VA Bigots pass hateful amendment

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Well – the bigots of the Virginia House and Senate passed the hateful House Bill 751, an Affirmation to the Virginia Defense of Marriage Act today. … here’s what they passed


Summary as passed:
Affirmation of Marriage Act for the Commonwealth of Virginia. States that a civil union, partnership contract or other arrangement between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage is prohibited and that such an arrangement entered into in another state or jurisdiction is void in Virginia and any contractual rights created thereby are void and unenforceable.

Looks like we’ll make that trip to Massachusetts in June after all to test the law – P’town here we come!

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Devolites – A Family Morality

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After Emma and I made calls to VA Senator Jeannemarie Devolites, asking her to vote against Virginia HB751, Emma and I got a letter from her afterwards that stated “I voted for HB751, as I do not support marriage or civil unions between those of the same gender”.     Link to her scanned letter

So I thought I’d google her to see what kind of strong moral fiber was behind such a bold position.

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TV Room, Bonde found!

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Photo of multimedia shelves
Click to enlarge

Emma made the calls and got the folks at IKEA customer service to locate and ship the long-missing parts for the Beech Bonde shelf system. We got a call Weds that the parts had arrived, so i went by the Woodbridge store after work Thursday and picked up all the extra shelves and such. I made time this weekend and got all the pieces screwed together, and even got most of our CD collection rearranged and sorted out.

No, it was NOT sorted in “chronological order” and, yes, I HAVE seen High Fidelity!

Gospel According to Thomas

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In January I wrote about reading Gnosticsm, various sacred writings that were removed from the bible around the 3rd century. I had been particularly intrigued by the Gospel of Thomas as it had a (to me) very Eastern feel.

While reading another blog this morning I ran across a link to Mystic Cowboy weblog, and in reading the archives there, I found a complete version of

the “Scholars’ Translation of the Gospel of Thomas

66. Jesus said, “Show me the stone that the builders rejected: that is the keystone.”

90. Jesus said, “Come to me, for my yoke is comfortable and my lordship is gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves.”

IKEA – Bonde discontinued?

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Photo of multimedia shelves
Click to enlarge

The media-room project so far – the dark wood “rack” with the lamp on it is an old Teak stereo rack unit from Scan that will go away – visualize the room with the CD shelf flanked by a pair of narrow shelf units.

Its been a while since I posted an update to the Media Room Redecorating we began around Thanksgiving. I painted the room last fall, after I built a “light box” just below the ceiling on 3 walls and put the “light rope” into it. That gives the room a very nice glow from above (I’m a big fan of indirect lighting) and is especially nice in a room like this which is designed for watching TV and listening to music. Part of the plan was to get rid of the old Sauder shelves that held videotapes and cds and replace them with a more Danish/Scandinavian style display system. We looked around and decided that we really like the Bonde shelf system from Ikea – but only in the Beech finish. Its available in Birch, but that was a very pale wood, and the white finish was too artificial for us.

We are fortunate to have 2 IKEA stores in the area, one is a bit south of DC in Woodbridge VA, one is just north of DC in College Park. There is even another north of Baltimore in White Marsh, MD, but thats further than I want to go!

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Gay Marriage – not so new!

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Funny that Reverend Troy Perry has gotten so little copy in the last couple of months. And I have seen nothing in the press about Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) … Rev Troy Perry started the church a year before Stonewall, back in 1968 and its grown to 300 churches in 22 countries. This church was an outreach by and for the queer community (GLBT). They did not require folks to deny who they are (like the ex-gay “ministries”) and are not a afterthought as some of the recent “welcoming” churches are. At an MCC you and your partner can worship together as a couple, take communion together (At MCC, God’s table is always open), and take blessings together. Different MCCs have a bit different flavor depending on the community, who is the pastor, and what the faith-journey is for the congregants.

Reverend Troy Perry of MCC has been working towards gay marriage since 1969!. The article linked mentions Rev Perry’s lawsuit in California in the early 70s, and various actions since then, including the Mass Marriages during the Millenium March on Washington. Gay folks who want church weddings would do well to connect with their local MCC. Could be a great place to do some activism from …