Throngs of Participants Celebrate Marriage Equality at Pride Houston 2015 in City’s Downtown (Hashtag–LoveWins)

Throngs of people await the beginning of Pride Houston’s LGBT Parade 2015. Previous years, I would have said “lined up,” but there was no lining up for the masses that came to downtown Houston to be part of this event on this historic occasion.

On the heels of the only one-day-old Supreme Court’ announcement of marriage equality for the entire country, Houston was revved up for PrideHouston‘s showcase events, the festival and the parade.  Besides tremendous legal decree, another major change for the Houston LGBT events was the move from the Montrose “gayborhood” to downtown Houston.

i, personally, made some changes.  Although for years, I had lived in Montrose and walked the few blocks to the parade, later I moved a bit further away and had to drive to Montrose, find a parking place, usually many blocks away, and then make the walk to Westheimer Road to view the parade.  Now for last six years, I’ve been 25 miles out in the suburbs and making the effort to go take in all of the parade is an even bigger decision.  I always love the feeling of being amongst “my people,” something that I don’t have out here, but when I think about standing out in the Houston heat and being jostled around by drunk straights, I have doubts about going.

These guys wanted me to take their photo from my perch on the bleachers, and I was happy to comply. They were just part of the excited, very diverse of parade attendees.

Mostly, though, I want to go, and this year, I decided that getting tickets for the Friends of Pride VIP bleacher seating was worth the cost.  In fact, it was.  With an open bar, all kinds of buffet food, incredible music, decent restrooms, and a gift bag to be filled with all kinds of LGBT chucherías.  The bleachers, though further back than the edge-of-sidewalk view that I had always taken in years past was a great vantage point, just across from the main stage, to enjoy all of the parade entries.

In fact, the mood of the event was of tremendous celebration, very much a victory celebration, and obvious harmony among all, even event organizers and law enforcement  I haven’t seen an attendance number estimate but from the throngs of people packing the downtown streets, there must have been many more attendees than last year’s 450,000.  The parade entries were diverse in types, many new ones added to those of previous years, with emotional members that kept giving off their excitement embed by that of all those smushed together along the sides of the streets.  It really was one of the best, perhaps the best, of all the parades I’ve been able to enjoy.

Mayor Annise Parker and wife Kathy Hubbard greet parade attendees. Competition to replace Mayor Parker when she leaves office (due to term limits) appears to be fierce as evidenced by the large number of candidates who appeared in the parade, trying to garner attention and possible votes.

HFD’s Ladder Truck 16 carries associated revelers on top as it makes it way down the Pride Houston Parade route.

One of the many floats in the parade with Houston city Hall lit up in rotating rainbow colors in the background–I really don’t care that from my viewing spot many of my photos weren’t very good. It was a great place to have fun and enjoy the atmosphere of the entrée event.

One of the many commercial entries, Kroger brought its bad of groceries to the parade.

Washington Governor Gregoire Signs Marriage Equality into Law

With Gov. Christine Gregoire's signature, marriage equality becomes law in the state of Washington.

On the eve of Valentine’s Day, February 13, 2012, Governor Christine Gregoire signed marriage equality into law in Washington state.  Both houses of the state legislature had voted in favor of same-sex marriage last week.

Washington becomes the seventh U.S. state to legalize gay marriage.  The others are New York, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.  Same-sex couples can also marry in the District of Columbia.  Legislatures in Maryland and New Jersey are also considering measures that would equalize the marriage playing field for same-sex couples.

Saturday Morning Bits and Pieces, But the Rain Gauge Is Back in Place (With Even Some Rain in It)

Another magnificent jungle cactus bloom--just the thing to spark up a drab July.

Here we are at the end of July, and this is only my second post of the month.  Blame it on the heat.  (“Don’t blame it on the bossa nova.“)  It’s been that kind of month; one that has seemed to drag on, maybe because it has days in six different weeks.

Our temps here in the Houston area haven’t been so far out of range, like in some places.  However, they have been about 5-6 degrees hotter on most days than the low 90s that we usually have most summer days.  Also, the spring and summer have been very dry this year.  Now, though, the spotty, summertime showers that come in from the gulf seem to have returned.  Here at my house, there has been some sort of shower each of the last four days.  How much Tropical Storm Don has played in this, I don’t know, for, in general, that storm has been pretty much of a bust.

Because of these recent showers, I finally remembered to replace my rain gauge.  The previous one fit into that category:  “they don’t make’m like they used to.”  With the new glass tube in place, I can report that here near Huffmeister and 529, we had .20 of an inch of rain early this morning.

Obviously, the plants respond to the rainwater much better than that out of the hose.  However, I’ve kept the tomato plants alive, and if August doesn’t burn them up, they might produce some fall fruit.  The plants in the flower beds and pots are holding their own for the most part.  The July highlight was the second bloom ever on one of the jungles cactuses (epiphyllum).  This time I saw the bud the evening before.  I looked before I went to bed, but it still had not opened, but there in the morning, when Annie and I went out to the yard just before daybreak, there it was, fully opened.  At that early hour, this bloom was still pristine, unlike the first one in June that was starting to wilt, as it was already becoming light when I discovered it.  It’s such a pity that the life of these beautiful blooms is so fleeting.

With all this heat, stay inside with the A.C. is about all one wants to do.  It’s kind of like what winter forces upon people in some places.  Anyway, it’s gotten me in the mood to start a new quilt, something I haven’t done in a long time.  I’m piecing it by hand.  I’ll do a bit of “show and tell” as it gets a bit further along.

Looking out further afield, I’m happy that the certification of the lifting of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been done, pleased that marriage equality has come to New York (now to overturn DOMA), and dismayed that all those people who got elected to congress to help improve the jobs situation are so stubborn (no, “stubborn” is too mild of a word) that they would send the county on its way to ruin, rather than move one inch to compromise.  (They should have a lit M-80 stuck in their pieholes.  No, sorry, wrong hole.)

It’s Saturday morning.  The coffee in the cup is cold now.  Annie is happily chewing on a sparerib bone.  It’s not even nine quite yet.  Still a lot of the day to look forward to (Sometimes only fragments will do.)

Happy Gay (LGBT . . . and Q, if you must) Pride 2011! Houston, Today Is the Big Day

I just got finished doing the lawn.  After the almost 2 inches of rain this past week, the grass finally grew enough that I could mow it, only about the third time this year, because of all the dry weather.

Now I’m about to jump into the shower (pretty scummy and drenched after being out there puttering) and then head into town to check out the Pride Festival.  If you looking to go, it takes place near the corner of Westheimer and Montrose, starting at 1 PM and going ’til 7.

Everyone should be in a good mood, and I expect even more people will be out this year because of the big marriage equality victory in New York state last night.

The parade begins this evening at 8:15 PM, near the corner of Dunlavy and Westheimer and heads down Westheimer.  Parking is along the side streets, but expect to walk further, the later you arrive.

More information about all the events can be found here.

Another State Added to the List: New York Votes for Marriage Equality

Tonight is another good night.  After a long week of expectations and delays, the New York Senate voted to approve same-sex marriage by a vote of 33-29.  In the Republican-controlled senate, four of those voting in favor of passage were of the majority party. 

After frequent internet checks all week, I started out the night checking tweets from various bloggers, but then went downstairs to try to find something on TV.  CNN was doing Piers Morgan re-runs, but when 8 o’clock hit, I switched of to see what Rachel Maddow was doing on MSNBC.  Of course, everyone is totally focused on the murder case in Florida, but after a bit, Rachel got off of that and started live coverage from Albany, New York.  At that point a couple of Republican senators who had previously not been committed either way gave speeches saying that they were going to vote in favor of the bill.  Then after a few delays in the procedures, the final votes were read and it was a done deal!

Governor Andrew Cuomo, who really pushed for marriage equality, will now need to sign the bill into law, after that, a 30-day wait, and the state of New York will begin executing same-sex marriage certificates.  Another good thing is that anyone can get married in New York, not just residents!

With New York now joining the states of Vermont, Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, not to mention the District of Colombia, we are starting to see the old prejudices and discrimination starting to chip away.

Update:  Gov. Cuomo signed the bill into law before I had even finished my original post.  Congratulations to all those who worked so very hard to get this passed!

Rachel Maddow Show Reports Obama Will Allow Some Benefits for Same-Sex Partners of Federal Employees

I just finished watching a segment of the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. As part of tonight’s show, which included a lot about the events in Iran, she reported that tomorrow President Obama will award benefits for partners of gay federal employees. The few details which were given came from NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd via telephone.

It seems that this action might be in response to the amount of negative reaction to the Department of Justice’s defense against a case that might have gone to the Supreme Court against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which basically denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages that are legal in some states and also says other states don’t have to recognize those marriages either. There are lots of details about this whole controvery on Americablog, Pam’s House Blend, and Towleroad, so go to these sights if you want more on this.

And the Bible Says This about Marriage

The last time I ever read anything from the bible was back in my college days when I was taking a World Lit. course, and during the section on Ancient and Medieval Lit., I figured out that a lot of what was written in a supposedly holy book was hardly different than the fantastical stories and sagas of other writings of those times.

Tonight after thinking about Betty Bower’s video (check it out below), I got to wondering about Adam and Eve, and especially their children. I only remembered about Cain and Abel, and that “Cain slew Abel”, but then tonight I found out that there was Seth, who was born like 130 years later, because people lived such a long time in those days. Yeah, right. Life was so easy back then, I guess.

But what I was really wondering was how all these anti-gay-marriage people explain all this. Well, now I know. Just like they say in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, “Incest is best!”

I mean, they always say, “The bible says marriage is between one man and one woman.” But why are they so closed-mouth about incest?

They say that what the bible says about marriage has always been the same, but shame on them; they’ve been holding out. Now I know because “Bible Study Manual” told me so.

Read on. I’m sure you’re going to be busting a gut at how all this is explained–yeah, “explained” nudge, nudge; wink, wink.

As marriage in the Bible specifies one man for one woman for life, this means Christians have to be able to explain how Adam and Eve’s sons could marry and have children to propagate the human race. Thus we need to be able to answer the question concerning Cain’s wife.

One can actually answer this question with just a little Bible knowledge. Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam and Eve ‘begat sons and daughters.’ Josephus, the Jewish historian, states that ‘The number of Adam’s children, as says the old tradition, was thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters.’ The point, of course, is that Adam and Eve did have many children.

Therefore, brothers must have married sisters at the beginning. Remember that the law against close intermarriage was not given until the time of Moses – e.g., ‘none of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him’ (Leviticus 18:6). There was nothing wrong with brother and sister marriages, originally. If you think about it, that is the only way to populate the world, starting with only one pair. Notice that Abraham married his half sister with no condemnation from God, even though this was later forbidden.

Also, as Adam and Eve were created perfect, their genes would have been perfect. As the curse God placed upon creation started to operate only after they sinned, their descendants would not have had many mistakes in their genes. These mistakes (harmful mutations) add up only after a long period of time.

So brothers and sisters (Adam and Eve’s children) could have married and not had the problems of deformities in their offspring as might well happen today, if such close relatives married and had children. This is because today humans have lots of mistakes – because of the curse – in their genes. This may cause problems when matching pairs are inherited from both parents, as much more likely with close intermarriage.

Some people, though, say that there must have been people other than Adam and Eve, because Cain went to the land of Nod and found his wife. First of all, the Scriptures quoted above make it obvious that there was only one man and one woman from whom came all other human beings.

Secondly, the Scripture says that Cain went to the Land of Nod and ‘knew’ (had sexual relations with) his wife. John Calvin, in his commentary on Genesis, and most other conservative expositors, make the point that Cain was married before he went to the land of Nod.

Don’t you like how they can use science when they want to throw in the idea of “genes”, but then ignore it when comes to how long people lived.

So there you go. If you don’t have a good answer, just make one up, and “That’s the way it is.” End of story. No discussion.

New Hampshire Governor Signs Marriage Equality Bill into Law; The Granite State Joins Five Others in Affirming Same-Sex Marriage

After sending the same-sex marriage bill back to the New Hampshire Legislature for “tinkering” last week, Governor John Lynch signed the bill into at 5:20 PM (EDT) today. Earlier this morning, the state senate passed the bill by a 14-10 vote, and this afternoon, the New Hampshire House approved the legislation by 198-176.

Lynch had wanted more explicit wording about how the law would protect religions. Now according to the Manchester Union-Leader, “HB 73 clarifies the rights of religious organizations and their employees to refuse to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies or celebrations. It states that religious groups have exclusive control over doctrine, teaching and beliefs on who can marry within their faiths.” Unless there is some hidden meaning here, this doesn’t seem like it will do more than the obvious. It’s unlikely that any couple–gay or straight–would want to be married in a church that doesn’t want to marry them.

Supporters of marriage equality celebrate after the bill passes in the New Hampshire House. Among those in the group is the Rev. Gene Robison, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, who can be seen at the lower left.

With the governor’s signature, New Hampshire becomes the sixth state to establish marriage equality for its citizens. The state joins four other New England states–Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont–and the mid-west farming state of Iowa in approving gay marriage.

Unite the Fight: This May Finally Be the Organization That Connects Gays and Lesbians and their Supporters in the Fight for Equality

Drew Barrymore in support of Unite the Fight

Last fall, immediately after the Prop. 8 loss in California, there were rallies across the country, but it seemed like after a day or two of outrage and speeches, the steam went out of the engine.

But now after the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the proposition against same-sex marriage, it feels like people are getting organized in a way that will continue until change in the laws in California and across the land will continue.

In the recent past, organizations like the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) have really proven impotent in making changes. But now new spokespeople for the fight are emerging: people like Justin Lance Black, who won the Oscar for writing the screenplay for the movie MILK and Dan Choi, the Army First Lieutenant, who was recently kicked out of the Army, are making themselves known, and becoming the new leaders of the fight for gay equality.

This is what has been wanted for so long; since Harvey Milk there have been few with the determination and willingness to lead in this cause.

Today, in California protesters marched the fifteen miles from Selma, California to Fresno, California in support of same-sex equality, and since arriving, according to the Fresno Bee, there has been a rally of several thousand in front of the Fresno City Hall.

The rally, part of the new campaign called Meet in the Middle 4 Equality, has been streaming live for several hours. I’ve been watching and this definitely has the feel of the real beginning of a true, winning campaign.

Robin McGehee, the Lead Organizer of Meet in the Middle 4 Equality, has just given a moving speech finishing with a very emotional challenge to President Obama to follow through with his promises to the gay people who supported him in his campaign for office.

You can also see the rally live (if you read this today) and clips from the march from Selma and the rally itself at the Unite the Fight website.

New Hampshire Governor Says He Will Sign Gay Marriage Bill If the Legislature Diddles With It

Update (June 3, 2009)–New Hampshire has approved gay marriage.  See story here.

The governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch, says that he will sign the same-sex marriage bill into law, if the legislature includes stronger language that says people won’t have to violate their religious principles. According to him, the laws granting gay marriage in Vermont and Connecticut do that. If the bill becomes law, New Hampshire, nicknamed the Granite State, would become the 6th U.S. state with marriage equality. In addition to Vermont and Connecticut, New Hampshire would be included with Iowa and most of the other New England states of Massachusetts, and Maine in having marriage equality in place. Rhode Island would then be the only hold-out state in New England not to have approved of marriage equality.