Do "gays" replace "Wall Street" for the Dems?; more on Workey's rant; Memorial Day weekend clubbing

What, CNN is now saying that the Democratic Party has replaced Wall Street with “gays” in its campaign funding base?  I’m a little surprised to hear that out of a “liberal” cable network.

Saturday, the New York Times ran a “Common Sense” story (by James Stewart) about North Carolina gay businessman Bob Page and his company Replacements Limited in Greensboro, link here.  The title is “A company’s stand for gay marriage, and the cost”.  One of the “hate” letters he got actually included this text:  “I am very concerned that with the increased visibility and acceptance of the gay and lesbian lifestyle, one of my children, who would have grown up happily married to a husband, could be tempted to the lesbian lifestyle.”  That’s pretty blunt, and people really believe that.  Translate it this way:  As a parent, I’m afraid my kids won’t give me any grandchildren, after all these years of active marital commitment.  It seems like there’s no right to refuse sex, ironically.

The Huffington Post has an article in which NC English teacher Evan Adams discusses his personal  reaction to Maiden NC Pastor Charles Worley and his unbelievable sermon, “How Pastor Charles Worley left me fearing for my safety,” link here. (See also yesterday’s post  for HRC link).  This is no longer about the abstract notion of personal equality; it is about being left alone by those who need to dominate you (to make their own lives work).  The First Amendment cuts both ways.  

Meanwhile: Holiday Weekend perambulations:

Last night, back in DC, I did a bit of an impromptu check-up adventure on the neighborhoods, expect light crowds since this was Memorial Day weekend and people really are traveling more again to the beaches.

I stopped at the Omega, on 22^nd Street, found it pre-occupied with dancers, but no participant dancing. There’s a little stage that would work as a dance floor. There’s a couple of pool rooms, and upstairs, a place for “Wii” sports, which I had gotten introduced to a few years ago by “the kids” as a substitute teacher.  This time the game was bowling. 

Nearby, the old Apex-DC disco has become a women’s bar, Phase 1 of Dupont  (there’s another property in SE DC).  I could hear music from inside, but saw no line outside.  A police car was parked in the alley for a while as I walked past, don’t know why.  It didn’t appear that a whole lot was happening.  The Apex space had been one of my favorites, with many interesting spaces, and an elevated observation deck above the main dance floor.  In the 1990s it had been called “Badlands”.

I walked past the Pop Stop, and saw, across P Street, a long line to get into The Fireplace.  I don’t really know why that would be. 

I then “caved in” and hiked over to the Cobalt on 17^th Street.   The crowd was a little smaller than usual, because of holiday.   Upstairs there was the “last Saturday” “Raw” party, with a brief clown stage show around midnight.  Not sure that I got the context;  maybe it’s a preview of the Joker from the upcoming “The Dark Night Rises”. The mist on the dance floor tends to reflect light from cheaper digital cameras and blur the images. 

CA state pension system must allow same-sex partners to buy long-term care insurance

A story by Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee reports that a federal judge in Oakland, CA ruled that California must allow same-sex partners to purchase long-term care insurance through the CalPERS state pension fund. The link for the story (May 25) is here.  

The judge struck down a portion of DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act.  But the outcome of Proposition 8 would not necessarily affect this case. 

The state had ruled that allowing gay couples to purchase LTC insurance for partners could jeopardize its tax-free status.

The ruling came at a time when long term care insurance has suddenly received increased attention with respect to filial responsibility laws, particularly a recent judgment against an adult child in Pennsylvania forcing him to pay his mother’s nursing home bills.  But the greatest danger from these laws for LGBT and often childless people could be liability for their parents, not spouses.  Adult children, especially the childless, should be encouraging parents to get LTC insurance. 

Also, HRC's Backstory Blog has a petition and embedded video from North Carolina Pastor Charles Worely. It's pretty  graphic -- he does play the "don't reproduce" card, and that's all that seems to matter to him.  The video has gone viral, yet might violate YouTube TOS; but HRC's link is here. No, I'll decline to embed this one. 

West Hollywood benefits from being its own city (a "gay metropolis"?)

I wanted to note that my own experience in “The Abbey Food and Bar” in West Hollywood is certainly one of the most “overwhelming” – that is, last Saturday night-Sunday around 1 AM.  (The website is here ).

The place was so packed I couldn’t even determine the layout.  I crept through the crowd, negotiating past the “mountain pass” through the dancers (one of whom was doing amazing acrobatics with the upper body strength of one arm) toward the back.   Dancers could lose their tattoos as far as I'm concerned. Things happen (generally "safer").  And there was no cover.

There is a restaurant, in a separate fireplace room, which wasn’t open when I was there.  I didn’t have time to get back for a return midweek visit to see how the food part works.

I did get into the Rage, earlier, and found the entire dance floor elevated as a stage, creating an effect similar to that of the Saloon in Minneapolis (where there are a number of stages around the floor).

Parking in the Library Garage in West Hollywood was no problem, around 10 PM PDT Saturday.  There was plenty of space. You just have to pay (reasonable).  If you park on the street at night in West Hollywood, you get towed. It’s that simple.

West Hollywood, having its own incorporated city, can run a more wide-open environment, and can fine tune the relationship between the businesses (bars and restaurants) and homeowners and renters.  (You do see LA County Sheriff vehicles driving around.)  A bureaucratic city government overseen by Congress in Washington DC doesn’t have quite the same “libertarian” opportunity.

Did I see familiar faces (from the “media”)?  Yes, I did.  As well as at LAX.  No names here.  Gay men play straight characters, and vice versa.

 Earlier, Saturday afternoon, I had made a return visit to Palm Springs, having lunch in what seemed like a gay-owned eatery, and then seeing the video bars down the end of the street.  The one name I remember from a 2002 visit was something like “Hunter”.  Again, it appears that business owners in Palm Springs have a much greater “political” say in how to run things than in larger bureaucratic cities around the country.

By the way, if Ashton Kutcher invites all of his Twitter followers (over a million) to his home for a party when I’m in LA again, I might take him up on it.   My hotel was near his pad.  I remember he had a Twitter mishap like this earlier this year.  He punked himself. 

As a post-trip bonus, Nate Berkus gave us (TV viewers) a tour of a Korean family's eco-friendly "Platinum House" in Santa Monica.  It was like being there.  When I'm in LA, it always seems like spring.  But not so in the desert. 

Filial responsibility laws: could develop as a big issue for many LGBT people

The recent media story about a Pennsylvania nursing home's "successful" lawsuit against a son (before even completing the process of trying to collect Medicaid), as discussed today on my retirement blog, calls attention to a generally obscure financial threat to the lives of many childless people, including gays and lesbians.

It may become much more common soon.  Just check Google on "Pennsylvania filial responsibility laws" and one finds a number of law firms suddenly weighing in on the topic  "Poor laws", making children and sometimes siblings responsible for parents debts are on the books in 30 states, which may get more aggressive with them given longevity and economic pressures, and even some nursing homes may go after family members directly, without waiting for Medicaid.

This is not about just emotions.  Filial responsibility can come about regardless of a person's "choices".  It could turn around our concept of personal responsibility.

With parents having longer lifespans and possibly longer periods of disability because of medical advances (which can have two faces), previously childless adults are sometimes forced to deal with becoming "parents in reverse".  There can be legal implications.  Responsibility for an incapacitated parents can be enforced by Adult Protective Services in many states and has legal (sometimes criminal) implication sometimes similar to those for minor children.

As for "LGBT people", it does seem that the age off "separation", and living our own lives as if we were on another planet (a mentality common in the 70s when I came of age) is long over.  It makes the capability to get and stay married (in an emotionally permanent relationship) and participate in raising another generation and caring for a previous one (and having some command over a family structure) a likely prerequisite for "equality".  And the moral arguments about "commitment" make us run in circles.

Rutgers webcam "spy" gets light sentence; apparently this is not typical anti-gay bullying

Dharun Ravi was sentenced to 30 days in jail for bias intimidation after a webcam videotaping incident that ended in the suicide of gay Rutgers student Tyler Clementi.  Given the minimal sentence and the apparent belief by the judge that there are unusual circumstances, Ravi probably will not face deportation. He was also sentenced to fines and community service.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Jonathan Capehart commented on MSNBC, that Ravi was held accountable for his actions, but that Tyler’s tragedy was unusual in that he was one of the oldest kids in a wave of bullying cases.

The judge may have believed that Tyler had other issues, and that Ravi actually though that web monitoring of their premises is just something people do.  There may have been questions as to whether the expectations of privacy in a dorm are the same as would be in an apartment.  The judge reportedly said that he did not believe Ravi had experienced real hatred.

The case really is not typical of other bullying cases in middle and high schools. But as noted often, administrators in many school systems seem to have double standards,  having zero tolerance policies for violence and weapons but turning aside on bullying, as if the victims had some unspecified moral responsibility to meet the social “standards” of their group.  The double standard has always been very disturbing to me.

MN the next focus in gay marriage battle; LA clubs are very festive

CNN on Saturday morning has a detailed report on the schizophrenic aspect of gay rights battles in Minnesota, a “blue state” but home to Michele Bachmann.  It does house one of the largest pride festivals, in Loring Park in Minneapolis, in the nation the last weekend of June (when one year I was 102F with lots of people passing out).

CNN has a perspective by Chris Welch here. CNN offer also an op-ed “The Christian Case for Gay Marriage”, by Mark Osler, in which the discussion surrounds apostle Peter, who said that no one has the authority to deny baptism for those who seek it.

It still strikes me that when you oppose gay marriage for a lifelong committed couple, you're admitting that you need the special recognition given to total physical intercourse possible in heterosexual marriage -- and a need for that social approbation (along with the procreative and lineage-forming meanings) to maintain interest for life in "your own" marriage. Everybody has to be bound by the same rules for it to mean anything, so the feeling goes. 

In the meantime, I continue to offer my gay geography lessons, not the sort that would win for a team on Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice (even if you have Carson).

Los Angeles – West Hollywood has its festival June 8-9 – same time as Washington DC.

The West Hollywood area (actually a separate incorporated city) is notable is banning all street parking at night for those without permits – and towing.  Fortunately, the nearby public library offers garage parking for barhoppers for reasonable rates.  But night life, even in gay-friendly neightborboods, is always at odds with neighbors who want quiet and security.  We know that well from zoning battles in DC.

The behavior of people  along the Santa Monica strip (not far from Beverly Hills) is festive but not effete– in the clubs, the dancers are more prominent than in the East Coast.  The Rage has long lines to get in. The Trunk has an odd décor on a tree outside simulating the destruction of LA in the movie “Skyline” with the drooping UFO-lights.  Eveyln’s “Bad Boys” is small but lively with two stories.  And (as is the case in Dallas) there are a couple of hamburger eateries nearby so people don’t drink on empty stomachs.

 In San Diego, along University Ave. in a neighborhood called Hillcrest, things seem low-key (Flicks).

Lambda Legal will host "event" at Studio Theater in Washington May 21,

Lambda Legal will hold a fund raiser and social gathering at the Studio Theater in Washington DC on Monday May 21, with details of "The Event" (no pun with NBC) here.

The Studio Theater has hosted LGBT events before, such as a performance of the play "Another American: Asking and Telling" by Marc Wolf (now a film), in 2000, the year of the most recent "March on Washington".  HRC had an "event" at RFK Stadium that year, where I ran into Keith Meinhold.  These are very long memories.

Lambda's appearance seems timely given President Obama's recent statement on gay marriage and the flap over the Virginia legislature's treatment of Tracy Thorne.

I didn't learn of this happening until I saw the Washington Blade Saturday at Landmark's E Street Theater. Moral: Keep up with the Blade.