Via JMG: Rhode Island To Recognize Gay Marriages

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee today ordered all state agencies to officially recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other jurisdictions.

The executive order is expected to have many real-world implications. Same-sex spouses of state employees and anyone covered by an insurance company regulated in Rhode Island will be entitled to health and life insurance benefits, gay rights advocates say. Both partners in a same-sex couple will be able to list their names as parents on a child’s birth certificate, and same-sex couples will be entitled to sales tax exemptions on the transfer of property including vehicles. One couple who attended the signing ceremony — married in neighboring Massachusetts — described their disappointment of not being able to list both their names on their son’s birth certificate. “For our next child, we won’t have to go through the same kind of turmoil,” Martha Holt Castle said.

Yay, guv!

RELATED: Civil unions have been legal in Rhode Island since last year.

Labels: LGBT rights, Lincoln Chafee, Rhode Island

Reposted from Joe

Baha'i Rants: Pathology of Homosexuality

 

Image credit: Barat Ali Batoor

Pathology of Homosexuality

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Baquia

 

This is another in a series of articles exploring homosexuality within the Baha’i Faith. The first was delving into the historical and semantic context of the infamous excerpt in the Aqdas where Baha’u'llah refers reluctantly to the “subject of boys”.

Unfortunately the exact practice that Baha’u'llah was referring to cryptically is still being practiced today in Afghanistan. You can watch the PBS domentary following the above link as well as find a brief update on the situation from this recent Washington Post article.

Make the jump here to read the full article

Via Practicing the Presence through Mind and Meditation / Facebook:

By Practicing the Presence through Mind and Meditation

Daily Mantra:
 

"Every day, think as you wake up, "Today I am fortunate to have woken up. I am alive, I have a precious human life. I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry, or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can."
 

- His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 14, 2012

 

Using All Available Emotions

There’s no such thing as never getting angry. Enlightenment can and does use all the available emotions. The idea that enlightenment means sitting around with a beatific smile on our faces is just an illusion.

- Adyashanti, "The Taboo of Enlightenment"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Pleading For Equality: The Case For Same-Sex Marriage

Via Facebook:

Via Viktor Egelund / Facebook:

Before you speak, ask yourself: Is it true, is it kind, is it necessary, does it improve upon the silence? – Shirdi Sai Baba

Via Facebook:

Via Re-Elect President Obama:

The Obama Same-Sex Marriage Statement: A Religious Analysis

www.religiondispatches.org

‎"Obama’s thoughtful statement sends a different message. It says that values like introspection, compassion, and justice support, rather than oppose, equality for LGBT people. We can interpret Leviticus, Romans, and Corinthians ten ways from Sunday. But what we can’t ignore are the calls to justice and compassion.

"What, according to the statement, led Obama to this position? The right kind of thinking. Over time, he said, he has come to understand the truth of same-sex couples: that they are as capable of commitment, love, and sanctity as opposite-sex ones; and that it is an injustice to deny the benefits of marriage to gay people. Those are religious values, expressed in a personal way. It demonstrates the growth of individual conscience: the president used to feel one way, but over time, in a careful and long process of discernment, he has now come to feel a different way. People on his staff, friends and family—these, not abstract principles, are what shifted his heart and mind. Thinking of his personal responsibility for the lives of soldiers serving our country—this, not some policy point, is the data that weighs into calculations of right and wrong."

— Jay Michaelson

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 13, 2012

 

The Safety of our Buddhanature

Love and compassion make us feel safe because they express the safety of their source—the deep buddhanature within us, the unchanging inner space of primal awareness that cannot be harmed.

- John Makransky, "Aren't We Right to Be Angry?"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

HILARIOUS! Jon Stewart Opens Up A Can O' Whoop Ass On Bigots In North Carolina

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Via Occupy Borders (Bi National couples unite) Facebook:

Via JMG: LEAKED GOP MEMO: It's Time To Let Go Of Fighting Against Same-Sex Marriage

Politico has published a just-leaked memo from an insider on Dubya's 2004 reelection team. In the light of Obama's "evolution," this guy now says that GOP strategists should abandon the losing battle against same-sex marriage.

Background: in view of this week’s news on the same sex marriage issue, here is a summary of recent survey findings on same sex marriage:

1. Support for same sex marriage has been growing and in the last few years support has grown at an accelerated rate with no sign of slowing down. A review of public polling shows that up to 2009 support for gay marriage increased at a rate of 1% a year. Starting in 2010 the change in the level of support accelerated to 5% a year. The most recent public polling shows supporters of gay marriage outnumber opponents by a margin of roughly 10% (for instance: NBC / WSJ poll in February / March: support 49%, oppose 40%).
2. The increase in support is taking place among all partisan groups. While more Democrats support gay marriage than Republicans, support levels among Republicans are increasing over time. The same is true of age: younger people support same sex marriage more often than older people, but the trends show that all age groups are rethinking their position.
3. Polling conducted among Republicans show that majorities of Republicans and Republican leaning voters support extending basic legal protections to gays and lesbians. These include majority Republican support for:
1. Protecting gays and lesbians against being fired for reasons of sexual orientation
2. Protections against bullying and harassment
3. Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
4. Right to visit partners in hospitals
5. Protecting partners against loss of home in case of severe medical emergencies or death
6. Legal protection in some form for gay couples whether it be same sex marriage or domestic partnership (only 29% of Republicans oppose legal recognition in any form).

Recommendation: A statement reflecting recent developments on this issue along the following lines:
“People who believe in equality under the law as a fundamental principle, as I do, will agree that this principle extends to gay and lesbian couples; gay and lesbian couples should not face discrimination and their relationship should be protected under the law. People who disagree on the fundamental nature of marriage can agree, at the same time, that gays and lesbians should receive essential rights and protections such as hospital visitation, adoption rights, and health and death benefits.

Read the full memo.

Labels: Dubya, GOP, LGBT rights, marriage equality

Reposted from Joe

Via Facebook:

Gay Marriage- Obama Comes Out for Love. Do You?

The Top 8 Ways To Be 'Traditionally Married' According To The Bible

http://www.upworthy.com/the-top-8-ways-to-be-traditionally-married-according-to-the-bible?c=la2

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 12, 2012

Revolutionary Practice

True dharma practice is a revolutionary activity, and you can't do it in a comfortable way. You really have to challenge the whole identity of your life.

- Jack Kornfield, "The Sure Heart's Release"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via Facebook:

Via AmericaBlogGay:

The story of Obama's evolution, starting with a blogger named Joe 

I have to give Peter Wallsten and Scott Wilson credit at the Washington Post for crediting our own Joe Sudbay with being the person who got President Obama to say he's evolving on gay marriage.  A lot of reporters fail to mention who hit was who got the ball rolling on this issue.