After the passing of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, the Massachusetts senatorial race (between Dem - Coakley and Rep - Brown) should have become the new Democratic battleground with millions of dollars flowing in from the national party and supporters (which would include the LGBT community, and I'll tell you why shortly). However, that isn't what happened in MA, that's pretty much the complete opposite of what happened!

Lets not forget when the GOP picked up two Governorships from Virginia and New Jersey, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) should have kicked it into high gear and defended every seat... except no one suspected that the uber-liberal state and former gem in the Kennedy family crown, Massachusetts, would ever be at risk of falling to the GOP. Until now.

I know you're probably thinking, "Get to the point! Why should LGBT's care about a senate race in MA?!"

The big deal here is that if MA State Attny General Coakley loses this race to now MA State Senator and former Cosmo Centerfold Brown, the deck of cards will come tumbling down, and one by one legislation will die.

RIP Legislation #1 - Healthcare Reform (HCR)

RIP Legislation #2 - Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR)

RIP Legislation #3 - LGBT Equality

That's pretty much the order that we're seeing right now since the Gutierrez bill was announced for immigration reform last month, and of course the LGBT community can expect to be pushed to the back of the bus yet again. You need to realize that if the Democrats lose their 60 seat majority that HCR will die in the Senate, so will CIR, and lastly, you might as well burn the paper that any and all LGBT Equality legislation is written on because it will be dead on arrival.

These are things that you should start taking interest in because it will affect your daily life... LGBT Equality legislation means ENDA, DADT, DOMA, and many many more.

President Obama and the DNC have made a battle plan to send the President to MA to campaign Coakley in order to try and rescue the ground that she has lost, but all we can do now is hope that Coakley and President Obama can pull something out of the air on this one.

The LGBTQQIA community has struggled for equality for decades, but it isn't until recently that our community has begun to gain some solid ground.

2009 has seen recognition from Congress like never before, with legislation aimed directly at granting us our equality;

HR 1283 - Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 - Introduced in March
HR 3017 - Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009 - Introduced in June
HR 3567 - Respect for Marriage Act of 2009 - introduced in September
HR 3827 - Every Child Deserves a Family Act - Introduced in October

We can't depend on our congressional representatives to come to their senses on their own, we have to make it known that we demand these bills pass through the House and Senate. This isn't to say that we haven't seen a great amount of support from the House and Senate already!

One thing that this generation has to remember is the blood, sweat, and tears that previous generations have put into the fight for equality. As we move forward, it's important that we value their efforts because without the pioneers of the 60's and beyond, we wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

This President has already removed the traveling restrictions against HIV positive people, and has made statements that show support for our equality.

Standing together and stannding strong is the only way that our generation will make our previous generations proud, the time for unity and action is now.

Bless God and Bless the Gays

So I'm here in the capitol, and I just left a meeting with Chip Arndt, political big whig with the Democratic party for the LGBT community, and I'm going tomorrow morning to meet up with some other activists to get my press rights so that I can cover and report on everything that's going on here in the capitol.

I'm going to try my best to get a feel for what's really going on here... I've talked to dozens of people already tonight that are feeling the march and are in support of what we're doing! Score! I've also met some pretty unfriendly indfividuals that had some colorful words to say about what was going down this weekend.

No matter.

I'm going to try and get my way into the nitty gritty of the events, and I'll be writing an article for QVegas for the November issue, so stay posted here for updates, go to my Facebook page and my Twitter acounts (go my social stream page) for more to the minute updates on the efforts on the ground here in the capitol.

This is truly a momentous occassion and I'm humbled to be here reporting on it and participating in history.

God bless America.

PS
The religious right is going to protest the President's dinner with the LGBT community tomorrow and they're also going to be alongside us at the march on sunday so keep us in your thoughts as we go against the biggots!

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.

The month of August started off rocky for the LGBT community as 3 young people were murdered in Tel Aviv after an attack on an LGBT community center.

Lets get to the have beens...

-We were all entrenched to our eyeballs in healthcare reform, everywhere you turned people are talking about reform pro's and con's. We're not going to get away from this one for quite a while so I'm also including this one in the should be's and will be's... fyi.
-The great debate over Sonia Sotomayor came to a close with her being confirmed to the Supreme Court... the conservatives had little to say once they knew they lost this one. Great day for women and minorities everywhere.
-Bill Clinton was making headlines again after his rescure of two journalists from North Korea's grips.
-The Evangelical Lutheran Churches of America (ELCA) voted to allow gays in commited relationships to serve as ministers!

On to the should be's...

-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's senate race is ratcheting up against him, Nevadans should take a close look at how or why they should support Harry Reid's bid in 2010.
-Talk about the equality march with all of your friends, because it's a big deal and it should be treated as such!
-On the lighter side, you should check out the episode of Family Guy that's being talked about with Rush Limbaugh... what a jokester that rush. :(
-Keep an eye on Iran, because the people rose up this summer so there's bound to be more trouble ahead.
-Like I said earlier, talk about healthcare because everyone else will be!

Finally to the will be's...

-I've looked into my crystal ball and I see more talks about healthcare reform, should we overhaul the entire system or just make the proper adjustments?
-Look for possible ways that the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy will affect that debate on either side of the aisle
-We're all going to be talking about gay rights! Support your brothers and sisters by attending the Equality March this October!

Those are my thoughts this time around, let me know if you disagree or if you think I missed something.

Citizenzero

P.S.
I get the feeling that we're all going to start thinking locally again when it comes to entertainment, dining, and politics so get informed on what's cool, what's good, and what's going on.

13,000 American soldiers have been dishonorably discharged since "Don't Ask Don't Tell" was passed in 1993 under the Clinton administration. The original blame should fall on that administration for passing a bill like this, but it is clearly stated that the original intent of the bill's implementation was to allow LGBT soldiers to serve more freely. The road to hell is paved with good intentions...

Now fast forward 16 years in the future, 13,000 soldiers later, and 2 strong Congressional opponents of DADT later... you'll find former President Bill Clinton defending his reasons and good intentions for the passage of the bill, you'll find that our military is severely strained while waging two wars, and you'll also find that 75% of the public polled by USA Today state that gays should be allowed to serve openly. The nation will also see the Senate Armed Services Committee holding hearings after their August break on this exact issue; there have been numerous accounts and statements from top military posts to the effect of repealing or reviewing this legislation. This is a great first step after the original proposition to repeal DADT couldn't muster up the required 60 votes in the Senate, and we should all look closely to the progress of these hearings.

What you won't see is the President of the United States coming forward and directly supporting the repeal of this legislation that is responsible for 287 discharged men and women since the current administration took office. Then candidate Obama came out in support of repealing DADT, but has since failed on his dedication to the LGBT community. Another big step that you won't see is major Democratic support for the effort in both chambers of Congress to repeal DADT... why is that? The reason is simple... LGBT rights are TABOO! Politicians don't want to upset the status quo, and perhaps they're just following the leader? President Obama's administration upheld the status quo in another Gay rights debate, so I'm assuming that politicians are just taking their marching orders from the top when it comes to the LGBT community.

WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?!?!?!?!

FOLLOW THE LINK AND SIGN THE PETITION in support of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's upcoming ASC hearings!

http://www.kirstengillibrand.com/signup?id=0003&ad=G-content-national-dadt

This is the easiest thing that you can do to get your name on a list of supporters that want Congress to repeal DADT!

God bless America.

Earlier this month, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand presented an ammendment to a Department of Defense spending bill that would place an 18 month moratorium on the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell legislation that was passed by Congress in 1993. Prominent Democrats in the Senate such as Majority Leader, Harry Reid, came out earlier this month in support of the Matthew Shepard hate crime legislation as well as Senator Gillibrand’s moratorium bill, stating that he’d repeal the DODT law altogether. This proposal by the senator was later shelved after the Supreme Court refused to hear a case from a soldier that was discharged in 2004 after being discovered as being gay. Earlier this week, the Senate Armed Services subcommittee held a hearing on DODT, and Congressman Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania testified in order to repeal the DODT legislation.

Congressman Murphy is fighting on our behalf, not because he’s gay, but because he knows that the service men and women of the military are looking for other men and women that are willing to fight by their side. He challengess Congress to accept our soldier’s professionalism and willingness to serve next to openly gay soldiers; Congressman Murphy is also the first and only Iraq veteran to be elected to Congress. Smart guy.

This is big news…

In an interview with Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, he told reporters that the office of the President has issued executive orders that have changed the political landscape of the military in the past, citing President Truman’s desegragation of the military in 1948; however, Secretary Gates went on to say that these measures took the Truman administration over 5 years in order to reach completion. Gates stated that his office has barely begun to speak with the Obama administration of DODT policy, offering an explanation for the slow progress, he said, “If we go down that road,” it was important “we do it right and in a way that mitigates any downsides.”

This brings to the forefront the idea again of an executive order from the office of the President to end DODT…

According to the US News and World Report, 296 service men and women have been discharged under the Obama administration, with no movement on the President’s behalf towards rectifying this situation. Congressman Murphy is gaining prime support from various factions within the Democratic and Republican parties (mainly the Deomcrats obviously) with his claim that it is more costly for the military to train a replacement for these discharged gay soldiers. We all know that the fastest way into a Republican’s heart is through their wallets, so perhaps this will be a successful tactic.

Either way, it appears as if the Obama administration will be keeping a tight lip about gay rights until they can get healthcare panned out in Congress. It looks like the LGBT community will have to wait until healthcare legislation is done before their voices will be heard.

Two bills in one month against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in Congress, is someone going to tell the President that we’re all talking about this?

God bless America.

So today, the popular tv program, America’s got talent, aired one of their most successful broadcasts this season… it’s a fun show that I peronally enjoy watching! Also today, President Obama made his best Billy Mays sales pitch for the healthcare plan that he’d like to see happen. Which one was everyone watching? Most likely… America’s got talent, or another show like it. There are many other bills that are affecting our community as well as our state that should be getting attention… I’m not saying that healthcare isn’t important, because it most certainly is. I’m just saying that Washington has a way of pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes in order to take the nation’s attention off of the issues that really matter.

Once again, our community gets pushed to the back of the bus… DODT and DOMA related concerns are nowhere on the senate/house legislative websites, or at least none that I have seen. These are things that affect everyone, not just our community. At a time where we need the most qualified soldiers that we can get, this President is sitting by while they are being cast out and dismissed in shame from service… it doesn’t seem right, does it? Healthcare is a very tricky measure that has conspiracy theories all over it, what with some of the key politicians receiving up to almost half of their campaign financing from large health insurance agencies and their lobbyists… that’s not what we’re talking about here, we’re talking about the fact that healthcare should be passed with a group of intelligent people in charge. Not necessarily politicians… the President pointed out the hospital system in Cleveland and others as good standards for what he wants done; we should find the best systems that work around country, and try to implement their principles on the grander national scale.

I’m sure the gays can wait for their equal rights for another year, right? I mean… we’ve waited this long, what’s another term? Hey, we’re patient, make it two! There are organizations making their stealthy moves around Washington on our behalfs, but it’s everyone else’s job to start making noise about what we want. I’ve said it on my blog, and I’ll say it here… email your representatives and make them represent you, it’s quite the clever concept, but I hear they used to actually do that at some point in the past. What ever happened to no taxation without representation? I don’t feel represented… should we also have a tea party? It’ll probably/hopefully be a little more glamorous than the ones the elephants/conservatives had last year.

Maybe I’m just beating a dead horse, and you’re probably right… however, this is a dead horse that should get the crap beat out of it until congress does something about it. It’s about our civil rights; Although, they’d probably vote on and pass an animal right’s bill that would prohibit me from beating the dead horse before they passed legislation that would give us what we deserve… Maybe I’m crazy, just maybe.

God bless America.