Monday, August 13, 2012

Via JMG: Gayest Closing Ceremony EVAH



Pet Shop Boys, George Michael, openly bisexual Jessie J, and a full stadium singalong with Freddie Mercury on center-stage screens. I don't think we could have asked for much more.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: "Ex-Gay" Group PFOX: It's Fascist To Stop Us From Our Fascist Torture Of Gay Kids



Parent & Friends Of "Ex-Gays" are predictably quivering with anger over California's proposed bill to ban the torture and brainwashing of LGBT children. PFOX writes to the bill's main sponsor, CA Sen. Ted Lieu:
Sponsoring legislation endorsed by the gay lobby to ensure that children only receive gay-affirming therapy is an act of childhood endangerment and an unconstitutional attempt to deny parental rights everywhere, but especially for parents in California and those in your Torrance district. Your bill will turn California into a nanny state by usurping the civil rights of parents who support their child's right to receive therapy for unwanted same-sex attractions, especially when that child has been sexually molested. This smacks of fascism and ex-gay bashing. As parents of gays and ex-gays, we are ashamed of your willingness to take action against parents, children, and the family in order to support gay activists. It is people like you who endanger children, and not their parents, whom you wish to dictate on how they raise their own children. California is not a socialist state and our children do not belong to the government, subject to the ideology of the state over the objections of their parents.
PFOX's letter is illustrated with a CDC graph on AIDS, of course. Last week the bill passed out its Assembly committee and must be approved by the full chamber before heading back to the Senate (where it's already been approved) for concurrence. It then would head to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown, who has as yet not indicated his stance on the bill.

RELATED: Several major "ex-gay" figures have recently confessed that "reparative therapy" does not work, earning them the condemnation of their former colleagues in child abuse.


Reposted from Joe

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

Is it right to out an anti-gay evangelical leader who's a closet case?

Youbetcha.I laud Azariah Southworth (for his name, first of all, and) for even worrying about the outing. It's what separates us from the bad guys, be they Republican or evangelical (or both) - we actually think and worry about our actions. He was 100% right to out this young man who is a...
 
 
Me too... if someone wants to be in the closet and sys nothing of harm, OK... but the moment they work against GLbT rights and yet live a closeted  gay life... it is open season.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Via One Million Strong Against Mitt Romney in 2012 / FB:


Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 12, 2012

What You're Made Of

So we may well ask, what exactly are we? This is a question that, in this meditation, we can consider experientially rather than through discursive thought. Rather than try to work out an answer in logical terms, we simply ask the question, and sit, and listen patiently for the heart’s intuitive response.
- Bodhipaksa, "What You're Made Of"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through August 14th, 2012
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Read Article

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Via Washington Blade: Dems approve marriage-equality inclusive platform

A committee of more than 100 Democrats unanimously approved on Saturday a version of their party’s platform that includes a plank endorsing marriage equality as well as other pro-LGBT language.

The full platform committee, which consists of around 120 Democrats, gave the OK to the manifesto following a meeting in Detroit, Mich., that was chaired by retired Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, the first woman to reach the rank of three-star general, and Newark Mayor Cory Booker. During the several hour long meeting, members offered views on principles to advocate for within the party and proposed amendments to the platform.

Language on marriage equality — which is being included in the Democratic Party platform for the first time — was accepted without amendment and without significant discussion.

Read the full article here

Thank you President Obama


JMG Quote Of The Day - Bristol Palin


"While I’m excited and thankful to be returning to Dancing With The Stars, not everyone is thrilled I’m coming back. When the new contestants participated in a panel discussion for the Television Critics Association’s summer tour, the critics’ disdain for me was obvious. While they asked many questions (or, really, just a few questions over and over), only one stands out in my mind: Would I mind dancing with a gay dance partner? [snip] In their simplistic minds, the fact that I’m a Christian, that I believe in God’s plan for marriage, means that I must hate gays and must hate to even be in their presence. Well, they were right about one thing: there was hate in that media room, but the hate was theirs, not mine." - Bristol Palin, who says she'd be happy to have a gay dance partner with no civil rights.


Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 11, 2012

The Undoing of Desire

Buddhism teaches us that desire, for all the agony and ecstasy, is no match for the truth.
- Joan Duncan Oliver, "Drink And A Man"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through August 13th, 2012
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Read Article

2 fro JMG: Ryan

ACLU Denounces Paul Ryan


The morning the ACLU sent out a blistering denouncement of Rep. Paul Ryan's track record on LGBT rights and civil liberties. Via press release:
In response to Mitt Romney’s announcement of his vice presidential pick of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the American Civil Liberties Union Liberty Watch 2012 campaign this morning released a brief report that reveals an appalling civil liberties record for Ryan.

The report finds that Ryan, the congressman representing Wisconsin’s 1st District, holds almost uniformly harmful views on five key civil liberties issues including a humane immigration policy, LGBT equality, reproductive rights, torture and indefinite detention and fair voting access.

The report is based on the white paper released by ACLU Liberty Watch 2012. “Paul Ryan may end up a heartbeat away from the presidency but he’ll be light years from civil liberties,” said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU executive director. “Paired with Romney’s already-abysmal record on civil liberties, Ryan’s positions only take this ticket further from the vision of our founding fathers.”
Read the ACLU's brief on Ryan.

 

Tweet Of The Day - Mitt Romney



Reposted from Joe

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

Pope no longer opposed to condoms, kind of

Good, but at the same time, whatever. Telegraph:After decades of fierce opposition to the use of all contraception, the Pontiff has ended the Church’s absolute ban on the use of condoms.He said it was acceptable to use a prophylactic when the sole intention was to “reduce the risk of...

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

What is Paul Ryan's position on gay rights?

Absolutely awful. He voted once for ENDA, then turned around and voted against it (likely when the religious right got a hold of him). That's it. Otherwise he's been terrible on everything.Ryan is expected to be Romney's VP choice at an announcement today in Virginia.From Paul Schindler at...
 

Friday, August 10, 2012

Via BeliefNet:

Daily Buddhist Wisdom






Without love we could not survive. Human beings are social creatures, and a concern for each other is the very basis of our life together.
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 10, 2012

In Dialogue with Our Desires

Although desires can be remarkably stubborn, they share a goal—happiness—and this can form the common ground for an effective dialogue: If a desire doesn’t really produce happiness, it contradicts its reason for being.
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "Pushing the Limits"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through August 12th, 2012
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Read Article

Via America Blog Gay:

German court gives tax benefit to gay couples

CNN:Germany's constitutional court has strengthened the rights of gay and lesbian couples, giving them a same tax benefit as heterosexual married couples.The ruling, which came Wednesday, comes as the country is mired in an escalating debate on the status of homosexual partnerships.The...
 

Via America Blog Gay:

French Catholic church says gays are pedophiles, tries to veto marriage in France

The Catholic church. That bastion of pedophilia, and pedophile-enablers - to this day - now claims to be worried about the welfare of children. That's why the Catholic church has yet to fully fess up to its role in enabling the rape of children across the world for decades, if not millennia. ...
 
 
My comment: "how dare they!"


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Via JMG: Democrats Release Proposed Language For Convention Marriage Equality Plank


As always, Chris Geidner has the scoop:
We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.

We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
Geidner notes that the group that created the above language is different from the one that will be voting on it at the convention. Should the plank pass out of the convention committee, it must then be voted upon by the delegates.


Reposted from Joe

Via Beliefnet:


Daily Buddhist Wisdom






To my mind, democracy is more compassionate, more harmonious, more friendly than any other system. It respects others' rights and considers others equally as human brothers and sisters. Although you might disagree with them, you have to respect their wishes.
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama



Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 9, 2012

Meditation Needs Morality

If you are not leading a morally upright life, you cannot expect to sit down on a little pillow and find yourself secluded from sense desires, secluded from unwholesome states of mind. If there is not sufficient morality, there is too much to desire, too much hate or fear, too much to worry about.
- Leigh Brasington, "A Mind Pure, Concentrated, and Bright"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through August 11th, 2012
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Read Article