SCOTUS struck down Prop 8 and DOMA!

That's right, guys. SCOTUS has struck down Prop 8 and DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), the two inhumane laws I discussed in the previous entry. The moment the ruling came out, I was watching it live on CNN and although my prediction turned out be exactly spot on, I couldn't help but be amazed and heartbroken by this monumental victory. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that this is the biggest win for the LGBT community since Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. Fighting for equal rights through the judicial system is never easy or quick. In the case of Prop 8, it took 5 years to reach the final court. In the case of DOMA, the plaintiff is a 84-year-old widow who could pass away any moment. Yet, they fight with all their strength, and guess what, they won!

Understandably, some of you who are not acquainted with legal terms or didn't follow the long-term struggle of these people may not understand the importance and gravity of this ruling. Fine, let me explain. First, section 3 of DOMA is now invalidated, which means the federal government now has to recognize same-sex marriage done in states that allow it (Massachusetts, for example) and therefore must provide all the legal benefits that the couple deserves. Before yesterday, it wasn't possible. Even if you were legally and rightfully married in Massachusetts, your marriage meant nothing to the federal government, you and your husband/wife were just ''friends'' under the federal law. See how absurd that was? Well, that absurd law is now over, thanks to the Supreme Court ruling yesterday.

Prop 8 case is a little bit more complicated. Proposition 8 is a decision made by a slim majority in California in 2008 through the referendum system. 52% of the population there believed marriage was only between a man and a woman, so they established Prop 8 to define marriage as such. However, in 2010, Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that this law is unconstitutional. He argued that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right, and just because they were the majority (they no longer are, latest poll shows 59% of Californian supports marriage equality) didn't mean they can trample on the rights of other people, especially when that right brings no harm to them or anyone else.

The anti-gay activists were not happy with the ruling, obviously, so they appealed to higher courts, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. But the U.S. Supreme Court, through yesterday ruling, said straight to their faces: "Get the fuck out of our court. You couldn't show us any injury or damage done to you, so why the fuck are you still in court trying to defend this immoral law. In legal terms, you have no standing." Yeah, that's just my paraphrase, but still very close to the actual decision lol. As a result, all appeals are dismissed and Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling is the final decision, which means marriage equality is now a reality in California.

The battle is not over, though. Only 13 states in America have marriage equality. The other 37 still have some kinds of constitutional amendments banning equal rights. Like I said in the previous post, it would take many years, or even decades until marriage equality takes place nationwide. And for this tragedy, you can thank none other than their stupid religion. When I went to an anti-gay group on Facebook yesterday to see their reaction to this ruling, I was completely dumbfounded by the widespread religious hate. Typical responses were: "God wouldn't approve of this sodomy", "The Bible says marriage is between a man and a woman", "America has been fallen into the hands of Satan." They forgot that no matter what they believe, America is still a secular (non-religious) country with principles like separation of church and state. Their religion has no place in a country like that. If they want a theocracy, move to Saudi Arabia or Iran. Don't pollute a secular country with their religious malice.

To conclude, I will quote a saying by Mahatma Gandhi: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

SCOTUS upcoming ruling (Prop 8 & DOMA)

At first, I hesitated a lot about writing this entry, as I think most of you wouldn't be familiar with the topic I'm going to discuss (unless you're a human rights activist or a news whore...). Then I decided to write it anyway, since today is so important a day, and it would be a pity if there's no special entry to mark it.

For your information, today is the day SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) issues its ruling on two historic cases: Proposition 8 and DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act). Prop 8 is a law specific to California that forbids same-sex couples from having the same marriage rights as their heterosexual counterparts. On the other hand, DOMA is a law that prevents federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage, even if the individual states allow it. Those two laws are unconstitutional and extremely harmful, not only to the people directly affected, but also to society as a whole. That's why marriage equality proponents have worked tirelessly for the past 3 years to strike down these two immoral laws. In fact, they have won all the lower courts, and the cases are now advanced to the highest court. SCOTUS decisions are likely to be announced at 10 PM 26/6/2013 (GMT+7).

What is my prediction? Well, I strongly believe DOMA would be struck down, as even the President that signed it into law in 1996 (President Bill Clinton) now renounced his support and said that DOMA is unconstitutional and must be destroyed. The chance for Prop 8 is slimmer, but I think we will win anyway, although the ruling will be very narrow and confined only to California. It will take a few years before marriage equality would take place nationwide, thanks to religion and co.

Whether the rulings are a milestone or a setback, I don't know, but it's still a historic day in the continuous struggle of LGBT community, and I'm looking forward to it.

If you wanna know more about these two cases, visit Equality on Trial

ESC in Labour Cultural Palace

Hi everyone, I just got back from the ESC in Labour Cultural Palace (55B Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St.) and had a lot of fun there. I especially liked the room, very big and spacious, didn't make me feel like I'm in a furnace like some other clubs. Ah, and the MCs were very adorable. The male MC was from RMIT, and the girl was from University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Their English was good, no doubt about that, but what made them stand out was their seamless cooperation, sensible jokes and lovely charisma. Had I been the MC, I don't think I would have been able to pull off such a good performance, although my English  was better than them.

Just so you know, I got invited to the stage to answer some questions regarding the topic and present my own ideas (The gift of present). It seemed the staff was impressed with my presentation so the club leader, an old woman, offered me one of their staff positions. She gave a very persuasive talk, mentioning I would be immersed in a teamwork-oriented environment, and guaranteed to get a better CV, among other perks. Hmm, at the moment of writing this, I'm still considering her offer. Clearly, being an ordinary member is more fun and brings more freedom than a staff. What do you think, should I accept her offer or not?

IELTS Saigon Meeting (22/6/2013)

For some of you who don't know, I am forced (yes forced) to join this IELTS Speaking Club every Saturday morning. Why forced, you ask? Well, it's another story which I prefer not to talk about at this moment but you get the picture.

Anyway, what I like about this club is its academic focus and good organization. When we go to, let's say, the English Club in Youth Cultural House, the discussion often revolves around personal matters: our jobs, our families, our dreams, our plans...things like that. The YCH club does give some hands-out with a topic, but nobody seems interested and just goes on with their ''getting-to-know-each-other''. The reason, I suppose, must be there's no one to guide them through the papers. In IELTS club, the getting-to-know part only takes a few minutes and then we change into group and public discussion. The environment is also less noisy, which is a huge plus. In YCH, it's like The Voice Vietnam (lol) where everybody tries to shout the hardest so other people can hear what they're saying, pretty bizarre environment for speaking.

Our topic this morning was Cheating, a pretty standard choice for IELTS practice. I must say I had a good time discussing this seemingly-mundane issue. We also digressed a little and discussed Vietnamese education system as well as VN decision to limit the opening of some majors (banking, business, finance...) due to imbalanced supply and demand. I myself received plenty of criticisms from other members when I said that business requires more skills than knowledge, judging from the fact that some businessmen are extremely successful despite having next to no education.

About the members there, I was particularly interested in a girl in my group. She had a good accent, and a pretty broad vocabulary for a Grade 11 high school student. There was also a girl with a distinctive British accent. I swear I had met her somewhere, probably in Challenge E or some English oratory contests. But grabbing my most attention was an oversea student from Australia. His name was Huy, if I remember correctly, and I love his accent (among other things). He was Mr. Bao's (the club organizer) younger brother , and I think his ability exceeds Mr.Bao's (not that Mr. Bao is any special to begin with).

Tomorrow, I'm going to the Labour Cultural Palace to join the English Club there for the first time. Looking forward to writing a review on it. For now, I'm going to sleep, bye bye :P.

Welcome to my blog

Yeah, yeah, another blog, I know. At this time, most of you must be wondering how many blogs I have created so far, and how many I have abandoned. Technically, it's 5 or 6, and yes it's my fault for not constantly updating them. But to be fair, the Translation Blog got cancelled because I realized it's a super-time-consuming blog with no tangible profits. I mean, instead of diligently translating articles for the sake of pure knowledge, I could do that exact same job while getting paid. Sometimes (or should I say ''always''), financial motivation does have profound influence on everything you do, especially in a messed-up  economy like this...

I also had a blog (a diary, to be precise) on Livejournal. At first, I got very excited because having a private, password-protected diary, I was free to talk about any subjects, some of which were too sensitive to write elsewhere. But gradually it became boring as I had no audience or any human interaction whatsoever. I feel like I was just talking to myself like an autistic child, so I decided to close the blog.

So how's about THIS blog? Well, it's a fresh start but this time, I have a pretty good grasp of its focus and content. It would still be the training ground for my dreadful English writing skill, apparently, with most of the entries about my daily life and the people/event I encounter. I will also occasionally write some book reviews, as I've just got a Kindle and now are addicted to books again (thankfully). But don't expect much, as my laziness tends to get in the way lol.

That's it, the first entry of my new blog. Hope you enjoy it.