A Walk Down Memory Lane
More Electile Dysfunction – Last week’s elections were a mixed bag at best. Washington’s domestic partnership law stood the test of fundamentalist naysayers who tried to repeal the state’s “everything but marriage” domestic partnership law passed last year. You may recall that petitioners gleefully signed to put the repeal on the ballot and were immediately fearful of their names and addresses being made public by websites like WhoSigned.org ….
A Walk Down Memory Lane
More Electile Dysfunction
Last week’s elections were a mixed bag at best. Washington’s domestic partnership law stood the test of fundamentalist naysayers who tried to repeal the state’s “everything but marriage” domestic partnership law passed last year. You may recall that petitioners gleefully signed to put the repeal on the ballot and were immediately fearful of their names and addresses being made public by websites like WhoSigned.org The court battles have reached the Supreme Court level and the secret bigot identities are protected for now. Even though their efforts failed, I still hope their names see the light of day and are seen by the eyes of those they fought to discriminate against.
Maine was a real kick in the pants. The passage of a law earlier this year that would allow same-sex couples to marry ran up against the likes of National Organization for Marriage’s Maggie Gallagher and was rejected by voters. If there’s a rainbow to be found it is that Gallagher’s pet princess, former Miss California Carrie Prejean (of opposite marriage fame), was discovered as having made a raunchy solo sex tape that reportedly ended her lawsuit against Miss California USA for dismissing her for her religious beliefs and revealing that she had had a boob job (as if that wasn’t evident).
New York’s 23rd congressional district was probably the most ridiculous demonstration of, well, I don’t know what it demonstrates. It all started to unravel when Sarah Palin went rogue and endorsed a third-party candidate who was more Republican than the Republican candidate. The weekend before the election the Republican candidate did a Sarah Palin and quit, leaving the race between the third party candidate and the Democrat. It wasn’t a hard call to predict that the Democrat would win, even after the Republican Party threw their support behind the third party candidate. Throughout the race the Republican candidate was branded a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and the winner smells like a DINO – he doesn’t exactly have a gay-friendly record. Meanwhile New York’s Governor David Paterson has called a special session of the state legislature to consider a marriage equality bill.
Sunny Days
Last week Google began its celebration of Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary with such icons as Big Bird’s feet and Cookie Monster. A right-wing blogger’s celebration of the anniversary took a different tone, bashing Sesame Street for its left-wing agenda. Andrew Breitbart took exception to Oscar the Grouch’s skit in which he reported for Grouchy News Network (GNN): “The message is clear, I can’t even sit my kids in front of ‘Sesame Street’ without having to worry about the Left attempting to undermine my authority. And don’t tell me, ‘If you don’t like it change the channel.’ There are no channels left! It’s everywhere. Just last week I had Obama’s service and volunteerism promoted on every single major network, including Disney and Nickelodeon.” There goes that Communist agenda of volunteerism again! I don’t think that’s what really set Breitbart off, though. I think what set him off was a fictional caller on the fictional kid’s show that said, “From now on I am watching ‘Pox’ News. Now there is a trashy news show.” They undermined his authority by criticizing his viewing habits… tsk, tsk!
Schoolhouse Rockin’
Although I do have a final word based upon the kitschy yet salient educational skits from Saturday morning cartoons, we’re not going to start there. We’re going to start in Mount Bachelor Academy, a name that actually gives clues as to the latest allegations leveled against the school for troubled youth. HuffingtonPost.com reports that the alternative school in Oregon was recently shut down because of its emotional growth curriculum that included lap dance therapy. The therapy was conducted as part of a regimen that required students to relive and reenact “past physical abuse in front of staff and peers.” One student participating in this therapy had been raped and was allegedly made to dress in a French maid costume and perform lap dances for the boys, one who identified as bisexual. In what could only be interpreted as a truly twisted form of equality, the bisexual student was made to perform lap dances for students of both genders.
The runup to last week’s elections was accompanied by the drumbeat of those eager to get the rights and protections promised by President Obama while he was a candidate, and rightfully so, but the criticism began when the Obama administration had only been in place for six months. I remember learning about the legislative process early in life by watching Saturday morning cartoons – remember Bill from Schoolhouse Rock? He taught us that Congress, not the president, is responsible for crafting and introducing laws that will get passed around in committee before ever coming to the House or Senate for a vote. The hate crimes bill named for Matthew Shepard took ten years to become law and it seems like we’ve been talking about healthcare reform all year. Meanwhile legislation that promises to end employment discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity has been introduced, as has a bill to end the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. In view of Obama’s promises, I don’t expect to wait years as we did for hate crimes protection, but I can be patient. I just sit back and hum, with Bill singing in my head, “I’m just a Bill, yes I’m only a Bill…”
