Dancing with Myself

Bill Clinton and Teh Gays

I don't care much for Bill Clinton.  Without asking my opinion on the subject, he announced to the world as a guest on MTV that he saw no reason to ban Gays from the military and that he was going to change things when he became President.  First of all, there's always been homosexuals in the military.  I speak from personal experience.  He fixed things, alright.  Don't Ask, Don't Tell became the military's latest club to beat Gays and Lesbians with in the armed services.  After DADT, the homophobes in the military went after Gays and Lesbians.  Not once did Bill Clinton speak up and provide leadership on the subject.  He can sit on his fat ass now and say he was protecting us all the fuck he wants to.  He abandoned us rather than risk any political capital on standing up for what is right. 

Now, between DADT and DOMA, there was a little March on Washington in the Spring of '93.  Anyone remember?  Remember how Bill and Hillary electrified the crowd with the promise of equal rights for everyone, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgendered included?  No?  Oh yeah, that's right.  Neither of them bothered to show up, send a message, phone, nothing.  In fact, they left town.  Thanks folks.

This photo is one of my favorite's from the March.

I've been a little friendlier towards Hillary this past year than I have towards Barack.  That is changing.  Each time Bill Clinton brags about how much he's done for "teh Gays," he loses more and more Gay and Lesbian support for Hillary.  He fucked us over and no amount of rationalizing is going to change how I feel about it.  Watch here how he tells us how much he did for us:

First, he misrepresents what DOMA does. He says it leaves marriage to the States. No, Bill, it doesn't. It prohibits the federal government from recognizing any same-sex marriage regardless of where it is performed. Canada, Massachussetts, Europe. Doesn't matter. Then watch Bill tell us that Gays and Lesbian couples will suffer disproportionately if states were forced to "sanctify" (whatever the fuck that means) marriages made in Masschussetts.

In my own personal history with protest, there has always been someone who argues that if we just make nice we'll get what we want eventually.  You Black people shouldn't make Whites nervous by demanding equal opportunities.  You anti-war people should ask people nicely to stop the war in Iraq, Vietnam, Israel, _____________(fill in the blank).  You Gay people should just be nice and beg for crumbs from mankind's table.  Afterall, we just stopped killing people like you a generation or two ago.  (What?  Oh, you're still killing us in some places.  Well I sure hope you don't start killing us here in the good ol' US of A.  Matthew Shepherd?  What about him?  That's surely an aberation.  How many did you say?)

Same-sex marriage is not nearly as important to me as the offense of excluding me from it is.  Marriage is not a "sanctified" institution.  Sorry, Bill Clinton.  Sanctified?  Oh fucking please.  Procreation?  As if Elizabeth Dole ever intended to let that ugly frog husband impregnate her.  Lifetime commitment?  Tell that to Britney Spears' 90-minute lifetime in Vegas a few years ago.  A couple of over-aged, over weight Lesbians wanting to give their children a bit of dignity by being "married" does not threaten a single heterosexual couple anywhere in the world. 

Sanctified.  Jeez.  Here we are in the year 2008 and our progressive leaders use fundamental Christian terms to describe issues.   LIke I said, this is not my big issue.  The bigotry that forbids same-sex marriage is what annoys me.  I've never once tried to get married so my access to it has never been blocked.  I "lack standing" as they say in the courts.  I don't expect Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to somehow make it legal for same-sex couples.  I'll take my chances with the evolution of opinion on the subject.  I do expect whomever the President is, that person will do everything possible to be sex neutral as it administers programs designed to strengthen families.  Getting rid of the Defense of Marriage Act would be a reasonable way to start.  Forget about Texas recognizing same-sex couples from Massachussetts.  How about the Federal government recognizing and protecting the sovereignty of the people of Masssachusetts? 

I'm ranting, aren't I?  I'm also late for work.  I may continue this thought later.  Bye bye.

I don't know, you tell me.

Same Sex Marriage Has Its Day at the California Supreme Court

I was walking in front of the building which houses the California Supreme Court on Tuesday when one of my staff attorneys asked me about the Gay marriage hearing.  It's NOT a hearing about Gay marriage, I answered.  It's about same-sex marriage.  No one cares whether the participants are Gay or straight.  The issue is about an individual's freedom to marry a person of his or her own choosing, something I believe is a fundamental human right.

Here are some of the more memorable lines from the morning's arguments.

"Same-sex couples have come here today to praise marriage, not to bury it. ... (They) yearn for the privacy and respect that only marriage can bring them." -- Attorney Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, representing 15 same-sex couples

"The state law defines marriage by whom it excludes." -- Chief Justice Ronald George

"Is it for this court to decide or is it for the people of California to decide?" -- Justice Carol Corrigan

"Why is this the moment of truth as opposed to 10 years from now?" -- Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar

"We submit that when the state is acting so aggressively to protect the rights of domestic partners and families, it's not irrational to maintain the definition of marriage that has stood the test of time." -- Deputy Attorney General Christopher Krueger, defending the state's marriage law

"Are you saying that separate is equal here?" -- Justice Carlos Moreno, questioning Krueger

"Words matter. Names matter." -- San Francisco Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart, arguing for theimportance of defining a same-sex relationship as marriage

I thought there was some great lawyering taking place that morning, at least on the side arguing for same-sex marriage.  The first attorney up was Therese Stewart.  I noticed her at the hearing before the Court of Appeal panel.  She was smart and articulate.  I liked her then, and I liked her even more Tuesday morning.

New (to me) was Shannon Minter.  I thought he was spot on in his arguments and his answers to the Court.  He was also cute as a button.  When I went to Google to find out more about him, boy, was I in for a surprise. First, he's from East Texas, same as moi. Secondly, he graduated from Cornell Law School. Thirdly, he used to be a she. Shannon is a female-to-male transsexual, who underwent sexual reassignment surgery following law school. That is apropos of nothing, but I mention it out of pride of my community. There was recently a big brouhaha in the Gay and Lesbian community about whether or not transsexuals should be included in antidiscrimination laws being proposed. Many Gays and Lesbians, led by Massachussetts Congressman, Barney Frank, feel a great amount of discomfort with transsexuals and were all too happy to jettison them from the proposed bill. I had a strong negative reaction to that argument and to those in our community who were making it.

Here's a link to the blog, Legal Pad where the several lawyers arguing before the court are scored.  Gloria Alred's partner, Michael Maroko, received the highest score.  Scoring worst was the representative of the Attorney General, Michael Kreuger, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere doing anything else other than what he was doing.

Here's the bottom line:  we're winning.  This case is immaterial to that fact.  There has been a sea change in the attitude towards Gays and Lesbians and their rights to have their families recognized.  The bigots and their coharts are losing.