scoopny

I think I can say this simply. There are friends who mean the world to me I have that I never would have met had we not been gay, nor would we have grown as close. It's not just one person, but a whole community of people, that have made my life more meaningful, made me more adventurous, helped me see the world differently, given me comfort, made me laugh. It's all quite accidental how it all happened and these friends aren't necessarily people I've slept with (although a few I have, admittedly), but they have all shown me something I didn't know before and well maybe hopefully I've done the same for them.

Didn't you say that you wanted to make an extra chapter for the story? Any chance of that happening anytime soon? You had mentioned about Noa...

The truth of the matter is, the St. Patrick's Day parade doesn't do much to improve the reputation of the Irish as anything but drunks (and heck they even ban gay Irish groups from marching in that parade, how's that for tolerance!), sexual harassment is fairly rampant at the Puerto Rican and West Indian day parades (which doesn't help the reputation of either group). I've marched in the New York City pride parade (and I wore perfectly reasonable clothes, t-shirt and shorts). There's not much like having one million people cheering you as you march and having every important politician in New York a couple of hundred of feet in front of you (including Hillary). While there are some outlandish parts of the parade with dancing boys and Dykes on Bikes, most of it was pretty boring, like politicians, activists and social groups (like the gay rugby team). I really think the parades do show the breadth and depth of the gay community in New York City (from the crazy to the staid) and in other cities and it's an excuse to sit out in the sun and just have fun. I'll likely be marching again this year, handing out pamphlets to everyone I see trying to remind them of all the important work still to be done. If it weren't for the nerdy boys and girls who started the first gay rights groups in the 50s and the outrageous drag queens and flamboyant boys who taunted and jeered the cops at the Stonewall Inn in 1969, we might not even have progressed as far as we have today. I think we need them both. The flaymboyant boys get people's attention, the nerdy ones are willing to do the grunt work to achieve equality.

It's really great news, a lot of people I know have been working really hard on this case for a very long time. It all started back in 2004 when SF Mayor Gavin Newsome decided to protest President Bush's promotion of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage by throwing open the doors of city hall (in defiance of the law) to gay and lesbian couples. History has proven that he broke no law and in fact did the right thing. And congrats DK!!! We expect pictures.

Nice to see your haikus are back. I notice no mention of the Ducks and their quick exit. .

Did your school had metal detectors? Wow. That's usually fairly rare for American high schools, even in this day and age.

I agree with sat8997, I have a lot of veggie friends and they span the gamut from gay to straight. Everytime a group of us go out to lunch, there's always at least one veggie in the group. I am not a veggie, but I have nothing against them.

I think FrenchCanadian handled Damien with incredible care and sensitivity. He didn't make him a monster, he didn't make him totally helpless. But he did show how a certain sequence of events in Damien's life lead to an incredibly tragic moment. It seems that if only one thing had changed that day, maybe the tragedy could have been averted, but it didn't. The chapter constantly surprised me, I didn't exactly know how it was going to turn out once I started it and that's always a good thing.

Short answer is yes to both. Why do we want the law to judge us inferior? No one is forced to get married, but for sure the law should not say "you cannot get married no matter how much you want to." That is using the law to designate you, even if you never get married, as inferior to heterosexuals and that's wrong. For example a ban on interracial marriage did not deny the right of marriage to anyone. It only kicked in if you decided to marry someone of a different race. Why was that law wrong? Because the law marked black people as inferior to white people. Gay people can currently get married, but only if it is to someone of a different gender. Same principle. Second, marriage protects couples, especially non-wealthy couples who don't have the resources to make legal arrangements that mimic marriage, to keep the assets (both social and economic) that come with being a couple. From the ability to visit your partner at the hospital and make legal decisions concerning their health when they are no longer able to, to transfering your assets when one partner dies or ensure the law doesn't try to take away your children should one partner die. And marriage, when it works, also helps ensure that assets are divided equitably in a divorce. When marriage isn't recognized crazy things happen, especially when couples break up. For example, one case I know of, a lesbian couple married in Mass., get divorced. One partner moves to Virginia with the child and then gets the Virginia court not to recognize the other partner as the parent of the child. That would not happen if gay marriage would legalized everywhere. So marriage is necessary especially because people often break up and divorce laws ensure those breakups proceed in way that recognizes the rights of both parties.

See you admitted it! It was a cliffie . Hopefully Talon pulls through.

:battleaxe:

You are never going to let me forget that. . I remember you were like "What if they lose?" and I was like "there's no way Michigan is losing to a team named Appalachian State." I spent the next month eating those words. By the way, I hope Carey Price spends his offseason doing a little working out, it appears he's too small for the goal, he can't seem to keep the puck from going into the net. .

Michigan has the highest winning percentage of any college football program. Florida is just a mere upstart. And I will concede our basketball team sucks.

Aww... one national championship, how cute. Call me when you get 10 more .

Oh the Gators? You mean the team we beat in the Capitol One Bowl this year? . Good team, Tim Tebow's a good quarterback. I'd make fun of Penn State, but that would just be piling on. At least we can both agree that Norte Dame and Ohio State sucks.

Haha omg, I was sleepy and didn't see. The Phillies? Man we have nothing in common. I'm a Mets fan. Okay, you can make fun of the Mets for last season, THAT was an embarassment. But we'll get you this year. We probably shouldn't talk football, should we? Go Giants. Next you're going to tell me you root for Penn State *points to icon*.

Last I checked the Rangers and the Devils finished with more points than the Flyers . Man an all-Pa. series, can I root for none of the above?

You realize neither one of us was alive the last time the Flyer hoisted a Stanely Cup. And while Marty Brion did his best Marty Brodeau impersonation, that won't last against the Penquins. The Rangers are so not winning that series, lol.

:mace: Signed, Devils fan. And before you try to make fun of the Devils, ask yourself how many Stanley Cups the Flyers have over the last decade and how many the Flyers have. TYIA.

I'm celebrating finishing another year of school. Only one more to go for that graduate degree!

I too am digging the different perspectives. Today's chapter is no different, this time we get a glimpse of Nancy, who is something of a witch, isn't she? You wonder what drives her to do what she does, does she feel insecure deep down inside?

I don't have a cute couple requirement for PDA's , I think they're fine in moderation and appropriate to the location you're at and you don't have to be good-looking in my book to do them. Older couples in fact, are even more adorable, since it suggests they've been together for a really long time.

I liked this chapter provided a whole new perspective to the story, definitely one of my favorite chapter. Timothy really knows his students well and I was impressed about the way Timothy handled Nathan and how Nathan really did want to talk about his relationship. I wonder if Nathan wanted to say something earlier. Also I like how Timothy wasn't perfect, human when he got a little mad at Nancy, he probably shouldn't have, but sometimes you can't like every student equally. Sometimes people just rub you the wrong way.

Congratulations Myr!!!

Of course these problems exist. And I agree in a perfect world you wouldn't have to leave. But sometimes, people do. My dear friend Hamp was nearly killed several times in Mississippi growing up and well, he left. I respect your choice to stay, but not everyone does, even in Mississippi. The reason my grandfather, and millions like him, left the South for the North wasn't for the better weather. Should people stay and fight? Sure. But plenty of people make other choices. And those choices aren't wrong, just as much as your choice to stay isn't wrong. Where Azure Dragon lives, much like Michigan, there is no protection against housing and job discrimination for gays and both states have strict anti-gay marriage amendments. I could take a job here and they could fire me for being gay and I'd have no recourse, most cities in Ohio are the same way. If I lived in a city outside of Ann Arbor, I could get denied an apartment for being gay. The Mid-west ain't no idyll. The anti-gay marriage amendment in Michigan is more restrictive than the one in Mississippi. The state appellate court ruled that the University of Michigan couldnt' even provide health insurance to gay and lesbian couples. I live not 10 miles from where they regularly host Klan rallies. Timothy McViegh's co-conspirator Terry Nichols also lived nearby. If you want to see racism and hatred at work just come on to Michigan.