Two brothers made a video on bullying for a school project. Eight grader Grant Viola and his third grade brother Drake star in this video that tackles bullying, saying “that’s gay,” and being stupid. The video was made in response to a homework assignment given to big brother Grant.
Seeing two young boys grasp a concept that some adults have difficulty with is promising. Kudos to both Grant and Drake!
Here’s the video.
(via Queerty)
Australia’s GetUp Campaign, which is working to have marriage discrimination removed in Australia, has released a video designed to do just that. The short video follows around a couple who go through all types of life events–together. After all, this is what marriage is about.
It’s not about the rights denied. It’s about the commitment between individuals, whether they are the same gender or not.
(video via Towleroad)
The trial of Brian McInereny, the young man who shot and killed fellow middle school student Larry King in February 2008, has concluded. As reported on ThinkProgress, “McInerney will spend 21 years in prison, until he is 38 years old, and avoid a second trial.”
At the age of 14, McInereny pulled a handgun from his backpack and shot King in the back of his head because King allegedly acted flamboyantly in school. Now, at 17 years old, McInereny faces the next 21 years of his life in prison.
This story is beyond tragic. The lives of two young men have been ended because of hate and intolerance.
But, what makes this story even more tragic is Rush Limbaugh’s comments. Limbaugh believes that Oxnard Middle School, where both boys attended, shares responsibilities in King’s death “because school authorities were interested in promoting a homosexual agenda and had not done enough to dissuade King from dressing in women’s accessories, wearing makeup, and flirting with male students.”
This is ridiculous because Limbaugh’s idiocy sound too much like blaming the victim. I remember arguments a few decades ago blaming a woman for being raped if she wore suggestive clothing. So since King acted too much like a girl, he was simply asking to be assaulted? Give me a break!
Limbaugh needs to not blame the victim or the school for an individual’s choices. No one forced McInereny to pack a gun for school that day. No one made him pull the gun out and pull the trigger. Those actions were McInereny’s alone, no matter how disheartening that is.
A new marriage equality campaign starts in Maine tomorrow. As reported on Towleroad, the campaign is “Timed to run around Thanksgiving, when families gather around the table and in front of the television, the first 30-second ad features a close shot of an elderly Catholic couple from rural Maine who have been married 42 years, describing the journey they took to accept that one of their daughters is a lesbian…A second 30-second ad features a self-identified conservative United Methodist Church minister, wearing his religious collar, and his wife as they talk about how they ‘really struggled through this issue.'”
Maine is being targeted for these ads because the state will likely once again be dealing with the issue of gay marriage in 2012.
“Instead of being preachy, the ads aim to empathize with the ‘journey’ voters are taking as they try to sort out their conflicted feelings about same-sex marriage,” which was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle.
The advertisers in Maine are trying to learn from the mistakes made in previous pro-gay marriage campaigns. These ads will reflect the struggles that people undergo as they come to terms with gay marriage. For a majority of the nation, the concept of two men or two women pledging their lives together not only makes them uncomfortable, but it challenges a long-held belief system. By highlighting the struggles of those who have accepted gay marriage, gay marriage proponents in Maine hope to capture the “one-third of Maine voters who are comfortable with civil unions but conflicted about supporting marriage.”
This approach is brilliant. Life and our opinions are a never ending journey. As humans, we change and evolve over time. We don’t remain static. Showcasing the paths other people have taken on the road to marriage equality will hit closer to home and be far more persuasive than simply preaching about how we all deserve to be equal. As any good debater knows, standing on a soap box only convinces an audience that already agrees with you. Skeptical or neutral audiences need more than an emotional appeal. They need arguments that appeal to their belief and their core values. They should see themselves reflected in the argument. This advertising campaign does that well.
Here are the two promos.
(videos found via Towleroad)
Pullen Baptist Church, located in Raliegh, NC, has decided to protest the state’s proposed constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage by not performing any weddings until full marriage equality is guaranteed for all, as reported by ThinkProgress.
This decision was made by a unanimous vote of the congregation, which is comprised of approximately 650 members. When asked, “The congregants said in a formal statement that current North Carolina law – and the language proposed for a vote next year on an amendment to the state Constitution – discriminates against same-sex couples ‘by denying them the rights and privileges enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.'”
Nancy Petty, Pastor of the Pullen Baptist Church, is a lesbian and began having “a burden of conscience” while signing marriage certificates for heterosexual couples and not for homosexual couples. When she expressed her concerns to her congregation, they supported her 100% and began the process of banning all marriage in their church until full marriage equality was realized.
Stories such as these give me hope in this uncertain political climate. While the Republican presidential candidates attempt to out posture each other by proving they are best suited to support “traditional” family and beat back the oppressively sinful homosexuals and while Obama continues to waffle on gay issues, it’s nice to see American citizens taking a stand against discrimination. These people are making their voices heard. They are telling their elected officials that they are tired of discriminatory legislation, and they won’t stand for it anymore.
One day (hopefully soon), voices against discrimination will echo throughout the 50 state capitals and The White House, and like the congregation at Pullen Baptist Church, everyone might come to believe that “As people of faith, affirming the Christian teaching that before God all people are equal, we will no longer participate in this discrimination.”
You may or may not have heard about the Unhate Foundation launched by the United Colors of Benneton. Their purpose is to “contribute to the creation of a new culture of tolerance, [and] to combat hatred,” as stated on their website.
So far, their campaign has caused quite a stir with photos of Pope Benedict engaged in a man to man kiss. That photo has since been removed. However, pictures of President Obama and other world leaders locking lips remain active. Click here to see those pictures still a part of the campaign.
Below is the YouTube video promoting their campaign. Its focus is on what the Unhate Campaign is using to fight hate–love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVfmu1IACxs(video found via Queerty)
It just might be on its way there.
The California State Supreme Court ruled today that “proponents of Proposition 8 do have standing to appeal Federal District Judge Walker Vaughn’s ruling declaring the anti-gay marriage initiative unconstitutional, even if state officials refuse to take up the matter,” as reported by ThinkProgress.
While this might sound like a negative for gay rights/marriage, this could actually force the United States Supreme Court to finally decide once and for all the constitutionality of banning gay marriage in the nation.
This case will make its way to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The three judges who make up that court will have to decide whether Prop 8 is constitutional or not. Two of those judges, Judge Stephen Reinhardt and Judge Michael Daly Hawkins are “one of the most liberal judges in the country” and “sympathetic. . .to marriage discrimination,” respectively. With these two judges on the court, it’s almost certain they will agree with Judge Walker’s ruling.
Naturally, proponents of Prop 8 will be unhappy, and the case will likely find its way to The Supreme Court. While the make up of the Supreme Court seems conservative in its majority–Justices Scalia and Kennedy appointed by President Reagan, Justice Thomas appointed by President George W. H. Bush, and Justices Roberts and Alito appointed by President George W. Bush, Justice Kennedy “has a fairly progressive streak on gay rights. Kennedy wrote the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Romer v. Evans holding that laws motivated solely by anti-gay animus violate the Constitution, and he also wrote the decision in Lawrence v. Texas holding that the government has virtually no business regulating people’s sex lives.”
This means that should the case find its way to the Supreme Court, we might just have the ruling we need–banning gay marriage is unconstitutional. This would mean all states would then be prohibited from denying homosexual couples the right to marry and allow gay married couples federal benefits previously denied.
Two weeks ago, I posted about the Michigan State Senate passing SB 137, which sanctioned bullying in schools on the basis of “sincerely held religious or moral conviction.” Click here to read that post.
“But thanks to media coverage and a great campaign by State Senator Gretchen Whitmer, a Republican lawmaker has agreed to remove the religious exemptions language from the final bill,” as reported on Queerty.
I’m pleased to hear this news and also happy that Rick Jones, the State Republican Senator who added the “religious or moral conviction” addendum agreed to “drop his amendment and vote for the House version after critics said the language could allow gay, Muslim or other minority students to face harassment,” as quoted from The Washington Post.
Jones also said that “had he foreseen the controversy, . . . he would have removed the problematic language.”
I’m grateful when a politician realizes his/her mistake and does what is right to rectify it. Although the State Republicans “only wanted to protect free speech,” they understood the damaging ramifications of the amendment.
This just goes to show us that when our elected officials get something wrong, it’s up to us to make our voices heard. When we do, we are able to affect change. That’s something we should always remember.
Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed (by a vote of 10-8) the Respect for Marriage Act, as reported on Queerty. This act would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined a marriage as between one man and one woman for the country. The Respect for Marriage Act doesn’t force states to legally recognize homosexual marriage; however, for those states that do, this would allow same sex couples the right to federal benefits accorded to married heterosexual couples.
ThinkProgress reports that a White House Official made the following statement on the committee’s vote: “The President has long believed that DOMA is discriminatory and has called for its repeal. We should all work towards taking this law off the books. The federal government should not deny gay and lesbian couples the same rights and legal protections afforded to straight couples.”
While I’m glad to hear of the vote and President Obama’s words of encouragement, I’m also a realist. The Respect for Marriage Act has little hope of passing in the Senate, where conservative Republicans lie in wait to tear this act asunder. And though President Obama made many promises in his election bid, I’ve yet to see many of them fulfilled.
Still, I won’t give up hope. I’ll take this as a good sign, that we are headed in the right direction. We might not get there tomorrow or next year, but that doesn’t mean we won’t eventually get there! After all, we’ve traveled a long way down the road to equality–6 states recognize gay marriage, DADT has been repealed, and hate crime laws and anti-bullying bills are being passed in many states.
Gay rights have come a long way, and with determination and fortitude, we’ll go all the way to full equality.
Whether conservatives or Christian fundamentalists like it or not, the closet doors are open and we aren’t going back in!
A few weeks back, I posted that the anti-gay group the National Organization for Marriage funneled funds into the Iowa special senate election. They were hoping to decrease the democratic majority by backing Republican candidate Cindy Golding. Click here to read that post.
I’m pleased to report that the Iowa voters were too smart for their shenanigans! Democratic candidate Liz Mathis won the election by “a healthy 55% of the vote” as reported by ThinkProgress.
In response, NOM pouts by blaming the woman who they once supported by calling Golding “a weak candidate.”
Instead of blaming the woman, I think NOM needs to take a good, hard look at itself. Gay marriage wasn’t even an issue in Iowa until NOM made it one. Their interference and their hate campaigns turned Iowa voters away from Golding. Had NOM kept its trap shut and not interfered with the election, Golding might have had more of a fighting chance.
Still, I’m not complaining. I enjoy watching someone (like NOM) drown in its own hateful bile.