Sara Haile-Mariam

Two new pieces on marriage equality.

My first field report for Campus Progress.

Then a follow up opinion piece on Huffpost.

To Summarize:

“No” is not a sufficient explanation for denying millions of New Yorkers a right that I am free to take for granted. “No” is not how this country intended for us to begin — let alone end — a debate on equality. “No” warrants the question why. When that explanation is based in not fact, but freedom, than we must ask why the same freedom that enables a State Senator to say “no” in Albany prohibits a same-sex couple from saying “I do” in Brooklyn.

“This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO’s first mission beyond Europe’s borders is a success”

President Obama, addressing 200,000 cheering Germans last summer.

Just posted a new piece on Global Grind.

“So no, Gay is not the black, but we are in a time. While we face different challenges as individuals and communities, we also reside in a moment where our President is pleading with us to come together to recognize that while our differences are pervasive they are not perverted… prejudice has no place in the United States of America. President Obama revisited this notion while addressing the NAACP last Thursday.”

Full piece here.

Also- blogging will likely be slower until September 15th (NYC Democratic Primary) but I will try to take some time out in the next week to tackle health care policy. The debate surrounding Health Care reform is extremely important and I think we should all try to understand the parameters of the debate, and more importantly we should all chime in.

While on the subject, checkout the following articles.

The first is from CNN, and it’s a piece on the “gayby boom” generation, a generation of children raised by gay parents.

“O’Leary says she doesn’t personally know any same-sex parents or their children. That’s the problem, some children of same-sex children say. So many people are talking about them; not enough are talking to them, they say.

Some gayby boomers say they are tired of hearing that their family isn’t legitimate. It’s an argument many have heard since they were children. They learned that they didn’t fit the definition of the “right” family, and worried how others would react if they found out about their parents.”

Read the rest here.

And here, Frank Rich’s Op-Ed on the progress of the gay rights movement, and the obstacles that we, gay and straight, must still overcome.

I Spent the day walking in the Manhattan Gay Pride Parade with Team Yassky. Gay and straight, young and old, every race and ethnicity, people from all walks of life came out to celebrate the 40 year anniversary of the Stonewall riots and the progress that’s been made since. Part of me wants to comment on the sheer size and diversity of the crowds- but in truth, I don’t find it all that remarkable. Perhaps it’s a consequence of spending 4 years living in New York City, perhaps it can be attributed to the generation that I hail form, a generation that has made it all too clear that gay right’s isn’t a wedge issue, it’s a non-issue.

In any event, it was truly a wonderful experience.

Happy Pride Day everyone.

Another piece on Global Grind on how the situation in Iran speaks to the importance and power of one voice.

Speaking of which, checkout this WAPO piece on exactly that, how Americans are using technology to impact events over there. One of the individuals profiled, Chas Danner, is a good friend. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been blown away by how his actions (on his computer in Brooklyn) could have such a profound effect on so many.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Peggy Noonan has a column critiquing those who are trying to politically posture themselves to be more in line with the reformers in Iran. She states:

“This was Aggressive Political Solipsism at work: Always exploit events to show you love freedom more than the other guy, always make someone else’s delicate drama your excuse for a thumping curtain speech.”

This isn’t a time for politics, this is a time where we allow the very premise that this nation was founded on speak for itself.

Watching this video from the BBC, the sentiment “nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change” comes to mind.

Indeed, hurrah.
(h/t Andrew Sullivan)

My thoughts and prayers are with this blogger, and everyone else, who protests tomorrow.

“I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I’m listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It’s worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I’m two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow’s children…”

(h/t) Andrew Sullivan

My latest piece on Huffpost.

Translation: "Trust us! We had counted the votes a few days before the election."