I turned 17 today, and in my 18th year I hope to have a few wishes fulfilled.
Firstly, I hope this dragging out of equal marriage rights to all couples is finally ended and that every couple can have the same recognition under the law as any other couple.
I hope to achieve my academic goals, looking forward immensely to university (Hopefully Bristol or Durham).
That's all I can handle wish-wise at the moment.
However, just to let you all know, I have some pretty exciting experiences planned for the next few months.
Firstly, I am going to see Les Miserables next week!!! So. Excited!!!!
Secondly, I am going down to Bristol for the university open day on the 28th of June which is very exciting (Looking around the Archaeology, Anthropology, Sociology and Theology departments! (Theology...purely out of interest, not belief))
Once I break up from school, I am going on an archaeological dig in North Norfolk for a week in July...not sure what to expect, but if the weather is like it is now it should be wonderful.
In August time I will be heading off to Austria, hiking with a friend. I'll be taking my camera so lots of pictures will be uploaded onto the blog for a picture post! (in fact, after all of these activities I will post some photos.)
Anyway, speak soon! Off to Thetford Forest tomorrow for a nice Birthday picnic with my friends!
Hey guys! Over the past few months I have been watching Ellen clips on YouTube, constantly cursing her for providing me with the ultimate distraction from work. I could often be heard screaming at the computer 'Ellen!! It's midnight!!! I have to do homework!!'
Ellen has a very giving nature, and I think she is one of the best examples of using success and influence to benefit others. She has done a lot of work with families who have hit hard times, Whitney Elementary, teen suicide and LGBT issues.
Not to mention her dance dares!!!!
However, Ellen has not been welcomed with open arms by everyone. The group 'One Million Moms' (who are more like 40,000) started and then backed off from a failed campaign against Ellen's being hired as the spokesperson for the department store, JC Penney. Their grounds for this were that Ellen is an open homosexual. How bigoted!!!
This reminds me of that crushing story about Dominic Sheahan-Stahl, who was initially going to do the commencement speech at his younger brother's high school graduation...but was turned away once his homosexuality was known to the bishop.
BEING a homosexual is apparently grounds for discrimination. This is not right.
Anyway. My favourite Ellen segments have to be: Clumsy Thumbsy, Oh Come On!...in fact...I love them all.
But today was the first time I actually watched a whole episode (I live in England)....mainly because I only found out today that I had the channel it showed on in the UK!
The trend toward institutionalising homophobia to the east of Europe is on the march. The backlash against homosexuality in Russia, and the assertion that it is a Western malady, is now part of the political landscape in Ukraine. The Great Bear Russia still exerts considerable pressure on the country, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Ukraine – with its 24 provinces and one autonomous republic, Crimea – borders the Russian Federation. Its legislature is preparing to vote on a bill that will make it illegal to be homosexual in public. Last week a Pride Parade in the Ukrainian capital Kiev was cancelled, an action recommended by Amnesty International, which deemed it unsafe for the participants. A photograph of the beating of an activist by neo-Nazis all but confirmed that.
Nevertheless, the Ukraine wants to be part of the European Union. Its president, Viktor Yanukovych, has refused to speak out against the proposed bill, but is sending a delegation to the EU this Friday. All Out is running a petition to highlight this injustice. The choice for Yanukovych is simple: it is either the way of the EU or the way of Russia.
A term that could probably be used to describe the hordes of students this time of year, traipsing to important examinations (I myself have just concluded the cycle of AS Levels.)
However, before my exam period, my school decided it would hold auditions for the musical, Les Miz, to take place next November. Of course my reaction was a mixture of uncontrolled glee and slight nausea from the prospect of singing in front of people at the audition. Now obviously my dulcet bass tones were set to impress, but I, just as much as anyone, get nervous!
So, when it came to my turn to belt out 'At the End of the Day' in a cockney accent, my hands were trembling...making it incredibly hard to focus on the words....but I think it went pretty well!
Les Miserables is an incredibly interesting musical. The way it explores the darker side of life is incredibly true to the story by Victor Hugo...not to mention it has some truly epic tunes!
My favourites are: At the End of the Day, I Dreamed a Dream (sung much better by the original West End Fantine, than by SuBo), Lovely Ladies, Master of the House, One Day More and Do You Hear the People Sing?
In fact, my obsession with this musical has led me to buy the entire soundtrack...watch exerts from the 25th Anniversary concert on YouTube...and now I am going to see it next week!
So excited.
Here are some videos!
This includes 'At the End of the Day', 'I Dreamed A Dream', 'Lovely Ladies' and 'Fantine's Arrest'. (yay!!!)
MASTER OF THE 'OUSE! QUICK T'CATCH YE EYE!
And the Finale (Including the Original West End Cast) - One Day More and Do You Hear The People Sing?
Hi guys! Sorry for my inexcusable absence from blogging for the past few months. I have been panicking over the stress that is exams. I have one left tomorrow...but I thought I deserved a break from reading about Achilleus's childish exhibitions of behaviour in the Iliad. (He really is bloody irritating.)
Now. I am sure many of you are aware of the increasing support for the legalisation of equal marriage around the world and the many campaigns that have been set up to honour this worthwhile cause.
In the UK we are currently going through a consultation period which is nearly over!
Here are some of the reasons why I believe equal marriage should be legalised:
I don't like the fact that people who are homosexual lose rights...for telling the truth and expressing a fundamental part of who they are. What also seems absurd to me is that a gay man and a lesbian can get married but they can't get married to their respective same sex partners.
There is also this huge generalisation that being gay means one is inherently promiscuous and that they wouldn't value a monogamous commitment. This is not true. Many gay people enjoy committed, monogamous relationships that can transcend that of a heterosexual couple, because of the gender they share (some would argue that makes the pair more understanding of each others emotions).
Anyway, focussing back on the point. It's the 21st Century! I honestly can't understand the hold up on equal marriage...its so simple. Also, religion should have no say in civil rights...I would like to refer to religion and government as 'non-overlapping magisteria'. They should remain separate...
What religion does in its own walls is up to religion (however I am heartened to see a declaration of support for equal marriage among Deans and Bishops of the UK.
Also, I don't fully understand some religions grounds for opposition. They scream that homosexuality is abhorrent and that homosexuals are sinful but they ignore a lot of other stuff in the Bible that is 'no longer relevant'.
For example. DEUTERONOMY!
22.20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel,22.21 then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die, because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house; so shalt thou put evil away from among you.
Right...roughly 95% of women in the Western World have premarital sex... When do we start with the stoning? My message to the Church: If you are going to focus on a few passages in the Bible that condemn homosexuality and ignore other passages with clear instructions regarding heterosexual relationships...you lose all credibility. (Obviously I don't think women should be stoned on their wedding night if they aren't a virgin!)
Christians can't pick and choose what in the Bible they believe to be true. All of the Bible should be up for interpretation and/or discredited.
Furthermore, the Bible got something as simple as slavery wrong...its pretty safe to assume it got the complexities of human sexuality wrong too.
If its a question of procreation, a lot of infertile heterosexual people or those that don't wish to have children get married. Plus, gay people can provide loving environments to children in need of adoption. Orphaned or unwanted children need a home too. (Plus do we really need to increase the population?)
Ok. A parting video. A chap I have been messaging over the past 2 weeks is the film maker behind the Out4Marriage campaign. Have a watch. His name is Mike Buonaiuto and he was responsible for the Coalition for equal Marriage Viral film (which I will also post.). He has been incredibly supportive of me and my coming to terms with who I am. Thankyou Mike.
After all. It's about love isn't it? We are all capable of love, and love is the same everywhere.
