Random Musings ... A Day Late

A day late because yesterday was a day for just Carlos and me … and the kids.

Nice holiday, gorgeous, but cold, weather, and a delicious meal, our first Thanksgiving as Husband-and-Husband.

Carlos made his Martha Stewart Turkey and Homemade Cranberry Sauce with a Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert; I did wine — cuz I loves me some wine — Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Garlic, Red Onion and Pancetta, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, and Vanilla Whipped Cream for the cheesecake.

It was a lovely, happy day.So, what else has been on my mind …

Just thought I start off musing about our kids, clockwise from top left:

Tuxedo, the most gorgeous, and smartest, cat ever, followed by Miss Consuelo Roca-Jones, quite the diva — she makes me pale by comparison; followed by MaxGoldberg, of the Boca Raton Goldbergs, a retired Jewish accountant from the Sunshine state; then the lone canine, Ozzo, looking like he’s begging for a doggie brother or sister.

Nothing says Christmas like hate, at least in Uganda.

Abdu Latif Ssebagala, a Ugandan lawmaker who helped draft the country's revised anti-gay law is hoping to have the bill passed this year as a "Christmas gift" for Ugandans:

"The draft is ready and we have strengthened the law, especially in areas of promotion and luring children. Next week we expect to meet the speaker to fix a date for the re-tabling to parliament."

In Uganda, nothing says Happy Holidays like Kill The Gays.

I’m hooked on Jesse J. She has kind of a Jolie-thing going on and she can Bang Bang.

Plus her boyfriend, Luke James, is kinda hot.

Just sayin’.

Last week we talked Carlos’ hair. He was trying to grow it and every day it took on a new persona; yes, he went from Bieber to Jackson to Bob’s Big Boy in the space of a day and a half.

Then I came home one day to find that he’d gotten a haircut, and, well, this is what that looked like … without the tiny mustache, of course:

With a little manipulation, and some product of course, because we’re gay, not animals, it looked like this:

Much better … plus I have the hots for Ralph Fiennes, even as a Nazi, but I was afraid to leave the house whilst Carlos looked like Adolf.

I loved hearing the news reports that Brad and Angie had a big blowout ... some reports called it "explosive" ... in Australia, with pictures of the two of them on a balcony.

Yeah, that's a blowout all right. Maybe they should stop by my house and I'll show them what an explosive blowout looks like.

Plus, do they really think that we think Brad and Angie are so perfect that they have never fought? Grow up.

Look at that!

Mississippi and Arkansas welcomed Marriage Equality this week, meaning that I can travel to the state where I was born — I am a Mississippi boy — and get same-sex married.

Who knew?

Darren Wilson says he is sorry for the shooting Michael Brown to death, but he has a "clean conscience" about what happened and would not do anything differently today.

Hmmm, not a thing differently? You wouldn’t even try to something different so that unarmed man wouldn’t die?

Nice, Darren. You need to go away now, far away.

You know, while watching the news one day I came across White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

Hot.

And here’s the song that’s running through the loop in my head this week. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and “The Heart Is Slow To Learn.”

It almost makes me weep … almost.

Random Musings

Texas? Texas? Texas? TEXAS? Why you gotta go and surprise us all like that?

Granted it was a judge and not the people of Texas, or their wack-a-doo governor, but still, this is big. And I, for one, did not see that coming.

We all know that crackpot Teabagger Texas Governor Ricky Perry nearly crapped his Depends when the ruling came down, but the funniest response of all is from ISBL Asshat of the Week winner, and longtime Teabagging Friend'o'Ricky's, Dan Patrick, hurriedly sent out a Tweet in response to the overturning of Texas' same-sex marriage ban. But, um, his response went like this:

He immediately deleted the Tweet and spent the rest of the afternoon clarifying what a big homophobe he is:

"Marriage is between one man and one woman. Period."

An hour later, he Tweeted this:

"MARRIAGE= ONE MAN & ONE WOMAN. Enough of these activist judges. FAVORITE if you agree. I know the silent majority out there is with us!"

And then this:

"oops! #twittertypo. We have a new job opening on our campaign: social media intern. Send resume to contact (at) http://danpatrick.org ... I want to re-emphasize my long held position: Marriage is between 1 man and 1 woman. Period."

Methinks he doth protest too much, but then maybe he hasn't found his Mister Right.

With all the hullabaloo in Arizona over their proposed--and yet newly vetoed--“Don’t Serve The Gays” bill, it's nice to see one little corner of the state instantly standing up to the discrimination.

The owner’s of Rocco’s Little Chicago Pizzeria have decided to take the spirit of the bill, only their position is slightly different; it isn’t The Gays they don’t want to eat their pizza, its Arizona legislators and posted this to their Facebook page:

“As a longtime employer and feeder of the gay community, Rocco’s reserves the right to eject any State Senators we see fit to kick out. That is all.”

Snap. Show on the other now, eh? How does discrimination feel?

Jason Collins recently became the first openly gay athlete to play in a professional sport in this country when he was signed to a ten-day contract with the Nets.

Ten days? Hopefully it will be extended and extended and extended …. But the big news is that requests for Collin’s jersey have so swarmed the NBA that they are now rushing it into release.

It’s about time. I’m thinking of getting a Collin’s jersey and then a Michael Sam one, too.

So, Ugandan President Museveni signed that bill penalizing homosexuality with life imprisonment into law.

Yup, bein’ gay is like bein’ a murderer in Uganda, y’all.

And, before he signed this ridiculousness, he actually suggested that the law was made necessary by arrogant western groups promoting a behavior that threatens Ugandans’ “way of life”. Then he qualified The Gays into three sets: recruiters, exhibitionists and mercenaries.

He also said he didn’t understand how men could fail to be attracted to Uganda’s beautiful women and, instead, are attracted to fellow men and …

Let’s stop. It’s because they’re gay you dipsh*t. Now, back to our regularly scheduled rant:

Then he paraded the mostly Ugandan scientists who concluded that homosexuality wasn’t genetic because these scientists probably don’t have one single active brain cell between them.

RuPaul’s Drag Race is back, y’all, and I am lovin’ me some queens.

While drag ain’t my thing—I sport a goatee and it just wouldn’t work unless my drag name was Bearded Lady … and we all know that’s Michele Bachmann’s drag name—but I love the camp and the art and the talent and the creativity of it all.

This week, my favorite Queen was the campy, fun and frisky Ben De La Crème, who, in the runway challenge where he was tasked with representing The Golden Gils, sashayed own the catwalk in a gown he said wasn’t so much sewn as crafted though “sweat and desperation.”

Ben won this first week, and let’s see if she can keep up with her Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent.

And, while I was waiting for Ru to start, I was channel surfing and came across TNT’s reboot — get it reboot — of Dallas and the sight of one Josh Henderson in a pair of skimpy, leave-nothing-to-the-imagination briefs.

Plus, his voice has that dripping with honey and bourbon kind of Southern drawl reminiscent of a much younger, oh so much hotter, Tommy Lee Jones.

I may not watch anymore of Dallas — it’s not quite my show — but if I do, I’m hoping for more Josh Henderson and boxer brief scenes.

Just sayin’.

Another show I also don’t watch is The 700 Club with that wack-a-doody Pat Robertson. But, whilst surfing the interwebz, I caught a small soundbite of Pat talking about Arizona and Don’t Serve The Gays.

And Pat, true to the mindnumbingly asinine mentality that he possesses began saying that he thinks business owners, all business owners everywhere, should be able to deny services to people they, and I quote, “don’t like.”

Yes, not just The Gays, but The Jews and the Blacks, The Muslims. If a business owner doesn’t like you they can just say, “Go away.”

But the scariest part of all is that, in support of his, um, for lack of a better word, argument, Pat noted that classic episode of Seinfeld, “The Soup Nazi.”

Yes, his justification is that they did it on a scripted comedy show.

Sit down, Pat, before you fall down.

Good news for the South …

Freedom to Marry, the national pro-gay marriage organization based in New York, has announced a new $1 million television ad campaign, dubbed Southerners for the Freedom to Marry, which will highlight prominent politicians and community leaders who back same-sex marriage.

Now, in all fairness, the ad campaign isn’t trying to win legislative support for same-sex marriage since every single state in the South has passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage, and the GOP dominates in almost all Southern state legislatures.  Instead, the campaign will push for public support for same-sex marriage.

Currently there are about two dozen lawsuits challenging bans on same-sex marriage pending before state and federal courts in Southern states, and Freedom to Marry hopes that building public support for same-sex marriage can influence those judges’ decisions. Just lately, in fact, judges in Oklahoma, Kentucky Virginia have struck down those state bans on same-sex marriage, though those rulings are stayed until the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in.

But maybe, with a little grass roots push, we can get support building down here for full equality.

That’s sounds mighty nice, y’all.

Sign Up

This morning nearly half-a-million signatures protesting Uganda's "Kill The Gays" legislation were delivered to that country's parliament. The online petition was organized by a group called Avaaz [HERE] whose mission statement is "to close the gap between the world we have, and the world most people everywhere want."

The petition was delivered to Uganda’s parliament in Kampala this morning by a delegation led by Anglican priest Canon Gideon Byamugisha. It was accompanied by a letter asking parliament to reject the controversial bill and instead pass legislation to protect gay people. Speaker of Parliament Edward Sekandi promised the delegation he would refer the petition to a committee for scrutiny.

Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill, if passed, would impose the death penalty on anyone who has homosexual sex with a minor or disabled person while infected with AIDS. The death penalty would also be imposed on repeat offenders, while others convicted for having gay sex would be jailed for life. In addition, those who fail to report homosexual activity, such as relatives, teachers, landlords or health workers, would also face prison sentences.

Avaaz hopes to have over a million signatures soon, adding to the pressure put on the Ugandan government by leaders from around the world, including President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Sign the petition HERE

Scott Lively: Hater, Homophobe, Proponent of Kill The Gays

Watch this, if you can, and if it doesn't sicken you how this man can use his hatred against LGBT people so smugly, then you have a stronger stomach than I:

Scott Lively says his brother and sister "went into"homosexuality. Well, Scott, one does not "go into" homosexuality; one is, or one isn't, gay. I "go into" Kroger to do my groceries, I didn't go "go into" homosexuality. In saying that you are promoting the false idea that being gay is a choice when all the evidence clearly states that it is not.

People are born gay. People are born straight. People choose to hate.

Scott Lively believes his "normal" sister "wasn't able" to marry because she was so hurt by her siblings being gay. So, he lays the blame for other people's inability to find love at the feet of the LGBT community.

He says LGBT people do not fall into a pattern of "gender normalcy" and that we don't use our bodies [he is mostly talking about gay men here] in the ways they were intended, and so we reap the punishment: AIDS. He's reiterating the myth that AIDS is punishment for being gay, and yet he has no explanation for anyone who has AIDS who is not gay.

Scott Lively says we use fear to keep those men and women struggling with their sexual orientation in our midst. We tell them that everyone else is a hater so they won't leave homosexuality--once again, one does not enter into, or leave, being gay. Well, people who struggle with being gay, who feel ashamed of being gay, do so because of men like Scott Lively who are constantly calling us pedophiles and rapists. if you are struggling with coming out and you are subjected to the ramblings of people like Lively, that's where the feelings of self-loathing lie, in the narrowminded hate that Scott Lively spreads.

But then he says he doesn't hate because he's a Christian, and Christians love everybody. Yet he goes to Uganda and calls the LGBT community a bunch of rapists and pedophiles and murderers and "jackbooted thugs." Doesn't sound very Christian to me. He says gay men were the "core of the Nazi party." He says gay men are "so far from normalcy" that we become sociopaths and murderers. In fact, he lays the blame for the mass murders in Rwanda at the feet of the LGBT community.

And lastly, Scott Lively, we don't call all people who are not gay, haters and homophobes. I have many friends, and family, who are not gay, and they don't hate; and they aren't homophobes. I call people who stand behind their cross and their Bible and misspeak the word of God to spread the notion that somehow gay men and women are an abomination and need to be "fixed" or "changed' or "killed" haters and homophobes

So, let me ask you, if a man stands up and calls another man a pedophile, a rapist, a murderer, a degenerate, a Nazi, simply because of that man's sexual orientation, is that homophobia? If you travel to a Third World country and tell them that there are men who will rape their sons, murder their sons, give AIDS to their sons, is that hate? If a man stands up and proudly announces that he's dropped a nuclear bomb on the LGBT community, isn't that hate?

Scott lively calls himself an expert on homosexuality.

I say he's an expert on spreading hate and homophobia.

I say he has some explaining to do.

It Was Americans Who Put Forth "Kill The Gays"

We've all heard about, and been disgusted by, the "Kill The Gays" bill in Uganda, even if it would have been, will be, vetoed. Just the idea that any country can put forth legislation to kill people because of their sexual orientation is disgusting beyond words.

And I, for one, thought, Well, it's Uganda. Not necessarily the most modern country on the globe. But then comes word, via a New York Times article [HERE] that the idea, and the push to Kill The Gays came not from any Ugandan group or politician, nor from any Uganda church or religious sect. Nope, it was a home grown idea, from right here in the Land of the Free.

Three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited here in the United States, went to Kampala, Uganda to give a series of talks about the so-called "Gay Agenda."

Let me clear one thing up, first of all. As a gay man, and a card-carrying member of the LGBT community for decades, I have never seen nor heard of the "Gay Agenda," unless it refers to a desire by the LGBT community to be treated as equals in their country and around the globe. Other than that, there is no agenda.

Got that?

There.Is.No.Agenda.

But these three "Christian" Americansspoke of the “the gay agenda—that whole hidden and dark agenda”—and the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family. These three Americans, presenting themselves as experts on the gay movement, spoke for three days to thousands of Ugandans, including police officers, teachers and politicians. They told of how they themselves have helped many gay men and women turn straight, how gay men sodomize teenage boys and how “the gay movement is an evil institution” whose goal is “to defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity.”

I got news for you. In the land of Tiger woods, John Ensign, John Edwards, Mark Sanford, Wilt Chamberlain, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Taylor, y'all got a lock on sexual promiscuity.

Still, these three men of God spoke about how dangerous the LGBT community is, and how we must be changed and corralled into some sort of hetero fold, how we need to recruit new members into our flock, how we are out to destroy anything and everything just so we can have all the sex we want, and then they left Uganda. They came home and feigned shock and outrage as the Kill The Gay legislation became public. These three, now find themselves on the defensive, saying they had no intention of helping stoke the kind of anger.

No, they only called us evil, said we would rape young boys, said we would recruit their children, said we would destroy their very lives, but, well, they meant no harm. But it was mere weeks after their visit when a previously unknown Ugandan politician, who boasts of having evangelical friends in the American government, introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009.

Many countries, including the US, demanded that Uganda’s government drop the proposed law, saying it violates human rights, but Uganda’s minister of ethics and integrity--who previously tried to ban miniskirts--said, “Homosexuals can forget about human rights.”
So, who are the three "Christians" who went to Uganda and sparked such vitriol in the name of God?

They are Scott Lively--a missionary who has authored books against homosexuality, including “7 Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child”; Caleb Lee Brundidge--a self-described ex-gay who leads “healing seminars”; and Don Schmierer--a board member of Exodus International, whose mission is “mobilizing the body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality.”

They are furiously trying to distance themselves from the bill. Now.

“I feel duped,” Mr. Schmierer said, arguing that he had been invited to speak on “parenting skills” for families with gay children. He acknowledged telling audiences how homosexuals could be converted into heterosexuals, but he said he had no idea some Ugandans were contemplating the death penalty for homosexuality. “That’s horrible, absolutely horrible. Some of the nicest people I have ever met are gay people.”

Yes, Mr. Schmierer, we are nice, for the most part, but when you present yourself as an expert on how to "cure" homosexuality, or "change" homosexuals, you are telling the world that it would be a better place without us. and that leads to death, in some countries.

Lively and Brundidge have made similar remarks in interviews or statements issued by their organizations. But the Ugandan organizers of the conference admit helping them draft the bill, and Scott Lively has acknowledged meeting with Ugandan lawmakers to discuss it. He even wrote on his blog in March that someone had likened their campaign to “a nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda.” Later, when confronted with criticism, Mr. Lively said he was very disappointed that the legislation was so harsh.

Nuclear bomb? Harsh?

First off they'll kill the gays, but then who's next? What other group will men like Lively and Brundidge and Schmierer speak out against? Who's next on their mission to rid the world of undesirables?

Watch your back.

The BBC's Of Asshattery

You know, every so often, well, about every eight minutes, I am made aware of the fact that we live in a world filled with asshats and idiots, haters and homophobes. But nothing seems more shocking to me than the idea that a television network, the BBC in England, actually posted an online poll asking their viewers if homosexuals should be killed.

Oh yes they did.

It was sparked by the story out of Uganda, and their proposed legislation that homosexuality is a crime punishable by death, and the British Broadcasting Corporation's "Africa Have Your Say" Web site asked for people's views on whether Uganda has gone too far and whether there should be any laws against gays.

The page was originally entitled "Should homosexuals face execution?" but was later changed to "Should Uganda debate gay execution?" which is oh so much more politically correct. But even with the :::cough cough snort:::: name change several British politicians denounced the taxpayer-funded broadcaster for treating the execution of gays as a legitimate topic for discussion.

What's next, BBC? Murdering Black folks? Killing the Jews--as if that hasn't already been done? Killing anyone who dare be different than some idealized view of what normal might be?

There is nothing wrong with discussing what's happening in Uganda and around the world regarding the LGBT community, but how dare anyone have a legitimate conversation about whether or not it's right to kill anyone.

Civilized world, my ass.

Uganda and Nazi Germany

People say the Holocaust couldn't happen again, but it could. And it might. All it takes for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing. And that may just be the case with the Kill The Gays campaign in Uganda. Yes, lately there has been some movement to remove the clause about killing homosexuals, and, instead, sending them....us...remember, it's us... to prison for life.

But at Change.org there was an interesting comparison between what those in power in Nazi Germany said all those years ago, and what many in Uganda are saying today:

Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels: "Defending against the Jewish danger is only part of our plan. [Jews have] attempted to mobilize the world against us, in the secret hope of winning back the territory it has lost."
Ugandan Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo: "It is the duty of Ugandans to be vigilant because agents of immorality are busy using all lies and deceptions to hurt our society."
Nazi politician Dr. Robert Ley: "There is no room in the world for the Jews any more. The Jew or us, one of us will have to go."
Ugandan cleric Sheikh Ramathan Shaban Mubajje: "I asked President Museveni to get us an island on Lake Victoria and we take these homosexuals and they die out there. If they die there then we shall have no more homosexuals in the country."
Adolf Hitler, from Mein Kamf: "Was there any form of filth or crime...without at least one Jew involved in it. If you cut even cautiously into such a sore, you find like a maggot in a rotting body, often dazzled by the sudden light - a Jew."Ugandan Sheikh Multah Bukenya: Quoted as saying that his followers are "ready to act swiftly and form this squad that will wipe out all abnormal practices like homosexuality in our society."
Nazi Nuremberg Laws of 1935: "Marriages between Jews and citizens of German or kindred blood are forbidden...Sexual intercourse between Jews and subjects of the state of Germany or related blood is forbidden."Proposed Legislation in Uganda: "A person who purports to contract a marriage with another person of the same sex commits the offence of homosexuality and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for life."
So, before you go about thinking something like the Holocaust couldn't happen again, think twice. Remember, it all started with words, and ended with the deaths of millions.

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