Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Why The New ‘Obama Gay Marriage Support Is A Wash’ Meme Is Wrong | The New Civil Rights Movement


The New Civil Rights Movement shared a link.
 
A new poll claims Obama’s support for gay marriage hasn’t had any affect on his polling numbers. Here’s why that meme is wrong.

JMG Headline Of The Day


Blame it on Obama!


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Brown Vs Savage: Duel Update


Dan Savage has set the time and place for the one-on-one debate that NOM's Brian Brown challenged him to earlier this month. Per this week's Savage Love podcast, Dan has invited Brown and his wife to a dinner at his Seattle home with Dan and his husband, where New York Times columnist Mark Oppenheimer, who has previously interviewed both parties, has agreed to moderate the discussion. I've just spoken to Dan by phone and he tells me that the event will be filmed with the tentative plan to upload the debate to YouTube "in its entirety and without edits." The exact date is not yet known, but Savage suggested some time in June. Stand by for Brian Brown's reaction to the invitation.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Photo Of The Day


JMG reader Aaron Heier writes: "It's happening. The street sign is up & ready for the unveiling just outside of the San Diego LGBT Community Center today at 5PM. It's the first Harvey Milk Street ever."


Reposted from Joe

Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau


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Via HimalayaCrafts:


“We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.” - Buddha
 

Via Follower of the Buddha



 
No one can escape death and unhappiness. If people expect only happiness in life, they will be disappointed.
The Buddha
Namo Buddhaya Namo Dharmaya Namo Sanghaya སངས་རྒྱས་ཆོས་དང་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་མཆོག་རྣམས་ལ། Sang-gye cho-dang tsog-kyi cho-nam-la I take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha 諸佛正法眾中尊 བྱང་ཆུབ་བར་དུ་བདག་ནི་སྐྱབས་སུ་མཆི། Jang-chub bar-du dag-ni kyab-su-chi Until I attain enlightenment. 直至菩提我歸依དག་གིས་སྦྱིན་སོགས་བགྱིས་པའི་བསོད་ན...མས་ཀྱིས། Dag-gi jin-sog gyi-pe so-nam-kyi By the merit I have accumulated from practising generosity and the other perfections 我以所行施等善འགྲོ་ལ་ཕན་ཕྱིར་སངས་རྒྱས་འགྲྲུབ་པར་ཤོག །། Dro-la pan-chir sang-gye drub-par-shog May I attain enlightenment, for the benefit of all migrators. 為利眾生願成佛  
 

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 22, 2012

Seeing Clearly

What does seeing clearly mean? It doesn’t mean that you look at something and analyze it, noting all its composite parts; no. When you see clearly, when you look at a flower and really see it, the flower sees you. It’s not that the flower has eyes, of course. It’s that the flower is no longer just a flower, and you are no longer just you.
- Maurine Stuart, "Our One and Only Commandment"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Monday, May 21, 2012

Via JMG: Delaware AG Beau Biden: My Dad Spoke From The Heart And I Support Him


"My dad spoke from the heart. I'm incredibly proud of what he said. I'm even more proud of what the president said as it relates to making sure that this is a fundamental civil rights issue. It's a civil rights issue. It's something that people in my state, in Delaware, and everywhere I go are incredibly proud of the stance that the president has taken on a matter of equality. At a moment we're sending people to defend our nation – whether they be gay or straight – to not allow them to have the same rights that we all have on the home front just doesn't make sense." - Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, interviewed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer.


Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 21, 2012

Integrity

Without your integrity, you are merely a succession of meaningless moments, always vanishing.
- Franz Metcalf and BJ Gallagher, "Mindful Work"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

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
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  1. God and Gays - Bridging the Gulf


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