A letter to a Great Group of Folks in the States:

02.03.2012
Ouro Preto – MG - Brasil

Amigos –

How I wish I could be with you all, but alas…

First of all let me begin this rant, by saying how proud I am of all of you, and how much your friendship, mostly via the internet means to me. Laugh, cry, hug, and pray… light a fire this weekend!

In September of 1993, I met with a number of Gay and Lesbian Baha’is in Reno, Nevada. When it was over, we had drafted a letter to the National Spiritual Assembly, which they refused to answer. After that meeting I worked alongside other members of the Gay Baha’i Fellowship (GBF) in helping a number of GLBT Baha’is thru their crisis, and even went to so far as to work with Continental Counselor Stephen Birkland at a very powerful reconciliation weekend in Denver sponsored by the LSA of Denver.  It was soon after that when Counselor Birkland called me to warn me of a letter from the Universal House of Justice, demanding that we disband. I quickly contacted the rest of the authors and GBF members and we all decided to “abide by their wishes in instant and exact obedience”.  Soon after I resigned from the Faith, as it was obvious that my LSA was planning on something, and that my very presence, inactive as I was, was a cause for disunity. 

But I was missing something.

About that time, a pair of neo-Nazi brothers from far Northern California, murdered a gay couple in their ranch home and then drove to Sacramento and set fire to three synagogues. The next day thousands people met in tears with candles in front of the State Capitol Building. On the very spot that Abdul-Baha himself walked and prophesied, religious leaders spoke, without a peep from the Baha’is, if they were there at all. I was soon asked to be part of a unity committee set up by the Rabbi of one of the synagogues and the School District Superintendent of our son’s school district.  I accepted and was welcomed as an open gay Baha’i university professor. When we went through our workshop process, we found that we represented a diverse group of people from numerous religions, genders, races. Many of you know my story when the Rabbi called me one day to ask me about my thoughts about whether he should officiate at a wedding of two lesbians in his synagogue, I asked him, “Rabbi what is better a Jewish Lesbian or a non-Jewish lesbian?” (Rabbi Bloom went on to perform the wedding for the couple).

Along came 9/11 and I felt very, very alone, away from any spiritual community, so I asked to be reenrolled, a meeting was made with an assistant to the auxiliary board where questions were asked, I was assured that I was welcome, an anonymous person called me one day at work from the National Center and asked me if, and these were her exact words, “can you abide by the Baha’i laws?” I told her would to the “best of my abilities”.  She welcomed me back into the Faith. At no time was I asked about my relationship, my marriage, nor did I volunteer any information that I can truthfully say, Counselor Birkland was in full knowledge of and still is to my understanding. Incidentally, at the Denver meeting, Birkland had given my former partner and I a lovely picture of the Purest Branch that he signed with a very loving message to us as a gesture of love and tolerance… That photo graced my home altar for many years, even when we split up and went our separate ways; which I feel was partly, not entirely, due to the stress this religion caused our relationship.

When in 1998, when I was in Brasil as a Fulbright Scholar, I met my husband Milton, who was able to come to California to earn a masters and a doctorate, and where we eventually married.  During that time California passed first a domestic partnership law, and later a marriage law.  We were both “domesticated” then married, which because Brasil recognizes gay weddings outside of the country, allows for me to immigrate to Brasil.  In my enthusiasm over our wedding, I shared a video that my son (our best man) and his girlfriend produced of our wedding on the internet. Soon after, I received a letter from the NSA removing my rights, and accusing me of lying to them about my relationship in the most heinous and degrading of terms. Letters, videos all have been archived on my blog (see links below on revoked) for anyone to study, see, visit, comment and peruse, as I have absolutely nothing to hide or be ashamed of.

We are a respected couple, both informally in the community we live in and professionally, we have been together 15 years now, we are both professors at the Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, and known for our research in ethnomathematics and mathematical modeling. Recently, we have been asked, as a pair, to present work at the British Museum, yet the Baha’i Faith finds us unclean, unworthy, and does not want us, or friends or family in its ranks!

I only share this, so that you can gain one more level of the darkness, hate, and absurdity that the homophobia this Faith allows and encourages. Currently, this religious community is so very sick, and it has effectively institutionalized its homophobia that continues to eat at it like a cancer.  Because of this accepted hate, is chasing progressives of capacity away from it in droves. For every person it removes, it also disenfranchises hundreds that it needs as well.

But in a weird way I am equally grateful to the Baha’is, as all of this set me on a new spiritual quest, it has caused me to question the very veracity of the Faith itself, and left me feeling that Baha’u’llah was a very great man, but to wonder about his claims, as the religion of His followers is constructing is apparently built on sand. This inability to deal effectively, lovingly, and honestly with gay & lesbian issues in a modern, loving and informed manner was the last straw… it was to me, and I can say to many others I know, the canary in the mineshaft.

For my own sanity and spiritual health, I moved on. There is no refuge for me, or any gay man in the Baha’i Faith.

I became a Buddhist, finding needed love and refuge in a sangha in Sacramento before leaving for Brasil. The Sacramento Buddhist Mediation Group (SBMG) incidentally meets in the very synagogue of the Rabbi I worked with years earlier! When I moved to South America a year ago, I mailed my entire Baha’i library to the LSA of Carmichael, my beloved greatest name woven by a group of non-Baha’i women in Guatemala that I assisted was sent to a Baha’i man that I brought into the Faith when I lived in Guatemala. The photo of the Purest Branch was returned to Counselor Birkland in Haifa, now a Universal House of Justice member. It is noteworthy that only Tim, the colleague I sent my Greatest Name acknowledged the gifts and that only in passing, as if none of them could deal honestly with what they are doing to GLBT people.

Many of you have family members who are Baha’i.  I was the only member in my extended family, I was alone, and I had no Baha’i support, ever. I taught the Faith, pioneered to Guatemala; home front pioneered, I did it all… alone, even my ex-wife refused to examine the Faith, and my straight son has rejected it outright for its homophobia.  All the time withstood the prejudice from my family, and gladly did this for something I had thought was right, was good.

But the Baha’is have shown my colleagues, friends, my husband and son, that I was the fool, that by their actions, there is nothing here, no hope, no refuge… that it may indeed be a cult as my parents still think, and that it was all perhaps at best, a very nice utopian dream.


So it is I humbly offer you a few questions for your consultation:

1.    When so many of our friends, colleagues, family who are members in other religions, with equal if not similar teachings on homosexuality are brave and stand up, and demand inclusion, why are GLBT Baha’is so afraid, so dysfunctional, and so incapable of being out and proud in this religion? What is it about the Baha’i Faith that so effectively terrorizes its GLBT members so? That either drives them underground or away?

2.    Why is it that this religion cannot find a decent way in which to love and embrace their GLBT brethren, as so many other religious communities have done? Why is it that GLBT people are allowed to be discriminated against? Why is it that homophobes are not sanctioned?

3.    How is it that after so many years, the questions asked of the NSA by the GBF are left largely unanswered?

4.    Why is it that the leadership of the Faith cannot see the damage they created to the image of the Faith in the eyes of the progressive community around them?

5.    Why are progressive people of capacity – straight and gay – being chased out of this Faith?  Could it be that this religion that once held so much promise for many of us that now seems by this very homophobia is bankrupt, and false? Again, it breaks my heart to even contemplate this.

So I ask again, “Rabbi, what is better…?”

All my respect, admiration, support, light and energy from Brasil! 

You all are so very deeply loved!


Daniel Clark Orey, Ph.D.


Resources:

http://revolked2.blogspot.com/
http://bahai-library.com/orey_open_letter_gays
http://revolked2.blogspot.com/2009/05/lets-start-with-consultign-about-my.html
http://revolked2.blogspot.com/2010/08/last-night-was-another-cornerstone-in.html
http://www.sbmg.org/

Via JMG: Rolling Stone On Anti-Gay Bullying

I'm just going to give you one paragraph from Rolling Stone's excellent long-form piece on bullying and suicide in Michele Bachhmann's home district.

"This isn't something you kid about, Brittany," her mom scolded, snatching the kitchen cordless and taking it down the hall to call the Johnsons. A minute later she returned, her face a mask of shock and terror. "Honey, I'm so sorry. We're too late," she said tonelessly as Brittany's knees buckled; 13-year-old Sam had climbed into the bathtub after school and shot herself in the mouth with her own hunting rifle. No one at school had seen her suicide coming. No one saw the rest of them coming, either.

Go read the rest.

Labels: bullying, education, LGBT youth, Michele Bachmann, Minnesota, Rolling Stone, suicide

Reposted from Joe

Via Christians Tired of Being Misrepresented // The Christian Left: The War on Christianity

The War on Christianity

www.huffingtonpost.com

 

We often hear the phrase "The War on Christianity" loudly bandied about by politicians, pundits and religious groups. Generally speaking, it's a Conservative call declaiming the dissolution of Christian values in mainstream discourse and governance.

An article submitted by member, Rev. G. Jude Geiger. "This is the true War on Christianity in our country. It's not about prayer in schools, or soccer trumping Sunday school. It's about groups of pundits, politicians and "American"-centric groups redefining the teachings of Jesus to suit their economic, social or political agenda. You know it's working when those spouting the anti-Christian rhetoric rile people into anger and hatred. You know it's working when Christians are confused into believing that the the health of their neighbor is not their concern. That individual freedom is radically more important than community well-being."

Via Christians Tired of Being Misrepresented // The Christian Left:

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 5, 2012

Living with the World

We are not called upon as Buddhists to deny the world, and certainly not to escape from it. We are called to live with it, and to make our peace with all that is. The world of worries we wish to escape from in the beginning of Buddhist practice is found to be enlightenment itself in the end.

- Clark Strand, "Worry Beads"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 4, 2012

Cooling Emotional Fires

Anger, annoyance, and impatience deplete energy. Patient effort strengthens our resources. We need to practice cooling emotional fires and alleviating fierce disruptions from our lives. The benefits of developing greater patience will be felt in all our relationships: intimate, casual, professional, as well as that all-important relationship, the one we have with ourselves.

- Allan Lokos, "Cooling Emotional Fires"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: JC Penney: We Stand With Ellen

The American Family Association's campaign against JC Penney and Ellen DeGeneres has earned the AFA scornful media attention from around the world. For their part, JC Penney says they are proudly "standing behind our partnership with Ellen DeGeneres." Here's how E! covered the story last night.



RELATED: GLAAD is wisely capitalizing on the situation to point out that LGBT people can be fired just for being who they are in 29 states across the nation. ENDA!

Labels: AFA, Ellen Degeneres, GLAAD, hate groups

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: On Husbands

About seven years ago  JMG wrote this:

When gay marriage finally becomes widespread, how quickly (if at all) will we act to correct each other when we identify someone's significant other?

"There goes David and his husband."

"Oh, they aren't married, just living together."

Will we do that? Will we give those who choose not to marry a verbal downgrade to "just living together", to "just boyfriends"? Gay people have traditionally operated fast and loose with the rules of defining and naming our relationships.

Will there be a sense of relief then, as we convert to straight society's hierarchy of relationships and start identifying couples as: dating, living together, or married? I think that the implied legitimacy of a legal marriage will tempt many of our people to begin resorting relationships into those separate categories. And I don't know how I feel about that.

It took almost seven years, but this very thing happened to me last night as I was rather archly informed that the couple I'd referred to as "husbands" were not married. They've just lived together for 22 years.


F%$k that, they are husbands.

Labels: language, marriage equality, relationships

Reposted from Joe

Via Gay Politics Report: Washington state Senate OKs marriage equality

• Washington state Senate OKs marriage equality
   
• The Washington state Senate voted 28-21 in favor of a marriage equality bill Wednesday night, sending the legislation to the House of Representatives, where it's broadly supported. The bipartisan vote came after a speech by openly gay state Sen. Ed Murray, who promised to invite his colleagues -- including those who oppose the bill -- when he weds his partner of 20 years. "Those of us who support this legislation are not, and we should not be accused of, undermining family life or religious freedom. ... Marriage is how society says you are a family," Murray said. House passage of the bill is expected soon, and Gov. Christine Gregoire has vowed to sign it into law.
•  
• SeattlePI.com (2/1), The Seattle Times (2/2), Towleroad (2/2)     

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 3, 2012

Finding Sense in Sensation

Whether pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, gross or subtle, every sensation shares the same characteristic: it arises and passes away, arises and passes away. It is this arising and passing that we have to experience through practice, not just accept as truth because Buddha said so, not just accept because intellectually it seems logical enough to us. We must experience sensation’s nature, understand its flux, and learn not to react to it.

- S. N. Goenka, "Finding Sense in Sensation"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlogGay: Rediscovering a Forgotten Hero

MLK ally Bayard Rustin at 100
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Nicholas Glenn | Communications Coordinator |312- 799-2161 glenn@chicagohistory.or
Bayard Rustin at 100

Rediscovering a Forgotten Hero

Known as the "invisible man" of the civil rights movement, Bayard Rustin was a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Artfully bringing Gandhi's techniques of nonviolence from India to America; Rustin organized the 1963 march on Washington D.C., the largest demonstration to date in American history. Rustin set the stage for a movement that captured the hearts and minds of millions of Americans. Yet despite his pivotal contributions, Rustin was expunged from history largely for being openly gay.

Beginning its 9th year, the Out at CHM series explores the contributions LGBT communities have made to Chicago and the nation. On Thursday, February 9, 2012, Chicago Urban League President Andrea L. Zopp moderates a discussion on Rustin’s enduring legacy with filmmaker Bennett Singer, co-director of the acclaimed documentary Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, and Rustin's surviving life partner Walter Naegle.

The evening will also explore how Rustin is being rediscovered by a new generation of Americans committed to social and economic justice. During the conversation, film clips from Brother Outsider will be shown to add context to the life of this unknown hero. For more information please visit chicagohitory.org

Via ACLU: Target of LGBT Bullying in Ohio School Tells His Story

Via JMG: GLAAD: Stand Up For Ellen

 

Citing yesterday's JMG post about the AFA's attack on Ellen DeGeneres, GLAAD has launched a campaign to thank JC Penney for selecting a popular openly gay spokesperson. Hit the link for a Change.org petition and for JC Penney contact details.

Labels: AFA, Ellen Degeneres, GLAAD, hate groups

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: LAUNCHED: Coalition To Repeal DOMA

Freedom To Marry and the Human Rights Campaign have launched a board coalition of organizations who are uniting in the battle to repeal DOMA. Here's the list so far.

Alliance for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Democratic Action, Anti-Defamation League, Association of Flight Attendants, Center for American Progress, Coalition of Labor Union Women, COLAGE, Courage Campaign, Communications Workers of America, Family Equality Council, Feminist Majority, Freedom to Marry, GLAD, Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Human Rights Campaign, Immigration Equality, Interfaith Alliance, International Union, UAW, Lambda Legal, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Log Cabin Republicans, MALDEF, National Black Justice Coalition, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Council of Jewish Women, National Education Association, National Fair Housing Alliance, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, National Organization for Women, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Women’s Law Center, People for the American Way, PFLAG, Pride at Work, AFL-CIO, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), Service Employees International Union, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Stonewall Democrats, Third Way, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, and USAction.

Last fall the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a repeal of DOMA, but the bill was not advanced to the full chamber because it would not pass there. A House version of a DOMA repeal bill would likely not survive its committee. However there is some hope that Democrats may improve their position in Congress this fall.

Labels: Congress, DOMA, Freedom To Marry, LGBT rights

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: SPLC Sues To Overturn DOMA

The Southern Poverty Law Center is suing the federal government on behalf of a disabled lesbian veteran and her partner.

Tracey Cooper-Harris served her country for 12 years in the U.S. Army. She received more than two dozen medals and commendations. She was honorably discharged in 2003. In 2010, Cooper-Harris was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a disabling disease that attacks the brain and central nervous system. The Department of Veterans Affairs denied Cooper-Harris’ request for benefits for her partner, even though their same-sex marriage was recognized by California. The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of Cooper-Harris and her partner, charging that the Department of Veterans Affairs discriminated against them by denying these benefits but granting them to spouses in heterosexual marriages. It also charges the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional because it bans federal agencies from recognizing such same-sex marriages, denying these couples benefits available to couples in heterosexual marriages

Labels: DOMA, feds, lawsuits, military

posted by Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 2, 2012

The Refuge of Sitting

It is important to sit with the clear intention to be present. At the same time, we need to let go of expectations. In a very real sense, what happens when we sit is none of our business. The practice is to accept whatever arises instead of trying to control our experience. What we can control is our wise effort to be present with what is.

- Narayan Liebenson Grady, "The Refuge of Sitting"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlogGay:

Marriage bill passes Washington state Senate 

The marriage equality bill just passed in Washington state. It now goes to the state House where it is expected to pass, and then to governor who has said she'll sign it. The religious right has already said they'll launch a referendum to repeal it since the only way they can win is by appealing to the bigotry of the masses.

JMG UPDATE: Washington State Senate Passes Marriage Equality Bill 28-21!!!

UPDATE: Under the leadership of openly gay Sen. Ed Murray and with the critical support of several Republican Senators, the bill has passed after failed attempts to attach nasty amendments. One of the failed GOP amendments would have made it legal for any business to discriminate against gay couples. Another would have immediately placed the issue on the November ballot. That will likely happen anyway via a public petition drive, but the Democrats swatted it down. Onward to the Washington House, where passage is guaranteed.

Congratulations Washington!

Labels: happy dance, marriage equality, Washington state

Via JMG: Amazon Supports Gay Marriage!

Online behemoth Amazon has publicly stated their support for the marriage equality bill about to be voted on by the legislature of their home state. Wahoo!

"Amazon is joining other Pacific Northwest companies, including Microsoft, Starbucks and Nike, in support of Washington state's marriage equality bills," Amazon said in a statement released by spokeswoman Mary Osako. "The spirit of these bills is consistent with our longstanding employment practices." Gay marriage supporters believe they have enough votes to pass the measure out of both houses, and Gov. Chris Gregoire has said she'll sign it into law.

Do I hear another boycott call? Squeee!

Labels: Amazon, marriage equality, Washington state

reposted from Joe