Today is Thursday, June 26, 2025. Today Elliot and I had a surprisingly disappointing day trying to get Elliot a real ID at the White Plains Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in which his appointed time was 1:45 p.m. We woke up early, say, around 8:15 to prepare to receive our cleaning lady, “Lareto,” who unfortunately called us at 10:15 to say that she was canceling because her son couldn’t drive her. We were going to leave around 10:30 to get to Larchmont to have breakfast, and so we did, Lareto or no Lareto.

It was smooth sailing driving to Larchmont, as we sauntered over the Throgs Neck Bridge and past my old stomping grounds in the Northeast Bronx, Co-op City, which used to be where Freedomland U.S.A., a theme park dedicated to American history, was situated in the Baychester section of the North Bronx. It opened on June 19, 1960, and permanently closed four years later, on September 13, 1964. I have very vague memories of going to Freedomland as a child with my parents before moving there to live in the housing development known as Co-op City which broke ground in 1966.

When we got to Palmer Avenue where the Harbour House Coffee Shop is located, we had to find parking. The only parking we found was linked to some app that I had to download since no meters were functioning. Naturally, I was left to navigate this system, as Elliot just left me to go to the coffee shop. I moved the car first from the street into a lot, thinking I wouldn’t have to use this system, but I was unable to find a snug-enough spot for the car, so I had to find another spot somewhere else. I lucked out with moving into a spot at the end of the block where the coffee shop was across the street. However, I was beginning to have trouble registering the car with this parking app. Fortunately for me, a young man was passing me on the corner, so I accosted him and asked if he could help me download the app properly. He was very courteous and showed me how to do it. And if this young man hadn’t shown up, we might have still been there in Larchmont. Now I was able to join Elliot in the coffee shop.

To make a long story short, we got to White Plains within 24 minutes or so. We were early for Elliot’s appointment at 1:45, so we were told to return five minutes before 1:45. The guard who informed us of this mentioned we could go to Whole Foods around the block and hang out there. Which we did. I got a coffee and a chocolate croissant while Elliot did a little shopping. By 1:30, we returned to the DMV office.

After waiting at least an hour, Elliot was given the red light by one of the clerks who examined all of the documents he brought to verify who he was. She stated he did not have an original Social Security card and that was why she was not proceeding with his application. Huh! Elliot showed the woman other forms of proof of his identity and this was still not enough. In fact, he had a copy of his Social Security card, but that was not accepted. Elliot took this setback rather well; me, I wanted to scream. I should have said something to the clerk behind the window, but I didn’t. Like, “Can’t you let this one pass?” Didn’t he bring you enough forms of identification?” I wanted to proclaim, but I stayed quiet.

Even though you can say we had a pleasant enough drive to White Plains, I considered the whole venture a major disappointment. Now we have to start from Square 1, schedule another appointment somewhere else, and go through with the same waiting. At least Elliot didn’t have to wait as long as I did on Friday, April 4, when I applied in Manhattan for the same thing. Elliot will also have to carry his passport the next time we travel domestically, which will be next month. I expected his new ID to have been mailed to him before this trip. But that was not meant to be!

I wanted to indicate that today, June 26, marks the 10-year anniversary of nationwide marriage equality in the United States. An online article about this milestone appears in Gay City News by Matt Tracy entitled “Report sheds light on 10 years of marriage equality in the United States.”

“Nearly 600,000 same-sex couples have been married in the United States since the landmark 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, according to a report published by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.” Here’s another intriguing statistic: “In total, there are now 823,000 married same-sex couples in the United States – twice as many as there were in 2014, just one year before the Obergefell ruling, according to the report.”

Not surprising is the fact that the ruling has had the greatest impact on southern states, “none of which had achieved marriage equality by the time the Obergefell ruling was handed down: From 2014 to 2023, there was a 21% increase in same-sex married couples in the south, compared to 16% in the west, 15% in the midwest, and 11% in the northeast.”

Even though many states have moved to codify marriage equality in recent years, the fate of this precedent is uncertain, especially in these troubling and regressive times under a new fascistic president. The year that the legislation was passed, it was Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who wrote in a concurring opinion that the Supreme Court “should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” referring to rulings establishing rights to contraception, sodomy, and marriage equality, respectively. Oh, why hasn’t this very corrupt justice been impeached already? I ask.

Voters last year in California, Colorado, and Hawaii became the latest to repeal bans on same-sex marriage, and earlier this month, the Delaware Senate approved legislation to codify same-sex marriage.

“As of June 2025, more than two dozen states still maintained statutes and/or constitutional amendments barring marriage equality – though those policies have been with 433,000 married same-sex couples residing in those states.”

Though today does mark a commemoration of the ruling that brought marriage equality to the United States, there is still a sense that things can change very fast, just like Roe v. Wade was overturned by this “Extreme” Court in June 2022 after observing it for 50 years. We still have to remain very vigilant then.

In the meantime, let’s hope that horrible “murder” bill that the lying sack of shit called Donald Chump laughingly calls his “Big, Beautiful” bill dies before it can ever be passed. But this president wants the bill jammed through very soon so that he could sign it before the Fourth of July. This is only for optics., folks, nothing else.

But the bill is now receiving opposition from the Senate’s rules referee, Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who struck down key provisions, saying they don’t meet the chamber’s strict budget rules that must be followed so the bill can be approved by a simple majority of 51 votes – or just GOP support. This fact is reported in a CNN online article by Lauren Fox, Manu Raju, and Morgan Rimmer entitled “Trump’s massive agenda bill faces headwinds in the Senate after key ruling from chamber’s rules referee.”

Devastating changes to the Medicaid program have badly divided the Senate GOP, with a number of members – including Josh Hawley (He with the Raised Fist) of Missouri and Susan Collins of Maine, among others – worried that the new limits would devastate rural hospitals in their states, just the kind of Dump supporter that would be affected by these changes.

Again, let’s hope this bill goes through various iterations and that certain changes are added to it that will not devastate Americans’ food assistance and Medicaid as it’s originally been conceived. If it does pass with these horrible cuts untouched, repugnicans should then run for the hills in 2026!

Tomorrow Elliot and I are driving to Highland, New York, to visit our friends “Ted” and “Peter.” We are staying until Saturday. So I’ll be absent from this venue until Saturday or Sunday, depending on what time we get home on Saturday.

Have a good Friday then.

And so it went!