Gay Rights: From Immoral to Mundane to the Sublime

This Sunday morning as we were making breakfast, we were shocked, amazed and thrilled to hear Charles Osgood, the bow-tied, conservative host of the CBS Sunday Morning, announce that the show would feature a segment on the Stonewall riots and their impact on today's LGBT civil rights movement.

It is one thing to wake up knowing more and more States (6 so far) have granted legal marriage rights to LGBT couples, but it is something altogether astounding to realize we’ve made it to the mundane world of CBS’ Sunday Morning.

Today, thousands of grandmas and grandpas around the country saw a respectful account of the history of the LGBT civil rights movement portrayed as dignified and deserving.

All this from a show that is generally to the right of Reader’s Digest!

Now that we’ve managed to achieve the mundane, equality can’t be too far behind!

Keep It In Your Pants

You know what Sanford, Ensign, Craig, Vitter, Foley, Edwards, Gingrich, Clinton (Bill), et. al., have in common?

All of them oppose equal marriage rights for same sex couples!

Yes, that’s right!

Every single one of theses politicians, to varying degrees, have expressed concern that gay marriage would harm society, is unnatural, is against their religion’s teachings, would destroy the unique sacredness of “traditional” marriage, and on and on.

And each of these men are/were in a position to and did in fact support laws that maintain the unequal status of LGBT citizens in one way or another!

Six states (so far) have granted equal marriage rights that the federal government and every other state is legally permitted to ignore.

That means, no matter if you are married in one state, the federal government as well as any other US state without legal protections can and does discriminate against gay and lesbian married couples.

This would not be so annoying if it were not for the blatant hypocrisy of politicians we know have disrespected their own marriage and those politicians whose indiscretions are as yet unknown to us.

I am not a psychologist but I’ll bet there is serious dissociation going on in the minds of these men who can so compartmentalize their vocal moral outrage from their silent moral failings!

It seems the louder they rail against gay and lesbian equality the more likely it is that they live in their own glass house.

You’d need a big pair of stones to continue to hurl them at the LGBT community while continuing on with your own affairs.

Who cares who someone else is sleeping with or who cheated on their spouse? That is and should be a private matter. But, if you're going to:

• hang your hat on a ‘holier than thou’ platform,
• claim your “moral values” are better than mine,
• deny equal rights to the LGBT community,
• insist on abstinence only sex education in schools, etc.,
  

Then the least you can do is keep it in your pants!

An Open Letter to Senators Senator Feinstein and Baccus, et. al.

Dear Senators Feinstein, Baccus, Landrieu, Lincoln, Nelson,

We are writing to express my concern over your lack of support (so far) for a "public option" in a health care reform bill.

We are not surprised to hear that most Republicans object to a public option, but we are extremely frustrated and angry when we hear Democrats hem and haw about it -- especially considering that members of Congress HAVE a Government run health care plan while the rest of us sit out here and languish!

How DARE you deny to the rest of us what YOU already have!

We are 54 and 55 year old cancer survivors who have not been to see a doctor for over 6 years! We do not qualify for ANY health insurance that would cover a cancer-related illness or re-occurrence.

As a self employed persons, we cannot afford a health care plan with a deductible low enough to make it worth our while. And, no health insurance company would/will cover us in the event that our “pre existing” cancer condition returns. Since our deductibles would be too high and my coverage so limited, if we were to purchase health insurance our premiums would simply be a donation from us to the already wealthy health insurance industry.

Regarding the mantra that a public option would put the government between us and our doctor, well, we do not even HAVE a doctor because the health insurance industry is standing between us!

Recent polls show that 75% of Americans, including many physicians and nurses, support a public option.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates of high the cost of Sen. Kennedy's ‘American Health Choices Act’ is inaccurate and premature since the CBO did NOT factor in the public option in its analysis.

The fact that the CBO report is inconclusive, that did not prevent opponents of a public option from pointing to the estimates as an excuse to drop the idea.

A public option in the health care system will save American taxpayers money. The only individuals who will see a drop in income with a public option are the pharmaceutical and health insurance industry’s CEOs and stock holders. Oh yes… and possibly the politicians (you know who you are and so do we) who have received large campaign contributions from health care industry lobbyists.

Senators, the people WANT a public option and a public option saves us money!

There simply is no policy or political rationale to justify leaving a public plan option out of reform -- unless it is because you don't want to lose all of that insurance and drug lobby campaign cash.

Why are you in Congress? Do you want to bend the will of the people you represent or to the lobbyists who are bribing you to let your constituents pay through the nose or die?

In the meantime, enjoy your public health care benefits that you will have for the rest of your life -- even after we vote you out of office for denying us the same rights.

Sincerely,

Carrie and Elisia Ross-Stone

Please cut and paste this letter or send your own to your Representative. Click here for Congressional contact info.

Rainbow Law Gives Free Legal Documents to Gay and Lesbian Families

Rainbow Law is pleased to announce the addition of a Free Last Will and Testament and Deed to our FREE Legal Document Package. This offer is intended to help the LGBT Community protect their rights and property during the current economic crisis.

Since 2003, Rainbow Law has been providing free Advance Directives (Living Will, Medical Power of Attorney for Health Care and Durable Financial Power of Attorney) to any LGBT person who fills out the Free Advance Directives order form.

Recently the organization’s co-founders, Carrie and Elisia Ross-Stone, made a decision to add a free Last Will and Testament and Deed because these two documents are powerful tools that can be used to extend inheritance and property rights to partners and children who are not legally recognized family members.

“More and more people are requesting free documents but Advance Directives alone do not go far enough,” said Elisia Ross-Stone. She added, “Right now people need a way to protect their assets – especially their home and a Last Will and a deed will help to do that.”

Elisia and Carrie explained that they just want to provide a bit of positive news to struggling LGBT families.

Unlike other legal document services, Rainbow Law’s free documents are not generic blank forms. The organization creates state specific, personalized documents that are drafted by Elisia and Carrie and delivered ready to sign. And, their free documents really are free!

In addition to legal documents, Rainbow Law offers a free Estate Planning Workbook, loads of information about legal and civil rights, they make available to sign a Marriage Equality petition to send to the President and Congress, they blog on political and legal issues that affect LGBT community, publish an online LGBT Newsletter, speak at LGBT events and more.

About Carrie and Elisia Ross-Stone:

Elisia and Carrie are married (in Canada, 2003) lesbian life partners, mothers of 3 grown children and grandmothers to Jareth, age 6 and Eowyn, age 4. These two amazing women have spent their adult lives advocating for marriage equality long before it seemed remotely possible. In 2003 and 2004, they rode their bicycles coast-to-coast to speak out about the need for LGBT legal and civil rights. ‘Lesbian Grandmothers from Mars’ is a feature-length documentary about the 2004 ride which was filmed by Keith Wilson of Wall-Eye Productions. Currently Carrie and Elisia are building their own recycled house in rural West Virginia.

CONTACT:
Carrie Ross-Stone
Rainbow Law
Phone 304-796-4245
304-796-4045
info@rainbowlaw.com
www.RainbowLaw.com

Prophecy or Paranoia?

Here is the apocalyptic equation that recent and seemingly unrelated facts have presented to us:

Economic Meltdown + Guilt-by-Association + Assassination + Rioting + Bush Executive Order + Armed Troops in America = Martial Law.

People are frightened. The economy is tanking. Heated campaign rhetoric result in death threats and accusations of treason. History shows that in unstable times like these the unthinkable can happen.

In the meantime, according to Naomi Wolf, "On October 1, 2008, President Bush deployed... three to four thousand" US Troops "somewhere in America." The reason given for the need to deploy armed soldiers (who, unlike the National Guard, are under the command of the President of the United States), in the US for the first time in history is to act as "crowd control" agents and -- in the event of a "mass civilian catastrophe" -- to restore calm... with rubber bullets, teargas, and tasers???

Excuse us for being paranoid, but, it seems Bush has a vested interest in seeing to it that Obama does NOT win this election. He needs a Republican President to serve at least one term in order to help him rewrite history and restore his legacy. If Bush's crimes are as despicable as many of us believe, who knows what he, Cheney and Addington would do to ensure a McCain/Palin victory?

For starters, we know they will and are rigging the election. Republican operatives use various techniques:

• unsubstantiated accusations of "voter fraud" to keep voter registration groups from successfully adding new voters;
• systematic purging of minority voters from the rolls -- (like sending mail to deployed National Guard reservists and to folks who have been displaced by Katrina, Ike and Rita, then purging the names of voters whose mail is returned as undeliverable. Recently they began purging voters whose names appear on foreclosure lists in newspaper's public notices;
  
• intimidate voters by mailing fliers claiming that folk with unpaid parking tickets, etc., will be arrested if they show up to vote;
• create obstacles like the Voting ID Act that require voters to show a government issued ID -- a law that adversely impacts minority, inner city voters who do not drive and do not have a passport;
• the tried and true voting machine hacking and tampering trick;
• and finally, when all else fails, ignite the culture wars to make lower and middle-class "low information" voters vote against their own economic interest so that the "liberal, unpatriotic, America-hating other" candidate will lose to the "patriotic war hero (even if he never served), regular Joe who you wanna have a beer with."

But this year, all these nasty tactics may not be enough. People get it that trickle-down economics defied the laws of gravity and meant fortunes just kept gushing upward. Jobs are gone, gone and still going. Gasoline prices have doubled, the dollar has plummeted, home equity and IRA's have less value.

The Republican brand is more than tarnished... it is mangled beyond recognition.

Thus, despite the fact that the Democratic candidate is Black... and liberal... and has a Semitic-sounding name, he is winning and winning big.

So what is a Republican operative to do?

Do they pray for a catastrophic miracle that allows for the unthinkable to happen? Do they create an environment that fosters the level of fear and loathing necessary to inspire a lunatic to "take out" the first African American Democratic nominee for president?

Will their not-so-subtle anti Muslim, anti-Black, anti-liberal, anti-Obama messages rile up the wing-nut base? From the crowd's reactions to these messages at McCain/Palin rallies, it would seem so.

And if someone does successfully inflict violence upon Obama that results in his death or injury, won't his supporters riot in the streets much as they did in over 60 cities after Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated?

If that happens, won't Bush be justified in calling out his "troops" to quash the uprising?

Afterward, isn't it understandable that he would enact Marshall Law to keep the peace and suspend the election until violence is calmed?

Couldn't he then install McCain/Palin to take over for him in January 2009, promising to hold new elections in the "not too distant future."

Connecting the dots to see where they lead. What do you think? Is it prophecy or paranoia?

We shall see....

The McCain - Palin Freak Show

After watching the second debate between Obama and McCain last night, we couldn't help but notice that the Republican ticket is looking more and more freakish as the election season wears on.

Individually, McCain and Palin exhibit human oddities -- in both appearance and speech -- that tend to shock and amaze.

In the debate last night, McCain reminded us of a side-show freak in a carnival. He waddled around the stage putting on his typical bizarre act of quacking out cranky responses to questions from the audience. His strange attempts at humor fell flat. His efforts to paint Obama as unfit and unprepared to be President failed -- especially because this premise is only plausible if voters can imagine McCain to be the better candidate for the most powerful job on Earth.

Unfortunately for McCain, when he is juxtaposed with a consistently calm and steady Obama, he comes across as odd, small minded, angry, and impish.

In her debate, we listened as a wide-eyed, inexperienced Palin spewed unintelligible, memorized talking-points, rather than answer the moderator's questions. Like the pretty yet vacuous magician's assistant, Palin's role as eye candy to McCain's man-with-two-butts completes their strange, circus-like image.

Ordinarily, watching McCain and Palin perform their bizarre act might be strangely enjoyable and somewhat entertaining. But right now, the world's economy is faltering. We are involved in two wars -- both of which are on the brink of failure. The planet is warming, energy costs are rising, jobs are getting scarcer and prices for gas and groceries are going through the roof.

Instead of electing this creepy duo in November, lets put Obama/Biden in the White House and visit the freak-show the next time the circus comes to town.

Debate "Also" Word Count: Palin 49; Biden 3

Blogging like Sarah Palin:

"Also, as we watched Biden and Palin"debate" the issues last night, we were also appalled and even frightened, also, by the similarities between Governor Palin and George W. Bush. Even this morning, also, the pundits have been comparing a potential VP Palin to Dick Cheney, a power-hungry guy, who is also old, ugly, mean but also brilliant and evil.

And so, there is also that principal that we all on Main Street know is an eerie and also sickening similarity to the rantings of George W. Bush as also Palin seems and also, in the looks department is also like Bush, even as he is "attractive," "folksy," even inarticulate, incurious, evasive, and dumb, Palin is also those things.

And also, there is that issue that both of them also pronounce nuclear as "new-cue-ler."

Hey, and you betcha, we also get it because as we sit at our kitchen table wondering how we will get by we also notice that Palin has pretty eyes and also is as cute as a bug's ear.

And, speaking of earmarks, a principal of which John McCain has been reforming, and also of "ears," those being the organs by which, also, one can hear a maverick-y way of speaking which is not a Washington insider type of media gotcha talk, but which is what Main Streeters, like Palin and McCain want to see in the way of reform in Washington, also, after all these years of greed and dollar grabbing.

Also, still staying on the subject of ears which is what we want to say directly to the American people, it is John McCain and now also with Palin as his partner who will be and have been mavericks and reforming leaders for those many years as a maverick senator and mayor and governor and PTA president and also POW war hero.

But, also, just to be sure we were not being influenced by that perky and also pretty and even more so unintelligible nonsense being spewed by those lipstick painted, also smiling lips, we also advise that you read the transcript of the "debate" here, even if you also watched it on your American TV sets at home in your middle-class, hockey mom, Joe 6 pack living room."

Really. Don't believe your lying ears. Just read the transcript.