Challenger

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Someone shared the story of one of the astronaut’s whose life was cut short on that morning. And I wanted to pass it along.

Astronaut’s Brother Recalls A Man Who Dreamed Big

McNair was only the second African-American to visit space. He’d been there once before, aboard a Challenger mission in 1984. On that trip, he played his saxophone while in orbit.

As his older brother, Carl, recalls, McNair started dreaming about space in South Carolina, where he grew up. And he wanted to study science. But first, he needed to get his hands on some advanced books. And that was a problem.

“When he was 9 years old, Ron, without my parents or myself knowing his whereabouts, decided to take a mile walk from our home down to the library,” Carl tells his friend Vernon Skipper.

The library was public, Carl says — “but not so public for black folks, when you’re talking about 1959.”

I’ve always believed the NASA and space exploration are as much about hope and inspiration as scientific discovery. Stories like this one are why we must keep looking beyond our horizons. Because when we accept that Earth is just a small part of a larger universe, it might just make us see past what makes us different and focus on moving forward together.

 

 

Asking, Telling

A piece from the Washington Blade interviewing gay servicemembers and how they’ll handle the impending end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The co-director of OutServe, a global network of LGBT service members, who goes by the alias J.D. Smith to avoid being outed under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” said he’s already seeing an “interesting trend” of gay service members starting to come out to their families and others with whom they’re close.

“I think the process is people are coming out to people in their units,” Smith said. “People are coming out to their close friends that they trust because they know that it’s about to happen, so I think the coming out process in general has begun even with the law still in effect.”

Smith said he knows gay service members who for the first time brought home their significant others over the holidays to introduce them to their families as a result of Obama signing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal.

 Equality marches on.

 

Marriage

Funny how it seems even more absurd when presented in this format.

 

What is enough?

What I fear will happen in the wake of Tucson: Nothing.

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial and Tucson Shooting Memories – Esquire.

This moment should have been transformational. This should have been a moment of diamond-tipped truth. This is part of who we are. This is a part of our politics. This is something to look at, honestly, and admit to ourselves that, pushed by our own dread and anger, whether or not they are skillfully stoked by demagoguery or not, this is what we can do to each other. This is what we will do to each other.

 

Second-Class

Larry Kramer: AIDS is a plague allowed to happen

I won’t say that I agree with all of this piece, but it did make me pause to reflect. And then I read the comments on the article and the vitriol that was spewed behind the anonymity of the internet.

Most striking is the following quote from his article:

– They also tell us we can’t get legally married.

– They also tell us that we cannot legally adopt children.

– They also tell us religions will not recognize us.

– They also tell us we can’t serve our country yet.

– They also tell us our real history cannot be taught in schools.

– They also tell us that gay students cannot organize in schools.

– They also tell us that people who murder us are not committing hate crimes.

– They also tell us we cannot insure our partners.

– They also tell us our partners are not legal.

– They also tell us we cannot have equal opportunities.

– They also tell us we can’t kiss each other or hold each other’s hands in public.

– They also tell us that our Supreme Court doesn’t want to know about any of this, doesn’t want to make us free and equal, doesn’t want to honor the Bill of Rights.

If you want to know why AIDS is a plague, I have just told you why.

Welcome to Second-class America.

 

Guns, ctd.

Exactly.

 

Love Stories

This weekend was almost too much for me. So many feelings of anger, sadness and despair. I needed something uplifting. I’m sure you do too.

OUT magazine – Twenty Three Love Stories

 

Guns

In the wake of today, here’s a thought.

The @BreakingNews twitter feed has reported seven different gun crimes within the US in the past five days. Including a shooting at a high school in Omaha.

Guns are weapons. Guns are used to commit violence. Guns do not protect.

Maybe it’s time to address that while guns were a necessary part of survival on the frontiers of this country in 1789, it’s not the same today?

I don’t know how we go forward from this. I don’t know how to resolve this. But I do know that we need to figure out exactly why we think everyone should have a gun.

 

Violence

As my thoughts go out to Congresswoman’s Gifford’s family I’m reminded of a line from the West Wing. In the wake of the attack on the president and his staff, CJ delivers this moment from her podium.

This is our 5th press briefing since midnight. Obviously, there’s one story that going dominating news around the world for the next few days, and it would be easy to think that President Bartlet, Joshua Lyman, and Stephanie Abbott were the only victims of a gun crime last night. They weren’t. Mark Davis and Sheila Evans of Philadelphia were killed by a gun last night. He was a Biology Teacher and she was a Nursing student. Tina Bishop and Linda Larkin were killed with a gun last night. They were 12. There were 36 homicides last night. 480 sexual assaults, 3,411 robberies, 3,685 aggravated assaults, all at gunpoint. And if anyone thinks those crimes could have been prevented if the victims themselves had been carrying guns, I’d only remind you that the President of the United States himself was shot last night while surrounded by the best trained armed guards in the history of the world. Back to the briefing.

Please, oh please, I hope that what happened today wasn’t politically motivated, but no matter what happened, can we please have a real discussion about GUNS in this country.

 

A little thing that’s a big deal.

Last night at the People’s Choice Awards, Neil Patrick Harris won the award for Favorite Actor in a Comedy TV Series.

I don’t usually watch award shows, and didn’t know much of anything about it until I saw the clip of NPH’s acceptance speech circulating the internet this morning.

The moment is remarkable in that it’s so otherwise unremarkable. Just an expression of love that we see all the time at these awards shows, except this time it’s a gay couple.

There were gay kids across the country watching this happen last night. Seeing one man kiss his partner in the bright lights of national television, then publically acknowledge him in his speech.

The wheel of progress is moving forward quicker with each day.