Bonjour mes amis! It’s once again Sunday morning and time for another assortment of tasty bonbons — a regular feature in these here parts. So pour another cup of steaming Joe, sit back in that comfy chair, and get ready to savour yet another collection of unmissable writings from around the internets.
Guy Adams : The man who set America straight about gay rights
Proposition Six would have banned gays from teaching in California on the grounds that homosexuals were, at the time, considered more likely to be motivated by paedophilia. Milk’s against-the-odds success in defeating the ballot measure is still seen as one of the most inspiring victories in the gay rights movement.
“Harvey Milk was prophetic, a pioneer of gay rights at a time when people needed it most,” said Peter Novak, a researcher on Milk’s career at the University of San Francisco, who also had a role as an extra in the film. “He was articulate and founded a defence for the movement that continues to this day. His death was also a significant moment in recognising what was at stake in the struggle for equality. He used to say: ‘if a bullet should enter my brain, let it destroy every closet door,’ and he knew his death would propel the gay rights movement forward.”
Paul Auster : One book fair, hours of satire, and the Dixie Chicks – Bush’s cultural legacy
[Gore Vidal] Although all politicians tell lies, Bush has gone right round the bend as a liar and he’ll be remembered for a great many of the lies, starting with weapons of mass destruction and going on and on. That’s the only legacy. Oliver Stone, I gather, is doing father-and-son stories. I’m very fond of Oliver, but you don’t need Freud when you’re dealing with Caligula.
Will Lawrence : My love-hate affair with ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’
It was Priscilla, an extravagant cult tale of ageing drag queens starring Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving, that made his name back in 1996, but he never cared for it much.
“I never made a cent from Priscilla the first time around. That made me jaded and bitter about the whole thing,” he says. “But I was asked to adapt it for the stage. That was during one of my down periods, and they really had to force me into it. I screamed and kicked and carried on like a savage.
Paul Bloom : Does Religion Make You Nice? Does atheism make you mean?
Many Americans doubt the morality of atheists. According to a 2007 Gallup poll, a majority of Americans say that they would not vote for an otherwise qualified atheist as president, meaning a nonbeliever would have a harder time getting elected than a Muslim, a homosexual, or a Jew. Many would go further and agree with conservative commentator Laura Schlessinger that morality requires a belief in God—otherwise, all we have is our selfish desires. In The Ten Commandments, she approvingly quotes Dostoyevsky: “Where there is no God, all is permitted.” The opposing view, held by a small minority of secularists, such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, is that belief in God makes us worse. As Hitchens puts it, “Religion poisons everything.”
Earl Ofari Hutchinson : It’s No Surprise Blacks Backed Gay Marriage Ban
The cruel irony is that the holy passion that propelled black voters to storm the polls in near record numbers to vote for Barack Obama tipped the scales in favor of Proposition 8. That wasn’t the only Obama irony. Prop 8 backers flooded mailboxes in mostly black neighborhoods with a mailer that featured a stern faced Obama and his horribly out of context quote saying that he opposed gay marriage.
Whether the preachers got a generous infusion of cash for their services touting Proposition 8 is anybody’s guess. The money trail in these shadowy campaigns is always hard if not impossible to track down. But even if a penny didn’t change hands between the Prop 8 campaign and the ministers it wouldn’t have changed things. The preachers would still have scripture saber rattled Prop 8. Even if the ministers hadn’t said a mumbling word one way or the other about gay marriage, a significant number maybe even the majority of blacks would still have voted for it.
David Kelly : Election leaves gay couple feeling isolated in conservative bastion
Frustrated by the passage of Proposition 8, the measure banning same-sex marriage, Lorian Dunlop walked outside her Murrieta home and nailed a sign to her tree.
“Shall We Vote on Your Marriage Now???” it asked.
It was a rare act of defiance for Dunlop and her spouse, Darcie, who have spent the last four years living a quintessential suburban life in a quiet neighborhood where they felt safe and secure.
