Move Over Adam and Eve - Here's Adam and Steve

[ciroccoj]

Re. the San Francisco Gay Marriage Rebellion:

First off, for an unpopular view that I happen to agree with in part, here's eolianbeck's post re. the legality and/or political repercussions of the event.

And for a 'feel' for the moment, here's pictures. Yes, I'm a sap, I teared up. At the 'butch crying' pic, at the newly "married with children" couples, at the judge who'd just married seventy couples, at the Bay Area elementary school children whose schools took them on a field trip that day.

To quote tobiascharity, quoting foreverdirt: my faith in humanity is on a bit of a sugar high right now :)

Comments

[sangerin.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'd realised just how huge this was until I looked at those authenti-city pictures. Wow. I mean, WOW.

And I have so much admiration for any school teacher who would take their class on a field trip to witness this. You wouldn't dare in Australia at the moment. To anything political. There's a project being suggested for school children to design a memorial to the boat carrying asylum seekers that sank (probably with Australian Government involvement) off the coast, killing over 300 people, mostly women and children whose husbands and fathers were already in Australia. The Siev X Memorial website says that they've got 100 schools indicating interest, but I'm betting these are Private schools. You'd be risking your neck if you were a public school.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

And I have so much admiration for any school teacher who would take their class on a field trip to witness this.

Oh, I know! God, that's why I got tears in my eyes. The thing started on Thursday. By Friday lunch, schools were showing up. It usually takes weeks just to take public school kids to a skating rink next to school grounds here.

The picture with the schoolkids surrounding that one wedding was just incredible. Knowing that whatever happens to the legality of the weddings, the kids got to witness how history can be made by regular people... it just... yeah. Wow.

they've got 100 schools indicating interest, but I'm betting these are Private schools. You'd be risking your neck if you were a public school.

Yeah, no kidding. From what you've said about the political bent of the current gov, I can well imagine that no public school teacher would dare to get involved in something like that.

[bast2.livejournal.com]

as a lesbian, i find the issue of gay marriage interesting. but to me there is another isssue much more compelling--that of homelessness--for humans and animals. for me, there is no contest between the "rights" of people who are well fed, dry, and even loved to those of living beings seen as throw aways by society. "It's just another stray. It's just another homeless bum"--not worth the time, not worth the money, not worth the tears.

i don't know how, on a large scale, we could solve that problem. there is no quick fix, as there is for legalizing gay marriage. there are no field trips by concerned teachers to the "Bowery", or the animal shelter to see the sweet fuzzy things killed. as far as i know, no politician is lobbying for more funds to build housing for the homeless or no kill shelters.

this is what concerns me--this is what touches my heart. i wish every living thing had "rights" granted to it to ensure it's needs--not simply it's wants.

Re:

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

to me, there is no contest between the "rights" of people who are well fed, dry, and even loved to those of living beings seen as throw aways by society.

Well said, and you're right. You know I feel very strongly about gay marriage, but I also wish the caring about the homeless was as 'trendy' as gay marriage. Not that I follow social issues purely on trendiness, but the fact is, I'm reminded almost every single day that the issue of gay marriage is out there. Turn on the TV, pick up a paper, read lj, and you'll see it.

Homelessness? Comes up in one ep of L&O. And... uh... I think there was an editorial about it in the Ottawa Citizen a few weeks ago. Oh, and I can count on you to bring it up every so often too.

But it's not in my face every day. People don't make up specialized icons for it. The City of San Francisco (or Ottawa or Houston or wherever) doesn't have the mayor illegally converting municipal buildings into shelters, with pizza places delivering free pizza to the people camped out there and news crews covering the 'protest'.

And you're right, the one is a far more pressing concern than the other. Thanks for the reminder ;)

Re:

[bast2.livejournal.com]

The City of San Francisco (or Ottawa or Houston or wherever) doesn't have the mayor illegally converting municipal buildings into shelters, with pizza places delivering free pizza to the people camped out there and news crews covering the 'protest'

and that's a shame. and what a great idea--wish some mayor would do just that.

Re:

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think a few years ago homeless activists in Toronto did just that - moved into the municipal (or possibly provincial) government offices and declared them homeless shelters. The protest did eventually get disbanded, but it sure did focus attention on the problem for a while. Don't know if anything concrete happened as a result of that, though. And I know for sure it wasn't Mayor Mel who led the protest.

Re:

[latara.livejournal.com]

The difference is - the denying of rights of marriage is so easy to fix. Homelessness, of course, is not. There are steps we can take, but none of it is as clear cut and easy.

But I think it goes together in a way. I mean, if we can't even give someone a simple right, it wouldn't cost the state any money or put a burden on anyone, how can we rally people together to do something that's going to take a lot of work and a lot of caring about someone other than themselves for a very long time?