JMG HomoQuotable - Stephen Fry

"I am gay. I am a Jew. My mother lost over a dozen of her family to Hitler's anti-Semitism. Every time in Russia (and it is constantly) a gay teenager is forced into suicide, a lesbian 'correctively' raped, gay men and women beaten to death by neo-Nazi thugs while the Russian police stand idly by, the world is diminished and I for one, weep anew at seeing history repeat itself. 'All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing,' so wrote Edmund Burke. Are you, the men and women of the IOC going to be those 'good' who allow evil to triumph? The Summer Olympics of 2012 were one of the most glorious moments of my life and the life of my country. For there to be a Russian Winter Olympics would stain the movement forever and wipe away any of that glory. The Five Rings would finally be forever smeared, besmirched and ruined in the eyes of the civilised world." - Stephen Fry, in an open letter to the IOC and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

You really should read the full essay.

Labels: Britain, David Cameron, HomoQuotable, IOC, LGBT rights, Russia, Sochi Olympics, sports, Stephen Fry

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 7, 2013

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 Wisdom Collection through August 8, 2013
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 6, 2013

Don't Make Your Suffering Worse

In a classic sutra, the Buddha had said that if someone shoots you in the foot, don’t pick up the bow and shoot yourself in the foot again. Don’t make your suffering worse by arguing with what’s so. That’s a second arrow. Accept pain. Don’t criticize yourself, or others, for feeling pain: that is a second arrow. Don’t regret what cannot be changed, or try to predict what cannot be known.

- Katy Butler, "A Life Too Long"

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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 5, 2013

Every Single Moment

In truth, every single moment of our lives presents us with a choice: either awaken to the reality of the present moment, or stay sleepy and push aspects of that reality away.

- Will Johnson, “Full Body, Empty Mind”

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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 4, 2013

The Real Enemy

When your mind is trained in self-discipline, even if you are surrounded by hostile forces, your peace of mind will hardly be disturbed. On the other hand, your mental peace and calm can easily be disrupted by your own negative thoughts and emotions. The real enemy is within, not outside.

- The Dalai Lama, "The Enemy Within"

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Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 3, 2013

Gaining Insight from Obstacles

Using meditation or therapy to try to shut down parts of our experience is ultimately counterproductive. We do not have to be afraid of entering unfamiliar territory once we have learned how to hold experience within the gentleness of our own minds. Learning to transform obstacles into objects of meditation provides a much needed bridge between the stillness of the concentrated mind and the movement of real life.

- Mark Epstein, "Stopping the Wind"

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Via JMG: Sec. Of State John Kerry: Visas Are Now Available For Same-Sex Couples

Secretary of State John Kerry today announced the immediate availability of visas for same-sex couples. Via Metro Weekly:

"If you are the spouse of a U.S. citizen, your visa application will be treated equally. If you are the spouse of a non-citizen, your visa application will be treated equally. And if you are in a country that doesn’t recognize your same-sex marriage, then your visa application will still be treated equally at every single one of our 222 visa processing centers around the world," Kerry said during an appearance at the U.S. embassy in London.
The announcement is the latest repercussion following the Supreme Court's June decision striking down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage as between a man and a woman. "Now, as long as a marriage has been performed in a jurisdiction that recognizes it so that it is legal, then that marriage is valid under U.S. immigration laws, and every married couple will be treated exactly the same, and that is what we believe is appropriate," Kerry added.

The new policy will also apply to the children of the foreign spouse in a same-sex marriage.

Labels: DOMA, John Kerry, LGBT rights, State Department

Reposted from Joe

Via GayPolitics Report: LGBT Olympians may not "propagandize," Russian sports minister warns

LGBT athletes can participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, but they risk arrest if they advocate for LGBT equality while in Russia, says Vitaly L. Mutko, the Russian minister of sports. Mutko's comments this week contradict a statement issued earlier by the International Olympic Committee, which said it had received assurances from Russia that its new anti-LGBT laws would not be used against athletes and spectators at the games. Human rights groups want Olympic officials to speak more forcefully against the laws and urge their repeal, though a coalition of LGBT sports groups said this week they oppose a formal boycott of the games. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (8/1), USA Today (8/1), Washington Blade (Washington, D.C.) (8/2)

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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 2, 2013

Expansive Peace

Whether we’re seeking inner peace or global peace or a combination of the two, the way to experience it is to build on the foundation of unconditional openness to all that arises. Peace isn’t an experience free of challenges, free of rough and smooth—it’s an experience that’s expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened.

- Pema Chödrön, "Unlimited Friendliness"

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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

 August 1, 2013

The Meditative Mind in Daily Life

It is essential that you cultivate the twin elements of concentration and inquiry in your meditation. Concentration will bring stability, stillness, and spaciousness; inquiry will bring alertness, vividness, brightness, and clarity. Combined, they will help you to develop creative awareness, an ability to bring a meditative mind to all aspects of your daily life.

- Martine Batchelor, "A Refuge into Being"

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A New Pope - The Pope says Gay People are OK

Via JMG: US Olympic Committee: We're Working To Ensure Safety At Sochi Olympics

In a letter sent to sporting organizations, the US Olympic Committee has vowed that it is working to ensure the safety of all attendees and participants at the Sochi Olympics. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed:

“The Olympic Charter prohibits any form of discrimination and clearly calls out the practice of sport as a human right that should be available to all. Like us, the IOC recognizes the seriousness of this issue,” U.S Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun wrote on July 25. The letter, obtained by BuzzFeed, was sent in the midst of ongoing questions about the enforcement of Russia’s anti-LGBT propaganda law in advance of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Embiggen the image to read the full letter.

Labels: LGBT rights, Russia, Sochi Olympics, sports

Reposted from Joe

JMG Petition Of The Day:

The petition has been launched by Truth Wins Out:

NBC's Olympic coverage has long featured myriad human interest pieces, about the athletes competing, and about all aspects of life in the home nation. There is more than enough time in prime time Olympic coverage for hard-hitting pieces exposing the reality of what LGBT people, political dissidents and other minorities face every day under the Putin regime. 

Rachel Maddow is one of the most respected television journalists in the United States, with a reputation for being thorough, fair, informative and entertaining. Rachel has the expertise and the instincts to tell this full story to a viewing audience who are appalled by the treatment of their Russian brothers and sisters. Adding her to NBC's coverage won't fly in the face of the Olympic spirit, but rather enhance it, as there is nothing in the ethics or the history of the Olympic Games that can coexist peacefully with the war Russia is waging against her own citizens, and the rest of the world needs to know.
NBC is fortunate to have such an esteemed, beloved journalist in their family of networks. Bringing her into the Olympics coverage is, frankly, a no-brainer. Do the right thing, NBC, for the Olympics, and for the Russian people. The world is watching.

Read and sign here.

Labels: journalism, LGBT rights, NBC, Rachel Maddow, Russia, Sochi Olympics, sports

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma July 31, 2013

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"

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Via GayPolitics Report:

Pope urges respect for gays

Pope Francis said in a news conference Monday that gay people should not be marginalized, adding that he had no right to judge them if they have goodwill. While the remarks did not deviate from Catholic teaching on issues of sexual orientation, they represented a clear shift from the tone of Francis’ predecessors, observers say. The Washington Post (tiered subscription model)/On Faith (7/29), The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (7/29)

Via JMG: Pope: Who Am I To Judge Gay People?

Pope Francis today refused to condemn gay people during a conversation with reporters on his return flight from Brazil.  Via NBC News:

Pope Francis said “who am I to judge?” gay people as he discussed one of the most divisive issues affecting the Catholic Church Monday. “I have yet to find anyone who has a business card that says he is gay,” the pontiff said at a press conference on his plane while returning from Brazil, where he talked about a number of subjects. “They say they exist. If someone is gay, who searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” he added. The official position of the Catholic Church on the issue is that while homosexual desires or attractions are not in themselves sinful, the physical acts are.

And now we'll get several days of interpretations of what the Pope really meant.
UPDATE: Here the same item as reported by the BBC.  

Pope Francis has said gay people should not be judged or marginalised. Speaking to reporters on a flight back from Brazil, he said: "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?" He also referred to the teachings of the Roman Catholic church, which say that while homosexual acts are sinful, homosexual orientation is not. The Pope's remarks are being seen as much more conciliatory than his predecessor's position on the issue.

UPDATE II: And here's the story from Associated Press, which provides some much needed context.

Pope Francis reached out to gays on Monday, saying he wouldn't judge priests for their sexual orientation in a remarkably open and wide-ranging news conference as he returned from his first foreign trip. "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" Francis asked. While stressing Catholic social teaching that calls for homosexuals to be treated with dignity and not marginalized, Francis said it was something else entirely to conspire to use private information for blackmail or to exert pressure. Francis was responding to reports that a trusted aide was involved in an alleged gay tryst a decade ago. He said he investigated the allegations according to canon law and found nothing to back them up. But he took journalists to task for reporting on the matter, saying the allegations concerned matters of sin, not crimes like sexually abusing children.

Labels: Catholic Church, homosexuality, Pope Francis

Reposted from Joe

JMG HomoQuotable - Nancy Goldstein

"So who on earth does the IOC, or Putin for that matter, think they're kidding with their 'assurances'? Can they really be so entirely naïve or so thoroughly cynical that they don't think non-Russian LGBT people or our allies care about what's been happening to our Russian counterparts in the wake of Putin's edicts so long as our own skins are safe? That we'll just happily ignore last week's news of skinheads luring gay teenagers with an online dating scam, then taping the sessions where they torture them so long as no one blocks our view of the figure skating events? That we can't recognize Third Reich-style politics or bureaucratic complacency? That, per the IOC, 'it remains to be seen whether and how' the recently-passed legislation 'will be implemented'? Gentlemen, guess again." - Nancy Goldstein, writing for the Guardian.

Labels: HomoQuotable, IOC, LGBT rights, Nancy Goldstein, Russia, Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin

Reposted from Joe

New message about Coca-Cola: Don't Sponsor the 2014 Olympics in Anti-Gay Russia!

Get others involved

INVITE FRIENDS

Breaking News: Russian officials have officially announced that the law banning 'gay propaganda' will apply to all visitors - including those who will be attending and participating in the 2014 Olympic Games this February. 

This means that any visitor who demonstrates gay pride or who is even assumed to be gay could be arrested by Russian authorities. We cannot let large companies like Coca-Cola support these discriminatory laws!

We need your help in spreading the word. Invite your friends to help us reach our goal of 10,000 signatures and we will deliver them to Coca-Cola's CEO Muhtar Kent!

Credit: Gay Star News

Want to get involved? See this petition on Causes

Via JMG: USCIS Updates FAQs On Gay Marriage

 

The USCIS has updated their FAQs page on same-sex marriage. Here are the first two questions:

Q1: I am a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident in a same-sex marriage to a foreign national. Can I now sponsor my spouse for a family-based immigrant visa? A1: Yes, you can file the petition. You may file a Form I-130 (and any applicable accompanying application). Your eligibility to petition for your spouse, and your spouse’s admissibility as an immigrant at the immigration visa application or adjustment of status stage, will be determined according to applicable immigration law and will not be automatically denied as a result of the same-sex nature of your marriage.

Q2. I am a U.S. citizen who is engaged to be married to a foreign national of the same sex.  Can I file a fiancé or fiancée petition for him or her?
A2. Yes.  You may file a Form I-129F.  As long as all other immigration requirements are met, a same-sex engagement may allow your fiancé to enter the United States for marriage.

(Tipped by JMG reader Lynda)

Labels: DOMA, feds, immigration, marriage equality

Reposted from Joe