Via JMG: Michael Stipe On 20 Years Of Being Out

"In 1994, most people had a largely binary perception of sexuality – the message was complicated for them. I am thrilled to see how much this has changed in those 20 years. The 21st century has provided all of us, recent generations particularly, with a clearer idea of the breadth of fluidity with which sexuality and identity presents itself in each individual. Gender identification, and the panoply of sexuality and identity are now topics that are more easily and more widely discussed, debated and talked about openly. It’s thrilling to see progressive change shift perceptions so quickly.

"What I feel we have arrived at with all this, is that queerness – as I am happy to call an all-embracing, foundational tenet – is really a state of mind brought about by an understanding: it is understanding difference, accepting your own truth, desire and identity, and lovely, lovely choice. It is the final, completely obvious contemporary acceptance and understanding that this enormous world of beauty, sexuality, identity, lust, feeling, excitement, and love isn’t just black and white, or simple, at all – it is literally every shade and gradation of the rainbow. It doesn’t just lie in one of two camps. It includes accepting and supporting positions that you may not even completely understand; and to arrive at that conviction is so, so beautiful, and to quote my great friend Casey Legler: 'Fierce!'

"These 20 years of publicly speaking my truth have made me a better and easier person to be around. It helped develop the clarity of my voice and establish who I would be as an adult. I am proud to be who I am, and I am happy to have shared that with the world." 

- REM frontman Michael Stipe, in an essay for the Guardian. Next month REM will release an 11-disc vinyl box set collection of its singles, titled 7IN – 83–88, which will include reproductions of all their IRS Records singles from those years, including the original sleeve art. (Tipped by JMG reader Mike)

Labels: coming out, gay artists, Michael Stipe, pop music

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Please Don't Vote - A Message From The Republican Party

Via Qwerty: Church Sends Terrible Letter To Gay Congregant. He Responds Like A Pro.

The Presbyterian Church in America has a clear stance on homosexuality. Basically, it’s a sin. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

But even their tired beliefs don’t explain the way one church treated a member of its congregation after they discovered he is gay.

The churchgoer — Justin — was outed by a trusted church official, and discovered a lengthy and insulting letter sitting in his mailbox one day.

“Regretfully it has come to our attention that you have been engaging in a homosexual lifestyle,” it begins, only continuing downhill from there.

He’s told he must defend himself at a special hearing. Instead, he replied with the perfect rebuttal.

“What was my crime? I loved. I was loved. I am capable of love. It is abundantly and sadly clear that you do not understand this,” he writes in his response.

Here’s the letter he got from the church, followed by his response:





And here’s Justin’s response:




h/t Gay Star News

http://www.queerty.com/church-sends-terrible-letter-to-gay-congregant-he-responds-like-a-pro-20141028

Via Canal Brasil / FB:

A partir do dia 13/11, às 23h30, o jornalista e professor Jean Wyllys reforça o time do Canal Brasil!

No 'Cinema Em Outras Cores' ele propõe uma reflexão sobre a diversidade sexual e a descriminalização das drogas através do cinema, apresentando e discutindo polêmicos curta-metragens.

http://bit.ly/OutrasCores

Via Mystic Medusa / FB:

Flower of the Day: 10/28/14

“Life is cyclical. One moment you are on the crest of the wave, the next you are in the trough. Then you are up on the crest again and soon after you come back down. That’s how it is. There are warm sunny days and there are cold rainy days; there are white clouds and dark clouds, but they always pass by. If you observe the clouds without becoming identified with them, you will find the way out of the labyrinth of suffering and you won’t get caught in it anymore.”

 

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

A Guide to Sanity | October 28, 2014 Feeling alarm or devastation can guide us to a deep sanity, reminding us of who we are and what we need. Our power to act, our power to take part in the healing of our world, our power to bring things back into balance, comes from the same source as that devastation. Our pain for the world, and our power to take part in the healing of our world, both come from the same place.    - Joanna Macy, "Allegiance to Life"

STEVE HAYES: Tired Old Queen at the Movies - PSYCHO

Via Daily Dharma

The Brain in Space | October 27, 2014 What’s important is not just what is inside the brain but what the brain is inside of—the larger space of the body and culture. That is where we find mind and meaning.    - Evan Thompson, “The Embodied Mind”

Flower of the Day: 10/27/14

“Deep down everyone on this Earth is looking for peace, prosperity and joy. Even when they are in frantic disputes, fighting for material achievements, they are in fact in search of joy. However, without love this is impossible to achieve. This is why we are dedicated to awakening love. As long as there are still points of hatred and fear inside of us, we are being robbed of our joy. As long as we desperately want to receive love, we will be walking in the wrong direction because this achievement is only possible when we are generously giving the love we long to receive.”

Sri Prem Baba

Via Quer Café? / FB:

#DesçaDoMuro

Via Humanity's Team / FB:

Bill Clinton at the 2014 HRC National Dinner

Via JMG: Eric Holder: Federal Government Now Recognizes Married Gays In 32 States

Via White House press release:

In the latest development following the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this month to decline to hear any pending cases regarding same-sex marriage, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Saturday that the federal government will now recognize same-sex married couples in six new states: Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Last week, the Attorney General made a similar announcement with respect to seven other states: Colorado, Indiana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Saturday’s announcement adds to that list and brings the total number of states where same-sex couples are recognized by the federal government to 32, plus the District of Columbia.

The Attorney General’s announcement means couples married in these states will now qualify for a range of federal benefits, including those administered by the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs.

“With each new state where same-sex marriages are legally recognized, our nation moves closer to achieving of full equality for all Americans,” the Attorney General said. “We are acting as quickly as possible with agencies throughout the government to ensure that same-sex married couples in these states receive the fullest array of benefits allowable under federal law.”

In addition, the Attorney General also announced that the Department of Justice has determined it can legally recognize marriages performed in Indiana and Wisconsin this past June. These marriages were performed immediately after federal district courts ruled that those states’ bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, but subsequent developments created confusion about the status of those marriages. Based on the Attorney General’s announcement, however, those couples married during that period will now have their unions recognized by the federal government.

These updates always cause an uproar over on Free Republic.

Labels: Eric Holder, feds, marriage equality

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Flower of the Day: 10/26/14

“Whenever you notice that you are trying to control life, turn your attention within and try to identify your fear, your hatred and desire to take justice into your own hands. This sometimes appears as a need to control, to take over the steering wheel. You can’t relax in the passenger seat. God wants to take you in one direction so that you can see new landscapes, but your controlling self wants to go the other way, be it out of fear, revenge or competition.”

 

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

Discipline and Joy | October 26, 2014 Without spiritual discipline we are never going to wake up or advance on our journey through this life. But our discipline must be wedded to joy, and we must find pleasure in the myriad wonders that this life offers.    - Joan Gattuso, "The Balancing Buddha"

Via Daily Dharma

The Longer View | October 25, 2014 Mindlessness, however petty, is reckless at its heart. It only postpones; it never takes us anywhere. Mindfulness, by contrast, is patient, careful. It takes a longer view.    - Joan Duncan Oliver, "Do I Mind?"

Flower of the Day: 10/25/14

“Desire adds value to the idea of ‘me.’ When one buys a new car and then drives it, one feels fulfilled and self-satisfied. One identifies with it – one actually becomes the car. But this satisfaction doesn’t last very long. Soon we yearn for something else to add value to the idea of ‘me’ – maybe a house or a partner. So we live our lives seeking and wishing for things that could fill the inner void. This desire becomes compulsive and stimulates comparisons, envy, jealousy and many other negative feelings. But at some point this compulsive desire starts to weaken because you notice that nothing outside you will bring the satisfaction you are seeking.”

Sri Prem Baba