Approximately five years ago, I heard my first DING and I was hooked.  I was a level 2 mage.  In real life (henceforth known as IRL), I was a 130lbs scrawny twink.  If you fast forward five years, I now have a lvl 85 mage, a level 85 druid, and my favorite toon (pictured to the left): a level 85 holy priest, now a goblin, at item level, or ilvl, 380).  I am talking about World of Warcraft.

While I play other games, WoW dominates my gaming experience.  In the five years that have followed from that scrawny boy I once was, I have to say that I am now a bit more rotund (185 lbs and sincerely out of shape). 

Although people may look at me and see someone who has his act together, I’m still very much a newbie.  From here on out, I no longer consider myself a high level raider.  I am a noob.  I am in the starting zone.

The challenge is to level up.  I am level 1.  I will reach level 40.  At level 40, I will be in great shape.  My coordination, my stamina, my flexibility, my body fat percentage will be significantly improved.  I will eat healthier and cook regular meals.  I will wake up on time and no longer scare the hell out of my SO with an insanely loud alarm clock. 

I will document my challenges here, starting with the sacrifice and ultimate prize: a nice big slice of cake.  I will fight for that cake.  Stay tuned.  The challenge is starting soon.  In my next post, I’m going to roll my character and show you all what I’m working with.

In a vote of 33 to 29, the NYS Senate has passed marriage equality with the added religious protection provisions introduced today.  The NYS Assembly has to vote on the new language, practically guaranteed to pass, and then to the governor’s desk to sign into law.  New York State will soon take its place among the states who embrace full equality and fair treatment for all citizens.  It is a good day in New York State!!!

Update:

This means so much to me, that my home state has finally embraced the very same mindset of fair treatment and equality that my new home state embraces.  I am so proud of New York State and her politicians for doing the right thing.  It can now be said that equality will reign in the greatest city on earth.

We’ve all seen this picture.  I’m not attributing it to the mostly uninformed opinion of some of NOM’s followers, but when it comes to their online user base, it is mostly clear that their entire platform is based on a deep-seeded animus and religiously inspired malice towards LGBT men and women, rank with stereotypes, prejudice, elitism, and desire to reduce us to less-than citizens.  After reading these, leave a comment and tell me your story.

Here are some examples from their blog that shine light on the true feelings of NOM and her supporters:

Alesi’s a homosexual, as far as I can figure. Can’t find any info on his ever having a wife. You’re asking for a RINO if you vote for a “Republican” candidate, especially at his age, without a wife. More homosexual infiltration into positions of power; they have no family responsibilities, so they have the time to devote to their screwed up causes. – Mike Brooks

SSM breaks the procreative link between marriage and procreation. It cheapens it by equating sodomy – the only kind of sex that homosexuals can perform and which creates nothing, nada, zippo. – Mike Brooks

Homosexuality is all about sex, not relationships. – Mike Brooks

“Monogamous homosexual” is an oxymoron. – Mike Brooks

Because there are rich homosexuals and friends, this means the laws they want for themselves is a direct result of the amount of cash they can use to bribe politicians. – John Noe

Blacks cannot change the color of their skin but [gays] can change [their] sexual preference.  If [gays] insist on behaving a certain way then [they] must accept the consequences. – John Noe

Sodomy is not even a sexual act..Sodomy is a criminal act & is outlawed in most countries. Hello? While the elite perverse Americans are busy trying to legalize sodomy (as their country sinks into the financial gutter) – BZ

Wow i am so sick of the gays trying to push there views on people. they will NEVER convince me that there “lifestyle” is ok. we’re talking about a life that causes aids, and is just plain sick. – Pete

It’s highly insulting to compare the tribulations of a race with the sexual deviance of some people. It needs to stop. They wouldn’t dare compare their plight to the Holocaust victims, I bet. They know what would happen. There would be no more HRC and GLAAD. They’d all be quiet and dating people of the opposite sex as they’re supposed to. – Jane

A “moral wrong”, does not equal a “civil right”. – WhitelighterNY

“Marriage Equality,” does that mean I get to marry my sister? – Barb

And you can legislate it that a skunk must be called a rose, but it will only cause confusion & will still be nothing more than a skunk. – Grace

The silent majority is not going away and the perverts have to depend on indoctrination to increase their numbers. – Randy E. King

Gay-marriage will completely destory of many, many of the rights we have today as it already has is other nations, like Canada and the UK.  – Tom Beckers

More proof that these miscreants have infiltrated all levels of government under false pretense in a coordinated effort to force their ideology on our children. –Randy E. King

Only in the world of the same-sex enthusiast is 5 to 45 a crushing victory; every day is backwards day for these miscreants. –Randy E. King

[Gays] do not have families of [their] own making; [they] have facades set up to lend the appearance of acceptability to [their] depravity. – Randy E. King

The homosexual Taliban are more than willing to trample over First Amendment freedoms to get their destructive agenda passed.
Disgusting. – byrdman

SSM can not be legalized because the Constitution needs to be protected. – Pamela

When right is thought wrong and wrong proclaimed right, sin is celebrated. Homosexuality has been the historical downfall to great nations as will it be for America. Sadly, Americans refuse to learn from the past. – William Simpson

I find this types of comments abhorrent.  I know that I am not alone.  It is obvious that those commenters above, scattered throughout three weeks of NOM’s blog postings, are without heart and don’t comprehend what love, compassion, honesty and respect truly are.  Somewhere along the road, they forgot that they’re talking to real people about real people and instead have turned to outright lying, deception, and degradation.  It’s time to return humanity back to this fight for marriage equality and basic respect. Please share your story with me.  Have you found someone beautiful in your life and married that person?  What was it like and what did it mean to you?  Have you personally experienced anti-gay animus?  If so, what happened and where did it happen?

When it comes to marriage equality for gay couples in America, it should come as no surprise that the vast majority of opposition arises from religious or pseudo-religious sentiment – inspired by scriptural and dogmatic teachings in three major world religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.  That is not to say that folks of other religious backgrounds – Hinduism/Buddhism/paganism/Atheism – don’t possess smaller amounts of opposition to marriage equality.  They do.  In most cases, however, there is a strong historical argument that can be made showing opposition from these religions stem from cultural osmosis during times of British/Christian imperialism.  It is obvious when studying history that LGBT men and women aren’t the first group of people to encounter the very same sort of opposition: being labeled a black sheep in cultures and societies that they were born into.  This is a long post.  There is a request at the bottom.  If you do not wish to read the full post, please read and respond to the request at the very end.

Starting in late antiquity, one of the first groups to encounter this “black sheep” label were Christians themselves.  In Roman culture, it was widely accepted that when one city conquered another, the god of the lost city was defeated and killed.  After the sacking of Jerusalem and Alexandria and the destruction of the Jewish temples, it was perceived that the Jewish and Christian people were abandoned by their god after not being strong enough to defend them against the god of the invading army.  Still, Christians endured and grew in numbers.  Still a minority, they were accused of what most minorities have been: preying on society’s most vulnerable members.  Romans developed three stereotypes about Christians.  These are going to sound very familiar.  Christians were thought to stand in violation of core morals of the state and were believed to be practicing atheism, cannibalism, and incest.  They were even accused of kidnapping and eating infants. 

Fast-forwarding a few centuries, Christians are now in power and the old Roman Empire is only visible via ruins and dust.  Pagans/witches are now the minority of choice.  They are accused of following Satan, hating Christians, having orgies, invading dreams, blood and human sacrifice, invoking demons, and casting spells to sway good Christians into the unnatural.  Christians began the great witch hunts, the most infamous being the Salem Witch trials in the Puritan colonies.  80% of those accused were women.  Those who did not confess to witchcraft and repent were hung or burned at the stake.  Those who confessed could be excommunicated, imprisoned, mutilated, or publicly humiliated as a form of repentance.  In medieval times, it didn’t matter if one confessed or not, if one was guilty or innocent.  Death was the most common sentence. 

Jews in Nazi Germany faced evil stereotypes as well: they cheated to gain money, they were all criminals, sexual predators, inferior, unpatriotic, and even baby killers.

In the Black Civil Rights movement, black men were accused of being dangerous to young, white women.  Society cautioned women to be afraid as black men are known to assault and rape them if given the chance.  A decade  or two later, women in America faced other stereotypes during the Women’s Civil Rights movement: women were considered by mainstream society (middle class, white men) to be stupid, unable to analyze anything, passive, physically weak, hysterical, overemotional, dependent by nature, fit only to be the housekeeper, sex object, and emotional service center for men and children.   Women needed to be taken care of because they were their own weakest and most vulnerable members of society.  Women of power were seen as a threat: labeled whores and considered violating the will of God to be good and dutiful wives and mothers.

Let’s continue in the 1970’s.  We are manifesting the first signs of LGBT men and women exposing themselves to society.  From the very beginning of public exposure, it became quite clear that LGBT folks, gay men in particular, were labeled with a compilation of the worst stereotypes.  I will list a few (many fiercely continue into 2011):

This is a small list.  Most are negative stereotypes.  Some are neutral stereotypes.  All of them are untrue and very destructive to our culture.  Stereotypes always result from, and leads to, prejudice and bigotry.  If unchecked, this prejudice and bigotry causes discrimination, violence, and sometimes, genocide.  Prejudice and discrimination is almost always spread by use of propaganda.  In modernity, this propaganda was most commonly spread from the pulpit: from Christian churches and organizations.  Pejoratives arise as a result of these stereotypes and are used to dehumanize these groups, forcing them into isolation for the purpose of self preservation.  Here are some examples:

Signage and language like this has perpetuated from the 1970’s well through to today in Albany, NY.  The language is disheartening and sickening, manifesting a subculture of ultra conservative Christians who feel both justified and compelled to treat gay men and women with either a dismissive or an outright hostile attitude.  LGBT men and women have officially become our generation’s black sheep and this has led to prejudice, discrimination, outright bigotry, and violence and gay men, women and those perceived to be gay.  Here are some of the results:

On July 19,  2006, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni were hung to death for the crime of homosexuality in Iran.  They were 15 and 16 years old.  Over 4000 LGBT men and women have been executed in Iran since 1979

In May, 2009, Samantha Ronson was brutally beaten in a club in Seattle because she was gay.

In October, 2009, Jack Price, an openly gay man in Queens, NY was brutally assaulted by two young men who verbally harassed him and shouted anti-gay slurs as he was leaving a convenience store. He was in critical condition for three days, unsure of whether he would live or die.

In October, 2009, Brandon Patrick was assaulted by three men as he was waking to a friend’s house at 11:30PM.  The men were taunting him with anti-gay pejoratives and death threats.  He was beaten, bitten, and slashed with a knife multiple times.

In July, 2009, this young man was leaving a Montreal pride event where he was hit over the head by a Christian bible.  The very same day, a couple with a video camera experienced harassment from a group of adults and children who were screaming “Gay is not the way!” and “Fuck you, fags!” while having rocks thrown at them.  A police officer walked by and ignored the entire situation.

Lawrence King (15, California), Steven Domer (62, Oklahoma), Satender Singh (26, California), Michael Sandy (29, New York), Philip Walsted (Arizona), Sakia Gunn (New Jersey), Octavia Acuna (Mexico), Ronnie Antonio Paris (3 years old, Florida), Richie Phillips (36, Kentucky), Jason Gage (Iowa), Justin Enos, Fannyann Eddy (Africa), Aaron Webster (Canada), Steen Fenrich, Leon Laureles (Texas), Carl Warren, Jr. (West Virginia), Joseph Ileto (California), Ricky Byrdsong (43, Illinois), Woon-Joon Yoon (26, Indiana),  Gary Matson and Winfiel Mowder (California), Billy Jack Gaither (39, Alabama), James Primus (35, Alabama), Brandon Teena (21, Nebraska), Anton Walker (54, Nevada), William Metz (Nevada), Michael Despain (24, Arizona), Thomas Frazee (28, Arizona), Robert Haines (Arizona), Joseph Charles Holleran (Arizona), Duane Linsley (Arizona), Eric Balagot (29, New Hampshire), Chris Miller (23, Arkansas), Ronnie H Smith (58, Arkansas), Harold Draper (29, New Jersey), Thomas Mulcahy (57, New Jersey).  These men and women were beaten or murdered because they were gay or it was perceived that they were gay.  http://www.stophate.us/victims.html has a list of hundreds more just like them.

There are more stories.  There are gay men and women who have been fired from their jobs because they were gay.  There are gay men and women who have had their homes and businesses vandalized because they are gay.  We are often denied hospital visitation of sick partners, kicked out of our homes by our parents, verbally harassed on city streets, separated in old age from the person we love most, unable to unite with a partner who is a citizen of a different country, denied or kicked out of housing, sometimes forced to live lives of secrecy from friends, family, and coworkers, and denied even the chance to celebrate with friends and family our relationships in a way that everyone understands: through marriage.  We live in a country a gay person and his or her monogamous partner are treated as nothing more than strangers by the state governments and the federal government.  As Louis Marinelli (former strategist for the National Organization for Marriage and now LGBT ally) put it, we are denied the opportunity to fully participate in American society.  Conservative Christians, among others, have painted us vicious, threatening, dangerous, devious, and destructive.  They have, through countless stereotypes, made us the black sheep of this millennium.  What they fail to realize is that the time is coming for us to make our final stand and to transform this society for the better – to cast off our black wool and stand up for fair, kind, and equal treatment: to show this society that we are here, we are beautiful, and we are demanding respect – to tell them that they cannot and will not harm us anymore.  Enough is enough.  We will be heard and they will be made to listen.

Please, share your story with me.  As an LGBT person, tell me your experience.  If you are married in a state that embraces equality, why did you get married?  If you have been the victim of discrimination, share with me how, when, and where.  If you have been the victim of harassment or violence, tell us your story.  It is time that all of our stories have been heard.

Louis J. Marinelli, once a supporter and strategist of the National Organization for Marriage, has through much discussion and interaction with LGBT Americans (myself included) had a wonderful and beautiful change of heart. 

He is in the process of launching a nation-wide Marriage Equality tour.  Please visit and support his cause.  He is in the process of undoing a great deal of damage and is becoming a wonderful ally.

From a NOM blog post

Bman,

Can you concede a little bit on your post?  I am a gay man.  By that I mean I possess (and have since puberty possessed) both an emotional and physical attraction to the same gender.  I so happen to be in love with another man.  He is the most important person in my life and I would gladly sacrifice of myself for his safety and well being. 

To have that reduced to “behavior” because others would judge and belittle me (such as Randy, who reduces my love to “depravity”) is both deeply offensive and very very personal.

I am lucky enough to live in Boston where my boyfriend and I can (and will) gather our friends and family together and celebrate our love for one another, become husbands to one another, and form a family.  Sometimes, however, I feel as though the amount of hostility and adversity the two of us face, particularly outside of the Boston area, is akin to the Salem witch trials where, even though we are good and honest, hardworking men, we are targeted with such hostility and even violence that we experience a guilty until proven innocent mob.

You can accept, then, why gay men and women are leery when it comes to being open and honest around Christian men and women.  There is a long history of discrimination and violence we face simply because we love and we love in a way that some religions preach is “against the very fabric of nature”.

Note of point: I am not an atheist.  I do not, however, believe that a divine being would give me this wonderful, beautiful capacity to love and then turn around and say that I will burn for eternity for loving.

I digress.  My love for my boyfriend is way beyond behavior.  There is not a single part of me that looked at him the first time we met and chose to feel how I do.

You talk about men who have sex with men.  Funny how you fail to mention women who have sex with women.  What about men who love men?  Can you still play the behavior card there?

Regards,

RJ

I want this to be my design piece for my new apartment

I’m moving into a new space and there is so much potential.  I’ve decided for a more minimalist, bronze-age design.  Brown leather couch, bar table, some wall decor, and covering up some hideous white kitchen cabinets with some linen I’ve yet to pick out.  Oh… and I’m going to buy this garden gnome.

Awesomely entertaining.

I’m digging the look.  Too bad the hat’s only lvl 333.

Why do you have to flaunt your sexuality and rub it in people’s faces?  We don’t care what you do in private.  We just don’t want to see it.  You don’t see us flaunting our sexuality.

Statements like these, although sometimes with the best intentions, actively point out a very real double standard in America – one based in stigma and subdued animus.  As an example, let’s look at two photos:

and

A kiss in the car, holding hands at the park, laying down in the grass, feeding each other in a restaurant, walking down the street hand-in-hand and hugging… all levels of public affection that only go unnoticed outside of those who have a simple disdain for PDA despite who’s involved.  The background soundtrack contains “Honey, dear, sweetie, pumpkin, sugar…” for the smitten girls to their boyfriends.  Onlookers usually just walk by without a second glance, unless the couple happens to be the same gender.

It was pointed out in an ABC undercover special that the story does change significantly with sexual orientation, highlighting what is obvious for many Americans today: while they claim that they have no problem with gay couples, believing and seeing become two different things.  This goes beyond simple second glances at seeing something one might never have seen before.  In public, especially open places where children may be around, parents and onlookers often rush to criticize, confront, or even react against gay couples in public.

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of gay people don’t “flaunt their sexuality”.  Many even go to great lengths to hide their sexual orientation or significant others from public.  What some consider to be flaunting by homosexuals is usually regarded as everyday behavior for heterosexuals.

Heterosexuals talk about spouses or dates. They wear their wedding rings, kiss good-bye, include their significant other in social functions, etc.  A gay person who does the same is often accused of causing conflict or being an activist and promoting the “homosexual agenda”.

Despite only wanting to be able to live their lives the way heterosexuals do,  gay couples are subjected to hostility from the majority of people guilty of using such language who really want gay couples to keep their lives a secret.  They don’t recognize the harm created from this.  In encouraging the behind-closed-doors double standard, they force gay couples to hide the very existence the most important people in their lives.  I would recommend anyone, gay or straight, to not tolerate this double standard.

Since I am so very good at making lists, I wrote this long comment response to Louis Marinelli, owner of OneMan-OneWoman.org in response to an article he wrote on the homosexual agenda:

Louis,

While I thank you for the polite and well detailed post, there are so many misconceptions you have.  I may ramble and cite a few points that I agree with:

1. You consistently and constantly reduce us to “homosexuals”.  Yes, we’re gay.  We possess an innate emotional and physical attraction to the same gender – but we’re also so much more.

2. You’re correct.  There is a difference between gay couples and straight couples.  That is a difference but, outside of procreation (which the human race is having NO problem with), it is not a fundamental difference.

3. There is no “homosexual lifestyle”.  We pay rent.  We work.  We have relationships.  We have friends.  We go to bars.  We go to clubs.  We dance.  We sing.  Some worship in their own way (I am a religious person, but not a Christian one).  We have sex.  We get sick.  We have families.  We have values.  There really is no individual drastic set of behaviors that one can bundle up into a single “homosexual lifestyle”… unless you are simply saying that because I fall asleep at night with my boyfriend in my arms instead of a girlfriend is the sole basis of a lifestyle variation.

3. On promiscuity – I agree with you completely and absolutely detest promiscuity.  Let’s not forget, though, that monogamy was not originally a Jewish/Christian model of relationships (Jewish culture promoted polygyny).  Instead, monogamy – or monogamous marriage – was originally a Roman/pagan ideal and was considered gender-neutral.  Does that mean promiscuity is detestable?  Not necessarily, but it is less healthy in the long run.  I say this as a gay man who is in a monogamous relationship with another gay man.

4. You are misusing the studies you cite (1 in 5 being HIV positive and the San Fran based study on open relationships).  While HIV is a significant problem among gay and bisexual men (not among gay women, mind you), the numbers are off given that the interviews took place in urban areas and 65% of those interviewed were at gay clubs/bars, where the hook-up mentality is still in play.  The same can be said for the San Fran study, which exclusively interviews couples in one particular area of San Fransisco.  Of course, I would caution you to not use HIV as a selling point for any argument.  It is a disease, plain and simple.  It is not a punishment.  It is not a negative attribute or consequence of being gay.  To pander HIV as anything more than a disease that needs to be cured is akin to the antiquated ideas that blindness was caused by the sins of the parents or the leprosy was a punishment for wickedness – both incredibly foolish assumptions.

5.  I thought it horribly inappropriate that Juan Williams was fired from NPR for his statements.  I know many gay men and women who agree with me.  We’re not all radical liberals.

6.  I know many gay men and women, while detesting the owners of “Just Cookies” for their decision, recognize that they are a private company.  Still, if they’re receiving a monetary break in using a public facility in an area with strict anti-discrimination clauses, they should be required to relocate to a privately-owned establishment.

7. Re: your comments on the UK and Canada, they have defined legislation on hate speech.  We do not.  Still, you MUST accept that while free speech is a guaranteed right, expression of free speech does not protect one from consequences of said speech.  There is also a fine line that must be drawn between the freedom of speech and libel/slander.  If speech causes or inspires harm to others, is that acceptable?  Surely not in a civilized society.

8. And I will outline my agenda (this is MY agenda, not some monolithic “gay agenda”) clearly and honestly (my ten point agenda):

i. I wish to see the full repeal of DADT.  Gay men and women share locker room and sleeping facilities with heterosexual men and women all the time.  Even in close quarters, we are generally more accustomed to sharing these facilities with people we may or may not be attracted to for much longer and are often more civil and polite.  The same cannot be said of straight men if they suddenly had to share these facilities with straight women.  The only reason I am not in the military today is that I refused to lie when enlisting via ROTC.

ii. I want to transform society to a point where we live in a nation where LGBT youth or perceived-gay youth are free from harassment and assault from their peers, family, and “friends”.  Without irrational claims, there is a very clear connection between social hostility and depression in LGBT teens that often results in suicide.  I want to see the complete abandon of the word “bullying” for the appropriate words “harassment” and “assault”.

iii. I wish to live in a world where I can walk down the street of any city holding my boyfriend’s hand without people yelling “faggot” or assaulting us.  I’ve been assaulted once myself.  I don’t wish a repeat experience simply because I love a man instead of a woman.

iv. I want to live in a society where gay men and women are not fired from their jobs or kicked out of their homes for being gay.  It happens and it shouldn’t.

v. I am a gay man who is HIV negative.  My boyfriend is also HIV negative and we are monogamous.  My mother has a heart condition that requires she have constant surgery and often needs blood transfusions.  We are both universal donors, which means a low available blood supply for her.  I would like the ability to donate blood to my mother in the case of an emergency situation since I am the only other family member who matches her blood type.  I am forbidden by law because I am a gay man.  Please note that the blood supply is actively monitored for the HIV virus.  Lifting this ban would increase the blood donor supply at low risk.

vi. I would absolutely love to see the HIV epidemic end through the discovery of a vaccine/cure.  Until one is developed, I would like to see a crack down on testing – requiring every physical exam to include an HIV blood test for everyone, despite whether they are gay, straight, virgin, or whore.  I want to see antiquated bathhouses shut down and a law forbidding the filming and distribution of gay and straight pornography where condoms are not used.

vii. I want to live in a society where the government that I pay taxes to, just like you, will treat my significant other and me as more than glorified roommates.  I want the ability to live anywhere in the nation and have the state and federal government recognize that I am not in a “domestic partnership” or “civil union” or housemates with the man I love.  I’d like the ability to share my health insurance with him, to visit him and make uncontested medical decisions for him, to co-adopt and raise children without parents so that they don’t have to live out what should be the best years of their lives alone and without paternal love, and to inevitably put a ring on his finger and call him my husband without being questioned or ridiculed by strangers.

viii. I want to live in a society where I am free from religious persecution.  My religious beliefs are so in that they do not judge or place restrictions on my romantic relationship with my boyfriend.  I feel that by enforcing laws according to the religious beliefs of larger religions is, in fact, a very real replica of the religious persecution our founding fathers sought to escape.  The laws of our land should not reflect the establishments of one particular religion/social order over those of others.

ix. I’d love to live in a world free from unnecessary social conflict such as this.  Marriage equality is just that – the opening of civil marriage to others despite innate sexual orientation.  It in no way, shape, or form harms, prevents, or discourages rational heterosexual men and women from marrying.  I will one day marry the man I love.  My sisters are both planning on getting married to the men they love.  The thought of my future marriage doesn’t change anything for them.  There are no consequences.

x.  Lastly, I want to live in a world where I do not have to face those that lie about me, slander me, or reduce me to half-citizenship.  Our government is established for our equal protection.  It causes very real and avoidable harm to gay couples/families for our government to be in the business of picking and choosing which households it will give over 1000+ rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities to.  This fight for marriage equality will favor equality in the end.  I think you and I both agree that we’re sick of fighting this fight.  Given that my boyfriend, whom I love, and I will be the ones harmed and the ones without, can’t we simply agree to stop fighting it?  Have your free speech all you want, but the moment you influence that in any way, shape, or form to change the way our government treats me, you cross a very dangerous and, from my faith-perspective, extremely immoral line.

That is my agenda.  Is there anything particularly “gay” about it?

Best wishes,

RJ

Last summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to describe my life to Mr. Louis Marinelli, a once staunch supporter of the endeavors by the National Organization for Marriage and active participant in their summer tour.

Since that discourse, Mr. Marinelli, Louis for short, has announced that he is now a supporter of full civil marriage equality.  Sadly, I don’t have access to my previous posts at the moment, but will restore the post Louis refers to tonight.  In the meantime, you can read more details at GoodAsYou.org, wonderfully reported by an obviously attentive and very handsome young man, Jermey Hooper who can be seen with his equally as handsome and wonderful husband here:

I have the biggest smile on my face today because of this.  An excellent start to a solid weekend.  Now to do my taxes…

He always impresses.