Wedding Trade Expects Boost From Gay-Marriage Laws

To nobody's surprise, ABC News has this here article about the business boost expected from gay marriage being legalized in the states of Maine, Maryland and Washington. Here's some of it:

Nearly 18,000 same-sex couples in those states will exchange vows in the first three years after the new laws are in effect, estimated The Williams Institute, a national think tank at the UCLA School of Law, and the laws should generate at least $166 million in wedding spending in the three states over the next three years from in-state couples alone, boosting tax revenues and creating new jobs.
Wedding-related spending for in-state couples is projected be about $16 million in Maine, $63 million in Maryland and $89 million in Washington.

The numbers go up when figuring in out-of-staters who travel to those states to be wed. In Maine, for instance, the new law could boost the state economy by $25 million and create up to 250 new jobs in the coming three years, said Lee Badgett, research director at the Williams Institute and an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts.

Make sure to read the whole article. This is another blow in the face of hate groups whose rhetoric often includes how harmful gay marriage is for small businesses.

"Every Time People Have Voted on Gay Marriage, They Have Voted Against It... Update: Never Mind!"

Nobody can deny that marriage equality won on Tuesday, or that it won in a dramatic reversal of the trend. The biggest argument hate groups have used - that it's all the workings of us evil homofascist, helped by "activist judges and politicians", and that when the people have a say, they reject it - was not just tentatively dented, it was crashed, killed and destroyed in an across the board landslide that left no room for doubt and no way to call it a fluke - in FOUR states people were asked to stand with marriage equality or against it, and in ALL FOUR they chose to stand on the side of justice and human dignity. It is a resounding defeat of bigotry that has already changed the marriage discourse forever, and will have serious implications in future fights.

Meanwhile, hate groups, GOP nut jobs and self-appointed Christian Neanderthal moralists all across America are - as Joe hilariously puts it - "having the sadz", and whining their precious hearts out. They were outspent, the poor dears, after pouring millions into pointless hatred. The Four were "deeply liberal". It was an "uphill battle". Gotta love a language change and role reversal. All in all, this is what Tony Perkins, Maggie Galaghar, Brian Brown and the ever so magically quaffed Kalley Yanta have to say about what happened on November 6:

Yes, I feel not a shred of graciousness in myself right now. Victory tastes good!

A Dramatic Win For Justice, Vision And Equality

Two months ago I made the decision to stop blogging until the 2012 Election was done. Too much information, too much static, too many barbs thrown in all directions. Now that the craze is over though, and I've come down from the full body orgasm high from Tuesday, I can resume programming.

WE WON!

All across the board we won. Our President, out senators, our rights won in a way that not even I expected. The American people said a resounding NO to fear mongering, religious bigotry and the unquestioned superiority of rich white males.

I could gush all over our victories (and i will in another post about our Four Out of Four historic triumph), but instead, I'll just leave you with this here video in which the love of my life Rachel Maddow summarizes all that went well on Nov. 6. Enjoy.

Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom"

I don't normally review entertainment on this blog, but I think this show more than merits the attention. I hurry to disclaim the hell out of this review by saying that other than The Social Network, I'd had no previous experience with Sorkin's writing prior to watching the first season of The Newsroom, so I will not be comparing it to his previous works.

The show focuses on a news team in the made up ACN network, led by superstar anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels). After years of hiding in his comfortable job and ignoring the low level of political discourse in the country and the ignorance of his viewers, Will finally reaches meltdown point at a lecture in Northwestern University, and unleashes a scathing speech that resounds throughout the media. That's when his idealistic boss Charlie Skinner (Sam Waterson) sees an opportunity and brings in a new producer - the talented Mackenzie MacHale (Emily Mortimer) who has had a tumultuous relationship with Will in the past. Together, they turn "News Night" into a critical engine, devoted to informing, educating and revealing the truth no matter the cost.

The plot of The Newsroom is fairly simple, and the character interactions are there more as decoration than the point of the story. A lot of their relationships have a goofy, comical vibe, even in the serious moments, and it is easy to see that Sorkin's goal has been to expose the degradation of the news in the US by showing us an idealized version of what they could be. Will McAvoy is a former prosecutor, borderline genius, and a man with unflinching integrity in the face of falsehoods who stops at nothing to expose them. His entire team is devoted to finding the truth, reporting it first, and reporting it in the best possible way

There are two things that make The Newsroom so compelling. One, Sorkin's trademark "on crack" dialogues. People talk a lot, talk fast, all over each other, and it's dynamic to the point of vertigo. It tip-toes on the edge of becoming just blabbering and talking for the sake of talking, but mostly it stays clear of it. What it does though, is create an environment that feels so alive and active that you have no choice but to believe that those people will report the news to you seconds after they happen.

The second part - and by far the strongest element of the show - is the subject matter. The story takes place between early 2010 and August 2011. Which means that it deals with social and political events that are as up to date as you can be without dramatizing the world in real time - from the oil spill in the Mexico gulf to Osama's assassination. A huge chunk of the show is devoted to unmasking and debunking the lies of the Tea Party and the absurd level of incompetence and lack of political understanding that its members exhibit. However, The Newsroom is not some "liberal" propaganda. Will is portrayed as a proud Republican who cannot stand that his party has been hijacked by fanatics with neither knowledge, nor respect of the political process, and Sorkin is careful to make the distinction between "Republican" and "Tea Party" (as well as steering clear of Mitt Romney who gets only one little barb in the last episode).

I used the word "dramatizing" in the previous paragraph, and I think I will do it again. Because this is what makes The Newsroom the amazing experience that it is. The fact that if you see what's wrong with the politics in this country, and can't stand how no source of information is untainted by partisanship, you have the chance of experiencing the news in a dramatized form, with characters reporting the truth in the way that you would want them to in real life, yet ones who aren't just reporters, but also people you get attached to as the season goes. The perfect blend of the pros of both fiction and non-fiction, with barely any of the cons (with the possible exception of some soapy drama occurring here and there). The Newsroom has the potential to be an eye-opener in the real world, and I am extremely excited about Season 2, which will air next year.

Prop 8 And DOMA Cases Distributed For the Supreme Court September 24 Review

So says Prop 8 Trial Tracker. The review will decide whether the cases would be taken up, left for a next review session or denied. In case you need an update, we are hoping for Prop 8 to be left alone, as that would make the 9th Circuit's decision final. However, Section 3 of DOMA needs to go, and it is highly unlikely that SCOTUS will pass the case. Fingers cross. The endgame is coming!

After FRC Shooting, Brian Brown Calls for "Civility"

After a man shot a security guard at the Family Research Council's headquarters in DC yesterday, now the hate groups are having a field day piously condemning gays for being the rabid dogs they've always claimed we were (never mind that the shooter has yet to be identified as gay). Now Brian Brown from NOM calls for "civility". Lucky for us though, not everyone is a moron and the CNN host actually confronts Brown on his hypocrisy.

Bran Brown Talks About Chick-fil-A: Help! They're Being Oppressed!

I am literally stunned into silence by this. Hypocrisy on a cosmic level: when we're boycotting Starbucks, Home Depot or JC Penny, it's "standing up for marriage", but when people do it to your side, it's "hateful gays bullying us". Really?

REALLY?!

Not to mention the flabbergasting temerity of saying that Dan Kathy's family is being "persecuted simply for their personal beliefs". Because nothing says "personal" quite as well as $2 000 000 donated to hate groups.

I just hope it's just Brown being evil, and not outright demented and not seeing the gigantic absurdity of what he's saying.

Minnesota Hate #29: We Should Prevent Children From Learning About Gay People!

Is it me, or are they getting more and more vague and tired? Yes, Kalley, if you don't stop marriage equality, soon it will not be ok to hate gay people in Minnesota. Sorry to break it to you, but that's the point. Why not go deal with you half score children and leave us normal people to live our lives as we see fit?

The Muppets Have Dumped Chick-Fil-A

This is beyond awesome. After CFA's CEO Dan Cathy managed to completely propel his company into the "culture war" (label courtesy of NOM) - first by proudly confirming his support of hate groups, and then by promising The End of The World In Torrents of Fire if gay marriage passes - now everyone jumps on the "choose a side" wagon. And it's the Muppets, of all people, who really stick it to CFA. From their Facebook page:

The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-Fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors.  Lisa Henson, our CEO is personally a strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed us to donate the payment we received from Chick-Fil-A to GLAAD. 

Not just refusing to take any more of their money, but also donating all of what they already got to the evil gay agenda is all kinds of cool. It's also a good contrast to the fact that many gay people I know still eat in Chick-Fil-A with all sorts of smug justifications...

Meanwhile, hate groups are trying to have a national "eat at Chick-Fil-A day". Made me giggle a bit...

Chick Fil-A Keeps Donating Money to Anti-Gay Organizations

I have been boycotting Chick Fil-A ever since I learned of their support of hate groups. I stumbled upon this article in the Advocate today, showing that apparently they are still at it, or at least were in 2010. In a time where most major businesses in the country are openly supporting gay rights and equality, this is a disgustingly backward attitude and I hope it keeps hurting them more and more until they go under.

Too bad about those waffle fries though...