Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Odds and Ends

One of the threats wielded by the Right is "If you don't do what we say you'll be punished in the voting booth." That didn't stop Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain from instituting gay marriage a few years ago. The voters have now spoken again and Zapatero won, with his party gaining seats. His party's success was attributed to his progressive social agenda, which included gay marriage.

Back in 2001 Michael Guest was the first openly gay American ambassador. He took his partner to Romania but was surprised that because his partner is gay said partner was excluded from safety classes on such things as how to recognize a terrorist threat or an intelligence trap, both serious holes in national security. The partner was also excluded from health care and if an embassy was ordered evacuated the partner would have to pay for his way to safety. Guest was offered another posting recently and instead decided it was time to retire. That was enough for the State Department to decide well maybe it is time to change some policies. This is from a Deb Price column.

Some incredible photos of penguins. The brown ones are the young who don't have adult feathers yet.

Newsweek's My Turn page this week is by a male ballet dancer who laments he is judged by the tights he wears and must constantly justify his profession to others. It makes me think of the recent book, "Dude, You're a Fag" that talks about the code of masculinity that teenage boys enforce on each other.

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