Via boxturtlebulletin: LGBT EQUALITY in USA

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Enviado por Luiz Fernando Veríssimo

Gays Enviado por Luiz Fernando Veríssimo -30.6.2011 -  9h02m O mais notável nessa campanha por casamentos homossexuais não é o avanço dos movimentos gays e o ocaso de barreiras e preconceitos antigos, mas o prestígio do casamento. Com tantos casais heterossexuais dispensando o ritual matrimonial para viverem juntos, a insistência dos gays em se casarem como seus pais deveria aquecer o coração dos mais radicais dos bispos. Eu sei que em muitos casos a oficialização do conúbio, se esta é a palavra, tem mais a ver com questões legais do que com romance, mas o que a maioria quer é o ritual. Quer as juras públicas de amor eterno e todo o simbolismo da cerimônia tradicional, mesmo sem véus e grinaldas. Era de se esperar que quem escolheu um relacionamento sexual, digamos, anticonvencional, muitas vezes tendo que enfrentar a incompreensão ou a ira dos conservadores, quisesse distância do que é, afinal, o mais "careta" dos ritos sociais. Mas não. Querem o tradicional. Este fenômeno deve ter a ver com outro de difícil compreensão. Ouvi dizer que as formaturas nas universidades brasileiras voltaram a ser paramentadas, com becas e tudo, não por insistência de pais tradicionalistas, mas dos próprios formandos, que, em vez da informalidade que se esperava deles num mundo cada vez mais prático e sem tempo para velhos costumes ou costumes de velhos, exigiram todas as formalidades. No fim as pessoas querem significado. Querem que o valor do que fazem seja enaltecido pela cerimônia, qualquer cerimônia. Mesmo careta. Seja como for, aposto que daqui a alguns anos, quando se puder fazer a estatística, menos gays dos que estão se casando agora terão se separado do que casais heteros. Se a instituição do casamento sobreviver aos tempos e aos modos, será em boa parte graças a eles e a elas. "O saber não basta, temos de ampliá-lo. A vontade não basta, temos de ATUAR!!!"

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Via JMG: Feds Drop Deportation Case For Gay Man

In what the New York Times says may be a precedent-setting decision, the federal government has dropped its deportation case against a gay Venezuelan legally married to an American man.

The announcement comes as immigration officials put into effect new, more flexible guidelines governing the deferral and cancellation of deportations, particularly for immigrants with no serious criminal records. Immigration lawyers and gay rights advocates said the decision represented a significant shift in policy and could open the door to the cancellation of deportations for other immigrants in same-sex marriages. “This action shows that the government has not only the power but the inclination to do the right thing when it comes to protecting certain vulnerable populations from deportation,” said the couple’s lawyer, Lavi Soloway. The case has been closely watched across the country by lawyers and advocates who viewed it as a test of the federal government’s position on the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law that bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

Labels: feds, immgration, Immigration Equality, LGBT rights

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Washington Post: Evolve Already

From the editorial board of the Washington Post:

With a presidential campaign that promises to be closer and more contentious than the one that got him elected four years ago, Mr. Obama and his team might be reluctant to embrace a controversial social issue when the economy and jobs are of paramount importance to voters. At some point, though, doing the right thing must trump politics. If Mr. Obama does come out in favor of gay marriage, his base would surely rally around him.

And all supporters of gay rights should be girding themselves for battle with those who would use the president’s position to deny him a second term. The first question at the news conference was about Republican recalcitrance on tax increases. “Hopefully leaders at a certain point rise to the occasion and do the right thing for the American people,” Mr. Obama said. Later, he would say, “If you know you have to do something, you just do it.” The same words apply to him on marriage equality. So just do it already.

Labels: 2012 elections, Barack Obama, LGBT rights, marriage equality, WaPo

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Dan Savage

"The mistake that straight people made was imposing the monogamous expectation on men. Men were never expected to be monogamous. Men had concubines, mistresses and access to prostitutes, until everybody decided marriage had to be egalitar­ian and fairsey. [Rather than granting women] the same latitude and license and pressure-release valve that men had always enjoyed, we extended to men the confines women had always endured. And it’s been a disaster for marriage." - Dan Savage, quoted in an extensive NYT Magazine article on fidelity.

Labels: Dan Savage, marriage equality, monogamy, New York state

reposted from Joe

Via JMG; Rahm Emanuel Backs Gay Marriage

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has endorsed same-sex marriage, saying that he hopes Illinois soon follows the example of New York. Emanuel is Barack Obama's former White House chief of staff.

"I would hope that the state would move in that direction," Emanuel said in the interview that aired Wednesday. "Tremendous progress has been made across the country on a value statement and I think that's very important." Emanuel declined to comment on Obama's stance on the issue, but noted that the president has signed into law legislation that recognizes hate crimes based on sexual orientation and a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prevented gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

Labels: Chicago, Illinois, marriage equality, Rahm Emanuel

reposted from Joe

JustaBahai: Flexibility in Bahai Law in relation to homosexuality

"In my whole life I've never come across such hateful posts against gays made by Bahais"

Flexibility in Bahai Law in relation to homosexuality

May 19, 2010 
 
The following is a response to a thread on the Bahai Planet forum called “AIDS Faith conference” where the intitial poster was curious to know if there had been any Bahai statements on AIDS and the loss of life due to this. The discussion quickly turned to the rights and wrongs of homosexuality. I stepped later on in the discussion and the following is one of my posts.

make the jump here to read the full posting on justabahai