Lifestyle Edition

It should not be ignored that San Francisco has a big history with homosexuality and alternative lifestyles.

Even if you try to ignore it, life has a way of (ahem) thrusting it in your face.

One block away from Caitlin’s apartment

So this edition of Reclaiming the Colonies will focus on California’s experience with discrimination and sexuality.

If you need further justification for discussing it, you should know that on the 20^th of September this year, America’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy on letting homosexuals join the military was repealed. Which means that if our glorious Queen is going to bring the United States back under British rule, we must be prepared to face an army of... glorious queens.

So let’s compare the discrimination scoreboard.

Same sex activity has been legal in England since 1967, which may seen quite late to let two consenting adults express affection for each other without the threat of imprisonment, however in some parts of the United States it was illegal until 2003 (and yes, of course it was Texas trailing behind).

Same sex couples can adopt since 2002 in England, whereas in the United States only about 50% of the states allow a same sex couple to adopt. Strangely though, in every state it is perfectly okay for a homosexual individual to adopt, because obviously one gay is only half as gay as two gays, and that is... better?

Same sex couples can get a civil partnership in England since 2005 (but still no sight of actual marriage), and the rules in the United States are... well here is a diagram that doesn’t explain anything but gives an idea of how patchwork the rules are.

  

Discrimination is confusing, but one day you’ll get the hang of it.

But England is still winning the discrimination Olympics, because MSMs (men who have sex with men) are not allowed to donate blood in England. Probably because officials are scared that it might result in a scenario similar to 28 Days Later.

That was a great documentary

California has a big history with homosexuality and rights, notable high points include the first openly gay couple on television in 1969...

... the formation of The Gay Nazi Party in 1974 (delicious, right?), legalisation of homosexuality in 1975, legalisation of same sex marriage in 2008, and the banning of same sex marriage in 2008. I promise that sentence is perfectly correct.

What happened you ask? Well let me take you by the hand (but not in a gay way) and lead you through California’s hazardous Proposition 8.

In May 2008 California’s Supreme Court (a panel of 7 judges) ruled that marriage is a fundamental right to United States citizens regardless of the genders involved, and that allowing same sex marriage does not affect the protections of opposite sex marriages.

A few weeks later, a public campaign for Proposition 8 was allowed to go ahead for public voting, and was successfully passed in November 2008. This Proposition provides that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognised in California”.

However, any same sex couples that got married between the times the Supreme Court made its decision and when the proposition was voted in by the public, got to keep their marriage licences, because the whole process is basically a circus.

And circuses are pretty gay

Now you can argue that in a democratic country, something like this should be decided on by a vote. However when the results are as close as 52% yes 48% no, it can also be argued that something like this should be decided on by a Supreme Court. But I’m not great at politics.  

Another issue is that the heaviest campaigns (and the most money for the campaigns) to push Proposition 8 through came from Catholics and Mormons, and there is an important debate to be had around how much religion should interfere with government. If homosexuals are allowed to get married, the Catholic God probably still won’t let them into Catholic heaven, so I’m not sure why Catholics are interested in politics at all.

Notably, people from outside the state of California are allowed to donate money for political campaigns that only affect California, meaning every Mormon in the state of Utah (1,600,000 of them) could donate money for TV advertisements like this-

Oh no! We might be forced to talk to our children about real world issues!

Good luck with the Santa Claus discussion, (he’s gay).

Over 43 million campaigns dollars was raised this way to ban same sex marriage in California. The only political campaign that year that resulted in more campaign money being thrown around was the actual presidential election. I hear you ask, what is the point of each state being allowed to choose its own laws if people from other states can affect the outcome so dramatically? Remember, the whole thing is a circus.

Fun Fact: there is nothing in the Catholic religion specifying that homosexuals cannot have sex. The Catholic religion states that homosexuals cannot get married, and that sex outside of marriage is a sin, so homosexual sex is a sin by default.

And the outfits are pretty gay

I would address the Mormon position, but doing so would validate them as a religion and institution. “But Dan, discriminating in a blog entry about discrimination undermines your points”, that may be so, but what you fail to appreciate is that I am a hypocrite. Oh Snap!

Please refer to above flowchart for proper use of Oh Snap!

The History Channel tells me that at one time in the past, America and Britain teamed up to give a big international punch in the face to someone who was persecuting  and discriminating people based on their lifestyles, lifestyles that caused no harm or inconvenience to anyone else. Now you think about that, because I have forgotten my point.

I will leave you with some photos of last weekend’s Folsom Street Fair, the largest annual leather street fair in the world, a San Francisco tradition since 1984. We had a lovely time.

WARNING: The below images may not be safe to view while at work.

I hope you appreciate all the time I spent checking those for background penises. And remember, America is all about the freedom to pursue happiness, whatever shape that might take, as long as you are not hurting anyone. Sexuality is one of the most important ways to pursue happiness, and it certainly doesn’t hurt anyone (apart from those guys who are getting whipped).

So keep the love America, otherwise the homosexuals are all welcome to come to England and boost the Queen’s economy.

Peace!