Q Toon: Same Sex, Mixed Politics

As I told my editors over the weekend, I was trying to come up with an idea for this week which didn't involve drawing a whole lot of empty chairs for the second week in a row.

Last week, there were only 20 chairs showing in the cartoon (more before I decided to display the dialogue along the bottom of the cartoon instead of in a balloon). I'm not counting them this week.

The roster of Democrats coming out in favor of bona fide marriage equality seems to be growing daily -- including such "red state" politicians as Senators Claire McCaskill and Jon Tester. It must be keeping the contributors to Wikipedia's list of supporters of marriage equality on their toes.

Gun-Due Burden

You were probably expecting to see a cartoon about the marriage equality cases before the Supreme Court today, but after seeing some local newsmakers echoing the NRA party line that requiring instant background checks for gun sales imposes an "undue burden on the little guy," I was compelled to draw this cartoon this week:

I find that a hard argument to swallow, considering the undue burdens Republican state legislators across the country are imposing upon the little guy who tries to exercise his or her constitutional right to vote, and the undue burdens they are imposing upon the little women who seek reproductive health services.

As an editorial in the Tucson Sun Sentinel put it:

"The NRA argues that requiring licensed gun dealers to maintain an inventory would be unduly burdensome on law-abiding dealers. But maintaining accurate inventory records is a routine business practice in nearly every other retail industry and any burden on lawful dealers—who are likely already keeping these records as part of a good business practice—is outweighed by the benefit to public safety of quickly identifying missing guns and reporting them to law enforcement. An inventory requirement would also serve as a deterrent to gun dealers tempted to break the law by selling guns to criminals, as well as an incentive to law-abiding firearms dealers to ensure that they are in full control of their dangerous inventory."

A statement from Mayors Against Illegal Guns co-chair, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino added:

"The NRA’s argument that background checks are ‘inconvenient’ for gun sellers and buyers is ridiculous, especially since almost every American lives within ten miles of a licensed gun dealer."

And speaking of undue burdens: this is the time of year to point out that in those states where gay and lesbian couples can legally marry, DOMA requires any couple who wants to take advantage of the right to jointly file their taxes to calculate their taxes once as joint filers for their state return, then recalculate their entire tax forms a second time as complete strangers for their federal return.

Resistance Is Futile

Just a little something I threw together for my Trekker friends -- one of whom suggested that I had better sign it.

Before it shows up on George Takei's Twitter feed.

The Scoop on Marriage Equality

As a reminder of how far we've come toward the goal of marriage equality in ten years, here's a cartoon of mine from 2003 about the Democratic contenders for the presidency:

This Week's Sneak Peek

This is a small section from this week's Q Syndicate cartoon; I'm also working on a bonus cartoon which may get posted here first.

I also need to get cracking on a cartoon for a week coming up soon when I won't be able to draw one. I call these "pothole cartoons" -- cartoons about a safe, not-at-all-timely topic.

There had better not be any important Supreme Court rulings that week.

Hillary Clinton and the Old Ball and Chain

This week, Hillary Clinton came out in favor of marriage equality. As President, her husband had signed the "Defense of Marriage Act" which made marriage inequality a matter of federal law.

It's not the first time that Hillary has needed to distance herself from antigay legislation enacted during the Bill Clinton administration.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" was billed as a means of allowing gay and lesbian service members to continue their military service, but it did not have that effect. As Bill learned only too well, keeping one's sexual activity a secret ain't as easily done as said.

(Cartoon drawn in December, 1999, but copyrighted in 2000 according to Q Syndicate dating conventions.)

Hath Spring Sprung?

This is a cartoon I drew for a local magazine targeted at retirees. Back in 1989.