Pride Parade Update

Kathy has posted that Rep. Patricia Todd says the mayor will allow a parade permit, or rather, leave it up to the police department. For real? How about banners? Let's wait and see.

Birmingham is Slipping Again

First, though, know that I have written a column for The Western Tribune about John McCain and the release of his medical records and why they disqualify him from being president. Read it Wednesday, in the paper, or on this site.


Birmingham fell on its face last year.

Then Birmingham took a giant step forward.

Now, under the leadership of Larry Langford, Birmingham is renewing its old, tired attitude of intolerance and bigotry. Langford is refusing to grant Central Alabama Pride a parade permit for their annual Gay Pride Parade, which has been a part of the festivities of Pride since 1989.

Langford said "I just don't condone the lifestyle". Mayor, we might not condone your lifestyle either (and apparently the SEC and the justice department also doesn't), but this is not about how one leads their life, it is about who one is, about one's very being.

"It's not a civil rights issue, its a personal choice issue." Ignore science. Ignore medicine. Ignore all current knowledge about the origins of sexuality and call it a choice.

No, I will tell you what is a choice, Larry. Making a conscious decision to discriminate, to be intolerant, that is a choice, your choice.

Fortunately, the parade is not the main event of Pride, it is a "fun" event. But it plays an important role in that it allows families, gay and straight, to come together and enjoy floats and beads and candy. It allows people who are questioning their own sexuality to see from a distance (of sort) others who are out and comfortable that have been through what they are going through.

There are other events of Pride...10 days of events, including an art show, Pridefest with music and vendors, bowling, faith events and more. Central Alabama Pride

My advice to the organizers of Pride? Hold the parade in another city. Homewood, perhaps, or Tuscaloosa or (gasp!) Bessemer. Not that we can be sure mayors of those cities believe in equality, but you know, we need to know who our friends are.

And march with or without a permit up to city hall and into the next council meeting in protest. As of May 15 2007 Birmingham is an inclusive city that believes in acceptance and rejects intolerance and bigotry, according to the resolution. Stand up, Birmingham.

Kathy has a good write up about this too at Birmingham Blues.

Western Tribune Column...New Graduates

This is my most recent column, published Wednesday May 21, 2008.

Last week I had the privilege of attending my youngest child’s graduation from public high school. Young is a relative term as he is about to turn eighteen, but then again, old is relative as well but I won’t reveal my age here.

Anyway, as we sit through graduation ceremonies we hear speeches meant to encourage the new graduates but regardless of our age we can always learn (or be entertained) from others. Thursday was no exception.

The bright young man who was honored as valedictorian managed to garner the participation of the entire senior class as he discussed Pooh (that’s Winnie) and the sound of racing car engines while encouraging his classmates to set their own goals and establish their own limitations as they pursue what they feel in their hearts is their calling. Included in this, he pointed out, was protesting the war in Iraq, if one felt so moved, thus indicating that he might make a wise decision as he casts his first vote for president in the fall, as well as increasing my confidence in public education.

Young people today are more progressive than many of their parent’s generation, but oddly enough, most of us were much more progressive than our own parents as we protested another war and fought for the rights of others.

According to a recent MTV/CBS poll two thirds of today’s young voters want a president who will end the war in Iraq within 2 years. And a flurry of polls shows that about 75 % of young people are in favor of either same-sex marriage or civil unions. We can almost rejoice in realizing that every day thousands of kids in this country turn eighteen and if they vote, most will cast a progressive vote.

When I was young people my age protested by marching and at times through civil disobedience. Today this age group is more educated and is more likely to exert influence through the education of others and (I am still hopeful) voting.

New graduates are also here in Bessemer, of course, and they should all be congratulated. Finishing high school is indeed an accomplishment, but it is not an end. College, trade school or gainful employment are all future steps that will be taken by this year’s graduates. Assuming the responsibility of becoming a registered voter is as well.

Graduates: continue to educate yourselves and vote. An educated person at the ballot box is a good thing.

Catching Up on Issues

The voters had their way and (drumroll) the winner is ....David Cook. Good choice. In this song he "still hasn't found what he is looking for," but now he has. Let's see what he can do with it.




Secrets
Victoria has decided that her secret counts and Victor's secret doesn't, in Kentucky. Even though the owner of the adult novelty store is named Victor (Mosely) a federal judge ruled he can not use his name in promoting his stores. Story He will just have to keep his little secret. Apparently Victor's wife Cathy now has a secret, as the store is named "Cathy's Little Secret." Do you think these T shirts have just increased in value?

Syphilis

And I am glad to see so many letters in the Birmingham News about Larry Langford's ill-conceived opposition to the syphilis ads on buses. The letter writers all make good points. Realistically, how many high risk people are going to go to a church or town hall style meeting to learn about syphilis? Yes the ads were certainly "in your face" and that is whole point about reaching people.

What strikes me in this morality play being staged by Langford and Bettye Fine Collins is that Collins is one of the six voting members of the health department board, but she didn't attend the meeting when the syphilis program was discussed. She said "They have known the 5 o'clock time was a difficult time for me because many times I'm out in my district."

Is that an excuse? "In her district" could just mean she is at home sitting on the veranda with a toddy at 5 o'clock. This board meets once a month, and has to do with the health of our community. Oh yeah, I forgot, Bettye Fine Collins doesn't care about the health of the community and especially of the less fortunate. Remember, she wants to close Cooper Green Hospital. It's kind of reminds me of former FEMA chief Mike Brown in his interview with Jim Lehrer on September 1, 2005 soon after Katrina.

The second part of my answer, Jim, which, I think, again, the American people understand how fascinating and unusual this is -- is that we're seeing people that we didn't know exist that suddenly are showing up on bridges or showing up on overpasses or parts of the interstate that aren't inundated, and that now we're trying to get to them by Coast Guard helicopter to at least get them some immediate relief so we can start airlifting them out.

"Fascinating" that "we" didn't know that poor black people existed in New Orleans. And Collins and Langford want to just ignore the needs of the underprivileged in our city and county. What quality leaders we have!!! They rank right up there with Brownie.

Conservatives

And while I am thinking about conservatives and republicans, watch this video of Kevin James, conservative radio talk show screamer, make a fool of himself with Chris Matthews on Hardball. It's about 9 minutes long, but worth it to James get pummelled.

This is so typical of righties when they learn a new word (in this case "appeasement") and make into the buzz word of the day without even knowing what the word means.

Appeasement! Appeasement!

Please.

I was accused by a reader of The Western Tribune of being "kin" to Neville Chamberlain a while back ( I wrote about it here ) and I wonder if the letter writer knows any more than Kevin James about the history in the 1930's. Birds of a feather...

Country Music is OK*

*That is more than I can say about the Alabama state Senate.

I have little to say about the state legislature. Well, the Senate. If we are not worthy of them going to Montgomery and doing what they are being paid to do, then they are not worthy of (very much of) my time.

But to kill several important (and progressive) bills because they can't come to consensus on $25 million of the education budget is plain pitiful. $25 million sounds like a lot of money, but in the education budget, which is about $6.36 billion, it's chump change, about 0.4% of the budget.

I know there is a lot of bickering over this budget, involving more than the 25 million, but still. In a year when proration is being discussed due to decreased revenues we are going to spend $400,000 on a special session because the people we sent there to do the job can't do it?

So I will just focus on today's big election. No, not the one in Kentucky and Oregon. I'm talking about David Cook and David Archuleta on American Idol, who will give their all in their attempt to become the next forgotten winner.

Of all the previous winners, only Carrie Underwood seems to have locked up a career. Kelly Clarkson, forgotten; Ruben Studdard, underwhelming; Taylor Hicks, Grease (not that there is anything wrong with theater, but hardly where music fans expect to find their "Idols").

No, for success, you have to look at the losers: Chris Daughtry comes to mind. And Jennifer Hudson, an early exiter in 2004, has an Oscar for Dreamgirls (OK, I know, Hollywood isn't where music fans look for "Idols" either, but success is success and she has an oscar!)

Back to "country music" where the Carrie Underwood reference was supposed to lead. The New Yorker stated that "Any enterprise that lets Dolly Parton expand on her work for an hour is adding to the common good," referring to the week that the contestants worked with the superstar and her influence on them and the show.

True. And country music continues to grow. Sunday night's Country Music Awards on CBS had 11.7 million viewers, second only to Desperate Housewives (ABC) 16.8 million. Some of us saw both (there are reasons to watch DH) and got to see this performance by Taylor Swift, one of the reasons country music is growing in popularity. And as you watch, remember how in the past I have shown favor toward people who displayed pure joy...well watch Taylor at the end of her song and you can tell how thrilled she is with her performance. The first video I posted of this has been removed and this one most likely will too, so watch now.

I just wonder what her hairdresser thought of this.

The California Ruling is Nothing to Sneeze At

I had a professor who used that expression frequently in class in the fall.

June weddings:

In about 27 days Californians will be able to marry (my post from Friday) the person they love. But for how long?

I am confident that Californians will vote in November to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment to take right of marriage away from same sex couples who are married over the next few months. Officials are working to verify the signatures that opponents have gathered, and they have to have about 700,000 valid signatures to get the measure on the ballot. About 1.1 million signatures were turned in, and most people on both sides of the issue think this will be enough signatures to get the required number to place the proposal on the ballot.

Over the weekend I went to every California newspaper web site I could find and every one of them supported the court's decision.

Closer to home:

Today will be an active day in the state legislature. Or not. They could bog themselves down and not pass any legislation (in which case a special session would have to be called to address the education budget).

Issues that might be voted on, though, include the statewide smoking ban*, removing sales taxes from groceries, immigration, hate crimes, pac to pac transfers and more. It would be an interesting day to be in the Senate chambers, but, ah, we get our midterm back this afternoon and so I will be sitting in class instead.

*No one will be surprised that I support the statewide smoking ban. In the news today is a report in the Los Angeles Times that bans on smoking in restaurants actually deter children from taking up the habit. A study was published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescents that in towns where smoking was not restricted, 9.6 % of youth became established smokers over the four year study period, while in towns where smoking bans were enacted, 7.9 % became smokers.

This is a greater effect than that of raising taxes on tobacco products or media campaigns according to the study author.

In other health news male trees spreading their DNA (just like human males) is the cause of many problems in the spring, as common practices of city planners and gardeners contribute to our allergies. More male trees are planted to avoid messy female trees dropping their fruit (like acorns) according to a story in the news today.

More males means more pollen, and more pollen means more runny noses and sneezing.

Speaking of sneezing, has this ever happened to you?



And most people think this is a fake sneeze, but the song is good if you like Green Day. Billy Joe sneezes right in the middle of "Hitchin a Ride". Hmmm, Ok I get it.

Going to the Chapel...

Not really, but:

Who would have thought that it would be 30 hours past the most historic court decision involving equality since the U. S. Supreme Court overturned Texas' sodomy law in Lawrence v Texas in 2003, before I posted a comment on California's ruling? But sometimes family celebratory occasions and midterm exams take precedence. Besides, now I have the benefit of everyone else's opinions.

Let me start by saying I knew the decision would come out around noon yesterday and as I was driving I was listening to Sirius OutQ to hear what I hoped would be good news. They said there was some delay, and I went to CNN where some uninformed reporter who must be embarrassed out of her shell was stating the marriage ban had been upheld and the San Francisco marriages annulled and there would be hundreds of thousands of people disappointed and this would be a set back for the gay rights movement and all.

Crap, I thought, and I switched back to OutQ where their reporter was just beginning to read from the decision (about 160 pages) and said the ban had been overturned, and that the court ruled that "Our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation..."

Not long after we learned that the ruling began with a historical account of sorts, and that the CNN reporter was reading that, thinking it was the ruling. Ha.

Out Q beat all the news outlets as well as AP with the story.

Anyway, here are the important things I now realize.

• The Republican party did not come out swinging (except for Jay Love, running for congress here in Alabama...thanks Jimbo for the tip...you can view Jay Love's awful ad on youtube but I am not providing a link. More about him later). How could they? Three of the four justices who ruled in favor of same sex marriage were appointed by republicans, and the darling of republican governors Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to uphold the freedom to marry.

• The fight is not over (nor will it ever be). California has a ballot initiative to write discrimination into their constitution that will likely be on the November ballot. But marriages can begin in 29 days or so. By November, hopefully thousands of couples will enter into traditional, loving same sex marriages and other Californians will see that the sky did not falland that pestilence has not overtaken the state, and will vote against the measure.

• Just I consider myself straight friendly (I hold no animosity against straight people) there are many Americans who are gay friendly and support the rights of all. So everyone, gay or straight, who reads this should go to Equality For All which is the organization formed to fight the ballot initiative and donate to the cause. The religious wrong is going to be gathering energy and money from across the country to support the ban. Can you say Hawaii, 1990's? Remember how it took efforts from across the country to stop same sex marriage in Hawaii? Remember those efforts were successful? So let's not let that happen again. Come on everyone, donate a little!

• California was the first state to legalize interracial marriage way back in the 1940's. Other states followed suit and eventually the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Loving v Virginia in 1967 that interracial marriage should be and would be legal. That is the way it has to work. After several states enact marriage laws one or more can bring the issue before the Supreme Court.

• Yiiiipeeeeeee!!!!!! Yippeeee. Yippeeeee. Yiiipppeeeeee!!!!!!

• Now let's get to work. Oh, and Jay Love? His ad says "Christian Conservative Change." You might as well say Iraq War, high gas prices, inflated food costs, torture, and blunders because those are the Bush policies and he claims to be the Christian conservative. Let's hope the people in that district can keep him at home.