Sunday, May 20, 2012

Via JMG: NAACP Endorses Marriage Equality


MAJOR news today. The board of directors of the NAACP has voted to officially endorse same-sex marriage. Reactions from other civil rights groups will be added to the bottom of this post as they arrive.
“The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure the political, social and economic equality of all people,” board chair Roslyn M. Brock said in a statement following passage of the resolution on Saturday. “We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law.”The chairman emeritus, Julian Bond, had already pledged his support earlier this week as part of a coalition of black leaders trying to tamp down speculation that Obama’s support of gay marriage would divide the black community.

The resolution and statement Saturday specifically noted that the group supports “civil marriage” for same sex couples, while respecting religious freedom -- something the president also mentioned when announcing his stance. “Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law,” NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous said in the statement. “The NAACP’s support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and equal protection of all people.”
Here is the text of the resolution:
The NAACP Constitution affirmatively states our objective to ensure the “political, education, social and economic equality” of all people. Therefore, the NAACP has opposed and will continue to oppose any national, state, local policy or legislative initiative that seeks to codify discrimination or hatred into the law or to remove the Constitutional rights of LGBT citizens. We support marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Further, we strongly affirm the religious freedoms of all people as protected by the First Amendment.
National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
This is truly a historic moment as the NAACP — the nation’s oldest civil rights organization — takes an official and unequivocal stand for marriage equality. As the country’s oldest national LGBT rights group, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force could not be more thrilled. We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the NAACP working together on the many issues that affect all of our lives. Whether it be fair access to education and jobs, an end to voter suppression and racial profiling, the right to love and be who we are free of discrimination — these issues affect all of us, our families and our country. Today the NAACP did what it does so well — inspires and affirms our common humanity.
Freedom To Marry
The NAACP has long been the nation's conscience and champion for an America where all share equally in the promise of liberty and justice for all. Today the NAACP resoundingly affirmed that the freedom to marry is a civil right and family value that belongs to all of us, and that discriminatory barriers to marriage must fall. The toxic tactics of anti-gay groups like NOM to 'drive a wedge between blacks and gays' will be washed away in the wave of righteous affirmation.
Human Rights Campaign
We could not be more pleased with the NAACP’s history-making vote today – which is yet another example of the traction marriage equality continues to gain in every community. It’s time the shameful myth that the African-American community is somehow out of lockstep with the rest of the country on marriage equality is retired - once and for all. The facts and clear momentum toward marriage speak for themselves. NOM has pursued ugly racial politics seeking to divide people, but what is becoming crystal clear is that its strategy is not working. Americans from all walks of life are uniting to support love, commitment, and stronger families.
GLAAD
"For more than 103 years, the NAACP has been a leading advocate and a voice for members of marginalized communities. Today’s announcement represents their continued stance against the discrimination that LGBT families face. We applaud President Ben Jealous and the NAACP Board of Directors for their leadership on this issue," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "Across races, faith traditions, and political persuasions, a majority of our culture recognizes that denying gay couples the chance at happiness that comes with being married is unfair and un-American.”
National Black Justice Coalition
“As a Life Member of the NAACP, I am happy to see the organization join the President of the United States in ‘evolving’ and follow the powerful example of civil rights icons and Black voices like Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, Julian Bond, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and others who have said committed LGBT couples and families deserve the same protections as everyone else,” says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and CEO. “Family is the epicenter of Black life, community and culture. For Black LGBT people, its importance is just as great.”
Marriage Equality USA
"The NAACP has an unbroken history of standing up for civil rights for all Americans, right up through their stand against the discriminatory Amendment 1 in North Carolina, and now today’s historic vote affirming marriage equality for all loving and committed couples,” said Stuart Gaffney, MEUSA Media Director. “Standing together from coast-to-coast with allies such as the NAACP is what is going to make the dream of marriage equality for all loving and committed couples a reality.”

Reposted from Joe

Via FB: Yes YOU ARE!!!!


Via Enough Is Enough: the blog page / FB:


Via FB:


Via ॐ Blue Buddha Quote Collective:

There is no fire like greed,
No crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation,
No sickness like hunger of heart,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.

Health, contentment and trust
Are your greatest possessions,
And freedom your greatest joy.

Look within. Be still.

Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of living in the way.


from the Dhammapada, Words of the Buddha

Via Wipe Out Homophobia / FB:

Via BBC World Service: God and Gays - Bridging the Gulf

  1. Heart And Soul
  2. Episodes
  3. Available now on BBC iPlayer
(1 - 30 of 188 programmes)
  1. God and Gays - Bridging the Gulf


    Is there a third way to resolve the debate over how the church should treat homosexuals?
     
    More:
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    (28 minutes)

    Is there a third way to resolve the debate over how the church should treat homosexuals?

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 20, 2012

A New Way of Observation

It is because our way of observing things is deeply rooted in our self-centered ideas that we are disappointed when we find everything has only a tentative existence. But when we actually realize this truth, we will have no suffering.
- Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, "The Heart Sutra: Translations and Commentary"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via America Blog Gay:

NAACP comes out in favor of marriage equality

This is a big, and long-awaited, deal. Today, the board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People endorsed the rights of same-sex couples to marry, stating in a resolution that the national civil-rights organization "support[s] marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States...

Via ॐ Blue Buddha Quote Collective:


May we touch the hearts of others today.

* Namaste *
‎"Be content
with what you have,
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize
there is nothing lacking,
the whole world
belongs to you."

~Lao Tzu

Please do not break this link...
You are welcome to share, but please make sure this link is passed on so that credit will be given to its source and the artist who designed this print...

Link to Healing Lotus Art Print:
http://www.zazzle.com/healing_lotus_art_print_poster-228819270209387929?rf=238482003523136012

Via Facebook:


Saturday, May 19, 2012

Via Facebook:


James Madison:


Bigotry...


Via Facebook:

Within my mind
I live on a small blue planet.
Everyone seems far away,
No one seems close.
Everywhere is blackness,
Yet abundant life consumes each moment.
I wish and hope
Everyone could see this blue fragile life
Floating in the blackness—
Next time they miss the bus,
Next time they forget to look and smile.

We are floating on a blue dot–

We should all be frightfully concerned.
No matter what you think, what I think,
We will always be on this blue dot,
Unless we are the masters of darkness
Or the emperors of blackness.

Look at each other–

Be kind
Stop
Look up
See blue.
That color came from somewhere.
It could be another color if we don’t play our cards right.
Our worst enemies we should hold,
Because even they love blue.


The Sakyong, Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 19, 2012

Zen Management

You deal with your shit in Zen by sitting with it. By breathing right into it. You don’t try and ignore it with pleasant thoughts or lofty ideas, and you don’t try and bury it with solutions. You deal with it, you work with it, one breath at a time.
- Steve Krieger, "Growing Ground"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Friday, May 18, 2012

Via JMG: Maryland OK's Gay Divorce


You can't yet get gay-married in Maryland, but you can get gay-divorced.
The Court of Appeals ruled 7-0 that couples who have a valid marriage from another state can divorce in Maryland. The case involved two women who were married in California and denied a divorce in 2010 by a Maryland judge. “A valid out-of-state same-sex marriage should be treated by Maryland courts as worthy of divorce, according to the applicable statues, reported cases, and court rules of this state,” the court concluded in a 21-page ruling. It said Maryland courts should withhold recognition of a valid foreign marriage only if that marriage is “repugnant” to state public policy. The court says the threshold is a high bar that has not been met in the case that it ruled on.

Reposted from Joe

JMG Europe Marriage Map



With France to join shortly, it appears. Via Wikipedia.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: MALAWI: New President Vows To Decriminalize Homosexuality


Sit down, there's good news from Africa.
President Joyce Banda has said she wants Malawi to overturn its ban on homosexual acts - the first African country to do so since 1994. Two Malawian men were sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2010 after saying they were getting married. Several Western leaders have recently said they would cut aid to countries which did not recognise gay rights. In her first state of the nation address to parliament, Mrs Banda said: "Some laws which were duly passed by the august house... will be repealed as a matter of urgency... these include the provisions regarding indecent practices and unnatural acts." The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in the main city, Blantyre, says the president has the support of a majority of MPs and so should be able to get parliament to overturn the law.
Religious groups are expected to loudly oppose Banda's plan.


Reposted from Joe