Friday, December 16, 2011
Via JMG: He Messed With The Wrong Lesbian
Via the Bellingham Herald in Washington state.
A 22-year-old man was arrested for an alleged hate crime against a lesbian couple early Sunday, Dec. 11, after he yelled slurs at them and smashed in the window of a victim's car, but was then pinned to the ground by one of the victims, police said. William Adam Lane confronted the couple outside a bar early Sunday in the 200 block of Chestnut Avenue when he saw them embracing, said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young. Lane made profane, derogatory comments about the couple's sexuality, but the women "expressed no interest in having a conversation," Young said. Lane then smashed in the rear window of the Toyota they'd arrived in, causing about $600 damage, Young said. One of the women tackled the suspect and pinned him to the ground while she waited for help from a bouncer at the nearby bar.Lane was charged with malicious harassment. Our hero was uninjured.
Via JMG: No Good Deed, Etc...
JMG reader Mike wrote to the Tennessee Equality Project to ask why they'd made no mention of our successful fundraising campaign to pay for the funeral of gay bullying victim Jacob Rogers. With Mike's permission, here's the bulk of their response to him.
We generally do not repost such fundraising efforts because they are not within our organization's control. We typically do not have any way of knowing how those funds will be distributed. With regard to Dan Savage, Joe My God and Towleroad we could not in good conscience condone their efforts out of respect for Jacob and his family. That may seem counter-intuitive on the surface. So allow me to explain.Dan Savage responds: "How many schools in Tennessee has GLSEN worked with? How many calls from Tennessee has Trevor taken? How many cases has the ACLU queer youth project taken on in Tennessee? And how many kids in Tennessee have been reached by the It Gets Better Project?"
Each of these bloggers pledged to donate part of the contributions received for the funeral to other organizations. Had they pledged to only raise money for the family, we might have considered re-posting their efforts. Dan reports that the goal was to raise $5000 for Jacob's funeral. They raised $9000. That means that $4000 will be divided between GLSEN, the Trevor Project, and the ACLU's LGBT Youth Project. Will these organizations spend that received money to confront anti-LGBT bullying and harassment and advance policy and legislation to support that effort in Tennessee? We simply don't know. We do know the past practice of many national groups and celebrities outside of Tennessee. Without mentioning names, many national organizations in 2011 used the passage of the Don't Say Gay bill in the Senate and the workplace discrimination law we call the "Special Access to Discriminate" Act (HB600/SB632) to raise funds for their organizations. We know of several examples where these organizations and individuals received such funds and did not reinvest in efforts to promote safe schools or workplace equality in Tennessee.
TEP has been very careful about providing a positive way to respond to this tragedy without making an "ask" of contributions to TEP or other organizations. TEP's email alert about our petition to the Cheatham County School Board did not include any of our standard links to donate to our organization. We believe that it is unethical and morally wrong to raise funds for TEP or other organizations following the news of a tragedy. I do believe that Mr. Savage, Mr. Towle, and Joe.My.God have good intentions, but we could not condone their approach in this situation.
As noted on all three blogs that day, our donation buttons were yanked once we reached the goal of $5000. But due to the overwhelming response, a total of $9000 had flooded in by the time we updated our posts. Through the accounting office of Seattle's Stranger, $5000 was delivered to the Tennessee funeral home hired by Jacob's grandmother, whom he'd been living with after reportedly being kicked out for being gay. The remainder was divided equally to the above four organizations, also as promised that morning.
Via JMG: San Francisco Asks Appeals Court For Advance Notice On Prop 8 Verdict
Via Ian Millhiser at Think Progress, we learn that the city of San Francisco has sent an unusual request to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Clearly, they fear civil unrest in the event of a decision against equality.
In several prior instances when decisions have been issued relating to the marriage rights of same-sex couples, there have been large gatherings, including protesters, at the courthouses and in the Civic Center area of San Francisco. . . . In any instance where crowds of protesters gather, and particularly where the issue is as emotional and contested as this one, it is helpful for the San Francisco Police Department to be aware of the gathering in advance to plan for and deploy an adequate number of officers to the areas where protests are likely to occur. We would therefore be grateful if the Court could provide advance notice of its intention to issue its decision in this case.View the letter.
JMG Asshat Of The Day - Joe Dallas
"Satan’s strategy is leading humans astray, whether the arena is doctrinal or moral, is to deceive an individual into thinking that what God has forbidden is not really wrong or destructive, but is, in fact, life enhancing. So it was I the garden when Satan tempted Eve; so it may well be with your loved one. The sin of homosexuality is human nature, but the belief that sin is not really sin comes not from human nature alone but from an ancient and evil messenger. [snip]"And as you know, if you took the Bible hard enough you could make it say whatever you want it to, cults can do that, Nazis did that and I’m afraid it’s being done today under the guise of civil rights and gay liberation." - Former Exodus International leader and alleged former homosexual Joe Dallas, who says he wants to be "nowhere near" openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson when God judges him.
RELATED: You can learn more about "gays are from Satan" and "gays are like Nazis" by reading the loving Christian website of Joe Dallas.
Labels: "ex-gay", asshats, brainwashing, con men, Exodus International, liars, religion, scam artists, still totally gay, torture
Via JMG: You Thought You Were Second Class? Romney Has A Third Class For Gays
After suffering national embarrassment at the hands of a gay-married Vietnam veteran, Mitt Romney has issued his new plan for marriage in which gays aren't just second class, some of us are third. The Boston Herald notes: [Romney] expressed support for a constitutional amendment that could create a complex three-tier system of marriage — maintaining marriage rights for straight couples, allowing gays who have already married to remain married, but barring future same-sex marriages. "I think it would keep intact those marriages which had occurred under the law but maintain future plans based on marriage being between a man and a woman,” Romney said.He's talking out of his ass, of course, as this sort of federal plan would never be instituted. Maybe he thinks this makes him look like less of a meanie after that takedown by Bob Garon.
Via JMG: Gingrich Signs NOM's Hate Pledge
Gingrich joins Romney, Santorum, Perry, and Bachmann in vowing to thwart the civil rights guaranteed to LGBT Americans by the U.S. Constitution. The only remaining holdout is Ron Paul.Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma December 16, 2011
Bowing is Just Bowing
Bowing is just bowing. You do it mindfully, in a particular way, aware of the body and mind in the doing of it. The so-called meaning of it is extra. It’s not a symbolic or conceptual act. It’s just another form of sitting practice. You sit, you walk, the bell rings, you get up and bow. To just do what you do with full attention and without much worry is an important part of the method in Zen. |
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma December 15, 2011
How to Become Generous
The movement from ordinary states of self-concern to selfless giving always involves a gradual transformation of character, not a sudden leap. Like any form of strength, generosity needs to be intentionally cultivated over time, and everyone must begin in whatever state of mind they already happen to be. Understanding and accepting who you really are right now is as important as the commitment to become someone more open and generous. Whatever the quality of motivation, when we intentionally reach out to others in giving, some degree of transformation occurs. We become what we practice and do in daily life. |
- Dale Wright, "The Bodhisattva's Gift"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Via JMG: Eagle Forum: We Hates Gays, Blacks, Mexicans, And Non-Christians
Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum has posted their list of demands on Congressional candidates. I've gone thru the lengthy list and compiled a Top Ten. Unsurprisingly, much of their list is drenched in anti-gay hate, racism, and xenophobia.1. Will you vote to protect the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)?
2. Will you vote for federal school appropriations to require informed, written parental consent for curricula, surveys, classes or books that may be privacy-invading or offensive to religion or conscience?
3. Will you support legislation for Congress to use its Article III power vote to deny jurisdiction to the federal courts over areas where we don’t trust them, namely, the definition of marriage, the Pledge of Allegiance, the Ten Commandments, the Cross on veterans’ memorials, and the Boy Scouts?
4. Will you vote to prohibit the federal courts from hearing challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) or similar state laws respecting the definition of marriage?
5. Will you oppose federal hate crimes laws?
6. Will you vote against any legislation to help Puerto Rico to become a state?
7. Will you vote against any legislation to pretend that the District of Columbia is a state or entitled to a state’s representation in Congress?
8. Will you vote to end federal funding of so-called bilingual education (teaching immigrant children in their native languages) which the voters of CA, AZ, and MA have rejected?
9. Will you vote to revoke the citizenship of naturalized citizens who betray their oath of U.S. citizenship by claiming “dual citizenship” with their native country?
10. Will you support federal funding for abstinence-until-marriage education instead of for explicit sex education programs, school-based clinics, and the distribution of contraceptives in schools?
Hit the link if you've got the gut for much more bile.
reposted from Joe
Hit the link if you've got the gut for much more bile.
Via Esteja Aqui e Agora...
Posted: 13 Dec 2011 05:12 PM PST
Pesquisa mostra que praticantes frequentes da meditação têm mais facilidade para excluir o “eu” das suas divagaçõesPesquisadores da Universidade de Yale, nos Estados Unidos, comprovaram, com a ajuda de imagens, que a meditação frequente desconecta as áreas do cérebro relacionadas com o “sonhar acordado” e divagações, assim como as que têm ligação com transtornos psiquiátricos como o autismo e a
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma December 14, 2011
Evolution's Body
In the Samyutta Nikaya, the Buddha says, “This body is not mine or anyone else’s. It has arisen due to past causes and conditions.” The Buddha intuited some type of evolutionary process that creates our bodies, and his essential point is that they are neither formed nor owned by us. We now have evidence that our bodies arise from the forces and elements that make up the entire universe, through a complex chain of interdependent events. Internalizing this understanding can help liberate us from the powerful sense of ownership and attachment we have to the body, which is a cause of tremendous suffering, especially as the body grows old and we must face its inevitable destiny. |
- Wes Nisker, "Evolution's Body"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Via AmericaBlogGay: It’s not religious discrimination when you refuse to do your job
The day that a woman working the fitting room at Macy's thinks she can make store policy, in violation of store policy, because of her "religion," she should be fired. This is a rather amazing story, and an amazing assertion. That the rest of us have to do what our bosses say, that the rest of us have to let our bosses set policy for our companies, but if you're a Christian (well, a bigoted religious right Christian), you get to trump all that, and YOU get to decide.
That's not religious freedom. It's special rights for southern baptists.
Media matters covers the issue of a woman working at Macy's who tried to stop a transgender teenage girl, who appeared to be "a man... wearing lipstick" from entering the ladies' changing room. The woman freaked, thinking some perverted guy was stalking the women's changing rooms. But that's not why she got fired. She got fired because after a manager told her the next day that in fact Macy's policy is to let a customer go into whatever fitting room the customer feels matches their gender identity, she refused. The woman insisted that her religious views trumped Macy's changing room policy.
A manager called Johnson in the next day to explain that Macy's policy permits individuals to go into the changing room of whatever gender they identify with.
"I refuse to comply with this policy," Johnson says she replied. She was then fired.
"I had to either comply with Macy's or comply with God," Johnson told The San Antonio Express-News.
Oh spare me. What's next? Do we not let Muslims into changing rooms? How about Jews (I hear they killed Christ, you know)? How about socialists? Or Republicans?
This isn't a story about her being fired because she got confused when meeting her first transgender customer. It's about refusing to obey store policy once the situation was explained to her. You just don't get to overrule your bosses on a public accommodations issue because you don't like someone, or your religion doesn't like someone. Under this theory, she could also turn away lesbians from the women's changing room, because after all her religion doesn't approve of "LGBT people" as she says during the interview. Does the religious right think that's okay too?
This isn't about religion. It's about special rights for one particular fringe American religion that thinks every other American, and every other employer, needs to live by its rules.
Via AmericaBlog Gay: Remember: Romney once said he’d do more for gays than even Ted Kennedy
Never forget who this chameleon really is. From Greg Sargent at the Washington Post:
But back in 1994, he stated that “full equality” for gays and lesbians should be a goal, and even said he’d be a better Senator on gay rights than Ted Kennedy, who he was challenging at the time.
In a 1994 letter to the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts that was obtained way back when by the Boston Globe that has been mostly forgotten, then-Senate candidate Romney said:
As a result of our discussions and other interactions with gay and lesbian voters across the state, I am more convinced than ever before that as we seek to establish full equality for America’s gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent.
Romney’s previous quotes and his shifts on the issues are often presented as evidence that he has never had core beliefs and will say and do anything to win. But it seems clear that Romney sincerely held relatively progressive beliefs on issues like gay rights, health care, and climate change, back during his time as a politician in Massachusetts. In other words, he sincerely was a liberal Republican. After all, there were a lot of liberal Republicans in the northeast in those days. He was one of them, before jettisoning those views in service of his national ambitions, and conservatives like Perry are right to scoff at his claim that he’s always been one of them.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma December 13, 2011
Sit Down and Settle the Body and Mind
We need to talk about a balance. Frankly, I think Asian monastics probably spend too much time sitting in meditation looking inward, and not enough time outdoors. They have to go out, as Shakyamuni did, and find out how people are living in society. But in the West, it’s the opposite problem. People spend all their time in the outer world. They’ve been successful in business, in their professional lives, but they have no relief from the stress of their lives. They need to sit down and settle the body and mind, instead of always running around feeling agitated inside. |
- Samu Sunim, “Buddha in the Market: An Interview with Korean Zen Master Samu Sunim”
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Monday, December 12, 2011
Via JMG: Canadians On Marriage Equality
The more yellow an area is, the greater the opposition to same-sex marriage. The reverse is true for gray areas. Keep in mind that some of the huge areas that appear to be largely anti-gay are virtually unpopulated. The real story is told in the areas closest to Canada's southern border, where the three largest metropolitan regions are solidly on the side of the good guys. (Tipped by JMG reader Chris.)
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