Have a safe trip, see you next fall!

It has been a busy couple weeks in the House of Trevor. For those of you that aren't familiar with the industry Labor Day weekend is like the "High Holidays" for the hotels. That is to say for those in the hotels that rely on the summer vacation season for income. Financially the hotel seems to be doing better this Labor day than we did over the two prior. That's not saying much since we're still not doing as well as we could or should be. Worries about the economy ruined our season last year. Worries about the rediculous $5.00+ "NOOOOOOO we can't explore alternative energy sources or the terrrists win!" gas prices ruined us the year prior. Still its a source of cautious optimism for me.

Labor day it seems, is also the time of year I start to reflect on the previous year's events both personal and in general. This is likely due to the almost immediate change in the weather and the start of the seasonal changes that occur, quite reliably, after labor day. There is much to reminisce about.

For one thing it occurs to me that Ben and I will have been together as a couple since January 2006. As I count it, this January will be the start of our 4th year together assuming my math is correct (and I was never very good at math). This is quite a milestone to be sure, but it blows the top off my previous record for a relationship which was one off-again, OFF-again year with an immature butthead. It seems until I met Ben there were very few guys who would be willing to tolerate my nonsense, and even fewer of those I could stand. I think that it is safe to say that Ben and I have a future together. What our future legal status as a couple might be is a matter of some conjecture.

Currently there are five states in the United States that give legal recognition to same-sex marriages as well as the District of Columbia. The big story on the Gay Marriage front this year was the case brought against Proposition 8 in California. Federal Judge Vaughn Walker ruled Prop 8 (which banned same-sex marriage) was unconstitutional. This ruling is significant for two reasons. For one it is the first time a state constitutional amendment has been challenged under the Federal Constitution and was successfully overturned. Second, it establishes the legal framework for overturning ALL such state amendments and the Orwellianly named "Defense of Marriage Act" in the US Supreme Court.

The Prop 8 trial was controversial in other ways as well. Did you know: many of the national level Gay-rights groups were opposed to bringing the case to court so soon after Prop 8 was passed? Groups like the HRC ostensibly opposed the court action fearing a possible backlash against GLBT citizens. It now appears that these caviar and champagne swilling "respectable" gays actually only feared losing their invitation to Whitehouse parties. Those uppity peon-gays in California should just be pleased they have a black president who pays them lip-service now and then and invites wealthy gay snobs to parties at the Whitehouse. If average gays ever did win full equality the lobbyists would be out of a job. They certainly didn't expect the gays to actually win the case.

Deliciously this early and unexpected victory also confounds the Fundamentalist idiot crowd at the same time. Regardless of the outcome of the original Prop 8 trial it was a foregone conclusion that there would be an appeal to the 9th Circuit court. But this puts the Fundies in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. IF they had not appealed Judge Walker's ruling to the 9th Circuit it would have been very likely that same-sex marriage would have become legal in California by the end of September. That is anethema to them of course BUT the "outbreak" of homosexual ""marriage"" would have at least been contained to California. However they also can't NOT challenge it to the 9th Circuit because in their warped little minds this means they tacitly approve of same-sex marriage.

As incovenient a plebian-gay victory might be for the Tea and crumpet crowds' endless cocktail party of campaign contributions, it would be a DISASTER for religious fundamentalists who would be facing the dismantling of years of their bigoted "Marriage Protection" amendments at the hands of the courts. To think? All those years wasted! All those squandered church donations that could have gone to feed and clothe the poor instead, rendered utterly meaningless with one court ruling? Why I almost feel sorry for them...not. Folks like Maggie "the Hutt" Gallagher and fukwits like James Dobson made their bed years ago and now they blow it out their ass.

Trevor on Ken Mehlman (yeah he wishes)

So in case you haven't heard the news Ken Mehlman (pictured) came out of the closet the other day. Who's Ken Mehlman you ask? That was my question when Ben sent me a text message announcing him 'Out'. And that he now wanted to help the Gay Community. Quite a change of heart if you ask me because at one time Mehlman was the Chairman of the Republican National Committee and was George Bush II's campaign manager during the 2004 election season.

To be quite honest I didn't know that he was chairman and probably wouldn't have cared (another Republican guy caught with a dick in his mouth, ho-hum) but the most curious aspect about the whole story is that it turns out Mehlman was one of the most virulently anti-gay policy-wonks of all time.

Ben framed it this way: "So now after leading a campaign to destroy the lives of gays and lesbians all over the United States with gay marriage bans in 2004 we're just supposed to graciously welcome him to the gay community with open arms? I don't think so". Ben poses an interesting dilemma. At what point has someone done so much damage to himself and others that he can no longer be redeemed? Religious fundamentalists will tell you that even the worst murderer can be saved if he asks Jesus for forgiveness. Now that may be, but Jesus is probably more forgiving than the Gay community at large.

It may cement in your mind how much of a geek I am but I was watching an episode of Degrassi High which dealt with this exact issue the morning that the Mehlman story broke. The character of Riley Stavross (right) is just such an individual. Closeted, fearful of being outed, and disgusted by other students who are "out and proud". Degrassi may be a silly teen drama (and Ben please, no teasing, you read books about teenage vampires...I've seen them) BUT it drives home a point about internalized Homophobia - it often causes the extremely closeted self-hating gay person to lash out and seek to cause harm to those who are not in the closet. AND I think the fundamental reason for this is resentment on the part of the homophobe. They used to call Homosexuality a mental disorder but I think that the person with extreme internalized homophobia is a much more obvious candidate for psychotherapy.

In a twisted sort of way it makes sense. Very often people are most critical of the "flaws" they see in others when they realize they themselves suffer the same flaw. Usually every gay person experiences a certain degree of internalized homophobia. I did when I was a teenager and in my early 20's. It is a reaction to external expectations about your sexual orientation that deep down you know you can never meet. The reasons vary from person to person. Sometimes you grew up in a fundamentalist church where the worst thing you could be was a homosexual. Sometimes your family has expectations that you'll "settle down with some nice gal and pop out the grand kids", or you live in a community were open homosexuals are persecuted. I grew up under these three circumstances.

Whatever the reason though internalized homophobia is the little anti-gay conscience that says, "you know, the guys on the football team would never accept you if they found out you were gay. You should probably beat up those faggy drama class geeks to show them how you don't secretly have a hopeless crush on the guy playing Romeo in the class play". Unfortunately this kind of high-school mentality seems to have been carried over into the Republican party, the military, professional sports, and a host of other public institutions.

The reason Ken Mehlman worked so hard to crush his fellow gay and lesbian's rights is precisely because his self imposed rigidly heterosexual persona was threatened by them and that turned him into the bitter old hack he is today. You see the homophobe's self-identity becomes consumed by an almost neurotic need to demonstrate to others that they are not homosexual. But the effect is two-fold as the homophobe's neurosis eventually progresses to the point where they have to "prove" to themselves that they are not homosexual in order to maintain their self-deceptive identity. The homophobe buys into the mistaken belief that he cannot be happy and self-fulfilled if he has homosexual desires and tendencies (since "normal" people don't have them and I have to be "normal" to be accepted and happy) and this is of course reinforced by observing intolerant classmates, family members and clergy being abusive of homosexuals.

These self-hating gays almost always give in to "temptation" (so to speak) at some point and this creates quite the emotional dilemma. The human desire for physical and emotional intimacy with another is undeniably powerful even for self-denying homosexuals. Despite the claims of the Anti-gay Conservative Christian lobby homosexual desires (like heterosexual and bisexual desires) are innate and immutable. So the self-hater comes to realize (even if its only a nagging suspicion in the back of his mind) that even if he is able to successfully mate with a female she can never satisfy that desire for physical and emotional intimacy like his trysts with men can, regardless of how brief or anonymous they may be.

It infuriates people like Ken Mehlman to see stable, happy same-sex couples because upon reflection they realize they've made the wrong choice. Rather than praise said same-sex couples for making the right choice Mehlman chose to punish them with same-sex marriage bans because they had the audacity to shatter his misconceptions about his own sexuality.

Can Ken Mehlman be redeemed and become a positive force for Gay Rights? I tend to disagree with Ben on this idea; that's right, same-sex couples have disagreements just like opposite-sex couples. Ben thinks its too late, the damage is done, and what-more Mehlman seems to think that just because he's out now he deserves our unconditional support.

Granted it is irksome when some self-important bigot suddenly expects to be your friend just because he changed his mind. But, Ted Olson was arguably no friend to gays when he argued before the Supreme Court and ultimately succeeded in electing George Bush in 2000. He however had a change of heart and succeeded in overturning Prop 8 and is fully committed to overturning all same-sex marriage bans in all 50 states. He may turn out to be the most important straight ally we've ever had.

So at the risk of tarnishing my image as a natural born cynic I'm going to say you never know who might do the right thing in the end. It will take a lot of hard work for Ken Mehlman to undo the damage he's already done and he may never succeed. I give him credit for this much at least: He came out publicly. Once you're out of the closet you can never go back in.

Would the Zombie Apocalypse actually be that bad?

The other day Ben came home from work exhausted. The first word out of his mouth was

"Ugh!" When I asked him what was the matter he said, "work was terrible! I hate my job, I spent all day listening to people whine." I said,

"Well that sounds a lot like my job."

"It is your job, I may as well quit and work there." he replied. Jokingly I asked,

"Well would you rather work on a crab boat out in the Bering Sea for a living?". You see I had deliberatly picked one of the worst most back-breaking dangerous jobs in America. Ben was supposed to say, 'Hell no', and then I would say 'then obviously you don't hate your job that much'. Instead he actually took an uncomfortable pause to think about it.

"Uhh, I was just kidding" I said,

"I know...I'm thinking it might not be so terrible in comparison." Fortunately for Ben (and me) it is still way too early for crab season. Still it got me to thinking. What if it comes down to it and crab fishing or living aboard a ship in some remote part of the world is the only way to survive?

Those of you who know me well know of my affinity for "Zombie Apocalypse" type literature and movies. And I think what it really boils down to is my abject loathing for most of what current American society has to offer and my half-desire to see it all destroyed and rebuilt. To be honest though I really never gave much thought to the idea of an actual Zombie Apocalypse until an Undying Ghoul and a mindless Zombie came close to being elected President and Vice-President of the United States respectively. I speak of course of John McCain and his minion: Caribou Barbie.

Thankfully their wicked plans were thwarted by the electorate before any of their brain-dead initiatives could be set in motion. However as we've seen that didn't stop the hordes of mindless scum affectionately termed "Tea-baggers" from running rampant virtually unchallenged over the whole country. Since their agenda is nothing more than re-branded Conservative Republicanism I don't expect a whole lot from them. After all re-branded Conservative Republicanism was what George Bush offered (along with virulent gay-baiting) and the voters soundly rejected those principles.

This time around the Tea-Baggers offer the same old Republican crap mixed with virulently anti-immigrant racism. As with Zombies however they're more dangerous than they at first appear and should not be underestimated. That plodding moaning slowly decaying cadaver, seemingly devoid of conscious thought or reason, could suddenly spring to life and vote for Rand Paul with little or no warning.

If elected in droves their policies could set the stage for the final collapse of the bloated corpse that is the United States. Which brings me to my main point: the Zombie Apocalypse...would it be so bad?

Lets say for the sake of argument Tea-bagger candidates sweep the November 2010 elections in the House and Senate, gaining majorities in both houses. What would you do? I for one wouldn't want to be governed by crazy religious nutjobs who's first order of business will be rolling back the progress of gay rights. "Oh but Trevor," you say, "Didn't you see that poll a while back that showed most Tea-partiers don't care about social issues?" Why yes I did see that, but I just have one question for you: who are you going to believe? Me? or your lying eyes? The economy and Terrorism were the big issues in 2003-2004 but it didn't stop record numbers of religious fundamentalist idiots from turning out at the polls to ban same-sex marriage.

I guarantee that if the Tea-Baggers win it won't be long before they're seeking to make Teh Gheys, the Mexicans and the A-rabs their new scapegoats. Why? Fail-economic policy-fails. If it didn't work under Reagan or Bush what makes them think tax cuts for the wealthy will work now? The answer is that it won't and we'll be in no better shape (and probably worse shape) than we are now. Rather than admit that a zero regulation free-market doesn't work they'll instead turn to divisive issues like the Federal Marriage Amendment and repeal of the 14th Amendment. All in a cynical effort to keep stupid idiot Tea-Party voters in a panicked frenzy so they won't think about the real problems with America.

I for one won't live in a country that adds a Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution. And I would encourage all of you who truly love freedom to think about leaving. It won't be long before the mindless horde of Tea-Bagger Zombies comes for you.