Mother of the Year X 2

Why have I bestowed Krista Tillman "Mother of the Year times 2"?  Because she understands what most ignorant people don't, that people are going to leave your cities.  And because she's a loving, doting mother to a son who happens to be gay.  But it isn't just the fact that she's an understanding mother.  She's a dean of a college in North Carolina, and knows what she's talking about.  If these REDs keep going to the extreme far right on their issues, they will never understand the economic impact that will hinder their states in the future.

You may think that Texas is a Republican state, but it's only Republican because we have all those small tiny towns all over the state who hate everyone who's not white.  Little do they know, people have been leaving their small towns and relocating to cities that are more accepting - like Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio.  Watch this short 3 minute video - it's good.

WTF Has Obama Done? - Issue No. 001 - Civil Rights - The Inaugural Issue

As I mentioned yesterday, this is a new daily series on my blog in which I will post an achievement by President Barack Obama over the last 3 years.  I may post one, two or even more depending on how close we get to the election this November.  Considering there are hundreds of achievements our President has accomplished over the course of his first term, I may need to post more than one.  And I'm only covering 3 years so you can just imagine!

In today's first issue I'd like to start off with what the President has achieved in reference to Civil Rights, which includes funding and the President's targeted actions.  I have listed three WTFs for my first issue down below, and I as mentioned in yesterday's blog, I don't want to spread lies, so if you feel I wrote something false, please help me by letting me know.  If you want to debate me, that will be fine too, but I won't go back and forth for hours trying to explain something that isn't true. I will provide references to each WTF at the end of each achievement.

WTF-1   

Funds to help our Children and Youth who have disabilities - $12.2 billion in new funding went towards the "Individuals with Disabilities Act" using the "American Recovery and Investment Act" to help pay for it.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 appropriates significant new funding for programs under Parts B and C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Part B of the IDEA provides funds to state educational agencies and local educational agencies to help them ensure that children with disabilities, including children aged three through five, have access to a free appropriate public education to meet each child's unique needs and prepare him or her for further education, employment, and independent living. Part C of the IDEA provides funds to each state lead agency designated by the Governor to implement statewide systems of coordinated, comprehensive, multidisciplinary inter-agency programs and make early intervention services available to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. [References at the U.S. Department of Education website here.]

WTF-2  

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act - Ledbetter, a former supervisor at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama, sued the company after discovering several months before her 1998 retirement that, for years, she was paid less than her male counterparts. A jury awarded Ledbetter more than $3 million. But the Supreme Court overturned that judgment in March 2007, ruling 5-4 that a 180-day statute of limitation for her to file a lawsuit had started from the first instance of discrimination, meaning that her suit about more than a decade of discrimination was untimely.

The Democratic Congress took up Ledbetter's cause, drafting legislation that would set the clock running when the discriminatory action was discovered. But in April 2008, the Senate was unable to overcome a threat of filibuster. Then-candidate Obama even left the campaign trail to vote for the act; he later launched a mostly accurate attack against McCain for opposing the measure. Ledbetter appeared at the Democratic convention to praise Obama for supporting the measure, noting, "My case is over. I will never receive the pay I deserve. But there will be a far richer reward if we secure fair pay."

Obama included a vow to reverse the effects of the Ledbetter decision in a major campaign document, his "Blueprint for Change."

Fast forward to Jan. 29, 2009. President Obama signed the Ledbetter Act, saying, "Ultimately, equal pay isn't just an economic issue for millions of Americans and their families. It's a question of who we are and whether we're truly living up to our fundamental ideals." Promise Kept. [Reference 1, Reference 2, Reference 3]

WTF-3  

Presidential Memorandum extending benefits to same sex partners of federal employees - For far too long, many of our Government's hard-working, dedicated LGBT employees have been denied equal access to the basic rights and benefits their colleagues enjoy. This kind of systemic inequality undermines the health, well-being, and security not just of our Federal workforce, but also of their families and communities. That is why, last June, I directed the heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies), in consultation with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), to conduct a thorough review of the benefits they provide and to identify any that could be extended to LGBT employees and their partners and families. Although legislative action is necessary to provide full equality to LGBT Federal employees, the agencies have identified a number of benefits that can be extended under existing law. OPM, in consultation with the Department of Justice, has provided me with a report recommending that all of the identified benefits be extended. [Reference 1, Reference 2, Reference 3]

Please make sure to read Issue No. 002 tomorrow as I continue with WTF-4
Everyday on BLADE 7184

How To Explain Gay Rights To An Idiot

There are so many people in this country who try to associate our rights with those of a pedophile, animals, or marrying a tree, that we don't know how else to explain to these idiots the difference between inanimate objects or people that are alive.  So a big thank you goes out to the very bright individual who wrote the following post, and my Facebook friend, Brett Daminski for posting it on his wall.   The moment I read it, I knew I had to share it with my blog readers.  I Absolutely love it!

Explaining Gay Rights

To People Who Make The Huge Leap That

If We Legalize Gay Marriage It Will Open

The Doors To All Sorts of Ridiculous Things

Like Marrying Your Toaster, Children, The Dead Or Your Dog

By NevermoreFTW

Yes, someone really debated me about the toaster on the basis that you could give your own possessions consent to marry.

Now let's move on...

That is inequality, the following is not...

Additional not like gay rights examples...

Hopefully gay rights makes more sense.

[source]

Must Watch: Muscle-ripped Guy Becomes a Hot Chick over a Span of Two Years

I'm speechless, I really don't know what to say.  He was so hot as a guy, but.... as a girl, he's even hotter.

Seriously speaking though, it has to be difficult being transgendered in today's society.  I really don't know much about it to say anything, which is even more reason to read about it.  

Much like the gay community, they too are bullied, beaten, and persecuted for who they are.  Although, I tend to think they go through much more difficult situations and heartache than gay people.

I just wish we lived in a world, where there was no judging of one another.

A Love Story: It's Time

You think our country is the only one in the world demanding full equality?  No.  There are countries like Australia, Colombia, New Zealand, Nepal, and Europe that are currently debating marriage equality in their countries.

I want to be able to marry my partner, Ryan some day, and regardless of the laws in the state of Texas and our country, we will.  It isn't just about a paper stating we are married, we could care less about that.  It's about treating us the same as you would a straight couple.  The argument of faithfulness and family values can no longer be justified when you have people marrying, divorcing, committing adultery at every corner, and yet still say that this is the way it should be.  That's hypocrisy at it's core!  

We need the benefits that are afforded to heterosexuals applied to us, we need them so that I don't have to worry about me dying and Ryan having a hard time getting my social security check, or getting the house he so rightly deserves.  Sure we can get lawyers and all that crap, but I shouldn't have to worry about all that.

Ryan showed me the video above last night, and it was absolutely beautiful.  It was made in conjunction with the Get Up! campaign in Australia.  Check it out, it is lovely.

What a Hot Mess: G.O.P. is The New Black

As I was driving into work this morning listening to my morning conservative radio, (because you know, that's all you're allowed to listen to in Texas) I nearly got into a car accident.  No, it wasn't because Houston traffic was a hot mess, but rather, a billboard that looked like this...

This precious billboard along with another that reads "Martin Luther King, Jr. Was A Republican" can now be seen in Texas, South Carolina, Ohio, and coming soon to state near you!  Of course, this coming from a man who wears a silly little earring and calls himself a conservative activist.

Oh, and the man has a fascination with Ronald Reagan, as all Republican members of Congress and Presidential candidates do.

Because there was only one Reagan! The only place you're going to find the great Reagan now is in his beautiful tomb at his library, and in the memories of those that lived at the time of his service. There is no other Reagan! And, we should stop looking for such a creature. It's a waste of time. Ronald Reagan was put in the plans of God for just the time that he was needed. Reagan had the beliefs, the temperament, the personality, the skills and everything else that was needed for just that moment in American and world history. For once, 20th Century America got it right when it came to selecting its servant-in-chief. - Claver T. Kamau-Imani

What a hot mess!  I guess Mr. Kamau-Imani forgot that Reagan called the Voting Rights Act "humiliating," fired members of his Civil Rights Commission when they criticized his record and opposed the creation of Martin Luther King Day.  Hmmm, something's wrong with those billboards.

Oh yeah, and Martin Luther King wasn't a Republican.