Thursday, March 31, 2011

Via JMG: WASHINGTON: Legislature Votes To Recognize Out Of State Gay Marriages


Today the Washington state Senate voted 28-19 to recognize all legal partnerships (marriages, civil unions, etc) from other jurisdictions. The state House approved the bill last month.
“This bill is about making sure that people who love one another - and that love and friendship respected and honored in another state or another country - when they come here they have the same opportunity,” Sen. Kevin Ranker, D- San Juan Island, said on the Senate floor. Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, cautioned lawmakers against passing the bill because he argued it would subject the Legislature to laws that other state legislatures pass.
The bill now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who has promised to sign it.
reposted from Joe

reposted from jmg: Tax Campaign: Refuse To Lie


Equality Florida tips us to a new campaign in which legally married gay couples will "refuse to lie" and will therefore file joint tax returns.
Each year the federal government demands that thousands of married couples lie. The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) not only denies legally married gay couples the benefits of heterosexual marriage, but we are also told to disavow our spouses and file our taxes as "single." The Federal Government must stop requiring legally married gay couples to deny the existence of our families and hide our marriages. It is dehumanizing and it is wrong. Across the country, legally married gay couples are taking a stand. We are refusing to lie about the fact that we are married.
Refuse To Lie organizers warn: "Taking this principled stand is not without risk and each person doing so needs to carefully consider those risks before deciding if it is a stand you are willing to take." Facebook page here.


reposted from Joe

reposted from jmg: Tweet Of The Day - Porno Pete


Presumably PFOX head Quinlan's "testimony" won't include mention of his ex-wife, who dumped his totally gay ass four years ago after they'd paraded themselves on Christian networks as models of reformed homosexuals.


reposted by Joe

Via AmericaBlog: Vatican warns the Internet is leading the young to Satan, then finds way to wiggle out of pedophilia scandal (again)

A Vatican affiliated university is holding a conference on Satan and exorcism because apparently the Internet has been a big boon for the lord of darkness.
"The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism," said Carlo Climati, a member of the university who specialises in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism.

"In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism. The conference is not about how to become an exorcist. It's to share information about exorcism, Satanism and sects. It's to give help to families and priests. There is a particular risk for young people who are in difficulties or who are emotionally fragile," said Mr Climati.
The Internet is for Satan? And here I thought the Internet was for porn.


(Another very cool version of this song.)

And it wouldn't be the Vatican if they didn't roll out yet another excuse for their aiding and abetting of pedophilia.
The Vatican's chief exorcist claimed last year that the Devil lurked in the Vatican, the very heart of the Catholic Church.

Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron, scream, dribble and slobber, utter blasphemies and have to be physically restrained.

He claimed that the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries, were proof that the anti-Christ was waging a war against the Holy See.
Yes, the devil made you do it. Considering the Pope was a party to all of this, that would mean he's been influenced by the devil too. And tell us again why then its okay for him to continue leading the church?


Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Via ALCU: Don't Filter Me!

Reposted from JMG: Andrew Sullivan On Gay Deportations


"The US government regards gay Americans as sub-human in their needs and wants and rights. Their loves and relationships mean nothing under the law every time they encounter federal authoritah. Aaron and I are total strangers to one another in the eyes of federal law. And because we are legally married, I am paradoxically more vulnerable to being deported than I would be if I were single - because it's plain that I intend to reside in the US indefinitely, even though my visa has an expiration date.

"So I'm a risk - hence my huge anxiety if I ever leave the country. I am lucky to be able to apply for a Green Card on my own merits, under the rubric of what's called extraordinary ability in my field (it's still in process). But most people are not so lucky. They just fall in love. Only to have their own government rip their marriage apart, or force the American into exile. If this isn't wrong, what is?" - Andrew Sullivan, commenting on the news that the foreign partner of legally married binational gay couples may still be deported.


reposted from Joe

Repost from GetEqual:




Dear Daniel,

In December, when President Obama signed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010," I breathed a sigh of relief. Although there is still work to do to make repeal fully inclusive and get it implemented, my hope was that at least now we would not lose another servicemember because of that discriminatory law. After so many discharges even as late as last year [1], I thought we were finally out of the woods.
Sadly, I thought wrong.
A short time ago, we were contacted by an active-duty servicemember who -- despite the repeal of this horrible law -- is still going through the process of being discharged. The process started for him on November 8, 2009, when someone anonymously outed him after seeing his MySpace page.
Within weeks, his discharge process began -- but it limped along while the government waffled about what to do about repeal. A year went by before he got any kind of update, each day believing it was his last day to serve his country. After the repeal bill was signed into law, he believed his case to be over.
But Derek got bad news earlier this month. Despite DADT repeal, his case is still being pursued and his hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. With implementation still not in place, is this the Navy's attempt to slip in another discharge or bully him with a hearing...just because they still can?
Click here to show your support for Derek and to fight back against his discharge!
Derek joined the Navy right after high school -- here are his own words:
This lengthy matter has been tearing me up; it has destroyed relationships and displaced loved ones who were relying on me. But even after the U.S. Government has made it clear they don’t want this law in effect the Navy has said that, because the paperwork has been submitted and the policy is technically still active, they have no choice but to continue.
I have been in the U.S. Navy since I graduated high school. It’s all I know and all I want to do. I have dreams of grandeur, hopes of retiring a young, highly-decorated, respected senior enlisted sailor. My resolve is weakened but not broken. I just have to place my fate in the hands of three strangers -- strangers who I hope have strong moral convictions and like-minded sentiments to my own.

Click here to add your name to the list of supporters Derek will take into his hearing with him!
Get Out! Get Active! GetEQUAL!
Robin McGehee, Director
----
[1] "Servicemembers United: An 'unusually high' 261 discharges under DADT in FY 2010" -- http://gay.americablog.com/2011/03/261-discharges-under-dadt-in-fy-2010.html
GetEQUAL icon

Via AMERICAblog Gay: 'There is light at the end of the tunnel for binational couples'

Lavi Soloway has a guest column over at Karen Ocamb's LGBT POV where he dissects the latest news from the United States Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) relating to binational couples and DOMA. A lot has happened over the past couple days. Yesterday, USCIS confirmed to Metro Weekly that cases relating to same-sex couples have been put in "abeyance," pending resolution of DOMA.

Lavi, an immigration lawyer who also writes the blog, Stop The Deportations, explains what it means and who it helps for now:
This development will have the greatest impact on two groups of couples:

1. Married gay and lesbian couples where the foreign spouse lawfully entered the United States but is now an “overstay” and without lawful status. For these couples, the filing of an alien relative petition and application for adjustment of status to permanent resident should automatically give temporary lawful status to the foreign spouse for the duration of the period that the case is pending. If these applications are in fact held in abeyance until DOMA’s final demise, this could mean that couples who have wrestled for years with the nightmare of deportation, separation and instability caused by a lack of lawful status may now be on the verge of a new reality. The foreign spouse will not only receive (temporary) lawful status, but also employment authorization and potentially other benefits, as long as they have a pending green card application. Unfortunately, despite the temptation that this will present to many couples, for many it will be better to wait until there is greater certainty about this policy and the future of DOMA.

2. Married gay and lesbian couples who are already facing removal (deportation) proceedings. It is now likely that we will be able to stop virtually all deportation proceedings involving married gay and lesbian couples who have filed green card petitions/applications and who are, but for DOMA, otherwise eligible to receive a green card based on their marriage. Even couples in removal (deportation) proceedings must proceed cautiously when considering whether to marry and file a green card petition/application based on that marriage. However, unlike those who are not in proceedings, the risk of deportation is very real, and the likelihood is that this new development will provide protection to almost every couple facing deportation, if they are currently in proceedings.

There is light at the end of the tunnel for binational couples. The individual stories of binational couples suffering separation, exile or the threat of deportation continue to be our most important weapon in the fight against DOMA. There is still a long road ahead before we achieve full equality and we cannot be complacent.
DOMA really has to go.

John Boehner is going to be spending a lot of your tax dollars defending a law that is based on pure bigotry.

Via AMERICAblog Gay: Obama admin. now says 'abeyances' for binational couples could last only a week

Don't get too excited about the earlier news about binational same-sex couples. The light at the end of the tunnel might get a harder to see. Seems the "abeyance" we learned about yesterday might be short-lived -- like just a week long.

Actually, this is more of what I'd expect from the Department of Homeland Security:
Despite statements from leading organizations – most prominently, Immigration Equality – suggesting that the cases would be held in abeyance until DOMA’s constitutionality is settled, a DHS official told Metro Weekly on Monday night that the abeyance could last for as little as a week.

“[P]ursuant to CIS’s routine practice when there’s a new law or regulation that will potentially affect their resolution of certain cases, they hold [the cases] in abeyance until they get the final guidance from the general counsel’s office,” the official said. “DHS expects this issue to be resolved imminently.”

After that abeyance has ended, the official notes, “[I]n individual cases, USCIS has always had the authority to exercise discretion on a case-by-case basis, in light of the unique circumstances of that particular case.”
Seriously, Janet Napolitano, don't you have real security issues to worry about? And, don't think the Obama administration won't split families apart. They're deporting more people than Bush did.

DOMA really needs to go. Too bad our friends on Capitol Hill didn't try to repeal that law when they controlled the House and had 60 votes in the Senate. But, that was back in 2009 - 2010, when the White House didn't understand that actually passing pro-LGBT legislation was good politics. So, now, we wait for the courts and John Boehner will be using your tax dollars to fight against your equality.



Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Dan Savage


"I'm against making people feel uncomfortable or unsafe in their own homes. Even bigots. And staging protests outside people's homes is a tactic usually employed by rightwing anti-abortion activists and the KKK back in the day. I don't think this is a tactic that gay rights movement should endorse or adopt.

"To bring this down to a personal level: I say a lot of shit that pisses off the religious right. I don't want rightwing anti-gay haters turning up on the sidewalk outside my house, annoying my neighbors, and, most importantly, making my son feel unsafe in his own home. (Honestly sometimes I'm surprised that they haven't; I'd even go so far to express my gratitude—yes, to the haters—that they haven't.) Protesting outside people's homes? I don't think they should do that to us, any of us, and I don't think we should do that to them, any of them. Not Tony, not Maggie, not these florists." - Dan Savage, responding to the protest outside of the home of an anti-gay Canadian florist.


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Quote Of The Day - Randy Thomasson


"This shows that you cannot trust the Democrat legislators, the homosexual agenda people at all, and you cannot trust the teachers unions -- the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers boldly and brashly supported this bill in committee. They want children in the classrooms statewide to be taught that they can be homosexual or bisexual or transsexual -- or they ought to be -- and that they'll enjoy it." - Save California spokesbigot Randy Thomasson, responding to a bill that requires that LGBT people be depicted positively in public school textbooks.

The bill, sponsored by openly gay state Sen. Mark Leno, advanced out of a Senate committee last week.


reposted from Joe

Thank you! 34000 visits! Obrigado! 34.000 vistantes!

Thank you folks for coming by to see what I have been reading and doing... we have streaked past 34000 visits... I am so very honored!

Obrigado pessoal por terem vindo para ver o que tenho lido, feito, e continuo fazendo. Hoje temos mais que 34.000 vistantes... Eu estou muito honrado!



Daniel

Monday, March 28, 2011

Via HimalayaCrafts: I think I have here...

O seu trabalho é descobrir o seu trabalho, e depois, com todo o seu coração, doar-se a ele. ~ Buda


Your work is to discover your work
And then with all your heart
To give yourself to it. ~ Buddha
Namaste 

Via JMG: A Pastor Sees The Light


Pastor Murray Richmond says he used to preach against homosexuality and same-sex marriage, but not anymore.
Why had we singled out homosexuality as a litmus test for True Christianity in the first place? Why had it become such a lightning rod for self-righteousness? One reason, I think, is that it's easy to condemn homosexuality if you are not gay. It is much harder than condemning pride, or lust or greed, things that most practicing Christians have struggled with. It is all too easy to make homosexuality about "those people," and not me. If I were to judge someone for their inflated sense of pride, or their tendency to worship various cultural idols, I would feel some personal stake, some cringe of self-judgment. Not so with homosexuality. 



Now I am wondering why, if two gay people want to commit their lives to one another, they should ever be denied that chance. No church or pastor should be forced to perform those ceremonies, and they can choose not to recognize gay marriage for their adherents. But the constitution of the Presbyterian Church does not explicitly forbid a pastor from being a thief, a murderer, or an egotistical jerk. It is not designed to do these things. It does prohibit a gay person from becoming a pastor. All I can ask is: Why?
Read Richmond's full essay at Salon.com.


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: NETHERLANDS: Ten Years Of Marriage


Ten years ago this week, the Netherlands become the world's first nation to legalize same-sex marriage. Veteran reporter Rex Wockner was in Amsterdam's City Hall that night and today he reposts this excerpt from his report on the proceedings:
Amid an international media frenzy, the weddings took place at City Hall as the law became effective at the stroke of midnight. Mayor Job Cohen officiated. As Cohen finished his opening remarks at 11:58 p.m., the audience in the City Council chambers began syncopated clapping as they waited for the room's clock to click over to 12:00. When it clicked, cheers erupted.
Wocker notes: "In the intervening 10 years, 14,813 of the Netherlands' 55,000 gay couples have gotten married, according to Statistics Netherlands. Of those couples, 7,522 were female and 7,291 were male. There have been 1,078 same-sex divorces, 734 of them by female couples."

RELATED: Canada legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2005 in a ruling that made legal a gay wedding that had taken place in January 2001. Call it "ten years with an asterisk."


reposted from Joe

Mile-high madness with Richard Simmons! #RICHROLL

Michele Bachmann Saves America Ep. 1: What a God Wants

Via JMG: Matt Damon On Kissing Michael Douglas


"I never thought I would get to kiss Michael Douglas. I kind of think of it in algebra terms, back to my high-school days. It's like the transitive property - by kissing Michael Douglas, I am making out with Catherine. I was actually kind of upset that I never got to kiss Catherine. But now I get to kiss Michael. I thought it would have been better if I could have at least kissed them both." - Matt Damon, on his kissing scenes with Michael Douglas in the upcoming Liberace bio-pic.


re posted fromJoe

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Bruce Bawer


"In 1989, thousands of gay activists, angry at the Vatican for preaching abstinence instead of safe sex, rallied outside a church in New York, some of them actually going inside and disrupting a worship service. In 2011, faced with far worse provocations by a faith that, unlike Roman Catholicism, poses a mortal threat to gays, gay-rights groups in London not only decided to remain silent lest they 'offend' Muslims, but in addition chose to turn on their own, denouncing fellow gays as 'racists' and 'Islamophobes' for feeling obliged to stand up — even if in the meekest of ways — to people who would, without question, murder them if they had the power to do so.

"No, the officers of London’s gay-rights organizations, and the commenters at Pink News, aren’t the only people in West who have responded to Muslim bullying with cowardly toadying. But British gays should damn well understand, at this point, that there’s no place for them in the sharia-run Britain to which millions of British Muslims openly aspire and that the Archbishop of Canterbury has already accepted as inevitable. If they’re so desperate not to offend Muslims, they’d better kill themselves pronto — for, as they still somehow fail to grasp, their very existence is an offense to these people." - Bruce Bawer, writing for the right-wing Pajamas Media about London's "Gay-Free Zone" controversy.

reposted from Joe

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Via Belirico: MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell Takes on the Catholic Church Over LGBTs

Filed by: Karen Ocamb

March 25, 2011 1:00 PM

The late author and AIDS activist Paul Monette must be doing a little jig in heaven right now. Wednesday night Lawrence O'Donnell, host of MSNBC's The Last Word, called out the antigay Catholic Church in an articulate, explosive, captivating fulmination that promoted goosebumps and teary eyes.

Monette, as some may remember, tore up a photo of the Pope during a Creating Change conference (caught on tape for the excellent 1996 documentary Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer's End) to protest the enormous and deadly sway the Church had over its followers.

It's a practice the Catholic Church appears to continue today, with some US Bishops threatening to withhold communion from Pro-Choice politicians and chastising the United Nations for its "radical agenda" to re-define gender. This at the same time the US is pushing the UN to expand it's recognition of human rights to include LGBT people. Here's the statement from the US UN Ambassador Susan E. Rice:

Continue reading "MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell Takes on the Catholic Church Over LGBTs" »

ViBelirico: Bioware's Dragon Age II Has Gay Scene that Some Straight Gamers Don't Like

Filed by: Alex Blaze

March 25, 2011 3:00 PM

Dragon Age II has a gay love story in it that's cute that led some straight gamers to complain. You see, since the majority of people are straight, that means that everything has to be washed clean of homosexuality lest it befuddle their minds:
dragonageii.pngWhen I say BioWare neglected The Straight Male Gamer, I don't mean that they ignored male gamers. The romance options, Isabella and Merrill, were clearly designed for the straight male gamers in mind. Unfortunately, those choices are what one would call "exotic" choices. They appeal to a subset of male gamers and while its true you can't make a romance option everyone will love, with Isabella and Merrill it seems like they weren't even going for an option most males will like. And the fact is, they could have. They had the resources to add another romance option, but instead chose to implement a gay romance with Anders.
I'm certain that some will declare "That's only fair!" but lets be honest. I'll be generous and assume that 5% of all Dragon Age 2 players are actually homosexuals. I'll be even more generous and assume that the Anders romance was liked by every homosexual. Are you really telling me that you could not have written another straight romance that would have pleased more than 5% of your fans?
It's a lot longer, but you get his point. While LGB people watch tons of movies, play lots of games, read lots of books, and watch lots of TV centered around heterosexuality, for a straight person to have to put up with a gay story (among straight love stories) in a video game is just too much.
But I don't have to respond. Bioware's response is definitely worth reading:
Continue reading "Bioware's Dragon Age II Has Gay Scene that Some Straight Gamers Don't Like" »

Via JMG: TENNESSEE: Housing Official Says Gays Are Like Murderers and Drug Dealers


In January, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) invited public comment on proposed new rules banning discrimination against LGBT people in all its programs. That prompted Vicki Barnes, the executive director of Tennessee's Sweetwater Housing Authority to fire off a letter to HUD in which she compares gay people to murderers, cult members, prostitutes and drug dealers. According to Barnes, if HUD's proposed rules are adopted, landlords will opt out of Section 8 programs rather than "be bullied into accepting tenants who have chosen a lifestyle that goes against their moral convictions." Screen shots of Barnes' detestable letter are below.
 
I've posted Barnes' full letter to my Scribd account. I believe we'll have a little project here, come Monday.

(Tipped by JMG reader James)


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Liz Taylor Leaves Estate To AIDS Charities


Most of Elizabeth Taylor's massive fortune will go to the two AIDS charities with whom she was most famously associated.
Screen queen Elizabeth Taylor has left behind a fortune worth at least $600 million, much of which is expected to go to the AIDS charities she championed for decades. Her famous jewelry collection, valued at an eye-popping $150 million in 2002, is likely to be auctioned off with the bulk of the proceeds going to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and amfAR, the AIDS charity she helped found in 1985, according to WFLD/Fox TV Chicago. "From what I understand, she seems to have been very wise about her investments," said a financial planner who has worked with other Hollywood A-listers. At the time of her 1994 divorce from her last husband, Larry Fortensky, Taylor's net worth was estimated at $608.4 million. That figure could now be well in excess of $1 billion. During the 1990s, Taylor reportedly earned about $2 per second, or about $63 million per year. Her famed perfume, White Diamonds, earned more than $70 million last year, according to reports.
Our hero, even in death.


reposted from Joe

Today's "The Republicans really are a bunch of bigotsm, huh?" Post":Haley Barbour: Amorous Gay Soldiers Are Going To Stop Us From Killing Bad Guys


Yesterday Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour became the third prospective 2012 GOP presidential candidate to promise to reinstate DADT if elected. Because gay soldiers are going to be too busy cruising other men to effectively kill the bad guys.
They did research to see what military people thought about this idea. The closest to the ground, the soldier on the ground, was the most opposed to this. And it's not necessarily over homosexuality. Its over the fact that when you're under fire and people are living and dying of split-second decisions you don't need any kind of amorous mindset that can affect saving people's lives and killing bad guys. You look at the data and it is the foot-soldier that is the person who is out there, boots on the ground, who was most against this. And it's because they live or die with this and that's who we ought to be listening to, that's who we ought to be caring about and that's why I am against it. I think it ought to be rolled back. I just don't see how you can take any other position if the person you are trying to protect is the soldier who is actually in combat.

reposted from Joe

Friday, March 25, 2011

Via JMG: Worst Ad Placement Ever


(Source)


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Canada To Help LGBT Refugees


In a partnership with an LGBT group, Canada has announced a landmark asylum program to assist LGBT refugees fleeing persecution in their home countries.
Through the project, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will work with the Rainbow Refugee Committee to share the cost of sponsoring gay, lesbian, transgender, transsexual and bisexual refugees overseas to Canada. The department will provide $100,000 in assistance to cover three months of income support for the refugees upon their arrival here, while the Rainbow committee will offer orientation services, accommodation, food and other basic needs. “These funds are a welcome first step in response to the crisis facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people around the globe, at a time when 77 countries continue to criminalize homosexuality and five prescribe the death penalty,” said Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, the country’s largest LGBT human rights organization.

reposted from Joe

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Lawrence O'Donnell - Majority Of U.S. Catholics Back Gay Rights In Survey

Via JMG: Photo Of The Day


A shrine to Elizabeth Taylor has sprung up in the West Hollywood gay bar The Abbey, where Taylor was known to drop in. This weekend the bar will donate proceeds from sales of their Blue Velvet martini to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

(Via - TMZ)


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Leonard Pitts On Majority Rule


"We are gathered here today to look a gift horse in the mouth. It seems a majority of the American people now favor allowing gay men and lesbians to wed. That majority, according to a Washington Post survey released last week, is slender, just 51 percent. But even at that, it represents a significant increase from just five years ago, when only 36 percent of Americans approved. [snip]

"But lurking at the edge of celebration there is, for me, at least, a nagging, impatient vexation. That vexation is based in what is arguably an esoteric question: In extolling the fact that the majority now approves same-sex marriage, do we not also tacitly accept the notion that the majority has the right to judge? [snip]

"That’s the pebble in the shoe, the popcorn hull between the teeth, that nags at the conscience when one reads polls tracking how many of us approve of other people’s lives and decisions. It’s all well and good that 51 percent of us support the right of gay men and lesbians to tell it to the judge, but really, what hubris makes us think we have a right to say yea or nay in the first place?" - Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Leonard Pitts, writing for the Miami Herald.

(Tipped by JMG reader Will)


reposted from Joe

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Via JMG: Press Release Of The Day


Here's an excerpt from the U.S. State Department's press release on yesterday's historic United Nations resolution. A total of 85 nations have signed on the Obama administration's call to battle for LGBT rights around the world.
20 countries joined this statement that were neither signatory to the 2006 or 2008 statements. The statement garnered support from every region of the world, including 21 signatories from the Western Hemisphere, 43 from Europe, 5 from Africa, and 16 from the Asia/Pacific region. Delivered by Colombia on behalf of: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the Central African Republic, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the former-Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vanuatu, and Venezuela
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: "Gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights. We will continue to promote human rights around the world for all people who are marginalized and discriminated against because of sexual orientation or gender identity. And we will not rest until every man, woman and child is able to live up to his or her potential free from persecution or discrimination of any kind."


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: POLL: Majority Of Lay Catholics Support LGBT Rights And Same-Sex Marriage


In what may come as a shocker to the Vatican and Archbishop Timothy Dolan, a just-released poll shows that a slim majority of America's lay Catholics now support same-sex marriage and LGBT rights.
Overall, the survey found 53 percent of Catholics supported the idea of same-sex marriage, while the general public is evenly divided on the issue. Fifty-six percent of Catholics did not believe sexual relations between two adults of the same gender constituted a sin, compared to 46 percent of the general population. Sixty percent of Catholics favored adoption rights for same-sex couples, 49 percent think gays should be allowed to be ordained as clergy, and 73 percent believe they should have legal protections in the workplace – all higher percentages than found in the general population, PRRI said. There was a powerful generation gap found in the survey, with Catholics under 35 much more liberal than those 65 and older. The influx of Hispanic Catholics into the U.S. church in recent years did not skew the results, as the young newcomers were divided between liberal and conservative views of homosexuality.
A sample comment from Free Republic: "The majority of Catholics aren’t Christians either - by the standards of the Holy Bible. Among many things they do that are against God’s Word (the Pope just recently used a Hindu prayer), Catholics engage in witchcraft (praying to dead saints and statues). They also worship Mary instead of CHRIST as the mediator between man and God."


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: CALIFORNIA: Ninth Circuit Court Denies Request To Resume Same-Sex Marriages


Today the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request to vacate their stay on the overturn of Proposition 8 and allow the resumption of same-sex marriages in California.
Federal Judge Vaughn Walker ruled last year that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional and ordered that same-sex weddings be allowed to resume. That decision was appealed to the Ninth Circuit, where the case is tied up on a legal question the panel asked the California Supreme Court to rule upon: Do Prop. 8 sponsors have legal standing to defend the law in court when the state will not. The order [to deny] was filed by judges Stephen R. Reinhardt, Michael Daly Hawkins and N. Randy Smith.

reposted from Joe

Tribute to Dame Elizabeth Taylor

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Obama/Brazilian president statement mentions gays

Obama/Brazilian president statement mentions gays

Joint Statement by President Rousseff and President Obama


At the invitation of President Dilma Rousseff, the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, paid a State Visit to Brazil on March 19, 20 and 21, 2011.
Democracy, Human Rights, Racial Equality and Social Inclusion


They agreed to cooperate in advancing democracy, human rights and freedom for all people bilaterally and through the United Nations and other multilateral fora, including ensuring respect for human rights in the context of the democratic movements and transitions; strengthening the UN Human Rights Council as recently demonstrated in the case of the creation of the Commission of Inquiry on Libya; promoting respect for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals through the establishment of a Special Rapporteur at the OAS; and improving the conduct of free and fair elections regionally and globally, including through the promotion of human rights in the context of elections and increasing their accessibility to disabled persons.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Daniel Radcliffe to Be Honored by Trevor Project

Via JMG: Walmart Blocks "Gay" From Book Reviews


JMG reader Mark S. King reports that Walmart's website refused his review of the It Gets Better book until he removed the word "gay." King, who contributed to the book with his openly gay brother, writes us: "My submission was nixed because I used the word 'gay,' which the site explained was 'profanity.' I felt properly chastised and removed the offensive word from my review, which remains 'under review.' The most socially accepted term for my sexuality is profane! I guess uttering 'homosexual' or 'queer' would have produced a total meltdown." King say he's hasn't yet received a response from his complaint to Walmart's corporate office. Visit his personal website for his review as well as an amusing video with his brother.


reposted from Joe

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Via JMG: Ricky Martin At GLAAD Awards


Last night GLAAD honored Ricky Martin with their Vito Russo Award in recognition of how his coming out generated unprecedented positive coverage in Latin media. In his speech, Martin thanked "my boyfriend Carlos," which some in the room thought was the first time Martin had publicly named the handsome man often seen with him. The video below is by Boy Culture's Matthew Rettenmund - check his site later today for more from the evening.




posted by Joe

Friday, March 18, 2011

Kate Clinton: OBSTINANCE ONLY

Via JMG: KILLER CONFESSES: I Stoned That Homo To Death Just Like The Bible Says I Should


A Pennsylvania man is under arrest after confessing to beating an elderly man to death with a stone, just like the Bible instructs should be done with homosexuals.
A 28-year-old Upper Darby man has been charged with murder after telling police that he stoned a 70-year-old man to death when the man made homosexual advances toward him, authorities say. John Joe Thomas, 28, of Sunshine Road in Upper Darby, spent almost every day with 70-year-old Murray Seidman at Seidman’s Lansdowne home, police say. Days before Seidman’s body was found on Jan. 12, Thomas allegedly beat Seidman to death with a sock full of rocks. Thomas told authorities that he read in the Old Testament that homosexuals should be stoned to death. When Seidman allegedly made homosexual advances toward him over a period of time, Thomas said he received a message in his prayers that he must end Seidman’s life, according to court documents. Police say that Thomas struck Seidman in the head about 10 times with the sock of rocks. Thomas left Seidman dead in his apartment, and then threw his bloody clothing and the bloody sock in a dumpster, according to authorities.
The killer was the sole executor of the victim's will and returned to the scene of the murder several days later claiming to have discovered the body.


reposted from Joe

Homens Da Luta - Luta é alegria (Portugal)

Via JMG: Quote Of The Day - Barney Frank


"What do I say to the idea that this [DOMA] is a wedge issue? I say 'Hallelujah.' The fact that we've now evolved to the point where the Republicans are complaining about the fact that we introduced this bill because it causes them political problems is a great sign of progress. It used to be the other way around." - Rep. Barney Frank, in a Talking Points Memo piece speculating that gay rights is now a positive wedge issue for the Democrats.


re posted from Joe