Beer 331: De Dolle Arabier, Manhattan Nest, and Your Right to Vote



Manhattan Nest

I follow Daniel's blog Manhattan Nest and his witty postings on Twitter with great fervor. He's funny and creative and I enjoy what he puts out in the world. Plus he loves dogs. And I love anyone who loves dogs. Daniel is also gay. It's not something I really put much thought into. He's gay. I'm white. My friend is Jewish. Who cares? None of that makes any of us better or worse than another. Or at least that's how I live my life.

   

His November 2 post on Manhattan Nest was an all-too-startling reminder that, in fact, no -- we are not all equal. I hope I'm not breaking any blogger ettiquette rules by reposting his post, but it was so moving, I didn't see any way that I could avoid doing so.  Especially today, November 5 -- the eve of Election Day -- when so many people are still forming opinions on whom they will be voting for come tomorrow.

Without further rambling from me, here is the post:

No Freedom ’til We’re Equal.

 

Daniel's parents.



A slightly terrifying fact has recently come to my attention: I am now the same age that my father was when he proposed to my mother. They met and fell in love while attending college in Louisiana. Afterward, my mother moved back to her home state of Florida to attend law school while my father commuted to a job on Capitol Hill from his new home in Virginia. They were married in Tampa Bay, Florida on May 31st, 1981. After my mother graduated, they settled down in Virginia, where they raised three (gorgeous, talented, intelligent, awesome) kids and have remained in all the years since. They’ve been married for almost 32 years, and, if all goes according to plan, will remain that way until they die. They’ll be able to visit each other in the hospital, inherit what is legally due to them, and will have benefited for decades from hundreds of rights, privileges, and benefits afforded to them by virtue of being a married couple in the eyes of both their state and their country. They’ll have had rights that they never took advantage of and maybe some that they never even knew or thought about, like most married couples. Because that’s how this country’s government works.

When my dad proposed to my mom all those years ago, I doubt either of them thought much about the possibility of having a kid who would someday be their age, over three decades later in the year 2012, and that he would be a second class citizen of the country in which he was born and raised. I don’t think it occurred to them that they would have a son who, through no fault of his own, would be denied the same rights that they had taken for granted. But that’s exactly what’s happened.

I remember vividly the night that New York passed The Marriage Equality Act in June 2011. Max and I took the subway into the West Village and joined the celebration outside of the Stonewall Inn. We shook hands, hugged strangers, took pictures, bought a polyester rainbow flag (or was it given to us?), and let ourselves feel the weight of what New York had accomplished. Neither of us had ever been close to getting married ourselves—had never personally felt the sting of being told we couldn’t—but still I remember the feeling on the subway ride back home. There was a certain lightness, an indescribable feeling of knowing that our city—our state—regarded us as equals. We were finally granted the same respect that had always been reserved only for our straight peers. It meant that we weren’t outliers, that we weren’t hated, or disparaged, or better off hiding who we were. We were—we are—people, just like everybody else.

I want everybody in this country to have the same feeling I felt that night, and continue to feel as a person lucky enough to live in New York. Unfortunately, it only takes a trip to my home in Virginia, or down to visit my grandmother in Florida, or to any of the 43 states that have legislated away my access to basic civil rights to be reminded of how far we have to go as a nation.
I have yet to hear an argument against gay marriage that is not steeped in bigotry, hate, or often masked by religion. As much as Republicans would like to rewrite history, as often as their vice presidential nominee wants to say “I don’t see how a person can separate their public life from their private life or their faith,” this is not a Christian nation. Our laws and institutions are pointedly and purposefully separate from religion. Nobody is suggesting that your place of worship or religious leader has to perform a gay marriage. The request is simple: to have the same rights under the law. Separate is not equal, and anything less will not do.

I know people who are voting for Republicans. Some of these people I even count as friends. When I talk to them about it, the general response seems to be that they don’t “personally” support discrimination, even if discrimination is central to Republican social policy. Let me be clear: there is nothing more personal than a vote. By voting for Mitt Romney, you are casting a vote for discrimination. You are casting a vote against me, against my family, against equality, against fairness, against love, against freedom, against the promise of liberty and justice for all. A vote for this Republican party, as it stands in 2012, is a vote for discrimination. You are complicit in it, you are supporting it, you are perpetuating it. There is no other way to look at it, and it’s truly heartbreaking to see people I otherwise respect blind to this fact.

The choice in this election couldn’t be clearer, and not just on this issue. It’s the difference between a president who cares about the future of our education system, our public sector workers, and the social programs that attempt to keep those in need afloat, versus a party who doesn’t. It’s the difference between a president who has regained much of our respect in the world and has a proven record of successful foreign policy experience, versus a candidate with no experience, Bush’s foreign policy advisors, and reckless and wildly inconsistent ideas about the rest of the world. It’s the difference between a president who supports rights for women to receive equal pay for equal work, to have access to contraception, and to seek a safe and legal abortion if necessary, versus a party who would deny all of these rights. It’s a choice between a President who has dug this economy out of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression versus a party who wants to return to the policies that caused the collapse in the first place. It’s the choice between a president who regards global warming as a real and tangible threat versus a party who thinks the climate change is a hoax, a joke, or both. It’s the difference between a president who doesn’t think you should go broke or die because of medical costs, versus a party that sees only the bottom line for the insurance industry. It’s the choice between a president who believes in equality versus a party who believes so profoundly in discrimination that they would amend our Constitution to reflect their extreme ideology. And that’s just off the top of my head.

To be clear, President Obama still supports states in legislating their own marriage laws, as ridiculous as that proposition is. His personal support for marriage equality does not actually represent a tangible shift in policy positions. Still, I’m not sure I can describe to a straight person how invaluable it is to have somebody in the White House who acknowledges me, who respects me, who stands in support of my rights where so many others have sat down or gone on the attack. Obama is an advocate and an ally for the gay community, and I am proud to call him my president as a gay American. An Obama presidency is not the answer, but it’s a pretty damn good place to start.

So please, go vote on Tuesday. Even if you think your vote doesn’t matter, if you don’t live in a swing state or you’ve never voted before, please vote. If you live in Washington or Maine or Maryland or Minnesota, please vote. Vote for me. Vote for my family—present and future. Vote for me to someday have the same rights as my parents. To have the same rights as you. Stand up against inequality, and stand with a president who has done the same.

Please.

I'm typically a one-issue voter - don't mess with women's rights. But throughout the past few years, I'm finding myself up on my soapbox for gay rights. Sometimes I shout. Sometimes I correct. Sometimes I cut people out of my life for hateful things they say or write. Sometimes I get up there because I'm feeling selfish and I want everyone to get screwed equally by taxes and bureaucracy in the same way I do as a childless couple. But mostly I get up there because I want everyone to have the chance to have their love and commitment recognized and afforded with all the rights that comes along with marriage.

I will be joining Daniel in voting for President Obama tomorrow. Not only because he personally believes in marriage equality, but because I fall in line with our President on so much of his other thinking and beliefs. Climate change, healthcare, women's rights.

It's with great trepidation that I'm hitting publish on this post. It breaks all of my rules about never discussing politics. But I suppose I've been quiet for long enough. I'm liberal. I support equal rights for all. I believe humankind is destroying the environment and creating conditions that are ripe for freak weather events. I believe everyone should have access to affordable healthcare. I believe that everyone should abide by the Don't be an Asshole rule. Be kind. Be generous. Go vote.

And after you vote, go get yourself a good beer as a reward. If you're into the hoppy stuff, I recommend the De Dolle Arabier from Brouwerij De Dolle Brouwers.  It is a Belgian strong pale ale with a 5% ABV.  It's brewed in Belgium at a property dating back to 1835. 

The Arabier pours a hazy deep golden brown with a thick white head and good lacing.  The smell is lemon hops.  The taste is fruit esters with some metallic hop. It's tart with noticeable sourness. Overall it is incredibly hoppy. If you're into that kind of beer, you are going to love this one. If you're a bit more hop-wary like me, you may struggle to get to the bottom of the glass. 

Since I'm teaching myself to love hops more, I'll rate this one a good. Cheers!