Don’t you just love it when someone makes broad generalizations about a community based upon the actions of a few? I had hoped Ron Paul would prove better than that, even though I knew better. Perhaps it’s his recent rise in the polls, with only a few points separating him from Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, but it seems Paul is falling in step with bad mouthing the gay community just like his fellow Republican presidential hopefuls.
Sigh.
(story via Towleroad)
This year, the Gay Pride Parade in Chicago was rerouted, and the new route happens to pass in front of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. This has caused much consternation for the church who fears that they will not be able to have mass that Sunday because the parade will interfere with their services.
The pastor expressed his concern to Catholic Cardinal Francis George, who made the following comments, as reported by ThinkProgress:
Well, I go with the pastor. I mean, he’s telling us that they won’t be able to have Church services on Sunday, if that’s the case. You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism. So, I think if that’s what’s happening, and I don’t know that it is, but I would respect the local pastor’s, you know, position on that. Then I think that’s a matter of concern for all of us.”
Cardinal George has just shown what an idiot he is. To compare a celebration of gay pride to a Klu Klux Klan parade is not only revolting but maddening. The KKK is a bigoted, hate mongering group who used to revel in their parade of men dressed in white sheets. Their parades were about lynching minorities. Their parades were designed to instill fear and spread hate. Their parades included violence and cross burning.
Gay pride parades are about celebration, about being accepted for who you are, and about not being afraid to celebrate being gay. I see no comparison between a gay pride parade and the KKK.
Cardinal George apparently doesn’t agree. Either that, or he just doesn’t get it. The Chicago Gay Pride Parade isn’t a march against Catholicism. In fact, when Chicago’s LGBT community learned about the pastor’s concerns, they met with him and arranged to start the parade at a later time to give the congregation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel the time they needed to worship. If the parade was truly some secret march against Catholicism, they wouldn’t have done that.
Of course, the Holy Cardinal is trying to eat his words now saying, “Obviously, it’s absurd to say the gay and lesbian community are the Ku Klux Klan, but if you organize a parade that looks like parades that we’ve had in our past because it stops us from worshipping God, well then that’s the comparison, but it’s not with people and people — it’s parade-parade.”
Sorry, Cardinal George, you can’t take back your hateful words, and your attempt is weak at best.
And there are some out there who are calling for action. Change.org, an online organization that mobilizes petitions for change, is calling for George’s resignation. Also Equally Blessed, a pro-LGBT rights Catholic organization, stated that George “has demeaned and demonized LGBT people in a manner unworthy of his office. In suggesting that the Catholic hierarchy has reason to fear LGBT people in the same way that blacks, Jews, Catholics and other minorities had reason to fear the murderous nightriders of the Ku Klux Klan, he has insulted the memory of the victims of the Klan’s violence and brutality.”
Thankfully, George is facing the consequences of his actions. Perhaps, the good Cardinal needs to learn a lesson in prudence. I’m sure the Bible has something to teach about that.
The first official trailer for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, the prequel to the Alien film Scott first directed in 1979 has arrived! For more information on the movie itself, click here for my previous post on the subject.
The trailer has some eerie music reminiscent of the blaring klaxons that echoed throughout the Nostromo as Ripley made her way to the shuttle. You also get some glimpses of the Space Jockey’s ship, which was the whole reason the Nostromo crew set down on the planet to begin with.
Interestingly enough, the tagline appears to have changed. It’s no longer “In Space, Something Can Hear You Scream.” It’s now, “They Went Looking for Our Beginning. What They Found Could Be Our End.”
Anyway, enough of my rambling. (Can you tell I’m excited?) Here’s the trailer.
It’s been a year since President Obama officially signed the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and guess what? The world hasn’t ended. Terrorists haven’t taken over America. Soldiers aren’t being harassed in the showers. Battle-ready effectiveness hasn’t decreased.
In fact, as reported by ThinkProgress, “leaders who opposed the change are embracing it and gay servicemembers are reporting acceptance within the ranks.”
It seems that many politicians and nay-sayers didn’t have faith in the men and women who serve our country. I guess they incorrectly assumed that our soldiers were just as bigoted as they were. Epic fail for them!
NBC Nightly News also did a piece on the DADT repeal last night. Based on the video, I say our soldiers are thriving.
Yesterday, I posted about the ads currently being circulated in New Hampshire by conservatives who are trying to repeal the marriage equality law in their state. Click here to read that post.
Today, marriage equality advocates, Standing Up for New Hampshire Families, have released their own video asking New Hampshire voters not to take away the right to marriage equality.
As they say in the video, “Freedom is for everyone. Every. Single. Person.”
Every year, gay men and women everywhere contemplate coming out to their family during the holidays. For many, the struggle is difficult and often heart wrenching as they wrestle with the consequences of letting the horses out of the barn. So for those people considering coming out, here are some videos to lighten your mood and to let you know that many of us have been there. For all my straight friends, enjoy!
The first video is from Funny or Die, and the main character is in for quite a surprise when she comes out to her family.
The second video is the London Gay Men Chorus singing about coming out to their families.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWPMkDDAb7w
The Dark Knight Rises is currently set to release in June 2012. This movie, once again starring Christian Bale as Batman, occurs almost ten years after the conclusion of the previous movie The Dark Knight.
This time, Batman battles Bane. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Batman mythos as told through the comic books, Bane is the character who broke Batman’s back and basically put him out of commission for awhile. Since the movie’s teaser is “The Legend Ends,” it has me wondering whether or not Batman will be walking after the movie’s end.
Also set to appear in the movie is Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. I find Hathaway’s casting a tad peculiar, but I’ll likely watch this movie anyway. I’m a big Batman fan, after all!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yh6SriAjdEThe fight is underway in New Hampshire to repeal the marriage equality law. You may remember that I posted how the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee voted to repeal the law back in October.
Well, according to ThinkProgress, conservatives who favor the repeal of the law have begun their advertising campaign in ernest. A website has been set up that displays banners depicting homosexuals as “trashing” traditional values.
As you can see from the banner I’ve shared, stereotypes of gay men as hedonistic, scantily clad, dress wearing degenerates are juxtaposed next to a picture-perfect heterosexual family.
I won’t deny the evidence in those pictures. There are some gay men who are indeed hedonistic, who enjoy showing lots of skin, and who dress in drag, but does that make all gay men trashy?
Let’s take a look at a different juxtaposition of pictures, and you tell me.
A picture perfect gay male couple with 2 children
Heterosexual couple promoting "traditional" values?
Scantily clad (AKA naked) future heterosexual moms
Traditional grandma and grandpa with granddaughter ready for church?
As these pictures no doubt prove, gay men aren’t the only segment of society capable of hedonism, exhibitionism, or skirting “traditional” family values. The proof is in the pudding, New Hampshire conservatives (and elsewhere). As a human race, we are all capable of letting our hair down and having fun, but that doesn’t negate our basic civil rights to live our lives with the partner of our choosing.
So, those who think gays are trashy, get off your soapbox and take a look at what heterosexuals are capable of. We aren’t perfect, and neither are you.
As you may have noticed, my blog has been silent for about a week. Life became hectic with final exams and the close of yet another semester. But once grades were finally averaged and submitted, my husband whisked me away to Provincetown, Massachusetts (my birthday gift), and we spent a glorious four day/three night vacation on the tip of Cape Cod, where we stayed at the Carpe Diem (our Ptown B&B of choice) not just because it’s a beautiful bed and breakfast, but because we adore the men–Rainer, Jurgen, and Hans–who run it.
Snow flurries in the Carpe Diem courtyard
Relaxing before the fire in our room
Provincetown is the best place on this planet partly because of the people who live there. The townies, which is what the the year round residents of this historical town are called, are warm and inviting. In fact, they give southerners a run for their money in terms of hospitality and congeniality. Their smiles are genuine, and they go out of their way to make visitors and other residents feel welcome. There’s a deep sense of community here far richer than any other place I’ve experienced that make it more than just a town. It’s part of who they are, and it’s fast becoming part of who my husband and I are as well.
You see, we typically visit Provincetown during the summer, but we wanted to experience what Ptown was like in the colder climate of its off season.
Pilgrim Monument lit up like Christmas tree
During the summer, the town is a blur of activity. Barely dressed boys hurry down Commercial Street, dodging not only bicyclists and a bevy of other barely dressed boys but also the never ending cars that insist on driving down the pedestrian clogged one way street. Drag queens and event promoters hawk their shows while zooming down the street on scooters or bikes or simply sashaying about in sequins and big wigs. Restaurants and lodgings are filled to capacity and the dance floors and clubs are packed with sweaty revelers intent on having a good time.
But in the off season, when the majority of the tourists have gone home, Provincetown transforms into something entirely different and just as spectacular. With the coming colder climate, the pace slows, and many don’t venture outdoors. A handful of tourists and townies can be spotted walking up and down Commercial, frequenting the few businesses that remain open in the off season. The drag queens all but vanish, and the shows that once lit up Commercial grow dark. The empty venues are boarded up with signs thanking passersby for a “great season” and promising to see us again in the spring.
Lobster Pot Christmas tree
What was once a bustle of activity four to six months ago no longer exists. It’s almost as if the town has pulled a blanket over itself and settled down for a long Winter nap. But in that quiet, hidden within the folds of that comfortable blanket, resides the true Provincetown.
In the summer, she puts on her make up and does her best to look presentable to those who come and visit her while the sun is out, but when summer sets in Ptown, she casts off her make up, packs up her wigs and flashy outfits, and lets her hair down. She no longer has to put on a show for the year rounders who love her whether she’s all sparkly or not. Provincetown just has to be who she is.
Provincetown Harbor in December
While the town may feel empty, she’s far from it. She’s filled with townies who get together for game nights, pot lucks, and townie gift exchanges for Christmas. The bars, which are filled with dance music in the summer, become quiet social gatherings where people play darts, pool, and ping pong. Laughter and true conversation replace the music, and it’s beat is far sweeter than any remix a DJ could spin. After all, what could be more fun than playing darts with Thirsty Burlington (a Provincetown drag queen) when she’s out of drag and still fabulous? In fact, during the game, Thirsty said, “I’ve never seen a more loving game of darts ever played in my life.” And she was right.
We played darts not to win (even though my team did!). We played darts for the experience, for what we gained from it. It was about being together with our friends and our loved ones. It was about sharing the bond that Provincetown wraps around you when she welcomes you into her loving embrace. It’s about visiting a place that feels like home, that welcomes you as one of her own.
We’ve met more than one person who said they came to Ptown for the summer and never left. I certainly understand that sentiment all too well. So much so that we are in the process of securing property of our own in Provincetown. If we have our way, we’ll become a part of this town that has come to mean so much to us, and we will do her proud once we are official Townies ourselves.
Naturally, we’ll return to Provincetown next summer, and we’ll likely find her all gussied up as we are used to seeing her. But when I see her again, I’ll remember how she embraced me during the cold of December, and it’ll be that embrace I’ll return for. It will be the one I long to feel wrapped around me once again.
I wanted to add a new segment to my blog where I offer my reviews of books that I’ve read. I’ll share fair reviews and hope by doing so that I can provide some new authors/books of interest to anyone who might be in the market for a new book. And, really, we should all be in the market for a new book. 🙂
So, to kick this off, we’ll start with a novel I just finished reading from one of my favorite authors of gay fiction–Michael Thomas Ford.
Obviously by my previous statement, I’m a Ford fan. I’ve read four of his previous novels–Last Summer, Looking For It, Changing Tides, and Full Circle. And all four are definitely worth a read as I thoroughly enjoyed each one of those. I’m disheartened to admit that I didn’t enjoy The Road Home nearly as much as the other four.
For me, the novel starts off as very promising, once you get past the first chapter–which still confuses me.
The main character, Burke Crenshaw, survives a car accident that rendered him incapable of taking care of himself. He is forced home to Vermont to not only convalesce but to also confront his distant relationship with his father as well as sort through the new-found feelings he has developed for Will, the son of his high school best friend.
I was also intrigued by the subplot–the historical mystery surrounding two Vermont soldiers who fought in the Civil War.
However, the meshing of the two stories didn’t come together for me. I understand the plotting behind the events as Burke’s delving into the mystery brought him within Sam, the librarian’s, orbit. Sam is integral in Burke’s discovery of what friendship and home mean, but I sometimes felt I was reading two different novels instead of one seamless whole. I can’t help but feel as if there could have been a better, sometimes more intriguing way of melding the two.
The novel itself isn’t bad. There are some good characters, such as Gaither Lucas (who is funny) and the three bears. I just wanted to see more of the relationships developed. I felt as if we only scratched the surface, and that left me unsatisfied, which is atypical for me when I’m done with a Ford book.
Still, I remain a fan of Ford.