This has been making the rounds online and I couldn’t agree more. With the US Supreme Court expected to deliver their rulings on DOMA and Prop 8 any day now, marriage rights once again is very present of mind. I’m not sure about you, but I’m sick and tired of talking about this. Evolve already.
Thanks to Greg Stevens from Google+ for sharing.
Considering it is Pride Week here in Boston, I thought it is important to note that not all politicians in Washington, D.C. have “evolved”. Shame on Rubio. Floridians and Americans in general deserve representatives who will represent all of their constituents. One would think a Latino like Rubio would be more progressive and understand the fundamental unfairness of exclusionary politics.
I couldn’t wait for the Presidential election in 2012 to end and for all those annoying television commercials to just go away, but it appears that it is never too early to start speculating on who may run for President in 2016.
This past weekend, an editorial in Boston’s other paper, The Boston Herald, discussed the rising prominence of Rand Paul and if he’d run for President in 2016. While I could really care less if Rand Paul runs for President or not, my only real reaction is that his candidacy would be a dream come true for liberals.
Although its petty of me, I love this has happened in the state that Michele Bachmann represents in Congress. For those not familiar with her, first let me say “lucky you”. Bachmann has spent much of her career blaming natural disasters, terrorist attacks, etc… on the “Gay Agenda”. I’m pretty sure if a dictionary was a picture book (probably something Bachmann would endorse), if you looked up words like homophobe, racist, or xenophobe, you’d find this demented Congresswoman smiling back at you with a vacant / kind of crazy look in the eye – unsure of what I mean check out her photo below from Newsweek.
So it is with a bit of glee that I say bravo to Minnesota for joining the 21st Century and moving a step closer to legalizing same sex marriage, and with a bit of spite that I suggest putting Michele Bachmann in a padded room. Let’s just say we are going to keep her under surveillance out of concern she may hurt herself when her tiny brain realizes what’s happened back in Minnesota.
Last week Rhode Island (RI) became the 10th state in the United States to recognize same sex marriage. RI’s move to legalize gay marriage makes New England (MA, NH, ME, VT, CT and RI) the first region in the United States to recognize marriage equality as a fundamental right.
Six of the Ten states that now recognize same sex marriage are in New England – 60% of the entire country at the moment. If you throw neighboring New York into the mix that means 70% of all states that recognize marriage equality that accounts for an astounding 70%.
Any doubt what part of the US is the most progressive and open? Now if the rest of the country could join us in the 21st century…
Hard to argue with this woman’s logic.
Thought I’d share this rather poignant and unfunny cartoon from a couple of years ago. To say I regret having the second amendment in our Bill of Rights would be a massive understatement.
Funny how government is always too intrusive, too big, and completely inept in the mind of far too many conservatives, yet when they disagree with something (let’s say marriage equality) they have no issue legislating how you should live or in this case after a horrible tragedy like what happened last week in Texas, Federal aid can’t seem to arrive fast enough.
Sadly, the hypocrisy on display by Governor Rick Perry (TX) and that state’s US Senators goes far beyond Texas. This just happens to be the latest example.
One week ago today the US Senate failed to muster the 60 votes needed for the Manchin-Toomey amendment; falling four votes shy. The amendment called for background checks on all commercial sales of guns; polling suggests nearly 90% of the American public support this issue. Outraged, I posted the names of all those US Senators who voted “No” in my blog post, here.
Since that time my outrage has grown. There is not a single aspect of any American’s life that doesn’t require some degree of “background checks” but it seems with the sole exception of buying a gun. So I’ve started to compile a list of things that we all do which either require a background check, signing in to a registry or have some form of “reporting” to ensure we are who we say we are.
Where else are we required to show identification, write our name on to a registry or subject ourselves to a background check? Pulling together this list only highlights the hypocrisy of those opposed to this common sense approach.
Bravo! Today France joined the right side of history by legalizing gay marriage. The debate in France has been particularly ugly including nasty debates and protests that flooded the streets of Paris, but the French Socialist-majority Assembly, passed the bill 331-225.
If you’d like to read more about this, check out the HuffingtonPost article, France Legalizes Gay Marriage After Harsh Debate, Violent Protests.
I know that I have a fair number of readers who reside in New Hampshire so I wanted to take a moment to express my dismay at the lack of Sen. Ayotte’s leadership by siding with the NRA and helping to kill the Manchin-Toomey legislation that would have asked for basic background checks for individuals looking to purchase a firearm. It is clear that she supports the NRA rather than the will of NH voters who overwhelmingly support this legislation.
I urge you to contact Sen. Ayotte to express your frustration on Twitter @KellyAyotte or you may go to her Facebook page Kelly Ayotte.
You can see what other cowards voted against this legislation here.
On Wednesday, April 17th the following US Senators voted against the will of nearly 90% of Americans who want their fellow citizens to undergo a background check before purchasing a firearm.
Go to Twitter and Facebook to share your outrage at the cowardice exemplified by these poor excuses for leaders. Let them know your disappointment in their voting down the Manchin-Toomey Background Check. Thanks to HuffingtonPost for sharing both these Twitter accounts and the photo above.
Yesterday I was invited to attend a LGBT Community and Allies Meet & Greet for US Representative Ed Markey who is running in a statewide election to fill the US Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State, John Kerry. Approximately 100 supporters crammed into the backroom at Stella’s to hear what US Rep. Ed Markey had to say.
While I entered the room not particularly invested in the election and undecided, I left knowing I will vote for Ed Markey.
For those interested in this sort of thing, the Special Election primary will be on Tuesday, April 30th and the Special Election will follow on Tuesday, June 25th. I’ve included a couple of pictures that I took at the ‘meet & greet’ at Stella’s in Boston’s South End. Thank you to those nice enough to pose for a pic.
After France’s Senate voted Friday to approve a law that would allow gay couples to wed and adopt, the government – in a surprising move – called for a final vote on the bill in the National Assembly by Wednesday, April 17th; more than a month ahead of schedule. Read more here.
Thanks to Frenchie and the Yankee for the tip.
BosGuy 