Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Via Bilerico: How Obama's 'Evolution' on Marriage May Help Us


Darwin_fish.jpgHave we stopped to consider how Obama's "evolution" on marriage has benefitted us in media and public consciousness? By having this process of "evolving" on marriage, the media has kept a spotlight on the marriage debate in a way they likely would not have if he'd just kept his mouth shut or if he'd just come out in support of marriage and been done.

We know that most people don't sit around every day thinking about same-sex marriage or any other LGBT issues. With Obama's position on marriage still up in the air, every time something on the ground changes, you can be sure a question about the President's position on marriage equality will come up in a White House press briefing. This gives the people who are sitting on the fence the space to think, as well as someone they can relate to in the process - the President of the United States, no less. This is not a small thing.

Make the jump her to continue reading

Repassando: Homofobia na escola cresce 160% em SP

Estudo baseado no ENEM diz que há um aumento 160% da homofobia nas escolas.
Paraná  e  segundo  estado  mais  Homofóbico.

Toni Reis

Toni Reis
O ESTADO DE S. PAULO - SP | VIDA
LGBT
19/06/2011

Homofobia na escola cresce 160% em SP

Estudo feito com base em questionário do Enem, de 2004 a 2008, expõe discriminação 

Isis Brum - O Estado de S.Paulo
É mais com raiva que saudade que o tradutor e editor de livros Alexandre Camarú, de 41 anos, lembra do ensino médio. Naquele período, foi perseguido e humilhado por colegas de sala e professores por ser gay. Foram tempos difíceis no ambiente escolar, de exclusão e angústia, que o tempo não ajudou a reduzir - não para os adolescentes homossexuais. 

Um levantamento inédito, feito com base no questionário socioeconômico do Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (Enem), entre 2004 e 2008, mostra um crescimento de 160% no número de pessoas que se declararam vítimas de homofobia no Estado de São Paulo. 

O índice é superior à média do País, cujo aumento foi de 150%, e coloca o Estado na lista dos cinco mais homofóbicos do Brasil - atrás de Santa Catarina (211%), Paraná (175%), Rio Grande do Norte (162,5%) e Alagoas (164,7%). 

Em 2004, 1,5% dos estudantes paulistas afirmou ter sofrido preconceito por causa de sua orientação sexual. Quatro anos depois, o porcentual passou para 3,9%. Foram analisadas as respostas de 6,4 milhões de estudantes concluintes do ensino médio, com idades entre 16 e 25 anos, que prestaram o Enem entre 2004 e 2008. Após esse ano, as questões relativas à homofobia foram retiradas dos questionários. 

Mais denúncias. Para especialistas em diversidade sexual, o aumento da homofobia está relacionado à maior consciência da discriminação por parte das vítimas - o que faz aumentar as denúncias. 

Outra hipótese relaciona o crescimento da discriminação ao maior número de adolescentes que assumem a sua homossexualidade desde cedo. 

"Esse é um problema de influência de vários níveis, de como a escola se organiza e da cultura", afirma Josafá Cunha, da Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste (Unicentro), um dos pesquisadores. "A reação dos nossos colegas nos ajuda a saber que comportamentos estão corretos e quais não são tolerados pela sociedade. As crianças adotam esses valores como reflexo da cultura e os replicam na escola", continua. 

O problema é que a discriminação e a violência causada pela intolerância à diversidade sexual fazem da escola um ambiente muito menos acolhedor. Em uma escala de zero a dez pontos, a percepção da qualidade do ensino foi, em média, meio ponto maior entre os que não relataram perseguição homofóbica. 

Vítimas relatam anos de sofrimento
Isis Brum - O Estado de S.Paulo 

Ainda criança, quando nem sabia o que eram sexualidade e desejo, Alexandre Camarú, de 41 anos, sentia atração pelos meninos e não entendia, ao mesmo tempo, por que era "tão diferente" deles. 

Os anos da pré-adolescência não foram "idílicos", mas não chegaram a ser sofríveis como os dois primeiros anos do ensino médio, em uma escola particular da capital paulista, onde estudou com bolsa. 

"Os meninos da sala eram homofóbicos. E dois deles, especialmente, eram piores. Mas tinha ao menos um professor que fazia piada sobre mim na sala de aula", conta o tradutor e editor.
Dois colegas furtaram seus passes e documentos. Foi o único alvo da sala durante o intervalo. Foi a gota d"água para pedir transferência para uma instituição da rede estadual.
"Mas o pior preconceito que enfrentei foi com o meu pai. Faz 20 anos que não nos falamos. Ele simplesmente me excluiu da família", conta. 

O editor de vídeos D.M.A., de 24 anos, também era vítima das piadas dos colegas de escola. "Eu queria ser como eles e tentava ser igual, para conviver com os outros garotos", relembra D, que pediu para ter sua identidade preservada. "Mas era totalmente excluído e não entendia o porquê", afirma. 

Depois de passar alguns anos sofrendo calado as humilhações por causa de sua orientação sexual, D. se rebelou. Assumiu-se HOMOSSEXUAL e passou a se defender das agressões verbais com a mesma intensidade com que as recebia. 

As recordações dos tempos de colégio, para ele, também não são das melhores. "Olho para trás e não sinto falta de nada. Vejo o D. de antes e sinto pena daquele garoto inocente e indefeso", conclui.
"As escolas precisam ensinar o valor das pessoas não por serem gays ou lésbicas, mas como humanos, simplesmente", defende Josafá Cunha, professor do Departamento de Psicologia da Unicentro. 

Capacitação. Para Araci Asinelli, professora de pós-graduação em Educação na Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), "a escola e os professores têm um papel preponderante na formação da personalidade". Por isso, "é preciso olhar para os professores e capacitá-los", diz. 

"As escolas devem ensinar que a única diferença entre homos e heterossexuais é a orientação do desejo", afirma Sandra Vasques, psicóloga e coordenadora de projetos do Instituto Kaplan, especializado em sexualidade humana.

Via JMG: NOM's League Of Bigots


You must click over to Good As You for Jeremy Hooper's excellent bigot-by-bigot breakdown of the fuckweasels in this photograph and all the repulsive, horrible, lying bullshit they've said about LGBT people.


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: From The Top Enlisted Marine


"Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is pretty simple. It says, 'Raise an army.' It says absolutely nothing about race, color, creed, sexual orientation. You all joined for a reason: to serve. To protect our nation, right? How dare we, then, exclude a group of people who want to do the same thing you do right now, something that is honorable and noble? Right? Get over it. We’re magnificent, we’re going to continue to be. Let’s just move on, treat everybody with firmness, fairness, dignity, compassion and respect. Let’s be Marines." - Command Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Michael Barrett, speaking to troops in South Korea.


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reposted from Joe

HRC's NYers for Marriage Equality

Via JMG: WI Judge Upholds Domestic Partners


Saying the system does not violate the state's ban on same-sex marriage, a judge has upheld Wisconsin's domestic partners registry.
Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser ruled that the 2009 law does not create a legal status for partners that is identical or substantially similar to that of marriage and therefore it does not violate the constitutional ban approved by voters in 2006. “The state does not recognize domestic partnership in a way that even remotely resembles how the state recognizes marriage,” Moeser said in the ruling. “Moreover, domestic partners’ have far fewer legal rights, duties, and liabilities in comparison to the legal rights, duties, and liabilities of spouses.”
The anti-gay Christian group that brought the suit says they will now appeal to the state Supreme Court.


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Marriage Is Between One Man And One Child Less Than One-Third His Age


Sixteen year-old aspiring country singer Courtney Stodden has married actor Doug Hutchinson, 51, whom you may recall played the weasely Percy Wetmore in The Green Mile. The happy couple plans a champagne toast to their nuptials in five years when the bride reaches drinking age.

(Tipped by JMG reader Blair)


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Rise Against - Make It Stop

An awesome pop-rock track against gay bullying made in collaboration with the It Gets Better Project. Featuring a cameo by Dan Savage.




reposted from Joe

Via Gay Politics Report: Does President Obama favor marriage equality?

President Barack Obama has not publicly announced his support for marriage equality but says that his views on the subject are evolving; some insiders say that, privately, Obama has never opposed same-sex couples getting married. The latest comments came after Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, mistakenly told a convention of progressive bloggers that Obama did not personally fill out a 1996 questionnaire in which he expressed support for marriage equality. Aides said Obama believed at the time he was expressing support for civil unions, which the president continues to back.  

The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (6/18) LinkedInFacebookTwitterEmail this Story

Via GetEqual

Across civil rights movements of the past, the freedom to marry has been a stepping stone on the path toward full legal equality. Of course, there are many other such stepping stones -- employment non-discrimination, full and open access to public accommodations, open military service, etc. -- but marriage has always provided a strategic opening for more and greater civil rights for marginalized groups.
We're on the verge of a perfect storm this week in New York and we need your help to push for a few key wins this week...
New York State is in the eye of the storm for a few key reasons:
  • First, there is a marriage equality bill pending in the state Senate, but which is being held hostage by anti-LGBT forces that are using President Obama's own reticence to embrace marriage equality as a way to override the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers who support the freedom to marry.
  • Second, President Obama is holding a giant LGBT fundraiser in New York City, but hasn't publicly stated that he favors the freedom to marry for LGBT folks...stating instead that his position on marriage equality is "evolving."
  • And, third, New York City's Pride is this weekend -- in just a matter of days, hundreds of thousands of LGBT folks and allies will be in town to celebrate the anniversary of Stonewall and of our tradition of standing up for our rights.
It's time for the President to evolve already. And, here is our plan to help push for that to happen:
First, please sign the petition that Freedom To Marry has created, asking the President to "Say I Do" to marriage equality. There are over 111,000 signatures on the petition so far, and we want to keep adding signatures in order to keep adding pressure on the President. We'll take that message with us as we stand outside the President's fundraiser on Thursday (more below):
Second, help us to put more pressure on the President by following us on Twitter at @GetEQUAL. We'll be launching a Twitter campaign shortly in order to keep the pressure on and make it clear to the White House that anything less than full support for marriage equality is unacceptable. And we're joining with AMERICAblog Gay to push the President to #evolvealready over the next few days.
Third, we'll be in New York City on Thursday at the President's fundraiser and we hope you'll either join us yourself or ask your friends to join us there. You can find information on the rally at:
We hope that, through this public pressure, we'll be able to move the President to understand that he's falling behind the majority of Americans who see marriage equality as a key civil right for LGBT Americans. Through this pressure, we hope that President Obama, before cashing those checks, will think twice about how he can help make the lives of those check writers better with just two words:
"I do."
Of course, marriage isn't the only vital piece of legislation moving through the New York legislature right now. GENDA (Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act) passed the Assembly, but is stuck in the Senate. We encourage you to exercise your voice by making calls and adding feedback to the whip count over at Act On Principles: http://www.actonprinciples.org/gendanysenate/.
Get Out! Get Active! GetEQUAL!
Robin McGehee, Director

Via JMG: Tomorrow In Albany!




reposted from Joe

The Juliettes "Hooray You're Gay"



HoorayYoureGay(.com) is the first international release from The Juliettes, Seattle's favorite all-woman, Pump Rock band. 100% of net proceeds will benefit equality education and at-risk gay youth. The Juliettes celebrate you.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Lixo Extraordinário (2010) - TRAILER OFICIAL

CNN - NY Gay Couple Waiting 61 Years To Marry

Via JMG: Lichtenstein Approves Civil Unions


Voters in the tiny nation of Lichtenstein have approved a version of civil unions for LGBT couples.
Gay and lesbian couples will receive the same tax, inheritance and welfare rights as come with marriage following a referendum in which 68 percent supported the law, Swiss news agency ATS reported. Parliament had all but adopted the legislation earlier this year but its critics, the group Vox Populi, called for a public poll. The new law is based on the Swiss model which came into effect in 2007 and therefore excludes the right to adopt children. "With this clear 'yes' to partnerships, Liechtenstein... is putting an end to the current discrimination faced by same-sex couples," ATS quoted Prime Minister Klaus Tschuetscher as saying.
Lichtenstein has a population of about 35,000.


reposted from Joe

"It Gets Better: CBS Employees"

Perform This Way (Parody of "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga)

Via JMG: MICHIGAN: State Court Of Appeals Rules Against "Gay Panic" As Defense Claim


A little common sense out of the Michigan Court of Appeals (PDF):
This case arises from the beating of Ryan Young. In the early morning hours of June 11, 2009, Young was celebrating his birthday with friends at a local bar. Defendant was also at the bar. Young did not know defendant, but defendant joined Young and his friends at their table and defendant and Young talked and became acquainted. At about 3:30 a.m., Young and defendant were dropped off at Young's apartment. Young testified that he went into his bedroom to change and asked defendant: "did you want to do anything or did you just want to go to bed," to which defendant responded: "yeah, I'm going to do something you fucking faggot."

Young testified that defendant choked him "so bad" that he "could not get away from him" and Young thought he was going to die because defendant "wouldn't get off me and just stop punching me." Young believed that he was fighting for his life. Young remembered defendant cutting off his oxygen until he passed out and that, when he came to, defendant was "just still bashing my face in" until he went unconscious again. Young believed defendant hit him "a good 30 times." According to Young, he never tried to touch defendant and neither of them ever fell asleep-except when Young went unconscious from the assault. Young testified that there was no discussion about flipping the television on or anything and that he believed this was because defendant had the assault already planned.
Read the full court ruling at the above link.

(Via - Pam Spaulding)


reposted from Joe

Cubs and ItGetsBetter.org