No one said this was going to be easy, but we must keep our eyes on the prize. The gay marriage issue, which seemed so close only a month ago, is now caught up in the maelstrom that is Albany politics. "I had hoped today's march would have been a bit of a wedding march. It's not," Christine Quinn, the gay speaker of the New York City Council, told Reuters at Sunday's Gay Pride parade in Manhattan.

Some are saying that in the thick of Albany's meltdown, gay marriage in New York might have to wait. Although 42 U.S. states explicitly prohibit gay marriage, Congressman Barney Frank recently predicted that within five years thirty states will have legal civil ceremonies. Frank included New York in his prediction. Gay couples presently can marry in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa and they can marry in New Hampshire in January and in Vermont starting in September, just in time for lovely foliage season. In the last week pressure has been exerted against the President from his progressive base regarding the languid pace of his campaign promises to the gay community. And Obama's listening.

There is reason to be optimistic on gay marriage, even as the New York State Senate dithers. May's Quinnipiac poll showed that the demographics are on the side of gay marriage activists. Survey participants aged 18-34 backed same-sex marriage by a 61-33 margin. Participants 35-54 support it by a 48-44 margin. It was voters 55 and older that oppose gay marriage, 55-37. What does this tell us? "Young people are for this," Quinnipiac University Polling Director Mickey Carroll said. "If the gay advocacy groups are patient, they're going to win." No one said it was going to be easy.

[Image: Monkfish-Abbey.org]

If I had HBO -- let alone a TV -- I'd spend my evening tonight watching Liz Garbus's acclaimed documentary, Shouting Fire: Stories From the Front Lines of Free Speech.

A hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival and praised by critics for its engaging approach to such a complex subject, the film takes a hard look at just how fragile the First Amendment really is. Garbus considers diverse cases in which Americans voicing unpopular views were kicked out of schools, lost jobs or otherwise censored to the point of undermining one of the central liberties that (we think) defines American life.

Among the film's subjects is Ward Churchill, a former University of Colorado professor who was attacked for an essay he wrote after 9/11 in which he referred to the people who worked in the World Trade Center as "little Eichmanns." Adolf Eichmann was a member of the Nazi party and is often called the "architect of the Holocaust" -- not because he planned it, but because of his organizational prowess and reliability in executing the plans of those who did. Likewise, argued Churchill, the people who worked in the WTC were complicit in engineering the capitalist system the terrorists meant to destroy.

He defended his position, and by speaking he only made matters worse for himself. As did the rest of the film's subjects, such as Tyler Chase Harper, a San Diego high school student who was suspended for wearing a T-shirt that said "Homosexuality is Shameful" during a gay and lesbian awareness event. Subjects like Harper may provide the balance the film needs to make its point to all Americans regardless of political leanings.

Garbus, whose father, Martin Garbus, is a First Amendment attorney, also includes footage of the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, at which more than 1,800 people were arrested -- many for no apparent reason. As Gina Belafonte writes in the New York Times, these shots recall those taken much more recently in Iran, suggesting that the suppression we are witnessing in that country is just as present in our own.

As I said, I'll have to wait for Shouting Fire to come out on Netflix, but if you have HBO, take a look -- and drop a comment to let people like me (TVaphobes) know how it is.

The film's HBO schedule can be found here.

[Image: Still from Shouting Fire]

Nettelhorst Elementary School has become the first school to march in Chicago's Pride Parade. Parents of this magnet school located in the middle of Boystown, the heart of Chicago's gay community, decided that it would be a good idea to have the kids and the school show solidarity with the community.

As one might expect, some were not happy with this idea...at all:

Children at Nettlehorst [sic] Elementary will be made to march in a gay pride parade in Chicago during the weekend of June 26-27. Nettlehorst is located at 3252 N. Broadway Street, Chicago, in the East Lakeview neighborhood, also known as "Boys Town."

A typical shop window along a main strip of Boys Town (top left) gives you an idea of the predominant "culture" in this part of Chicago. That culture is based largely on anal intercourse and the pursuit thereof.

While the person I quote above pulled back on his criticism some, he still did not like the idea. From what I can tell, the man does not have a child at that school. It also does not appear to be near as "mandatory" as he puts on his blog, so I doubt that children were "made to march" in the parade. Yes, their parents made the decision, especially for the younger ones, but does that mean they were "made" to march?

I still remember looking forward to Officer Friendly days at school. Knowing that some tall police man would come to our classroom to give us some time off from whatever was on the agenda. We'd all sit there and learn about how the police were here to protect us. Later we would learn about the court system and how judges brought us justice.

Were we sold a fairy tale?

In the last two days two sentencings have made me revisit what I feel is justice. The first is the sentencing of Chris Brown for his beating of Rhianna.

Part of me thinks he should have gotten some jail time. Another part looked at the video of him in the court and saw a scared lil boy who saw his own mama beat too many times. Does he need jail time or help? Does his "light sentence" of probation and community service serve as the proper message to his young fans? Especially the young women who thought that Rhianna was at fault?

The other story is Chicago Police Officer Anthony Abbate's sentencing:

An off-duty Chicago police officer convicted of pummeling a female bartender half his size was sentenced Tuesday to two years probation and anger management classes for the videotaped attack that appeared worldwide on the Internet and cable news channels.

This isn't the first time Chicago has had a high-profile case against a police officer, but the video plus the sentencing has touched a nerve to many Chicagoans. CBS 2 Chicago talked to law experts who thought that the sentence fit within the law.

So what defines justice?

Is it justice that Chris Brown completed the circle of violence begun with his step-father?

Is it justice that Abbate will most likely be fired from his job?

What is it that we want? And why do we feel judges aren't doing their job?

[Image: KPA/Zuma/Rex Features via The Guardian]

The Obama Administration has at least partly changed its position on married gays and lesbians to allow them to use one surname when applying for passports. The move is significant because under the previous law, same-sex marriages were not given the same credence as heterosexual unions, and many saw the passport rule as demeaning.

But the revision also has a practical benefit: same-sex couples that are identified by different surnames often face a barrage of questions when going through customs in the US and abroad. Under the new law, those couples will be allowed to travel in a far more civilized manner.

The change does not, however, mean that the State Department is now recognizing same-sex marriages and civil unions as valid. It was made to comply with an amendment to the Code of Federal Regulations that took effect in February 2008.

[Image: US Government]