Thursday, October 13, 2011
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
October 13, 2011
Praise and Criticism
If we really stop to think about praise and criticism, we will see they do not have the least importance. Whether we receive praise or criticism is of no account. The only important thing is that we have a pure motivation, and let the law of cause and effect be our witness. If we are really honest, we can see that it makes no difference whether we receive praise and acclaim. The whole world might sing our praises, but if we have done something wrong, then we will still have to suffer the consequences for ourselves, and we cannot escape them. If we act only out of a pure motivation, all the beings of the three realms can criticize and rebuke us, but none of them will be able to cause us to suffer. |
– The Dalai Lama, "Bad Reputation"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Via AmericaBlofGay: "Frank Kameny, the modest, stubborn man who helped start the gay rights movement."
Kameny died last night. Linda Hirshman has a short article up on Slate about how important Kameny really was to the movement. I love this snippet:
And when the American Psychiatric Association, which defined homosexuality as a mental disorder, decided to hold a meeting in Kameny’s hometown, he quickly organized the disorganized protesters of the GLF and the alphabet soup of other burgeoning gay organizations to disrupt the meeting. They then and force the shrinks to listen to their claims that they were not crazy.
When the moment came, the protesters upended the psychiatrists’ convocation, and actual fighting broke out, with the doctors using the medals they had just been awarded to beat back the invading homosexuals. Kameny, seeing that the designated protest speaker had been pushed out of the meeting room, leaped onto the stage. “I saw that nothing was going to happen unless I did it,” he recalled. The psychiatrists had taken away the microphone, but “I never needed a microphone. And I knew exactly what to say because I had been speaking about how wrong they were for years.”
And so Frank Kameny proceeded to regale the assembled professionals with his recitation of how their diagnosis of homosexuality as a mental illness was unscientific, groundless, immoral and harmful. Two years later, the APA took homosexuality out of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Not Crazy. Two years after that, the federal government explicitly rescinded Executive Order 10450.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Via Just Out:
John Smid, The former leader of Exodus International’s Love in Action ministry, now says that homosexuality is an intrinsic part of a person’s being, not a behavior one can repent from — and admits that he’s never actually met a truly “ex-gay” man.
Smid, who resigned as Executive Director of Love in Action in 2008, posted an essay on the website of his new ministry Grace Rivers explaining that he no longer believes that one can repent of being gay:
Make the jump here to read the entire article
Smid, who resigned as Executive Director of Love in Action in 2008, posted an essay on the website of his new ministry Grace Rivers explaining that he no longer believes that one can repent of being gay:
So often people will say someone needs to “repent” from homosexuality. It is something that actually cannot be repented of! People are, or they are not, homosexual. It is an intrinsic part of their being or personally, my being. One cannot repent of something that is unchangeable. I have gone through a tremendous amount of grief over the many years that I spoke of change, repentance, reorientation and such, when, barring some kind of miracle, none of this can occur with homosexuality… we as Christians pervert the gospel as it relates to homosexuality as though homosexuals aren’t welcome in the kingdom unless they repent (which many interpret to change). But since homosexuality is not “repentable” then we put homosexuals into an impossible bind…
Make the jump here to read the entire article
Via JMG: Perry Quotes Gay Poet Langston Hughes
Just as Rick Santorum did several weeks ago, during last night's GOP debate Rick Perry quoted legendary gay poet Langston Hughes. Santorum never used the quote again when told of its source.
reposted from Joe
Via JMG: Photo Of The Day: Salt Lake's Pink Dot
Via JMG: Barney Frank Vs. Gingrich, Part Two
"I wish I knew that he was willing to listen to my advice, I would have given him some: I would have told him not to impeach Clinton, I would have told his successors not to go to war with Iraq, and I would have told DeLay not to go on the dance show. He’s been having a bad year, you know — this self-styled intellectual leader of the free world struggling to stay ahead of Michele Bachmann in the polls is unsettling him so he talks even sillier than he sometimes does." - Rep. Barney Frank, firing back at Newt Gingrich, who last night called for his imprisonment.Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Life is a good teacher and a good friend. Things are always in transition, if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we like to dream about. The off-center, in-between state is an ideal situation, a situation in which we don’t get caught and we can open our hearts and minds beyond limit. It’s a very tender, nonaggressive, open-ended state of affairs. |
– Pema Chodron, "Stay with Your Broken Dreams"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Via AmericaBlogGay: Tracy Morgan defends his right to be a homophobe, blames guy who was offended
What a pig.
Read this Gawker piece, then check out the video that's over there as well. Tracy Morgan, who joked a few months ago about how he'd kill his son if he ended up being gay, went on Letterman last night. Letterman spent nearly ten minutes trying to get Morgan to give a satisfactory answer as to why he did it. Morgan just squirmed and gave a lot of really bad excuses, including he just can't remember what he said, it was so long ago you know.
Oh yeah, Morgan blamed the gay kid who was offended and told everyone what he heard at the club. Apparently, you're not supposed to speak out when Tracy Morgan acts like a homophobic jerk.
Keep digging.
Via AmericaBlogGay: BREAKING: Gay rights legend Frank Kameny has died
The Washington Blade tweeted it about 45 minutes ago. Frank Kameny was a big deal in the gay rights movement, and if you haven't heard of him, you should take the time to check out his Wikipedia page.
He died on National Coming Out day.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Via Gay Politics Report: Romney dogged by marriage equality questions at N.H. event
A New Hampshire town hall appearance by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney featured so many questions about his stance on marriage equality that the GOP presidential candidate stopped answering questions about the topic. Romney said his opposition to marriage equality is rooted in his belief that children should be raised by both a mother and a father. He also said he supported domestic partnership arrangements, but stopped short of declaring support for civil unions. ABC News/The Note (10/10)
Via Gay Politics Report: Anti-gay rhetoric flies amid presidential politics at D.C. summit
Speakers at the 2011 Values Voter Summit, held in Washington, D.C., last weekend, had harsh words for LGBT advocates, with Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, calling them "the most unhappy people I ever met that called themselves 'gay.'" Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association said the next president should treat homosexuality as "a threat to public health." Republican presidential candidates addressed the conference and reiterated their opposition to marriage equality, though Mitt Romney specifically distanced himself from Fischer's rhetoric. "Poisonous language doesn't advance our cause," Romney said. Washington Blade (10/8), Politico (Washington, D.C.)/Burns&Haberman (10/8)
Via JMG: BREAKING: Hate Groups FAIL To Collect Enough Petitions To Overturn SB 48
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! From a Stop SB 48 email blast:
"The News is Not Good ... it is doubtful we will get the number of signatures we need to qualify. Unfortunately the last several deliveries of mail have not been what was expected and a large number of petitions have been pulled out because of errors. From all appearances, we would need a miracle to qualify this referendum."We chortle in our joy. We chortle the fuck outta this.
UPDATE: Equality California celebrates.
“The FAIR Education Act will simply ensure that California’s students learn an honest, accurate, and inclusive account of history, but opponents of equality have grossly distorted the intent and the effect of the FAIR Education act in their quest to secure signatures for this referendum. Today's victory shows that their lies cannot stand up to our truth,” said Roland Palencia, Equality California Executive Director and Interim Executive Committee Co-Chair of the coalition to protect the FAIR Education Act. “But we know that opponents of equality won't stop here. We remain vigilant, not only to make sure that people know the facts about the FAIR Education Act, but also to continue preparing for new attacks on the FAIR Education Act at the ballot box, in the legislature and in courts of law.”
Vai AmericaBlog Gay: A rocking pro-lgbt legislative year in California
Governor Signs Ten of Twelve Pro-LGBT Equality Bills Sponsored by EQCA in 2011 Legislative Session
Sacramento – Ten of twelve bills sponsored by Equality California and passed by the California legislature this year are now the law of the land. Three of these bills had been signed into law earlier this year, the remaining seven received the Governor's signature over the past weekend. One of the two bills vetoed by the Governor, Senate Bill 747 (Kehoe), which would have required professionals to complete continuing education on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender cultural competency in health care was vetoed by the Governor, who said he believed “licensing boards are better suited that the Legislature or the Governor to decide these matters.”
"This has been a watershed year in the California legislature for advancing the rights and protections of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians," said Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego), speaking as Chair of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus. "Because of the leadership of so many lawmakers and the hard work of organizations like Equality California, we have closed inequality gaps, made schools safer for LGBT students, ensured that LGBT people are counted and better represented in government and government services and made our state safer and more inclusive for transgender individuals. These changes in the law positively impact the lives of millions of Californians and go a long way toward making California a more fair and equal state."
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