2004-07-27 - 11:28 p.m.
God bless the late Paul Simon, and God bless Al Franken for lampooning him so perfectly

Today--I would have missed this even if I had bothered to go to school--a representative from the burgeoning "Christian Legal Society" met with Queer Caucus. It doesn't appear to have gone well. They, or the people in charge of the national organization with which they hope to affiliate, appear to make the same sexuality vs. sexual conduct that the United States military does.

(Note re word choice: My con law professor eschewed the phrase "sexual orientation" for the much more elegant "sexuality." I'm badly remembering how she explained it, but it was to the effect of, when we talk about sexual orientation, we're really only talking about homosexual orientation. Whereas sexuality is something everyone deals with and is a more useful basis for discussion. "Sexual orientation" just reminds me of that bad joke:
What happens if an old guy takes Viagra at the same time as his iron pill?
It works, but it points North.)

OTOH, the CLS also appears to prohibit fornication and adultery. I don't know that many married law students, but it's a safe bet that any number of us are having pre- or extra-marital sex.

This kind of horse hockey is precisely what I came to Northeastern to avoid. There's a non-discrimination clause somewhere, but I don't know exactly how it would apply to a student group. Our dean was not one of the law deans involved in recent anti-Solomon suiting. Their advisor, a former law dean, apparently doesn't see the conflict between this group's bylaws and the non-disc clause.

I know of at least one person who is involved in both organizations. And the way Christianity is practiced here is not necessarily the way it's practiced at home. And I don't know what's underfoot among the Christian lawyers here at Northeastern--I don't know how many there are, and I don't know if all or any of them hate fags--although I'm quite sure none of them would phrase it that way, but that's ultimately what it is, isn't it? I hate using that language here but I think that any lines between Fred Phelps and his ilk and whoever wrote the bylaws of the national CLS and anyone campaigning against gay marriage are blurry and indistinct at best.

I really, really, really cannot get pre-occupied with this, not at this point in the quarter when I have to be busting my ass and not foaming off at the mouth.

That said, Andrew Sullivan's recent remarks against John Kerry make me want to go out and buy a vat of 57 Sauce. (Telling Sullivan to "shove it" would be redundant, I imagine.) Once Kerry makes a Clintonesque promise, a la I will end discrimination against queers in the military, then and only then can we hold him to it. Rotten as this is, I don't think any Presidential candidate who came right out and said, "Hooray for the SJC" would be electable. I also don't think a President Kerry is going to spend much time in Massachusetts lobbying in step with the the hijackers of traditional values. And I know damn well that President Bush will.

Mom said tonight--I called to see what she thought of the pink-polka-dot-confection suit sported by the First Lady of Iowa--that she thought it was pretty cool, what Theresa told that reporter. This is a hoot, but I worry the precise meaning of the phrase might be eluding my mom. (I mean, in her household, "fart" is a cuss word.)

Or maybe Mom was being sarcastic. Either way, THK did very well. Although she may have been upstaged--President Reagan's son was incredibly eloquent on stem-cell research, and Barack Obama, my own state Senator when I lived in HP (South Side!!!), brought the house down, and Howard Dean got a huge standing O before that.

So, I dunno, I'm feeling the convention bounce, I just hope it works. I thought today of the South Carolina delegation to Madison Square Garden, and how scared out of their wits they must be, and laughed my ass off. Those people are going to take one breath of overheated, piss-rich borough air and pass the hell out. An NYC RNC is up there with "Free Speech Cage" in terms of oxymorons and promises to be hilarious.

woogie - woo