Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
I fully aim, to get my soul known again
As the maniac, the saint, the sinner, the drinker, the thinker, the queer
I am the WORKS, the whole WORKS
And it's not 'till you have called me all of these things
That I feel satisfied, I feel satisfied.
There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.
As the maniac, the saint, the sinner, the drinker, the thinker, the queer
I am the WORKS, the whole WORKS
And it's not 'till you have called me all of these things
That I feel satisfied, I feel satisfied.
There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Anti-Gay, Anti-Family
By DAN SAVAGE
New York Times Op-Ed, November 11, 2008
Countless Americans, gay and otherwise, are still mourning — and social conservatives are still celebrating — the approval last Tuesday of anti-gay-marriage amendments in Florida, Arizona and, most heartbreaking, California, where Proposition 8 stripped same-sex couples of their right to wed. Eighteen thousand same-sex couples were legally married in California this past summer and fall; their marriages are now in limbo.
But while Californians march and gay activists contemplate a national boycott of Utah — the Mormon Church largely bankrolled Proposition 8 — an even more ominous new law in Arkansas has drawn little notice.
That state’s Proposed Initiative Act No. 1, approved by nearly 57 percent of voters last week, bans people who are “cohabitating outside a valid marriage” from serving as foster parents or adopting children. While the measure bans both gay and straight members of cohabitating couples as foster or adoptive parents, the Arkansas Family Council wrote it expressly to thwart “the gay agenda.” Right now, there are 3,700 other children across Arkansas in state custody; 1,000 of them are available for adoption. The overwhelming majority of these children have been abused, neglected or abandoned by their heterosexual parents.
Even before the law passed, the state estimated that it had only about a quarter of the foster parents it needed. Beginning on Jan. 1, a grandmother in Arkansas cohabitating with her opposite-sex partner because marrying might reduce their pension benefits is barred from taking in her own grandchild; a gay man living with his male partner cannot adopt his deceased sister’s children.
Social conservatives are threatening to roll out Arkansas-style adoption bans in other states. And the timing couldn’t be worse: in tough economic times, the numbers of abused and neglected children in need of foster care rises. But good times or bad, no movement that would turn away qualified parents and condemn children to a broken foster care system should be considered “pro-family.”
Most ominous, once “pro-family” groups start arguing that gay couples are unfit to raise children we might adopt, how long before they argue that we’re unfit to raise those we’ve already adopted? If lesbian couples are unfit to care for foster children, are they fit to care for their own biological children?
The loss in California last week was heartbreaking. But what may be coming next is terrifying.
By DAN SAVAGE
New York Times Op-Ed, November 11, 2008
Countless Americans, gay and otherwise, are still mourning — and social conservatives are still celebrating — the approval last Tuesday of anti-gay-marriage amendments in Florida, Arizona and, most heartbreaking, California, where Proposition 8 stripped same-sex couples of their right to wed. Eighteen thousand same-sex couples were legally married in California this past summer and fall; their marriages are now in limbo.
But while Californians march and gay activists contemplate a national boycott of Utah — the Mormon Church largely bankrolled Proposition 8 — an even more ominous new law in Arkansas has drawn little notice.
That state’s Proposed Initiative Act No. 1, approved by nearly 57 percent of voters last week, bans people who are “cohabitating outside a valid marriage” from serving as foster parents or adopting children. While the measure bans both gay and straight members of cohabitating couples as foster or adoptive parents, the Arkansas Family Council wrote it expressly to thwart “the gay agenda.” Right now, there are 3,700 other children across Arkansas in state custody; 1,000 of them are available for adoption. The overwhelming majority of these children have been abused, neglected or abandoned by their heterosexual parents.
Even before the law passed, the state estimated that it had only about a quarter of the foster parents it needed. Beginning on Jan. 1, a grandmother in Arkansas cohabitating with her opposite-sex partner because marrying might reduce their pension benefits is barred from taking in her own grandchild; a gay man living with his male partner cannot adopt his deceased sister’s children.
Social conservatives are threatening to roll out Arkansas-style adoption bans in other states. And the timing couldn’t be worse: in tough economic times, the numbers of abused and neglected children in need of foster care rises. But good times or bad, no movement that would turn away qualified parents and condemn children to a broken foster care system should be considered “pro-family.”
Most ominous, once “pro-family” groups start arguing that gay couples are unfit to raise children we might adopt, how long before they argue that we’re unfit to raise those we’ve already adopted? If lesbian couples are unfit to care for foster children, are they fit to care for their own biological children?
The loss in California last week was heartbreaking. But what may be coming next is terrifying.
blog-propas
I hear my gentleman friend has started a blog. I hope he will let me know where it is so I can advertise it!
I'd really like to direct everyone to subjectify - lexi's photoportraits blog.
Zoe's Obama victory montage is gorgeous, and
Garmonic is harsh and delicate.
I've been spending a lot of time listening to the "Slow Jams" mix my friend Lowy gave me, and I realized I'd be listening to the songs and then all of a sudden get these hurt feelings from seemingly harmless sex lyrics. Lines like, "that's what keeps me coming back to you" or "now's the time I feel like making dreams come true". Lyrics like these are in a different class from obviously annoying lyrics like "If I'd have known the girl next door would have been you..." or the mundane/fabulous R. Kelly lyrics like "Baby, don't bring your girlfriend to eat cause I'm gonna flirt." No, what was happening was more personal. I started thinking about it and I realized a lot of the songs on the mix are all about how amazing and transcendent and beautiful sex is. That should have made me happy, but instead it was bothering me. There I was in high school where every element of the relationship was destructive except for the tenderness of a few sacred moments during which my relevance could not be denied. Okay, he keeps running back to me for love, but he wouldn't have to keep running back if he didn't run away in the first place. Sex was the only place without insults, meanness, and misunderstandings, so it felt like the best, most connected blissful respite. That gentle moment doesn't last - other insecurities and distances set in. This is a dynamic I would like to resist, so these songs are pushing my buttons.
Anthony Hamilton's "Charlene" isn't an example of this - its just a lovely song.
It is pleasurable to spelunk in this way. There is a lot to sort through, but its not scary. Jophet reminds me of how important the moments of our unique subjectivity are.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A long, dark car ride is on my mind. Stopping for Combos on November 4 at a convenience store on Route 4 called Mike's, I thought about the mysterious movie theater candy, "Mike 'n' Ike's". Now, when I pass by, my eyes always look for it. "Here's the Mike's where I got Combo's." A chilly evening the month before looking out the window of the dormitory, listening to the ocean. During the long, dark car ride, I didn't want to be sitting there with my eyes on the road. I felt alone in a completely new way. I wanted to be cuddled up in bed. But no such luck, because of the work schedule. This is what I mean when I say I thought I was invincible. Was I wrong? I don't know, because I wouldn't like to think I've been defeated. Today I wore a dragon fly pin and special earrings. These things adorn me and they help me remember to be calm and grateful, to remember everything, not just the sweet sad things, but also the things that are joyous, beautiful, and actually better today than they were in 2003. I don't need everything to be better, but its all right to admit that some things are.
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