JMG HomoQuotable - Frank Bruni

"Seneca Falls, Selma, Stonewall. The alliteration of that litany made it seem obvious and inevitable, a bit of poetry just there for the taking. Just waiting to happen. But it has waited a long time. And President Obama’s use of it in his speech on Monday — his grouping of those three places and moments in one grand and musical sentence — was bold and beautiful and something to hear. It spoke volumes about the progress that gay Americans have made over the four years between his first inauguration and this one, his second. It also spoke volumes about the progress that continues to elude us. [snip]

 "Despite our strides, gay and lesbian couples even now can marry only in nine states and the District of Columbia. The federal government doesn’t recognize those weddings, meaning that in terms of taxes, military benefits and matters of immigration, it treats gays and lesbians differently than it treats other Americans. It relegates us to an inferior class. The Supreme Court could soon change, or validate, that. There are relevant cases before it. For his part Obama could show less deference to states’ rights, be more insistent about what’s just and necessary coast-to-coast, and push for federal protections against employment discrimination when it comes to L.G.B.T. Americans. His actions over the next four years could fall wholly in line with Monday’s trailblazing words. My hope is real, and grateful, and patient." - Frank Bruni, writing for the New York Times.

Labels: Frank Bruni, HomoQuotable, Inauguration Day

Reposted from Joe

Via LifeBetweenTheEyes / FB:

Via JMG: SF Gay Bar Gains Landmark Status

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors last week voted unanimously to grant landmark status to the Twin Peaks bar in the Castro. Here's a reminder of why Twin Peaks is so historic:

In 1972, when Mary Ellen Cunha and Peggy Forster threw open the doors and uncovered the windows at Twin Peaks Tavern on the corner of Castro and Market streets, they didn't know they were making history. But four decades later, the bar that has sat both literally and figuratively at the center of San Francisco's gay rights movement and community is now a historic landmark. Twin Peaks Tavern, which first opened in 1935 but was purchased by Cunha and Forster in 1971, is believed to be the first gay bar in the nation to feature full-length, open plate glass windows that let its patrons look out, and more importantly, the public look in. The lesbian friends, known to most regulars as "the girls," opened the bar to the world at a time when many gays still feared losing their jobs or being socially ostracized if their sexual orientation was revealed. It has now survived for 40 years as one of the Castro district's most memorable and welcoming establishments.

Labels: nightlife, San Francisco, The Castro

Reposted from Joe

Via ॐ Blue Buddha Quote Collective / FB:

‎"Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone."

~ The Dhammapada


Image Source: Bing

ॐ Blue Buddha Quote Collective

Via Gay Politics Report:

• Historic call for equality at Obama inauguration
  President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to use the word “gay” in an inaugural address yesterday, saying the nation’s journey toward a more perfect union will not be complete "until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law." In a reference to marriage rights for same-sex couples, Obama said, "if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well." That line may signal that the administration is about to weigh in on a pending case at the Supreme Court that could determine whether the Constitution guarantees the right of same-sex couples to marry. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (1/21), Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model) (1/21), CNN/Political Ticker blog (1/21), Metro Weekly (Washington, D.C.)/Poliglot (1/21)     

• Gay poet followed by pro-gay priest at inauguration: Openly gay poet Richard Blanco mentioned Americans “arrayed like rainbows” in his official inaugural poem. He was followed by Washington, D.C., marriage equality champion the Rev. Dr. Luis Leon, whose benediction prayer included a reference to gays. Washington Blade (Washington, D.C.) (1/21)     

• Lesbian and Gay Band Association marches in Inaugural Parade: About 240 musicians from 32 LGBT bands across the country marched past President Obama's reviewing stand at yesterday's inaugural parade. Towleroad (1/22)     

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 22, 2013

Transcending our own Views

If we take something to be the truth, we may cling to it so much that even if the truth comes and knocks at our door, we won't want to let it in. We have to be able to transcend our previous knowledge the way we climb up a ladder. If we are on the fifth rung and think that we are very high, there is no hope for us to step up to the sixth. We must learn to transcend our own views.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, “The Heart Sutra”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 23rd, 2013
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Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	It is hard to be born as a human being and hard to live the life of one. It is even harder to hear of the path and harder still to awake, to rise, and to follow. Yet the teaching is simple: "Cease to do evil, learn to do good. And purify your mind." - Dhammapada More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via We survived Bush. You will survive Obama./ FB:

Images

Via Day Of Tikkun / FB:

Via Loja Sobre Budismo:

JMG T:eets Of The Day

Labels: American history, Barack Obama, Inauguration Day, Stonewall

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: President Obama's Inauguration Speech

Joe wrote: Never before has a president mentioned us in an inauguration speech.

Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

Labels: American history, Barack Obama, Inauguration Day, LGBT History, LGBT rights, Stonewall

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: LGBT Groups Praise President Obama's Inaugural Call For Full Equality

Freedom To Marry

In his second Inaugural today, President Obama traced the moral arc from Seneca Falls to Selma to Stonewall, and rightly exalted the struggle for the freedom to marry as part of America's moral commitment to equality, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom to Marry applauds our president and the moral leadership he has shown, the moral leadership we will continue to need until all Americans, all loving couples, all families, can share fully in the American promise we celebrate on Inauguration Day.

National Gay & LesbianTask Force

We couldn’t agree more. It’s now time for the president — and for all of us — to finish the job of ensuring that every American gets a fair shake. President Obama has repeatedly shown he is willing to fight for us. We have another four years to keep the momentum going, and will be vigilant in pursuing policies to ensure our community is not left behind. This includes pushing for federal LGBT employment protections, ending the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, combating HIV/ADS, preserving a social safety net, and much more. America deserves nothing less than a president who will treat all families fairly. We congratulate President Obama and his administration and look forward to working with them in this second term to build a stronger future for LGBT people and opportunity for all.

Outserve-SLDN

Today, President Obama made history with a clear and passionate declaration of the fundamental rights of LGBT Americans, and all Americans. We honor the work of his first term - especially his leadership in the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - and expect great progress over the next four years on the very real inequalities that exist for our LGBT service members, veterans, and their families as we work together to bend the moral arc of the universe toward justice.

More reactions will be posted as they arrive. 

Labels: American history, Freedom To Marry, Inauguration Day, LGBT History, LGBT rights, NGLTF

Reposted from Joe

Via Political Loudmouth / FB:

Via Gay Marriage Oregon & George Takei / FB:

Via PQMonthly: President Barack Obama’s Second Inauguration Speech the First to Mention Gays

Add to the list of thing I'm grateful for, a President who recognizes the equal rights of LGBTQ people -- as well as Stonewall's place in history. - ER

President Barack Obama’s Second Inauguration Speech the First to Mention Gays

www.pqmonthly.com

 

 

LGBTQ Americans got their first ever recognition in a presidential inauguration speech today with President Barack Obama’s second. In remarks that touched heavily upon the themes of freedom and equality, President Obama called out the Stonewall Riots in the same breath as other major moments in civil rights history

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	They go to many a refuge, To mountains, forests, Parks, trees, & shrines: People threatened with danger. That's not the secure refuge, Not the supreme refuge, That's not the refuge, Having gone to which You gain release From all suffering & stress. - Dhammapada, 14, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 21, 2013

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

If the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are about anything, they are about a profound understanding of identity and the broadest possible meaning of liberty—teachings that sooner or later had to appeal to a people for whom suffering and loss were their daily bread.

- Charles Johnson, "A Sangha by Another Name"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 22nd, 2013
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