Imagine

Imagine a 13-year-old girl gets married in New Hampshire.  That’s the only state where it’s legal to marry that young.  Now imagine she and her husband can’t file their federal taxes together because no other state allows 13 year olds to marry.  Imagine her husband gets injured on their vacation to Indiana, and she can’t visit him in the hospital because in Indiana you have to be 15 to get married.  Imagine the couple decides to move to North Carolina, and they have to pay for separate rental applications and credit checks because you have to be 14 to get married in North Carolina.  But this is just your imagination, this 13 year old and her husband will have the rights of marriage where ever they go.

You might be repulsed by the idea of such a young girl being married, but it’s legal.  And because it’s legal where they got married, the federal government recognizes their marriage and every other state recognizes their marriage.  Because they’re straight.

In 1996 our government passed the Defense of Marriage Act.  It ensured that the federal government and other states didn’t need to recognize same-sex marriages, even if they were legal in the state where they were performed.  Same-sex marriage is now legal in five states and more states are moving in that direction.  Gay and lesbian couples married in those states face the problems I described above.

Fifty-five years ago the Supreme Court decided in Brown v Board of Education that separate is “inherently unequal” and required the integration of schools.  Education is a state’s right, but when it came down to discrimination, the federal government took a stand.  Likewise, marriage is a state’s right, but the LGBT community needs fairness and equality.  DOMA must be repealed.

Please contact your elected officials and demand marriage equality.

“The Defenders”

I’m not interested in voting on who you can marry.  Why worry about who I might want to marry?

“I’m a lesbian. Would you like to punch me?”

So I’m a little behind on the local news.  Two weeks ago today, a lesbian woman was beaten outside a club in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle.  Her attacker punched her to the ground and kicked her in the face, calling her a “dyke bitch.”

Where I first read about it. My blog title comes from the art project Gina Genius (of Team Gina) is doing.

Samantha Ronson was the headlining DJ at the event.  She blogged about it.

Pics of the survivor.

So if you’re a lesbian and concerned about gay bashing, please consider joining Gina Genius’s project.

Here’s my contribution:

How the heck did I take this person seriously for that long?

I’m not usually too personal on this blog, but for this I just can’t help myself.

So this isn’t verbatim exactly and probably won’t be the 5-7 minutes our conversation actually lasted but I think you’ll get the picture…

**ring ring**

Me: Bakker’s Fine Drycleaning, this is Nellie.

Guy: Hi, do you do alterations?

Me: Well, we don’t do any fittings, but if you know the measurements or what you need done, then yeah, we can do it.

Guy: Okay well I don’t know what the measurements would be, but maybe you have some safety pins I can put in?

Me: Yeah that works.

Guy: I have these shorts.  My girlfriend gave me three pairs for Christmas.  And they’re actually underwear but they’re not stretchy, so they’re too tight.  Because I’m big down there.  It’s not the length that’s a problem, it’s the girth.  They’re like sexy lingerie for guys so it’s supposed to fit when the guy is hard.

Me: (stifling giggles that the guy is actually describing how his underwear is supposed to fit his erection)

Guy: So what I’m thinking is that there’s some extra fabric in the seam that could be let out, but then if you let if out all the way, how am I supposed to know if they’d be too loose?  Do you have a dressing room or restroom there were I could try them on?  I’ve already tried to pin then myself but I just can’t do it.  So I was looking for someone to help me with that, but I can’t get a guy to help me cause I couldn’t be hard in front of a guy.

Me: It’s our policy not to do any fitting.  It’s not because of your garment, I wouldn’t be allowed to pin something even if it was by your ankle.  We don’t want to take responsibility for any possible mis-measurements.

Guy: I understand, but you know I would sign a waiver saying I did it myself.  When would be a good time to come in when you wouldn’t be busy?  Around 5?

Me: 5’s actually my busiest time.  I think you would be better off going somewhere with a tailor on-site who understands more about the sewing.  With our tailor, we have to send the stuff out.  I think it would have to be sent in to be let out, then come back and fit so they wouldn’t be too big and sewed again to fit.  It sounds like it would be quite a process.

Guy: Nah, I think letting them out all the way would work.  So earlier would be better?  How will I know when I get there which person I talked to?

Me: Oh, I’m the only person working here today.

Guy: Oh.  Well you know I’d be really grateful for your help.  I am a good looking guy (about the third time he’s mentioned this) and I’ve done some escorting… so you know if no one else is in your store, we could exchange favors.  Not to brag, but I am quite big.

Me: (finally breaking it to the dude that imagining seeing his big dick in sexy underwear hasn’t turned me on in the slightest, and also finally realizing THIS IS A PRANK) Well I’m not into guys.  And this conversation is getting really weird.  I have other work to do.

Guy: So you’ve had a girlfriend for a long time?  You haven’t been with a guy in a while.

Me: Yeah something like that.

Guy: Well I am really big and if you haven’t done it with a guy in long time, it might feel really good.

Me: **click**