What's in it for us?

The LGBT community has so much to thank President Obama for. People say that he hasn't done anything eben though he's done quite a lot. It just goes to show how politically unaware people are when they open their mouths. Check out these things that he's done for us since his election.

In 2009:

• Created Federal government to extend key benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
•  Hosted the first White House LGBT Pride Reception in history
• Created a National Resource Center for LGBT elders
• Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law

In 2010:

• Ended discrimination based on gender identity on federal government
• Ensured hospital and visitation rights for gay and lesbian parents
• Allowed trans Americans to recieve true gender passports without surgery
• Clarified the Family and Medical Leave Act ensuring family leave for LGBT employees
• Released Ameica's first comprehensive plan to prevent and end homelessness which includes LGBT youth
• Awarded a grant to the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Sevices Center to work with LGBT foster youth
• Recorded "It Gets Better" video
• Led a United Nations measure the restored "sexual orientation" to the definition of humam rights
• Signed the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

In 2011:

• Ensured government housing programs can no longer discriminate against the LGBT community
• Proposed more funding for LGBT prioities such as HIV/AIDS prevention and education as well as bullying and teen suicide prevention
• declared the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional and announced the administration will no longer defend its constitutionality in court
• Hosted a conference on bullying prevention at the White House
• Completed an institute of Medicine study on LGBT health, the first of its kind
• Clarified the meaning of family to include LGBT relationships, helping to protect bi-national families threatened by deportation
• Supported lesbian widow , Edith Windsor, in her suit against DOMA
• Issued guidance to foster safer working environments for transgender federal employees
• Strengthened enforcement of same-sex hospital visitation rights and decision making
•  Implemented the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

*All credit for the found information goes to Obama for America. Please don't sue me. Just trying to spread the word.

Think of the Future

I'm going to take a small break from my usual rants about the civil rights of  the LGBT community to touch on another important topic. Future Planning.

Everyone has something that they're good at. My best friend is a composer, writes music, and plays piano. My boyfriend plays bass guitar and he's an excellent cook. I have friends who are artistic, athletic, coordinated, organized, and/or courageous. Everybody can specialise in something. So how do so many people have virtually no idea what they want to do with their future.

 I, for one, can write fiction, draw and people bow to me when the see me play guitar hero. (Which isn't neccesarily a skill that I can earn a living off of, but it helps with my hand-eye coordination and has helped my abilities when I play my clarinet.)

Video of my playing, not necessarily relevant ==>


As I get older, I plan to be a novelist (or writer or author or whatever the proper nam for the profession is). My main goal is to create something that I will always be remembered for when I'm gone. For example, after J.K. Rowling is gone, do you think Harry Potter will still be as famous? And practically everybody knows about C.S. Lewis and Narnia. Those two people created two entirely new worlds for people. That's what authors do. They create an escape from the actual world into a new world that still isn't as ideal as we'd like, but it's still a lot more interesting than the monotony of our daily lives. Authors help people relieve stress and put their worries into the problems of fictional characters rather than their own.

My best friend, (who can be found at http://myndithemartiangirl.blogspot.com/) doesn't write songs just because they sound cool or because she thinks it'll sell well. She composes her songs about what matters to her and what she thinks we, as a society, should change about ourselves. She takes situations from her own life finds a melodie to describe the emotions to go with that situation. After high school she hopes to attend the California College of Music.

I know it takes some longer than others to find their true potential. Some never reach it. It all depends on how willing you are to pursue it.

A Word on Gay Marriage

The U.S. Census Bureau released the following on same-sex couples...
In the United States of America there are:

• 131,729 married same-sex couple households
• 514,735 unmarried same-sex couple households

Some people would say that 131,729 marriages is a pretty decent number and we should be proud of ourselves for accomplishing that. I think that it's a nice step, but we could do better.If only ~26% of gay couple households are married and only 24% of our states even allow same-sex marriage, than those don't seem like very promising numbers to me. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely happy for those married couples and hope they have long happy lives together, and I do acknowledge that marriage isn't right for some people and that some others aren't ready for that step in their relationship. I am speaking for those couples who want to get married, but have to travel a ridiculous distance in order to find some place that will even recognize their union.
 I find it some peoples' reactions to allowing gay marriage in states somewhat disgusting. I've heard what they tell people in those churches. The last time I attended church was April of 2009. Gay marriage had just being legalized in Iowa and the pastor at my chirch was infuriated. He spent an entire two weeks preaching about how homosexuality was immoral and wrong. He kept talking about how evil and sinful it was and how it would eventually destroy our race. At that point I stood up, yelled that he was wrong, threw my bible at him, and walked out of the church. I was excommunicated and and started crying as soon as I reached my house. There my have been some overreaction on both of our parts.
I guess I can understand where they are coming from. Even if you go to dictionary.com, It specifically states that marriage is between a man and a woman. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/marriage) It's completely not fair. I wonder. I enough states accept same-sex marriage as a custom, is it possible to change the definition of a word? Has it been done before? I know it's possible for society to develop a new connotation for a word, but what about its denotation? How much controversy would it cause? Would it be for better or worse, or even worth the trouble? I think it would. I guess this means that the LGBT community has a little bit more to work for. I know I'm willing to put forth the effort.

Auto pilot

 

13 years and three days ago, 22 year old, Matthew Shepard was attacked, in Laramie, Wyoming for being gay. He was beaten, tied to a fence, pistol-whipped, and left for dead only to be found nearly 18 hours later by a passing cyclist. The only part of him that wasn't covered with blood being the streaks down his face that showed that he'd been crying. Matthew was in a coma when he was found, and never regained conciousness before he died on October 12, 1998.

Last year, I traveled to the University of  Northern Iowa where Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard, was spreading awareness against homophobia and hate crimes, and telling her son's story as an example of how cruel and merciless they can be. She told us how horrible it was to see her son on life support, knowing that he wouldn't survive, but still never giving up hope. She told us how she spared the murderers from the death sentence and have them face life in prison instead because she knew that seeing that they died wouldn't bring her son back.She told us her memories of her son, his childhood, his education, his coming-out, and their final moments. And finally, she told us how everybody should remember her son not just for the way he died but for the wonderful life he had and what his future might have been.

At the end, She asked the audience to put forth any questions or comments regarding anything that they were concerned about. After gathering the courage to ask, I found myself last in line to speak with her. One by one, the questions and comments went by, to some Judy replied with jokes and laughter, to others she responded with sympathy and compassion. And then there was me. I was standing in front of the microphone, listening to the sound of my breath being amplified by speakers around me. I took a breath, and said,

"I just wanted to say that I think it is outstandingly courageous what you do and what you stand for. If I may ask, How is it that you have the strength to talk about your son in such detail from life to death, without bursting into tears?"

She then, caught me completely off-guard, and burst into tears. I didn't understand. How did my single comment send her over the edge? It was like she was on Auto pilot and my comment brought her back to Earth.  Confused, I went on-stage to do the only thing I know how to do when a person has reached the point of tears. I climbed onstage and gave Judy Shepard a hug. Following my example, more people climbed onstage and joined us. The giant group hug soon ended and as people returned to their seats, Judy was applauded as she walked offstage. I will never forget this experience.