Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.

Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. (August 31, 2007)
by
Karman Kregloe, Senior Writer and Director of Special Projects
August 31, 2007

THE MORAL COMPASS OF LESBIANS EVERYWHERE
The New York Post recently blasted Tammy Lynn Etheridge (the artist formerly known as Tammy Lynn Michaels) for her anti-Bush/Rove rant on her blog [www.hollywoodfarmgirl.blogspot.com]. In his Page Six column, under the heading "Vulgar and Vile," Richard Johnson wrote:

Tammy Lynn Michaels ought to wash her mouth out with soap. The lesbian "wife" of rocker Melissa Etheridge calls President Bush "an idiotic, parasitical, country-raping piece of [bleep]" on her blog, HollywoodFarm Girl. "How does Laura [Bush] lay her head down at night?" Michaels' constructive and civil rant goes on to call Karl Rove a "sweaty little piggish Oompa-Loompa Elmer Fudd ass." And if the administration doesn't like her hate-filled profanity, she taunts, "Come arrest me, you [bleep]ers."

Undaunted, Etheridge responded to the Post with keyboard blazing:

dear ny post,

first, i am honored that someone at your paper reads my li'l blog. indeed, the blog of which you speak was vulgar and crass and such the like as that, i agree. swearing and vulgarity is a forte of mine. (i think i listened to bette midler's standup tapes far too young in life. i digress.) it seems that only extremism gets the message out these days, doesn't it? the Neo-Cons (or Modern-Day-Hitlers), the terrorists (that we created), the kids shooting other kids in school, the hollywood whorlets who show their vagina to the world AND go to jail AND still make magazine covers... see? so a lesbian, using filthy language, swearing and daring for the criminals to take the lamb's clothing off.... of course i make the ny post.

i bet you'll be surprised and disappointed to know that i've already had my mouth washed out with soap, a coupla times, in fact, when i was a kid. my caretaker, evelyn, was a believer in "soap cleans out the dirty words". and i was a believer in dirty words. i can clearly recall not only the taste of the soap in my mouth- but also the texture of the washrag as she rubbed it into my tongue. i guess she didn't rub hard enough, huh? LOL ...

To read her post in its entirety, go [to www.hollywoodfarmgirl.blogspot.com].

Etheridge's rant closes with this parting shot:

so thank you for passing my ideas and feelings on to other parts of the world my blog cannot reach alone. thank you.

love is all there is.

Sincerely,
Hollywood Farm Girl
(who has legally changed her name to Etheridge, so you might wanna print the correct name next time. no biggie.)

I must need my mouth washed out with soap too, because I totally agree with everything she wrote. In fact, I'm so on board with Tammy that I'm thinking of changing my last name to Etheridge too.

The Progressive: MLE inspires couple to protest; husband arrested

http://www.progressive.org/mag_mc082807

Another Person Arrested for "Impeach" Sign
August 28, 2007
By Matthew Rothschild

Watching Melissa Etheridge on TV at the Live Earth concert persuaded
Jonas Phillips and his wife, Kindra, to go out and do something
about the Bush Administration's abuses.

So they made a cardboard sign with "Impeach Bush Cheney" on it.

And they held that sign on the sidewalk of the Haywood Road Bridge
over I-240 in Asheville, North Carolina, on several different
occasions this summer.

Like Kevin Egler of Kent, Ohio, who was arrested for illegal
advertising with his "Impeach" sign (see
http://progressive.org/mag_wx081307), they got in trouble for theirs.

One day at the beginning of August, Kindra was standing on the
bridge sidewalk at about 4:00 p.m., Jonas says, when she was
approached by an officer.

"She asked him whether she was doing something wrong, and he said
no, but that he'd gotten a complaint from one person who called in
four times," Jonas says.

Jonas held the sign up three or four times in the mornings, around
7:30, for about 20 minutes, since the bridge is near where he works,
he says.

On August 15, he'd been there for about ten or fifteen minutes when
a police car pulled up and parked behind him.

Officer Russell Crisp asked for his ID.

"I obliged," Phillips says.

"He asked how long I planned on being there. I said about 5 minutes,
since I had to be at work at about 8:00. I asked him if I was doing
something wrong. He said he was waiting for a sergeant to arrive."

Within a couple of minutes, Sergeant Randy Riddle did arrive.

"These were the first words out of his mouth: 'Put down the sign.
Put your hands behind your back. You're under arrest.'

"I asked him why was I being arrested.

"He said, 'I'm sick of this shit, you're going to get your 15
minutes of fame, now, buddy.'"

When Phillips asked again, he says Sergeant Riddle
responded: "You're obstructing the sidewalk."

Phillips says he pleaded with the other policeman.

"Officer Crisp, you just saw a man walk by me with no problem."

But to no avail.

Phillips said he then glanced at Sergeant Riddle's nametag, and
again the officer was belligerent.

"He's pushing his nameplate at me, saying, 'That's Sergeant Riddle,
buddy, get it right.'"

Sergeant Riddle put Phillips into Officer Crisp's squad car, and
Crisp drove Phillips downtown and booked him

"No one ever read me my rights," Phillips says. "And when I was
booked, I was questioned several times about any affiliations I had
with any groups, including Veterans for Peace."

Phillips responded: "I told them I wasn't part of any group. It's me
and my wife, just the two of us."

Sergeant Riddle refused multiple requests, both by phone and e-mail,
for comment.

Police Chief William Hogan responded to my e-mail by writing: "We
want citizens to be able to protest and exercise their freedom of
speech," said Chief Hogan. "What is important for everyone to
understand is that in exercising this right you cannot endanger the
public or infringe upon the rights of others. . . . The Asheville
Police Department is a professional, well trained, and accredited
agency that is committed to protecting individuals' Constitutional
rights. Our Department has assisted with untold rallies and protests
to protect citizens' opportunity for free speech while maintaining
the safety of all individuals present. . . . In this case, the
actions of Mr. Phillips were impeding the flow of traffic and
endangering motorists by holding a sign over Interstate 240 during
rush hour traffic, which could have caused a serious traffic crash.
It is unfortunate that this event and the motives of the officers
have been misconstrued to represent an act by the Asheville Police
Department to deprive someone of their Constitutional rights."

A press release from the police department said that Phillips had
crossed "three lanes of traffic on the bridge, thereby impeding the
flow of traffic."

Phillips says he did cross the street, but there was no traffic to
impede. He says the speed limit on the street is 20 mph, with lights
on both sides of the bridge.

The press release from the police department added that "the
department had received multiple complaints over a two-week period
last month about individuals holding up signs at that same spot."

And, in what Phillips considers an ominous threat, the press release
stated that the police were considering more serious charges: "He
may also be charged for violating an N.C. Department of
Transportation law that prohibits hanging signs on an overpass,
which poses dangers for motorists passing below. The officers can
attest that as Mr. Phillips held his sign over the edge of the
bridge, drivers on the interstate were slowing down and honking
their horns, which also created a traffic hazard."

The statement quoted Chief Hogan saying, "It was not the content of
the sign, but the risks posed to drivers that precipitated our
actions."

"That's a bunch of nonsense," says Phillips. "It's total harassment
to me. If the content of the sign wasn't an issue, why was I
questioned repeatedly about which political groups I was a part of?"

Phillips has a September 24 court date.

Binational gay couples test love's power

Binational gay couples test love's power


by Barbara Wilcox

Of the more than 600,000 gay and lesbian couples counted in the 2000 U.S. Census, 35,380 are binational, with one member a citizen of a country other than the United States. Immigration experts think the true numbers may be much higher.

Because the U.S. government refuses to recognize gay relationships, these couples lead precarious lives -- the American unable to sponsor his partner for immigration purposes, the foreigner often unable to work or at risk of deportation. Legislation to help them has been introduced -- and been stalled -- in Congress each year since 2000.

Director Sebastian Cordoba tracked several such couples in "Through Thick and Thin," a documentary that won the Freedom Award at last month's Outfest, the Los Angeles LGBT film festival. Be warned -- it's a three-hanky picture, eschewing talking points and talking heads for an up-close, personal look at the toll U.S. policy takes on gay and lesbian lives.

Saddest of all Cordoba's couples are the oldest, who have spent lifetimes working and paying taxes into a system that now denies them aid or comfort.

"Every time he leaves, I grieve like he is dying," says an Idaho senior citizen of his UK. partner. It's heartbreaking to watch them on opposite ends of a Webcam, each hugging his own body in lieu of the beloved 6,000 miles away.

Anthony, an American senior citizen, can get more face time: His partner, Andre, is Brazilian, and Brazil grants same-sex immigration rights. But Anthony pays a terrible price. Being abroad, he forfeits his Medicare coverage, and his kidneys fail.

"If I had been able to go to him, he would still be alive," Andre says after the funeral.

A 2005 federal law ostensibly passed to fight terrorism greatly raised the stakes: People "aiding and abetting" illegal immigrants, even their own life partners, can now be prosecuted as felons.

Unsurprisingly, the couples who do best are the ones with most education and resources. The film implies that their best hope, though far from an ideal one, is usually to leave the United States.

Tammy, an American, is able to get a UK work visa and set up house with her British partner, though it means leaving her grown children behind.

Mark, a French educator, games the system for years, cashing in his French retirement benefits and selling the family home to make good on a succession of student visas. When the money runs out, Mark and his partner, Fred, make plans to move to France with their two adopted preschoolers. France is happy to have Fred but does not recognize gay adoptions, and if anything happens to either dad the kids will be wards of the state.

The children are inevitably hurt by the uncertainty, particularly about losing their home. Mark and Fred buy their little girl a toy kitchen to soften the blow.

"I fell in love with the Declaration of Independence, where I read something about the pursuit of happiness," Mark says amid a pile of packing supplies. "Four hundred years ago, people left Europe for a dream. Now the pursuit of happiness is going east."