Monthly Archives: May 2012

Houston Politics

Houston’s new Downtown Hotel! and why we need it

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So plans for the long-rumored Convention Center Hotel have finally taken lift-off. Just weeks away from the May 12th opening of BBVA Compass stadium, Downtown Houston is about to be buzzing again with some big news. Houston First Corp. is in the final stages of selecting a Development team for a new Convention Center Hotel. The new hotel would be at least 1,000 rooms with a climate-controlled connection to the George R. Brown Convention Center. According to Houston First, this planned hotel project isn’t the last either with a clear intention to have 4 hotels surround the Convention Center.

So some would ask… why do we need another Downtown Hotel?? More rooms close to the Convention Center means bigger conventions can come to downtown. It also means more conventions overall, as it decreases the wait time for attendees to have to wait on hotel rooms (checking in/checking out). Downtown Houston is still at a massive lack for hotels rooms in downtown when compared to other cities. At present, Houston is about 2,000 hotels rooms shy of what is expected near a major Convention Center, when compared to other cites.

Convention visitors is just one main piece of the puzzle though. With the addition of BBVA Compass Stdium this month (set to open May 12th), Downtown Houston will gain a 3rd major venue for sports events, large-scale concerts and private functions. The city is getting to a point where for some event weekends, downtown hotel space becomes crucially crowded.

Kudos to Houston First Corp. for seeing this growing need.

Houston Politics

Gay is Ok… whether you like it or not.

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Let’s just say, it’s been a tough year for the Anti-Gay movement in the United States. So far this year, Washington state and Maryland have both joined the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and the District of Columbia that officially recognize same sex marriage. Those states represent 50 million Americans… almost one sixth of our country. In just 4 short years since Prop 8 was defeated in California, same-sex marriage is legal and rapidly becoming more common among significant segments of our population.

LEGAL. As in REAL. Real husbands, real wives, real children.

As we recall from last year, a majority of Americans now support legal gay marriage, and try as they may, the Anti-Gay marriage movement is losing traction at every turn. Perhaps one of the toughest jabs at the Anti-Gay movement comes from a shocking reversal of science itself. For many years, it was believed that being gay is a “choice” and that gay people can simply choose to change themselves into straight people. This belief was held together by the work of one respected scientist, Dr. Robert Spitzer. He has now disavowed his study, and even goes so far to offer a full-scale apology to the gay community. What was now a central citation of all Ex-gay therapy, religious evidence, and even argued at the Supreme Court to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act is now no longer a credible study against the equality movement. Shocking indeed.

So the naysayers will have to come to a conclusion that they are WRONG. The future of our country will be one where men marry men, and women marry women. Where homosexual couples raise children, attend soccer games and PTA events, change diapers and do all of the things that heterosexual parents do. As gay marriage and families led by gay couples becomes a normal occurrence in our lives, eventually we are going to have to stand up and let our children know that it is ok to be gay. A gifted young musician named Adair Lion is taking the lead in the rap world (BTW I strongly suggest you check out his music). How can YOU contribute?