Tuesday, March 20, 2012

JMG HomoQuotable - Carl Siciliano


"Cardinal Dolan, I pray that you might be able to open your eyes and your heart to the cruel suffering LGBT youths endure when their parents reject them. I invite you to visit the Ali Forney Center, only 30 blocks from St. Patrick's Cathedral, and meet with youths whose Catholic parents drove them from their homes. I want you to hear them tell you what it is like to have their parents be ashamed of them, and tell them that they are against God. I want you to see what their lives are like alone, unloved, and abandoned in the streets. I hope that by meeting our kids you can understand the pain and anguish you help to cause.

"Decent people protect children from harm. I want you to be that decent person. I hope decent Christians will join me in demanding that religious leaders stop promoting homophobia. As the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, and as the President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, you may well be the most influential religious leader in the country, and could make an enormous difference in this crisis of family rejection. I hope and pray that you can stop fighting the acceptance of LGBT people as equal citizens. I want you to understand how LGBT youth suffer because of such a fight. Please see these rejected children through the eyes of a pastor and figure out a way to stop causing them to be harmed." - Carl Siciliano, writing for Huffington Post.

Read the full essay.


reposted from  Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma March 20, 2012

Practicing With Loss

Loss is a fact of life. Impermanence is everywhere we look. We are all going to suffer our losses. How we deal with these losses is what makes all the difference. For it is not what happens to us that determines our character, our experience, our karma, and our destiny, but how we relate to what happens.
- Lama Surya Das, "Practicing With Loss"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

Catholic church allegedly castrated boys for reporting priests abused them 

Just when you thought you couldn't be more disgusted by a church that lost its moral authority a long time ago

But the news isn't all bad. The Pope has commissioned his own personal cologne.



He should call it "Rape."

Monday, March 19, 2012

Change Happened

Via JMG: Confidential Magazine, May 1957


Source.


reposted from Joe

Via Think Progress NEWS FLASH:

President Carter: It’s ‘Very Fine’ For Gay Couples To Marry | President Jimmy Carter’s latest book, “NIV Lessons from Life Bible” reflects his continued commitment to teaching Sunday School in a Baptist church. When he challenged Gerald Ford in 1976, Carter was considered the more religious candidate and won much of the Deep South. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Carter reiterated his Biblical support for marriage equality:
Homosexuality was well known in the ancient world, well before Christ was born and Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things -– he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for gay people to be married in civil ceremonies.
I draw the line, maybe arbitrarily, in requiring by law that churches must marry people. I’m a Baptist, and I believe that each congregation is autonomous and can govern its own affairs. So if a local Baptist church wants to accept gay members on an equal basis, which my church does by the way, then that is fine. If a church decides not to, then government laws shouldn’t require them to.

Via JMG: Lesbian Proposes At Hockey Game

Towleroad points us to this bit of sweetness:
On Saturday night at Scotiabank Place, a Toronto Maple Leafs fan named Alicia stood on the ice during the second intermission wearing a blindfold. When it was removed, she looked up at the video scoreboard and read a message from her girlfriend, an Ottawa Senators fan named Christina. Schmaltzy music played. Out walked Christina. They embraced and had a brief conversation, as the crowd began to wise up to what was about to happen. Christina dropped to one knee while holding Alicia's hand. The fans roared. She slid the engagement ring on, they shared a kiss and the Senators mascot proudly raised a sign that read "SHE SAID YES."
Would the crowd have roared its approval for two men?



Reposted rom fJoe

Via JMG: SCOTUS: College Christian Clubs Can't Discriminate Against LGBT Students


The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to hear an appeal of a lower court's ruling that Christian student clubs cannot bar LGBT people from membership.
The justices on Monday are leaving in place a federal appeals court ruling that found that the policy doesn't violate the Constitution. The policy says officially recognized campus groups can't discriminate based on religion or sexual orientation. A Christian fraternity and a sorority at San Diego State University sued in 2005, arguing that the policy violates their religious freedom. The groups are restricted to Christian members.
RELATED: In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that it was legal for universities to deny funding to such groups.


reposted from Joe

President Obama's Nowruz Message