Breather

Rabbit, Rabbit!

(OK, let's try this for the second time: need some mental rest, sleep, catching up to family and friends and just away time. See y'all late February/early March)

Just a Quickie: Kola Boof in the News

I was finally able to track down Long Train to the Redeeming Sin by Kola Boof, when she emailed me this good news from Africana.com:

What To Read Next: February

Nile River Woman By Kola Boof (Door of Kush, 100 pages, $12.99)

This year marks a big one for activist and artist Kola Boof. In addition to the release of Nile River Woman, a collection of poems, Boof has two additional titles, short story collection Long Train to the Redeeming Sin and erotic historical novel Flesh and the Devil, also due out this year. Kola Boof, born Naima Bint Harith in the Sundan, came to the United States after her parents were murdered for speaking out against the contemporary Arab/African slave trade. Ms. Boof, much like her writing, has been the subject of much controversy. Click here to learn more.

Another Quickie: Keith Boykin on CNN

National Black Justice Coalition President Keith Boykin will appear on CNN Saturday Morning News at 7:15 a.m. E.S.T. Boykin will discuss the recent Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision on marriage equality. He will appear with Josh Baker of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy. The live television show will appear on Saturday, February 7, 2004.

Yet Another Quickie: Kola Boof on the Air Thursday

Kola Boof will be on 168 radio stations this Thursday, February 12th at 10pm (7pm PST) on The Bev Smith Show. She'll be the first guest of the night.

The show airs on the following stations (incomplete list):

New York City...WWRL
Atlanta...WAOK
Pittsburgh...WAMO
Philadelphia...WHAT
Cincinnati...WDBZ
Nashville...WNSG
Kansas City...KPRT

Keith Boykin Don't Play

While I didn't get a chance to see the Gay Marriage debate this past Saturday on CNN, George's trackback has me tracking back to his entry of several bloggers' links; specifically to CNN's transcript of Keith Boykin ripping a new one for Joshau Baker, rep for a bunch of homophobic christian punks (no link, they don't need the publicity).

(Guess this means I'm back to posting, but not really...)

Take Back the Web

By now, MacHeads know that the latest version of Apple's browser, Safari has been updated to version 1.2, but it is not available unless you have the latest annual update to the operating system. After rushing to buy the last two versions, I am waiting to either max out RAM and install Panther on my iMac or finally buy a G5 some time this summer.

Till then, I'm "taking back the web" by trying out Mozilla's new web browser, Firefox:

Of course, I love the colors! Will be trying it out for the remainder of the month. By that time, I'll know what my plans are as far as my hardware situation.

Keith Boykin & Jasmyne Cannick on NPR

(UPDATE: the show should be in the NPR archives by now)

Please tune into NBJC president Keith Boykin and board member Jasmyne Cannick on the Tavis Smiley Show this Wednesday, February 11 as we discuss same-sex marriage as it relates to communities of African descent.

WHO: Keith Boykin (NBJC) & Jasmyne Cannick (GLAAD/NBJC)

WHAT: NPR's Tavis Smiley Show

WHEN: Wednesday, February 11

WHERE: Radio / NPR

WHY: Same-sex marriage in communities of African descent.

MORE INFORMATION: The Tavis Smiley show is available on the following radio stations. For a complete list please visit http://www.npr.org/stations/index.php.

LOS ANGELES, CA
KPCC-FM
89.3
Mon-Fri, 08:00PM-09:00PM

SAN FRANCISCO, CA
KALW-FM
91.7
Mon-Fri, 11:00AM-12:00PM

WASHINGTON DC
WAMU-FM
88.5
Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat, 02:00AM-03:00AM

ATLANTA, GA
WCLK-FM
91.9
Mon-Fri, 09:00AM-10:00AM

WJSP-FM
88.1
Mon-Fri, 07:00PM-08:00PM

NEW YORK
WNYE-FM
Brooklyn
91.5
Mon-Fri, 09:00AM-10:00AM

WNYC-AM
New York
820
Mon-Fri, 08:00PM-09:00PM

CHICAGO
WBEZ-FM
91.5
Mon-Fri, 02:00PM-03:00PM

DETROIT
WDET-FM
101.9
Mon-Fri, 09:00AM-10:00AM

LINKS:
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
National Black Justice Coalition
Tavis Smiley Show

The 'Frisco Solution

Y'know, I had an idea of getting a Gay county clerk to do the same thing, here in Brooklyn:

San Francisco officials perform at least 15 gay marriages

In an open challenge to California law, city authorities performed at least 15 same-sex weddings Thursday and issued about a dozen more marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

By midafternoon, jubilant gay couples were lining up under City Hall's ornate gold dome and exchanging vows in two-minute ceremonies that followed one after another.

No state legally sanctions gay marriage, and it remains unclear what practical value the marriage licenses will have. The weddings violate a ballot measure California voters approved in 2000 that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

[ ... ]

The assembly-line nuptials began with longtime lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon, 79, and Del Martin, 83, who were hurriedly issued a married license and were wedded just before noon by City Assessor Mabel Teng in a closed-door civil ceremony at City Hall. The two have been a couple for 51 years.

About 30 couples crowded outside the San Francisco County Clerk's office awaiting licenses, many arm in arm. One of the women, wearing a white wedding dress and veil, encouraged couples to shout out their names and how long they had been together. [ complete article ]

Own a 'Historic' G5

Mac Rumors: Buy a Virginia Tech Cluster PowerMac G5

In the wake of news that Virginia Tech would be migrating their Supercomputer Cluster from PowerMac G5s to Xserve G5s, the fate of the original PowerMacs remained in question. Srinidhi Varadarajan had said they were working on "very good homes" for the historic machines.

It appears MacMall is now selling refurbished PowerMac units from the cluster ($2799 each). Their promo page reads "Own a piece of history!".

Presumably this means that Virginia Tech has already started swapping out PowerMac G5s with the new Xserve G5s.

I was actually excited about this and thought to myself, "If I had the $$..." Then reality set in:

Note: Non "historic" PowerMac G5 2.0GHz (512MB RAM) refurbs can be found for $2399 at the online Apple Store.

Should'a known!

Tar-Jay to offer iTunes Gift Cards?

Apparently so...

iPodlounge has the details:

One of our readers has submitted evidence of a new partnership between Apple and Target stores, resulting in $15 Gift Cards to purchase music from the iTunes Music Store. The new promotion is expected to start on Sunday, February 15.

I'll have to stop by on Sunday and buy some; for me, my baby and couple of friends.

Gay Marriage & African Americans

[ Audio links to the recent Tavis Smiley shows devoted to Marriage Equality via Karsh, who I am glad to see blogging on a regular basis because he has intelligent and witty things to say ] :

Feb. 10, 2004 | NPR : Gay Marriage and African Americans, Part 1

The Tavis Smiley Show kicks off a three-part series on gay marriage and the African-American community. On Wednesday, the Massachusetts legislature votes on an amendment to ban same-sex marriages in that state. NPR's Tavis Smiley talks to civil rights activist Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy about the issues that inevitably arise when constitutional amendments are at stake. Also weighing in is New York Daily News editor Jonathan Capehart *.

Feb. 11, 2004 | NPR : Gay Marriage and African Americans, Part 2

Today Massachusetts legislators debate whether to amend their state's constitution to ban same-sex marriages. NPR's Tavis Smiley talks to Jasmyne Cannick with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and Keith Boykin, a long-time gay rights activist and president of the National Black Justice Coalition.

Feb. 12, 2004 | NPR : Gay Marriage and African Americans, Part 3

Civil unions, gay marriage or a ban on same-sex matrimony -- the Massachusetts legislature has debated them all this week as part of a special session. We conclude a three-part series on African-American attitudes toward homosexuality with a conversation with two young people about generational differences within the black community. We hear from Janelle Hannah, former student body president at Jackson State University, and Larry D. Lyons, a 22-year old Rutgers graduate and gay man.

Don't Compare, Just Fight

[ From Prometheus 6, a profile of one of my heroes, Bayard Rustin ] :

Black, Gay Rights Linked in History By Derrick Z. Jackson

Those African-American ministers in Massachusetts who deny any link between the black civil rights movement and the movement toward same-sex marriage are running back into a dank closet of yesteryear. These ministers who want to stuff today's gay and lesbian couples into separate and unequal compartments of commitment have forgotten how the civil rights movement forced Bayard Rustin, one of the movement's greatest theorists, to make himself invisible because he was gay.

During the Montgomery bus boycott, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was constantly worried about Rustin's presence in the movement, especially among ministers "among whom tolerance for homosexuals was shunned as the wedge of evil," wrote Taylor Branch in "Parting the Waters." On one occasion, King invited Rustin down to Dexter Avenue Baptist Church for a strategy session.

But King's "desire to hide Rustin from practically everyone was so strong that he asked him to fly into Birmingham instead of Montgomery. Bob Williams met Rustin there and put him face down in the back seat of his car. King's instructions were that Rustin was not to raise his head until the car was parked safely at the Dexter parsonage."

Rustin paid his dues in the movement. He was arrested off a freedom ride in 1947 and put on a chain gang. He was jailed and lost some front teeth in a beating in New Orleans. A true disciple of Gandhian nonviolence and Quaker pacifism, Rustin reacted to a man who threatened to beat him with a stick by handing the man an additional stick. Rustin invited the man to commence the beating. The stunned man ran off to beat someone else. [ complete article ]

Hitched!

UPDATE: Here's a similar report with many updates and a few pics from JozJoz--

This wonderful news comes from stkyrice, via the LGBT-POC listserv we both belong to:

From stkyrice
Date Sun, 15 Feb 2004 3:02 PM
To LGBTPoC@topica.com
Subj [LGBTPoC] we got married!

I'm shocked. Honestly, I'm really shocked. I've always been a bit cynical about the whole gay marriage thing, especially since technically the marriage doesn't count anywhere else outside of SF (which is funny because my partner and I can literally spit into SF from our house). We've always joked with each other that we'll go to Toronto, Vancouver, or Boston. The mayor of SF is also a bit of a publicity hog so when the announcement came that queers were going to get married, most of us thought, "yeah, whatever."

Then Del Lyon and Phyllis Martin got married.

"Sometimes, in life, for principle, you're gonna have to kick some ass." --Jill Scott, Gettin' in the Way

For Reetika and Jehan, and Yusef Too

VIA George, this intense story on Reetika Vazirani, Indian American poet who committed suicide last year (shortly after knifing her 2-year-old son to death)

The Failing Light: Why did a rising young poet plunge into despair, taking her own life and the life of her 2-year-old son?

[Reetika Vazirani] was a genius at friendship: gracious and open (yet discreet), people say. You felt, after talking to her for an hour or two, that you'd known her half your life. You'd get little notes and know she was thinking of you, even if you hadn't spoken for six months. She once took leftover fabric from a shortened silk skirt and made scarves for her junior faculty (i.e., insolvent) friends. "Very giving, very effervescent, extremely sweet," says poet Garrett Hongo, who brought her to the University of Oregon to teach one fall. "It was not hard to be her friend."

She could be a hustler, too, ambitious on behalf of her career. Poetry is anything but an ethereal profession whose practitioners can rely on their muses. Getting attention requires relentless networking, a résumé full of publications and awards. "Create a buzz around yourself," Reetika advised a poet friend. "That's what I did."

Jeet Thayil, a New York poetry editor, watched with admiration as Reetika e-mailed notices of upcoming readings, reviews of her book, even order forms to a long list of friends and acquaintances, with exhortations to pass the word. "If she'd held a class entitled 'How to Promote Your Poetry,' I'd have paid to attend," Thayil says.

The above jumped out at me, as did the audio excerpts, some of her other work and a bio in the 5-page article.

More Civil Rights, Not Less

Sheryl McCarthy is pretty close to my own feelings about "Gay Marriage" in this article:

Gay Marriage Adds One More Civil Right

Quite a few Americans are up in arms about recent steps in Vermont and Massachusetts toward legalizing homosexual unions. That's why Massachusetts lawmakers are trying to amend the state constitution to ban homosexual marriage outright. Many other states have passed pre-emptive laws, and a growing movement that seems to have the Bush administration's support wants to insert a ban in the federal Constitution.

Which is why I loved the Massachusetts' courts' comparison to Brown. "For the first time a court explained with such clarity why a lesser status for committed gay couples can never be acceptable," says David Buckel, director of the marriage project of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. "It's essentially a governmentally affixed badge of inferiority."

So many parallels exist between what's happening in the gay-rights movement and what occurred in previous civil-rights movements. The same angry and emotional arguments being made against homosexuals who want the right to marry were made against blacks who wanted to attend the same schools, eat in the same restaurants, hold the same kinds of jobs and live in the same neighborhoods as whites, and against women who wanted to vote, serve on juries, attend medical school, and be hired for the same jobs as men: "It's not natural. It will upset the social order, and destroy our way of life. It's against religious teachings."

When blacks and women won their respective rights, however, the prediction that civilization would crumble didn't come to pass. And, while it's true that marriage is often consecrated by religion, it's essentially a function of the civil law. It's ironic that some members of the very groups that fought so long and hard for their own rights are now using the same arguments against homosexuals that were used against them.

All emphasis mine. I'm glad there are POC who fight for equality and balance out the Black bigots on the wrong side of justice.

Marriage Equality Now

After careful consideration and reflecting on several recent court developments -- most notably the San Francisco Solution -- I demand that New York City (and eventually, New York State) recognize marriages between members of the same sex. It goes against everything we stand for as a city, state and nation to discriminate. There is no reasonable explanation to continue marriage inequality. Gov. Pataki signed SONDA shortly after it was finally passed by the State Senate (after 31 years nonetheless!); New York City made similar inroads for Gay equality in 1986, albeit several years later than most major, liberal cities. Marriage is the last bastion for bigots. Every thing else is open to us (well, only if you ignore the plight of our transexual siblings who still face discrimination -- sometimes within Queer communities).

I've been thinking about marrying my partner almost from the very moment I first met him three years and five months ago today. No, it wasn't love at first sight. But I knew almost instantly that I wanted to be around him and I have grown to love him deeply. His fate is my fate and vice versa. Whether or not we can legally get married, we have made and will continue to make a commitment to each other. I won't lie and say I won't be hurt if a federal amendment makes marriage discrimination the law of the land. I will be. But I know no amount of paper and hate and spinelessness will change my mind: marriage is a civil right that should be available to all citizens in this city, state and nation.

I only wish we had been in San Fran this weekend. Seeing all the love and commitment and joyous celebrations there made me envious. It may be moot after a trip to Boson later this year.

* One of the questions from the this week's NYC Bloggers / RNN E News rundown.

Blithe House Quarterly: Design Volunteer Needed

Blithe House Quarterly, the premier LBGT literary magazine, is looking for a graphic/web design volunteer to design its 2005 volume of four issues.

---
Aldo Alvarez, author of INTERESTING MONSTERS : Fictions (Graywolf Press)

Sharpton on "Gay Marriage"

VIA Prince C's American Black

Al Sharpton on Gay Marriage:

I believe in equal human rights, before the law, for all human beings, and race, gender, disability, class or sexual orientation should not be a factor under the law. Even though we live under the law in a secular democratic society, religious groups must still be able to maintain their spiritual and moral option to either give or withhold a religious or sacred blessing to such unions. However, the government should not have that option. It must affirm the human and legal rights of everyone."

Honey Hush!

VIA Bernie, AKA bejata

Gay Marriage? Honey, Don't Get Me Started

Hets could get hitched and divorced five times a day in Vegas for any lopsided kinda reasons, but it's still "marriage" and "a sacred institution," despite what y'all might infer from watching Average Joe or recalling Henry VIII's unique method of coping with divorce. Meanwhile, your Great Aunt Hattie and her "friend" Willetta been living together 40 years and can't nobody mention it. Let alone have a ceremony, or give Hattie the right to inherit the damn glassware if Willetta finally has a heart attack from eating all that fried food. Talk about Having Our Say, honey.

Efren & Howard Sittin' in a Tree...

Here's a nice profile on Fridae of someone I know from online who recently married in San Fran--

Just Married: Efren and Howard

Efren Bose and his partner of seven years, Howard Kwong, are one of the 2,340 same-sex couples who had married in San Francisco by Monday night after Mayor Gavin Newsom challenged California state law last Thursday by ordering the county clerk to issue "gender-neutral" marriage licenses.

The city's 5-day experiment of granting same-sex marriages may come to an end on Tuesday as two anti-gay marriage groups, the Campaign for California Families and the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund have filed legal briefs to petition the courts to stop the city from issuing any more marriage licenses to gay or lesbian couples and to invalidate the licenses already granted.

Although the mayor has argued that the equal protection clause of the California Constitution makes denying marriage licenses to gay couples illegal, Proposition 22 -- a 2000 ballot initiative -- bans the recognition of same-sex marriages in California. It is now up to judges to declare the state's prohibition on same-sex marriages to be unconstitutional.

Spotlight on Racism

VIA Prince C's American Black, Mac Diva has started a series on race, most specifically, in the blogosphere. Interesting reading:

Part I: The end of racism

People unsympathetic to racial justice here in the blogosphere often claim that racism no longer has any real world effect. We can just ignore it, they say. Anyway, a new generation is growing up that will have no memory of the bad old days, right? Their more hostile counterparts claim there is no racism at all or that nonwhites are the ones who are racist. True, the people who say these things often fail to be able to even define racism -- the belief that one racial group is superior to another or others. Instead, they will assert that if someone mentions race, as in the sentence 'I am an Indian,' he is being a racist. Or, the bigot will trot out some bromide about how everyone in his home, city or state is getting along fine except for when black, Indian or Hispanic 'troublemakers' interfere with the status quo.

King of the World

Another from Prince C's American Black, this time from a new find, The Black Sports Network

The Hidden History of Muhammad Ali-Part 2

I ain't no Christian. I can't be when I see all the colored people fighting for forced integration get blown up. They get hit by the stones and chewed by dogs and then these crackers blow up a Negro Church…. People are always telling me what a good example I would be if I just wasn't Muslim. I've heard over and over why couldn't I just be more like Joe Louis and Sugar Ray. Well they are gone and the Black man's condition is just the same ain't it? We're still catching hell.

Be sure to read Part I.

For Lost Boys, Big Dreams

Lost Boys of Sudan opened today; part of a two week (February 18 - March 2) limited run. From a listserv posting:

Filmmakers and the film's subjects, Peter Dut and Santino Chuor in person: Thursday, February 19, 8 pm show

Screenings daily at 1:00, 2:45, 4:30, 6:15, 8:00 and 10:00.
Sold out shows: Wednesday, February 18, 6:15 and 8 pm.
Check Film Forum for more info, or to buy tickets online.

Film Forum is pleased to present the U.S. theatrical premiere of Lost Boys of Sudan. An American independent documentary by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk, the film's jumping off point is the plight of thousands of children orphaned by Sudan's 20-year civil war who have lived for years in mud huts in a Kenyan refugee camp, often eating just one meal a day. Lost Boys of Sudan follows the stories of two such young men - Peter Dut and Santino Chuor - who in 2001 were among several thousand brought to the U.S. and resettled throughout the country.

The filmmakers hone in on Peter and Santino as they make the transition from the African plains to the cities of Houston and Kansas City: they are amazed by the abundance of food ("We eat 24 hours a day and we still have food left!"); taken aback by racism ("People look at me. I'm so black compared to the black people who live here"); saddened by the American ethos of rugged individualism; and made to feel guilty by relatives telephoning from Africa who cannot understand why they don't send more money. The most telling analyses of America are, inevitably, the work of outsiders. Lost Boys of Sudan says a great deal about the reality of Africa today, but even more about us.

"FASCINATING! Hearing them joke about customs they can no longer observe - like the familiar touching that is considered homosexual behavior in America - underscores the spiritual distance between America and Africa…The nearly unlimited access the directors have to the lives of their subjects intensifies the narrative. (The film) subtly provides a sense of what its subjects have traded - sacrificed really - to come to America. Getting an audience so caught up is no small feat; it is a tribute to the directors' storytelling!" - Elvis Mitchell, New York Times

Too bad I probably won't be able to attend tomorrow's showings with the principles in attendance. Hell, I'm hard-pressed to think that I'll see any of the showings. *sigh*

Desecration My Ass!

VIA Peter of go_wade_in

Desecration? Dedication! by Anna Quindlen in the Feb. 23rd issue of Newsweek:

In a recent sermon, Cardinal Edward Egan of New York, who somehow managed for a long time to contain his public outrage at pedophiles in the priestly ranks, decried the notion of same-sex marriage and referred to "the desecration of something sacred." The marriages we're talking about are civil marriages, which are so short of being sanctified in the eyes of the church that it will scarcely recognize their existence if you are Roman Catholic. And in a secular nation, why should church leaders be required to acknowledge civil marriage or, for that matter, be attended to when they pass judgment on what they will not acknowledge? Let them police the rites they have the right to regulate.

[deleted] profane rant against Egan, pedophile co-conspirator [/deleted]

Go Read Don...Now!

Don of nitecrawler fame exposes the heterosexual agenda! A must-read for any self-respecting fag.

New York Flix

VIA Mr. Dash:

New York City Photobloggers at the Apple Store Soho, 26 February.

Jesus Horses?! Har!!

"Officials in Georgia have mandated that schools continue to use the word evolution when teaching science. However, as a compromise, dinosaurs are now called 'Jesus horses'." -- Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live, 21 Feb 04

Going Grey

While I'm not a fan of the record oligarchy, I'm not too sure of this:

Tuesday, February 24 will be a day of coordinated civil disobedience: websites will post Danger Mouse's Grey Album on their site for 24 hours in protest of EMI's attempts to censor this work.

DJ Danger Mouse created a remix of Jay-Z's the Black Album and the Beatles White Album, and called it the Grey Album. Jay-Z's record label, Roc-A-Fella, released an a capella version of his Black Album specifically to encourage remixes like this one. But despite praise from music fans and major media outlets like Rolling Stone ("an ingenious hip-hop record that sounds oddly ahead of its time") and the Boston Globe (which called it the "most creatively captivating" album of the year), EMI has sent cease and desist letters demanding that stores destroy their copies of the album and websites remove them from their site. EMI claims copyright control of the Beatles 1968 White Album.

What about compensating artists when you sample their works? And this is somewhat like someone taking your shit, combining it with their shit and then saying you have no say over how it's used, and you won't get a cent from them if they sell it. Open up copyright, but don't steal and tell me you're doing a good thing.

Black History Month? Don't Need It

I've been thinking about this for years:

We Don't Need Black History Month by Jason Whong.

2. It is very Amerocentric, considering that black people have a longer history in Africa than they do in the Americas.

4. Lumping all the great black Americans together without any historical context is probably not as effective as mentioning these same black Americans in the context of their time. Learning about Frederick Douglass, Crispus Attucks, and Stevie Wonder at the same time is probably just as effective as learning about Washington, Lincoln, and Kennedy at the same time.

Read the entire post.

The Haitian Bind

From the Guardian (UK), Throttled by history

Aristide has been dealt few cards, and those he had he has played badly. He has tainted a nascent democratic culture. But to allow him to be deposed at the hands of former dictators will destroy it altogether. Aristide could do far better for Haiti. Haiti could do far worse than Aristide.

I'm torn. On the one hand, I think the US needs to send troops, backed up with numbers from CARICOM and other nations, most notably, Canada. It's a regional move that needs to be taken to prevent further bloodshed and a mass exodus of Haitian refugees to Miami's shores. However, the US, Canada, the EU and CARICOM's posturing has led to the current crisis. By thwarting Haiti's fledging democracy -- by imposing stiff and unfair trade practices; withholding loan guarantees (which are often nearly impossible to repay in the first place); by supporting thugs that seek a violent overthrow of a flawed, but democratically elected Aristide; and, by ignoring the oppressive, despotic, violent aims of pre-democratic groups aligned with Duvalierists/Ton Ton Macoutes -- we're setting up Haiti to fail and for us to overtake another nation under false pretenses.

Haiti's best hope right now is for Aristide to negotiate a peaceful, respectful departure and new elections in a timely, democratic fashion.

I have no hope that that will happen. Too bad no one is paying attention in this hemisphere. At least not until the refugees are detained on Miami's beaches and 100s, if not 1000s, are killed in the struggle.

Keep gay marriage out of Constitution

I'm too depressed to talk about (or engage readers, so comments are off) the issue myself. Here's an editorial from the New York Daily News:

Keep gay marriage out of Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is meant to chart the relationship of the federal government to its citizens, not to regulate those citizens' behavior. That is the Constitution's genius, and it's why President Bush is dead wrong to push for an amendment banning same-sex marriages.

Village mayor in New York says he will marry gay couples

Welcome to ronntaylor.com where it's gay news all day and all night. Still don't feel like chatting it up in my semi-depressed state (which means I'm improving, really), so comments are off. Send email if you'd like:

Village mayor in New York says he will marry gay couples

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. -- The 26-year-old mayor of this Hudson Valley village says he will begin performing gay marriages Friday, calling it "my moral obligation."

Mayor Jason West, who won office last year on the Green Party line, said he intends to marry at least four same-gender couples at a private bed and breakfast in the village. The move could make this college village 75 miles north of New York City another flash point in national debate over gay marriage.

"We as a society have no right to discriminate in marriage any more than we have the right to discriminate when someone votes or when someone wants to hold office," West said in a phone interview. "The people who would forbid gays from marrying in this country are those who would have made Rosa Parks sit in the back of the bus."

In recent months, gay marriage has exploded onto the national scene as judges and local officials have aggressively attempted to redefine marriage. A bill in the New York Legislature would ban same-sex marriages, saying a "marriage or union is absolutely void if contracted by two persons of the same sex, regardless of whether such marriage or union is recognized or solemnized in another jurisdiction."

Similar bills have died without action in the past. At least 34 states have enacted so-called defense of marriage laws.

Still no action by the New York City Council or County Clerks here. Punks!

Lucky Bastids!

Lucky Apple Bags?

MacWorld reports on an Apple press event today previewing a new San Francisco Apple Store.

The two story structure opens on Saturday. As an added bonus, the first people in the store have the option of purchasing a mysterious $250 "Lucky Bag" full of 7 or 8 products -- all but one from Apple. The retail value of the contents... reportedly between $600 and $1000.

Despite inquiries, Apple wouldn't give out any details as the contents of the bag.

First San Fran gets the jump on marriage equality, now they get the good (Mac) shit!

UPDATE - 28 Feb 04:

Spymac Report: Lucky Bags
2004/02/28 11:56 | By Michael Simon

According to initial reports, each of the lucky bags sold at the grand opening of the Apple Store San Francisco contained an Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse, and a D-Link USB Bluetooth adapter, along with Keynote, iLife, a one-year subscription for .Mac and a 10-percent discount card, and varied between an Airport Extreme Base Station (with modem and antenna port), a 20 GB iPod, or an iPod mini. Rumor has it that one lucky purchaser scored a 40GB iPod.

Apparently, within an hour of the store's opening, all of the $250 bags had been sold. Photos of the bag and its contents can be seen here.

At least one auction has already popped up on eBay, and had received six bids (totaling $330) as of 12:20 p.m. PST.

Apple offered a similar promotion at the grand opening of its first overseas flagship store in Tokyo. Their lucky bags, or fukubukuro, contained six items: an iSight digital video camera, an Apple Bluetooth Mouse, Keynote, a one-year .Mac subscription, a D-Link USB adapter and a one-time, 10-percent discount card.

Apple should do this for every major Mac event and retail opening. Or at least a couple of times in NYC!

Gay Couples Marry In New York Village

Gay Couples Marry In New York Village

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. -- Twenty-one gay couples exchanged wedding vows outside village hall Friday in a spirited ceremony that opened another front on the growing national debate over gay marriage.

Even as the ceremonies were ending, the state Health Department asked Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to seek an injunction "to prevent further illegal conduct by the mayor," said spokesman William Van Slyke. The department also wants the attorney general's office to find Friday's same-sex marriages in New Paltz "null and void," Van Slyke said.

A call to Spitzer's office was not immediately returned.

Jason West, the 26-year-old Green Party mayor in this village 75 miles north of New York City, joined San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom as the country's only mayors to marry same-sex couples. In the past two weeks, about 3,400 gay couples have married in San Francisco.

Hooray for Mayor Jason. Boo for Mayor Bloomberg!!

President Prick

George W. Bush, meet Gov. Faubus!