Hillary Clinton released her plan to protect and expand rights for the LGBT community. Here’s what you need to know.

Here’s what you need to know.

Hillary is right: “Gay rights are human rights.” Period.

While Republicans are attempting to roll back LGBT rights, Hillary’s moving forward—because even though marriage equality is now the law of the land, we still have a lot of work to do to ensure that all LGBT Americans are treated equally under the law.
Hillary has a plan to strengthen LGBT rights as president. Here’s what she’ll do, and why it matters.

In 31 states, people can get married on a Sunday—and then are at risk of being fired because of their sexual orientation on Monday. We cannot allow discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to go unchecked in this country. 
Hillary has called on Congress to pass the Equality Act, and also supports efforts underway in the courts and in the federal government to clarify that discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation is a form of illegal sex discrimination. She will not stop fighting until we secure full equality for LGBT Americans.

Conversion therapy is the harmful practice of trying to “cure” LGBT and gender-questioning young people. We should be providing LGBT kids with love, support, and compassion—not trying to change their identities. 
Hillary will support efforts in Congress and the states to end conversion therapy for minors.

We have to address the growing crisis of violence against transgender Americans. 
This year, at least 22 transgender women—primarily, women of color—have been murdered. And that doesn’t take into account the violence that goes unreported or ignored. People should not have to live in fear because of who they are. Hillary will work with the Department of Justice and the FBI to gather better data on these hate crimes, so that we have more information about this violence—and can put a stop to it.

Being a good parent has nothing to do with sexual orientation or gender identity. Yet adoption by same-sex couples remains illegal in Mississippi, and even in states where adoption is technically legal, LGBT individuals still face discrimination.
This is not only unfair to would-be parents, but also hurts the hundreds of thousands of children in foster care, who are ready to become part of loving families. Hillary will urge Congress to pass the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, a law that would prohibit federally funded child welfare agencies from discriminating against potential foster or adoptive families because of sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.

Studies have shown that pre-exposure prophylaxis (also know as PrEP) is incredibly effective at preventing HIV infection when used as directed. 
Hillary will make sure that at-risk communities—including transgender individuals and black men who have sex with men (MSM)—have access to PrEP, by increasing the government’s investment in building awareness of and access to the drug.

Earlier this year, Republicans in Congress failed to renew the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act, which provided federal funding for homeless prevention resources, emergency shelters, street outreach, transitional living, and rural assistance. 
A disproportionate number of homeless youth are LGBT, and many of them feel like they don’t have anywhere to turn. Hillary will work with Congress to to ensure adequate funding—and safe, welcoming shelter—for homeless youth.

The stakes for LGBT rights are high in this election.

Republican presidential candidates seem determined to undo the progress our nation has made. Every top-tier Republican presidential candidate opposes marriage equality—and Marco Rubio has even suggested he would appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn it. They’ve gone on the record against anti-discrimination protections for the LGBT community, and some even oppose LGBT couples adopting.

We’ve celebrated huge gains for the LGBT community in recent years. Now we must work together to protect our progress and make sure we have more to celebrate in the years to come—not hand over the Oval Office to someone who will turn back the clock on LGBT equality.

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day - 29/09/16

“A autorrealização ou iluminação espiritual é um processo de integração e harmonização com todas as partes, dentro e fora de nós. É um desmanchar dos muros que geram a separação. Um coração puro não tem barreiras. E purificar o coração significa derrubar as barreiras e muros que criamos para nos proteger, pois estes também são os muros que nos aprisionam.”

“La autorealizacióno iluminación espiritual es un proceso de integración y armonización con todas las partes, dentro y fuera de nosotros. Es derrumbarlos murosque generan separación. Un corazón puro no tiene barreras. Y purificar el corazón significaderrumbar las barreras y muros que hemos creado para protegernos, pues tambiénestosson los muros que nos aprisionan.”

“Self-realization or spiritual enlightenment is a process of integrating and harmonizing with all parts, both within and outside of us. It is a dismantling of the walls that create separation. A pure heart has no barriers. To purify the heart means to tear down the barriers and the walls that we create in order to protect ourselves, which are the walls that imprison us, as well.”

Via Daily Dharma / September 29, 2016: The Patchwork Self

The defining teaching of the Buddhist tradition, that of non-self, is merely pointing out the limitations of this reflexive view we hold of ourselves. It’s not that the self does not exist, but that it is as cobbled-together and transient as everything else.

—Andrew Olendzki, "Self as Verb"