Hilary Clinton Enforces Foreign Policy on Gay Rights

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You may remember I previously posted about Hilary Clinton’s speech before the United Nations on gay rights globally. In the speech, she commented on how she wanted to usher in an AIDS free generation and also called on all nations to treat gay individuals as equally as any other individual. In her speech, Clinton said, “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights. It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal to be gay, or allow those who harm gay people to go unpunished.”

Recently, she made good on her promise of support by “sending funds to gay-rights advocacy groups and local officials in problem nations like Honduras, Uganda, Malawi, Pakistan and Serbia,” as reported in Queerty. The purpose of these funds is to set up police task forces to investigate hate crimes based on an individual’s sexual orientation.

Josue Hernandez, who was interviewed by The Miami Herald, had this to say about life in Honduras as a gay man, “We are in a deplorable state. When we walk the streets, people shout insults at us and throw rocks. Parents move their children away.” In fact, Honduras reports over 60 homicides which have been directly linked to the victim’s sexuality.

Kudos to Clinton for using her clout and resources to affect positive global change. This is the lasting global impact all nation’s leaders should be emulating.

New Hampshire Considers Legalizing Discrimination

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While we had good news come out of New Jersey about marriage equality, another Northeastern state provides us with some idiotic legislation. New Hampshire’s House Judiciary Committee is currently considering a bill that will “allow businesses that oppose marriage equality to deny services to same-sex couples based on their ‘conscience’ or religious beliefs. It also protects them from any civil claim of action for doing so,” as reported by ThinkProgress.

The wording of the bill is apparently so generic that businesses could discriminate against any couple whose marriage doesn’t follow the beliefs of the business owners. If you’re a straight interracial couple and you happen to unknowingly seek the services of a White Supremacist, then that Neo-Nazi skin head would have the right to kick you out of his shop and you would have no legal recourse.

I can’t believe this is how politicians in New Hampshire are wasting their time. In order to protect conservative extremists’ right to hate on gays, they are willing to sanction state-wide discrimination against multiple sections of society. This is the same state whose Republican dominated politicians want to repeal marriage equality even though the citizens of the state support it.

It seems that New Hampshire needs to clean house.

Gay Marriage Coming to New Jersey?

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It just might be!

Today, politicians in New Jersey advanced a bill to allow marriage equality in the state by a vote of 8-4, as reported by ThinkProgress. In order for the bill to become law, it must pass the full senate as well as the governor. Previously, Governor Chris Christie had pledged to veto any bill promoting marriage equality; however, public opinion in the state shows that “52 percent — support marriage equality while only 42 percent oppose it. Likewise, 65 percent believe same-sex marriage is not a threat to traditional marriage, 53 percent agree that denying same-sex marriage is a form of discrimination, and 66 percent [support] adoption rights for same-sex couples.”

As such, Christie has revamped his views in favor of public opinion. He is now utilizing a “wait and see approach” to what happens with the state’s elected politicians. If the bill passes the Senate, Christie might not veto the bill since doing so might be seen as “offensive and discriminatory” and be “politically unpopular” for his career.

While Christie’s motives might be far from altruistic, it certainly shows that he is willing to put the wishes of his constituents above his own personal bias. In my opinion, that’s what a good politician does.

I’m Baaaaaack!

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It has been twenty-two days since my last blog post, and I would like to think that some of you have been wondering Just where the heck is he? 

And there’s a simple answer: I’ve been working on the final touches to my new novel. My wonderful new editor, K, returned my novel to me over the Christmas holidays with suggestions/revisions, and I’ve been pounding away at the keyboard working the critiques into the book.

If you’ve ever written a book before, you certainly understand the anguish that comes with revision. If not, I’ll try and explain it to you.

Imagine your child. Reared and raised with love. You’ve done everything you can think of to make her as perfect as possible. You’ve given the child love, taught your child manners, revealed the diversity and wonder of the world through stories and explanations, and then you send that perfect little angel to school.

And she comes home with a note pointing out deficiencies: she doesn’t play well with others, she’s bossy, she interrupts the teacher, she has problems with math, and she bit someone.

That’s when you ask yourself: how could this be? I’ve done everything right, haven’t I?

But as good parents know, our children (though we love them dearly) aren’t perfect. They must be redirected and disciplined to make themselves the best possible people they can be.

This holds true for writing. Though the author may think their creation is perfect, when it is viewed through the eyes of another, problems invariably rise to the surface. And though we want to deny such problems, authors (like good parents) cannot. If we don’t see the flaws in our writing or in our children, they we are setting them both up to fail.

And that’s not what any good author or parent wants.

So, in order to make my novel stronger, I had to break from blogging in order to do what needed to be done. And I think I have. My new novel is in the process of being read by another, hopefully objective reader, and when that read through is done and when more corrections are made, it will be time to present my latest child out to the publishing world.

And in case you’re wondering, this new novel is a departure from Moral Authority. After writing a dystopian novel (even if it’s part one of a series), I needed something different to get my creative juices flowing. So I penned a gay romance with a modern day twist tentatively titled 3.

And, yes, that’s the number 3!

So, for the time being I’m back to blogging and reading and researching for the next novel. I’ve written most of the follow up book to Moral Authority, but there are several things that need tweaking before it will be ready for public consumption.

In the meantime, I hope to blog with a bit more regularity than I have these past two weeks or so. I’m anxious to get my opinions out there on the Republican primaries and other news from around the world.

See you in the Blog-o-sphere!

Straight, Married, Republican MS Assistant Principal Arrested as Pedophile

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Patrick Lott, Assistant Principal for Bernardsville Middle School in New Jersey, was arrested last week for allegedly filming boys while showering in the locker room of Immaculata High School, as reported by Unicorn Booty.

Apparently, “videos of nude teenagers were found in his Somerville home,” which was searched after a student filed a complaint against Lott. Once authorities entered his residence, they found more than three years worth of video footage of boys, nine of who were under the age of 16. When police officials searched Immaculata HS, they found the surveillance equipment used to spy on and record the children.

Lott, a Republican, straight, and happily married man, who once ran for political office in his county now awaits his day in court to answer for his alleged crimes.

Some of you may be wondering why I am posting about this disgusting news event. I do so to point out that Lott is a straight man, married with children. Many anti-gay individuals love to say that pedophiles are gay men and that same sex couples will destroy the values of traditional marriage. I wonder how the actions of this straight, married, Republican work into that rhetoric?

Santorum Surges to Third Place, Promises to Annul Gay Marriages

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Republican Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has risen to third place in Iowa polls. Now with 16% of the projected votes, which is a far cry of where he was previously, Santorum’s surge in Iowa has me deeply concerned.

First of all, I think he’s an idiot as I’ve claimed here, here, and here, but I’m concerned for more than just his lack of an intelligent quotient. Santorum has recently courted several “evangelical leaders within [Iowa]” and is using the standard hot topics of same sex marriage, abortion, and the threat of Islam  to garner favor with the 99 counties in Iowa.

Santorum isn’t dealing with important issues such as the economic crisis, health care, education, and rising unemployment. Instead, he has stoked the flames of fear many social conservatives have–that the gays will destroy traditional marriage, babies will be haphazardly aborted, and that Islam will take over our borders.

While I would normally scoff at platforms such as this, Santorum appears to be stirring up the pot enough in Iowa to rise in the polls. His tactic of fear and ignorance is working!

Santorum still has a lot of ground to cover to take over Romney and Paul, who are currently tied for first, but he’s gaining some steam.

If he does win the nomination, he not only plans to repeal DADT but to annul gay marriages that are currently legal in some states. ThinkProgress reported on this as well as on an interview between MSNBC’s Chuck Todd and Santorum on the subject of gay marriage. During the interview Santorum had this to say, “I think marriage has to be one thing for everybody. We can’t have 50 different marriage laws in this country, you have to have one marriage law.” When asked if he would make same-sex couples, who were currently married according to their state’s laws, get divorced, he responded by saying, “their marriage would be invalid.”

I wonder what happened to the GOP’s desire to limit the role of the federal government in a person’s private life and for acknowledging the rights of the states? I guess Santorum doesn’t buy into those Republican tenets, does he?

Disney Fun: Bloom Remix Video

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I found this video on my morning trek through the blogs (courtesy of Unicorn Booty), and you have got to see it.

The YouTube video that I’ve placed in this post is the original version. Click on it to get it started, but then click here to run the video through the YoooouuuTuuube player, which brings up a new window that makes the video fantastic. After the video starts scrolling through your screen, make it full size and then “flux” it. The settings to do that can be found on the lower right hand corner of the screen. When you flux it, you can control the direction of the video with your mouse.

Have fun.

NC Family Values Organization: Gays Murder Marriage

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As I’ve posted before, the battle for marriage equality is heating up in North Carolina. A state constitutional amendment defining marriage is slated for the polls in May, state senators are now backpedaling from the wording of the bill they helped create, and even a North Carolina Baptist Church is standing up for gay marriage.

Proponents of marriage inequality, however, are launching their assaults against gay marriage, as reported by Queerty.

The North Carolina Family Policy Council, a self-professed “defender of traditional marriage” (as worded on their website), has published its quarterly publication titled Family North Carolina that “doesn’t just single out the gays as murderers of traditional marriages. It singles out the gays and everyone who supports them!”

The bride and groom caught in the crosshairs, which is the featured image for this post, is the image the NCFPC is using in their publication. Apparently, according to the NCFPC, anyone who favors equality is attempting to murder the rights of “traditional” people everywhere. What people like the NCFPC fail to see is that the people in the crosshairs are those who are being discriminated against!

Think about it. In the 1960’s when civil rights for African Americans were at the forefront of this nation’s civil liberties fight, who was really in the cross hairs? The white majority who felt their rights were being infringed upon or the African Americans who were being discriminated against?

Equality and Love: Gay Marriage Documentary

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This short YouTube video made by students for a course at California State University Long Beach contains interviews with various couples on love and marriage and what those mean to gay Americans in our nation. As one man in the video states, “We’re just people just like everyone else. Some of us are assholes and some of us are awesome. And some of us are just whatever. But what it comes down to is that we’re all just people. Just like you.”

(video via Towleroad)