It’s Friday, June 24, and we are still waiting for the New York Senate, specifically the Republicans in control, to determine if and when they will bring the marriage equality bill to a vote. To my mind, and to the minds of many Americans, this is a very simple matter. The only people wringing their hands over completely unnecessary “religious exemptions” are those who will use this to kill the bill, to vote against the bill, or to stall the bill, as has been done for over a week now. My own perspective on marriage has changed over the last seven years or so. I was originally opposed to the push for marriage rights because I saw it as a property issue, a privilege that poor lgbt people were unassisted by. You can still hear this from some queer activists and trans activists and far-leftists who think marriage is bourgeois. I thought there were more important things, especially for low-income and poor lgbt people. Things like universal healthcare, housing, and jobs. But then I began to realize that the very protections that are part of the marriage package could do a great deal for couples at all income levels. I hate it that I worry when Frank and I travel to one of the many states where one of us could be denied access to the other in the event of an emergency. We are strangers under the law in most states, and as I age this becomes ever more important to me. I hate it that if I die he will have to pay taxes on my estate. I hate it that when I check the “married” box I am not just being rebellious, but committing perjury. And I can’t check it on federal forms anyway, since our relationship is not recognized by the federal government. My view on marriage has evolved. Ultimately, if a marriage license came with no special rights and privileges I would say it doesn’t matter, but that’s not the world we live in. Choosing not to marry is a valid and equal choice, but not being able to marry is a violation. I’m tired of being violated. If New York passes this bill we will get married. And when DOMA is overturned we may just go to Greenwich, since the federal rights are where the legal goodies really are. But one way or another, some day, I’ll get married just because I finally can.]]>

Amy DeLong, a United Methodist minister, has been sentenced to a 20 day suspension for performing a same-sex wedding in 2009. She was acquitted of a second charge of being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual”, also known as out, and spared burning at the stake. She will instead be required to retreat to prayer and rumination on her offense. From Post Crescent.com: KAUKAUNA — After nearly six hours of deliberation, a 13-member jury of Wisconsin Methodist clergy suspended the Rev. Amy DeLong from ministerial duties for 20 days, starting July 1, and noted the time is to be used for “spiritual discernment.” DeLong, 44, of Polk County, was convicted Wednesday of performing a 2009 same-sex wedding in Menomonie in violation of United Methodist Church rules. She was acquitted on a 12-1 vote of a second charge of being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual.” [SNIP] “We’ve said all along that we have already been successful,” DeLong said. “We had a 100 percent chance of winning because our goal was to be faithful and to tell the truth. We have done that and we’ve broken the silence. We’ve opened the door a little bit so (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) people can hear a good message from the church.”]]>

Cross-posted from MadeMark.net “Hey, Obama! Don’t hate on my two mamas!” – chant heard at protest Everyone was kept across the street from the Sheraton and one entire block, from 52nd to 53rd streets, was shut down. I just saw the tail end of Obama’s speech on NY1, not bad. Meanwhile, we continue to wait for equality in New York. Maybe there will be a surprise, or a letdown, with the morning news.]]>

Why do homophobes insist on comparing us to animals? It often reminds me of the things white people used to say and think about black people. If you read ‘The Help’ – or grew up in my house with a father who gathered us in a back room to cower and pray when negroes were rioting a thousand miles away – you’ll see what I mean: ideas that black people were unclean, diseased, needed their own bathrooms for the safety of white folk, and, of course, fucked like animals. From Queerty: When it became clear that John Christopher Millican would not recover, his partner of 10 years, Terrance James, was the only person at his side. Alone, he made the difficult decision to end the life support. Mr. Millican passed away on June 11th of this year. Wrought with grief, Mr. James filled out the paperwork for his late partner’s obituary for the local publication, the Batesville Guard. When the obituary ran, however, it listed the names of Millican’s deceased parents, his siblings, with whom he had little contact, but no mention of Terrance James or even that there was a surviving partner. We called the Batesville Guard and spoke to Pat Jones, the general manager. She quickly became defensive and told us that we could call her son Oscar, who is a lawyer. She had obviously been through this phone call several times already. When questioned, Pat told Queerty “It’s not a gay thing. We don’t list unmarried couples, in-laws, or pets in the free obituaries.”
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An 86 year old man who was competing in a cycling event at the Senior Games in Houston died after crashing mysteriously. From Houston Culture Map: Champion bike racer Elton Hammond Jr. was one mile from the finish line of the Summer Senior Games 10K time trial on Tuesday when he suddenly crashed. Within hours, the 86-year-old athlete was pronounced dead by paramedics who had immediately taken him to a hospital near the cycling race in Fulshear. Details of the crash have yet to be released by the Fulshear Police Department, which did not immediately respond to a phone call by CultureMap. [SNIP] In some respects, Hammond embodied the Games’ mission of empowering senior athletes who had discovered the joys of an active lifestyle later in life. According to his son, Elton Hammond III, Hammond Jr. began cycling more than 40 years ago, but didn’t enter the field of racing until his 70s. Since then, he immersed himself in bicycling, including jaunts through Europe and New Zealand. Considering the age range of Senior Games competitors, the possibility of mid-event death is a predictable fear. The Games’ oldest competitor, tennis player Roger Gentilhomme, passed away on June 18 at the age 102 shortly before he was scheduled to fly to Houston for the Games.]]>

Meet me at the corner of Alcohol Mary Road and Rehab Street You’ll be relieved to know that Alcohol Mary Road in Greenwood, Maine, will retain its name, despite the effort of some residents to change it. Apparently named after a woman who produced alcohol to make ends meet (it doesn’t say if she was a bootlegger), the road is a point of pride with the community. From the Bangor Daily News: GREENWOOD, Maine — Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday night against changing the name of Alcohol Mary Road, after hearing from an attorney for the Hertell family and from residents who said they enjoy living on the colorfully named road. Several Alcohol Mary Road residents rallied around the memory of Alcohol Mary and said they were proud of her alcohol-making activity during Prohibition. They said the road was named for her. Arthur Hertell was silent at the meeting as attorney Jennifer Kreckel explained the family’s case to the board. Kreckel said the family is tired of getting calls from people asking whether the road’s namesake was their grandmother. She wasn’t that person, and the question is an insult to Arthur and Edwin’s grandmother, who did live on that road and who was named Mary. “They’re not trying to tell you what to do with your town,” Kreckel said. “They hold her sainted in their memories, and to have Alcohol Mary associated with that is sort of a desecration of the memory,” Kreckel said. Nancy Dewing said she’s been living on the road since the 1970s and said Alcohol Mary was a historical figure and a source of pride.
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Imagine going into a port-a-potty stall, never a pleasant experience to begin with, and there’s a face staring up at you from the tank. That’s what happened in Boulder, Colorado, during a yoga festival. The suspect slipped away. From the HuffPost: DENVER (Reuters) – Police in Boulder, Colorado were searching on Tuesday for a man who hid inside the tank of a portable toilet at a yoga festival, startling a woman who was using the facility. The bizarre incident happened June 17 at the Hanuman Yoga festival in Boulder, a college town northwest of Denver. The woman, who was not identified by authorities, said when she lifted the toilet seat lid, she noticed something moving in the tank, according to a Boulder Police news release. The woman exited the toilet and asked a man who was standing nearby to check inside. The man told police he saw someone inside the tank covered with a tarp.
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A friend clued me into this, and I immediately tought of lgbtSr contributor KJOY. We’re both photographers (hers is on the professional side, mine’s a hobby). It’s a lot to digest about this new camera coming out, but something to keep a shutter – I mean eye – on. From PC World:

With a new kind of camera, Lytro wants to remove the headaches of focus from digital photography. Lytro, a start-up based in the Silicon Valley, hopes to revolutionize the camera industry by bringing “light field” cameras to the market this year. This type of photography captures the color, intensity and direction of individual light rays, allowing the user to refocus the picture even after it has been taken. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Lytro’s founder and chief executive, Ran Ng, likened the technology to a multitrack audio recording, in which each instrument is recorded separately and mixed later. A blog post on Lytro demonstrates the concept with an interactive photo. Clicking anywhere on the picture changes the point of focus, causing other parts of the scene to blur into the background. A picture gallery shows more examples. Lytro also claims that its cameras work in low lighting without flash, and can produce 3D photos with a single lens. “We have something special here,” Ng wrote. “Our mission is to change photography forever, making conventional cameras a thing of the past.”]]>