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So I was checking my twitter this morning and I stumbled across an amazing link to a video of Joy Behar talking to Christian Siriano and young people about being gay. It s a 7 minute clip talking about coming out and other things that effect us. I was SHOCKED and I mean SHOCKED by the courage and pride these young kids had. There was one boy who came out at the age of 11!!! I mean I'm 23 and I can not even imagine coming out at 11 years of age, and for that I give him A LOT of respect and positive energy.
In the video Joy mentioned a stat from GLSEN that stated 91% of GLBT middle school students reported that they faced harassment based on their sexual orientation and that 39% of GLBT middle school students were physcially assaulted which is nearly twice as many as GLBT students in highschool at 20%. Why is it so much harder to come out in middle school? Would you ever come out in middle school? Do you think you would have the support coming out so young? These are some questions that I was thinking about. Also how do we effectively facilitate conversations on the middle school level about acceptance?
So I realize this posting is about a day late but its been on my mind and wanted to let it out. I recently read an article (this morning) from 365gay.com about the current bill that would allow same-sex marriage in DC!!!
So as I was reading it I began to get chills because law makers really feel that this bill "will almost certainly pass". This is a GREAT step for LGBT rights and the fact that we should have EQUAL MARRIAGE laws for all. If this is to become a law DC would become the 6th "state" to issue same sex marriage licenses (with CA being the 7th). This would follow in the steps of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire.
Now to the part that upsets me. The article pointed out that if the bill passes the DC Council then it has to go to Congress for a vote. WHAT!!! Why does Congress have to vote on this bill? Now I may not be up on my political order of power but what impact does DC passing same sex marriage rights have on Congress? Why are they voting on a bill that we have NO representation in the US Senate or US House of Reps? DC has no TRUE VOICE like the other states have. The article also points out that if Congress does block this bill it would be rare, stating "in the past 25 years, Congress has only rejected three pieces of legislation." One in 1991, another two in 1999!
Other questions that I have are, once this hits the floor who will fight for it? What voice from DC will be there? If it passes, how will this effect President Obama's LGBT initiatives? All I can say is I hope there is no hold up and that DC will become the 6th state to passes same sex marriage laws.
