VIVA EQUALITY!

Yo Lesbos! What up? Once again, I've been slackin,' I know. Well, Lots has happened since you heard from me last. Firstly, I got a new girlfriend. 

She is seemingly perfect,too!(yes I know I have said this before. sue me). 

Firstly, she is a

and an atheist 

Like me. So, right off the bat, I know she is rad! Turns out she is also incredibly kind,caring, funny, sweet, and loving. 

Now, in addition to this awesome new life development, right up until the election, I was phone banking with Marriage Equality USA.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have made OMFG nearly 2000 phone calls for marriage equality in Maine, which brings me to the name of this post-

Viva EQUALITY!!

Not only did we re-elect President Obama

But we won in all four states that had marriage on the ballot! Oh happy day!

The tides have turned, dykes! We're totally on our way. Gonna be interesting to see what the next four years are like, eh?

Evolving: What Lessons Will We Learn?

Happy Monday, lovelies! Firstly, I'd like to wish a belated 

to all  the dykelicious mommies among us. 

Hope it was a good one if you have kids, or if your relationship with your mother is a good one. If your situation is anything like mine, it was a trial at best, and you are probably breathing a 

that it is over until next year. However, I gotta say that our President's big announcement softened the GREAT GAY DEBATE in my favor. That's right, dykes, you heard me right. President Barack Obama finally

and came out in support of Marriage Equality this past week.

(as if you hadn't already heard).

Well, what did this mean for Shannon, you ask? Well, it might- notice I said might- mean that the tide is shifting in my favor where my mother is concerned. You see, dykes, for the longest,my mother was the world's biggest homophobe. She even once agreed with the likes of Maggie Gallagher

right in front of me, as we watched the news together. Times are a changin,' though. You see, my mother OMFG IDOLIZES our lovely President. So, in her eyes, even if she doesn't necessarily agree, she certainly takes a more tolerant stance. This is great news for me, because we were on the road to becoming COMPLETELY ESTRANGED

over this issue. It had really gotten to the point where I was just done, lesbos. Done with the lack of acceptance, done with the judgment, done with the religion, done with the willful ignorance. I was ready to walk out of here and never look back, for I refuse to live my life under the thumbs of people who will never love me as I am. However, President Obama rode in on his white horse

(of course it was a unicorn, we're GAY!)

and possibly saved not just the day, but our lives on this one. I hope his revelations had similar effects on other LGBT people struggling for acceptance from families.This will never be an easy issue, nor will it be one without pain. However, I hope it helps some of you at least remain on speaking terms with your relatives, rather than joining the growing number of Generation Xers who are cutting off all contact with their families. I know it  helped me, so, from the bottom of my heart, thank you Mr.President.

A Win For Bigotry: North Carolina Voters Pass Amendment 1

Ahoy, maties! Well,as I often say, this isn't a political blog, but we're sure as hell talking politics tonight. If you are reading this blog, you are more than likely LGBT or LGBT supporting, so it's time to get serious and listen up for a minute. Tonight, despite our best efforts to get the citizens of North Carolina to 

we lost. What they don't realize, though, is that the law of unintended consequences comes into play here. This law reaches far beyond effectively banning gay marriage, which was already illegal anyway, once and for all. It has consequences for all unmarried couples, heterosexual and homosexual alike. It even does the unthinkable and

because, now, to the state, unless they hit the chapel, their relationships are no longer recognized under the new law. This includes, but is not limited to, common law marriage, domestic partnerships, and civil unions.

It also ensures that unmarried women now have no basis to file 

cases against live- in abusive partners. It also means that families lose health benefits and any rights whatsoever- including children. In attempting to make something that was already illegal even more illegal (how the hell do you do that anyway?)  out of hate, North Carolinians have effectively hurt anyone in the state who is not married. Thanks a lot, you hateful, ignorant fucks. 

Live and let live, people. This and laws like it will not stand up in higher courts. All you are doing is wasting time and money. See

for Exhibit A on this issue. All the people who supported this lunacy have done is endanger the welfare of families around the state, the majority of which will turn out to be, via sheer force of numbers, gasp! HETEROSEXUAL.

How's that for irony? Lesson number 8,946,979 on how hate gets you nowhere. I know I am preaching to the choir here,dykes, but that's just a little run down on just what they've done here, in case you didn't know.

Remember,folks-

Homosexuality is not.

Equality Rocks, But Haters Gon' Hate

Hey Hey! Well it's been almost two weeks since the last post. That is because gasp! for OMFG THE FIRST TIME EVER I was asked to collaborate with another queer blogger. dykeroadbaby, the proprietor of Dyke Road: The Online Lesbian Journal, asked me to collaborate with her on a coming out post. So, in essence, I wanted to give that a chance to get some hits before we moved on to another post. 


At any rate, 'mos, OH MY! What a lot we have to post about this week. It has been one awesome week for Queer Equality! 

The Huffington Post's Gay Voices Section posted some most wonderful news this week! Firstly, the haters from California who got the gay marriage bill repealed in 2008 finally learned that gasp! No matter how hard they try, they cannot legislate their hate by breaking the law and holding illegal votes on the basic civil rights of a minority. Alas, the 9th Circuit Court ruled that gay marriage ban Prop 8 aka Prop H8 is Unconstitutional. 

Then, as if that weren't the best news ever with regards to what we have been waiting for with bigots using church money to vote on our rights, we got another treat!

With a 55-43 winning vote, Washington State becomes the seventh to legalize Marriage Equality.

Perhaps the best part of this was the recording of one of the most moving Marriage Equality Senate Floor speeches from gasp! a GOP lawmaker who has a queer daughter. Get out your tissues for this one, 'mos. You'll need them. 

So, it's been a great time to be queer this week, even beyond our usual radness. However, as always, haters gonna hate.

The first order of hatred comes from an asinine group of irrational mothers calling themselves ONE MILLION MOMS(though in actuality there are only about 40,000 of them) that decided to hate on JCPenney's decision to hire the adorable Ellen Degeneres

because she is gay. Now, this group is a fringe arm of the anti gay terrorist hate group American Family Association, which is, of course, nothing but a bunch of hateful religious zealots. They demanded that JCPenney gasp! fire Ellen. I refuse to link to such a hateful website on this blog, but I DO give you the video of Ellen's awesome response. 

As always, she is simply brilliant! And the icing on the cake is that JCPenney stood behind her, showing that even large corporations no longer cave to blatant bigotry in the name of a few extra dollars. Show JCPenney they made the right decision, and that we are on the right side, and that we support them, and Ellen, by joining One Million Ellen Degeneres Fans Supporting JCPenney if you have a facebook account. Perhaps the most shocking defense of all comes from none other than the Fox News Opinion pundit, Mr. Bill O'Reilly. 

Most shocking, but I guess everyone has their days, so a kudos to him for this one. Thanks, Bill-O. 

And ahh, last but not least, we have the tale of one Roland Martin 

sending homophobic tweets during the Super Bowl. However, he too, got his comeuppance, as CNN suspended him indefinitely, citing the tweets as "regrettable."

So, all in all dykes, it's been quite a week in Queer Land! Looks like its Queers 4, 'phobes nil! Special congratulations to the folks in the states with advancements in Marriage Equality progress, and may we all join you soon!

WHEW! What a post! We might be getting a little political from now on out dykes, because, as you all well know, I am all about the cause. Promise we will still have massive amounts of fun, though! Till next time...

VIVA EQUALITY!

Post News and Link Credits: Straight.com, Huffington Post

The Awesomeness That is a Straight Bride Supporting Gay Marriage

Alrighty, 'mosexuals, it is time to honor a lady I had never heard of until I signed up on Seeded Buzz. Ladies, meet Morgan,also known as Cape Code Bride. She lives in Massachusetts, the first state to allow same- sex marriage, and she is a supporter.

She runs a blog called A Cape Cod Bride, and I came across her while looking for "seeds" to plant that fit the interest of this blog,and I ran across a fabulous post of hers from January 24, 2010 entitled A Word (or Many) About Gay Marriage. 

While looking for something to post, I got a whole lot more here, lovelies. I got a lesson, an important, valuable lesson: Some straight people do get it.

While I know many loving, gay affirming straight people both online and off, they seem to simply sympathize for a moment, then go on with their lives of heterosexual privilege, never really looking to see what we go through just to live our lives in a society that says that we aren't good enough, and that it is ok to discriminate. For this reason, I had drawn a very clear line in the sand between straight folks and me as a method of self preservation. Morgan's post inspired another Ally,Tabitha, to write a heart- felt post of frustration on the subject as well. I was wrong to assume no straight person gets it at all though, as some people really are 

I hope you will all read her blog as well, and, if you had the same gay vs straight hang ups that I did, learn something from it. Also, it's a GREAT place for ideas to plan your out of this world, "budget beautiful"(her words!) Big Gay Wedding!

Happy National Coming Out Day!

I hope you all had an enjoyable one. If you were in the closet, I hope you found the courage to use today to come out to at least one person, or, even better, come all the way out and wave that Pride Flag

high, loud, and proud. If you were already out, I hope you found a few random people to come out to today, like I did, and have every year since I have been aware that we had a day just for Coming out. My people this year? Random people in a convenience store. 

Before I asked for my cigarettes and flashed my ID, I simply said to the clerk, "Happy National Coming Out Day!" 

He gave me that blank, but obligatory smile we have all seen on the faces of store clerks 

and said in a confused tone, "Excuse me?" 

So, I patiently explained to him that I am gay and that it is National Coming Out day and that 

to him. He looked confused, and so did the woman in line behind me, so I grinned at him, asked for my cigs while flashing my ID,  happily took my change, flashed him my most winning smile, and left. I am sure he, and the women in line, thought I was insane, but so be it, win some, lose some, and, at the end of the day, I honored National Coming Out Day 2011 by coming out to someone new, and that is what is important. This day should be important to ALL LGBT people and allies. I will leave you with the most beautiful video I have seen advocating LGBT rights in a long time. Hope your National Coming Out Day was a good one, Dykes.

We Can Get Married in the Empire State!

Get out your white silk tuxes and glittery bowties, because yet another state has done the right, just, and civil thing, coming into the twenty- first century and legalizing Marriage Equality for all, muh ladies! In a 33-29 victory, the New York State Senate voted to give us the same rights and protections that marriage offers the straights! Special thanks to the four Republicans who crossed party lines to help make this happen, and a very special thanks to Senator Mark Grisanti(R) for his most moving speech. Watch the video below. Couldn't ask for a better Gay Pride gift!