A Rant + How Everything Comes Down to Equal Marriage

I've noticed over the last few months, since the lead-up to the US election that everything is about one thing for me - marriage equality.

As one half of an engaged lesbian couple looking to get married next year, of course it makes sense that it's a big issue for me, but I can say that marriage equality has a hand in pretty much everything these days.

For instance, who did I support in the Super Bowl this year (you know, besides Beyonce)? Leading up to it I wanted the San Francisco 49ers to win, because I've been a West Coaster (mostly) for most of my life, and because San Fran is the Brighton of the USA (it's gay!). However, a few days before the big game, a few members of the team said in the press they did not make their It Gets Better video, or in fact that it wasn't an anti-gay bullying video, just anti-bullying. One player who appears in the video denied being in it!! How ridiculous, and how disappointing, from a team whose city represents acceptance, love and revolution towards the LGBT community.

So instead, I was for the Ravens, who come from a state where gay marriage is legal, and whose player, Brendon Ayanbadejo, has proudly been a part of the NOH8 campaign. And hey, they won!

I mean, how amazing is this guy? He's actually used the publicity from his Super Bowl win to speak out for more support for marriage equality.

Our hero! We need more awesome allies like Brendon at the height of their careers coming out in support of equality!!

I choose not to purchase music or support in any way music from anyone who is caught doing/saying homophobic things *cough* Chris Brown *cough* (to be fair, he's just horrible to everyone) and instead I support awesome bands and artists who are actively pro-equality, like Lady Gaga, Fun. and Macklemore.

I'm much more likely to support brands like JC Penney and Mamas and Papas who use gay couples and people in their ads, and to boycott those like Chic-Fil-A who support hate and bigotry.

I've been watching the equal marriage debate in Parliament for the last 3 hours, hell I'd be down there if I wasn't currently in bed with a chest infection, so instead I'm listening and writing down the places I will never go, and places I will frequent more often to spend my money.

You could argue that there is no reason not to go to Christchurch or Aldershot based on the horrid and outdated views of their MP, but as they are supposed to be the representatives of their communities, why should we, as gay people and/or supporters, waste our time and money heading to these places for holidays, to support local businesses.

On the other hand, we really do have some great places and MPs in this country. Battersea, Tottenham, Finchley, Arundel, and heck Croydon is looking much more appealing than it did pre-debate. And Fulham's MP voted yes!! Yay!!

I don't believe that I'm alone in this. I think that, gay or straight, the issue of equality is a big one now around the world - and I think that voices on the wrong side of history are starting to leave a bad taste in people's mouths. I'm not really sure why I wrote this post, except that I believe the tide is turning, in the USA as well as the UK, it is more beneficial for people as well as companies to be on the right side of the marriage equality debate.

Update, fantastic news - the debate was successful, we won 400 to 175!! SO excited!! Can't WAIT until we can be legally married in the UK!!

What We Love Wednesdays!! Stonewall, Baby!

Welcome to our WWLW, this week we are giving a shout out to Stonewall, a UK based charity that supports the LGB community. Stonewall was founded in 1989 by a small group of people who had been active in the struggle against Section 28 of the Local Government Act, an offensive piece of legislation designed to prevent the so-called 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools.

The legislation was:

Section 28: of the Local Government Act 1988 caused controversy with the addition of Section 2A stating that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship"

Stonewalls aim from the outset was to create a professional lobbying group that would prevent attacks on lesbians, gay men and bisexuals from occurring in schools and work places. Stonewall has put the case for equality on the mainstream political agenda by winning support within all the main political parties and now has offices in England, Scotland and Wales. With a growing presence, they are certianly a charity making an impact. We first found out about Stonewall at our first gay pride event and have proudly displayed their signature t-shirts.

Stonewall is best known for its campaigning and lobbying.  Its current campaign for Equal Marriage is literally hitting the streets in the form of bus adverts all over London with 1000 big red buses adorned with their recognisible tag line ‘Some people are gay. Get over it!’. From our office in Victoria we can see them flying past - so far 10 in a hour is the most! What great publicity! And a great photo opportunity.

In May they are organising the ‘Brighton Stonewall Walk’ for the 9^th year, to help tackle homophobia in schools. During the last six years, they have worked with secondary schools to prevent homophobic bullying. Its Education for All campaign, launched in January 2005 to help tackle homophobia and homophobic bullying in schools, works with a wide coalition of groups. Stonewall has extended its Education for All campaign to all 21,000 primary schools across the Great Britain by producing a teacher training DVD, Celebrating Difference. The more money they raise the more DVD’s they send out!

Stonewall has formed partnerships with organisations outside Parliament to ensure the rights and needs of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals are addressed in the wider community. They has also raised public awareness in terms of civil partnership, through their Get Hitched guide (HERE), and on the changes to the employment regulations relating to sexual orientation through guides for both employers and employees.

Stonewall hosted the London Gay Mayoral Hustings on 14 April - it allowed the capital’s lesbian, gay and bisexual voters to ask candidates from the four main parties in London about their policies before the mayoral election on 3 May. The Hustings were attended by Boris Johnson, Jenny Jones, Ken Livingstone and Brian Paddick. Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill made this comment following the Stonewall London Gay Hustings:

‘It’s really impressive that all of the main mayoral candidates wanted to engage lesbian, gay and bisexual Londoners – something that would have been unthinkable 15 or 20 years ago. What was particularly interesting was that many of the people in the audience were completely undecided about how they were going to vote, so clearly no-one should take London’s 350,000 gay voters for granted.’

London Mayoral Hustings 2012

Stonewall is officially a Charity but receives no public funding and raises all its money itself in a range of ways including donations, sponsorship, and fundraising events. You will see them rattling buckets at every Pride running UK wide.



London Pride 2011 - Stonewall group!



Click here to find out how you can help Stonewall:
http://www.stonewall.org.uk/what_you_can_do/

Stonewall is a great charity that we actively support and look forward to taking part in their future initiatives!

We hope you've enjoyed this weeks WWLW! If you want to check out more about Stonewall there website is: http://www.stonewall.org.uk/

Love

Sarah and Laura

xoxo

What's Happening, Hot Stuff?? 15/04/12

Welcome to this week’s WHHS- we hope wherever you are reading this you are having a great weekend. We have been spring cleaning and relaxing and can FINALLY say we are fully recovered from our colds – yay!!

In the big wide world we have been lucky enough to be enjoying Stonewall’s latest campaign – there will be a WWLW post on this but let’s just say Sarah has a new game at work - #bunting (bus hunting) as she gets to see the main road from her desk.

Stonewall have also just held their London Gay Mayoral Hustings – it was a chance to hear from mayoral candidates Boris Johnson, Jenny Jones, Ken Livingstone and Brian Paddick as they debated their vision for the future of London and how they will work for the lesbian, gay and bisexual residents of the capital. Ben Summerskill, Stonewall’s Chief Executive, said following the hustings: “It’s really impressive that all of the main mayoral candidates wanted to engage lesbian, gay and bisexual Londoners – something that would have been unthinkable 15 or 20 years ago. What was particularly interesting was that many of the people in the audience were completely undecided about how they were going to vote, so clearly no-one should take London’s 350,000 gay voters for granted.” We have always loved Boris, but that’s because he has been the Mayor pretty much since we moved to London, and the introduction of many new initiatives that have impacted us, including Boris Bikes, have been positive - but we look forward to hearing from all the candidates before making our mind up for sure.

Have you seen that Angelina and Brad couldn’t resist any more and got engaged? By all accounts it was due to pressure from their children- while we’re happy for them, it is disappointing that they won’t complete their pledge to wait for marriage equality, something we are desperate for! Rebekah Orr, communications director for Equality California says: 'Marriage is something that says "we're a family" in a way that nothing else can ... No one has to deny that for themselves or their family to prove they are an ally and supporter of equality.'

In other Stateside news, there has been more updates for gay marriage - North Carolina voters go to the polls on May 8 to vote on Amendment One, a ballot initiative that seeks add a ban on same-sex marriages and civil unions to the North Carolina constitution. The state's governor, Beverly Perdue, had spoken out against the measure last month but in a video released this week, she elaborates on why she is against the measure:

On the downside it doesn't look good for gay marriage in Illinois. Despite the efforts of LGBT lawmakers, a same-sex marriage bill will probably not be voted on this year. The bill was introduced in the state legislature on 8 Feb. However, it remains in the House Rules Committee. As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, state legislators have a full plate, everything from approving an overall budget to trimming pension and Medicaid outlays. These fiscal concerns are taking precedence over the hot button social issue. Ah well it’s only life and family for the entire LGBT community, I’m sure it can wait! Really!!

Following Kirk Cameron’s somewhat douchebag-y comments about gay marriage, a group of former child stars have made a spoof video, called “Child Celebrities Opposing Kirk Cameron,” or CCOKC (pronounced COCK). The authors in the video declare their mission thus: “Together we’re pledging together to raise awareness about a serious threat to our civil rights, Kirk Cameron’s stupid opinions.” Where they attack Kirk Cameron for the anti-gay comments he made during an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN.

When asked by Mr Morgan whether he thought homosexuality was a sin, Mr Cameron said: “I think that it’s unnatural. I think that it’s detrimental, and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilisation. I believe that marriage was defined by God. Marriage is almost as old as dirt, and it was defined in the garden between Adam and Eve… One man, one woman for life ’til death do you part. So I would never attempt to try to redefine marriage. And I don’t think anyone else should either. So do I support the idea of gay marriage? No, I don’t.” 

It’s great to see that there are child stars with opinions that don’t match Kirk’s, as the video says in an industry that has a high percentage of LGBT people you’d think he’d have knowledge and awareness that the LGBT are just like him.

In Australia, a senate inquiry into legalising gay marriage has revealed 'unprecedented' support for reform. Figures released on the 13^th of April by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee show that almost 60% of Australians are in favour of allowing same-sex couples to marry, with 44,000 out of 75,000 submissions in favour. As you may know, we lived in Australia, and the attitude of our friends there completely backs this up. We loved how liberal Manly was as an area and how Sydney was open to diversity. From our knowledge the more remote areas are still stuck in the dark ages, but as with anything, the more public support there is for gay marriage the better!

In other news, a silent protest greeted Cardinal Keith O’Brien (remember him from the 1^st of April WHHS?) at the University of St Andrews today - some members of the university’s LGBT group staged a walk-out as soon as the Cardinal began his sermon.  Read the whole story here: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/04/15/st-andrews-lgbt-students-protest-during-sermon-by-cardinal-obrien/ but in summary, the University Student representative council had voted unanimously to support the protest on account of the Cardinal's opinion that marriage equality would be “a grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right.” We have been following the blog of two lovely ladies (http://asummerfullofpeaches.com/) who attended St Andrews and by all accounts it sounds like a great place to study - this proves that the LGBT community are supported there.

Right well, that's it for this week, apologies for the delayed posting we were watching 50/50 - it's an amazing film that's well worth watching. For Sarah it was a little too close to home, but with a box of tissues and a hug from Laura she made it through.

Love always,

Sarah & Laura