Gay Marriage Coming to New Jersey?

It just might be!

Today, politicians in New Jersey advanced a bill to allow marriage equality in the state by a vote of 8-4, as reported by ThinkProgress. In order for the bill to become law, it must pass the full senate as well as the governor. Previously, Governor Chris Christie had pledged to veto any bill promoting marriage equality; however, public opinion in the state shows that “52 percent — support marriage equality while only 42 percent oppose it. Likewise, 65 percent believe same-sex marriage is not a threat to traditional marriage, 53 percent agree that denying same-sex marriage is a form of discrimination, and 66 percent [support] adoption rights for same-sex couples.”

As such, Christie has revamped his views in favor of public opinion. He is now utilizing a “wait and see approach” to what happens with the state’s elected politicians. If the bill passes the Senate, Christie might not veto the bill since doing so might be seen as “offensive and discriminatory” and be “politically unpopular” for his career.

While Christie’s motives might be far from altruistic, it certainly shows that he is willing to put the wishes of his constituents above his own personal bias. In my opinion, that’s what a good politician does.

I’m Baaaaaack!

It has been twenty-two days since my last blog post, and I would like to think that some of you have been wondering Just where the heck is he? 

And there’s a simple answer: I’ve been working on the final touches to my new novel. My wonderful new editor, K, returned my novel to me over the Christmas holidays with suggestions/revisions, and I’ve been pounding away at the keyboard working the critiques into the book.

If you’ve ever written a book before, you certainly understand the anguish that comes with revision. If not, I’ll try and explain it to you.

Imagine your child. Reared and raised with love. You’ve done everything you can think of to make her as perfect as possible. You’ve given the child love, taught your child manners, revealed the diversity and wonder of the world through stories and explanations, and then you send that perfect little angel to school.

And she comes home with a note pointing out deficiencies: she doesn’t play well with others, she’s bossy, she interrupts the teacher, she has problems with math, and she bit someone.

That’s when you ask yourself: how could this be? I’ve done everything right, haven’t I?

But as good parents know, our children (though we love them dearly) aren’t perfect. They must be redirected and disciplined to make themselves the best possible people they can be.

This holds true for writing. Though the author may think their creation is perfect, when it is viewed through the eyes of another, problems invariably rise to the surface. And though we want to deny such problems, authors (like good parents) cannot. If we don’t see the flaws in our writing or in our children, they we are setting them both up to fail.

And that’s not what any good author or parent wants.

So, in order to make my novel stronger, I had to break from blogging in order to do what needed to be done. And I think I have. My new novel is in the process of being read by another, hopefully objective reader, and when that read through is done and when more corrections are made, it will be time to present my latest child out to the publishing world.

And in case you’re wondering, this new novel is a departure from Moral Authority. After writing a dystopian novel (even if it’s part one of a series), I needed something different to get my creative juices flowing. So I penned a gay romance with a modern day twist tentatively titled 3.

And, yes, that’s the number 3!

So, for the time being I’m back to blogging and reading and researching for the next novel. I’ve written most of the follow up book to Moral Authority, but there are several things that need tweaking before it will be ready for public consumption.

In the meantime, I hope to blog with a bit more regularity than I have these past two weeks or so. I’m anxious to get my opinions out there on the Republican primaries and other news from around the world.

See you in the Blog-o-sphere!

Straight, Married, Republican MS Assistant Principal Arrested as Pedophile

Patrick Lott, Assistant Principal for Bernardsville Middle School in New Jersey, was arrested last week for allegedly filming boys while showering in the locker room of Immaculata High School, as reported by Unicorn Booty.

Apparently, “videos of nude teenagers were found in his Somerville home,” which was searched after a student filed a complaint against Lott. Once authorities entered his residence, they found more than three years worth of video footage of boys, nine of who were under the age of 16. When police officials searched Immaculata HS, they found the surveillance equipment used to spy on and record the children.

Lott, a Republican, straight, and happily married man, who once ran for political office in his county now awaits his day in court to answer for his alleged crimes.

Some of you may be wondering why I am posting about this disgusting news event. I do so to point out that Lott is a straight man, married with children. Many anti-gay individuals love to say that pedophiles are gay men and that same sex couples will destroy the values of traditional marriage. I wonder how the actions of this straight, married, Republican work into that rhetoric?

Santorum Surges to Third Place, Promises to Annul Gay Marriages

Republican Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has risen to third place in Iowa polls. Now with 16% of the projected votes, which is a far cry of where he was previously, Santorum’s surge in Iowa has me deeply concerned.

First of all, I think he’s an idiot as I’ve claimed here, here, and here, but I’m concerned for more than just his lack of an intelligent quotient. Santorum has recently courted several “evangelical leaders within [Iowa]” and is using the standard hot topics of same sex marriage, abortion, and the threat of Islam  to garner favor with the 99 counties in Iowa.

Santorum isn’t dealing with important issues such as the economic crisis, health care, education, and rising unemployment. Instead, he has stoked the flames of fear many social conservatives have–that the gays will destroy traditional marriage, babies will be haphazardly aborted, and that Islam will take over our borders.

While I would normally scoff at platforms such as this, Santorum appears to be stirring up the pot enough in Iowa to rise in the polls. His tactic of fear and ignorance is working!

Santorum still has a lot of ground to cover to take over Romney and Paul, who are currently tied for first, but he’s gaining some steam.

If he does win the nomination, he not only plans to repeal DADT but to annul gay marriages that are currently legal in some states. ThinkProgress reported on this as well as on an interview between MSNBC’s Chuck Todd and Santorum on the subject of gay marriage. During the interview Santorum had this to say, “I think marriage has to be one thing for everybody. We can’t have 50 different marriage laws in this country, you have to have one marriage law.” When asked if he would make same-sex couples, who were currently married according to their state’s laws, get divorced, he responded by saying, “their marriage would be invalid.”

I wonder what happened to the GOP’s desire to limit the role of the federal government in a person’s private life and for acknowledging the rights of the states? I guess Santorum doesn’t buy into those Republican tenets, does he?