The story of the day remains President Obama finally saying out loud that he supports marriage equality. It is, as countless pundits and commentators have said, a breakthrough for civil and gay rights in America. And it is; a sitting American president has finally said he supports the right of same-sex couples to get married and share in the benefits and responsibilities of that state and contract.
And a lot of people—including myself—have said that it's about time. It is nice to hear it at long last. But in observing that it is long overdue, I do not wish to obscure the fact that compared to his predecessors—and those who would wish to replace him—President Obama's administration has done more for LGBTQI rights than all the previous presidents put together, and it is the actions, not the words, that really matter. And there have been a lot of actions.
There's another level to this. It is more than just the actions and the policies that matter to me. It is the simple assurance that, as an American who happens to be a member of the LGBTQI community, I can feel like my President is with me. In this cynical age (and trust me, I know from cynicism), where politics and partisanship and campaigning are paramount considerations, it is still important for me to hear it.
It may not matter as much to a white, cisgender, middle-aged guy like me who has been comfortable with being out of the closet since the Ford administration, but there are a lot of people for whom this statement of support will be life-changing, people who are still struggling with being out because of family or faith or social pressure to conform with the straight configuration of boys liking girls leading to marriage and kids and minivans. (By the way, you may have heard a lot of same-sex couples have kids and minivans, and a lot of straight couples don't. See also: Kate's post on upholding aspects of the kyriarchy even while dismantling others.)
There are kids who are too young to understand why they are more interested in being with someone of their own sex and wonder when they will grow out of it and know instinctively that they can't talk about it for fear of schoolyard taunts and being "different" at a stage when conformity is the lifeblood of social interaction. They hear the voices on TV railing against we radical homosexuals and our tawdry lives of debauchery, but do not understand why they feel like they're the target. They feel apart from their faith and practice because they know, deep in their hearts, that they do not measure up to the expectations of their church. And while the preachers and scolds are obsessed with sex, kids and adults who don't care one bit about what goes on in the bedroom cannot understand why they should be made to feel ashamed of what is for them a perfectly natural attraction in both a physical and intellectual way to someone of the same sex.
I was one of those kids once.
For the President of the United States—the most powerful person in the world—to calmly tell a TV interviewer in a casual conversation on a sunny May afternoon that he believes that same-sex couples should be able to get married may be a very big deal in the LGBTQI rights movement. It may be a big deal in the political arena as that president stands for re-election, and it will certainly bring the issue to the forefront for the next couple of news cycles, as it has since the vice president got out in front of it last Sunday. It is certainly a distraction from the issue of the economy and the lagging recovery, and if the cynics and the skeptics want to point out that Mr. Obama has provided an "oh look at the kitty" moment for his campaign, they are welcome to say so.
But I have to say that regardless of whatever the motive may be, it still stands as a potential gift of comfort and assurance—even to a white, cisgender, middle-aged guy like me who has been comfortable with being out of the closet since the Ford administration. I have waited to hear this simple statement of inclusion. Millions of us have waited for it. For me to hear it has been a gift.
This doesn't change things overnight. Today there will still be people fired from their jobs or denied a place to live or a couples-only vacation because they are gay. The schoolyard bullies will still be there with their taunts, the preachers will still be there with their obsessive and all-too-enthusiastic talk about sodomy, and teenagers will still be thrown into the streets by parents who tell them that no kid of theirs will be queer. But I believe a cog has shifted in the universe, and no matter what happens in an election in November, the simple fact is that we among you who happen to be gay and want, now or someday, to participate in the institution of marriage have been given the gift of encouragement to become part of us.
[Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.]
Simple Gifts
Today in Procrastination: Prince Charles, Weatherperson
If you're like me, you probably have something better to do than watch HRH Charles, Prince of Wales, read the weather forecast.
Or... do you?
[Description: News person introduces Prince Charles, who fiddles with a clicker, recovers himself, and launches into reading the weather as if it were the St. Crispin's Day speech: "Well, it's an UNSETTLED picture as we (glances behind him) head towards the end of the week..ahh this afternoon (small shrug) it'll be cold wet and windy (hand gesture) across most of Scotland. We're under the influence (looks at picture behind him)of, uh, LOW pressure (wavey hand gesture, looks at screen) and this, ah, weather front, PUSHING (pushing gesture) northwards, is bringing cloud and (hand gesture) outbreaks of RAIN. The rain of course (spreads hands) will be heaviest over the borders (looks behind himself) annnd, uh, around Edinburgh, where it COULD (hand gesture) lead to difficult conditions on the ROADS. (Looks back) In the West (hand gesture) rain will be lighter and patchier with maybe a few (waggles hand) dry interludes over Dumfries House in Ayrshire...(looks behind him, turns around as he seems to realize that the scriptwriter has snuck a joke in there: Dumfries House is one of his own projects)... A-haaa! (points,there is laughter as he resumes) ...There will be SNOW, over the higher ground in the Highlands and Aberdeenshire (spreads hands, looks serious) with the potential for a few flurries over Balmoral ...who the hell wrote this script? (grins as there is laughter)...as the afternoon goes ON. The best of the drier (looks behind) and brighter weather will of course be over the Northern Isles and the far north of the mainland, though a little hazy sunshine for the Castle of Mey in Caithness...but a cold day everywhere (looks serious) with a temperature of just 8 Celsius and a brisk northeasterly wind. Thank God it isn't a bank holiday!" (laughs, there is laughter in the studio, fadeout.)]
Maybe it's the pile of papers on my desk that I am procrastinating on marking, but this is cracking my shit up.
Shaker Thumbs
We haven't had a Shaker Thumbs in more than a year (!), so we're long overdue. Shaker Thumbs is your opportunity to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to a product or service you have used and that you'd recommend to other Shakers or warn them away from.
I'm giving a big THUMBS UP to the Litter Spinner, which is advertised as the "world's greatest cat litter box," and I am inclined to agree!
The premise of the box is that is that you can manually roll it in the rounded base, and, during the revolution, the clumps get trapped in a slide-out drawer from which you can then easily remove the waste. The weight of the litter in the bottom of the barrel keeps it from spinning when the cats step in and out, so there's no danger of them getting injured or freaked out.
The Litter Spinner isn't automated, so there's no risk of your cat getting feetsies caught in any mechanism, and there are no electronic parts to break. There are no special bags or liners you need to buy. And unlike the litter boxes that roll on one side, this one rolls a complete revolution, so all the clumps make it into the disposal tray.
They are more expensive than traditional litter boxes, but less expensive than the mechanical ones. And after only a couple months of use, we're seeing how quickly it pays for itself in saved litter. We have to dump out the entirety of the Litter Spinner a lot less frequently. We also need one less box than we had before.
The cats took to them with no problem. They are super easy to put together and made from recycled materials. We really like them a lot.
The only not-perfect thing I've experienced with them is that if the litter goes over the "litter line" even a bit, some litter tends to spill out when you do the rotation. So we've had to vacuum up a little litter in front of the boxes, but we always needed to do that anyway, since our cats are slobs, lol. I've had cats who didn't drag out as much litter as ours tend to, though, so I wanted to give a heads-up about that.
It's been a really terrific solution for us, and I find them much easier to maintain than our old boxes, which required removing the lids, and repeatedly bending to scoop, which aggravated the chondritis in my ribcage. It's a lot more accommodating of back problems, too, and here's video of a guy talking about how the Litter Spinner is useful because of his visual impairment. It's a nifty little item!
So that's my review. Have at it in comments with your reviews, Shakers!
RIP Alcatraz
"Well, this is a fine howdeyado!"
Fox has cancelled Alcatraz. Of course they did, because it was a show with a strong female lead, a fat lead, a diverse cast, and an interesting premise. WHAT KIND OF DILDOBRAINZ WOULD LIKE A SHOW LIKE THAT?! Sob.
Stinks.
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
Cat Stevens, "I Love My Dog"
Dedicated to Mitt Romney, who is mean to dogs and people, but shouldn't be.
Well, That Didn't Take Long
[Content note: homophobia]
Archbishop Timothy Dolan of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has already reacted to President Obama's statement in support of same-sex marriage, and, as expected, his statement is a model of Christ-like charity.
Ha ha! Just kidding! His statement does, however, confirm that his mitre is actually a rectal chapeau:
President Obama’s comments today in support of the redefinition of marriage are deeply saddening. As I stated in my public letter to the President on September 20, 2011, the Catholic Bishops stand ready to affirm every positive measure taken by the President and the Administration to strengthen marriage and the family. However, we cannot be silent in the face of words or actions that would undermine the institution of marriage, the very cornerstone of our society. The people of this country, especially our children, deserve better.The CHILDREN! Yes, the children, including, one presumes, the children of gay people, who will definitely be better off if their parents can't marry! Don't believe me? It's in the Fourth Chapter of the Book of Obadiah, conveniently shelved somewhere in His Grace's mitre.[Commenting note: Please take care to distinguish between the leadership of the Catholic Church and "Catholics," many of whom are completely appalled by the actions of Dolan and his colleagues.]
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Bullying.]
"Back in high school I did some dumb things and if anybody was hurt by that or offended by that I apologize. If I did stupid things, I'm afraid I've got to say sorry for it. ... I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks in high school and some of them might have gone too far, and I apologize."—Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, reluctantly making a general apology for "hijinks and pranks" like bullying and assaulting a classmate for appearing different, holding him down and cutting off his dyed hair.
Romney says he has no memory of the incident, yet, in response to former classmates' recollections that Romney bullied the kid for presumably being gay, Romney said: "I certainly don't believe that I thought the fellow was homosexual. That was the furthest thing from our minds back in the 1960s."
So, he doesn't remember the incident, but he's certain that it had nothing to do with thinking the kid was queer. All right then.
I totally call megabullshit on the whole "no one thought about other guys being gay in the '60s" garbage, too. Sorry, Romney—I know gay men your age and they were damn well harassed for it by bullies like you.
Look at What Joshua Ledet Did This Week
Joshua Ledet, "It's a Man's World"
I literally loathe the lyrics to this song—except when Christina Aguilera sings them and puts a whole other spin on them—but I couldn't love any more than I do (IT IS PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE!) the way Joshua Ledet sang this song. Amazing. Stunning. Magnificent. He is a national treasure.
That is FOR SURE the best performance in the history of American Idol.
In related Idol news, please skip over to Jessica's place to read our excellent Idol-time conversation last night. Warning: Queefs ahead!
Generally Gross
I know you all are maintaining maximum enthusiasm for this dynamic campaign already, but I am about to MAXIMIZE it even MAXIMIZIER! Mitt Romney finally broke his legendary silence on President Obama's historic announcement that he has evolved to a position of basic decency toward QUILTBAG-Americans, and Romney's response is every bit as fantastic as you'd hope and expect:
I have the same view on marriage that I had when I was governor, and that I've expressed many times, and that marriage is between a man an a woman.... States are able to make decisions with regard to domestic partnership benefits such as hospital visitation rights, benefits and so forth of various kinds can be determined state by state, but my view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman and that's my own preference. I know other people have differing views. This is a very tender and sensitive topic as are many social issues, but I have the same view that I've had since running for office.... I believe that based upon the interview that he gave today on ABC it's said that he had changed his view, but you're a better judge of that than I. I just saw the reports that he previously opposed same-sex marriage and now according to ABC news he supports it. You'll be able to make that determination on your own.Ha ha PERFECT. That is just a very smart, eloquent, and thoughtful thing to say, in every possible way. I particularly love his categorization of marriage equality as a "tender and sensitive topic," just because it makes me think of marriage equality sitting in heart-shaped hot tub with Maggie Gallagher, trying to tenderly and sensitively work it out over a couple of champagne flutes filled with Asti Spumante.
In other news, here's another fun quote from President Obama's ABC News interview, which is quite reasonably getting less attention than the same-sex marriage quote:
President Barack Obama labeled presumptive challenger Mitt Romney's comments that took credit for the auto industry's recovery as an "Etch A Sketch moment."I don't think anybody takes that seriously. LOL! He's not offended; he's contemptuous.
"I think this is one of his Etch A Sketch moments. I don't think anybody takes that seriously," Obama said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" that aired Thursday, referencing the now infamous language used by a top Romney adviser in March.
Finally: It turns out Mitt Romney is a terrible person! [Content Note: Homophobia and bullying.] One time, he "viciously" bullied and assaulted a classmate he assumed to be gay, and, not only did he never face any consequences for it, he doesn't even remember it. On the other hand, the classmate "thought about [the incident] a lot" in following years. Sadface. I really dislike Mitt Romney, y'all.
He reminds me of another bloke who enjoys getting people to knuckle under. [Content Note: Violent imagery.] And we all know how that went.
Talk about these things! Or don't. Whatever makes you happy. Life is short.
Holy Shit, the Pragmatism Faerie Just Brought Me a Cynicism Cookie
If you're like me (and I know I am), you might have heard that President Obama thinks same-sex couples should be able to get married. It's pretty hard to underestimate what a big deal this is. A sitting president of the United States came out in favor of [gay joke] announced his support for gay equality in yet another arena.
I'm being super serious when I say that I think marriage equality is a pretty big deal. I'm legally married in a state that only let me get married under the pretense that I'm a guy. That kinda sucks (the dude part, not the marriage). The thing is, as much as I'm not wild about using my marriage license, HOLY SHIT THE BENEFITS (assuming someone is willing to enforce the legitimacy of said marriage). My partner and I save well over $100 a month just on the tax on our health insurance benefits. Allowing many of our friends to get married and simultaneously not forcing Westsidebecca amd I to be straight for tax purposes would be pretty sweet, too.
However.
This is what I heard:
I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone [REMEMBER THAT?!?!], because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married. [Emphasis mine]I'm not sure if "affirm" is the best choice of word. It's not like I knew all along that Obama was my super-secret ally who just came out of the closet* (surprise!). Also, I'm not so interested in what Obama thinks as in what he does. Taping an interview with a national news outlet is a start, but, um, I'd really like some action. (That's what she said.)
Once I got past the deafening dog whistle about monogamy (okay, I didn't), I basically saw a sitting president making the somehow still controversial claim that some gay couples conveniently serve the narrative that the kyriarchy is using, and that they deserve a cookie. Also, coincidentally, there's an election in November and :cough: it takes money and votes to win an election.
Look, I'm happy that the president has finally evolved. I'm not so happy to see that he's evolved to join privileged, assimilationist gays in time for their endgame. (That's soooooooo what she said.) It's just, I daresay I'd be a spot happier to see Obama down on the Christopher Street piers handing out free health insurance. Or maybe he could work to ensure that working class queers could still hang out on the Christopher Street piers without the rich neighbors being all pissy about it.
I'm not expecting the United States to ever elect queer leaders. If queer people saw ourselves mirrored in our nation's leadership, we wouldn't be very queer now, would we? Still, it's depressing to see a president propping up the same institutions and same tropes that oppress us, all in the name of "defending our rights". I don't want an orgy on the White House lawn (Okay, I do. A girl can dream.), but having a president with some willingness to act in opposition to intersecting oppressions would be nice, even if the latter strikes me as unlikely as the former.
--
*As a queer lady, I get one free gay pun for my piece.**
--
**Okay, twọ
BushQuotes!
Chapter 3, page 31: "I love campaigning, especially in small-town Texas. I enjoy meeting people and shaking hands and listening to their stories about their lives. I don't particularly like raising money, although it's a necessary part of a campaign, especially against a well-funded incumbent. In the early days, it was tough going, person to person, one individual at a time. No one gave me much of a fighting chance, and not many people want to put money into what they suspect will be a losing cause. I'll never forget going to see Don Carter, a wonderful man who was the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team. I gave him my pitch, talked about why I was running and how I wanted to change Texas. An hour later, he pulled out a checkbook and said, 'I'd like to help you.' He wrote the check, handed it to me, and said, 'Good luck, son.' There are no limits on campaign contributions from individuals for state elections in Texas, and Don is a wealthy man. From watching him write upside down, from across the desk, I thought the check said $10,000. But as I walked out the door, I looked down and saw it was actually $100,000. I had to restrain myself, because I felt like jumping over the desk to hug Don Carter. I told him, 'I'm honored, I'm humbled, I'll work to always make you proud.' To this day, Don Carter has never asked me for one thing; in fact, when I called to ask him to bring his family and grandkids down to Austin to visit and have lunch, I practically had to beg him to come."
First of all, I just want to note that is actually one paragraph in the book. And it's even longer than that—I started in its middle. Paragraph breaks are for sissies!
Secondly: Oh the humanity! I can't even imagine how terrible it must be to go "person to person" begging for $100,000 checks to fund your political career.
Privilege and Balls of Cash.
[From George Bush's A Charge to Keep, gifted to me by Deeky, because he hates me. In the US, all people who plan to run for president write a shitty book. (Some are less shitty than others, by which I mean the Democrats' books.) A Charge to Keep was George W. Bush's shitty I-wanna-be-president book, published in 1999. I am blogging one random quote per page every day until I have either made my way through the book or lost it behind a couch.]
GOOD MORNING!
LOL!!!
If scientists could figure out how to convert rightwing hyperbole into an energy source, we would never need worry about gas prices ever again.
Question of the Day
What is the one thing you would most like to hear a President of the United States say?
It doesn't necessarily have to be President Obama. This is more about the influence of the office than any specific officeholder.
BushQuotes!
Chapter 3, page 30: "To stand for office, you must stand for something."
Welp, that's probably the smartest thing we're ever gonna get outta this book. And how fortuitous that it was plucked from the page today.
[From George Bush's A Charge to Keep, gifted to me by Deeky, because he hates me. In the US, all people who plan to run for president write a shitty book. (Some are less shitty than others, by which I mean the Democrats' books.) A Charge to Keep was George W. Bush's shitty I-wanna-be-president book, published in 1999. I am blogging one random quote per page every day until I have either made my way through the book or lost it behind a couch.]
Number of the Day
Zero: The number of shits I give about what any conservative antigay bigot has to say about President Obama's affirmation of personal support for marriage equality.
Go to hell, every last one of you.
Why the Democratic National Convention Needs to Stay in North Carolina
by Jessica Luther, aka scATX, a liberal, a feminist, a wife, a mother, a professional historian, and an optimist.
Last night, there was sad news out of North Carolina. From Pam's House Blend:
I'm sitting here thinking about all of the blood, sweat and tears poured into this battle to defeat Amendment One here in NC. It looks like is NC had the highest turnout for a primary here in a quarter century — 34.37 % (2,164,074 ballots cast out of 6,296,759 voters). Only 18% were expected to vote.The bigotry she is referring to is an amendment to the state's constitution that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman and bans same-sex marriage and civil unions, an amendment which, according to Kristin Rawls, does collateral damage in addition to the harm targeted at same-sex couples:
But the forces of bigotry won this round.
In fact, its scope is extremely broad and could have many devastating consequences. Two of the most likely are also the most troubling. First, the Amendment could prevent employers from providing health insurance benefits to the children of unmarried parents. According to the Coalition to Protect All NC Families, that's the children of nearly 90,000 couples, the sum total of all unmarried couples with children in the State. There is simply no religious justification for harming children.In response to this amendment passing, the liberals began making poor choices. From Think Progress: "14K SIGN PETITION URGING DEMOCRATS TO MOVE CONVENTION OUT OF NORTH CAROLINA". The reason for this petition:
Not only this, but the Amendment could also invalidate existing domestic violence protections for all unmarried women in the state. It would almost certainly weaken the State's already minimal domestic violence statutes. When it comes to domestic violence, Ohio's similar amendment to ban gay marriage is very instructive. When Ohio's amendment became law, 27 domestic violence convictions were overturned or dismissed.
On May 8th, the people of North Carolina voted in support of Amendment One, a constitutional amendment that discriminates against LGBT people, couples & their families. In protest, the Democratic National Convention Committee should MOVE its convention (September 2012) to a state that upholds values of equality & liberty, and which treats ALL citizens equally.Good luck. The 32 states that have put gay marriage on ballots since 1998 have all had voters vote against gay marriage (or, rather, often in favor of hetero marriage). Looking at these amazing Guardian graphics (h/t to Jon Hanna), the DNC could basically only be held somewhere in the northeast (other than Pennsylvania, Maine, and Delaware—and take Rhode Island and New Jersey off the list unless civil unions are treating "all citizens equally"). Really, other than the northeast, we only have Iowa and Washington. And maybe most liberals are cool with limiting their support to the 9 states with the right to marriage equality secured under law. I'm not.
Beyond that, moving the convention out of North Carolina is cowardly and passive and ineffectual. How does boycotting do anything but show the GOP and North Carolina voters (many of whom did show up to vote against amendment 1) that liberals don't actually care about them? [Note: As Dub Pool pointed out to me, "Worth noting: There were votes against Amendment 1 in every single NC county."]
Boycotting, in these moments, is tantamount to us turning our backs and closing our eyes. And let's be honest: there are only certain states most of us would put on the "IMMEDIATELY BOYCOTT" list over voting outcomes that we don't like.
Instead of running, better to put pressure on the DNC to go to North Carolina and go out into the LBGQT community, meet activists, give them a space to talk and have a conversation with them. Better to use the national media attention of the convention to give North Carolina couples, both gay and straight, a platform to share their personal stories. Better to show up to North Carolina and say, "Fuck Amendment 1. This ain't over. We are the moral majority and we aren't going anywhere. We will not give up." [Of course, one wishes that the DNC or the Obama administration cared enough to say something before the vote actually happened, this post being written in the shadow of Obama's historic announcement that he, the sitting president of the United States of America supports marriage equality...the day after the NC vote.]
I, personally, am sick of this passive "oh, well, we sorta tried" bullshit from the left. No. You know who tried? Liberals living in North Carolina. We non-North Carolina liberals show up for a week, a day, and then declare North Carolina a lost cause and call for a boycott of the state? NO. The assholes of the GOP make me livid. But nothing frustrates me more than the fickleness of liberals. And I say this as a proud progressive. Who lives in Texas.
As Liss tweeted at me, "The thing about state boycotts is people will be boycotting gay-owned businesses, too. Great—withhold $ from folks denied benefits." This isn't a practical idea that will actually affect change. So what is the point?
When the going gets tough, we just have to get tougher.
Dan Solomon pointed out to me today: "It seems much easier to get a lot of people on the same page to say ‘no' to everything than ‘yes' to different things." The GOP doesn't have to do anything and they win. When we pull out of North Carolina, hanging our heads in defeat, they win. They win by default. As Mark Sample wrote, "Don't you know the people who voted for Amendment 1 would LOVE to have Democrats pull out of the state."
Most importantly, as Samson, a North Carolinian wrote, if the DNC pulls out and liberals as a group shun North Carolina, "We still live here." And North Carolinians still matter. People who live in red states still matter (North Carolina only counts as a sometimes red state as it is).
Final thought: now that the president has said "I think same sex couples should be able to get married," get that man on a plane and get him to North Carolina and get some cameras on him. Show North Carolinians, members of the LGBTQI community, Democrats, the nation, and the whole fucking world (not mutually exclusive groups) that we aren't going anywhere. That despite this loss, liberals will continue to fight even in places where the fight is hard. ESPECIALLY when the fight is hard.
To North Carolina we go!
If you want to contact the DNC and let them know you like the idea of the convention staying in North Carolina (I stole this info from the anti-NC convention petition):
Democratic National Convention Committee
400 S. Tryon Street
Suite 1300
Charlotte, NC 28285
(704) 373-2012
http://www.facebook.com/demconvention
Tweet of the Day
Pretty epic typo for Benedict Cumberbatch in Washington Post, third paragraph (via @sstummeafp) twitter.com/Alex_Ogle/stat…
— Alex Ogle (@Alex_Ogle) May 8, 2012
The typo, for those who can't view the image, is "Bandersnatch Cummerbund." Did Eddie Izzard write that article? ENGLEBERT BANDERSNATCH IS TERRIFIC AS SHERLOCK SLAPTYBACK!
[Via @celticfeminist.]
Fuck, He Did It
I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.Blub forever.
I mean, I don't want to give too many cookies for saying what is self-evidently the most obvious statement of basic decency, but holy shit the US president just came out in favor of same-sex marriage, y'all!
Good. Now we demand action.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you.
UPDATE: Here's the video...
