Via AmericaBlogGay: Robin McGehee on "8, The Play": It was fun (but we shouldn't have to be doing this)

Note from Joe: Robin McGehee is a great friend of AMERICAblog's. We're big fans. She's the amazing activist who helped organized the National Equality March on Washington back in 2009, then founded GetEQUAL. Last night, she was in the audience for AFER's production of "8, The Play." Robin's activism started with Prop. 8, so she sent us her take on last night's event (along with some photos.) 

If you missed the live broadcast, watch it here. It's worth it -- and remember, the haters don't want people to know what happened at the trial. The play begins at 29:51.

____________________________________

From Robin:

If you would have asked me a week ago if I was going to the American Federal for Equal Right's showing of "8" in Los Angeles - I would have replied, "I wish!" I am a full-time mom and professor at the College of the Sequoias in a small town called, Visalia, California. Although I am deeply devoted and in love with what AFER has done for the marriage equality fight in California, and globally for that matter, there is no way I could afford to get in.

Make the jump here ot read the full article

Vote Republican 2012

Via Facebook:

Via JMG: Rick Santorum: If Elected I Will Nullify All Existing Same-Sex Marriages Nationwide

Rick Santorum says that if elected he was ensure that all existing same-sex marriages will be nullified. That's not too surprising actually, but that's a step further than we've heard from the other GOP tools.

There are 18,000 married gay and lesbian couples in California and at least 131,000 nationwide according to the 2010 census, conducted before New York state legalized same-sex marriage in July. Rick Santorum says he'll try to unmarry all of them if he's elected president. Once the U.S. Constitution is amended to prohibit same-gender marriages, "their marriage would be invalid," the former Pennsylvania senator said Dec. 30 in an NBC News interview. "We can't have 50 different marriage laws in this country," he said. "You have to have one marriage law."

Romney also wants a federal constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, but has said he would allow existing marriages to remain legal. The Family Research Council yesterday voiced their support for Santorum's plan to rip apart gay families.

Labels: Christian Love, douchenozzles, evil, fascists, GOP, LGBT rights, Rick Santorum

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Prop 8: The Play

From last night:

Featuring an all-star cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Lynch, Kevin Bacon and others, "8" is a play written by Academy Award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and directed by acclaimed actor and director Rob Reiner. It is a powerful account of the case filed by the American Federation for Equal Rights (AFER ) in the U.S. District Court in 2010 to overturn Proposition 8 [LINK], a constitutional amendment that eliminated the rights of same-sex couples to marry in the state of California. Framed around the trial's historic closing arguments in June 2010, 8 provides an intimate look what unfolded when the issue of same-sex marriage was on trial.

Labels: AFER, Brad Pitt, Dustin Lance Black, Hollywood, Jane Lynch, Proposition 8, Rob Reiner

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Via JMG: GLAAD Is Pissed At Kirk Cameron

GLAAD unleashes via press release:

Kirk Cameron joins former TV stars Victoria Jackson and Chuck Norris in desperately trying to remain in the public eye by using anti-LGBT rhetoric. Last year, Jackson described a kiss between ‘Glee’ characters Kurt and Blaine as ‘sickening’ and Norris wrote on anti-LGBT site WorldNet Daily that the public education system has devolved into "progressive indoctrination camps” that train students to “forcefully defend issues like abortion and homosexuality, as well as become cultural advocates for political correctness, relativism, globalization, green agendas and tolerance for all.” Let’s remember that while these once relevant celebrities try to regain notoriety through advancing ignorance, Hollywood’s elite including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Kevin Bacon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Lynch, and Martin Sheen are using their voices and popularity to move America closer to equality for everyone.

Petition here.

Labels: bigotry, GLAAD, religion, television

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma March 4, 2012

Letting Go of Fixation

Letting go of fixation is effectively a process of learning to be free, because every time we let go of something, we become free of it. Whatever we fixate upon limits us because fixation makes us dependent upon something other than ourselves. Each time we let go of something, we experience another level of freedom.

- Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, "Letting Go of Spiritual Experience"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlog gay:

A child scarred for life after "the talk" about Uncle Bob’s friend Pete

RedCognito:

I’ve been forced to explain homosexuality to my kids (aged 3 and 4) because their uncle is gay. This incredibly difficult and traumatic experience went as follows:

Child: Why does Uncle Bob go everywhere with Pete?
Me: Because they’re in love, just like Mummy and Daddy are.
Child: Oh. Can I have a biscuit?

We’re all scarred for life. Scarred, I tell you.

Gay Marriage & The Bible Explained

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVOnqOrfNoU&feature=share

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma March 3, 2012

A Magician's Illusion

When people praise us and we glow with delight, it is because we think that being praised is beneficial. But that is like thinking that there is some substance to a rainbow or a dream. However much benefit appears to accrue from praise and acclaim, actually there's none at all. However convincing it seems, it is as unreal as a magician's illusion.

- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Bad Reputation"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: MAINE: Catholic Diocese Says It Won't Campaign Against Gay Marriage Bill

In a stunning turnaround, Maine's Catholic diocese says it will not campaign publicly against this November's vote on the same-sex marriage.

Bishop Richard Malone on Friday unveiled a "pastoral letter" he wrote explaining the church's position on marriage. The document will be discussed at Catholic churches and schools, through the diocese's magazine and on radio stations devoted to Catholic issues. Malone said the letter will be the heart of the church's response to gay-marriage supporters. The church in 2009 took up special collections and asked for contributions from other dioceses to fund a campaign against an effort to legalize gay marriage. The Legislature that year legalized same-sex marriage, but voters later overturned the law.

For the first time for any state, Maine's gay marriage item was placed on the ballot by gay activists themselves. (Tipped by JMG reader Matt)

Labels: Catholic Church, Maine, Richard Malone

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Billboard Of The Day

American Atheists say:

The “HR 535 – Year of the Bible Resolution” declared by the PA House of Representatives asked us to “study and apply the teachings of the holy scriptures”. After considering the bill, we felt it necessary to highlight one of those teachings and share it with the public in the form of this billboard. It will be posted starting around March 5th for 28 days, and stay up throughout the month of March.

Labels: atheism, FTW, pennsylvania, religion

reposted from Joe

Via Bahai-Net

What came to my mind as I watched this was the time of witch burnings - it's the same thing, I thought, just as ignorant, just as hysterical, just as evil - and once again, it comes from "religious" feelings - better to be without religion altogether, if this is what it comes to. When will Baha'is understand that if you denounce homosexuality as an undesirable aberration, displeasing to God and needing correction, you are contributing to this kind of ignorant fear of gays? All the Baha'i platitudes about it being wrong to show prejudice or disdain toward gays are meaningless as long as they hold on to the denouncement of homosexuality as being abhorrent to God, while insisting they are not homophobic - you can't have it both ways, folks.

 http://www.gaybahai.net/discussion/post/1746062

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma March 2, 2012

Growing Through

Even on a small scale in daily life situations, such as when we feel bored or ill at ease, instead of trying to avoid these feelings by staying busy or buying another fancy gadget, we learn to look more clearly at our impulses, attitudes, and defenses. In this way dukkha guides and deepens our motivation to the point where we’ll say, 'Enough running, enough walls, I’ll grow through handling my blocks and lost places.'

- Ajahn Sucitto, "From Turning the Wheel of Truth: Commentary on the Buddha's First Teaching"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: 21 Senate Dems Want Marriage Plank

At this writing 21 Senate Democrats have signed on to a call for a marriage equality plank in this year's Democratic Convention. Chris Johnson reports:

The Washington Blade received statements from the offices of 21 Democratic senators — including Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) — expressing support for including a marriage equality plank in the Democratic Party platform. The Blade solicited statements from all 53 Democratic senators and will update this article as more senators respond. The senators follow the lead of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who on Tuesday became the first U.S. senator this year to get behind the idea of including same-sex marriage in the Democratic Party platform. Shaheen, who’s also a co-chair of President Obama’s national campaign committee, said she backs a plank in support of marriage equality proposed by the LGBT organization Freedom to Marry.

Here's the language of Freedom To Marry's proposed plank.

The Democratic Party supports the full inclusion of all families in the life of our nation, with equal respect, responsibility, and protection under the law, including the freedom to marry. Government has no business putting barriers in the path of people seeking to care for their family members, particularly in challenging economic times. We support the Respect for Marriage Act and the overturning of the federal so-called Defense of Marriage Act, and oppose discriminatory constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny the freedom to marry to loving and committed same-sex couples.”

Labels: Democratic convention, Democrats, Senate

reposted from Joe

Grandparents For Marriage Equality

Via JMG: CALIFORNIA: Support For Same-Sex Marriage Soars In Latest Poll

The Sacramento Bee reports:

The new Field survey shows support has leapt markedly in the three and a half years since California voters approved Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage, 52.3 percent to 47.7 percent. The poll showed increases in support virtually across the board – among voters under 64, non-white voters, Catholics, Republicans and nonpartisans. Poll Director Mark DiCamillo said the move to a 25-point gap goes beyond the gradual increase in support that has been expected as young voters age and "replace" older voters in the electorate. "This is now showing that opinions are changing irrespective of generational replacement," DiCamillo said. "This is real change."

I wonder if Equality California is kicking themselves right now.

Labels: California, Field Poll, marriage equality, polls

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: NOM's Traitor Wrote A Book

Labels: books, hate groups, NOM

Reposted from Joe

JMG Quote Of The Day - George Clooney

"I think it’s funny, but the last thing you’ll ever see me do is jump up and down, saying, 'These are lies!' That would be unfair and unkind to my good friends in the gay community. I’m not going to let anyone make it seem like being gay is a bad thing. My private life is private, and I’m very happy in it. Who does it hurt if someone thinks I’m gay? I’ll be long dead and there will still be people who say I was gay. I don’t give a shit." - George Clooney, speaking to the Advocate.

Labels: acting, Advocate, Hollywood, Quote Of The Day

reposted from Joe

JMG Quote Of The Day - Sgt. Brandon Morgan

"I used to be a very, very fanatical Christian, not that there’s anything wrong with being a Christian, but my beliefs, my core beliefs, definitely have changed as I’ve grown up because of the way I live, the way I am. I joined the Marine Corps because I felt I wanted to be the voice of God in the Marine Corps. I’m pretty sure people very close to me like my mother, my father, and my sister always knew that there was something different about me. I was always at the church, and had those values, had that idea that homosexuality was wrong according to the Christian faith. Eventually, nature comes out." - Sgt. Brandon Morgan, speaking to the Daily Beast.

RELATED: On the day that the story broke on JMG, those of us on this side of things traded a couple of slightly worrying items Morgan had apparently posted online some years ago. The wording was certainly mild compared to what we see here every day, but still there was some momentary concern that the entire "gay Marine in love" story might be some strange hoax. But as we see in the quote above, Morgan was just working through the youthful denial that so many of us faced.

Labels: DADT, military, Quote Of The Day, USMC

reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma March 1, 2012

Trusting in Yourself

The Buddha is saying, 'You are this.' He doesn’t say, 'I have something extra that I am going to give you.' Trust in yourself, trust in who you are. Sit down, breathe, be listening right now, hearing right now. Be intimate. But you have to do it for yourself.

- Elihu Genmyo Smith, "No Need to Do Zazen, Therefore Must Do Zazen"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via Facebook:

Via Marriage Equality USA: Catholic school fires gay teacher planning wedding

Via Marriage Equality USA:

The Supreme Court has ruled that religiously affiliated organizations like this school have the legal right to discriminate against anyone they choose, so I'm not arguing with the school's actual //legal// rights to fire the music teacher. I believe, however, that the firing was highly //immoral//. And why was it ok for him to keep his job when he was living with another man, but not ok after he talked about getting married. And I wonder if the school has fired any teachers who have been divorced, or who use contraception. I suspect with near 100% certainty the answer is no.

 

Catholic school fires gay teacher planning wedding

www.stltoday.com

 

NORMANDY • A popular music teacher at St. Ann Catholic School in north St. Louis County recently was fired after church officials learned that he planned to marry his male partner of 20 years in New York, one of a handful of states where same-sex marriage is legal.

 

Via AmericaBlogGay:

Marine spokesman on gay kiss: "It’s your typical homecoming photo." And it was their first kiss.

Great job from the Marine spokesman. Not to mention, this was their first kiss. Their four year friendship had turned into a romance by mail (or email) while the Marine was stationed in Afghanistan.

Sgt. Brandon Morgan returned Wednesday from a six-month deployment to Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan.

There to meet him was his friend of four years, Windward Oahu artist Dalan Wells -- a friendship that had turned to a long-distance love during the deployment. This was their first kiss.

"We couldn't talk, I can barely talk now, his hands went numb, my legs were shaking, our first kiss after just knowing how we felt about each other,” Morgan said.

“All my superiors, my staff sergeants, my gunnery sergeants, my lieutenants, my officers, my captains, they're all very ecstatic and very happy that I had somebody to come home to,” Morgan said. “Again, gay or straight, does not matter.”

A spokesperson for Marine Corps Base Hawaii said in a statement: "It's your typical homecoming photo."

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 29, 2012

Toppling the "I" Throne

The ego must be dethroned, its arrogance must be dismantled, and we must begin, before it is too late, to listen to the ensuing silence. All of this is about becoming who we are in the deepest sense and about surrendering to what creation is asking of us and needing from us just now.

- Reginald Ray, "Looking Inward, Seeing Outward"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: On The Origins Of HIV

The Washington Post has published a fascinating history of the origins of HIV, based on the fairly widely-accepted theory that the virus sprang from chimp to human during the tumultuous colonial days of western Africa, possibly beginning in the 1880s.

Most of this colonial world didn’t have enough potential victims for such a fragile virus to start a major epidemic. HIV is harder to transmit than many other infections. People can have sex hundreds of times without passing the virus on. To spread widely, HIV requires a population large enough to sustain an outbreak and a sexual culture in which people often have more than one partner, creating networks of interaction that propel the virus onward. To fulfill its grim destiny, HIV needed a kind of place never before seen in Central Africa but one that now was rising in the heart of the region: a big, thriving, hectic place jammed with people and energy, where old rules were cast aside amid the tumult of new commerce. It needed Kinshasa. It was here, hundreds of miles downriver from Cameroon, that HIV began to grow beyond a mere outbreak. It was here that AIDS grew into an epidemic.

Read the full article. (Tipped by JMG reader Greg)

Labels: Africa, Congo, HIV, HIV/AIDS

reposted from Joe

Via Gay Politics Report:

• Houston mayor won't back down from marriage stance
   
• Houston Mayor Annise Parker said this week she believes President Barack Obama “needs to evolve a little bit faster” on the issue of marriage for same-sex couples, and that she supports an effort to include marriage equality in the Democratic platform. Meanwhile, Parker rejected a local pastor's call for her to resign over her increasingly public stance on marriage. "I do my duty to uphold the state Constitution and the U.S. Constitution. I swore an oath to that. I take that oath very seriously, but I have my First Amendment rights to free speech. We all have the right to do that and I’m sorry [he doesn't] understand the Constitution," Parker said. The Huffington Post/Gay Voices (2/27), ThinkProgress.org (2/28)     

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 28, 2012

Who We Really Are

The life that flows through each of us and through everything around us is actually all connected. To say that, of course, means that who I really am cannot be separated from all the things that surround me. Or, to put it another way, all sentient beings have their existence and live within my life.

- Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, "The Bodhisattva Vow: Eight Views"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via jMG: NYC's U.S. House Members: It Gets Better

Clip description:

Members of New York City's Congressional Delegation -- Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Ed Towns, Eliot Engel, Carolyn Maloney, Joe Crowley and Jose Serrano -- released a video to combat the scourge of suicide among LGBT American youths. They join thousands of others across the country working to help those who are at risk. The It Gets Better Project was created in 2010 to address the alarming increase of reported suicide among LGBT youths.

NYC House members except the Republicans.

Labels: bullying, Carolyn Maloney, Congress, Democrats, Jerry Nadler, LGBT youth, U.S. House

Reposted from Joe

Via Facebook:

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 27, 2012

Maintaining Skillful Intentions

We may be powerless to change the past, but we do have the power to shape the present and the future by what we do, moment to moment, right now. And in maintaining our intention to be as skillful as possible in thought, word, and deed, we’ll find the only true refuge there is.

- Thanissaro Bhikku, "What We've Been Practicing For"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: Obituary Of The Day

From the Washington Post:

Bob Green, a onetime radio DJ who married pop singer and Miss Oklahoma Anita Bryant, was found dead Jan. 26 at his home in Miami Beach. He was 80. Mr. Green managed his wife’s rise to stardom as an entertainer and Florida citrus spokeswoman, then followed her into anti-gay activism, which ultimately destroyed their careers — and marriage in 1980. For more than 30 years, Mr. Green lived quietly, alone and resentful.

Never read an obit quite like that. Read the full thing.

Labels: Anita Bryant, obituary, WaPo

reposted from Joe

JMG Tweet Of The Day

Labels: GOP, Rick Santorum, Talking Points Memo

reposted from Joe

Via AmericaBlogGay:

Just click through and check out the photo.  They're Marines. JoeMyGod found an update from the guy in the photo in uniform:

"To everyone who has responded in a positive way. My partner and I want to say thank you. Dalan, the giant in the photo, can't believe how many shares and likes we have gotten on this. We didn't do this to get famous,or something like that we did this cause after 3 deployments and four years knowing each other, we finally told each other how we felt. As for the haters, let em hate...to quote Kat Williams, everyone needs haters, so let them hate. We are the happiest we have ever been and as for the whole PDA and kissing slash hugging in uniform...it was a homecoming, if the Sergeants Major, Captains, Majors, and Colonels around us didn't care...then why do you care what these random people have to say? In summation thank you for your love and support. I received a lot of friend requests off this. I don't just accept requests so if your request was because of this post message me and let me know. Goodnight all, and Semper Fi." --Brandon Morgan

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 26, 2012

Building Unconditional Openness

Whether we’re seeking inner peace or global peace or a combination of the two, the way to experience it is to build on the foundation of unconditional openness to all that arises. Peace isn’t an experience free of challenges, free of rough and smooth—it’s an experience that’s expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened.

- Pema Chodron, "Unlimited Friendliness"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 25, 2012

The Heart-Essence of Buddhist Meditation

Meditation, simply defined, is a way of being aware. It is the happy marriage of doing and being. It lifts the fog of our ordinary lives to reveal what is hidden; it loosens the knot of self-centeredness and opens the heart; it moves us beyond mere concepts to allow for a direct experience of reality.

- Lama Surya Das, "The Heart-Essence of Buddhist Meditation"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: Maryland Marriage Reactions

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force

Maryland and marriage equality will certainly make a lovely couple. Maryland is the Free State, after all. To be able to share and celebrate one's love and commitment both publicly and legally is a lifelong dream for thousands of same-sex couples and their families. It’s thrilling that Maryland is poised to make this a reality by becoming the latest state to treat its families fairly. This has been a long journey of changing hearts and minds, of breaking down walls, of shining a spotlight on our common humanity. Congratulations to Equality Maryland, Marylanders for Marriage Equality and all those who have been part of the journey leading to this victory.

Human Rights Campaign

"We could not be more grateful to the senators who today voted to make all Maryland families stronger,” said Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign. “Today, we took another giant step toward marriage equality becoming law – and we are in this position due to the unwavering leadership and resolve of Governor O’Malley and our legislative allies, particularly Sens. Rich Madaleno, Jamie Raskin, Rob Garagiola, and Brian Frosh.” Virtually any piece of legislation, according to Maryland law, can be subject to a referendum where voters cast a ballot supporting or opposing the legislation. Opponents of marriage equality are expected to begin obtaining the requisite signatures necessary to refer the Civil Marriage Protection Act to the general election ballot.

National Center For Lesbian Rights

Today, Marylanders won a key victory in the quest for equality under the law for same-sex couples and their children. Enormous thanks are due to Governor O’Malley, our legislative champions in the House and Senate, and all those who came forward to explain why discrimination against families in Maryland’s marriage law is just plain wrong. This fight is not yet over in the Free State, but today, we celebrate this fantastic achievement.

Marriage Equality USA

"Since Governor O'Malley has championed this bill and already said he will sign the bill into law, today's historic vote means marriage equality in Maryland!" said Stuart Gaffney, Marriage Equality USA Media Director. "We are encouraged by reports that former Vice President Dick Cheney made calls to lobby Maryland legislators to support the bill. Supporting his lesbian daughter Mary illustrates the true meaning of family values across party lines." "We are seeing unstoppable momentum for equal marriage rights from every avenue," said John Lewis, Marriage Equality USA Legal Director.

AFER

Today’s vote by the Maryland General Assembly shows that the momentum toward marriage equality is unstoppable. Generations of Americans will applaud Governor Martin O’Malley and the bipartisan coalition of Maryland lawmakers for joining the courts and legislatures nationwide in defending the fundamental freedom to marry for all.”

More as they arrive...

Labels: AFER, HRC, Maryland, NCLR, NGLTF

Reposted from Joe