Let's fight this together!

So I'm pretty sure all (or most!) of you have heard of the 'No on Prop 8' campaign. Yeah? Well, photographer Adam Bouska has teamed up with a string of celebs who are also against prop 8, in a bid to start a silent protest against gay marriage discrimination.

Above is one of hundreds of photos taken by Bouska. And yes, your eyes did see correctly. The picture is of senator John McCain's daughter Meghan! Republicans aren't all so bad after all. (Did I really say that?...)

Anyway, I'd just like to point out what an amazing job Bouska and his team are doing. A lot of work obviously goes into capturing, editing and publishing the photographs, not to mention the videos they make and send out on YouTube!

As you can see, there are a lot of famous people supporting the cause - from actors to politicians - so here are just a few to get started. Go to http://www.bouska.net/ for the full collection!

I Have A Theory...

So here's a theory I came up with. I've been debating it over and over (with myself!) on whether or not it could be true.

My theory is that everyone in the world is gay, but few dare admit it.

The reason I came up with this? Well just recently, I've been noticing the growing amounts of gay and bisexual people coming out, and was just wondering: maybe all people are and are just too afraid to say! 

Crazy? Well, I was thinking, and maybe one rebellious person (there's always a bad guy in every story) wrote the Bible long ago, speaking of how man and woman were meant to be together, confusing all the new little people of the world. You know, Adam & Eve, yadda yadda yadda... Then from that day on, everyone saw homosexuality as something to be ashamed of, and became afraid to tell anyone of their same-sex attraction. 

It could be possible! Don't knock it until there's proof... (Okay, I get that there is no way of proving this, just shut up and don't be picky.)

As for Christians, (or people of other religions who oppose homosexuality) they're so far in denial that they would never think about being with someone of the same sex in fear of doing their precious God wrong... Or would they? ;)

I understand that men have for centuries used women to breed their offspring, (I won't bore you with the whole 'the sperm and the egg' notion) but would God really have given us the ability to develop new humans in other ways - ie. IVF - if he didn't want the whole of the world to be gay? I seriously think it's conceivable that God himself is gay and we have the whole thing wrong: prop 8 should be questioning the marriage between a man and a woman and Christians should be questioning whether or not God would forgive people committing 'straight sex'.

I also understand that the sudden burst of people 'coming out' around me may just be because I'm getting older, more experienced at life etc... But just think about it: How great would the world be if it was just G.A.Y?!

P.s. Obviously, if you're 'straight' and reading this, you're gonna be sat there saying "What a load of bullsh*t, I know I'm straight!" But my theory also suggests that straight people are just too insecure and scared to admit their love of the same sex because we got it all wrong from the very beginning.

Jill Bennett

I realized earlier this week when I was reading UK lesbian magazine DIVA that I don't blog about Jill Bennett enough.

Now usually, when you ask a dyke who her favorite all-time lesbian is, they'd probably answer 'Ellen!' or 'Rosie!' But to be honest, I'd have to say Jill.

So she's not as well known as Portia or Leisha, but she's high up on my own personal 'inspiration' list: she's talented - Jill played Michelle on season 3 of here! TV's Dante's Cove and the infectious Andrea on lesbian comedy web series 3way - she's absolutely gorgeous, and she actually cares about the world, in particular, one of my all-time favorite topics, gay rights.

Currently dating SheWired's Cathy DeBuono, Jill recently protested outside the mormon church that funded anti-gay proposition 8 for the way in which gay people are now classed as second class citizens in California. (Below.) This is just one of the many things Bennett has done for gay welfare, as well as sharing her life with the lesbian community - both on SheWired and AfterEllen.com - ensuring people everywhere that being gay really is ok.

For constant personal updates on Jill, follow her on Twitter: twitter.com/jillbennett14.
Alternatively, click over to SheWired.com for Jill's current video blogs or go to her MySpace page at MySpace.com/JillBennett.

I personally think she's one to watch out for: she's certainly impressed me over the past few years.

You learn something new every day...

I say 'every day' but I doubt that's really true... Imagine my luck when I learned two new things today!

Firstly, I learned the real definition of 'pugnacious.' Which isn't really relevant to this blog... And the second thing I learned was how absent homosexual rights were in America right up until 1996.

Yes, that's correct. Gay people had NO rights whatsoever until 1996. Can you believe that?! Apparently I learned this around 4 weeks ago in my American Civil Rights class at college, but it wasn't until I was doing a spot of revising that I actually paid attention to this part. According to American law, the first act passed for gay rights was in 1996, which protected homosexuals from state discrimination, and also barred the passage of any new 'anti-discriminatory' legislation against them.

Now I hate to sound like a broken record, but this makes me even more determined to abolish 'Proposition 8' in California. It is now obvious that most of the people who voted 'yes' on prop 8 were mis-informed about what it was about, and I think that if the vote was to be done again, proposition 8 would not exist.

So, without sounding like I'm nagging, please do everything you can to help the cause of prop 8, and get it over-turned once and for all! I'm not married personally, but I know how awful it must be to be kept from marrying the person you love, and a lot of people I know who it is being prejudice against say that it really hurts to know that even their 'friends' don't want them to be happy.

Go here for advice on donating and spreading the word.

Top Lesbian News of 2008.

Firstly, I'm gonna say Happy Holidays to all you lovely ladies! Whether it's Christmas, Hanukkah or something else, I hope you have a good one!

As 2008 is drawing to a close, I was thinking about the best lesbian/bisexual news throughout the year. What would be in your list of top 5 lesbian headlines?

How about 'Portia becomes Mrs. DeGeneres?'


It's great when a lesbian couple are as mainstream as Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia De Rossi, but when it is big news that an openly gay couple are getting married, it just makes me feel even more proud to be a raving homosexual.

Contrastingly, amongst your list of biggest gay headlines in 2008 may be the passing of proposition 8 in California; abolishing the rights of marriage to homosexual couples in one of America's biggest states.

However, the passing of this discriminative law is not all bad: it pushed actress and comedian Wanda Sykes to officially come out of the closet once and for all.

Since she came out, Wanda ensured the both gay and straight communities that she was 'proud to be a black woman, and proud to be gay.' Recently married in California whilst it was legal, Sykes hated the fact that her rights were being stripped away and she has given many inspirational speeches to gay audiences since.

Talking of being stripped away, take Grey's Anatomy. Yes, Grey's Anatomy, which frequently displays gay story-lines and even has a gay actor (T.R. Knight) among the cast, recently took away one of the shows best loved characters, Erica Hahn, without so much as a goodbye.

Brooke Smith (below left, with on-screen lover Sara Ramirez, who plays Callie Torres on the show) was fired from Grey's with no explanation, to many lesbians' disappointment. Some people even began petitioning for the return of the couple!

So what do you guys think? What has been the best - and worst - lesbian and bisexual news this year? And do you think next year will be just as action packed?

Should gay marriage be taught in schools?

So I'm a dance teacher and I admit it's probably the straightest job you can ever have, but that's what I do.

Last week, I was teaching 2 young girls aged around 10 years old, when one of them ever asked me if I'd ever had a male examiner for any dance exams. I said 'yes, once'. Then, one of the girls asked 'Was he gay?' and I replied, saying 'yes, he was married.' I then went on to explain that he was married to a man. Then, girl A asked 'It's illegal for a girl and a girl to get married though, isn't it?'

EXCUSE ME?!

What made this little girl feel as if there was any difference between love between two men and love between two women? Maybe it's shoddy parenting...

Take exhibit A, children's book 'King and King.'

King & King, written originally by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland and then later translated into English, is all about a gay prince who marries another gay prince and lives happily ever after, just as in a normal fairytale, just with a hint more homosexuality about it. (Although this is debatable, as the Prince is still traditionally played by a man in tights.)

Now you'd think that parents would be all for teaching their children that discrimination is incorrect and that you should not tease people for being gay. However, when teachers in Lexington, Massachusetts proposed that they read the book to their pupils to teach them about same-sex marriage, several parents of the children complained, declaring that book made gay relationships to be 'the way things should be' and one couple even filed for a lawsuit. (This lawsuit was later dismissed, thankfully, after the judge ruled that diversity is a 'hallmark of our nation.')

Now, am I the only one thinking 'GAY IS THE WAY?' Clearly not. But that's not my point. My point is, relating back to 'yes, in England it is legal for 2 girls to get married' is something that parents should be responsible for telling their children if they are not willing for their school to do so, along with 'touching fire will hurt you' and 'never take candy from strangers.'

So what do you think? Should same sex marriage be taught in schools?

Oh, and while I'm here... KEEP VOTING NO ON PROP 8!

Disappointed and enraged.

So as you probably all know, Proposition 8 (see previous blog entry) was passed this week on November 4th in California.

It's rare that I post a blog without humor or any sarcasm within it, but this is one exception. I am quite aggravated that the people in the state of California, which is widely known for being very liberal, this week abolished the rights of same sex marriage within its borders.

Now I personally don't think I will ever get married. I could, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to. However, my gay twin brother - who I love more than anything - and I plan on moving to California in the next few years, and I'm just sad to think what will happen if this proposition is not over-turned by then. It was the other day that I realized that my brother (and my best friend) will not be able to marry the person he loves. Many of my friends were crying all day at the realization that they, and their friends, could no longer be joined in civil matrimony. I just don't understand why anyone would want to vote against love.

So I urge you, people of California, to do all you can for the 'No On Prop 8' campaign. Join protests, start rallies, raise money, raise awareness. Go to www.noonprop8.com to see exactly what you can do to help.

California, the state with the highest electoral vote count (55), could theoretically be classed as the most powerful state in the US for this reason. So please, all of you out there, fight for love. Show your new president exactly what you want: Equal human rights for same sex couples.

It's over to you.

VOTE NO ON PROP 8!

The votes are almost in! The election ends on November 4th! (God forbid anyone who votes for John McCain and Sarah Palin!)

For those of you who don't know, proposition 8 is the law that, if approved, will deny the right of same sex marriage in the state of California.


I'm hoping that all of those reading this (if you live in California, of course) are voting 'no' on this preposterous proposition, and if not, then why?! Seriously. I have a few ideas why you may be voting for prop 8, but I also have some ideas why your reasons are utter bullsh*t.

1) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay.
What?! Are you stupid?! This is basically the same as saying 'Hanging with tall people will make you tall' or 'Working with white people will make you white.'

2) Straight marriage would be less meaningful if gay people could marry too.
Hmm yeah, and straight people such as Britney Spears who get married for 55 hours just for fun don't take the sanctity out of straight marriage.

3) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children.
Wait a sec, didn't we already over-populate the Earth and fill up orphanages to the brim?

4) Gay parents will raise gay children, obviously.
And straight parents only raise straight children...

5) Religion does not support gay marriage.
And everyone in the world has the same religion, who's values are imposed on the entire continent of Northern America.

6) Children can't succeed without a male and female role model in the home.
So how come we don't forbid single parents from raising children?


I'm sure you see where I'm getting at. I could go on, as there are many reasons why I oppose Proposition 8.

So if you're not already, I encourage you to vote NO ON PROP 8. Not allowing gay marriage is making a hole in the American way of life: everyone is equal.