Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Via Nalanda LGBT Buddhist Cultural and Resource Center:


‎"If we can manage to refrain from harming others in our everyday actions and words, we can start to give more serious attention to actively doing good, and this can be a source of great joy and inner confidence. We can benefit others through our actions by being warm and generous toward them, by being charitable, and by helping those in need."- His Holiness, the Dalai Lama

Via facebook:

Via JMG: MARYLAND: Marriage Bill Clears House Committee By 25-18 Vote


The bill had to survive the usual bullshit poison pill amendments from the GOP, including one that would require parental consent before teachers could mention "non-traditional" families. The full chamber will debate and vote later this week. And if you're counting, that's THREE big honking wins for the good guys this week. And it's only Tuesday.


Reposted from Joe

SFPD, "It gets better"

Via JMG: NEW YORK CITY: Gay Couples Wed Atop Empire State Building For First Time


The Empire State Building only permits wedding ceremonies on Valentine's Day. For the first time ever, two of today's four sky-high couples were gay. Shawn Klein and Phil Fung, pictured above, met 18 years ago at the famed Roxy nightclub. Hit the link for more photos and a video.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: UGANDA: Government Raids And Shuts Down Secret LGBT Rights Conference


Acting on the orders of Minister for Ethics & Integrity Simon Lokodo (left), the Ugandan government has raided and shut down a secretly organized conference on LGBT rights.
The two week conference organised by Freedom and Roam Uganda, an association that lobbies for the recognition of same sex relationships in Uganda ended prematurely when the minister ordered them to disperse. "I have closed this conference because it's illegal. We do not accept homosexuality in Uganda. So go back home," Minister Lokodo told the participants. Hotel staff had been asked by the organisers not to direct anyone to Elgon hall where the conference was taking place unless the person had been cleared. This would have required a phone call from the organisers. The Minister said the hotel’s management apologized for hosting the event.
Minister Lokodo ordered the arrest of the conference organizer, but according to the above-linked news story, she escaped. That conflicts with another account reported by Box Turtle Bulletin, which states that the organizer was apprehended, but later released. Lokodo is a former Catholic priest who was defrocked last August when he disobeyed Vatican orders to drop his pursuit of a political office.

IMPORTANT: Box Turtle Bulletin's Jim Burroway notes that contrary to Lokodo's statements to the press, Uganda's "kill the gays" bill is still very much on the table. The genesis of that bill came during visits to Uganda by American evangelicals such as Scott Lively.


reposted from Joe

Derrence and Ed - Their Story After Ed's Passing

Gregoire signs marriage equality bill.mp4

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 14, 2012

An Open Heart

As we become more inwardly free from our conditioning and our fears, the love and connection that are possible in relationships tend to flow through us more naturally. As our defenses are lowered, our heart opens, and there is a natural desire to give from the generosity of the heart. We discover that genuine happiness in relationships is not a product of having our expectations met or getting what we want but rather it is the consequence of freely giving in order to bring happiness to another.
- Ezra Bayda, "Giving Through Relationships"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection