A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Juan Carlos Galán and Greg Nardi of Miami Beach live together as a family and would like to get married.
Then Nardi, a U.S. citizen, would claim Galán as a relative and help the Panama-born computer expert get a green card.
For now, though, these are just dreams - unless President Barack Obama can convince Congress to pass immigration reform.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., who last December introduced the first immigration reform bill of the current congressional session, announced in May that he intends to add provisions that would include same-sex couples and their families.
Gutierrez plans to incorporate into his bill language from the Uniting American Families Act, offered by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., a longtime proponent of the measure. jump here to read the full article
Britain's Supreme Court has ruled that gay people who fear retribution in their home countries have a right to asylum in the UK. The decision involved two men from Iran and Cameroon who say they face physical harm should they be returned to their home countries. Via Pink News:
Lord Hope, who read out the judgment, said: "To compel a homosexual person to pretend that his sexuality does not exist or suppress the behaviour by which to manifest itself is to deny him the fundamental right to be who he is." An earlier Court of Appeal decision said the government could return the pair to their home countries on the basis that they could be discreet, despite homosexuality being illegal in both countries and HT suffering violence from his neighbours. The case was brought on behalf of the men by the London office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The men's lawyer, Iona Harding, of Baker & McKenzie, said: "This is an excellent result which will ensure that lesbian, gay and bisexual people receive the protection they are entitled to as refugees in the UK and are not expected to hide their identity in order to escape execution, long prison sentences or other forms of persecution."
Britain's new coalition government says it will institute new rules to stop the deportations of anybody who fears "imprisonment, torture or execution" in their home countries based on their sexual orientation.
The just-crowned Miss New York is a winner in a more ways than one.
Miss New York 2010, Claire Buffie, is an outspoken advocate of human rights, opening the dialogue about equality amongst youth, teens and adults alike with her platform "Straight for Equality: Let's Talk." The issues of gay rights make up the civil rights movement of our generation and reach far beyond marriage equality. As Miss New York 2010, Claire aims to break the stigma of marginalized youth, eliminating discriminatory vocabulary and changing the climate in New York schools. She celebrates diversity and the things that make us all unique and strives to instill pride, dignity and respect in developing minds and compassionate hearts. This will be a year of change in New York State and Claire is ready to support this incredible movement.
All Over Albany adds that Buffie is an executive board member of the NYC chapter of P-FLAG. And she works at the Genius Bar at the Fifth Avenue Apple store, where the stream of gay boys is undoubtedly nonstop. She'll be competing for Miss America 2011 in January in Las Vegas. Go Claire!
Edgy comedian Louis CK is really breaking new ground with the FX show Louie. In the below clip, a group of poker buddies jokingly question their token gay about sex clubs, but things turn a bit more somber towards the end. Language very super NSFW.
Costa Rica's highest court has orderd that an upcoming vote on same-sex marriage be suspended because it might violate the nation's constitution.
The Sala Constitucional (Constitutional Court) has ordered the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) to suspend the process of the referendum on same sex marriages that was to have been included in the December 2010 municipal elections. The court order was based on an appeal filed against the referendum. The Recurso Amparo (appeal) was presented by an individual identified only by the last names, Quirós Salazar, alleging that the referendum violates the rights and freedoms of individuals. The referendum was to have let the population decide the fate of a proposal for law that would allow same sex marriages in Costa Rica. Opponents to the referendum have argued that leaving the allowing the majority of the population (93%) which is heterosexual would be a constitutional violation of the 7% of the homosexual population.
The Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Carmichael
PO Box 60912
Carmichael, CA 95860 0912
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Dear Friends,
Enclosed with this letter you will find a number of books and things. Because I really don’t know what to do with them, nor do I want them anymore, I thought it best to give them to you to decide how to dispose of them in a respectful manner. The rest of my Baha’i library has been donated to the California State University-Sacramento library, much of which I imagine they will sell, as I was told there is little if any interest in the Baha’i collection at California State University, Sacramento.
As you are fully aware, the National Spiritual Assembly recently removed my administrative rights.Though I will always consider myself a Baha’i, this has given me great pause. I harbor serious reservations about being associated with any community that secretively hounds out its gay & lesbian members in such flagrant examples of dishonesty, homophobia and bigotry.My response is posted on my blog found at: http://revoked2.blogspot.com.
I recently attended the Pride Festival on the Capitol Mall, which took place just yards away from where the Master spoke and walked. Anybody walking amongst the many tables and informational booths would have been as impressed as I was by the many religious organizations, ministers and members of numerous congregations walking in the parade and inviting GLBT people to participate in their communities.These very same religions have identical if not similar teachings re: homosexuality, yet despite this are proving to be loving and welcoming to their gay & lesbian brothers and sisters.
So it is that I bid you all a less than fond farewell.Please remove my name from all mailings and notices, despite my core belief in Baha’u’llah, I cannot find it in myself to associate with such hateful people.Despite my deep disappointment in all of you, I assure you, that I carry no malice towards the Faith at large. I do however feel very, very sorry and ashamed of you all, and very sorry indeed for a Faith that once held so much hope and vision, that is now so mired in dysfunction, dishonesty and bigotry. It seems deeply sad that the capitol region of the richest most populous state in one the richest most powerful countries on earth cannot find in itself a way to garner a truly prominent presence here.I am convinced that the intolerance and outmoded practices I experience only continue to keep the Faith from gaining any stature what so ever in Sacramento.
No response to this letter is necessary, as there is little if anything neither you nor I can or will do to ameliorate this disgraceful set of circumstances. I wish you all luck, and hope that at some time in the future this community will live up to the promise the Blessed Beauty promised us all.
07/02/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire The Texas GOP has decided that it wants to violate the Constitution and go against the Supreme Court and recriminalize sodomy. Of course, as Stephen Colbert adroitly notes, it all depends on what kind of sodomy. After all, if you declare sodomy illegal, does that mean that straight people who engage in “God sanctioned” sodomy will have to also go to jail? Also, what about all those gays going to jail “where sodomy obviously does not happen”?
In last nights Threat Down, Colbert tackled the Texas GOP, the Spaghetti-O’s recall, AND Dawn Dish Soap, which, according to Colbert, causes oil spills.
Television's The View has a reputation for being one of the most gay-friendly programs around. Given this reputation, it makes it all the more surprising and frustrating that The View became ground zero this week for people to spread misinformation and ugly stereotypes about homosexuality and HIV. Gay Rights blogger Mike Jones writes that View host Sherri Shepherd made some unfortunate remarks blaming gay and bisexual African American men for exploding HIV rates among African American populations. But scientific evidence and the Centers for Disease Control say otherwise. Urge Shepherd and The View to retract these dangerous and homophobic comments, and have a thorough and accurate discussion about homosexuality and HIV in the African American community. Read more »
In 1997 when that special episode of the Ellen Show was airing across the country, the local affiliate invited me and a small group of lesbians to watch the show alongside a group of far right homophobes.
In particular I remember a pastor and his wife. I remember them well for two reasons 1) because he referenced his wife in every single sentence just to be sure no one mistook either of them for gay and 2) because of what happened right after the show ended.
So there we all were on opposite sides of a big conference room table. Our side was laughing way to hard at everything and they looked like a lemon had been sewn into their twisted mouths.
During commercial breaks the news reporter would ask our reaction to the show. They would say it was eroding the very foundation of society and we said it was very, very funny.
"Big things are changing for gay Americans. The President signed federal Hates Crimes legislation, directed new hospital visitation rights; spoke out during the State of the Union and the fought for an end to the ban on gays in the military. In addition, federal agencies are working hard behind the scenes and making huge differences for elder care and queer youth. These are historic firsts. [snip]
"For President Obama, the gay community is not simply a group to be won or table-captains to be counted on. He is fighting for equality because it is the right thing to do and I think he would act little different if he didn't have our support. Empirical evidence over the past months would seem to support this, as hecklers yelled at him at events; chained themselves to the White House and trashed him on the blogs. Through all this, the President stuck with us, while we will continued asking more of him. So I have a suggestion for our next direct-action. If anyone goes to a fundraiser to interrupt the President, I have a suggested shout. It goes like this, 'President Obama, Thank you. It's Pride season and we are very proud of you too!'" - Palm Center deputy executive director Christopher Neff, writing for Pam's House Blend.
"We will now ask the district court to rule on whether we are entitled to a special exemption, if we can prove traditional marriage supporters were targeted for harassment and intimidation. We believe there is more than ample evidence.
"What we have, since the adoption of Proposition 8, is a very transparent nationwide strategy by the gay activists to harass and intimidate, as a means to win their political agenda. There were literally hundreds of people who were subject to death threats, destruction of their property, theft, threat to their families or even fired from their jobs." - Protect Marriage Washington douchenozzle attorney James Bopp, reacting to last week's Supreme Court ruling that the signers of Referendum 71 petitions cannot remain secret.
Bopp is, of course, an Outrageous Christianist Liar™ . Not one single person was ever fired from their job due to Proposition 8 support. Not one. There were some petty property destruction incidents on both sides, largely limited to the theft of yard signs. And as for Bopp's claim of "literally hundreds" of death threats? More repulsive lies. Not one incident of a Prop 8-related death threat was ever cited by, as Good As You blogger Jeremy Hooper calls it, "credible news reporting." But the lies of James Bopp are quoted without question by Focus On The Family. This so-called "ample evidence" of his will be fascinating to see.
