Adam Sunny Flanders

My friend Taylor and I went to Avatar in 3D again last night and I decided to make my own na’vi – about 4 hours of accumulative work using Photoshop CS4.

Today has been an exciting day! Steve Jobs announced Apple’s newest, highly-anticipated tablet computer, the iPad. All us Mac geeks will be getting it as soon as we can! I’ve been waiting for a tablet Mac for years now, and finally it’s here!

Obama also announced today that he’s devoted to overturning Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell this year. I don’t know, I’ve kind of always relished the idea that if America ever goes to war, me and every other gay man will be immune from the draft. I suppose it makes up for the fact that us gays can’t get married. The altruistic part of me says DADT is wrong and should be repealed, but the personal side of me says I’d rather have immunity from the death draft.

Cindy McCain just recently came out in support of marriage equality, specifically the NOH8 (NO on Prop.8) campaign in California, proving that even the most prominent Republicans are not necessarily allied with ignorant fundamentalists. John’s daughter, Meghan, has also constently supported equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans.

Despite the fact that John McCain’s political team has stated that he remains opposed to same-sex marriage, many people believe he in fact believes in equal rights for all. It is no secret that his years as a POW offered him a unique experience that imbued him with a lifetime compassion for others. I consider him to be a moderate Republican, and to be totally honest, were it not for his unfortunate choice of VP (very unfortunate), I would have voted McCain hands down. Obama is incompetent and I knew he would not keep his promises – unfortunately my naive generation easily fell into the hype and idolization, as if he would somehow bring drastic “change” to the US.

To be totally honest, I wanted Hillary, but that was not an option. Were it not for the extremist fundamentalism embedded in the GOP, I would most definitely be a Republican. For now, I am settled as a registered Independent and I believe the best president we could ever have would be Colin Powell (had McCain chosen Powell as his VP, Obama wouldn’t have stood a chance, and I’m not making any reference whatsoever to race). But in any case, this recent decision by Mrs. McCain to so publicly support marriage equality shows that equal rights is truly a bipartisan value. Thank-you Mrs. McCain, and thank-you to all the people working so hard in California and the Federal courts to ensure that nationwide marriage equality becomes a reality in the next few years!

Last night my friends and I went out to eat, but when we came back out, we found my car tire was blown (I had thought I was low on steering fluid). I have never changed a tire on my own before, but my roommate had, so she told me what to do and helped me jack it up. I think we would have managed without help, but nonetheless, 2 men in a pickup truck asked us if we needed help and they gave us some pointers about making sure the spare was on correctly, and keeping the bolts lightly screwed on while jacking the car so that, in case of a fall, my car wouldn’t crash on its frame.

After we got the spare securely on, one of the men asked us if we went to church and that if we’re interested, we should come to the Calvary Chapel in Bangor. We thanked them and they continued on their way.

I really respect individuals like these men and I believe that if more Christians behaved in such a manner and kept in mind the importance of good witness, more young people would be involved in church. I know all to well the often condemning and outright hateful messages preached by fundamentalists, and I don’t think those messages serve to enlighten anyone. In fact, I’m sure it turns a lot of people off and results in a lifelong disgust or fear of religion.

If you are Christian, I hope you choose to conduct yourself based on the teachings of true Christian charity, kindness, and “loving thy neighbor as thyself.” No matter what our beliefs, these men set a good example for all of us, and I know I will do the same someday if someone needs a tire changed, etc. After all the hate and ignorance I heard during the marriage equality campaign, this was a refreshing reminder of what true Christians represent.

Same-sex marriage was recently legalized in DC, and many people consider this to be an indication that Congress will favor equality if and when it comes to their table, assuming the Supreme Court doesn’t “legalize” it nationwide as a result of the current Prop.8 appeals in Federal Court. Today was another victory for advocates of equality in DC and nationwide. 39 members of Congress attempted to overturn the DC Council’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage and they failed for the single reason that the DC Superior Court Judge Judith Macaluso determined that the rights of the minority cannot be voted on by the majority. Finally, someone has set this precedent, and where else but the nation’s capital? Unlike in Maine and California, the rights of gay and lesbian couples will NOT be voted on by the majority in DC. I hope this precedent has a nationwide impact and prevents other states from voting on the basic human rights of minorities via “mob rule.”

This is the debate between the lead attorney for Prop.8 and Geoff Kors of Equality California concerning the new Federal Trial. I think Kors makes an amazing argument in his few minutes.

Our side has offered their opening statements and they are powerful. You can read the entire transcript here: Opening Statement in Prop.8 Trial. The Perry v. Schwarzenegger case will most certainly go down in history, no matter what the outcome, and both sides of the issue have vowed to take it to the US Supreme Court. You can read our basic legal arguments here: Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

The US Supreme Court has overruled Judge Walker’s decision to make the Prop.8 Federal Trial available to the public via YouTube, so it seems we will all be kept in the dark in the next few weeks. Actually it seems the Supreme Court hold will only last for the first 48 hours pending trial circumstances. You can read more about it here:

U.S. Supreme Court blocks video coverage of Prop. 8 trial
Prop.8 trial to include unprecedented testimony

Please take a moment to sign this petition to Obama to urge the courts to declare Prop.8 unconstitutional. Thank-you.

Seldom do I get really excited anymore about a major political or social cause, even when it comes to gay rights, that is, my rights. Social attitudes take time to change, which is why I thought it was ridiculous we ever brought marriage equality to popular vote in Maine or anywhere. The rights of a minority should never be voted on by a majority. The majority has little interest in changing their ways to accomodate a minority and in all of American history, there is not a single example of a minority right being won nationwide by popular vote. When the Supreme Court struck down bans on interracial marriage in 1967, over 70% of Americans were opposed to interracial marriage. Current polls show that slightly more than half of Americans oppose same-sex marriage, so we’re doing pretty good in that respect. However, civil rights come from the high courts and Congress. I laugh every time I think of Americans voting on the rights of others – voting on same-sex marriage is as absurd as a community made up of 90% men voting on whether or not to allow women to vote, or Mainers voting on whether to criminalize interracial marriage.

So it brings me great joy to let you all know that same-sex marriage has its first Federal court hearing this Monday. Even better, it will be the first Federal hearing to be completely televised and published online. It will also be streamed live to other Federal courts. It’s a result of the Prop.8 appeals. I bet the Prop.8 people will really be kicking themselves if their campaign ultimately ends up being the route to nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage! Don’t think the Supreme Court would rule in favor of same-sex couples? Guess what – it already did in 2003. Lookup Lawrence v. Texas. The lawyers opposed to same-sex marriage have already stated that they cannot produce a single example of how same-sex marriage would harm society. Obviously the trial won’t be resolved in one day – it will likely go on for a while. Monday is just the beginning. Our side is arguing that Prop.8 is unconstitutional because it creates a separate class of people, as did the sodomy laws that were oveturned by Lawrence v. Texas. Laws against same-sex marriage violate the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution. There are many other good arguments for same-sex marriage and so far there are no legal or rational arguments against same-sex marriage. The court obviously will not hear religious arguments or the fear-inducing propaganda like that spread in California and Maine during Prop.8 and Question 1. We have a little thing called Separation of Church and State in our country.

CNN has reported that the video of the hearing will become available to the public via YouTube Daily. Those opposed to same-sex marriage (supporters of Prop.8) didn’t want the video aired publicly because they feared retaliation. I say good – their actions represent a direct attack on a minority of people based on how we were born, attempting to strip away our basic human rights and invalidate the real love shared by same-sex couples and their families. They’re trying their best to make us secondclass citizens who are lesser and don’t have basic rights. Last time that happened we called it the Holocaust. In Maine the Christian Civic League, energized by the Question 1 results, is promoting the reintroduction of sodomy laws in Maine, which is impossible because the states cannot violate the US Constitution. Nonetheless, the stupidity continues. *Sigh*. Someday soon we will look back at all of this and wonder why it was ever an issue, just as most of us wonder why interracial marriage was an issue 50 years ago, when the same people and organizations who are now opposed to same-sex marriage were throwing out scripture to argue that God “did not intend the races to mix.”

We will see same-sex marriage legalized nationally in our lifetime. I think it’s a matter of a few years at most. Monday’s trial is the beginning of what will likely end in a Supreme Court or Congressional decision striking down DOMA and all state laws against same-sex marriage. Our side has also subpoenaed documents from the Prop.8 campaign showing that the campaign was fueled by homophobia and religious bigotry (big surprise). However, that’s going to be extremely important for our success in this trial because it shows an additional malice and violation of Due Process as required by the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court ruled in Loving: “There is patently no legitimate overriding purpose independent of invidious racial discrimination which justifies this classification. The fact that Virginia prohibits only interracial marriages involving white persons demonstrates that the racial classifications must stand on their own justification, as measures designed to maintain White Supremacy. It takes no stretch of the imagination to replace racial discrimination with homophobia and White Supremacy with heterosexism. In my mind we’ve already won – we’re just waiting for the court to announce it officially. Monday is the first step!!!

FairPoint is a local internet/tv/phone provider and in an attempt to compete with Time Warner’s $100 3-in-1 bundle, they’re offering a better deal for $77/month. They also enlisted the help of Jim Henson Studios to design Bundle, the cutest thing of 2009! There may be a plush for sale soon. You can see the commercial and one of Bundle’s music videos below.

I’ve been playing videogames like crazy. I got Crystal Bearers for Christmas, along with a few other games. My little sister Ash and I have been playing a lot of Super Monkey Ball lately, lol – I uploaded a video of us playing the baseball minigame – we aren’t very good, lol. But there’s not much else to do in these wintry months – I can’t wait to move to someplace warmer next year, then I can scuba dive all year ’round. Anyway, Happy New Year! 2010 is gonna be great!