Marriage equality just won a HUGE battle!!!!

[Maverick]

Very cool to witness how the world is changing, slowly but surely....

[East]

I hang out with those type of guys that alot of people are afraid of.....the older 40s-50s-60s-70s kinda rough guys who mostly hang out with other guys and shoot the shit. Mostly blue collar or independent self employed worker guys....quite a few police and ex police officers...

...and I fit right in. As my sexuality is a non issue...they treat it as such and I can tell you that they APPRECIATE that it is a non issue.....they accept me very nicely...there are no issues...

They also treat my lover with love and respect and make sexual jokes openly...not mean ones...mostly how lucky we are because they never get any....

In our circle of straight friends...way over half are conservative Republicans and they all are very supportive of gay marriage and again...they are delighted that it is a non issue and we get comments from some of the men like this:

"I wish I was gay...it would make my life alot easier"

"Me and my wife think you are the best couple we have ever seen and want your secret"

"I want to give you guys a wedding at our house".....

None of these people knew gay people before.....I have been very conscious that I represent all of us in their mind (yeah...I know it is wrong but it is what it is) and I know I have done a good job and changed minds..and hearts...

The little socialist in me beleives in doing what you can to benefit the whole...that is how my mind works...

Real change happens one person at a time....

[Virge]

Maverick said "Very cool to witness how the world is changing, slowly but surely...."
[COLOR="SeaGreen"]I think about that a lot. The history being made now and the years and work that have gone into all the things leading up to this time. This goes back way before I was born and a lot of the people who stared it are dead now and mostly forgotten. I sure wish I could say thanks to every one of them.
[/COLOR]

Palbert said " "That is how it happens: one person at a time."
Since I discovered that's the way to do it it changed my life. I'll probably never get out in a march. No real change comes from that. Change comes from personal contact and exchanges of ideas.


East said, "I hang out with those type of guys that alot of people are afraid of.....the older 40s-50s-60s-70s kinda rough guys who mostly hang out with other guys and shoot the shit. Mostly blue collar or independent self employed worker guys....quite a few police and ex police officers......and I fit right in. As my sexuality is a non issue...they treat it as such and I can tell you that they APPRECIATE that it is a non issue.....they accept me very nicely...there are no issues... They also treat my lover with love and respect and make sexual jokes openly...not mean ones...mostly how lucky we are because they never get any.... In our circle of straight friends...way over half are conservative Republicans and they all are very supportive of gay marriage and again...they are delighted that it is a non issue and we get comments from some of the men like this:
[COLOR="Red"]"I wish I was gay...it would make my life alot easier"
"Me and my wife think you are the best couple we have ever seen and want your secret"
"I want to give you guys a wedding at our house".....
None of these people knew gay people before.....I have been very conscious that I represent all of us in their mind (yeah...I know it is wrong but it is what it is) and I know I have done a good job and changed minds..and hearts...
[/COLOR]
The little socialist in me beleives in doing what you can to benefit the whole...that is how my mind works...

Real change happens one person at a time....

(about the words in red)
JEEEEEEEEZ...... East... I KNOW EXACTLY what that's like. I never tell about all the things they've done and said supporting me and gay people since I began making it a point to socialize with them and let them know I'm a nice guy. Some of the things they've done and said (like pushing me on the Zoning board YELLING DOWN gay haters at the cafe even when I'm not there -- making MY GUY feel like the most special person on earth every time they see him -- PRESSURING my guy to move here because they like him AND IT HELPED CONVINCE HIM!!) it all sounds like a corny movie script instead of real life. I'm choked up now just talking this much about it.

All I was doing in the beginning was exercising my rights to eat at that cafe if I wanted to when I wanted to. I never expected to end up with a "gezzer posse." But then they never expected to ever like a gay guy or ever start being tolerant and understanding to gays in general... all in less than 4 years.... I never saw it coming.

Honest to god I would feel like an asshole if I ever moved away from here after all his.

[SIZE="5"][COLOR="Blue"]Change Really Is
One Person at a Time.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[East]

[
JEEEEEEEEZ...... East... I KNOW EXACTLY what that's like. I never tell about all the things they've done and said supporting me and gay people since I began making it a point to socialize with them and let them know I'm a nice guy. Some of the things they've done and said (like pushing me on the Zoning board YELLING DOWN gay haters at the cafe even when I'm not there -- making MY GUY feel like the most special person on earth every time they see him -- PRESSURING my guy to move here because they like him AND IT HELPED CONVINCE HIM!!) it all sounds like a corny movie script instead of real life. I'm choked up now just talking this much about it.

All I was doing in the beginning was exercising my rights to eat at that cafe if I wanted to when I wanted to. I never expected to end up with a "gezzer posse." But then they never expected to ever like a gay guy or ever start being tolerant and understanding to gays in general... all in less than 4 years.... I never saw it coming.

Honest to god I would feel like an asshole if I ever moved away from here after all his.

Change Really Is
One Person at a Time.

I LOVE these guys and I love the time I spend with them shooting the shit ...I know what you mean about the group support Virge....I spend all day with guys like that and they are kinda glad that I am gay because they feel comfortable telling me really personal stuff and asking for advice....

I think that we should all BE the change we want to see.....and I do conduct my life that way for the most part.

I have told people since I was 21 that my sexuality is a complete non issue for me and there is nothing to talk about. I also think it is a gift...not a curse....and I have no shame or regrets about my sexuality...I think I won the sexual identity lottery. If I wasn't gay I would want to be LOL

I was in my car with my friends...the guys I hang out with and are kinda close to me and my lover...and they always talk about women and their tits and ass...ect ect.....two are single and one is maarried and one of the single guys was enaged to a Playboy centerfold for years....

So...years ago...one time when I was driving and they were all in the car I slowed down in the driveway and said "DAMN...Look at the ass on that guy...I would love to bend him over and fuck him".....

There was initial silnce and then they all burst out laughing and screaming and hooting and patting me on the back...very glad that I joined in. Over the years I have trained them to find the VERY FEW guys that turn me on and DAMN....they are good! They actually know EXACTLY the kind of guys I like..it is uncanny really....they even understand it is all about the vibe of the guy versus the looks.....most people don't...

If you give people a chance to get to know you ....that is when real change happens......

[Virge]

hahahahahhahaahaha!!!!!!

I get something like that. If I were to ever say something like you did about a guy.. The ones from the cafe would jump all in my shit because to be totally honest they like jay a lot and any nice looking guy (and we have wayyyyyyyyyyy too many) who speaks to me is a potential home wrecker as far as they're concerned.

Example. This summer maybe the first day after my hand operation I walked there for lunch with my arm in a sling and bandaged up like it went through a saw mill. One of them jumped up held the door for me, and before I could pick a seat they picked one for me.... All was going good... food ordered and talking there at one big table. Some guy came in wearing a dirty pair of jeans and shirt, all covered with paint and a big straw hat. As he walked past me he slapped me on the face pretty hard and called me a sorry bitch before he disappeared in the bathroom. So there I was all messed up after an operation and I've just been slapped and insulted. Two of these OLD GUYS stood up and headed to block the bathroom door and jack him up....

I stopped them... They were about to beat up Ray, my best friend, business partner and favorite jackass coming there to meet me taking a lunch break from painting the overhang of the strip mall we own.

Those guys are more protective of me that my own dogs. hahahahhahahaha!

No way not to have a moment of AWE when shit like that happens.

One at a time.... we don't preach that enough, guys.

Friendships like these mean more to me than a lot of others I won't mention but you know where I'm headed with that.

[JackTX]

i know a guy who lives over in Fort Worth. he took me to a local bar that is by any account a dive, and the people by most accounts probably considered rednecks, but they all knew he was gay and had zero issues with it. there was even a transsexual friend of his and everyone was friendly to her too. things have definitely changed over all of our lifetimes. harvey milk had it right about 'we need to all come out so they know us.'

[palbert]

The LOUISIANA plaintiffs lost in the district court and appealed to the Fifth Circuit; oral argument was scheduled for January 9, 2015.

They have now filed a SCOTUS petition for writ of certiorari before judgement, on the theory that they should be heard with the 6th Circuit appeals. http://www.scribd.com/doc/247345418/...COTUS-Petition :

Wonder if TX, also to be argued 1/9/2015, will join the party.

[Pcolakuntryboy]

Looks like same sex marriage could be legal in Florida beginning Jan 6.

[Virge]

i know a guy who lives over in Fort Worth. he took me to a local bar that is by any account a dive, and the people by most accounts probably considered rednecks, but they all knew he was gay and had zero issues with it. there was even a transsexual friend of his and everyone was friendly to her too. things have definitely changed over all of our lifetimes. harvey milk had it right about 'we need to all come out so they know us.'

I've been telling people how most people here in SD just don't give a shit who'd gay and who's not anymore. Not only that waaaaaaaay more than half of them are totally fed up with the fundamentalists about it. I go to the little tavern here in town all the time. When Jay gets here he and I will walking there a few times a week. All the people around here love him and treat me like dirt as a way of kidding with me. All the friendly people here mean a lot. I doubt we'll ever be happy in big city life.

[Pcolakuntryboy]

I've been telling people how most people here in SD just don't give a shit who'd gay and who's not anymore. Not only that waaaaaaaay more than half of them are totally fed up with the fundamentalists about it. I go to the little tavern here in town all the time. When Jay gets here he and I will walking there a few times a week. All the people around here love him and treat me like dirt as a way of kidding with me. All the friendly people here mean a lot. I doubt we'll ever be happy in big city life.

I wish it were that way in the rural South, but it's not (including the FL panhandle). The cities are okay, but in the smaller towns the Bible bangers always worry about what goes on in everyone else's bedroom except their own. The Southern Baptists are the worst.