Sometimes you meet someone you like and respect and can talk to, but don't always agree with on every issue. The best part about such encounters is it gives you a chance to hone your arguments in a respectful environment.

Argue abortion with Sarah Palin and it is useless because she is an idiot. Argue abortion with an intelligent, respectful opponent and you get the chance to refine your arguments.

Which is what I am doing now.

The fight over abortion comes down to two fundamental, and in this case seemingly (but not necessarily) opposing, values: the value of life and the value of a person's right to have legal jurisdiction over their own body. Both are important values, so in many debates over abortion where people are not respectful of eachother, it appears that one of these two values is being neglected by each side. I believe this does not have to be true.

Chalk one down for Bronz bigot Ruben Diaz: in his bid to keep gay people down and unwed, he seems to have carried the first round: Democrats won't introduce marriage equality legislation for the time being.

But now, party leaders have sent strong signals that they may not take up the issue during the 2009 legislative session. Some of them suggest it may be wise to wait until 2011 before considering it, in hopes that Democrats can pick up more Senate seats and Gov. David A. Paterson, a strong backer of gay rights, would then be safely into a second term.

Of course, all that could change the instant there's a special election for a Senate seat. Stay tuned, because there will be special elections this cycle.

Please join organizers and activists for a Town Hall - The Future of Marriage Equality in New York State - this Monday at the LGBT Center.

Monday, November 24, 2008
Time: 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Location: LGBT Community Services Center
Street: 208 West 13th Street
City/Town:
New York, NY

On Monday, November 24th, we will join with Marriage Equality New York for a town hall meeting to discuss impact of the election results, not just in California, Arizona, Florida, and Arkasas, but also right here in New York State. We'll have a full update on the New York State Senate, the situation with Senators Ruben Diaz, Sr. and Malcolm Smith, and a discussion of next steps for achieving marriage equality in the Empire State.

It's really interesting to notice how the vote on Proposition Eight in California has galvanized and mobilized the LGBTQ community and its allies. Apparently, people are sick and tired of being shit on.

Please join today's nationwide protests for marriage equality today at City Hall in New York. From the press release:

At the same time on Saturday, November 15th, people will convene on the steps of city halls nationwide to Protest Propostion 8 and to demand marriage equality. At the same time we are protesting in New York, they will be protesting in Chicago, Los Angeles, and everywhere in between.

Events in other cities can be found at http://www.jointheimpact.com

Per The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, filthy sodomites are engaging in bestial marriage acts in the satanic state of Connecticut, aided and abetted by Jesus-hating judges.

Quick, somebody call the Mormons! Can't you just see the hate for Jesus dripping from these fiends?

Back in reality, congratulations to the State of Connecticut, and there specifically to my friends Richard and Ed and Ann and Jemetta, whose enduring partnerships put most straight marriages I'm familiar with - 50% divorce rate, my friends - to shame.

There's been a troubling spike in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry in the last few weeks of the Presidential campaign. The reason is obvious: the Democratic Presidential candidate is an insufficiently blond, insufficiently blue-eyed guy for the tastes of some, and his middle name - don't tell anyone - is Hussein. Quite a few topline GOP surrogates have jumped into that pit with naked feet, gleefully crowing about cough different cough anti-American cough terrorist, as if everyone didn't know exactly what they meant.

It's very tempting to make that sad fact into a blunt partisan cudgel. Tempting, but not up to the historical moment, because something more important is going on here. Witness this video of McCain supporters rejecting and shaming one of their own.

(Via American News Project)

Muslims are in America to stay, just as Japanese stayed after Korematsu, just as Jews a century ago were not deterred from finding their dreams despite a vicious anti-Semitic backlash. Even better, Muslims are organizing politically.

All Americans have a real opportunity in the midst of this intolerant backlash. There are things happening these days that are truly, as Governor Palin would say, anti-American. Now is the time for all Americans of good will to stand up and say that they won't be a part of that.

Via email from Matt Browner Hamlin comes this:

If you support gay marriage...

Governor Paterson has said that NY will recognize legal same-sex marriages from other states and countries. He's doing a poll on whether people support it. If you're interested in taking 15 seconds to lodge your support, just call 1-518-474-8390 and say 'I support the Governor's directive on marriage,' then give them your 5 digit (New York) zip code.

The number reaches the Executive Chamber. Let them know that you support equality for all New Yorkers.

(Of course, if you don't, that would be an opportunity to also air your case for whites-only drinking fountains. Your call, but it's the same principle.)

Governor Paterson has instructed state agencies to begin recognizing same-sex unions performed in other jurisdictions, domestic and foreign, in the state of New York.

In a directive issued on May 14, the governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, instructed the agencies that gay couples married elsewhere “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.”

The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses. [Emph. added]

Think about that for a moment: everything from income tax returns to fishing licenses presently treats gay and straight New Yorkers differently. Think about that massive legal disability when next you see a republican election mailer complaining about the 'special rights' gay people supposedly seek.