It's gotten a bit lost in the New York City news cycle because of this Spitzer mess, so it may be worth taking a moment to mention Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern. You know, the one who said homosexuality is a bigger threat to our nation than "terrorism or Islam." Here she is in a video put together by the HRC:

What I think Ms. Sally is missing, though, is the fact that she's not saying gays are a worse threat, she's saying we're a better threat.

Big Mouth is going to go out on a limb and say something that nobody wants to hear right now, something that I'm sure even Big Queer readers (and contributors) will find extremely unpopular: I don't think visiting prostitutes and having bareback anal sex makes Eliot Spitzer unable to govern the state of New York.

I get the part where I'm supposed to be all upset that he broke a law -- and I'm totally upset about that, and I'm totally aware of how it is particularly hypocritical that Mr. Clean/Eliot Ness broke one. I GET IT. But as I have written on this blog over and over and over again, we Americans allow sex panic to prevent us from making intelligent decisions about the laws we pass, media representation, people in office, and HIV/AIDS.

Here are some statements I can make with complete and total confidence:

• Many political leaders, good and bad, in the history of the world have had sex with prostitutes.
• Many political leaders, good and bad, in the history of the world have had unsafe sex.
• Many political leaders, good and bad, in the history of the world have had unsafe sex with prostitutes.

But you know what else? What they did behind closed doors did very little (possibly nothing) to harm their constituents.

Last week, tragic school shootings were once again U.S. headline news. First there was the murder of Lawrence King by his 14-year-old classmate Brandon McInerney (as reported on BQ by Fastlad); then a shooting spree at Northern Illinois University where gunman Steven Kazmierczak, 27, took the lives of 7 people (detailed in this New York Times article).

Big Mouth has a morbid obsession with school shootings for a few reasons: 1) because every kid in America has thought about exacting vengeance on his/her high school tormentors; 2) because the ultimate blame for the shootings is often placed on the shooters' consumer identities (their music, clothes, entertainment choices) and means of expression (their writings, drawings, fashion) rather the availability of guns, high school and bullying culture, the average American's love of violence, or on the shooters themselves; and 3) because the phenomenon is -- with few exceptions -- so uniquely one of young, white, American men but is not associated by the media or society as crimes of racial/ethnic or patriarchal/masculine origin. And, finally, aside from all these intellectual reasons, there is of course a question that always springs to my (and others') forebrain(s):

Why did he/they do it?

1. I like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

2. I am still in love with my first boyfriend even though I barely know him anymore.

3. I am so bad at lying outright that I've figured out ways of telling misleading truths.

4. I don't speak Tagalog (my parents' native tongue).

5. I sometimes wish I were stupider than I am, so I could just do things instead of thinking through every possibility.

6. I have an irrational fear of mirrors, especially at night.

7. I watch bareback porn.

8. I have a "sinful" degree of pride in some of the plays I write.

9. I would get liposuction if I could, and I'm embarassed that I can be that superficial.

10. Also, I'm gay.

Happy National Coming Out Day. Don't be ashamed about any of your oddities, and don't think you have to keep them to yourselves. Click here to visit the National Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Community Centers to find coming out resources at your local LGBT center.

Queer-on-queer discrimination, skeezy senators, and marriage inequality, oh my!

We need at least one post to lighten up a bit after the past few weeks on BQ. So check this out, Big Mouth has compiled a little alterna-queer playlist, since playlists seem to be all the rage with the kids these days. Which sends me on the following tangent: who out there remembers making mix tapes? Having to carefully pick all the songs beforehand so you only record once so songs retain the highest sound quality and don't accidentally get cut off at the end. Always ending up with three spare minutes where you tack on some song you don't like all that much because it's short. Being stuck with what you got when you listen to it the first time and realize the transition between song two and song three is way too jarring. Ah, those were the days...

All right, enough nostalgia for caveman technology!

The third time truly is a charm! After not passing in 2002 and then passing the Senate but getting stripped out of a larger spending bill in 2004, the push to condemn hate crimes against GLBTQ 'n' Q Americans has been validated on a Federal level.

But we're not done yet. Before I get into that, though, here are some links to news stories:

Senate attaches hate crimes measure to Iraq spending bill, Guardian Unlimited, September 27, 2007

U.S. Senate Passes Hate Crimes Bill By Huge Margin, But Bush Veto Looms, EdgeBoston, September 27, 2007

Senate Passes Matthew Shepard Act, Queerty, September 27, 2007

The important thing to note is that this is as far as the MSA got in 2004. It then got stripped when the House and Senate were putting together the final war spending bill that would actually get on the President's desk, because they knew he would veto it (and all of the attached essential legislation).

So what do we do now?

Just when you thought the world couldn't get any weirder, a homophobic, anti-Marriage Equality, conservative, Republican senator might just make it safe for queers to cruise in public bathrooms, parks, rest stops, truck stops, saunas, gyms, and locker rooms!

When the whole Larry Craig thing started going down, I was (as you've all probably guessed or read) pretty cranky about the whole thing. And by cranky, I mean royally, er...senatorially pissed! Pissed at Craig, at the police, at our sex-panicking society, and at other queers for actively participating in the latest faggot freakshow simply because it would get an anti-gay senator out of the Senate.

Two weeks ago, the only silver lining I could find on this cloud was that the word "toe-tapper" was ironically reclaimed in about the same short time that it had become a slur. I, for one, get tired of spitting out bitch, cocksucker, fudgepacker, cum slut, and fag -- thank god for the addition of toe-tapper to my repetoire!

And then came the ACLU.

As you might remember, I've been keeping my eyes peeled regarding how and why and when people (particularly straight folks) use "faggot" and its variations in public discourse. So here are a few news tidbits on Jerry Lewis' recent fumble into maligning the faggily-inclined:

Jerry Lewis Echoes Isaiah, Apologizes (E! Online), September 4, 2007

GLAAD goes after Nutty Jerry (Queerty), September 4, 2007

Jerry Lewis Apologizes for "Fag" Slur (Towleroad), September 4, 2007

What's particularly weird about this one is that it was during a Telethon to raise money for children. In what universe is the usage of any slur in that situation even close to okay? Could you imagine him running up and down the stage going: "Here's Candy, the 'spic ho. And Larry, the nigger lardass..."

What a world, what a world.

Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, et al.

Let 'em. "Why?" you ask. Because they are.

Once again we find ourselves in the midst of another gay freakshow where the scandalous misdeeds of a dishonest, promiscuous, sexually out of control faggot, who can't keep his dick in his pants (or at least pointed at a urinal solely for purposes of waste elimination) is being shoved into the public eye in order to sell papers. The problem with this characterization?

Oh, yeah, he's not a fag.

As Craig stated after thanking everyone "for coming out" (Fastlad's preposition of the year): "I am not gay. I never have been gay." And once again, I say let him be not gay. Them. All of them. Because when I think of LBGTQ 'n' Q people, of pansies, of faggots, of fudgepackers, rugmunchers, poofs, dykes, and homos I think of the out, proud, smart, sexy, and fun-loving bunch I call my friends and neighbors. That's gay to me - not an ugly, self-hating white guy who lies to his family, constituents, country, and Self.

So if LC wants to hit it on the DL, dawg, then why argue with him? A gay person could never do what he's done. Who could do it? A straight person. A person so straight that he should be writing posts for Big Straight Blog. So straight he should be the standard bearer for assholes so into maintaining a bigoted, hate-fueled social order that he would turn against himself. So straight that he could live a life of lies that no real gay person ever could. I mean, if he'd just identified as gay 40 years ago (or earlier or later), the life he's leading now wouldn't have been possible. He would be a strong, proud gay dude, not a weak, lying straight fucktard.

Those of you who read my personal blog play rey play know that I'm a big fan of Pansy Division, a band of fabulous punks that were a major part of the Queercore movement. When most rockers were afraid to be openly gay and most gays weren't interested in music that didn't have an electronic thump-thump that encouraged the good ol' hump-hump, Pansy Division along with God Is My Co-Pilot and Riot Grrrl were bringing guitar-humming messages of homo liberation, politics, and pride to rock venues across America.

After a few years of only performing for special occassions and causes, Pansy Division announced that they'll be touring this fall!