Quick post to display an infographic I found via a blog I follow. Religious extremists like to state that allowing marriage equality (which doesn’t mean a holy marriage but rather a civil that grants all of the same rights and responsibilities) will be going against “traditional” marriage. Let’s take a look at “traditional” marriage through the ages…
Source: UnicornBooty.com
The state of Minnesota’s elected officials pushed through a marriage amendment bill which will be voted on by the citizens in the November 2012 elections. This is a hurtful bill as it will constitutionally define marriage to be between one man and one woman. This is an obvious blow to marriage equality for all. I’ll no longer be using the term same-sex marriage or gay-marriage as what I want is just marriage, not some variation on that concept.
Although he doesn’t have real power to veto the bill, Governor Dayton ceremoniously vetoed the bill and rejected it. As soon as I’d heard this news I had sent him a note through his site. It was inspiring that the Governor of the state would be so emphatic about the rights of all of his citizens, something that is not present in my state of Indiana where Governor Daniels is probably salivating and ecstatic that a constitutional amendment is also in-process here as well.
Linked below is a PDF which was sent by Governor Dayton’s staff which was sent to the Minnesota legislature. It’s inspiring that someone in such a position would stand so firmly for what equality for all. It’s something that needs to happen more often and it takes great courage. Thanks again, Governor Dayton!
Source: ProseBeforeHos via Dennis Ritchie
It’s a rare time when you can truly say that a Republican is a good person to us Gays, however Alan Simpson clearly is. See the video below for a quick view of his feelings in regards to the homophobic members of his party.
Gay marriage is an issue which is coming up in several states right now. Let’s briefly talk about two of those states.
First, we’ll start with Iowa. Iowa legalized gay marriage on April 9, 2009 through their Supreme Court by a (I believe) unanimous decision. It was a shocker to many because so far, it has only been the New England states which have acknowledged that I’m actually a human being who deserves the rights given to every other person in the country. However, not long after it was legalized in Iowa, the crazies, such as NOM, started to fire back harder against the Court. In the last election, several of the justices were removed by the voters. This is now leading to possible repeal of gay marriage in Iowa. I’ll let Iowa Grandmother Jean Argus take it from here. Jean?
Well said Jean. Justin and I haven’t made it to 30 years yet, but then we’re only 26 now. We have however made it to 3.5 years and see our future together to be very strong.
Moving to another state, let’s shift the focus to Indiana. Indiana is the state in which I was born, raised and have lived my entire life thus far. However, that will be changing in the (somewhat) near future. Once I move from this state I know that I will never be moving back.
I was born and raised in Union Mills, Indiana. It’s a small town in the northwestern part of the state. I went to school at South Central Community School Corporation. It is a K-12 school which is self-contained in one building. After I graduated with Academic Honors, I went to college locally at Purdue North Central. Once I graduated college with my Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Information Systems Technology, I worked in several fields before eventually moving to West Lafayette to be with my boyfriend, Justin. I simultaneously obtained my current position as UNIX/Mac Desktop Support Specialist for the Physics Department of Purdue University. Purdue is a great place to work. It is an inclusive place to work. While the state may not recognize who I am, I have Justin included on several of my health benefits as a recognized same-sex domestic partnership. I am completely out at work and make no effort at all to hide it. I have pictures of us both up all over my cubicle and we both are in a picture together with Pres. Cordova from last year’s Purdue Challenge.
However, Indiana is looking to push me out of the state and guarantee that I’ll never come back thanks to blatant discrimination. Indiana already does not allow gay marriage thanks to the passage of DOMA at the state-level back in the late 90′s. They’re looking to further grind that into the ground through House Joint Resolution 6, 2011. This so far has passed two house discussions and will head to the Senate soon. After that it will be up for discussion again in both segments and then will head to the voters where it will almost definitely be passed due to the mostly Republican nature of the state.
As I stated in a comment recently to the Journal and Courier, I find it appalling that the state in which I was born, raised and have lived my life, my home, is so sick as to write hate and discrimination directly into the state constitution. This is the first time that this has been done in this state. It is also sick because there are real issues that need to be resolved in this state such as a failing education system, budget deficit, etc. However, let’s further discriminate against a group of people who just want to be recognized for loving one another. A group of people who are no different from anyone else except for what goes on in the bedroom. A group of people who are allowed to die for this country, pay for this country and state, support this country and state through the health care industry, education system, public works, etc yet are constantly being told that we are second-class citizens who deserve less than those standing right next to us.
It is truly sickening and disheartening indeed.
[pdf versions of the above two links for archival purposes]
Joint Resolution 0006
Journal & Courier Feb 13 Rapid Response
This week’s Futurama episode, Proposition Infinity, dealt with a very serious topic in a comedic way.
Robosexual marriage.
In seriousness though, the episode took the entire gay marriage mess going on now, applied it to robot-human relationships and poked massive fun at it. I think one of the best parts was when they had basically their own version of the ad that NOM put out against gay marriage.
At the end of the episode, it was deemed legal to have a robosexual marriage, which is where the country is gladly headed in today’s world as well in regards to homosexuals. An interesting item as well is that yesterday, the same day the episode aired, a Federal Judge declared Section 3 of DOMA to be unconstitutional, a massive step forward in true equality.
…k-i-s-s-i-n-g. Sorry, I’m back.
Anyway, mega-company Amazon.com acquired the small Woot.com. Woot will continue being as crazy and continue to sell as many crappy items as ever before so not really a big change.
Let the monkey tell you more:
A few things for the new year:
Have a great new year and I’ll post again soon – hopefully later this week.
Mr. & Mrs. Claus have no issues with their gay son and neither should you! Happy Holidays!
Earlier today we went to view a scale model of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk unmanned military aircraft. When we first went into the airport we saw the model of the engine used (pictures at the end) and a representative from Rolls Royce was listing off specs which, naturally, made no sense to me at all. 
After a short while we went through the airport to the tarmack and saw the full-scale model of the UAV. Although just a model it was still cool to see.
