citizens and that is the only ideology from the Old and New Testaments that matters. All men and women were created equal. All deserve equal protection under the law. All deserve equal protection in our hearts.

Prejudice is the child of ignorance, we need to get enlightened.

No 1 of Consequence