Proposition 8 :(

When I was checking on the votes on prop 8 last night and this morning I couldn’t help feeling saddened and angry at the fact that once Americans had made such a big step towards change, only to take another one backwards and infringe upon the civil rights of homosexuals all over the country.

Personally I just can’t help but be frustrated, even though I’ve been really excited and happy about the election results. I’m not American and as a lowly German immigrant I’m not even allowed to vote. Still I’ve probably been at least as excited about the election as most of my American friends.

Now, the giant drawback is living in Utah and being around a lot of people who have attitudes that makes my hair stand on end. Frankly this morning I almost snapped when I have to listen to people tell me how California, Florida and Arizona  have done ‘the right thing’, because same sex marriages infringes upon the first amendment….Uh…WTF?!

I don’t think I have to add anything to that to illustrate the extend of stupidity, let alone ignorance and hate that still exists among so many people.

Then again I have to listen to people tell me to “take [my] bi bitch ass back to germany where [I] belong and dont trouble us “conceited american” again as [they] really are the best country in the world and [they] don’t need [my] kind.”

I know I’ve ranted about this before, but seriously, what the fuck is wrong with some people here?!

I’m SO happy to share the same country with this person!
But hey, I don’t ’share’ I’m merely ‘tolerated’ until I take my bi bitch ass back to Germany where I belong.

I weep for you Americans.

At least I can claim foreign status…

Oh did I mention that at least half of the people I meet at school everyday think that I’m way too liberal to live in Utah and really should consider moving? Those are the same people who just told me this morning that hey! wouldn’t it be a solution if all homosexual people just like…moved and made their own state of sexual depravity? Great!

…No I am not kidding…statements like this really make me want to punch those people making them.

Yes, I still love it here though, because most of the people are awesome and the others…well we’ll see where that one goes.

OBAMA IS PRESIDENT!!!!

Finally America has made the right decision again. This is indeed a historical day. Now let’s see how things will turn out. This is definitely a great day and even as someone who couldn’t actively participate in this by voting myself, this is the kind of thing that makes me hopeful.

Now I’m just curious on how California voted on Prop.8. Yay for change! Go Obama!

Well, wasn’t that BOUND to happen?

Here’s yet another reason why I do have problems living in Utah sometimes.

Don’t get me wrong, please. I met a bunch of awesome and totally open people here who I love and count as family and friends. In many ways Utah really surprised me positively. However, the problems begin whenever religion is touched. With most members of my family and close to all my friends it really isn’t an issue, but then there’s headlines like the link above about the church mobilizing against gay and lesbian marriages that just make me go through the roof. Seriously, as a European I’m used to the church going off against homosexuality and it would be really nice to believe that things have gotten better during the past, but then again you just need to read articles like that to reassure yourself that no, not much really has changed.

I had this big discussion last night with Stephen and his parents. Unlike him, his mom and dad, if not regular church-goers still believe in the LDS principles, which doesn’t make me like them any less, but we get into arguments at times, especially when agnostic me is in one of her more pugnacious moods. So while they argue that religion is different from general society and that you can’t force people to accept homosexuality, I definitely argue the fact that by law you’re not allowed to discriminate against others due to race, ethnicity and yes, also sexuality. Of course law is one thing, society and religion is quite another all over again, but who has the right to withhold acceptance from a constantly growing group of people? Fact is, sadly enough, that equal rights even between men and women aren’t quite reality yet and I’m growing immensely frustrated when I see headlines like that. It honestly makes me wonder when people are going to wake up and part with certain beliefs and prejudices.

“The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

– Genesis 9:16

Really, do you need any more evidence? Honestly, I’m not going to plunge into a rant about how many contradictions there are in the Bible and how everyone uses them to their hypocritical advantage, but there you have it. Live it.

Amen.

Obama gets the Democratic ticket!

I’m thinking many Americans would have voted for Hilary just for the sake of voting against McCain, so I’m definitely happy that the race has ended as it did. Obama FTW

What really disconcerts me as a German just recently immigrated to the United States is that the election system is much more based on the person, than on the party background and that many Americans I know even think that the party that stands behind the presidential candidate doesn’t even matter. I keep asking those people where they think their administration is recruited from and if they really would be comfortable with yet another Republican minister of defense etc.

Discussions like that honestly depress me, but hey I’m glad that – even if I can’t vote (damn!) – there hopefully will be a black Democrat president by the end of this year who’ll hopefully bring some change

This election is definitely going to be interesting!

U.S. to tighten visa restrictions

This post on BBC news makes me glad that I already managed to immigrate to the U.S.A. though I’m sometimes not quite sure how ‘happy’ I am to live in a country that seems to get more and more paranoid than it already is.

Maybe it’s my German background, but honestly even with the visa-waiver program that has allowed me to visit Stephen for three months without a visa last year, coming into the United States faintly reminds me of pictures I’m too young to remember: of people trying to cross the border to the DDR (German Democratic Republic).

Okay, this may sound a little polemic there, but as an immigrant I can only shake my head at the way how people are being treated just trying to come into the country for a freaking visit. Honestly things like this, making people apply to be able to visit friends or relatives here or even just going for a holiday has nothing to do with being afraid of terror acts, but everything with paranoia. This makes me wonder how far we’re still away from George Orwell’s Thought Police etc. Brave New World indeed…

Sic transit gloria mundi…

or: What THE FUCK is wrong with you, America?

If you’re wondering what I’m going off about this early in the morning, read this article on the BBC website.

The website advertisement for the offer, which continues until the end of the month, mentions that an approved background check on gun ownership is required.

May I just point out that this is complete bullshit? I’m dealing with criminal background checks almost every day and it appalls me how it’s harder to rent an apartment with a bad record than obtain a fucking gun.

Tell me again how this is supposed to make me feel any safer knowing that there might be some paranoid, but of course well-meaning U.S. citizen randomly going wild, not to mention the fact how easy it is to get a concealed carrier’s permit?

Saying that there’s something fundamentally wrong with America’s attitude towards guns is the understatement of the year. I’m starting to lose every last bit of tolerance for those who whine about school massacres and their likes only to later take up their guns to go hunting or just fire guns for the fun of it. Seriously, there’s something wrong with this attitude.

If you are a Communist wanting to immigrate to the United States, you definitely have a problem…

…and I don’t hint at ideology and irreconcilable economical views, I’m explaining a fact. I mean you know you’re supposed to answer every question in your immigration forms truthfully, but this has been one that made me think. It’s somewhere in the vast “Adjustment of Status” package when they ask you if you’ve been a Sex-offender, felon, convicted for dealing in drugs etc. when they also ask:

[quote]Are you a Communist?[/unquote]

This is where I stop and think: Well, I wouldn’t say I am a Communist, but I certainly share certain Communist point of views. So does that make me one? Are they throwing Communist in the same pot as Democratice Socialist? Hmmm….

Well in the end I check the “No” box, because no, I’m not a Communist, in other words: I’m not a member of a Communist party whatsoever.

So at my interview appointment my interviewer (who is Russian himself, rather to my amusement) he’s asking me that question again and here Steffi’s deciding to be a little bold.

Me: No.

Him: Ok then.

Me: Well let me ask you a question. Hypothetically, if I were a member of a Communist party I wouldn’t be able to immigrate to the United States?

Him: Exactly. We need to make sure that you believe in a democratic system. Communism is not a democracy.

Me: Well, alright, but what about being a member of a party who believes in Democratic Socialism? (emphasizing the “democratic” because I don’t believe in any system that wouldn’t be a democratic one)

Him: That’s no problem. Socialism is different. Socialism is democratic.

Me: Ok…. (Thinking: Hello??? WTF are you making of the DDR? That’s not been a democracy!)

Him: Anyway, you’re fine as long as you’re not a Communist.

Me: Sure.

So he moves on, and I’m thinking I’ve stranded in a land full of historical retards. Anyway, taking a deep breath, trying not to let him notice what I’m thinking and just going on with the spiel. After all it might have been good that I’ve left my jacket with the Jusos badges and the little red star at home along with the Marx and Lenin books…Man… Welcome to the US of A…Land of the Free and very funny attitudes towards what is a democracy and what is not…