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The House of Representatives today passed a bill, 218-212, part of which demands a troop withdrawal from Iraq. Unfortunately, Democrat leaders added $20 billion of additional domestic spending to get enough of their own party to vote for the bill. The Democrats did not have enough votes for the anti-war bill alone, so they literally spent your tax dollars to buy votes.
So much for a new morality in Congress. Ugh.
I totally understand the support of hate-crimes legislation. It stems from emotion, and hate is an emotional topic. You see people being injured or killed because they're black, female, gay, or some other group that is "hated" by some people. I understand, sympathize, empathize, and want hate stopped.
But hate-crimes legislation is as anti-American as hate. It tries to legislate and punish thought; not the actual crime, but thought. It says that if someone murders someone in cold blood, they should get 10 years in prison; but if someone murders someone in cold blood because they hate their (race, gender, sexual orientation), they should get 15 years in prison. These numbers are just examples I've thrown in. Taking this example to the extreme, I would increase punishments for all crimes; and murder in cold blood would be punishable by hanging. Interestingly, many of the same people who push for an increase in punishment for hate crimes are the same people who oppose the death penalty and wnt punishments for other crimes lessened.
But hate-crimes legislation is right out of George Orwell's 1984, where there were thought crimes. Hate-crimes legislation codifies thought as crimes, and it's not okay.
One of the examples supporters of hate-crimes legislation keep bringing up is the murder of Matthew Shephard. In fact, HRC is running a campaign now invoking Shephard to get people to support a hate-crimes bill. The ad reads: "In the ten years since Matthew Shephard was killed for being gay, Congress has refused to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the federal hate crimes law. This year, that will change."
What's idiotic about invoking Shephard's murder is that that case contradicts the need for stiffer penalties against thought crimes. Wyoming does not have hate-crimes legislation, yet Shephard's murderers are now serving back-to-back life sentences. The only stiffer penalty they could have possibly received was death, and it was Shephard's family who begged the court to not exercise that right. You see, Wyoming has very stiff penalties for all crimes, and that's what we need.
Whether we like people's thought or not, we shouldn't be legislating it. We shouldn't punish people for thinking in a way we don't like. Punish them for the act. Put them to death for murder. But don't do it because their thought behind it doesn't fit what you think is "right."
The post office is a royal pain in the ass. Takes too long to get through a line and the people working are, from my personal experiences in L.A. and New York, often not particularly kind. But, I gotta give them props for a great idea: R2-D2 mail collection boxes. It's a whole campaign, which will include Star Wars stamps, that is being rolled out over the next few months.
While the Star Wars prequels generally sucked, those first three will always hold a dear place in my heart. Of course, in typical USPS fashion, no word on how to actually find the R2-D2 boxes. Some things never change.
Last night I attended an annual fundraiser for NLGJA and had a lot of fun. I'm usually not very much into those kinds of events, but I knew so many people, and met so many other interesting people, it was very cool.
The thing I came away from the evening with was how gay people are all, at the end of the day, in the same boat. We may criticize each other and bite at each other sometimes, but at the end of the day most of us are just trying, in our own way, to make the world a better place for ourselves, our friends, and the young gay kids who have yet to feel homophobia. It's something I will have to keep reminding myself.
Some of the people there last night: Sebastian White, who invited me and who has been all over the media today; John Amaechi, who really is an incredible guy, so special; Andy Towle, whose blog every gay person should know about, and who is launching a new site soon that sounds quite fun; LZ Granderson, who writes for ESPN and who is moving to Michigan next month to be near his son; NY Times advertising columnist Stuart Elliott, who had written about Amaechi just two days before but had never met him; Court, Jason and Itay from CBS News on Logo; my old boss Steve Weinstein, who just wrote a book about Fire Island; Kenneth in the 212, whom I had never met; and many other great folks. Martina Navratilova was there, or so I hear, but she left before I got to say hello (I still have never met her, darn it!!).
Dan was just excited to see Meredith Vieira, whom we had watched on Martha just a couple days prior (and who seemed like she had never seen the inside of a kitchen).
It never fails to hit me when I see the stories of lives taken prematurely and seemingly meaninglessly. Maybe it's my desire to make the loss meaningful that I try to take a lesson from every death and every seemingly unsurmountable challenge life throws in my way and the way of the people I care about.
Life has this week smacked me up side the head again. It's good for me. It rights me on my course. It sucks for a while, and it pains me to see other people hurting so badly. But I like to think that all my lessons in life will lead me to somewhere beautiful, and that I'll enjoy the journey along the way that much more having lived with loss, be it loss of life or in this case loss of innocence. I think many people view loss that way. I hope it's a healthy perspective.
I saw this story just today, about a boy beaten to death at a "boot camp" in Florida. Disgusting. I don't care what a 14-year-old boy has done; unless he's killed someone or put a gun to someone's head, he doesn't deserve a 20-plus-minute beating that leaves him dead. The people who killed him should pay with their lives. Excessive violence by anyone - civilians, police, military personnel - should never ever be tolerated.
Pointless loss of life - there is nothing worse to me.
So much of the country is already focused on the next presidential election. But between now and then, there is another important vote that will grab the attention of millions of people coast to coast: American Idol.
Last season, Dan and I got hooked on Idol. It was Paris Bennett who drew me in. This year, it's been LaKisha Jones. Not only does she have in my opinion the best voice that's been in this competition in the last two seasons, but she's got a wonderful story, a strong stage presence, and a great personality.
I've also become a fan of Blake Lewis. While it seems most gay guys have latched onto Chris Richardson, I'm not a big fan of him because I think he has a very weak voice (which Simon echoed last night). I'm not usually into blondes, but Blake is super hot, has a strong voice and a fantastic personality.
So please do vote for Blake and Lakisha from week to week; that would be a very cool final.
Also check out:
A couple incidents involving high-profile people and gay "activists" in the last 48 hours really demonstrate my problem with groups like HRC and other gay-activist organizations.
My business partner and I were quoted in a few places over the weekend talking about Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy's March 20 appearance at a fundraiser for an anti-gay organization. Repeatedly, in columns and in our statements, we have said we support Dungy's right and ability to say what he believes about gay rights. In fact, we have begged him to say what he believes. Yet, Focus on the Family and other religious organizations who have quoted us claim that we're endorsing a boycott of the Colts. In a radio podcast for FOTF, the reporter, Steve Jordahl, says this:
"Now gay-rights advocates want Dungy to distance himself from his faith.... Cyd Zeigler of Outsports.com, one of the two groups behind the protest, says the coach shouldn't accept the award."
I never said I wanted Dungy to distance himself from his faith, and instead said he had the right to believe whatever he believes. I did not say there was a protest and I have not advocated a protest (except that I wish everyone would turn against the Colts because I can't STAND them, as a Patriots fan). And I did not say Dungy shouldn't accept the award.
But I can understand why the reporter made the leap - gay reactionaries have given him reason to jump to generalizations.
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that he believes homosexual sex is immoral. That is hardly a radical idea, but rather an idea that hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people have. Yet, HRC is out there saying that Pace should apologize for saying (and certainly the subtext is that he should apologize for thinking) what his personal beliefs are.
"General Pace’s comments were irresponsible, offensive and a slap in the face to the gay men and women who are currently serving their country with honor and bravery," said HRC's head divisive, Joe Solmonese.
Let's be clear about this. It is not Tim Hardaway saying "I hate gay people" and gay people don't belong in this world. It was a man explaining his personal belief system that has led to his support of a rule, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that President Bill Clinton signed into law. I can understand how anyone would try to shed light on the subject of homosexuality and get this discriminatory law overturned. But this attack on Pace and demand for an apology is simply another ploy to raise money.
I hope Pace reconsiders his position. I hope, in the future, he opts to pass on answering the question. And I hope Clinton's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is finally overturned. But, Pace doesn't owe anyone an apology. His language was not hate speech, it was a revelation of his personal belief system (that anyone could have guessed anyway).
We'd be much better served if HRC reached out to Pace, offered to sit down with him, and talk about it.
If you're reading this, Gen. Pace, know that every gay person isn't screaming about what you said; We just hope you reconsider your position and consider the effect it is having on gay people.
After dinner on Saturday night Dan and I headed to the Roxy to see if there was any chance a line had not yet formed (we live a whopping five-minute walk from there). We got there at 10:05; no such luck. It was the gay dance club's last night, and the gays had come out in droves. the line ran the length of 18th Street, sometimes five people deep, rounded the corner, and headed up West Side Highway. We stayed for 15 minutes and left our friends in the drizzle, having advanced a whopping one foot per minute.
I'm glad we didn't go, after reading this article in the New York Times. I've been to the Roxy before, and I figured it would just be more of the same. It sounds like it was. It's fun to be sure, and we would have stayed if the wait wasn't going to be 90 minutes to pay $40 to get in. It just wasn't worth that investment to me.
This isn't remotely why we didn't go, but I was particularly disheartened (though not surprised) to read promoter John Blair's comments on how they invite people to the Roxy, and what they charge people:
Mr. Blair, who had owned gay health clubs, explained the coding system that he and his business partners devised for the Roxy’s loyalty cards and mailing lists. “We rated everybody on a scale from 1 to 4 based on how they looked,” he said. They kept the rankings in a database, so that for certain events they could direct their invitations to a specific mix of loyal customers and trophy guests.
“We gave out very few 1s — that’s the worst-looking, or for straight people,” he said. “Then, most people got 2s; if they’re pretty, they got a 3. Four is for people we have to let in free — either they’re really hot or they’re a friend of mine or somehow important in the club community.”
If that's the attitude that ran the club, I'm glad it's gone.
Something so powerful just hit me when I read this story about Zach Arend, 18, the seventh life claimed by the bus accident involving the Bluffton baseball team. Eighteen. Eighteen.
He was an innocent kid just looking to play some baseball. He survived the crash but succumbed to injuries days later. I can only imagine what those days must have been like. What those moments when he awoke from his nap to screams and the bus he was in tumbling over the side of a highway ramp.
My eyes well up with tears just thinking about it.
It was with great sadness that I found out yesterday that John Inman had passed away. He played the indubitable Mr. Humphries on the British comedy Are you Being Served?. With the Golden Girls, it is one of my two favorite TV comedies of all time.
Mr. Humphries was John Inman. He was fun, witty, and everything that is so positive about gay men. He had smarts, he had passion, and he was always so damned positive (well, except when Mrs. Slocomb made passes at him). His gay double entendres are so precious. While the show hasn't been taped for over 20 years, he will still be missed.
Inman was gay himself. Contrary to Sean Hayes, he was willing to play gay on TV and live openly gay in real life as well.
So carry on, Mr. Inman. You've done very well.
BTW, if anyone can tell me in which episode he actually played a "straight" Mr. Humphries, I'd be grateful. I want to go back and watch some of the episodes (the ones with the original Mr. Grainger; after Arthur Brough died, the series was never the same again) and I'd love to be sure to watch that one. Thanks!
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