Uh, I think I already said everything germane earlier, except…

Obama’s ass sucks puddy balls…DADT is his baby…See if I enlist now — that’ll show them!

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…now to reply to 1EqualityUSA’s last entry regarding me….
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@1EqualityUSA,

Always nice to meet a fellow artist. We should take over the world! …Oops! I almost forgot about that hideous little artist from Germany, with the funny mustache, who already tried that in the 1940s.

Nevertheless, as difficult as it is for many of us in the art community nowadays (with the anemic economy and all that), perhaps it is also a great opportunity for artists to chronicle the times. After all, that’s what Art does with its finger on the pulse of humanity anyway.

Also, the best of luck to you too. By the way, if you are looking for more outlets for your artwork, check out ImageKind.

You can find a link to it on my blog:

http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com/

(about half way down the page, just click on one of the pictures of my artwork in the grouping and it should take you to my page on ImageKind. You can then find information about showing your artwork there by going to their main page)

…hey, we starving artists have to stick together, right?

Take care.

Now, I have to go weigh my “starving artist” self.
…Ouch! That scale must be broken.

Oh well…”cash starved” anyway still applies.

c-ya!

“Is ‘Beneath the See’ your work? It’s beautiful.”

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Rainfish replies:

…Yep, that’s my baby. The artwork, poems, musings, etc. are all mine. I had been working on it for the better part of last Summer.

It can be found at:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/916583

…thanks for the compliment, I appreciate it.

:)

All Life is Fiction. …Unfortunately, it never ends well though.

Actually, I do write. (see link below)

http://www.blurb.com/books/916583

(still looking for a national publisher)

But, as you said, ” “The Color Purple” has already been taken.”

…So, I’m working my way through the other colors.

PS — Sign me up for your Queer Union. I’ve been accused of being a “card carrying commie pinko fag” before — so, what the heck.

Seriously, I think it is a great idea. Big ideas have to start some place…so why not Queerty?

Well…the Queer Union is a good idea, but we’ll still have that “convenience of invisibility” problem.

Just ask yourself, would we even have had a “Black” Civil Rights struggle if Black people could alter their melanin at will and turn White during work hours and around White people?

As I stated earlier, that Chameleon-like ability (that most of us have) to “pass for straight” may be our best defense, but it is also our greatest weakness.

So, in answer to 1EqualityUSA suggestions and queries about how we can gain more visibility, I propose the following.

I think that we should get our best Queer Genetic Engineers busy on identifying the “gay gene” and then have those scientists create a retro-virus, that can be airborne, containing a new gene which can be inserted into our DNA and bond only to those harboring the “gay gene”. This new gene would then genetically alter the skin pigmentation of all gay men and women to rapidly change their skin color to, let’s say, Aqua or Chartreuse or bright Purple or some other non-pre-existing skin tone.

…On the positive side:

a) Homosexuals would be more visible, and they would have no other choice but to fight for their kind and for their own sake. Also, hiding under the aegis of “straight acting” would no longer be an option.

b) We might finally get the Human Right Council at the United Nations to acknowledge us as…well…Human.

c) Even though the new hue would (no doubt) clash with too many outfits, at least picking up guys in the park may be safer. …Maybe.

d) American Idol, Daytime Television Soaps, Top Male Movie Stars and practically every male in the entertainment world would stick out as boldly as Barney the Dinosaur would in Jurassic Park.

e) “Gay to Straight Conversion” schemes would be proven as absurd as Jerry Falwell getting into Heaven.

….On the downside:

a) Easier to round us up for the X-ian run concentration camps.

b) Most Republicans would vote to make abortions of the “sinfully hued” quick and easy — more like drive-thru banking; probably make it mandatory. They may even have blue-light specials on them at Wal-Mart.

c) Old Southern segregation signs would be dusted off and relabeled: “All Colored People (except Aqua, Chartreuse or Purple) Permitted At This Lunch Counter”.

d) Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would be…well…would be pointless.

e) No more hiding behind “beards”. …Sorry Tom C. and the rest of you. You know who you are.

So…it may sound far fetched (just a wee bit), but, regrettably, I’m sorry to say that this might be the only way to unite to protect the threatened Homo Decortus Sapien from being put on the politically endangered species list ad infinitum.

Good ideas and better enthusiasm. We need some way to re-inspire and re-organize our failing movement. Some kind of “idea summit.” It can start here.

Too bad we can’t get a refund of all our efforts and money. Hopefully, we’ll learn and we won’t do it again.

I suggest we honestly define our struggle, honestly debate the effectiveness of tactics and we explore new ideas and strategies to create our equality.

90% of the LGBT has given up hope. It shouldn’t be surprising – nobody actually thinks we can “win.” None of the National LGBT organizations or Political organizations has focused on “winning.” Instead they focus on their salaries and their elections.

We need a cohesive strategy and a united movement. Both of those elements will require a real strategy and a real plan.

My gut feeling is the republicans will be back, most of the independents currently polled said they would not vote for Obama again, and they make up the larger majority of voters, mostly all conservative and a few moderates.

Your comments suggest that Obama could pass DADT and DOMA repeals – if and when he wanted to. That’s not true. It’s even delusional.

In the 111th Congress THE VOTES ARE NOT THERE for anything LGBT-related. What, do you think Obama can magically change minds? That’s as silly as thinking that well-paid lobbyists or a barrage of phone calls can change minds. They cannot.

You said: “Just remember to vote in the Democratic primaries and hold any democrat accountable for not supporting equality.”

So, how do you propose we know which Democrats support equality? Please don’t suggest that useless HRC “gay-friendly” scoring. Equality is a “yes” or “no” position.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-.....ident-s475

Great news for the spouses of our servicemembers — unless they happen to be the same-sex partners who aren’t allowed to exist under our adherance to DADT. So many benefits like these are offered to our military families. Our LGBT military families are left out in the cold. We’re fighting two wars with casualities every week and this is how we treat our military families with loved ones on the battlefield.

“This is not an issue of free speech but of neighborliness. Fundamental decency requires that we treat each other with respect, especially when we disagree deeply on hot moral issues. (emphasis added)

That’s all well and good, but we don’t see too much respect or neighborliness coming from Gallagher’s side. Her website says, “The issue isn’t benefits, it is marriage. Local folks can decide benefits. This is about the meaning of marriage, our most basic social institution for protecting children,” but the fact of the matter is that she is completely, 100% opposed to any form of recognition.

Here’s a small example: I’m buying a house. I’m using the VA to underwrite the loan. That’s not some perk offered by the federal government, that is something I earned with my military service.

But because of the anti-marriage BS that people like Gallagher spew (specifically DOMA in this case), I am not permitted to use the VA to buy property that will belong to both myself and my partner. I either have to “go it alone” on the paperwork, using my income alone for the house, and (more importantly) put everything in my name, leaving him with no protection at all, or forgo using the VA.

Maggie Gallagher sees nothing wrong with essentially ripping my compensation, that I earned through several years of service, right out of my hands.

Is that neighborly? Is that respectful? What would you do if your “neighbor” stole your paycheck right out of your bank account? How would you react?

If Gallagher actually showed any empathy whatsoever; if she was arguing for some kind of civil union (for example) or some kind of other solution that would help meet the needs and difficulties I face every day, then I’d buy her arguments. I could respect her stance on marriage if she was actively seeking some kind of middle ground that respected all of us.

But she’s not. She’s not respectful. She’s not neighborly. So she has no right whatsoever to demand it of anyone else.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for the people who are criticizing Hesse on anything but substantive grounds. But can we please bury the faux concern of Gallagher et al. for the supposed demise of “neighborliness” that they themselves killed off a long time ago?”
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Here’s another favorite post on discrimination in the military:
If what you say is correct and everyone in the military should have the same rights, then straight married service members should never mention their spouse or children and keep that part of their life totally private. If they so much as mention that they are attracted to the opposite sex, went on a date with someone of the opposite sex, are married and love their husband or wife, then they should be kicked out of the service for not keeping their private life private. This is the way LGBT service members have to live. It’s discrimination, and it’s an incredible burden to ask anyone to live under such secrecy, let alone someone sacrificing so much for the welfare of our country. Being in a war zone is stressful enough without worrying that any word you might say without consciously censoring yourself might cause you to lose your job.

He is 100% a principled man of his word. He will do everything in his power to get rid of DADT. If he thinks it should be delayed for now, I trust his judgment.

So don’t go there.
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It is sad, that the two biggest Gay rights issues we are fighting for are to UNDO the two things that Clinton put in place. Ugh.

“That chameleon-like trait of ours to “pass for straight” allows many of us to succeed in a homophobic society; it permits many of us to be successful — as long as we stay cowards and remain false to ourselves and others.”

We already had the knock-down-drag-out debate on effeminate mannerisms here (my position is: staying in the closet is dishonest, acting masculine when you are a man, gay or not gay, is not equivalent to that in any way). But if we must act like women, how about these women:

Cleopatra
Boadicea
Joan of Arc
Queen Elizabeth I
Catherine the Great
Indira Gandhi
Margaret Thatcher
Golda Meir

What do these women have in common? They all fought wars. And that’s what this is, people. A war.

So don’t go there.

For anyone to suggest that it (DADT) was better than the alternative is also specious, to say the least. That would be like saying it would be so much better for Jewish people if when they would apply for membership in an “exclusive” Country Club (btw, they were excluded from many in the 1950s), that as long as they would hide the fact that they were Jewish, i.e. change their name from Schwartz to Smith…replace a Star of David with a Cross…and extol the virtues of eating pork — then they should be “permitted” to join.

Give me a break! That is exactly what DADT is asking our Gay and Lesbian brothers and sisters to do.

If they did anything like this to any other minority, like what they do to us, there would be riots nation-wide; a tidal wave of blood in the streets, and entire cities set ablaze. I lived through the race riots in the 1960s — I know. The only reason white racists in government stopped pushing the Black man around is because they are now scared shitless of him. Does anyone else remember the Watts Riots as well as the nationwide race riots (hundreds of dead people and billions of dollars in property damage) after Martin Luther King was assassinated? Well, I do!

But the GLBT community is too fucking “nice”. Yet, I wonder how long that would last if we had some real physical characteristic which would set us apart and then if we were treated like crap en masse. What if we couldn’t “pass” for straight — like a light-skinned negro passing for white. Because that (passing for what we are not) is what the fuck we are doing when we swallow our pride and pretend to be “them” just to feel “safe”.

Old Ben Franklin once said: “…anyone who trades security for freedom deserves neither.”

Our anonymity is our security, but it is also the worst enemy of our freedom because it gives us the choice to participate in our own oppression by “blending in”. That is an “option” that very few racial minority ever had to chose. That chameleon-like trait of ours to “pass for straight” allows many of us to succeed in a homophobic society; it permits many of us to be successful — as long as we stay cowards and remain false to ourselves and others.

The dilemma is this: if we assimilate, we become irrelevant as a minority — safe, but powerless and invisible. If we ghettoize the GLBT community, then we alienate ourselves from the larger heterosexual society and, perhaps, even create more opposition along with our visibility.

Ultimately, the choice is an individual one, but I believe that great bard (and bisexual) Wm. Shakespeare once said it best.

“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
~ William Shakespeare

So, can we be true to ourselves by pretending to be what we are not?

…You’ll have to answer that question for yourselves.

PS – Don’t feed the oppressors nor the apathetics. No dough to the DNC a-holes until they deliver the goods on DADT, ENDA, DOMA, etc. So, if we are still too afraid to show our faces, at least our money and our votes can still speak volumes for us.

“they’re a hundred times better than the repubs”

A hundred times zero is still zero. And that’s how much money they deserve from the GayTM. They have the power and they give us nothing, even after blindly supporting them for decades. If you want to keep throwing your money down the DNC rabbit hole, go ahead. You’d be better off buying a lottery ticket.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

And they are NOT the lesser of two evils. They lie about how much they “support” us, unlike the Republicans who at least have the integrity to hate us to our faces.

Even if you take away their gay rights inaction, historically the Democrats are almost totally reprehensible. They went from sedition, slavery and segregation in the late 19th century to surrender and statism today.

Maybe if you all had been working to actually fight for our rights in California, Florida, and Arkansas last year instead of genuflecting to The Zero and expecting him to be the panacea to our ills…