Thursday, April 30, 2015

Teachers for Marriage Equality


Via JMG: Gallup: 780,000 Married Gay Americans


Via Gallup:
Approximately 0.3% of adults in the U.S. are married to a same-sex spouse, and another 0.5% identify as being in a same-sex domestic partnership. In examining the total population of 243 million U.S. adults, these survey estimates suggest nearly 2 million adults are part of a same-sex couple, of whom 780,000 are married. These data are based on 80,568 interviews conducted on Gallup Daily tracking from Jan. 28-April 19, 2015. Overall, approximately 0.3% of all respondents during this time period both identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) and said they were married, and in a follow-up question, they indicated that they were married to a same-sex spouse. An additional 0.5% of adults identified as LGBT and reported being in a same-sex domestic partnership.

The 780,000 American adults who are estimated to be married to a same-sex spouse translates into approximately 390,000 same-sex married couples in the U.S. Similarly, the estimated 1.2 million adults living in a same-sex domestic partnership translates into 600,000 domestic partnership couples. Thus, there is a total of almost a million same-sex couples in the country, of which nearly four in 10 (39%) are married.

At 990,000, Gallup's estimated number of same-sex married or domestic partner couples in the U.S. is significantly higher than past estimates derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), which in 2013 put the number of same-sex couples at roughly 727,000. Of this group, more than 250,000 reported they were married. The Census Bureau, however, has cautioned that the ACS estimates of married same-sex couples may not be reliable as they have determined that a large portion of recorded married same-sex couples may actually be married heterosexual couples who miscoded the sex of one of the spouses.
Wingnuts sites are running with the 0.3% number. Of course.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

The Daily Show - Rights Courts


Via JMG: Disney Broadway To Host LGBT Families


Via Playbill:
Playbill will celebrate its second annual Playbill Pride initiative with Family Day OUT, a June 13 event that invites LGBT families and allies to attend special performances of Disney's The Lion King and Aladdin on Broadway. A partnership with Disney Theatrical Productions and Family Equality Council, Family Day OUT is sponsored by Amtrak and will bring together LGBT families, friends and allies who believe that all families are equal and deserve the same respect and protections under the law. The event is part of Playbill's second annual Playbill Pride initiative, a month-long celebration of the theatre world's LGBT community, which will return this June.

Family Day OUT kicks off at 11 AM with a pre-matinee party and lunch at Times Square's B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, where families have a chance to meet cast members from Disney’s Broadway productions of Aladdin and The Lion King, participate in hands-on activities hosted by Disney Teaching Artists, and celebrate Family Equality Council — the nation's leading advocacy group committed to securing family equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer parents. Family Day OUT will continue with select seating at the 2 PM matinee performances of Aladdin and The Lion King.
Get tickets here.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Coffee Party Movement / FB: Traditional marriage


"Traditional marriage" is a crock. The only "tradition" they're screaming about is of oppression, discrimination, misogyny and brutality. And ignorance of history (including same-sex unions sanctioned in the ancient church as well as many Native traditions). May the US Supreme Court succeed in taking a bold step towards "a more perfect union", and greater justice, as the USA purports to foster." - FB amigo RL


Join the Coffee Party Movement's photo.


By "traditional marriage," do you mean like in 1769, when women were property? #‎marriagequality‬ ‪#‎freedomtomarry‬

Conheça o grupo que promove meditação gratuita nas ruas para resgatar o afeto pela cidade


Conheça o grupo que promove meditação gratuita nas ruas para resgatar o afeto pela cidade <3 http://bit.ly/1dsDz1y

Posted by Catraca Livre on Thursday, April 30, 2015

Via Equality House / FB:


Watch the Dalai Lama break down the illusion behind prejudice




http://www.lionsroar.com/watch-the-dalai-lama-break-down-the-illusion-behind-prejudice/

Via Social Work Helper / FB:


Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 30/04/2015

“O serviço desinteressado é o amor em movimento. Quando o amor é colocado em movimento ele gera felicidade. Se você é o canal desse amor, a felicidade passa por você para chegar ao outro, e você também se sente feliz. Esse é o poder do serviço: ele faz com que você se torne um elo na corrente da felicidade.”
Para ler o Satsang Completo, acesse: bit.ly/1DKa5Xd

“El servicio desinteresado es el amor en movimiento. Cuando el amor es colocado en movimiento genera felicidad. Si eres un canal de ese amor, la felicidad pasa por ti para llegar al otro, y también te sientes feliz. Este es el poder del servicio: hace que te vuelvas un eslabón en la corriente de la felicidad.”

“Selfless service is love in action. When love is set in motion, it generates happiness. If you are a channel of love, happiness flows through you to reach the other, and you also feel happy. This is the power of service: it makes you become a link in the chain of happiness."

Via Daily Dharma


No Substitute for Wisdom | April 30, 2015


One sign of the moral confusion in our market-driven society is that people have the tendency to elevate consumer and lifestyle choices into matters of high moral drama, leading to overblown talk of 'moral imperatives.' Tortuous analysis of one’s thoughts and actions produces a facsimile of moral seriousness that is pleasing to the ego, but it is no substitute for the wisdom and compassion that arise from the awakened heart.

- Randall Ryotan Eiger, "The Slow Burn"

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Via Shift of the Ages / FB:


Via Huffington Post: 7 Things Churches Can Do to Make Queer People Feel Welcome

For as long as I can remember, the church, for me, has been a place characterized by shame and hurt. I remember Christian high school friends telling me that I would go to hell for being Queer. I remember hearing sermons from televangelists about the evils of homosexuality, and church leaders pressuring youth leaders to cast out their Queer members. I've heard more talk of "love the sinner, hate the sin," and "God didn't make gay," than anyone should, and I've even received personalized hate mail declaring that "God hates dykes." 

While I've never believed being Queer automatically counted me out, I've been unable to find a church community that I, as a Trans person, could really call home -- a place I could engage in conversations around faith and sexuality, faith and gender. 

Last fall, a co-worker invited me to meet with a group of leaders from her church who were working to make their community more open and affirming. As the Director of LGBTQA Advocacy and Education at the local college, I suppose I was a logical choice, though this colleague knew nothing of my lifelong struggles with faith. 

Through talking with these people about their desires to be inclusive and their belief in God's love extending to all people, I found my mind re-opening to faith, to God. Because of these conversations, I realized that it is possible for Queer people to feel welcome and safe at church. Ultimately, it begins with education and relationships.

Make the jum here to read the 7 things all churches can do to help make Queer people feel welcome.

Via Lizzy the Lezzy


Mrs. Brown for Yes Equality


Barney Frank on the Supreme Court's Gay Marriage Ruling - Late Night with Seth Meyers


Same-sex couples take on the haters outside of the Supreme Court


Via JMG: Sen. Bernie Sanders To Enter 2016 Race


 
Via the Associated Press:
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will announce his plans to seek the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday, presenting a liberal challenge to Hillary Rodham Clinton. Sanders, an independent who describes himself as a "democratic socialist," will follow a formal statement with a major campaign kickoff in his home state in several weeks. Two people familiar with his announcement spoke to The Associated Press under condition of anonymity to describe internal planning. Sanders will become the second major Democrat in the race, joining Clinton. He has urged the former secretary of state to speak out strongly about issues related to income inequality and climate change. The former first lady and New York senator is viewed as a heavy favorite in the Democratic primary and formally entered the race earlier this month.
Oh this will be interesting.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

4 Beyonce from Todrick