Peter's Place

I received this in an e-mail, and have verified the information contained herein via Snopes.com . Look at this lady - Let us never forget! The world hasn't just become wicked...it' s always been wicked. The prize doesn't always go to the most deserving. Irena Sendler There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena obtained permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. However, she had an 'ulterior motive'. She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews (being German). Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried, and she carried a burlap sack (for larger kids) in the back of her truck. She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids'/infants' noises. Irena managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants in the...

{EAV_BLOG_VER:50d9bce121877b1b} [EDIT 4 June 2011: Please ignore the first line of this post; I'm having to do some technical stuff with which you need not be concerned...] I just faxed the following letter to the management company of the apartment building I've been living in for almost six months now: I write to advise you of an incident that just occurred at my apartment door. Approximately 15 minutes ago at around 2:45 a.m., a woman began banging on my door almost to the point of knocking it down. She complained that I was making too much noise. For the first time since I moved into my apartment XX at XXX, a friend came over to help me unpack. As you are aware, I previously have been unable to unpack because the movers stacked everything from my previous apartment to the point where I was physically unable to move anything, due to my physical handicaps. The woman complained that she’s sick and tired of me sliding things around back and forth and moving things aro...

I just created a petition at  Change.org  to have NYS Senate Bill No. S5416 removed for consideration. Here's the text of the petition. OVERVIEW  New York State Senators Golden  and  Libous  vulgarized the dignity of their offices by introducing hate-based legislation filled with lies and defended their actions to the press by insisting their constituents "don't really give a rat's ass" about social issues. By signing this petition, you will tell Senators Golden and Libous that you firmly insist on their respecting the dignity and purport of their offices, and insist they respect all New Yorkers and treat them with dignity.   New York State Senators Martin Golden and Tom Libous introduced a "Defense of Marriage" bill in the NYS Senate that would prohibit New York State from recognizing same-sex marriages performed out of state. Currently, pursuant to an Executive Order issued by then-governor Patterson, New York State recognizes all legally perf...

The New York Times published an article yesterday (20 May 2011) entitled For Gay Employees, an Equalizer . The article reports on the recent trend by a growing number of businesses across all sectors of "grossing up." Essentially, these businesses are reimbursing gay & lesbian employees for the extra tax they must if they add their partner (or their domestic partner's child(ren)) to their health insurance plan. So, why are some employers creating this special privilege for their gay & lesbian employees--a right their straight employees aren't entitled to? Quite simply, it's because their straight employees aren't penalized with this extra tax burden when they add their spouse to their health insurance coverage. Federal law doesn't deem such health care benefits imputed income and, therefore, does not tax it. There are a few things to consider: First, not every employer offers health benefits to the partners of their gay & lesbian employ...

For the past month, I have been performing various functions as a consultant for Marriage Equality New York (MENY) with respect to their 13th Annual Gala . It feels good to be doing activist and advocacy work again, and also to be working on a project. What I didn't expect to find was an amazing individual, whom MENY will be honoring at its signature event of the year: Edith "Edie" Windsor . What does this have to do with the fiscal argument for marriage equality, you might be asking yourself? Quite a bit, actually. Part of what I'm doing for MENY and its gala is something I do best: information gathering. In seeking out information about one of its honorees at the event (Edie), I came across the complaint she filed in federal court ( Southern District of New York ), challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act ( DOMA ). You see, Edie has had to pay over $360,000 in estate taxes to continue living in the very same home that she and her l...

I posted the following as a comment to Ms. Marcus's editorial that appeared in yesterday's Washington Post : Ms. Marcus, I feel your editorial to be misrepresentative of the facts at hand. There are two major issues the LGBT community had with King & Spalding's retention by House Speaker Boehner to defend DOMA: First, King & Spalding has, traditionally, been an ally of the LGBT community, and touted its diversity rating and support of LGBT-issues to prospective clients and law students seeking to work for the firm. Defending a law that denies LGBT people access to over 1,138 federal rights and benefits was an enormous slap in the face to the community and in direct contravention with King & Spalding's long-standing support of the community. Second, the contract into which Mr. Clement entered King & Spalding with the House of Representatives placed illegal (in at least two states) and unenforceable conditions on the workers of a firm the size King...

So the gay community is up in arms over a soundbite provided by Kelly James, Ph.D., who is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Winthrop University and who serves as faculty advisor for GLoBAL, Winthrop University's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Ally League. Apparently, so much so that she's receiving hate mail. It's more unfortunate that people are riled to such levels as they are unable to conduct a civil discourse. If one takes the time to read articles instead of just headlines, one would find out that Professor James is the bloody faculty advisor for the gay group on campus. So, while her concerns are real and her heart is in the right place, unfortunately, her mind hasn't followed suit.  Quoth she, in whole , But, my first thought was that, "I've got to let my students know" so that when they are out and about in Rock hill that they, you know, act straight, And that’s a sad lesson in 2011 to be teaching young people. I m...

When I first started coming out, I learned the value of why one should lead an open life. While I value, and respect, privacy, I've found that leading one's life out in the open has numerous benefits over keeping one's life out of public purview, benefits that are immeasurable. For this reason, I've lived my life openly, often putting things into the public eye that most others would shy away from doing. I've discussed my mental illness openly  and, in doing so, have reaped the rewards of helping others deal with their struggles. I've discussed so many aspects about my personal life, receiving accolades and support all along the way. I've befriended countless individuals and had such positive forces and energy come into my life as a result of living a life where I hide very little, if anything. It doesn't come as a surprise to me that individuals would try to use my openness against me; what does surprise me is that a judge fell for such obviously t...

Tom's of Maine: Philosophy of Goodness is a video message that both serves as a commercial for their products but also as a vehicle to promote their corporate philosophy. It had me in tears. Here are some quotes from the video, created and produced by Tom's of Maine : "Success can be measured not only in terms of money made but in the good created that making uncommonly good products can actually serve the common good." "Let's work together to accelerate the change for good." "We can do more to help improve society so tell us not only how to improve our products but how to improve our world." "Together we can be an unstoppable force for good." According to the video statement, Tom's of Maine donates 10% of their profits to charities and "encourage[s their] employees to donate 5% of work time to community service." They're asking the global community to bring worthy charitable causes to their attention that ar...

I was just as this question on a web site I participate in, and thought I'd share my response here for all of you to see.  What is your solution to keeping gays in the military?  Robert, when Truman integrated the military, he didn't wait for Congress. He didn't poll the foot soldiers to find out how they'd "FEEL" about having to live and/or serve with other races in the same unit. He didn't pussyfoot around. He issued a fucking executive order as Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, and the troops fucking followed his order. Period, end of discussion! The only  reason that can be inferred from POTUS Barack Obama's refusal to end DADT and order an end to discrimination against gay men and lesbians serving in the Armed Forces of United States of America is because he doesn't want to. US  President Harry S. Truman Truman's top military aides and advisers all thought he was bonkers for integrating the military. But guess what? He issue...

I know I don't usually start off a blog post with a video (those who have been following my blog for a while know it's something I might end a post with, but not start one...) however, this is too important, and too moving, to not put up front. I'm not a vlogger . I just don't think I do well in video. But I do think I have a fairly decent command of the written word, and I've used that as my medium for quite some time. As someone who's been online in one form or another since the 1980s (that's before  the Internet was open to the public), I've used my powers of persuasive writing to advocate for a number of things—such as politics, the environment, and yes, for gay rights. “In my own unassuming way, I know I can make a difference. You can as well.” ~ Kinsey Millhone . Often, one of the questions posed to me, as a blogger, is, “Why do you blog?” I just finished reading T is for Trespass , the latest (as of this writing) released book in Sue Graft...