Gawker.com reported yesterday on the competing marriage rallies held in Providence: the National Organization for Marriage versus Queer Action of Rhode Island. Check out the dude speaking in tongues.

NOM Tour Tracker: NOM supporters speaking in tongues and Providence counter-protest

Original post here.

This Sunday the National Organization for Marriage and their Hateful Nonsense Wagon will be pulling up on Smith Hill to remind us that God only wants certain people to receive health care benefits and death rights.  Their One Man One Woman Summer of Hate tour kicked off yesterday in Maine and drew about a hundred supporters, according to local news reports, and over the next few weeks NOM will be stopping at State Houses from Vermont to Minnesota.  (Except for the 24th, which for some reason they’re planning to spend in the parking lot of Old Dave’s Market in Lima, Ohio.)  The bus comes to Providence on Sunday, and gay marriage advocates are planning to silently counter-protest.  Queer Action is rounding people up at 1:30 on the Smith Street side of the State House; they ask participants to wear red.

In better news, this morning Argentina legalized gay marriage, becoming the first country in South America to do so.  The lower house of that country’s legislature had already passed the bill, and today the Senate approved the measure 33-27.  President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchener rightfully reprimanding the bill’s opponents for framing their argument in the rather frightening terms of a religious crusade.

Oh, and tomorrow (Friday) there’s a benefit for Marriage Equality Rhode Island at the Melting Pot at Providence Place.  It’s $40 per person, $10 of which will go to MERI.  The press release promises interactive fondue.

Artist Louise Bourgeois has passed away. I’ve known her as the sculptor behind those huge creepy awesome spiders and had a vague idea that she worked in other mediums, but I’m hella impressed to learn that she continued creating art right up until her death yesterday at age 98. Seems like much of her work was pretty controversial, too.

Her lovely piece “I Do” (pictured) is currently for sale on Freedom to Marry’s website, with proceeds helping to garner support for marriage equality throughout the U.S.

Freedom to Marry also attributes this nice quote to Ms. Bourgeois: “Everyone should have the right to marry. To make a commitment to love someone forever is a beautiful thing.”

This Friday at Local 121, 9-11pm:

Live Out Loud! features contemporary Broadway and Cabaret music written by Stephen Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Elton John, Andrew Lippa, Janis Ian, and more – all of whom are out and proud members of the GLBT community. Backed by Tom LaMark on piano, the show was directed by IRNE Award winner Ida Zecco. All proceeds for this performance will go to benefit Marriage Equality Rhode Island.

In 2005, John Abernathy was featured in the 16th Annual New York Cabaret Convention at Lincoln Center in a tribute to Broadway composer Jerry Herman sharing the stage with legendary performers Lee Roy Reams, Michael Feinstein, Marilyn Maye, and Mr. Herman himself. That same year, he also received a nomination for Best Male Cabaret Performer from the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) for his show A Cock-Eyed Optimist in Boston. John has appeared as an actor in many theatres across the country and toured internationally as pianist and soloist with the musical group Up With People including a performance with the National Symphony Orchestra. His debut CD Look Straight Ahead and new CD Live at the Hi-Hat are both available on his website.

Marriage Equality Rhode Island (MERI) is the lead organization in the fight for equal marriage for same-sex couples in Rhode Island. For the past six years, MERI has been working on behalf of all fair-minded Rhode Islanders and will continue to do so in order to make marriage equality a reality in the Ocean State.

“He has an instantly likeable sound, refreshing and invigorating.” Rob Lester, TalkinBroadway.com

“With luck, we will have a chance to see this well conceived and well-crafted show over and over.” John Amodeo, EdgeProvidence.com

Dinner menu is available
Cost: $20.00 before event (contact Rich Hite at 401-383-9147 or go here).

Queer Action and I both have articles posted elsewhere — here and here, respectively – about the icky letter that the RI chapter of the National Organization for Marriage sent to legislators last week in opposition to the override of the funeral rights legislation veto.  From Queer Action:

This letter is written proof that NOM-RI is an organization that seeks to limit the rights of gay Rhode Islanders even when the bill in question has nothing to do with marriage. NOM-RI makes a convoluted argument that this bill will somehow lead to same-sex marriage and shows total disregard for the people who will be helped by this new law - both gay and straight.

In addition and most horrible, this letter insults Mark Goldberg, the man whose story brought about this bill. Mark was forced to fight for five weeks to obtain his partner’s body from the state of RI even though he had legal paperwork such as wills and power of attorney. The NOM-RI letter claims: “Rather than being compassionate, the legislation in question is actually an exploitation of Mr. Goldberg’s tragedy by the homosexual-marriage activists in Rhode Island.”

The inference that Mark is a pawn being used by us “homosexual-marriage activists” is an insult to his intelligence. Mark is a smart, caring man who is quite capable of making his own decisions. He doesn’t want any one else to go through what he did and he has been fully involved in the fight to get this bill passed and the Governor’s veto overridden. NOM-RI should be ashamed of its treatment of Mark.

With the General Assembly’s likely overturn of the Domestic Partners Funeral Arrangements bill’s veto by Gov. Carcieri only days away, NOM-RI’s Christopher Plante has issued an entreaty not to overturn the veto — arguing, among other things, that adequate provision already exists under Rhode Island law. To wit:

The right of any person, without regard to sexual preference or relationship to the decedent, to serve as a designated funeral-planning agent is already expressly guaranteed by Rhode Island Law 5-33.1-4. That statute only requires a simple notarized form naming an agent.

Mr. Plante is partly correct and partly not. He is incorrect in that “that statute” in fact describes escrow accounts relating to funeral service contracts. The statute outlining the form of designation is in fact 5-33.3-4.

more »

From the misspelled, to the ironic, to the simply bizarre,  Buzzfeed.com’s 50 best protest signs of 2009 eased my political despair. Some favorites are after the jump, and there’s more at the Huffington Post.

more »

If you’re equally pissed-off about Governor Carcieri’s deplorable, inhumane veto of the domestic partners’ funeral rights bill last week, come out and show it this Thursday, November 19th. From the Facebook invite:

On Tuesday November 10, 2009 Governor Donald Carcieri killed a bill that would allow non-married couples the right to plan the funerals of their deceased partners. Please join in solidarity for a vigil and funeral procession this Thursday, November 19th @ 7:30pm sharp, along the Statehouse sidewalk facing the Providence Place Mall. Please wear black if you are able.

Come. Tell your friends. Tell your friends’ friends. Just don’t let the governor get away with being a complete and utter plonker.

I spoke with Governor Carcieri’s office today about his speaking engagement at the Massachusetts Family Institute Banquet tomorrow night. I asked to confirm the Governor’s belief that homosexuality “is an unhealthy practice and destructive to individuals, family, and society,” as MFI’s website states. His press secretary, Amy Kempe, responded that the Governor “has never and does not support discrimination.”

I don’t know about you, but Carcieri’s stated belief that two loving and committed people should be denied the ability to marry based on their sexual orientation certainly sounds like discrimination to me.

Regardless, I asked Kempe why, if the Governor didn’t believe homosexuality to be “unhealthy and destructive,” he was speaking at a fundraiser - meaning helping to raise money - for an organization with that stated belief. Kempe assured me multiple times that he was not speaking at a fundraiser, but at MFI’s “annual banquet.”

But MFI’s homepage state’s that Carcieri “will be [MFI's] keynote speaker at our Annual Fundraising Banquet.”

I think it’s a disgrace that our Governor would speak at a fundraiser for an organization that believes that many of my friends and acquaintances by virtue of their existence are “destructive” to society.

You can call the Governor’s office at 222-2080 to let them know your thoughts as well.

Today’s third and final suggestion that you check out something on the HuffingtonPost — A great compilation of mind-blowingly mind-numbing anti-gay marriage commercials.

The October 6 event will feature State Reps. Frank Ferri and Art Handy, RWU Law Professor Courtney Cahill, Democratic Party Chair Bill Lynch, RI ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown, and RI Religious Coalition for Marriage Equality Chairman Rev. Eugene Dyszlewski.

The Rhode Island Young Democrats, the Roger Williams University Democratic Law Students Association, and the RWU Law LGBT Alliance will combine to host a panel discussion on Tuesday, October 6, titled, “The Future of Same Sex-Marriage in Rhode Island.”

The event will take place on Tuesday, October 6, at Cable Car Cinema on 204 South Main St. in Providence. A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the program starting at 7 p.m. RSVP on Facebook or by e-mail to riyoungdems@gmail.com.