Rice: LGBT rights among the most challenging global human rights issues

AP

Susan Rice

WASHINGTON — With anti-gay laws taking root in nearly 80 countries, White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Tuesday cast the protection of gays from global discrimination, abuse and even death as one of the most challenging international human rights issue facing the United States.

Rice told a White House forum of gay rights advocates that President Barack Obama has directed that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote the rights of LGBT men and women around the world.

She urged religious, human rights and HIV health care advocates to form a united front to halt global discrimination against the LGBT community.

“To achieve lasting global change, we need everyone’s shoulder at the wheel,” she said. “With more voices to enrich and amplify the message — the message that gay rights are straight-up human rights — we can open more minds.”

Make the jump here to read the full article

Via Daily Dharma

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Make the Most of It | June 24, 2014

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If you think of the number of people in the world, what percentage of them really devote any substantial amount of time to spiritual practice? What percentage of them are even inclined to do so? And the fact that we are willing and interested in this kind of an approach to life is very rare. And so we are encouraged to make the most of it.

 

—Ken McLeod, "37 Practices of the Bodhisattva, Verse 1"

 

Flower of the Day: 06/24/14

“Our planet is going through a 'dark night.' Some people are already able to receive rays of light from the central sun, which is the divine self, but others are going mad. Some people are killing themselves because they are unable to bear coming in touch with their own shadow. They don’t know that this experience is only a transition and a passage. Spiritual knowledge is the blessing that allows one to make this crossing with tranquility.”

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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Ethics from the Heart | June 25, 2014

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For the Zen Buddhist, an ethical precept is a question to be held up to the light of circumstance, an inquiry rather than an answer. And the nature of this inquiry is not so much the dubious enterprise of trying to figure out the right thing to do as it is an offering of an unaided heart. After all, it’s from this heart of ours that the precepts themselves once arose. At the threshold of choice, the Zen Buddhist trusts this ancient heart above all other authority.

 

—Lin Jensen, "An Ear to the Ground"

 

Flower of the Day: 06/25/14

“Gratitude is a powerful virtue of the soul. When one is able to materialize gratitude through an expression of thanks, this gratitude becomes medicine for the one receiving it. Oftentimes, the simple action of giving thanks to someone is enough to take that person out of the pits.”

Sri Prem Baba

Love is Strange Official US Release Trailer #1 (2014) - Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei Movie HD

Via The Mind Unleashed:

Via Daily Dharma

Keep It Simple | June 23, 2014 Underneath all the drama, the restlessness, the hopes and fears, behind the narratives we weave about ourselves, and even before we’ve thought of ourselves as ourselves, lies a simple, unadorned awareness. It’s not even a thing—just an event that happens, a little burst of knowing, deep in the center of it all.   —Andrew Olendzki, “Keep It Simple”

Flower of the Day: 06/23/14

"At some point in your journey, you will come face-to-face with your shadow. It is important for you to know that this is only one aspect of your personality, as your shadow is not who you truly are. You are not the lower self, it is only one part of yourself that needs to be understood and integrated. To do so, you must have steadiness and determination, but also a lot of compassion and patience, since these aspects of yourself are also there to teach you something. Everything is sacred: everything is part of the divine play."

Sri Prem Baba

Via Flower of the Day: 06/21/14

"Cultivating silence, observing oneself, and being whole in action form the foundation upon which the building of consciousness can be raised. If you dedicate yourself to these practices, you will inevitably begin to smell the fragrance of pure love. The seeds of silence will naturally start to sprout, and love will begin to be revealed. Love is the nectar of life. It opens the doors to peace and prosperity." Sri Prem Baba

Read the complete text >

Via Daily Dharma

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Watch Fear | June 22, 2014

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Fear demands to be felt, and it can be felt most readily in the body, as a powerful sensation. The experience may be uncomfortable, but as you watch fear manifest in the body, the truth of the Buddha's words is revealed: It does arise because of conditions. It is not a wall of emotion, but a constantly changing process. And it finally ends. It has its say and departs.  

 

—David Guy, “Trying to Speak: A Personal History of Stage Fright”

 

Via JMG: Sec. John Kerry Celebrates LGBT Pride, Tells Embattled Foreign Gays That "You Have A Partner In The United States"

 

Via press release from the White House.

The Department of State joins the world in celebrating LGBT Pride Month and reaffirms its commitment to the promotion and protection of the human rights of LGBT persons around the globe. In the United States, we have made marked progress in tearing down the unjust and unfair barriers that have prevented the full realization of the human rights of LGBT persons. We know there is more to do, but here, the arc of history is bending towards justice.

I was proud to join my colleagues at our Embassy in London last August to announce that, going forward, same-sex spouses who applied for visas would have their applications considered in the same manner as those of opposite-sex spouses. And just this week, President Obama announced his intention to sign an Executive Order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

In many places around the world, however, trends are running in the opposite direction. LGBT individuals and their allies are harassed, arrested, and even killed because of who they are and the work they do. Governments are enacting laws that discriminate against LGBT individuals and their allies and restrict their fundamental human rights. The United States strongly condemns these discriminatory acts and legislation and is working every day, both here in Washington and at our embassies and consulates around the world, to ensure that all persons can exercise their human rights, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

We raise the human rights of LGBT persons both publicly and privately, and we support civil society organizations who are working on the frontlines to ensure equality and dignity for all. Through the Global Equality Fund – a partnership supported by 14 like-minded governments, foundations, corporations and non-profit organizations – the Department of State has allocated more than $9 million for both emergency and long term LGBT-related programming in more than 50 countries worldwide.

This important work, done in conjunction with allies from civil society, faith communities, the private sector and other governments, is central to our foreign policy. So, to the activists, allies, and LGBT individuals on the front lines combating discrimination, you have a partner in the United States. I stand with you and I wish you safe and happy 2014 Pride celebrations.

This would have been unimaginable not so long ago.

Labels: foreign relations, gay Pride, John Kerry, LGBT rights, Obama administration, State Department

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - John Paulk

"There was a time in my life when I used to sound a lot like Rick Perry. In fact, for more than ten years I was one of the nation’s leading spokesmen for the 'ex-gay' movement. I traveled the country telling audiences that being gay was a preventable condition, and it could be treated if only you followed a simple plan, obeyed God and sought repentance for your sins. 'Ladies and gentlemen, homosexuality is not a genetic, inborn condition,' I would say. 'It is the result of traceable causes that, once unraveled, can bring about understanding and transformation in the life of one who is motivated and submitted to God.' [snip]But I was in denial. It wasn’t in fact true, any of it. Worse than being wrong, it was harmful to many people—and caused me years of pain in my own life. Which is why I have this to say to the Rick Perrys of the world: You don’t understand this issue. At all." 

 

- Former "ex-gay" poster boy John Paulk, writing for Politico Magazine.

Read the full essay.

Labels: ex-gay, HomoQuotable, John Paulk, religion

posted by Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

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The Luminous Gap | June 20, 2014

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At the moment, because of ignorance of our real nature, we experience everything as the confused manifestations of samsara. The sense of self creates a feeling of solidity, like the apparent solidity of the clouds veiling the face of the sun, but at certain moments a gap is opened up, through which we may receive a glimpse of the light of reality.

 

—Francesca Freemantle, "The Luminous Gap in Bardo"

 

Why the tide is turning in support of same-sex marriage

Via Flower of the Day: 06/20/14

"Your heart rejoices when you feel that you are being guided, when you realize that you are not alone and that you are not a leaf being strewn in the wind. When you perceive that there is an intelligence that connects everything, and you are a part of this play, then you feel like you belong: like you are a flower in the Creator's garden. There is no sadness anymore. But to reach this state of contentment, one has to learn how to listen to the voice of intuition and to pay attention to synchronicities. There is always a message for you behind any mysterious ‘coincidence.’ Synchronicity is the language the universe uses to show you the next steps of your journey."

Sri Prem Baba

The Flag of Equal Marriage

Via JMG: Presbyterian Church USA Votes To Allow Pastors To Perform Same-Sex Marriages

Via the Associated Press:

The top legislative body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has taken major steps toward recognizing gay marriage. The General Assembly voted Thursday in favor of redefining Christian marriage in the church constitution as the union of "two people" instead of "a man and a woman." The redefinition will take effect only if most of the 172 regional Presbyteries approve it in voting over the next year. The Presbyterian delegates in Detroit also voted to immediately allow pastors to preside at gay weddings in states that recognize same-sex marriage.

More from GLAAD.

“The Church affirmed all its faithful members today. This vote is an answer to many prayers for the Church to recognize love between committed same-sex couples,” said Alex McNeill, Executive Director of More Light Presbyterians, a national network of Presbyterians working for the full inclusion of the LGBT community within the church. “We will keep praying that the majority of our 172 presbyteries will confirm that all loving couples can turn to their churches when they are ready to be married.” The General Assembly of PC (USA) is taking place this week from June 14 – 21 in Detroit, Michigan. At the last General Assembly two years ago, marriage equality was not upheld, though a policy had been amended around that time to allow gay and lesbian Presbyterians to be ordained as clergy.

UPDATE: The Human Rights Campaign reacts.

"This is a giant step forward for the PCUSA Church and for people of faith everywhere. Presbyterian LGBT couples are now one step closer to being able to get married in the church of their choice,” said Sharon Groves, Director of HRC's Religion and Faith Program. “Perhaps even more significantly, young people and their families can go into a Presbyterian church and know that their denomination has not turned a blind eye to them but has instead taken a giant step toward becoming a more loving and more welcoming place for all people to worship. We at HRC congratulate the Presbyterian Church (USA) on a job well done and thank the good people at More Light Presbyterian, The Covenant Network, So We May Freely Serve and Presbyterian Welcome for their years of dedication that got us to this point.”

UPDATE II: The anti-gay Institute On Religion & Democracy is ever so pissed about this.

By overturning natural marriage the PCUSA is only accelerating its already fast-paced demise. It will become even smaller, whiter and older. Only declining denominations reject historic Christian standards and in nearly every case that rejection reinforces the decline. Who respects a church that only echoes the secular world? Many faithful have already quit the PCUSA and many more now will. But some faithful will remain. May the Holy Spirit bless their witness and lay the groundwork for the PCUSA's return some day to the teachings of the global church.

Labels: marriage equality, Presbyterian Church, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

A Good Man