Love to Matt of the Whomping Willows

Love and smooches to Matt of The Whomping Willows. With the recent announcement from JK Rowling that Albus Dumbledore is, in fact, gay, Matt wrote in a recent blog post, "I think the bottom line is that Dumbledore’s sexuality is just a part of his personal being. It’s obviously significant in how he dealt with Grindelwald, but it doesn’t necessarily have any bearing in how he dealt with Harry, Snape, Remus, Draco, Hermione, Hagrid, or anyone else. If we want to spend time analyzing Rowling’s political and social intent — well, she’s confirmed that one of her goals with HP is to promote tolerance." Read the rest here.

A few days later he followed up with another blog in response to fans being angered over this information. He says, "If you believe that Dumbledore’s being gay would lead him to think about/desire/pursue a sexual relationship with Harry during Harry’s years at Hogwarts, then I seriously don’t want you to support my band. I don’t want your money. I don’t want your myspace plays or page hits. I don’t want anything to do with you until you clean up your act . . . Also, I figure this is a great time to announce that the next Wizards and Muggles Rock For Social Justice CD will benefit both the Harry Potter Alliance AND Marriage Equality Rhode Island." More of the entry can be found here.

Rock on, Matt.

First amendment mavens, what do you think about this case?

The father of a fallen Marine has won a multi-million dollar settlement against Fred Phelps and the Westboro church.

Yes, we all agree that the Westboro church is perfectly odious. Is their hateful picketing at funerals free speech?

I have always had tremendous respect for Becky Lourey, the former Minnesota State Senator. She was the only person to cast a dissenting vote when the State of Minnesota voted on H.F. 2985, making it unlawful to voice protest at funerals:

"As Americans, we stand proudly for freedom of expression; the right is unconditional. The behavior of Fred Phelps’ followers is indefensible. We must not give their actions the power to take away our rights. Our country was built on a foundation of constitutional rights – and one of the most important is the freedom of speech. I will never compromise my convictions for political expediency. I will always stand for freedom.

"The hardest time to stand for freedom is in the face of overwhelming sentiment. This is when the defense of freedom is most important. I will never back down from a vote of conscience. We appear to be losing our ability to respect differences of opinion or have a civil dialogue. Legislating respectful behavior is not likely to help. In fact, more likely it will hurt."

What made Ms. Lourey's vote all the more remarkable was that she lost her own son, Matt Lourey, when his helicopter crashed in Iraq. See here.

munch munch munch

White Cheddar Cheez-its are evil. EVIL.

That is all.