http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/magazine/infidelity-will-keep-us-together.html

Believe it or not I tend to agree with Dan Savage – on a lot of things, besides non-monogamy! And if more of us were honest about it in our culture, people like Anthony Weiner would not lose their jobs over it. Thank you Mark Oppenheimer for cracking this into a million pieces all coming back to COMMUNICATION!

Another publication – The Huffington Post, allowed this piece of op-ed bias to run in response to Oppenheimer’s NYT article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuley-boteach/the-new-york-times-questi_b_890114.html

In another interesting twist in this already over complicated case, the judge who wrote the latest statement regarding the consideration of appeal, Justice Stephen Reinhardt, is married to the executive director of the ACLU. He has so far denied motions for his removal from the case. Read more at the Merced Sun Star.

Tuesday House lawmakers in Indiana voted to change that state’s constitution to include the wording ‘any relationship “substantially similar”’ in their ban on same-sex marriage. (sources 365gay.com and the Indy Star). Though the amendment still has years to go and several votes in both houses of congress in Indiana before it is put to a final vote, the mere fact that it is even being considered is disturbing, not to mention confusing. It closes any possibility for protections for same-sex partners to be legally recognized. Further speculation might interpret the wording as making the mere act of living together for same-sex couples in Indiana illegal.

And rounding out the pro discrimination party this week: lawmakers in New Hampshire are scheduled to vote on whether or not to repeal their legal recognition of same-sex marriage. (Boston Globe), while Wyoming, already defining marriage as between one man and one woman, passed a law nullifying out of state same-sex marriages.

On the flip side.. Maryland legislators will most likely add that state to the list of same-sex marriage friendly states. Hawaii just voted in favor of civil unions for same-sex couples and is waiting for the governor to sign that bill into law.

Stay informed. Peace.

TT and Michael invite you to share in a celebration of the first year of:

The WEDLOCK Project

We will transition from

Part 2: PDA

to

Part 3: MATRIMONY

with the performance piece

BRIDGE

and the final group PDA

(Public Displays of Acceptance)

Sunday, September 12th, 2010

4:00PM – 7PM

Jamaica Pond Bandstand

PROGRAM

GUESTS ARRIVE

4:00PM – 4:30PM

BRIDGE PERFORMANCE

4:30PM

CELEBRATION – SOCIAL HOUR

5:00PM – 6:00PM

We invite you to join THE GROOMS

For the final PDA

(Public Display of Acceptance)

around Jamaica Pond

6:00PM – 7:00PM

end

The WEDLOCK Project, collaborators TTBaum, Michael Grohall and Nathaniel Fink announce an exhibition of their photo series Bound To*.

A play on words, Bound To refers to both the actions one is “bound to” take, and the constraint that same-sex couples feel when outsiders try to define their relationships.

Bound To visually investigates the broad spectrum of intimacy. The subjects are certain in their identity as a couple. Images of uninhibited interaction are paired with visual commentaries on the outside forces that restrict their expression.

September 3^rd – September 19^th

Easton Mountain

391 Herrington Hill Road

Greenwich, NY 12834

*Half of all proceeds will benefit Easton Mountain.

]]> http://thewedlockproject.com/news/bound-to-on-view-at-easton-mountain-september-3rd-19th/feed/ 0 http://thewedlockproject.com/blog/a-union-of-equals/ http://thewedlockproject.com/blog/a-union-of-equals/#comments Mon, 09 Aug 2010 19:35:30 +0000 TT Baum http://thewedlockproject.com/?p=341 From the website: religiondispatches.org

In his ruling striking down Prop. 8 as unconstitutional, Judge Vaughn Walker takes a mighty axe to that gnarled tree of marital gender roles and brings it down in just a few chops.

“Marriage between a man and a woman,” he writes in his findings of fact, “was traditionally organized based on presumptions of division of labor along gender lines. Men were seen as suited for certain types of work and women for others.”

Later, in his conclusion of law, he writes that over time marriage has moved away from a gendered institution into a union of equals and “toward an institution free from state-mandated gender roles.” Such a move, he writes, “reflects an evolution of the understanding of gender rather than a change in marriage.”

To read Judge Vaughn’s entire ruling, please click thru to the following link:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/08/proposition-8-overturned.html

To mark these milestones – The WEDLOCK Project is coming out of Summer hibernation with a new performance piece/celebration in September that will bridge Part 2:PDAs and Part 3:Matrimony! Keep watching for more details to come!

Thanks for your continued support!

The Romeos.

A friend on Facebook commented “Now aren’t we supposed to find the judge, or the prosecutor exiting the airport with a rentboy. Isn’t that how these things work.” As flip as that comment may be there is a kernel of truth in it. That being – that if these men had kept everything quiet and led lives that kept their love hidden from everyone they would be free. They would have gotten married to women, had “normal” lives and secreted their love away from the world.

Instead they chose to publicly declare their love for one another. They went against everything their society told them was “right” and did what they felt was RIGHT in their guts. They knew the right thing to do – for them. And now they are doing time in prison for an act that in all actuality would probably not have had much of an impact on anyone in their city, village or family. In imprisoning them the government of Malawi has done two things – On the one hand they have given us a new pair of faces in the global argument for same-sex equal rights. (We all know how the West, America especially likes to have a foreign, preferably third world face to personalize an issue in our own home territory). On the other, Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa has delivered a stern message to homosexual population of that country and other countries in Africa with similar legislation on the books. Besides the inhumane treatment of HUMAN beings, these backwards laws regarding morality, sexuality, and civil rights have been what UNICEF and other charitable groups around the globe have pegged as one of the reasons for the explosion of HIV/AIDS on the continent.

Keeping this case in mind and the lives of other GLBTQ peoples around the globe in African countries and elsewhere with strict anti-gay laws, let’s bring it back to our own country. The goold ol’ USA, where, you remember, we are FREE. That’s right. You remember that right. George W. Bush and everyone on God’s green American earth has been telling us that vehemently for years now. Free.. and not only that but we must protect that freedom at all costs! Well here is another case where the USA and other countries can hold up a newspaper article, a picture, a court-ruling, and say, “Look! Look at those poor bastards. If only they lived here. They can’t even get married and love one another in their own way there. They are not free.”

But this is where it gets a little muddled, a little hazy and confusing. The US State Department condemned the decision and the Malawi legislation that led to the ruling. But this is where we have to look back at ourselves and ask – how can we condemn a country for doing what we also do, maybe not in such a formal and harsh way, but in a way that is just as oppressive in it’s intent.

No-we may not throw queer people in prison for loving one another, but we surely do not make it easy for them to live here. I remind you that as of today…only six states in the country allow same sex marriages, another three recognize those marriages from other jurisdictions. Two states that had the laws on the books repealed them. And beyond that our country has a nebulous record in protecting it’s queer citizens against hate crimes, discrimination and equal opportunity.

It is important to pay attention to the case of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga. In doing so let’s not lose sight of what continues to happen right here in our own country, where we are not yet free to be equal citizens.

The WEDLOCK Project artists, TTBaum, Michael Grohall and collaborator Nathaniel Fink are proud to be participating in this worthy event!

The Auction happens tonight – Saturday April 10th, 2010 at the school 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston MA. Tickets can be purchased by going to the website.

Happy bidding..

This is a preview of a work in progress for MATRIMONY–the finale of The WEDLOCK Project in August, 2010