#$@&!!!!

My effing computer just ate the post I've been working on for the last hour.

So, instead of trying to recreate my wit, I'm simply going to link you to a few timely pieces. (And then I'm going to throw my effing computer out the motherfreakin' window.)

First: this story in today's news underscores the way in which legislation designed to "protect" marriage (read: withhold the legal protections, rights, and privileges attached to marriage for an elite group of heterosexuals so that, I'm becoming convinced, they can feel that their relationships are more worthy) hurts real families. Whose business is it, or should it be, to whom one's pension goes?

Second: Here's a bit of an answer to that question. The religious right believes, in spite of statements to the contrary by the American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Counseling Association, and the National Association of Social Workers, that gay people can, with enough prayer, change their sexual orientation. Witness our own Rob Regier, South Dakota Family Policy Council director: "Homosexuality is not a civil right. It's a behavior that people can and have changed," he says. "We can't grant special legal protections based on people's sexual behaviors."

Third: Here are some of the "changed" people to whom Regier may have been referring:
Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper;
John Paulk;
Michael Johnston;
and Shawn O'Donnell.

Fourth: If you are now saying to yourself, "But, Plainsfeminist, what about all of those 'ex-gays' I've seen interviewed on Oprah and elsewhere, the ones who are now married with all of those children? They certainly seem happy." Well, sure, reader. There are lots and lots of people who have experienced emotional and erotic attraction and love for people of their same gender as well as for people of a different gender. There's a name for them.