A New Hero for the LGBT Community

Edith Windsor

Born in 1929 in Philadelphia. Married and then divorced realizing she was a lesbian. Moved to New York and met Thea Spyer. They fell in love. In 2007 they wed in Toronto. Their relationship spanned 40+ years until Thea lost her fight with Multiple Sclerosis and heart issues. Edith then had to pay the IRS over $350,000.00 in inheritance taxes (something no heterosexual couple would have had to do). She decided to take on the U.S. Government. Yesterday her marriage to Thea was validated and the U.S. Government now owes her the money she paid them. She stood strong and proud demanding to be treated as equal as any other U.S. Citizen and because of her courage and persistence we all now can look forward to that equal treatment.

When I think about what this 84 year old woman has done for the gay community it brings tears to my eyes. Now that DOMA has been deemed unconstitutional I can only believe that all bans against same sex marriage will soon be a thing of the past. I am truly grateful for the fight that Ms. Windsor took on and I wish I could thank her personally. I feel we need to make her birthday a LGBT holiday - we should all remember what she has done long after she is gone.

“ Marriage ... symbolizes commitment and love like nothing else in the world. And it's known all over the world. I mean, wherever you go, if you're married, that means something to people and it meant a difference in feeling the next day."
~ Edith Windsor

Lavender and Sunset

It has been hot in Santa Fe the last few days and we don't have any air conditioning in the house. So this evening we had dinner outside and then just sat and read. The garden looked wonderful as the sun went down so I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures. It was a beautiful evening and with the gentle breeze it made it nice and cool to sit and relax.

DOMA Struck Down

 Just a few minutes ago the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision on DOMA. In a 5-4 decision they struck DOMA down as unconstitutional. I am a little confused about the meaning of this. It seems that if you are legally married in a state that allows same sex marriage then you are guaranteed all the federal rights and benefits of all legally married couples. What is confusing is that if you were married in a state that allows same sex marriage and move or live in a state that doesn't recognize that marriage would you still get the benefits? Thomas and I were legally married on October 11, 2004 in Provincetown, MA but we live in New Mexico and our state doesn't recognize or deny the marriage - would we be able to receive all the federal benefits? I hope so! This is a great move by the Court. Fortunately, this is continuing our move for equal rights nationwide. Since the mood of the Nation is changing on the approval of gay marriage I figure it won't be long that this won't be an issue anymore. The courts also dismissed the case of Prop 8. Meaning that the State of California cannot legally enforce it. Here is the Prop 8 decision. So hopefully in a month or two California will become the 13th State to allow same sex marriage.

Paint the Internet Red

Today the HRC challenged everyone to paint the internet red by posting your photo overlaid with the red HRC logo on all your social media accounts. I am not a facebooker or twitterer so I am posting it here on my blog and on other profile accounts I have. All of this is in anticipation of the Supreme Court ruling on Prop 8 and marriage equality. You can read about the challenge at the HRC Blog and you can see all the photos that other people have uploaded at Picture Equality.

The Upstairs Lounge Remembered

On the eve of June 24, 1973 the Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans was firebombed. The resultant blaze killed 32 people. Today is the 40th anniversary of this cruel tragedy. The bar had been used as a temporary meeting place for the Metropolitan Community Church. There had been a get together for free beer and an all you can eat dinner. Afterwards some of the congregation of the MCC stayed. There was a buzz at the door and when it was opened flames engulfed the place. Someone had set fire to the wooden stairs that lead up to the door. As if the action itself wasn't bad enough there were jokes made about the victims and churches in the area refused to let the families have memorial services. This all came about only four years after the Stonewall Riots showing that change would be slow to come.

In Memory . . . here is a list of the victims of the Upstairs Lounge fire.

~ Partners Joe William Bailey & Clarence Josephy McCloskey, Jr. perished together. McCloskey's sisters and two nieces attended the Memorial Service. His niece, Susan, represented McCloskey in the Jazz Funeral.
~ Duane George "Mitch" Mitchell, assistant MCC pastor. He had escaped through the emergency exit with a group led by bartender Douglas "Buddy" Rasmussen, but ran back into the burning building trying to save his partner, Louis Horace Broussard. Their bodies were discovered lying together.
~ Mrs. Willie Inez Warren of Pensacola later died from burns suffered in the fire. Her two sons died inside the bar, Eddie Hosea Warren and James Curtis Warren.
~ Pastor of the MCC, Rev. William R. Larson, formerly a Methodist lay minister.
~ Dr. Perry Lane Waters, Jr., a Jefferson Parish dentist. Several victims were his patients and were identified by his x-rays.
~ Douglas Maxwell Williams
~ Leon Richard Maples, a visitor from Florida.
~ George Steven Matyi
~ Larry Stratton
~ Reginald Adams, Jr., MCC member, formerly a Jesuit Scholastic. Partner of entertainer Regina Adams.
~ James Walls Hambrick, who had jumped from the building in flames, died later that week.
~ Horace "Skip" Getchell, MCC member.
~ Joseph Henry Adams
~ Herbert Dean Cooley, UpStairs Lounge bartender and MCC member.
~  Professional pianist, David Stuart Gary.
~ Guy D. Anderson
~ Luther Boggs, teacher, who died two weeks later. Notified while hospitalized with terrible burns that he had been fired from his job.
~ Donald Walter Dunbar
~ Professional linguist, Adam Roland Fontenot, survived by his partner, bartender Douglas "Buddy" Rasmussen, who led a group to safety.
~ John Thomas Golding, Sr., member of MCC Pastor's Advisory Group.
~ Gerald Hoyt Gordon
~ Kenneth Paul Harrington, Federal Government employee.
~ Glenn Richard "Dick" Green, Navy veteran.
~ Robert "Bob" Lumpkin
~ Four men were buried in Potter's Field: Ferris LeBlanc (later indentified), and three persons only identified as Unknown White Males. The city refused to release these bodies to the MCC for burial.

Happy Birthday, Alan Turing

Today would have been Alan's 101st birthday. Sadly Alan only lived until he was 41. His life came to an end on June 7, 1954 when the young Alan committed suicide by cyanide poisoning. Alan was a brilliant mathematician and founder of computer science. He was also a gay man. A gay man treated very badly by society. In 1952 Alan was arrested for homosexuality. In order to avoid going to prison he accepted injections of oestrogen. This "treatment" was used to reduce a person's libido and is essentially chemical castration. Following his arrest he lost his security clearance and his job. There have been petitions introduced to get Turing pardoned but the British government has not done so yet. In 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued an apology but that is as far as it has gotten.

Alan Turing (1912 - 1954)

Here are some links related to Alan Turing.

The Alan Turing Home Page
BBC History - Alan Turing
Alan Turing Biography: Computer Pioneer, Gay Icon
Stephen Hawking Calls for Alan Turing's Pardon

The Chollas Have Bloomed

Back on the 1st for June I posted a photo of the Cholla Buds and mentioned in the post that I would post some pictures of the actual blooms once they opened. Today I was taking a walk around the property and discovered that they had bloomed. Here are a few pictures.