Marriage Equality in DC, kinda

At 12:01 AM this morning the District of Columbia, our nation's capitol city, began recognizing gay marriages which were legally performed in other jurisdictions. These jurisdictions include: the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa; in the next several months it will add Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont as their laws take effect; the marriages performed legally in California, while it was legal there, will also be recognized; as well as the countries of Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Norway, and will soon be performed in Nepal. This means that the District of Columbia joins the state of New York, and the countries of Israel, Aruba (Dutch), and Netherlands Antilles (Dutch) in recognizing gay marriages performed elsewhere, while not offering them in their own jurisdictions. This is a wonderful day for civil rights in America and the world. Gay families, which already exist, are now afforded the rights of Heterosexual families. Our children are now safe and secure. Our sick partners can now be visited in the hospital. We have gained inheritance rights if our partners pass. Our access to healthcare as a married couple is now the same as that of Heterosexuals. There are several hundred other civil rights that marriage recognition makes available to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender residents of the District of Columbia.

This is, of course, only one step in the right direction, but there is hope as the DC city council is expected to introduce a bill to allow gay marriages to be performed in the District in the fall. After that is done the next great battleground for residents of DC will be Federal recognition of marriage. We must end the Federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defends nothing but segregation and hatred. It is sad that our country has set up a double standard in the recognition of marriage that really sets up a second class citizenship for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans. But, let us celebrate this great victory today!

Mazel Tov,

Matthew

Pinchas

This week marks a wonderful week to be alive! This week we have an immense ability to heal: ourselves, our families, our country, our environment, and our world. This week we read the Torah portion known as Pinchas. This section is named after a person in it, Pinchas. Pinchas was renowned as a great healer, and his abilities came from his ability to restrict his reaction to circumstances around him. To be able to heal you must be able to restrain your reactive nature. The reactive nature is that base reaction you feel whenever someone cuts you off in traffic or you stub your toe in the dark. This reaction is a typically a very self-centered or ego-centric reaction.

The lesson for us to learn in this portion is that we should be running from our 'desire to receive for oneself alone' with the same passion that we would run from Death. They are, in fact, the same. The more we focus on our 'desire to receive for oneself alone' the more we bring upon ourselves the energy of death. In other words the more we focus on ourselves the more we put ourselves at risk of disease, destitution, and death. This works both ways though. The more we focus on changing our behavior from a 'desire to receive for oneself alone' into a 'desire to receive for the sake of sharing,' the more we will free ourselves from death and are blessed with the energy and Light of Life.

How do you do that? Well, it is not so easy. Nor is it comfortable. Ask yourself though, do you want to bring the energy of death and destruction upon you or the energy and Light of Life? The power is yours. By participating in the Torah reading this coming Shabbat morning we connect to the energy the Pinchas himself created in this world. This connection gives us the power and strength to connect to our 'desire to receive for the sake of sharing.' This week, even if you cannot participate in the Shabbat reading, we all are given access to the Light that Pinchas revealed in this world. There is an immense energy available to us, if we actively try to restrict our 'desire to receive for the self alone' and attempt to share with others, then we can connect to the Light of Life. We can heal ourselves this week! We can heal the world this week! The end of death can be achieved this week! We have the power, and as we change ourselves to be more sharing we WILL change the world around us.

Kol Tuv,

Matthew

great loss

Today we mourn the loss of two great artists. You will be forever missed. We will remember your contributions forever. Farrah Fawcett, you struggled for so long and fought so bravely. From Charlie's Angles, to The Burning Bed, Extremities, the stir inducing Playboy spread, and most recently the touching 20/20 special on your struggle; your work was so inspiring. Michael Jackson, you fought to protect you name for so many years. Your music career has been phenomenal. You changed the meaning of music videos and concerts. There is not a music star today that has not been influenced. You are both at rest now and have been freed from you respective troubles. Goodbye.

Shalom,

Matthew

the inner altar

I wanted my first blog post to be a little more spiritually reflective as to why I felt the need to begin blogging. Then a hugh political scandal erupted and my mind could not stop spinning with my thoughts on the matter. That is ultimately why I created this blog, to discuss my inner thoughts and motivations in a public forum. A place where people can help me hash out my thoughts and ideas on politics, kabbalah, civil rights, and my career in musical theater. Through this process I hope to find my own "inner altar," the place within me from which my happiness and abundance flow. Discovering what you believe is how you discover who you are. Join me on this journey to my inner altar and see if you can catch a glimpse of yours.

Yesterday, SC Governor Mark Sanford announced he has been cheating on his wife for over a year. I find it fascinating that someone who has prided himself on defending the sanctity of traditional marriage has been violating it himself for some time. The hypocrisy this man has displayed will no doubt dominate the political news media for the week or more. The real tragedy; however, is that his family is now a statistic. SC has a constitutional ban on gay marriage, because of his efforts to "protect marriage." As a US Representative in 1999 he voted to deny adoption rights to gay and lesbian couples in the District of Columbia. In 2002, while running for governor of SC, he stated clearly his position on gay marriage was that there should be absolutely no recognition of their relationships, weather it be marriage, civil union or even domestic partner benefits. This was all supposed to protect the family and marriage's sanctity. Never mind the fact that gay and lesbian families already exist in every state in the Union. The GLBT communities fight for our civil rights is to protect our families and relationships from the calamities of the modern world. We simply want protection for our children, health benefits, hospital visitation rights, and ultimately inheritance rights. Perhaps, Gov. Sanford's focus should have been on matters of infidelity within the heterosexual population's already existing marriages. This focus would have prevented him from denying couples who are in committed monogamous relationships and want to have all of the rights and responsibilities of marriage the ability to do so.

Responsibilities, that is the key to it all. When you enter into a marriage you have responsibilities. Not only do you get the privileges and rights, but there is some work to be done as well. Marriage is a commitment to a lifetime of work and compromise, but also love and happiness. The problem is if you don't do the work and the occasional compromise, your hold on the love and happiness will not last. My GLBT community desperately wants the rights and responsibilities of marriage. I have been blessed by living in a place that, for now, recognizes the validity of my marriage which took place in Boston, MA. So, my marriage is protected on the state level (not the federal) and when Michael and I have children they will have the security that we are both here for them, even if one of us gets sick or passes. There are hundreds of thousands of other couples in this country that are not allowed to get married. That, my friends, is wrong. But, it is made worse when you watch as those who would deny you your civil rights, squander their own through infidelity.

Kol Tuv (kohl tuuv; be well)

Matthew