Forgive me for being cynical when it comes to George W. Bush, particularly when it comes the LGBT rights, but either he’s drinking again or he’s searching for some way to put a bandage on his gloomy legacy.  By signing the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (”WRERA”) Bush effectively told employers that they must roll over an employees retirement plan into a non-spousal beneficiaries retirement account as part of the inheritance (in other words the act allows the inheritance beneficiary to roll-over the retirement savings of a deceased nonspouse into an IRA).  This is one of the 1400+ benefits previously denied same-sex couples.

HRC, the organization that has been under severe scrutiny from the LGBT community for its lack of participation in LGBT events such as those promoted by Join the Impact, has released an article describing the action.  HRC’s President, Joe Solomnese stated:

Our community faces unique challenges in preparing for retirement because we are denied Social Security spousal and survivor benefits. Protecting our hard-earned retirement savings is even more crucial to us, and until now, the tax code made it that much harder.

Although I’m extremely happy to report some level of federal recognition of gay couples, I’m saddened that in order to obtain the benefit, one of us has to die.  Perhaps in the near future the federal government will recognize living gay couples as such.

2009 is an election year in New Jersey.  A fact that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the voters and the legislatures as more and more anti-marriage folks line up proclaiming that if New Jersey recognizes same-gender marriage, they will make it an issue during the election.

Of course, voters should raise their voices anytime the legislature goes toward a policy they are against, but  advocates of the policy should sing out as well.  New Jersey folks should pick up their pen (or keyboard) and send a message to your state legislatures now stating that you stand with the governor in support of marriage equality and demand that your elected officials represent your best interests and honor your freedoms of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and YOUR freedom of religion as required by the United States Constitution.

You can find out who your legislators are here.

For more information, you are encouraged to read JoeMyGod’s blog regarding New Jersey’s great possibility.

While surfing the net I stumbled across a rather obnoxious quiz titled, “Is Your Man Gay?” Of course, I had to take this quiz to find out once and for all whether my man was indeed gay. I do sometimes find him exhibiting heterosexual characteristics like reading vintage Playboys “for the articles.” So I geared up and answered every question as honestly as possible to finally determine once and for all whether my man was indeed a homosexual.

The quiz took only about 3 minutes for me to complete the 12 questions.  The questions, as suspected, eluded to pretty much every homosexual stereotype available from fashion to kissing habits and even questions about how often we have sex (which I found the most difficult to answer honestly because it seemed a bit tragic).

Some questions were open ended, others were more direct.  Questions included things like “If you pointed out a nice-looking guy to your man, he would…”  and “Has your man ever kissed another man?”  Regretably, “every day” wasn’t an option for the kissing question, but “one time in college” was.

The result, which has left me guessing as to my man’s sexuality, was “Your man is really in touch with his feminine side.”  Apparently, his fondness for designer clothing outweighed his preference for a rock concert over a Broadway show but not so much that the quiz could confirm his homosexuality.

I do hope no woman taking this quiz who truly suspects her “man” to be a homosexual takes it for anything more than a laugh.  Obviously, there are straight men who like Broadway shows - like the guy on “The Nanny” for example.

As horrifying as I found the quiz to be from an “activist” standpoint as it perpetuates gay stereotypes in order to diagnose the unexpecting hetero/homo, it’s likely fairly innocuous in the grand scheme of things - and it gave me a bit of a chuckle.

Join the Impact is a community driven website centered around LGBTQ people and their supporters.  The design of the site allows members to actively change aspects of pages, add content and update tags.  A small contingent of users have abused this site, vandalizing it by adding tags to the discussions such as “Butt Pirates, Faggots, Ass Rape, Cum Guzzlers, Fucking Faggots, Niggers, Fudge Packers” and other derogatory terms.

Although legitimate users are removing the remarks, the haters continue their efforts.  This is a prime example of the mistreatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons (and the continued mistreatment of “people of color”) in society.

I remain baffled as to why mainstream society doesn’t recognize this hatred for what it is - poor education.  As the religious right continues to lie about the LGBT community (isn’t lying a sin?) we will continue to see such acts of hatred.

NOTE:  I used the phrase “people of color” above as that phrase always makes me think of a bumper sticker I see periodically in South Texas which reads “De Colores” (of color) with a rainbow behind it.  Although I think that is actually a Latino art community sticker, it has always given me pause.