HUMOR - X-Men and the GLBT...

HUMOR - Funniest Gay Marriage Signs and Memes

Clever Signs, Quotes and Cartoons Supporting Marriage Equality and Gay Rights

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bl-gay-marriage.htm

CULTURE/SOCIETY - How gay marriage won

No matter what the court decides, marriage equality is going to happen! The question is just how long will it take! And how long we will make the people wait! - OMGeek

http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/28/how-gay-marriage-won/

POLITICS: Gay Pride In New York City: 1970-1979

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/gay-pride-in-new-york-city-1970-1979

POLITICS: Why Advancing Gay Rights is All About Good Timing

But that’s the thing about timing and the Supreme Court—Hardwick’s challenge came too early and Justice Powell’s change of heart came too late. Bowers was a major blow to the gay rights movement—“a sign that the Court, and, by extension, society, did not accept homosexuals.” How could it be otherwise if their expression of love and sexuality was against the law? Criticism rained down on the court from legal scholars including Richard Posner and Michael Sandel. As Yale law professor and Slate contributor William Eskridge writes, “a decision that was premature in 1986 swiftly became an embarrassment.” Yet it took the court 17* years to correct its error, in Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 ruling that overturned Bowers and finally struck down state sodomy prohibitions.

slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/supreme_court_dispatches/2012/10/the_supreme_court_s_terrible_decision_in_bowers_v_hardwick_was_a_product.html

SPIRITUALITY/RELIGION and POLITICS: Missouri Pastor's Fiery Speech Against Equal Rights for Homosexuals Has Stunning Twist Ending

http://m.gawker.com/5953357/missouri-pastors-fiery-speech-against-equal-rights-for-homosexuals-has-stunning-twist-ending

POLITICS and HUMOR: A Storm Is Coming?

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... from Jack Black

POLITICS and CULTURE/SOCIETY: Ten Reasons Gay Marriage is Un-American

I found this hunting around the internet. No explanation was given for it was originally from. - OlderMusicGeek.

Ten Reasons Gay Marriage is Un-American

1. Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
3. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
4. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.
7. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.
9. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Mary had a little lamb. This surprised the doctor.

Okay, I need to add a little political comment here. I DO think children tend to do better if they have a male and female parent at home. But I do think a child is better raised by a single parent who is their parent than in an orphanage. And I think gay parents can definitely raise children far better than any institution or a series of foster parents.

POLITICS: Letter to Politicians on a Judge Allowing Gay Marriage in Iowa

This is a letter my friend, The Computer/Music Nerd, wrote and sent me a copy. - OlderMusicGeek.

To: Governor Chet Culver

US Senator Tom Harkin

US Senator Chuck Grassley

US Representative Leonard Boswell

IA Senator Pat Ward

IA Representative Dan Clute

I just read about the ruling of Judge Robert B. Hanson and applaud it most rigorously. It is about time someone thought about the rights of human beings and not their own feelings or opinions.

The key here is "equal protection of the law". This is NOT a religious issue, to say so restricts my rights as a non-Christian. The idea of marriage being an issue governed by religion is based on the majority's belief in Christianity, and may also be found in Islam and Judaism. As a Buddhist I reject the notion that Judeo-Christian-Islamic beliefs govern my life. I live by the rule of law and believe that marriage in the United States is a matter of Law. The Law in the United States MUST be governed by the idea of "equal protection of the law" and as such, Gay and Lesbians should not be discriminated against.

To discriminate against a group because they have fewer voices goes against what it means to live in the United States , this is the country that protects the minority by law and seeks equal treatment by law.

"I can't believe this actually happened in Iowa," Rants said of Hanson's ruling. "What it means is that one person has decided they know better than the whole Legislature." (DM Register)

I am so glad this is happening in Iowa. One person has not decided they know better, one judge has determined that the majority is ignoring the Constitution, institutionalizing discrimination. Iowa, which took a heavy toll in the Civil War to protect the ideology of freedom of the oppressed, should take a lead in lifting the oppression of this minority.

Governor Culver I am personally deeply disappointed in you, as a Democrat and a representative of all Iowans you should stand by this ruling, not take the easy way out. You may personally feel a marriage should be a man and woman; however, you represent gay and lesbian Iowans as well as heterosexual Iowans. Your comment in the Des Moines Register is therefore inexcusable.

"While some Iowans may disagree on this issue, I personally believe marriage is between a man and a woman," Culver said. (DM Register)

In 1946 President Truman formed the President's Committee on Civil Rights. The Report began: (emphasis added)

THE NATIONAL Government of the United States must take the lead in safeguarding the civil rights of all Americans . We believe that this is one of the most important observations that can be made about the civil rights problem in our country today. We agree with words used by the President, in an address at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in June, 1947:

We must make the Federal Government a friendly, vigilant defender of the rights and equalities of all Americans . * * * Our National Government must show the way.

It is essential that our rights be preserved against the tyrannical actions of public officers. Our forefathers saw the need for such protection when they gave us the Bill of Rights as a safeguard against arbitrary government. But this is not enough today. We need more than protection of our rights against government; we need protection of our rights against private persons or groups, seeking to undermine them. In the words of the President:

We cannot be content with a civil liberties program which emphasizes only the need of protection against the possibility of tyranny by the Government. * * * We must keep moving forward, with new concepts of civil rights to safeguard our heritage. The extension of civil rights today means not protection of the people against the Government, but protection of the people by the Government.

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/civilrights/srights3.htm

Protection of the people by the Government. You are all the Representatives of the PEOPLE. The people are not simply the majority; the people are all of the people. Gay and Lesbian people must have equal protection under the law or none of us do. What is next? Will we discriminate against some other small group? Perhaps I as a Buddhist will have my freedoms restricted while Christians are granted those same freedoms? Or perhaps Muslims, or Libertarians, you name the group. We must protect all Americans or we protect none.

Judge Hanson is standing up for ALL Iowans, why don't you?

POLITICS, CULTURE/SOCIETY and SPIRITUALITY/RELIGION: Marriage is Love

Full Petition Text from MILLIONSforMARRIAGE.com:

I do support the right of every American to marry, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples. I believe that marriage and other civil rights protections are essential to making all families safer and more secure.

By signing this petition, I agree to support efforts to make marriage equality a reality in our country, and to oppose any attempts to discriminate against GLBT couples and individuals.

MILLIONforMARRIAGE.org

Vote No on the Marriage Federal Amendment - Don't write discrimination into the Constitution
An earlier blog of mine on homophobia and parenthood - Warning: Gay rights people won't like what I say on parenthood