I'm going to Albany! Also, Glee
Mar. 9th, 2011 10:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gina_r_snapeI'm going to Albany on Tuesday! Homeless Services United is organizing a lobby day and I'll be driving up with 3 staff members. We're going to try and convince our state senate and assembly persons not to cancel funding for housing homeless NYers. The Governor wants to not only cancel the "Advantage" voucher programs, he wants to retract funding backdating it to the beginning of the year. This would mean thousands of formerly homeless clients would wind up back in shelter as their subsidies would be canceled. Section 8 is currently closed in the state and NYCHA (NYC Housing Authority) has a waiting list of years. Senior housing (Section 202) has a waiting list of years as well. Rentals are through the roof, such that "market rate" means even I would not be able to afford to live alone. I barely make my rent as it is, and it's well below market rate as my flat is rent stabilized. (Think $2500 to $3k for a one-bedroom and you'll get the picture for non-regulated market rent). Most clients in shelter are poor. Any client who brings in more than $1k a month has been encouraged to rent a room. Most of our clients who do so (and that's maybe 9 out of 88) are either working full-time in a new job or receiving social security retirement benefits after working decent-paying jobs. The vast majority of our clients receive public assistance or a combination of social security, disability, and supplemental security income, workers compensation, or some other pension and would not be able to afford a room rental without a subsidy as they tend to go for at least $500 a month or $125 a week for some of the seedier places.
My staff have never participated in a lobby day. I think this will be a good way for them to get involved in the political process as they can speak firsthand to the impact such a funding cut will have on clients, service delivery, and life in NYC for thousands of people. I predict street homelessness will rise, frankly. The city shelters are already above capacity (the census has risen by the thousands in the past year to 8,822 single adults in the system last night 8,364 families with children and 1,31 adult families (no children) according to the DHS website). It's not pretty.
Anyway, enough of that. I want to talk about Glee!
Several months ago I mentioned something about the relationship between Santana and Brittany. How it bothers me that TPTB talk about Kurt Hummel as the one gay kid on the show, when clearly these two have something pretty explicit and potentially meaningful going on. Now, some have argued that Santana and Brittany are treated in such a way that they are there faux-lesbians for the pleasure of the male viewer. But watching their dynamic together, I've always thought otherwise. Last night that was made explicit and I loved it. Santana more or less came out as pansexual but more interested in Brittany than any boy. And Brittany also came out and acknowledged her sexual and emotional attractions. She might be borderline mentally retarded, but she does have feelings and a sex drive. Santanta's heart was broken when Brittany refused to dump Artie for her, and the whole scene was extremely gratifying. Santana's fears of being labeled a lesbian and being gay bashed were palpable. Plus, I love that she was all "I'm not going to start listening to the Indigo Girls now" about it.
Kurt and Blaine, on the other hand, are starting to wear on me. I thought Kurt was going to have a boyfriend this year. But these two are pretty solidly in friends territory at this point. And Blaine is getting, dare I say it, a tad annoying. The sex ed speech from Kurt's father was well-intentioned, and it was interesting that his read on m/m relations would take the turn it did. But it just further showed he doesn't know his son at all. Kurt is a romantic and seems to act in ways his father equates with girls. Still, Blaine's anvil-like dialogue did press the point that safer sex ed in school rarely if ever touches on the concerns of queer youth. When I was in high school the only lesson we got was on the mechanics of reproduction - literal sperm and egg.
The worst part of the show is definitely Will Schuester. Is it my imagination, or did he start making out with Holly in front of the kids? Or are we supposed to continue to ignore the band kids who conveniently show up to back up all the singing? He's so unbelievably inappropriate at times. It's clear to me they don't know what to do with his character (or with Emma) this season. Though Emma's celibacy club performance of Afternoon Delight was LOLtastic.
So, is anybody else on my flist still watching the show?
My staff have never participated in a lobby day. I think this will be a good way for them to get involved in the political process as they can speak firsthand to the impact such a funding cut will have on clients, service delivery, and life in NYC for thousands of people. I predict street homelessness will rise, frankly. The city shelters are already above capacity (the census has risen by the thousands in the past year to 8,822 single adults in the system last night 8,364 families with children and 1,31 adult families (no children) according to the DHS website). It's not pretty.
Anyway, enough of that. I want to talk about Glee!
Several months ago I mentioned something about the relationship between Santana and Brittany. How it bothers me that TPTB talk about Kurt Hummel as the one gay kid on the show, when clearly these two have something pretty explicit and potentially meaningful going on. Now, some have argued that Santana and Brittany are treated in such a way that they are there faux-lesbians for the pleasure of the male viewer. But watching their dynamic together, I've always thought otherwise. Last night that was made explicit and I loved it. Santana more or less came out as pansexual but more interested in Brittany than any boy. And Brittany also came out and acknowledged her sexual and emotional attractions. She might be borderline mentally retarded, but she does have feelings and a sex drive. Santanta's heart was broken when Brittany refused to dump Artie for her, and the whole scene was extremely gratifying. Santana's fears of being labeled a lesbian and being gay bashed were palpable. Plus, I love that she was all "I'm not going to start listening to the Indigo Girls now" about it.
Kurt and Blaine, on the other hand, are starting to wear on me. I thought Kurt was going to have a boyfriend this year. But these two are pretty solidly in friends territory at this point. And Blaine is getting, dare I say it, a tad annoying. The sex ed speech from Kurt's father was well-intentioned, and it was interesting that his read on m/m relations would take the turn it did. But it just further showed he doesn't know his son at all. Kurt is a romantic and seems to act in ways his father equates with girls. Still, Blaine's anvil-like dialogue did press the point that safer sex ed in school rarely if ever touches on the concerns of queer youth. When I was in high school the only lesson we got was on the mechanics of reproduction - literal sperm and egg.
The worst part of the show is definitely Will Schuester. Is it my imagination, or did he start making out with Holly in front of the kids? Or are we supposed to continue to ignore the band kids who conveniently show up to back up all the singing? He's so unbelievably inappropriate at times. It's clear to me they don't know what to do with his character (or with Emma) this season. Though Emma's celibacy club performance of Afternoon Delight was LOLtastic.
So, is anybody else on my flist still watching the show?
