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silverfoxesclub-digest In this issue:
-NYC Dads and Lads November Brunch
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Subject: NYC Dads and Lads November Brunch
Hello all,
The NYC Dads and Lads has officially confirmed our next brunch to be this
Saturday, November 11th at 1pm. If you wish to attend, please email me
and I will give you the details.
This is the third brunch this year, we have also had three happy hours.
Edward
Subject: Ben Boxer on the election
The election of George W. Bush and
another Republican-controlled
Congress may seem to have a
negative impact on the gay men and
lesbian community, but my perception
of it is positive.
Many of us have come to believe that the
Republican Party and its platform are
the nemesis of women's and gay rights
in the United States and that our only
hope of salvation is the ascendancy of
the Democratic Party. Now, however,
the opportunity has arisen for a
Republican President and a
Republican-dominated Congress to
demonstrate their intent in these
areas, including the appointment of
Supreme Court Justices whose bias
may be against women and
gays/lesbians.
What is positive about this?
The actions of the new President and his
Congress will unmask the hypocrisy
lurking behind their false pieties and
reveal their obeisance to the Religious
Right and other forces of evil
determined to invert our progress or
even to destroy us. Sensible,
freedom-loving Americans will no
longer in clear conscience be able to
support what may well have become
an essentially fascist government.
With the country obviously divided
almost down the middle, Republican
excesses in the next four years could
result in a repeat performance for the
Bush family -- a one-term presidency
-- when the small percentage of voters
needed to achieve a
Democrat-dominated White House
and Capitol Hill will march into the
voting booths of 2004 and oust the
Republicans with a well-deserved
one-two punch on the ballot.
Subject: "I now pronounce you dude and dude!"
Headline:
Text:
Both dolls wore tuxedos.
``The topper is a beautiful memento of
our ceremony. It fits who we are,'' said
Dan Janssen, 38, who exchanged vows
with partner David Tullis, 35, on a
sailboat a few miles off the Key West
shore before a salmon-sunset sky. ``It's
a symbol of us.''
As gay couples look for ways to tie the
knot through commitment ceremonies
and as states and counties have began
to recognize couples as domestic
partners, more amenities have opened
up to respond to their needs.
The alternative wedding cake topper is
among the latest to take the cake, so to
speak.
``My goal is to have them in every
store and bakery that carries wedding
tops,'' said Marlene Alcay of Pembroke
Pines, who recently launched
Alternative Wedding Cake Tops.
She says there is a need for the product
as alternative lifestyles continue
breaking cultural molds.
In recent years, the gay community has
gained more acceptance politically and
culturally. They are opening retirement
homes for their golden years. They run
their own newspapers and publications
for news of interest.
That, coupled with the gay rights
movement, has bolstered more couples'
desires to have formal ceremonies --
with or without formal laws.
They are even hiring
wedding/commitment ceremony
coordinators.
No one knows how many gay couples
exchange vows each year, because
such records are either not kept or hard
to come by.
Official licenses are not filed.
Churches do not report how many such
couples they have united, and many
ceremonies do not take place in
churches.
Such factors make using standard
wedding amenities such as cake
toppers difficult to find, especially
when the bride happens to be another
groom.
Traditionally, gay couples would stick
two groom-figurines together or attach
two bride figurines for their
ceremonies, or they wouldn't use
anything at all -- since no state
currently recognizes gay marriages as
legal.
However, Vermont recently recognized
a couple's inheritance rights. Broward
County, for example, has an ordinance
that allows gay and lesbian couples to
register as domestic partners and offers
insurance benefits to partners of county
employees.
``Regardless of whether a state
recognizes they have rights, they are
still getting married in their own
ceremonies,'' said Alcay.
She has spent three years developing
the cake top concept, from illustrating
the designs to getting the copyright for
the name to contracting with a New
York manufacturing house to produce
the figurines. About 2,000 are in stock.
Her line features three designs. There
is the one with two porcelain brides,
arm-to-arm, in gowns holding
bouquets. The ``male-male'' features
the two grooms. And the third has a
bride in a dress with another bride clad
in a tuxedo.
The idea came to Alcay not because of
her sexual orientation. (She's
heterosexual.) She was thinking of
ideas to make money, and it ``just came
to me.'' ``They are a community. They
exist, yet there is no wedding top for
them,'' said Alcay, who also works
with her parents at their Northwest
Miami-Dade eatery La Caridad
Cafeteria.
When she's not there, she's out hawking
her cake ornaments to local and
national gay retail stores.
Customers are beginning to line up.
Beproud.com, an online gay and
lesbian retail store based in San
Francisco, bought 45 of the
cake-wedding tops recently and feature
them on its web site.
``It's kind of a novelty to have those
ornaments at gay weddings,'' said
Janssen, the Key groom. He said that he
has seen more of the wedding cake tops
suited to same-sex ceremonies this past
year. His ornament now tops his
dresser.
``It was a nice touch,'' said Janssen, a
project manager for a communications
company in Georgia. He and Tullis
were dating for nine months when they
decided to exchange vows on a boat
while in Key West. ``Every time I look
at, it reminds me of that day.''
Subject: Bush's Gay Scorecard
Ben Boxer notes: A few things we can
look forward to.....
Headline:
Text:
Since the primaries, Bush has been
trying to project a more centrist
image; he even sat down with a dozen
gay supporters in April. Based largely
on that meeting, as well as the more
inclusive environment Bush tried to
create at the August Republican
Convention, the Log Cabin
Republicans endorsed Bush for
president. But while Bush has
promised to engage in an ongoing
"dialogue" with the group, he has not
changed any of his anti-gay positions.
And in the second presidential debate,
Bush seemed to characterize gay
rights as "special rights." So most
GLBT groups remain staunchly
opposed to Bush, particularly because
he would likely appoint very
conservative justices to the Supreme
Court. As a Human Rights Campaign
report concluded, "While not
outspoken in his opposition to gay and
lesbian equality, he has aligned
himself with the right nearly every
time it has served him politically."
Domestic Partnership/Same-Sex
Marriage: Bush opposes same-sex
marriages. While he has not clearly
stated a position on DP benefits, he
declined to grant them to Texas state
employees.
Adoption Rights: Bush opposes all gay
and lesbian adoptions and supported a
Texas bill preventing homosexuals
from becoming parents.
"I believe children ought to be
adopted in families with a woman and
man who are married." -- Dallas
Morning News, March 23, 1999
Military Service: Bush supports
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell." While he has
conceded that it could be better
executed, he does not believe the
policy should be changed.
"I support the current 'Don't Ask,
Don't Tell' policy crafted by General
Colin Powell regarding homosexuals
in the military. We are blessed and
fortunate to have had so many men
and women fight so valiantly for our
liberties in America. And I respect
and admire anyone who has served in
any branch of our military and put his
or her life on the line for our
freedom." -- Associated Press,
September 5, 2000
(Ben Boxer notes: Before the election,
it was rumored that Bush may have
chosen Powell to be his future
Secretary of State. Powell is widely
respected, but I think of him primarily
as the homophobe who designed and
put into place this infamous insult to
gay men who have died in the service
of their country. If there is any justice,
the European Union will condemn his
appointment if it should occur, for his
crime againt gay humanity.)
Hate Crimes Legislation: Bush
opposes all hate crimes legislation,
regardless of whether or not it
includes homosexuality as a protected
category.
"I have always said that all crime is
hate crime. People, when they commit
a crime, have hate in their heart. And
it's hard to distinguish between one
degree and another." -- Dallas
Morning News, March 23, 1999
Employment Non-Discrimination:
Bush claims to be against
discrimination, but says he considers
protections for gays and lesbians to be
unnecessary "special" rights. He has
also made contradictory statements
about his willingness to appoint
openly queer people. However, he did
say that sexuality should not
automatically disqualify someone
from consideration for an
appointment.
"The next president must fight against
discrimination, but I think we can do
so without special treatment of
people." -- NGLTF Report, "What's
at Stake," 1999
AIDS/Health Care:: Bush has been a
consistent opponent of funding for
AIDS prevention and education,
arguing that abstinence alone should
be taught in schools. During his term,
the Texas Department of Health
began a name-reporting program for
people with HIV.
Subject: Darwin Award nominees 2000
IT'S TIME FOR THE 2000 DARWIN AWARD NOMINEES!
THE DARWIN AWARDS celebrate those who improve our species the most
by eliminating themselves from the gene pool in really stupid ways.
MOSCOW MARAUDER (4.0/10) A man who threatened to "deal with" his wife
and her lover blew himself up with a home-made bomb in September when
the device the man was attaching to the door of their not-so-secret
apartment boudoir exploded in his hands.
THROWING STONES (4.4/10) A Middle East protestor standing in the road
throwing stones at oncoming cars died when a driver tried to swerve away
from the stones, but lost control of his car and careened across the road,
injuring the driver and killing the assailant.
TIRED OF IT ALL (4.6/10) An experienced thief sneaked onto the lot of the
Buckeye Ford Dealership in London, Ohio, intending to steal tires from the
new cars. But his expertise failed him when the vehicle he had jacked up
slipped and fell, landing squarely on his chest.
PERILOUS POSE (4.6/10) A 53-year-old tourist posing nude for his camera
in picturesque Rothemberg, Germany, slipped from the stone wall while
preparing for the shot, and fell sixteen feet to his death.
DUCT TAPE (4.7/10) A misplaced faith in the miracle of duct tape led
to the demise of a man boating on the Columbia River when his 12-foot
aluminum dinghy, held together with duct tape repairs, capsized during
a fishing trip.
PASSIONATE PLUNGE (5.0/10) A man with the unlikely ambition to jump off
every river bridge in Norwich ended his athletic career with a deadly
seventy foot leap into three feet of water in April. Emergency workers
were unable to resuscitate the man, who was said to possess "a strange
and unusual passion for jumping into rivers."
KISS OF DEATH (5.0/10) A 36-year-old biochemist who attended a farewell
performance of the legendary rock band KISS climbed a 7-foot wall to gain
a better view of the stage--only to mistake a curtain for a solid wall,
and plunge to his death on an escalator 100 feet below.
STONED SLEEP (5.5/10) A North Carolina woman who had been smoking
marijuana learned a hard lesson about drugs when she decided to sleep
on the roof of the King Charles Inn. Sound asleep, she slid off the roof
and fell to her death shortly before dawn. When police arrived at the
scene, her stoned boyfriend was found still sleeping on the roof.
HORNET CHALLENGE (5.8/10) A 53-year-old man with a reputation as a 'strong
man' accepted a dare to stand beneath a hornets' nest in Phnom Penh, while
two men pelted it with stones. He endured the pain of countless stinging
hornets before expiring from the toxic injections.
TWO-AVALANCHE ALASKAN (5.8/10) A 43-year-old Fairbanks man attempting to
highmark the mountains in his snowmobile died in an avalanche in Fairbanks
Alaska in April. It was the second snowmobile-induced avalanche he had
been caught in that day, and he had already been warned by authorities
to stop highmarking in the dangerous snow conditions.
BABY DRIVE ME CRAZY (5.9/10) The bodies of a young couple were discovered
naked in the wreckage of a freak car accident in Italy in May.
Investigators assume that prior to the accident, the couple was having sex
in their small Italian vehicle while it raced along windy roads at upwards
of 80mph.
RUNNING OF THE BULLS (5.9/10) A Berlin woman attempting to capture a
memorable photograph of the Running Bulls in the southern town of Nimes
paid for her stupidity with her life on Sunday. The 68-year-old
photographer removed a metal safety barricade and strode into the street
with her camera to her eye, where she was trampled by a horse and six
rampaging bulls.
RAPPIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR (6.1/10) Artists sometimes bleed for their work,
but usually not literally. A gangster-rap video artist changed all that
when he put a gun to his head and shot himself through the temple while
the cameras rolled, accidentally putting an end to his creative efforts.
OUT WITH A BANG! (6.2/10) Heating air in a sealed container such as
a truck tire causes the gas to expand and the pressure to increase.
A mechanic at a tire store in Georgia learned this lesson in physics
the hard way when an inflated tire he and was welding exploded,
spewing shrapnel and killing him instantly.
WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE (6.3/10) A Kentucky man died after he and his friend
decided to reenact the William Tell scene where the famous archer is
forced to shoot an apple off his son's head. They used a beer can instead
of an apple, and their aim was not as accurate as the legendary archer.
HUMAN HITCHING POST (6.3/10) A 29-year-old woman was killed in Nevada when
she attempted to quell the temper of her spirited Arabian horse by tying
herself to its head. The excitable animal spooked and dragged her around
the paddock, trampling her beneath its hooves.
SHOCKING FALL (6.8/10) 26-year-old man earned a place in history as the
first person to die celebrating the millennium. Minutes before midnight,
the Stanford graduate climbed to the top of a street light in front of
the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and waved to the enthusiastic revelers below.
At midnight he slipped and, in an effort to break his fall, grabbed the
electric wires and found himself conducting more than a cheering crowd.
DO IT YOURSELF: DO YOURSELF IN (6.8/10) A 34-year-old Colorado contractor
wired his garden fence with household current in an attempt to keep his
dog confined to the yard. He electrocuted himself when he inadvertently
brushed the fence while reaching for a ripe tomato.
FIREWORKS FIASCO (7.1/10) People routinely lose fingers and eyes in
fireworks explosions during America's Independence Day celebration, and
the bigger the fireworks, the greater the damage. A 34-year-old man
suffered partial decapitation when he peered into the mouth of a launching
tube containing what he incorrectly assumed was a malfunctioning aerial
firework. It exploded, producing a spectacular grand finale for both his
head and the party.
HUMAN POPSICLE (7.3/10) Ohio police located the body of a missing truck
driver in January after his employer reported him missing in action. The
man was found frozen head down among the broccoli pallets, where he had
apparently slipped while trying to retrieve a hidden stash of cocaine,
THE DAILY GRIND (7.7/10) The owner of a chipping company in Maine was rent
asunder by his own wood chipper when he stumbled into the intake while
trying to break up a bark jam without first disconnecting the power.
------------------------------
|
Perched on their white wedding cake:
two groom figurines, one holding a
bouquet of flowers and the other
caressing his hand.