Share and Enjoy

As I've said already, last week was pretty frantic for me, work-wise. I couldn't do much e-mailing or blogging and only had time to read/watch random snippets of news on the topics that interested me most. But somehow many of the little things I got to do seemed to coalesce around the same theme.

First, there was the Academy Awards. No, I didn't get to see them, but I did read a little bit about them afterwards, including the magnificent acceptance speech from Dustin Lance Black, the screenwriter for Milk. I'd like to reprint the most relevant part here because I think his message is just so important to all of us, both GLBT and straight:

When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe I could even fall in love and one day get married.

I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours.

All I can say to that is "Amen."

Then I found this wonderful video response to the current California proposal that all the gay marriages which took place during the brief period between their legalization and the passage of Proposition 8 be nullified. The great thing about this video is that it shows all kinds of gay couples: stereotypical and non-stereotypical; young, old, and middle-aged; people with kids and grandkids, people with parents and grandparents; even coworkers. The more you watch, the more you are struck by the fact that GLBT's are just ordinary people: sweet, loving people with family lives every bit as wholesome as those of straight couples. Breaking up their marriages would just as tragic as the passage of Proposition 8 was to begin with. I encourage you to watch, to enjoy, and to share this video with others. May the people who most need to see it be open to doing so.


"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Finally, there was a little conversation I had with Lady K during one of those brief periods when I had time to answer some e-mails. We'd been discussing hatemongering in the name of religion, and I wondered what ol' Jerry Falwell would have to say about that subject these days. Lady K imagined the following scenario, which I want to stress is not included in the "Share" part of this "Share and Enjoy" post unless you ask her permission first. ;-)

Open scene: Pearly Gates, with St. Peter's desk. A confused looking Jerry Falwell walks up to the desk.

FALWELL: UM, hello?
ST. PETER: Rev. Falwell! Welcome, we've been expecting you. Ah, hello Mohandas, good to see you. I'll see you later. Right this way, reverend.
FALWELL: Wait, was that ...
ST. PETER: Gandhi? Yep, that was him. He's in my poker group, great guy.
FALWELL: But how did he get in?
ST. PETER: How does anyone get in? God sorts through their lives and comes up with a decision. It's actually based on an incredibly complex algorithm. Gabriel says he understands the math but Michael says that's nonsense.
FALWELL: Gabriel? Michael?
ST. PETER: The archangels, you know. Gabriel's a bit of a blow-hard but I guess that comes with the territory. Get it?
FALWELL: Huh? Sorry?
ST. PETER: A blowhard? Gabriel's a horn player. Get it?
FALWELL: Oh, yeah.
ST. PETER: No one appreciates my sense of humor. Namaste, Siddhartha.
FALWELL: Who was that?
ST. PETER: Siddhartha Gautama.
FALWELL: Who?
ST. PETER: The Buddha.
FALWELL: He's here?
ST. PETER: Of course, he's a prophet. Where else would he be?
FALWELL: But there was only one prophet.
ST. PETER: Oh, that's right. You're fundamentalist Christian. It's so hard to keep all of you and your beliefs straight. There have been quite a few prophets down through the ages. Moses, Siddhartha, Joshua, Mohammed ...
FALWELL: My head hurts ...
ST. PETER: It'll pass. Ah, here they are. Gentlemen! Reverend, allow me to introduce you to your guides; they'll show you the ropes up here, basically be with you all the time until they feel you're ready to go solo. May I present Harvey Milk and Matthew Shephard. They asked for you specifically ....
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