Alright, LISTEN. I’m man enough to admit it.

Sometimes I read Fox News.

Mostly for the lolz. And ’cause you and I both know, if you wanna get the scoop on freaky actions perpetrated by the cream of the crazy crop, Fox News is like…the Wal Mart of low, low prices taste.

But the following story – jacked from Fox – isn’t distasteful. It is, however, about extra-small condoms for little Swedish boys whose bodies are telling them yes yes yes and brains are telling them no no no to wrapping that ish up! So you might be offended.

I quote:

A leading condom manufacturer in Switzerland has created extra-small condoms for boys as young as 12 years old, the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph reported.

The condom, called the Hotshot, was produced after family planning groups and the Swiss AIDS Federation campaigned to have the condoms made following several studies that showed adolescent boys were not using proper protection when engaging in intercourse.

Uhh, what?! I’d score this as follows:

+1 for calling it the Hotshot

-2 for calling it the Hotshot

+1 to the condom company for keeping capitalism creative

+1 again because you seriously called this thing the Hotshot?

-1 for making me feel really weird.

That’s a net score of zero, but seriously, if the alternative is randy little Swedish boys who lack the sense and effing courtesy to wrap it up, then more power to them. As to whether 12 year olds should be having sex in the first place…that ain’t my bizness.

Like the saying goes, “as does Sweden, so does the World” (not an actual saying); I for one can’t wait to see how America puts its unique stamp of puritan lust on this social development.

A final quote:

A standard condom has a diameter of 2 inches; the Hotshot’s is 1.7 inches.

BROOKLYN!

Need a job? How about one with a good wage, flexible schedule, that serves a good cause and includes paid training. Sounds pretty good, right? Too good to be true? Not so much. Turns out Brooklyn is desperate for census workers.

According to Brokelyn.com, a tipster informs them that there aren’t enough people in their database to fill all the jobs that are open.

“…the local office based on Fulton St, which covers the neighborhoods reaching from DUMBO to Clinton Hill & Prospect Heights—Red Hook to Sunset Park (and everything in between) is currently facing a shortage of applicants.”

So get at it, and do it soon. Most jobs are paying $18.75 per hour, part and full-time schedules, evenings and weekends available.

“All people have to do is call 718-360-5150 to schedule to take the test. Or, show up at the Big Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army Plaza between 1:30 and 1:45 this Sunday, with two forms of ID (Photo – Passport, License, State ID plus a Social Security Card, or Birth Certificate.) It’s that simple. Due to the shortage, just about any passing score will net a job.”

And while you’re out there doing the job, you’ll learn more about our beloved borough and its rich diversity. Again, from the source:

“I’ve been working for the Census on and off for a while, and it’s an interesting job. I highly recommend it, especially for people who are interested in Brooklyn and people.”

So what are you waiting for?

For more info about the census and why it’s the most important 10 minutes you can spend this month, check our new video.

And don’t forget to get that Numbers Don’t Lie Mixtape from DJ Willie Shakes. Take our census pledge and get your free download here!

See that, giving you free music and job hookups. Who loves you? Pledge today.

99problems.org’s DJ Willie Shakes is hitting the streets of America to talk to folks about Census 2010. Check out our promo of his trip to Philly and Pittsburgh. Census forms hit your mailbox (not your inbox) in March!!! It only takes 10 mins to fill them out. Do it! It’s super important.

The women of last Thursday’s She’s So Fresh show aren’t just dynamic onstage. Check the conversations I had the pleasure of engaging some of them in before their sets

Dante. I asked the fly Ms. Dante about her take on today’s youth and her message especially now given the state of our youth’s education and economic crisis.
The one question that I asked that stuck out: How do you feel about Obama?
Her Answer? “Change takes Time.” Dante alluded to the fact that all good things come with time, elaborating on how our country didn’t get messed up overnight so it sure can’t be fixed overnight, stating you have to wait. Coming from a personal place she touched briefly on the violence that today’s youth face and believing kids need an escape from all the negative constantly surrounding them Dante said she tried to focus on the positive making uplifting “feel good music.” Those are words we can all get behind!

Anomolies. Established in 1995, these women have been vibing together for 15 years! Fifteen years ago I was 11. SO my question is, How in the world do these ladies manage to still look so good? Anomalies broken down is “No Mo Lies”. (Word!) They told me that their group was formed out of a need to see more of them and their voice reflected in the art form they loved. I got into hip hop five years after Anomolies was founded. I remember being sixteen and going to shows where there was hardly a female base-but there were a few female emcees holding it down here and there. I can’t imagine what it was like for these young ladies imagining the number to be drastically slighter when they started. Seeing the same few faces every show, they naturally gravitated towards each other and over the years have been refortifying and nurturing each other’s solo interests and projects with astounding success. They even started out rocking in one of my school’s building’s – Parson’s! The order of appearance? Tara who held it down as an attendee of  the New School, then Helixx Armageddon, followed by Kuttin Kandy, Pri and lastly Invincible.
Some things from our conversation that stood out:
The Anomolies consider their selves to be more of a collective than just another group. they all embrace solo projects and see this collaboration as an invaluable opportunity to pool resources and give support. Holding it down for fifteen years, you could add that they are community. They have been around since 90s hip hop evolved from many different genres with a voice to the formulaic after industry got involved and took it over, destroying a huge part of the art and voice that created the form. This shift contrary to silencing hip hop drove many underground where that voice and those genres still flourish today evidenced by my young love of underground hip hop to the youth that you will still see going to shows all over the world today. Having worked with kids they know that Apathetic Youth is a misconception. If they could see anything given to the youth? 1) mentors 2) Opportunities to open their eyes and expand their worldview 3) More avenues for them to use. Pri the Honey Dark knows firsthand how valuable these tools are in an education system that is consistently failing and giving up on kids. Having fought with the school board about the “Certificate of Completion” that NY appears to  hand out liberally to students that teacher’s can’t be bothered to teach, Pri knows that many of these children can learn. Her son is a beautiful shining example of  that face. Having been diagnosed with Autism, Pri’s son was destined to be yet another victim of this certificate. But she fought back and schooled her son at home, allowing him the inalienable right to learn and become everything he can be. Her son has since graduated and is looking forward to college. You can hear more about this inspiring story in the following article written by Pri herself : Pri’s Words
For more info about the She’s So Fresh Showcase I attended check this: Where My Ladies At? She’s So Fresh III!

Top 10 Stories of 2009

2009 is almost a wrap, but it wouldn’t be proper to let it pass without paying homage to the stories that made us ask “Did that really just happen?” Whether it was C.Breezy putting hands on Riri, a runaway balloon watch or Oprah spotted at Marcy projects, much of what was current could be figured out in 140 characters or less on Twitter, the social media site that changed the journalism game in ’09 — but even a Tinkerbellesque trending topic couldn’t keep Michael Jackson alive. We lost a lot of special people this year – but they’ll be remembered. Now lets take a moment to reflect on 2009:

Chrihannagate

2009 turned Chris Brown and Rihanna into this generation’s poster children for domestic violence when the aftermath of Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy party resulted in an entirely different kind of bash. Chrihanna dominated tabloid covers and the talk show circuit, and kept people talking about herpes, illicit text messages and baby blue bowties.

Vick Back in the NFL

If you thought his year in the pen marked the end of Michael Vick’s NFL career, well you thought wrong. After serving his time, PETA’s least favorite quarterback headed back to the field to suit up for the Philadelphia Eagles. Guess his dog days are over.

Kanye’s Big Ego

Armed with a bodacious bi-sexual and a bottle of Hennessy, Kanye invoked international ire after crashing the VMA stage as America’s sweetheart Taylor Swift tried to claim her prize. Amber Rose may be forgotten by 2010 however “Imma let you finish but …” might just rank as the most famous last words of the decade.

Long Live The King

Many doubted Michael Jackson could recover from huge debt, accusations of child molestation and just plain old eccentricity, but death restored his fortune and legacy perhaps more than any comeback concerts ever could. 2009 saw some of America’s best talents (Farrah Fawcett, Steve McNair, Patrick Swayze, DJ AM) take their last breaths, but only one was the King of Pop.

All Hail Hov

Jay-Z aligned his Blueprint3 release with an unprecedented branding plan (who didn’t see those HP and Rhapsody commercials?). The result? BP3 became S Dot’s eleventh #1 album, knocking Elvis from his throne. Oh and did I mention he brought Oprah to Marcy projects and keeps President Obama on speed dial? Forget about running “this town,” Hov runs the globe.

Bernie Madoff

If the recession wasn’t bad enough, thousands of Americans were royally ripped off by Bernie Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme literally made off with billions of dollars from investors, proving thievery definitely isn’t just a black thing. Wall Street caught a bailout but Madoff will never make bond, after being sentenced to 150 years behind bars in 2009.

Cheetah Woods

Golf’s great black hope set the tabloids afire after his wife’s Nordic fury sent the Cablinasian in a Cadillac into an Ambien-fueled one-car collision. The fallout from the accident placed Tiger at the epicenter of a 14-sidepiece pussy pileup, sidelining the golf great and costing him endorsements.

Balloon Goon

One of the strangest hoaxes in American history happened this year, when a Colorado man named Richard Heene succumbed to a thirst for fame so great he’d ask his son Falcon to con an entire nation by faking his disappearance in a runaway balloon. P.S. I’d like my hour of CNN watching back please!

Twitter Takes Off

Diddy and Solange helped drive the charge to make Twitter the most popular social media site on the block. It didn’t take long before Chris Brown, Bow Wow and Soulja Boy were proving 140-characters is more than enough to make an ass of yourself.

Jailhouse Rap

With Remy Ma, Da Brat and Prodigy already behind bars, lyricists in lockup are not a new phenomenon, but rappers went to jail in droves this year. T.I., Max B, Boosie, Gucci Mane, Lil Wayne and C-Murder were among the MC’s either sentenced or sent packing, while Shyne was freed only to be deported to Belize.

Top 10 Viral Videos of 2009

Thanks to sites like YouTube, World Star Hip-Hop, OnSmash and FunnyOrDie, there was never a dull moment in 2009. Videos of Pretty Ricky gyrater Spectacular and wannabe rapper Bangs spread faster than H1N1, while another clip put Charles Hamilton on the wrong side of a punch seen ‘round the world. Whether it was just plain silly, simply inane or “Pause” worthy, if you watched, laughed and passed it onto your friends, you were part of what made it a viral video. There were way too many to count this year, but sharing is caring, so here’s ten of my faves:

Prop 8: The Musical

“Prop 8 – The Musical” starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more… from Jack Black

“Hairspray’s” Marc Shaiman decided to tackle America’s hot button issue of gay marriage in musical form and virtually every comedian in Hollywood teamed up to take on the topic.

Bangs Take U To Da Movies

Bangs put Sudan on the map, with his take-you-out YouTube pleas. Poorly edited photo-shopped imagery and near tone deaf vocals couldn’t keep this Bangs video from becoming one of the biggest viral hits of the year.

Khaled McDonald’s Ad

Khaled’s on air promos for McDonald’s hit the “Pause” button hard, as he proclaimed the joy of that “cream hitting your face.” It probably wasn’t meant to be funny, but Miami’s favorite radio DJ’s signature delivery proved priceless when he finally said something other than “We Da Best!”

Booty Pop Panties

For all those babies without back, “Booty Pop” promised bigger bootys to all the cuties suffering from “noassatall”. It’s no wonder the Whooty (white girl with booty) was at an all time high this year, with even Martha Stewart and Kelly Ripa adding testimonials to this popular informercial.

Ballers and Rappers – Jasiri X

Jasiri X has had dozens of entertaining videos this year, but his latest one, “Ballers and Rappers” is perhaps the most inspiring.

David After Dentist

It shouldn’t be so funny to watch a little kid suffer the effects of dental anesthesia, but little David’s post-surgery high proved so hilarious that millions tuned in to watch.

Tiger Woods Reenactment

While Tiger Woods publicly claimed his wife never put hands on him, most of the media – especially in China, seemed to think otherwise. This cartoon re-enactment of Tiger’s imprinted an image of a golf club wielding Elin Woods that can never be erased.

Charles Hamilton Gets Smacked

After landing a coveted spot on the cover of XXL Charles Hamilton fell all the way off when a video emerged of him disrespecting, and subsequently being socked by, his assistant and one time love interest Briana Latrise.

Evian Babies

Creepy yes, but Evian’s diverse special effects-created cast of babies breakdancing and roller skating to “Rappers Delight” proved uber popular in ’09.

SNL On A Boat

SNL’s Lonely Island singing antics continued into 2009, propelling T-Pain’s fame to even greater heights by teaming with the King of Autotune for their rap/sung sketch about living the high life.

Just hopped off a video announcement from Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency and definitely a top pick on the short list of D.C. insiders who are really taking their title/mission to heart.

On what is coincidentally (purely surely) the first day of the international COP15 summit, the EPA announces that their thorough (musta been really thorough) analysis of all the available facts leads to one simple conclusion: greenhouse gases “threaten the public health and welfare of the American people.”

There’s more:

“These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States Government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean-energy reform,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

Great talking point from Mrs. Jackson and my instinct thinks she’s legit. When asked on the call about the timing of the EPA’s announcement, when House reps have indicated no movement on environmnetal legislation until early Spring (months from now), Lisa Jackson said the EPA did not want to wait to get the ball rolling and hoped that Congress would “follow the ball.”

Translation: watch out, world. Apparently it’s not a pre-requisite of American political power to actually lose total touch with the land and your people!

Keep it up, Mrs. Jackson.

This is a few days old i.e. another epoch in internetz time but I bet when society crashes and we burn our laptops for plastic scented warmth, we’ll kill for the chance to one more snarky blog post, to tag one more pic of the person we were before Nature takes our headphones off and smacks us back to the Ice Age.

By which I mean, is anyone really surprised that not only do we have to confront the awesome, shame-on-us specter of global destruction as a simple truth – we are consuming the world, will we do anything about it? – but also as a classic opportunity for government conspiracy, what we don’t know will kill us, of course the Man is savvy to the fact that famine and hedonism are mutually exclusive and you’ll catch more of us flies if you act like the honey is gonna flowwwww forever.

Turns out “[t]he world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit,” with the United States quite specifically called out for encouraging a false representation of 1.) how much oil is undiscovered [how do they know?!] and 2.) how much we’ve got left in our fields.

Consensus is growing that this roller coaster we call Life™ is already over the hump, we’re hurtling down hill to a NEW epoch the people at the Center for Egregiously Named Memetics call Peak Oil. When you hit Peak Oil, your oil production enters a phase called “terminal decline….” yeah, it looks kinda like this:

Now, I for one am sure the proud business and government leaders of the United States didn’t want to lie about the world’s oil reserves, no, that’s illogical! I’m sure it was a minor lie, really just a fib, that snowballed into a conspiracy, it was out of their hands – really – and now that the truth is out, wow, we can get right down to those “New Energy Solutions” that sound just so neat.

I don’t know about yall, but I say let’s burn it while we got it. It’s a cold Friday in Brooklyn, the leaves are off the trees…you know what would cheer me up?

I am disgusted to learn that Van Jones resigned from his position of Green Jobs czar for the Obama Administration.  I do not know what to think about our country.

I am a Southern Man, born in North Carolina, raised in Mississippi.  My history is slavery, is grits, is catfish and racial distrust, confederate flags and soulful music that hits you in your guts.  I am not an anarchist, and I dare you to come inside the ‘conservative stronghold’ of Mississippi and call me one.  I am no radical, I am a lover of freedom and truth, of intelligence and change meaning growth, meaning the desire to do what is right even in the face of incalculable danger.

I was not born loving America, but it grew on me.  I was born like all organisms, outside of identity, inheriting the genes and attitudes of my forefathers and for that I thank my parents, two beautiful, wonderful Mississippi natives who grew up in a time when family, when community, meant everything.

Sound familiar?  That’s the America we all love, right?  The America that has been co-opted by certain individuals, people who hide behind some cloak of political party, hide behind the walls of commercial entities that, increasingly, appear to me to be the threats and dangers to Truth, to Justice, that we are so afraid of.

America, what have we become?  Honestly, honestly, does anyone think Glenn Beck is the answer?  He sits behind his desk.  His interns – unpaid, low paid, low wage sycophants – develop our news and Glenn Beck adds the fire.  But he is no pastor, this is no religion and this is nothing we can believe in.  His language is the language of oppression, of fear, and I refuse, I absolutely refuse, to be afraid.

I am America.  I am some small and burning part of it, and I am flawed, I am self centered but I try to uphold the greatest tradition, the most beautiful idea of which humanity ever conceived: the belief in Honor.
It’s just a word, and unfortunately, sadly, rarely heard today.  Honor in my mind is as archaic as woven battle tapestries and the Edge of the World and we have pushed them both aside to embrace a superficial, artificial cult of manipulated truth.

What use is honor when a man who stood up truly is cast aside by his own leaders?  This is supposed to be Van Jones, and I have gotten distracted.  I am so sad.  I do not understand where we went wrong, why we can’t change, but know – I know this personally, from all my years of being – that shame, gut wrenched embarrassment, is often my most effective tutor.  And so I write this now, a nothing call out to the anti-void which is the Internet (the point where having everything, horrifically, means nothing) and to my ancestors, to all the Pattons and Furrs who made me, to my brothers and cousins, to my loved ones and friends, to those who hate me, who laugh at me, who do not know me and do not care: please stop.

We have to stop what we are doing.  What we are doing is disgraceful.  Glenn Beck is not my enemy, but he is a banner man for all the lies, for all the manipulations that sprout the weeds in our eternal garden.

Two years ago the name Van Jones meant nothing to me.  I was a democrat, a liberal thinker, and I knew humanity was pillaging our world and that was wrong.  That was dishonorable, a curse on our own family, a shameful and disgraceful act that would, in time, reveal to any thinking creature – plant, animal, alien or future human if we’re lucky – that, for some sad span of years, my people lost their way and became brutes, became unchecked predators in what was/will be our Earth’s night.

I knew these things because they felt true to me.  The debate about ideology often forgets that each child born is a tabula rasa, free to develop some sense of rightness with the guidance of his or her surrounding.  What the world showed me is its landscape, torn by our hands and tools; its elements, ripped and changed by our pursuit of power; its balance, the delicate eternal cycle of Life disrupted, undone.  I saw and see those things and know my part, know my own thirst for power and see it as an alcoholic man watches his whiskey: savior and satan inside the same package.

Any man who wishes to can, in the company of his compatriots, cast my image as a freak, as the Other, and we have truly shown our hatred of the Other.  I do not write to change you.  I write to ask you, where is your own Honor?

There was a time – for most of time, indeed, outside of time and before our conception of its ticking – when Honor didn’t have to be a word.  The duty to protect ones family, to love ones neighbors, to create shelter from the storm, that all was honor.  The instinctive defense of the young, protection of the old, relation to the Just, that all was honor.  There was a time when men who looked for answers, felt the peoples’ suffering, were held up as heroes.

In this, our modern day and age, we think ourselves above it all.  We are taking this world for granted, and I am shamed.  I am shamed and stricken.  Van Jones is a symbol and a focus for my realization that we are brushing aside our heroes.

President Obama, shame on you.  Your victory is not the idle play of poll numbers and thinktanks; the only real victory now will be humanity’s conquest of our shameful lust for conquest.  We have come full circle and now confront Life’s abyss. No man can call himself a man who will not stare, with wide stretched eyes, into the time of lies that we are living.

The world is failing.  No, we are killing the world.  Honor did not depart us; we have cast out honor, in favor of political punditry, biased accusations.  We are shaming ourselves, we should all grow out our hair, refuse to bathe, as it is mockery of our inner sickness that we’ve progressed and can cosmetically paint ourselves beatific.

If Glenn Beck feels he is right, he is mistaken.  I know that as an honorable man. Glenn Beck will never save us, but Van Jones might have.  And if he is the man of honor I believe him to be, he will keep fighting, indeed, has said he will not stop, and I believe him.

I hope that I will fight as well.  Sometimes a man must feel the wall at his back; must look around and see no friend, feel no warm admiration, and must dare all for that which he thinks right.

I do not know if I have it inside me.  I do not feel fated; I am the blank slate, the Southern man who felt the sunshine of true love cast by parents and grew in it.  I have been lucky, I feel that I can see both sides of our true story, and I know the future is unwritten, but the lines that I lay down – be they significant or paltry – I will write with honor, because I know that the world needs us, that humans are nothing if not of earth, that we came from it and will die in it, fertilize the soil with purity or be cast as trash on trash.

I am not afraid, but I am sad.

Oh well, our spirit lives.

Saw something crazy over on Huffington Post today about midwestern states and ten degree rises in temperature by 2010; farmers will be effed, oh they will be seriously effed (and what do farmers grow? Food. And who eats food? We do!), but the best part of the article is the classic regurgitation of what could surely be the epitaph on civilization’s uncelebrated tombstone: “[S]enators from Kansas, which will be most ravaged by climate change, are unlikely to support legislation addressing it.”

Let me try to understand. And yes, it has been said; I know I beat my head against it with nearly every environmental article I read. The planet is boiling, and our elected officials ‘are unlikely’ to support legislation addressing it?

What should we do to pull their heads out of the clouds and get them down here on the ground where the birds and bees are dying, crops are failing and all of Earth’s alarm bells are shrieking out our danger? Not that many of us can can hear, we’ve all got fingers in our ears, we use our chemically whitened teeth to rip the plastic off our burgers/ipods/American Apparel V-neck Summer Tees.

Feels kind of like life in an ivory tower; close the shutters, turn on your central air, and you can easily forget that your kids’ kids’ kids are gonna spend their days dressed in retro leather drinking irradiated water and scrounging pre-apocalyptic twinkies from the ruins of this little thing called Life.

This has to be the realization of a horrible Catch 22 situation: to accomplish anything in our society, one must amass power through cultural appeal, moderation and strategic alliance building; but the System is so far gone, our captains of industry and politics are so beyond the point of no return, that anyone who lets intuition drive his/her analysis of our environmental situation will end up ostracizing themselves because increasingly, horribly, it just doesn’t look like there’s a way out of this mess.

We’re on a super fast train riding magnetic tracks off a thousand foot cliff and we’re stuck arguing about a coal vs. solar powered caboose? We need to stop the effing train!

But no one wants to talk on that level, because 1.) it makes you sound crazy and 2.) the American zeitgeist says that ‘well, action is better than just words, so even though I just scratch the surface at least it’s something, right?”  Sure.  Ride the subway in New York City and marvel at Con Ed’s helpful tips for how to be a greener citizen.  I’m sure that deciding what you want to eat for your midnight snack before you open the refrigerator is the miracle for which we’ve all been waiting.

But I don’t know what to  do.  Real talk, I feel a horrible guilt ridden duality; I enjoy my job. I love the internet, I want freaking ipods and American Apparel, but I think our society is seriously messed.  We’ve sold the land out, and like a plane ride to a foreign country with a fake passport and a duffel full of cash, the baubles I’ve collected and the bullet points on my resume read like a sociopath’s sick manifesto. I’m a convicted convict.  So right to live in the age we live but there’s always a catch, ain’t there?

And this time, it’s the Climate.  It’s the air we breath.  We think we’re making major progress – civil rights, women’s rights, universal health care – but we’re still pushing the limits of what we can get wrong, and I’m afraid we’re going to take the whole planet with us.  And I know it sounds stupid, but that just doesn’t feel fair.

We’re humans, damnit; religion, space travel, 808s and heartbreak…all this time, I thought we were something special.  So why can’t we feel the world’s pain?

If you were around Greenwich Village anytime during the end of June, chances are you caught glimpses of flashy colors, costumes and rainbow flags. Gay Pride festivities in New York span an entire week, with parties, parades, rallies, and festivals to celebrate and commemorate a landmark event in gay rights.

This year’s “Pride Week” was awe-inspiring not only in terms of the celebrations put on by the LGBT community, but also in the wider political context of this year’s festivities– especially the parade. With marriage equality a pivotal topic of contention between the gay community and conservatives, this year’s festivities were decidedly more pointed at the issues gays still face, rather than fun and frivolity. It was a widespread hope amongst the gay community that this year’s parade would sway some of the silent or indecisive voices on the issue of gay equality in their favor. The hope for change was even stronger this year than most; adding to the weight of the event was the 40 year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which took place on June 28, 1969, and spawned the Gay Rights Movement in The Village. The riots were, at the time, the gay community’s only response to continued police harassment and raids of known gay bars.

Many in the LGBT community see this anniversary as a bittersweet celebration. While they’ve been both fighting and celebrating for the past 40 years, their rights have been stalled. With no end to the marriage equality debate, many gays see this reluctance to extend these rights as yet another example of the “Separate but Equal” acts against blacks before the Civil Rights Movement.

But the fact of the matter is that since the days of Brown vs. Board of Education, this country has officially acknowledged that there can be no such thing as “separate but equal”. Civil unions do not give gays the same rights that heterosexual couples gain from marriage. At the time of this year’s Pride Celebration, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa were the only 6 states that recognized same sex marriage. This means just over 10% of the 50 US states have passed laws allowing gays the right to marry, and federal legislation has been at a standstill while the debate continues on either side. To make matters worse there are 29 states that have actively and aggressively banned it. The road to marriage equality is long, with no clear end in sight.

Today, Gay Pride events are held annually throughout the world toward the end of June in remembrance of the Stonewall demonstration. The annual parade, which is consistently beautiful, fanciful, and crowded with out-of-towners who flock to the city every year to celebrate. The first Gay Pride marches took place in Los Angeles and New York On June 28, 1970, commemorating the anniversary of the riots. Similar marches were later organized in other cities and continue to grow as the Gay Rights Movement advances.