POLITICS

Gay Rights in America: What will the Outcome be?

With the unofficial start of summer having come and gone, June is quickly approaching. For those fighting in favor of gay rights a great and ominous question is now beginning to ruminate: What will be the Supreme Court’s rulings for the United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry cases argued at the end of March?

Edie Windsor & her late wife Thea Spyer © ACLU

Opinions are varied. Many will argue that the time of justice for the LGBT community is here. The United States cannot afford to further delay the institution of equality among varied sexual identities. By contrast, many have said the event of great change is well ahead of its time. While public opinion appears to suggest that America is leaning towards a more modern understanding of homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality and gender identity, therein remains the argument of morality. Morality, though relative, often wins, which suggests that while America is listening more, they don’t yet wholly accept it.

In New York, there has been a significant rise in crimes against the gay community – especially involving violent crimes against gay men. Several openly gay men, including activists and well-known members of the community, have been taunted with callous gay slurs and in some cases beaten, leaving them hospital-bound. In one case on May 17th a young man was in fact killed after being taunted by hate-mongering bullies for being gay. The word of homicide quickly spread through the community and put everyone on very high alert.

This rise in crime has been said to be a psychological backlash against the growing support for gay rights, including gay marriage. Twelve states have officially recognized gay marriage as legitimate and fully legal, including New York itself. This spread of success for the gay community has left those in its opposition with a sense of failure and fear that they are losing the battle. It can be said that fear breeds anger and hate, which is what we are seeing more prominently with every equal rights milestone.

Hollingsworth v. Perry plaintiffs Sandra B. Stier and Kristin M. Perry (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

The Supreme Court’s official rulings for United States v. Windsor, which includes the upholding or the dismissal of DOMA, and Hollingsworth v. Perry, which includes the upholding or dismissal of California’s Proposition 8, are both expected at the end of June this year. What is to be expected?

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy © Wikipedia

Many experts say it could be a tight ruling. The liberal and conservative extremes among the collective justices do not seem to necessarily be playing a major role in the direction with which they lean. Many conservatives have been outspoken in favor of gay rights, while many liberals have argued against it. It has been implied as of recent that the swing vote could be Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Kennedy has been the swing vote for several cases in the recent past. Since the initial hearing in March, three U.S. states and three countries, including France, have passed gay marriage. It is certainly realistic that these landmark events have influenced Justice Kennedy, as well as others, in favor of striking down DOMA and Proposition 8 this June.

Anthony Weiner: Comeback Politics for the Disgraced Politician

by Alex David Jimenez

Dear New Yorkers: For your consideration, disgraced politician Anthony Weiner would like to be your mayor. Mr. Weiner, who of course was caught red-handed in an egregious slew of inappropriate circumstances involving suggestive personal photos and messages across social-media platforms, believes your good faith in his ability to change will see him through the election this November. Following in the footsteps of former disgraced political countrymen, Mr. Weiner hopes the malevolent tentacles of his abhorrent past do not fasten themselves to your brains, projecting only his sins into your mind when you hear his name or see his face. Your consideration, without consideration of his personal stigma, is most appreciated.

The question remains: can a disgraced politician return to the forefront of politics successfully while the stain of his or her wrongdoings is still fairly visible? Anthony Weiner accepts your challenge. Weiner, the former member of New York’s 9th District of The House of Representatives, faced great turmoil in June of 2011 when private photos of his genitalia and naked body, intended to be sent privately to a 21 year-old college female, were leaked by blogger Andrew Breitbart and went viral.

Anthony Weiner & wife Huma Abedin — (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

The scandal erupted quickly and the media exploded. Weiner initially took to the air and denied the photos were of him, claiming his twitter account had been hacked and that the source of the photos was under investigation. However, only days later Weiner held a press conference in New York admitting that the photos were indeed of him and that he had sent them. The scandal continued, growing more controversial as the politician had initially lied about it. Republicans began to call for Weiner’s immediate resignation. Under scrutiny, several Democrats, including President Obama, suggested it would be best for the Democratic Party if Weiner indeed did resign. He did so officially on June 21st, 2011.

That was two years ago.

On May 21st, 2013 Anthony Weiner officially announced his intent to seek candidacy as Mayor of New York City. In a YouTube video, Weiner presents himself as a morally changed man. The video features his wife, Huma Abedin (who stood by her man during the scandal) and his baby boy. By all accounts, the video is a strong presentation of a mayoral candidate who would represent New York well and would work for the people.

Therein lies the question at hand. What effect does Weiner’s disgraced past have on his chances of winning this election?

The question is best answered by observing the American public and their relationship with American politics. How much information does the average voter actually take in when entering a voting booth? Barack Obama won the 2008 Presidential Election for several reasons, but many will argue that it came down to the fact that he was simply more likable than John McCain. Obama became a social-media sensation, reaching millions of young voters John McCain could not touch. Yet how many of the young Obama supporters could accurately convey Obama’s political record? How many of them knew what Obama had achieved or failed as an Illinois Senator? The numbers would be minimal. The media gives the average American a largely black and white display of political leaders; more accurately, a red and blue display. There are many attributes to politicians we never seek to learn about, or even care about. It’s an unfortunate truth, but the general masses will concur that the most interesting form of politics is dirty politics. The public loves gossip. The public loves to shame those at the top.

What effect will this have on Anthony Weiner’s chances of winning the mayoral election this year? It will blind most voters. The ballot will be filled with names and numbers, but when it comes time to vote for New York City Mayor, most voters will not see the honorable family man presented in Weiner’s YouTube video, but will see what they remember: An irresponsible sexual deviant with no self-control. Whether or not Anthony Weiner would be good for New York (which many will argue he would) will matter very little. His past will haunt him even today. It’s not to say that he has no chance of winning; politics is a most unpredictable beast. But it will be a very hard fight for the outspoken public servant.

Rhode Island very close towards approval of gay marriage

by Ryan Shea

Rhode Island is poised to become the tenth state in our union to legalize gay marriage. The state senate approved a bill extending marriage rights by a vote of 26-12, not a landslide but a great enough margin where you can tell there was a common theme here. This has even gone so far to have independent Lincoln Chafee, who was Governor when I lived there, and the Senate Republican Caucus has all expressed unanimous support for the bill.

There are of course, the naysayers in all of this. According to CNN.com, The Rhode Island Catholic Conference said Tuesday in a statement posted on its website that it appreciated that exemptions for religious organizations had been included in the bill. “Unfortunately, the exemptions fail to protect individuals and small businesses who believe that marriage is a union of one man and one woman,” it said.

Scott Spear, an advisory board member of the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Marriage, said he would have preferred the fate of the bill be decided in a public referendum rather than by the Senate. “We believe the record of marriage as has existed throughout the history of civilization stands for an empirical truth, and that truth is a marriage is a union between one man and one woman,” he said in a telephone interview.

As much as I want to say Scott Spear has a point here, he really doesn’t. Yes he can say marriage is between one man and one woman, but love is love folks. For people to deny gay men and women the right to legally marry someone when the divorce rate in this country is at an all time high and people like Britney Spears can get married for 55 hours in Vegas chapel and have it be legal all for a publicity stunt I have to call bullshit on that.

What further surprises me is why of all the New England states Rhode Island was the last one to jump on this bandwagon. When i lived there, there seemed to be more gay bars in downtown Providence than their were straight ones, and Gay Pride is a really huge event as well. To a certain degree though, Rhode Island is a very unique state in that there is a lot of cow country there and then it gets really industrial once you hit the Providence area, so it might just be the old fashioned thinking people who had a large say in this. It is also run by several Democrats so the thought of this taking so long truly has baffled me. Nevertheless, it seems to be going in the right direction.

Iowa, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Washington and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage. Their combined populations, based on U.S. Census estimates for 2012, represent 15.8% of the U.S. population. Let’s keep the number of states rising everyone, if these ten states can figure it out the other forty should be able to as well. That’s all.

Politics in gay bars: what to/ not to do

by Ryan Shea

As it has been nine years now since I started going to gay bars back in the day in Providence, I have seen my fair share of quite frankly everything one can see for themselves. When you live in a city like Manhattan, the gay bars are plentiful and designed for a certain type of atmosphere or look. Each and every guy you see in there has a purpose of being there. There are the ones who just got off of work and are there for happy hour and a drink. There are ones who go to the special leather nights and want to find a guy who either has a strap on their right or left arm (if you get that analogy, congratulations). There are ones who go with a group and are social just for the fact of being social. Then there are the elusive ones who are brave enough to go out there on their own and try to find someone. Be it a conversation, a boyfriend or a one night stand, we have all been there in terms of what we want to get out of it. So if you are that striking, handsome chap who happens to find themselves at the local gay bar in Chelsea, here are a couple of things you can do in order to make sure that at the end of the night you leave with a smile on your face (and pants hopefully).

Approaching someone who is alone-

This is really the best case-scenario as their is no blockage in the way (groups, annoying girls who show up with them, etc). There are really good ways to gauge how you can approach something like this. If you happen to be standing next to them, or across the bar, make sure that you know they are attracted. How? Usually, if a guy looks up at you a handful of times and stares/smiles, it’s a go. If they do that and are not moving from the position they are in, generally they want you to come over and say hello. After a handful of smiles, go over and say hello. Figure out a topic of conversation outside of the “You are cute, so are you” and go with it. That way, you have found someone of interest and hopefully will have a good night. These situations require bravery in that you don’t want to keep looking at each other and not do anything about it. Someone else might approach or a friend shows up late and they get there, and you lose your chance. Carpe Diem- seize the moment.

Infiltrating the group scenario-

This is one of the more trickier ones, especially if you are there by yourself. Let’s start by making this easier- you are with a friend or two. There are so many scenarios here. In a city like New York, so many people know each other. One good way is if you or your friend happen to know one of the guys in the other group, that way making social interaction is easy and you can go from there. What if that doesn’t happen? There are ways around it without making it awkward, but if you are in a sports bar generally you can strike up a conversation about who they are rooting for and what they think about the game. If the other group aren’t dickish, they will respond and generate a good conversation. If you happen to be alone and see a guy in a group that you want to talk to, I would advise not. They are there with a group to have a good time and usually will not look for anything more than that. BUT, if they happen to be in a twosome or threesome, wait for their friend to leave to get a drink and then jump in. It may not lead to the best case scenario in that other guy might be their date or not interested, but it always helps to go in for the kill. You never know.

Getting the guys number-

So in those two scenarios, you have made it to the conversation. Whatever you are talking about, you are getting the feeling the guy is interested. Here are some good motives to getting that number and securing date number one. One- try to be witty and cute. Say something like, “So I’m cute, you are cute, let’s go on a date and be cute together”. That way, he laughs and knows that you are interested in going on a date without over doing it. If the witty approach doesn’t work for you, it always works to just be blunt and say “Can I get your number’. Some like that, some don’t. There have been situations where a guy will give you a fake number, which is the worst because then you can really tell what you are doing is a waste of time. Ask him “Here is my number, call me with yours so I can save it in my phone”. Then you know the guy is for real.

These are just some fun, helpful tips to have a successful night at whatever bar you deemed appropriate to go to. Good luck, and happy man hunting!

Gay Marriage debate- you silly bible thumpers

by Ryan Shea

Two days ago my Facebook News Feed was flooded with red and more red and more red. The constant change of several gay and straight friend’s profile pictures was a significant eye opening experience as the DOMA (Defense Of Marriage Act) and the ban on California’s Prop 8 have come into severe play on the Supreme Court. What made it so amazing to me is how many of my personal friends and thousands of others are for the ban and challenge of both acts and propositions and really how the support for gays in this country has increased exponentially in the past ten to fifteen years.

The funniest part of this whole thing is the opposition. Now, I always do my best to come into things with a mature look on both angles regardless if I happen to be biased on one side. This time around, there is no defense for the conservative bible thumpers who ONLY have one defense in this whole thing- the bible itself. Really people, you take one line in an entire book and turn it into something that is so beyond catastrophically stupid that we even have these ridiculous and time consuming debates, court cases and millions of people feeling like second class citizens.

I will only speak from my experience here. I always get the sense that these right-wing, old fashioned homophobic people view gay men in particular as only one way. They fear us for several reasons and blame a lot of what they think we are on their own huge insecurities. It wasn’t too long ago that interracial marriage was banned, now that is over. It wasn’t too long ago that white and black people drank from separate water fountains, now that is over. These things are all over because people stood up for what they believed was right (and actually was), spoke the fuck up and silenced the morons that were raised on their own bigotry because their parents and people around them taught to be hateful, simple minded jackasses.

This has even gotten to a point where the most right wing, conservative people like Bill O’Reilly and Karl Rove have stated somewhat in jest but really saying that gay marriage should happen. Yes, Bill O’Reilly and Karl Rove. Several other conservatives have stepped forward, in particular ones that thanks to Andrew Cuomo were a big part in legalizing gay marriage here in New York. I am fortunate, because I live in one of the states that when I do get married (gotta find the guy first, hit me up I’m cute) I can do it in a legal fashion and not have to tip-toe around a civil union or drive thousands of miles to another state to make it real. If this issue has become that drastic where the most conservative of conservatives are siding with gay and gay friendly people on this matter, then I don’t see why this whole process can be taken care of, prop 8 thrown away, DOMA taken down, and that EVERY MOTHER FUCKING STATE legalizes gay marriage. Everyone, and I mean EVERY PERSON deserves equal rights. This has become our civil rights movement, and we deserve what everyone else has.

As Miranda Priestly puts it so easily yet to the point, “That’s All”.

POLITICS

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