The Spencer Hamilton Blog

When I came out I was 19, and by 21 I was in a 2 year struggle to deal with my faith and sexuality, having been on opposite sides of myself to the exclusion of the other. By 23, I met a man that I later wanted to marry, but that relationship would end. However, in between is the amazing story because it would help shape me to take on other issues. In November 2010 I had just come back to the fold of LGBT activism as I began to sever ties with religious groups who made me feel as if my faith and sexuality were at odds, and reconnected to an old friend, Kitty Lambert & Cheryle Rudd…now Lambert-Rudds (Whom I refer to affectionately as Grandma Kitty & Grandma Cheryle) it was a tough time as they had endured harassment and not knowing of my struggle as I had proven myself, she was skeptical of my wanting to be involved. Some had come pretending to be for the cause but fell away after they were asked to circulate letters, petitions, make calls or do something that showed they wer...

Confederate Flag & Burning Black Churches So Dylan Roof is a lone wolf in SC, wearing the flags of Rhodesia & South Africa, apartheid era regimes in Africa. He surrounded by white people in his hometown, white straight males outnumber most people of color in his Legislature, Confederate Generals have buildings named after them—which in front of them are wreaths of the Charleston 9 in front—and they fought to uphold slavery. John Fueslgang compared the Confederate flag to keeping your side piece’s picture up in the house that you and your spouse share. The romanticism of the Old Confederacy and South…well, it’s pitiful, but they claim heritage So let me tell you about your heritage. The “War of Northern Aggression” was fought to uphold slavery, to keep people as pets. After slavery, the Black Codes changed the word slave to Negro and the slavery laws were basically intact, then we started seeing and still are seeing how the different races are taught in the legal sys...

Huffpost decided to write about 5 things that we should look at arguments tomorrow so I decided to add some of my own commentary (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-winkler/five-things-to-look-for-i_b_7151292.html) 1.       Justice Kennedy—Kennedy is the swing vote and has written every single legal LGBT victory, from Romer in 1996 Lawrence in 2003 and Windsor in 2013 the kinds of questions he asks will give some indication of what his line of thought could be. Yet, we should be cautious as in the case of the Affordable Care Act it was upheld and many court watchers thought that it was sure to be struck down 2.       Baker v Nelson—In 1972 the Supreme Court summarily dismissed an Equal Protection challenge to MN marriage law for “want of federal question” which meant that they didn’t feel a federal challenge wasn’t necessary. Next, this was before Romer, Lawrence and Windsor which has shown that Baker v Nelson isn’t spe...

After much contention and debate we hear the fate of the San Antonio non-discrimination ordinance.   A few weeks ago Elisa Chan had come under fire for calling gays disgusting and saying they shouldn’t adopt children, she tried to take a traditional road by saying she has nothing against gays but when you’re calling us disgusting and ridiculing our families, that’s like messing with Mama Bear’s cubs. You will lose…BIG. Supporters of the ordinance wore red shirts and the opponents wore blue as they were given one more chance to give an impassioned plea to support or reject the ordinance. Republicans from Greg Abbot who’s running to replace Rick Perry weighed in and is seeing what they can do to counter the measure. This is an issue of life and death for a woman named Dee Villarubia, 67, said she's a former Air Force officer whose landlord at a San Antonio apartment evicted her two years ago because she is gay. "When I say the pledge of allegiance, I say `justice for...

Companion video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EImrPt6_0qs So, Congress is now going to be campaigning, and transportation bills haven’t been passed at all which saw fares around the country go up, drought in the Midwest and West Coast have been getting worse and the House and Senate haven’t been able to get anything done about it. I say the obstructionist Republicans in the House want to use that as a wedge issue against Obama. Never mind they didn’t call the American Jobs Act and the only jobs bills they’ve passed dealt with tax cuts to employers and something about Indian and Chinese labor and that they would want to drill on American soil and deplete our resources just to make a quick buck. But the fact is this: The Obstructionists will end up using all that obstruction for their campaigns and making it seem as if President Obama is a bad leader. Forgetting that Boehner walked out of talks with President Obama and Reid and called the payroll tax cut a “Chicken...

Dear Bigot, Let me say this prior to anything, I am not a God hater, I do not hate Christians, I don’t hate the truth. What I do hate is people using misinformation to harm a minority, what I hate is people using junk science to tell people that gay couples can’t raise a child in a great environment. The same people that do that oppose marriage rights oppose civil unions and any kind of relationship recognition. I hate when people compare me loving a man who is close to my age is like marrying a child, pedophiles already marry they just don’t marry children. Necrophiliacs marry but they don’t marry a corpse. Animals can’t be married to humans. Well, one man in KY married his horse but I don’t think it was valid. Polygamous marriages happen but only one partner is recognized legally, like with gay couples it doesn’t stop people from living together they just aren’t recognized as a unit in the eyes of the law. When you place your religious beliefs above my right to live ...

Hello All, Spencer here, Well today I am giving my two cents about Dan Savage Controversy and mention Amendment 1 in NC and MN, as well as a crazy Pastor's plan to 'kill the gays' Dan Savage So Dan Savage is in hot water with the Religious Right...as he often is but who cares? He says that if we ignore all the things about shellfish, menstruation, diet, clothing and other parts of the Bible that modern society conveniently ignores, why can't we do the same thing with homosexuality? I mean, in church there are abominations walking around all over the place, mixed fabrics!!! SHRIMP!!! NON VIRGIN BRIDES GETTING MARRIED!!! Of course, no person in their right minds would marry their rapist...just had to throw that in there. Let's keep in mind that this Assembly was voluntarily attended So, Dan is saying this and then a group of students start walking out because he's bashing the Bible. He says that "You can tell the Bible g...

Hello All, I had seen a lot of stories on this event and I have to say one thing: About time. I personally am sick and tired of hate exporters who like to go to other underdeveloped countries and exploit the religious nature of the people in that country and pass unconstitutional laws that will not only criminalize but many times call for the death penalty against gay 'activity' or 'behavior'. I put that in quotes because a lot of times one can tell you exactly what it is outside of something sexual. Scott Lively is such a person who testifies in such countries, like Latvia and other Eastern European countries that have a more conservative bend to them and peddling lies that mobilize the religious right here. Echoing things that Prop 8 supporters said time and time again about children being harmed by just knowing that gay families exist, that if marriage equality is enacted pedophiles will have access to our children, that children will grow up wondering if they sho...

Spencer Hamilton on Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 10:25pm Hello Everyone, While I wished that my next note would be Part 3 to my Spencer Pilot Story (it's coming soon and you all can critique it) I have some sad news. A face, a person, a real live human being has passed away while the 9th Circuit Court is deciding the Prop 8 case. At issue are: Should the tapes be revealed? Yes, I feel it would be a blow to transparency in the Justice System not to do so and Should Judge Walker's ruling be vacated/overturned? No, the fact that he is one of the affected individuals doesn't weigh in on his impartiality, unless one can prove it through the court records and tapes. Next, should the tapes be released? I feel that if Cooper wants to prove he wasn't impartial then the tapes would be the best way to show it. The Human Cost After hearing and researching Prop 8, I became intensely engrossed in the fight for gay rights in CA, one of my Youtube subscriptions f...

This is a conversation I had after replying to the absurdity of the 'controversy' of Chaz Bono being on Dancing With The Stars. I am sure I can ask any kid who may watch Dancing With The Stars--or hates the show--about it and they'll probably say that they like the dancing. I really don't care much about the 'life' of the person who is dancing unless they've done something like say...beat their wives and have been in the news for violent crimes foreverand a day. Yeah, I guess we can have some people like that on the show but not Chaz...does this make any sense to you? This is just like the argument that seeing gay couples is going to make someone gay. Anyone see the similarities? So when Christina suggested that I post this on Fb and I think it is a great firsthand look at the daily realities that trans individuals go through. (I almost want to send this to Senator Gallavan's Wall...) ===================== Hey Terry, Just a thought...if y...