Snippets

I've been busy with my father (who had a stroke last week), final exams week, Christmas preparations, and sheer exhaustion.

Lots going on in the world of marriage equality.

Of course right at the top of the list is Elton John's Civil Union with his long-time partner. Due to the throngs of fans and media, extra police presence was required and, of course, Elton John was billed for that (about $20,000). I found this little snippet interesting:

Both marriage and partnerships have the same rights and responsibilities but gays and lesbians cannot call themselves married. The difference is critical for gay leaders who point out the inequity in the law, but for non-gays, especially the media, both are the same. The media has seldom used the phrase' civil partnership', opting instead to call the unions 'marriage'.

Frankly, I wouldn't care if they called it purple crunchy peanut butter, as long as the rights are equal.

Scotland began the same civil union law this week as well. Good for the UK!

No word yet on the state Supreme Court ruling out of Washington state regarding the constitutionality of the state's ban on granting marriage to GLBT members.

Legal experts say the court could rule in any of three ways: It could declare DOMA unconstitutional and grant same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexuals, uphold DOMA, or ask the Legislature to resolve the issue.

We'll be watching this closely.

In San Jose, California a judge has ordered the city to stop providing benefits to those GLBT members who were married in jurisdictions where those marriages were legal and valid.

In a Monday ruling Superior Court Judge Mary Jo Levinger said that the city regulation "is contrary to California law and is therefore pre-empted. Furthermore, only marriages between a man and a woman may be recognized by the City of San Jose."

The ruling cites Proposition 22, which was passed by voters a few years ago, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Then there's the on-again, off-again of Ford Motor Company. First they announced their plans to pull advertisement from all things gay, then they backtrack. Some pundits believe that it's less because of the meetings between Ford and the GLBT organizations and more because of the fear that the image of Ford being driven (pardon the pun, but it WAS intended) by extremist religious groups.

"Ford's response wasn't just to an outcry from GLBT people, but to the clear message from our families and friends that we will not tolerate Ford or any other corporations' surrender to the demands of extremist groups like the AFA."

A U.S. Army Private was assaulted at Fort Huachuca, Arizona by a fellow servicemember after it was learned that the Private was gay. The private was made to sleep on a cot in his drill sergeant's office following the attack. The fact that there is a drill sergeant in the picture tells me that this is the old unit that I once belonged to at Fort Devens, which was moved to Ft. Huachuca. And, if this is the case, there are security clearances involved for both the private that was assaulted, and the one who did the assaulting. This is the US Army's Intelligence School and, believe me, there is still a "good old boy" network alive and well in that community in the Army.

The Army has not taken any action against the soldier who committed the assault. Big surprise there.

The city of Indianapolis has passed an anti-discrimination policy in the areas of housing, employment, and public accommodations. Hey, every small step is a step in the right direction, right?

And, direct from the sanctity of marriage files, I bring to you.....my family.

My father, at the age of 68, began an "affair" over the internet with a woman from Brazil. She was married, wealthy, and pretty "loose," so to speak. My father traveled to Brazil a couple of times to see her, and she traveled to the US to see him. My aunt says the two of them visited her in Connecticut, when the Brazilian woman was pregnant. (We really DON'T want to know.)

Eventually my father realized this woman wasn't going to leave her wealthy husband and, when she asked my father to "take care" of her sister, he took her up on it. He married the younger sister quickly and brought her (and her little girl) to the US. His wife is 37 years his junior. She spoke not one word of English when she arrived here, nor did her 9 year old daughter. He spoke not one word of Portugese. He keeps her completely under his thumb, holding her green card over her head if she doesn't behave in exactly the way he thinks she should.

Apples don't fall far from the tree, though.

My brother, who is a year older than I, married in 1974. He was 19, she was 27 and had four kids, ranging in age from 18 months to 7 years. His wife passed away two years ago and, almost immediately, my brother began hanging out next door with a woman (Michelle) who had a couple of kids and was living with the father of the kids. They'd purchased the house together (the woman and her live-in boyfriend/father of the kids). For the past 2 years, it's been pretty well established that my brother and this woman have some kind of relationship. We learned last week that my brother and the woman married in August. Of course, THEY are still living in the same house with the live-in boyfriend/father of the kids and their marriage is a secret to him for what would seem to be obvious reasons.

Yeah...I can see how us queers can fuck up the sanctity of marriage.