If every straight person honestly answered this question, we’d wipe out homophobia tomorrow.

Tumblr, I think you know what to do.

MARRIAGE EQUALITY POLL BOMB, ACTIVATE!

clairecmc:

The question of marriage equality is a great American debate. Many people, some with strong religious faith, believe that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman. Other people, many of whom also have strong religious faith, believe that our country should not limit the commitment of…

The New York Times, “Pediatrics Group Backs Gay Marriage, Saying It Helps Children.”

“Shut up with your science,” said ignorant people.

(via inothernews)

BRB, watching this adorableness on repeat until new episodes of Arrested Development hit Netflix on May 4th. 

As a lesbian couple exited The Stingray Café, restaurant owner Ed McGovern handed them a hastily scrawled and poorly spelled letter condemning their love for each other because apparently their committed relationship is ruining lives.

He says he gave them the letter “out of love,” but anyone who has the nerve to say something like this to other human beings is just a jackass in my book. 

an incredible point which i have been trying to put into words for years

via TheLWire

(via bilvum)

(via agentlemanbastard)

tpardee:

With the presidential election finally just hours away, I felt the need to make a clarification for the friends and family of mine—few though they may be—who are still undecided, or who are planning on voting for Mitt Romney. I know of some of you, and I expect there are a lot more I don’t. Either way, I hope you read this and take it to heart because it means the world to me.

The difference of vision between the Gov. Romney and President Obama is vast, and as we know, the policies they champion represent two very different approaches to how Americans can and should find success and happiness in their lives. When you think about it, it’s incredible the kinds of very nuts-and-bolts values that are at play here: personal responsibility, equal opportunity and access, the importance of education and the value of competition. That such a complicated and important decision comes down to our individual personal worldviews is remarkable, and our ability to apply our beliefs to our government is a universally celebrated American quality. There are many issues to consider when casting your vote, and you should absolutely apply your (hopefully informed) beliefs and make careful choices at the ballot box tomorrow.

I try very hard not to take politics personally. I like the idea that we can all discuss these divisive issues and still walk away from the table respecting each other’s humanity (if not intelligence). But if you vote for Mitt Romney as your candidate, know that you’ve cast a vote for someone who has openly and repeatedly classified me, my partner, and most of my friends as second-class citizens. And if he wins, you will have empowered him to effectively cripple any chance I have of ever entering into a marriage that is recognized on a federal level. No matter what other reasons you may have, a vote for Romney cannot be disassociated with a vote against my humanity, my rights and my chance at having a legally recognized and equally protected family. It’s just that simple, and you had better believe I am taking it personally.

This is a critical time for the LGBT equality movement for several reasons, but here is perhaps the biggest reason of all.

The person who wins the presidency tomorrow will have a lasting part to play in how the relationships between gay people are regarded in the eyes of the law. We have seen scattered successes in the legalization of gay marriage in various state legislatures, but as it stands we also have the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the books, which was signed into federal law in 1996 to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The law dictates that even if individual states allow same-sex marriage, as some six or so now do, the gay couples married within those states are still not entitled to federal benefits—about 1,000 of them, including Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and veterans’ programs—and allows the rest of the states to ignore their marriages altogether.

In recent months, DOMA has been deemed unconstitutional by two separate federal courts, and will likely be heard by the Supreme Court in next year or two. Several of the Supreme Court’s progressive justices are aging; Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a progressive, is 79 years old; Stephen Beyer is 74. Even the conservative Scalia is 76. None is at death’s door, exactly, but whoever wins this presidential election will likely have the chance to nominate one or even two new justices. Romney has vowed to appoint staunch conservatives whose rulings are almost certain to help preserve DOMA. President Obama will of course make more progressive appointments, who are more likely to acknowledge just how antiquated and discriminatory this law has become—just as more and more Americans understand and accept gays and lesbians as their friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members.

Setting aside that Mitt Romney has presented no viable, specific tax plan to do a better job than President Obama has at cutting our deficit; that at Bain Capital he was instrumental in a machine that exported untold thousands of jobs overseas; that he has reversed his position on who knows how many proposed policies (including the Affordable Care Act) for reasons of political convenience; that he has blamed president Obama for the debt ceiling crisis and the partisan gridlock that even a fool knows was a result of militant obstructionism by the party he represents—Mitt Romney has vowed to underscore my current status as a second class citizen in the eyes of the law, and to fight any effort to elevate it. If you chose to cast a vote his way (and if you are gay, transgender, black, Hispanic, a woman, or a member of the middle class, there is honestly no rational reason why you should) you are agreeing with that assessment in as official a capacity as possible. And you know what? I have every right in the world to take that personally.

Please, please PLEASE vote tomorrow for the candidate you honestly feel will better the condition of all Americans. But know that your actions have real-life consequences, and for me and my friends and loved ones who are gay, and all the other gay people you may know and care about, those consequences will make a lifetime of difference.

Heather Hogan for AfterEllen (X)

That’s what I’ve been saying for ages. Thank you, Heather!

(via relax-o-vision)

(via laughingfish)

(via churrocigar)