the inspiring breakdown of Joel Burns

Rivulets of tears streamed down my face as I watched this. It hurt so much to watch, but at the same time it was profoundly uplifting.

I wish I could give Joel the tightest tight hug I could possibly give anyone, stain his chest with my tears.

This is all we ask for, to have a chance at life unoppressed and unsuppressed. The kind of life that all straight people, including you who read this, enjoy and even take for granted. Some of us kill ourselves because of what some of you have done to us.

You have no idea the suffering we must put up with.

You have no idea what I went through, what Joel went through, what those young teens went through before they took their own lives.

Imagine you as a parent walking in on your son or daughter, seeing his or her limp body hanging from a rope, or bloody from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. All because you never took the time to listen, to talk. Or because you said they're going to hell. Your own parent whom you thought loved you telling you to go to hell for what you are through the accident of birth.

Is love, tolerance, and acceptance too much to ask for? It seems with some of us, like Tony Perkins at the conservative Family Research Council, it is.

So to my family and friends and associates, I appreciate and love those of you who have accepted and embraced me for who I am, not for what your god or your society tries to force me to become. Thank you. :-)

gay kittens and my mom

Today is National Coming Out Day.

I just came out to my mom. It was fcuking hilarious! I mean, my whole family already knows I'm gay but they never really talk about it openly and so I thought I'd just officially come out to Mom and get it over it after decades of not. She said in her thick Filipino old woman accent: "Dooooont be gey!"

I said, "Hey it's too late, I was born like this."

She said, "Yez but doooooont be gey!"

I said, "I can't do that because I don't like girls. I don't like suso!" ("suso" is tits in Tagalog, the national dialect of the Philippines)

I asked her to find me a rich gay brain surgeon or scientist so I can get married and she said no. I said, "Oh c'mon, don't you want me to have a nice husband?"

Then I found out that two of Mom's uncles were actually gay themselves! I never knew them. They were my maternal grandmother's cousins. So THAT'S where it came from, her side of the family. No one else in my immediate family is gay (that I know of), not even any of my nieces and nephews so far.

After I came out to her I asked her if I could have a gay kitten. She laughed. I said, "You know, a gay kitten is better because you don't have to worry about it getting pregnant."

She said no, I can't have a kitten (like she told me many times before).

I said, "C'mon! We could even have two gay kittens. And that's better 'cause you know why? They can't get each other pregnant."

She said, "And how do you know the kitten is gay?"

I said, "You can tell when it walks around like this..." , and I made a walking gesture with a limp wrist.

She laughed so hard that drool came out of her mouth.

Then I said, "Two gay kittens can never get each other pregnant, because when you put them together they won't have sex. Instead they'll just point to each other and say, 'Ng pogi naman! Ay, ng guapo naman!' " (translation: "You're hot! You're good looking! You're hot! You're good looking!")

I kinda stopped there because Mom was laughing so hard I was scared she'd have an attack.

I came out to my mom and it was like an ethnic TV sitcom.

I said, "Mom, I'm gay but I still love you." And I know, with her, the feeling will always and forever be mutual, even though I still can't have a kitten.

will you marry me

The entirety of David Boies's speech
(1hr. 10min., including Q&A) can be viewed here.

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

- Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

On the 4th of August, 2010 federal Judge Vaughn Walker overturned the California Marriage Protection Act (Proposition 8, originally passed during November, 2008), a law in the state that prohibits same sex couples the right to marry, a fundamental right otherwise enjoyed by opposite sex couples only. Judge Walker ruled on the grounds that Proposition 8 violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The Entire Ruling That Overturned California's Prop 8 | Federal Judge Vaughn Walker (.pdf link 138 pages)

I have to admit, when I read the entire 138 page ruling by Judge Walker, which meticulously and rationally ran through 80 various statements of fact, otherwise all conceivable points supporting the argument that marriage must only be between a man and a woman, and struck each one down, the whole thing sounded amazingly sexy. And not only because it sealed my rights as an American to marry whomever I wanted (at least within the state of California), but in particular because the analysis in the ruling was drop dead gorgeous, brilliant research on the constitutionality of overturning Prop 8 based on constitutional law and rock solid facts and statistics as put forth by expert witnesses, both called by the plaintiffs and as well through cross-examination of the two expert witnesses on the proponents' side.

In the end, the ruling stated that there was absolutely no rationale or grounded reason behind denying marriage to same sex couples and absolutely no evidence supporting the law stating that marriage must only be between a man and a woman. According to Slate.com's Dahlia Lithwick this ruling will be incredibly difficult to argue against, pick apart, and overturn when it reaches the 9th circuit court (the appellate court) and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court. In other words it has far reaching implications on our future as a country in terms of guaranteeing equal rights for all of us Americans to marry whomever we want under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.

The only current regret I have is that I have no one special in my life these days to share this victory with. But who knows? When the U.S. Supreme Court finally rules in our favour as Americans, maybe by then I'll have someone in my life with whom I can finally exchange this most profound and deepest and most beautiful of vows.

separate is not equal

^ Separate is not equal | On gay marriage, 'whether you like it or not' | Full program (1 hr. 7 min.)

"Gavin Christopher Newsom is the current mayor of San Francisco. A Democrat, Newsom was elected mayor in 2003, succeeding Willie Brown and becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years.

Newsom drew voter attention with his Care Not Cash program, designed to move homeless people into city assisted care.

...Newsom's unexpected move brought national attention to the issues of gay marriage and gay rights, solidifying political support for Newsom in San Francisco and in the gay community, and causing several other states to change their laws concerning marriage and gay rights. Newsom is viewed in many political circles as a potential candidate for governor in the 2010 gubernatorial election."

- FORA.tv

Gavin Newsom gives a damn. And as Mayor of San Francisco he's willing to put civil rights forward while taking a step back for himself because he gives a damn, painting his city in more beautiful shades of humanity.