Happy Labor Day

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||



|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Do You Know What It Means

To Miss New Or-leans, 5 years after the Deluge

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||



|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

This Weekend in Wingnuttery

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

This Week in Gay History

August 22-25, 1968

At the Democratic Party National Convention in Chicago, a sub-convention of gay rights groups coalesced under the moniker of the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO) met to create a Homosexual Bill of Rights and coined the slogan "Gay is Good," an homage to the Black Power slogan "Black is Beautiful."

Their non-violent gathering and meetings were greatly overshadowed by the large number of leftist anti-war groups coalescing in concert with the Youth International Party (Yippies) and other more “demonstrative” characters. Crapaud was there attending a college social fraternity annual gathering in Evanston, but did just barely escape being tear-gassed downtown one evening when he took a wrong turn on a walking tour. It was the first time I ever saw machine gun emplacements and armed soldiers on the street corners of an American city.

A number of lesbian organizations, still concerned over the lack of attention being paid to their issues, refused to participate. Daughters of Bilitis president Rita LaPorte compared the relationship between NACHO and DOB to a husband and wife. Heterosexual women, she argued, dissipated their energy through their marriages; similarly, lesbians risked dissipating their energy should DOB become a surrogate "wife" to what she perceived as the male-centered NACHO.

NACHO held national conferences in 1969 and 1970, but faded in importance with the rise of the Gay Liberation Front and others becoming more radicalized after Stonewall.

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Constitutional Rights Should NEVER be a popularity contest

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

The Daily Advertiser Blogosphere on Steroids

The “N” Word

With no aspersion whatsoever to any rabbit we know, this little video cartoon subtly illustrates the Jekyll and Hyde aspect of multiple personalities disorder.

Having Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personalities) is a clinical condition. Assuming multiple identities to hammer your viewpoint home and having them repeatedly validate one another by clicking “recommend” dozens of times, well, that’s apparent Narcissism with an evil twist.

How many narcissists does it take to change a light bulb?

There are two answers, which often overlap.

(a) Just one -- but he has to wait

for the whole world to revolve around him; or,

(b) None at all -- he hires menials for work that's beneath him.

For a thorough lay-friendly exposition about recognizing Narcissists, try this link:

http://www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/npd/dsm-iv.html#npd

There is a vast difference between those who have a healthy self-image and those who constantly display hallmarks of Narcissism. It takes a pretty good opinion of oneself for anyone to post our thoughts in blogs or comments in these digital pages. Most here have that healthy confidence that makes us interested in and respectful of the views of others.

The few “N”s here who assume multiple identities fool no one. They deflect when caught in lies, have a grossly exaggerated sense of the value of their own opinions and totally lack empathy. When called upon by their peers here to offer even the simplest apology when everyone else agrees they’ve displayed inhumanity, they ignore and only make more self-serving comments. To bolster their self-esteem the “N”s here create multiple user identities. This allows the Narcissist to pat himself on the back, comment on his own blogs, etc. Once he has created a dozen or more blogger personalities, he is then free to “recommend” himself repeatedly.

“…. it's possible to get along with narcissists, but it's probably not worth bothering with. If family members are narcissists, you have my deep sympathy. If people you work with are narcissists, you will be wise to keep an eye on them, if just for your own protection, because they don't think very well, no matter what their IQs, they feel that the rules (of anything) don't apply to them, and they will always cut corners and cheat wherever they think they can get away with it, not to mention alienating co-workers, clients, and customers by their arrogance, lies, malice, and off-the-wall griping. Narcissists are threatened and enraged by trivial disagreements, mistakes, and misunderstandings, plus they have evil mouths and will say ANYTHING, so if you continue to live or work with narcissists, expect to have to clean up after them, expect to lose friends over them, expect big trouble sooner or later. ”

End the so called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Today in Gay History

BREAKING NEWS ~~

The U S District Court for the northern district of California, ruled today that California's Proposition 8 violates both the Due Process and the Equal Protection principles of the U S Constitution. The full text of the decision can be found HERE.

This L A N D M A R K decision will now wind its way through the appeals process. Pray that at least one activist Republican S Ct Justice (Kennedy?) will do the right thing by the law in favor of freedom. Otherwise the case will end in a year or so with the ROBERTS COURT 5-4 repeating the Plessy v Ferguson canard of equality.

One of those rare days where my people cry many happy tears.

Today in Gay History

HAPPY 86TH BIRTHDAY

James Arthur Baldwin, (August 2, 1924-1987)

AMERICAN AUTHOR OF ARTICULATE CHALLENGES TO RACISM AND MANDATORY HETEROSEXUALITY

James Baldwin, a pioneering figure in twentieth-century literature, wrote sustained and articulate challenges to American racism and mandatory heterosexuality.

The circumstances of Baldwin's birth were unremarkable: He was born on August 2, 1924, at Harlem Hospital in New York City to a poor, unmarried, twenty-year-old woman named Emma Berdis Jones. But his death sixty-three years later on December 1, 1987, at his home in southern France was an event reported on the front pages of newspapers around the world. Indeed, his journey from a difficult childhood in Harlem to his eventual status as a legendary artist with a large and loyal international audience constitutes one of the most compelling American life-stories of the twentieth century.

Baldwin is a pioneering figure in twentieth-century literature. As a black gay writer in a culture that privileges those who are white and straight, he offered in his work a sustained and articulate challenge to the dominant discourses of American racism and mandatory heterosexuality. As an African-American writer, he ranks among the finest. As a gay writer, he occupies a preeminent place.

Long before the Stonewall Riots of 1969 helped liberate the gay literary imagination in the United States, he boldly made his sexuality a vital part of his artistic vision. Even more important, by insisting on honest and open explorations of gay and bisexual themes in his fiction, he made a sharp break from the established African-American literary conventions. Through such a radical departure from tradition, he helped create the space for a generation of young African-American gay writers who succeeded him.

Today in Gay History

HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY, REV. TROY PERRY
Founder, Metropolitan Community Church (MCC)

Born July 27, 1940

In September 1968, when he was twenty-eight, the Rev. Troy Perry put an ad in the Advocate announcing worship services for gay and lesbian Christians. On October 6, twelve people gathered in his living room in Los Angeles for what would become the Metropolitan Community Church, which now has over 300 congregations in eighteen countries.
Perry was thirteen when he preached his first sermon. His father had died when he was twelve and his new stepfather was violent and abusive to Perry and his four brothers. Perry ran away to stay with relatives in Georgia and Texas and began attending Pentecostal services, then entered their ministry. He married the daughter of pastor, had two sons, came out, was defrocked, divorced, and was barred from seeing his children until a reunion in 1985. He married his partner of twenty-three years, Phillip De Blieck, in Toronto in 2003 at the local MCC. The newlyweds sued California for their marriage to be recognized and won. When the State appealed, the ruling was overturned. Perry retired as Moderator of the church in 2005 and his successor, Nancy Wilson, was installed in a special service held in the Washington National Cathedral. Perry continues preaching, public speaking, writing, and fighting for social change .
The MCC’s history has been equally tumultuous. Less than two years after opening their Mother Church in Los Angeles in 1971, it was burnt to the ground by arsonists who were never caught. Fires have been set to MCC buildings seventeen additional times. A New Orleans bar that had hosted MCC services was torched fives months after the Los Angeles fire and thirty-two people were killed, among them twelve MCC members including the pastor and assistant pastor. Much more about the MCC’s history can be read here.

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||