Oh this is rich, really fantastic. We’ve seen a lot of Republican and religious hypocrisy lately from Mark Foley to Ted Haggard. Now, Mary Cheney, daughter of Vice Prez Shoot-’em-in-the-face Dick, is preggers. And while I congratulate her on her and her partner’s forthcoming bundle of joy I can’t help but shake my head that the Cheney family supports shooting themselves in the foot. (Perhaps shooting runs in the family.) And while I do not think anyone in the Cheney family has responded directly, there has got to be some anger with Focus on the Family, a Christian group that has provided crucial political support to President Bush, who released a statement saying gay folks shouldn’t raise children, even if they are white, wealthy and Conservative:
"Mary Cheney’s pregnancy raises the question of what’s best for children," said Carrie Gordon Earll, the group’s director of issues analysis. "Just because it’s possible to conceive a child outside of the relationship of a married mother and father doesn’t mean it’s the best for the child."
Sorry, Mary, you don’t get a pass!
The devil on the left shoulder is almost happy that Cheney’s home state of Virginia has absolutely no laws protecting children of same-sex couples, or the parents for that matter so that she may get a taste of the injustice she has helped create and supports. Nevertheless, while Focus on the Family may be hard on her Miss Mary, because of her wealth and connections, will indeed have an easier time than most middle and working class gay Virginian parents.
(OMG, Cheney’s partner, far right, is totally touching her butt in that picture!)
I was watching a program on Logo the other day with my partner about queer history in America since Stonewall. And while visions of Anita Bryant loomed in the section from the 70s, for the most part post-riot seemed hopeful and celebratory. But when the program hit the 80s the spirit was decidedly more sober. Of course the Reagan years were fretful for many reasons but what the thing that loomed large and frightful at it jumped onto the queer stage was the devastating emergence of AIDS. As we watched the segment where they laid out the quilt, we were both brought close to tears remembering our own experiences of seeing that compelling and visceral symbol of the toll AIDS has had on our community. We, of course, also remembered all the people we knew who that quilt represents, good friends and family who were consumed by the disease. It affected my partner so much that she had nightmares that night and I told her she couldn’t watch any more history shows. But it is crucial that we remember the epidemic and the pain it has caused and continues to cause. It is our history and our present as we look to erase it from our future. That’s why Friday’s World AIDS Day is so important.
Cascade AIDS Project is the oldest and largest community-based provider of HIV services, housing, education and advocacy in the area. They’ve been around since 1983 and have many resources for those in need of services as well as opportunities for those who want to donate their time or money to the cause. They also offer hotlines in both English (800.777.AIDS) and Spanish (800.499.6940). Their biggest fundraiser of the year, the Red Ribbon Party, is tonight from 5-8p at 5th Ave Suites downtown (596 SW Washington).
But the most important thing to remember every December 1st is that HIV still exists. It has hit our community hard and continues to ravage it and other communities globally. Watching footage of the quilt being laid out on the Washington DC mall was a stark reminder to me that I haven’t had to think about AIDS as much as I once did, but that it is every bit as imperative that we never stop our vigilance.
Whether you love or loathe the Christmas season the reality is that most of us will have to buy for someone, no matter how un-Christian we may be, our society usually demands that a lover, a mother, or some other loved one will be waiting for their Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukah, or Soltice gift. So if one must give up the contents of one’s wallet, we might as well do so responsibly. Of course this goes year ’round, but if we remind ourselves once a year, perhaps we have a chance fo remembering throughout the year. An though I seldom trust the Human Rights Campaign with terribly much their annual Buying Guide is a good place to start. I believe that it probably is a fairly comrehensive overview of the largest companies treatment of gays and lesbians. And I am all for shopping with gay-friendly companies. I do think it is important, however, to keep in mind that companies with good labor practices in general, both here and overseas, might be even more important. It may suck for gay Americans do be denied domestic partner benefits but it probably sucks worse to be a 5 year old working 16 hour days in a factory. This balancing act can be difficult. The whole American Apparel scandals sent me into a tizzy, wondering if it was better to supprt a worker owned anti-sweatshop company even if the CEO treated his female employees like objects. I’ve also heard the whole schtick is a publicity stunt. I never know quite what to believe, but whatever small part of the stories are true the whole thing does indeed end up degrading to women. That being said, I bet we’d hear less outrage if these things were, again, committed against third world women. So, I begrudgingly accept AA merchandice while acknowledgeing its less than savory persona.
It might not directly benefit most Oregonians but there may be a precious few among us born in the big apple. And for anyone that was born in NYC you may soon have some amount of control over the sex listed on your birth certificate. As any return readers will know, I believe gender to be a rather fluid and largely superfluous construct to begin with, however many people, including those who are straight, queer, trans and anything in between are quite attached to the concept. Certainly the country as a whole is. So I think this idea is monumental. In actuality, to someone like me, it makes little difference. But to those who feel trapped in an assigned gender this gives an additional freedom and acknowledgment, as well as very real set of legal rights. This, of course, is where many may find a problem. The article brings up the idea of then being able to marry your (newly) opposite gender without surgery. Then again, if the whole idea of legal marriage was reformed in this country this wouldn’t be a problem. And likewise, the idea that surgery changes who you are and how you’re allowed to be documented is scary as well. The article brings up the very important points that not everyone can afford surgery, wants surgery and many surgeries that trans individuals would want simply to do not exist. For example, there really isn’t a wholly effective bottom surgery for FTMs. Unfortunately, I don’t know this these innovations are on the top of the medical science field’s list. I wish it were higher… […]
Though I’m guessing most of you will be frantically bubbling in your ballots because you waited until the last minute to make your electoral voice heard, when you calm your political fervor you will be rewarding with the uplifting sounds of Scream Club, Show Me the Pink, and Joey Casio.
Until then, make use of Basic Right’s endorsements, although I personally found The Merc’s better and more comprehensive. This is an important one folks so get out there, even if it’s flooding and drop off your ballot.
Once you have, however, take your empowered citizen self down to the Paragon to start you election night (hopefully) celebration. While this trio of hot genre-crossing bands may not be directly tied to elections all 3 have their own brand of queer, off beat politics. I’m sure the political discussion will ride the dace wave throughout the night. Better still, two of the artist have shiny new albums available in all their shrink-wrapped glory. Fantastic and brightly colored electro-hip-hopster-punks Scream Club have just released Life of Heartbreaker featuring guest appearances from Peaches, Tender Forever, Nicky Click, Electrosexual and others. Joey Casio, our favorite child-instrument-toting Oly hipster nice boy, has dropped his own new tunes, an album called attack decay. Both albums will be available at the show.
It may not be directly queer related but it’s local, political, interesting and will ultimately affect the local GBLT individual, as the electing of any Governor would. Therefore, I just wanted to pass on this little bit of information provided by the Democratic Party of Oregon and fabulous bow tie wearing Congressman Earl Blumenauer:
Today, in a post on BlueOregon.com, Congressman Earl Blumenauer challenged Ron Saxton’s claim that he was a leader of the effort to pass a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age when he was in college. During the September 28th Statesman Journal Debate at Chemeketa Community College, Saxton said, "When I was in high school in Albany and ultimately at Willamette [University], I was one of the leaders of the state effort in Oregon to lower the voting age to 18." [Statesman Journal Debate, 9/28/06, at 51:00]
Turns out, that’s not quite true. Congressman Blumenauer, who led the state campaign for a 1969 ballot measure that reduced Oregon’s voting age and later was a leading organizer of the campaign to pass the 26th Amendment—told BlueOregon.com today that Saxton wasn’t a player in the effort. In fact, as Congressman Blumenauer points out, Saxton didn’t even enter Willamette University until the Fall of 1972—15 months after the 26 Amendment had been ratified.
"Today’s news is the latest example of Ron Saxton’s stunning identity crisis in the closing weeks of this campaign," said Democratic Party of Oregon Executive Director Neel Pender. "From his vane attempts to recast himself as a moderate after running as Right Wing Ron, to his desperate ploy to pretend he’s a farmer not a $400 an hour corporate lawyer, Ron Saxton refuses to be honest with the people of Oregon. But the voters know better, which is why they’re going to reelect a strong, honest leader like Governor Kulongoski."
I’ve never been a proponent of smear campaign tactics, but if they’re being used against us, and they’re as effective as they appear to be, I suppose one must fight fire with fire. Not only that, but the complaints could be quite valid. I guess we’ll have to see how it plays out. Speaker of the house, and homophobe, Karen Minnis has been smearing opponent Rob Brading for weeks now in television ads. Now he’s fighting back by exposing the possible cover up of of her husband’s alleged attempted sexual assault.
And, while elections are quite a serious matter, you have to embrace the humor that does exist. It gets us through the pain. While watching Hardball with Chris Tucker my partner and I were introduced to this ridiculously funny smear campaign ad that has since been pulled from TV. And it has nothing to do with Oregon, but it is hilarious in its horribleness and even mocks the idea that anyone would understand who a transgendered person or an native Aleutian is. And perhaps most Americans don’t understand either of these words, but a politician should be familiar with them. Lucky for us, though the commercial is no longer airing, we can mock it from the comfort of our own computer screens. It is included below.
A lot has happened this week during my excessively long absence (due to ridiculous things like, excessive workload). New Jersey fought an awkward battle, and seemed to win…if in that wishy washy way to which, it seems, I must resign myself. But New Jersey’s highest court did rule Wednesday that homosexual couples are due all of the rights accorded to heterosexual couples, and has given the legislature six months to either grant gay couples the right to marry, or come up with another civil-union type system. And that is certainly worth celebrating, even when you have to keep in the back of your mind that, even in states where it may become legal, we can still be denied our rights, as evidenced by late Congressman Studds’ partner being denied death benefits.
But as we head into the seriousness of election time, and consider the ramifications of new legal rulings such as NJ’s we also need to give ourselves the time to let go. And what better way to let loose and be truly freaky queer than with the costumed mania that is Portland’s Halloween happenings. Just Out’s main article highlights the best places to get costumes, though at this late date I’d also like to point out OregonLive’s own cheeky options. As for what to do once you’re all dressed up check out Just Out’s haunted events calendar. As for me, tonight’s a tough call between Doubledown at Holocene and an amazing sounding Disco party at the Wonder Ballroom (have I talked before about how much I love the 70s and how I was born too late?) As for the night of Haunts itself, I recommend Sissyboy’s take on the religious Halloween "Hell Houses" at the Doug Fir, especially for anyone (like me) who missed their Friday night zombie performance. Although any holiday with Amy Sedaris is tempting too…
Though American finally one the marriage battle in one state, and one state only, we’ve always known that this was a tenuous one, and that it would create problems with federal law. This is why I laugh, if incredibly sadly, at those that claim gays and lesbians want special rights. Equal rights would give Massachusetts gay spouses access to so many benefits that married people enjoy. One of these is death benefits, which, apparently, we are not entitled to. The first gay congressman died this weekend and he was a married Massachusetts resident. However, his partner has been denied the $62,000 yearly pension to which he would be entitled if he was a woman. While I’m sure this man is not as struggling as most Americans it is important that there be a public outcry on his behalf, because rights are being denied Americans everyday that may not be lucky enough to be heard, and are in much greater need. It’s time we realized and publicized the fact that gay people in this country are over-taxed and under-benefited.
"Mary Cheney’s pregnancy raises the question of what’s best for children," said Carrie Gordon Earll, the group’s director of issues analysis. "Just because it’s possible to conceive a child outside of the relationship of a married mother and father doesn’t mean it’s the best for the child."
I was watching a program on Logo the other day with my partner about queer history in America since Stonewall. And while visions of Anita Bryant loomed in the section from the 70s, for the most part post-riot seemed hopeful and celebratory. But when the program hit the 80s the spirit was decidedly more sober. Of course the Reagan years were fretful for many reasons but what the thing that loomed large and frightful at it jumped onto the queer stage was the devastating emergence of AIDS. As we watched the segment where they laid out the quilt, we were both brought close to tears remembering our own experiences of seeing that compelling and visceral symbol of the toll AIDS has had on our community. We, of course, also remembered all the people we knew who that quilt represents, good friends and family who were consumed by the disease. It affected my partner so much that she had nightmares that night and I told her she couldn’t watch any more history shows. But it is crucial that we remember the epidemic and the pain it has caused and continues to cause. It is our history and our present as we look to erase it from our future. That’s why Friday’s 
Until then, make use of 
But as we head into the seriousness of election time, and consider the ramifications of new legal rulings such as NJ’s we also need to give ourselves the time to let go. And what better way to let loose and be truly freaky queer than with the costumed mania that is Portland’s Halloween happenings. 