Via JMG: NOM Launches Mozilla Boycott to Support a Holocaust Denier

On Thursday hate group leader Brian Brown launched a petition in support of former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich. Late Friday afternoon he launched a boycott of Mozilla.

"When Brendon Eich made his modest contribution to support Proposition 8, Barack Obama was on the ballot as a candidate who said he believed marriage was the union of one man and one woman. Now Eich has been the target of a vicious character attack by gay activists who have forced him out of the company he has helped lead for years. This is a McCarthyesque witch hunt that makes the term 'thought police' seem modest. We urge all consumers to remove Mozilla's Firefox web browser from their computers as a sign of protest. This attack to deny Mr. Eich his livelihood for supporting true marriage is a continuation of the shameful pattern we have consistently seen from gay activists. It basically says to all those in America and around the world who believe in a view of marriage that is consistent with the teachings of their faith that they are all bigots and haters and there is no place for them in civil society. This is the totalitarian worldview we will all be under if marriage ultimately is redefined in the law."

VERY FUCKING RELATED: Two years ago NOM launched their continuing boycott of Starbucks after the company issued a statement endorsing marriage equality in Washington state. Several months after the boycott started, hate group leader Tony Perkins declared to his national radio audience that NOM's boycott had cost Starbucks over $10B in stock value.

It didn’t take long for Starbucks to lose bucks over marriage. Hello, I’m Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in Washington. In January, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said endorsing same-sex marriage would be good for business. Boy was he wrong! Siding with radical homosexuals has its price in this country. And in Starbucks case, the cost is about ten billion dollars. That’s how much the coffee giant’s lost in stock value since the campaign to Dump Starbucks got underway. In the last eight months, the company's missed sales projections and watched stocks dive from $61 to $48, for a loss of more than $10.2 billion. How many companies will fall for the lie that endorsing same-sex marriage will help business? J.C. Penney’s tried it. Target’s tried it. Now Starbucks. And every time, there’s a reason to believe that alienating millions of customers will directly affect a company’s bottom line. On the flip side, look at Chick-fil-A. They found out that supporting traditional values pays just as many cultural dividends as financial ones.

From Joe:

Brian Brown and his clown car of evil are trying to sell the claim that they are super concerned about evil homofascsists destroying the livelihood of Brendan Eich, but they bragged about having caused a $10B stock loss that may have devastated the investment portfolios of uncountable retirees, families, and pension funds. So what if thousands of people who also oppose same-sex marriage suddenly saw their nest eggs dwindle? And if a dive in stock price prompted Starbucks to enact massive layoffs among straight minimum wage workers? Serves them homos right.

The truth, of course, is that NOM's boycott had nothing to do with the price of Starbucks stock and everything to do with the volatility experienced by much of the restaurant sector at that time. In early 2012 at the start of NOM's boycott, Starbucks traded at $43. It closed today at $71.55. That's a 66% increase. Other companies are probably lighting candles in the hope of a boycott from NOM.

But all that is only part of the story.

Shortly after NOM's boycott of Starbucks began in America, Brian Brown posted a gloating update in which he announced that NOM had purchased Arabic-language banner ads to promote the boycott on websites based in several Middle Eastern countries that carry the death penalty for homosexuality. His intent, obviously, was to whip up anti-gay sentiment in places where our brothers and sisters already lead lives of quiet terror at best. Perhaps he even hoped for a madman to take out the entire staff at one of those overseas Starbucks. THAT would send a message back home, huh?

REMINDER: When major national Christian groups with millions of followers call for boycotts, that is a righteous use of the free market in order to preserve morality, marriage, family, and the American way. But if a gay keyboard activist tweets a call for a boycott, THAT is homofascist intimidation, intolerance, bullying, a stifling of religious liberty, and an attempt to deny the freedom of speech. And don't you forget it.

Labels: bigotry, Brendan Eich, Brian Brown, Christianists, evil, Firefox, hate groups, hypocrisy, liars, Mozilla, NOM, Tony Perkins

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Nate Silver Compiles Prop 8 Donations By Staffers At Major Silicon Valley Companies

Using a Los Angeles Times database of donations to the 2008 Proposition 8 campaign, stats guru Nate Silver has compiled a list of how the staffers of major Silicon Valley tech companies weighed in with their wallets.

The list includes Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Cisco Systems, Apple, Google, Sun Microsystems, eBay, Oracle, Yahoo, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Symantec. I limited the search to donors who listed California as their location. In total between these 11 companies, 83 percent of employee donations were in opposition to Proposition 8. So Eich was in a 17 percent minority relative to the top companies in Silicon Valley. However, there was quite a bit of variation from business to business. At Intel, 60 percent of employee donations were in support of Proposition 8. By contrast, at Apple, 94 percent of employee donations were made in opposition to Proposition 8. The opposition was even higher at Google, where 96 percent of employee donations were against it, including $100,000 from co-founder Sergey Brin. There isn’t much data on Mozilla. Only four Proposition 8 donors listed it as their employer: Eich, who donated in support of the measure, and three others who opposed it.

Silver notes that his result does not include those who chose to donate to either side of the campaign without disclosing the name of their employers. About 12% of those in the database did not.

 

Labels: 2008 elections, Apple, boycotts, Brendan Eich, California, eBay, Google, Intel, LGBT rights, Mozilla, Nate Silver, Proposition 8, Silicon Valley, Yahoo

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Carole King Surprises Beautiful Cast At Curtain Call Plea For AIDS Donations

Beautiful, the Broadway musical that tells Carole King's life story through her songs, has been running for months to record crowds and rave reviews. King had famously declined to see the show, telling Playbill in December after walking out of a reading, "I can't watch my life played out before me."  She changed her mind on Thursday, choosing to attend the show during the week that Broadway casts issue curtain call pleas for donations to Equity Fights AIDS.

She finally showed up. After months of wondering whether Carole King would ever come to see the Broadway musical based on her life and comprising her music, the singer/songwriter surprised the cast and crew by attending Thursday evening’s performance of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” After the curtain call, as the cast was doing the annual appeal for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Ms. King ventured out on stage. “They had no idea,” she told the applauding audience. Jessie Mueller, who earned strong reviews for her portrayal of Ms. King when the show opened in January, wept, along with several other members of the cast. The charity effort became a song auction: Ms. King led the cast in “You’ve Got a Friend.” The appeal raised $30,000.

RELATED: Carole King's 1971 album Tapestry has sold over 25 million copies and is among the greatest selling albums of all time. It swept the major awards at the 1972 Grammys, taking Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year, and Best Pop Female Vocal. Tapestry spent 15 consecutive weeks atop the albums chart and 43 years later that remains the record for a female vocalist. The album appeared on the Billboard Top 200 for 302 weeks, another record for a female vocalist, and sixth on the all-time list for weeks on that chart. (#1 is Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon at 741 weeks.)

Labels: Broadway, Broadway Cares, Carole King, Equity Fights AIDS, musical theater, NYC, pop music

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Todd Starnes On Brendan Eich

"Why not demand that those who oppose gay marriage relinquish the right to own property? Why not take away their right to vote? Why not take away their children? Why not just throw them in jail? Why not force them to work in chain gangs? Why not call for public floggings? Or better yet, let’s just strap them down on gurneys, stick a needle in their arm and rid the world of these intolerant anti-gay bigots once and for all. The road to political correctness is littered with the bodies of folks like Brendan Eich sideswiped by the tolerance and diversity bus." - Fox News reporter Todd Starnes, writing for Townhall.

Labels: Brendan Eich, crackpots, Fox News, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Mozilla, Proposition 8, Tea Party, technology, Townhall

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

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The Pinch of Generosity | April 5, 2014

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When you are practicing generosity, you should feel a little pinch when you give something away. That pinch is your stinginess protesting. If you give away your old, worn-out coat that you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing, that is not generosity. There is no pinch. You are doing nothing to overcome your stinginess; you’re just cleaning out your closet and calling it something else. Giving away your coat might keep someone warm, but it does not address the problem we face as spiritual practitioners: to free ourselves from self-cherishing and self-grasping.

  

—Gelek Rinpoche, “Generosity (and Greed) Introduction”

 

Via JMG: Ben Shapiro Launches Mozilla Boycott

 

Tea Party shrieker Ben Shapiro has launched an OKCupid-style boycott of Mozilla on his Truth Revolt site. Because gaystapo.

REMINDER: When powerful national Christian groups with millions of members call for boycotts, that is a righteous use of the free market in order to preserve morality, marriage, family, and the American way. But when gay individuals call for a boycott, THAT is homofascist intimidation, intolerance, bullying, a stifling of religious liberty, and an attempt to deny the freedom of speech. And don't you forget it.

Labels: Ben Shapiro, boycotts, Breitbart, Christianists, crackpots, douchebaggery, Mozilla, religion, Tea Party, teabaggers

Reposted from Joe Jervis

RuPaul Drives... Olivia Newton-John

Via JMG: Mozilla: Eich Jumped, Wasn't Pushed

 

Mozilla's Firefox account on Twitter has 2.4M followers and they have responded to many complaints today.

Labels: boycotts, Brendan Eich, Firefox, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Mozilla, Proposition 8, technology

Reposted from Joe Jervis

JMG Quote Of The Day - J.C. Von Krempach

"It is time for the rest of us to wake up. Tolerating the same-sex movement has been a very bad idea. You cannot tolerate what undermines democracy and ultimately destroys society. The same-sex lobby are the new Nazis. Their strategy consists simply in intimidating possible opponents. The vicious campaign against Brendan Eich is ultimately directed not only against him, but it sends a message to anybody who has not yet submitted to the dogma of same-sex bigotry: we will go after you, and we will destroy you. So you better do not dare express your true opinion on same-sex 'marriage. This is exactly how Communism operated. This is exactly how Nazism operated (at the time when it was not yet powerful enough to send its opponents into gas chambers). This is exactly what the Taliban do." - J.C. Von Krempach, writing for the blog of C-FAM, a Catholic group that (in partnership with NOM) is pressuring foreign governments to crackdown on their LGBT citizens. Right Wing Watch notes that Krempach's post was almost immediately deleted and replaced with a call for civility by another writer.

RELATED: Another member of C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute) is Breitbart columnist Austin Ruse, who last month was fired by the American Family Association's radio network after broadcasting a call for liberal college professors to be "taken out and shot." During a speech at CPAC 2012, Ruse denounced the United Nations for issuing a resolution against the gay death penalty.

Labels: Brendan Eich, C-FAM, Catholics, Christianists, hate groups, LGBT rights, Mozilla, religion, technology

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Activist Groups React To Mozilla News

Courage Campaign

“Across the country, the LGBT community and progressive activists are heartened by Mozilla’s decisive action to remove Mr. Eich as the CEO of their for-profit and nonprofit ventures. It is a testament to the power of online grassroots organizing. The decision to hold its CEO to the same high standards of inclusion and equality that the company advocates, Mozilla once again reaffirmed its credibility as a thoroughly progressive institution. Let this be a clear message to those at other progressive institutions around the country -- homophobia and bigotry are not progressive values, and will not be tolerated.”

CREDO

“We applaud Mozilla’s announcement and its strong stand for equal rights,” said Becky Bond, CREDO’s Political Director. “Mozilla is not just company, it’s a movement supported by tens of thousands of volunteers around the world. Mozilla is a non-profit organization fighting to keep the web open and free for all of us. They put people above profit, and fight for user choice and privacy. Mozilla’s mission is vitally important to every grassroots movement, including the work that we do here at CREDO.”

NOTE: There have been few public reactions to Mozilla story by LGBT groups, who seem have largely left the issue to grassroots activists. GLAAD has issued a one sentence statement: "Mozilla’s strong statement in favor of equality today reflects where corporate America is: inclusive, safe, and welcoming to all." 

Labels: Brendan Eich, Courage Campaign, Firefox, GLAAD, Mozilla, Proposition 8, technology

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: and...Right On Cue

Labels: Brendan Eich, Bryan Fischer, Christianists, douchebaggery, hate groups, hypocrisy, Linda Harvey, Mozilla, Peter LaBarbera, religion, Tammy Bruce, technology

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

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Refraining is not Enough | April 4, 2014

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Whenever we find fault with others, whether through anger, contemptuous certainty, self-righteousness, or gossip, it is often based in fear. We may not be aware of our fears, but when we look deeply, we may discover the fear of rejection, loss of control, of unworthiness, or the fear of disconnection. But refraining alone is not enough—by itself it is just behavior modification—and it is neither healing nor transformative. Only through uncovering and consciously entering into the deep hole inside, welcoming the fear with curiosity and compassion, can we ultimately reconnect with the basic wholeness of our true nature.    

 

—Ezra Bayda, “Gossip”

 

Via JMG: Signorile Vs Sullivan

 

Yesterday Andrew Sullivan denounced the campaign against now-former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, declaring that if the Eich controversy represents the gay rights movement today, he no longer wants any part of it. Michelangelo Signorile responded to Sullivan this morning in a post which contends that it wasn't Eich's donation to the Prop 8 campaign that did him in. An excerpt:

Eich only announced he was stepping down after it was revealed late Wednesday that he'd given money to Pat Buchanan's presidential campaign in 1992, and later to Ron Paul's campaign. Suddenly, in addition to defending a CEO who gave money to homophobic efforts, Mozilla would have to defend a CEO who supported Buchanan, a far right extremist and isolationist who's been accused of racist and anti-Semitic attacks, and who also was, rightly, driven off MSNBC -- though that took years longer to accomplish than the few weeks it took to purge Alec Baldwin.
It all just became too much for Mozilla to bear, and who knows what else may have been dug up on Eich? None of this is about government censorship. It's about a company based in Northern California which has many progressive employees, and which has a lot of progressives and young people among the user base of its Firefox browser, realizing its CEO's world view was completely out of touch with the company's --and America's -- values and vision for the future.

Hit the link and read Signorile's full response.

Labels: activism, Andrew Sullivan, Brendan Eich, LGBT rights, Michelangelo Signorile, Mozilla, Pat Buchanan, Proposition 8

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via George Takei / FB:

Well, that was fast. OkCupid's strong stance surely helped. And staffers at Mozilla who'd protested, and company directors who'd resigned as a result of his appointment, can now work in a hate-free zone.

And a quick civics primer: Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. This man donated money to a campaign designed to keep LGBT people from full equality and to deny our families equal rights under the law. He was free to make that choice, but we are free to hold him accountable. If he'd donated money to White Supremacists to help outlaw interracial marriage, there'd be little outcry over his ouster.

 

Mozilla CEO Resigns After Political Gay Marriage Ban Donation

Mozilla co-founder CEO Brendan Eich, who came under fire this week for donating to a campaign to ban gay marriage in California, has resigned.

 

By ABC News

Via JMG: Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich Steps Down

In a statement published this afternoon to her corporate blog, Mozilla chairwoman Mitchell Baker announced that CEO Brendan Eich has stepped down. Baker's statement opens:

Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past week, we didn’t live up to it. We know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves. We didn’t act like you’d expect Mozilla to act. We didn’t move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We’re sorry. We must do better. Brendan Eich has chosen to step down from his role as CEO. He’s made this decision for Mozilla and our community. Mozilla believes both in equality and freedom of speech. Equality is necessary for meaningful speech. And you need free speech to fight for equality. Figuring out how to stand for both at the same time can be hard.

Baker concludes:

What’s next for Mozilla’s leadership is still being discussed. We want to be open about where we are in deciding the future of the organization and will have more information next week. However, our mission will always be to make the Web more open so that humanity is stronger, more inclusive and more just: that’s what it means to protect the open Web. We will emerge from this with a renewed understanding and humility — our large, global, and diverse community is what makes Mozilla special, and what will help us fulfill our mission. We are stronger with you involved. Thank you for sticking with us.

Today's move comes ten days after Eich was named Mozilla's CEO. LGBT groups, gay Mozilla staffers, and gay developers immediately called for a boycott of Mozilla over Eich's apparently unrepentant donation to the Proposition 8 campaign in 2008. But when Eich issued a statement expressing solidarity for the LGBT community (albeit without publicly reversing on marriage equality or apologizing for the donation), calls for his resignation and boycotts of Mozilla spread into the anti-gay, Christian, and Tea Party worlds, creating a bizarre and unprecedented situation in which groups that are regularly tearing into each others' throats were suddenly and unwillingly thrust onto the same side. Almost everybody (noted exception: Brian Brown) wanted Eich gone - but for very different reasons.

Today's move will surely satisfy many LGBT activists. But don't think for a minute that this story is over, because the screams of "homofascism" that we regularly hear are now going to grow much louder and the Eich saga will surely echo into future battles. Some of us may even come to view today as having been a Pyrrhic victory as Eich will doubtlessly be canonized by our enemies and his name will become a rallying cry.

As least we'll have the short term amusement of watching hate group leaders who last week called for Eich's head turn swiftly on their heels to scream about the intolerant gaystapo.

Labels: Brendan Eich, California, Firefox, internet, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Mozilla, Proposition 8, technology

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Frankie Knuckles The Whistle Song

Little Kids. Big Questions. | Love

Honey Maid: Love

The Bahá'í Faith and Homosexuality

Bahá'í LGBTs on the Internet,
agitating for full acceptance

The conflicts between the Baha'i Faith and LGBTs (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender persons and transsexuals) are unlikely to go away anytime soon. 

The agenda being pursued by Baha'i LGBTs is simple: full equality for persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities, including same-sex marriage. Some are using the Internet to publicize their goals.

In reading some of their sites, one is struck by the level of anxiety and fear experienced by LGBTs in this faith. That is a real pity, because the Baha'i faith should liberate people from fear and make their lives whole, not trap them in a closet and make them pretend to be what they are not.

Make the jump here to read the full article

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How to be Mindful | April 3, 2014

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Since the sense of self is the embodiment of the absence of awareness, forgetting to observe is inevitable as we try harder to be aware. The problem of how to be mindful is actually resolved not through strenuous effort but by relaxing, allowing, and observing what is already here. Within the framework of relaxation, the sense of self has a diminishing power center, making space for awareness to be revealed.

—Rodney Smith, “From Thought to Stillness”

 

Via Towleroad: Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich Also Contributed To Anti-Gay GOP Candidates

By Daniel Villarreal

  

The Guardian has just revealed that in addition to donating $1,000 to help ban gay marriage in California, new Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich also contributed $1000 during the early 1990s to anti-gay right-wing Republican presidential candidate and $2000 in the late 90s to Texas state Republican congressman Ron Paul, a man who preferred to leave gay marriage up to individual states.

The Guardian notes:

During the AIDS outbreak of 1990, Buchanan said “our promiscuous homosexuals appear literally hell-bent on Satanism and suicide”. A few years earlier he said “homosexuals have declared war on nature, and now nature is exacting an awful retribution”.

In a 2010 article on [gay marriage], Buchanan remarked that "all the great religions have condemned homosexuality and all the great nations have proscribed or punished it" and concluded: "Historically, from the late Roman Empire to Weimar, flagrant homosexuality has been associated with sick societies, decadent cultures and dying civilizations.”

Ever since news of Eich’s anti-gay California contribution has become public, there have been calls for a Mozilla boycott from both pro and anti-gay groups, calls for Eich to step down from Mozilla employees, several resignations of Mozilla board members, even as Eich continues to sidestep questions on his current stance towards same-sex marriage.

http://www.towleroad.com/2014/04/mozilla-ceo-brendan-eich-also-contributed-to-anti-gay-gop-candidates.html

Via JMG: Mozilla CEO Speaks To CNET

Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich has spoken to the tech site CNET in his first interview since controversy erupted over his 2008 donation to the backers of Proposition 8. Eich declined to discuss his personal views or say if he now supports marriage equality, but he repeated last week's expression of sorrow for causing pain to LGBT people. CNET asked Eich if he thinks the furor is an "existential threat" to the company:

I don't know. If it is, the vision of Mozilla will be lost. I don't think anyone else will carry the user-first agenda above all other considerations. I understand big commercial corporations can't do it. They have to ultimately answer to their shareholders. They can have founders with large shares and that can say they're willing to take a hit in order to be long-term thinkers, and I admire that, but in no way can they do what Mozilla does. We bled for the user. We did Firefox when nobody thought the browser was a competitive market or ever would be again. We did Firefox OS when people said there was no need for a mobile OS but there was obviously a gap below the market. And we're doing a user-centric approach to services that involve identity and choice and control of data. Mozilla has to uphold its principles, has to have integrity to advance its mission.

I feel strongly about what's happened, and I feel I'm still the best CEO for the job. I've got lots to contribute and I'll help us turn some corners. The corners that need me as CEO, not just founder or CTO, are a big mobile turn that involves services [and] user identity and agency in the cloud. If we get our message out about inclusiveness and how Mozilla cannot succeed without being truly globally inclusive, then we'll have trouble. I expect I'll be helpful there, too, in the long run. We're in a struggle now, but if we get through it, we'll be stronger for it. That's been true of all our struggles at Mozilla. When we pull everybody together for common mission, that's when we really succeed.

Eich also mentioned that the company is planning to take actions to emphasize its support for the LGBT community, but he gave no specifics.

Labels: 2008 elections, Brendan Eich, California, Firefox, internet, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Mozilla, Proposition 8, technology

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

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What the Buddha Never Said | April 2, 2014

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'There is no self' is the granddaddy of fake Buddhist quotes. It has survived so long because of its superficial resemblance to the teaching on anatta, or not-self, which was one of the Buddha’s tools for putting an end to clinging. Even though he neither affirmed nor denied the existence of a self, he did talk of the process by which the mind creates many senses of self—what he called “I-making” and “my-making”—as it pursues its desires. 

—Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “There is no self.”

Via Daily Dharma

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Some Space | April 1, 2014

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If we can allow some space within our awareness and rest there, we can respect our troubling thoughts and emotions, allow them to come, and let them go. Our lives may be complicated on the outside, but we remain simple, easy, and open on the inside. 

 

—Tsoknyi Rinpoche, "Allow for Space"

 

Via JMG: First & Last Lines From Noted Gay Novels

Boy Culture blogger Matt Rettenmund has compiled the first and last sentences from nearly 100 well-known gay novels. Andrew Holleran's Dancer From The Dance, for example, opens and closes this way: First: "Ecstasy, it's finally spring down here on the Chattahoochee—the azaleas are in bloom, and everyone is dying of cancer. Last: “Go out dancing tonight, my dear, and go home with someone, and if the love doesn't last beyond the morning, then know I love you." Of all the novels cited, Larry Kramer's opening line in Faggots is the one I remember best: "There are 2,556,596 faggots in the New York City area." Hit the link for an enjoyable time-waster.

Labels: books, gay writers, LGBT History

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Employment Protections Map

 

Lambda Legal notes:

All government employees are protected by the U.S. Constitution against irrational discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In addition, some measure of protection already exists under Title VII based on gender, which has been held to include gender identity and expression. The U.s. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and several courts have interpreted Title VII to protect transgender employees, and the EEOC has interpreted Title VII to cover sexual orientation discrimination. The Supreme Court has held that the EEOC's interpretation of Title VII are entitled to "great deference."

Notice that New York shamefully continues to lack statewide gender identity protections, despite such a bill passing in the state Assembly six times. Maryland will join the 17 states with full LGBT employment protections when Gov. Martin O'Malley signs the transgender rights bill approved by the state legislature last week. There's only one way to turn the entire map green: ENDA.

Labels: employment, ENDA, Lambda Legal, LGBT rights

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: College Football Player Comes Out

 

Outsports reports that NCAA defensive end Mitch Eby came out to his Chapman University teammates earlier this month. Eby first told his two roommates, both also players, then opened up to his head coach, who agreed to allow Eby to address the full team. An excerpt from his speech:

"I came up here today to talk to you guys about something that I've been dealing with for quite a while. It's something personal that I've always thought I could just bury away, but I can't. We live life so worried about how other people view us that we forget about ourselves. I can no longer go on living in fear, repressing myself because of how society may view me. I can no longer lie to my friends, family and teammates. It's time I lived life for myself for a change. With that being said, I am ready to share with you all that I am gay. It has taken me years to accept myself for who I truly am, so it's irrational to expect everybody to unconditionally accept me right away. However, the one thing that I hope that I can count on from each of you, my teammates, is your respect. Your respect as a friend, your respect as a teammate, and your respect as a man."

According to the above-linked report, the team applauded Eby's revelation.  Athlete Ally founder Hudson Taylor reacts via press release:

"Mitch is demonstrating great courage and leadership by publicly coming out as gay while still actively playing college football. While the decision to take this step is a deeply personal one, it impacts countless other young closeted athletes who will wrestle with how to compete and live their lives authentically. Today represents another important step in making sports a welcoming environment for all."

Labels: coming out, football, gay athletes, sports

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

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The Nature of Anger | March 31, 2014

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Because we imagine anger is never a good thing, it is easy to think we should practice simply not being angry. But that approach is too general and abstract. It’s important for each of us to be precise, to be real, to be personal and honest, to find out exactly what my anger is. To do that we need to ask ourselves lots of questions about its actual nature. 

 

—Nancy Baker, "Precious Energy"

 

Via Tricycle

March 31, 2014 | New at Tricycle: We continue our ongoing mission to eliminate Buddha misquotes; a visit to S. N. Goenka in 1970s India; Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara gets intimate; we host an Enlightening Conversation; and we offer you a last chance to watch Souls of Zen, our Film Club selection this month.
MAGAZINE: WHAT THE BUDDHA NEVER SAID
There are lots of fake Buddha quotes floating around, but the granddaddy of them all is “There is no self.” Theravada Buddhist monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu goes all the way back to ancient India’s debate culture to explain the origins of this dubious quote.

Via JMG: Mozilla: We Support Marriage Equality

Internet giant Mozilla, the makers of the popular Firefox browser, have issued a statement which emphasizes their support for same-sex marriage. Controversy erupted last week when Mozilla appointed CEO Brendan Eich, who in 2008 donated to the backers of Proposition 8. An excerpt from the statement:

Mozilla’s mission is to make the Web more open so that humanity is stronger, more inclusive and more just. This is why Mozilla supports equality for all, including marriage equality for LGBT couples. No matter who you are or who you love, everyone deserves the same rights and to be treated equally. We realize that not everyone in our community or who uses our products will agree with this. But we have always maintained that as long as you are willing to respect others, and come together for our larger mission, you are welcome. Mozilla’s community is made up of people who have very diverse personal beliefs working on a common cause, which is a free and open internet. That is a very rare and special thing.

Hampton Caitlin, a Firefox developer who with his husband last week announced a boycott of Mozilla, has tweeted his pleasure with this development. 

 

UPDATE: Mozilla Foundation executive director Mark Surman today weighed in on the flap. His statement concludes:

I worry that Mozilla is in a tough spot right now. I worry that we do a bad job of explaining ourselves, that people are angry and don’t know who we are or where we stand. And, I worry that in the time it takes to work this through and explain ourselves the things I love about Mozilla will be deeply damaged. And I suspect others do too. If you are a Mozillian, I ask that you help the people around you understand who we are. And, if you have supported Mozilla in the past are frustrated or angry with us, I ask you for kindness and patience. What Mozilla is about is working through these things, even when they’re hard. Because the web need us to. It’s that important.

Labels: Brendan Eich, California, Firefox, internet, marriage equality, Mozilla, Proposition 8, technology

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Westboro Baptist To Picket Liquor Store That Mocked Death Of Fred Phelps

 

 

 

 

Labels: hate groups, Oklahoma, religion, Westboro

Reposted from Joe Jervis 

Eckhart Tolle: How do I manage self-expectations?

Via Daily Dharma

Enlivening the Ordinary | March 30, 2014 Through art, a painter can make the ordinary come alive. As Zen students, we try to bring this kind of relevance into each moment of our lives, into this one moment that contains all moments. In this way, we allow the ordinary to enliven us. Sometimes this is successful, sometimes not, but the work itself goes on. Persistence is one of the major virtues in both the artist and the unenlightened. —Gary Thorp, "The Dust Beyond the Cushion"

Searching for Self | March 29, 2014 This mind that we identify as the self, which we could call ego-mind, controls everything we do. Yet it can't actually be found—which is somewhat spooky, as if a ghost were managing our home. The house seems to be empty, but all the housework has been done. The bed has been made, our shoes have been polished, the tea has been poured, and the breakfast has been cooked. —Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche, "Searching for Self"

Via The Everlasting GOP Stoppers / FB:

Via JMG: Voters Like Gays More Than Evangelicals

According to a poll of likely 2016 voters commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign, voters view gay people more favorably than they do evangelicals. Via the Huffington Post:

On Thursday the Human Rights Campaign and Americans for Marriage Equality released the results of a study, entitled "Victory In Sight", conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and TargetPoint Consulting that investigated the nuances of voters' views on marriage equality. More than a simple matter of "Should gays and lesbians be allowed to marry?", the poll looked at shifts in opinions over time, reasons for such shifts, and differing opinions among ages, faiths, geographic areas and more.

The first question addressed acceptance, comparing voters' favorable or unfavorable feelings towards gays and lesbians and towards evangelical Christians. In a nearly 80% Christian-identified country, the results might surprise you. Fifty-three percent of voters said they felt favorably toward gays and lesbians, compared to 42% who felt favorably toward evangelicals. Eighteen percent said they felt unfavorably toward gays and lesbians, while 28% reported unfavorable feelings toward evangelicals.

Labels: 2016 elections, HRC, polls, religion