Monday, July 20, 2015

Via JMG: PETITION: Turn NYC's Christopher Park Into Nation's First LGBT National Park


 
The petition is here.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

The Huffington Post: Thomas Roberts Becomes First Openly Gay Evening News Anchor On Network TV

 Thomas Roberts anchored NBC's "Nightly News" on Saturday, a huge milestone for both the 42-year-old journalist's career and gay rights history.

Until the broadcast, an openly gay person had never anchored the nightly news on network TV. Roberts told The Advocate that it was a "huge honor" to fill the role. 

During the week, Roberts hosts "MSNBC Live With Thomas Roberts." 

There are a few openly gay evening news anchors on cable TV -- MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, CNN's Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon -- but Roberts is the first for one of the big three networks.

Watch the historic broadcast

Via JMG: LOUISIANA: Married Gay Man Denied Communion At His Mother's Funeral


Via the New Orleans Advocate:
Tim Ardillo said he was standing next to his mother’s coffin leading his young son to receive a blessing when the priest presiding over the funeral Mass denied him communion. The longtime Catholic said the priest told him it was because he married outside the church, but Ardillo doesn’t think that’s the whole story. He believes he was denied the sacrament because, as is stated in his mother’s obituary, he is married to a man. The priest in question, the Rev. Mark Beard [PHOTO], of St. Helena Catholic Church in Amite, did not return multiple calls seeking comment in the week following the July 10 funeral. Ardillo said the church passed out a quotation from 1 Corinthians at Mass the next Sunday, which states, in a portion highlighted in red ink, “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks in judgment of himself.”
Ardillo says he has gotten an apology from the Diocese of Baton Rouge and from the Archbishop of New Orleans. (Tipped by JMG reader Ken)
 
Reposted from Joe Jervis

The Baha'i Faith is Homophobic: Compilation: Concerning issues related to homosexuality

 

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 20/07/2015

“Por conta da repressão e dos traumas de exclusão, humilhação e abandono, a criança cria mecanismos de defesa que servem para protegê-la da dor, mas que a desconectam da sua verdadeira identidade. Com isso, ela se torna carente daquilo que é a sua própria essência. Na maioria das vezes a única maneira que ela encontra de suprir essa carência é tirando energia do outro, ou seja, invalidando e colocando o outro para baixo. Quando o outro se sente menos, ela se sente forte. Isso é o que tenho chamado de círculo vicioso do sadomasoquismo, uma doença coletiva gerada pelo rompimento com a essência, com fonte que é o coração - a fonte que é o amor.”


“Por causa de la represión y de los traumas de exclusión, humillación y abandono, el niño crea mecanismos de defensa que sirven para protegerse del dolor, pero que lo desconectan de su verdadera identidad. Con esto, él se vuelve carente de aquello que es su propia esencia. La mayoría de las veces, la única manera que encuentra de suplir esta carencia es sacando energía del otro, es decir, invalidando y poniendo al otro por abajo. Cuando el otro se siente menos, él se siente fuerte. Esto es lo que vengo llamando círculo vicioso del sadomasoquismo, una enfermedad colectiva generada por la ruptura con la esencia, con la fuente que es el corazón - la fuente que es el amor.”

“Due to repression and the traumas of exclusion, humiliation and abandonment, children create defense mechanisms to protect themselves from pain. These mechanisms disconnect them from their true identity. As a result, they become needy for their own essence. Oftentimes, the only way children can make up for this neediness is by robbing the other’s energy, which happens by invalidating the other and putting them down. When the other feels less than, the child feels stronger. This is what I call the vicious cycle of sadomasochism. It is a collective disease generated by the split with our true essence and the Source. The Source is our heart and love.”

Today's Daily Dharma: Religion Resurrected

Religion Resurrected
If we allow religion to be identified exclusively with a particular form that it took in the past, something that will always be inadequate to the present, we fail to take our own moment in time seriously and surrender the opportunity for renewal and reform.
 
- Dale S. Wright, "Religion Resurrected"