Welcome.

How do I even begin this first blog post? I guess I should back up and clarify that my Tumblr page was originally supposed to be where I based my inane political ramblings, but it's really just turned into a "Grey Gardens" of cat GIFS and clips of Whitney Houston on "Being Bobby Brown." So we'll just leave sleeping crackheads lie.

With that enough to satisfy me at the moment, I'd really just put the idea of blogging off to the side and continued on with tweeting Republican presidential debates and consuming wine (usually at the same time). But with some gentle nudging from trusted friends over the past few months, I feel like I should finally give it a go. I'm really not sure what to expect from this. Maybe I'll have some dedicated readers. Maybe I'll quit faster than Sarah Palin in office. But you never know until you try, right?

I'd say that I'd at least have my mother to count as a reader, but unless it's included as a column in her latest issue of "TV Y Novelas," I doubt it.

Now on to the damn thing.

Unless you've been living in Callista Gingrich's helmet-hair, you'll know what an amazing couple days its been for The Gays. Not only did the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals say that California's Proposition 8 was unconstitutional, not only did Washington state pass marriage equality, not only did some variation of Madonna perform at the Super Bowl half-time show, but Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum won three states following this week's elections. Not since the Michele Bachmann presidential campaign has America seen a week this gay.

Of course, bigots cry foul, claiming that their ability to hate has been hindered by activist judges, the same kind of activist judges who overturned those pesky segregation and anti-miscegenation laws. Like then, bigots claim that they are only seeking to protect the traditional meaning of marriage as intended by God, though a quick skim through the Bible shows that Adam and Eve never obtained a marriage certificate, that Jesus' parents God and Mary were never married (call Maury Povich, since she was actually engaged to Joseph), and that Jesus himself never seemed to care much for the institution and remained unmarried (he was too busy turning water into wine and healing sick folks. Priorities, people).

Crap. I just realized I'm missing tonight's "Downton Abbey."

The point is, no sane, moral, conscious person - Tea Party excluded - can rationalize the idea of racial segregation. It's bigoted, it's insane, and it's wrong. It goes against the very fiber of being human, because in our cores we are beings with compassion for one another. Have you ever been outside and seen a complete stranger in pain, or crying, or in need of help? That instant tug, that moment of understanding, that desire to help - even though you have no idea who this person is or what precarious situation they may be in - that's what makes us human.

But somehow, the idea of hating someone based purely on a their sexual orientation seems to carry some rationale for some. They don't see it as hate or bigotry. They see it as carrying out Christ's word and being righteous, when in reality Christ said nothing about homosexuality. Christ actually told his disciples to love one another as He had loved them. If we had seen a verse where Jesus instructed us to shove "God Hates Fags" signs in our neighbor's face, I'm sure we would have caught it by now. Sadly, this bigotry has even been legitimized by Republican presidential candidates, one of whom compares a loving, same-sex relationship to bestiality (some nerve from a guy who wears brown sweater vests).

2012 is going to be a pivotal year for America (and not because of Cher's new album, produced by Lady Gaga OMGICANHARDLYWAIT!). With now a seventh state passing marriage equality, we're going to see a Republican, anti-gay backlash not seen since George W. Bush's 2004 attempt to pass an anti-gay federal marriage amendment. And while today's candidates will try to remind us again and again, that no, they aren't bigoted, that they are only reflecting what their beliefs are, our job will be to remind them otherwise. That their opinion - which in their home may be fact, tried and true - is fundamentally wrong to equality-loving Americans and should not be imposed on the public.

Let's get to it.