Pride

So, for the first time I went to Minneapolis's Pride a couple of weekends ago. I have one thing to implore the city of Minneapolis: Why can't you be this warm and welcoming all the time?

http://images.stuffofawesome.com/minneapolis-pride-1309122003-1014.jpg

Really, people were so happy and delighted to be out in the bright summer weather, walking up and down Hennipen and talking to one another when most of the time walking down Hennipen results in people ignoring you or walking into whilst talking on their cell phones. Also, the mayor of Minneapolis rode down the street on a motorcycle. I think this should definitely happen more often. 

http://metromag.com

I was also at the Saloon's block party that evening (after getting terribly sunburned watching Italy win in the quarter finals of soccer/football/calcio on the rooftop of a pub in Minneapolis called the Brit) and was reminded of how short I am after being surrounded by guys all over six feet tall. I also met a guy from Canada who remarked on our voting situation this fall. Come November, Minnesotans are voting as to whether marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman or not. The "not" refers to supporting gay marriage. So, basically, in order to support GLBT rights, one has to vote "no" which feels very, very bizarre. However, the man from Canada I was talking to found the whole idea of voting on human rights more bizarre. "They kept asking me to fill out these pledge cards," he said, "and I just couldn't understand the idea of voting on human rights. I mean," he turned to me, "that's like voting to allow women to vote."

This just in: Canadians are freaking brilliant.

Overall, it was a marvelous weekend. I also saw the movie Brave, which was fantastic (you can read a review of it on my sister blog, Martin Freeman is not a Hedgehog. Yep, that's actually the name of my blog. Weird, I know).

After the Caucus

As a Minnesotan, I would like to address the fact that Santorum won the caucus here by saying this does not exactly represent that the state of Minnesota agrees with anything that is said by him in the following video:

I, for one, did not vote in the caucus because:

1) I am not a registered Republican. I am not a registered anything. I am a good old Independent/"I'll vote whatever the hell I feel like and screw your party lines" maniac.

2) I have yet to understand how the caucus works. You see, back in the Old Country (Indiana) we had something that made slightly more sense - it was a primary, and registered voters of Insert Party Name Here voted. I have yet to encounter any Minnesotans that a) know what a caucus is and b) voted in it. And only around 50,000 voted in the caucus. That's less than the number of students enrolled at my university.

3) If you don't know why I wouldn't vote for Santorum, watch the video again. If you aren't agreeing with the Fox News anchor (which I did, for perhaps the first time in my life), then perhaps we're having a failure to communicate - just like what's going on in this interview. I think we're done here.

Ashamed

http://www.babble.com/

This article came rolling around on my Tumblr dashboard last night and before I even opened it, I had a gut instinct as to what it was going to be about.

I absolutely hate it when I'm right in situations like this.

Sure enough, this Rolling Stone article is talking about Anoka, Minnesota. A town that's only a half-hour away from where I'm sitting now. A town that's cute and picturesque and is the "Halloween Capital of the World" and has a really good restaurant called Serum's.

It is also now the most hated place in America by people I follow on Tumblr. Because nine teens have killed themselves there in under two years because of gay bullying.

Also, it just happens to be Michele Bachmann's district.

Think I'm mad? HELL YES.

Minnesota gets in The Rollings Stones. And what for? GAY BULLYING. IN A TOWN THAT'S ONLY A HALF HOUR AWAY FROM WHAT'S BEEN CALLED "THE GAYEST CITY IN AMERICA."

FUCK.

Ugh. I'm just so upset. Here I am, in my secure little college, going to the Saloon and the Gay 90s and feeling like a great ally and all this and then I read THIS.

It really, really bothers me. And, instead of just sitting here and blogging about it, I'm going to write a letter to Representative Bachmann. It may not make a difference - but it's better than nothing. Minnesota is better than this.

Girls who like Boys who like Boys who don't like Bachmann

Here I am, trying so hard to NOT write another "I hate Michele Bachmann so much" post but have epically failed. I mean, things started off better. I was actually going to write about something I disagreed with in The Advocate. But then Rick Perry pissed off the world,  and I was going to start off there. But then [Львица] stumbled across this. And of course, it was back to Bachmann.

Here's the section I found appalling:

Bachmann warned The Lion King was Gay Propaganda: At the November 2004 EdWatch National Education Conference, Bachmann said the “normalization” of homosexuality would lead to “desensitization”: “Very effective way to do this with a bunch of second graders, is take a picture of ‘The Lion King’ for instance, and a teacher might say, ‘Do you know that the music for this movie was written by a gay man?’ The message is: I’m better at what I do, because I’m gay.”

Basically, I'm going to let Stewie Griffin say what I feel about that. Because words alone aren't going to cut it.

 

I actually forgot that the quote ended that way until I made the pic. Thank you, Stewie, for creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Bachmann's attempts to keep America from normalizing homosexuality will just make people gay. Yes, that is exactly the point I wanted to make :P

Where I was actually going with this is I kind of loathe Michele Bachmann. It's not that I wish her ill. It's not that I actually want to harm her or any such thing. It's just... the things that she says makes me physically ill and I very much wish she wasn't saying them. Lemme put this in perspective for you.

Before I read this article, I came across one about John Barrowman (thanks to bloggingbarrowman on Tumblr). Now, as the entire universe probably knows by this point, I love this man to the point of being utterly irrational and insane (I'm sorry; he named a his Jack Russell terrier "Captain Jack." If that's not the cutest thing ever, then I don't know what is). Anyway, this article quotes many clever, wonderful things from Barrowman. But this is perhaps one of my favorite:

John is clearly in an impossible situation when it comes to his sexuality. He would like it to not be an issue. He says, 'I'm an actor. Not a gay actor. Is Brad Pitt ever described as a "straight actor"?'

Word. Point is, being gay is not the first thing a lot of actors want to be described as - for reasons we discussed in social psych. Say things like "male nurse" or "black lawyer" or "woman doctor" imply that they are outside the social norms and perpetuate stereotypes. So, using their sexuality as a reason they're better at what they do is... well, flat-out wrong. Or, as [novel killer] said about the subject on Facebook: "Does this mean that Bachmann does view gay people as more talented and thus that is why she seems to not like them? Because that seems to be the only way she could come up with that correlation." Agreed.

Of course, there's a problem with having these concerns so near and dear to my heart. While mentioning this about Bachmann to my dad this morning, the conversation went basically something like this:

Dad: "She's not going to win the nomination anyway, so don't worry about it."
Me: "Yeah, but she's not the only one saying stuff like this."
Dad: "Sure, but I'm more worried about getting four more years of what we have now. That'll really destroy our country."

When you're in an economic crisis, it's difficult to make something like human rights a priority - I sort of touched on this in my politics post. But like I said, I feel like I shouldn't have to choose. Candidates should care about both. But I digress...

And though I have been hating on Bachmann (a lot), something else Barrowman said in that article got me thinking about a TV show that has been troubling me of late:

He was famously rejected for the role of Will in Will & Grace, on the grounds that he was 'too straight'. He rolls his eyes. 'Because I like sports and I like cars, I'm not easy to slot into that "camp" box. To me, it is just pigeonholing. Too easy.'

He believes that the Will & Grace model is a perfect example of what is wrong with the way the big American networks portray 'gayness'.

'If that programme was true to life, Will would have a boyfriend. But they want to perpetrate the myth that he is waiting to be "cured".'

John Barrowman was rejected for the role of Will?! Wow... just wow. I kind of have a special place in my heart for "Will and Grace" because it was the first sitcom I ever seriously watched. And it was the first show I ever saw homosexuals on. But I gotta agree with Barrowman here. I remember one episode - the last episode I watched of it, actually - where Grace wanted to have a baby and for some reason she wanted to have Will's baby and instead of doing artificial insemination, they were going to sleep together. And I was like, "WHAT THE FUCK?!" It seemed totally wrong to me. Let me have NPH explain why:

via the-slow-show.tumblr

There you go - how simple was that? Will is a gay man. Will would probably never sleep with Grace unless under threat of death - he's her friend, not her friend with benefits, boyfriend, OR A STRAIT MAN AT ALL. Within that moment, the entire show went from being kind of stereotypical but supportive of gay culture to being totally... awkward. I've never felt quite right about that show ever since. 

This is the whole reason why I don't like the term "fag hag" (and thus wrote that post about it) - because it in some ways insinuates that women who are friends with gay men just want to change him into a strait man and sleep with him (not necessarily in that order). That's not to say "fag hag" is always used that way. But that association is one of the major issues I have with it.

So, it seems the pic I used on my post for "fag hag" might be more fitting than I thought. There's some weird, complex stuff at work here - wanting to portray Will in a stereotypically gay way, but getting him to end up with Grace in the end. And making women who are friends with gay men just wanting to actually sleep with him instead of being friends. It's this weird, discordant... mess.

And to add to that mess, I feel like addressing people who keep saying stuff like "I'd totally sleep with [insert name of hot gay celebrity here] if he wasn't gay!" Partly, I feel like it could be too easy to slide back into the "wanting to turn him straight" mess (or have people declare that's what you mean). I also feel like it's not true. Honestly, I'm totally obsessed with John Barrowman because of who he is; I feel like if he were straight, he'd be an entirely different person. So girls out there who have a major crush on a gay man: it's okay. You want to sleep with a gay man. It'll never happen, but neither will sleeping with Brad Pitt. That's the way it goes.

So... this took me a lot longer to write than I thought it would. Mainly because of the Will and Grace tangent. And I still haven't gotten to that article from The Advocate. Dammit. Well, to be continued then...

I Should Just Become A Lobbyist

The time has come for me to continue my gauntlet-throwing. Unfortunately, I must attack Michele Bachmann. I'd say I feel bad about it... but I don't. Truly, she really needs to think before she speaks.

Thanks to the Advocate, I found out this article. Along with this video:

Yes. Michele Bachmann has once again wonderfully avoided answering a serious question. Rather than talking about her views on gay marriage, she just reiterates that gay individuals can get married as long as it is a woman marrying a man and a man marrying a woman, as that is the law in our country. It's also the most goddamn stupidest response I've heard yet.

Also, she doesn't even know what a GSA is. My God... I fear for the world.

Also, does anyone else get this weird vibe about her wording like she could be alluding to gay Americans not actually being citizens or am I being too anal about trying to out her as a nutjob? Because I'm really starting to loathe this woman. I respect you, no matter your political platform, as long as you show equal respect. This woman thinks she knows it all - and is totally, totally condescending.

Anyone else also concerned that people are actually APPLAUDING what she is saying?

And I'm not even going to try and tackle what she says in the second half of the video. It would be in all caps and it would only end in tears.

Here is what I think Michele Bachmann's problem is: I don't think she realizes that HOMOSEXUALS ARE REAL. It's like she's in denial that gay men like men and gay women like women. A gay man is not going to marry a woman because... oh my God, do I really have to describe this? WHY DO PEOPLE STILL HAVE A HARD TIME ACCEPTING THIS?! I mean, c'mon people - I didn't know homosexuality existed until I was thirteen or fourteen. When I did learn about it, it made exactly as much sense to me as heterosexual relationships did at that time (because then, I couldn't understand why ANYONE wanted to have sex, because after learning about it via sex ed, it sounded totally nasty. Thank you, public school health class). So there was never any inequality there in my mind. Ever. I just... I just don't get it. They're people... who love people. End of story. And people who need people are the happiest people in the world. Thank you, Funny Girl.

Here's a pictorial representation. Michele Bachmann is on the left. I am on the right.







So that's where we are on this whole issue.
And in other news....

Thanks to this blog I found this article about Chick-Fil-A totally not supporting gay couples. As you probably know, Chick-Fil-A is known for having deep religious ties (and not being open on Sundays). Now their charitable outreach group, Win-Shape, has come out and said they have deep anti-gay ties too. (Fun fact about Win-Shape: I was trying to remember why their name sounded familiar and I realized it was because of an incident I researched, involving an exorcism at a southern college, and that the kid who performed the exorcism was a Win-Shape scholarship recipient. So yay for that weird tidbit).

Guys, just... seriously?

What I want to know is, how is gay marriage different from inter-racial marriage? I mean, think about it... if you're for inter-racial marriage (and if you're not - ufta, that's gonna be a problem) then I just don't understand why you wouldn't support gay marriage. And the religious explanations... people do realize that the Old Testament sections were probably more focused on making sure they had adequate population growth than with men loving each other, right? The whole "men lying with men" was probably more of a problem because they wanted children to carry on their community and thus men not procreating was kind of a pain. And that the texts have been translated and stuff. And that God didn't sit down with a pen and write it... it was written by men. Also, if you take the Bible literally, you can't eat shrimp and you're cool with stoning people. And if you're really practicing what you preach, you believe that God loves everyone equally - no matter what. And that he makes no mistakes. So, yeah... Just saying.

Now that I've just ostracized myself as a heretic (you know, that's a word you don't here much any more - heretic.)... anyway, now that I am a twenty-first century heretic, I am going to consider becoming a lobbyist for the GLBT community. Because it would be fucking awesome. And I've already proven that I talk about this stuff forever. So win-win.

Another Night at the Saloon

http://www.esquire.com/drinks/cosmopolitan-drink-recipe

Last night was another excursion to the Saloon and was also my first time at a club as a 21 year old. So, because it was a total life tile opportunity, I got a cosmopolitan, which I'd never had before, kindly paid for by [Львица]. It was really quite good. I'd still drink a martini first, but if I was in the mood for something sweet - yeah, definitely would go for a cosmo. It was also two-for-one so I ended up with two cosmos. And then [save the panzer]'s friend - who seems to think he's his boyfriend - [slightly pansexual, mostly annoying] insisted on buying me a drink. And because I don't want to pass up a free drink, especially from a man, especially because [slightly pansexual, mostly annoying] wouldn't take no for an answer, especially because I wanted to try something I'd never had before - an Orgasm (okay, wow, I just wrote that and out of context that sounds REALLY funny. I just meant the drink, guys), I consented (poor word choice. Now I'm just digging a hole... dammit). So I ended up with what were supposed to be two Orgasms. Except that [Львица] is taking bar-tending classes. And she knows what's supposed to be in the drinks. An Orgasm is supposed to contain Bailey's Irish Cream. There was no Bailey's in sight. In fact, it looked more like Sex on the Beach  (I'm thinking I tasted peach schnapps in it... there was hit of something like that in there).

http://jomygoodness.typepad.com/jomygoodness/2009/05/index.html

It did kind of look like that. It was also pretty... sweet. And way too much alcohol for little ole me. So I ditched the drinks, trying not to think too hard about whether [slightly pansexual, mostly annoying] changed the drink orders on purpose or because he was totally smashed, and went to go dance, and had my dance moves critiqued by a man I'd seen there before (the same one who complemented me on my sparkly dress. No fancy dress last night for me - it was too damn cold. So just jeans and a shirt). I think my dancing makes gay men cringe. Awesome.

In other major events, [Львица] got hit on by a Russian man. I realized that alcohol makes me care less about sucking at dancing. We all tried not to get forever embarrassed by [slightly pansexual, mostly annoying]. Yet another great night out :D

Also, I would just like to say that LMAO's "Sexy and I Know It" is the best dance song ever. Just because of reasons. It's ridiculous. And fabulous.

Throwing Down the Gauntlet

Today, I received this really kind, sweet email from the president of the Human Rights Campaign, thanking me for all I've done for marriage equality. Now, this was a mass email but it still put a pang of cognitive dissonance in my mind. Mainly because I just joined the HRC two months ago and I haven't done much. Yes, I signed a petition. Yes, I talk about gay rights a lot. Yes, half of my best friends are gay and I photo-stalk people who photo-stalk John Barrowman. But that doesn't equal much of anything. Of course, neither does a passive-aggressive blog. But it's a first step, and it's the thought that counts.


So, as a New Year's resolution before New Years (a Thanksgiving resolution, if you will), I'm jumping into the political arena. That's right, baby - I am throwing down the gauntlet. Because we have a big election next year. And as GLBT issues are near and dear to my heart, there's some stuff I think should be clarified.

Read this article. And then watch the video posted below (it's the same that's on the article's website). Or just watch the video and then read the article. Really, I don't care. Just do it.

I don't know about you, but when I first watched this, I felt a bit like I do when someone is speaking Italian above my level - I can understand words, and maybe a few sentences, but nothing made cohesive sense. Fortunately for me, I read the article first. Or maybe unfortunately... because I spent much of the morning think about this.

Now admittedly, the video doesn't mention anything at all about homosexuals. But the Huffington Post blog article says that Tamara Scott, Michele Bachmann's Iowa Campaign Co-Chair, is speaking in reference to gay marriage and how it will ruin the institution of marriage. Because this is taken out of context and I have no idea what "red herring" is being referred to, maybe the Huffington Post (which is a pretty liberal paper) is just trying to make Scott look really bad. But she does work for Michele Bachmann. And, as I just learned in my social psych textbook, birds of a feather flock together.

This article, talks about John Becker and his refusal to pay for therapy sessions he scheduled as part of a sting operation to reveal that a clinic used reparative therapy - ones that are supposed to "turn" gay people straight. Here's the deal - the clinic Becker went to is a Christian counseling center in suburban Minneapolis, run by Marcus Bachmann, Michele Bachmann's husband. Now, Marcus Bachmann denies that his practice does any such counseling. But the thing is, Becker's video of the session he attended seems pretty convincing. And as Michele Bachmann refuses to talk about it, saying it's not important in regards to her campaign, there isn't a whole lot of clear light shed on the issue.

Here's my take: I don't like it when the media gets too deeply involved in a politician's background or past mistakes. Sometimes it's just too much and blown out of proportion (Bill Clinton did pot? This is Jack's lack of surprise). Sometimes it's just a violation of privacy. Besides, nobody's perfect - there's going to be mistakes in a candidate's past. But there's a level of knowledge you NEED to have about a candidate, not only to support their issues and empathize, but to TRUST them. Knowing whether or not your candidate thinks homosexuality can be "cured" by therapy? Big fucking deal to me. As far as I'm concerned, Bachmann is totally unelectable unless she discusses what her husband's clinic does. Yes, I know there's a level of patient confidentiality there - I'm a psych major, for God's sake - but discussing what sort of therapies one uses doesn't break that confidentiality. It's a simple yes or no question, really.

So if Marcus Bachmann's clinic has nothing to hide, why won't either one of them talk about it? A very good question in deed.

Also, all of you Bachmann haters out there, don't blame Minnesota for her. Please realize that she represents only ONE district of our state. And that I had absolutely nothing to do with her election. So haters - be hatin' elsewhere.

The Saloon

So Sunday night I spent one evening not being a good little student and studying for shit (because, really, eight hours spent on one midterm is far too much). So I went with [Львица] and [save the panzer] to the Saloon. I've mentioned it before - it was the gay bar we went to after La Cage Aux Folles. Unfortunately, now I can't get the song "Gay Bar" by Electric Six out of my head, and it's sort of distracting.

My shoes :D WIN

Anyway, I decided I would wear my new ridiculous glittery dress that I bought at Forever 21 before Halloween. And damn - it was a hit. A guy approached me and asked why I was so glittery and wanted to trade outfits. Another guy on the dance floor began dancing with me and complimented my attire and his friend complimented my shoes (okay, the shoes were pretty kickass. The fact that I was actually able to dance and stand and MOVE in them at all totally blows my mind). And when the guy who danced with me left the bar, he came up to me and said, "Keep wearing dresses like that and you'll be good to go."

It was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. I felt on top of the world the rest of the night and the better part of Monday. Perhaps only gay men can appreciate the awesomeness of a sparkly dress. But I think it wouldn't hurt straight men to work on their compliments. I mean, even [save the panzer]'s somewhat obnoxious friend [tower of babble] called me gorgeous and gave me some pleasant compliments (I think he also might have went into a tangent about how if he weren't gay, he'd sleep with me... which was awkward. And after he discovered I wasn't a lesbian, he also volunteered to be my wing man at the bar. Which kind of baffled me - why would you, as a gay man, try and hook a straight girl up with a guy in a bar THAT IS PREDOMINATELY FULL OF GAY MEN? Regardless, I appreciate his enthusiasm). Given all of that, I don't know if you could consider [tower of babble]'s compliments totally sincere, but you know, I'll take it. It's the second time I've been called gorgeous by a gay man (the other time was in Scotland, by one of the students.) You know how many times I've been called beautiful or gorgeous by a straight man? NEVER.

See what you're competing with, straight men? Either you need to step up your game or I need to reassess my priorities. Or I need to stop meeting dumb guys who make the straight male population look bad. And so my promotion of being undateable continues...