The Column of Life

Canadian Parliament approves same sex marriage Wed Jun 29, 2005 By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Parliament on Tuesday approved legislation to allow same sex marriages across the country, despite fierce opposition from conservative politicians and religious groups. Legislators voted by 158-133 to support the bill, which makes Canada only the third country in the world after Belgium and the Netherlands to permit gay marriages. Most Canadian provinces already allow same-sex marriages, and Canada has become a popular destination for gay and lesbian couples from countries where these unions are banned. The minority Liberal government said it had to draw up the legislation after courts in eight of the country's 10 provinces ruled that a ban same-sex marriages was unconstitutional because it violated Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canada's relaxed stance on gay marriage, and on other social issues, stands in contrast to that of the United States, w...

Tower Records Any Wednesday Cabaret Series continues Wednesday June 29, 2005 at 6PM at Tower Records Lincoln Center, Broadway & 66th. Wednesday Evening there will be a full report on Bobbie Eakes' performance and the meet and greet which will be sure to involve some interesting folks! See you there!

One of the good people who read this BLOG had this to say: “… You really don't give the Midwest much credit. I am actually a hoosier … we had tons of gay folks living out in the ‘burbs with all us normal folks. In fact, my daughter used to baby-sit for a lesbian couple at the end of our building. ... Point being, maybe some of the older folks are homophobic, but the kids... they don't care, and I think that it's a trend, and a good one at that.” Perhaps it is best to point this out right now Definitions of MIDDLE AMERICA on the Web: • The moderate, middle-class segment of the US population that comprises the largest consumer group. • Antigua and Barbuda • Meso-America, i.e. Central America • Middle America is an American colloquialism used-- in contrast against "coastal America"-- to describe a region of the United States that, geographically, comprises the bulk of the nation. Middle America in yesterday’s assessment of the Gay State of the Nation is best descri...

Queer As Folk even with its best of intentions is certainly not the be all and end all regarding Gay Pride, but it certainly helps. In last Sunday’s episode Emmett comes to a realization that many gay men are “accepted” only as asexual creatures who are very cute, funny and the best best friend a girl could have. Those non gay people who love the gay people depicted on their TV screens are hard pressed to think about let alone accept what it is that makes them gay. No, it is not only sexual activity that makes a gay man gay, it is also love. Nevertheless it is impossible to separate heterosexual love from heterosexual activity is it not? Therefore men loving men by necessity is precisely the same. Perhaps Emmett should not have gone on television to let people know the size of his penis and firmness of his butt and show off his underwear to boot, yet it was/is somehow important to let others know that all gay people come equipped with needs and hormones and physical...

June 26, 1956 Christopher Joseph Isaak came into the world and many people throughout the world are very happy because of it. His parents brought him into the world in Stockton, California, but it as if Ricky Nelson and Roy Orbison had a love child. Mr. Isaak well known as a universal heart throb because of his exceptional good looks is an exceptional songwriter and performer empowered with sensitivity and a great deal of intelligence. His vocal range is noteworthy which graces a recording catalogue which began nigh on twenty years ago with such song titles as "You Owe Me Some Kind of Love," "Wicked Game" and "Shadows in the Mirror." San Francisco Days is a stand out album as is Always Got Tonight . He tours practically endlessly and is a tireless performer to which those who have attended his concerts can testify. Many of those who admire his talents also admire his great wit. The man who was born on what was to become Gay Pride Day had this say about ma...

Say what you will about Carolyn Hinsey, it does seem she cares about the continuing drama of Daytime Television’s Daytime Dramas. More often than not she comes down on what some may say is the right side, i.e. the viewer’s side, perhaps it is because she is the consummate viewer. She has recently opined on One Life to Live and the recent plot re: Daniel Colson and his gay related crimes. She wrote in last week’s issue of SOD: OLTL shot to No. 1 in the demos in the week Daniel was busted, and some people around here said it was due to the gay storyline. Wrong: The fallout from the gay storyline. Give me a clear villain (Daniel) and then let me watch a clear hero (Bo) close in on him with a beloved heroine (Nora) at stake and I’m in. OLTL played all the beats, roping in lots of young people (Rex, Jen, Marcie, Natalie, even Matthew) in a logical way. … I hope they keep Mark around. It would be interesting to watch him struggle to rebound from his relationship with h...

Me? I believe I’m a caterpillar buried deep down under the ground. The entire earth is above me, crushing me and I begin to bore through the soil, making a passage to the surface so that I can penetrate the crust and issue into the light. It’s hard work boring through the entire earth, but I am able to be patient because I have a strong premonition that as soon as I do issue into the light I shall become a butterfly. -- Nikos Kazantzakis

Perhaps it’s a viewer’s own pretense to expect daytime drama to rise to the occasion of the depiction of gay people consistently and realistically since lately there has been much to be desired in the depiction of everybody no matter their sexual orientation, skin colour or gender. Many viewers, it is suspected, have had a desire to see gay people integrated into the canvases of various afternoon serials. In the past, All My Children, One Life to Live and As the World Turns have made valiant efforts in that direction. During those memorable moments in Daytime TV history, the creative quotient was much higher than one might find in this not so memorable moment of the genre’s history. Those stories centered around acceptance of gay people and AIDS while leaning toward the goodliness of the gay character and sometimes the not so gay characters involved in their lives. Mark Dobies as Daniel Colson One Life to Live is currently at the tail end of a story involving a closeted, murdering poli...

CBC News June 14, 2005 Two men were married in the chapel at Nova Scotia's Greenwood airbase in May, in what's being called the Canadian military's first gay wedding. Lt.-Cmdr. David Greenwood, the base's head chaplain, said a sergeant and a warrant officer were married May 3 in front of about 45 guests. "This couple had been waiting a very long, long time," said Greenwood, declining to give their names because he hadn't asked for permission. In September, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled that banning same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, effectively changing the definition of marriage in the province to "the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others." The military has said it's willing to host gay weddings in jurisdictions where it's legal. A low-key marriage ceremony Greenwood, an Anglican, did not perform the marriage but he did make the arrangements for the service while a United Church minister from nearby Wolfv...