San Francisco is the Birmingham of the first large-scale civil rights struggle of the 21st century. However, instead of fighting an all-uphill battle, the individuals who are getting married contrary to California law have some friends in all forms of government. From the beginning of the modern GLBT rights movement in 1965, after Dick Leitsch started up the Mattachine Society of New York to combat a NY State Liquor Agency law that pulled liquor licenses from bars who had more than three homosexuals meeting, numerable victories have been won for the movement. Combating both issues in and around the movement, the GLBT movement, and those allies and GLBT individuals who do not contribute directly to the movement, is being challenged on all sides. From a hostile President who is quoted as saying �"Activist judges . . . have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives,� to the continued specters of racism in the movement, we have a long road ahead of us.

2004 is obviously an election year for the United States, and as such, GLBT issues have taken the front seat in many an individual�s plank for election. I mean, with 20% of the population identifying as GLBT, individuals who are seeking office must approach these issues with a certain amount of tact, lest they alienate a large section of their constituency.

As of the writing of this article, the 24-hour news stations were awash with the news of Rosie O�Donnell and Kelly Carpenter getting a marriage license. Tuesday, February 24th, the President proclaimed eir�s distaste for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Over 3300 couples have gotten married in defiance of the President�s desire, and while the President has backpedaled slightly from eir�s statements on Tuesday, ey still believes of the sanctity of marriage being between a woman and man. However, our great President Bush has become a leader of rapidly shrinking minority of individuals who are trying to roll back constitutional rights to GLBT people, as California�s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who once said that "I think that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman" has changed eir�s viewpoint to say that now ey believes that there is no use for a amendment to the United States Constitution. While Arnold is still exerting pressure to force San Francisco to stop the �gay wedding spree�, it definitely is a start.

There are currently a ever-growing number of mayors, governors, and individuals that are coming out for some sort of legalized gay union, and even some that demand legal marriage for the GLBT community. Two of the leaders of the largest cities in the United States, Mayors Richard Daley and Michael Bloomberg, of Chicago and New York City respectively, have came out in support of legal civil unions. However, the war for equality is not being fought just in those cities with large GLBT populations; take the example of Jason West, the Mayor of New Paltz, New York. Jason is currently in hot water (charged with 19 misdemeanors) for performing 25 GLBT marriages in the parking lot of the village.

But the fight for equal rights in marriage is not the only focus of the GLBT movement, and while it seems to be the only thing that the GLBT movement is fighting for, individuals in all fields are conducting their own battle against the harmful policies of society. Mianne Bagger, a 37 year old transgendered woman who is also a three-time Australian amateur golfer, was invited to play the Australian Open contrary to the rule of the LPGA (Ladies� Professional Golf Association). The LPGA insists that golfers on its tour must be born female, and most of the those who are against Mianne�s joining the tour believe that she has a benefit due to supposedly having �a male�s body physiology�. Ignorance about the hormone regimen seems to be the major stumbling block, as Mianne says, �When you undergo sex change surgery, the physiological changes include losing muscle mass and strength. It's a false assumption that I am more powerful�. This is a first for any transgendered individual, and Mianne actually made it to the second round before missing the cut. However, transgendered athletes have really won a large victory �the IOC (the Olympic rules body) has proclaimed that transgendered athletes are allowed to compete as their decided gender two years after gender reassignment surgery,

However, there are some battles that the GLBT community is facing that pit different members of the movement against each other. Some individuals might be familiar with the Gay Games, an Olympics for the GLBT community that convenes every four years, offset with the Olympics. Running since 1984, the Games ran into trouble when the city that was designated as the host for the 2006 games � Montreal � got into some issues with control of finances. The board has since given the games to Chicago, but a number of individuals are finding fault with this decision. In regards to being admitted entrance to the United States, GLBT athletes from other nations find it challenging to get all the proper clearance. This problem is complicated when one notices the United States� policy towards admitting foreigners that are HIV-infected. HIV-infected individuals are as an automatic issue banned from entering the country, but can petition their consulate to get a waiver. Even for an event like the Gay Games, all individuals not with a United States visa have to apply for one, specifically giving their attendance at the Games as a reason to be given the visa.

This practice of applying for a visa, proclaiming to individuals that one is going to the Gay Games, as well as being photographed might be dangerous for individuals who are still in the closet due to personal preference or government laws against GLBT-ness.

While there are great and lengthy sections of programs being devoted to the issue of GLBT marriage, one must really keep their ears to the ground to hear about some of these other stories. InterStitial comes out on a fairly irregular schedule, but the idea with these current-events stories are to provoke the sensibilities of individuals and prod them on to activism. An interstitial advertisement online is one of those annoying windows that will force a websurfer to view them. I force individuals to read information that they do not necessarily feel comfortable reading, and my goal is to inform, with annoyance being an extra perk.