the last enemy to be conquered is pop culture

I would like to share with you a few words about the Fox television show Glee(I promise to be brief). Now this show is very popular among some and rather hated among others. While there are numerous problems with the show(including writing, directing and acting) this show is doing one thing that has never really been done this way before.

On the show there are various romantic relationships that we are supposed to care about. We have the two main characters and various supporting characters(who aren't really supporting but they are less main than the two main characters). Over the past season(we're in the second) things have developed which I would like to discuss briefly(Spoiler warning).

So in the first season they introduce a gay character(Kurt Hummnel played wonderfully by Golden Globe Winner Chris Colfer) and they set him up as having feelings for a straight boy. Thankfully in the second season they have shelved this subplot and introduced a second gay character(Blaine Anderson played by noted Potter fan Darren Criss) for Kurt to have feelings for. But they carefully avoid the trap of having Blaine just be a token love interest. He is a very deep and interesting character(more interesting then any of the straight character by far and away)

There is one scene that symbolizes for me what this show is doing. In their Valentine's episode, Blaine(unaware of Kurt's feelings) asks for his assistance in asking out this boy. And the scene that follow(of the asking out) is played completely, if you will pardon the expression, straight. It wasn't "Oh Look At This Character....HE"S GAY!" it was "Look at this character, look at what he's doing. Take him as a character." It is scenes like that that make me return to Glee.

In this week's episode(spoiler) Kurt and Blaine finally get together and share a kiss. This kiss is just a kiss, like a boy and a girl would share a kiss. It isn't blocked to shock, it's simply a kiss.

Also, recently, another subplot has arisen. Since the beginning of the show it has been established that Brittney(played by Heather Morris) and Santana(Played by Nata Rivera) are the school bad girls. They have slept with tons of guys, blah blah, blah. But what started off as a joke in an episode last year has turned into a serious plotline.

This season Brittney has been trying to have a steady relationship with Artie(Played by Kevin McHale) something she has never done. In the first half of the season we are expected to care about that relationship but recently it has been revealed that Santana and Britney are in a secret homosexual relationship. And just like that the writers shift our sympathies. I no longer want Britney and Artie to work, I want her and Santana to get together openly. How many shows(other than Buffy the Vampire Slayer) suddenly shift our sympathies from a heterosexual to a homosexual relationship?

All this is taking place on a very popular network show(on Fox no less).

Let's take a quick look at Modern Family(another Fox Show). This show is a sitcom about three families and one of them is two gay men and their adopted child. And the show is very popular among Republicans.

On The Good Wife(CBS) one of the members of the supporting cast is openly bisexual.

On The Office(NBC) one of the members of the supporting cast is gay.

On Doctor Who(BBC), one of the most famous children's programs in England, introduced a very flamboyant bisexual character who was so popular he got his own spinoff show, Torchwood(BBC/Starz)

What on television used to be a punchline to a joke(looking at you friends) is becoming mainstream. We have talented writers of Young Adult Fiction writing stories and books with gay main characters(Boy Meets Boy, Will Grayson/Will Grayson, ect). We have bright, funny gay actors becoming leading men(Neil Patrick Harris, Johnathan Groff, Alan Cumming, ect), we have Adam Lambert, an openly gay ex-American idol contestant, who has been invited back on American Idol numerous times after his coming out. We have Lady Gaga, a proud Bisexual and LGBT rights activist, ruling the charts with an iron fist. One of the biggest songs of a few years ago was from an singer named Katy Perry and called "I Kissed A Girl". It isn't just musical theater and folk groups anymore.

Right now, there is a movement to get homosexuality into the mainstream in pop culture. If it becomes mainstream then it's mainstream, the haters will be but a small minority. And the great civil rights battle of the generation will be won.

In which I get very angry and post some lyrics

I wrote the song after I watched a report of Westborough Baptist Church which pickets soldiers funerals because gay people live in America(don't ask me how they worked that out) and a different report on a gay teenager who killed himself and in that report someone said that he killed himself because he lived an unhealthy lifestyle and that we had encouraged people to be gay. When the interviewer pointed out that there are going to be gay teens no matter what you do thus we have to make them feel accepted the man(who was from the Family Research council I believe) said that we don't have gay kids over here and straight kids over there, and actually yeah we do. Gay people do just kinda happen the same way straight people happen, they're born. I also watched a different report in which the Republican candidate for governor of New York(an upstanding fellow who emails out racist and pornographic videos and believes that we should put welfare recipients in prison work camps) said that he didn't march in gay pride march this year but his opponent did and what example does that set for the youth? But hey he's tolerant, he believes in live and let live, but he doesn't want his kids being taught that homosexuality was valid or on par with heterosexuality. And then everyone clapped. Yeah. So here is For Fred Phelps(or as its alternate title is) In which I call fred phelps a bunch of names

For Fred Phelps

Hey freddy
you stinking freaking homophobe
how do you feel
how do you live with yourself

how does it feel to
spread you disease
your disease of hate
and monstrosity

Elvis Costello was right
I want to live long enough
to Tramp The Dirt down

how do you feel
when you see that a gay
teenager has hung himself
because of your hate

how do you feel when you see a dead soldier
his parents are weeping
and you're saying he's
going to the devil

Elvis Costello was right
I want to live long enough
to Tramp The Dirt Down

How does it feel
to know that you ignore Jesus
who you claim
to worship and obey

Jesus said love
your neighbor
not picket at their
children's funeral

Elvis Costello was right
I want to live long enough
to tramp the dirt down

How does it feel to
live on your own
surrounded by a world
that is moving past your prejudice

Elvis Costello was right
I want to live long enough
to tramp the dirt down

How do you sleep at night
when you see what
you've caused
what you feed

Elvis Costello was right
I want to live long enough
to Tramp the dirt down

lyrics of the week

I wrote this song a few weeks ago and hadn't gotten around to posting it and I kind of forgot about it, until I read today that a State Representative from my home state sent out an email to other politicians in which he called gay people "Queers" and "Fruitloops". So here is

Homophobia must die
punk

no capo


You can't get married
because
if I see two people
living together
who share the same gender
it will hurt my relationships

so go on you merry way
and don't you come back till your normal

Homophobia must die
Homophobia must die

We're fighting a war
overseas
and we're turning people out
if they want to be
openly who they are
because we can't have no gays in our army

so go on your merry way
and don't you come back till your normal

Homophobia must die
homophobia must die

bridge

there are those
who equate
being gay
with being a polygamist
or a pedophile
but that is based in fear
and hate
against what you don't understand

Homophobia must die
Homophobia must die

2010 Midterm Democratic Fight Song

About 40 days away from the midterms, the Tea Party winning primaries right and left, Republicans poised to make gains, you know what it's time for?

That's right the 2010 Midterm Democratic Fight Song

2010 Midterm Democratic Fight Song
Tea Party keeps marching forward
with their insane economic agenda
and their candidates seem to get more fringe every day
and it seems like all hope for the dems has just gone away

Hey Hey
Let's Go vote now
Hey Hey
Vote for the Democrats

Liberalism is still around
We're ready to rise when we see the point
We are the progressive coalition
we love FDR and are real fans of Freedom of Religion

Hey Hey
Let's go vote now
Hey Hey
Vote for the Democrats

Republicans held the country
hostage to their filibuster
they shook their fists no, no to the military, no to health care
no to their own ideas no to making the economy a little more fair

Hey Hey
Let's go vote now
Hey Hey
Vote for the Democrats

rap bridge

I get that they didn't get much done
but the democratic party we shouldn't shun
if the moderation of Congress makes frown
imagine what things will be like when the Tea Party comes to town

I agree that the best way to prevent a conservative takeover
is to give the Democrats a makeover
to make 'em liberal again
maybe we'll get some movement then

but right now we gotta be happy with what we got
so vote for the Democrat even if you don't like him a whole lot

end rap bridge

Hey Hey
Let's go vote now
Hey Hey
Vote for the Democrats

vote against palin
and her divisive rhetoric
and her total lack of substance
and the far right idea she's trying to sell us

Hey Hey
Let's go vote now
Hey Hey
Vote for the Democrats

vote for the freedom
that we we guaranteed
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
and let's not tax the rich any less

Hey Hey
Let's go vote now
Hey Hey
Vote for the Democrats

vote against the talk show hosts
who yell and scream
when a Muslim wants to pray
or when a soldier who's fighting for us happens to be gay

Hey Hey
Let's go vote now
Hey Hey
Vote for the democrats

Do not end don't ask don't tell

Yeah! I said it, like many conservative pro-military Americans I want to kick all the gays out of our military! I don't care if they're Arab Linguists, which we sorely need, or the best dang soldiers that ever lived! I'm not letting no gay people into my military!

Why, you ask. Here's why because the Bible says that being gay is wrong, and I believe in the Bible! I believe everything in it, every single God-Blessed word of it! Except for the stuff about polygamy, slavery and loving your neighbor.

In fact, I think that no one who does not obey the Ten Commandments should serve in our military.

1. "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." That's right! We don't want no stinkin' atheists in our army! Or any Jews or Muslims or Hindus or Buddhists or any other people either! Just good Christians in our army!


2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the Earth beneath, or that is in the water under the Earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My Commandments. No one who has ever pledged allegiance to anything other than God should be allowed in!


3. Thou shalt not take the Name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain. Yeah! No cussin' in the army!


4. Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and Earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it. No working on the Sabbath day! If you do then we kick ya out!

5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. If you ever fought with you ma or pa, then there's the door!

6. Thou shalt not kill. Dang Right, We don't want any killers in our army!


7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Ever slept with anyone you ain't married to? Then get the heck outa our military!


8. Thou shalt not steal. No stealin' in our fightin' force!


9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Ever lied to get someone in trouble or to start war? Then no more fightin' for you!


10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's. You ever been jealous? Don't let the door hit you on the way out!

So, to conclude we need to make sure our army remains the best and most talented in the world, so we need to kick talented and well trained people out because of who they sleep with. Doesn't that make a whole lot of sense?

so be careful of those killing in Jesus name, he don't believe in killing at all

So there is this bill in Uganda that will put gay people in prison for life and those who don't report them in prison for three years. Also if the gay person is HIV positive they will be put to death. What's most disturbing about this issue is that Rev. Rick Warren announced his support of this bill and the secret Christian Organization the Family is helping to get it passed.

I have something to ask all these so called Christians, what did Jesus teach? What was the golden rule? What did he say to do when someone hits you on one cheek? WHAT DID HE SAY ABOUT LOVE?!!!!! How do you think God reacted to the Holocaust!st? And now you think that God wants you to put all Gay people in prison?

Jesus was a man of love and this is a law of hate, pure and simple. I call on all Christians to speak out against this bill which is the total and complete opposite of everything that Jesus taught. To Quote Bono "God will not accept that. Mine won't. Will yours?"


This is a bill of Genocide, plain and simple, and no one can honestly say that the Christian God is in favor of Genocide. This bill is sacrilegious and an affront to humanity. If this bill is passed Christianity will be remembered as the religion that supported Genocide and I don't think any christian wants to be remembered that way. Ask you minister to make a statement against it, God and History will thank you for it.

And That's the Way it Is.

Classic Article: California upholds Prop. 8

I wrote this in May, which was the first month that this blog was up. I think it's still relevant now.



NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here was I thinking that California was more liberal and open than Iowa, here was I thinking that to be on a state supreme court you had to actually read the constitution, here was thinking that justice could beat injustice. Well I guess I was wrong.
Last week on May 28, the California State Supreme Court ruled that Proposition 8 was fine and legal. I feel the need to point out a few pieces of American History, so bare with me.

First, the 14th amendment states "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Like the "Liberty" to get married for example?

Second, the Declaration of Independence famously states " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." So all men are "created equal" but, to paraphrase the great George Orwell, some are more equal than others? I think that everyone agrees that is absolutely ridicules.

Third and finally, in LOVING v. VIRGINIA the Supreme Court struck down laws against Bi-Racial marriage, going so far as to say "We are dealing here with legislation which involves one of the basic civil rights of man. Marriage and procreation are fundamental to the very existence and survival of the race. The power to sterilize, if exercised, may have subtle, farreaching and devastating effects. In evil or reckless hands it can cause races or types which are inimical to the dominant group to wither and disappear. There is no redemption for the individual whom the law touches. Any experiment which the State conducts is to his irreparable injury. He is forever deprived of a basic liberty." reading this one is left to wonder how nobody else has ever noticed that the Supreme court has ruled that marriage is a "basic civil right".

In my personal opinion it doesn't matter what you think of Gay Marriage, the constitution protects it. I know it may be hard to accept it, but I'm afraid we must, because if we have the power to take away gay rights, then they have the power to take away our rights, and we cannot afford set such a dangerous precedent.

Adam Lambert comes out

Breaking entertainment news! In a new Rolling Stone interview American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert announces that he is, surprise surprise, gay. My god! I have not been shocked like this since Clay Aiken dropped the bombshell that he was gay. Alright I'm kidding but there are some people who seem to be surprised by this.

What I love about this story are the questions on whether Lambert's career will survive. Now I really hope Lambert is thinking "Thanks, I'll pass that along to Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, Melissa Ethridge(who, incidentally, got a platinum album after she came out), and Elton John"

Being gay is not a hindrance is the music world, but rather it seems to be an asset. The song "I kissed a girl" by Kate Perry was number one on the charts for seven weeks. The youth of today don't seem to care about a singer's sexuality, in fact they never did. In the 60s David Bowie was popular and in the 70s there were many gay and bisexual reformers who were hugely popular.

In short, this "scandal" will not derail his career and may even give him a wider fan base, as rock lovers may by his record just to see if he is like Bowie or Mercury, while they would never by a normal AI record. I was also happy to hear that Lambert's first album will be released in the fall.

Repeal it!!

For 16 years we have had the so called "don't ask don't tell" policy in place. This policy is based on the theory that a soldier's personal views and background can make them unable to preform their job. I find this ridicules in the extreme. A gay soldier can serve and give their life for their country just as easily and willingly as a straight soldier.

America is the most powerful country in the world, yet we still can't seem to get or act together on civil rights. If there was a country that refused to allow blacks to serve in the military we would be up in arms over it. In this world today there is no space for discrimination.

There is not argument that I have heard for "Don't ask Don't tell" that makes any kind of logical sense. One of my favourite reasons for not repealing "don't ask" is that the army is very conservative and the soldiers wouldn't be able to put up with gays. God forbid that a "conservative" institution be forced to have some diversity! Come on people! A trained soldier knows to put his personal biases behind him on the battlefield.

The worst that would happen is that homophobes wouldn't join the army, and that would not be a bad thing in my opinion. A person who is so closed-minded would not do well in the army where you have to deal with many kinds of people.

Repealing "Don't ask don't tell" would allow patriotic Americans to serve their country. We have been disabling ourself for 16 years and we need to stop. So I ask all those in government reading this, Repeal "Don't ask Don't Tell" strike a blow against discrimination.

What would Jesus do?

I have a question for those reading this who are against Gay Marriage, What would Jesus do? Jesus, who preached love and compassion, Jesus who said in the sermon of the mount " Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven", Jesus who said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone".

Would he prosecute God's children? Would he "cast the first stone"? No he would not, and neither should you. Jesus taught basically two things, love God and love one another. In fact, love is the basis for almost every religion, so I must ask, why are we segregating love? Why are we violating Jesus?

I share George Bernard Shaw's sentiments when he asked "Must then a Christ perish in torment in every age to save those that have no imagination?". I feel the need to ask how many more. How many more Christs must die? How many more Martin Luther King's must be shot? How many more Harvey Milks must be gunned down? How many more young gays must be murdered? how many deaths will it take till we know that too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

another victory

Across this great nation Gay Rights activists are raising a bottle to the Governor of New Hampshire, who just signed into law a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. He put aside his personal bias against same-sex marriage to do what was right. Bravo!!!

I was reading the CNN political blog about this and some of the people who commented were bringing up the new anti-marriage talking point, that the voters didn't decide to legalize it. Well this raises some questions in my mind.

In the 50s and 60s, if you had taken a vote on whether or not to desegregate the schools in the south, I guarantee you that it would have lost. So should we not have integrate? No, the courts ruled on the law, and the president sent federal troops, federal troops for God's sake, to force the integration of the schools. Can you imagine the fury that would happen if Obama forced states to allow marriage?

What I find hilarious are the conservtives criticizing Sonia Sotomayor for putting her feelings before the law, when every single stinking member of congress who voted for the Defense of Marriage act was doing just that.

Even Obama is not touching this issue because he knows how passionate the right is on this issue, and you know what? I don't care! I really don't give a flying fig as to what the political repercussions would be. I know what is right and it sure as heck isn't discrimination.

The New Hampshire state motto is what, I think, should be the motto for what will, god willing, be the final civil rights movement. So, ladies and gentlemen, Live Free or Die. God bless you Gov. Lynch and God bless all those who made this possible. This is your victory. First we take New Hampshire then we take Maine then we take New York then we take California then we take the whole freakin' country!!! Then at last all will be free in the self-proclaimed "Land of the Free"

Endorsement of Gay Marriage, by Dick Cheney!!

Alright people, brace yourselves. I am about to say something I though I would never say in a million years. Thank You Vice President Cheney. Thank You for finally supporting your daughter. Thank You for taking a stand for what you believe in.

If there is anyone out there that does not still believe that the tide is turning, I offer you this. Dick "Emperor Palpitine" Cheney, Dick "Let's nuke anything that moves" Cheney, Dick "Arch Conservative" Cheney has endorsed Gay Marriage. MY GOD!

Also, a John McCain campaign official has endorsed gay marriage, as has McCain's daughter, a Bush lawyer, and James Dobson. Okay I made up the last one. One is left to wonder where are all the Democrats. All the G.O.P. guys are endorsing it where's Obama or Clinton or Biden or Pelosi or Reid? Where are they?