Anti-gay marriage zealots are repeating the mistakes of 50-150 years ago. Their shaking fists raised in the air must be blocking the light of truth. Or, perhaps they’re not breathing well. Its really a small bit of insanity…or poor thinking.

1. One rationale in the founding of our country was religious freedom; its the 1st amendment, part of the Bill of Rights, to our United States Constitution. This same amendment also gives rise to the separation of church and state. This particular wording is from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists. These anti-gay zealots, are double-faced. Opportunists. Cheaters. Which is likely behavior which should be against their own religious rules. Why? Because our ancestors fought to keep religion out of the laws. And now, because they don’t like something, they want to not put religious dogma in our laws.The 14th amendment says,
   

   “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

   Yet here is California and many other states doing just that. Invading the private lives of homosexuals and depriving them of life and liberty; also denying equal protection by forbidding marriage which grants approximately 1,400 benefits and rights of marriage. Things like hospital visitation, inheritance, not testifying against your spouse…very core basic human rights.

   Given all that, I believe any reasoning or proof that includes reference to a deity or religious text should be dismissed. Why? Because our governmental laws (especially constitutions) should not codify religious dogma because of our separation of church and state, equal protection, and religious freedom.

2. Moving a bit more recent in history, slaves and interracial marriages were forbidden. Here’s just a few examples of our past stupidity. As you read these, substitute in same-sex marriages where you see interracial references.
   • After the Civil War, California chose to specifically prohibit “intermarriage of white persons with Chinese, Negroes, mulattos, or persons of mixed blood descended from a Chinaman or Negro from the third generation inclusive.”
   • In 1869, a Georgia judge blocked the marriage of a white Frenchman and a black woman by saying, “The amalgamation of the races is not only unnatural but is always productive of deplorable results.”
   • In the widely known 1959 Loving case in Virginia, Judge Leon Bazile sentenced a black man and white woman to prison for trying to circumvent Virginia law by marrying in Washington D.C. He said, “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Maylay and red, and he placed them on separate continents…And but for the interference with His arrangement, there would be no cause for such marriages.”

   Finally, on June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court put an end to laws preventing interracial marriages. A unanimous opinion by Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled that Virginia’s “white supremacy” marriage law and similar interracial marriage prohibitions in 15 other states did indeed violate the 14th Amendment. Decreeing that marriage is a “fundamental” civil right, the court told the nation that “the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the state.”

   That was less than 50 years ago. Seems our zealots have a short-term memory. Or…perhaps they have selective memory because they don’t remember about separation of church and state, not casting stones, not committing adultery, rape victims that don’t cry out loud enough (Deuteronomy 22:23-24), and big ones like, “He that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. (Exodus 21:17)”

3. Separate but equal doesn’t work. The propaganda that civil unions are an equal substitute for marriage is horrible. It would not give the 1400+ rights and privileges of marriage. Proven time and again is the abolishment of separate but equal laws, institutions, schools, buses, and bathrooms. They are never equal. They are unfair. They favor the ruling class (many times the majority). This Rosa Parks summary of separate but (non) equal transportation in the southern states captures the issue well.

I was born and raised in Alabama. I have seen past and current racial and ethnic discrimination; some from my own family. I deplore their behavior and offer correction when I hear it. Alabama is not the best educated state in the country. It has the 6th highest divorce rate in the nation and one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the nation. This is also the same state that four times elected George Wallace governor. In 1963, George Wallace stood in front of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in defiance of the Deputy U.S. Attorney General and said, “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” Wallace was an idiot and a bigot. But a popular idiot and bigot elected four times by Alabama voters.

I’m not proud of the state of Alabama. However, I am proud of most of my family. My mother taught me about fairness and treating people well. My father was a helicopter pilot in the US Army where my parents and I traveled to Germany and Kentucky; I was exposed to different people and cultures. When my father left the army, I was nine. We moved back to Enterprise, Alabama where I remember going to a public school (rather than military) for the first time. One day, I was making friends with an African-American. Later that same day, a Caucasian kid pulled me to the side and asked me, “Why are you talking to that black kid? We don’t talk to them.” I was a little kid and didn’t really understand the weight of what he was saying.

What that kid said to me at nine was stupid. I ignored him and kept making friends no matter what their skin color. My early exposure traveling to different countries forever gave me a broader view of the world and possibilities within it; appreciating diversity. My mother then educated me about fairness. She wasn’t really exposed to homosexuality and we didn’t talk about it much in my youth. When it did come up, she always spoke fairly and with grace.

African-Americans in the 1900s were able to change the laws to officially end segregation and discrimination. They are a proportionally large group (13%) of Americans; the single largest racial minority in the United States. Homosexuals and others that desire same-sex marriages are at most 10% of the population. This is a small group of Americans that are being discriminated against, harassed, fired from jobs, denied hospital visitation rights, and some are even murdered in hate-crimes.

I am asking for those people that easily have those 1400+ rights and privileges of marriage to consider their own history, America’s past mistakes, and learn from them. If they would stop their mindless histrionics of hate for a few days, perhaps they can calmly gather all the facts and information and make an informed decision. Otherwise, its time for you to leave my country. If you want a religious zealot-based government, I hear of other places for you where they still stone their women.

A large set of new laws governing content in Australia have been passed and go into affect on 20 Jan 2008. Here’s the skinny on what their government will do:

• “Content service providers” are required to check the consumers age and apply restrictions according to an examination done by the Australian Office of Film and Literature (OFLC)
• The examination sets a rating of the content based on their own rating system
• They can enforce it by banning content or sites, sent take down notices to hosts, or even blacklist whole sites or companies with themandatory Australian Internet sensor.

Australian government, I’m happy to consider complying with your new Australian laws even though I live and am hosted in the U.S.A. I will need the following from you:

1. An overview or summary of these new laws.
2. Clear detailed documentation, in electronic form, on the laws, rating process, ratings, and any other related items needed to comply with these new laws.
3. A government accepted method to check the age of Australian consumers. All electronics or servers involved will need clear documentation along with a one year proven track record of 99.999% uptime before integrating it with my systems.
4. An Australian government liaison to work with my project manager and my accountant.

After this information is provided, I’m happy to consider it with the intention of finding an acceptable solution between us both. At this point, any delays, blacklisting, censorship, or take-down will be due to your own delays or neglect. I am ready and waiting to jump into action.

All expenses will be summarily tracked by my accountant and invoiced to you; each due within 30 days. Please have your liaison provide a clear method for reimbursement back to us. Starting in 2008, these are the hourly rates (outside of hard expenses) for taking on this project:

• Project manager, $175/hr
• Accountant, $250/hr
• Owner supervision, $275/hr
• Web developer, $75/hr
• SQL developer, $125/hr
• C++ developer, $125/hr

Thank you, and I look forward to this new cross-Pacific partnership. You may contact me using the information listed in the WHOIS database for this domain.

Because of the manner in which I was searched during the raid on Mr. Black’s, I decided to file a complaint today with the New York Civilian Complaint Review Board.

I believe that I was illegally searched against my will. I did not consent to a search of my body. I had no weapons and no suspicious weapon-like bulges on my body. I did not do anything illegal. Looking at the NYCLU’s What to Do If You’re Stopped by the Police, I realize that I could have asked them if they had a search warrant. And if they said yes, to ask to see the search warrant. But I didn’t know that until now. Regardless, I definitely told them I do not consent to the body search.

So now I hope to hear one of two things. Either that they had a search warrant and it was legal…or…that there was wrongdoing and corrections will be made. I’m ok with either.

Last night, I was dancing at Mr. Black’s. I was enjoying the crowd. Dancing with several guys and saying hi to a few friends I’ve recently made. I think I walked by Baby Daddy who was standing near the DJ booth while I was saying hi to Sammy Jo, the DJ.

Then…the club, Mr. Black’s, was raided. I was there. Saw the whole thing.

I was laughing with a friend. Music was good. It was dark. Then in a quick progression, the lights came one, the music stopped, and the people stopped socializing. Then I saw maybe nine guys and a woman all in dark clothing and NYPD vests moving through the crowd.

I’ve never been in a situation like this but I have had an education on how to deal with law enforcement from both my attorney and the Burning Man community’s documentation. I’m glad I did. While writing this, I also found good information on What to Do If You’re Stopped by the Police at the New York Civil Liberties Union. In short, stand up for your rights and don’t answer any questions other than provide your name and identification. Do not consent to a search; yet at the same time don’t resist to one. Law enforcement officers are specifically trained to ask leading questions which can lead to an arrest…even if you have done nothing wrong. It is their job to find or create evidence and situations that seem to demonstrate that people break laws.

Nothing wrong with this. Its not evil, it just is…and you have to deal with it. It’s just our imperfect system created by imperfect humans.

So while my friend was terrified, I was completely engaged and interested to watch the whole thing. Once an officer came over and warned us not to whisper (which we were not…we were talking at normal levels) because he said it would make them, the officers, paranoid. I did not change my behavior, we continued to talk. I considered walking up to an officer and asking them what I was trained to ask, “Am I being arrested or am I free to go?” But truthfully, I was far too interested and wanted to stand there and watch the whole spectacle.

So I did. I saw several escorted out in handcuffs: a host, a few patrons, even Sammie Jo, the fantastic DJ. Argh! Occasionally, the officers would point their flashlights and look at the floor; probably searching for drugs. I don’t know if they found anything or not.

I’ve heard first hand from senior police officers around the country that, “You can not protect someone from themselves. Suicide prevention and the war on drugs are both a lost cause.” An officer can get in between two people to stop a fight, but they can’t get “in between” a person that wants to use drugs. Or stop anyone from committing suicide. So regardless if these NYPD officers found anything, it is futile. They are instead, going through the motions doing their blind-to-the-results enforcement job. Its hard to fault them for that. Now the legislature…they’re the ones at fault. They’re redirecting precious money at lost causes.

Back on topic though…eventually the officers started letting out five people at a time. I didn’t force my way. I wanted to watch. We waited as the crowd slowly moved towards the exit stairs and finally was allowed up.

Once at street level, I was put in a line and immediately they started searching me. No questions. No asking for permission. I immediately told them, “I do not consent to a search.” They said, “I don’t care, I’m doing one anyways.” I didn’t resist as that might be construed as illegal.

They put their hands in my pockets emptying them, searching the contents, and continued patted me down all over my body. I did nothing illegal and had nothing illegal on me. After the full search, an officer took me aside and told me to sit down on the ground. I did. He asked me how long I’ve been in New York City and why I’m here. I told him a few weeks and I was deciding if I want to live here. He then took an aggressive forceful position of questioning. They were leading questions intended to entrap me.

1. He asked me if I knew there is a limited time for me to be in New York without getting a New York license. I told him I’ve been instructed by council not to answer questions like that. He didn’t like that answer.
2. He asked did I know that is illegal to be in a location that is serving liquor past 4am. I said I hear you. He didn’t like that answer either.
3. He asked do I understand what he’s saying and am I going to answer the questions. I told him thank you for saying these things and I acknowledge that I hear them.

I neither agreed or disagreed with anything while speaking with him. I know that his job is to pressure people and get them to admit something; even if it is extorted, construed, contrived, or imagined. People say crazy things when they are being pressured in situations like that.

Oh…and any law which requires a person to be omniscient and able to know everything that is happening everywhere in a location (4am drinking) is just plain stupid. And if needed, I would take it to court. But in this case, the officer let me go on my way; a wise choice on his part.

So my friend and I walked home to the subway, talking of the experience and hoping the best for those taken out in handcuffs.

I would normally be at Black Rock City, NV celebrating with everyone on the playa at Burning Man right now, but my recent move to New York City has me focused there. The current playa gossip is about a guy allegedly setting the man on fire early tues morning. Here’s my angle on it.

I’m more in the mindset of…do whatever you want to do on the playa as long as it doesn’t interfere/intrude on another person’s experience. Yea yea, the trance camps interfere with my sleep at 7am with their damned dush-dush-thump-thump music from hell…but I can easily (and do) put in ear plugs. So there’s some gray.

For me, burning The Man (I figure it gets a double cap) early and selfishly is a bit on the dark side of that grey. Regardless of any of his (the alleged arson) reasons, altruistic or not, he changed an iconic symbol for some/all playa citizens. Changed their expectations. Changed their experience.

For the good or bad? I dunno, but he intruded on the experience of everyone there and that, for me, is a behavior not to be supported. Ugh, but even as I write this paragraph, I hesitate because I also believe the following. And yes, I’ve quoted it before.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903) “Maxims for Revolutionists”

So probably a better way–for me–to think through this scenario is to better understand his reasons. If they are altruistic in nature, then perhaps this is a good thing. We will all have the opportunity to learn from this. But, if done for some meaningless reason like cheap thrills, then his actions don’t justify the results even if accidentally positive. Living in a world where alleged arsonists set fires for selfish reasons isn’t safe.

[Update 2:28pm 30 Aug 07] They are about to raise a new Man. You should be able to see it in this live camera feed from the playa which scans across the horizon.