Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Michelangelo Signorile

"For gay men over 40, it's as if we've come back from a war that was far away and distant to most Americans even as it was happening -- not unlike the actual wars we've experienced in this country in the past decade. All of us who were in the trenches of the AIDS war are today dealing with the grief and the survivor guilt, even as the war itself goes on. Many are grappling with deeper scars and something akin to post-traumatic stress. A lot of it is immeshed in all the other issues people face, such as mid-life crises and aging. But as John Voelcker pointed out, unlike for other veterans of other wars, there isn't a Veterans Administration or any built-in support system for the survivors of the AIDS war, nor is there any outlet for mass grieving of the thousands who've died from AIDS similar to the memorials for war dead or terrorism victims." - Michelangelo Signorile, writing for the Huffington Post.

Read Signorile's full essay, which includes mention of tonight's Manhattan panel on AIDS survivorship, where I'm one of the speakers.

Labels: activism, AIDS, Broadway Cares, HIV/AIDS, HomoQuotable, LGBT History, Michelangelo Signorile

Reposted from Joe

When Did You Choose to Be Straight?

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	One act of pure love in saving life is greater than spending the whole of ones time in religious offerings to the gods. - Dhammapada More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 9, 2013

Maintaining a Steady Practice

Now if the practice is so good for us, why is it so difficult to maintain a steady practice? It may be that the notion that practice is 'good for us' is the very impediment—we all know how we can resist what is good for us at the table, at the gym, and on the Internet. This mechanical notion of practice, 'if I practice, then I will be (fill in the blank),' leads to discouragement because it is not true that practice inevitably leads to happiness or anything that we can imagine.

- Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara, "Like a Dragon in Water"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through May 10, 2013
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JMG Quote Of The Day - Chris Kluwe

"I love football, I love playing football but at the end of the day, it is a children's game that grown men play. If I can speak out on something, especially something that affects millions of lives and causes young kids to kill themselves - if I can speak out on that and help one of those young kids realize that you don't have to take that step, to me that's worth far more than anything that I could gain from football. I think all that we're asking and all that any athlete is asking, straight or gay, is judge that person by what they can do on the field. Not by who they are, not by what their beliefs are or the color of their skin. Judge them by their playing abilities." - Chris Kluwe, speaking with the Huffington Post.  Kluwe was cut this week by the Minnesota Vikings. (Via Gay Star News)

 

Labels: Chris Kluwe, football, sports, straight allies

Reposted from Joe

The DOMA Project: Our Faces - Families Fight to Defeat DOMA

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	To disregard oneself, this is the best dharma. This is the best service to Buddha's religion. Practicing meditation for life is the best gift. To those sentient beings without protection. - "Hundred Thousand Songs: Selections From Milarepa, Poet-Saint of Tibet" More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 8, 2013

The Other Side of Boredom

When you are really bored, the best thing you can do is sit down and let yourself experience the boredom more fully. It may not be a deep or satisfying state, but at least you are not indulging in the things with which you usually cover up this kind of experience. Your real state of mind is more nakedly exposed, because for the time being there are no distractions. If you can stay with the experience of boredom, you can try to feel your way through into something deeper, truer, and more spontaneous within yourself.

- Sangharakshita, "Staying with Boredom"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through May 9, 2013
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Via JMG:

Via JMG:

RuPaul Revealed: 'Drag Race' Host Talks Gay Rights

Via JMG:

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Subhuti asked the Buddha: "The highest, most awakened mind that you have attained--is that mind the unattainable?" "Yes, Subhuti. With regard to that highest and most awakened mind, I have not attained anything. That mind is everywhere equally. It cannot be attained or grasped, but it can be realized. It is realized through the practice of all good actions when they are done in the spirit of no self and no object of self." - Prajnaparamita More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via JMG: Frank Bruni On The Boy Scouts

"The Episcopal Church wants all aspects of the ban lifted, as does the National Jewish Committee on Scouting, whose former chairman, a Baltimore lawyer named Jay Lenrow, told me that while no troop should be forced to choose a gay leader, no troop should be prevented from doing so, either.

"He noted that our country was founded on a principle of religious freedom; that the Scouts’ bylaws require equal treatment of every religion’s teachings; and that certain denominations — the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), for example — ordain gay and lesbian ministers. By the Scouts’ current rules, those very ministers, fit for the pulpit, aren’t deemed fit to lead a troop.

"Isn’t that as much of an insult to their religions as the ban’s end would be to [Tony] Perkins, [Rick] Perry and their kind? - Frank Bruni, writing for the New York Times.  Hit the link and read his entire piece.

Labels: Boy Scouts, Frank Bruni, gay writers, New York Times, religion, Rick Perry, Tony Perkins

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 7, 2013

It Gets Easier

Once we taste the freedom that comes with independence, it gets easier. We realize how much we have lost by desperately holding on, and we know how much there is to gain through disengaging from confusion. We can do this while expanding our most precious qualities: our good heart and our compassion for others.

- Dzigar Kongtrul, “Old Relationships, New Possibilities”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through May 8, 2013
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Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	The bliss of a truth-seeking life is attainable for anyone who follows the path of unselfishness. If you cling to your wealth, it is better to throw it away than let it poison your heart. But if you don't cling to it but use it wisely, then you will be a blessing to people. It's not wealth and power that enslave men but the clinging to wealth and power. - Majjhima Nikaya More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via JMG: Liza Joins NOH8 Campaign

Via press release, Liza's message: "Here's what I believe ... no shame, no blame, no guilt. Be happy. And be who you are. I love you." [Photo credit: Adam Bouska courtesy of NOH8 Campaign.]

Labels: Liza Minnelli, NOH8, Proposition 8

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Chris Kluwe Cut By Minnesota Vikings

 

The Star-Tribune reports that punter and gay marriage advocate Chris Kluwe has been cut by the Minnesota Vikings. The team is denying that the move has anything to do with politics.

“It has nothing to do with anything Chris Kluwe is off the field,” the GM said. “When we’re making decisions, we’re purely making them trying to bring in the best competition possible regardless of position. ... This was just another normal personnel move. It had nothing to do with Chris Kluwe’s off-field concerns, I have no issues if Chris Kluwe wants to express his opinion. That’s his right, that’s his freedom of speech. This is just a football decision to bring in a guy to come in to compete.”

RELATED: Last month gay marriage ally Brendon Ayanbadejo was released by the Baltimore Ravens.

 

Labels: Chris Kluwe, football, marriage equality, Minnesota, NFL, sports, straight allies

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 6, 2013

Facing Yourself

Spiritual change is precisely a process that is bigger than you. You don’t control it. You surrender to it. You don’t reinvent yourself through spiritual work. You face yourself, and then you must let go of all the ghastly things you find. But there is no end to these ghastly things. They keep coming. The ego is a bottomless pit of suckiness. And so you finally let go of the self that clings to itself (one definition of ego). True freedom comes when ego goes.

- Shozan Jack Haubner, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Enlightenment"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through May 7, 2013
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