A Step (Or Two) In The Right Direction

OK ladies and gentlemen and the rest of you, I was trying to avoid some of that political stuff for a while and concentrate on more personal posts. The result? I just avoided posting. But I have to celebrate a couple of really great things that have happened in the US recently. 

Really great thing number one: same-sex marriage passes in Maine!

Really great thing number two: The Washington D.C. Council voted to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where it is legal!

Of course the uber-conservative lunatics immediately lashed out against both the moves. Remember the cracked-out D.C. Mayor Marion Barry? He rather vocally opposed the measure on moral grounds. And isn't it lovely that he was the ONLY council-person to do so? 

And then there are the folks in Maine who are gearing up to fight to have voters repeal the legislation. Bishop Richard Malone has appeared at the forefront of the anti-gay-marriage movement. He called same-sex marriage a "dangerous sociological experiment" and went on to yammer the usually unfounded b.s. about protecting children from the scary homos. Same-sex marriage will have to be taught in schools? Is "opposite-sex" marriage taught in schools? I've never seen it in any of the standards or the curricula of any of the states where I taught. It's an absurd claim. But YOU already know that, don't you ladies and gentlemen and the rest of you?

Anyway it's nice to see some good stuff happening back in the ol' red-blooded white-skinned blue-balled U. S. of A. 

BTW, Don't miss Jon Stewart's take on the whole thing. (I would have put it here but I can never get Comedy Central's stuff to embed.)

Progress

Ugh, I need some positive energy to work against that terrible, terrible story I posted earlier. 

Via Big Gay News:

A step in the right direction. The AFP reported Friday Japan is changing its rules regarding same-sex marriage. They're not legalizing it like Spain, South Africa, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Canada. But they are allowing officials to give Japanese citizens a document that indicates they are free to marry so that they can obtain same-sex marriages overseas. 

From the AFP:

Under the change, the justice ministry has told local authorities to issue the key certificate -- which states a person is single and of legal age -- for those who want to enter same-sex marriages, the official told AFP.

Gay activists praised the move.

"This is one step forward," said Taiga Ishikawa, who leads a gay support group. "Gay Japanese have suffered a disadvantage... although they should be able to marry in some countries overseas."

Of course same-sex marriage will remain illegal in Japan, but this is a nice little glimmer of hope. Surely some will remember Japan has a history of same-sex union. The practice of Shudo in Samurai culture is a prime example. And male love was often practiced by kabuki actors and tea-house prostitutes.

Lesbian Student Allowed to Wear Tux

Lebanon, Indiana school Superintendent said the district would back down from its biased policy of forcing students to wear "gender-based" formal attire at prom. The Indianapolis Star reported yesterday an unidentified 17-year-old lesbian senior would be allowed to wear a tuxedo to prom after the school board changed its policy in a meeting last night. 

From the Indianapolis Star:

"School policy for this year's prom will be that all attendees shall wear appropriate formal attire with no gender-based attire requirements imposed," the statement [from Superintendent Robert L Taylor] said. "Female students will be permitted to wear tuxedos if they choose."

Ken Falk, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and the student's attorney, said his client is pleased with the decision and will attend the April prom in a tuxedo.

"We think this is what the decision should have been all along, that there was never any justification for the policy," Falk said. "It's unfortunate that we had to go this far."

Indiana is making progress. Similar cases involving biologically male students wearing dresses to prom have had mixed results. One district received a court order to allow a student to wear a dress in 1999. Another case from 2006 involving a transgendered student is still pending. 

Out of Lube? Try Ice Cream

Everybody knows the use of lubricants can reduce the risk of condom breakage and thereby is a useful tool in ones arsenal against contracting HIV, right? In general lube seems to make the whole sex experience smoother anyway. And researchers have been studying some lubricants that might actually have a microbicidal effect. But the news that some lubes kill HIV is no reason to replace the use of condoms with Astroglide. 

Now researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified a compound that may actually reduce the risk of HIV transmission in women:

Yes this stuff, Glycerol monolaurate (The hip kids all call it GML) may actually help reduce new HIV infections in women. No word yet on weather or not this stuff might prevent men from catching HIV. But this is great news as HIV is still spreading like wildfire through heterosexual communities in many parts of the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa. 

The really bizarre part of it all is that this stuff is already a common ingredient in things like soap, cosmetics, and ice cream. That's right ladies and gentlemen and the rest of you. It's an already FDA-approved food additive. 

Who knew?

Update: Monday's Minute of Hate

I wrote Monday about Kentucky SB68, which sought to ban gays from adopting by making it illegal for anyone to adopt or foster a child who wasn't legally married. Well ladies and gentlemen and the rest of you, it is now looking like that hateful bill is dead. 

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

The measure's sponsor, Republican Sen. Gary Tapp of Shelbyville, said Senate leaders will not bring Senate Bill 68 to a vote in the final four days of the legislative session. Tapp said Wednesday that he plans to file the bill again next year.

The bill would have made Kentucky the second state to prohibit gays from adopting children. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe such measures have been ruled unconstitutional in every case except in Florida. So, for the time being at least, FL remains the only place where gays can't adopt. With thousands of children needing homes in every state, these hate-laws are ludicrous. 

Oh, and if you know anybody in Shelbyville, can you please ask them to get rid of this moron?