lifeonq.com

Wake Up and Smell the Democracy

If you’re the type who often procrastinates, and you have not yet registered to vote, then you’ve done it again. Today is the last day to register to vote in Georgia. It’s the same in many other states as well, with deadlines sweeping across the country.  If you wait, it will be too late.

You can register to vote online a number of places, including declareyourself.com, headcount.org, or here in Georgia, you can download the form directly from the Secretary of State’s office. If you’ve always believed that your vote doesn’t make a difference, well then, just take a look in your wallet.  Open your 401(k) statement. Visit Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. and pay your respects to all the soldiers killed in Iraq.  You might want to pack a lunch–there are a lot of them.  Think about the complete clusterf@$& we’re in, and then think again about whether or not your vote matters.  The truth is that if you don’t vote, you (and the rest of us) are in danger of getting another radical, right-wing, war-mongering, gay hating leader.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I can take another four years. Can you?  Your vote does matter.  Many elections here in Georgia are won or lost by only a few hundred votes or less.

Declare Yourself, a nonprofit, politically neutral organization, began in 2004 to encourage young people (and old alike) to register and vote.  Over a million people did. This year, with the help of celebrities like Jessica Alba, Leonardo diCaprio and Ellen Degeneres, Declare Yourself is using the power of social networks like myspace to try to help make sure everyone is awake and paying attention. I am paying attention, and I’m more than a little worried.  Isn’t it time you woke up, smelled the coffee, and registered to vote?  Do it now.  Right now.  Here in Georgia, this is your last chance.

Ellen Gets Her Gay Wedding

After all these years, hope is lost.  It’s time to give up the fantasy of being Ellen Degeneres’ girlfriend.  Sorry, fellow Ellen admirers.  Ellen and Portia de Rossi got married — legally married — at their California home on Saturday. After all the attention Ellen endured in her pioneering, televised coming out, along with the ongoing ogling of her life, it was nice to hear that she and Portia decided on a private, intimate ceremony attended by less than 20 guests, according to People Magazine.

Ellen certainly deserved to keep this life milestone mostly out of the glare of the public spotlight. To be sure, there will be lots of media coverage of the couple’s nuptials. E! News has posted pictures and a video (watch it below).  She made the decision to announce her engagement to Portia on The Ellen Degeneres Show back in May and to talk about it regularly on the show, and at awards shows such as the Daytime Emmys. What choice did she have, really?  Ellen is the official unofficial lesbian mascot, constantly expected to represent us all, or so it would seem. But all things considered, it appears they were able to enjoy their wedding in relative privacy.  And by relative, I mean privacy in the context of the world’s most recognizable out lesbian.

It’s hard to overstate the impact Ellen has had on gay rights in this country.  She is a likable, positive, attractive person who has carried the lesbian banner with a great deal of style and grace — even when her coming out nearly destroyed her career.  The Ellen Show redeemed her, a huge success with legions of adoring fans, straight and gay.  Her sexuality is not front and center on the show, but she doesn’t try to pretend there’s not a lesbian in the room.  One of my all-time favorite Ellen Show moments was when First Lady Laura Bush and her just-married daughter Jenna appeared on the show earlier this year to promote their children’s book.  Talking to Jenna about the wedding, Ellen commented on the First Daughter’s ability to have a private wedding on the President’s Crawford, Texas ranch.  Ellen asked if she and Portia could have the ranch for their wedding.  Jenna immediately said yes, while her mother pursed her lips in an awkward smile.  That would have been something, wouldn’t it?

Ellen Degeneres deserves happiness and some semblance of privacy.  So congratulations to Ellen and Portia.  The only thing that could please me more was if I were in Portia’s shoes right now.