It's A New Day

Well, technically, yesterday was.

I was going to make a post about how, for the last hour, I've felt the almost uncontrollable urge to cry. Like I wanted to sob. I don't exactly know why, though there are some possible changes coming to my future, though nothing is set in stone.

But then I found this posted by The Wilson Triplets and I had to forget my own issues for a moment and remember the HUGE, AMAZING event that happened 15 hours ago.

It's definitely a new day and I can't wait to see what the next 4 (hopefully 8) years have in store for us.

Don't have full rights? Don't pay taxes!

I love Melissa Etheridge for this. Why should I be expected to pay full taxes and such when I'm not given full rights and privileges as the straight world?


You Can Forget My Taxes
by Melissa Etheridge

An Academy Award-winning and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter.

Singer Melissa Etheridge rails against the passage of the gay-
marriage ban in California - and she won't be paying the state a dime.

Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am
a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean,
roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help
me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and
I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any
other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay
my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would
just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same
rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation
thing from the history books.

Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I
can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping
instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am
sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that
she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a
few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash
this year. What recession? We're gay! I am sure there will be a
little box on the tax forms now single, married, divorced, gay, check
here if you are gay, yeah, that's not so bad. Of course all of the
waiters and hairdressers and UPS workers and gym teachers and such,
they won't have to pay their taxes either.

Oh and too bad California, I know you were looking forward to the
revenue from all of those extra marriages. I guess you will have to
find some other way to get out of the budget trouble you are in.

...Really?

When did it become okay to legislate morality? I try to envision
someone reading that legislation "eliminates the right" and then
clicking yes. What goes through their mind? Was it the frightening
commercial where the little girl comes home and says, "Hi mom, we
learned about gays in class today" and then the mother gets that
awful worried look and the scary music plays? Do they not know anyone
who is gay? If they do, can they look them in the face and say "I
believe you do not deserve the same rights as me"? Do they think that
their children will never encounter a gay person? Do they think they
will never have to explain the 20% of us who are gay and living and
working side by side with all the citizens of California?

I got news for them, someday your child is going to come home and ask
you what a gay person is. Gay people are born everyday. You will
never legislate that away.

I know when I grew up gay was a bad word. Homo, lezzie, faggot, dyke.
Ignorance and fear ruled the day. There were so many "thems" back
then. The blacks, the poor ... you know, "them". Then there was the
immigrants. "Them." Now the them is me.

I tell myself to take a breath, okay take another one, one of the
*thems* made it to the top. Obama has been elected president. This
crazy fearful insanity will end soon. This great state and this great
country of ours will finally come to the understanding that there is
no "them". We are one. We are united. What you do to someone else you
do to yourself. That "judge not, lest ye yourself be judged" are
truthful words and not Christian rhetoric.

Today the gay citizenry of this state will pick themselves up and
dust themselves off and do what we have been doing for years. We will
get back into it. We love this state, we love this country and we are
not going to leave it. Even though we could be married in Mass. or
Conn, Canada, Holland, Spain and a handful of other countries, this
is our home. This is where we work and play and raise our families.
We will not rest until we have the full rights of any other citizen.
It is that simple, no fearful vote will ever stop us, that is not the
American way.

Come to think of it, I should get a federal tax break too...

Melissa Etheridge is an Academy Award-winning and Grammy Award-
winning singer-songwriter.

At a loss...

I want to make a post about the passing of Prop 8, but I have no words.

I tried being positive this morning, thinking of how far we have come over the last 8 years in trying to gain equality in California. However, I can't deny the fact that there are so many ignorant and bigoted people not just in this state, but in the world.

I am incredibly sad. Sad for myself. Sad for my friends. Sad for my community. Sad for humanity.

It's truly a bitter-sweet time for me. I am so happy and hopeful for this country because Barack Obama is our president elect. I know that he has the right ideas to begin getting this country back on track. To getting America back to a place where we were admired by other countries. Back to where we were the standard of democracy and freedom. Back to where it wasn't emberassing to be an American when you left the country.

But now I'm emberassed to be a Californian.

There are already lawsuits in place to appeal the decision and people are ready to go to the Supreme Court to fight this ridiculous amendment.

I am not a second class citizen.

This battle might have been lost, but the war is far from over.




Hmm...I guess I did have words.

I believed!

He IS my president!

Had to share...

An anonymous commenter left a somewhat thought provoking comment on my "I hear you, but..." post (2 posts down) and I thought I'd share my response to his/her comment.

I'm not out to change anyone's mind about anything I might write, but I do hope to make people take pause and think about their stance on things.


Anonymous,

I am making this world a better place by trying to teach people that Hate is not a family value. I am showing people by my actions and my words that everyone deserves to be heard, that everyone is an equal person. No one is better than anyone else.

A vote No on 8 is a vote telling your fellow Americans that you are better than they are. That you are a more valued person because you have rights that I don't have and are trying to prevent me from having the same rights as you.

I fight discrimination all the time. Discrimination is NEVER right. Prop 8 is discriminatory and wrong.

I have several blogs on the internet so that I can spread the word that the LGBT community is no different than anyone else. We all bleed the same blood. We all cry the same tears.

The ability to get married is a fundamental right that EVERYONE deserves. People who vote Yes on 8 are frightened and are hiding behind their religion or other personal beliefs because we are different than they are. We are all different from each other - that's how we learn. But how is my marrying a woman different than if I were straight and wanting to marry a black man? It's not the "norm", but it's different than most of the rest of this country. Does that mean that I shouldn't have the right to marry a black man if I wanted? No. Two consenting adults should have the right to marry whomever they want.

As far as immigration - yes, there are ways to do it legally, but how many Mexicans have the $11,000 it takes to get here legally? Most Mexicans are dirt poor and want a better life for their families. That's why they want to come here. But why should it take $11,000 to do some simple paperwork? It's ridiculous, to be quite honest.

I appreciate your honest opinions. Thank you.

Vote, dammit!

I Believe. Do you Believe? Vote for Change.

i hear you, but...

I value peoples opinions and beliefs. Everyone has different opinions and beliefs on everything. It makes things interesting. I respect that and I respect people for forming their own opinions and beliefs...if they're well informed, or if they're using ALL their information on something to form their opinion, instead of picking and choosing what they want to believe.


Last night, some friends and I got into a conversation about politics. It was a wide range of topics, but one thing stuck out that bothers me greatly - the immigration issue that this country has.

I realize that illegal immigrants put a strain on our medical resources. But have you ever asked why that is? It's because they are uninsured. And why are they uninsured? Because they're undocumented. Why are they undocumented? Because they came here illegally. Why did they come here illegally? Because it's too difficult for them to get into this country. Why is it so difficult? Because white bread American leaders don't want them here.

One thing that I am sick and tired of hearing Americans say is that these illegal Mexicans are doing is stealing jobs from them. But who's saying that? Politicians and upper-class (and upper-middle-class) citizens of America. I've looked, and I don't see illegal Mexicans running Fortune 500 companies. I don't see them running for elected office. I don't see them anywhere in white collar America. So where are all these illegal Mexicans working? They're your table bussers and dishwashers. They're your maids. They're your house painters. They're your grape pickers (for that wine you love so much). They're your apple and orange pickers. They're your cooks at McDonald's, Burger King, Fuddruckers. They sell you popcicles in the summer time out of those little pushcarts with the bells on them. They do all the menial jobs that Americans don't want. Americans would rather collect Welfare or other Government Assistance than take any of those jobs. Americans are too good for those jobs, so we give them to the Mexicans who will happily work 2 and 3 jobs to send money back to Mexico so their families can afford food and clothing and put roofs over their heads.

I mean, seriously, who gave Americans the right to create our own private club and the materials to build a giant wall and a sign that says "No Mexicans Allowed"? Why not build a wall around the entire border of the USA? Let's keep Canadians out, too, while we're at it? Oh no! That's just crazy talk, right there. Canadians are cool. They say things like "aboot" and have Mounties. We'll just keep the Mexicans out because they're dirty and don't speak English.


I am just so sick of Americans thinking that they (we) are so superior. We all bleed the same blood. We all evolved from the same species of monkey (or we were all made from Adam's rib...whatever you prefer). This country was founded on the basis that people could immigrate here here and build a better life, to seek solace from the tyranny they experienced in their own home countries.


I am such a mixture of all things minority that I feel beat up on a constant basis. I'm gay. I'm Mexican (well, half). I'm a woman. I'm fat. Everyday, I read, hear, or see something that discriminates some part of me. Some of those things bother me more than others, but they all bother me in some way.

I can't wait until Wednesday and all this voting non-sense is over. This heated debate over Prop 8 in California has me exhausted. I just can't take all this hatred anymore.

The Sanctity of Marriage

Yes...let's "protect the sanctity of marriage" so only heterosexuals can get married...because they have such a good track record...



Zsa Zsa Gabor - 9 Husbands
Liz Taylor - 8 Husbands
Lana Turner - 8 Husbands
Mickey Rooney - 8 Wives
Robert Evans - 7 Wives
Jerry Lee Lewis - 6 Wives
Billy Bob Thornton - 5 Wives
Joan Collins - 5 Husbands
Geena Davis - 5 Husbands
William Shatner - 4 Wives
Liza Minnelli - 4 Husbands


Britney Spears - first marriage annulled after just 55 hours
Jennifer Lopez - her first marriage was just 8 months long
Nicky Hilton - also just 8 months for her first
Shannon Doherty - 5 months for one marriage, and 9 months for another
LisaMarie Pressley - married to Nicolas Cage for 3 months and 15 days
Carmen Electra - married to Dennis Rodman for 9 days before filing for divorce.


And these are just the celebrities. There are regular people out there who've been married not even a month before splitting up, and people who've married dozens of times because they haven't found the right person yet.

If you ask me, these marriages are more destructive towards the "sanctity" of marriage than homosexual couples. I mean, the divorce rate is 43%, isn't it? That doesn't seem to be saying a whole lot for marriage.

Honestly, if straight people can ruin their lives by getting married, let gay people do it, too! Why keep all that fun for yourself??

7 days left, people!!

Vow to vote NO on Proposition 8. Don't eliminate my right to marry.

I know I said I'd stop, but...

with only 2 weeks left until voting, I can't stay silent while so many struggle with deciding what to do.

Its not who you love, its how...

Dork-a-licious

I made that post about sending that email to my parents. I've been waiting to hear back and have been getting more nervous because neither has responded.

I just remembered.

They're in Reno. LOL.

I won't get an answer until I get back from Reno next week. LOL. (I think my parents come back this Saturday and I'm leaving Sunday for Reno until Wednesday.)

Yeah, I kinda feel like I belong on the short bus today. lol

Voting part II

My aunt replied to my email. She had already planned on voting No on Prop 8. Yay for her! LOL Her response was this:

"I had already decided to vote no, but thanks for your thoughts. As Roseanne once said gays should

have the opportunity to be as miserable in marriage as us. I think it was her but I thought it was

real funny."


She also sent me an email she received from a friend about a virus email going around regarding Women against Sarah Palin. In short, the email said that we, as women, should not vote for Sarah Palin because putting her in such a powerful position could turn around everything our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers have worked for and achieved over the last 100 years. She's really the anti-feminist and we cannot afford to put her in office.

When I saw my dad last week (I had to have him rescue me when I locked my keys in my car), he told me not to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket either because of her views. I belive his words were "I hope you're not voting for Sarah Palin just because she's a woman." LOL I told him "HELL NO!"

While I know my parents have some conservative views, overall, they're very liberal. I have confidence that they believe a lot of the same things I do. It's very comforting to know that. Ultimately, my parents back me no matter what I do with my life, but it's good to know that they will also use their right to vote to help protect my rights as well as theirs.

November voting

I just sent this to my parents and my aunt. I wonder what kind of reaction I'll get.....oh, and I appologize in advance if anyone is offended by this, but it's how I feel and that's what my blog is for - to share my feelings....btw, this is just a California proposition.

I know I've never really discussed politics with you guys before, but with Absentee Ballots going out soon, I need to ask a favor.

Vote NO on Prop 8.

If there's a ban on gay marriage, there's a pretty good chance neither I nor any of my friends could ever be legally married in this state. Not only is the ban unconstitutional, it's unethical, immoral, and, quite frankly, unfair. If you all can get married, then so should every other consenting adult.

I'm not usually into politics at all, but this is something that really hits close to home with me, so I hope that you choose your vote wisely and see that the ban would never make me equal with any of you.

The want for the ban is because the religious right-wing believes that gay people are an abomination against God. They also believe that marriage is for a man and woman so they can procreate and make more hateful bible thumpers. If this second reason is true, then they shouldn't allow people to get married who have no intention of having children. But I think we all know that marriage isn't just about babies - it's about showing the world that we love someone and are commited to them completely, and for the rest of our lives. I don't believe that God belongs in our constitution or in our government. This is how we can start truly separating church from state.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

~Stacey

P.S. Vote for Obama, too!



*edit* I just want to be clear that I'm not against religion or think that all Catholics/Christians are wing-nuts that hate gay people. I am not religious, though I grew up Catholic. I don't have problem with people believing in God. Not at all. It's just not for me. Therefore, I don't want God to be the basis for things I can or cannot do. I strongly believe that there should be a true separation of Church and State and don't believe there is enough separation. Christianity is not the only religion practiced in this country, so I don't believe that it belongs in law books or anything legally telling me how to live my life.