Via JMG: LGBT & Progressive Groups React

Lambda Legal

We welcome the news that President Obama understands the importance of equality for all people in this country and we are excited that he joins the majority of Americans in supportin gthe freedom to marry. There is no bully pulpit bigger than the President's, and loving, committed same-sex couples across the country - and all of us - thank him for using it to speak up for justice and fairness. The momentum for marriage equality is building across th ecountry. When people have a chance to think deeply about marriage equality,they come to the right answer - that discrimination against our families us wrong.

Stonewall Democrats

We applaud the President for completing his 'evolution' in support of the freedom to marry and becoming the first sitting president ever to endorse marriage equality for same-sex couples. The President joins a long and growing list of Democrats who support the freedom to marry. On days like today, I am proud to be a Democrat. The President's endorsement of the freedom to marry stands in stark contrast to the position of Mitt Romney. Romney, who signed the National Organization for Marriage's hateful anti-LGBT pledge, opposes marriage equality and supports a federal constitutional amendment banning marriage between same-sex couples. No longer can GOP homophobes like Romney hide behind the pretense that they share President Obama's position on the freedom to marry.

Freedom To Marry

The President’s support marks a historic turning point for the freedom to marry movement. Yet there is much left to be done. Forty-four states continue to exclude same-sex couples from marriage and because of the federal so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the civil marriages of thousands of same-sex couples are not respected by the federal government, thus depriving families of a crucial safety-net of federal protections and responsibilities. It is time to repeal discriminatory laws that hurt families and help no one and speed passage of freedom to marry laws throughout the country.

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force

President Obama’s ‘evolution’ is now complete. Congratulations, Mr. President, for making history today by becoming the first sitting president to explicitly support marriage for same-sex couples. Who benefits? Millions of families who now know that their country’s leader believes in fairness for all. This is a great day for America. We celebrate this moment and also remember that the right of loving, committed couples to get married is just one of many issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. It is heartening to know the president stands with our families in the pursuit of full equality, economic security and justice.

People For The American Way

Today’s announcement marks a proud day for our country and for the President. For those of us who have been working towards marriage equality for many years, the impact of having the support of the President of the United States is incredibly powerful. As President Obama made clear in his comments today, marriage equality for all people is an idea whose time has come. Despite setbacks like the results from North Carolina last night, it’s more obvious than ever that the momentum is on our side. Today the President did the right thing.For thousands of supporters who donated, canvassed and phone banked to help elect Barack Obama in 2008, this is a powerful reminder of why we felt so passionately about this President in the first place.

Human Rights Campaign

Thanks to President Obama's leadership, millions of young Americans have seen that their futures will not be limited by what makes them different. And now, in supporting marriage equality, he's extended a message of hope to a generation of young LGBT Americans, helping them understand that they too can be who they are and flourish as part of the American community. His words also remind gay and lesbian families everywhere that they are not alone or unheard as they struggle – like their neighbors – to afford healthcare and college for their kids, pay their taxes, and plan for retirement. The burden of discrimination will one day be no more, in part thanks to the President's leadership at this very moment.

Log Cabin Republicans

That the president has chosen today, when LGBT Americans are mourning the passage of Amendment One, to finally speak up for marriage equality is offensive and callous. Log Cabin Republicans appreciate that President Obama has finally come in line with leaders like Vice President Dick Cheney on this issue, but LGBT Americans are right to be angry that this calculated announcement comes too late to be of any use to the people of North Carolina, or any of the other states that have addressed this issue on his watch. This administration has manipulated LGBT families for political gain as much as anybody, and after his campaign’s ridiculous contortions to deny support for marriage equality this week he does not deserve praise for an announcement that comes a day late and a dollar short.

National Center For Lesbian Rights

President Obama has once again proven himself to be the strongest and most principled supporter of full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people ever to occupy the Oval Office. As he has done on so many other issues facing our community, the President showed his great depth of compassion and respect for the struggles faced by same-sex couples and their families and his commitment to genuine equality and justice for all people. This is an unforgettable day in our nation's history, and one that will bring enormous comfort and hope to millions of Americans.

Labels: Barack Obama, LGBT History, marriage equality

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 9, 2012

What's True For You?

Some people are afraid, 'If I meditate, will I have to quit my university life or end my marriage?' I don’t know. I think it shows you what’s true for you, and then it’s up to you to live that or betray it.

- Larry Rosenberg, "The Art of Doing Nothing"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlog gay:

Anti-gay Amendment One passes in NC 

So far the count is 60-40. Going to be interesting having the Democratic Convention in North Carolina in just a few months.  Not to mention, are Democrats really going to decide, in September, in North Carolina, to take another swipe at gays on marriage by refusing to put marriage equality in the party platform?  Bad confluence of circumstances. 

North Carolina just passed a bigoted law that will hurt unmarried women, children, and far more people than just gays and lesbians.

Via Truth Wins Out: Dan Savage vs. Brian Brown?

Dan Savage vs. Brian Brown?

Posted May 8th, 2012 by John M. Becker
As Evan mentioned last week, Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage Discrimination challenged Dan Savage to a duel in a revealing moment of compensatory bravado. Brown’s challenge, written in a breathless blog post, came in response to a speech Savage made last month to attendees at a high school journalism convention in which he said that the Bible contains “bull***t. . . about gay people.” He noted (correctly) that Christianity’s holy book is chock full of authoritative pronouncements on a plethora of other topics (shellfish, dinner, farming, menstruation, virginity, masturbation. . .) that are emphatically rejected by every person, Christian or otherwise, living in the 21st century as opposed to the Stone Age. Savage also accurately pointed out that turning to the Bible for questions of morality is a dubious exercise at best, due to the fact that the Bible is “a radically pro-slavery document” that “got the easiest moral question that humanity has ever faced wrong.”
Savage’s point — just in case it isn’t already abundantly obvious — is that it’s absurd to suggest that the Bible is infallible on the issue of homosexuality when it is so demonstrably fallible on a host of other issues. And he made that point, without disrespecting or slandering any religion, by simply describing what the Bible actually says.
According to Brown, though, accurately describing what the Bible says is tantamount to bullying. And he won’t stand for it:

Let me lay down a public challenge to Dan Savage right here and now: You want to savage the Bible? Christian morality? Traditional marriage? Pope Benedict? I’m here, you name the time and the place and let’s see what a big man you are in a debate with someone who can talk back. It’s easy to make high-school girls cry by picking on them. Let’s pick on someone our own size!
. . . I’m here, any time, any place you name, Dan Savage. You will find out out how venal and ridiculous your views of these things are if you dare to accept a challenge.

So yeah. Brown is man, hear him roar. Blah blah blah. Incidentally, if you’re currently unoccupied and have a couple minutes to spare, read Brown’s post in its entirety. It’s rather entertaining — what starts off as an indignant letter to NOM’s “marriage supporters” ends up reading, by the time the screed concludes, like a half-hearted mélange of great moments in presidential speeches: “With charity towards all, with malice towards none, we will fight for the right, as God gives us the power to see what’s right. God bless you and may God bless America.” I can’t tell if Brownie intended to re-purpose Lincoln’s Second Inaugural or deliver the State of the Union Address. . .
But anyway, lo and behold, last Friday Savage responded. His message to Brown? It’s on.

I will name the time and the place, per your offer, as soon as possible. Looking forward to it, NOMnuts.

Color me thrilled. As an LGBT activist and media-consuming American, I’ve seen a lot of both Dan Savage and Brian Brown on TV, YouTube, and the like. As such, I’m more than a little surprised that Brown challenged Savage in the first place, since I’m willing to bet NOM’s Bigot-in-Chief would get his you-know-what handed to him in any serious debate. Perhaps Brown, too, recognizes this: as of this writing, he’s made nary a peep in public about Savage accepting his offer. Stay tuned, folks; we’ll see what develops.
Oh, and in case either Dan or Brian happen to be reading: consider this my formal request for two front-row seats. I don’t want to miss a thing.

Tags: Bible, Biblical infallibility, bigots, Brian Brown, bullying, Dan Savage, delusional bigots, John Becker, religion-based bigotry, Savage/Brown

Via JMG: Gay Author Maurice Sendak Dies At Age 83

Where The Wild Things Are author Maurice Sendak has died at the age of 85.

Roundly praised, intermittently censored and occasionally eaten, Mr. Sendak’s books were essential ingredients of childhood for the generation born after 1960 or thereabouts, and in turn for their children. He was known in particular for more than a dozen picture books he wrote and illustrated himself, most famously “Where the Wild Things Are,” which was simultaneously genre-breaking and career-making when it was published by Harper & Row in 1963.

I don't think I ever actually read Sendak's most famed book, but I recall there being a indoor playground and restaurant based on it at San Francisco's ill-fated Metreon complex.

RELATED: Sendak came out publicly three years ago.

Was there anything he had never been asked? He paused for a few moments and answered, “Well, that I’m gay.” “I just didn’t think it was anybody’s business,” Mr. Sendak added. He lived with Eugene Glynn, a psychoanalyst, for 50 years before Dr. Glynn’s death in May 2007. He never told his parents: “All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew.”

Labels: books, gay writers, Maurice Sendak, obituary

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Today's Gallup Poll

Gallup reports:

Fifty percent of Americans believe same-sex marriages should be recognized by law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages -- down slightly from 53% last year, but marking only the second time in Gallup's history of tracking this question that at least half of Americans have supported legal same-sex marriage. Forty-eight percent say such marriages should not be legal.

Labels: Gallup, marriage equality, polls

Reposted from Joe

Via Gay Politics Report:

• New poll finds half of U.S. adults back marriage equality
   
• A new Gallup poll finds 50% of U.S. adults support legal marriage for same-sex couples, while 48% oppose it. Marriage equality is supported by the majority of Democrats and Independents, but by 22% of Republicans, the poll found. Politico (Washington, D.C.) (5/8)     

Via Gay Politics Report:

• Despite Biden remarks, White House doesn’t budge on marriage
  Reporters yesterday hammered White House spokesman Jay Carney over President Barack Obama’s position on marriage equality a day after Vice President Joe Biden unexpectedly said he’s comfortable with same-sex couples marrying. Biden’s office later said the vice president’s official position still mirrored Obama's, leading the White House press corps Monday to repeatedly ask Carney to explain Obama’s position more fully. The press corps' questions about marriage equality took up nearly half the daily briefing. Carney referred reporters to Obama’s record on LGBT issues and his oft-repeated answer that the president was still evolving on the issue of marriage rights, an answer Obama himself first uttered in 2010. National Public Radio (5/8), The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (5/6), Metro Weekly (Washington, D.C.)/Poliglot (5/7), Washington Blade (5/7)     

• Education secretary says he supports marriage equality: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said Tuesday morning he supports the rights of same-sex couples to marry, becoming the latest Obama administration official to publicly break with the president over the issue. Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan has also said he backs marriage rights for gays and lesbians. Advocate.com (5/7)     

• Are some Obama donors closing their wallets?: Several major political givers who are upset with President Barack Obama’s refusal to sign an executive order banning LGBT employment bias among federal contractors have reportedly suspended their fundraising efforts for his re-election bid despite his overall record on LGBT issues, according to this article. The Washington Post/The Plum Line (5/7)     

Via JMG: VIDEO: It Could Happen To You

Andy Towle writes: Shane Bitney Crone has marked the one-year anniversary of his boyfriend of six years, Tom Bridegroom, with a devastating video, It could happen to you, chronicling what happened to him after Tom's sudden death. If there's anyone in your life who doesn't understand the familial rejection, the institutional discrimination, and the bias that gay couples face every day, here's one man's account.

Labels: LGBT culture, LGBT rights, memoriam

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: WorldPride To Honor Hillary Clinton

No doubt in recognition of her historic speech to the United Nations, WorldPride London has announced that Hillary Clinton will be the recipient of their World LGBT Award. Pink News UK reports:

Clinton, who is married to former US President Bill Clinton, will be honoured at a star-studded black-tie fundraiser preceding WorldPride 2012 on 5 July. The gala evening is in aid of Pride London’s new Solidarity Fund, which supports organisation within the Commonwealth that work with and for LGBT people to tackle homophobia and transphobia. Also to be honoured, with the “International Community Award”, is ILGA – the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. Founded in 1978, ILGA brings together more than 750 LGBTI groups from around the world.

RELATED: WorldPride has previously been held Rome (2000) and Jerusalem (2006). After WorldPride Toronto in 2014, the event will take place on a five-year cycle. (Tipped by JMG reader Huntington)

Labels: gay Pride, Hillary Clinton, LGBT History, London

Reposted from Joe

Via GayBahai.net:

Mother28 Collapse posted:

I recently resigned from the Baha'i Faith from my letter of resignation I said:

This is the post I referred to above:

"I always believed that the Faith would eventually consider science and the rigorous study of society, however it is clear from the activities of the Faith around the world that the Faith will not change its policy regarding marriage equality, the flexibility of gender roles, or gender identity. I have found it particularly disappointing that a Faith I once embraced has supported hate groups against homosexuals and that Baha'i Counselors have in international forums promoted corrective therapy for LBGTQ members that has been condemned in the medical community as abusive, harmful and ineffective."

this was the straw that broke my back, I don't want a religion in my life that is not tolerant and in alignment with science.

<http://www.gaybahai.net/discussion/post/1816052>

Via Towleroad:

'Where the Wild Things Are' Author Maurice Sendak is Dead at 83

Maurice Sendak, the gay author of iconic children's books like Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen, has died at 83.

The cause was complications from a recent stroke, said Michael di Capua, his longtime editor.

Sendak came out of the closet publicly in 2008 in an interview with the New York Times:

"Was there anything he had never been asked? He paused for a few moments and answered, 'Well, that I’m gay...I just didn’t think it was anybody’s business,' Mr. Sendak added. He lived with Eugene Glynn, a psychoanalyst, for 50 years before Dr. Glynn’s death in May 2007. He never told his parents: 'All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew.' Children protect their parents, Mr. Sendak said. It was like the time he had a heart attack at 39. His mother was dying from cancer in the hospital, and he decided to keep the news to himself, something he now regrets. A gay artist in New York is not exactly uncommon, but Mr. Sendak said that the idea of a gay man writing children books would have hurt his career when he was in his 20s and 30s."

Sendak recently appeared in two genius interviews with Stephen Colbert. If you missed them, makes sure to take a look HERE and HERE.

Posted May. 8,2012 at 8:32 AM EST by Andy Towle in Books, Deaths, MAurice Sendak, News

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2012/05/where-the-wild-things-are-author-maurice-sendak-is-dead-at-83.html#ixzz1uHxQeajQ

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 8, 2012

Saving Yourself from Anger

 

When you give in to aversion and anger, it’s as though, having decided to kill someone by throwing him into a river, you wrap your arms around his neck, jump into the water with him, and you both drown. In destroying your enemy, you destroy yourself as well.

- Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, "Putting Down the Arrow"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: Olympics Hopeful Comes Out

Olympics hopeful Josh Dixon wants to be the first out American gymnast in the history of the games. Outsports reports:

The Stanford grad took a big step toward that goal at the U.S. Men’s Qualifier on Saturday in Colorado Springs, finishing second overall out of the 72 competitors. He also tied for wins in two events: floor exercise and high bar. It was a game-changing come-back performance for Dixon, who tore his Achilles tendon last spring. Now Dixon is talking about his personal life and sexual orientation publicly for the first time. Like charging at the vault, he’s coming at it at full speed.

Read the full article.

Labels: coming out, gay athletes, Outsports, sports

Reposted from Joe

JMG Quote Of The Day - Rep. Barney Frank:

"Any gay or lesbian person with any self-respect should not be voting for any of the Republicans, including Mitt Romney, who made the degrading comment in one of the recent debates about how he kept Massachusetts from being the Las Vegas of gay marriage, kind of cheapening this very profound thing for us. This is a faker who in 1994, when he was trying to beat Ted Kennedy in a different era, said 'Oh, I’ll be better than him on gay rights,' and of course he’s been outrageous.

"In fact in 2004, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court had ruled in favor of gay rights, there was an effort in the state Legislature to overturn it. Mitt Romney led a fight against a whole lot of legislators who had courageously voted with us to uphold gay marriage, and he tried very hard to defeat them. I think he gave the business I’m in a bad name. He is the most unprincipled, dishonest, intellectually flexible guy I’ve seen. There does not appear to be any public policy to which he’s committed." - Rep. Barney Frank, in an interview with Palms Springs' Desert Outlook.

Labels: 2012 elections, Barney Frank, GOP, Mitt Romney

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Marriage Map

You should check out the timeline of when the bans went into place. In 2004 Ken Mehlman was the chair of the Bush re-election campaign. From 2005-2007, he was the head of RNC. During those two short time spans 23 of the bans were enacted. For the past couple of years, Mehlman has been working to undo that damage or at least prevent it from spreading further.

Labels: LGBT rights, maps, marriage equality

Reposted from Joe

Via Wipe Out Homophobia / Facebook:

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 7, 2012

 

The Wise Investigator

You always need to check the quality of mind; only if the quality is good are you practicing in the right way. This is how the quality of practice should be measured; not by posture or by the number of hours of sitting, walking, or standing meditation you do.

- Sayadaw U Tejaniya, "The Wise Investigator"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

STEVE HAYES: Tired Old Queen at the Movies - ALL ABOUT EVE - 100th Episode!