Adam Sunny Flanders

Today we got some dry ice and brought it in the pool with us. It was pretty cool – I’ve played with dry ice before, but never in the pool. It bubbled a lot and I was able to hold it underwater. The bubbles tasted sour. The video is below and I posted some pics in my Flickr account. We also made poor man’s liquid nitrogen (dry ice and rubbing alcohol) and froze and shattered some plant leaves, crab apples, and grapes. Then we made a dry ice bomb with a soda bottle and it exploded everywhere – the shock was so strong we all had ringing in our ears afterward. Probably will save that video for Facebook!

Yesterday I went to the AppleStore and bought a new MacBook. Because I am a student at UMaine, I got a free iPod Touch (3G) and free wireless printer! Therefore I have decided to sell my previous MacBook and iPod Touch (1G). They are both in excellent working condition and I had the MacBook refurbished by Apple so it’s almost like new! The MacBook includes several accessories, such as the remote, audio/video output cables, and Snow Leopard. You can view and bid on the eBay listings below. Free shipping!

Apple MacBook 13.3″ w/Accessories and Extras & Snow Leopard

Apple iPod Touch (1G) 8GB with sync cable and headphones

I think my Facebook account had been hacked because my profile was sending spam messages. I spoke with Facebook staff about it and changing my password didn’t help, so I decided to delete my old profile and create a new one. Just wanted those of you who were on my friends list to know, so you don’t think I deleted you! Any emails sent/received are still logged in my actual email account, and I always backup everything, so nothing was lost! No worries. It has actually allowed me the opportunity to clean up a lot of clutter.

In other news, I’ve been working on my design website, Seashore Design. I do a lot of commercial web and graphic design for pay and this will provide a way for me to advertise and have my own startup business! I’m excited about it. And I haven’t forgotten about paleogenetics.com, either – it’s just a lot of information and I really want it to be perfect before I publish.

My Summer is going well – mostly just been swimming with friends, boating, scuba diving, modeling, gardening, designing websites, working at the lab, etc. I’m about half-way through a couple Summer courses I’m really enjoying. The extra credits will ensure that I’ll graduate with my biology degree in the Spring. I haven’t decided whether I’m moving to Florida or California, or even someplace outside the US, but I’m sure I won’t be sticking around here, lol. I’ve got plenty of time to make up my mind!

Constance McMillen, the girl whose school tricked her out of coming to prom and banned her from bringing her girlfriend to prom, just won her lawsuit against the school. She was awarded $35,000 in personal injuries and the school has implemented anti-discrimination policies. You can read the story here on Pam’s House Blend. I’m really happy she’s been able to get justice for the wrongs her school committed against her.

Years ago Natalie Young of Queens, NY sued her school after they suspended her for wearing a t-shirt that said, “Barbie is a Lesbian.” She later sued and won $50,000. Some of you are familiar with my situation at Belfast Area High School in which both students and teachers harassed me for being gay, and I was suspended for a week for wearing the same gay pride t-shirt as Natalie. You can read about it in my Activism section. Because I was a minor at the time, I have until I’m 28 to sue RSU #20 and Belfast Area High School, and I have no reason not to; I have just been preoccupied with other things in my life, some of them directly related to this high school situation.

Congratulations Constance! You’ve not only found justice for yourself, but for millions of gay and lesbian high school students across the country as well! You should be incredibly proud and I know you’ve inspired many other youth to take a stand against discrimination and prejudice.

Today was an historical day in Maine – a fundie properly spelled “marriage.” As you can see in the picture below, she didn’t get it right the first time, but this fundie, by what some have said is a true miracle of Jesus himself, corrected the spelling. All it took was a little super glue and a new tab of paper in the top right corner and this fundie became a wizard…of spelling, that is. We’ll let her get away with splitting up lifestyle (was that life…”sin” under that pasted on sheet?).

I think the message of the campaign is clear, in any case. Even if you’re an illiterate fundie, marriage is between a man and a womEn – because the National Organization for Polygamy Marraige Marriage (phew)…wait, what does it represent again? Ah, nevermind, let’s just focus on the Federal cases that are one stop away from granting nationwide Marriage Equality! Then what will NOM call itself? Perhaps something that is more all-encompassing of their overall goal – NOB (National Organization for Bigotry).

Federal Judge In Boston Rules Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

Perry v. Schwarzenegger

Supreme Court recognizes sexual orientation as an “identifiable class” (i.e.; same as race, gender, ethnicity, etc.) and PBS Video – Christian Legal Society v. Martinez

There are already more than enough rules and laws to regulate the behavior of gay and lesbian soldiers, rules and laws that apply to everyone equally. I think it’s funny that the primary sponsors of these concerns (such as the shower issue) are in fact asking for “special laws” for gays and lesbians, yet they are also the first to scream “special rights” at the moment we gays ask for equality. Same old hypocrisy.

Time Magazine published an article about the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal survey, which has come under heavy criticism, even from military soldiers and Pentagon officials.

But even a top officer acknowledges some unease. “We’ve never done this,” Admiral Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, said in February after Pentagon leaders endorsed ending “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and said they would survey the troops about it. “We’ve never assessed the force because it is not our practice to go within our military and poll our force to determine if they like the laws of the land or not,” he told an activist from the University of California’s Palm Center, which monitors the issue. “I mean, that gets you into [a] very difficult regime.”

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, perhaps the leading gay-rights group dealing with “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” took a tough line against the survey. “No survey of the troops should be done,” director Aubrey Sarvis said Friday. “Surveying the troops is unprecedented — it did not happen in 1948 when President Truman ended segregation and it did not happen in 1976 when the service academies opened to women. Even when the military placed women on ships at sea, the Pentagon did not turn to a survey on how to bring about that cultural change.”

I’m not sure if the survey links will become broken, so I am offering the entire poll directly on my server just in case. You can view the DADT Poll Here. In any case, I think we can expect an overwhelmingly positive response from soldiers, and overall this survey will benefit the gay rights movement in the USA.

I posted about the recent federal ruling (July 8th blog post below) concerning the unconstitutional standing of DOMA (The Defense of Marriage Act), and an individual on the UMaine Forum responded, questioning my judgment that this decision could result in nationwide marriage equality. He wrote,

Sunny, I’m happy about this ruling because not only does it grant benefits to legally married gay couples, but it also reasserts certain states rights to govern. Unfortunately, I don’t see anything in this ruling to lead me to think national policy will be to allow gay marriage.. If anything, it would seem to strengthen each state’s right to decide and keep the feds out of it. Keep working on it though, it will eventually happen here.

While his comment was friendly, it occurred to me that many people are not familiar with civil rights in American history, especially as they apply to marriage. This is perhaps only to the fault of our public education system, but civil rights is a complex issue to begin with. To know why overturning DOMA is so important to nationwide marriage equality, you have to know a little history and exactly what DOMA is and how it affects our laws. The best place to start is with the 1967 Loving case, which essentially “legalized” interracial marriage nationwide. It is important to understand why DOMA has prevented a “gay version” of the Loving case and therefore why yesterday’s federal ruling is so important to nationwide marriage equality. I made the following response on the UMaine forum:

No, I think it’s going to be more significant than that. That is only one element of it. The other point of the federal judge is that same-sex couples should not be denied the same Federal benefits. And finally, and most significantly, the removal of DOMA is an immediate shortcut to nationwide marriage equality because the DOMA is the ONLY thing preventing interstate lawsuits. This is how interracial marriage was essentially “legalized” nationwide with the Loving decision in 1967. Long story short, the Loving couple was married in DC, which recognized interracial marriage, but then Virginia didn’t recognize their marriage when they moved (Virginia didn’t recognize interracial marriage, and interracial sexual relations were also criminal acts in Virginia), and they sued Virginia and it went to the Supreme Court.

Some people, myself included, believe that the fundamentalists used DOMA as a preemptive move because they knew same-sex marriage would follow the same pattern as interracial marriage if they didn’t do anything to stop it. DOMA was passed in 1996, 7 years before the first state (MA) began recognizing same-sex marriage in late 2003. DOMA does little more than prevent a same-sex couple in a state such as Mass. from suing a state like Maine that doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage. As soon as DOMA is removed, the lawsuits can begin and now that the Supreme Court has recognized sexual orientation as an “identifiable class” (equal to race, ethnicity, gender, etc.) there is no reason to believe it would rule differently than it did in the Loving case. However, I think the Prop.8 lawsuit might reach the Supreme Court and the same ultimate decision first, but this Boston lawsuit is moving at lightspeed compared to most federal court cases, so who knows?

As the article pointed out, “The rulings apply to Massachusetts but could have broader implications if they’re upheld on appeal.”

The AP has just published a story that I could not be more excited and happy about. It has made my day and reaffirmed my belief that marriage equality, like all other civil rights, should be subject to the courts and not popular vote. My prediction for this year: nationwide marriage equality…
Judge: Federal Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional
US judge in Boston rules federal gay marriage ban unconstitutional.

A U.S. judge in Boston has ruled that a federal gay marriage ban is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of a state to define marriage.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro on Thursday ruled in favor of gay couples’ rights in two separate challenges to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA.
The state had argued the law denied benefits such as Medicaid to gay married couples in Massachusetts, where same-sex unions have been legal since 2004.
Tauro agreed, and said the act forces Massachusetts to discriminate against its own citizens.
“The federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state, and in doing so, offends the Tenth Amendment. For that reason, the statute is invalid,” Tauro wrote in a ruling in a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Martha Coakley.
Ruling in a separate case filed by Gays & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Tauro found that DOMA violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“We’ve maintained from the very beginning that there was absolutely no basis for this law treating one class of married Massachusetts couples different from everybody else and the court has recognized that,” said Gary Buseck, GLAD’s legal director.
The Justice Department argued the federal government has the right to set eligibility requirements for federal benefits — including requiring that those benefits only go to couples in marriages between a man and a woman.
The law was enacted by Congress in 1996 when it appeared Hawaii would soon legalize same-sex marriage and opponents worried that other states would be forced to recognize such marriages. The lawsuit challenges only the portion of the law that prevents the federal government from affording pension and other benefits to same-sex couples.
Since then, five states and the District of Columbia have legalized gay marriage.

Another win for GLBT rights last week! The SCOTUS ruling June 28th concerning Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, has set a major precedent concerning free speech and discrimination based on sexual orientation. In this case, the latter took precedence. In addition, SCOTUS ruled that sexual orientation is an “identifiable class” in line with others such as race, nationality, etc.

The Christian Legal Society is a student organization at the University of California. Joining the group required members to sign an agreement that they would not engage in pre-marital sex, among other conditions. Essentially the group banned gays, in violation of the UC non-discrimination policy. UC required the group to allow gays and anyone else to join and so the CLS sued on the grounds that UC was violating their 1st Amendment Rights (free speech). They lost.

Of course the fundies are screaming that this is a sign of the impending destruction of religious freedoms because of the homosexual agenda, but the fundies are unimportant and ignorant, as usual, and are always in a state of panic and anger. This ruling is important for equal rights because the SCOTUS recognized sexual orientation as an identifiable class, distinguishing it from a behavior, mutable aspect, or choice. And we all know there is a very important federal case pending right now concerning marriage equality that, when it goes to the SCOTUS, will likely “legalize” same-sex marriage across the nation the same way the 1967 Loving case “legalized” interracial marriage across the nation. I’m excited!

Happy Independence Day! Remember, freedom of religion also means freedom from religion! America was founded upon this concept as we escaped from religious oppression. The SCOTUS ruling and the coming nationwide marriage equality is reason to celebrate our freedom on this July 4th! Freedom from prejudice and discrimination. Freedom to marry the person we love.

Just got a greenhouse for my plants! It’s pretty small, but big enough for me to stand in and definitely enough room to accommodate all my plants and more. I was able to get some stevia seeds to germinate while still in my apartment at UMaine and now the plants have really taken off, along with some lemon balm, which smells just like lemons if you touch it! I use stevia exclusively to sweeten my tea and I drink a lot of tea. Pepsi Co. and Coca-Cola have been releasing some drinks with stevia in them, such as the SoBe Life Water and Zero-Calorie Vitamin Water. There are at least 4 brands of stevia currently on the market: Stevia in the Raw (which I buy), PureVia (Pepsi Co.), Truvia (Coca-Cola), and Sun Crystals (McNeil Nutritionals). The sweetener comes directly from the stevia leaf and so it’s completely natural. Some studies have shown that it may actively stave off diabetes. It has been used for centuries in South America and for several decades in Japan, with no side effects.
My Beallara orchid just bloomed again. I have posted a photo of it in my Flickr account, along with a photo of my stevia and lemon balm plants and my greenhouse, with me in it, lol. I just got some Lovage and Belladonna seeds. I’ve been wanting to grow Belladonna because it is a major novelty plant with some interesting attributes, such as deep black berries and purple leaves. If you’ve seen Practical Magic, you’ll know it’s considered to have magical properties and is very toxic – you may recall from the movie that Jillian uses small amounts to put her boyfriend to sleep, later killing him with it by accident. In fact, every part of the plant is extremely poisonous. But I think it will be a challenge to grow. It requires cold stratification to get it to germinate, so I will need at least a month in the fridge before I can plant them in soil. The number of plant species I have growing is only surpassed by the number of animal pets my little sister has, haha!