Via JMG:

CALIFORNIA: State Senate Bans "Ex-Gay" Therapy For Children Under 18

The California Senate has voted to ban "ex-gay" therapy for children under the age of 18. The bill has been ferociously opposed by the usual hate groups. Equality California sends this press release:

If approved by the Assembly and signed by the Governor, Senate Bill 1172, authored by Senator Ted Lieu and co-sponsored by Equality California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Mental Health America of Northern California, Gaylesta, and Lambda Legal, would make California the first state in the nation to ban licensed mental health professionals from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts of any kind for a minor patient, regardless of a parent's willingness or desire to authorize participation in such programs. "Being lesbian or gay or bisexual is not a disease or mental disorder for the same reason that being a heterosexual is not a disease or a mental disorder," Senator Lieu said. "The medical community is unanimous in stating that homosexuality is not a medical condition."

Earlier today "ex-gay" crackpots NARTH sent out an urgent alert demanding that its followers call California's senators to demand they block the bill. Because the proper way NARTH likes to handle gay youth is to hire them as prostitutes for "daily erotic massage to release."

Labels: "ex-gay", California, crackpots, NARTH

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG:

Concentration Camps, Government Sanctioned Executions, Punching Gay Children, Brainwashing Hatred

NOM manages to ignore ALL the recent anti-gay hate speech, yet find time to scream about some obscure lawmaker who got a nasty email. THEY are the victims, people. Always.

Labels: evil, hate groups, hypocrisy, NOM

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: BREAKING: Federal Appeals Court Overturns Key Provision Of DOMA

Big news! The First Court of Appeals ruled in Boston today that it is unconstitutional to deny federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples. The ruling applies to Section Three of the Defense Of Marriage Act.

The appeals court agreed with a lower court judge who ruled in 2010 that the law is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of a state to define marriage and denies married gay couples federal benefits given to heterosexual married couples, including the ability to file joint tax returns. The court didn't rule on the law's other provision, which said states without same-sex marriage cannot be forced to recognize gay unions performed in other states.

Metro Weekly provides a portion of the ruling:

[M]any Americans believe that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and most Americans live in states where that is the law today. One virtue of federalism is that it permits this diversity of governance based on local choice, but this applies as well to the states that have chosen to legalize same-sex marriage. Under current Supreme Court authority, Congress' denial of federal benefits to same-sex couples lawfully married in Massachusetts has not been adequately supported by any permissible federal interest.

Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley

Today’s landmark ruling makes clear once again that DOMA is a discriminatory law for which there is no justification. It is unconstitutional for the federal government to create a system of first- and second-class marriages, and it does harm to families in Massachusetts every day. All Massachusetts couples should be afforded the same rights and protections under the law, and we hope that this decision will be the final step toward ensuring that equality for all.

Lambda Legal

We are thrilled that another court- this time, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit - has ruled that it is unconstitutional to deny respect to the marriages of lesbian and gay couples. The so-called Defense of Marriage Act is being challenged in multiple cases and it won't be long before that bad law is gone for good. We congratulate our colleagues at Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and the State of Massachusetts for achieving this wonderful victory.

Freedom To Marry

Today’s unanimous decision issued by the First Circuit Court of Appeals is a powerful affirmation that the so-called Defense of Marriage Act is an unconstitutional and unjust law whose days are numbered. This ruling will return the federal government to its historic role of respecting marriages performed in the states, without carving out a ‘gay exception’ that denies thousands of protections. As more loving same-sex couples commit their lives to one another in marriage, the harms of this unjust law become more clear – from service members, risking their lives to protect ours, being denied the ability to protect their own families through military medical insurance or survivor benefits to senior citizens having to move out of their homes after their partners of many decades pass on because they cannot access Social Security protections afforded any other legally married couple.

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network

At SLDN, we applaud the court for affirming that legal marriages in the states - and all the rights and protections that come with those marriages - should be recognized and respected by our federal government. Though a narrow decision, this important victory nonetheless paves the way further for litigation like McLaughlin v. U.S., SLDN's case on behalf of married gay and lesbian service members and veterans who are denied equal recognition, support and benefits for their families by this discriminatory law. We congratulate the GLAD attorneys and plaintiffs in this case and look forward with them to the day when every American - especially those putting their lives on the line to protect our nation - has the freedom to marry the person they love, knowing that their commitment will be honored by their government.

Human Rights Campaign

This ruling is a historic victory for loving gay and lesbian couples and their children. For the first time, a federal appeals court has recognized that our constitution will not tolerate a law that forces the federal government to deny lawfully-married same-sex couples equal treatment. The writing is clearly on the wall for the demise of this unjust and indefensible law that hurts real families.We applaud GLAD, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the courageous plaintiffs for their incredible efforts on behalf of gay and lesbian couples in Massachusetts and across the nation.

Labels: DOMA, feds, LGBT rights, marriage equality

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: "Land of Dreams" Commercial

Gay Couple Shown In U.S. Tourism Ad

They're only on screen for less than a second, but predictably Tony Perkins is furious that a gay couple is shown in a new international ad promoting U.S. tourism. Via Right Wing Watch:

In 236 years, America's never had an international tourism ad. So when Congress passed the Travel Promotion Act, people thought it'd be a great chance to highlight American attractions. What they didn't know is that it would highlight same-sex attractions. That's right. The commercial invites people to America-not to see the Grand Canyon, but to celebrate homosexuality. In one scene, a gay man is sleeping on his partner's shoulder in a trolley. The actors said they were specifically recruited to add a "homosexual presence" to the commercial. According to Brand USA, the ads were supposed to "open up some minds as to what America really is"-which, based on this commercial, is a country of radical values and backwards priorities. I suppose this is part of the President's push to "rebrand" America. It's just too bad he used a travel ad to feature so much cultural baggage.

labels: feds, hate groups, Tony Perkins, tourism


reposted from Joe

Apoio dos funcionários e amigos do Google ao Casamento Civil Igualitário

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 31, 2012

Learning to Let Go

In the West, you have the expression that you wouldn’t wish something on your worst enemy. From a spiritual standpoint, we can adopt a similar point of view. If you experience loss, you can pray that your loss may substitute for the loss of others, so that even your worst enemy may not have to suffer. This is a good way of letting go.

- Gehlek Rimpoche, "An Interview with Gehlek Rimpoche"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

GOP-friendly hate group evokes Biblical "death" language about gays

The Bible says to put gays to death.  So if these folks are going to quote the Bible, and say that President Obama is dissing the Bible, then they need to explain whether they agree with the Bible that gays should be put to death, or whether they think that God got it wrong.  Which one is it?  Mass genocide or the Bible is sometimes wrong? It's time for them to put up or shut up.

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

ExxonMobil still hates you

Unsatisfied with simply destroying the environment, ExxonMobil would like to destroy some lives as well. (Updated link.)

JMG HomoQuotable - Dan Savage

"The Apostolic Truth Tabernacle is in Greensburg, Indiana. That's the town where Billy Lucas was bullied to death for being perceived to be gay by his classmates. I wonder if they stood up and cheered at Apostolic Truth Tabernacle when Lucas died—hey, another homo in hell. I wonder if any of Lucas's tormenters attend services at Apostolic Truth Tabernacle. And remember: I'm an anti-Christian bully for pointing out the connection between what straight kids are taught about 'homos' in the shithole mega-churches they're dragged to by their parents and what they turn around and do to 'homos' they encounter in classrooms. And what if that precocious little four-year-old singer is gay? Praise the Lord and pass the barf bags." - Dan Savage, whose It Gets Better Project was launched in response to Billy's suicide.

Labels: bigotry, bullying, Dan Savage, hate speech, HomoQuotable, Indiana, religion

Reposted from Joe

JMG Reader Locates "Ain't No Homos Gonna Make It To Heaven" Church

Joe says:

 

Thanks to the web sleuthing of a JMG reader, last night we learned Indiana's Apostolic Truth Tabernacle is where that four year-old child was filmed singing Ain't No Homos Gonna Make It To Heaven. Shortly after I posted that repulsive clip, I was contacted by several media outlets, including CNN, who now know its source. Contact details for Pastor Jeff Sangl are at the first link and I suspect he is about to have a very interesting week.

Labels: brainwashing, child abuse, Indiana, religion

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: TEXAS: ExxonMobil Shareholders Vote Down LGBT Employee Protections

Despite facing years of protests including one outside of today's meeting, the shareholders of ExxonMobil have once again refused to grant employment protections to LGBT workers. The Dallas Voice reports:

Meeting at the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Dallas Arts District, the ExxonMobil shareholders voted 80 percent to 20 percent Wednesday morning against a resolution asking the corporation to amend “its written equal employment opportunity policy to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and to substantially implement the policy.” The 80-20 margin of defeat was among the largest for the proposal, which has been introduced each year since Mobil and Exxon merged in 1999. The percentage of shareholders voting for the policy had increased steadily over the years to about 40 percent, before dropping off significantly after gender identity was added in 2008.

Before the two companies merged, Mobil had been one of the first major corporations to provide domestic partner benefits and workplace protections for gay employees. Those benefits were rescinded when Exxon came on board.

Read the full Dallas Voice report.

Labels: domestic partners, employment, LGBT rights, Texas

Reposted from Joe

All the dead people say yes By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

Somewhere along a forgotten branch of your family tree, there she is.

Somewhere deep in your lineage, there's at least one, maybe two, maybe even quite a few more whom you know nothing about -- relatives who, when they were alive, never made a sound or ruffled any feathers, hidden like thwarted relics, long deceased but right now whispering at the top of their ghostly lungs straight into your most lucid, semi-hallucinogenic dreams: "Get the hell on with it, already."

Can you hear them? Can you possibly say there are no closeted gay or lesbian, radical or repressed relatives back in your family history -- people who, due to the times and constraints under which they lived, never in a million years could have lived the life you are now free to lead, never could have revealed their true selves in public, much less celebrated that self, much less (heaven forefend) married someone they actually loved, gender/kink/ideology regardless?

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/05/30/notes053012.DTL#ixzz1wO0TBUZE

Via AmericaBlogGay:

AP: Norwegian terrorist was a feminine momma's-boy who wore make-up, so maybe he was gay

I'm really surprised that AP didn't handle this story better. They have the nerve to do a story suggesting that the Norwegian mass-murderer terrorist might have been gay because - get this - he was kind of effeminate, lived with mom, and liked to sometimes put on make-up. And what gay man doesn't lisp, put on make-up, and live with mom. We're all Norman Bates, now. 

my note:

SHAME ON YOU AP!

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 30, 2012

Breaking Through Resistance

Thinking and talking about practice are easy substitutes for the real effort that a practice life requires. We resist facing life as it is because that would mean abandoning our views of how we think it should be. The most basic form of resistance is wanting life to be other than it is.

- Ezra Bayda, "Breaking Through"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

SF Gay Men's Chorus Celebrates Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary

Did you hear that US Congress?

Via JMG: European Parliament Denounces Nations With Anti-LGBT Legislation

The 754-member European Parliament has approved a resolution denouncing nations with current or pending anti-gay legislation. The item specifically calls out Russia, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine. The UK's Pink News reports:

The resolution was adopted with 430 in favour and 105 against, saying it was “gravely concerned by developments which restrict freedom of expression and assembly on the basis of misconceptions about homosexuality and transgenderism”. It added that EU Member States should be “exemplary in the application and protection of fundamental rights in Europe”. 14 Conservative MEPs voted in favour of the resolution with 12 either abstaining or being unable to vote. 9 Labour MEPs voted in favour of the move with 3 abstaining or unable to vote. All but two absent Liberal Democrat MEPs voted for the resolution. The resolution specifically addressed laws in several European countries, condemning laws against ill-defined ‘propaganda’.

Of the cited nations, only Latvia and Lithuania belong to the European Union.

Labels: European Parliament, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: RELIGION CENSUS: Fewer Than 50% Of Americans Are "Adherents" Of Christianity

According to a just-published analysis of the 2010 Religion Census, fewer than 50% of Americans are "adherents" of Christianity. The percentage who would self-identify as "Christian," regardless of church membership and attendance patterns, is presumably higher.

The researchers define adherents to be those with an affiliation to a congregation including children, members and attendees who are not members, and believe that the adherent measure is the most complete and comparable across religious groups. Congregations are defined as groups of people who meet regularly at a pre-announced time and location. More than 150.6 million Christian adherents and 344,894 congregations were reported across the country. It is noteworthy that less than 50 percent of of the nation's population identified as Christian adherents. With close to 15.8 million Christian adherents, California reported the highest number of Christian adherents, whereas Vermont reported the lowest -- only 200,000 identified as Christian adherents. Around 10 percent of the nation's Christians reside in California. With 27,248 congregations, Texas reported the highest number of congregations in a state, whereas District of Columbia reported the lowest with 566.

The above-linked reports offer no insight as the number of Americans who consider themselves atheist, agnostic, anti-theist, or merely "unchurched."

Labels: census, religion, United States

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Brown Vs Savage: Duel Accepted

Just posted to NOM's blog:

"Dan -- I accept and will look forward to debating you at your dining room table. As I said in my challenge to you, anytime, any place. While I appreciate the invitation that you have extended to my wife, she will not be able to attend. She is a full-time mom with seven beautiful children and an eighth on the way. I have no objection to Mark Oppenheimer from the New York Times covering the discussion, nor to you hiring your own video crew to film the event, provided that I am able to hire my own video crew to be sure there is no creative editing of the discussion. Not that a New York Times reporter would slant the news, mind you! :) This will be fun!" - Brian Brown.

Labels: Brian Brown, Dan Savage, hate groups, LGBT rights, NOM, religion

Reposted from Joe

Via George Takei

Arj Barker Sickest Buddhist

Via Utne Reader:

 

The Slow March Toward Marriage Equality

More and more Americans believe in gay marriage. Why don't we have it yet?

Read More >>

Via AmericaBlogGay:

Russian gays arrested for simply trying to hold a Pride parade

AP: Gay activists tried to stage two demonstrations in Moscow on Sunday to demand the right to hold a gay pride parade in the Russian capital, but they were blocked first by Orthodox Christian opponents and then by police, who detained a total of about 40 people from both sides. The gay activists first gathered outside the city council building, where a few scuffles occurred as their... 

 

In This Issue...

• Russian gays arrested for simply trying to hold a Pride parade
• Search Gay Politics | AMERICAblog Gay

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 28, 2012

Sowing the Seeds of Freedom

When we practice meditation, we sacrifice inner objects—unskillful thoughts and mental states—and make our minds solid, sovereign, and pure.

- Ajaan Lee, "Sowing the Seeds of Freedom"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlogGay:

More polling data suggesting Obama changed minds with gay marriage stance

Interestingly, this poll suggests that black opposition to gay marriage shrunk, though it didn't turn into more support.  Rather, they moved from "against" to "unsure."  Which is still a marked improvement.  Among Latinos, our numbers improved as well. This poll showed only 41% support for same-sex marriage.  Clearly there's some variation in the recent polls, with many...

Via AmericaBlogGay:

Did gay marriages destroy straight marriages?

Not unless Tony Perkins has a secret hankering for some farm-boy in Iowa. Credit: Daily Dish As the Dish explains, after initial bursts of weddings following the legalization of same-sex marriage, the marriage rates in each state trend back to where they were before.  Thus, no drop in marriages. Of course, that won't stop liars like the Family Research Council from claiming that...

Via JMG: NORTH CAROLINA: Hundreds Protest Pastor "Concentration Camp" Worley

An estimated 1200 protesters gathered today outside the North Carolina church of Pastor Charles "Put Gays In Concentration Camps" Worley. Unlike fellow NC Pastor Sean "Beat Gay Kids" Harris, Worley has refused to apologize for his message. The Hickory Daily Record reports:

The protestors came out in force to bring a message of love and acceptance. Their signs bore bold statements like, “Jesus had 2 dads and he turned out just fine.” And “I am a gay, moral, conservative Christian.” Sheriff’s deputies and Newton police officers kept the peace as the protestors stood by the side of the road and cheered every time a car drove past and honked in approval. A vocal group of more than 50 counter-protestors were on hand to support Worley and his church. They too had signs with slogans like, “Sodomites are vile, unnatural and worthy of death. Romans 1:21-32.” And “Gay pride is why Sodom got fried.” The protest’s organizer explained her goals for the event. “Hopefully our protest today will send a message that we, as a community, as a state and as a country, will not stand in the background in silent acceptance,” said Catawba Valley Citizens Against Hate member Laura Tipton. “This protest has grown beyond Pastor Worley. I hope his congregation sees that we are gathering in love. Their messages are wrong, and we will not accept them.”

Labels: Christian Love, North Carolina, protests, religion

Reposted from Joe
 

Via Facebook:

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

Colin Powell says yes to same-sex marriage

He's been a tad behind the curve.  But it does help to have a prominent African-American get with the program, so this is still good news.  Even if he has his own personal demons to deal with.

http://gay.americablog.com/2012/05/colin-powell-says-yes-to-same-sex.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AMERICAblogGay+%28AMERICAblog+Gay%29

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 27, 2012

Shoulder to Shoulder, Hand to Hand

In a sense, all of Buddhist practice takes place here, in this most intimate realm: here, in the family, shoulder to shoulder with fellow workers, beside each other on the cushion. We meet each other face to face, and so have all our teachers and ancestors met each other. In this way have all the Buddhas taught. Hand to sweating hand.

     - Sallie Tisdale, "Washing Out Emptiness"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: Updated Electoral Projections

I'm going to try and remember to post one of these every Friday until November. The interactive version with the latest polling data can be found at Huffington Post.

Labels: 2012 elections, electoral college, polls

Via AmericaBlogGay:

President Obama takes on Black America's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy

Aisha C. Moodie-Mills from the Center for American Progress raises a fascinating notion: That President Obama's embrace of marriage equality has fueled in the black community a much-needed discussion about gay civil rights.  Great piece in the Atlantic, here are a few grafs: The most profound impact of Obama's "evolution" on same-sex marriage could come in the form of dismantling...

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

On marriage, leadership mattered - and it paid off

Mike Signorile:And there's a lesson here for all progressives -- and for the Obama campaign. We were told by the Democratic strategists and the campaign pollsters, the Democratic establishment, that coming out for marriage equality would be harmful to the president. The establishment pundits, gay and straight, were defending the White House, giving the president a pass, as were the establishment...

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

Huge shift in black support for marriage in Maryland following Obama endorsement

These numbers are almost too good to be true.  But they come from PPP, one of the most respected polling firms. 57% of Maryland voters say they’re likely to vote for the new [same-sex] marriage law this fall, compared to only 37% who are opposed. That 20 point margin of passage represents a 12 point shift from an identical PPP survey in early March, which found it ahead by a closer 52/44...

Obama Campaign Launches New Site And Video In Praise Of LGBT Rights Advances

Obama Campaign Launches New Site And Video In Praise Of LGBT Rights Advances

Updated site: LGBT Americans For Obama.

Labels: 2012 elections, Barack Obama, LGBT rights

Reposted from Joe

Trent Arrives Home on the USS Carl Vinson 5/23/12

JMG Editorial Of The Day

The New York Times yesterday posted an editorial about Dr. Robert Spitzer's recanting of his infamous "ex-gay" research and its conclusions.

Dr. Spitzer, who just turned 80, has acknowledged that his survey was deeply flawed. In a letter to the editor of the Archives of Sexual Behavior, which had published his study, he said he had no way of knowing whether the patients who said they had changed were deceiving themselves, lying or reporting accurately. He apologized for making “unproven claims” about reparative therapy and for any harm he may have caused to anyone who “wasted time and energy” undergoing the therapy. Critics have noted that the people interviewed were nominated by centers that were performing the therapy and that there was no control group and no clear definition of what counted as therapy. There is also some evidence that reparative therapy can lead to depression or suicidal thoughts and behavior. It is absurd, potentially harmful, pseudopsychiatry. It should have been rejected long ago.

Labels: "ex-gay", junk science, New York Times

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 25, 2012

To Give Without Bargaining

The body breaks, things change, life ends. Only when impermanence is fully apprehended do we really have the chance to serve, to give without bargaining.

- Bonnie Myotai Treace, Sensei, "The Sword Disappears in the Water"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via GOComics: Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau

Via AmericaBlog Gay

ExxonMobil against consider proposal to bar anti- gay, trans discrimination

ExxonMobil has turned this proposal down before. Nasty company. Big Oil. Enough said. From Chris Johnson at the Blade:All eyes will be on one of the nation's largest publicly traded companies next week when shareholders will vote on whether the company should make LGBT protections part of its formal non-discrimination policy. At a meeting set for May 30 in Dallas, shareholders for the...

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 24, 2012

Our Full Expression

When we are fully expressed from moment to moment, we are transparent.

- Sensei Nancy Mujo Baker, "On Not Being Stingy"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

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.

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

 

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!

Labels: Barack Obama, comic books, sexuality

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.

Labels: Brian Brown, Dan Savage, LGBT rights, NOM

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."

Labels: Harvey Milk, LGBT History, San Diego

Reposted from Joe

Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau

Via FB:

Via HimalayaCrafts:

 

 

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

 

— with Vilma D. López and Sandun Rajapaksha.

Via Follower of the Buddha

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  

 

 

By: Follower of the Buddha

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

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.

Labels: Beau Biden, Delaware, Joe Biden, LGBT rights

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

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.”

Labels: civil rights, marriage equality, NAACP

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

3. Heart And Soul
4. Episodes
5. Available now on BBC iPlayer

(1 - 30 of 188 programmes)

1. God and Gays - Bridging the Gulf

   
   

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

    

   More:

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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