Via JMG: Fox Anchor Bails On Anti-Gay Convention

Yesterday actor Gary Sinese canceled his speaking gig at the Florida convention of Catholic anti-gay activists. Today AdWeek reports that Fox News anchor Bret Baier has done the same.

Baier had been among the confirmed speakers at the 2015 Legatus Summit later this month in Naples, FL. But he’s canceled the appearance following recent revelations that the group’s publication insisted that LGBT people could be cured. “Bret Baier has withdrawn his participation as a speaker at the upcoming Legatus Summit due to the controversy surrounding some editorial stances in the organization’s magazine,” a Fox News spokesperson tells us. “Bret accepted the invitation to speak about his book, his faith, and his son’s congenital heart disease. He was unaware of these articles or the controversy surrounding them.”

Both of these cancellations are likely due to the work of Jeremy Hooper, who first publicized the list of attendees yesterday at Good As You. Still attending at this writing: Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and MillerCoors Brewing chairman Pete Coors. (Tipped by JMG reader DM)

Labels: Bobby Jindal, Bret Baier, Catholics, ex-gay, Fox News, hate groups, Jeremy Hooper, Legatus, Pete Coors, religion, Timothy Dolan

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: COLORADO: Church Cancels Funeral For Lesbian Minutes After Scheduled Start

Via Denver's NBC affiliate:

A "Dignity in Death" rally will be held Tuesday afternoon for a lesbian woman who was denied a funeral at New Hope Ministries in Lakewood, Colo. last week. Vanessa Collier's friends say the funeral was canceled by the church 15 minutes after the service was supposed to start because the church would not allow a picture to be shown of Collier proposing to her wife. The open casket and flowers were in place and about 170 people were in attendance.
According to Chaplain Greg Rolando, who would later preside over the funeral across the street at Newcomer Funeral Home, the New Hope Ministry is very community oriented. He says pastors there welcome those who are gay but ask that alternative lifestyles be censored in the church. New Hope Ministries is not commenting on the decision.
He says moments prior to the funeral service, a video that was supposed to be played during the funeral was reviewed by church officials. The church asked the video to be edited in order to proceed. Rolando says the family refused to take the picture of Collier's proposal out of the video, and the funeral had to be moved to the mortuary across the street.

Collier reportedly died from an accidental gun shot while cleaning her weapon.

Labels: Christian Love, Colorado, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis  

Via JMG: Ship Your Enemies Glitter

 

Via Salon:

On Tuesday morning, Twitter exploded when a link to a website called Ship Your Enemies Glitter started getting passed around. We first saw a link to the website posted to Reddit's r/InternetIsBeautiful forum and later on startup discovery website Product Hunt. Ship Your Enemies Glitter was described by Product Hunt founder Ryan Hoover as “the ultimate troll product.” Quite literally, the expletive-laden Australian website lets you pay $9.99 to send glitter to your enemies. “Hint: the glitter will be mixed in with the note thus increasing maximum spillage,” the website reads. The website has since crashed, presumably due to the traffic it received.

Labels: Australia, internet, silliness

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: HRC Backs Atlanta Mayor Kasis Reed

Labels: Atlanta, employment, Georgia, HRC, Kasim Reed, Kelvin Cochran, LGBT rights, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 14/01/2015

“O desejo se manifesta através do pensamento; e os pensamentos atraem a realização dos desejos. Você constrói a sua realidade através dos seus pensamentos, palavras e ações, mas as ações e palavras passam pelo pensamento. Isso significa que nada que tenha se realizado em sua vida pode ter se manifestado sem ter passado pelo seu pensamento, mesmo que você não tenha percebido.”

“El deseo se manifiesta a través del pensamiento, y los pensamientos atraen la realización de los deseos. Construyes tu realidad a través de tus pensamientos, palabras y acciones, pero las acciones y las palabras pasan por el pensamiento. Esto significa que nada de lo que hayas realizado en tu vida puede haberse manifestado sin haber pasado por tu pensamiento, aunque no lo hayas percibido.”

“Desires manifest through our thoughts, and thoughts attract the circumstances that lead to the fulfillment of our desires. We create our own reality through our thoughts, words and actions, but our actions and words pass through our thoughts first. This means nothing that has happened in our lives could have occurred without having first passed through our thought process, even if we weren’t aware of it.”

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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Changing the Mind | January 14, 2015

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The Buddha taught for many years, but the dharma he explained wasn’t about acquiring knowledge; it was about changing the mind.

- Stephen Schettini, "A Sense of Belonging"

Via Daily Kos: This One Picture Will REALLY Piss Off Florida Winguts

First gay couple in Florida to legally wed.   A Sheriff's deputy (in uniform) to a former Marine.

On this blessed day, allow me to be the first to say:  In your fat FACE Pam Bondi!


Congratulations are in order:

Detective David Currie, 50, and his now-husband Aaron Woodard, 33, tied the knot shortly after midnight on Tuesday, when the state legalized gay marriage. And after requesting permission from his superiors, Currie walked down the registry aisle with full support of the Broward County Sheriff's to wed in uniform.

Does this disgust you, wingnut?  Don't you support our cops/troops??  Why do you hate police officers??

  Kudos to Scott Israel, Broward County Sheriff, for saying it was a "great thing" that the detective was proud enough of his agency to want to marry in his uniform.  

We have finally turned a corner in this state.  We went from rampant homophobia (perfectly encapsulated by former governor Jeb Bush's rant comparing gays to pedophiles and drunk drivers) to now seeing statewide support for marriage equality.

Marco Rubio and other backwards politicians are pushing Florida AG PamBo to continue to fight this already lost battle to the US Supreme Court, even though they recently shredded her last minute plea for an injunction.  PamBo tried to argue that marriage was meant only for couples who planned to breed and provide "enduring family relationships".

This coming from a childless, twice-divorced adulterer who currently has a "living in sin" arrangement with her boyfriend.  
Oh, and the happy couple shown here?  They are foster-parent certified and plan to raise children!  (Gay adoption has been legal in Florida since 2010, when then-AG Bill McCollum's leading "expert" he paid to fight it turned out to have a proclivity for hiring male hookers.)

I wish David and Aaron the best in their new lives together and the love they will bring to their children who deserve it and badly need it.

You see, Pam Bondi, THIS is what a real marriage looks like.  Maybe try it sometime before you bash it?

Make the jump here to read the original on Kos

Via JMG: UNSHOCKING: Study Shows "Ex-Gay" Mormons Have Very High Divorce Rate

 

Via the Salt Lake Tribune:

The LDS couples profiled on TLC’s "My Husband Is Not Gay" may find these statistics sobering: Marriages like theirs — same-sex attracted husbands and straight wives — are two to three times more likely to end in divorce than others. That finding and others come from a newly released in-depth survey of 1,612 self-selected LGBT/same-sex attracted Mormons and former Mormons, thought by researchers to be the largest study ever conducted with this population. Rather than tapping a random sample, John Dehlin, a doctoral student at Utah State University, and Bill Bradshaw, a retired Brigham Young University professor, with help from Renee Galliher, also of USU, solicited responses via various websites, including pro-Mormon outlets such as North Star International and those more critical such as Dehlin’s own "Mormon Stories" podcast. The study found that between 51 percent and 69 percent of mixed-orientation Mormon marriages end in divorce, well above the roughly 25 percent of LDS couples who split up.

Mind-blowing, huh?

Labels: ex-gay, LDS, Mormons, religion

posted by Joe Jervis

Via Huffington: How to Respond When Someone Asks You to Stop Flaunting Your Homosexuality Online

"Why does everything with you have to be so gay?" the chat box bleeped in the lower right corner of my screen. It was someone I once knew from my conservative hometown, a place I've scarcely shown my face in two decades.

Social media has returned people to our lives that ought not be there. With our fancy phones, the past is lurking right there in your pocket. Everyone with whom you've ever crossed paths is somewhere behind a screen liking a picture of your salad or making passive aggressive hashtag judgements on your posts.

Of course these naysayers can blocked, but that often happens after you realize that you assembled the worst online party of all time. Your parents. Your old youth pastor. Drag queens. Porn stars.

Clarence. (He may not be named Clarence in your world, but you know who I'm talking about. That friend.) So, like many of us, I went through a great Facebook purge. A Duck Dynasty meme?

Unfriend. A pro-Sarah Palin reference? Delete. A cross-stiched, Bible verse jpeg about men lying with men? Actually, that's amazing and I want it on a T-shirt.

I then realized these people need my voice in their lives. Homophobic views thrive in the absence of actual homosexuals. And worse yet, I'll end up as the person they are referring to when they say, "I have tons of gay friends, but..."

So, I've been allowing some reconnections with my fundamentalist Christian past.

"I mean, I don't care about your sexuality, but does everything you talk about have to be gay?" this old friend typed. In all fairness, I do let it rip on Twitter and Facebook. I've always been somewhat of a button pusher; on my conservative friends' feeds, I probably seem a sort of "Richard Simmons After Dark," if you will.

This "stop flaunting it" sentiment really gets my big gay goat. Being gay isn't some weird hobby. It's not a penis fetish. (Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan.) It's who I am. My sexuality runs a thread through every part of my being, just as it does for all people both gay and straight.

Every straight-person-post about date night, engagements and babies is a display of heterosexuality. That weird selfie of the two of them peck kissing at Applebee's? Blatant display of straightness. A "Which Romantic Comedy Are You" quiz? They got The Notebook. I got Showgirls. My point is, we are all expressing our sexuality non-stop in sometimes bold, but more often subtle, ways.

I was taking a stroll with a seemingly progressive friend here in Nashville. There was a lesbian couple nearby holding hands -- a sight that's becoming fairly common in larger southern cities. My friend made an out-of-character comment that they were trying to "make a statement." I suggested they quite possibly might just be holding hands. Many straight people -- even allies -- are used to gays being shamed into discretion. If we behave with the same emotional freedom as they it could initially come off to them as an inappropriate display.

It might seem like flaunting, but it's simply humans acting like humans.

I'm tired of being an ambassador. I'm tired of being the understanding one, but it's the position I'm in. It's the position you are in. So next time it's suggested you tone it down, give our straight brothers and sisters an understanding pardon, then turn it up. They will never relax if we cater to uncomfortable sensibilities. As for me, my social media feed will continue to flame and sparkle, and if you don't like it, there's my backdoor. And I mean that in the gayest way possible.

Follow Kevin Thornton on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheIndianaQueen

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Iranian in Yemen Accused of Promoting Bahá'í Faith

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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/189848

Iranian in Yemen Accused of Promoting Bahá'í Faith - For Israel

Iranian man charged with spreading pacifistic, universalist religion to benefit its world headquarters in Haifa.

An Iranian living in Yemen has been charged with promoting the Bahá'í Faith and trying to convert residents of the Muslim country for Israel's benefit, state news agency Saba reported Monday.

The man, arrested last year in Mukalla, southeast Yemen, had tried between 1991 and 2014 to "lure some Yemenis into abandoning Islam to follow this alleged faith", according to the charge sheet, quoted by Saba.

He was named as Hamid Mirza Kamali Sarustani, 51, and had allegedly used a false identity to conduct private businesses in Yemen.

"He worked with a foreign country, Israel, through its (Baha'i) Universal House of Justice that serves its interests, to proselytize Bahaism in Yemen," the prosecution said. The Universal House of Justice is the faith's supreme governing body, which is based in the Mediterranean city of Haifa, in northern Israel.

The prosecution said Sarustani used money to lure impoverished Yemenis into conversions and distributed Bahá'í material through the Internet and at gatherings.

His case has been referred to a special penal court in Sanaa, Saba said.

The Bahá'í faith, which believes in equality among religions and between men and women, faces persecution in several Middle Eastern countries. Bahá'ís consider Baha'ú'lláh, an Iranian born in 1817, to be the latest prophet sent by God, a major divergence from Islamic orthodoxy. 

Around 250 Baha'is live in Yemen, where they are allowed to practice their faith freely, a Baha'i organization told AFP. 

--

Visit the Cyber Temple, an interfaith resource for meditation, contemplation, and relaxation

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Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 13/01/2015

“A sua inclinação para a Verdade precisa ser renovada a cada instante, o que requer um tanto de força de vontade desenvolvida. Porém, muitas vezes você já desenvolveu força de vontade, mas ela está sendo utilizada para satisfazer vícios, alimentar emoções negativas ou satisfazer caprichos do ego. A energia é a mesma, mas está sendo utilizada pela natureza inferior. Nesse caso é preciso inverter a direção do fluxo da energia, ou seja, é preciso redirecionar os vetores da vontade. Para isso eu sugiro a prática de algum tipo de austeridade, que pode variar de acordo com a história de cada um. Mas, independentemente do seu caso específico, eu recomendo para todos a prática diária do silêncio, nem que seja por períodos curtos de tempo.”

“Tu inclinación hacia la Verdad necesita ser renovada a cada instante, lo que requiere un tanto de fuerza de voluntad ya desarrollada. Sin embargo, muchas veces ya desarrollaste fuerza de voluntad, pero ella está siendo utilizada para satisfacer vicios, alimentar emociones negativas o satisfacer caprichos del ego. La energía es la misma, pero está siendo utilizada por la naturaleza inferior. En ese caso, es necesario invertir la dirección del flujo de la energía, o sea, es necesario re-direccionar los vectores de la voluntad. Para eso sugiero la práctica de algún tipo de austeridad, que puede variar de acuerdo con la historia de cada uno. Pero independientemente de tu caso específico, recomiendo para todos la práctica diaria del silencio, aunque sea por períodos cortos de tiempo.”

“Our commitment to the truth must be constantly renewed at every instance, which requires having developed a certain level of willpower. Oftentimes we have already developed willpower, but it’s being used to satisfy addictions, fuel negative emotions, or satisfy the ego’s whims. The energy is the same, but it is being used by our lower self. In this case, the direction of the energy flow must be inverted, meaning we must redirect the vectors of our willpower. To do so, I suggest you practice some kind of austerity, which can vary based on each person’s story. Regardless of your specific case, I recommend that everyone engage in the daily practice of silence, even if it’s only for short periods of time.”   

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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A Simple Thing | January 13, 2015

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It's a simple thing, the feeling of a job well done. There's a workman-like quality that depends, I'm sure, on the same sensibility that makes the tea ceremony work, that kind of ritual of doing some simple task over and over again. It's not a big thing, but it's strong and important.

- Jerry Garcia, "Jerry Garcia"

Via JMG: FLASHBACK: That Time In 1958 When The Supreme Court Ruled On Gay Rights

Via the Los Angeles Times:

The road to gay rights at the U.S. Supreme Court began not in San Francisco or New York, but in a small downtown Los Angeles office, where volunteer writers and editors in 1953 launched a new "magazine for homosexuals." ONE, as it was called, offered thoughtful articles, defiant editorials and none of the racy photos or sex ads often found in the gay press. "The first issue was sold in bars in the Los Angeles area for 25 cents, about the price of a draft beer," said Michael C. Oliveira, an archivist at the magazine's archives housed at the USC Library. Yet in an era when FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was routing out "sex deviates" from the government and homosexuality was a crime in every state, the journal quickly drew negative attention, culminating with a U.S. Post Office ban of the magazine as "obscene." The cover story of the first issue censored by the postmaster proved decades ahead of its time, asking "Homosexual Marriage?" To the rescue came a young, straight California attorney fresh out of law school.

Hit the link for the rest. Fascinating story.

Labels: freedom of speech, LGBT History, SCOTUS

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Ho-Hum, Yet Another "Ex-Gay" Former Exodus Leader Comes Out As Gay

In what has become a fairly routine event, yet another "ex-gay" leader has decided that he was kidding himself. Today it's Randy Thomas, former Exodus International vice president and self-described "ex-gay poster boy." He writes:

Whether anyone cares, pays attention, approves, disapproves, friends or unfriends me isn’t the point. The point is that I need to stay true to how I am wired, be honest, and consistent with what I believe to be true in this regard. Writing this post is something I need to do as a part of taking personal responsibility for my past journey and being honest in my present reality. My love for Jesus and His finished work on the Cross is unwavering, and stronger than ever. I am as saved today as I was the moment I believed in, and received Him as my Lord and Savior. He rose from the dead to open the door to reconciliation with God and eternal Life. I’ve already walked through that door. He is in my heart. None of that changes regardless of my sexuality or my all-to-human musings. It doesn’t change because it’s all on Him and He never changes. He loves me, I know it. He loves you, is not angry with you, and I hope you know that truth.

Thomas says he hasn't had sex in 24 years. He notes that he published an apology to the gay community back in 2013. Former Exodus leader Alan Chambers, who has also apologized, is among those participating in the comment thread at the top link. (Tipped by JMG reader Jasun)

Labels: brainwashing, coming out, ex-gay, Exodus International, LGBT rights, LGBT youth, Randy Thomas, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: South Dakota Turns Mustard

 

And the number of red states shrinks again.

 

BREAKING: South Dakota Marriage Ban Struck Down, Ruling Has Been Stayed

 

Read the ruling. From its conclusion:

In Loving, the Supreme Court addressed a traditionally accepted definition of marriage that prohibited Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving from marrying. Because Virginia’s laws deprived that couple of their fundamental right to marriage, the Court struck down those laws. Little distinguishes this case from Loving. Plaintiffs have a fundamental right to marry. South Dakota law deprives them of that right solely because they are same-sex couples and without sufficient justification. Accordingly, it is ORDERED that plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment (Docket 20) is granted, and defendants’ motion for summary judgment (Docket 43) is denied.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that SDCL 25-1-1, SDCL 25-1-38, Article 21, § 9 of the South Dakota Constitution, and any other provision of state law that precludes people from marrying, or refuses to recognize an existing marriage, solely because the individuals are of the same gender are unconstitutional because they violate the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that defendants are enjoined from enforcing those laws or otherwise declining to issue a marriage license solely because the applicants are of the same gender. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a separate judgment will be entered and the effects of that judgment will be stayed until the judgment is final.

Labels: LGBT rights, marriage equality, South Dakota

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 12/01/2015

“É importante tomar consciência dos hábitos e condutas que te conectam com a crueldade no seu dia a dia. Porque é a crueldade (ou maldade) que rebaixa sua consciência. O que te derruba? Qual é a porta que você abre? Dica: Não importa se o sintoma é físico ou emocional (psicológico), o que te derruba é um vício. Pode ser um alimento, uma droga, um hábito, ou até um pensamento - todo vício é uma porta de entrada para o mau.”

“Es importante tomar conciencia de los hábitos y conductas que te conectan con la crueldad en tu día a día. Porque es la crueldad (o maldad) lo que rebaja tu conciencia. ¿Qué es lo que te derriba? ¿Cuál es la puerta que tú abres? Una pista: no importa si el síntoma es físico o emocional (psicológico), lo que te derriba es un vicio. Puede ser un alimento, una droga, un hábito o incluso un pensamiento – todo vicio es una puerta de entrada al mal.”

“It’s important to become aware of the habits and behaviors that connect us to cruelty in our day-to-day lives, as cruelty, or evil, is what lowers our consciousness. What brings us down? Which doors do we open? I’ll give you a hint: it doesn’t matter whether the symptoms are physical, emotional or psychological, what knocks us down is an addiction. This addiction may either be to food, drugs, a habit, or even a thought – all addictions are an entryway for evil”.

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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A Moment of Wakefulness | January 12, 2015

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Every mindful moment in which generosity displaces greed, compassion takes the place of hatred, and insight dislodges delusion is a moment in which we are awake.

- Andrew Olendzki, "A Tough But Not Impossible Act to Follow"

Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 11/01/2015

“Muitos buscadores procuram saber sobre técnicas tântricas de controle da energia sexual para faze-la subir pela coluna e abrir os chakras. Mas, aqui eu proponho uma reflexão: Quem em você quer controlar a energia? E para quê? É fato que ao praticar essas técnicas você pode adquirir certos “poderes”, mas é importante compreender a serviço de quem eles serão usados. Para que você quer ter poder?”

Confira o satsang completo: bit.ly/prembaba01

“Muchos buscadores buscan saber sobre técnicas tántricas de control de la energía sexual para hacerla subir por la columna y abrir los chakras. Pero aquí propongo una reflexión: ¿Quién en ti quiere controlar la energía? ¿Y para qué? Es un hecho que al practicar esas técnicas puedes adquirir ciertos “poderes”, pero es importante comprender al servicio de quién ellos serán usados. ¿Para qué quieres tener poder? ”

“Many seekers search to learn about Tantric techniques of controlling sexual energy in order for it to rise up through the spine and open the chakras. But I propose we reflect on the following: Who inside of us wants to control this energy? For what purpose? It is a fact that by using these techniques, we can acquire certain ‘powers’, but it is important to understand at the service of whom they will be used. Why do we want to have this power?”

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

An Improper Definition of Sangha | January 11, 2015 Everyone I meet is in my sangha. I don’t know if that’s the proper definition, but that’s the way I’m going to hold it in my mind. - Jeff Bridges, "The Natural"