I Love My Dead Gay Son

OK, so this isn't Heathers and I don't have a dead gay son. But as of last Tuesday, Charles and I are the proud owners of a transgender cat! Hugo was prone to UTI's and crystals in his urine, so as a last resort he had a surgical procedure called a P.U., which basically means that they removed a portion of his little kitty penis and now he pees through an opening which is not unlike a vagina. He's still my sweet little boy and is no different despite his newly fangled, uh, equipment.

So, that brings to mind the idea of tolerance in our nation. So many of us say that we support equal opportunity, but we may in fact be going against this by patronizing companies that don't. So aside from doing endless hours of reasearch, how would one know what companies are fair-minded and which ones are not?

Human Rights Campaign has the solution. They have rated commonly used businesses and the products they provide, and rated them on a scale from 1 to 100. The rating is determined on whether or not these companies have policies that support GBLT people. And to make it really simple, they have compiled this information into a handy little book that takes up no more room than a shopping list.

So far they have rated almost 500 companies. There are a few surprises - Toys R Us BAD! Donna Karan BAD! Replacements Ltd GREAT!

This guide is a great way to help everyone speak their mind with the most powerful of tool in this country, the dollar.

My friend Michael (who is a volunteer at HRC) said that he will march with Hugo in next year's Pride wearing a T-shirt that says "I Love My Friend's Tranny Cat".

Love Conquers Hate, indeed!