Via FB:

Via Out Gay FB:

“Follow your bliss. If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be. If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.” ~ Joseph Campbell

Via JMG: On Macy's Website

Free Republic is ever so pissed:

While conservative activists have focused on the promotion of gay marriage by store chains J.C. Penny and Target, Macy's has gone under the culture radar in its partnership with the Obama-allied homosexual group, the Human Rights Campaign. The incoming president of HRC, Chad Griffin is an Obama bundler. You won't see it in Macy's weekly sales circular, and you'd be hard pressed to find it on the front page of the Macy's website, but the Human Rights Campaign is loud and proud in declaring its partnership with Macy's urging customers to purchase "election year" Vote Equality t-shirts with the proceeds going to the Human Rights Campaign.

Labels: gay Pride, HRC, Macy's, retail

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Target Blocks AFA's Hate Mail

Last month we snickered when the One Million Moms bitched that JC Penney was blocking their emails. And now Target is doing the same. Snork! Via the Christian Post:

When Target began selling the pro-gay shirts late May, the American Family Association sent out an alert to supporters, asking them to let Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel "know that a majority of Americans oppose same-sex marriage and are able to use their pocketbooks to voice their opposition to companies that support it." In a recent update, AFA stated, "Target is blocking emails from the AFA Action Alert system." The family group is asking supporters to contact the retailer through other means. Steinhafel says that diversity is a "core value" at the retailer and that Target fosters "an inclusive culture." Family Equality Council is now among a dozen groups that Target partners with.

Target, Macy's, JC Penney, Home Depot.... There sure are a lot of shopping options for loyal gays these days.

Labels: AFA, hate groups, retail, Target

Reposted from Joe

President Obama Celebrates Pride Month

Via Facebook:

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma June 3, 2012

Right Lying

If I’m torn between truth and falsehood, I have to ask myself if the choice I’m leaning toward would be self-serving or selfless, harsh or kind, harmful or harmless. Only then can I know what’s best to do.

- Lin Jensen, "Right Lying"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via Being Liberal FB Page:

Via Gaycitynews.com:

Vargas Llosa: Against Hunting Gays In Latin America | gaycitynews.com

BY KELLY JEAN COGSWELL | 

 

IIn March, 24-year-old store clerk and gay activist Daniel Zamudio was attacked in a public park in Santiago, Chile, beaten intermittently for hours, carved with swastikas, and left for dead. He finally got to a hospital, struggled for three weeks, and then died.

 Observers are calling him the Chilean Matthew Shepard, because the brutal murder has launched a national discussion about LGBT rights. An antidiscrimination law that has been languishing for seven years is even speeding through the National Congress despite conservative lawmakers warning it will lead to same-sex marriage, among other horrors.

On Easter Sunday, the Nobel prize-winning writer, Mario Vargas Llosa, spoke out in an op-ed called “Hunting Gays.” He did more than the usual handwringing denunciation of violence; he published an indictment of all Latin America, whose countries, “without a single exception,” he wrote, repress, persecute, and marginalize queers “with the open and massively enthusiastic support of the general public.”

http://gaycitynews.com/vargas-llosa-against-hunting-gays-in-latin-america/

Via Heterosexuals for Same-Sex Equality on FB:

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma June 2, 2012

As If There is Nothing to Lose

Gratitude, the simple and profound feeling of being thankful, is the foundation of all generosity. I am generous when I believe that right now, right here, in this form and this place, I am myself being given what I need. Generosity requires that we relinquish something, and this is impossible if we are not glad for what we have. Otherwise the giving hand closes into a fist and won’t let go.

- Sallie Jiko Tisdale, “As If There is Nothing to Lose"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via ॐ Blue Buddha Quote Collective

‎"The first drawback of anger is that it destroys your inner peace; the second is that it distorts your view of reality. If you think about this and come to understand that anger is really unhelpful, that it is only destructive, you can begin to distance yourself from anger."

~ H.H. The Dalai Lama.

Via Alternet:

Hedges: The Christian Right's Crusade Against Gays Is Far Scarier Than You Think

The money available to the Christian right is solidifying institutions -- from right-wing universities to media outlets -- that propagate a culture of hate. 

We have 29 states that do not outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” White said. “Transgender Americans are invariably the worst victims of discrimination and violence. And yet there are 44 states that do not outlaw discrimination on the basis of gender identity. There are 44 states that have laws or constitutional amendments denying us the rights of marriage, claiming our relationships are unholy, that we’re sick and icky,” White said. “And Mr. Obama has just said marriage equality is up to the [individual] states. A majority of the states have already decided against us. If you ask a gay person in New York, ‘Can we adopt?’ he will respond of course we can adopt. Can we provide foster care? Of course we can provide foster care. Can we get jobs equally? Of course we can, especially if we are white and male. But with all the progress we have made, 44 states still see us as the enemy. Add a few more states to this list and it is over. How awful it will be if these restrictions make their way to states such as Connecticut, New York and California. Remember, California is going down the tubes financially. And the fear about the nation’s financial future is the engine that drives all of this.”

Read the entire article here:


http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/155633/hedges:_the_christian_right%27s_crusade_against_gays_is_far_scarier_than_you_think/?page=1

JC Penney you Rock!

JC Penney Responds To JMG Reader

JMG reader Mike shares his email exchange with JC Penney:

Dear JCP, I love you guys. I have never been into a JC Penney store, but after seeing your ad with Cooper Smith and Todd Koch and their kids ... well, you guys rock. I will find something to buy, just to say thank you!! sincerely, mike

Dear Mike, Thank you for sharing with me your very valuable feedback. As a company founded on “The Golden Rule,” we consider it our top priority to treat each customer as we would like to be treated. Fair and Square. We are in the process of dreaming up new ways to make you love shopping with us and your comments help us move one step closer to becoming your favorite store! Hope you have a great weekend! Sincerely, Chris, Customer Care Representative.

And that, kids, is how you win business.

Labels: business, JMG community, retail

Reposted from Joe

I Am Divine Foundation - I'm So Beautiful PSA DIVINE RULES!

Via JMG:

HomoQuotable - Peter Tatchell

"While I doubt that Elizabeth II is a raging homophobe, she certainly doesn't appear to gay-friendly. Not once in her 60-year reign has she publicly acknowledged the existence of the LGBT community – or gay members of her own royal family. The Queen has turned her back on queens. While she has spoken approvingly of the UK's many races and faiths, for six decades she has ignored LGBT Britons.

"Judging from her silence, it seems that we are the unspeakable ones – the people she cannot bare to acknowledge or mention in public. Why the double standards? Regardless of whether these omissions are a reflection of the Queen's personal views or the result of advice from her courtiers, as monarch she bears ultimate responsibility. Her silence sends a signal of exclusion and disrespect." - Famed British activist Peter Tatchell, writing for the Guardian UK. The Queen's diamond jubilee celebration takes place this weekend.

Labels: Britain, England, HomoQuotable, LGBT rights, Peter Tatchell, Queen Elizabeth, royals

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Michelle Obama: Discriminating Against Same-Sex Couples Just Isn't Right

Michelle Obama: Discriminating Against Same-Sex Couples Just Isn't Right

The First Lady has posted a video response to some questions she's gotten via her Twitter account. The final question (listed above) comes at the 5:15 mark.

 

Labels: LGBT rights, Michelle Obama, White House

Reposted from Joe

Via Gay Politics Report:

• ExxonMobil shareholders reject LGBT nondiscrimination policy
   
• Advocates failed this week to garner majority support from ExxonMobil shareholders for a resolution urging the company to adopt an explicit policy of nondiscrimination toward LGBT employees. The company said it already prohibits all forms of discrimination. Dallas Voice (5/30)     

Via Gay Politics Report:

• 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)