The Ryan Thomas Collection

A few months back I visited the Big Apple, New York City, for a much needed vacation. I have been to New York numerous times and consistently enjoy myself, as it has everything I could possibly want: theatre, museums, beautiful parks, art and diversity. During this last trip, I went to see the revival of West Side Story on Broadway and it got me thinking.

A classic song in West Side Story is “America,” where Puerto Rican immigrants banter back and forth about the good and bad of both the United States and Puerto Rico in the 1950s. New York City and San Juan are the main cities used in the song, as New York City is the setting for the show. The song is a perfect description of American ideology surrounding the American Dream, a dream that natural born citizens grow up with and one that immigrants flock to New York City, and other cities alike, to pursue. New York City is the symbol of the American Dream. Compared to other cities in the West during the 19th and 20th centuries, it was the new kid on the block. It built itself up to become the Financial Capital of the World, symbolic of American influence and power on a world stage, particularly during the 1950s.

Growing up, I always looked to New York City as the dream of what life would become for me; a place where anything was possible and opportunities were bountiful in an environment of grand splendor. Now, I look at the United States and New York City and see the same potential I always have, but a dying breed of ambition and splendor. Cities worldwide are growing at rapid speeds with the glamor and opportunity that New York City once had, but sadly, seems to be falling behind on these days. And like New York City, the United States seems to be doing the same. These two institutions are beginning to look like the old man on the block who cannot compete with the new kids because of an unwillingness to change and adapt.

Western Europe and its cities are far older than that of the US and NYC, and yet, they continue to prosper because of their ability to adapt to the new world stage. Most studies show that London is now the new “Financial Capital of the World,” with other world cities even edging in on that. It seems like the dream that is America continues to slowly dwindle away because of our ability to adapt.

President Obama’s platform of “change” needs to continue its rallying call throughout this country, even if people criticize the President for not “changing” things fast enough. Americans must do it themselves, for we are a nation of the People, for the People and by the People. The idealism presented in West Side Story’s “America” needs to be realized again. New York City, the epicenter of the country, needs to become the forefront of this change. Rather than taking ideas from Europe, like the walking district that Times Square has turned to, or proposed congestion charges like London, New York City needs to lead the pack of what a 21st century city should look like.

The splendor and glamor of America and New York City is dying in the hands of old Republicans through old tactics of fear, and the inability to adapt to new threats in new ways. For heaven’s sake, we are a nation that globe trots preaching freedom and democracy, and yet we still do not allow gays and lesbians to marry or serve in the military. Did we not learn anything from the 1950s/1960s, when we fought communist ideology, yet discriminated against African Americans at home? You cannot preach freedom abroad, when you discriminate at home.

“I want to be in America,” but I want America and our ambassador city, New York City, to realize the potential again and live up to it!

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This week, President Obama honored Harvey Milk with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom. Milk’s posthumous award makes him the first openly gay individual to receive the award, which seems befitting and suits his life and story. Harvey told gay and lesbians to live out of the closet with pride, and his Medal of Freedom affirms the power of what he has done for the gay and lesbian civil rights movement.

The White House released the following statement about Harvey Milk:

Milk encouraged lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens to live their lives openly and believed coming out was the only way they could change society and achieve social equality.

Gay right activists are pleased with the President’s move, and say it was a smart political move, as President Obama has been receiving much criticism for his lack of action in repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and DOMA. Both of these actions must actually begin within Congress, and with Obama pushing his health care agenda first, these two ideals are bound to take the backseat for some time. With 2010 elections up and coming, it seems unlikely that Congressional leaders will touch DADT or DOMA, as the country continues its recession woes and health care reform. Though a small gesture, the gay community must realize that President Obama’s willingness to extend the Medal of Freedom to Harvey Milk shows that he has not forgotten about the community. President Obama needs the nation to focus on health care and economic reforms, and for once is not using gay issues to distract the nation’s attention.

We must also recognize that Governor Schwarzenegger refused to sign California legislation making Harvey Milk’s birthday a Californian “day of significance.” He suggested that Harvey Milk’s memory should be remembered at the local level and suggested that his influence does not reach far enough outside San Francisco to qualify his work worthy of this Californian honor. The California State Legislature passed this resolution, but Schwarzenegger’s veto shows yet another clear signal that he certainly is not as “socially liberal” as he always insisted. Enough about California villains.

Here’s to the legacy of Harvey Milk. Our generation could use the likes of him right about now, and yet we continue to struggle to find one. A well deserved Medal of Freedom is long overdue, but better late than never, to say the least. As gay and lesbian civil rights continue to sway back and forth, Milk’s push for gay and lesbians to live out and open lives continues to be vital in the move to push public opinion in favor of equality.

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NoH8 Campaign  recently released this PSA for their new effort against California’s Prop 8. Visit www.noH8campaign.com to see how art is being used to send a powerful message. Celebrities and everyday Californian citizens alike are joining together to show their continue disapproval of Prop 8 and the continued fight to repeal it.

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No longer a resident of San Diego, I am not as in tune with the happenings of its residents. Thankfully, the San Diego Union Tribune article about Doug Manchester’s divorce was sent to me and I felt it needed to be shared with all of those who are supporting the boycott of his Manchester Hyatt, in downtown San Diego, due to his $125,000 donation in support of Prop 8 and his poor treatment of workers. I take no pleasure in the fact that a partnership of marriage is broken, due to reported “irreconcilable difference,” but California’s divorce laws may mean he has access to only 50% of his assets when final paperwork is configured.

Doug Manchester’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Elizabeth Manchester, has told the courts that Doug has been hiding money in secret accounts for months and even stealing her personal mail during her vacation. He’s playing dirty and it seems to be catching up with him. Elizabeth told courts that $9.3 million of their $56.9 million in accounts has been transferred. Additionally, she accuses Doug of cashing their joint tax return of $8.2 million and stashing that way. Superior Court Family Law Judge Lisa Foster has granted Elizabeth residence within their La Jolla estate and forced Doug to give $100,000 to pay bills.

As the makings of his divorce occur in court, Doug Manchester is working on redeveloping the Navy Broadway complex with a new hotel property. With a poor economy and a continuing boycott working against him, a divorce settlement will add to his list of trials to overcome in his new hotel venture. Financing his Navy Broadway complex may become quite the challenge as banks tighten up their wallets and force Mr. Manchester to have more solid assets, which he may no longer have when all is said in done with the divorce proceedings.

Well, Dougy… it looks like you’re losing. Karma is working against you on all fronts. It doesn’t pay to H8! My guess is that he won’t be donating any money to pass Prop 1 in Maine.

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Fox Network’s Family Guy is a Sunday line up staple. The Simpsons has been around for millions of years now and is firmly a classic in our culture and what The Simpsons leave out, Family Guy seems sure to cover. Family Guy continues to impress in the Sunday animation line up, a revival after being canned by the network originally. In this month’s issue of Playboy, the show’s creator, Seth MacFarlane, discusses baby Stewie’s sexual orientation, but refuses to declare Stewie gay or straight.

It is no secret that the writers of Family Guy  are well in tune with the ins and outs of the gay community. The “gay episode” (Season 7, Episode 8) where Peter is injected with a “gay gene” proves this point ten fold. Allusions were made here and innuendos made there (excerpt provided by Hulu.com at end of post). It solidifies the writers’ ability to ride the line of gay-straight with Stewie, the clever and speaking baby, who once focused on murdering his mother, but now seems more inclined to pursue other ventures. Like an actual growing child, Stewie’s sexual orientation seems to be revealing itself more and more and is being alluded to more often by the family dog, Brian.

MacFarlane told the gay magazine, The Advocate, last year:

We all feel that Stewie is almost certainly gay, and he’s in the process of figuring it out for himself. We haven’t ever really locked into it because we get a lot of good jokes from both sides, but we treat him oftentimes as if we were writing a gay character.

This is something the writers continue to do well with as seasons progress. Historically, the flamboyant character in television or cinemas has always been utilized as either comic relief, making them almost clown like, or more dramatically, as the sad lost character meant to show audience the horrors of being gay, as to dissuade those watching from accepting homosexuality. The great part about Stewie’s character is his ability to follow neither of these classic representations. His ambiguous sexuality is used for humor, but seems less offensive in the environment of this program. Intercept the innocence of his childhood appearance with the adult quality of his speech, and the comedy is almost natural, and his baby state makes his ambiguous sexuality realistic and acceptable.

Stewie consistently has a love/hate relationship with his mother, Lois. He also has aspirations of a hostile take over of the world. MacFarlane tells Playboy:

Ultimately, Stewie will be gay or a very unhappy repressed heterosexual. It also explains why he’s so hellbent on killing [his mother, Lois] and taking over the world: He has a lot of aggression, which comes from confusion and uncertainty about his orientation.

When we take a cultural view at this idea, we can see progression, in that, 50 years ago the “gay characters” were unhappy because of their homosexuality, which was widely considered abnormal and unhealthy, resulting in the suicide or continued unhappiness of those characters. We see in 2009, in a cartoon, the audiences being exposed to the consequences of repression, in a comedic manner, as means of exploiting the atrocity of such socially enforced ideals.

Although outrageous at times, and comically awkward at others, Family Guy is able to utilize these qualities in presenting real ideas and social commentary to broad audiences. Some audiences may be too stupid to pick up on it, and others too prude. In the end, those on the fence, like Stewie, get to see the evolution of a baby’s character to one that may just be a gay toddler. Only Seth MacFarlane and his fellow writers know how this will turn out.

Here’s another classic Family Guy moment…

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It has been quite some time since I have updated my blog. The unemployment rate and economic status of the nation has had me working especially hard to ensure the job I have remains the job I have, as jobless rates continue to rise in California. Between all the news of President Obama’s health care reform, American journalists being freed from North Korean jail and Iranian political unrest, a little thing we call equality has slipped under the radar. This time we return back to the state of Maine, where just a few months ago, its state legislature passed a marriage equality law. Thanks to Facebook, Maine’s Prop 1 has been brought to my attention. In the news of the world, it seems that in headline reading, this proposed ballot measure has somewhat slipped under the radar in the past week.

On July 31st, opponents of marriage equality provided 100,000 signatures to Maine’s state government in a bid to put a measure on the next ballot to overturn the state legislatures’ marriage equality law signed in May 2009. Named “Prop 1,” if approved, the measure would return Maine to a “domestic partnership” state. Maine officials have until early September to validate at least 55,087 signatures, but efforts from both sides of marriage equality are beginning.

Opponents of marriage equality have hired the same public relations group that led California’s Prop 8 victory. Yes, this is dejavu. In doing a bit of research on Prop 1, it seems that some citizens supporting marriage equality believe that equality will be upheld and it will simply strengthen the legislature’s own measure and validate equality in the state. Opponents to equality are singing the same ol’ song they sing in every state, “The foundation of our society is marriage between a man and woman.” We all know the story from Prop 8 last year.

It feels like marriage equality has become of a game of Battleship. B12; hit. H5; miss. C8; miss. J2; hit. It is up and down, win and defeat. This makes me wonder if this is why even the general press did not report heavily on this finding. Perhaps it is too early. It may be because I do not live in Maine. Doing a general online search for “Prop 1″ or “Maine Prop 1″ brings up more results about Prop 8 then the new issue in Maine. Someone better hire a SEO specialist!

Time to sink another ship. Maine; Prop1; hit; sunk!

For the record, NO on Prop 1 means you support gay marriage. YES on Prop 1 means you support inequality. Yep, this is Prop 8 all over again. Taking 75% of the time just to make sure people understand what a yes or no vote ACTUALLY means. Let’s hope this time everyone gets it right!

More information can be found at www.MaineFreedomToMarry.com, which has released the video below.

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