Category: gay marriage

A gay pride march

Back on March 9 of this year, there was this story in the Times Union by Jennifer Gish titled “Humanity in ‘Laramie’: High school actors project offers lesson on more than gay tolerance”. It was about Bill Ziskin, a teacher at Schenectady High, directing his young actors in Moises Kaufman’s “The Laramie Project.” Gish writes: The play is based on interviews conducted by New York theater students with the townspeople of Laramie, Wyo., after the 1998 ultimately fatal beating of gay college student Matthew Shepard. Because of its mature nature and strong language, Ziskin did
run the idea by school administrators before going ahead with it… Today, it’s hard for some of the kids to imagine that kind of brutality. One of the actors was quoted as saying, “When they told us about it I thought it was something that happened a while ago, like the ’70s or the ’80s.”

Ah, the optimism of youth. Earlier this year, though the stories I read were about a month after the fact, a Gay California student’s slaying sparks outcry, and “Activists demand that middle schools do more to teach tolerance.” Lawrence King — Student Who Was Murdered For Being Gay — To Be Honored With National Day Of Silence. I heard there was a similar case in Florida recently like the California case cited.

As for that day of silence, in some places such Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie, WA, it was anything but, as I read this Seattle Times account Lynn Thompson. Unfortunately, I actually sort of know one of the people protesting against gay acceptance.

As New Yorkers almost surely know, the governor of the state has ordered government agencies to recognize gay marriages that were performed in states and countries where they are legal. While, for at least one of my gay blogging colleagues, marriage is not such an overriding issue, for others ,it is of paramount importance.

I note all of this as my church plans once again to participate in the gay pride parade next Sunday. that same gay blogger I know opined that the idea of a march might have been diluted by corporate interests. I think we agreed that MAYBE in locations with a large gay population, such as New York City and San Francisco, it has lost its urgency. I’m convinced, however, that it still has meaning and efficacy in places like Albany, NY.

ROG

ROG

I Love a Parade

I was very interested in Gay Prof’s piece on the gay pride march in Boston a couple of weekends ago, in part because I participated in Albany’s parade around the same time. Based on his piece and the several comments the piece generated, I’ve concluded that the Gay Pride march in the big cities (New York, San Francisco, presumably Boston), and the ones in smaller cities, such as Albany, are very different animals. The big city events, from what I read, have been co-opted by the advertisers trying to market to a niche, while our parade seemed as though it was making a statement.

Actually, I hadn’t gotten up that day planning on marching. But when I got to church, several of the members were working on the Albany Presbytery float with this cardboard Jesus in the front and a rainbow of colors decorating the float. The service had ended, the parade, which had, in previous years had taken place during the service, had not yet started, and so I joined in. there was a real sense of comradery – the AIDS activists, the PFLAG moms, the drag queens, the Presbyterians all there for civil rights, human rights.

Clearly, the crowds lining the streets were appreciative of the church taking a stand. Well, except for the one guy with a huge sign citing scripture about gaining the world and losing one’s soul. He could not have been happy about Christians, so-called in his mind, involved in such an activity.

For some reason, I’ve gotten on a mailing list of some Methodists – I used to be a Methodist – who are very disturbed by the policies of the church leadership. They actually use terms such as “gay agenda.”

On a related topic, our dysfunctional State Legislature has passed another one-house bill. Our Democratic Party-controlled state Assembly passed legislation in favor of gay marriage; the Republican-led State Senate didn’t even bring it up before they went home for a few weeks. Here’s the front cover of the paper that day. Don’t expect this to pass the State senate anytime soon.

Loving vs. Virginia

It must have been at a short-term internship I had at some point, though I no longer remember the job, but I do remember being engaging by this woman in the office – a secretary, perhaps – in a dialogue about race. She seemed to be a genuinely nice person who opposed the idea of mixed marriage because of the difficulty it would impose on the children.

I mention that today because this is the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court case Loving vs. Virginia, which struck down the laws that banned interracial marriage. The full text can be found here. Incidentally, though no longer enforced, some anti-miscegenation laws were still on the books until the end of the 20th century.

Miscegenation. First time I ever saw this word, probably in Ebony magazine when I was fairly young, I didn’t know what it meant, but I figured it was bad, not only because of the prefix, but because of the less than positive spin it got in many of the articles.

I’m not 100% sure of my heritage, but there is this woman, my maternal grandmother’s grandmother, who was English or Irish. There are either Dutch or German (a/k/a, Pennsylvania Dutch) in my background as well.

In any case, there has been a steady increase in the number of “mixed marriages” in the last 40 years; some numbers are available here and at this PDF. There have a number of prominent mixed race people in the American culture, from Tiger Woods to Barack Obama, that – perhaps – makes it more “acceptable”. This is not to say that mixed race kids don’t get hassled or are asked to “choose” in which tribe they belong. But, as a composer once said, “It’s getting better all the time.” Or so I choose to feel.
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I wasn’t looking to go there, but, in looking up some citations, I found a couple articles that suggest that the precedent in Loving vs. Virginia reflect an “evolving society” when it comes to gay marriage. A quote from this article:
The rationale used by religious and political leaders in an attempt to ban same-sex marriage in the United States is being compared to the arguments used to support discrimination laws in the landmark civil rights case Loving vs. Virginia.

ROG

The Right Outcome

Schadenfreude doesn’t begin to cover it. I am SO happy that the primary person mentioned here and here is going to jail that I’m seriously thinking about being present at his sentencing. The former barber and, incredibly, assistant Secretary of State, was not only greedy, but arrogant, rude and surprisingly…I’m looking for a less harsh word for stupid. If you were on the phone, he’d want to talk with you – NOW – and would have a hissy fit if he didn’t get his way. Someday, they’ll be LOTS more to say on this. Knowing him, though, he’ll probably end up in a place like this. Still, just know that the news has made me giddy all week.
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Oh, and one of his patrons came up with the damndest reasons for opposing Governor Spitzer’s gay marriage proposal, reports Uthaclena here: “This governor has his priorities wrong… given the fatal shooting of a state trooper this week, Spitzer should be worried more about bringing back the death penalty for those who kill police officers.”

Wha?

OK, so I do oppose the death penalty; I’m not convinced of its efficacy, among other things, and there are too many errors by the criminal justice system. And I do support gay marriage, and it’s enhanced, interestingly, by my interpretation of my reading of this week’s lectionary passage from Acts 11:1-18. But what precludes the NYS legislature from, e.g., introducing BOTH a death penalty bill AND a gay marriage bill? It’s not that they are somehow overworked. Moreover, the stated motivation for the death penalty for cop killers legislation NOW is that recent death of a New York State trooper by accidental friendly fire. To be fair, right after this recent shooting of a state trooper – six dead in 13 months – the state senator was concentrating on the death penalty instead of campaign finance reform.
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I’m at my annual work conference last week, and two people come up to me to settle a dispute – being both a librarian and a JEOPARDY! champ, this happens a lot. The question: did Mork and Mindy start off as a spinoff of Happy Days? Why, yes it did, though only Mork appeared. (And in the “not that you asked” category, Happy Days was initiated from a segment of Love, American Style.) Anyway, Mork & Mindy reminded me of Tom Poston, who appeared on that show, three different Bob Newhart shows, and To Tell the Truth, all of which I watched regularly. I had forgotten that he was married to Suzanne Pleshette, who played Newhart’s wife on The Bob Newhart Show. Anyway, the actor, who also guested on many a series I watched, died recently, alas.
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Art in less than 10 minutes.
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Locally, here’s how to celebrate 50 years since the opening of West Side Story on Broadway!
ROG

ROG
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