Unfortunately, however, we are not there quite yet.
Just look at the picture that goes with this post. What's not to like? Well apparently not everyone shares my views.
"Kenyata White and Aeimee Diaz were celebrating their anniversary at the American Kitchen & Wine Bar in downtown Phoenix this week when they were suddenly asked to leave the restaurant for "inappropriate behavior." But after an uproar on Facebook and other social media sites, the lesbian couple has been welcomed back with open arms -- and free drinks.
The Arizona Republic reports that the couple was asked to leave the restaurant, which is in the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel, after the two women were seen hugging and kissing at their table. A manager approached them to tell them their behavior was "inappropriate," and making other customers "uncomfortable."
"My partner and I were reminiscing," White told the Arizona Republic. "I had my arm around her neck, and she had her hand around my waist. I gave her a hug for about a minute, pulled myself away to give her a quick kiss, and then we continued talking." [Source]
One step forward and two steps back.
And as bad as that story was it didn't offend me as much as this one:
"As her elderly mother was dying, Barbara Johnson lay next to her on the hospital bed, reciting the “Hail Mary.” Loetta Johnson, 85, had been a devout Catholic, raising her four children in the church and sending them to Catholic schools.
At her mother’s funeral mass at the St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg, Md., a grieving Barbara Johnson was the first in line to receive communion.
What happened next stunned her. The priest refused Johnson, who is gay, the sacramental bread and wine.
“He covered the bowl with the Eucharist with his hand and looked at me, and said I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman and that is a sin in the eyes of the church,” Johnson told ABC News affiliate WJLA.
Her older brother, Larry Johnson, couldn’t believe what he had seen.
“I walked to the side of the church to console her, because she was clearly distraught,” Johnson told ABC News.
Larry Johnson said his sister, who has been in a committed gay relationship for 19 years, composed herself enough to give her mother’s eulogy, but then he was shocked at what happened next. The priest left the altar, Johnson said, and didn’t return until his sister was nearly finished speaking.
Family members added that the priest failed to come to the grave site, and the burial was attended by a substitute priest found by the funeral director.
Larry Johnson and his sister were outraged at what occurred on “what would already have been the worst day of my life,” he said." [Source]
Father, always remember to ask yourself: What would Jesus do? I think that's the whole point of this religion thing. Dogmatic insensitivity to your fellow human beings (regardless of their sexual orientation) will not get you into heaven.
Finally, congrats to Flipper on his big wins last night. Ricky, it was fun while it lasted. But it was just a matter of time before the rest of A-merry-ca found out what we already knew here in Pistolvania: That you are one crazy dude with visions of a theocratic A-merry-ca.
The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper column inches than any other cryptozoological subject.
New postings on Frontiers of Zoology: