- N.J. Senate rejects gay nominee for state’s high court
- The
New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted against
confirming Bruce Harris, an openly gay Republican nominated to the state
Supreme Court by Gov. Chris Christie. Democrats, who control the
committee, objected to Harris’ stated intention to recuse himself on
issues involving marriage equality, a stance that also concerned LGBT
activists. “As someone who has supported Bruce Harris’ nomination to the
state Supreme Court, I am terribly disappointed with his answers on his
recusal. Frankly, I found them nonsensical,” said Steven Goldstein of
the group Garden State Equality. New Jersey Online
(5/31)
Friday, June 1, 2012
Via Gay Politics Report:
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Via JMG:
CALIFORNIA: State Senate Bans "Ex-Gay" Therapy For Children Under 18
The California Senate has voted to ban "ex-gay" therapy for children under the age of 18. The bill has been ferociously opposed by the usual hate groups. Equality California sends this press release:
If approved by the Assembly and signed by the Governor, Senate Bill 1172, authored by Senator Ted Lieu and co-sponsored by Equality California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Mental Health America of Northern California, Gaylesta, and Lambda Legal, would make California the first state in the nation to ban licensed mental health professionals from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts of any kind for a minor patient, regardless of a parent's willingness or desire to authorize participation in such programs. "Being lesbian or gay or bisexual is not a disease or mental disorder for the same reason that being a heterosexual is not a disease or a mental disorder," Senator Lieu said. "The medical community is unanimous in stating that homosexuality is not a medical condition."Earlier today "ex-gay" crackpots NARTH sent out an urgent alert demanding that its followers call California's senators to demand they block the bill. Because the proper way NARTH likes to handle gay youth is to hire them as prostitutes for "daily erotic massage to release."
Via JMG: BREAKING: Federal Appeals Court Overturns Key Provision Of DOMA
Big news! The First Court of Appeals ruled in Boston today that it is unconstitutional to deny federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples. The ruling applies to Section Three of the Defense Of Marriage Act.The appeals court agreed with a lower court judge who ruled in 2010 that the law is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of a state to define marriage and denies married gay couples federal benefits given to heterosexual married couples, including the ability to file joint tax returns. The court didn't rule on the law's other provision, which said states without same-sex marriage cannot be forced to recognize gay unions performed in other states.Metro Weekly provides a portion of the ruling:
[M]any Americans believe that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and most Americans live in states where that is the law today. One virtue of federalism is that it permits this diversity of governance based on local choice, but this applies as well to the states that have chosen to legalize same-sex marriage. Under current Supreme Court authority, Congress' denial of federal benefits to same-sex couples lawfully married in Massachusetts has not been adequately supported by any permissible federal interest.Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley
Today’s landmark ruling makes clear once again that DOMA is a discriminatory law for which there is no justification. It is unconstitutional for the federal government to create a system of first- and second-class marriages, and it does harm to families in Massachusetts every day. All Massachusetts couples should be afforded the same rights and protections under the law, and we hope that this decision will be the final step toward ensuring that equality for all.Lambda Legal
We are thrilled that another court- this time, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit - has ruled that it is unconstitutional to deny respect to the marriages of lesbian and gay couples. The so-called Defense of Marriage Act is being challenged in multiple cases and it won't be long before that bad law is gone for good. We congratulate our colleagues at Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and the State of Massachusetts for achieving this wonderful victory.Freedom To Marry
Today’s unanimous decision issued by the First Circuit Court of Appeals is a powerful affirmation that the so-called Defense of Marriage Act is an unconstitutional and unjust law whose days are numbered. This ruling will return the federal government to its historic role of respecting marriages performed in the states, without carving out a ‘gay exception’ that denies thousands of protections. As more loving same-sex couples commit their lives to one another in marriage, the harms of this unjust law become more clear – from service members, risking their lives to protect ours, being denied the ability to protect their own families through military medical insurance or survivor benefits to senior citizens having to move out of their homes after their partners of many decades pass on because they cannot access Social Security protections afforded any other legally married couple.Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
At SLDN, we applaud the court for affirming that legal marriages in the states - and all the rights and protections that come with those marriages - should be recognized and respected by our federal government. Though a narrow decision, this important victory nonetheless paves the way further for litigation like McLaughlin v. U.S., SLDN's case on behalf of married gay and lesbian service members and veterans who are denied equal recognition, support and benefits for their families by this discriminatory law. We congratulate the GLAD attorneys and plaintiffs in this case and look forward with them to the day when every American - especially those putting their lives on the line to protect our nation - has the freedom to marry the person they love, knowing that their commitment will be honored by their government.Human Rights Campaign
This ruling is a historic victory for loving gay and lesbian couples and their children. For the first time, a federal appeals court has recognized that our constitution will not tolerate a law that forces the federal government to deny lawfully-married same-sex couples equal treatment. The writing is clearly on the wall for the demise of this unjust and indefensible law that hurts real families.We applaud GLAD, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the courageous plaintiffs for their incredible efforts on behalf of gay and lesbian couples in Massachusetts and across the nation.
Via JMG: "Land of Dreams" Commercial
Gay Couple Shown In U.S. Tourism Ad
They're only on screen for less than a second, but predictably Tony Perkins is furious that a gay couple is shown in a new international ad promoting U.S. tourism. Via Right Wing Watch:In 236 years, America's never had an international tourism ad. So when Congress passed the Travel Promotion Act, people thought it'd be a great chance to highlight American attractions. What they didn't know is that it would highlight same-sex attractions. That's right. The commercial invites people to America-not to see the Grand Canyon, but to celebrate homosexuality. In one scene, a gay man is sleeping on his partner's shoulder in a trolley. The actors said they were specifically recruited to add a "homosexual presence" to the commercial. According to Brand USA, the ads were supposed to "open up some minds as to what America really is"-which, based on this commercial, is a country of radical values and backwards priorities. I suppose this is part of the President's push to "rebrand" America. It's just too bad he used a travel ad to feature so much cultural baggage.
labels: feds, hate groups, Tony Perkins, tourism
reposted from Joe
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma May 31, 2012
Learning to Let Go
In
the West, you have the expression that you wouldn’t wish something on
your worst enemy. From a spiritual standpoint, we can adopt a similar
point of view. If you experience loss, you can pray that your loss may
substitute for the loss of others, so that even your worst enemy may not
have to suffer. This is a good way of letting go.
|
- Gehlek Rimpoche, "An Interview with Gehlek Rimpoche"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Via AmericaBlog Gay:
GOP-friendly hate group evokes Biblical "death" language about gays
The
Bible says to put gays to death. So if these folks are going to quote
the Bible, and say that President Obama is dissing the Bible, then they
need to explain whether they agree with the Bible that gays should be
put to death, or whether they think that God got it wrong. Which one is
it? Mass genocide or the Bible is sometimes wrong?
It's time for them to put up or shut up.
Via AmericaBlog Gay:
ExxonMobil still hates you
Unsatisfied with simply destroying the environment, ExxonMobil would like to destroy some lives as well.
(Updated link.)
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
JMG HomoQuotable - Dan Savage
"The
Apostolic Truth Tabernacle is in Greensburg, Indiana. That's the town
where Billy Lucas was bullied to death for being perceived to be gay by
his classmates. I wonder if they stood up and cheered at Apostolic Truth
Tabernacle when Lucas died—hey, another homo in hell. I wonder if any
of Lucas's tormenters attend services at Apostolic Truth Tabernacle. And
remember: I'm an anti-Christian bully for pointing out the connection
between what straight kids are taught about 'homos' in the shithole
mega-churches they're dragged to by their parents and what they turn
around and do to 'homos' they encounter in classrooms. And what if that
precocious little four-year-old singer is gay? Praise the Lord and pass
the barf bags." - Dan Savage, whose It Gets Better Project was launched in response to Billy's suicide.JMG Reader Locates "Ain't No Homos Gonna Make It To Heaven" Church
Joe says:
Thanks to the web sleuthing of a JMG reader, last night we learned Indiana's Apostolic Truth Tabernacle is where that four year-old child was filmed singing Ain't No Homos Gonna Make It To Heaven. Shortly after I posted that repulsive clip,
I was contacted by several media outlets, including CNN, who now know
its source. Contact details for Pastor Jeff Sangl are at the first link
and I suspect he is about to have a very interesting week.
Reposted from Joe
Via JMG: TEXAS: ExxonMobil Shareholders Vote Down LGBT Employee Protections
Despite
facing years of protests including one outside of today's meeting, the
shareholders of ExxonMobil have once again refused to grant employment
protections to LGBT workers. The Dallas Voice reports: Meeting at the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Dallas Arts District, the ExxonMobil shareholders voted 80 percent to 20 percent Wednesday morning against a resolution asking the corporation to amend “its written equal employment opportunity policy to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and to substantially implement the policy.” The 80-20 margin of defeat was among the largest for the proposal, which has been introduced each year since Mobil and Exxon merged in 1999. The percentage of shareholders voting for the policy had increased steadily over the years to about 40 percent, before dropping off significantly after gender identity was added in 2008.Before the two companies merged, Mobil had been one of the first major corporations to provide domestic partner benefits and workplace protections for gay employees. Those benefits were rescinded when Exxon came on board.
Read the full Dallas Voice report.
All the dead people say yes By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Somewhere along a forgotten branch of your family tree, there she is.
Somewhere deep in your lineage, there's at least one, maybe two, maybe even quite a few more whom you know nothing about -- relatives who, when they were alive, never made a sound or ruffled any feathers, hidden like thwarted relics, long deceased but right now whispering at the top of their ghostly lungs straight into your most lucid, semi-hallucinogenic dreams: "Get the hell on with it, already."
Can you hear them? Can you possibly say there are no closeted gay or lesbian, radical or repressed relatives back in your family history -- people who, due to the times and constraints under which they lived, never in a million years could have lived the life you are now free to lead, never could have revealed their true selves in public, much less celebrated that self, much less (heaven forefend) married someone they actually loved, gender/kink/ideology regardless?
Somewhere deep in your lineage, there's at least one, maybe two, maybe even quite a few more whom you know nothing about -- relatives who, when they were alive, never made a sound or ruffled any feathers, hidden like thwarted relics, long deceased but right now whispering at the top of their ghostly lungs straight into your most lucid, semi-hallucinogenic dreams: "Get the hell on with it, already."
Can you hear them? Can you possibly say there are no closeted gay or lesbian, radical or repressed relatives back in your family history -- people who, due to the times and constraints under which they lived, never in a million years could have lived the life you are now free to lead, never could have revealed their true selves in public, much less celebrated that self, much less (heaven forefend) married someone they actually loved, gender/kink/ideology regardless?
Via AmericaBlogGay:
AP: Norwegian terrorist was a feminine momma's-boy who wore make-up, so maybe he was gay
I'm
really surprised that AP didn't handle this story better. They have
the nerve to do a story suggesting that the Norwegian mass-murderer
terrorist might have been gay because - get this - he was kind of
effeminate, lived with mom, and liked to sometimes put on make-up.
And what gay man doesn't lisp, put on make-up, and live with mom.
We're all Norman Bates, now.
my note:
SHAME ON YOU AP!
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma May 30, 2012
Breaking Through Resistance
Thinking
and talking about practice are easy substitutes for the real effort
that a practice life requires. We resist facing life as it is because
that would mean abandoning our views of how we think it should be. The most basic form of resistance is wanting life to be other than it is.
|
- Ezra Bayda, "Breaking Through"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Did you hear that US Congress?
Via JMG: European Parliament Denounces Nations With Anti-LGBT Legislation
The
754-member European Parliament has approved a resolution denouncing
nations with current or pending anti-gay legislation. The item
specifically calls out Russia, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine.
The UK's Pink News reports:The resolution was adopted with 430 in favour and 105 against, saying it was “gravely concerned by developments which restrict freedom of expression and assembly on the basis of misconceptions about homosexuality and transgenderism”. It added that EU Member States should be “exemplary in the application and protection of fundamental rights in Europe”. 14 Conservative MEPs voted in favour of the resolution with 12 either abstaining or being unable to vote. 9 Labour MEPs voted in favour of the move with 3 abstaining or unable to vote. All but two absent Liberal Democrat MEPs voted for the resolution. The resolution specifically addressed laws in several European countries, condemning laws against ill-defined ‘propaganda’.Of the cited nations, only Latvia and Lithuania belong to the European Union.
Via JMG: RELIGION CENSUS: Fewer Than 50% Of Americans Are "Adherents" Of Christianity
According to a just-published analysis of the 2010 Religion Census, fewer than 50%
of Americans are "adherents" of Christianity. The percentage who would
self-identify as "Christian," regardless of church membership and
attendance patterns, is presumably higher.The researchers define adherents to be those with an affiliation to a congregation including children, members and attendees who are not members, and believe that the adherent measure is the most complete and comparable across religious groups. Congregations are defined as groups of people who meet regularly at a pre-announced time and location. More than 150.6 million Christian adherents and 344,894 congregations were reported across the country. It is noteworthy that less than 50 percent of of the nation's population identified as Christian adherents. With close to 15.8 million Christian adherents, California reported the highest number of Christian adherents, whereas Vermont reported the lowest -- only 200,000 identified as Christian adherents. Around 10 percent of the nation's Christians reside in California. With 27,248 congregations, Texas reported the highest number of congregations in a state, whereas District of Columbia reported the lowest with 566.The above-linked reports offer no insight as the number of Americans who consider themselves atheist, agnostic, anti-theist, or merely "unchurched."
Via JMG: Brown Vs Savage: Duel Accepted
Just posted to NOM's blog: "Dan -- I accept and will look forward to debating you at your dining room table. As I said in my challenge to you, anytime, any place. While I appreciate the invitation that you have extended to my wife, she will not be able to attend. She is a full-time mom with seven beautiful children and an eighth on the way. I have no objection to Mark Oppenheimer from the New York Times covering the discussion, nor to you hiring your own video crew to film the event, provided that I am able to hire my own video crew to be sure there is no creative editing of the discussion. Not that a New York Times reporter would slant the news, mind you! :) This will be fun!" - Brian Brown.
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