Varnastrama Eclipsed by Earth


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I returned from Varnastrama yesterday afternoon and went to dinner with Pete and Jim. Knowing my sexual persuasion they asked me if I had heard about the Massachusetts Court ruling against the state’s ban on gay marriage. Varnastrama was immediately put out of mind. I actually entered the "Big Needle" dining room shouting

Bravo!

I’m still celebrating tonight by eating an entire 12 oz. package of Crispy M & M’s as I write. I will suffer later, but I don’t care. I’m sure that the court decision will cause a bit of national indigestion as well, and that may be the understatement of the year. I read in a front page article in the New York Times today that the court ruling will spell trouble for the democrat party in the 2004 presidential election.

Of course President Bush has already come out against the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision.

President Bush has criticized Tuesday's decision by the highest court in the state of Massachusetts to grant same-sex couples the legal right of marriage.

Mr. Bush said in a statement the decision violates the principle that marriage is a "sacred institution between a man and a woman."

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Mr. Bush, as do many other conservative christian fundamentalists, confuses church with state concerns. Perhaps Mr. Bush’s personal religious beliefs are such that this court decision causes him personal concern, but his interest in the guiding principle of the fathers of the constitution to maintain the separation of church and state should prevent his personal feelings from influencing his Presidential position. That position should be based on the concern that every citizen of the United States of America be given equal rights, privileges, and opportunities under the constitution.

Of course I know that such a political position is the ideal. I also know that some would call me an incurable romantic for expecting that any president of the United States would be able to function in such a manner let alone this particular president who has demonstrated his inability to separate his religious belief system from any part of his thought processes. His behavior on the other hand exhibits a schizophrenic break with his belief system. For example, I recall how Mr. Bush prayed for peace, as he waged war. Today I also know that he and his government lied to us about weapons of mass destruction in order to invade Iraq.

In any event, I expect that we will see an attempt to draft an amendment to the United States Constitution that bans gay and lesbian marriages. I also expect that someday my children or perhaps my grand children will be able to look back on this Massachusetts court decision as one of the important early legal events in a process that will lead to equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered peoples.

*CNN.com, image source, http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/07/methodists.gays/t1.gay.marriage.jpg
”Methodist Court debates Punishing Pastors over Union Ceremonies for Gay and Lesbian Couples,” August 7, 1998 (visited 6:21 A.M. EST, 11/20/03)
*VOA News, 18 Nov 2003, 22:47UTC, “Bush Criticizes Massachusetts Court Decision on Same-Sex Marriage,”
VOANews.com, http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=D755FC1D-E07B-4CD7-B5A8EF5653395A11 (visit 11/19/03 at 5:25 P.M.)

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Take a look at:

Holty’s blog for great political comentary and much more from an Australian point of view.

Mark Harden’s Artchive. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s the best place to find excellent images of artist’s works on the WWW.

Gay Artist’s Galleries

John Giuffre’s blog Thoughts From A Collapsed Brain