2 more cosponsors for UAFA in the House!

Just found out that 2 more cosponsors signed on to the Uniting American Families Act in the house, making it a total of 88 cosponsors!

The 2 congressperson that signed on are:
Rep Clarke, Yvette D. [NY-11] - 3/3/2009
Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7] - 3/3/2009

If you live in any of the districts whose reps have sponsored the bill, please be sure to thank them!

Rep Clarke's contact information can be found here.
Rep Cummings' contact information can be found here.

Click on the link below to find out who has signed on to sponsor the bill (and please contact those who have not signed on to urge them to support the bill)

UAFA in the senate.
UAFA in the house.

For more information about the Uniting American Families Act, click here.

Obama: a friend of the gay community?

When a person supports something, and that person is a leader, I would expect them to actually do something about these beliefs, unless they are a POLITICIAN. And Mr Obama is proving himself to be a politician. All talk and little action.

Specifically, he mentions in his letter to the gay community his support for the Uniting American Families Act. He has frequently touted his support for this bill, but he fails to add his name as a co-sponsor of this bill (S.1328)

He says he is for equality, yet interestingly he supports the contradictory position of separate but equal. He has made many trips to California, and San Francisco, he has made specific efforts to never be in the same room as Gavin Newsom so that no photograph could be taken of the two of them together. (Political insider former mayor Willy Brown confirmed this)

He says that he supports the repeal of DOMA, but as president, he could not repeal DOMA. As a Senator, he could introduce legislation that would! But, no legislation has been introduced.

He says that he supports the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," however, he has voted for multiple military appropriations bills to continue this unnecessary war, but he never offered a single amendment to any legislation or appropriation bill that would repeal the ban.

Mr Obama, as a Senator, has wasted the privilege, power and opportunity that his current office gives him. As a legislator he has failed to demonstrate the strength of his convictions. Mr Obama has thus far offered the LGBT community little other than rhetorical support. One could assume he wants the job of president to use "the bully pulpit" because (as opposed to doing something) talking is something he's good at. Just another politician?

Real friends help you move. Mr Obama has not demonstrate himself to be a real friend, he just talks a good talk. With the alternative being McCain, he will get my vote; but the ATM machine should be out of service when he comes knocking.

Mickey

Natalie Portman supports Same Sex Immigration

I have always been impressed with Natalie Portman - from her first movie with Luc Besson to her last movie, V For Vendetta. She is intelligent, beautiful and humble. She is also an activist, going round the world to support micro loans to women in poor countries. Now she has voice her support for same sex immigration, as well as marriage equality, in the latest interview with W Magazine.

The full article can be found here but here's what she said about this issue:

On equality for all in marriage: “I’m into monogamy. But I’m not really into marriage right now. I sort of hate the legal aspect of it. What does the state have to do with it? Why are they making rules that say my lover can stay in the United States if they’re foreign or share my health care benefits because I’m straight—but if you’re gay, you can’t have that?”

Many people don't understand that the fight for marriage equality is not about special rights.... it is in fact about being allowed/given the same rights as straight couples. Something which at 2008, gay people still do not have.

Thank you Natalie!

Al Gore comes out for Gay Marriage

I am glad that Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Al Gore finally sounds off on his support for Marriage Equality - that's awesome! Now I am just waiting from the rest of the Democratic Presidential Candidate supposed front runner to support this.

Confirmation of my Growing Distrust of Obama

I cannot support someone who during his time in the US Senate has failed to co-sponsor the Uniting American Families Act (s 1328) yet on the HRC questionnaire says that they support the Uniting American Families Act. (can we say pandering hypocrite?) Further, having heard that an anti-gay ("ex-gay" self-hating) minister has been included in Mr Obama's gospel tour confirms my growing distrust of Obama. (hypocrite in the company of hypocrites)

How can Mr Obama of all people not understand that separate but equal (as the Mass Supreme Court said) is inherently unequal? As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "inequality anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"In a statement, Obama said he believes gays and lesbians are 'our brothers and sisters' and should be afforded the same respect, dignity and rights granted all other citizens." I've heard him say regarding S. 1328 that he has concerns about fraud. So are LGBT Americans more apt to commit fraud than hetero Americans? Addressing fraud is a different issue. Thousands of Americans are living in Exile because this country will not allow them to stay in here with their partner. The UAFA would add the phrase "or permanent partner" where ever spouse is used in the Immigration laws. This would give LGBT Americans a seat at the table - a seat that is currently denied. The right every other American has to petition - to allow the trained investigators of the Department of Homeland security to investigate the legitimacy of the relationship – as they currently do with all marriage VISA / greencard petitions.

When Banks get robbed, you don't close the bank, or deny access to banking services to random groups of people. You impliment security measures. Fear of fraud cannot not be a legitimate reason to deny Americans equal rights. This "fear argument" is the same twisted type of logic used by Bush to shred the constitution.

I appreciate much of what Mr Obama has to say, but I cannot support someone who propagates injustice and intolerance and inequality.

Respectfully,
Michael Lim, RPh

Schwarzenegger vetoes gay marriage bill again

Mr Schwarzenegger,

Shame on you!

Hypocrite! "judges should decide?" why, then, do we bother to "elect" in a democratic process Assembly and Senate reps?

... and you know damn good and well that the legislation alters an entirely different area of the family code than that which was modified by prop 22. Your citing the "vote" of the people is simply a shield to deflect justifiable rage from people denied basic human dignity; however, it is far worse than just a defensive shield - it is a weapon of mass destruction of human dignity. By using it as reasoning, you are singularly expanding the hateful and ill written Prop 22. Thus in the same way that you argue that the legislation changes the law, your expansion of the scope of Prop 22 does the same thing in the opposite direction. Shame on you!

You're actions are those of a sad pathetic vile little man.

Michael Lim, RPh

Ellen and Coming Out....

I am trying to keep the blog going but have been busy with some stuff and the inertial to put thoughts to paper is a difficult one..... anyway, here's a new one that I felt really inspired to write.....

I just found out that tomorrow is the 10th Anniversary of Ellen's coming out - when she appeared on TIME magazine with the headline, Yep, I'm Gay.... She came out and have a roller coaster carrer before finally coming back strong with her own show. Since then there have been lots more people who have come out of the closet, Rosie, Elton John, Ian McKellen, TR Knight, Lance Bass, Doogie.... we have also seen more gay characters on TV and Movies that is not stereotypical, see Brothers and Sisters, Ugly Betty, War at Home, Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Brokeback Mountain etc... but has things really changed?

LGBT citizens still do not have full civil rights that their straight brothers and sisters enjoys. An American citizen who is gay (or lesbian) cannot sponsor their foreign born partner for a green card even if they are in a committed relationship for years. The president of the USA, supposedly the land of the free, is trying to write discrimination into the constitution by denying LGBT families the rights to marry. Coultier called John Edwards a fag and nobody made any noise, isaiah from Grey's Anatomy called TR Knights the same (and repeated it several months later) and nobody made any noise - but a talk show host was fired today for saying something degrading to a group of intelligent baskteball player. I am bothered that the same "supposedly" african american activist who were crying foul about the remarks from the talk show host and kept quiet when his fellow brothers said degrading stuff of gay people.

I believe that there is racism, sexism and homophobia in this world.... the majority just like to do whatever they can to demean the minority, to take away their rights, just so that they can feel some kind of power. We need to stand up for equality for everybody and not just for ourselves. We are all brothers and sisters, we are all the same, if we do not stand up for equality just because it does not apply to us, we need to know that it will come back and bite us when it is our turn being discriminated.

I look forward to the day where the Uniting American Families Act is passed and all my brothers and sisters who are struggling in the US and in exile to stay together, can come back to the United States. I look forward to the day where LGBT families can have the same rights as straight families in every state, in every corner of the world - why shouldn't we if we pay the same taxes?

Will that happen? I don't know - I hope so. My partner always remind me of the Margaret Mead quote "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."