The First Lady is off in Africa, pushing Faith Based Groups in their efforts to combat AIDS and HIV infection. It is nice to see her out there, doing that, but you have to wonder at the Conservatives these days. Have they lost their brains? Do they even know what year they are in? Never mind century, or millennium because frankly they seem lost. For the First Lady to say that ‘abstinence‘ is an integral part of preventing AIDS infections, while downplaying the need for Condoms is simply ludicrous.

In Zambia, Mrs. Bush told reporters abstinence “is a very important component of the program.”

“There are several ways in which we can reach young people,” she said. “One of the effective ways is abstinence … it brings back dignity and self-responsibility to young people.” (source)

If you don’t share needles, if you don’t have sex, if you don’t get any blood transfusions, yes, the odds of contracting HIV are pretty slim, along with other diseases. However, let us be realistic. Africa is facing a pandemic, as in most African Countries, over half are already infected. To suggest Abstinence is like telling the farmer whose horses all ran out of the barn, that he needs to keep the barn door closed.

The epidemic is there, now. To prevent its spread, wide use of Condoms is needed, if not vital. This isn’t about queers, it is about married people, heterosexuals, who have one or the other infected. Children are being born infected in growing numbers, and the answer isn’t to tell them to keep the zipper up, legs closed. That is simply advice after the fact.

This really is the problem the world has with America. It attempts to moralize everything, and not see what is staring them right in the face. People are dying, and telling them to abstain from sex is adding insult to the whole thing. They need medicine, to stay alive, and Condoms to insure they don’t spread it among the very few uninfected. Sex is not hidden in the closet like it is in America. They expect it, and to suggest that married couples cease having sex, well, its simply a waste of money.

Course when it comes to wasting money, no one beats the United States Government.

However, this isn’t about money, it is about helping a poor region, survive a medical crisis. Drug companies refuse to help, citing the need to maintain their corporate profits structures. Like that is going to endear them to African Nations. Still, it does appear to be the mantra. The US Government could do more with its money by negotiating or underwriting the Drug Companies in distributing the drugs, and passing out Condoms everywhere, anywhere it can.

Condoms aren’t 100% safe, but 80% is a damn site better than preaching Abstinence, that may get you what, 10%? 15% at best?

If you doubt the argument for calling Marriage, Marriage, then doubt no more.

President Bush is threatening to VETO the appropriations bill for the District of Columbia, unless the bill includes legislation barring any of the money from being spent on the District’s Partnership Registry. Not even called Union, just a Registry and Herr Bush is not going to let any sinners profit from tax payer money.

In threatening a veto the White House on Wednesday issued a statement saying: “The Administration strongly opposes the bill’s exclusion of a longstanding provision that disallows the use of Federal funds to register unmarried, cohabitating couples in the District, to enable them to qualify for benefits on the same basis as legally married couples. Under Federal law, legal marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Federal tax dollars are not used to extend employment benefits to domestic partners of Federal employees, and D.C. should not enjoy an exception to this rule.” (source)

Oh, its okay to spend it on Church Groups, (see comment ‘Money Talks, Free Speech Suffers (pt.3)‘) even if you don’t believe in that faith, but he’ll be damned if he’ll let your taxpayer money help those living in sin. No federal money for sinners, primarily us Queers. Basically this proves beyond any doubt, that if we want to enjoy the same rights, the same benefits as Married People, we need to have it called just that, Marriage.

Without that safety net of name, we can be denied benefits at the whim of any despot dictator who can VETO the legislation.(see comment ‘Begging for a Handout‘) This is a clear example, that being Married cannot be under any other politically palatable name. Either we are married or we are not. To call it something else is merely a political sob that can be just as easily taken away as it was given.

The Domestic Partner registry includes such partner rights as hospital and nursing home visitations, medical decisions, and inheritance rights. (source)

If it is marriage, let us see if Bush and the other bigots can take away our rights, our benefits. If they do, they wind up taking them from every other married couple, including themselves. It means that by calling it what is, Marriage, we can not worry that tomorrow our hospital visitation rights won’t be taken away. It means we get health insurance as a spouse, and no despot or religious zealot like Mitt Romney could stop that, unless they stopped it for all.

MARRIAGE ONLY.

The anger that exists today, against GLBT people seems insurmountable. You have prominent people like the Pope rallying people to oppose something as simple as letting GLBT people be protected under the law. You have the President of the USA threatening to VETO any legislation that includes adding sexual orientation to the Hate Crime Laws. (see comment ‘VETO HATE, Not Justice‘). So is it any wonder that kids in school that are GLBT are under attack?

When the adults lead by example, by their little inuendos, their hate cries, and fear mongering, it is their children who pick up on it, and who propogate it. They are the ones who resort to bullying, to endanger the safe havens that should be our schools. Whether in the USA, Canada, or even the UK, bullying is a major concern. It leads to deaths, whether by design or by suicide. It is why Suicide Hotlines are expanding their operations, (see comment ‘Suicide Hotline Seeks to Expand‘) to cope with the rising numbers of teens needing help.

The study, produced for LGBT group Stonewall shows that 41 percent of British gay students have experienced homophobic bullying, that 12 percent had been sexually abused and that 17 percent had received death threats because of their sexuality. (source)

It really blows me away. I mean you listen to people like the Pope, or to Bush and how they are pushing so hard against homosexuals, out of the need to protect children. I mean how much bullshit can these people spew before the people wake up? It isn’t about sex, it is about kids being put in harm’s way, to appease some outdated religious notion.

I love these politicians who bitch and stand in the way of adding sexual orientation to job discrimination legislation, or hate crime legislation. They all claim that their interest is for a return to Family Values. What family value is it, that allows for bullying of children? What moral code is it that supports hate?

The Stonewall Riots were borne out of frustration at the system, and I wonder, how much longer before the next Stonewall Riot? Will it be this year, next, or sooner? Sure as hell, something is going to give, until politicians stop serving their religious masters, and start serving the people. This isn’t about special rights either, it is simply about protecting our children.