I have a question... should we all behave like straight people that hate their dull and boring lives? Of course not, we're gay and that means we have that extra pizazz that only we have!! So why do the conservative gays think that they can govern what is gay in our community? That's what's happening now, because Steve Friess, podcaster with the strip podcast and freelance journalist, feels that every single gay couple should fit into this non-offensive little cookie cutter mold, in order to be accepted. Well let me tell you, people shouldn't have a context... the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence here in vegas do a lot for our community and the greater community in general, and don't deserve any negative press. Sure, their antics may be roughly unorthodox to some, but does that mean that they should stop suiting up, and start wearing capris and polos? No, if people want to get "partnered up" in a zany way, aren't they entitled to it? In the same breathe, aren't people allowed to have second thoughts and reconsider a decision they've made? 

Mr. Friess seems to have some colorful ideas on the above.  

The events that were going to happen today at the Erotic Heritage Museum may have been a spur of the moment thing for the people involved, but is that a bad thing? If the occassion is going to be passed up as if it never happened, shouldn't some attention be brought to it? If we all worried about what the media was going to plug on the air, we'd never have pride parades or festivals, we'd never go clubbing at the fruit loop, we'd never do anything that was remotely gay because that's not what the national media wants to see. They want to see good, non-offensive gays, baking cookies and arranging throw pillows on the home design network. Well, I feel differently, because if someone wants to queen up and parade around as a nun all day, more power to em! Have you seen their calves from walking around like that all day? That could be the next big workout routine at your local gym one of these days, lunges in heels, feel the burn!

If Rosie O'Donnell and Kelli Carpenter hadn't flown from New York at dawn to be in San Francisco by 1pm, would people have paid attention to the fact that same sex couples were getting married in 2004? I'm sorry Mr. Friess, but did you have the same comments to them? It wasn't planned, but it most certainly was a political stunt aimed to spite Dubbya and bring media attention to the occassion.

"To persuade straight people that gay couples deserve the rights they have, gays must show that they're more similar than different."
Just like in many other communities, the gay community offers a wide spectrum of members... on the far right, you have the basically straight conservative gays and the closet gays. Next, in the middle, you have the majority or regular gays that are just your average daily gay. Then you have the far left, and you'll find our most colorful members of the community. Is one end of the spectrum any better or more normal than the other? Should we all go back into the closet and act "straight" for you Mr. Friess? People are as is, take it or leave it, I don't care what your opinion is, they shouldn't have to change for anybody!

"we're all just a bunch of sex-crazed, debauching, godless cross-dressers" Really? Is that what you think that this event was going to send across to the nation? Straight people get married by Elvis all the time, daily to be exact (how's that for being like normal straight people, since being flamboyant isn't normal to you) The entertainment was gay specific, and included Frank Marino and the Sister of Perpetual Indulgence, why wouldn't we support our gay entertainers at a gay event? Who should've been there? Gordie Brown? Come on.

This is quite frankly a joke of an argument by people who would rather have all of us turn our flames down so that they don't get hassled for being gay. Here's a newsflash Mr. Friess, we're here, we're queer, and we're not gonna take it anymore! That includes gays that seek to divide the community with their attacks.

God bless America.

That's the question, isn't it? Sure, we'd like to have equal rights, but that means that you'd actually to do something. We all know how much that we all hate actually doing something! How about I tell you a little story of a lesbian couple that did everything right, but was still denied the basic human rights in the most important time in a persons' life... their death bed.

Picture this, you, your partner for over 17 years, and your 3 of your 4 adopted kids arrive in Miami for a wonderful cruise vacation! Sounds great so far, doesn't it? Alright, as you're getting ready for your cruise, your partner suddenly collapses to the floor and is rushed to the local hospital! Gasp! You arrive to the hospital right behind your partner's ambulance with your kids, and immediately try to offer all the medical history and information that you know about your partner because you've been together for over 17 years and have a family together. Just at that moment, your told by the hospital staff that they won't accept any information on your partner because you're in an anti-gay city and state, and that you shouldn't expect to get acknowledged as anything other than a regular visitor.

Are we having fun yet?

Lets go 8 hours into this ordeal, because we could really be here all day, when you and your kids are finally allowed to see your partner, with the help of the priest that was asked to do the last rites for your partner. Imagine that, a priest helping out a gay couple out in their time of need... only after this entire ordeal are you allowed to see your dying partner before they finally pass away in this hateful and disgustingly inhumane hospital. Just wait, because now the state of Florida and county medical examiner are denying you the death certificate because you're a nobody in Florida's eyes. Yeah, take that in for just a second, because it's not enough that they treat you like a second class citizen while your partner is dying, but now you have to fight tooth and nail to get their death certificate!

This was the sad story for a Washington lesbian couple two years ago. Now, the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida has rejected the surviving partner's suit against the hospital, citing that the hospital doesn't have to allow visitors to see patients. Not even in death can this couple obtain justice...

This is why we march in October, for this and many more stories exactly like this. The fight for equality has been ongoing for decades, but it won't ever end if people like you continue to do nothing.

God bless America.

Did you know that if you look online that you'll find at least 45 different instances since 2000 that LGBT people have been viciously attacked or murdered because of their sexual orientation.

This was brought to my attention by Kinetickyle on my twitter account (citizen0). Thanks Kyle.

That number may not seem like much to you, but read the reports below of some of those cases. To see if even one of these should have happened.

1) On July 3, 2000, in Grant Town, West Virginia, the victim, Arthur "J.R." Warren, was punched and kicked to death by two teenage boys who reportedly believed Warren had spread a rumor that he and one of the boys, David Allen Parker, had a sexual relationship. Warren's killers ran over his body to disguise the murder as a hit-and-run. Parker pleaded guilty and was sentenced to "life in prison with mercy", making him eligible for parole after 15 years. His accomplice, Jared Wilson, was sentenced to 20 years

2) On June 16, 2001, Fred C. Martinez Jr., a navajo transgender teen and two-spirit student was bludgeoned to death near Cortez,  Colorado by 18-year-old Shaun Murphy, who reportedly bragged about attacking a "fag". Murphy received only a 40yr sentence.

3) The December 2002 homicide of Nizah Morris, a transgender woman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has gone unsolved. The transgender entertainer collapsed from entoxication outside a bar late at night, and placed into a cop car by onlookers who helped Morris into the car since she could not stand on her own. The police reported dropping her off on a street that was far from where she lived, minutes later a passing motorist called the police after Morris was found lying on the sidewalk bleeding from her head. Morris suffered extensive injuries to her skull and was placed on life support only to die two days later.

4) On July 23, 2003, Nireah Johnson and Brandie Coleman were shot to death by Paul Moore, when Moore learned after a sexual encounter that Johnson was transgender. Moore then burned his victims' bodies. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 120 years in prison

5) On October 2, 2004, multiple assailants in Waverly, Ohio, attacked Daniel Fetty, a gay man who was hearing-impaired and homeless. Fetty was beaten, stomped, shoved nude into a garbage bin, impaled with a stick, and left for dead; he succumbed to his injuries the next day. Prosecuters alleged a hate crime. Three men received sentences ranging from seven years to life.

6) On March 11, 2005, Jason Gage, an openly gay man, was murdered in his Waterloo, Iowa, apartment by an assailant, Joseph Lawrence, who claimed Gage had made sexual advance to him. Gage was bludgeoned to death with a bottle, and stabbed in the neck, probably post-mortem, with a shard of glass. Lawrence was sentenced to fifty years in prison.

7) On July 30, 2006, six men were attacked with baseball bats and knives after leaving the San Diego, California Gay Pride festival. One victim was injured so severely that he had to undergo extensive facial reconstructive surgery. Three men pleaded guilty in connection with the attacks and received prison sentences. A 15-year-old juvenile also pleaded guilty

8) On May 12, 2007, Roberto Duncanson was murdered in Brooklyn, New York. He was stabbed to death by Omar Willock, who claimed Duncanson had flirted with him.

9) In February 2008, Duanna Johnson, a transsexual woman, was beaten by a police officer while she was held in the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center in Tennessee. Johnson said the officers reportedly called her a “faggot” and “he-she,” before and during the incident. In November 2008, she was found dead in the street, reportedly gunned down by three unknown individuals. This case was never solved.

10) On June 30, 2009, Seaman August Provost was found shot to death and his body burned at his guard post on Camp Pendleton by Petty Officer Jonathan Campos. LGBT community leaders "citing military sources initially said that Provost’s death was a hate crime." Provost had been harassed because of his sexual orientation. Military leaders have since explained that "whatever the investigation concludes, the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy prevented Provost from seeking help." Family and friends believe he was murdered because he was openly gay; Campos committed suicide a week later after admitting the murder, the Navy have not concluded if this was a hate crime.

There isn't anything I can say to make this edgy, witty, or humorous for you... This is what's happening to the LGBT community in this country. Hate crimes aren't a joke and they affect everyone of us in the community,

Be careful out there.

If you look around lately, Nevada's starting to look like a burlesque show straight out of Pahrump with all of the antics and drama brewing around the GOP, we've got showgirls everywhere on the right it seems.

We've got some strong opposition to our state's US Senator Harry Reid, and one of the loudest voices against the senator has been Chuck Muth for some time, if you don't know this delightful man, you're lucky. His blindly conservative rants and harsh opinions of everything Harry Reid have been taking aim against the Senator's 2010 re-election bid, (the fact that a good portion of the republican party in this state support Harry Reid apparently doesn't register in his world) The latest story is the fact that Muth has set up a PAC or a Political Action Commitee that violates a big portion of the laws in place for creating a PAC... Chuck Muth's response to this? “I broke the law, but I don’t care ‘cause I don’t like that law.” in an interview with Jon Ralston from the Las Vegas Sun.

If I don't like a law, can I just ignore it too? That's it, I'm running all the lights that I can from now on, and I better not get any tickets for it either, because I don't like that traffic law. Wait...

Harry Reid's camp filed a complaint with the FEC (Federal Election Commission) that basically pointed out all the violations that Muth's PAC made, and they want the committee to follow the law like every other PAC. Of course people on the right are starting to say that this was a hit job on the Senator's part, but if you don't know how to cross your "t's" dot your "i's" you won't have a leg to stand on. Whatever though, that's fine... since when do people follow the law anyway?

Next.

John Ensign is ever the colorful character, isn't he? Can I sign up for a 96K payoff too? I'd settle for like 20K John! Well it seems that the senator is holding onto his seat for the time being, but you'd be surprised at the big amounts of support that he's getting from his colleagues... oh wait, yeah there isn't much there either. Have you heard of a lady named Sue Lowden? You should have heard of her, because she's currently running the GOP in this state... it's good to know the players on the other side. Well, she tried, unssuccessfully mind you, to build support for Ensign from other GOP members, but she was left holding the bill after about half said they didn't want a part in it. In this day and age where the numbers game is so crucial, you can't build a defense for a US Senator... this is great news!

Should Ensign resign? Sure, why not? His hair kind of creeped me out, and he's awkwardly tan, so sure... vote him out.

Wait, you wanted to hear something a little more concrete and substantial? Sure... lets talk the C Street gang and how creepy/cultish that all is, lets talk about how hypocritical it is for a person to preach to the choir when they're sleeping with the piano player. Then lets talk about the "gift" that his parents gave to his campaign staffer, then lets talk about the fact that both the staffer and her son "resigned" from his camp when this all broke out. Good enough?

I still don't like his hair though.

Why can't we elect normal people to office? Do normal people exist? Then again, if we elect "normal" people, who will the bloggers and political writers have to report on? Nevermind, lets keep the circus in town so that I can have more material to play with. I thought that South Carolina had the showgirl market all wrapped up, but it looks like Nevada's looking to come up from behind. The Silver-State underdog, always a safe bet.

God bless America.

In the house this week, 3 congressmen and women will be presenting a bill that would call for the repeal of the Defense Of Marriage Act, DOMA, a policy that has been violating the LGBT community's rights since 1996. This is not the first attempt that has been made to take down the discriminatory legislation, but I hope that it will be the last.

The consevatives have hi-jacked the moral fiber of the nation! I mean, there are the great moral leaders such as...

John Ensign of Nevada (way to defend marriage from the gays by sleeping with another woman)
Larry Craig of Idaho (a men's bathroom playmate)
Mark Foley of Florida (the alleged child molester and soon to be radio host)
Michael Duvall of California (big sex talker that blames the media for what HE said)
Paul Stanley of Tennesse (another defender of marriage by sleeping around, then his mistress's boyfriend threatened to post naughty picutres of the senator on the internet unless the then senator gave him $10,000) <- per Huffington Post
Mark Sanford of South Carolina (defending marriage with his Agentinian mistress)

Yes ladies and gentlemen, the opponents we face are righteous and valiant but we will overcome.

Come on... If those guys are what we're up against, they wouldn't stand a chance if the LGBT community took a united stand for equality against them! Get on your congresspeople's nerves with all the emails and letters that you and your friends write!

Go to www.senate.gov and look under "Senators" in the top left section to find your state's senators
Go to www.house.gov and look under "Representatives" on the left hand side to find your state's congresspeople

It's the easiest way that you can make a difference.

God bless America

When I was watching the president's speech the other night, I heard that wonderfully polite republican senator from South Carolina, Joe Wilson, shout out "YOU LIE" to the president while he was talking about how illegal immigrants wouldn't be covered under healthcare reform. Smooth move casanova, because he came out the day after apologizing like a dog with its tail between its legs. Apparently, the powers at be inside the republican party made him apologize for his little outburst...

Imagine that meeting, "Yeah Joe, we're gonna need you to go ahead and apologize to the white house... yeah."

I just get the image of Michael Steele or John McCain as the boss from the movie, Office Space, standing over Joe Wilson, holding a cup of coffee in their hands of course, just passive aggressively scolding him.

I wish that meeting was on YouTube!

It's a funny thing though, because now there's a large uproar around the country over this guy's temper tantrum in congress... his opponent in the 2010 senate race next year actually gained an additional $350,000 in one afternoon after Wilson acted like a five year old. Looks like we won't have to deal with him for much longer anyway...

Lets stay in South Carolina though, shall we?

There are colorful politicians all over that state as of late... I'm sure that you heard about the governor that went missing not too long ago, claiming to be hiking on the Appalachian Trail when he was really in Argentina visiting his lolita soulmate. Yeah, he's the one that said he was in a forbidden romance with another woman, while at the same time he said he was trying to patch things up with his wife, what?

You can't make this stuff up! This is gold, pure gold!

Turns out that his cronies in the republican party down there don't quite like the fact that he's drawing all this bad press for them, so 61 of the 72 republicans in the state legislature called for him to resign, this of course after the lieutenant governor (the guy gunning for the job) called on him to resign... yeah, the governor doesn't look too hot right now, does he? Well, the governor is also behaving like a five year old, because he's arguing that the state legislature is setting up a "kangaroo court" against him, claiming that they're trying to win this in a court of public opinion. He says that he'll fight any impeachment procedures in court if he has to... that's a five year old that doesn't want to give up his toys if I ever saw one! Wait though, lets look at this for a second... you fly down to Argentina, potentially on the people's dime mind you, rendezvous with your lolita, LIE ABOUT IT, then come home and expect people to be cool with it!

He's got gusto ladies and gentlemen, you have to give him that.

One more little fact about South Carolina and its politicians, the lieutenant governor is on the mega defense after rumors ::cough cough::- from Sanford's camp -::cough cough:: that he's gay! It's true though, "someone", (whom I cannot confirm at this time, but I kindly point you towards the above coughs for my personal theories) started the rumors of lieutenant governor Andre Bauer being gay... then Bauer went on a small media blitz trying to prove how "not gay" he was. Wow... anyone else's gaydar goin off? This sounds like the classic closet case, but that's just me, and maybe I'm crazy. Crazy like a gay lieutenant governor fox!

See? Isn't South Carolina fun?

Maybe we should all plan a trip together and see what the lieutenant governor's doing, maybe he'll want to go clubbing with us to the gay clubs (assuming there are any in the south). You think he'll say yes?

God bless America.

I know what you're thinking... "How to build strong arms???, wtf?" Relax... I haven't given up politics for a workout blog! Although, that might be a cool side project for another day...

I'm talking about political arms and foreign policy influence by the biggest players in the game, The United States and The United Kingdom. Yes, the US and the UK are undoubtedly the world's most prominent superpowers, but had you been paying attention to what's happening around the world, you'd have noticed that the world is starting to grow weary of the strong arming that both players have been allowed to get away with in the past.

Lets start across the pond with our healthier and more eloquent brethren; The UK has been slipping from the public's graces since the days of Tony Blair, and that has been at the fault of his close relationship and ties to Dubbya... who would've known that being friends with Dubbya and his buddies would get you in hot water? (right Skooter Libby?)

The news over there is that the long reach of the British parliament might be weaker than in recent years. You might have heard about the "Lockerbie Bomber" being released on the basis of compassion by Scotland, but you may not have heard that two years ago, the UK had begun talks about easing tensions with the tyrannical Libyan regime over energy and trade. Oil ladies and gentlemen, that's always the name of the game, and the US and UK will go almost anywhere and deal with just about anyone to get more of it. (my personal opinion of course) The Scottish people are also talking about seperating themselves from the United Kingdom and returning to their independent status after over 300 years of unity, and that's starting to break down the credibility of the British crown... they can't keep their own people in rank.

Now we focus on the great ole US of A! Where to begin, we can't keep our politicians civil with their constituents let alone each other! That's besides the fact though, because the Scottish release of the Lockerbie bomber also puts the American weakness on the forefront as well, because after many vocal oppositions from our Secretary of State and the White House, against the release of the bomber, the Scottish government went forward anyway.

Thrusting onto the global stage that the US doesn't run the world as it once had.

      Next we go to Israel, our little brother in the middle east... our little brother has become quite bratty since they lost their little tug of war with Hammas a few years back (you remember that war that lasted for like a summer?). Israel has begun forcing people out of their homelands in parts of the nation that are being discussed in peace agreements between the Israeli and Palestinian governments. It is becoming a humanitarian issue, because the Israeli government is militariliy forcing people off of their ancestral homelands... This administration has come out vocally against Israel's actions in the West Bank, but the Israeli government has ceased to stop any movement forward citing their rights to the land after a war in the 60's. Nothing that our government says is working against the Israeli expansionist desires.

      Lastly, we move into the western hemisphere... where we find the White House in the midst of a financial and military coup. The story here is that President Zelaya wanted to ammend the Honduran constitution and allow presidents serve more than one four-year term, that seems to me as something that their congress should address, right? No, the Supreme Court ordered the arrest and expulsion of the President to Costa Rica. The downlow in Honduras is that the new "President" Micheletti was a prominent figure in the country's "special interest" class of wealthy and powerful businessmen that have held true power over Honduran policy for years, and after many clashes against Zelaya regarding trade, minimum wages, and taxes on the private sector; the last straw for the status quo was an additional term for President Zelaya... perhaps this was too much of a threat? Anyway, the world has come against Micheletti's government and condemned their actions, Venenzuelan president, Hugo Chavez, has promised military action if Zelaya is not returned to power... you have all of Latin America raging about this, the United States condemning this, the French, the Spaniards, and many other Europeans coming out against this coup... the world is looking to the US to enforce their rhetoric of financial consequences, but the administration will have to come out strong here in order to embolden American authority around the globe.

The American and British superpowers are being tested like never before in regards to their political might... The Honduran conflict, in my opinion, will determine the global role that the United States will play in the future, because if the Latin American governments are the ones to broker a deal... once again, the United States will be knocked down another notch in the totum pole.

What does the word debate actually mean? Dictionary.reference.com puts it as follows,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
De-bate - noun
- a formal contest in which the affirmative and negative sides of a proposition are advocated by opposing speakers.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A formal contest? What's that? Is that what we're having over healthcare reform? Are we even discussing healthcare reform? We are sometimes talking about Health Insurance reform, but then we're talking about Healthcare reform, and it's all getting quite difficult to keep track of.

One thing that is perfectly clear though, is that we are most certainly not debating the pro's and con's of this great issue of our times!

The yay's are out there in front clammering for attention because they're getting drowned out by the nay's, however, when they get their spotlight, their talking points don't carry them far enough! Then we've all seen and been annoyed by the nay's in this fight because they're the loudest and most obnoxious!

I don't think that any one of us is going to get the real facts about what's going to be in this bill unless you have a law degree (I have friends who do, so heads up)! The language of the bill made me feel like an infant quite frankly, and I personally consider myself to be rather educated and involved in regards to political issues and policy. The sad part is when the average American gets involved without knowing any of the facts on either side... you start to see mom and pop shouting with the jones's and vice versa, and who likes to see that?

The loudest voices usually win the argument lately, but where do the people in the video below get off shouting down this concerned and disabled woman? As I watched it, my blood began to boil at the ignorance from the nay's because all they know how to do is shout! 

  !!!-WELL I KNOW HOW TO SHOUT TOO-!!!!

READ MY TEXT...
EDUCATE YOURSELF BEFORE YOU PARADE AROUND LIKE A GOON!

I'll let you watch the video now, and let me know if you think that I'm just being a jerk to the nay's... I'm in the centrist mode in this argument because there are some things that I oppose but there are more things in the talks that I support. My voice from the middle has no place in this debate, because I'd get shouted down by the goons on the nay's.

Watch for yourself.