Written: 12/31/2011

Sometimes people ask what kinds of rights the BLTG (sorry, love the BLT sandwich so much!) don’t have.  There are (at last count if I remember correctly) 1,138 rights, protections and responsibilities from the Federal Government that are barred.

So let’s talk about money for a moment:

CNNMoney reports that the federal government’s lack of recognition of same-sex marriages, which forces legally married couples to file separately on their federal returns, results in as much as $6,000 per year in additional taxes.

Not only are these couples losing out because they can’t take advantage of the lower tax rates that come from combining incomes and deductions, says to the article, it’s “also harder for them to qualify for certain tax breaks because the credits phase out sooner for single filers.”

It’s weird talking about a tangible thing, or at least, as tangible as money can be.

Guess I need to do better at saving!

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 12/31/2011

Last week, the Catholic Cardinal of Chicago (hey, he could be the CCC!), compared gays to the KKK.

You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.” he said on FOX Chicago Sunday.

Written: 12/31/2011

Maybe there is hope yet for a turn around by my employer:

The poll released by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in partnership with Greenberg Quinlan Research found that 77 percent of voters support protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in employment.

“Indeed, support for anti-discrimination laws and policies are so non-controversial that overwhelming majorities of Republicans, conservatives and observant Christians support them as well,” the report’s authors wrote.

Seventy percent of Republicans and sixty-seven percent of conservatives support such protections.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 12/31/2011

Sometimes, I have to step back and realize that I’m just a guy fighting for his job.  Whereas in other parts of the world (Jamaica is notorious as well), people are fighting for their lives:

I’ll still fight, but there are others doing much more important work than myself.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 12/31/2011

While not directly related, I wanted to pass along this story.  The Mayor of Troy, MI posted this message on Facebook:

I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there.

Written: 12/30/2011

Did you know that when marriage equality is enacted, it’s better for gay men.  Who would have guessed:

Legalising same-sex marriage may create a healthier environment for gay men, say US researchers. The number of visits by gay men to health clinics dropped significantly after same-sex unions were allowed in the state Massachusetts. This was regardless of whether the men were in a stable relationship, reported the American Journal of Public Health…. Research has already suggested that gay men are more likely to suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts than heterosexual men, and that social exclusion may be partly responsible…. Dr Mark Hatzenbuehler, who led the study, said: “Our results suggest that removing these barriers improves the health of gay and bisexual men “Marriage equality may produce broad public health benefits by reducing the occurrence of stress-related health conditions.”

If the government really wants to make things better for society, we need marriage equality.

Or if we just want an economic boost, like Iowa has seen:

since Iowa extended marriage rights to same-sex couples in 2009, the resulting spending on wedding arrangements and tourism provided an additional $12 to $13 million to the state and local economy.

And cities more accepting and welcoming tend to be more fun, be better places to live and have wealthier inhabitants (although these are probably correlations, not causations):

But it gets more interesting when we piece together other data about our nation’s gayest cities. District of Columbia, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis and Denver rank in the top 25 for the most educated cities in the country, and District of Columbia, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle and Minneapolis all landed on the highest earners list as well.

And is it surprising that out of the gayest cities, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis and Denver were voted in the top 20 for most fun in the country? I think not. On the downside, Atlanta and Minneapolis earned spots on the most dangerous cities list for their high crime rates.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 12/30/2011

I’m going to generalize.  Sorry for that.  However, there are a good many of right-wing Republicans (not conservatives, they aren’t in control of the Republic party anymore), that think that “Big Government” needs to go away…except when it is regulating what people do in their bedrooms.

Rick Perry reminded us all that he disagrees with Lawrence v Texas, the Supreme Court case which struck down sodomy laws across the country.

Here’s the reader’s digest version (which by the way, Reader’s Digest has been embracing that phrase, and I kind of dig the metaness of it): Before 2003, some states (and in this case, Texas), had sodomy laws on the books.  These laws were directed at the LGBT community, in some cases, basically making it illegal to be gay.

Many of these laws also technically made all sex aside from missionary sex with the goal of procreation illegal as well.

So yes, until 2003, a mere eight years ago, it was illegal to be gay in many states.  Think of how outrageous that is.  And there are many politicians that are being given legitimate air time, that think we need to roll back to that time.

Make no mistake, there are hateful, evil people out there that want even worse for me, but it’s pretty bad that there are those that want to make my very existence illegal.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 12/30/2011

The Illinois Catholic Charities have thrown a hissy fit.  As is the trend with Catholic charities across the country, because they can’t discriminate, they are deciding to not help anyone.

But now most of the Catholic Charities affiliates in Illinois are closing down rather than comply with a new requirement that says they can no longer receive state money if they turn away same-sex couples as potential foster care and adoptive parents.

Because if you have to treat people fairly, that’s religious discrimination.  Here’s the rub though, do a quick “find and replace” and see what happens:

Now let’s pretend that our charity refused to place children in the homes of Jews—or Muslims or Hindus or atheists or Lutherans or members of Mars Hill Church—because, according to our sincerely held religious beliefs, Jews and Muslims and Hindus and atheists and Lutherans and members of Mars Hill Church go to hell.

These charities receive close to 3 billion a year in public money.  And public money should not be used to pay for bigotry.  Use private funds and set up all kinds of regulations that fit your bigoted world-view.  But not with tax money that comes from everyone: Jews, Muslims, atheists, and even gays.

AMERICAblog has this to add:

Sorry, but if you’re going to suck at the federal teat to the tune of nearly $3 billion a year, there are going to be some strings attached, especially civil rights strings. You simply are not permitted to take taxpayer money and say “I’m a Klansman, and my view of religion is that blacks are inferior.” That isn’t going to fly. Nor can you take taxpayer money and deny services to Jews or Muslims because you think they’re going to hell. Sure, that’s your religious view all right, but if you want to express it, don’t use taxpayer funds to do it.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 12/10/2011

A good friend and co-worker died in a car crash over Thanksgiving.

I heard the news, and as I am wont to do, moved on quickly.  I spent the entire night, talking with friends over Facebook, text message and on the phone, a trend which continued the next week and a half.  I helped to write the letter to the Board, camp staff members, and the messaging we put out on Facebook.

I helped to type up the memorial service, and spent an entire day finding and cleaning up an image of my friend.

The day after his funeral, a day which ended with a bit of a mind fuck, I went to the funeral of my great aunt.  I didn’t see her that often, so I wasn’t that upset, but it was sad to see my grandmother so sad.

But during her funeral, it hit me about my friend, and I had a hard time holding it together.

Whenever there’s a death, I always go into comforter and organizer mode.  I’m the one who helps keep everything else from falling off the tracks, and supports everyone else.  That’s just what I’m best at.  I don’t let myself break down, I take care of everyone else.  There are too many things to do, and there is nothing we can do to bring back the dead.

And while this has led me to another realization (which I keep forgetting to blog about, but hopefully I will soon), it’s let to another problem: I’m have the predisposition to be really emotional, and I guess that sometimes I’m afraid of showing that, especially at work, lest I lose control and spill some information and lose my job.

I actually didn’t go to my friend’s viewing, for a few reasons.  First, by that point, I was so spent from spending so much time getting ready for the memorial service that I didn’t think I could really handle it.  On top of that, I didn’t want to see all of my camp staff kids.

It’s strange, I’ll do just about anything for them, even if they don’t know it, or believe it.  But I’m always pulling strings for them behind the scenes that they’ll never know.  I like to take care of them as much as I can, although sometimes, I just need to be alone and not around that many people.

I’ll miss my friend, of course, and I hope that we can have a good season in his memory.

All my best,

The King of Spades