Yesterday, William Tam, who previously won a jaysays.com Stupid Things People Say About Gays nod, not only won the title again while be questioned by Attorney Boies, but set the bar to a new level. During testimony, Tam advised that he thinks legalizing gay marriage would result in legalizing prostitution.

Boies: You said that you thought Prop. 8 would lead to legalizing prostitution. Why?

Tam: *** I saw some homosexuals hanging around there. [Regarding “Measure K”, which if passed by voters, would have stopped the enforcement of laws against prostitution in California, among other things.]

Police in China shut down the Mr. Gay China Pageant in Beijing an hour before the event was to start. Organizers planned the event to select a contestant for the Worldwide Mr. Gay Pageant to be held in Norway next month. The pageant is said to be the first of its kind in China and was to feature a fashion show, a question and answer session and a host in drag.

Professor Zhang Beichuan of Qingdao University had said, before the show was canceled, that:

“…it reflects a more open and tolerant attitude of the country toward the gay community to host such an event.”

On Day 4 of the Proposition 8 trial, the Defendants (those opposed to same-sex marriage) attempted to make the Plaintiffs’ expert, San Francisco’s Chief Economist, Edwin A Egan, say that allowing gay marriage will increase the costs to the city. The theory of the Defense being that clerks will be required to use their time to issue marriage licenses to more people and print more marriage licenses increasing paper and ink costs.

This argument fails at “common sense” but also fails because there is a fee (as pointed out by Egan) for anyone seeking to obtain a marriage license. That fee covers the costs associated with the clerk’s time, printing and other such expenses that would otherwise be borne by the city.

San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart took the stage in the Proposition 8 trial this afternoon with a redirect examination of Yale Professor Chauncey. During the examination, Ms. Stewart asked Professor Chauncey to read from a Vatican statement regarding same-sex marriage. These are the words of the Vatican:

“Allowing children being adopted by gay couples would do violence to these children. Their condition of dependency would stunt their full human development.”

As many regular readers know, I’m an atheist; therefore, when I say this, please don’t take it lightly. It was after much contemplation that I decided to go public with this very personal moment in my life. Tonight, I spent many hours in the kitchen working on making some candy. It’s a long process and messy – so the clean up often takes as long as the making. Thereafter, I was a bit tired and stepped outside for some fresh air. I began thinking hard about things in the world – the economy, marriage equality, the criminal trial against the cop that beat Duanna Johnson, and other things relevant.

Yesterday, the judge and lawyers assembled in the courtroom at 8:24 a.m. Pacific Time to debate, and ultimately decide, upon the rights of same-sex couples to marry. The case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, resulted after a “majority” of California voters decided that the judicial granting of equal marital rights to same-sex couples violated their sense of… uhm… of… well, ego.

Since the trial started (and even before) we’ve heard the opponent’s of equality claiming that the majority spoke and such majority rule must be honored. In fact, the news keeps repeating an annoying little phrase whenever they talk about the case, referring to Proposition 8 as a “voter approved” measure.

The trial that may repeal the disgustingly discriminatory Proposition 8 in California (which denies couples of the same sex from entering into the civil contract of marriage) begins January 11, 2010. With that trial will come many “stupid things” that people say about gays. The opposition will be presenting their ridiculous arguments (including one where they claim gay marriage will result in children having sexual fantasies about their same-sex friends). Thus, it’s a proper time to start the Proposition 8 Series for Stupid Things People Say About Gays.

Recently, I stumbled upon an article online which captured my attention. It was a first person account of a heterosexual woman who decided to shave her head. While the account was from the mid-1990’s, it expressed something that rings true even today:

“For the first few weeks after I shaved my head, I walked around very nervously, convinced that people were going to jump out of alleys and beat me up for being a lesbian.

Because I am straight and have a lot of straight friends who I am certain are totally disinterested in hurting my large number of gay friends, I knew that not all straight people hate all gay people. That didn’t matter. I was still nervous.”

In some ways, the post reminded me of the conversation I had with Jane Wishon, a straight alley working hard in California to overturn Proposition 8. But I also noted that the author, Kaitlin (aka Ducky), expressed fear that being perceived to be a lesbian would result in physical harm to her.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker is seeking public commentary regarding televising the Perry, et al. v. Schwarzenegger, et al. Proposition 8 challenge (more commonly Oles/Boies). A hearing will be held on January 6, 2010 to decide whether or not the Court will allow television cameras to broadcast the trial to the public. I encourage you to share your comments with the Court. You may mail your comments to:

Hon. Phyllis Hamilton
Chair of the Rules Committee
United States Courthouse
1301 Clay Street
Oakland, CA 94612

This past April my very dear friend, Crystal, fell gravely ill. I received a dreaded phone call and rushed to the hospital. Crystal was unconscious and on a respirator when I arrived at the hospital 20 minutes later. Over the next few days, she received several pints of blood. I became a bit concerned as we hear so much about shortages in the blood supply and the question crossed my mind that, should I be a match, could I donate blood to save my dear friend’s life?