Hamm On Wry

You know, I really hate people who can’t protect children in their own sacred buildings trying to tell the world that gays proclaiming that they are stable, loving couples are threats to our society. Or worse, to the world. MSNBC has the scoop, and yet again, when it comes to a battle that can’t be won on logic or even the bible, hate groups fall back on that old standard, “the children”.

“The most overlooked and disenfranchised group in the current debate about marriage is that of children,” Calgary Bishop Frederick Henry said in a recent statement.

“The issue is not whether traditional marriage, as it stands, is a perfect institution, but whether society and especially children are better off with it than without. Families with both mothers and fathers are generally better for children than those with only mothers or only fathers. Biological parents usually protect and provide for their children more effectively than non-biological ones.”

I would like to point out all the insults contained in those few words:

• If you are a single mother, you aren’t raising your child right. So my sister Bridget, who is raising a very bright, well-behaved and well-adjusted wonderful girl, Kirsten, is doing something wrong. According to the Catholic Church, anyway.
• If you are a single father, you aren’t raising your child right. I don’t have a child, or a male sibling, but I know a few single fathers, and if anything, they have to work harder to prove they are doing a good job with their kids, yet once again, instead of offering help, even if just prayers, The Church insults and slaps these people.
• Biological parents are better than non-biological parents. My mom and uncle were adopted by the people I know as my grandparents, and while they have some biological link, it’s not of parents, obviously. And my mom’s biological parents died of alcoholism, and didn’t exactly leave their kids better off. It took a few years and lots of trauma before two loving people stepped up and adopted my mom and my uncle. And there were never two better people on the planet. And they were Catholic, as was the entire rest of the family, we’re Irish after all. I wonder what Grandpa Jim and Grandma Sporty are thinking now that they’ve been slapped with “not good enough” by The Church.

While I don’t know it all, and I don’t even pretend to know it all, I think it’s terribly pathetic that The Church, which is led by Those Men, can’t think that any display of LOVE is a good thing. That anyone willing to commit to another is a good thing. That God doesn’t make mistakes, and we are NOT sins of his.

I am a child of God. I have my trials and tribulations, I have my questions, my fears, my hopes, my dreams, my life, and above all, my loves.

My family loves me, and I love them. Sometimes we all drive each other nuts, sometimes we all do stupid things, and sometimes we hurt those we love without ever realizing it. These are the only truths that I have.

I can’t be perfect, I’m not trying to be. But neither will I stand back and be silent while my family is denigrated by men who are so out of touch with humanity as to think that no matter what the cost, gay marriage must be stopped. They go too far, they wound too much, and frankly, they are wrong. I hope you can see that. I also hope the next pope won’t be blind.

Oh for the love of pete and all things wondering, J.Go has been reworking his blog, and because of some friends of his who could, if asked too early in the day, lead him wrong, he’s using WordPress which, as we all know, powers the Hammage-on-Wryness right here. And we simply love it, so I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t wrong in suggesting it to J.Go-Whom-We-Love.

I’ve been remiss myself because of a background update, and I’m still trying to finish off some video work for the OTO because, well, I did film them. And, as everyone in Houston is well aware, RED is launching this weekend, so it’s not like my life won’t have meaning again. And I’d really like to get over this friggin cough I have.

But it’s that time, Spring cleaning is over and the summer is about to hit us like a blast furnace, so I should redo the site. Expect many changes, my darlings!

It’s been a long while since I’ve had a break to spend time writing about my life. So long, in fact, that my friends in Maine have begun to wonder if I’m dead. No such luck, babes, no such luck. Just been incredibly busy with RED and things are going quite well.

It just didn’t seem that way until recently. In fact, it seemed almost hopeless until just a few days ago. Three days ago, to be precise. But all the work that was put into the magazine appears to be paying off, and it seems that it’s launching soon, and we’re very excited about it. Not the least of it because it becomes a *real* job for me now, and not just a “I’ll help and we’ll see” situation, which of course means I’m getting PAID!

So this officially begins a new chapter in my life. I’ve been a student, worked in a hotel, served in several restaurants, worked in many offices and suffered through the stupidity of corporate America, been in marketing and advertising, created videos and worked on films, and now I’m in the magazine business. It’s all been interesting, some of it more than others, and the education that I’ve gotten in the past 16 years (holy balls!) I wouldn’t be able to find at any University in the world.

But more on that later. RED is coming to Houston, and it’s only a moment in time before we paint your town, too!

Opera Theater of Oregon It’s something that I need to comment on, but haven’t had a chance with all the stuff that is going on with RED right now (more on that later, I promise!). However, OTO is absolutely the best idea to hit classical music in about 45 years. Maybe 50.

Anyway, OTO is the organization that is striving to bring opera to the masses by doing an educated outreach program that includes a Young Artist Studio working on shorter productions giving each artist a chance to shine, and also producing the mainstay operas, like La Traviata, sung in English so that everyone can understand them. For this, Angela Niederloh and Amy Russell Cathey deserve great praise and support.

And support is what you should give. So go to the site and give them some cash. It’s a tax deductible donation, so you’re helping the arts and stopping the waste of money in Washington at the same time. What could be better?