Via JMG: Homeland Security Issues Written Guidelines On Delaying LGBT Deportations

Immigration Equality is thrilled:

Immigration Equality today praised the Obama Administration, and specifically the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for new, written guidance that will extend discretionary relief to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses and partners. The new written directive, which was announced in response to a Congressional letter spearheaded by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), marks one of the very first times LGBT families have been recognized within federal immigration policies. The guidelines, which are expected to be distributed soon to field offices across the country, will instruct officers and field agents to recognize LGBT families for purposes of relief as defined by a June 2011 memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton.

Rep. Jerry Nadler reacts via press release:

“I am thrilled that the Obama Administration has taken to heart my concern about the need to explicitly protect LGBT immigrant families from being torn apart by needless and unwarranted immigration enforcement actions. I thank Secretary Napolitano for listening and supporting a policy that protects all American families, both straight and LGBT. With the written guidelines that I requested and which will be issued by ICE, federal immigration officials will finally have the clear direction they need to make responsible and compassionate decisions on family ties in immigration cases.”

UPDATE: The Washington Blade has posted Secretary Napolitano's letter to Nadler.

Labels: DOMA, Homeland Security, Immigration Equality, Jerry Nadler, LGBT rights, Nancy Pelosi, Obama administration

Reposted from Joe

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	The happiness we seek, a genuine lasting peace and happiness, can be attained only through the purification of our minds. This is possible if we cut the root cause of all suffering and miseryour fundamental ignorance. - His Holiness the Dalai Lama, The World of Tibetan Buddhism More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 28, 2012

We’re in This Together

People need to see that if you hurt another person, you hurt yourself, and if you hurt yourself, you're hurting another person. And then to begin to see that we are not in this alone. We are in this together. For me, that's where the true morality comes from.

- Pema Chödrön, "No Right, No Wrong"

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Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	He who seeks happiness should withdraw the arrow; his own lamentations, longings and grief. With the arrow withdrawn, unattached, he would attain to peace of mind; and when all sorrow has been transcended he is sorrow-free and has realized Nibbana. - Sutta Nipata More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Dharma Beginner shared Nalanda LGBT Buddhist Cultural and Resource Center / FB:

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"The Buddha called suffering a holy truth, because our suffering has the capacity of showing us the path to liberation. Embrace your suffering and let it reveal to you the way to peace."- Thich Nhat Hanh

Via JMG: French President Calls On UN To Support Decriminalizing Homosexuality

 

"France will continue to engage in all these struggles: for the abolition of the death penalty, for women's rights to equality and dignity, for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality, which should not be recognised as a crime but, on the contrary, recognized as a [sexual] orientation. All members countries have the obligation to guarantee the security of their citizens, and if one nation adheres to this obligation, it is then imperative that we, the United Nations, facilitate the necessary means to make that guarantee. These are the issues that France will lead and defend in the United Nations. I say this with seriousness. When there is paralysis... and inaction, then injustice and intolerance can find their place." - French President Francois Hollande, speaking yesterday at the United Nations General Assembly.  (Text via Towleroad)

 

Labels: France, Francois Hollande, gay death penalty, heroes, LGBT rights, Socialist Party, United Nations

Reposted from Joe

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Attentiveness is the path to true life; Indifference is the path to death. The attentive do not die; The indifferent are as if they are dead already. - Dhammapada More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 26, 2012

The World as Self

The way we define and delimit the self is arbitrary. We can place it between our ears and have it looking out from our eyes, or we can widen it to include the air we breathe, or at other moments we can cast its boundaries farther to include the oxygen-giving trees and plankton, our external lungs, and beyond them the web of life in which they are sustained.

- Joanna Macy, "Positive Disintegration"

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Via JMG: Pet Shop Boys To Perform Symphony Piece Inspired By Gay Genius Alan Turing

(Tipped by JMG reader Paul.)

Labels: Alan Turing, concerts, gay artists, Pet Shop Boys

Reposted from Joe

Via FB:

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Do not underestimate your ability. - Geshe Chekawa, "In Advice From a Spiritual Friend" More Buddhism Quotes >>

	Today in buddhism

	Quotes to Overcome Lifes Struggles Powerful words to help people overcome hard times. Click to view >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 25, 2012

Genuine Discernment

The fundamental aim of Buddhist practice is not belief; it’s enlightenment, the awakening that takes place when illusion has been overcome. It may sound simple, but it’s probably the most difficult thing of all to achieve. It isn’t some kind of magical reward that someone can give you or that a strong belief will enable you to acquire. The true path to awakening is genuine discernment; it’s the very opposite of belief.

- Trinlay Tulku Rinpoche, “The Seeds of Life”

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through September 27th, 2012
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JMG Quote Of The Day - A.A. Gill

"Viewed from the pews, weddings are theater produced by straight amateurs using their own money. The resulting spectacle is what a dog show would be like if it were organized by the dogs. When gays remake weddings, the lighting will be the first thing to improve. Secondly, no one’s going to think that a fatless steak fryer is a suitable pres­ent, and the flowers won’t look ordered for a clown’s funeral. The music will also be classier; you won’t have to walk down the aisle to Meatloaf singing, 'I would do anything for love / But I won’t do that.'

"The history of queer culture shows us that gay men are the trailblazers. Where they go, heterosexual women follow, dragging reluctant straight men behind them, who in turn bring Texans. That’s how civilization and musical theater evolve. Not to mention catering. The cake has got to go. The original wedding cake was a biscuit broken over the bride’s head to represent what was about to happen to her hymen. But that’s vulgar. Today the happy couple jointly hold a very phallic knife and together force it through the virginal white icing into the soft, moist sweetness, and in America, for those who are slow at symbolism, they then push cake into each other’s face as a sort of cakealingus." - A.A. Gill, in a Vanity Fair piece titled Can Weddings Be Saved?  (Tipped by JMG reader Amanda)

 
Reposted from Joe

JMG HomoQuotable - Andrew Sullivan

"If Obama wins, to put it bluntly, he will become the Democrats’ Reagan. The narrative writes itself. He will emerge as an iconic figure who struggled through a recession and a terrorized world, reshaping the economy within it, passing universal health care, strafing the ranks of al -Qaeda, presiding over a civil-rights revolution, and then enjoying the fruits of the recovery. To be sure, the Obama recovery isn’t likely to have the same oomph as the one associated with Reagan—who benefited from a once-in-a-century cut of top income tax rates (from 70 percent to, at first, 50 percent, and then to 28 percent) as well as a huge jump in defense spending at a time when the national debt was much, much less of a burden.

"But Obama’s potential for Reagan status (maybe minus the airport-naming) is real. Yes, Bill Clinton won two terms and is a brilliant pol bar none, as he showed in Charlotte in the best speech of both conventions. But the crisis Obama faced on his first day—like the one Reagan faced—was far deeper than anything Clinton confronted, and the future upside therefore is much greater. And unlike Clinton’s constant triangulating improvisation, Obama has been playing a long, strategic game from the very start—a long game that will only truly pay off if he gets eight full years to see it through. That game is not only changing America. It may also bring his opposition, the GOP, back to the center, just as Reagan indelibly moved the Democrats away from the far left." - Andrew Sullivan, in the cover story of the latest issue of Newsweek.

Labels: Andrew Sullivan, Barack Obama, HomoQuotable, Newsweek

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 24, 2012

Fruitful Failure

My failure to accomplish or attain any of what I had hoped I would when I set out on the Buddhist path is, I think, the thing that has most enriched my practice.

- Andrew Cooper, "My Bad"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through September 26th, 2012
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Via Doonesbury:

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 22, 2012

Life is Dharma

Now we have the attitude of, 'Well, how does the dharma fit in with my life?' The dharma can't fit in with our life. The dharma is our life, and it's not about convenience.

- Natalie Goldberg, "Face-to-Face with Natalie Goldberg"

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Via JMG: Schlafly: Feminism Hurts The Olympics

"Feminist-imposed gender quotas hurt us at the Olympics in events which our Nation once dominated. The systematic elimination of certain men’s sports from colleges has weakened our competitiveness. We won only four medals in all of men’s wrestling, less than half the total won by Iran, and only a fraction of the medals won by Russia in this masculine sport. Wrestling is an immensely popular and valuable sport; it’s inexpensive and safer than other sports. Wrestling develops discipline in boys. Many high-achievers, such as Donald Rumsfeld and pro-life attorney Phill Kline, developed their toughness as wrestlers.  [snip]

"Other men’s sports have also been hurt by this feminist quota, such as swimming and track. Private swimming clubs and a few aging stars like Michael Phelps filled that gap this time, but we nearly struck out in men’s track in the marquee events of 100, 200, 400 and 800 meters, events the Americans historically dominated. While our Nation won the most medals for the fifth consecutive Summer Olympics, many of our medals were in contests of dubious value like beach volleyball. Title IX quotas have hurt our competitiveness in sports that are most helpful to the development of our young men." - Phyllis Schlafly, quoted on Right Wing Watch.

Labels: batshittery, crackpots, London Olympics, Phyllis Schlafly

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 21, 2012

The True Nature of Suffering

Shakyamuni Buddha taught that all suffering can be overcome by understanding its true nature. This is a profound and subtle process. It can take a while.

- Patricia Anderson, "Good Death"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through September 23rd, 2012
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