Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 17, 2013

How to Deal with Excessive Thinking

The best way to deal with excessive thinking is to just listen to it, to listen to the mind. Listening is much more effective than trying to stop thought or cut it off.

- Ajahn Amaro, "Thought Like Dreams"

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Via JMG: Europe Rainbow Map 2013

 

ILGA-Europe has issued its annual overview of LGBT rights. Although it does not yet have full marriage equality, the United Kingdom received the highest rating of the 49 nations in the report, earning a 77% score. Russia got the lowest score at 7%.   Via Pink News:

Among the EU member states causing major concern are Hungary and Greece. The report notes that the economic crisis in Greece has given a platform to extremist groups, such as the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, who target minority groups including LGBT activists.
North Cyprus continues to be the only place on the continent of Europe where homosexuality is a criminal act, while expressions of “overt homophobia and transphobia” by government, religious leaders and extremist groups were “common” in Bulgaria.
Italy is not taking any legislative initiatives despite having a “relatively high level” of violent homophobia and transphobia. Meanwhile in France, despite the recent passing of the country’s same-sex marriage bill, 1,397 cases of hate crime, hate speech and discrimination incidents against sexual minorities were documented last year.

The co-chair of ILGA-Europe notes: "The Annual Review 2013 uncovers the real situation of LGBTI people beyond laws and gives us the whole picture of what it is like to be an LGBTI person in Europe today. The picture is far from satisfactory."  Ratings and graphs for individual nations can be downloaded here.

Labels: Europe, ILGA, LGBT rights

posted by Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 16, 2013

Things As They Are

The process of finding the truth may not be a process by which we feel increasingly better and better. It may be a process by which we look at things honestly, sincerely, truthfully, and that may or may not be an easy thing to do.

- Adyashanti, "Bliss is a By-Product"

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Via JMG: More On Brazil's Marriage Situation

Yesterday the federal judiciary council that oversees Brazil's notary publics ruled that gay marriage ceremonies cannot be refused.  The New York Times reports on what this likely means:

The move by the National Council of Justice, a 15-member panel led by Joaquim Barbosa, the chief justice of the nation’s high court, effectively legalizes gay marriage throughout Brazil, legal scholars here said. The decision follows legislation in two neighboring countries, Argentina and Uruguay, where lawmakers have managed to pass bills authorizing same-sex marriage nationwide in recent years.
Still, there is some room for judicial appeals of the Brazilian decision, potentially within the high court, the Supreme Federal Tribunal, and resistance may emerge in Congress, where gay-marriage legislation has faced opposition from an influential bloc of evangelical Christian lawmakers. Even so, supporters of same-sex marriage described the council’s decision as pioneering.

Same-sex marriage is already legal in 13 Brazilian states and in the capital federal district.

Labels: Brazil, marriage equality, South America

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 15, 2013

The Remedy Itself Is Free Right Where It Is

We are not called upon as Buddhists to deny the world, and certainly not to escape from it. We are called to live with it, and to make our peace with all that is. The world of worries we wish to escape from in the beginning of Buddhist practice is found to be enlightenment itself in the end.

- Clark Strand, "Worry Beads"

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Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	There are, bhikkhus, two successive Dhamma-teachings of the Tathagata, the Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One. What are the two? 'See evil as evil'--this is the first Dhamma-teaching. 'Having seen evil as evil, be rid of it, be detached from it, be freed from it'--this is the second Dhamma-teaching. - Itivuttaka More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via JMG: New Gallup Marriage Poll

Gallup reports:

Fifty-three percent of Americans say the law should recognize same-sex marriages, the third consecutive reading of 50% or above in Gallup polling over the past year. The 53% in favor ties the high to this point, also measured last November and in May 2011. Gallup's May 2-7 poll suggests Americans' support for gay marriage is solidifying above the majority level.

Labels: Gallup, marriage equality, polls

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: OREGON: Portland Timbers Pro Soccer Fan Club Display Denounces Homophobia

On Sunday the fan club for the Portland Timbers pro soccer team created the above display in support of the International Day Against Homophobia, which is this Friday. From the Major League Soccer site:

Sometimes, supporters groups' tifo displays are designed to look really cool, to recognize a player's career-long contributions to the club or even to intimidate that day's opponent with a massive pregame display that covers the entire end of a 70,000-seat stadium. And other times, the displays transcend the sport of soccer altogether, making a statement about life in general. On the same day a match in Italy – one that happened to involve United States national team midfielder Michael Bradley's club team, AS Roma – had to be momentarily halted because of racist chants aimed at opposing AC Milan players, the Timbers Army chose to spend their Sunday afternoon taking a stand against another sensitive social issue in the sports world: homophobia. The 5,000-person section used roughly 4,500 colored cards to create the display, according to Timbers Army 107 Independent Supporters Trust board member Abram Goldman-Armstrong in an e-mail exchange with MLSsoccer.com on Monday.

The article adds: "The Timbers Army will be the first of many independent supporters groups across MLS to lend their support to the 'Pride, Not Prejudice' cause this week."  Very, very cool. By the way, the Timbers won their game. (Tipped by JMG reader Lance)

Labels: coolness, homophobia, Idaho, Oregon, Portland, soccer, sports

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Marriage Now Legal In All Of Brazil?

It does appear that way.

O Conselho Nacional de Justiça (CNJ) aprovou nesta terça-feira (14), por maioria de votos (14 a 1), uma resolução que obriga os cartórios de todo o país a celebrar o casamento civil e converter a união estável homoafetiva em casamento.  Os cartórios não poderão rejeitar o pedido, como acontece atualmente em alguns casos. A decisão do CNJ poderá ser questionada no Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF).  Segundo o presidente do CNJ e autor da proposta, Joaquim Barbosa, que também é presidente do STF, a resolução visa dar efetividade à decisão tomada em maio de 2011 pelo Supremo, que liberou a união estável homoafetiva.

JMG reader Ricardo provides us with a translation:

The Brazilian Conselho Nacional de Justiça (CNJ) decided by 14-1 vote that notary offices (where civil marriages are performed) in ALL 26 Brazilian states and the capital do Brasília have to officiate same sex marriages. Until this past week, the decision was up for local jurisdictions: 12 states and the federal district had already started doing them. Notary offices can't refuse to perform the unions, as it was happening in some places. In 2011, the Brazilian Supreme Court had decided that gay unions were legal, but left the regulation of marriage to Congress, that has never acted on the matter. Civil unions were law nationwide for the past two years. Federal benefits, like pensions and immigration, have been the norm since 2001.

I'll have more on this today when it hits the English-language press.  Zoom, zoom, zoom!
UPDATE: O Globo has more.
UPDATE II:  Here's the first English-language report.

A top judicial panel cleared the way for same-sex marriage in Brazil on Tuesday, ruling that gay couples could not be denied marriage licenses. The National Council of Justice, which oversees the Brazilian judicial system and is headed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, said government offices that issue marriage licenses had no standing to reject gay couples. The Supreme Court "affirmed that the expression of homosexuality and homosexual affection cannot serve as a basis for discriminatory treatment, which has no support in the Constitution," said Chief Justice Joaquim Barbosa on the council's website, referring to a 2011 ruling by the top court.

Labels: Brazil, LGBT rights, marriage equality, South America

Reposted from Joe

The Brazilian Supreme Court voted to legalize gay marriage in the whole country.

 

 

Casamento gay está liberado em todo o Brasil, decide CNJ. Nenhum cartório em território nacional pode mais se negar a fazer a união civil. Veja mais em http://migre.me/exKbv

Foto: Reuters

Via http://www.pewstates.org:

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	When we demand the rights and freedoms we so cherish, we should also be aware of our responsibilities. If we accept that the others have an equal right to peace and happiness as ourselves, do we not have a responsibility to help those in need? - His Holiness the Dalai Lama More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 12, 2013

The Compulsion to Consume

Like a fire, greed is more a process than a thing. It is the state of combustion, the activity of consumption, the procedure by means of which organic resources are quickly reduced to a heap of ash. It is insatiable by nature, since the moment one desire is gratified another flares up, demanding also to be sated. Greed drives an unquenchable compulsion to consume, and as the guiding hand of our economic system, its reach is rapidly becoming global. As it burns it throws off a compelling light, dazzling us with the pleasure of its shapes and colors. We delight in playing with this fire.

- Andrew Olendzki, "Burning Alive"

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Via AmericaBlog: It’s time to out Lindsey Graham

It’s time to finally out Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

Graham has had it coming for a while now. Not because he’s a Republican. But because he’s an anti-gay Republican. And while it’s one thing to be gay and a closet case, it’s quite another to be a hypocrite, an anti-gay gay, someone who uses his power to harm others in the name of morality, all the while knowing secretly that he is one of the others.

In this case, Graham’s hypocrisy that broke the camel’s back is immigration reform. I have it on good authority from someone intimately involved in the immigration reform process that Lindsey Graham is the central reason that the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which would help stop the forced deportation of foreign-born gay spouses, is being blocked from being added to the immigration bill. While other Senators might be bluffing about their opposition to addressing the immigration needs of gay binational couples in immigration reform, I’m told Graham isn’t bluffing.
The obvious question arises as to why Graham is holding gays hostage in the immigration bill.

Make the jump here to read the full article

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Tricycle Daily Dharma May 11, 2013

The Primacy of Intention

Metta practice is the cultivation of our capacity for lovingkindness. It does not involve either positive thinking or the imposition of an artificial positive attitude. There is no need to feel loving or kind during metta practice. Rather, we meditate on our good intentions, however weak or strong they may be, and water the seeds of these intentions.

- Gil Fronsdal, "May We All Be Happy"

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Via The Cormorant Baker: You will be Assimilated

“We welcome everyone”
“Except gays”
“Oh no. We welcome gays… …except as members”
“And obese people.”
“No, I’m sure that’s not right.”
“Well, I read a blog entry where…”
“Oh yes, I read that too. But we do welcome obese people who want to be thin.”
“Yeah, we welcome everyone, But you’ve got to want to be straight, and thin…”
“…and apolitical, and…”
“This is getting complicated. How about: ‘We welcome everyone, but you’ve got to want to be just like us.’”
“That’s right, and we call it ‘unity in diversity’”
“Yes, we take diversity and turn it into unity.”

Via http://bahaisonline.net/tcb/?p=654

 

Tags: homosexuality, inclusivity, prejudice

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 10, 2013

Inhabiting the Body

As we inhabit our body with increasing sensitivity, we learn its unspoken language and patterns, which gives us tremendous freedom to make choices. The practice of cutting thoughts and dispersing negative repetitive patterns can be simplified by attending to the patterns in the body first, before they begin to be spun around in the mind.

- Jill Satterfield, "Meditation in Motion"

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Via JMG: New ABC Poll Reveals Broad Support On Multiple LGBT-Related Issues

ABC News reports on their latest poll:

Backing is widest and deepest for Collins, with 68 percent of Americans saying they support the NBA center’s decision to announce his sexual orientation. Those who “strongly” support his step outnumber his strong critics by a 3-1 margin.
A substantial 63 percent in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, also support the Boy Scouts’ plan to begin admitting gay scouts younger than 18, while 56 percent oppose its intention to continue to ban gay adults. Again strength of sentiment favors gay rights, by 16- and 12-point margins, respectively. Both policies go to a vote of the group’s governing council, meeting the week of May 20 in Grapevine, Texas.
Some of these views even overcome political sentiment to some degree. Majorities of Republicans and conservatives, 52 and 54 percent, respectively, support Collins’ step, and 53 percent of Republicans support admitting gay scouts. These groups are much less apt to support admitting gay scout leaders or legalizing gay marriage.
Support’s far higher in other groups. Nearly three-quarters of moderates and independents support Collins, as do more than eight in 10 Democrats and liberals. Than two-thirds or more in each of these groups favor admitting gay scouts, and six in 10 or more oppose continuing to ban gay adults from scouting.
Support for gay marriage, for its part, reaches six in 10 or more in each of these groups, far higher than its support among conservatives and Republicans, 33 percent in both groups.

More details here.

Labels: ABC, Boy Scouts, coming out, gay athletes, Jason Collins, LGBT rights, marriage equality, polls

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Martina Navratilova On ENDA

Labels: employment, ENDA, Martina Navralitova

Reposted from Joe