The Ryan Thomas Collection

Current’s “infoMania” showed a great, sarcastic video about the media’s treatment of figure skater, Johnny Weir, as well as his costumes and routines. Current’s segment does a perfect job of pointing out the media treats Johnny Weir differently from his teammates throughout the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Have a laugh and watch the video.

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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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The Matthew Shepard Act is scheduled to hit the floor of Congress for a vote in the upcoming month. This vital piece of legislation, if passed and signed by President Obama, would finally include sexual orientation and gender identity under federal hate crime legislation. Currently, inclusion of sexual orientation within hate crime laws is a state by state fixture. The Matthew Shepard Act would bring this to a federal level. President Bush vetoed the first attempt by Congress to pass the bill, but President Obama has promised to sign it into law should it hit his desk.

The Matthew Shepard Act is named after Matthew Shepard, a young gay man whose life was taken in Laramie, Wyoming over ten years ago because he was gay. The two men convicted of the vicious torturing and murder of Shepard could not be prosecuted under federal hate crime laws that, as it stands, only coves crimes committed based on someones religion, race, creed or ethnicity. Crimes prosecuted under hate crime laws carry heavier sentencing and increased resources for investigation. The importance of passing this act goes beyond the actual punishment it would carry for those criminals convicted for acts of violence against a gay individual based on their sexual orientation.

Local resources for prosecuting crime are often limited with prioritization and crimes prosecuted varying state to state, district to district. If a hate crime based on religion takes place in a local district, local authorities can tap into federal investigative resources in bringing about justice. If a hate crime based on sexual orientation is committed without a state hate crime laws including sexual orientation, local authorities can decide not to investigate thoroughly or may not have resources to do so. Victims then are unable to go to the federal level for justice.  Gay individuals who have fallen victim to hate crimes based on their sexual orientation deserve equal justice under the law. It again comes down to equal treatment under the law.

Those who oppose the inclusion of sexual orientation in federal hate crime laws have viciously lied to the public and Congressional members, telling them that such laws would remove people’s religious freedoms and speech because their anti-gay stance would fall under prosecution of hate crime laws. The American Family Association went so far as to broadcast an hour long program on TV attempting to persuade viewers that people of faith would be silenced and pastors would be jailed. These are ridiculous lies that need to be combated. These blatant lies take pure advantage of people’s lack of knowledge in First Amendment law, as well as the details behind hate crime legislation and the Mathew Shepard Act. Hateful speech, both symbolic and spoken, has consistently been protected by the Supreme Court under the First Amendment. There are limitations, such as if that speech is meant to incite immediate physical violence. However, the protections provided to speech are broad, strong and well protected in this country.

The KKK has been freely allowed to speak hatefully against African Americans without being subject to federal hate crime legislation. Individuals whose racist commentary against Muslims following 9/11 were not prosecuted under hate crime legislation. Individuals whose speak against gays will not be prosecuted under the Mathew Shepard Act. Acts of physical violence against a gay person where the evidence shows that the crime was committed solely based on the individual’s orientation fall under this act. The American Family Association has once again shown a pure lack of knowledge in our Constitution, and our laws. The fear based tactics used to fight same sex marriage are being utilized here. The outlook appears to be dim for them, as the Mathew Shepard Act gains more support in Congress.

This is long overdue for the United States. 15% of hate crimes in the nation are reported to be against the LGBT community, and yet, 15% of hate crimes in the nation are refused equal justice under current federal hate crime laws. It is time for equal protection under the law for all citizens of the United States.

Here are some avenues in which you can show your support for equality under hate crime laws:

* Visit http://www.hrc.org/endthelies/ and see who is spreading ridiculous lies about this topic and others affecting the LGBT community.

* Send a letter to your Congressperson through HRC’s Action Center: http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/campaign/hate_crimes

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James Neiley, a 17 year old from Vermont, testifies before the state legislature advocating for equal marriage rights for gays in the state. He draws the connection between marriage inequality and unequal treatment by his peers. His testimony shows that we are on the right track as a society, but we still have walls to break through.

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A strike of reality hit me and a group of friends this weekend. A three hour drive found four of us, all gay men, in Reno, Nevada to celebrate my 25th birthday with some drinks, gambling and fun in a less glamorous way than Las Vegas.

Describing Reno is rather difficult. One may be able to equate it with Atlantic City, NJ. Reno is known as the “The Biggest Little City in the World” and this may be the best way to describe it. Having lived in Hillcrest (San Diego’s gay neighborhood) and now living in San Francisco, day to day life typically excludes feelings of being the odd man out. However, the four of us were hit with the hard stick of reality on Saturday.

Taking a casual daytime stroll down the streets of downtown Reno, a car of African-American men drove by us yelling, “Faggots!” Thankfully it has been a long time since I have encountered such bigotry on a personal level, but we were all a bit taken back. Comfortable with what I assume these men would call our “alternative lifestyle,” a part of us was able to laugh at the sheer ignorance of our these men. Another part of us just wanted to say, “Really? Did you really just say that? Come on. It’s 2008!”

Above, the ignorant men were described as African-Americans purposefully. The irony of this is found in that these men are a part of society continually suffering from racism and ignorance. These African-American men are unable to correlate their use of the word “faggot” with the use of “ni**er.” This is where one can find comedy in the ignorance, while also frustration in the inability to make this association.

One can almost feel sorry for these men. For one, they have nothing better to do than call out vicious names to strangers. Secondly, they must feel so powerless and so threatened by four gay men casually strolling down a street that they need to call out these names in attempt to feel power and strength in a society that continues to see this race struggling for equality.

This is why I don’t feel anger towards these individuals. One has to feel sorry for such people and sometimes you just have to laugh it off. Sometimes it is easier to laugh than it is be angry.

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I continue to watch American Idol season after season, despite being frustrated with the show for various realistening to the singing and the music of the show (sin country music nights.) However, this season has proven to be significantly dull.

Last night’s show really got me fired up annoyed and if you want to make a gay man really angry, you do what happened on AI last night. Dedicate a night to the Broadway music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and have inexperienced singers put their amateur twists on it.

After Madonna sang “You Must Love Me,” you can’t mess up the lyrics like Brooke did. She was doomed to fail before she even started singing. This was one of the first movies Madge acted in and you actually believed her with all sincerity. Sorry Brooke, you lose and you made my blood boil with your rendition.

Ending the night was Carly singing a song from one of my all time favorite musicals, Jesus Christ Superstar. She sang the title track and ruined that song, as well. She missed the cunning, questioning sarcasm that goes along with the song. The tongue in cheek aspect destroyed by Carly’s overly layered version of the song. I am supposed to laugh a bit when the line, “Did Muhammed move a mountain or was that just P.R.?” I am sons. I do enjoy not supposed to cringe.

If you want to make a gay man angry, ruin Broadway songs on an overproduced and overly formulated televison program like American Idol.

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