Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa!

[The Mad Monk]

States rights

[DaShi]

Individual's rights.

[SlowwHand]

states rights

qft.

[SlowwHand]

Deafness is a choice, Ben.

That's said from a married man's perspective.

[Ben Kenobi]

The only reason why gay people who are out are an issue is because homophobes make it an issue. I look forward to the day when gay people who are out are as big of a deal as straight people who reveal their sexual orientation in conversations with others.

Right, I go around making that a point for my employers to understand. Look, you chose to disclose, and there are some consequences. I really don't have much sympathy for your own decisions.

I don't have a choice about my hearing, and yes that has cost me jobs previously. This is despite court rulings to the contrary. I'm certain it will always be that way, and thankful for those who are willing to look beyond and give me an opportunity. That is all I've ever wanted. I could care less about employers who don't want to work with me, that is their right.

[Krill]

You will soon

[MrFun]

Right, I go around making that a point for my employers to understand. Look, you chose to disclose, and there are some consequences. I really don't have much sympathy for your own decisions.

I don't have a choice about my hearing, and yes that has cost me jobs previously. This is despite court rulings to the contrary. I'm certain it will always be that way, and thankful for those who are willing to look beyond and give me an opportunity. That is all I've ever wanted. I could care less about employers who don't want to work with me, that is their right.

There is no justification to discriminate against gays who choose to come out.

[Ben Kenobi]

A Sheffield University team took stem cells from foetuses and converted them into cells that behave like sensory hair cells in the human inner ear.

Their discovery could ultimately help those who have lost hair cells through noise damage and some people born with inherited hearing problems.

But any cure is still some years away, experts told the journal Stem Cell.

The Sheffield team is now working on the next stage of the research to check if the cells can restore hearing.

This research is incredibly promising and opens up exciting possibilities

Dr Ralph Holme, RNID
Currently, hair cell damage is irreversible and causes hearing problems in some 10% of people worldwide.

Embryonic stem cells could change this because they have the unique ability to become any kind of human cell.

Not only could they be used to replace the lost hair cells, but also any damaged nerve cells along which the signals generated by the hair cells are transmitted to the brain.

But the use of stem cells is controversial - opponents object on the grounds that it is unethical to destroy embryos in the name of science.

Lead researcher Dr Marcelo Rivolta, said: "The potential of stem cells is very exciting. We have now an experimental system to study genes and drugs in a human context.

"Moreover, these cells would help us to develop the technologies needed to deliver them into damaged tissues, such as the cochlea, in order to restore the different cell types.

Is this the ultimate upgrade for the iPod generation?

Professor David McAlpine
Ear Institute

"This should facilitate the development of a stem cell treatment for deafness."

Dr Ralph Holme, director of biomedical research at RNID, said: "Stem cell therapy for hearing loss is still some years away but this research is incredibly promising and opens up exciting possibilities by bringing us closer to restoring hearing in the future."

Vivienne Michael of Deafness Research UK said: "This study highlights the importance of stem cell research.

"In addition to the future potential for restoring hearing with stem cell therapy, the recent research success means that we may now have better ways to test the efficacy and toxicity of new drugs on auditory cells."

Professor David McAlpine, director of the Ear Institute, University College London, said: "Is this the ultimate upgrade for the iPod generation?

"The possibility of regenerating the sensory cells of the inner ear, so easily damaged by exposure to loud sound, has just moved a step closer.

"If scientists can find out ways to deliver new cells to the inner ear, and wire them up correctly, then "plug and play" hearing could be the future."

Right. Like I want to get cancer when those cells mutate and start growing teeth cells in my head.

Why would I want to kill someone else so that I could hear?

[Ben Kenobi]

There is no justification to discriminate against gays who choose to come out.

Unless you work in the 'adult industry', I can't see why your personal sexual preferences have anything to do with the job you were hired to do.

I'd cite unprofessional conduct, and get someone who shared my beliefs about business. It's a real turn off for customers if they have to deal with other people's bull****. I don't care whether you are gay or straight.

If you are looking for validation, you should be thankful you at least have a job where your employer presumably values you for your talents.

[Alinestra Covelia]

The Onion had a good article from a few years back:

Gay Couple Feels Pressured To Marry

June 2, 2004 | Issue 40•22
Article Tools

*
o Digg
o Facebook
o Stumbleupon
o via @TheOnion - Gay Couple Feels Pressured To Marry Twitter
o Reddit
* Email
To: From:

* Print

Related Articles

* Marketing Guru Also A Getting-Divorced Guru 10.16.02
* Dad Keeps Dropping Hints About Mom's Sexual Proclivities 07.24.02

Related Media

o
Onion Radio News:
Kentucky Legislature Bans Gay Pet Weddings 06.24.08
o
Onion News Network:
- 'Gays Too Precious To Risk In Combat,' Says General 08.13.07

DEDHAM, MA—Ever since last month, when Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex weddings, parents, friends, and coworkers have been pressuring Kristin Burton and her girlfriend Laura Miyatake to marry, the couple of 14 months said Monday.

Enlarge Image Gay Couple Feels Pressured To Marry

Miyatake (left) and Burton, who aren't ready to tie the knot.

"As soon as the news coverage about gay marriage started, my mom called me up," said Burton, who works as a nursing-home administrator. "Of course, she didn't directly ask me when I was going to marry Laura. First, she asked how Laura and I were getting along, and how business was at Laura's shop. But then she reminded me about my dad's heart disease and told me that he could go at any time. When she started to talk about how nice it was at my brother's wedding, I told her I was late for my yoga class."

Burton and Miyatake said they never expected the court's decision to add so much tension to their relationship.

"It seems like just yesterday I was annoyed because straight people were awkwardly asking if we were 'friends' or 'partners,'" Miyatake said. "Now, every convenience-store clerk who guesses we're gay asks us if we're going to get married under the new law. It's sort of a touchy subject, okay?"

Although Burton said she is strongly in favor of allowing gay couples to form legal unions and enjoy all of the civil and social benefits previously reserved for married heterosexuals, she stressed that she wanted these rights for "other gay couples."

"I'm really happy that we have the legal option to marry now," said Miyatake, who has a masters in botany and owns Occasions, a floral boutique. "That doesn't necessarily mean I want to get married right away. There's no reason to rush into a decision like that. I'm a big believer in ''til death do us part,' and I don't want be 50 and marrying my third wife."

"The decision to get married ought to be between the two women involved, and everyone else should butt out," Miyatake added. "Seriously, drop it."

Burton and Miyatake said they weren't shocked when their parents began to hint about marriage, but neither expected friends to do the same.

"We were driving home from a movie the other night when, out of the blue, our friend Kim [Benson] asked us why we weren't married yet," Burton said. "Well, Kim couldn't see this, but Laura's eyes were tearing up in the front seat. See, before we'd left the house, we'd had a big, terrible fight because my sister left some 'Here comes the brides' message on our machine. God, I wish people would just lay off and let our relationship take its natural course."

The couple's gay friends have been just as insensitive, Miyatake said.

"Our friends have been very supportive of our relationship, especially our friend Trent [Matthews]," Miyatake said. "But he's a DJ, so now, after the Boston ruling, he keeps talking about how fun he would make our wedding reception. He called the other day to say he'd just been trying on new tuxes, in case we gave him a reason to need one soon. Who does that?"

At a Memorial Day picnic Monday, the conversation returned to the couple's single status so many times that Burton said "it might as well have been a bridal shower."

"Every conversation was about gay marriage," Burton said. "Someone asked us about health insurance. Someone even asked what tax breaks we could get, or if we could be named each other's 401K beneficiaries. I'm sorry, but I really don't know. Ask my dad about that stuff."

"Then our friend Cameron said that if she had a girlfriend, she would get married right away, just to support the cause," Miyatake added. "I said, 'Can't I just donate some money somewhere?' I support protecting the dolphins, but I'm not chaining myself to a deep-sea fishing boat."

"Well, I made it through everyone telling me to adopt a bunch of orphans after Rosie O'Donnell did it, so I guess I'll make it through this," Miyatake said.

Even people who previously objected to the women's sexual orientation are suggesting marriage. Burton reports that her aunt, Eleanor Davis, recently said, "If Laura and Kristin have to be gay, and are going to be living together, then they should at least be married."

"She said June is the most lovely time of the year for a wedding," Burton said. "When I told Eleanor that Laura and I weren't ready to make that decision yet, she just said, 'Well, you don't want to die alone, do you?' Then she said something about how it's such a shame that the Burton clan hasn't gotten together since her 60th birthday party last year."

In follow-up phone interviews Tuesday, Burton and Miyatake reiterated that they had no immediate plans to marry.

"Sure, I love Kristin, but I've got a lot going on in my life," Miyatake said. "I'm working really hard to keep the store up and running. I'd rather not go through all the hassle of a marriage right now, just because the courts decided I could. I just don't see any reason why we need to go through some big, annoying ceremony to prove that we're in a committed relationship."

When told about Miyatake's comments, Burton paused several seconds before answering.

"'Some big, annoying ceremony'?" Burton said. "Some people might call it a 'beautiful, joyous occasion.' But fine. Whatever. I certainly don't want to rush her into anything. I just think it's interesting that she'd describe marrying me as a 'hassle.'"

[Theben]

Right, I go around making that a point for my employers to understand. Look, you chose to disclose, and there are some consequences. I really don't have much sympathy for your own decisions.

Quit being willfully ignorant. A lot of people can tell if someone is gay just by interacting with them at the workplace. And they may want to see their significant other there once in a while. You don't think someone as prejudiced as you who was their boss wouldn't fire them for the slightest excuse when they noticed? No need to answer; you already did.

[Theben]

That's said from a married man's perspective.

In that case deafness is a requirement.

[Ben Kenobi]

Quit being willfully ignorant. A lot of people can tell if someone is gay just by interacting with them at the workplace.

That's different from what Mr. Fun is saying. It's one thing to accuse someone of being gay, but quite another when they push it on everyone else.

And they may want to see their significant other there once in a while.

So what's the issue? That's what you use your time off work for. You want to go hang out at a gay bar? Fine. That's your business.

You don't think someone as prejudiced as you who was their boss wouldn't fire them for the slightest excuse when they noticed?

For starters I really don't care whether you are red or pink or blue or yellow or whatever. Work is work. You show up, you work hard, you go home. I give you what is fair and then we go from there. I don't think that it is too much to keep people's focus while they are at work on their work. If you want to make a statement, don't work here. Find someone else who will.

That is my philosophy on work.

No need to answer; you already did.

Someone wants to make being out more important to them then their job? Great. Have a nice life, here's your pay, have fun. Thanks for playing.

Work is work. Your sexual preferences should have no impact on the job. If they do, then you are doing it wrong. You want to hang out with your boyfriend/girlfriend? That's what your time after work is for. Seriously, Theban, it's an issue wrt to the customers. If I'm going shopping and I want to buy something, the personal crap of the salesperson should stay the personal crap of the salesperson.

[MrFun]

Straight people talk about their relationships at work often enough BK. Should they be fired for pushing their sexual orientation in other people's faces?

And stop implying that for gay people to be out to others that they have to be sexually explicit. Straight people talk about their lives all the time without being sexually explicit - same goes for many gay people.

[Theben]

That's different from what Mr. Fun is saying. It's one thing to accuse someone of being gay, but quite another when they push it on everyone else.

Asking for equal rights isn't pushing... or 'uppity', or 'demeaning to the virtuous woman'.

So what's the issue? That's what you use your time off work for. You want to go hang out at a gay bar? Fine. That's your business.

Maybe they'd like to pick them up from work when they're done? Drop something off? Do other things that straight people do all the time w/o thinking about it?

For starters I really don't care whether you are red or pink or blue or yellow or whatever. Work is work. You show up, you work hard, you go home. I give you what is fair and then we go from there. I don't think that it is too much to keep people's focus while they are at work on their work. If you want to make a statement, don't work here. Find someone else who will.

That is my philosophy on work.

So if you showed up, worked hard day after day, and then one day they fired you for being deaf, you'd be okay with that? And that you should expect it? Cuz if you complained, that'd be 'making a statement'.

Work is work. Your sexual preferences should have no impact on the job.

Finally we agree on something.

Seriously, Theban, it's an issue wrt to the customers. If I'm going shopping and I want to buy something, the personal crap of the salesperson should stay the personal crap of the salesperson.

IF all he/she does if sell you something, what's the problem. If they hit on you, that's a problem for anyone and you can talk to the manager.