Pet
Shop Boys, George Michael, openly bisexual Jessie J, and a full stadium
singalong with Freddie Mercury on center-stage screens. I don't think
we could have asked for much more.
Parent & Friends Of "Ex-Gays" are predictably quivering with anger
over California's proposed bill to ban the torture and brainwashing of
LGBT children. PFOX writes to the bill's main sponsor, CA Sen. Ted Lieu:
Sponsoring legislation endorsed by the gay lobby to ensure that children only receive gay-affirming therapy is an act of childhood endangerment and an unconstitutional attempt to deny parental rights everywhere, but especially for parents in California and those in your Torrance district. Your bill will turn California into a nanny state by usurping the civil rights of parents who support their child's right to receive therapy for unwanted same-sex attractions, especially when that child has been sexually molested. This smacks of fascism and ex-gay bashing. As parents of gays and ex-gays, we are ashamed of your willingness to take action against parents, children, and the family in order to support gay activists. It is people like you who endanger children, and not their parents, whom you wish to dictate on how they raise their own children. California is not a socialist state and our children do not belong to the government, subject to the ideology of the state over the objections of their parents.PFOX's letter is illustrated with a CDC graph on AIDS, of course. Last week the bill passed out its Assembly committee and must be approved by the full chamber before heading back to the Senate (where it's already been approved) for concurrence. It then would head to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown, who has as yet not indicated his stance on the bill.
So
we may well ask, what exactly are we? This is a question that, in this
meditation, we can consider experientially rather than through
discursive thought. Rather than try to work out an answer in logical
terms, we simply ask the question, and sit, and listen patiently for the
heart’s intuitive response.
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"While I’m excited and thankful to be returning to Dancing With The Stars,
not everyone is thrilled I’m coming back. When the new contestants
participated in a panel discussion for the Television Critics
Association’s summer tour, the critics’ disdain for me was obvious.
While they asked many questions (or, really, just a few questions over
and over), only one stands out in my mind: Would I mind dancing with a
gay dance partner? [snip] In their simplistic minds, the fact that I’m a
Christian, that I believe in God’s plan for marriage, means that I must
hate gays and must hate to even be in their presence. Well, they were
right about one thing: there was hate in that media room, but the hate
was theirs, not mine." - Bristol Palin, who says she'd be happy to have a gay dance partner with no civil rights.
Buddhism teaches us that desire, for all the agony and ecstasy, is no match for the truth.
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The
morning the ACLU sent out a blistering denouncement of Rep. Paul Ryan's
track record on LGBT rights and civil liberties. Via press release:In response to Mitt Romney’s announcement of his vice presidential pick of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the American Civil Liberties Union Liberty Watch 2012 campaign this morning released a brief report that reveals an appalling civil liberties record for Ryan.Read the ACLU's brief on Ryan.
The report finds that Ryan, the congressman representing Wisconsin’s 1st District, holds almost uniformly harmful views on five key civil liberties issues including a humane immigration policy, LGBT equality, reproductive rights, torture and indefinite detention and fair voting access.
The report is based on the white paper released by ACLU Liberty Watch 2012. “Paul Ryan may end up a heartbeat away from the presidency but he’ll be light years from civil liberties,” said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU executive director. “Paired with Romney’s already-abysmal record on civil liberties, Ryan’s positions only take this ticket further from the vision of our founding fathers.”
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Although
desires can be remarkably stubborn, they share a goal—happiness—and
this can form the common ground for an effective dialogue: If a desire
doesn’t really produce happiness, it contradicts its reason for being.
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We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.Geidner notes that the group that created the above language is different from the one that will be voting on it at the convention. Should the plank pass out of the convention committee, it must then be voted upon by the delegates.
We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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If
you are not leading a morally upright life, you cannot expect to sit
down on a little pillow and find yourself secluded from sense desires,
secluded from unwholesome states of mind. If there is not sufficient
morality, there is too much to desire, too much hate or fear, too much
to worry about.
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