The Dooryard

Barack Obama supports gay marriage. Log Cabin Republicans release sad attack.

I've been thinking about diving back into my blogging for a couple months now. With today's announcement from President Obama of his support for my marriage, I figured it's the right time.

My lack of fondness for the President is no secret. I feel like he's been the Campaigner in Chief for most of his presidency. And I feel many of the promises he made in 2008 have been thrown out the window for new campaign promises this year. On key policy initiatives -- the Keyston pipeline, Obamacare -- I disagree with him. This isn't to say I'm a Romney fan; We'll simply get to him in another post. 

But today I'm proud of the president. He didn't have to vocalize his support for gay marriage, but he did. It made me very, very happy and somehow more fulfilled. 

Toys For Tots 2009 in New York City

Every year I get tons of requests for info on the gay Toys For Tots party in New York. This year's party will be at Chelsea Piers on Sunday, Dec. 6, 5pm-9pm. It's annually the best party in Manhattan. You gotta buy a ticket and bring a toy to donate.

To buy a ticket, click here.

The best speech yet for marriage equality

Not surprising to me, it comes from an 86-year-old World War II vet in Maine. Every voter in Maine should see this. Please give to equality in Maine! Just 11 days left until the election. And your donation can help!!

Obama is treasonous regarding DADT

This past Monday, Barack Obama held a reception at the White House for "leaders" in the gay community. In actuality, it was a cocktail party he had with a couple hundred devoted gay followers to make it look like he was doing something for gay people. Many involved with the reception turned around and wrote items and spoke to the press saying how much in love they are with Obama because of the things he said at the event. Mind you, he didn't DO anything. He didn't even PROMISE anything. He just told the people there that they were welcome to be in the White House and that they would be happy with his Administration at the end of it. Can you get anymore vague?

One area where he wasn't vague was national security. About the policy of discharging openly gay people from the military, Obama said this:

And finally, I want to say a word about "don't ask, don't tell."  As I said before -- I'll say it again -- I believe "don't ask, don't tell" doesn't contribute to our national security.  (Applause.)  In fact, I believe preventing patriotic Americans from serving their country weakens our national security.

Let's be clear about this. Obama said he believes that discharging gay people from the military is undermining national security: Yet, he continues to follow that policy! He could stop the discharges TODAY with an executive order preventing the execution of DADT, but he doesn't. When the President of the United States acts against national security, he is failing to uphold his most important job and is acting in a treasonous way AGAINST national security! How this man sleeps at night, believing he is putting his own personal political future ahead of national security, is hard to understand.

While people want the equal rights he promised, Obama just keeps campaigning

I have long been critical of gay "leaders" for cozying up to the Democrats at the expense of furthering gay rights. We've seen it over and over, as HRC and others are willing to sit on the sidelines and wait while the campaign for Democrats who do nothing to further our rights. So I've been excited to see the clear shift in the last few weeks as gay "leaders" begin to hold Barack Obama and other Democrat leaders accountable for their promises to gay people.

After wooing gay dollars and votes with promises to advance eight gay rights, Obama quickly abandoned all of them once in office. He went from opposing the Defense of Marriage Act to supporting it. He went from saying he'd end Don't Ask Don't Tell as soon as he got into office to saying it won't happen for at least two years and failing to stop the discharges (something he could do with a stroke of the pen). To see devout gay Democrats like David Mixner and Corey Johnson and Andy Towle boycotting the DNC gay fundraiser this week is outstanding and shows TRUE leadership on their part!

Meanwhile, Obama thinks he's still on the campaign trail. He thinks that if you just keep talking and promising, all will be well. In the last week, he has tried to throw gay people little bones to make up for it. He granted some Federal workers some health care benefits for their partners. And now comes word that he's throwing an exclusive party for important (read: rich donors) gay people next Monday. This is all, of course, an attempt to continue his campaigning without actually governing and DOING something about his promises. I pray no gay people fall for it, and I'm encouraged to hear others say the same.

Miss California deserves the criticism

I'm kind of surprised by how many people are talking about Miss California's answer about gay marriage at Sunday's pageant. In case you haven't heard what happened, you can read here and watch it below.

A few people have told me that "she should be able to say whatever she wants without being attacked for it." I couldn't disagree more. She absolutely has the right to say whatever she wants. Every American has the right to say what they want; That's what makes our country so great. But NO ONE has the right to say something publicly and expect to be free from criticism.

She could have easily talked about state's rights and living in a country that values difference in opinion, and that would have been a fantastic answer. Instead, she decided to take her own political position (and deliver it really badly); And with that she opened herself to criticism. She didn't have to offer her political opinion but she did, and she says she's glad she did. Many people who are against gay marriage are attacking those who are criticizing her. But why does she get the right to speak her mind and others don't?

I'm glad Perez Hilton asked her the question. I wish he hadn't called her a bitch afterward, but that's Perez.

Another bad pro-gay-marriage commercial

After Prop 8 passed in California, there was an outpouring of thought about what to do next. The terrible TV commercials that the pro-gay-rights side aired were targeted and the people who led to their creation were blamed. There were marches, letters, conferences, symposiums, meetings, phone calls. After taking all of that in, Equality California has come out with another TV ad - and it's as though they weren't listening.

Actually, listening to the wrong people. There was a chorus after the election saying the mistake was not putting more gay people in the ads: Harvey Milk would have put gay people in the ads, so that was the mistake that was made. So what does EqCa do? They put Harvey Milk and gay people in the commercial. That's not enough; They need to change their message!

But the commercial misses the mark completely because it harps on the same old tired theme of "we're right and you're wrong." Telling people they have to give you something is no way to get them to give it to you; In fact, it often makes them want to keep it from you that much more. This commercial says "we deserve this" and "you can't keep us from it anymore." It mentions Jerry Falwell by name and identifies him as an enemy; Why would you want to alienate his friends and allies? How is that changing people's hearts and minds? It's more stomping feet and throwing a tantrum. That this is what they came up with after four months of listening is very, very sad.

'Love For All'

Leave it to a straight man to figure out how to say send a message about same-sex love that no gay person has been able to figure out. Tennis great Bjorn Borg's new commercial promoting his underwear line and matchmaking service brought me to tears this morning as I watched it. So powerfuly simple and real. So pure. Perfect.

Its simplicity and perfection is in the expression on the face of the two men. Relief. Joy. Love. And with the haunting version of "True Colors" underneath, it built in me a wonderful emotional reaction. I've now watched it five times, and I'm going to watch it again after I hit "publish" here.

The negativity of same-sex protests is only hurting us

I went to the same-sex marriage protest in Manhattan on Wednesday night where (in my humble estimate) about 5,000 people demonstrated. While it was nice to see so many people standing up for marriage rights, I left very quickly quite disappointed and with a reinforced notion that protests just don't do much good.

My biggest problem with them in general (and this one reinforced it) is the tone. I heard over and over and over about the "protest." The word protest is inherently negative. It means you're going to demonstrate AGAINST something, not FOR it. To me, the word "rally" is much better, as it is proactive and reflects positive movement forward, that you're going to gather and RALLY FOR something, not PROTEST AGAINST something. It may sound trivial, but I think it's an important distinction that sets the tone for these events.

I was also quite disappointed to see how much hate the protestors brought to the event. Signs that castigated the Mormon church the same way they have castigated us. Someone writing things on the sidewalk in chalk, equating Catholics and Mormons with Nazis. This is not the way we affect change. This is mean-spirited preaching to the converted. And what it's done is give social-conservative pundits like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity footage with which to turn their viewers against gay people.

My hope is that more and more of the demonstrators will start talking about the positive aspects of these events, start carrying positive signs and sending a positive message, and use these events to speak to people whose minds we need to shift. Doing what ultra-Leftist Manhattanites want us to do simply won't get us what we seek.

Same-sex marry rally in NYC this Wednesday

I'm no big fan of protest rallies, because I think they're generally ineffective. Still, I'm going to attend the rally against the Mormon Church here in NYC on Wednesday night because I think it's good to let the Mormons and New Yorkers know we're watching, and we won't be silent. Here's the info. I hope to see you there.

Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Location: New York Manhattan Mormon Temple
Street:    125 Columbus Ave at 65th Street

PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION - BRING SIGNS -- ALERT THE MEDIA

Tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters are in the streets in California and Salt Lake City and around the country protesting the votes banning same-sex marriage in California.

Join them! Make your voices heard right here in New York City.

We will tell the Mormon Church how we feel about its relentless campaign to condemn and control our lives. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was, by far, the biggest financer of California's heinous and hateful Proposition 8. The Mormon Church begged their members to donate money to Prop 8, pouring 20 million dollars into the campaign. And their attacks on us didn't start there and aren't about to end. They're plotting right now to bring their money and influence to bear against the LGBT community everywhere in this country, including trying to prevent marriage equality in New York.

Join us in speaking out against hate and discrimination! Stop them taking away your rights!