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Saturday, June 21, 2008

A Little Follow-up

Due to events that will become clear if you keep reading, I have neither the time nor the energy for a substantial entry this week, so I'm following up on a few things about which I've already written. If you're interested in some updated tidbits legal, pop, and personal, click on through.


Legal same-sex marriages began taking place in California this week. This is a momentous occasion, not only because an oppressed people has won a major victory, but also because it's going to propose some very interesting legal questions which will have to be addressed around the nation. Massachusetts required their same-sex marriages to be between residents. California has no such requirement, so same-sex couples are coming to California from across the nation to wed. When many of these couples return to their homes, they are going to find that their state won't recognize this union. Interestingly, New Yorkers won't have this problem as their state will recognize same-sex marriages from other states and other countries making three states where same-sex unions will be recognized even if they can only wed in two. I expect a lot of legal challenges in other states, however. Although the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U. S. Constitution generally requires states to recognize public acts and records of other states, in which marriage is included, courts have traditionally placed a limitation on that declaring that states aren't required to recognize marriages of couples that wed in another state to circumvent the laws of their home state. Having said that, however, the issue is still far from settled. And congratulations once more to all the newlyweds!


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The Daytime Emmy Awards were held Friday night, and as I somewhat expected, Van Hansis of As the World Turns did not win in the Younger Actor category. Instead, the award went to Guiding Light's Tom Pelphry, who has apparently never met a piece of scenery that he didn't want to devour. (Hey, I call 'em like I see 'em.) Further proof that the awards have nothing to do with quality arose when Van's co-star Jennifer Landon won in the Younger Actress category partially for her portrayal of Cleo. Now, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with Landon as an actress overall and maybe she has put in some fine performances in the past, but winning for THAT? Please. On the plus side, veteran Jeanne Cooper of The Young and the Restless picked up her first Emmy. Cooper was actually involved in an aborted lesbian storyline about thirty years ago, so at least someone who is a decent actor and has been somewhat involved in a gay storyline got an award.

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Finally, on a personal note, my mother is once again in the hospital. She called very early this morning saying that she couldn't breathe again. Once again, I took her to the emergency room. This time there doesn't seem to be any pneumonia as there was the last visit, although the doctor said it could have been bronchial spasms related to the last time. The prevailing theory among family and friends is that it was brought on by stress and anxiety from finding out that her sister may only have days or weeks to live instead of the months that the doctors had originally predicted. We're all bracing ourselves for the inevitable blow now.


Recommended Song Download: Give It 2 Me - Madonna

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Goodmorning,

I came across your blog just now from a link that Google Alerts sent me about Van Hansis.

My sympathies and best wishes go out to you the personal events happening in your life right now. I am a gay man who has also been a clinical hospice/hospital chaplain. There is no way I can know what you or your family is going through now, but I can imagine. I can only offer you a moment of compassionate presence.

Some people I've known have found that having more information has helped them through and eased stress. If that is the case for you, then a book by two hospice nurses called "Final Gifts" by Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelly, is one excellent source.

Warmest regards,
Rick