Pride

Good day bitches! I JUST woke up! (This could be the title of a new morning news program, don't you think? "Welcome to "Good Day Bitches, I Just Woke Up," "We're glad you could join us." (Someone want to "pitch" that?)

Okay, enough of that. Everyone "good?" We hope so!

I have had the picture above for months now but didn't have an opportunity to share it with you. Now I do. For our gay readers, you know that the month of June is "pride" month throughout both our country and the world. (We'll wave flags and attend parades. We might even partake of some "pride jello.") "Pride" originated in 1969 following the Stonewall riots in New York City when a tranny at the Stonewall Inn (on Christopher Street in Manhattan) said, "Hell no. I ain't done with my drink, bitch" to New York City police officers raiding the establishment. The riots lasted for days and sparked the beginning of the gay rights movement. (As an aside... I purposely mentioned that the Stonewall Inn was located on Christopher Street because, as a young gay coming of age in Chicago, "Christopher Street" was the name of my favorite bar/club where I did most of my underage drinking while dancing to Whitney Houston hits (with several of YOU)! Those were some good times, weren't they? (As many of you know, Christopher Street closed and is now a "leather bar" called "Manhole.")

Anyhoo, in the coming months, we will be sharing excerpts from the Democratic Presidential Candidates. Today we are featuring this statement from Illinois Senator Barack Obama. ("The Corner," however, is currently endorsing Hillary Clinton or John Edwards - I just want to make that clear, although we may change our position at any time, because we're fickle.)


"Pride Month is a reminder that while we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do."

"Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."

"It's time to turn the page on the bitterness and bigotry that fill so much of today's LGBT rights debate. The rights of all Americans should be protected -- whether it's at work or anyplace else. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" needs to be repealed because patriotism and a sense of duty should be the key tests for military service, not sexual orientation. Civil unions should give gay couples full rights. And those who commit hate crimes should be punished no matter whether those crimes are committed on account of race, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation."

"This Pride Month, let's make our founding promise of equality a reality for every American."

Thank you Senator. (For those of you keeping score, that's 10 points for Senator Obama, who is now tied with Senator John Edwards, who gets 10 points simply for looking so cute.)


Let's see, what else do we want to talk about...


By now you have all heard that the Atlanta man who traveled to Europe (for his wedding) with a drug-resistant strain of TB has been identified as attorney Andrew Speaker. Mr. Speaker remains under quarantine and is being treated at the Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colorado. While I suppose we could debate the morality of his actions, we won't, because, well, I don't feel like it. I am mentioning this because a very dear friend of "The Corner" has a high-level connection at the CDC and we hear that it is an exciting time to work there. Perhaps he/she (who is not a Heshe) will comment about it?


Have you heard of yet another female teacher having sex with her students? 26-year-old Jennifer Mally who taught at Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix, Arizona was booked on May 2nd for having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student. I have a couple of thoughts about this... We have another dear friend of "The Corner" who not only graduated from this high school, but she is also a teacher and she happens to teach in the district where this occurred. We spoke last night and I asked, "What is up?" So, by way of this post, we hope she will share her views, if even anonymously, about this topic. I have to say, while I would NEVER condone sex with a minor under any circumstance, and I do not think female teachers should have sex with their students any more than a male teacher should, I have to wonder if the long-term effects of a male victim are that of a female victim. I would speculate not. A couple things here... The male victim has to participate somewhat, right? I also remember the boys in middle school who would boast about looking up a certain P.E. teacher's skirt (no, for those of you familiar with the school, it was not Ms. Price, who ALWAYS wore pants, if you know what I mean). Again, I am not condoning this (please don't send me scathing email), just tossing out the notion that there may be differences in the long-term effects of male vs. female victims. (I also want to mention that Stevie Nicks's Arizona home is in the town of Paradise Valley, not too far from where this high school is located.)

I think that's enough for today, don't you?

We hope you all have a GR-EAT Saturday.

Hugs!

"Kev"

(I didn't take this picture, I am simply sharing it... If I were taking the picture, I would have said, "Hey! Put that out!")