Hail Satan!

Ever bring up a topic of discussion and suddenly become enveloped by it? Case in point - Mr. Harvey Milk. Harvey was in my thoughts last week. Now he's everywhere.....news/sex documentaries/etc.

California passed legislation this week that will designate a day to honor Mr. Milk. Once approved by the state Senate, May 22nd will be officially dubbed Harvey Milk Day. May 22nd would have been Harvey's 78th birthday. The City of San Francisco also plans to unveil a statue of the late Mr. Milk on Thursday. The statue will be located in the Ceremonial Rotunda in City Hall. Harvey was on the verge of breaking through discriminative barriers specifically involving gay acceptance and rights until he was gunned down by a disgruntled Republican (aka f*cker).

Speaking of queers and California, Mr. Sulu (aka George Takei) has announced that he will wed his long time partner after the California ban on same-sex marriage has been listed. He is seventy-one years old.



Twenty-five years ago today, a team of scientists from the Pasteur Institute in France reported a virus found in a patient who had recently died from AIDS. That virus is better known as HIV, and the rest is history. A journalist by the name of Randy Shilts chronicled the early beginnings of the AIDS epidemic in his book entitled And the Band Played On. He also wrote a book about Mr. Harvey Milk entitled The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk. Both books are also available in film format. Randy was an advocate for gay rights and AIDS awareness. He passed away in 1994 due to complications from AIDS. If you want to see the extent of the effect AIDS had on San Francisco and the world for that matter in the early 80s, then I highly recommend reading And the Band Played On. The movie version is also quite good and features several iconic, gay celebrities including Sir Ian McKellen and Lily Tomlinson.

R.I.P. Randy....

I caught a documentary on IFC (Independent Film Channel) last weekend entitled 'The Bridge'. It was chilling to say the least. The film displays the relationship with the Golden Gate Bridge and suicide. The GG Bridge is one of the most popular locations in the world for suicide attempts. The director and crew spent a year filming activity on the bridge and captured a handful of attempts while filming. The documentary tells the story of twenty-four people who threw themselves from the bridge in 2004. It is a fascinating documentary but also very sad and somewhat disturbing. One individual, who originally from Saint Louis, is featured throughout the majority of the film. His name is Gene. I was able to locate an online blog or journal that this person once kept. It is rather dark and dismal, but here is the link if you are interested. http://freekboyg.livejournal.com/
The story of Gene comes to an abrupt halt at the end of the film when he jumps from the bridge in dramatic fashion. I recommend viewing 'The Bridge', but it is a little tough to watch.

I highly encourage those few of you who actually read this source of strange and somewhat useless information to use the comment function. Comments provide feedback, and feedback is an essential part of growth and improvement especially when embarking on any writing endeavor. I learn from you the reader via feedback so by all means post away!

Check back soon for more enthralling tales from the nether regions.

Thanks to the following resources...
365gay
AFP via GoogleNews
Towelroad.com
Los Angeles Times
imdb.com
freekboyg

Q is for Queer and V is for Victory

May 15th, 2008 proved to be a monumental day in the state of California and across the nation. If you listen very closely, you can hear the gasps of fascist conservatives across the land, and ain't it grand?

In a nail biting 4-3 decision, the California Supreme Court ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and discriminatory. The ban will be lifted and the ruling is expected to go in full effect within the next thirty days. This isn't a green light for civil unions or partnerships. This is the real deal.....marriage and all the bells & whistles that come with it. Hell, even Governor Aaaahnold vowed that he would uphold the ruling. He also stated that he would not support any amendment to the Constitution overturning the ruling.

This ruling is a small victory, but there are many small battles still to be won. Expect a strong rebuttal from one angry 'family value' posse. This ruling has the religious right and morale majority absolutely shitting kittens. Rumor has it that the Nazi coalition rounded up and submitted nearly 1.1 million signatures that support a constitutional amendment. 763,790 signatures were required to qualify for a spot on the upcoming ballot. The amendment adds fourteen crucial words to the California Constitution. "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California".

If this makes its way on the ballot, gay advocates in California will be in for a long, drawn out battle. The ruling could also have a substantial effect on the upcoming presidential election. If McCain shows strong opposition against same sex marriage, then he takes the risks of losing the more middle to leftist Republican voters. The same goes for Obama should he choose to support same sex marriage. At this point, the majority of voters are more focused on the crumbling economy and tiresome, endless war. Advocate groups need as much support as they can get. The score is currently - Crazy Christian Crusaders 27 Queer Nation 1, which means queers need to get to steppin'. 27 of 28 attempts to uphold this state ruling have failed. One step at a time....

Here are some interesting statistics I was able to sniff out regarding the acceptance of gay culture in our society.

Prior to the California announcement, Massachusetts was the only state that actually recognized same-sex marriage. Vermont, Jersey, Connecticut, and New Hampshire have all recognized civil unions but not marriage. California, Hawaii, Maine, Washington, and Oregon currently acknowledge domestic partnerships, which includes a handful of the perks associated with marriage.

A whopping 26 states have approved a ban on gay marriage. If I list them all, I doubt you would be surprised. However, I am proud to state that my beloved home state of Illinois is not on the list. The state I currently reside is on the list, but we all know MO sucks a fat one.

Ahh....what the hell? Here's the list. Yee f*ckin' haw!

....and the winners are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and last but never least Wisconsin.

Now for the sunny side of the street...

• The acceptance of same-sex relations has increased from 11% to 31% between 1973 and 2004.
  
• The acknowledgement that gays should have equal employment rights has increased from 56% to a staggering 89% between 1977 and 2004.
  
• The validation and approval of gay marriage has increased from 27% to 39% between 1996 and 2005.

There is hope within these numbers. The acceptance of gays in society has made dramatic improvements since the days when marital standards were determined by Ozzie and Harriet.

Ellen (DeGeneres) announced on her show (Ellen...duh) that she would definitely be getting married to her long time partner Portia de Rossi. Bless her sweet, little heart. You go, girl!

Stay tuned.....more to come.

Much thanks to the following resources....

The San Francisco Chronicle

CBS News

Towelroad.com

Los Angeles Times

The Age

Associated Press

New York Times

Look!

a complete and utter douchebag!
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Now on to the meat & potatoes because we all know I could spend hours venting about this one.



June is nearly upon us. What's so special about June you ask? Well, it's when us queer folk start the uprisin' whilst raising a little Cain.

A little queer history...
So what is this Pride you speak of? Funny you should ask because I'm fixin' to tell you. This year will mark the 38th year of the GLBT (gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender) Pride celebration. Somewhere in the haze of 1969, an incident occurred that triggered this marvelous, annual event. This event is better known as the Stonewall Uprising or riots. In the 60s, the Stonewall Inn was a happening gay establishment located in Greenwich Village - NYC. Members of the gay community often flocked to these predominantly gay establishments because it was the one public place where queers could come together, embrace their gayness, and feel as though they truly belong. However, law enforcement and other power hungry pigf*ckers often raided these prominent gay establishments. This was not an isolated event as gay bar/club raids were occurring everywhere throughout the United States. The patrons were often arrested unless they managed to escape. The police also went on to publish the names of those who were arrested because they apparently felt it was their duty to publicly out these kind folks.

Anyways, one evening (June 27th, 1969) at the Stonewall Inn the pigf*ckers attempted to pull the same bullshit. However, the patrons of the bar took a stand and fought back and POOF so began the celebration of Gay Pride all throughout the land. Isn't it grand?

Symbolism
The Rainbow flag was originally masterminded by a fellow by the name of Gilbert Baker. Here is picture of ol' Gilbert.

He crafted the flag for his dear friend, one Mr. Harvey Milk. Do y'all know about Harvey Milk? If you don't, then I suggest doing some research. Here's a quick run down about Mr. Milk. He was an advocate of gay visibility and acceptance in the disco-infested 1970s. Harvey became the first openly gay person to hold office when he was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors in 1977. Unfortunately, a conservative pig f*cker by the name of Daniel White shot both Harvey and the mayor (at the time) of Frisco, George Moscone, killing them both.

Back to thy rainbow flag...the flag first appeared at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade in the late 70s. The original flag consisted of eight, multi-colored strips. Each color or strip represents a particular meaning or message. The two that were later dropped, pink and turquoise, represented sexuality (pink) and magic (turquoise).

Red = Life
Orange = Healing
Yellow = Sunlight
Green = Nature
Indigo = Serenity
Violet = Spirit

Rainbow flags are now visible in all sizes, shapes, and formats and are widespread throughout the entire world. There has also been several variations, which include the bear and bisexual flag. The pink triangle is another relatively renowned symbol amongst the gay community. The pink triangle is perhaps the most historic and dates back to the World War II era. It was used by the Nazi regime to identify homosexuals similar to how the yellow Star of David patch was used to identify the Jews. Last but not least, we have the lovely Lambda symbol. It is a symbol of kinetic energy and represents the energy of the gay/lesbian movement. Both are displayed below for your viewing pleasure.



So there you have it....gay history in a nutshell.


Hey....where did she come from? We shall refer to her as the 'other' woman. Moving right along...

The annual St. Louis Pridefest will commence on June 28th. The Pet Parade and commitment ceremony will commence on June 28th. The Grandmaster Flash of all parades will take place on Sunday, June 29th starting at noon. Get your hungover asses up and out to Tower Grove Park.

Gay Day at Six Flags will be held on Sunday, June 8th. For more information about Pridefest St. Louis, please click on the link below.

Pridefest St. Louis

EMBRACE YOUR GAYNESS AND JOIN US AT THE PARK AS WE CELEBRATE DIVERSITY

IT'S OUR MONTH TO PARTY!

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY PRIDE!

Many thanks to the following resources:
About.com
The Pink Triangle Organization
Indiana University
Brookens Library Online @ the University of Illinois - Springfield
PlanetOut
LAMBDA.org
The many wonderful volunteers, sponsors, and organizers of Pridefest St. Louis