Diversity Rules Magazine

2 Diversity Rules Magazine July 2015 My Two Cents By Jim Koury, Editor Inside is Issue (partial listing) David-Elijah Nahmod ...................................... Page 3 A Momentous Week ......................................... Page 4 Kristen MacKenzie ........................................... Page 8 Amazon Trail .................................................... Page 11 Hiden Away....................................................... Page 14 Robert Saldarini ................................................ Page 16 Heading to San Diego ...................................... Page 17 inQUEERies .................................................... Page 19 Resources and Diversions ..................................Page 22 Welcome to the July issue of Diver- sity Rules Magazine! is month's edition is an especially exciting one since it comes on the heels of a mo- mentous month of June! On June 26th the Supreme Court of the United States issued its opinion in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges and declared same sex marriage bans unconstitutional, thus legal- izing gay marriage throughout the nation. It is a decision we have been antici- pating and hoping for during these many years of ongoing litigation. It is a hard fought prize and one which advanced our country for- ward toward its inherent purpose of equality for all. We are a much better nation because of this deci- sion. As someone said on my Facebook wall in response to the court's mo- mentous decision. e Supreme Court "...voted in favor of hu- mans, not just liberals. It was the right thing to do." is statement epitomizes what this country should be about and that's what the affirmative rulings handed down during the last week in June were all about -- PEOPLE and their dignity -- which the GOP seems to have abdicated and lost sight of for whatever reason. We can take a breath momentarily and rejoice in our victory. How- ever, despite marriage equality coming to America it does NOT mean all is well! We still have many battle lines to gear up for. In many states LGBT folks can still be fired, evicted, denied adop- tion rights and denied services simply for being who they are. Our transgender brothers and sisters are still persecuted, as many of the ad- vancements gained do not apply to them (e.g., open military service). We have lots to do yet folks... LOTS TO DO. Do not tolerate any second class treatment. Keep fighting and more importantly -- do not become complacent! Diversity Rules Magazine PO Box 72 Oneonta, NY 13820 James R. Koury, Editor/Publisher 607.435.1587 Website www.diversityrulesmagazine.com Blog www.diversityrulesmagazine.blogspot.com E-Mail generalinfo@diversityrulesmagazine.com Copyright 2015 Diversity Rules Magazine All Rights Reserved Disclaimers If you have a question or comment regard- ing this issue or future issues of Diversity Rules Magazine, the publisher would love to hear from you! Feel free to contact Di- versity Rules using the e-mail above or mailing address listed above. Content sub- mission are always welcome too! All submissions become the property of Diversity Rules Magazine. However, origi- nating authors reserve all rights to their creative works. Diversity Rules Magazine's physical offices are located at 189 River Street, Oneonta, NY 13820. Diversity Rules Magazine will not know- ingly publish or advertise text which is fraudulent or misleading. The publisher reserves the right to edit, limit, revise, or reject any text without cause. Diversity Rules Magazine does not assume any fnancial responsibility for typographi- cal errors. If any errors are found, please notify Diversity Rules Magazine immedi- ately. Materials in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without writ- ten permission from the publisher.

• Cover