Exercising Constitutional Rights

John Visser added some thoughts to my comment over at Pam's House Blend; I think it is worth sharing.

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I wrote:

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Self Defense
I simply HATE that we all sound like victims and pawns and submissives to whatever other people "decide" to do for us.

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The fact that OTHER PEOPLE are voting on whether or not I "should be ALLOWED" to see my husband when he is dying is enough to make me buy a gun and defend my right to do so when and if needed.

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JohnVisser added:

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Exercising Constitutional Rights
Maybe that's the answer. If our rights are denied to us by the people, legislators, executives and judges, then maybe we exercise our right to bear arms and create a little counter indimidation - after all, reasoning doesn't seem to work with these people. Hmmm, just thinking about it is uplifting.

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I replied:

YES - It's about taking back our POWER and exerting it for the safety and security of our families and children. VERY AMERICAN.

We're still victims of all people, legislators, executives and judges because we allow it.

If You TRULY "Support Us".....

Attention Heterosexuals:

Please understand that WE never excluded ourselves from YOUR civil laws - you did that.

Trust me - WE have been trying to be included for decades now - DECADES!

So don't give me that "but you can vote also to change laws" crap ---- I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THAT MY DUE CIVIL RIGHTS ARE SOMETHING WE ALL GET TO "VOTE" ON.

Until we have the SAME as you (equal protection), you are also largely responsible for our suffering.

Unfortunately, just as so many people SAY "I Support the Troops" (but when you ask them WHAT they have actually DONE to support the troops it is often ABSOLUTELY NOTHING), too many are SAYING "I Support Gay Rights" but DO nothing that actually helps us.

So if you TRULY support us, please, PLEASE pick up the phone more than ONCE this month (or year) and CALL YOUR SENATORS. Your inaction and silence hurts...and even kills us.

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Cruel Suffering Due to Marriage Inequality

• Jay Mercado & Shirley Tan
• Greta Binah & Britta
• Laurel Hester & Stacie Andree
• Lois Marrero & Mickie
• Tim Coco & “Junior” Oliveira
• Sam & Earl
• Thom & Vajdon
• Jake
• "Steamboater"

Did you read the stories above?
O.K. - Now tell me why Marriage Inequality is
NOT Evil ? ~ NOT Hate ?

Insulting, Revolting, Stooooooopid Tea-Baggers

Re-posted for the 4th of July tea-baggers...
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Tens of Thousands of

Tee-diot Tea-Baggers Rally at

Tax Day

"Tea Parties"

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No, these "Tea Parties" are not part of the Equality Tax Revolt, but they ARE extraordinarily insulting to all Queer Americans who pay taxes...or not so much.

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To my fellow Dearest, Queerest Americans:

WHAT THE F*CK?!

These whiners have a quibble about the

Politics of spending and they try to start a tax revolt?

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Our Families & Children are

Legally SUB-American;

We suffer NEEDLESSLY in times of

Crisis, disease, and death due to our

Legal exclusion from FAMILY LAW,

And we are

NOT Revolting ?! ?! ?!

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Dear Reader - I won't even get into who "deserves" to revolt against paying taxes or not, that's not the point. My point is that WE, the Queer Community, have 1,000 times MORE JUSTIFICATION to enact a tax revolt against the federal government when compared to these silly tea-baggers above.

I do fully support people like David Gross who advocate War Tax Resistance over at his site "The Picket Line", and feel that his war tax protest is one of the few tax protests that are 100% justified, but even war tax protesters have the civil right to marry the person they love. They have equal protection under the law. They have the freedom to protect their family and children from the horrible, needless suffering that is commonplace for our Queer Families.

THE QUEER COMMUNITY IS JUSTIFIED IN OUR

NATIONAL EQUALITY TAX REVOLT

WE OWE AMERICA and the I.R.S. $0.00

UNTIL EQUAL IN FEDERAL LAW

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And those Tea Bagg-iots can insert their

Insulting, Revolting, Silly

Tax Revolt firmly into their stinky holes.

I knooow.......E.U.

It's Time to Break the Law

Many gays tend to hold STONEWALL up as our "big moment", yet at the most fundamental level it was about BREAKING THE LAW (fighting back violently against the police when they try to enforce UNJUST laws). Today it seems the vast majority of gays get nervous and criticize anyone who even breathes of the idea of breaking the law when it comes to demanding civil rights.

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Do they think STONEWALL would have happened ANY other way?

I.R.S.-phobia

It's interesting that the Queer Community has finally learned the POWER of the Almighty Dollar; it seems that the mere MENTION of withholding money from a DNC fundraiser woke up the White House and many prominent gay organizations.

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I support withholding money from EVERYONE who is not FIGHTING for what is our birthright - Federal Equality (the begging, compromising, pleading of most organizations doesn't count as "fighting"). But who really "gives" us rights? I think we need to stop PAYING for rights in general - whether it's paying gay organizations or paying another NO ON 8-type fiasco.

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I still suggest that we need to withhold money from the powers that ACTUALLY give us rights - the Federal Government. It is the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT who is denying us federal equality; this state-by-state approach is bullshit, and a wonderful way to make everyone's job in politics a little easier for the next decade.

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If you are afraid of the I.R.S. and what they may try to do, you may not be angry enough yet. I do know one thing - If the I.R.S. or tries to harass me for ANY tax non-compliance they better come fully-armed. I HAVE HAD IT with governmental abuse and legal exclusion from civil law based on whom I love.

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DEAR I.R.S. - Until other Americans STOP being able to VOTE TO PREVENT me from seeing my husband while he is dying, I will resist taxation. It's called DIGNITY; it's called being an AMERICAN, goddammit!

Tax Revolt Murmurs

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I'll post more chatter about tax revolt as I find it online.

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- JUSTIFIED ANGER -

ARE WE "THERE" YET?!

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Ginelle had this to say on May 19th, 2009 about an Anti-Gay Amendment resurfacing in Pennsylvania.

"What Senator John Eichelberger is displaying is an outright intollerent and hateful attitude towards Gay and Lesbian people who have helped him win his senatorial seat simply by voting for him. And too, he seems to have forgotten that his wages from the taxpayers also includes Gay and Lesbian taxpayers. Is he willing to take a cut in pay should Gay and Lesbian people decide on a tax revolt - after all, why should we pay taxes for equal rights and protections if we are not receiving those very same equal rights and protections?"

GOOD QUESTION!

A Gay and Lesbian Tax Revolt in California?

Interesting.....just when I'm about to give up on the collective balls of our "movement", I found this posted online:

To All Californians in the Fight Against Proposition 8:

Send the letter below to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Put the letter in a regular stamped envelope, address it to him, do not put your return address on it, and mail it off. (A generic phrase, such as "Angry Gay/Lesbian Citizen" in the upper left corner of the envelope would also suffice.) Send identical copies to Karen Bass (Speaker of the California Assembly), Darrell Steinberg (President pro Tem of the California Senate), and Ronald George (Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court.)

This tactic will put the state on notice that tens of thousands of infuriated, disenfranchised gay and lesbian citizens will not pay tribute to a state that denies them equal rights. It will wreak havoc with state budget planners, who are already dealing with a financial crisis. It will devastate their ability to accurately predict state income, and enact a budget.

We do have influence over a state which continues to abuse us. We can withhold our monetary support, and push the state toward bankruptcy. Even a hundred thousand lesbians and gays can financially drive the state right into the ground.

If you want to reduce or eliminate paying state income taxes, it is easy to do. Simply instruct your employer's payroll department to increase the allowances for your pay checks to the highest allowable amount, which effectively reduces the amount of state tax being deducted each month. This is accomplished by filling out a new W-4 form for state withholdings, and writing in a higher number where it says "Withholding Allowances." Reduce the state taxes to zero, if you want. (Every additional allowance reduces what is deducted for state taxes by about $8.00 monthly. So, adding 10 more allowances on your W-4 reduces what is being deducted for state taxes by about $80.00 monthly.) No doubt, you will find other uses for that money! As far as the 2009 state income tax returns go: just don't file them.

Don't fear penalties for nonpayment. The state will never be able to pursue a hundred thousand gays and lesbians who anonymously are refusing to pay income taxes. And even if the state tries to penalize you? Aren't your rights worth fighting for?

The addresses are:

• Arnold Schwarzenegger State Capitol Building Sacramento, CA 95814
• Karen Bass State Capitol, Room 219 Sacramento, CA 95814
• Darrell Steinberg State Capitol, Room 205 Sacramento, CA 95814
• Chief Justice Ronald George Supreme Court of California 350 McAllister Street San Francisco, CA 94102
  
  PLEASE FORWARD THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW IN THE LESBIAN/GAY COMMUNITY.

(The letter text is below. Do NOT email your letter to the four state leaders if you want to remain anonymous. Anonymity is part of the strategy.)

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Dear Arnold Schwarzenegger:

As a Californian, I am disgusted beyond description with Proposition 8. This despicable, immoral, and unconstitutional attempt by organized religion and personal bigotry to stop the forward progression of equal rights is without parallel in our state's history.

Your lack of leadership in this constitutional, state-wide crisis is lamentable and cowardly. Twice, you vetoed historic same-sex marriage legislation. You appointed a Republican to the State Supreme Court who has twice coldly voted to deny gays and lesbians their constitutional rights. You promised to vigorously oppose Proposition 8, but during the 2008 campaign you were missing-in-action on this most important civil rights issue. You were content to sit on the sidelines while your gay and lesbian citizens were being abused, attacked, and marginalized. Well, now you will deal with the fallout from it.

The passage of this outrageous piece of garbage effectively tells me that I have no citizenship in California, no stake in our government, and indeed, tells me I am invisible to the state and to the people. Very well. So be it. My first action as an invisible, non-citizen is to stop paying all state income taxes. I will, from this point on, not pay any state taxes. I will also refuse to file any state income tax returns.

This action on my part will remain in effect until the California Constitution is restored to its former proud splendor, and any vestige of discrimination is removed from it, for all time. In a word: once the constitutional birthright of marriage is once again enjoyed by all citizens, including same-sex couples, I will start to pay income taxes again.

Oh, by the way: the taxes I am not paying will not make their way back into state coffers retroactively. The dollars being withheld during this constitutional crisis are lost to the Treasury forever, and will not be paid back once the marriage rights have been restored to the gay and lesbian community. So, the longer this Prop. 8 travesty goes on, the more dollars the state will lose.

Six cowardly Republicans on the state Supreme Court have decided to side with religious bigotry and personal prejudice in the so-called "culture war" against gay and lesbian Californians. They have ignored their oath to uphold the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution of California. Understandably, I have no desire to fund a government that has decided that persecution and abuse of gays and lesbians is permissible.

If your reaction is "tsk, tsk...withholding taxes is illegal", well, save your breath. If you ever bothered to pick up a history book, you would know that the Boston Tea Party was considered illegal, too. In fact, so was the entire Revolutionary War. The Declaration of Independence clearly states that when a government destroys individual rights, "it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it." I have no interest in abolishing this state's government, but by withholding tax funds I am quite capable of altering the state's discriminatory attitudes and laws against me. I would be stupid to financially support a state which has singled me out for abuse, harassment, and discrimination.

I am not signing this document with my name. Proposition 8 has made me invisible as a citizen. So be it. You and the Department of Finance will never know whether I am one of the thousands of deadbeats who, every year, regularly do not pay their state taxes....OR.... if I am one of the tens of thousands of outraged lesbian and gay citizens who refuse to pay tribute to a state which allows bigoted voters to deny them the full measure of rights guaranteed to The People under the Constitutions of the United States and the State of California.

If you thought you had budget problems before, well, you have not seen anything yet.

Deal with it.

Sincerely,
An Invisible, Non-Citizen of California

cc: Karen Bass (Assembly Speaker) Darrell Steinberg (Senate President pro Tem) Ronald George (Chief Justice - California Supreme Court)

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How's your state budget doing, Arnold?

The Limits of Tax Compliance

This post was written during a time when I was working and withholding taxes; my current situation is ironic and deep for taxpayers - they end up funding the repercussions of governmental legal hatred. Boring details found here.

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Originally posted on August 19, 2008

Re-Ran/Re-Vised November 1, 2008

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Most Americans may think a tax protest "isn't the way to go" in the Q Equality Movement. They may think my own personal protest it's about me trying to build up this "Great Resistance" and establish a "United Front"... which could possibly have an impact, if only there weren't so many of us who are used to society's iniquities and being "crumbs":

“You may say you don't hate us, but the people you vote for do, so what's the difference? Our own country's democratic process declares us to be unequal. Which means, in a democracy, that our enemy is you. You treat us like crumbs. You hate us. And sadly, we let you.”

LARRY KRAMER

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Well, my protest ain't about any unified front for Q Equality...honestly...the past 7 years have created more dire concerns constitutionally.

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sisisisisisisisisisis

Many SIMPLY do NOT get it.

sisisisisisisisisisis

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I refuse to file my income taxes because

I can no longer voluntarily submit to this

Social, Legal, and Financial Injustice;

I can't.

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Read The Words Above Three More Times

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It's SIMPLE MATH (and morality), America.

And there's no "in-between" with this civil rights issue:

• Exclude me, and I'll exclude my income.
• There is no yellow light....stop or go.
• Include me, and I'll include my income.

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And the "fear" of the IRS has absolutely no bearing here, since I doubt they will spend the resources coming after someone like myself who makes so little taxable income, if any, and if they do, there would be a serious resistance and fight. LIVE FREE OR DIE. Histrionics? I dunno...I've been amazed how the human mind will adapt and change when presented with a survival issue.

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Funny how if a Heterosexual Man were in a similar situation he'd "be a man", fight against tyranny, defend his honor, blah-blah, and

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it would be celebrated

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like a

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Little House on the Freakin' Prairie

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My natural narcissism as an artist has already imagined my face pic next to

"RAVING GAY ACTIVIST" in future encyclopedias.

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If everytime a man went to pay his taxes the tax collector cut off one of his fingers, would that man (a relatively sane man), would he CONTINUE to go and pay? Or would he have the sense to STOP GOING altogether and save his last remaining middle finger to gesture his reaction to this criminal social iniquity? There is a limit to what any man or woman can take; when that limit is reached, one learns how to survive. And despite what I've experienced, I still have enough self-esteem and self-worth to STOP relinquishing my hard-earned money to a government whose current "civil" marriage laws deny my

Human-Family a basic Human Right.

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There are LIMITS to Tax Compliance.

I'm so "there".

---------- January 2009 ------------

The last month I was able to earn "hard-earned money" was October, 2008, but

I still advocate and encourage an Equality Tax Revolt until

EQUAL = EQUAL across ALL of America.

Those against the idea of an Equality Tax Revolt must have

NO PROBLEM paying equal taxes as a

SUB-American Individual or a SUB-American Family.

Theocratic Poop

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- Seriously -

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Are you QUEER and STILL paying taxes?

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WHY?

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You are funding a Theocracy with

Heterosexual Privilege that SHITS on you, your spouse, and your children.

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We Don't Deserve Our OWN Money?!

From TOWLEROAD -
DOJ Motions to Dismiss Federal Same-Sex Marriage Case

(excerpts)

"The constitutional propriety of Congress's decision to decline to extend federal benefits immediately to newly recognized types of marriages is bolstered by Congress's articulated interest in preserving the scarce resources of both the federal and State governments"

"To deny federal recognition to same-sex marriages will thus preserve scarce government resources, surely a legitimate government purpose."

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Yes, despite being tax-paying Americans, we can't burden the Federal Government by having some of our own money (i.e. - our tax dollars) trickle down to us.

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In other words:

"FUCK YOU, FAGGOTS, but keep paying your taxes".

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And folks think I'm the "crazy one" for advocating a tax revolt; that's rich.

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Ironically, there seems to be enough tax dollars to support people like myself whose life was turned upside down due to the segregation of my family from civil law (a cost that is 100% avoidable with Marriage Equality). I've barely been ABLE TO work on a consistent level since 2004, and do not see myself being able to return to work in the near future. But I sincerely wish I COULD work right now (not just for my own mental well-being). but so I could return to withholding my tax dollars from this immoral government.

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LET THE HETEROSEXUALS FUND THEIR PRECIOUS THEOCRACY!

WE OWE AMERICA NOTHING UNTIL EQUAL.

Differences Between War Tax Protest and Equality Tax Revolt

Re-vision of a September 30, 2008 post

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Note Bene - I won't even mention those ridiculous "Tea Party" idiots who thought THEIR "protest" had an ounce of credibility. Yeah, they are "suffering".
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Equality Tax Revolt is very different from War Tax Protest, with 'EQUALITY' being about being denied

(for no rational reason)

the most basic, fundamental family rights and 'WAR' being about an opposition to government policies and military actions and/or just taking a moral stand FOR peace and FOR non-violence.

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People may be "for" or "against" a particular war, or they may be against ALL wars.

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By contrast, my constitutional right to be treated EQUALLY is NOT up for "debates", "amendments", or "propositions"; No Discussion Required when it comes to my right (and therefore my children's right) to be treated equally under the law. I believe an Equality Tax Revolt is needed until E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E has the same civil right to protect their beloved family members and children.

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The year 2009 just might be the year American decides it WILL value the Q community AND our tax dollars. I wanna say "Bada-Boom-Bada-Bing" (since I watch The Sopranos too much), but Old School says EQUAL = EQUAL, with little wiggle room. In 2009 you will NOT EXCLUDE our family from Civil Marriage, (or really any ridiculous ignorance-based discrimination like D.A.D.T. or the TRANS-SCARE) and then expect to INCLUDE our family's income in your tax revenue, America.

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I realize some folks either do not know this FACT...or perhaps they do not want to admit this FACT, but:

Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Intersex, and Transgender Americans have adopted and/or given birth to children and are raising them in their homes...right now.

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These families do exist.

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We Exist.

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Our Children Exist.

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BOO!

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To even TRY to imprison me for resisting taxation due to the denial of a fundamental family right, when in 30 years I will have this same right (so say most experts) - is not only LUDICROUS, it demands a revolt. I WILL NOT ALLOW TAXATION UNTIL EQUAL; if you need to separate your church from my state, so be it. I still do not understand why heterosexual couples are not barred from obtaining civil marriages using a Justice of the Peace. They are allowed non-religious marriages. We are not.

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I will emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, and physically resist in the greatest way possible ANY attempt to deny myself and my family the freedoms and rights we deserve as US citizens. And to any Q's who may disagree with tax protest - If you want to debate your own worth for another 10, 20, 30 years, GO FOR IT. I can't stop you from paying my taxes, but I think you are insane for accepting this blatant taxation without equality through your tax compliance. Personally, I believe in SIMPLE MATH.

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DEAR READER - I posted this because some less-sensible and sound citizens may think because I support BOTH War Tax Protest and Equality Tax Revolt that I am climbing on any ol' bandwagon to avoid paying income tax. Nope. We have 2 very serious issues here. I may not be willing to go to jail for war tax protest yet (and I'd want to see how the war tax community is being treated as a whole judicially before saying anything), but I will earnestly do all of the above and more for my Equality Tax Revolt and for my constitutional rights and freedoms as a Gay American. This legal discrimination is WRONG and IMMORAL.

n n n n n n n n n n n n n n

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FOR GOD'S SAKE - I don't mean to sound like the frightened little ol' lady on The Simpsons shouting,

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"What About The Children?",

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But c'mon!

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Across our country there are countless Q families who love, protect, and raise children. America's children. Those children and their parents deserve better than enduring 30 years of an equality/inequality patchwork from state to state until The Federal Government Grows a Pair.

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- WE EXIST -

- WE HAVE FAMILIES IN OTHER STATES -

- WE DRIVE ACROSS STATE LINES -

- FAMILY IS IMPORTANT -

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BTW - if you're annoyed that I kept using "American" above,

I am too!, but I ask again --

WHY SHOULD Q AMERICANS

PAY ONE PENNY OF TAX?

Our families and children

- FAMILIES -

Are denied the most basic of

Civil rights and protections by the

Federal Government.

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THE EXALTED

HETEROSEXUAL FAMILY

CAN PAY OUR TAXES FOR

THEIR FAMILY'S

FEDERALLY-SANCTIONED

"SPECIAL" LEGAL PRIVILEGES.

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12.04.08 UPDATE - As I re-read/edit my rant on WAR vs. EQUALITY, it is harder and harder to care about HOW my government spends our tax dollars when my own family and it's security are not even considered worthy-enough to be treated as THE SAME as other American families.

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(sigh) This is the eve after my Social Security Disability hearing that was held earlier today. Although there is no possible way I could "objectively" view my own hearing, after sitting and hearing another person describe what had transpired in my life the past 4 1/2 years, I am floored. Devastated.

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It is tragic. It is senseless. It is 100% due to government persecution (through legal exclusion from civil law and psychological bullying through anti-family amendments). I now blog because I multiply my own little story by tens of thousands, and feel the weight and breadth of our collective suffering and our children's suffering. I also feel the suffering of the Q children growing up in heterosexual-led families in California, and the suffering in every single state that demonizes our existence.

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And the reason this suffering continues?
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THERE...IS...NONE.

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Begging For Cookies

Re-Run from November 20, 2008

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The Bay Area Reporter mentions our tax protest today - see Gay Tax Revolt Grows.

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Honestly, the Q community's response to PROP 8 and discrimination in general is tantamount to a child asking a parent for a cookie.

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"May I have a cookie, please?"

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"No, not right now.

You may have one in 2028,

or maybe if you're really good by 2015"

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I have a serious problem with that.

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Since WHEN do we allow taxation without equality as U.S. citizens? Maybe it's my Italian heritage, since historically my people DON'T PLAY that noise with money and tax. If anyone thinks that DEMANDING what we ALREADY DESERVE is "bullying" or "social fascism" [a recent Idiocy-by-Newt Production] , then that is THEIR problem.

• Are we really worried what Mrs. Kravitz will think?
• Is our struggle for equality really just a popularity contest?
• Isn't that what PROP 8 was, and why were we surprised when we found out we're NOT "popular" with the masses?

Regarding ASKING for what we have DESERVED SINCE BIRTH, our American BIRTHRIGHT, we are a bunch of [insert highly misogynistic and homophobic terms here]. I won't type these words here, but they are still part of our vernacular and seem quite fitting.

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Begging for crumbs is for children; demanding equal rights to protect my family and children is NOT child's play. I don't care if you "like" me, but you damn well better respect myself, my spouse, and my children in U.S. law!

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We need to grow up as U.S. citizens.

Isn't Family Worth FIGHTING For?

Dearest Queerest,

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Why aren't we fighting for OUR family rights with the same vigor most heterosexually-identified men or women would fight with in orfer to protect THEIR beloved family?
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Federal Equality is needed to protect our jobs, careers, property, mental health, and MOST OF ALL our loved ones.

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Yet we act as if these DUE civil rights are NOT worth fighting for tooth and nail. We act as if our family's worth is up for grabs in a state lottery.
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WE ARE STILL

ACTING UNEQUAL.

Connect the Dots - Revised for Obama

America, we are not just fighting for individual rights; we are fighting for our FAMILY. YES - OUR FAMILY.

FAMILY is reason enough to bear arms and fight to defend one's loved ones. FAMILY is worth fighting and dying for; FAMILY is the MOST IMPORTANT thing in our lives - ISN'T IT?!

So why do our effete, timid, cautious, apologetic Gay Organizations "fight" for FAMILY rights as if these rights are merely a reserved parking space? Why are we as a community FAILING MISERABLY to stand up for ourselves and our families?

CONSIDER:

I would LOVE to hear how Barack Obama, or Joe Biden, or Newt (oops, never mind about Newt), or even Rudy Giuliani would feel if THEY were kept from their wives's bedside, and if their children were kept from their mother's bedside - before she died.

Janice Langbehn already knows, as well as her children.

I would LOVE to hear how these men would respond if their children were taken away from them the day AFTER their wives had died.

"Steamboater" from Huffington Post already knows.

I would LOVE to hear how Michelle Obama and Jill Biden would feel if the home they built and lived in for 30 years with their husband was taken away from them after their husband's death, and they were also charged for back rent (while struggling to avoid homelessness).

Sam knows.

GET WHERE I'M GOING, AMERICA?

I am CERTAIN that these men, along with other men and women, would REFUSE TO WAIT until 2010, 2012, or 2020 for their DUE CIVIL RIGHTS.

IT"S TIME TO CONNECT THE DOTS, AMERICA -

1. Government ALLOWS its citizens to vote AGAINST a minority's due civil rights.
2. Without these rights, horrible suffering often happens, and why not? Everyone else seems to need these rights civil rights, so why NOT us?
3. So now YOUR vote leads DIRECTLY to MY suffering. To OUR suffering. Often it is CRUEL SUFFERING (please read a few if you never have)
4. REPEAT - YOUR vote leads to OUR suffering.
5. REPEAT - YOUR vote leads to OUR suffering.
6. REPEAT - YOUR vote leads to OUR suffering.
7. Connecting the dots yet, Het America? Law enforcement? Federal Judges?
8. YOU ARE HURTING US. Hurting our dearest beloved. Our family. Why?
9. Our civil equality will not harm you or society in the least. NOT AT ALL
10. So PLEASE stop this hatred, stop excluding us from civil law, or else I predict [not threaten] , I predict that America will have an explosion of LGBTQ Americans taking out their pain, frustration, anger, and PURE RAGE on property and perhaps citizens.

The mild to severely "mentally ill" are especially at risk for acting out, and from what I hear.....(lol).......if the right combination of medication isn't in place, "crazy, crazy shit can happen". Just imagine MY response to someone trying to leave a religious leaflet on my doorstep, 5 days after PROP 8 passed. "Crazy" is right.

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And "Helloooo" Law Enforcement!

Do you know of Detective Hester?

She spends 25 years of her life on the force, DIES IN THE LINE OF DUTY, and her spouse is DENIED survivor’s pension benefit.

Would a male cop want HIS WIFE to experience this?

Rent FREEHELD. Wouldn't YOU fight to protect YOUR family, and even question the law when the law is horribly, horribly WRONG and HURTS your family?

HOW MANY MORE DECADES DO WE NEED TO WAIT?

WE HAVE WAITED LONG ENOUGH.

Family Values

First posted on October 6, 2008

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Why is family so important?

Here is an excerpt from a Christian Right site.

The Christian Left is still thunderously silent on this issue...

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True Family Values

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Family values are essential.

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All people desire family values, such as love, care, intimacy, acceptance, commitment, and shared responsibility. This is why people from all religious, political and social persuasions say our society needs family values.

-- from a page sponsored by the Pennsylvania Family Coalition

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Robert C. Byrd reminds us in a different way...

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"One's family is the most important thing in life. I look at it this way: One of these days I'll be over in a hospital somewhere with four walls around me. And the only people who'll be with me will be my family."

-- Robert C. Byrd

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America, do YOU wonder why family is important?

Do you wonder why I consider US law HATEFUL in its refusal to include my FAMILY?

MY FAMILY.

Do you blame me?

The word Family has baggage for all of us, but often in the LGBT Community one's family is a source of great pain. Family sometimes describes the people who disowned, abandoned, and/or tossed us out on the street for who we are and for whom we love (this was not my own situation, but far too many young gays have experienced and still experience this heart-breaking ignorance from their own Mother and Father). As for me......(digression)......

I was personally "raised" by a gun-toting, drinking/gambling womanizer (think Tony Soprano...no kidding) and a seriously mentally-ill, crystal ball gazing, pill-popping woman (think the mother in the film "Carrie"...no kidding). I guess in today's world they would both be arrested and charged with child abuse and criminal child neglect, but to me they will always just be Good Ol' Mom and Dad ("Mom" was my step-mother; Dad is my biological father). But the gift we all get as survivors of childhood abuse is the insight into what is essential....what is vital....what is important. As a young child I spent hours playing the piano and organ, connecting with music in a way I would not experience with another human being until I was 17 years old.

Anyhoo, what I'm saying is that music was not just in my life - IT WAS MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE. Particularly from 4th-8th grade (the years I was trapped alone with "Mom" in the house, isolated from all neighbors and peers, while Dad was always gone), I immersed myself in music as our church's organist and playing the piano to create a sanctuary from the fear, confusion, and pain that consumed my everyday life. Like many abusive households, privacy and secrecy was extreme; no adults or children were ever allowed in the house, nor could I leave the house or use the phone. Yeah - there are some sick parents raising children out there. But the gift I received from my step-mother was her U.S. School of Music set (a home study course in piano), her creative spirit, and her love of music. The last time I saw her alive I was 13 years old. Tensions had been building up, and she had just threatened to kill me with the gun that she kept in her purse (I had just fought back and tried to defend myself from her belt-thrashing and hair-pulling). I took her death threat seriously, and was smart enough to run away from home the minute she left the room. My step-mother killed herself 6 months later (at least that is what we were told by our father....I still question if he killed her himself, but that's another blog); I asked my father to stop all contact with me about 5-6 years ago for my OWN sanity. I ended up living with my biological mother and step-father from 9th-11th grade; a stable environment, but I was still shell-shocked and shut down on many levels during those 3 years (except for playing my bass).

The gift I received from my childhood?

I knew at a very young age that

LOVE is

Esssential....Vital....Important

Love is more important than what I own. Love is everything. Many Americans create a FAMILY based on love, care, intimacy, acceptance, commitment, and shared responsibility. FAMILY & LOVE are fundamental!

So to deny my FAMILY civil marriage is a serious legal affront I will not stand; no family, with or without children, deserve this blatant legal discrimination in America in 2008. And I certainly will not be taxed on my income when I am denied this civil right.

UNTIL WE HAVE MARRIAGE EQUALITY,

OUR FAMILIES DO NOT OWE

THE I.R.S.

ONE SINGLE FREAKIN' PENNY!

And they better leave us the hell alone;

We have HAD ENOUGH.

Prayer for Equality

PLEASE, BOW YOUR HEADS:

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"Oh Mother-Father God, please use Your Divine Wisdom to lift us up from this EVIL. The ANTI-Equality sinners do NOT know what they are doing; they only kept and preserved the writings of Heterosexual Men for their Holy Bible; they supressed and hid the Homosexual's Bible. For some reason, the Lesbians haven't shared their Bible with anyone (yet). The Bisexual Bible is still pending...

~

Anyhoo, DO INSPIRE in the hearts of these Haters more Christ-Like Thoughts and Deeds, for they will surely burn and get all crispy one day IF they do not change their evil, selfish ways."

Ahhh-MEN.

Music and Me - a.k.a. "How Losing My Piano Caused Severe P.T.S.D."

The bond I had with music and the piano during my childhood was much more than a "normal" child's natural connection with music.

~

Succinctly, Music and the Piano WAS my:

• Mother-Father-Parent
• Siblings
• FAMILY
• Very Best Friend / Only Friend
• Church & Community

They were also my connection to what I used to call "GOD" as a Catholic school-boy who attended Mass 3-5 times a week for 8 years.

You see, I lived in what many other adults know as a prison or "concentration camp of youth" - Child Abuse & Neglect.

A brief example:

Normal mothers do not scream and awaken all 3 young children before midnight, strip them, and force them into the shower one at a time with the freezing cold water on, beating and screaming the entire time. All I remember in the bathroom was her screaming at us, we were crying from the water and welts, and my dad stood nearby saying "oh honey don't". It was terrifying, it was humiliating, and it was confusing to watch my own father do absolutely nothing to protect us. I was between 4-6 years old then, and this is one night I still remember vividly. I guess us children had used all of the hot water and she was mad at us when she tried to take a bath.

I do think that the level of how LOVED and SAFE a child feels makes a world of difference in that child's response to abuse. I've known many guys who grew up with traditional parents like mine (where the belt was the ONLY answer), but they were close to their parents growing up and still have a bond. I imagine a child (like myself) who did NOT feel loved and safe are the ones who do not have a bond right now, if ever, or in my case cut all ties to self-protect. Maybe gay boys process the "discipline" differently than straight boys. Who knows.

All I know is this:

• I grew up scared of my Dad, my Step-Mother, and my Brother; later on I grew terrified of my step-mother.
• One by one my brother, and then a year later my sister left to go live with my biological mother.
• From 5th-8th grade I lived alone in a house where my Dad was gone 24/7, my step-mother was surely drinking and popping pills and usually hiding away in her bedroom.
• I was never allowed to give out my phone number nor use the phone in any way, nor allowed to have friends over nor go to their homes. Complete social isolation....except for the piano.
• Due to growing bullying - yes, the boys knew that this organ player was a "faggot" - and also due to an extraordinary fear of men/boys/being physically hurt, I started to practice the church's organ during both recesses at school. Every day. For 4 years. YES - I was too terrified of dealing with my peer group in ANY possible way.

Now there WERE some perks. I was self-taught as a pianist until age 20, but then I was able to receive scholarships for a Piano Performance major at the University of Michigan. Spending extraordinary amounts of time alone led to a very creative mind, which influences everything from my instrumental composition and performance to how I teach young children. Growing up in a house with 2 floors of over 30 rooms not including a FULL attic and basement, I knew at a very early age that money and "things" are absolutely meaningless - I knew LOVE was paramount, even though I felt little to no love around me as a child. In retrospect I think I felt that "eternal love source" God-thing inside, but I also knew that this love was NOWHERE around me.

So I hope you can see how the bond I had with music and the piano during my childhood was much more than a "normal" child's natural connection with music. Losing my piano and my piano studio, esp. the 17 children who were also part of my family, was more than what it seems on the surface. The imagery I was constantly having, and sometimes still have, is graphic but honest:

It was as if I lost my entire family - I could not protect my entire family - and it felt as if I was forced to watch those 17 children being executed right before my eyes. It was horrific. I was also having constant images of my hands completely severed at the wrist and bleeding, figuratively losing my ability to speak, express, or function in the world.

This nightmare happened again last November under different circumstances, but this time with 24 children - BOTH instances were caused SPECIFICALLY by OUR GOVERNMENT'S refusal to INCLUDE OUR FAMILY in CIVIL LAW. This was not the usual disasters and crap we ALL experience in life that just happen - THIS WAS GOVERNMENT-CREATED SUFFERING AND ABUSE. And THAT is enough to push me over the edge where I am willing to fight the I.R.S. alone, by myself, because THIS American will NOT go to prison for refusing to be taxed without Equality. Not in this lifetime.

I will fight this one to the death IF/when it comes to that point.

It's up to the I.R.S. now to either act or leave me alone.

I simply CANNOT and WILL NOT be abused anymore.

Too Fucking LATE, Obama

"I don't think that it makes sense for the

Federal Government to get in the business of

Determining what marriage is."

- President Obama -

~

Too Fucking LATE, Obama.

~

The Federal Government HAS BEEN involved with marriage.....FOR A VERY, VERY LONG TIME.

~

Do you realize how insulting it is to make this statement NOW, just because gays are demanding the SAME Federal Marriage Rights you have?

Cruel Suffering Due to Marriage Inequality

a.k.a. - Eleven (11) Reasons Why Queers Owe The I.R.S. Absolutely Nothing Until Ourselves and Our FAMILIES & CHILDREN Are Equal.

• Marc Goldberg & Ron Hanby
• Janice Langbehn & Lisa Pond
• Jay Mercado & Shirley Tan
• Greta Binah & Britta
• Laurel Hester & Stacie Andree
• Lois Marrero & Mickie
• Tim Coco & “Junior” Oliveira
• Sam & Earl
• Thom & Vajdon
• Jake
• "Steamboater"

Did you read the stories above?

O.K. - Now tell me why Marriage Inequality is

NOT Evil ?

NOT Hate ?

Tax Revolt

First Posted on August 4th, with a postscript below.

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"If a thousand men [and women] were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood." - Thoreau

~

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"Let them march all they want,

as long as they continue to

pay their taxes."

- Alexander Haig, U.S. Sec. of State, June 12, 1982

~

~

Well, some of us have stopped marching AND paying taxes. The sheer arrogance revealed in the quote above is a rallying cry for oppressed people everywhere. I've held signs, chanted, and written letters, yet I've been kidding myself to think these tactics create any real change. (Effective) Civil Disobedience and/or Tax Revolt will get our nation's attention.

Imagine if the LGBT community wrote on EVERY piece of paper currency, "Marriage Equality Now" or "Queer Tax Revolt"; suddenly the money we spend is visible. Yes, it's a passive act, but it reminds Heterosexist America that we also contribute to the tax base and to the overall economy.

TAX REVOLT seems best. If the money withheld was redirected to Marriage Equality organizations, and/or to the many LGBT Families who have suffered financial devastation due to marriage discrimination, all the better.

ncncncn

I am constantly amazed at the ambivilence I sense when I discuss equality with others, but when I mention withholding tax everybody FREAKS OUT. I guess Americans only care when it affects their wallet. Well, start freaking out America - the unknown, unseen, silent tax resisters are growing in number every day. Between the Iraq War and Marriage Inequality, countless US citizens are being inspired to find ways to live, earn, and spend without the government's knowledge. Tax-compliance is not just based on fear, it is also based on a RESPECT for the law and for society in general, and America's politicians have lost every ounce of respect they may have had in previous generations, and its voters are lagging behind them.

~

One needs to GIVE respect to EARN respect.

!~

Addendum - June 2, 2009 -

Dear Blog Readers - I think my blogging days are over. I personally need to focus more of my energy off-line as I try to re-connect with my instruments, music in general, and my soul. I have not been able to work since November 6 2008, and do not see my ability to work changing anytime soon. I was never a "blogger" at heart - just a guy who lived his life consumed with music and teaching, and then one day I lost everything due to UN-equal protection in U.S. Law, and subsequently lost my mind. I did decide at that moment I WILL NEVER file a tax return until I am equal - period. Of course when I started this blog I was working full time and HAD an income to withhold.

~

I may post here sporadically, but this blog is my lowest priority now. After spending almost a year trying to spread the IDEA that a TAX REVOLT is worth considering - if anything, for our own DIGNITY - I now realize that my "community" is nothing of the sort, and any real civil disobedience is a fantasy. Maybe when others have their lives destroyed they will "get it"; they will understand true RAGE.

~

Also, I will NOT be going to jail IF the I.R.S. ever bothers to try to get me to comply in ANY way. I will not comply. I will fight. Even as I type this I am as certain as the day I started this blog:

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I will kill and/or be killed IF my government tries to imprison me for standing up for myself, and standing up for JUSTICE and MORALITY.

~

And while the gay organizations may criticize my corpse for doing things that "do not reflect the gay community" - I will die knowing that THEY never, ever truly represented me.

• I DO NOT BEG for my due civil rights.
• I DO NOT DONATE MONEY to buy my due civil rights.
• I DO NOT NEED SOCIETY'S APPROVAL before being "given" my due civil rights.
• I REFUSE TO MARCH, WRITE, CALL, BEG, BESEECH, PLEAD, or do anything but DEMAND my due civil rights, with my own TAX REVOLT being behind my demand.

"Give Me LIBERTY

(which includes Equality),

Or Give Me Death."