Saturday, November 16, 2013

Via JMG: City Of Night Turns 50

John Rechy's landmark novel, City Of Night, was published 50 years ago this week. From the Los Angeles Times:

The book is a landmark not only of gay literature -- it tells the story of a street hustler as he moves through the shadow world of the 1950s -- but also of American literature. “City of Night” was not the first overtly gay-themed book (Radclyffe Hall’s “The Well of Loneliness” appeared in 1928, and in 1956, Allen Ginsberg published his long poem “Howl,” followed, three years later, by William S. Burroughs with “Naked Lunch”) but it may be the most unapologetic, a searing screed of life on the edge. “Later I would think of America as one vast City of Night,” Rechy writes in the novel’s opening sentence, “stretching gaudily from Times Square to Hollywood Boulevard -- jukebox-winking, rock-n-roll-moaning: America at night fusing its darkcities into the unmistakable shape of loneliness.”

Years ago I mentioned here that City Of Night remains my favorite novel of all time. Since I first read it decades ago in college, I've gifted it to friends dozens of times. (I still hate the ending.) You might also enjoy Rechy's Numbers and The Sexual Outlaw.

Labels: books, gay writers, John Rechy, LGBT History

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: God Sent The Russian Meteor Because He Was Pissed About All That Gayness

According to Russian television host Arkady Mamontov, the meteor that hit Russia earlier this year was sent by God because of "gay activity."

In a reference to the Old Testament story of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, famous journalist Arkady Mamontov said on his program that the fall of the Chelyabinsk meteorite on February 15 in Russia was related to the country’s growing gay activity. Mamontov’s program ‘Special Correspondent’ airs on state channel Rossiya 1. The host called the meteorite a warning "to all of us that we should keep the family tradition, traditional love, or else something else - not only the Chelyabinsk meteorite - will hit us." The Russian LGBT Network rights group filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office on Thursday. The group accused the show of hate speech, according to group chairman Igor Kochetkov. He said that Mamontov also claimed that gays and lesbians want to "destroy [traditional] Russia.”

Over 1500 people (including hundreds of children) were injured by the meteor's shock wave.
RELATED: Yesterday I reported about the secret recordings of LGBT groups made by the Russia government. It was on Mamontov's show that the recordings were aired.

Labels: batshittery, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, crackpots, crazy people, get the net, religion, Russia

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 16, 2013

One Day

The life of one day is enough to rejoice. Even though you live for just one day, if you can be awakened, that one day is vastly superior to one endless life of sleep. . . . If this day in the lifetime of a hundred years is lost, will you ever touch it with your hands again?

- Zen Master Dogen, "Groundhog Day"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through November 17, 2013
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Via JMG: FLORIDA: UCF Faces Contempt Charge For Refusing To Hand Over Regnerus Files

The University of Central Florida is facing a contempt of court charge for refusing to hand over internal documents related to the publication of discredited researcher Mark Regnerus' deeply flawed study on gay parenting. UCF was ordered to release the documents following a demand by gay activist John Becker. Via the UCF student newspaper:

John Becker’s attorney, Andrea Mogensen, filed a motion for contempt against UCF for refusing to comply with court orders telling UCF to produce records relating to a controversial study by Mark Regnerus on gay and lesbian parenting. According to the motion, Becker seeks sanctions, including fines or imprisonment, for UCF’s Board of Trustees for failure to comply with the court’s Nov. 13 order, which stated that UCF had until Nov. 14 to produce the records. But even after UCF’s lawyers asked the court for clarification over the production of the records and received an extension to produce the records, UCF continued to disobey the court’s orders, the motion states. “It is inexcusable – and, frankly, inexplicable – for UCF to fail to produce public records in direct contravention of a court order,” said Barbara Peterson, attorney and president of Florida’s First Amendment Foundation. “The university’s failure to comply shows, unfortunately, not only contempt for the court but for the public’s constitutional right of access to government records.”

The Regnerus study has been cited by numerous hate groups in their attempts to thwart LGBT equality and was even presented to Russia's national legislature as part of the campaign to allow the government to seize the children of gay parents. Regnerus claims to have been an impartial researcher, but he has testified against gay families before state legislatures and even submitted a SCOTUS brief against the repeal of DOMA. Read today's contempt filing in full. (Tipped by JMG reader Str8 Grandmother)
UNRELATED: UCF is the largest public university (by enrollment) in the nation and I am an alumnus. Go Knights?

Labels: crackpots, education, Florida, gay families, gay parenting, hate groups, Mark Regnerus, religion, UCF

Reposted from Joe

Friday, November 15, 2013

Via JMG: MISSOURI: Gov Endorses Gay Marriage, Will Recognize Out-Of-State Marriages

Surprising and welcome news out of Missouri.

Gov. Jay Nixon said Thursday that he supports legalizing gay marriage in Missouri during a news conference announcing that homosexual couples married under the laws of other states would be allowed to file combined state tax returns. In an executive order, Nixon directed the Department of Revenue to accept the combined returns as a reaction to the June ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act. That law barred same sex couples who were legally married from receiving any marriage-based federal benefits, such as tax exemptions and Social Security payments. Under state law, couples who file a joint federal return are required to file a combined state tax return. The executive order clarifies that the law applies to all couples, Nixon said.

RELATED: Missouri passed a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2004. A total of 21 states passed such bans from 2004-2006 when Ken Mehlman headed the RNC.

Labels: Jay Nixon, marriage equality, Missiouri

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG:Sen. Mark Kirk Cancels Senate Meeting Space For Anti-Gay Christian Groups

Yesterday I reported that a coalition of anti-gay Christian groups would be meeting today in official US Senate office space to discuss how they might copy Russia's anti-gay pogrom here in the United States. After outcry from LGBT groups, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) has kicked them out of the space. And they are PISSED.

“Shame on you, Senator Kirk, for allowing vocal radical sexual minorities to drown out the voices of the natural family and faith that have made our nation free, prosperous, and stable for more than 200 years,” said Larry Jacobs, managing director of the World Congress of Families in an email to BuzzFeed. “Obviously Senator Kirk doesn’t care about families and children and freedom and has chosen to side with the policies of decline, death and disease promoted by the Sexual Radicals.” A spokesman for Kirk, Lance Trover, told BuzzFeed on Thursday night, “Sen. Kirk doesn’t affiliate with groups that discriminate.”

Late last night the coalition sent out their press release again but with this "correction" at the top: "The Capitol Hill Symposium has been moved to Room #1539 in the Longworth House Office Building (NOT THE Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 562.)" OK, now who's in charge of the Longworth Building? (Tipped by JMG reader Ned)

Labels: hate groups, LGBT rights, Mark Kirk, religion, Russia, Washington DC, World Congress Of Families

posted by Joe

Via JMG Boehner Rescues The Hate Groups

A follow-up from Buzzfeed's J. Lester Feder:

The office of House Speaker John Boehner secured meeting space for the World Congress of Families after their original sponsor, Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, canceled their space in a Senate office building following an outcry from LGBT activists, the group’s leader said. World Congress of Families President Allan Carlson praised Boehner’s intervention at in opening remarks at the event, which is focusing on what “pro-family legislators” can learn from foreign laws like Russia’s ban on “promoting non-traditional sexual relationships to minors.” “At least in the House of Representatives people have not succumbed to the great fear” of LGBT activists, Carlson said, likening the situation to developments in Germany, France, and Italy as fascism took hold of Europe. “A great fear seems to be descending over what has been called the world’s greatest deliberative body … ideas are being suppressed, debate is being shut off, and minds are being closed.”

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 15, 2013

Transforming Conflict

Learning how to negotiate conflict demands that we become more present, more fearless. We may need to relinquish the hopeful image of ourselves as remaining serene under all circumstances, like sitting buddhas carved from wood or stone. We have to expect our composure to be compromised as we learn about the possibilities and creative solutions of working directly with the conflict in our relationships. Even, and maybe especially, when things don’t turn out as we want, our engagement with discord refines and teaches us something, altering our life’s very course.

- Diane Musho Hamilton, “Transforming Conflict”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through November 16, 2013
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Thursday, November 14, 2013

Via The Gaily Grind.com / FB:

Via JMG: Missouri Governor Endorses Gay Marriage

Surprising and welcome news out of Missouri.

Gov. Jay Nixon said Thursday that he supports legalizing gay marriage in Missouri during a news conference announcing that homosexual couples married under the laws of other states would be allowed to file combined state tax returns. In an executive order, Nixon directed the Department of Revenue to accept the combined returns as a reaction to the June ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act. That law barred same sex couples who were legally married from receiving any marriage-based federal benefits, such as tax exemptions and Social Security payments. Under state law, couples who file a joint federal return are required to file a combined state tax return. The executive order clarifies that the law applies to all couples, Nixon said.

Nixon: "Many Missourians, including myself, are thinking about these issues of equality in new ways and reflecting on what constitutes discrimination. For me, that process has led to the belief that we shouldn’t treat folks differently because of who they are."

RELATED: Missouri passed a constitutional ban in same-sex marriage in 2004. A total of 21 states passed such bans from 2004-2006 when Ken Mehlman headed the RNC.

Labels: Jay Nixon, marriage equality, Missiouri

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 14, 2013

Our Participatory Universe

Mass, energy, space, and time as they are conceived by the human mind have no existence apart from our conceptual awareness of them—no more than our dreams at night. All appearances exist only relative to the mind that experiences them, and all mental states arise relative to experienced phenomena. We are living in a participatory universe, with no absolute subjects or objects.

- Alan Wallace, “Awakening to the Dream”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through November 15, 2013
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Via jMG: No More Mr. Nice Gay: Ender's Game

Clip recap: "In this edition of No More Mr. Nice Gay, Guy explains why he isn't going to see the film adaption of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. Mr. Card, Guy knows you're homophobic, but he's not boycotting to kill profits; he's doing it for good, old self-respect."

Labels: boycott, Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, rant

Reposted from Joe

Paul & Trent's Wedding Video - Making History

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Via JMG: LOVE WINS: Marriage For Hawaii!

Photo source.

Labels: Hawaii, LGBT History, marriage equality

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Hawaii Gov To Sign Marriage Bill Today

Via the Associated Press:

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie is expected to sign a bill Wednesday legalizing gay marriage, expanding the state's aloha spirit and positioning the islands for more newlywed tourists. Abercrombie was expected to sign the bill Wednesday morning at an invitation-only ceremony at the Hawaii Convention Center, near the tourist heart of Waikiki. The measure will allow thousands of gay couples living in Hawaii and even more tourists to marry in the state starting Dec. 2. Another 14 states and the District of Columbia already allow same-sex marriage, while a bill is awaiting the governor's signature in Illinois. "I look forward to signing this significant piece of legislation, which provides marriage equity and fully recognizes and protects religious freedoms," Abercrombie said.

I'll post a video link to the ceremony this afternoon.

Labels: Hawaii, LGBT History, marriage equality, Neil Abercrombie

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Legalized, But Not Same-Sex Marriage

As of yesterday, it's no longer illegal to stage gay weddings or commitment ceremonies in Vietnam.

The south-eastern Asian country has officially allowed same-sex couples to organize weddings and have the right to live together. While the unions won’t be legally recognized, gay rights campaigners believe it is a large step on the path to equal marriage. The Government has taken this step after two fines were handed out to gay and lesbian couples who chose to have a marriage ceremony in the southern provinces of Kien Giang and Ca Mau.

Last week Vietnam's National Assembly began hearings on removing the ban on same-sex marriage, the first step towards legalization.

Labels: Asia, marriage equality, Vietnam

Via JMG: POLL: Americans Approve Of Confederate Flag Over Rainbow Flag By 4-1 Margin

Public Policy Polling asked the above questions in a just-released survey that primarily focused on prospective presidential candidates for the 2016 elections. As you can see by the final result, respondents approved of students wearing the confederate flag over the rainbow flag by more than a 4-1 margin. The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart (who is gay and black) goes off:

Folks, the Confederate flag is no better than a Swastika. It is a symbol of white supremacy, hate and oppression that has no place in American political discourse. That Kanye West wants to co-opt the rebel banner is as noble as it is futile. Meanwhile, the rainbow that is the gay pride flag symbolizes inclusion and acceptance. Oftentimes, usually in other countries, the words “pace” or “peace” can be found emblazoned on it. The rainbow flag is the very antithesis of the Confederate flag. That the latter is deemed more acceptable than the former is deplorable.

Defenders of the confederate flag are pouring into the WaPo comments. (Tipped by JMG reader Eric)

Labels: flags, polls, racism, slavery

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 13, 2013

Abandoning Distraction

Even on a small scale in daily life situations, such as when we feel bored or ill at ease, instead of trying to avoid these feelings by staying busy or buying another fancy gadget, we learn to look more clearly at our impulses, attitudes, and defenses. In this way dukkha guides and deepens our motivation to the point where we’ll say, 'Enough running, enough walls, I’ll grow through handling my blocks and lost places.'

- Ajahn Sucitto, "Commentary on the Buddha's First Teaching"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through November 14, 2013
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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma November 12, 2013

Engagement through Meditation

You know in Vietnam, when you sat during the war, when you sat in the meditation hall and heard the bombs falling, you had to be aware that the bombs are falling and people are dying. That is part of the practice. Meditation means to be aware of what is happening in the present moment—to your body, to your feelings, to your environment. But if you see and if you don’t do anything, where is your awareness? Then where would your enlightenment be? Your compassion? In order not to get lost, you have to be able to continue the practice there, in the midst of all that.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, “Interbeing with Thich Nhat Hanh”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through November 13, 2013
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