Anger: This, too, Is the Dharma

Jim Crow is alive and well in the US of A if, by that, we mean there are still 2nd class citizens in this country who are not seen as equal to everyone else in the eyes of government.

Remember after Katrina when Kanye West said George Bush hated black people on national television? I LOVED that. Cause it was absolute truth hitting a bullseye with laser-like precision, striking at hypocrisy with the mind-stopping thwack of a Zen master's stick.

Well here's another thwack for ya: THE GOVERNMENT HATES FAGS.

That's the only logical conclusion I can come to with my logical brain, as a logically thinking citizen. Sometimes 1+1 does indeed equal 2.

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) denies fags like me and my fiance, Dustin, access to federal programs as a married person that opposite-sex partners have enjoyed for decades. These programs represent safety nets Dustin and I can depend on as a married couple as we plan our lives and future together, as we deal with hard times and possibly raise children together (it could happen!). And very, very importantly, we are denied access to these programs for which we are footing the bill as taxpayers.

This country fought a revolution because of the affront to liberty that is taxation without representation. So, what the fuck?????

Here's a partial list of the federal programs I'm referring to:

1. Social Security spousal protections that ground a family’s economic security while living in old age, and upon disability and death;

2. protections for one spouse’s essential monetary resources and the ability to stay in the family home when the other spouse needs Medicaid for nursing home care;

3. the ability to be included in a family policy of health insurance, and if receiving that family health insurance, to be free of income tax on the value of that insurance;

4. the ability to use the “Married Filing Jointly” status for federal income tax purposes that can save families money;

5. family medical leave from a job to care for a seriously ill spouse;

6. disability, dependency or death benefits for the spouses of veterans and public safety officers;
employment benefits for federal employees, including access to family health insurance benefits, as well as retirement and death benefits for surviving spouses;

7. estate/death protections that allow a spouse to leave assets to the other spouse – including the family home – without incurring any taxes; and

8. the ability of a citizen to obtain a visa for a non-citizen spouse and sponsor that spouse for purposes of citizenship.

The list goes on. And guess what, citizens... this goes for those couples who are currently LEGALLY married in states like Massachusetts and Connecticut as well.

My experience shows me that we've educated ourselves about faggotry enough in this great country to have reached a critical mass of understanding, sensitivity and compassion. We're smart enough not to deny people rights because of who they are. A critical mass of the citizenry seems to be on board with this idea, thanks in no small part to a little thing we call the

Civil Rights Movement.

So again, a logical examination of the facts leads to the unequivocal conclusion that the government hates fags. It walks like Jim Crow and it talks like Jim Crow. But the government tells us it's about defending the institution of marriage.

Eat me, you Focus on the Family bitches.

Until fags can marry other fags and enjoy the same state and federal rights as everyone else, I don't think any of us fags should pay state or federal taxes. So until then, the IRS can kiss my faggoty ass. Who knows? They might find it pleasurable.