A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
As
I have explored my own and others' journey towards love, I've
encountered different kinds of happiness. There's pleasure, there's
happiness, and then there's joy. Addiction, even in the broad sense of
just always wanting more of something, gives only pleasure. Pleasure is
very earthbound when you're getting it from sensual interaction, and it
always has its opposite; also, the need for satisfaction is never
ending. Happiness is emotional, and emotions come and go. It may play
into the complex of other emotional stuff that we all carry. But there
is also spiritual happiness, which gets very close to joy.
As it becomes less personal, spiritual happiness becomes joy. Joy is
being part of the One. It's spiritual, the joy-full universe, like trees
are joyful. It's bliss, or ananda. It's all those things. The difference is that it comes from the soul.
Nikki Haley, Mike Flynn, and Betsy DeVos.Photo: Getty Images
During his acceptance speech
at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump did something
unusual: He acknowledged LGBT Americans. Referring to the mass shooting
at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Trump said, “This time, the
terrorist targeted the LGBTQ community … and we’re going to stop it.” He
then promised to “protect LGBTQ citizens from the violence and
oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.”
Coming
from a Republican politician, even an acknowledgment of the LGBT
community is pretty novel. But Trump’s promise was to protect LGBT
Americans from hateful ideology abroad — he didn’t mention the hatred
many regularly experience at home, sometimes due to policies proposed by
people with whom he surrounds himself. Because of all his cabinet and
cabinet-level picks so far, not one has a history of standing up for
LGBT rights.
Jeff Sessions, attorney general
It isn’t just the definition of sexual assault that Alabama senator Jeff Sessions has twisted. As the Huffington Post pointed out when Trump nominated him for the post of attorney general, you can pick almost any LGBT rights issue, and chances are Sessions has voted against it.
He supported a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage; voted against
adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the definition of hate
crimes; and voted against repealing the military’s “don’t ask, don’t
tell” policy.
He also co-sponsored a bill
that would allow Alabama’s definition of marriage to supersede the
federal definition, basically ending same-sex marriage in the state. And
he’s co-sponsoring the First Amendment Defense Act,
which would let government-funded organizations ignore laws that
conflict with their religious beliefs. His score with the Human Rights
Campaign is a big, fat zero.
Mike Pompeo, Central Intelligence Agency director
Trump chose Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo to fill the post of CIA director around the same time he tapped Sessions. While serving in congress, Pompeo voted
to protect anti-same-sex marriage opinions as free speech and also
supported a bill saying a state’s definition of marriage should
supersede the federal one. And during a 2014 interview with a Kansas State University radio station,
Pompeo elaborated on his opinion of same-sex marriage. “I don’t agree
with [same-sex marriage],” he said. “I think marriage ought to continue
to be between one man and one woman.” He went on, “I think as you look
back at civilization, look back at history, you find the strength of
these families having a father and a mother is the ideal condition for
childbearing. Doesn’t mean there aren’t great families with single
parents, great young men and women raised without either parent. If
you’re asking for what is ideal, I think it’s being raised by a man and a
woman.”
Betsy DeVos, Education secretary
Betsy DeVos, Trump’s pick for Education secretary, comes from a wealthy Michigan family with a long history of donating to anti-LGBT, pro-GOP causes. According
to Politico, DeVos and her husband — Dick DeVos — have “given hundreds
of thousands of dollars to Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian
group whose founder called the battle against LGBT rights a ‘second
civil war.’” DeVos’s late father and her husband’s family were also
major donors to the Family Research Council
(another conservative Christian group), and they reportedly donated
thousands to efforts to block the legalization of same-sex marriage in
states like Florida, Michigan, and California. The DeVos family reportedly donated $400,000 to victims of the Orlando shooting, but many pointed out that this pales in comparison to what they’ve spent to oppose LGBT causes.
Tom Price, Health and Human Services secretary
As a state representative for Georgia, Tom Price — Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary —- voted against prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation and in favor of defining marriage in the Constitution as between one man and one woman. He also has a zero rating from the Human Rights Campaign, and pro-LGBT advocates worry that, as secretary of Health, he could take away protections specifically for transgender Americans. Price is in favor of dismantling
the Affordable Care Act, which bans sex discrimination — including
discrimination against trans people — in health care. That means
insurance providers are obligated to cover transition-related care, but
with Price at the helm, that’s liable to change.
Price has also criticized protections for transgender students in public schools, saying
a “federal restroom policy” is “yet another abuse and overreach of
power by the Obama administration, and a clear invasion of privacy.”
Elaine Chao, Transportation secretary
Yesterday, Trump named Elaine Chao
to the post of secretary of Transportation. Chao served as secretary of
Labor for eight years under George W. Bush, and before that she worked
as a deputy secretary of Transportation under Bush Sr. She has no voting
record, so it’s tough to pin down where Chao stands on the issue of
LGBT rights, but her family provides some clues. She’s married to Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who led opposition to LGBT rights
in the upper house. Chao has campaigned heavily for her husband in the
past, so it’s likely she shares at least some of his views on the issue.
Reince Priebus, chief of staff
True, Reince Priebus — Trump’s new chief of staff — doesn’t have a voting record either, but as chairman of the Republican Party, the guy spearheaded one of the most anti-LGBT platforms to date.
Among other things, it calls for the repeal of same-sex marriage, gives
states the right to choose which bathroom transgender people use, and
defends businesses who deny service to LGBT Americans based on their
religious beliefs. Priebus has also gone on record saying that being raised by heterosexual parents is the “best scenario” for children. (In fact, studies have shown that children raised by same-sex couples are just as happy and successful as those raised by opposite-sex couples.)
Mike Flynn, White House national security adviser
According
to the Human Rights Campaign, retired Army Lieutenant General Michael
Flynn has a “history of animus toward LGBT people.” Most recently Flynn,
whom Trump has named national security adviser,
went on a tirade against “political correctness” in response to the
Obama administration’s decision to allow transgender soldiers to serve
openly in the military. “My God, war is not about bathrooms,” he said
at the Republican National Convention. “War is not about political
correctness or words that are meaningless. War is about winning.” Flynn appeared to contradict himself
during an interview in July, saying, “On the gay issue, hey, you know
what, if people love each other, Jesus, I mean, come on.” It’s unclear
how or if his personal views will factor into the way he runs the
military.
Nikki Haley, ambassador to the United Nations
South Carolina governor Nikki Haley will serve as the ambassador to the United Nations, and although she drew fire from conservative pundits
for referencing “modern families” in her response to Obama’s final
State of the Union, she’s not exactly progressive when it comes to LGBT
issues. In 2010 she said
marriage is between “one man and one woman,” and three years later she
backed her state’s ban on same-sex marriage. “The citizens of South
Carolina spoke … they spoke something that I, too, believe, which is
marriage should be between a man and a woman,” she said
at the time.
“I’m going to stand by the people of this state, stand by
the Constitution, I’m going to support it and fight for it every step of
the way.”
