There are days when I’m really excited about the future of the gay rights movement, like when the Iowa Supreme Court bravely stood up for equal protection under the law and made marriage legal for us ‘mos. And then there are days when something happens that’s so debilitatingly depressing that I wonder what I even care for. A few days ago I had one of those moments.

My younger brother is a sophomore in high school in the simultaneously rich and trashy city of Asheville, North Carolina. Since he lives with my mom and stepdad (currently deployed to Iraq), I don’t see him that often anymore, and he’s really grown up to be quite different than the little brother I was raised with. He skateboards, loves Bob Marley, shaves his head super-close, and basically possesses every attribute known to man that would make him my complete opposite. Not that I love him any less, it’s just hard to find things in common when the lil guy I used to know has been so adversely affected by his surroundings and the brainwashing of his father. (That’s a whole ‘nother post. The man once told me that “the Anti-Christ will be someone just like me.”)

Well, the other day he Facebook friended me. I thought nothing bad of it, clearly, and added him. Exchanged a few comments on pictures, etc. It was actually really nice, feeling like I had some sort of window into what was going on in his life, especially since my mom and I haven’t talked for a few months. Yeah, there were some things that gave me cause for concern, but it’s not my job to police his profile, and I said stupid stuff when I was younger too. But then up came a status update calling someone who didn’t show up for a fight afterschool a pussy and a faggot. Now, any of you readers who know me will instantly understand how my thoroughly nonviolent self reacted to the proposition that my brother had become just another street thug in baggy clothes looking for a fight after school, but that’s clearly not what upset me the most.

If we’ve built a culture that is so accepting of discrimination and hateful language against gays that our own families use those words without a moment’s thought about the consequences or messages they’re sending, how are we ever going to achieve equal rights? If it’s so ingrained in our culture that degrading gays, lesbians, and transgendered people is acceptable, and even cool, where does that leave the movement? Yes, I realize that the words and actions of schoolyard bullies may not reflect their true feelings, but haven’t we as a society failed in a fundamental way if it’s still okay to use these words?

And so, just days after New York State Senator Ruben Diaz lambasted the gay marriage movement as threatening traditional moral values, I’m fighting my own personal battle. Not with a state legislature, or with a panel of judges, or with the National Organization for Marriage, but with a 16-year old boy so caught up in the swirling social forces of high school that he’s blinded to how his language affects even his closest relatives.

Where do we even begin?

Things that annoy me today:

1. Getting a box of chocolate from a student (how unnecessarily sweet!) that did not include a map. How am I supposed to navigate this box of chocolate for maximum deliciousness without a guide? How will I make sure to avoid the culinary land mine that is the raspberry cream wrapped in dark chocolate? Hey, not even Sir Edmund Hillary went up Mount Everest without a native Sherpa guide, that Tensing Norgay fellow. (Who must have been asexual, as he was neither straight NORGAY! HA!)

2. I thought I could come up with a second thing, but really I’m so overwhelmingly annoyed by the first that I can’t. So. There you go.

Ég myndi elska þig hvernig þú átt skilið.

from PeopleofWalmart.com

A) I’ll bet you all the money you’ve saved from your recession-depressed job building mobile homes for your hundreds of incestuous cousins with rat-tails that I’ve grabbed more tits in the past year than you have in your lifetime. Why else do you think homos would befriend so many women?

B) We drink beer too, you idiot. (Except not this one.) In fact, since we are more educated and have better jobs because we aren’t content with being morons and living in Momma’s basement our whole lives getting fat off of biscuits and gravy, we get to drink the good expensive stuff.

In short:

MARTINIS AND COCKS, MY LIFE FUCKIN’ ROCKS!

I just wanted to pass along this video on the day when the Matthew Shepard Act was finally signed into law after a decade of legislative struggle. Phillip Spooner is a highly-decorated veteran of World War II, and his thoughts on marriage equality for gays and lesbians brought tears to my eyes. I hope you’ll take a moment to listen to his remarks and pass them on to those you can influence. We made a great deal of progress today with the stroke of President Obama’s pen, but we have a long way to go before we achieve true equality under the law.

Today is a victory for Matthew Shepard, who was brutally beaten and tortured, tied to a fence, and abandoned for 18 hours outside of Laramie, Wyoming — the sole reason being that he was gay.

Today is a victory for Angie Zapata, a transgendered woman in Greeley, Colorado who was murdered in July of 2008 for simply expressing who she was.

Today is a victory for Howard Efland, beaten to death by Los Angeles Police Department in March of 1970 after checking in to a hotel known for patronage by gay and lesbian clients.

Today is a victory for James Zappalorti, a gay Vietnam veteran who was stabbed to death in 1990. Our nation demanded the sacrifice of James serving in war, but could not treat him with dignity and respect upon his return home simply because of who he loved.

Today is a victory for Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, an 11 year old boy from Springfield, Massachusetts who hanged himself with an extension cord to escape the bullying of classmates who ridiculed him for acting feminine.

The list is seemingly endless. In order for this violence to stop, we have to develop social institutions that reinforce the equality of all people. If our government is sending the message that discrimination against gays, lesbians, and transgendered people is acceptable, how can we expect our neighbors to treat us with respect? Write to your legislators and friends about the need for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the reversal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the need for comprehensive employment discrimination protection, and the need for comprehensive federal benefits for gay and lesbian couples. If we don’t hold our officials — and each other — accountable, we can’t expect change.

A better YouTube video never existed:

Guess they all look alike to this news bimbo?

In honor of Craig’s post about Paranormal Activity, I thought I’d share with you all a horrific flash from my childhood involving an otherwise not-so-scary movie. So I was maybe 13 or 14 when this fine cinematic gem was released:

I’ll refresh the plot for those of you who made the mistake of missing this one. A creepy old widow is murdered by the townspeople after they think she murdered two children who later return home safe and sound. She comes back to haunt children on the night they lose their last baby tooth — she was called “Tooth Fairy” when she was alive — but can be warded off by staying in the light. Lots of people die because they don’t believe this one guy who saw his mom get killed by her when he was young, but then he destroys her at the lighthouse, setting her soul free forevahhhh.

Aaaanyway, my dad and I went to see this movie. We came home and I went upstairs to my room. I was working on the computer with the rest of the upstairs dark when, out of the corner of my eye, I see this black flying thing whooshing toward me just like the freaky-as-hell Tooth Fairy lady. I SCREAM BLOODY MURDER, swatting the thing away. As it hits the ground, I see my dad at the top of the stairs laughing hysterically — he had thrown my black sweater into my room, knowing it would scare the bejeezus out of me.

The best part about it was our elderly neighbors — on both sides — calling the police, thinking there was some serious shit goin’ down. But you’d scream like a girl too if you thought this bitch were flying at you:

Hi, my name is David, and I’m a perpetually infrequent blogger.

There. I admitted my problem, and that’s the first step, right? So, a brief update:
- regular posting shall hereby recommence
- Teach for America interview went really really well, I hope. I hear back on Nov. 10th about whether they hire me and, if so, where and what I’ll be teaching.
- I think Pat Buchanan is one of the most worthless people on this planet.
- You should all go find a copy of The Undeserving Poor by Michael Katz.
- I ran my first 5k this past Saturday, with an official time of 24:49. After only a month and a half of running, I’d say that’s not too shabby.

This commercial comes from Germany and was released in May of this year. I love European advertising, if for no other reason than that they acknowledge the fact that human beings enjoy sexual intercourse. You gotta watch it, it’s brills.

Jenny, clear my schedule for the afternoon.

Stolen from Stephen’s awesomely awesome blog, you can go to the MadMen website and retro-illustrate your sexy self into a number of scenes. Betcha don’t look as good as Stephen and I, though!