Civil Rights in 2009

Living very close to Boystown, the area of Chicago that is very gay friendly, I have been surrounded by a lot of information about the gay pride parades around the country. This past weekend, there was a massive support rally in Washington DC. Many prominent gays find these types of parades ineffective towards their goals of equality. Even Barney Frank, the first openly gay congressman, has said that the march on Washington this weekend was, "a waste of time at best." I would tend to disagree with Representative Frank. There are several important issues that gays are still dealing with in 2009. We all know about gay marriage. I have blogged about that on several occasions. After reading and talking to some people, it seems there are still several key issues worth marching on. 1, make discrimination based on sexual orientation a national law. According to the Chicago Tribune, there are only 21 states that currently have such nondiscrimination laws. This is clearly outdated, absurd, and needs to be remedied immediately. The good news, according to the Tribune, is that about two months ago, the Federal Employment Nondiscrimination Act was introduced to congress. It is currently being debated and will hopefully be approved soon. 2, 45 states currently have additional punishment for hate crimes, of those 45 states, only 18 include sexual orientation. Again, there is good news on this front. Last week, congress introduced the Matthew Shepard Act, of course named after the Wyoming teenager who was beaten to death primarily for his open homosexuality. The Matthew Shepard Act would include sexual orientation discrimination under the guidelines of a hate crime. Lastly, President Obama has pledged to end don't ask don't tell. According to the Tribune, since 1994, 13,500 members of our military have been discharged due to the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. I guess the bottom line is that huge improvements have been made but there still is a lot of work left to do. With a liberal president, house, and senate, hopefully great strides can be made in America towards equal rights for all.

1. Besides the terrible weather, I had a fantastic weekend. Friday was very casual. I watched some of the Twins playoff game, and then Anay, Anay's girlfriend Allie, and my roommates and I all watched Conan and Tool Academy. Saturday started with some football, followed by my cousin's weddings in the suburbs, and then a group of us went to The Gold Coast for the night. Sunday, I met my family for some lunch. It was a really nice weekend.

2. I rented the movie Year One with Jack Black, Olivia Wilde, and Michael Cera. It is an absolutely dreadful movie. I give it a D.