We’ve Moved…

Same premise, new site. New design and fresh, updated content.

Visit the new site at www.theRyanThomasCollection.com and if you have bookmarks, it’s time to change them.

 

New San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum to Open

A random walk around downtown San Francisco found me in the middle of a Jewish festival celebrating the opening of the new San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum. The new museum is moving away from traditional museum culture, by focusing on the changing expression of Jewish culture, rather than on the history and struggle of Jews worldwide. The facade of the this new museum is a beautiful display of modern architecture set directly across an old, traditional Christian church. A perfect combination to depict, not only the diversity of the city, but the forward thinking of both the museum and the people of San Francisco.

The small alley dividing these two very different buildings is a vivid depiction of San Francisco’s history and future. It shows the city as place of forward thinking dreamers who moved here during California’s Gold Rush in pursuit of something bigger and better for themselves. Connected by a common dream of a better life, San Francisco provided a place for diverse groups of minorities to prosper. This museum brings attention to great San Franciscan Jews, including Levi Strauss and both of California’s state Senators, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein. The museum’s director, Connie Wolf, describes the museum’s focus:

Tradition and history in isolation does not connect to our daily lives. What you want is to not be thinking about history and tradition as something over there, but you want to be engaged with how does it impact us. How can we strive to make the world a better place?

If you are visiting or living in San Francisco, the new Contemporary Jewish Museum opens Sunday, June 7th in the heart of downtown. More information can be found at www.thecjm.org.

To see another interesting and fascinating museum display from the Jewish Museum of Berlin, click on the Fashion & Arts page.

(Photo provided by The Ryan Thomas Collection. All rights reserved.)

Gay Pride Month Begins with a Battle for Votes

Coincidentally, the first business day of Gay Pride Month came with the dreaded announcement by California Secretary of State Debra Bowen that the initiative to amend the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriage will be placed on the November 3rd ballot.

Opponents to same-sex marriage successfully gathered the necessary signatures to place the initiative on the ballot and thus, the battle for votes begins. A simple majority of votes is needed to pass the amendment. In a Field Poll released last week, a majority of likely California voters are opposed to passing such an initiative, but with a slim margin, the battle on both sides will be intense.

The right-wing fight in California is a national effort. Local and statewide donations are being made to fund discrimination in the Golden State. Visit www.equalityforall.com and www.eqca.org to find out how you can prevent discrimination from being embedded in the Constiution.

California needs to maintain its stance at the forefront of progressive politics and social values. Let your friends and family know that every vote they can influence will keep California a place of equal opportunity and civil liberty.

Happy Gay Pride Month!

(Photo provided by The Ryan Thomas Collection. All rights reserved.)

Defining Modern Womanhood

Sex and the City- The Movie Reviewed (Small spoiler below)

Standing amongst a sea of teenage and quarter-life girls with their token gays waiting to see the midnight premiere of Sex and the City, The Movie, the cult following of four women in their forties is shocking at first. However, looking at the television series and now the movie, it makes sense that the storyline of these women has captivated so many women of all stages in our modern age.

 

Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha are new archetypes of the modern woman. In a post-women’s lib world, these women depict the results of such efforts. Though the movie lacks a strong storyline, and instead crams a television season’s worth of fluff, puns and chaos into a 2.5 hour movie, it successfully presents modern women with a plethora of examples of what it can be to a be a woman.

 

A successful writer, lawyer, art dealer and PR rep of the Big Apple afford young women a clearer vision of career and personal growth intermixed with traditional feminine ideology of family and marriage. Increasingly, it is important for impressionable young women to realize they can have both a career and a family, if they choose. Furthermore, it is important for women of all ages to realize that it is alright if traditional feminine ideology does not suit their individual lifestyle.

 

This is what Samantha’s character and storyline in the movie portrays successfully. As Samantha attempts to fulfill traditional ideas of living for love, rather than solely herself, she realizes that she prefers the freedom of herself. The “me” factor. She abandons a unfulfilled and saddened life where she feels stuck at home as a traditional “housewife” in Los Angeles. The film ends with her turning 50, being single, successful and living the socialite life in New York City. The important part here is that she is happy with that and shows that this independent lifestyle is a perfectly fine selection for women. She is not punished in the storyline, like films of decades past where older, single women were treated more like old hags rather than fulfilled and happy members of society. Living to live rather than living to find a man is a pivotal pinpoint of Samantha’s character and a vital element that audience members should pick up on.

 

The overarching importance of a film like this, which relies on audience loyalty rather than cinematic quality and/or excellence, is the defining of a new type of womanhood, or rather the destruction of a single traditional ideal of womanhood into a flood of choices and options. Each of these options lead to differing places and viewers see the struggles, and they see the benefits.

 

Sex and the City reminds viewers that being single at 30, 40 and 50 is okay and, in actuality, can be beneficial for the idea and fulfillment of one’s self. Happiness can come from more than getting married, having a child and staying at home. At the same time, it is okay to desire traditional feminine archetypes. There are options and women are empowered to create them and choose them.

 

Sex and the City, The Movie fulfills America’s incessant need to overindulge, going for a second helping when the final meal was more than satisfying. However, the presentation of four successful, hard working, fun women living varying lifestyles in the nation’s biggest city is imperative in a society that continues to present young women with conflicting ideas of womanhood.

 

UK Grants Asylum to Gay Iranian

The Netherlands said no. The UK took 18 months to say yes. How can Western nations refuse asylum to a group of individuals from a country with known laws of the death penalty for being a practicing homosexual? It is a bit baffling that the Netherlands refused asylum, being that they allow so many other things to exist in their country. Furthermore, persecution of gays in a nation should be considered a form of genocide. European countries, of all Western countries, should be particularly open to protecting people who are victims of this as they have seen it within their continent more than a few times in their past.

As an American, I don’t expect our country to have open arms to Iranian gays. Though the Statue of Liberty has a fabulous costume that only a gay could have designed, I don’t see her bright light welcoming gays, whose lives may be risked by living as a homosexual. 

I am not an expert on Middle Eastern cultures and laws, but the only argument I can see for Western nations refusing asylum to gays may be that women in these same cultures may then also qualify, if they are in pursuit of a more liberated lifestyle. Additionally, as tensions between Middle Eastern nations and the West continue to go back and forth, taking in Middle Eastern “rejects” so to speak may not fair well. However, it should be a move that Western nations make to affirm its position as a place of open societies.

(Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7411706.stm)

 

The Weekly Addition – May 18th

The pages listed to the right have additional material added for your enjoyment this weekend and throughout the week:

Fashion & Arts – Rockefeller Center

Pop Culture – America’s Next Top Model Declared – Whitney Thompson

Thinking About Life – Fire

California Gays Get Green Light to Marry

Justice and equality have finally been served by the courts of California’s Supreme Court. In a long overdue decision, the California Supreme Court decided on May 15th, 2008 that banning homosexuals from marriage was unconstitutional (in regards to the California state constitution). Prop 22 has effectively been overturned. Chief Justice George wrote:

In contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual’s sexual orientation — like a person’s race or gender — does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights.

As a gay individual and a Californian, this ruling was particularly impactful in ways that I find hard to describe. I have always known that this direction of equality was the right direction and yet constantly I listened that laws were being passed against it. Growing up with American ideals of justice and equality become dim when one knows that their own equality has been trampled upon by the federal government, state government and fellows citizens. Learning about the struggle of African Americans and women to earn equal standing, it only made sense that something like gay marriage fits into the same ideals of equality.

Year after year the opposite continually happened. State after state passing anti gay marriage laws. The federal government passing anti gay marriage legislation. All of these pieces never made sense when I was continually taught about the rights innately guaranteed to American citizens by the Constitution. I consider the U.S. Constitution one of the most innovative and powerful documents ever written. Its amendments continually instilled ideals of equality for all citizens, protecting these equal rights. Day in and day out, the struggle for gay equality in marriage has fought for this.

Yes, this is a state victory, which shows that nationally a bigger objective still needs to be conquered, but the power of a California court decision goes far. Knowing that my state’s Supreme Court has finally acknowledged the equality of a minority, that I am a part of, becomes very powerful on a personal level. It feels like there is finally a group of people of stature who understand something that I have understood for longer than I can remember; American citizens are born equal and have innate rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Stepping into the Castro district of San Francisco tonight, I found streets shut down and a celebratory party conducted on the city streets to celebrate a victory for California, a victory for gays, and ultimately a victory for the country. We are a country that has always put ideals of freedom and liberty on the forefront of American life and this is a step needed to display that there are Americans who continue to believe in these vital elements of the United States.

Watching a large gathering of citizens celebrate this victory in the streets of Castro was simply amazing. Those in long lasting relationships can finally receive the same recognition and benefits as their heterosexual counterparts. Single or not, everyone on the street was able to feel that they really are an equal part of society and not only deserve, but will be treated by the government on an equal level.

Feeling equal is a very difficult feeling to describe. Feeling the relief that the Court recognizes my individual rights to equality is hard to describe. However, celebrating this victory is easy to describe; simply amazing!

The battle continues through to November as select Californians, rather select Americans, work to embed discrimination in the California state constitution. There is no place for discrimination in this state or in this country, particularly in the written Constitution. This nation has thrived on being at the forefront of liberty and justice and to continue this ideal, every citizen must be treated equally under the law.

(Photos provided by The Ryan Thomas Collection. All rights reserved.)

The 14th Amendment Solution

I have had a little back and forth with another blogger on another blog about utilizing the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution to fight anti-gay marriage laws. I want to open the discussion on my blog to broaden its scope because it is obviously not a clear cut issue. We both support equality of marriage among hetero and homosexuals, so the discussion is not whether or not gay marriage should or should not be legal. It is more about using the tools available to fight it in the courts, where the battle belongs, in my opinion.

The discussion is below (courtesy www.thedailydalia.wordpress.com) and lets open it further:

Me:

After reading this posting, I wanted to read a bit more about the Loving v. Virginia case because to me it sounds like the key to overturning discriminatory gay marriage laws using precedent set by this case. It seems that in good time, this case may be the one to give equal rights to all. Virginia commented on the anniversary of the court case:

“Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry.

I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.”

Justin: The reason why loving v Virginia cannot be used for gay marriage is because it was fought using the arguments of due process and equal protections under the 14th Amendment and the 14th does not cover sexual orientation.

Me:

The 14th amendment does not actually specify what it can and cant be used for or against. The Equal Protection Clause of this amendment is left open and has been used in various civil rights fights.

It states:
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The language is flexible enough that one can argue that the 14th amendment does in fact nullify anti-gay marriage laws because these laws could be construed as depriving a group of people in committed relationships of equal protection under the law.

The marital communications privelege is one protection marriage law provides (though many states include this protection in civil union). This privelege allows communications between a married couple to be kept confidential by both members. Therefore, my communication with my partner does not necessarily receive the same protection as my heterosexual and married counterparts.

The idea that civil unions or domestic partnership laws may include this right does not nullify the idea that the 14th amendment applies. It only brings further argument that separate, but equal is never equal. Brown v Board successfully removed separate, but equal as a solution to segregation. A main argument of this case was the 14th amendment.

Therefore, I still believe the 14th amendment to be applicable in fighting marriage discrimation laws.

(Photo provided by The Ryan Thomas Collection. All rights reserved.)

The Everday Sculptor

It is the second Sunday of May, which means like every year, it is Mother’s Day.

Like art sculptors, mothers mold and form. Delicately creating a piece of work for the world to enjoy, critique and interact with. The sculpture becomes affected by the world around it, whether it be like the statue of David sitting in an Italian museum, or a statue in the Parthenon with pieces broken off by criminals and wars. The sculptor can only protect their piece of work for so long before they must entrust it to the world and allow it to be displayed on a world stage.

Unlike the artists who created the great statues of the past and present, the idea of motherhood still seems to go underappreciated. This is said loosely only because the great things that mothers accomplish can never be appreciated too much. I think of what it would be like to suddenly realize I was to have a child and that very moment know my life would never be the same. How often do we hear of a mother putting everything on the line for a child. Some mothers who led successful careers put their professional life on hold for their children. Others work dreadfully long hours to ensure their children are taken care of properly.

Good mothers can and do teach us a lot. So many mothers show us what unconditional love is in a world that constantly fights against us. Mothers show leadership and loyalty, putting their children’s well being before their own.

I am taught strength through my mother. I think of how my existence affected her life and how her existence has affected mine (besides the obvious part of bringing me into existence). She was a very young woman when I arrived. My arrival took away the opportunity for her to explore the broad world freely during what is typically a highly impressionable part of an individual’s life. Her everyday devotion to motherhood and hard work then and now, give me the tools and motivation to explore and learn from the world. This is what mother’s do. They put their life on the line for their children and they are never paid enough for it.

Inventors, business people, politicians, artists and other influential people in the world may create and form the future, but the tools they all have come from the sculptors that we are around everyday.

 (Photo provided by The Ryan Thomas Collection. All rights reserved.)

Women Who Can Teach Us A lot

Watching Cher and Tina Tuner being interviewed on Oprah had me thinking. Seeing these two women on a stage in Vegas is more than just a Thursday afternoon at 4pm. These are two women who stood against what was of expected of women in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and even what is expected of women now.

These are women… no…these are people who stood up for something and not for attention, but for themselves. These women did not and do not do what they do for attention like today’s Paris, Nicole or Lindsay Lohan types do. They have worked and pushed forward for more than paparazzi pictures.

Cher and Tina have both pushed against patriarchal power and influence in a time when some may have thought it unpopular. They both understood that personal liberty and the power of the individual was worth more than anything a man could provide. Standing up against the norm in a time when it was unacceptable is not only commendable, it is admirable. It seems that far too often women like this are pushed aside now. Strong and independent women are put in the shadows by “porno, paparazzi girls” and this is will be the downfall of modern American society.

Cher and Tina Turner are what some may say the “retirement” periods of life and yet they push on. They are performing their art and entertaining those who want to listen. So often do we see we male politicians, performers and men of business doing the same and being acclaimed for it. Let us not forget that women can and are doing the same. Women like Cher and Tina Turner may not be the the businessmen of today or yesterday, and they may not be the politicians of today or yesterday, but they are people of our time. We must recognize what they have done for girls, women, and people in their lifetime. In our lifetime.

Some may read this as a typical gay man preaching the glory of a diva or two, but one must realize that it is more than this. Women fighting for an equal opportunity on their own is still a rather new concept in society and it is a continual fight. These women are examples of what all of us, men and women alike, can aspire to; a fight for self determination and individual success. We may never achieve the depth of success they have, but we can aspire to do something close. If we are questioning success or survival from a difficult choice we must make. These are women…no…these are people that we can look to and understand that good things can and will come from making a tough choice.

Whether you are a young girl wanting to conquer the world without being a tragic paparazzi girl, a young gay boy in a small town sitting in a closet waiting to break free, or a straight guy who does not want to be quarterback of the high school football team; these women show you that being a puppet of social norms does not equate happiness or success.

Take a small step for your individual freedom and independence. Next, take a larger step towards your personal liberty. You may never, I may never, and the person next to you may never be the next Cher, Tina Tuner or even Oprah, but we may all be one step closer to personal and individual liberty, and only then can we achieve the energy to push on when we are of “retirement” age, or even tomorrow.