Timbre of a TimeFree Mind
Kevin and Darren live in Portland Oregon and are a gay, committed couple. We believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all...regardless of sexual orientation, gender, race, nationality, financial status, and being. Erase man-made borders and "they" become "we". New Site: HERE.Wednesday, December 29
Gay Marriage in another Canadian Province
The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador ruled in favor of same-sex marriage on Dec. 21, bringing to eight the number of provinces and territories in Canada with full same-sex marriage.
The decision by Chief Justice Derek Green means that 87 percent of Canadian citizens now live in areas with same-sex marriage.
The suit was brought by two lesbian couples against the province, and the federal government supported the couple's side before the court.
Many viewed the case to be a mere technicality, as no court has ruled against same-sex marriage rights in Canada since the beginning of the current tide of opinions in the 1990s.
Parliament will be considering a bill this winter to institute same-sex marriage federally. The three most populous provinces, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, already allow it.
The bill was referred to the Supreme Court of Canada last summer for an opinion on its constitutionality. The court found Dec. 9 that it passed constitutional muster, including a clause exempting religious organizations opposed to same-sex marriage from performing them.
Conservatives are trying to derail the bill with amendments to keep marriage as an opposite-sex institution while creating nationwide civil unions for same-sex couples. However courts have already ruled that the "separate but equal" approach is not satisfactory.
Other leaders of the Conservative party are trying to force a national referendum, although a July 1 survey found that 57 percent of Canadians favor same-sex marriage.
In addition to British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, the Yukon Territory, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia already allow full same-sex marriage. Alberta, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories still do not allow it.
Tuesday, December 28
The Visit
When I looked up from my blank page
there was an angel in the room
A rather commonplace angel,
presumably of lower rank.
You cannot imagine, he said
the degree to which you're dispensible.
Of the fifteen thousand hues of blue
he said, each one makes more of a difference
than anything you may do
or refrain from doing,
not to mention the felspar
or the Great Magellanic Cloud.
Even the common plantain, unassuming
as it is, would leave a gap. Not you.
I could tell from his bright eyes -
he hoped for an argument, for a long fight.
I did not move. I waited in silence
until he had gone away
Hans Magnus Enzensberger
Monday, December 27
Darren Christmas Eve at the Abbey, a favorite destination for us.
The chapel at the Abbey of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Lafayette Oregon
Wednesday, December 22
Ten Things President Bush Doesn't Want You To Know About Scalia and Thomas
[via Center for American Progress]
SCALIA OPPOSES EFFORTS TO DESEGREGATE SCHOOLS: In his concurrence on Freeman v. Pitts, Scalia indicated he would favor stripping the authority of Federal courts to regulate school desegregation, "even for those schools that remain significantly segregated." [Freeman v Pitts 1992]
THOMAS FAVORS STATE-SPONSORED RELIGION: Thomas has "advanced the position" that constitutionally mandated church/state separation applies "to the federal government, but not to individual states – a position that would allow Virginia, for example, to declare a state religion." He would allow individual states to "adopt particular religions and use tax money to proselytize for them." [Elk Grove v. Newdow, 2004]
SCALIA SUPPORTS SEX DISCRIMINATION: Scalia dissented from the Court's 7-to-1 decision that rejected the Virginia Military Institute's male-only admissions policy. He called the male-only admissions standard at the school a "well-rooted" tradition. [U.S. v. Virginia, 1996]
THOMAS WOULD ALLOW THE PRESIDENT TO EFFECTIVELY WAIVE DUE PROCESS RIGHTS: In last term's confrontation over detainees in the war on terror, eight of the nine Justices squarely rejected the Bush administration's sweeping claim that it could detain citizens indefinitely as enemy combatants based merely on the executive branch's assertion of enemy combatant status. "Only Thomas supported the Bush administration's position." He claimed "due process requires nothing more than a good-faith executive determination." [Rasul v. Bush, 2004]
SCALIA AND THOMAS OPPOSE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE: The Family and Medical Leave Act "guarantees most workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a loved one." Last year, the Court upheld the law, but Scalia and Thomas voted to strike it down, arguing that Congress exceeded its power in passing the law. [Nevada v. Hibbs, 2003]
SCALIA AND THOMAS SUPPORT EXECUTING THE MENTALLY RETARDED: Scalia and Thomas dissented from the Court's 6-3 ruling that executing mentally retarded convicts constituted "cruel and unusual punishment." [Atkins v. Virginia, 2002]
SCALIA AND THOMAS SUPPORT BRUTALITY AGAINST PRISONERS: A recent case considered a Louisiana inmate who "was shackled and then punched and kicked by two prison guards while a supervisor looked on." The beating left the inmate "with a swollen face, loosened teeth and a cracked dental plate." The Court ruled the inmate's treatment violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, but Scalia and Thomas dissented, arguing "the Eighth Amendment was not violated by the 'insignificant' harm the inmate suffered." In another case last year, Scalia and Thomas dissented from a 6-3 decision to ban the Alabama practice of chaining prisoners to outdoor ''hitching posts'' and abandoning them for hours without food, water, or a chance to use the bathroom. [Hudson v. McMillan, 1992; Hope v. Pelzer, 2002]
SCALIA AND THOMAS SUPPORT CRIMINALIZING CONSENSUAL SEX: Scalia and Thomas dissented from the Court's 6-3 decision to strike down a Texas state "sodomy" law, "banning private consensual sex between adults of the same sex" and approvingly cited the execution of homosexuals during colonial times. Scalia lashed into the decision for pandering to the "so-called homosexual agenda." [Lawrence v. Texas, 2003]
SCALIA AND THOMAS OPPOSE FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION OF POLLUTERS: Scalia and Thomas voted to strip the EPA "of the authority to prevent damaging air pollution by industries when state agencies improperly fail to do so." They dissented from the Court's decision that the EPA could make polluting companies use the "best available control technology" to limit pollution when they built new facilities. [Alaska v. EPA, 2004]
SCALIA AND THOMAS WOULD ALLOW STATES TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST THE DISABLED: After a Tennessee man was arrested for failure to appear in court because he was unwilling to crawl or be carried up the stairs to his second-story courtroom, Scalia and Thomas argued the state was right to arrest him because the Americans with Disabilities Act could only be enforced at the federal level. [Tennessee v. Lane, 2004]
Tuesday, December 21
Newfoundland becomes seventh province to sanction same-sex marriage
Judge Derek Green's ruling makes Newfoundland and Labrador the seventh province to sanction same-sex marriage. Two Newfoundland couples - Jacqueline Pottle and Noelle French, and Lisa Zigler and Theresa Walsh - sought the right to marry legally.
They had applied earlier for marriage licences, but were rejected.
Justice Minister Tom Marshall said earlier this month the provincial government would not oppose the court ruling.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled earlier this month that Ottawa has sole authority to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples, but that religious groups can't be forced to perform weddings that are contrary to their beliefs.
Prime Minister Paul Martin has promised his Liberal government will table legislation allowing gay marriage in January.Pope continues attack on gay marriage
The Catholic Church teaches that marriage between a man and a women is sacred and that homosexuality is a sin. That stance has been under pressure among some of its core constituencies, including the United States and Spain, where the socialist government in October approved a controversial draft law to legalize gay unions.
The pope also condemned abortion, artificial procreation, and an equal status for cohabiting couples as undermining the marital state. "These things that are presented as civilized progress or scientific conquests, in many cases, are in fact a defeat for the dignity of human life and for society," his statement read.
Wednesday, December 15
Questions for breeders
If straight people are giving you grief, try asking them the following questions...
- What do you think caused your heterosexuality?
- When and how did you decide that you were a heterosexual?
- Is it possible that your heterosexuality is just a phase that you may outgrow?
- Is it possible that your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of others of the same sex?
- If you have never slept with a person of the same sex, is it possible that all you need is a good gay lover?
- Do your parents know that you are straight? Do your friends and/or house mates know? And how did they react?
- Why do you insist on flaunting your heterosexuality? Can't you just be who you are and stop flaunting it?
- Why do heterosexuals place so much emphasis on sex?
- Why do heterosexuals feel compelled to seduce others into their lifestyle?
- A disproportionate majority of child molesters are heterosexual? Do you consider it safe to expose children to heterosexual teachers.?
- Just what do men and women do in bed together? How can they know how to please each other, being so anatomically different?
- With all the societal support marriage receives the divorce rate is spiralling. Why are there so few stable relationships among heterosexuals?
- Statistics show that lesbians have the lowest rates of sexually transmitted diseases. Is it really safe for women to maintain a heterosexual lifestyle, and run the risk of disease and pregnancy?
- How can you become a whole person if you limit yourself to exclusive Heterosexuality?
- Considering the menace of overpopulation, how could the human race survive if everyone were heterosexual?
- Could you trust a heterosexual therapist to be objective? Don't you feel that he/she might be inclined to influence you in the direction of his/her own leanings?
- There seem to be very few happy heterosexuals. Techniques have been developed that might enable you to change if you really want to. Have you considered trying aversion therapy?
- Would you want your children to be heterosexual, knowing the problems that he/she would have?
Sunday, December 12
Friday, December 10
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