Thursday, July 7, 2016

Make it so!



Via O Tempo: Violência Homofóbica no País ganha Destaque no Exterior





Via FB:


Via JMG: Ohio Bakery: No BIRTHDAY Cakes For Gay Couples


TakeTheCake

July 7, 2016 Business, Civil Rights, LGBT News

From Toledo’s ABC affiliate:
It certainly wasn’t the text message Candice Lowe was expecting to get on her honeymoon. She says it came from the owner of Take the Cake Bakery in Toledo, canceling the order for her wife’s birthday cake.
Lowe says, “after she saw my Facebook page, she found out that I was in a same-sex marriage and she could not do my cake.”
“She did all of their effort to get a cake and gets a text message and has to tell me her surprise, it kind of ruined our day,” Amanda Lowe said of her wife.
“It wasn’t a wedding cake, it was just a birthday cake,” Candice said. “A birthday cake has nothing to do with your sexual preference.”
According to the local media, the owner of the bakery initially expressed interest in telling her side of the story, but she has since refused to comment. As usual in these situations, negative comments are pouring onto the bakery’s Facebook page.

More from The Inquisitor:
According to Equality Ohio, Toledo is one of 15 Ohio municipalities with an ordinance to prevent discrimination against LGBT couples and individuals. However, Cee Lowe has not discussed whether she is considering a lawsuit.
In an interview with 13 ABC, Lowe said she was simply disappointed that her order was canceled due to her sexual preference. She was also disturbed because Take the Cake owner LaGresha Fizer-Brown apparently “stalked” her Facebook page to gain that information.
Dan Savage reacts:
It’s not just our weddings they object to. It’s our existence. Refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding says, “I don’t think you people should be able to celebrate or solemnize your relationships because same-sex marriage is a sin.”
Refusing to bake a birthday cake for a lesbian says, “I don’t think your birth is something to celebrate because the world would be better off if you didn’t exist.”
Welcome to America — where bigoted bakers do background checks to avoid selling cakes to lesbians (because Jesus) but we don’t require merchants at gun shows to do background checks to avoid selling weapons of war to crazed terrorists, abusive spouses, and the mentally ill (because freedom).
Candice Lowe screen-capped the text message and posted it to her Facebook page.




ToledoText

Via Frontiers Media: One Billion People Worldwide Live with Marriage Equality



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One Billion People Worldwide Live with Marriage Equality

14% of the world's population now live in countries with marriage equality laws

New research has revealed that for the first time ever, more than a billion people live in countries with marriage equality laws. 

The analysis comes from Melbourne-based LGBT activist Tony Pitman, and reveals that the world crossed the billion-mark just a few weeks ago.

“The turning point came a few weeks ago when Colombia and then several Mexican states all achieved marriage equality within a few days.That pushed us up over a billion for the first time in history,” said Pitman. “When you think that the first ever same-sex marriages took place in the Netherlands in 2001, that means we’ve gone from zero to a billion in just 15 years. That’s an extraordinary rate of social progress. We’re witnessing an historic shift on a truly global scale.”

The U.S. is the most populous country to boast marriage equality, with 328 million citizens. It’s then followed by Brazil, with 206 million, and France, with 67 million. 

The U.K. comes next, though doesn’t quite boast full equality yet, as gay marriage is still illegal in Northern Ireland. Mexico also only has equality across some states, though President Enrique Peña Nieto has made it clear that he intends to legalize it across the country.

With a global population of roughly 7.3 billion, it means that just under 14% of people live with marriage equality — which could rise this year if Australia joins the other billion of us.

Read the original and more here

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day - 07/07/2016

“Quando você sente gratidão, significa que chegou a um acordo com o passado mas, ainda é possível que algum obstáculo surja novamente. Mesmo quando você completa um ciclo, se sente abençoado e alinhado com a corrente afirmativa, é possível que ainda haja alguma dificuldade mas, nesse caso, a situação não tem relação com um imagem do passado. Trata-se de uma dificuldade que surge devido à lei de causa e efeito. Nesse caso, ao perceber a dificuldade, você se coloca presente e direciona a vontade para mudar a situação, e ela muda. É como uma poeira que acumulou no espelho, basta passar um pano para limpar.”

“Cuando sientes gratitud, significa que llegaste a un acuerdo con el pasado pero, es posible que aunsurjanuevamentealgún obstáculo. Incluso cuando completas un ciclo, te sientes bendecido y alineado con la corriente afirmativa, es posible que todavía hayaalguna dificultad,pero en este caso, la situación no tiene relación con una imagen del pasado. Se trata de una dificultad que surge debido a la ley de causa y efecto. En este caso, al percibir la dificultad, te colocaspresente y direccionas la voluntad para cambiar la situación, y cambia. Es como el polvo que se ha acumulado en el espejo, basta con pasarle un paño para limpiarlo.”

“When we are able to feel gratitude, it means that an understanding with the past has been reached but it is still possible for an obstacle to arise again. Even though, after the completion of a healing cycle, we may feel blessed and aligned with the positive current, it is still possible that some difficulty may arise. In this case, it is not necessarily due to an image from the past. This is a challenge that has arisen due to the law of cause and effect. As we become aware of the difficulty, we place ourselves in the present moment and direct our will to change the situation, and the situation changes. It is just like some dust that accumulates on the mirror. All we need to do is take a cloth and wipe away the dirt.”

Via Daily Dharma / July 7, 2016: Sincere Compassion

We lose humility because we feed our ego by being the lord of the universe, feeding everyone with love and compassion. That is a problem. I always emphasize meditating on compassion for a living person, your family, persons you care for, and then expanding on that.

—Gelek Rinpoche, "A Lama for All Seasons"