The new Hope & Politics column is now up at Camp KC & despite the rain, life is good

By Diane Silver

Happy Saturday. As we say in Kansas: There are only two kinds of rain in the Sunflower State, drought and flood. Today we've got flood, along with flash flood warnings and full blown flood warnings where the TV is urging folks in some counties to seek higher ground. Ugh.

Today I am delighted to be heading to the wedding of two friends. These wonderful women have already been together for a decade and are now having a commitment ceremony at our church. Once again this shows that voting for marriage equality is a vote for religious freedom. Many churches marry same-sex couples.

Meanwhile, my new column is now up online at Camp. "Why We're Winning" is also being printed this month by the Liberty Press.

Keep dry. Be well.

Kansas Voice: Unloved Bush, Phill Kline faces test , soupy Kansas City air & more

By Diane Silver

Just in case those of you from out here in the wilds of Kansas missed the tiny headlines at the top of the page, here is a roundup of posts from my local blog, Kansas Voice.

By the way, that photo on the left is "clear." There's no need to adjust your screen. That's a snapshot of yesterday's smog in Kansas City. See below for details.

First, here are the latest posts from Kansas Voice.

Even in Kansas, Bush is unloved & kept in a bubble

Johnson County district attorney race tests religious right

No Really News: Phill Kline attacks Paul Morrison & George Tiller (Once again, it's the Phill, Paul and George Show, but this time God gets added to the festivities, and we learn about how a so-called "divine intervention" wasn't so divine after all.)

Meanwhile, out here in Red State America it is sunny, muggy and hot, hot, hot.

Neighboring Kansas City was under an ozone alert yesterday. There's something so wrong about that. If you have to live out on the Plains far from the bright lights of sophisticated society and the freedom of places like California and Massachusetts, you ought to at least be able to avoid pollution.

I drove into KC yesterday, and it was decidedly soupy. Ugh.
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PHOTO: This is a small part of a KMBC-TV photo of of yesterday's smog in Kansas City.

Lesbians & gays are finally free! Well, maybe, sort of, kind of...

By Diane Silver

Oh, the Internet is buzzing in the aftermath of the Massachusetts gay marriage vote. Kevin Drum is cheerful and positive the gays have won.

Kevin quotes Michael Kinsley who writes at Time Magazine that LGBT folk have carried the day in all areas of rights and fairness, or at least will soon.

Personally, I am pleased and downright delighted at what happened in Massachusetts. I am thrilled that my very own town will soon have a domestic partner registry. I am happy that Iowa just approved a statewide law protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Every other victory we have won is sweet indeed.

But only someone who has never had to live as a lesbian, gay man or bisexual could possibly believe that we're free. We aren't even close to being free, or equal under the law or even to being treated fairly. Oh yes, society is changing, but our families and our children still suffer.

Our children can still taken from us for no other reason than the fact that we are lesbian or gay. We can still be fired from our jobs in almost every city and state in the country for no other reason than our sexual orientation.

And there is no state in the nation -- not even Massachusetts -- where we have equal rights with heterosexual couples. Even legally married lesbians and gays in the Bay State do not have the more than 1,000 federal benefits that heterosexual couples take for granted.

So yup, I am happy at what has happened and at all we are accomplishing. But it's not enough, and the fight for basic human decency and fairness, the fight to be treated as if this country actually believed in the Golden Rule, is just beginning.

A Kansas Voice Sampler: 8 wonders, bad Lance Kinzer & help for Greensburg

By Diane Silver

Over at the Kansas Voice, I'm taking on the good, the bad and the helpful of the Sunflower State.

What's So Cool about Kansas? Let Me Count the Ways.
The Eight Wonders of Kansas & a blogger lists the good, bad and ugly of the state.

Kinzer Says He Won't Stop Trying to Ban Domestic Partner Registries
Lawrence moves forward. Lance gets cranky.

Kansas Restaurants Serve Up Food to Help Greensburg
Thursday is the day to eat at select Kansas restaurants that have pledged to give a percentage of their proceeds to help the victims of the Greensburg tornado.
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PHOTO: A slice of Harland Schuster's photo of the Gyp Hills Scenic Drive, one of the candidates for the Eight Wonders of Kansas contest. Visit the Kansas Sampler Foundation web site to see the rest of the photo.