R.I.P. Dr. George Tiller

Dr. George Tiller, one of the few remaining doctors performing late term abortions, was fatally shot in the lobby of his Kansas church yesterday. You can read the full-story here.

What a sad, sad day for women every where. It's perplexing to me that those who call themselves "pro-life" are only for the lives of unborn children. Once a child is born they are often unwilling to follow the precious child through its life of violence and poverty, let alone support them from a distance through the financial support of social programs. Plus, when they're eighteen we can ship 'em off to Iraq!

"The only difference between these fundamentalists and the Taliban is 8,000 miles."

Indeed.

This may not seem to have a direct correlation to gay rights, but I believe it does. The struggle for gay rights is just one in a larger war to overturn an old world patriarchy in favor of equality for everybody regardless of things like gender of sexual preference. It's no coincidence that fundamentalists who are vehemently anti-choice are often vehemently homophobic as well. This is because homosexuality and a woman's rights to her own body are both direct threats to what they perceive to be a natural order. In their perfect world, women would be subservient and gays would simply be non-existent. They are frightened and lashing out.

Ladies, keep fighting these religious thugs. We have to fight for freedom every day.

Fags, watch your backs.

An Angry Faggot Says Hello.

On Wednesday, May 26^th 2009 the California Supreme Court ruled that Proposition 8, which passed by a slim majority and November and barred gay and lesbian people from civil marriage, would be upheld. Protests were held all across the United States, and I attended the protest in New York. Two thousand people marched peacefully from Sheridan Square to Union Square where a rally was held, complete with fancy speakers. It was nice and all, but it begs the question: really? Is that all?

I went to the protest because I was angry. I want justice, and equality, and, not least of all, to marry the man I’ve been committed to for five years. I’ve been to a lot of these marches since the passing of Prop 8 last November. It should be mentioned that I contact all of my supposedly progressive straight friends and not a single one of them responded to me. I marched alone with my partner.

Look, I fully admit to being somewhat new to political activism. For better or worse, I’m part of the new generation of gay rights activists, or “Stonewall 2.0” as some in the media dubbed called us. That said, I do know enough history to know that our civil rights struggle, as we now know it, began with a riot. You know… that other Stonewall.

Last night protesters met President Obama outside of the Beverly Hilton hotel where he was speaking at the DNC benefit. From the New York Times:

"A gaggle of sign-waving protestors milled around outside The Beverly Hilton, the sprawling hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. They must have caught the president’s eye when he arrived at the hotel from an earlier stop in Las Vegas because he relayed one of their messages to the crowd.

"'One of them said, 'Obama keep your promise,’ ' the president said. 'I thought that’s fair. I don’t know which promise he was talking about.'

"The people in the audience – who paid $30,400 per couple to attend – laughed as they ate a dinner of roasted tenderloin, grilled organic chicken and sun choke rosemary mashed potatoes."

Bitch, please.

How about the repeal of DOMA, DADT and the advancement of anti-discrimination laws for a starter?

So that makes one a judicial system that refuses to protect minorities and a president who blatantly lied to a community for their money and votes only to ignore them in their time of need. Terrific! Let’s take a peaceful stroll to Union Square!

Two high profile lawyers, Ted Olson and David Boies, filed a federal case the day after the Supreme Court decision regarding Prop 8 came out and now prominent gay rights groups are telling gay people to wait, that the timing isn’t right. They say our next move should be getting Californians to vote again and in our favor this time.

Fuck that.

When is the timing going to be right? How long do we have to wait to become citizens of our own country while the sluggish morons watch enough gay affirmative Oprah to decide we are deserving of equal rights? How long do we have to suffer from religious bigotry?

These aren’t rhetorical questions. I’m honestly asking. And further:

Am I the only one who feels frustrated by the ineffectiveness of recent protests? Am I the only one who’s tired of candlelight vigils for slain brothers and sisters? Isn’t there something we can do to wake up straight America to the very really need for equal rights?

A few things I’m starting to wake up to:

1. Obama and the Democrats are not our allies.
2. Straight America, on a national scale, doesn’t give two shits about us because we don’t force them to.
3. The courts will not protect us against the majority.
4. The separation of church and state is a lie.
5. Perhaps our namby-pamby tactics aren’t doing anything.

The last one is especially important. Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like we need new and less peaceful tactics. I’m not advocating hurting people, but civil disobedience can go a long way. Maybe our movement will begin AND end with a riot? Look, I'm a peaceful person by nature. I live a modest and quiet life. I ride the subway to my boring office and go home to my tiny Brooklyn apartment at night. But I’m asking, because I don’t know what else to ask, isn’t it time to FUCK SHIT UP?

“No more Mr. Nice Gay?”

Indeed.