gay rights | Stowaway Travel Writing & Editorial Services

The Good

Governor Quinn has signed civil unions into law for the state of Illinois. It’s not marriage (or for that matter, allowing tax breaks and family rights based not on marriage at all, but that’s another fight), but it ain’t nothin’!

This is how you show you actually care about young people and their health (oh and save your country millions of dollars in the bargain).

The Bad

It isn’t enough that you can’t get abortions through publicly funded insurance plans; the Pennsylvania Senate wants to pass a law prohibiting abortion coverage in private insurance plans. Please contact the PA Senate to let them know how reprehensible this is.

The Idaho Board of Pharmacy said the pharmacist who refused to fill a prescription for a Planned Parenthood nurse until they knew if the woman who needed it was having an abortion did not do anything wrong, since the prescription was eventually filled at another pharmacy. Even though the pharmacist refused to give a referral. And the medicine was to stop bleeding, which seems pretty time sensitive.

Oh and speaking of Planned Parenthood, that despicable organization Live Action is still working to get them de-funded and de-licensed. PP has even asked that the FBI investigate in order to protect their employees and the organization.

The always brilliant Maria Bustillos writes about just how easy it is for Amazon to delete books off your Kindle without ever telling you, and even access/delete the personal files you store on it. Did you know they actually went through and deleted copies of 1984 because of copyright concerns? I’m going to go ahead and call irony on that one.

The Silly

Here’s a map of the US that shows which states correspond to which countries in terms of GDP and also population. Texas has the same GDP as Russia? We already knew they thought they were an empire…

One of my friend’s coworkers has started a blog in which she posts a reused/repurposed item every day. She has an Etsy store too, in case you like her style. I wish she had some instructions on how to make some of the stuff, because I have a hard time going from concept to execution in crafts (I usually just end up covered in glue), but it’s still a neat look at making beauty out of the ordinary every day.

The Good:

The Feds turn up the heat on Sheriff Joe Arpaio. As article author Seth Freed Wessler points out, Arpaio has been exercising much of the power of terror and deportation based on a federal rule, so it’s a bit hypocritical of the government to just now push the issue. But at least they are actively going after the man who prides himself on making life hell for thousands of people on a daily basis.

Judge Walker’s decision on Prop 8 might not even be allowed to be appealed, since Schwarzenegger and other California government officials aren’t interested in appealing. It’s possible that this case won’t go to the US Supreme Court, which is maybe bad news in that a nationwide decision wouldn’t be made, but maybe good news in that the conservative slant of the court might make a terrible nationwide decision. If appeals aren’t allowed, then gay marriage is legal in California and those who don’t like it don’t have much recourse.

The Bad:

Obama and his Press Secretary think those of us who have high expectations for the administration are whiners and should STFU already. Look, I know a lot of good things have happened in the last year and a half and that is genuinely exciting, but I also know a lot of things haven’t been done or even attempted (Obama could stay DADT with an executive order while waiting for Congress and the DOD to dick around on long-term policy, for example). I know that some Bush-era legacies remain or are even being strengthened (like the extension of powers of the executive branch, which Obama as candidate promised to overturn, or selling off my right to my body in order to pass health insurance reform). Sure, you have to play politics in Washington, but that doesn’t mean you have to play games with people’s rights. What’s the phrase? Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.

This is what happens when you make it a matter of national policy to consider immigrants an expendable nuisance rather than human beings: people use that as a cover to treat people as expendable on their own time.

The Silly:

Britain prepares for the Olympics with some real gems of advice on intercultural understanding. My favorites: “Do not be alarmed if South Africans announce that they were held up by robots.” and “When meeting Mexicans it is best not to discuss poverty, illegal aliens, earthquakes or their 1845-6 war with America.” (Via.)

Gay Sex and the City. ‘Nuff said. (Via.) (Okay actually not enough said, please note that this is an explicitly political project and I don’t mean to take away from that by placing it in The Silly; it’s a fun project, though, so here it goes.)

Leave your own links in the comments!