REB #18: “Al Qaeda gives you their word.”

– Bekay Harrach, quoted in a CNN.com article

Let me ask you something: when “Al Qaeda gives you their word,” which (ironically) happens to be grammatically incorrect, do you believe it?

No sir/mam, you do not fucking believe it! Because it’s Al Qaeda. Look at everything it stands for and everything it’s done. No matter what happens, no matter what we and Europe do, how can we have any confidence that Al Qaeda wouldn’t renege on the deal? “Trust Al Qaeda” is my new favorite oxymoron, right up there with “Microsoft Works.”

That is all.

*NOTE: This blog entry is syndicated from a blog I had to start for my Electronic Publishing class at U.B. this semester. I may or may not delete the extraneous blog when the class is over, but I thought I would at least give my readers the opportunity to read the contents of that blog indefinitely.

Bollywood’s “FIRST” Gay Love Story

When I first saw this, I was a little shocked. Hadn’t there already been gay characters (and kissing) in Indian cinema? Fire was released in 1996, and it features two women who befriend each other and, ultimately, fall in love. It is pretty low-key but still homosexual/bisexual. I’m not sure why it doesn’t count. Maybe it doesn’t count as a Bollywood film.

In any case, Dunno Y…Na Jaane Kyun will be released this May, under the Bollywood banner, about 16 months after the Indian government abolished the archaic anti-gay law. This movie centers around a young Indian man who goes to Mumbai, seeking fame and fortune but instead finding love…with a man. It sounds pretty standard, almost clichéd on a very basic level, but I think the Indian angle will add a lot to it. I hope, anyway. I’d be interested to see how it compares to Fire, which I need to watch again; I haven’t seen it since about 2005.

In other news, we don’t have class today because of the snowstorm; I don’t know about tomorrow yet. They’re still cleaning off the streets and sidewalks. It’s supposed to snow again Tuesday and Wednesday, apparently 10 inches. I may not have class this week, which means I need to keep myself on task!

Wild Things and Firings

Read this article, this disgustingly inappropriate, judgmental, and libelous piece of journalism, and then click on the Feedback link at the top and request that Jan Moir be fired and her editors reprimanded and/or fired. A man died, and she demonizes him and everything he stands for in this article. It’s inexcusable, no matter what her opinion his, and in publishing this, she fails as a responsible journalist.

I’d say the same even if this were John McCain or anyone else I might happen to disagree with. Because I believe in HUMAN rights and respect. Ugh. This is sick.

In other news, I’m going to see Where the Wild Things Are tonight, and I’m super excited. I LOVED the book as a kid, and I can’t wait to see everything moving before me, all movielike. 🙂

Will blog about it, too, of course!

No on 1 in Maine!

I just wanted to post this to help get the word out: Today is the LAST day to contribute to the No on 1 campaign that will fight to save marriage equality in Maine. Early voting on Proposition 1 starts tomorrow, and if things don’t turn out the way the current polls are going, marriage equality will be striken from yet another state. Even now, though, the lead is not by much, so please contribute if you can, to get more support out there; and if you can’t contribute, at least pass the word, and tell people to vote no on Prop 1 if they live in Maine.

None of this is about religion; it’s about the American ideals set forth in the Constitution, which says that we are all equal. And in much the same way that we have come to accept African Americans as part of that, and other groups, we can accept our GLBT brothers and sisters as well. There’s really no difference, and it’s no one’s business how GLBT community members live their lives anyway. They deserve the right to be happy and care for one another. Just let people marry who they want because it won’t harm you one bit. It really won’t.

I couldn’t give much, but even $25 adds up when a lot of people send it. 😉

Here is how the money will be spent: http://gay.americablog.com/2009/10/moneybomb-for-maine-help-us-hit-11.html

And here is a link to contribute: http://www.actblue.com/page/americablogsupportsmainemarriage

In D.C. – The National Equality March

As I said in my previous post, I went to Washington D.C. this weekend with my friend Lori to march for GLBT equality. And it was amazing.

Going in, I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know how many people would be there or how they would be reacting. I didn’t know what the police would be like or how such a march would be coordinated. Would it be chaotic? A riot? Would I have to fight to stay on my feet and avoid being trampled to death? How easy would it be to stay with my group of four (myself and three others)?

I was pleasantly surprised when my group got downtown. I saw facets and sights I hadn’t really seen, or in some cases considered, before this weekend. I saw groups of people on the Metro carrying colorful signs (and some were colorful in the literary sense of the word; but I’ll leave them to your imagination). 😉 Lesbians leaning on their partners’ shoulders, gay men with their arms around one another. On the Metro! In the streets! It seemed so simple and felt like it should have always been that way.

However, it’s not always that way. People are afraid to be who they are, for fear of persecution, but today was our day, the day for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, and GLBT supporters to come out in droves and give one another the courage to be who we all are. The courage to fight for rights we have so long wanted but never been able to have. And for some of us, the courage to fight for rights we don’t necessarily need for ourselves but know others deserve, rights that have long been denied (and for no good reason).

When the march got underway, I found most of the answers to my questions rather quickly. It was anything but a riot. It was a little chaotic because there were so many people, but that was the only reason. Police were cooperating. They were there to help us, protect us, and it felt wonderful to have that support. While we had been crowded pretty close together before the march started, once we were walking, we could spread out nicely. There was no real danger of being trampled, thankfully. Christmas shoppers could learn a thing or two from this group of queers and queer supporters. 🙂

When we finally got to the Capitol building, two young men spoke; I think both of them were teenagers, still in high school or maybe just out of high school. One was straight, and the other was gay. Both young men spoke with an eloquence I could never dream of having, especially at such a young age. Even now, I envy them. I envy their courage to speak to hundreds of thousands of people—but more importantly, I envy their courage to speak up on something as important and dividing as GLBT issues. I couldn’t have done it at their respective ages. I’m still not sure I could today.

We also listened to speeches by the organizers of the event, a particularly powerful one by the head organizer. Cynthia Nixon, an award-winning actress perhaps best known for her role as Miranda on Sex and the City, even showed up to march and gave a rousing oratory on fighting for equality and on her own struggle to marry her partner of almost five years. Judy Shepard, mother of hate crime victim Matthew Shepard, spoke to us as she has spoken to many GLBT/supporters over the years. Lady Gaga marched (and may have performed, but if she did, I wasn’t there by that point). Kristin Chenoweth tweeted that she marched as well; I would have loved to have seen her and congratulated her on her well deserved Emmy.

After I left the rally, I checked Twitter on my iPhone because I hadn’t been able to get an Internet connection during the rally. Preliminary guesses put the crowd at 100,000 to 150,000, most likely more. When I saw this, I remembered a moment about thirty minutes into the rally when someone announced that we were still seven blocks deep, even with all the people that had already arrived on the Capitol mall. Seven blocks deep, thirty minutes into the rally! Insane.

Thinking back on the day, I am not in the least surprised that the openness continued throughout the day; even on Metro ride back, people were holding each other. Safety in numbers, perhaps, and there were plenty of those to go around today. But I wonder…tomorrow, will D.C. show any signs of GLBT life? Will there be a man holding his partner in public? A woman? Will GLBT America go back into the closet tomorrow, or will it stay out and continue the fight? Perhaps one of the most memorable and poignant moments from today comes to mind now: to get into the rally, many of us had to climb, literally, over a stone wall.

If that isn’t symbolic, I don’t know what is. The National Equality March was a new kind of Stonewall, a protest for a newer generation; and I hope the feeling lasts months, if not years. Or forever.

GLBT America (and the world) deserves it.

Going to D.C.

I’m waiting for my friend Lori to get off work so she can tell me if we’re leaving tonight or waiting until tomorrow morning; but in any case, I’m going to Washington D.C. this weekend for the equality march, and I’m pretty excited! She had mentioned her plans before, and then we were talking about it on Facebook today and she asked me if I wanted to go. So I had a choice: homework and TV all weekend or a momentous occasion and a lot of fun.

I’m going to Washington D.C. 😉

Apparently, a couple of friends from Indiana are going to be there, so I might give them a call/text. I was also secretly hoping to run into Alex, since I haven’t seen (or really even talked to) him for over a month. I miss him, and it would be great to see him this weekend, but then he’s also pretty busy with school. Which is why we haven’t really talked lately. Which is why I would almost be kind of angry if he suddenly had time for me if I were suddenly in D.C.

Almost.