I Want a Whole Milk Marriage, Not Skim

I can't help but feel so incredibly fired up while simultaneously frustrated by the news surrounding DOMA.  It makes me want to scream and pull my hair out and wonder why everyone in this country doesn't see what seems to be so obvious to me. Why is it so important to change DOMA?  Well, in case you weren't aware, there are more than 1,000 federal laws that confer benefits of one sort or another on married couples — everything from tax savings to Social Security benefits - but DOMA excludes those benefits for legally married same-sex couples, even at the state level for those states that have already legalized same-sex marriage.

The case that was heard at the Supreme Court today involves a New York couple, Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, who had been together for 42 years prior to their marriage in 2007. When Spyer died, however, the federal government, acting under DOMA, required Windsor to pay $363,000 in estate taxes that she would not have owed if her spouse had been a man.

Ironically, the 14th Amendment guarantees all citizens equal protection of the law.  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg argued today that DOMA creates a two-tier system or as she put it, "full marriage and skim-milk marriage" equating same-sex marriage to skim milk in that it's lacking in wholeness.  Supporters of DOMA argue that the traditional definition of marriage is "between a man and a woman" and it would be an abomination to god only knows who if that were to change. Imagine what would happen if we (as a people of "equal protection") redefined this definition to remove all references to gender.  Surely it would undermine the hundreds of thousands of heterosexual marriages that exist today.

At the end of the day, there is one thing for me that is certain; I will not ever get married to a man, it's simply not an option for me. Being gay is not a choice just as much as having green eyes is not a choice. Could I cover my eyes with colored contact lenses? Sure, just as I could pretend to act straight (well, I could certainly try).  But at the end of the day, my eyes are still going to be green and I'm still going to be as gay as a rainbow over San Francisco.  I do know that someday I will get married to a woman and I will call it marriage, regardless of what anyone thinks about the "traditional definition". And I will continue to fight for those 1,000 benefits that are not currently afforded to same-sex marriages.  And for the record, I really hate skim milk.  I want my milk whole just like I would want my marriage.

Gay Marriage Legalization in Maine -- Inspiring Photo Essays/Video/Articles

HooplaHa.com, a site dedicated to spreading good news, reached out to Lesbiatopia to share some amazing photos and videos that they took when they traveled up to Maine last weekend for the legalization of gay marriage.  

One of the articles they posted was particularly adorable, which showcases Portland couples and how they describe their partners in one word. Here's a snapshot from the article:

photo credit:  Sam Ferrigno for HooplaHa.com

Click here to see the rest of the photos.

Additionally, you should check out their photo essay as they tagged along with the first gay couple married in Maine the other night or their inspiring video of the City Hall crowd singing "All You Need is Love." 

HooplaHa.com is dedicated to spreading smiles and positivity. The site is meant to inspire, inform, enlighten, engage and above all entertain.

It's time.

The Australians are on to something.

http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/marriage-equality/petition/sign-and-share

Educate Against Prop 8: The License

A Video shot by Keith Hartman after California banned gay marriage. For more info and how to get involved check out our facebook page "Educate Against Prop 8" at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Educate.

The Big Gay Sketch Show Presents: How The Mormon Stole Everything

LOGO's Big Gay Sketch Show just finished taping their 3rd Season and although it's not set to air until 2010, you can wet your big gay whistle here with this hilarious video in support of gay marriage and BGSS's response to the Mormons who funded Proposition 8 in California for their own selfish, religious right. And if you like Dr. Suess-style satires, you will definitely appreciate this.

More Gay & Lesbian Videos At LogoOnline.com

Breaking News: Will the Real NOM TV Ad Please Stand Up?

On 4/09, at 4:30PM PST, we posted an article about the newly launched National Organization for Marriage's new TV ad campaign. Since that time, we have stumbled across several strikingly similar, yet much more tastefully done, video advertisements that have left us dazed and confused. Will the real NOM TV ad please stand up?

National Organization for Marriage's TV Ad - Don't Let Them Spread Their Lies

- Renee Gannon, Publisher

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) announced yesterday that they are launching a new nationwide '2 Million for Marriage' (2M4M) initiative. According to their website:

Over the next two years, we will be organizing two million marriage activists from every state in the nation to form an online army of marriage activists willing to stand up for marriage on a moment's notice, sending emails and making phone calls to legislators whenever marriage is threatened.

The initiative represents the most ambitious effort ever of its kind, using a combination traditional TV and radio advertising and direct mail, coupled with the internet technology and social networking tools that President Obama used so effectively in his presidential campaign. To assist with this ambitious new initiative, we've enlisted the expertise of Schubert Flint Public Affairs -- the same group that managed the Prop 8 Campaign in California last year.

A Gathering Storm
The centerpiece of the new initiative is a $1.5 million nationwide ad campaign launched today highlighting the threat that same-sex marriage poses to the core civil rights of all Americans who believe in marriage as the union of a husband and wife.

This is the ad campaign, filled with lies about the "detriment" that a nationwide repeal of DOMA would cause:



Who's behind NOM, anyway?
Maggie Gallagher, President
Brian S. Brown, Executive Director
Robert P. George, Chairman of the Board

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Other members of the NOM board of directors include:

Neil Corkery, Treasurer
Chuck Stetson
Ken Von Kohorn
Luis Tellez
Matthew Holland

Yesterday Brian S. Brown released this statement:
"In the wake of the Iowa Supreme Court decision and Vermont Legislature's action, the National Organization for Marriage will tomorrow launch a new national ad campaign that highlights how same-sex marriage undermines the core civil rights of those who believe in the simple truth that marriage is the union of one man and one woman."

Let NOM know that their efforts to "protect" marriage as a union between one man and one woman are universally unconstitutional.

National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ 08542

Phone: (609) 688-0450
Fax: (888) 894-3604
Email: contact@nationformarriage.org

Maggie Gallagher, President

DON'T Support THESE California businesses that NOM is highlighting on their website under "busttheblacklist.com". These businesses have contributed, in some way or another, to YES on Prop 8 and don't deserve our hard-earned dollars.

Tell Congress: it’s time to repeal DOMA.

It’s time for some real change we can believe in. It’s time for the federal government to stop punishing loving same-sex couples. It’s time to repeal DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act).

President-elect Obama says he supports the repeal. Take action right now to make sure Congress sends him the legislation.

The Gaythering Storm

In addition to being incredibly hot, Jane Lynch is very, very funny. Look at this star-studded cast in the latest National Organization on Marriage parody: The Gaythering Storm:

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

Prop 8: It Breaks My Heart

Watch this video. Keep tissues handy. Sign the petition. Invalidate Prop 8.


"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
Tell the Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8, reject Ken Starr's case, and let loving, committed couples marry. DEADLINE: Valentine's Day

We, the undersigned, share President Barack Obama's view that "for too long, issues of LGBT rights have been exploited
by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond
polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect."

Yet, on December 19, 2008, Ken Starr and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality
of Prop 8 and seeking to nullify the marriages of 18,000
devoted same-sex couples solemnized before Prop 8 passed.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this case on March 5, with a decision expected within 90 days. We, the undersigned, ask that the Court enforce the equality promised
to each of us by our constitution and invalidate Prop 8. So
doing will protect all loving, committed couples in California -– including the 18,000 who said "I do" last year –- and prevent
the initiative process from being a tool for stripping vulnerable minorities of precious constitutional rights.

As Americans who believe in the rule of law and fundamental civil rights, we know that Ken Starr and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund's shameful attempt to nullify equal protection
and all these bonded unions will be condemned in the eyes of
history. We know that, ultimately, love will prevail, no matter
how hard they try to fight it.

173,807 people have signed this letter*.
GOAL: 200,000 signers. Please add your name now!

Gay Hardball Smackdown - Mike Rogers of PageOneQ

Mike Rogers of PageOneQ goes on MSNBC's Hardball and totally brings it as regards Rick Warren. They say this other guy with whom he's arguing is an MSNBC contributor? What does this dude contribute typically? I suspect he doesn't work on Dr. Maddow's show.

Watch the video below and cheer! Giving a high-five to PageOneQ and encouraging LT readers to check out their site. To draw a poor comparison, your Ma'amselle Lez was interviewed for a Canadian magazine called Xtra recently regarding straight allies in marriage equality, but I wasn't as cool under the gun as Rogers is here below. He's really quite remarkable.



(Update since this broadcast: Queerty reports that Saddleback Church isn't taking their anti-gay stuff down after all. So I guess no one's happy . . .)

Scientists Argue for Marriage Equality . . . for Cousins

I couldn't help but notice this headline from Wired.com:
Cousin Marriage OK by Science
The religious right has argued that allowing same-sex marriage means permitting incest is not far behind. Now here I am bringing up marriage equality in relation to incest. I know; it feels weird--but I can't help myself. The Wired.com article cites the Public Library of Science Biology, zoologists, anthropologists, statistics from the National Society of Genetic Counselors, and genetics counselors themselves--all in favor of accepting cousin marriage.

Thirty-one states outlaw marriage between first cousins, making the United States the only developed country in which the practice is regularly banned. Most [laws] were passed in the Civil War's aftermath — not, say [Hamish] Spencer and [Diane] Paul, to reduce the chance of defects caused by combinations of deleterious genes, but as part of a radical expansion of government authority over private lives.

'Unlike the situation in Britain and much of Europe, cousin marriage in the U.S. was associated not with the aristocracy and upper middle class but with much easier targets: immigrants and the rural poor,' they write.

It sounds odd to me, but this article makes many convincing arguments. I encourage you to read the whole thing.

California much more tolerant of cousins than gays.
William Saletan at Slate.com has already drawn comparisons to our struggle for marriage equality with cousin-marriage:

HRC maintains that 'criminalizing the conduct that defines the class serves no legitimate state purpose,' since gays 'are not less productive—-or more dangerous-—members of the community by mere dint of their sexual orientation.' They sustain 'committed relationships' and 'serve their country in the military and in the government.' Fair enough. But couldn't the same be said of sibling couples? Don't laugh. Cousin couples are already making this argument.

Do we as a community come together in support of this under the marriage equality umbrella if the evidence for it is true?

Iowa Supreme Court to Hear Varnum v. Brien

On the marriage front, tomorrow (12/9) the Iowa Supreme Court will hear the Varnum v. Brien case at 8 am Pacific/10 am Central. The oral arguments will be live streamed through various media outlets that can be found at Iowa Courts.

The six couples grouped under Varnum, who have been together from seven to 18 years, filed suit in the Iowa courts in 2005 asking for full marriage rights. Represented by Lambda Legal, they have been battling ever since. Twenty-six Iowa legislators represented by an anti-gay organization filed to intervene as defendants in 2006. You may remember that at one point in 2007, a Polk County judge ruled that there was no compelling reason to deny gay marriage. A stay was quickly issued and now, over a year later, the oral arguments will be heard.

Iowa is a state made up of equal parts red and blue. Socially, the urban areas and university towns bleed blue and the rural areas tend to be a more crimson hue.
But, this is a point of law, not a popular election. As an Iowa-raised queer who has lived all over, I not-so-secretly hope that Iowans, known for the independent streak and common sense, also have a judiciary with equal sense and this matter is resolved in favor of the Varnum couples.

Then, I can start worrying about those nuts who will immediately start yet another drive for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in Iowa.

One thing at a time.

© Photo Courtesy of Lambda Legal

The Movement versus The Election, Junior Uprising Edition

One benefit of the poorly run "No on 8" campaign has been the emergence of youth leadership and the willingness of the "Old Gay Establishment" (OGE) to listen to new ideas from us "kids." They're willingly giving us the keys, and it's time to drive.

I can't believe it's finally time! For several months I've been thinking about David Sirota's book The Uprising. (Read my old post about it here.) In my last post about Mr. Sirota's book I admitted to you, my hot readers, that I had no idea what I was talking about, had no idea who David Sirota was, and only cared about him and his book because Rachel Maddow mentioned them on her radio show, and I thought knowing about them might attract chicks (but aren't those still good reasons to care?).

My life has indeed completely changed since last June when I first woke up to David Sirota and his populism. I asked you back then:

How do we self-organize to inspire change without an umbrella organization? How do we unite bloggers with our aged cultural warriors to kick ass?

(Prop 8 calling! Wake up, Ma'amselle! The movement's on the line!)

David Sirota's book investigates what happens to angry people when they organize. That's oversimplifying it, but I want you to understand why I cannot stop rereading this book in my head. (Nerd alert: I read it on paper twice and typed up most of my favorite passages on my laptop for quicker rereading.) Check out this gem from the introduction alone:

Sirota, David. "Portrait of the Writer on a Bathroom Floor." The Uprising - An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington. New York: Crown, 2008.

"These laws of matter are also the laws of society. We typically exist in a gaseous state. We are all leading our own lives, bouncing around from place to place, watching our sitcoms, working at our cubicles, interacting briefly with each other between doing our own thing. But we change when enough negative economic and political pressure starts hammering down on us--we start to get organized" (7).

And here I was, reading this back in June, thinking to myself, "Yes, people sure are angry these days about the Iraq occupation and stuff. Lah-dee-dah." But what does it makes you immediately think of now, young queerpplz?

How about this? He's discussing how Iraq occupation protesters are spun on TV:

Sirota, David. "What Kind of Hardball Can Stop a War?" The Uprising - An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington. New York: Crown, 2008.

"Saul Alinsky's advice to activists about 'accepting the world as it is, not as [you] would like it to be' means accepting that the reporters, politicians, pundits, and professional operatives who collectively make up today's [. . .] Establishment want to portray the antiwar movement as a bunch of patchouli-scented hippies, out-of-control college kids, anti-American extremists, and Hollywood elitists--all in order to write off the antiwar uprising. If given the opportunity, the major television networks would preview all their stories about the opposition to Bush's escalation by running a clip from Cheech & Chong, a snippet from a Hezbollah rally, and a photo of Jane Fonda under the banner AMERICA'S ANTIWAR MOVEMENT" (59).

Well how do you feel after three months of advertisements portraying you and your friends as scary child predators looking to creep into schools and turn kids bicurious--and in an argument about marriage no less?

When I finished the book I was determined to write a review for Lesbiatopia, but I had too much to say. I still do. All I can tell you is that I paged through this book over and over asking myself, "There's a practical application to this book somewhere, but I can't figure out what I need to do. Everyone's angry, but there's no shape to the anger. This book has taught me so much about how to coalition-build, but what would we fight?"

Well here it is, folks!

Okay, so everyone's seen Milk already, right? Yes, yes, there's only one lesbian in it, I know; get over it. The movie's so totes badass. I've seen it twice already. I don't need to tell you all why it's good, because you'll know; just go see it. If you've seen the movie, maybe you're looking at my opening paragraph right now and shaming me for my naïveté and don't-I-know-how-much-we-owe-our-eldersitude and my-generation-has-had-it-so-easyness. Okay, yes, I feel a little guilty about it, but I'm not stupid! I know we have come so far in my lifetime only through the determined efforts of seasoned veterans in our fight for equality; no question.

(Okay, now's the part where I rehash all my grievances with the "No on 8" campaign, so you can skip this part and proceed to the constructive positive stuff below. I'll let you know when it's over.) But we all watched the old people run "No on 8" into the ground, and lemme tell you, I had front row seats . . . okay, maybe a-couple-of-row-back seats kinda on the side, but closer than most, I assure you.

I just got voted onto my second year of the Executive Committee of the Stonewall Young Democrats (SYD). Stonewall Democrats proper, our umbrella group, certainly has members of the OGE in it, but our joint West Hollywood office on Santa Monica and Crescent Heights was crackin' during the campaign season, young and old. We were making phone calls and registering voters and walking precincts and translating campaign literature for our Russian and Latino neighbors and driving people to the polls and whatever, both for Obama and for "No on 8."

. . . meanwhile, in our back room dwelled the Official "No on 8" Campaign. Despite having the same goal (No on 8, duh), we clashed repeatedly on what was best for the effort.

We in Stonewall were giving away "No on 8" signs for free; they were charging $25 each. We were registering voters who supported us; they were hosting "visibility" parties in West Hollywood at the Abbey. We were begging people to make phone calls for us; they were discouraging people from using the official "No on 8" online calling program because the "script was too old." We were giving people thirty ways to help us; they were telling people, "If you don't like making phone calls, then leave," and forcing all volunteers to undergo 30-minute training sessions just to phonebank--and then if you wanted to come back and make more phone calls the next day, they'd still force you to go through the same 30-minute training again. And don't even ask me about the fact that they begged and pleaded for money and then cashed my 9/25/08 $25 check on 11/16/08, two weeks after the election was over; I'm still too mad.(Okay, I'm done with in-fighting now. Ready to move forward.)

Now that the new Prop 8 fight is ahead of us, we in SYD have put marriage equality on our front burner. Our brand new Marriage Equality Committee met for the second time last night in Downtown Los Angeles.

Okay, you're a superbright lesbian, so you're saying, "Fuck you, Ma'amselle Democrat, with your narrowminded Party-with-a-Big-'P' affiliation. Anyone with a brain is independent." Well, then you don't understand Stonewall Dems. We're the LGBTQI and allied wing of the Democratic Party. If elected officials don't seek us out or don't run an LGBTQI-friendly agendum when elected, they're toast in gay-heavy districts because we'll run candidates who will support us. We also give resources to gay candidates who might otherwise have trouble fundraising, and who among you doesn't like that?

What's that, David Sirota? You have a good quote to describe why Stonewall Dems are important? Go for it:

Sirota, David. "What Kind of Hardball Can Stop a War?" The Uprising - An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington. New York: Crown, 2008.

"Unquestionably, both the Protest Industry out here chanting [. . .] and the Players scheming in their offices a few blocks from here [. . .] are necessary parts of an effective [. . .] uprising. The outraged rabble provides the boots on the ground that can pressure lawmakers in their local communities. And that popular ferment could be enhanced by a professional presence playing the [. . .] media game" (64).

In other words, these rallies put pressure on our elected officials to choose a side, and we promote into office elected officials who will choose wisely and speak out for us on the national teevee.

SYD has a particularly interesting role in things now, as we face a host of young queers waking up on Christmas morning all blinky-eyed to discover someone's stolen their rights overnight. Boo, big lumps of Mormon coal in our stockings!

So back to our brand new Marriage Equality Committee. These are people 36 and under who felt frustrated during "No on 8" and are looking to make a difference. The committee has yet to go before the full board with the notes from the night's meeting, so I'm giving you a supersecret sneakpeek at some of the ideas hashed out that night while they're still all doughy and warm. Oo!

I heard everyone pissed off about feeling invisible. (One more "No on 8" bash warning)I mean, c'mon, those commercials! The first one out had the straight couple with the invisible lesbian daughter you never saw, and the next 1,000 commercials after that didn't mention gay people at all or even show the face of one gay person!(Bash finished) So my favorite thing I heard all night was when one woman said, "I would rather fight this angry and out and in the open--and lose--than sacrifice the movement for one more election." Fuck yeah! So how do we want to be visible?

* We all love the idea of the white knot campaign! Have you seen it? whiteknot.org gives you full instructions on how to create a white knot to wear as a symbol of your stance on marriage equality. Fuck a $25 sign that you can't carry with you; you can make 500 of these babies for about $3 and have them on you, visible, all the time, everywhere. The website has instructions on white-knot parties. I am so loving this, and I'm fairly certain we're going to follow this route to some extent in SYD.

* I contend that most people who voted against us don't know us. Why don't they know us? Because we spent the whole damn time in West Hollywood high-fiving each other while the campaign was going, making no effort to visit our neighbors further inland! What's the matter, bulldagger? Afraid to get a fat lip for marriage equality? I'm not worried about getting popped by some redneck in rural California, no matter how seemingly primitive, and you shouldn't be, either. I guarantee you that if 200 of us went out to Kern fuckin' County wearing Queer Voluntary Service badges to plant trees or feed the homeless, it would make the news and stun the bigots. Besides, you know every community like that, no matter how small, has an enormous closet, and if I were to get punched in the face standing up for marriage equality in Chino, some babyqueer who lives there would see I stand up for her.

* "IM4ME." What? "I AM FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY." Simple to promote, something of a double entendre ('cause "I am for me," too), classic conversation-starter. Make your own button!

* Send postcards to bridal shops. Man, I didn't want to be, but I got nasty bitter on Saturday shopping for a bridesmaid dress with my straight bride-to-be ladyfriend. There we were in the bridal shop, watching moms crying over their little straight daughters (most of whom couldn't care less) while friends squealed and jumped up and down. There I was in my stompy lesbian shoes with my new fabulous ultralez haircut that I'd gotten that morning (see insets), and it was like I was trespassing. I had one of those massively inappropriate desires to scream, "I LICK BOX SO I GUESS I'M NOT WELCOME HERE WITH YOU SANCTIMONIOUS DOUCHEBAGS, RIGHT??" You know what's really better, though? Pointing to this article where $63.8 million is missing from California now that gay marriage is gone. That coulda been your recession-proof cheese, bridal shop! Just a friendly postcard reminder!

* One of the most moving signs I saw at the "Repeal 8" rallies said, "I'm not allowed to talk about my two mommies at school." The children of gay couples have been remarkably absent in our P.R. One way to bring everyone together might be a "Gay Family Day." The conceit behind this is that the human race is a gay family, get it? We all came from straight people, but whom we love makes a family. We already know this, of course, but if we could get children of gay couples to meet our born-again cousins? Hello, dialogue!

* Whatever we do, don't stop calling it "marriage." So the contract down at City Hall says whatever it says. So what? The State is the State, and God is God, and God knows a marriage when s/he sees one. (Okay, I'm an atheist, but you get the point, spiritual readers.) People freaked out because "gay marriage" is new. So let's make it old. Yeah, they're still wife-and-wife, and more'll be wife-and-wife no matter what some piece of paper says. We're fighting for marriage equality, not the right to marry; they can't take that away from us. It's still marriage. We just want the same recognition of our marriages to theirs.

* We've all seen Sacramento's newest Prop 8 musical by now, and it's dope. We need more artists to write songs, scripts, paint, interpretively dance, put on multimedia extravaganzas, whatever, but just make it. It's part of historical storytelling; your art speaks when you're not present. Make it happen.

So these were not all of the ideas thrown around in the meeting, nor are these the decided upon avenues for SYD to take. (We are Dems, after all, so public official PR campaigns go without saying.) But several of us young Democratic queers took three hours to think about marriage equality last night, and we know that hundreds more of our queer brethren are doing the same throughout this month in the rest of the state. We are achieving the leaderless momentum that David Sirota's Uprising is all about, and I am proud to say it's youth-driven. Just like our beloved Renee's "8 against 8" can raise its goal five days early, we all must engage in spontaneous collective efforts and be pleasantly surprised at our own thoughtful determination. This time, we have no "official" restraints. Let it fly.

If you're in the Los Angeles area and are interested in the Stonewall Young Democrats and our marriage equality activities, contact info@stonewallyoungdems.org.

California Protest 11/22/08 - Takin' it to Sacramento

Organizers had little less than a week to get the word out. But, the energy was powerful with an estimated 5,000 attendees at Saturday's state-wide protest in favor of marriage equality in Sacramento. Early estimates were that the crowd would be upwards of 10,000. I know we can do better! Where was everyone?

Comedian Margaret Cho once again showed her support of the community by performing "The Mormon Song" at Saturday's rally. Other speakers included entertainer Selene Luna, lesbian rights activist Robin Tyler, Senator (President Pro Tem) Darrell Steinberg, Geoff Kors, the executive director of Equality California, and activist attorney Gloria Allred as well as several other LGBT community leaders.

We must keep the momentum and stay in the news, stay in the faces of those who voted against us, and making sure every single one of our voices and the voices of our supporters are heard.

Breaking News: Marriage Equality for CA!

Via EQCA:
"SAN FRANCISCO: In an historic decision today, the California Supreme Court ruled that same-gender couples deserve the freedom to marry under California law. The landmark ruling makes California the first state in the nation to give lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people full equality."

Join a celebration tonight:
Click here to join a party in CA