What's Happening, Hot Stuff?? 15/04/12

Welcome to this week’s WHHS- we hope wherever you are reading this you are having a great weekend. We have been spring cleaning and relaxing and can FINALLY say we are fully recovered from our colds – yay!!

In the big wide world we have been lucky enough to be enjoying Stonewall’s latest campaign – there will be a WWLW post on this but let’s just say Sarah has a new game at work - #bunting (bus hunting) as she gets to see the main road from her desk.

Stonewall have also just held their London Gay Mayoral Hustings – it was a chance to hear from mayoral candidates Boris Johnson, Jenny Jones, Ken Livingstone and Brian Paddick as they debated their vision for the future of London and how they will work for the lesbian, gay and bisexual residents of the capital. Ben Summerskill, Stonewall’s Chief Executive, said following the hustings: “It’s really impressive that all of the main mayoral candidates wanted to engage lesbian, gay and bisexual Londoners – something that would have been unthinkable 15 or 20 years ago. What was particularly interesting was that many of the people in the audience were completely undecided about how they were going to vote, so clearly no-one should take London’s 350,000 gay voters for granted.” We have always loved Boris, but that’s because he has been the Mayor pretty much since we moved to London, and the introduction of many new initiatives that have impacted us, including Boris Bikes, have been positive - but we look forward to hearing from all the candidates before making our mind up for sure.

Have you seen that Angelina and Brad couldn’t resist any more and got engaged? By all accounts it was due to pressure from their children- while we’re happy for them, it is disappointing that they won’t complete their pledge to wait for marriage equality, something we are desperate for! Rebekah Orr, communications director for Equality California says: 'Marriage is something that says "we're a family" in a way that nothing else can ... No one has to deny that for themselves or their family to prove they are an ally and supporter of equality.'

In other Stateside news, there has been more updates for gay marriage - North Carolina voters go to the polls on May 8 to vote on Amendment One, a ballot initiative that seeks add a ban on same-sex marriages and civil unions to the North Carolina constitution. The state's governor, Beverly Perdue, had spoken out against the measure last month but in a video released this week, she elaborates on why she is against the measure:

On the downside it doesn't look good for gay marriage in Illinois. Despite the efforts of LGBT lawmakers, a same-sex marriage bill will probably not be voted on this year. The bill was introduced in the state legislature on 8 Feb. However, it remains in the House Rules Committee. As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, state legislators have a full plate, everything from approving an overall budget to trimming pension and Medicaid outlays. These fiscal concerns are taking precedence over the hot button social issue. Ah well it’s only life and family for the entire LGBT community, I’m sure it can wait! Really!!

Following Kirk Cameron’s somewhat douchebag-y comments about gay marriage, a group of former child stars have made a spoof video, called “Child Celebrities Opposing Kirk Cameron,” or CCOKC (pronounced COCK). The authors in the video declare their mission thus: “Together we’re pledging together to raise awareness about a serious threat to our civil rights, Kirk Cameron’s stupid opinions.” Where they attack Kirk Cameron for the anti-gay comments he made during an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN.

When asked by Mr Morgan whether he thought homosexuality was a sin, Mr Cameron said: “I think that it’s unnatural. I think that it’s detrimental, and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilisation. I believe that marriage was defined by God. Marriage is almost as old as dirt, and it was defined in the garden between Adam and Eve… One man, one woman for life ’til death do you part. So I would never attempt to try to redefine marriage. And I don’t think anyone else should either. So do I support the idea of gay marriage? No, I don’t.” 

It’s great to see that there are child stars with opinions that don’t match Kirk’s, as the video says in an industry that has a high percentage of LGBT people you’d think he’d have knowledge and awareness that the LGBT are just like him.

In Australia, a senate inquiry into legalising gay marriage has revealed 'unprecedented' support for reform. Figures released on the 13^th of April by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee show that almost 60% of Australians are in favour of allowing same-sex couples to marry, with 44,000 out of 75,000 submissions in favour. As you may know, we lived in Australia, and the attitude of our friends there completely backs this up. We loved how liberal Manly was as an area and how Sydney was open to diversity. From our knowledge the more remote areas are still stuck in the dark ages, but as with anything, the more public support there is for gay marriage the better!

In other news, a silent protest greeted Cardinal Keith O’Brien (remember him from the 1^st of April WHHS?) at the University of St Andrews today - some members of the university’s LGBT group staged a walk-out as soon as the Cardinal began his sermon.  Read the whole story here: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/04/15/st-andrews-lgbt-students-protest-during-sermon-by-cardinal-obrien/ but in summary, the University Student representative council had voted unanimously to support the protest on account of the Cardinal's opinion that marriage equality would be “a grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right.” We have been following the blog of two lovely ladies (http://asummerfullofpeaches.com/) who attended St Andrews and by all accounts it sounds like a great place to study - this proves that the LGBT community are supported there.

Right well, that's it for this week, apologies for the delayed posting we were watching 50/50 - it's an amazing film that's well worth watching. For Sarah it was a little too close to home, but with a box of tissues and a hug from Laura she made it through.

Love always,

Sarah & Laura