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.
"I have had numerous e-mails, mainly from young men who have been inspired by me in some way, and so have had the courage to come out to their friends and families and so live fulfilled lives. I have also been told that I have helped parents come around to the fact that their son is gay. I have no idea how I have managed to do that, I have to confess – but if my openness has done that then it seems that it is the right way to be." - British rugby star and calendar man Ben Cohen, speaking to Compete Magazine. Cohen praises fellow rugby star Gareth Thomas for having come out and says that it's time for gay players in other sports to do the same.
A Minnesota-based Christian rock band whose lead singer calls for the execution of homosexuals will appear at this year's state GOP convention and has ties to the reelection campaign of Rep. Michele "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann. Via Change.org:
The Minnesota Independent notes that a Christian rock band in Minnesota, which has called for LGBT people to be killed and targeted for violence, has built an incestuous relationship with the state's GOP, including intimate ties with the campaigns of Rep. Michele Bachmann, and gubernatiorial candidate Tom Emmer. Moreover, the band -- known as You Can Run But You Cannot Hide -- also received a GOP-sponsored booth at this year's state Republican Convention. Just what does You Can Run But You Cannot Hide have to say about the subject of homosexuality? Well, according to their front man, Bradlee Dean, they believe that gay people should be murdered, much like they are in conservative Muslim countries. "Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America," Dean said. "This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination."
Bachmann has praised the band, saying, "It a tough job that you do, but someone has to do it. I thank God that he has given you the strength and the resolve to fight for our timeless values." Andy Birkman at the Minnesota Independent has been following the connection between the band and the state GOP since last October. Read his many stories here. Here's a couple of ugly of clips from the band's lead singer, Bradlee Dean, in which he praises countries that execute gays. Listen to Bachmann's hero. At the bottom is a clip advertising a November fundraiser featuring Bachmann and the band.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Ike Skelton doesn't want DADT repealed because he's afraid that families might have to discuss homosexuality.
"It seemed a real danger that the boy being raised by the same-sex couple would bring to school something obscene or pornographic, or refer to such things in conversation, as they go along with the same-sex lifestyle, which--as not being related to procreation-- is inherently eroticized and pornographic. He might expose other children to such things, as he might easily have encountered them in his household." - The Archdiocese of Boston's Pilot newspaper columnist Michael Pakaluk, explaining why he objected to the six year-old son of a gay couple being in the same class with his boy.
Yesterday Pakuluk said he "regretted" that portion of his column after his editor issued an apology, but that he stands by his other objections. Last month the Archdiocese of Boston threatened to cut funding to any Catholic school that barred the children of gay parents. Pakuluk is an evangelical convert to Catholicism and a member of Opus Dei.
The FDA begins hearings today on whether to drop the decades-long ban on gay men donating blood. Numerous LGBT and progressive sites are participating in a blog-swarm, asking their readers to submit comments.
Dr. Jerry Holmberg is the Executive Secretary of the Advisory Committee, and is tasked with accepting formal public comments from both organizations and individuals. He has made his e-mail available for this purpose. Please take a minute to e-mail Dr. Holmberg via jerry.holmberg@hhs.gov and urge him and the committee to revise the ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men.
You can find scientific support for your comment at this link. Among those testifying today is Cliff Kincaid of the virulently anti-gay group, American's Survival. Christian Newswire reveals today what Kincaid plans to say.
"Do you or your loved ones want to die in order to advance the gay rights agenda? Once again, as we have seen in the gays in the military debate, the gays are constantly screaming about their rights, oblivious to the point of madness about the rights of others. In this case, it's our right to be free of infected blood when our loved ones get a blood transfusion. But unless the public quickly offers its comments and raises an outcry with the federal authorities coming under the influence and intimidation of the gay rights lobby, the 'right' to donate blood could soon be extended to a politically-connected special interest group that has a demonstrated propensity to acquire life-threatening and deadly diseases."
American Family Association's Bryan Fischer: Gay Sex Is Domestic Terrorism
Yesterday Britain's tabloids claimed that the Taliban is planting HIV-laden needles in its bombs in order to infect British and American soldiers. Reportedly, bomb teams have been issued Kevlar gloves to deal with the threat. Cue American Family Association radio host Bryan Fischer.
If we connect the dots here, the inescapable conclusion is that gay sex is a form of domestic terrorism. Every time an HIV-infected male has sex with another male, it's essentially the same as plunging an infected heroin needle into his arm. He's passing on a potential death sentence, just as the Taliban seeks to do on a foreign battlefield. It is because of the risk of HIV transmission that the FDA will not allow a male homosexual to donate blood if he has had sex with another male even one single solitary time since 1977. The second riskiest behavior for HIV infection is injection drug use. Now if gays are allowed into the military, they will be inevitably be put in battlefield situations where donated blood from soldiers may be necessary to save the lives of wounded comrades. An HIV-infected American soldier whose blood is used in those circumstances may very well condemn his fellow soldier to death rather than save his life. If open homosexuals are allowed into the United States military, the Taliban won't need to plant dirty needles to infect our soldiers with HIV. Our own soldiers will take care of that for them.
Last month Fischer claimed that repealing DADT would lead to another Holocaust, because gay men are the only people savagely brutal enough to murder millions.
Yesterday Judge Vaughn Walker, the judge overseeing the federal trial on the validity of Prop 8, issued a series of questions he'd like the parties to address in their closing arguments.
Rick Jacobs, chair of the Courage Campaign, wrote on the Huffington Post that, he "can without doubt say that never before has homosexuality been on trial in America in this way." Jacobs has also posted a complete copy of the list of questions Walker sent to the plaintiff and the defendants.
Closing arguments are scheduled to begin next Wednesday, June 16 at 10am Pacific . A sample of some of Walker's questions are after the jump.
The SF Weekly's Lauren Smiley has turned in a fascinating (and sad) profile of several gay couples who've been separated due to our nation's inequitable immigration laws. An excerpt:
Now that Arizona's "papers please" law has pushed immigration reform to Washington's front burner, Democrats propose allowing "permanent partners" to be treated the same as spouses under immigration law. While 19 countries have similar policies, it won't be an easy sell: The gay lobby fears they'll be sacrificed as a bargaining chip to get Republicans on board, while pro-immigrant groups worry that adding in gays will ruin any chance for reform for everyone else. While critics say letting permanent partners through the gate invites fraud — how do you validate the relationship without a marriage license? — others say the current system is what encourages people to cheat. So what do you do when the law won't permit you to be with the most meaningful person in your life? Simple. You break it.
"Victory in California! With your help, NOM played a central role in defeating pro-gay marriage GOP Senate candidate Tom Campbell yesterday. Back in March, NOM was the first on the air with TV ads highlighting Tom Campbell's liberal record on gay marriage and taxes. In May, we came back with a wildly successful automated phone campaign to 600,000 GOP primary voters, letting them know where Tom Campbell stands on gay marriage.
"Gay marriage advocates used to brag that no politician had ever lost a race because of his (or her) support for same-sex marriage. Certainly political races involve many factors, and it's often difficult to pinpoint one particular factor leading to a political defeat. But today they can no longer make that claim with a straight face. Less than three years after NOM's founding, we have now seen race after race where a candidate's support for gay marriage was significant in leading to that candidate's defeat. Just ask Dede Scozzafava in New York. Or Jon Corzine and Loretta Weinberg in New Jersey. And now Tom Campbell in California, just to name a few." - NOM president Brian Brown, taking credit for Carly Fiorina's win in the GOP Senate primary, which apparently had nothing to do with her $5M in self-funded last minute ads.
RELATED: I just had to point out Brown's usage of "straight face." Snork!
California is one of the most diverse states in the country, and our diversity is one of our strengths. Senator Barbara Boxer has been a champion of freedom, equality and justice for all Americans.
Equality under the Law: Senator Boxer supported the Hate Crimes Prevention Act to expand the federal hate crimes law to cover sexual orientation. She has supported – and voted for – legislation to have the U.S. Department of Justice assist local law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of crimes motivated by prejudice based on sexual orientation and to provide grants to local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute hate crimes.
Equality in the Workplace: Senator Boxer is a long-time cosponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which protects gays and lesbians from discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
Equality in Marriage: Senator Boxer supports marriage equality and was an early opponent of Proposition 8. She was one of only 14 Senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. She has been vocal in her opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would enshrine discrimination against gays and lesbians into the federal Constitution.
Equality in the Military: Senator Boxer believes that gay men and lesbians should be able to serve their country openly in the military. In 1993, she authored the amendment in the Senate that would have stopped "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" from being written into law, and she continues to support efforts to overturn this discriminatory policy.
Equality in Benefits: Senator Boxer believes the federal government should treat the partners and spouses of all employees equally. She supports legislation to make all benefits, such as health and pension benefits, currently offered to the spouses of heterosexual federal employees available to the spouses and partners of all employees. In addition, she has cosponsored bipartisan legislation to allow domestic partners who receive employer-provided health benefits to be treated the same as spouses under federal tax law. She voted to allow the District of Columbia to fund programs to allow city employees to treat their domestic partners the same as married spouses. In December 2001, Senator Boxer urged the Department of Justice to rule that benefits for survivors of the September 11 terrorist attacks should not be limited to those who were legally married.
Equality in Immigration Law: Senator Boxer supports allowing Americans and permanent legal residents to sponsor their foreign-born domestic partners for legal residency in the United States. This would treat domestic partners the same as married spouses under immigration law.
Equality in Access to Public Facilities: In 2001, Senator Boxer offered an amendment to grant youth groups access to public school meeting facilities regardless of the group's views on sexual orientation. The Human Rights Campaign called the Boxer Amendment "a bold move to offset a previous anti-gay amendment offered by Sen. Jesse Helms."
Equality in Healthcare: For nearly 30 years, the LGBT community has been hit particularly hard with the devastating effects of HIV and AIDS. From the early days of the crisis when she was a member of the House of Representatives, Senator Boxer has been committed to fighting for increased funding for prevention, education, research, and housing for people with HIV and AIDS.
Senator Boxer is a long-time supporter of the Ryan White CARE Act that provides the largest federal investment in community-based HIV/AIDS health care services.. She has repeatedly supported the program's reauthorization and continues to press for the highest level of funding possible.
As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Boxer has been one the leaders in the Senate in the effort to fund international HIV/AIDS relief. She has introduced legislation to dramatically increase funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development's HIV/AIDS program, and she continues to push for greater funding.
When she was a member of the Senate Budget Committee in the 1990s, Senator Boxer supported efforts to double research funding at the National Institutes of Health, including funding for research into HIV/AIDS.
She supported legislation to allow states to extend Medicaid coverage to low-income HIV-infected individuals, even if they did not otherwise qualify for the Medicaid program.
A 14ª edição da Parada LGBT de São Paulo reuniu mais de 3 milhões de pessoas, segundo a organização.
O evento foi focado este ano na luta contra a homofobia e até a bandeira arco-íris foi trocada pelo preto e branco nos materiais de divulgação para reforçar esta luta.
A marcha começou ao meio-dia na Avenida Paulista e terminou com uma concentração na Praça da República. A animar a multidão estiveram 18 carros de som entre empresas, ONGs e entidades oficiais. Os carros tinham origens muito diferenciadas desde o Ministério do Turismo, o Sindicato dos Engenheiros do Estado de São Paulo, Revista Arco Íris, a Coordenadora de Assuntos da Diversidade Sexual da Prefeitura de São Paulo, um site de relacionamentos, um hotel e até uma Drag Queen, Salete Campari.
Para evitar problemas um efectivo de 1300 agentes foi utilizado pelas forças policiais reforçados com segurança privada, entre outros.
A câmara municipal (Prefeitura) de São Paulo investiu cerca de 1 milhão de reais no evento, cerca de 450 mil euros. É estimado um impressionante retorno de mais de 100 milhões de euros do evento na economia da cidade. make the jump here to read the full article
Does the religious right have a problem with the television show Glee portraying homophobic people as ... too mean? Sure seems like it. Gay Rights blogger Mike Jones writes that one religious right leader is out with a call for Glee to stop portraying people against homosexuality as thugs, and instead treat the subject of homosexuality with more of a "love the sinner, hate the sin" mentality. Too bad there's just no sin to hate here. Read more »
On May 25th, Prop 8 witness David Blankenhorn wrote to the New York Timescomplaining that columnist Frank Rich had wrongly associated him with Dr. George "Anal Longstroke" Rekers.
My expert report to the court — which was written entirely by me, includes a list of scholarly sources and is available for anyone to read — includes no mention of Mr. Rekers. And for good reason: I have never met Mr. Rekers or read any of his writings. I recently learned that a separate, lawyer-generated document submitted to the court apparently does list an article by Mr. Rekers in connection with my testimony, but that document, on this point, is in error.
Only, whoops! This week Blankenhorn wrote back to the Times with the truth.
In a letter published on May 25, I incorrectly stated that I have never read anything written by the conservative minister George Rekers. In fact, in preparing for my report and deposition in the California Proposition 8 trial, I read one report to the court on a previous California marriage case written by Mr. Rekers, as well as a report to the same court taking a position opposed to Mr. Rekers’s.
A Parada do Orgulho GLBT de São Paulo é o maior evento do gênero no mundo. Estima-se que mais de 3 milhões de pessoas passaram pela última e a tendência é que o número aumente este ano. Mais de 3 milhões de gays, lésbicas, bissexuais e transgêneros, incluindo uma parcela significativa de simpatizantes. É um evento que nasceu da busca pela cidadania, respeito e direitos iguais, mas hoje se assemelha a um carnaval fora de época, com sexo livre pelas ruas, consumo desenfreado de drogas e bebidas, assaltos e uma programação intensa de festas paralelas nos clubes da cidade. E daí?
Pesquisas apontam como 10% a parcela de gays entre a população. Infelizmente, ainda é esperar muito que 10% da população brasileira (ou paulistana), seja educadinha, politizada, limpinha e com a libido sob controle. Mais do que um retrato de uma classe, a parada é um retrato do povo brasileiro ? e é importante que seja assim. É desejável e seria louvável que a parada fosse mais organizada, politizada, limpa e segura ? mas não é esse ainda o país em que vivemos. E os gays não vivem num mundo à parte. Mais do que dar um bom exemplo, a parada está aí para dar exemplos. Ser homossexual não é prova de caráter.
Questiona-se por que a parada paulistana se tornou tão grande. Não é fácil entender? São Paulo é das maiores cidades do mundo. O brasileiro é "um povo carnavalesco", com poucas opções de divertimento. Pronto. A importância da parada hoje se dá principalmente pelo seu volume. E talvez o volume seja mais importante do que o foco. São esses milhões que podem parar a Av. Paulista e emporcalhar as ruas. Milhões ? não é um personagem coadjuvante a cada quatro novelas ou um rapazinho no fundo da classe. É importante que as pessoas vejam. E se os clubes resolvem fazer festas, as empresas resolvem distribuir publicidade, qual é o mal?
Estamos no mês dos namorados. Propagandas com casaizinhos apaixonados rodam na TV. Os gays não estão lá. O homossexual ainda está longe de ter sua representatividade na mídia, nas artes. Entre os artistas, só assumem os que não conseguem disfarçar. Galã não pode se assumir gay porque ? diz-se ? vai afastar o público feminino. O adolescente que começa a se perceber diferente não se reconhece ? não tem exemplos ? "eu não sou afeminado", "não gosto de homens musculosos". É difícil se assumir diferente quando exemplos são só estereótipos.
Diz-se que a parada reforça estereótipos. Bem, são 3 milhões de pessoas, a imensa maioria tão neutra fisicamente quanto qualquer imensa maioria. Natural que, entre cem manos de bermuda e boné, uma drag queen se destaque. Natural que a imprensa prefira fotografar alguns milhares de drags e transexuais do que alguns milhões de manos. Mas quem está na parada vê o que qualquer homossexual com alguma estrada pode ver diariamente ? que os gays são seus colegas, dentistas, açougueiros, professores, cobradores de ônibus e pais de família.
Pode-se alegar que hoje já não há tanto preconceito ? os gays não estão sempre no Big Brother? (Já chegaram até a ganhar!) Mas a homossexualidade ainda é vista como uma coisa distante ? "não na minha família!". O que é visto com simpatia na televisão ou na Av. Paulista tem outros olhos dentro de casa ? e olhares de ódio em outras cidades.
Frases de senso comum são proferidas em programas de TV por pretensas simpatizantes bem-intencionadas: "Adoro os gays, mas não gostaria que meu filho fosse porque sei que ele sofreria com o preconceito". Por que não ouvimos "adoro os gordos, mas não gostaria que meu filho fosse"? Provavelmente, no meio artístico, alguém acima do peso é fruto de tanto preconceito quanto um homossexual. Mas sempre se pode emagrecer.
Os exemplos servem para vencer o preconceito. Para quê? Para que não tenha tanta gente apanhando, para que não tenha tanto gay se matando; para que não tenha tanto marido fugindo de noite de casa para pegar garoto de programa na rua; enfim, para que as mães possam aceitar e educar seus filhos para serem mais limpinhos, educadinhos, saudáveis e politizados. A palavra de ordem é "diversidade" e a Parada GLBT ? com orgulho ou não ? está aí para mostrar isso.
"I have had numerous e-mails, mainly from young men who have been inspired by me in some way, and so have had the courage to come out to their friends and families and so live fulfilled lives. I have also been told that I have helped parents come around to the fact that their son is gay. I have no idea how I have managed to do that, I have to confess – but if my openness has done that then it seems that it is the right way to be." - British rugby star and calendar man Ben Cohen, speaking to Compete Magazine. Cohen praises fellow rugby star Gareth Thomas for having come out and says that it's time for gay players in other sports to do the same.
A 14ª edição da Parada LGBT de São Paulo reuniu mais de 3 milhões de pessoas, segundo a organização.
