A Simple Matter Of Equality

Here is a story for those people who still think that Civil Unions or Domestic Partnerships are "just the same as"  or "as good as" real legal same sex marriage. It is something that all Americans with any sense of fairness should think hard about.

Tammy VanDam, 42 was one of the people killed in the stage collapse at the recent Indiana Sugarland Concert Ms. VanDam was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. Ms VanDam was legally married to Janeen Urschel who attended the concert with her. When Ms. Urchel went to the hospital to claim the body for burial, she was denied. The reason? Their out of State marriage was not recognized by the State of Indiana! As far as Indiana was concerned, she was not "next of kin" even though they had been together for ten years.

This just goes to prove that we must continue to fight for full and equal marriage rights for everyone and that we can allow no "compromise". The discrimination shown to Ms. Urschel and her partner must not be allowed to continue.

People ask me why I care about this. Why am I so passionate about something that does not affect me? It is simply because someone has to take a stand and I think it is very important that straight people join this fight for marriage equality. I do it because it is the right thing to do. I have always believed that "an injury to one is an injury to all" and if I can change just one person's mind on this issue, then all this effort will be well spent.

It is a simple matter of equality.

Just Sayin.....

RANT ALERT!

A couple of shark attacks and parents stop letting their kids anywhere near the water. Thousands of kids are raped in the Church and parents keep sending their kids back to Church.

News flash to parents: There are millions more sharks than Priests, so your chances of finding a Priest that rapes are far greater than your chances of finding a shark that bites! Do your kids a favor and take them to the beach on Sunday.

Just sayin....

Desmond Tutu on Gay Rights In Africa

I am not in the least religious but I appreciate a friendly voice!

Desmond Tutu:

"Uganda's parliament is debating legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment, and more discriminatory legislation has been debated in Rwanda and Burundi. These are terrible backward steps for human rights in Africa. Our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters across Africa are living in fear.”

"And they are living in hiding -- away from care, away from the protection the state should offer to every citizen and away from health care in the AIDS era, when all of us, especially Africans, need access to essential HIV services. That this pandering to intolerance is being done by politicians looking for scapegoats for their failures is not surprising. But it is a great wrong. An even larger offense is that it is being done in the name of God. Show me where Christ said "Love thy fellow man, except for the gay ones." Gay people, too, are made in my God's image. I would never worship a homophobic God." - Desmond Tutu, in an editorial published in today's Washington Post.

And what has the “Christian” Pope said about Uganda? NOTHING, as he DOES worship a homophobic God. Maybe it’s time to redefine “Christian”.

And now for some good news: The first same sex marriages are taking place in Mexico City. Small steps.

What Is It About Me?

Do I have a big "M" tattooed on my forehead? Do I look like a stupid, rich Gringo?

Today we got off the ferry from Isla Mujeres and jumped into a cab to get back to the RV park. It is only a few blocks away from the park but we decided not to take the car and leave it parked on a side street for two days. Instead we hitched a ride to the ferry with the RV park manager and planned on taking a cab back.

"They" say you should always negotiate the cab fare before you get in. We used to do this but as we got more used to hiring cabs, we stopped doing this. Cabs are always very cheap and we have never been cheated.

Today we rode the short distance to the RV park, got out and I asked him how much we owed him. I was prepared to give him thirty pesos. This would be the absolute highest charge for the distance we traveled and would include a very generous tip. The guy looked at me and said, "ten US dollars"! This is outrageous and I told him "No, I am not paying ten US dollars! I am not some stupid gringo. You are cheating us!" He immediately slammed the trunk closed, trapping our luggage inside. He said that was the charge and that he was a "special" taxi. I looked around for the Mexican park manager to help talk some sense into him but he was not around. It was a Mexican standoff and I was not the Mexican.

There was no easy way out of this so I handed him $100 pesos, about $8 USA and told him to give us our bags. He took the money, gave us our bags and as we walked away, I told him, "You are a thief! Have a good day". He gave us a dirty look and drove away. Drama over.

EDIT: I just asked the RV park manager what the cab fare from the ferry terminal is and he answered, "Twenty pesos". I was right in my estimate, thirty would have been very generous. Ten USA dollars is $125 pesos. He was a thief!

Airheads, Inc.

OFF TOPIC RANT WARNING

In contrast to the ambitious young people above, we have:

Another airhead Miss California beauty contest contestant has weighed into the Same Sex Marriage debate but this one is actually calling for death to gays.

Lauren Ashley, self-proclaimed Miss Beverly Hills 2010 is running around like an idiot, quoting the Bible and calling out for stonings. If you listen carefully, you can hear those very rocks rattling around in her head. "I feel like, I mean, God is like, really smart and everything and that is what he said.."

I wonder if she has read the Passage in the same Book of her Bible that says any woman who is not a virgin when she marries must be stoned to death. "OMG, like wow, I mean, I didn't know THAT'S what it meant! OMG!" She probably quickly whited that part out of her comic book version of the Bible before anyone else sees it.

Will she be charged with a hate crime? No. Will she become the latest Poster Girl of the Christianist Nazi movement? I hope so, they deserve each other.

No wonder our gay friends are moving out of that Christianist wasteland and into Canada and Mexico! Why can't we all just get along?

END OF RANT