Nursery Rhyme Nuptials

What a week at the Supreme Court.  One day we're down, the next day we're up.  Here's a ditty to celebrate the rulings on same-sex marriage.  Sing to the tune of "Jack and Jill" from Mother Goose Rhymes.

Joan and Jill
Went to the Hill
To see if they could marry.
Joan found out
There was no doubt
And so could Tom and Harry.

Gay Sera, Sera (Opus #2)

Yet another historic week for gay rights in America, for which my theme song is "Que Sera, Sera" or "Gay Sera, Sera."  Here's a new version to commemorate this week's hearings at the Supreme Court:

When the Court heard the marriage cases
Supporters rallied outside the hall
Colorful banners, humorous costumes
Just like a festive ball.

Gay sera, sera
Whatever will be will be,
The future's equality
Gay sera, sera.
What will be will be.

Seems that the usual strait-laced judges
Will rule the usual restrictive way
Creepy Scalia, cautious Alito,
Coke-drinking Clarence, too.

Gay sera, sera
Whatever will be will be,
The future's equality
Gay sera, sera.
What will be will be.

No matter what these judges do
Gay marriage is here and it will stay
Guys wearing black robes can't do much about
Who rolls with whom in hay.

Gay sera, sera
Whatever will be will be,
The future's equality
Gay sera, sera.
What will be will be.

Rocky Mountain High

With North Carolina's political climate becoming more and more regressive, I find myself envying those who live in Colorado--where both gun safety and gay rights laws were passed this week.  Here's a song of celebration; sing to the tune of "Oklahoma":

COL-ORADO
Where the winds of change sweep through each day
Where the governor
Is not afraid
Of members of the NRA.

COL-ORADO
Where gay rights are a priority
Where the hate of yore
Is out the door
And the state respects humanity.

These laws should be laws of the land
Ones that all of the states should demand
So when we say
Yeow!  Aye-yip-aye-yo-ee-ay!
We're only saying
You're doing great, Colorado,
Colorado, hooray!

Control Freaks

How interesting that in the midst of this contentious campaign--where Republicans seek to control women's bodies, voter identification, immigrant rights, and definitions of marriage, patriotism, and the Constitution itself--along comes a monster storm over which no one has control.  Will the control freaks take note?

Probably not.  But I wish Mitt and his minions would quit trying to impose their narrow view of America on those of us who don't fit their mold.

Sitting Here at Chick-fil-A

I don't know what Otis Redding would have thought about the Chick-fil-A controversy this week, but his song "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" sets just the right tone.

Sittin' in the mornin' sun
Hoping for a Chick-fil-A bun
Watching today's Kiss-In
And then I watch 'em kiss away again, yeah

I'm sitting here at Chick-fil-A
Hoping the mayor don't take us away
Ooo, I'm just sittin' here at Chick-fil-A
Wastin' time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the 'Frisco bay
'Cause I knew I'd see the protests
Here in Cal-i-forn-e-i-ay

So I'm just gonna sit here at Chick-fil-A
Hoping the mayor don't take us away
Ooo, I'm just sittin' here at Chick-fil-A
Wastin' time

Looks like nothing's gonna change
Chick-fil-A still remains the same
It can't do what protesters tell it to do
So I guess it will stay the same, yes

Sittin' here at Chick-fil-A
It's been a long and crazy kind of day
Seein' folks both straight and gay
Try to get that sandwich their way

Now I'm just gonna sit here at Chick-fil-A
Hoping the mayor don't take us away
Ooo, I'm just sittin' here at Chick-fil-A
Wastin' time.

Taking the Heat

Now that we've had a week of gay marriage hysteria, I wonder what cultural war we'll fight next.  We've lurched from one controversy to another these last several months.  Contraception, mommy wars, Planned Parenthood and the Komen Foundation, even American nuns have found themselves under an unfortunate spotlight.  Interesting, isn't it, that women and "women's issues" lie at the heart of so many of these storms.

I can't help but think that our financial crisis, largely managed by men, fuels this female feeding frenzy.  It reminds me of a family where the dad is having a hard time and takes out his anger on his wife or daughter or the sissy younger son.  Marginalized figures take the heat every time.

If our financial leaders--whether they're in Congress or at the White House or on Wall Street--would lead in a responsible way, perhaps we wouldn't descend into these debates with such ferocity.  The way they're fought becomes diversionary, taking everyone's eye off the central economic crisis before us.  And more often than not, they deteriorate into attacks on women.

But we don't get leadership.  Even President Obama reacted this week to the debacle at JPMorgan Chase by praising Jamie Dimon as "one of the smartest bankers we got."  (See Robert Reich, "The Dog That Didn't Bark: Obama on JPMorgan.")  One man winking at another man is what we got.

And when this happens, women get screwed.

Gay Sera, Sera

Here's to the dramatic events this week that led to President Obama's endorsement of marriage equality.  Pretend you're Doris Day and sing gaily (pun intended) to the tune of "Que Sera, Sera."

When Joe appeared on talk TV

Meet the Press asked him what did he feel

Could gays get married, were they allowed

To have the hetero deal?

Gay sera, sera

Whatever will be will be

The president said, you see

That gays can marry.

What will be will be.

Then Arne Duncan did a show

Morning Joe asked him what did he hold

Could gays get married, were they the same

As the old hetero mold?

Gay sera, sera

Whatever will be will be

The president said, you see

That gays can marry.

What will be will be.

White House staff thought they’d wait it out

Until the Pres’dent spoke on The View

Whoopi and Barbara they’d surely ask him

If gays could marry, too.

Gay sera, sera

Whatever will be will be

The president said, you see

That gays can marry.

What will be will be.

But then the voters in the South

Halted the progress that had occurred

Pressure was mounting, time to speak out

Obama must be heard.

Gay sera, sera

Whatever will be will be

The president said, you see

That gays can marry.

What will be will be

Gay sera, sera.

The Amendment, Part 2

What do you get when you cross Last Gaspers with Bible Bigots?  The passage of a repressive constitutional amendment.

Let's clarify the terms.  Last Gaspers are people who can't stand the idea of

a black president
a gay teacher
a Latino mayor
a female boss
and
an Asian doctor.

Bible Bigots are people who can't stand homosexuality.

These 2 groups joined forces on Tuesday in North Carolina to deny civil rights to fellow citizens.  They are precisely the people who Barack Obama accurately decried 4 years ago as voters who "cling to guns or religion or"--and this part isn't often quoted--"antipathy to people who aren't like them."

They're a dangerous combination, these Last Gaspers and Bible Bigots, and they'll leave destruction in their wake as they go down.  For go down they will, for they stand in the way of justice.

The Amendment

The race in our neighborhood is close: 4 signs against the amendment and 3 signs for.  We tipped the balance yesterday afternoon by adding the 4th.

The amendment, which will appear on our ballot on May 8, provides that "marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized" in North Carolina.  Because most of the people I know are appalled by such an amendment, it's hard to imagine that this could pass.  But as the signs reveal in our neighborhood, the race is closer than we'd like.

Others more passionate than I have articulated many arguments against this repressive amendment.  For me, it comes down to this: Life is hard enough as it is, why make it harder?  If two people love each other so much that they want to get married--one of life's most difficult challenges--let's support them.

Efforts to thwart love, as we're reminded of in both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, end up destroying everyone.  North Carolina Amendment 1 hurts all of us and deserves defeat.