The State of the Union
Okay, while I would love to write all about this – I actually do need to work. Terrible, right? But I wanted to just mention one thing…
I have become frustrated with how President Obama has handled “the gay issues” (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act). I, along with many, feel he hasn’t done all he could (and should!) for equality. And last night, many felt he should have said more on this issue. His full quote in his speech about DADT:
This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. It’s the right thing to do.
No, that’s not a lot. And it’s also not a promise, or him issuing an executive order. However, his saying that he’s going to work to end the repeal – and that he said so in front of a joint session of Congress, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Supreme Court Justices – is promising.
But I started thinking… The first time a president ever mentioned advocating for gay rights in a SOTU was President Clinton (the one who signed DADT and DOMA into law, let’s remember), back in 1999. And all he said was:
Discrimination or violence because of race or religion, ancestry or gender, disability or sexual orientation is wrong and it ought to be illegal. Therefore, I ask Congress to make the Employment Nondiscrimination Act and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act the law of the land.
Talk about vague, eh? And let’s remember he was on his way out of office; Obama still has three years on this term.
And so it helped to remind myself what President Bush (#43) said about gay equality. Oh, he talked about gay rights during his SOTU – about how there shouldn’t be any. From 2004:
A strong America must also value the institution of marriage. I believe we should respect individuals as we take a principled stand for one of the most fundamental, enduring institutions of our civilization. Congress has already taken a stand on this issue by passing the Defense of Marriage Act, signed in 1996 by President Clinton. That statute protects marriage under federal law as a union of a man and a woman, and declares that one state may not redefine marriage for other states.
Activist judges, however, have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives. On an issue of such great consequence, the people’s voice must be heard. If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process. Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.
I won’t go into all of Bush’s points – thankfully, he’s out of office and can’t do any more damage. But he certainly did dedicate a large chunk of his speech to that, huh?
So all I am saying is, when we’re frustrated with Obama’s ‘lack of action’, it’s important to remind ourselves where we’re coming from, and what we’re trying to correct from the past. I hope (and trust) that he’ll do more before he leaves office; in the meantime, I am just happy we no longer have a bigoted man in the White House who uses anti-gay rhetoric to ‘motivate the base’.
My First Thespian Experience
My good friend Dan is a playwright (or, as he prefers, a writer). I met him soon after I moved to New York, and over the past year or so, he’s been trying to get me in something he’s written. First, it was just a reading – that fell through. Then, a couple of months ago, he asked me to read for a character in a short play he’d written. The play was only about 10 pages long, and would be just one of a short play “lab”. I read it, and liked it, and before I could talk myself out of it – I agreed.
And I have to say…it wasn’t bad! The play was only about 15 minutes, and my part was sort of as a narrator, so it was really almost more of a storyteller than actor – I sat in the middle of the stage and talked to the audience, and then interacted with the other two actors as they came and went from the stage. There were only two performances, and as it was just in a small black-box theatre, the sold-out crowd was still only 60-80 people. But was I nervous? Well yes, yes I was. Though I think the process of rehearsing/learning lines was almost more nerve-wracking than actually performing the thing! But it went well (if I do say so myself). I did flub a line on the 2nd performance, but (according to the director) I covered it and nobody could tell.
But yeah, the whole experience was pretty fun. It was neat being part of the process, and nice to meet new people (I obviously know the writer and also know the director, aka Dan’s roommate, but I didn’t know the other two actors before we started). I can’t say I’ve caught the acting bug full-on; I am definitely not quitting my job to pursue a career on stage. But would I do it again, if asked? Absolutely.
Aide-mémoire 