Written: 06/06/2011

Dan Savage is amazing.  Among other things, he founded the It Gets Better Project, which I have donated to, and I encourage everyone to as well.

The ad itself, which plays at the beginning of his talk, is an amazing piece of work, and part of a great campaign by Google (I’ll be writing about it for The Great and Secret Show).  And as a side note, I totally have the gay android shirt the emcee is wearing.  I’m a big nerd, yes I know.

Anyway, Dan is, as always, funny, engaging and eloquent.  It’s very strange to see him choke up and get so close to breaking down so many times, I guess sometimes I take for granted where his passion must come from.  It’s long (45 minutes), but worth it, please watch.  And if you’re unfamiliar with the It Gets Better Project, he explains it fully, and even if you are, there’s a lot of new information in the beginning part of his talk:

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 06/06/2011

This is just a great ad, and really funny to boot:

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 05/22/2011

I guess this should not surprise me, but big corporations sometimes are horrible.  And of course, it’s my own Insurance Company:

It’s abominable. The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce—chaired by Nissan, and whose other board members include such companies as Nissan, FedEx, AT&T, Comcast, DuPont, Pfizer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Caterpillar, KPMG, Whirlpool, Embraer, Alcoa, and United HealthCare—actively lobbied for a religious right bill in the Tennessee legislature that would rescind Nashville’s civil rights protections for its gay and trans citizens, and which bans every city in Tennessee from passing any civil rights laws, for anyone, ever again.

Not only does United HealthCare provide crappy insurance with constant rate hikes, looks like they are actively involved in bigotry.  Because equality might hamper profits apparently.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 05/22/2011

Dan Savage responds to someone who goes apeshit over this ad playing during American Idol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7skPnJOZYdA

First of all, this is a campaign about Google Chrome and the family of Google products.  Let’s not forget that fact.

Here is Dan’s rebuttal: (emphasis his)

The Google Chrome/”It Gets Better” ad doesn’t promote or discuss or campaign for homosexual sex. It acknowledges the existence of LGBT people and LGBT kids and gives those LGBT kids hope for their futures. Acknowledging the existence of LGBT people does not raise awareness of the specifics of gay sex anymore than acknowledging the existence of heterosexuals raises awareness of the specifics of heterosexual sex. This is a popular argument among haters like Nance: Talking about gay people = talking about buttfucking! But talking about straight people ≠ talking about twatfucking. Because straight relationships are not defined by sex. Straight relationships are about love and commitment and family and big fancy weddings and Jesus! But gay people? We’re not about any of those things. We’re about buttfucking.

This reminds me of my previous posts about how many actions and items that heterosexuals don’t even realize they’re shoving their own sexuality in my face: pictures, stories of their children, date nights, etc.

If you haven’t, go read the previous post, where I link to Rob’s post on his blog about his boyfriend putting together a shelf in their kitchen.  That’s about love and commitment, not buttfucking.  The two posts work very well together, probably more than either one of them know.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 05/22/2011

Once again, Rob has posted something that is so amazingly well written, so touching, that all I can do is link to it.  His blog is always worth a read, and of course, this is no exception.

Also, points for the headlamp.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 05/22/2011

I have a huge, huge post that’s been in the works for years about the hatred the hierarchy of the Catholic Church throws at the LGBT community. Note: And it continues to grow and is in need of so much editing, it will probably never see the light of day.  It’s probably not the healthiest thing to keep a log of all their hatred, but everyone needs a hobby, right?

However, I’d like to point this out in a separate post, as the underlying lie is what the Boy Scouts also use to hide behind in denying membership to the LGBT community.

A study commissioned by U.S. Roman Catholic bishops concludes that neither the all-male celibate priesthood nor homosexuality caused the church’s sexual abuse crisis.

Gay men are no more likely to be pedophiles than heterosexual men.  It amounts to slander to say otherwise.

By the way, the study concluded that the sex abuse crisis was caused by too much social change in the 60s and 70s.  Which is a load of bullshit.  Billions of people made it through those two decades without becoming raping pieces of shit.  Slog comments:

I guess the takeaway here is this: Keep things on an even keel—not too much social change, not too quickly—or God’s representatives here on earth will rape your kids.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 05/22/2011

Thank goodness I don’t live in Wisconsin.  The governor, Walker, who does everything under the guise of “economic necessity” (see his union-stripping bill), is now trying to move through legislation that prevents gay couples from visiting their partners in the hospital.

It’s just another “right” that straight couples take for granted, and one that should not even be an issue.  Ever.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 05/22/2011

The Republican lawmaker who is a veteran gives an impassioned speech in support of marriage equality.  His testimony is wonderful, please watch:

But once again, I’m remembered how tired I am, and how tired I am of the fact that any recognition, any right that I may have as a gay man, I have to fight to either have or keep.  Why should anyone have to fight for their own basic civil rights, which are supposed to be guaranteed?

May, historically, sucks.  It’s my busiest month, and this year it has been extra, extra shitty.  So I’m tired.  I know I’ve brought this up before, but I’m tired and fed up.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 05/08/2011

Here is a long press release that involves a lot of boring legal speak dealing with resolutions and conventions and whatnot (I’m such a nerd that I follow the General Conventions, but that’s another story for another day).

The point is, diocese have been directed that they may begin recognizing same sex unions (marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships, whatever the kids-lawmakers- are calling them these days).  At the 2012 convention, I believe there will be a presentation and a vote on the official wording for services which will then be added to cannons and made available for use across the country.

On a side note, heaven help us if there is a new printing of the Book of Common Prayer.  The old ladies will once again take to Amazon to complain that the older version is better.  No seriously, check it out sometime, it’s hysterical.

But anyway, diocese like San Joquin are moving forward, which is awesome, and I think I read that the rector of my church is somehow involved with writing the new sacraments, but I could be wrong about that.

Anyway, Integrity USA is a group within the Episcopal Church working towards equality, I’ve been working with them to help them out as they redesign their website.  It’s been a fun process and I like the people I work with, hopefully we can continue the momentum.

Note: The redesign never happened, I’m actually not sure what happened.  Now that I have some more time, I should check in with them and see if I can help in some way.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 05/08/2011

Rick Santorum, former Senator and internet celebrity (don’t click the link if you’re at work or have a weak stomach) doesn’t believe that homosexuals should be able to adopt children.  He says:

A lesbian woman came up to me and said, ‘why are you denying me my right?’ I said, ‘well, because it’s not a right.’ It’s a privilege that society recognizes because society sees intrinsic value to that relationship over any other relationship.

I will just turn that around.  I don’t believe Santorum has the right be in elected office, and of course, many people will do what we can to make sure that does not happen ever again.

All my best,

The King of Spades