Public Support of Gay Marriage is a Mirage??

Yesterday's Wyoming Tribune Eagle had an opinion piece from the organization "Traditional Values Coalition," who also happen to be officially listed by Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group, about how public opinion is not really swaying towards marriage equality but is rather a "mirage" manifested by "activist judges" who are completely ignoring and trampling the "rights of those who oppose same sex unions."

(WY Tribune Eagle doesn't have the piece listed on their website but I found the exact same opinion piece here, apparently it ran in several "well respected publications" yesterday.)

So let me get this straight (I'm sorry but that's a hard thing for me to do!) I'm the one that is trampling on the rights of heterosexual couples??  Really???

The author of this opinion piece is none other than Andrea Lafferty who happens to be the president of this hate group. She must be so proud! In the very first paragraph she says New York's marriage equality bill was just one more step to establish "yet another civil right."

Oh my god!! How terrible! America doesn't need any more civil rights....right?? For crying out loud, wasn't giving Women and African American's civil rights already enough! We don't need to give anymore American's anymore rights than what we've already given. Stop it already!

But wait, there's more! Here's my favorite paragraph, "What same-sex marriage proponents strain to portray as a wave of enlightenment is just smoke and mirrors trickery employed to disguise a grand scam in the public square"

Hmmmm... well said me lady! Couldn't have said it better meself! Marriage equality didn't really happen in New York, it was merely our "grand scam" cooked up by magician David Copperfield to try and trick the public into thinking that one of the most populous states in the union decided two people who love each other should be allowed to get married, even if they are of the same sex!

Finally Lafferty wraps up her brilliant opinion piece with this bold statement, "Washington's power knows neither checks nor balances."  But then, in the very next paragraph quotes a whackadoodle representative from Iowa who say's "It is not the role of the executive branch to determine what is and is not constitutional" Its role, he concluded, "is to execute and uphold the laws that Congress enacts."

Sounds like someone needs a short history lesson on what checks and balances actually means!

For more whackadoodle ideas please visit Tradition Values Coalition's home page to find out why LGTB rights shouldn't be taught in schools, and how the UN is planning on seizing Jerusalem, and why we should be terrified of all Muslims, and sooooooooo much more!!!

Jeran

The brilliance of the Tea Party!

Two years ago America elected a slew of Tea Party candidates and sent them to Washington D.C.  I'm wondering how happy we are with that decision now?

I think you would be hard pressed to find more than a handful of people who are truly happy with either of the major parties in D.C right now. I don't care if you're Republican or Democrat; Washington is struggling to find common ground with most American's!

However, the Tea Party seems to be going strong! Or at least the people that belong to this movement seem to be more dedicated than ever before. We had a Tea Party rally in Cheyenne yesterday, and a few of us decided to protest the event.

Here's a new Tea Party law in Florida requiring people who apply for welfare to get a drug test. Turns out the Tea Party's assumptions that everyone who apply's for welfare is either on drugs or is an incompetent loser might not actually be the case!

These Tea Party crazies are making up statistics that we can't accept as fact just because they say it happens to be so!

Today I was called a moron, and an idiot,  I was also told that I needed to get some more education. (I happen to agree with that one,) and one guy actually drove by our group and pretended like he was shooting us.... Anyway, to all my Tea Party friends, why don't you get a little more education as well! Before you just accept the "facts" from any idiot that happens to have a pedestal, a microphone and little money...   --------------------->

you should do a little investigative research for yourself. Find out what's true and what's B.S. before you go calling people like me an idiot!

I can't for the life of me figure out why we're considering taking away my grandparents social security and medicare because our Tea Party politicians wont consider raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires?

But hey, I'm not a Washington D.C. politician!  Thank God those difficult decisions are left up to the people who have "brains!"

Jeran

Dumb ass of the week award!

This Rabbi says gay marriage caused the earthquake this week.

This is such bullshit. Maybe the earthquakes are God's punishment for Levi Aron, an Orthodox Jew, kidnapping, murdering, and dismembering a young 8 year old boy in New York!


"place your male member in a place where it doesn't belong??" who says that kind of stuff?? Oh but at least he doesn't hate gay people! Whew, I was nervous for a little bit, thank god he cleared that up!


I'm just amazed at how the different religions view this. We actually had the Cheyenne Rabbi attend one of our rallies to show support for marriage equality. I guess every church, much like the political parties, has its fair share of  whackadoodles! (Hi Marc!)


Have a good weekend everybody!


Jeran

Monogamish.

When you have a few minutes read this article in The Advocate about how gay marriage will change straight marriage.

I want to know your thoughts and if you think these statistics will be used as ammunition for homophobes and hate groups like WyWatch who lobby against LGTB issues.

I wasn't surprised at the info, but I'm not sure how I feel about the article. Thoughts??

Jeran

Dance like nobody's watchin'

This weekend my step daughter Holly married her high school sweetheart Ryan. We had a wonderful weekend! I want the people who I love and care about to be happy, so this was indeed a very special weekend.

A couple of things made me sad however. Well, actually I'm not sure if sad is the right word??. Maybe just "motivated" or "fired up" to continue being an activist and speaking out for marriage equality.

Ryan has an aunt, who happens to be a lesbian, and one of the highlights of this weekend, for me, was meeting these two delightful women! They are so much fun to be around and really enriched the entire weekend and wedding experience!

I noticed at the reception they only had danced one dance together.

I asked, "why aren't you gals dancing more? you two look good out there!" I guess I wasn't really shocked by the response but it was.."oh you know, we don't want to offend anyone. We always try and watch that very closely so as to not step on anyone's toes.."

Friends, that is such a crock! Two people who love each other and are in a committed loving relationship should never be afraid to show their affection towards one another! This really made me realize, despite all the gains we've made in the last few years, we still have tons of work to do! Attitudes must keep changing and evolving.

Are we ever going to see a day when a same sex couple feels safe to dance together at any event, other than just a gay bar or pride event?  Can I someday hope to kiss the man of my dreams with a "hi, how was your day kiss," in public without fear of being scoffed at or ridiculed? Dancing and kissing in public are something most straight people probably take for granted.  I ask you the next time you dance with your soul mate or kiss the love of your life, please think about those of us who are afraid of a backlash by doing such everyday normal things with the people we love the most.

A friend of mine said to me, "Jeran, do you suppose if that baptist minister who is accused of being a serial rapist and kidnapper had been there, before the accusations, dancing with young women, anyone would have batted an eye or given it a second thought?" yet when two wonderful people who love each other want to dance together they have to worry about offending a baptist minister!

Ridiculous!! And that is why I will keep fighting and being an advocate! Like I've said before, there are brighter days ahead and I wont stop fighting until I can dance with my soul mate and lover out in public with out any fear or shame!

Jeran

Please support these folks!

With Rendezvous 2011 done and in the books there are a couple of special thank you's that need to go out to our supporters. Many of you that read this blog probably like to support groups and organizations that throw their weight behind worthy causes. So I hope you'll consider spending your hard earned dollars with these businesses, and thank them for encouraging equality in Wyoming.

First a huge thank you to the Wyoming Department of Health. They set up camp Saturday and did free HIV testing. They set a record for the number of people tested in one day (over 120!) in an off-site location! You guys are the best! Wyoming Equality also received a grant from the health department to help promote HIV testing at all of our functions.

The next time your in Cheyenne and are dining out please consider patronizing these wonderful restaurants that donated food and/or gave gift certificates. Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Poor Richards all made significant contributions that helped make Rendezvous the success that it was!

Grant Farms donated some yummy vegetables that were a big hit; and I also want to thank my friends Len and Michael from Denver who brought all the great give away prizes for bingo and our other various contests.

Lastly a huge thank you to Charlies in Denver!  They provided a line dance instructor, dj, and libations that made for a spectacular final evening at Rendezvous! If you've never been to a gay bar your missing out on some of the best music and dancing to be had. I learned how to line dance and would love to go down some weekend with friends and throw a little business their way! Let me know if your interested!

Thanks again!! You all Rock!!

Jeran

Join us in Laramie on Sept. 15th

I'm very excited to announce that Wyoming Equality has partnered with the Wyoming ACLU to bring Wyoming a screening of  the documentary "Out in the Silence."

This is a movie about growing up gay in a small town. I've watched it and I cried four times. This film brings wonderful insight to what many of us have felt growing up in rural Wyoming.

See the poster below for all the details.

Wy Out in Silence Poster


I'm very excited about this!

Jeran

Rendezvous was a smashing success!

Rendezvous has come and gone and many have said, "it was the best ever!" I'm really proud of the work we all did to make R-11 such a fantastic event. The Wyoming Equality board worked very hard to make sure everything ran smoothly; and we had so many amazing volunteers that helped us with everything from food to set up/tear down, trash pick up, registration, and so much more. We couldn't have done it with out you!

some of my best friends Cal, Mike, Rick and Josh (who is helping me with make-up)

So for those of you that couldn't attend I hope you will really try and come up for next years event. Next year will be the 20th anniversary of Rendezvous and we are going to try and make it extra special and we will hopefully break an attendance record.

Some of the highlights for me were;

1) Drag Queen Bingo.  I've never done drag before, but when our drag queens ran into a scheduling problem, as the saying goes.. "The show must go on!" After doing the bingo I have a new appreciation for drag queens. The make-up, the shoes, the outfits, the hair... oh my! What a ton of work!

2) Our headliner on Friday, Nancy Norton, was absolutely hilarious! My stomach muscles were sore the next day from laughing so hard. Not only did she do a great show, but she brought a couple of guests who were very good. We will definitely try and have her back!

3) Nuclia Waste's show was, of course, tremendously entertaining on Saturday! She is so funny and does such an amazing job of entertaining the crowd with songs, jokes, and skits. She is just a delight to have at Rendezvous, and she and Anthony throw the most amazing parties at their campsite!! (thanks guys!!)

4) All the other little things like the fractured faerie tale, the workshops, the film festival, Joe's jokes and tall tales, the tighty whitey and best boobs contests, the opening ceremonies (I almost remember those, I was in the party zone!)

5) But the very best part for me was all the wonderful people. I've made so many new friends. Friends that will enrich my life for years to come! I love you guys!! (you know who you are!)

I'm sad it's over, but a little relieved. I can't wait to do it again next year! Thanks again to all who helped and the nearly 300 participants who made R-11 one of the most memorable experiences of my life!

Jeran