Via HRC: Do we need more proof than the suicides of teens as young as 13 that words like these can do unimaginable damage?

Dear Daniel, Add your name: Mr. Packer, I hope you will cease putting young people in real peril and acknowledge the scientific truth: Sexual orientation cannot be changed, nor should it be. The recent suicides of several gay teenagers have made national headlines. Yet this is the moment – of all moments – that a top Mormon leader decides to broadcast a verbal rampage against gays to millions of viewers. I couldn't believe it either. Boyd K. Packer, the second-highest leader in the Mormon Church, said in a sermon broadcast to millions yesterday that same-sex attraction is "impure and unnatural" and can be overcome, and that same-sex unions are morally wrong. Do we need more proof than the suicides of teens as young as 13 that words like these can do unimaginable damage? We cannot stay silent. By speaking out together, we can show the Mormon Church hierarchy that it has literally risked the lives of children by inciting their tormentors. And we can ensure that the young people who heard this sermon know that it is scientifically wrong and profoundly misguided. Add your name to our open letter debunking Boyd Packer's lies. Speaking before 20,000 people and broadcasting to millions more, Packer said same-sex unions are morally wrong and "against God's law and nature" – and that the church hierarchy would continue to support marriage bans like Proposition 8 (which was funded largely by Mormons). It makes me physically sick to think how many young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender kids had to sit in those pews and listen to that venom. Comments like these are exactly what makes young LGBT kids think there's no way out but suicide – that their parents will reject them, that their communities will shun them, and that living openly will bring pain or violence – that even God looks on their very identity as a sin to be "overcome." And these lies fuel the bullying, harassment, and violence that plague our schools. Packer's lies have been disproven over and over again by science and by the spiritual experience of Americans who know their LGBT neighbors and care about them. We know sexual orientation cannot and should not be changed and that two people falling in love is beautiful, not evil. But unless we refute these lies whenever groups like the anti-LGBT National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the Mormon Church repeat them – whether through letters like this or projects like HRC's www.NOMexposed.com – we risk another young person hearing them and believing that LGBT people are "defective." And that belief contributes to violence and suicide. Help us speak out so young people understand the truth – and so that Mormon leaders know that spreading this poison puts lives at risk. Americans are sick of the Mormon hierarchy trying to dictate what they should believe. They know commitment and love when they see it. That's why they are turning away in droves from limitations on their friends' and neighbors' freedom to marry. Thank you for helping take a stand for the truth. Sincerely, Joe Solmonese President  Share on Facebook  Share on Twitter This link is specific to you, so please take action before you forward to your friends. Having trouble clicking on the links above? Simply copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar to reach the action page: http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=945

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Via HimalayaCrafts:

He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye. - (सिद्धार्थ गौतम)

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)