I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
it'd be nice if every time this happens a fundie-bigot would go through a Grinch style transformation
And that's what the Republicans will never understand. The folks in Minneapolis offered an honest gift with no thought of what is in it for them.
Good-by hierarchy, hello ad hoc communication and collaboration.
Awww... 
just goes to show the power of the blogosphere for good, or at least for terribly nice.
Proud to be from MN right now.
what, giving something away out of the goodness of your heart? how evil and unamerican! why does minneapolis hate america?!
i am anti-flowers myself (plants yes, flowers no) but this is just so nice.
I see that Josh Marshall has wasted a tremendous number of words equivocating about gay marriage. I like him. He's smart. But he was on the wrong side of the war and he's on the wrong side of the gay marriage issue.
This is great to hear. My co-blogger at Needlenose has been making the point (which may have been made elsewhere -- I haven't kept up with all the commentary on this subject) that this is incredibly powerful from a political standpoint.
It's one thing to oppose an abstract concept, and use it to scare the ignorant. But now gay marriage means images of happy, celebrating people, getting flowers from strangers all over the country -- a visual message of joy.
And the conservatives are forced into the corner of saying, "You see all that happiness?!? We're AGAINST it!!" That's okay, guys -- it's your grave you're digging.
None of you liberals sent flowers to Ollie North when he was being grilled for destroying evidence to keep it from the Dem... I mean the enemy.
Your all hypicrites.
Holtz liked the idea so much that he told his partner, Edward Gillespie, about it that night. The two wrote an e-mail and, along with Scanlan, forwarded it to about 60 friends. It reads in part, "Call it The Big Gay Bouquet, call it Flowers from the Heartland ... Because straight or gay, we believe and we know many people who believe, support and celebrate the right to marriage. And we'd like to show it."
I always thought he was a little light in the loafers. Is someone going to tell him the bad news about Bush supporting the FMA?
The Gropenfurher has ordered the CA Atty. Gen. to halt marriage equality in CA.
Will we see an armed contingent storm SF city hall?
Will guns be used to put down these tender expressions of humanity?
Stay tuned...
You know, from a purely cynical political perspective, Democratic operatives (are there any?) should use this issue and spread some money around to try and lure Roy Moore and Pat Buchanan into the the race.
Forget Nader damaging the Democrats. Those two would suck Bush's base DRY. Kerry would win in a walk, no question.
A guy can dream, I suppose.
That being said, huzzah for civil right and equal protection under the law for all American citizens!
Kinda OT, but I woke up this morn' and what did I see on buzzflash.com but a link to my Kos diary entry on Perry. Then I find out that gawker.com also links to the same entry!
At least I thought that was pretty cool.
The Gropenfurher has ordered the CA Atty. Gen. to halt marriage equality in CA.
All the more depressing in light of the fact that many Democrats were enamored of Schwarzenegger because he was supposedly socially liberal-- pro-choice, pro gay rights. So much for that...another GOP wolf in sheep's clothing.
The Gropenfurher has ordered the CA Atty. Gen. to halt marriage equality in CA.
All the more depressing in light of the fact that many Democrats were enamored of Schwarzenegger because he was supposedly socially liberal-- pro-choice, pro gay rights. So much for that...another GOP wolf in sheep's clothing.
Ah, fucking double post. My sincere apologies. I blame no coffee, which I'm remedying right now.
And that's what the Republicans will never understand. The folks in Minneapolis offered an honest gift with no thought of what is in it for them
Well, maybe if there was a tax credit involved... 
As for Arnie, please, please someone run the clip from Terminator 3 where the gay stripper says to the Terminator: "Talk to the hand!"
The Gropenfurher has ordered the CA Atty. Gen. to halt marriage equality in CA.
Will we see an armed contingent storm SF city hall?
Will guns be used to put down these tender expressions of humanity?
Stay tuned...
Slim | Email | Homepage | 02.21.04 - 1:01 pm | #
Yeah, whoo scary Terminator dude being mean and divisive all over again, gosh it doesn’t take a lot does it, they run on the election being all Bambi’s best friend and oh, we are so laid back and cool and five seconds after they are elected they start with the meanie weanies and snarly warly’s and huffy puffies.
Groping chicks, OK, being mean to workers OK, smoking cigars OK, sweet lesbians kissing and getting married not OK.
.....
Hey, are these the same flowers that the PNAC goons promised would be given to our troops ny thankful Iraqis? Because I haven't seen them yet in Iraq. If so, I'm glad to see they found another use for them...
Excerpts from the California Constitution:
Article 1 (DECLARATION OF RIGHTS)
-SECTION 1. All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.
-SEC. 7. (a) A person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or denied equal protection of the laws; provided, that nothing contained herein or elsewhere in this Constitution imposes upon the State of California or any public entity, board, or official any obligations or responsibilities which exceed those imposed by the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution...
--(b) A citizen or class of citizens may not be granted privileges or immunities not granted on the same terms to all citizens. Privileges or immunities granted by the Legislature may be altered or revoked.
Well, we already know Schwarzenegger's views on the subject: sex should only be between a man and the woman he traps in an elevator.
This entire issue has to be framed in public as one of PERVERSION.
Not perversion of the gays. Perversion of the critics. The people who are getting so hot under the... collar... about other couples in love are the real perverts.
I'm not gay. So, naturally, I don't spend much if any time agonizing about what gay people do for sex. Why should I? If I'm a basketball person, I don't need to worry about the moves in baseball. Someone else's home run doesn't threaten me in any way (though I might generally applaud it, in the spirit of approving of any positive accomplishment). If I did become obsessed, positively, or ESPECIALLY negatively, I would begin to suspect it might be time to consider changing my game.
The question for all opponents of gay marriage has to become, "Why are you such a pervert? Why can't you get your eyes out of other people's crotches?" That blunt, and that crude.
Yes, we have a pervert problem. The problem is that the wrong people are being labeled perverts. Time for a re-labeling campaign.
Anyone in SF or California who is interested in protesting the unconstitutional treatment of GLBT people is urged to don a pink triangle on their clothing.
The triangle should be of pink cloth about 3" on each side. The point of the triangle points downward. The patch should be sewn onto clothing on the right side of the chest.
The condidtions are right for this action! Do it for yourself before the state does it for you!
Herr Handsundboobie is being forced into saying/doing something by the GOP. He's really quite the wimp. Like when he was faced with disabled protestors, and backed down on the whole budget cut to services for developmentally disabled kids...
His arm is being twisted after a whole week of complete silence and inaction on what's going on here, and now he's being told to do SOMETHIMG.
Interestingly, the attorney general is hedging and apparently will do his best to drag his feet on the issue.
I just don't see any way conservatives can come out of this looking like anything less than a bunch of bigoted, bible-thumping zealots. I really don't think the majority of Americans are in favor of living like that, no matter where they stand on gay marriage.
Raymond Mungo? Co founder of the Liberation News Service and author of Famous Long Ago?
Threw in my $20 for flowers.
Oh the IRONY!
A bad austrian artist is persecuting gays again!
That's why we need a pink-triangle campaign. This time to show solidarity and support for the CA Constitiution.
I haven't been watching CNN much lately but the few reports I've caught on gay marriage have shown rather inoccuous looking couples and I think that's probably a good thing. I was surprised they didn't go out of their way to find the most outragious flaming couples they could fiind and act like they were representative.
I think gay marriage may be one thing that our so called liberal media actually supports. Its really only the cultural wingnuts that are against it and most in the media fiscally conservative but culturally liberal outside of Faux news. I mean I'm sure even Wolf Blitzer and Lou Dobbs have to be aware that many of their co-workers are gay and deserve the same rights they have, and since it won't hurt their pocket book why not?
Flower Power returns to San Francisco! Wouldn't hurt to send a bouquet to Mayor Newsom. Lotsa pink, flowers and triangles, methinks.
"The Gropenfurher has ordered the CA Atty. Gen. to halt marriage equality in CA."
I guess there is plenty of cash in the strapped budget to pay for a legal battle against such a worthwhile cause like stopping evil gay people from gettin' hitched.
Brittney Spears should be the poster child for gay marriage. You know society is fucked up when some over-paid talentless trailer tramp can get legally married for 24 hours as a "joke", but a couple of decent, tax-paying people with a mortgage and a kid or two who are truly in love and have been together for decades are told getting a marriage license is "illegal".
I never understood how if you're not against all non-procreative sex why you could be against gay marriage...
This talk of flowers and pink triangles reminds me of one of my favorite Nazi Occupation stories.
Denmark had no real army to speak of, so when the Nazis invaded, they met little armed resistance. They left the government, under King Christian, more or less intact, but started imposing their own laws. One of the first was the requirement that all Jews wear yellow stars. The day after the new law went into effect, King Christian appeared before his people, wearing a yellow star. The people got the message and soon everyone -- regardless of religion -- was wearing a yellow star.
The Nazis, needless to say, weren't pleased. They didn't want to arrest King Christian and risk sparking mass civil arrest, but they couldn't afford to have him running around loose either. So they announced that the King was very ill and would not be able to address his people for the foreseeable future. The people responded with flowers, masses of flowers, wagonloads of flowers all heading for the palace. The entire country ground to a halt. Roads were impassable. The Nazis were stuck. They had no choice but to announce that King Christian had miraculously recovered and allow him to appear in public.
Note: I read this story many years ago and don't remember the source, so it's possible that it's not historically accurate in all details. But if it isn't, it certainly should be.
I went down to SF's city hall and took some photos. I talked to a few people who got flowers delivered to them today.
http://tinyurl.com/22phe
I agree with sending the flowers to the mayor -- he's taken a lot of abuse, including O'Reilly's saying he should be arrested (by gropenfuhrer). I think maybe even send some to Ahnuld -- you know, spread the love. Might shock him, impress him -- it's certainly a non-GOP gesture!
(ducks head for incoming ...)
1) All bodybuilders are gay.
2) Schwarzenegger was a bodybuilder.
3) Ipso facto: Schwarzenegger is gay.
Arnold, don't turn on your friends when they need you the most.
As a big ol' middle age hetero Southern white boy, I must admit having to wipe tears from my eyes after reading this story.
My wife that normally supports Repugs said this morning, "What is wrong with these people that are against gays getting married? Do they have something against people just being happy and in love?"
my friends kendra & dino & i went in on a bouqet!
I would really like someoneto ask Scott McClellan at the gaggle if the President has a message for the 6000 Americans who have just gotten married in a scene the President has described as "disturbing". The same question for Gov Arnold.
Ah Minneapolis, I knew I liked it here... a little midwestern pocket of San Francisco...
Thanks Trios, this story, for once,made me happy.
Gee, I guess the Gropenfuhrer was a lucky ducky in so far as no license was required to participate in all those gang-bangs he enjoyed.
Thank Gaaaaawd he's protecting our morals!
Hey, I got married in Toronto to my man-lover last August and no one sent me flowers *bitter petty fuming*.
...Just kidding! This is a really nice thing. Best news I've seen lately, believe you me.
Let's send flowers to Gavin Newsome--letters to Arnold and legislators everywhere.
I hope some of Arnold's Hollywood friends are sticking it to him because of his *courageous* (sarcasm) stand.
He's in way over his head. I wonder if he likes being the bad guy. That's booing and hissing you hear, Arnie. A real ego-deflater.
The Gropenfurher has ordered the CA Atty. Gen. to halt marriage equality in CA.
He can "order" all he wants - the Atty. General is an office independent of the governor.
Of course, the Atty. General will defend the state in the lawsuits already filed and set for trial - I guess Der Gropenfuehrer is of the "convict now, trial later" school.
Anyway, it's merely Ahnuld's way of throwing red meat to the Nazis for today's Nuremberg Rally...
The Schwarzenegger administration released the letter shortly before the governor made an 18-minute speech at the California Republican Party convention in Burlingame, where he received a standing ovation.
Sieg heil!
Belated congratulations Guy! I've been waiting to hear from someone else in T-Dot about this whole thing. I figured I was alone around here
If the jackbooted-thug crackdown hits SF, any happily married couples looking for a honeymoon can swing by Toronto for, oh, a few years until things calm down.
Shorter Marshall: some of my best friends are faggots.
"Anyway, it's merely Ahnuld's way of throwing red meat to the Nazis for today's Nuremberg Rally..."
Don't laugh. We have real Nazis marching today here in Raleigh.
Shorter O'Lielly: "I am going to protect your marriage by insisting that people in love shouldn't get married!"
"Arrest the people in love and anyone who supports them!"
Beth, your story about King Christian X isn't accurate however the truth I think is even better:
http://www.snopes.com/history/go...ern/
denmark.htm
Beth, actually the story is not about wearing stars, but yellow roses. King Christian was said to have worn a yellow rose buttonier the day after the Nazis took power, not specifically as a form of protest, but the idea of wearing a yellow rose on the lapel was taken up by Danes as a means to protest Nazi racial laws. Apparently it became quite confusing for them since, at a distance, the yellow star and rose looked the same -- just a blob of yellow.
The pink triangle idea is a good one.
There is also the black triangle, which was put on those who refused to go along with Nazi policies, but were not of any identifiable group. These people were labled "Asocial" and were often placed with religious dissenters and homosexuals in the camps. Often the homeless were included in the asocial grouping, along with intellectuals, the unemployed, and other non-political dissenters. Political dissenters had to wear red triangles (red for communist). I think recently a radical group of some sort has taken to wearing the black triangle, but I can't remember who it is.
The Denmark story in more detail is there for the reading at snopes.com... I don't remember all the details.
Spocko, love the photos. Next time see if you can get some closeups of snarling protestors. Then we can do a nice little compare and contrast- on our side, joyous happy couples celebrating their commitment to each other, on their side, wacko angry religious zealots who apparently won't be satisfied until everyone is as miserable as they are.
Post back when ya get more pictures dude- that was awesome.
Maybe pink roses in the lapel would be an even more eloquent way for those who support what's going on at City Hall to show it.
Boy would that ever piss Schwartzengroper off. You know he has to be sensitive to allusions to the Nazis... I don't think his ego could handle more "negative publicity" (otherwise known to the rest of the world as "politics"). He's in over his head now, and it's too late for him to do anything about it.
That's not a bad idea... Hell, if this issue gets any uglier (and I'm sure it will by summer), I'd be willing to sew pink triangles into all my shirts. That should raise some eyebrows at the office.
This entire issue has to be framed in public as one of PERVERSION.
Not perversion of the gays. Perversion of the critics. The people who are getting so hot under the... collar... about other couples in love are the real perverts.
I'm not gay. So, naturally, I don't spend much if any time agonizing about what gay people do for sex.
Exactly. Sex between old people isn't something many people really would like to think about. That doesn't mean old people shouldn't be able to get (or be) married. Hell, if the reasoning of the wackos was adopted, the only people who we'd allow to be married would be models and porn stars. But, of course, there are some people who think the idea of ANYONE else having sex is gross... therefore nobody should be married.
WINGNUT: I don't think there should be gay marriage because I think gay sex is gross.
RATIONAL PERSON: Ok. Here's an image: Your parents having sex.
WINGNUT: EW! Gross! Don't do that to me!
RATIONAL PERSON: Thank you. I'll be delivering the anullment papers to your folks tomorrow.
Oops! Looks like the toothpaste is out of the tube on this one folks. It should be fun to watch Karl try to stuff it back in.
Spocko and other Bay Area Atrites --
We should have a meetup and go to SF City Hall some time this week to support the couples and heckle the thumpers.
I "know" some of those guys. They're on Market a lot, usually across the street from the old Emporium building, with their Promise keeper t-shirts and neck veins a-bulging. Those are the real freaks in San Francisco.
One guy likes to stand on the corner opposite Union Square and scream all the things the pedestrians are going to go to hell for at them while he waves a bible. I remember going past him once when my hair was really short and he started on this rant about how I was going to go to hell for being a lesbian right in my face. I said nothing and stood there, letting him be an idiot for all to see, and he would not stop.
The 'carry torches around downtown and proclaim all war protestors sinners and evil' crowd is there, too.
Good photos. Especially the happy, beaming couples.
The more I think about it the more I begin to believe that only same sex couples should be allowed to marry, it should be illegal for heteros. It's obvious they take it way more seriously than we do, and I suspect they'll be a lot better at practicing it too.
On the pink triangle thing- anyone out there in blog land a jewelry person? Someone should manufacture pins- one with pink crystals for the ladies, one with maybe pink enamel for the gents. I'd sure wear one to the office. We could donate the proceeds to move-on or something.
Plus, singlehandedly we'd have created more manufacturing jobs than shrubco.
shit, Gavin Newsome's done more for the economy than ShruCo, too. The Castro is quite the place to go to for the post-nuptual party, and it's been hopping lately. All those florists getting work thanks to bloggers have helped the economy as well...
I will admit to disagreeing with the Massachusetts latest decision saying that civil unions aren't enough. And I still do.
However, now that this issue is out in the open, it's imperative that it be pushed pushed pushed. People respect someone taking a stand they disagree with more than someone that is a waffling milquetoast. I love the Mark Fiore cartoon (as I like all of his), and went Awwww when I read the story about the flowers.
Yeah, Schwarzenucklehead is technically on the right side of the law. But it's a law that is unconstitutional. Newsom is on the side of the constitution. History should judge the latter more favorably than the latter.
MoniCA and SF based bloggersYeah, I'm up for a meet up. I suggested one at the tail end of a thread last week but I guess no one saw it. What would be fun would be to have those huge vinyl signs the opposite the ones they are holding.
Also, for a long time I've been annoyed that the chants at all protests are from the 60's. Come one people, it's a new century!
I was thinking about writting a traditional hymn to reply to the wackos. Timed for TV of course.
I'm pretty good at song parodies.
How about
Jesus loves gays
yes it's so
'cause the bible tell me so.
That should drive them insane.
Other song suggestions?
Think short. Punchy.
I could also so some show tune parodies.
"Oh the christians and the gay folks should be friends or the christians and the gay folks should be friends.
One man likes to pray to god, the other likes to marry Tod,
But that's no reason why they cain't be friends.
American folks should stick together,
American folks should all be pals.
Christians dance with gay folk's daughters,
Gay folks dance with the Christian's gals.
MoniCA,
Thanks for the correction on the Danish thing. I love the pink roses idea. Pink triangles aren't bad, but they seem a bit confrontational. Pink roses convey the same messages of solidarity, but with more of a sense of loving support.
The wonderful thing about the marriages and bouquets is that they shift the storyline from a battle of pro-Christian vs. anti-Christian to pro-Love vs. anti-Love. The pink roses reinforce that and would be a beautiful next step.
and went Awwww when I read the story about the flowers.
Adam 4-4-2
Awwww
My husband knows one of them from 30 years ago. What a small world.
Well, we could go back to the '60's for one song --
All you need is love!
And have a chorus of women to sing "There is nothing like a dame" and everyone could sing "Once I had a secret love"
This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine
Won't let bigots "puff" it out
I'm gonna let it shine
Won't let the White House "puff" it out
I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine
Let it shine
Let it shine!
It's obvious they take it way more seriously than we do, and I suspect they'll be a lot better at practicing it too.
The only couples that I know that have stayed together for more than 10 years are gay couples.
I think recently a radical group of some sort has taken to wearing the black triangle, but I can't remember who it is.
This was quite an issue among lesbians I knew in the late 80s and early 90s. Lesbians were grouped in with anti-socials. Of course, they couldn't be homosexuals because women didn't have a sexuality, or at least didn't have one that mattered.
(Note: not slamming women--making a point about patriarchal attitudes towards women's sexuality)
I will admit to disagreeing with the Massachusetts latest decision saying that civil unions aren't enough. And I still do.
Marshall has a point about this:
Yet, if we have marriage (for straights) and civil unions (for gays), then you have the state being in the business of solemnizing and recognizing both kinds of relationships, but in a way that clearly gives preference -- even if just symbolically -- to straights. Once you make the leap to civil unions, this sort of public denigration of same-sex relationships seems hard to justify, and full gay marriage seems hard not to embrace.
And our Chief Justice Marshall, in the Court's advisory opinion, also addressed this:
The bill's absolute prohibition of the use of the word "marriage" by "spouses" who are the same sex is more than semantic. The dissimilitude between the terms "civil marriage" and "civil union" is not innocuous; it is a considered choice of language that reflects a demonstrable assigning of same-sex, largely homosexual, couples to second-class status. The denomination of this difference by the separate opinion of Justice Sosman as merely a "squabble over the name to be used" so clearly misses the point that further discussion appears to be useless. If, as the separate opinion posits, the proponents of the bill believe that no message is conveyed by eschewing the word "marriage" and replacing it with "civil union" for same-sex "spouses," we doubt that the attempt to circumvent the court's decision in Goodridge would be so purposeful. [citations omitted]
MAJeff-- you know, I had put lesbians in my list of black triangle people at first, then deleted it, because I couldn't remember for sure. Thanks for the correction.
I think that now, with the city of San Francisco issuing marriage licenses, that the time to use the term "civil union" has passed. For good or ill, it's going to be "gay marriage" on the news, and in the papers and mouths of pundits from here on out -- not civil unions.
I got a phone number from Metafilter that turned out to be Flowers by the Bay so I ordered a bouquet to be delivered randomly. It felt very, very good.
My husband and I sent $20 to Al & Don. Not much, but what we could afford. I'm hoping that someday, we'll be able to talk about a gay couple getting married and have people say, "Oh--they finally decided to tie the knot? Well, it's about time!"
Won't that be a wonderful day?
What did folks think about the sanitized, de-fanged, softer than a muffin version of Gropenfurer on SNL?
Gee, I could hardly recognize their alternate version of reality. Joe Pesci would be scarier than this version of Terminator.
.....
LJ, that will be a wonderful day. When my cousin came out, my grandmother's first response was how sad it was that he could never marry and share a family with someone.
Now, with adoption laws changing, and this, maybe he can.
I just e-mailed the SF Chron reporter and told her it was a wonderful story. Maybe some positive feedback will give her a lift, too. This story has almost restored my faith in the human race.
A.
Actually Beth, the whole story about King Christian wearing the star is totally untrue. It was in the film Exodus, and when they did the Danish version with subtitles, they had to cut it, because the Danes just laughed at the scene -- knowing it untrue.
The Yellow Star story was made up for the benefit of Americans after the war. In fact the Danes did save virtually all their nearly 9000 Jews, but the resistance was led by a coalition of Socialists and Communists, and that part of the story was, early cold war, very inconvenient. So, the substitution all about Kings, Queens and I suppose garden trolls. It is so Danny Kaye and "Wonderful Copenhagen" -- and does not at all capture the business of stealing diesel fuel from German supplies, putting it in milk bottles, and delivering it to the fishermen so they could cross the sound one more time with 1bout 15 refugees.
It's one of those nights. The Family Policy Network (I've no idea who these people are, I was looking for something else entirely when I stumbled across this bit) has declared Bush to be pro-gay. No, I'm not making this up.
http://www.familypolicy.net/feat...bush-
gays.shtml
I hope the long-form URL doesn't screw anything up.
Does this mean we can all go home now?
For those of us who had questions regarding the homosexual agenda, I have the answer.
To wit:
The Homosexual Agenda
Many of you have heard Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and others speak of the "Homosexual Agenda," but no one has ever seen a copy of it. Here is a copy obtained directly from Homosexual Headquarters. It reads as follows:
The Homosexual Agenda
6:00 a.m. Gym
8:00 a.m. Breakfast (oatmeal and egg whites)
9:00 a.m. Hair appointment
10:00 a.m. Shopping (preferably at Neiman Marcus or Nordstrom's)
12:00 p.m. Brunch
2:00 p.m. Assume complete control of the U.S. Federal, State, and Local Government, as well as all other national governments, Destroy all healthy marriages.
Replace all school counselors in grades K-12 with militant homosexuals who seek to recruit children for the homosexual lifestyle, Bulldoze all houses of worship, Secure total control of the internet and all mass media, and Be utterly fabulous!
2:30 p.m. Get forty winks of beauty rest to prevent facial wrinkles from the stress of world conquest; aroma therapy
4:00 p.m. Cocktails
6:00 p.m. Light dinner (soup, salad [arugula with balsamic vinegar dressing], Chardonnay)
8:00 p.m. Theatre
10:30 p.m. Cocktails in a charming neighborhood bistro
12:00 a.m. Bed (du jour)
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