Gay Marriage in NY

I think I woke up in the Twilight Zone this morning. This article greeted me on the front page of MSN. New York state passed gay rights marriage laws.

excerpt:

That shift was precipitated by the emergence of a growing constituency of pro-gay-marriage operatives and donors in the Republican Party, whose direction on social issues is still largely set by its culturally conservative base.

“There is an important change going on among Republicans and conservatives,” said Kenneth B. Mehlman, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Mr. Mehlman, who acknowledged his own homosexuality after his tenure at the national committee had ended, was among a group of Republicans who helped raise money from prominent Republican donors to support the same-sex marriage effort in Albany. Those donors underwrote much of the cost of the same-sex marriage advocates’ advertising and lobbying campaigns.

Among increasing numbers of conservatives and Republicans, he said, there is the conviction “that freedom to marry is consistent with conservative values.”

ermm... last I checked Republican was synonymous with anti-abortion, upper-middle class white people from suburbia who still believe the Vietnam War was justified, who look around saying, "Agent Orange what?" Maybe I'm oversimplifying this a bit but this political shift is too damn shifty to say exactly what is going to happen next.

Some good:

“They’ve shown a way to actually get a bill through a Legislature,” said Richard S. Madaleno Jr., a Democratic state senator in Maryland and sponsor of the marriage bill that was shelved. “And I think we’re going to use some of the same lessons, the same tactics, in Maryland over the next six months.”

Good... and yet- I'm still scratching my head over this. The Democrats had the majority and they couldn't manage to pull it off. The Republicans get put in the Big Boy Chair and all of a sudden it passes?!!! The Republicans voted against it the first time around! Why the change of heart?

Ohhhh! Yeah. The money. Some big money gay Republicans have finally come out of the closet and have used their checkbooks to buy votes.

If the cause wasn't a worthy one I'd be slamming my head on my keyboard right now in frustration with our money-bag-gagged political system.

In any case, congrats NY! This blogger is happy that couples finally have the choice to be together in whatever committed way they see fits their needs and desires.

Big Love

The article I am reposting for you here(below) came from MSN.com's front page today in the Politics section. Promising news for gays and lovers of freedom everywhere.

Talking about politics with my ten year old son a few nights ago I realized something monumental- Americans are, at heart, anarchists and rabble rousers. That says something as to our state of mind even five centuries after Columbus landed on our eastern shores. We broke from Europe, gave them the middle finger, and said "hasta la vista, baby." We're not afraid to create a new system of thought when it suits our desires.

And yet where are we today concerning gay rights, after five centuries of bloodshed for our immense freedoms? Way behind other nations. The only thing holding our nation back from proclaiming in one voice that all people - everyone - regardless of race, creed, and SEXUALITY, are all created equal and have the same inalienable rights is literalist religion. Namely Christianity.

Some gnostics may disagree with me here and say they've seen some scripture from such and such book which proclaims gay behavior is a sin against God, immoral, etc. etc. But I ask you this: if God is love and we have a mandate from God to love then how exactly are we loving our gay/lesbian neighbors, friends, and family by telling them that they are less than equal? That they should not have the right to love who they wish however they wish as long as it is not hurting anyone else?

I commend Obama for this action. I truly believe it is a step in the right direction toward Big Love, which is our first priority not as "God fearing" but "God loving" people. We must love each other as much as we love God. How can we do less? We are a part of Pleroma's body and to do less means hating and hurting ourselves.

Federal benefits extended to same-sex partners
Obama orders extension for workers under existing law

updated 9:11 p.m. ET, Wed., June 2, 2010

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is extending child care, medical leave and other benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.

Obama on Wednesday directed federal agencies to immediately begin allowing domestic partners and their children some of the same rights available to spouses and children of employees. That includes child-care services and subsidies, expanded family and medical leave and relocation and other benefits.

Obama's memorandum covers only benefits that can be extended under existing law, without congressional action.

Obama said in a statement that while his directive was an "important step on the path to equality," existing federal law prevented him from taking further action to provide same-sex domestic partners with the same benefits offered to heterosexual married couples.

He called on Congress to swiftly pass a measure that would address that discrepancy.

It's the president's latest step on gay rights. He's also supported a rollback of the military's "don't ask don't tell" that governs gay service members.