Skeddie Sauce and other Delights: Constitution Day - Election Time

I had so much fun with my posting on facebook that I thought I may just as well put here on my blog too. Eventually everything will be lost or mishmashed on FB so this will be an easier place to find it again.

WARNING ! !

This is not a story for the sensitive ! !

Adult theme and nudity is included ! !

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ! !

On Friday, yesterday, it was 100 years ago that Denmark granted women the right to vote. It was not the first country to do so. If you are thinking that America was first, you are wrong. It wouldn't be for another 6 years before American women get the right to vote. So I posted on facebook a picture of the Danish women marching 100 years ago as well as American women around that time too.

somewhere in DK 100 years ago.

and here is a re-enactment from that day.

somewhere in USA

Here you can see the big event that took place yesterday with

the Queen of Denmark and the Prim Minister - click here to view

So at this time in Denmark 100 years ago, voting took place and women won the right to vote. And here we are now, 100 years later voting for new officials, politicians and leaders in Danish governemnt. OK - now "bare" with me....It's constitution day here today. (well... it was when I wrote this. It's now a day later.) Most shops and businesses are closed today - but not where I work. We are open 24/7 and I got home not long ago. It's also election time. Getting elected here for a political position is a lot different here than in the United States where they spend millions and millions of $ to get elected. Here in DK it costs just about nothing at all. All the political leaders go on tv and have a discussion with one another or interviews with hosts. And there are about 12 parties or so - not just 2 or 3 like in the states. Lots and lots of TV politics every night and for several weeks. Oh but TV is very expensive you say. Nope - not here. All the tax payers pay a few bucks a year and it's all covered and it's all equal. You can't buy more air time to have your face/party stick out above the others. But that doesn't stop them from trying. And it's quite odd to see how they go about it.

They do it like we did it in jr. high and high school - with posters. The town is plastered with posters of each of the 13 or so parties and the politicians within the parties. It's totally nuts. But there is one fine young man who is running again this year. His nickname is The Sheriff of Amager. (Amager is the island that I live and work on) His full name is John Erik Wagner. Each year he runs and each year he is always in some kind of American cowboy, western, sheriff style clothing.
This year, everybody is talking about his poster and when I say everybody, I'm not just talking about everybody in Denmark. The poster has been talked about the world over and maybe you have even seen or heard about it in your neck of the woods.

Here are a few pix to give you the low-down on politicians getting their voice out. And don't forget about the warning - last chance.

This is taken from the street that I live on.

The street is lined with posters of different politicians and parties.

There are laws that say where you can hang your poster and how high above the ground. In the background is Langebro (Long Bridge).

The bridge is lined with posters on all sides.

This is Manu Sareen. In 2012 he was the Minister of Church (not a church minster) and he was tired of Gays being treated as 2nd class citizens. So he changed the civil partnership registration to full and equal Marriage. This did not go down well with the religious right. It's quite funny I think that the leader of the church went against the wishes of the church. But equality was more important to Manu. It's all small details. About 27 years ago, DK was the first country in the world to legally recognize gay relationships. The gay union pushed for equal marriage for all. The Christian Party had political clout at that time and they were totally against gay marriage - surprise surprise. But other parties had clout as well and with sooooo many parties and the way politics go here, they all had to find a compromise. So - Gays could marry but not in the church and it would be called Registreret Partnerskab (it's so close to English, it translates as Registered Partnership) and there were about 3 or 4 other things that were not included in the partnership like adoption and insemination rights. The Gay union went for the compromise and figured they could work on the rest later. In over 20 years, I don't think they ever did work on these things because 1- in order to get registered partnership, you had to go to the town hall and get married in front of a justice of the peace. You didn't just add your name to a list. You had to go through all the motions with witnesses and the works. And 2 - This in turn was just like a real marriage to almost the entire population and when politicians mentioned it, they always used the word marriage and never partnership. But on the books in technical form, Gays were "registered" even though they have been married in the town hall. Then one day out of the blue, Manu Sareen shows up on the spot as says, "I going to change the gay partnership law to full and equal marriage. Of course at that time, a few other countries had full marriage rights. Denmark got the ball rolling and now it was time to catch up with the ball and stop the separate but equal treatment. It was a big stink from the Christian side. Everybody else couldn't understand what all the fuss was about since the gays were already married. Everything blew over in about 2 weeks and now lesbians have the same rights to artificial insemination like straight women do. You can now adopt your partners children just like straight people do and you can get married in the church since everybody has to pay a church tax. So basically everything is the same but equal.