Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Joe Solmonese

“Words have consequences, particularly when they come from a faith leader. This is exactly the kind of statement that can lead some kids to bully and others to commit suicide. When a faith leader tells gay people that they are a mistake because God would never have made them that way and they don’t deserve love, it sends a very powerful message that violence and/or discrimination against LGBT people is acceptable. It also emotionally devastates those who are LGBT or may be struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identify. His words were not only inaccurate, they were also dangerous." - Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese, responding to Mormon leader Boyd Packer's address to millions of LDS members.

Labels: bigotry, HomoQuotable, Joe Solmonese, LDS, LGBT youth, Mormons, religion, suicide

reposted from Joe

via JMG: MESSAGE FROM CYNDI LAUPER

Via JMG: New Survey: 8% Gay, 7% Lesbian

In what they are calling the "largest nationally representative study of sexual and sexual-health behaviors ever fielded," a just-released survey commissioned by Indiana University says that 8% of adult American men self-identify as gay or bisexual, with 7% of women identifying as lesbian or bisexual. Those numbers are almost triple the percentages claimed by some anti-gay groups.

ABC News takes note of the study's "interesting findings."

About 85 percent of men reported that their partner had an orgasm during their most recent sexual encounter, but only 64 percent of women report having had one. Researchers said the difference is too great to attribute to men having had their last encounter with another man. Eight percent of men and 7 percent of women identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, but a much higher percentage report engaging in sexual activity with someone of the same sex at least once. The study found that 15 percent of men aged 50-59 have received oral sex from another man at some point.

Here's one of the sexual behaviors graphs from the study.

Labels: homosexuality, science, sexuality, surveys

reposted from Joe

Via ACLU: It Gets Better Project

When Dan Savage launched the It Gets Better Project to reach out to distressed LGBT teenagers, gay and lesbian staffers here at the ACLU knew we had to participate.

So, we got together, looked into the camera, and spoke from the heart.

Dan started It Gets Better after a 15-year-old Indiana teenager committed suicide after being bullied by his classmates for being gay. There were five similar suicides across the country in September.

Please watch our video today — and share it far and wide.

Let's make sure we reach every corner of America with this important message — it really does get better.

Sincerely,

Anthony D. Romero Executive Director ACLU

You Are Loved Vigil 10.03.10 'Over the Rainbow'

Cheyenne Jackson leads the crowd of thousands at You-Are-Loved Vigil at Washington Square Park 10.03.10 NYC/NYU GLBTQ Bullying Crisis 'It Gets Better'

"It Gets Better" Song

2nd Quote of the Day - HimalayaCrafts:

Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little. - (सिद्धार्थ गौतम)

Quote of the day via HimalayaCrafts:

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. - (सिद्धार्थ गौतम)

Via JMG: NOM Fires Back At HRC

In response to the Human Rights Campaign's NOM Exposed website, NOM has created Exposing NOM Exposed. NOM's Brian Brown cackles:

Sometimes you just have to have a good belly laugh. Don't get me wrong—the work we are doing is serious and important. But when the largest same-sex marriage group in the nation, with its annual budget of $40 million, decides to launch a new website to "expose" NOM and the work we are doing together, I have to wonder what they were thinking. Seriously. Go visit the site for yourself: NOMExposed.org.

When I first went to the site, I half-expected Vincent Price's voice to start streaming from the site at any moment because it looked like a fan-site for the "Thriller" video. It is seriously the most over-the-top, ghoulishly designed, hilariously campy website I have ever seen. Ever. While the site itself is a joke, the reasons behind it are not: Intimidation, bullying & religious bigotry. But we will not be silenced. Will you stand with us to protect marriage and religious liberty?

Labels: asshattery, bigotry, Brian Brown, HRC, NOM, religion

reposted from Joe

IT Gets better: "the Bridge was torn down in 2009, I am still here"