Friday Philosophy: glbti news edition

I’m tired…in more ways than one.  The end of a long academic year contributes a great deal to that.  Recent illness certainly has added to it.  And just being old certainly has to be acknowledged.

But nothing seems to do more than having fruitless conversations with people who just don’t get it.

It’s really old and extremely tiring to have people say things to our political detriment and then say that if we complain, we are overly sensitive.  It’s frustrating to have to ask people not to use our identity as a weapon, with the assumption that accusing someone of being one of us is degrading to that person.  It’s depressing to have our identity used as the basis of unfunny jokes…and then be told, should we ask that it not be done, that we have no sense of humor.

So tired.

I even ended up too tired to write much about all that.  Too tired and not in the mood for more idiots who wants to defend their behavior.

So instead of doing so, I looked for some GLBT news.  I found some of the good variety and some of the bad.  The world changes slowly…oh, so very slowly.

There is a movie to watch out for.  Hannah Free already had some private showings, what they have referred to as house parties.  Sharon Gless has the title role.  The trailer is here.  The world premier will be in the Castro on June 28.

Remember Susan Stanton, who was fired in 2007 as the city manager in Largo, FL, when she announced she would be transitioning from male to female?  Just recently she began her new job as city manager of Lake Worth, FL.

Last August Halmark screwed up the courage to try out publishing greeting cards for gay and lesbian wedding ceremonies.  The world didn’t end and the company has decided to expand its offerings of cards for non-traditional families.

I remember being a child and looking for a Mother’s Day card for my mother and her longtime partner and not being able to find one.

I thought maybe I was the only one. Lots of people think that.

–Beth Teper, executive director of COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere)

We don’t win everywhere.  The application for a marriage license of two lesbians in Russia was denied.  Irina Fyet and Irina Sheptitko plan to marry this summer in Toronto instead.

We’re scared of the extremists, but I hope that they won’t be too harsh on us as we’re two sweet girls. But being gay is dangerous in Russia.

–Irina Fyet

Meanwhile the Latvian Gay Pride Parade in Riga is on again.  Maybe.  I think we will only find out for certain by waiting until tomorrow.

But don’t plan on being a cop if you are a gay Peruvian.  That would damage “the image of the institution.”

On the otherhand intersex German tennis player Sarah Gronert has been cleared to play in the Women’s Tennis Association.

And it was revealed that the surrogate for actress Sarah Jessica Parker and hubby Matthew Broderick is bisexual rocker Michelle Ross.

For transfolk in New Jersey it just became easier to  get the gender on our drivers licenses aligned properly.  All you will need to do is fill out a Declaration of Change of Sex Designation.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will take up the constitutionality of the 2006 constitutional amendment that simultaneously prohibited same-sex marriages and defined the rights of the unmarried.  The plaintiff, Bill McConkey, a faculty member of UW-Oshkosh, filed the challenge in behalf of his gay daughter, claiming that combining the two issues was improper.  The case will be heard sometime between this fall and next June.

In another court ruling, this time in California, convictions in the 2002 murder of trans teenager Gwen Araujo were upheld by the 1st District Court of Appeals.

Also in California, the California Senate approved In-your-face, anything-goes, homosexual-bisexual-transsexual indoctrination in the public schools.  Well, that’s according to the California Catholic Daily.  The rest of Californians will get to celebrate Harvey Milk Day.

Finally, please direct your attention to Denver, CO.  A Denver third-grader named Ethan (last name withheld because he is a minor) has organized a rally in favor of marriage equality on the steps of the state Capitol building, tomorrow at noon.

Ethan was inspired by his neighbors, who have a child his age but are unable to officially get married in Colorado. He decided that marriage equality is a civil rights issue and that all people, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, color or race, should have this right.

He made phone calls to elected officials. He got the necessary permits to hold the rally. He created a line-up of speakers. He hung up fliers in coffee shops, restaurants and churches around Denver.

Wow.  That’s all I can say.  Here’s more about Ethan from Melanie Asmar at Denver Westword.

Splinters News Good news bad news steps forward and steps back There’s a world ahead that some day will be reached by some of you if you want it And there are some of us who want it so very much who will never reach it Oh, the irony of it all –Robyn Elaine Serven –May 15, 2009