Amerika: Home of the Free?

 Been pondering this Indiana situation.

It's true that the law doesn't encourage discrimination, but it sure doesn't stop it from happening. 

Yesterday, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a Republican presidential candidate, said in a Senate floor speech that [Indiana Governor] Pence was "giving voice to millions of courageous conservatives across this country who are deeply concerned about the ongoing attacks upon our personal liberties." 

See, that's the kind of language that worries me.

Their personal liberties?!

Hey, if you wanna be a pro-choice, anti-gay feminist-hating individual, in the name of your religion, go right ahead. No one is stopping you from booking a hotel room, eating in any dining establishment you so desire, etc.

Just don't block MY right to do so! 

See, here's the thing: I grew up in the service industry. My parents had a small business, a restaurant. My dad had only a few simple rules: 1. Serve hot foods hot; 2. Serve cold foods cold; and . . .

3. The customer is always right!

Always! [Even when they were wrong and we knew they were wrong!]

It's business, people! It's America, home of the free!

Everybody should be welcome to dine, to imbibe, to lodge, to work, to play, to vacay. Wherever they so desire.

Boy, does this hark back to the days when "the Negros" couldn't sit at the counter; or ride the bus; or . . .




 

"Indiana wants me" (oh wait, no they don't!)

Well, it's been a long time since I blogged, but sometimes Facebook and Twitter just don't give me enough space to spread my creative wings and thoughts.

Yes, I have thoughts [even "between jobs," I do exercise my brain daily]!

And what better time to return to the blog then in the midst of a mayoral campaign here in Philly, March Madness, the Pope and DNC soon to visit, and . . .

. . . well, Indiana.

Need I say more?

[Okay, if you don't know: they just passed a "religious liberty" law which could enable businesses to discriminate against "homosexuals"]

As a lesbian, I would not be welcome there. As a mother, I can't accept discrimination against anyone. As an activist, wow, so many things could be said.

And as a sports fan, I recognize that the Final Four is soon to be held in Indianapolis! What does this mean for all of us LGBTQ sports fans? Members of the media (Jason Collins, Kate Fagan)? Coaches? Players? 

Mascots?! [Sparty the Spartan!? Recently named "gayest mascot of the NCAA tourney" by Outsports]

Good lord, just imagine if the women's Final Four was there this year, who would be left to play? watch? care? [If not the LGBTQ community?]

As a longtime activist, I believe in boycotts. Hey, it worked in Arizona when the NFL pulled the 1993 Super Bowl from the state when they removed MLK Day as a holiday.

Looks like Salesforce Inc. has already pulled their trainings out of Indiana. Good for them. 

One now needs to ask: WWCD?  [What Will Chipotle Do?]




 

It's a strange day in PA when Rick-y Boy Santorum is avoiding the Prez, while Arlen Spector, who will join the Prez at a public event tomorrow, was the swing vote on getting the FMA out of committee!

Libby indicted! Ooooooh. Bushie's 0-for-2 this week!

Well, I thought perhaps The Gal & I would go as John Roberts and Harriet Miers this year for Halloween (you know, them being scary and all. . .), but - guess that idea's out now, seeing as Ms. Miers is out of the running for the Supreme Court.

It'll be hard to top last year's costume, when I went as Mary Cheney and actually "scared" some folks at a party who thought I really might be a Republican (I had a fake Bush/Cheney button on).

Spent the weekend in Richmond, VA at a wedding.

Well, spent most of the weekend with wedding activities.

The other half of the time the extended Boroff-Berkowitz-Denenberg families staked out spots in the hotel trying to catch a glimpse of The Boss, who was coming to town for a concert and staying in our hotel.

Mostly, we saw lots of roadies and made sure the teen cousins ('jailbait') stayed far away from them.

We did, however, get to shop a bit in Carytown (think: Manayunk without the hills and with easier parking). I was interested in going mostly because all of the tourist magazines I read listed this restaurant/bar called "Babe's of Carytown" - which I had originally seen on the GayRichmond web site. Unless you know exactly what a rainbow flag means, you might just wander in to the place to grab a nice bite to eat.

Could you just see the Philadelphia tourism folks directing unknowing tourists to Sisters?!

Ah, there's nothing like listening to an album all the way 'through, like 'XPN gave us recenlty with the final 20 or so Top Albums of all time.

I quite enjoyed the Beatles' "White Album".

In tribute, I listened to Disc I (Act I) of "Jesus Christ Superstar" today on my iPod-walk-to-the-train.

The Atlanta musicians version! Amy Ray, Emily Saliers, Michael Lorant, Kelly Hogan, Gerard McHugh, Big Fish Ensemble, etc. Ah, I'm in Heaven!

I am so loving my iPod.

Today's tunes ? An awesome download of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers singing on Allison Brown's cover of "Homeward Bound" (the Simon-and-Garfunkel tune). Lotsa banjo, violin, and free flowing harmonies.

I highly recommend it.

Now, if I could only get their version of "Mrs. Robinson"!

Bought an iPod recently and spent most of the weekend downloading tunes, leading me to ponder this important life question:

What in the world did we do before iPods?!

I think I'm in love with mine. I can now drown out annoying cell phone conversations on the train, loud high school students crowding the sidewalk outside of my office building, and heartfelt but constant solicitations by the soon-to-be-NON-homeless residents of Philadelphia (acc'd to Mr. Mayor, who plans to "end homelessness").

And, I can listen to rockin' tunes while doing so!

There is a column in the daily "commuter" paper here, The Metro, asking the following question of the day to Center City folks : "What's on your iPod?"

Today? My-Inaugural-Commuting-Day-With-Pinky-Lee (my nickname for my very cute, pink iPod)?

Why, the Indigo Girls of course!

It's been a sad week for this LGBT parent / activist. I found out about the untimely deaths of two other LGBT Parent Activists, may they rest in peace:

Marilyn Maneely of Haddonfiled, New Jersey who, along with her surviving partner Diane Marini, sued the state for the right to marry. I had the opportunity to meet her a couple of years back at a town meeting on same-sex marriage and found her and Diane to be two of the most open, honest and caring people I've met in my life. She died of Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), having been diagnosed with it just last fall. Besides her partner, she leaves behind 5 children and a host of family members, friends and admirers.

• Memorial donations to assist ALS patients and nursing mothers may be made to the Marilyn Maneely Memorial Fund in care of First Colonial Bank, Haddon Ave., Collingswood, N.J. 08108.

Jeff Grego of my hometown of Erie, PA who, along with his surviving partner Joey, sued the state to allow second parent adoptions in every county in PA. Who could have guessed that they would actually need one of the most serious "protections" which the adoptions allow? Jeff died tragically in a small airplane crash while on a sightseeing tour. Daughter Zoey, also on the plane, survived. Joey and son Clay had just had their tour on the same airplane. I understand that the viewing and funeral at St. Peter's Cathedral in Erie ("the" seat of the diocese!) were both jam-packed.

• Memorial contributions may be sent to an education fund established for Clay and Zoey Grego. Contributions may be sent to: Bock Insurance, 3915 Caughey Road, Suite 3, Erie, Pa. 16506.

Today, some tidbits from my life as a . . .

Lesbian. Looks like Ah-nold is going to veto that CA same-sex marriage bill since the populace once voted to only recognize marriage between a man and a woman (Prop 22); while over in MA, they're preparing to take the whole gay marriage thing to the populace since the courts upheld same-sex marriage last year. Enuf to make your head spin.

Parent. Ah, the pleasures of being a [LGBT?] parent. Getting to clean the smelly hamster cage each week. Shopping for new shoes for school, when your daughter only likes second-hand shoes, already worn in. A 6-hour trip in the car listening to the "Flat Stanley" books-on-tape. Priceless.

Activist. Met Marlene Santoyo at the train station this a.m. She's the Green Party candidate in the 200th district of PA; a district which, My Friend Jon points out, I am NOT a resident of! And here, I was soooo excited to vote next Tuesday. Snif. So, I took a bunch of flyers to hand out about her and spread the word. In that vein, here's a link to an interesting interview of each of the 3 candidates running for the state Representative seat.

Sports Fan. The Phils dropped another game to the Astros last night. Only the most important series of the year, as we're in a race with Houston for the NL wild card. Well, not any more, it seems. Ah, Philadelphia sports teams. We suck!

And that about sums it all up, eh?

Well, the California legislature voted to approve same-sex marriage in that state. Now the legislation goes to Gov. Ah-nold for his signature.

My fave quote from it all, courtesy Planet Out: (straight) Assemblyman Tom Umberg said he was concerned about what his three children would think of him if he didn't join those "who sought to take a leadership role in terms of tolerance, equality and fairness."

Now, that's what I call a Leader-with-a-capital-L.

As opposed to the following, who had their own interesting quotes publicized recently:

Rick Santorum, who said, "You have people who don't heed those (hurricane) warnings and then put people at risk. . .There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving."

Barbara Bush, who said, "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they (the evacuees being put up in the Houston Astrodome) all want to stay in Texas. . . and so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

Ah, those Compassionate Conservatives.

One week from today - Tuesday, September 13th - is "special election day" in the 200th District in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, PA.

I write this because just about every person I've mentioned this to did not know about it! [And I tend to hang with a fairly educated crowd and my neighborhood tends to be very "up" on politics, even!]

The election is for the open State Representative seat vacated by LeAnna Washington (who is now our State Senator, folks! As our previous State Senator, Allyson Schwartz, is now our U.S. Represenative - follow?). Three candidates are running:

• Republican Robert Rossman
• Democrat Cherelle Parker
• Green Party candidate Marlene Santoyo

Now, Cherelle Parker is a very good candidate: a former aide to City Councilperson Marian Tasco, active in her church, born and raised in Mt. Airy, a Dem committeeperson, etc. I'd love to vote for her, but I have this thing about ward leaders hand-picking candidates to run for office and then putting their full weight (read: $$$) behind their candidate, expecting us Dems to vote for the candidate, just because.

And, I've been having this on-off love affair with The Green Party. I like their values. I like their democratic processes. I like their liberal stances and that they are not afraid to speak out on things like the war in Iraq (against it), universal health care (for it), and injustices against African-Americans in the U.S. (and they were speaking it beFORE "Katrina").

Certainly, things to think on.

Now that I've caught up on all the news that I've missed while on vacation (really! we rarely had the TV on nor did we read the papers!). . . I have a few things to espouse on -- imagine!

• John Roberts as Chief Justice? Is Bushie serious? JR hasn't even sat on The Court yet. Wonder what his co-justices will think, having been "passed over" for the Chief-seat? I'm sure even The Supremes can have their egos bruised.


• Philly is taking in about 1,000 "refugees" (doesn't the use of that word in relation to the displaced victims of Katrina bother anyone but me?). They will be put up in some vacant public school buildings - complete with hot showers, computer labs, and exercise rooms. Leading our "local" homeless population to wonder why they can't have a similar set-up, let alone an end to the waiting list for more permanent housing.


• Speaking of the refugees, I find it sad that no one (except a handful of service providers) seemed to care about the "poor, black folks" of New Orleans beFORE the hurricane.


• In the meantime, how many National Guard troops currently serving in Iraq wish they were home in the U.S. . . to do the work they were actually trained to do - domestic security in the event of a natural disaster! I read that the Louisiana National Guard members were especially depressed, wanting their chance to help out at home, while not knowing what's become of their friends and family members.

Sad, sad, sad.

Wow! Who knew I got so much junk mail?

Having just returned from a loverly, relaxing vacation in Vermont, The Gal & I sought out our "held mail."

The very nice mailman (not our regular guy, Tom) noted that he'd have to get it from the truck.

Two minutes later, he returns with one of those big plastic mail bins - which the post office does not like to part with easily and which, at least here in Philly, they often have to make appeals to the community to return them to their local post office - full of mail.

Most of it. . . junk mail.

On a side note, went to the Warren Falls swimming hole while vacationing in the Mad River Valley. You may have read about it in the recent NY Times travel piece on the swimming holes of Vermont.

It was awesome, even if I didn't get up my nerve to jump in some of the "holes." I did, however, venture into the water and onto the rocks. It was very cold. Brrrrr.

So, the Pat Robertson thing. At first, I didn't believe it, thinking the media mis-quoted him or something. Then, I heard it from his own mouth:

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,'' he said. "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability.''

Gosh. I'm almost speechless. What can I say?

Oh, except maybe that he's a Man of The Cloth and all and isn't murder a Mortal Sin and you could burn in hell and all and maybe he shouldn't be making Terroristic Statements, blah blah blah.

I'm aghast I tell ya. . . just aghast ! Yes, yes, about that Pat Robertson thing, but more on that later.

Today, I went on a tour of Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies play. I took a moment to ask our tour guide, Mark from the Front Office, what became of the "Stargell Star" from The Vet - which marked the longest home run ever hit there (by none other than Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates).

"It got lost in the move," he said. Lost! Lost? "Hey, he didn't even play for the Phillies," said Mark, "he played for the Pirates."

Duh! And only was one of the greatest hitters in the game ever! Ah, the Lumber Company.

Well, I'm off to the local Verizon Wireless store to try to buy a new cell phone for The Gal. Why? You ask. Let's just say that . . . cell phones, 7-year olds, and a creek don't play well together.

While I'm not a big fan of the pre-season, I thought I'd catch a few moments of The Game (if you have to ask, you must not know me very well) last night.

However, 4 hours after we arrived at the lovely Mt. Airy home of our local lesbian poker party hosts, we were still quite into the big Texas Hold'Em game. While neither The Gal nor I "won," a good time was had by all.

They even had a small TV on in the kitchen - tuned to OLN (?!) - and I never thought to change the channel. See, what's a game without T.O. ? And, what the heck is T.O. up to? Has he no shame? Yo, T.O.! Get rid of Drew-boy already (who, by the way, was an "answer" in my recent Quizzo outing and, yes, my team got it right!).

I might just have to root for Duce & Co. this year!

Went to the ballgame last night. Here's what I love about Gay Day at the Phillies:

• The women are really into the game. Most of the lesbians I sat near last night were actually keeping scorecards - and here I thought that I was the only girl who grew up knowing how to score a baseball game!



• The men are really into the game. For the 2nd year in a row, I had the pleasure of sitting next to an educated and entertaining gay man (different guy each year!) who both knew about baseball and the Phils and could joke about it all. This year's guy even had the game on his portable radio! [I shoulda got his # so I could invite myself to his behind-the-3rd-base-dugout season tix seats!]



• For those who are more into socializing, smoking and people-watching, the 200 level's wide open concourse is the perfect spot! While Camden Yards will always be my fave ballpark, The Cit really got the concourse area down good! Ran into all kinds of folks, many of whom I knew, others of whom I just met that night (and recruited for my Quizzo team!).