Wow, all sorts of crazy things have been going on with me. It’s madness, I tell you! When my personal life is packed with conflict and whatnot it becomes easier for me to completely overlook important events. What could I be talking about? Oh I don’t know… maybe… same sex marriage is now recognized by the state of California?!
This issue doesn’t affect me in any way and I’ve always suspected it was a plot by the Republicans to divert media attention away from whatever insidious plots they were developing at the time. All that aside I was so fucking pleased that we won the right to be recognized as regular citizens that I very nearly peed in my pants. It isn’t special treatment, it’s EQUAL treatment. Now queers can legally wed and watch as their spirit slowly dies in a loveless union just like breeders!
To commemorate this major thrust forward in the gay movement the Pacific Design Center put on a special display and I was there to capture the action.
As urban gay guys in a metro gay ghetto it is quite easy for us to lose perspective on what it means to be a homo in the real world. To make matters worse, we are bombarded with negative media regarding attitudes towards gays in, shall we say, less traveled areas of the country. Let’s face it, the last place I want to get my information is from the American media.
Dear readers in red, square states I want to hear about your experiences. Seeing things like 30 Days: A Straight Man In A Gay World and Big Eden make me believe that people in general are far more accepting of gay individuals than we are led to believe. It’s Pride month and I think it would be great to show how far we’ve come in the past 38 years.
Please leave comments or drop me an e-mail with a personal story demonstrating the good or bad about being gay beyond the bassinet of the nearest boys’ town.
To all of those who have written in with questions, please don’t take offense at the sequence in which I answer. It isn’t personal, I promise. Jade wants to know my favorite holiday and children’s book and why.
I will have to say that my favorite holiday is a toss between Veterans’ Day and New Year’s Day.
There is a lack of appreciation for vets in this country. Soldiers and sailors risked their lives for our nation. It doesn’t matter if they wanted to or not or if I happen to agree with the politics behind the conflicts they endured. They returned home, many of them damaged, traumatized and often scorned by those they fought to protect. I think because of Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day many people have learned the distinction between those that create wars and those that serve in them.
Even as I write this our brothers and sisters are risking their lives fighting a war with a purpose that is at best ambiguous. It is disgusting. They are sent to fight a war kept alive by an administration that has no interest in humanity or life, but for the black blood that flows from the veins of a land not theirs. Blood we wouldn’t have a need for if it weren’t in the interests of that same administration.
Liberation is a wonderful byproduct of war. Profit is not. Regardless of the reasons, the servants of war deserve our respect.
On a much lighter note, I think New Year’s Day is the one day my slate is wiped clean and whatever happened in the 364 days prior doesn’t matter. We all make mistakes and it is a great comfort to know that on January 1st I get a chance to start over and forget about the mistakes I made and the things I wish I could take back. I find it more than comforting to know that I can take what I have learned not to do in the previous year and apply that to the next year in the hopes that I can be a better person.
My favorite children’s book without a doubt growing up was “The Poky Little Puppy”. I read it over and over again and it still sits on my bookshelf at home. Apparently finding your own path and adventures appealed to me from the very beginning. I have to wonder how that puppy influenced my belief in karma…
People that are threatened by homosexuality often seek justification from the Bible. It’s a common strategy to align yourself with scriptures to gain support in a fight against those that challenge your way of life. People that operate outside the lines of your convenient constraints aren’t likely to be controlled by your condemnation so why not enlist the assistance of the lord? Of course, this tactic is immediately shattered by the fact that the words used to condemn are not, in fact, the words of the lord at all. Unfortunately for many of us, that particular fact is of little importance to the greater part of the Christian world, which is why it is so shockingly simple for a few insecure individuals to secure legitimacy for their ridiculous claims about the detrimental effect of homosexuality on their world.
This is almost identical to Leviticus 18:22. In transliterated Hebrew, the verse is written: “V’ish asher yishkav et zachar mishk’vei ishah to’evah asu shneihem mot yumatu d’meihem bam.” However, it adds a compulsory death penalty to the participants. In various translation the passage has been translated:
ASV: (American Standard Version, 1901) “And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
Darby: (J.N. Darby Translation, 1890): “And if a man lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall certainly be put to death; their blood is upon them.”
ESV: (English Standard Version): “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”
HNV: (Hebrew Names Version): “If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
KJV: (King James Version): “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.”
LB: (Living Bible): “The penalty for homosexual acts is death to both parties. They have brought it upon themselves.”
NASB: (New American Standard Bible): “‘If {there is} a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. “
Net Bible: “If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.”
NIV: (New International Version) “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”
NKJV: (New King James Version) “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.”
NLT: (New Living Translation): “The penalty for homosexual acts is death to both parties. They have committed a detestable act, and are guilty of a capital offense.”
RSV: (Revised Standard Version): “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.”
Webster: (Noah Webster Version, 1833): “If a man also shall lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.”
Young: (Robert Young Literal Translation, 1898) “And a man who lieth with a male as one lieth with a woman; abomination both of them have done; they are certainly put to death; their blood [is] on them.”
Death is sometimes required by the Hebrew Scriptures as the punishment for ritual transgressions. These included the worshiping of other Gods, gathering sticks on the Sabbath (Numbers 15:32-36), improper eating of ritual offerings (Numbers 18:32), ineligible persons acting as priests (Num 3:10).
Over the last few centuries, most Christians and Jews have rejected Leviticus 20:13. They no longer call on the death penalty for homosexuals. Only Christian Reconstructionists and a few Christian hate groups wish to revert to mass executions of gays and lesbians today.
I do not wish to condemn Christians with this post. Rather, I would like to applaud the Christians, Jews and all other faiths that have discarded the anti-homosexual parts of their religion.
Jade wants to know my favorite holiday and children’s book and why.
