JMG HomoQuotable - Armistead Maupin

"I'm the only gay man I know who has never been to Fire Island. I have not made a point of staying away -- its charms are legendary, of course -- but the occasion has simply never presented itself. Now, it's quite likely that I will remain forever virginal in that regard. Or at least until these guys are no longer collecting money at the dock. When I coined the term 'A-gay' forty years ago, these were just the sort of creeps I had in mind. It was never intended as something to aspire to." - Armistead Maupin, reacting to this New York Times profile of hoteliers Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass. (Tipped by JMG reader Aaron)

 

Labels: Armistead Maupin, boycotts, Fire Island Pines, HomoQuotable, Ian Reisner, Mati Weiderpass, Ted Cruz

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via FB:

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 28/05/2015

“Pais e educadores precisam tomar consciência da grande responsabilidade que lhes foi dada: interromper o ciclo da ignorância neste planeta. Porque através da educação das crianças podemos quebrar o círculo vicioso da destruição e realmente mudar o mundo. Para isso, precisamos fazer nossa parte que é ajudar as crianças a encontrarem seus dons e talentos, e se alinharem com a sua verdadeira missão. Não basta largar a criança na escola, é preciso se responsabilizar e se comprometer com o despertar do amor desse Ser.”

“Padres y educadores necesitan tomar consciencia de la gran responsabilidad que les fue dada: interrumpir el ciclo de la ignorancia en este planeta. Porque a través de la educación de los niños podemos romper el círculo vicioso de la destrucción y realmente cambiar el mundo. Para eso, necesitamos hacer nuestra parte que es ayudar a los niños a encontrar sus dones y talentos, y alinearse con su verdadera misión. No basta dejar al niño en la escuela, es necesario responsabilizarse y comprometerse con el despertar del amor de ese Ser.”

“Parents and educators need to become aware of the great responsibility they have been given: to interrupt the cycle of ignorance on this planet. Through our children’s education we can break the vicious circle of destruction and create a change in the world. We need to do our part in order for this to happen. We must help our children to discover their gifts and talents, and to live in alignment with their true purpose. It is not enough to put your child in a school system – you have to be responsible and committed to awakening the love within this human being.”

Today's Daily Dharma: The Dawning of Truth.

 

The Dawning of Truth

  If we use the practice tools that develop intelligence and clarity with a confused, selfish motivation, reality is bound to collide with our fiction. This is where practice is supposed to bring us. This is the proof that the dharma works. It’s the end of our confused, fictive world, and the dawning of truth.

 - Lama Tsony, "Facing Fear"

 

Via JMG: Wikipedia Updates World Marriage Map

As I reported yesterday, Greenland's Parliament has voted to adopt Denmark's laws on same-sex marriage. That vote goes into effect on October 1st, prompting Wikipedia's map monitors to change Greenland's color to mustard, which means "pending." That tiny dot of dark green in the Middle East is Israel and if you squint you'll see that same-sex marriage is also pending in Nepal (although that bill has not yet been presented). Chile is apparently mustard-shaded because in February 2015 the government announced that it was formally dropping its opposition to same-sex marriage. Civil unions were signed into law by Chile's president last month and the marriage bill is expected soon.

Labels: Greenland, marriage equality, Wikipedia

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: GERMANY: Chancellor Angela Merkel Spokesman Says Same-Sex Marriage Is "Not A Goal Of This Government"

 

Via Reuters:

Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition agreed on Wednesday to make small changes to same-sex civil partnership rules but staunch opposition from conservatives in her party means Germany will not follow Ireland in allowing gay marriages any time soon. Although there are growing divisions within the party, Merkel's Christian Democrats are still overwhelmingly opposed to same-sex marriages partly due to fears it could upset voters on the right. However, polls show 75 percent of Germans are in favour of legalising gay marriages, as are the Social Democrats (SPD) and all opposition parties. The overwhelming "yes" vote in Ireland for same-sex marriage had triggered a discussion in Germany about the lingering gap in rights between registered partnerships and marriages. "Today was an important milestone in dismantling discrimination and the chancellor is pleased about that," her spokesman Steffen Seibert said. "But same-sex marriages are not a goal of this government." "Every country makes its own laws - some countries go one route while others go another," said Seibert, when asked about Ireland. "In Germany we'll take a path that suits Germany."

Merkel was elected to a third term in 2013.

Labels: Angela Merkel, Germany, Ireland, marriage equality

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Julianne Moore Says #IDO to Equality

Via JMG: Where Gay Men Are The Happiest

Via the Washington Post:

Planet Romeo, an Amsterdam-based dating and community site, collaborated with the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany to carry out an online survey of 115,000 gay men around the world. They combined rankings on public opinion, public behavior and life satisfaction – how gay men feel about society’s view on homosexuality, how gay men feel they are treated by other people, and how satisfied gay men are with their own lives, respectively – into one worldwide ranking on gay happiness. Iceland tops their list as the country where gay men are the happiest, followed by Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Uruguay, Canada, Israel, Netherlands, Switzerland and Luxembourg. The United States ranks 26th in the list. The 10 worst countries by this ranking are Kazakhstan, Ghana, Cameroon, Iran, Nigeria, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda.

Hit the link and scroll down for the full ranking.

Labels: Iceland, LGBT rights, surveys

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Feds to Induct Gay Rights Pioneer Frank Kameny Into Labor Hall Of Honor

 

Via press release from the US Department of Labor:

Frank Kameny, who for decades fought to end discrimination in the federal workplace, will be honored by the U.S. Department of Labor in June with an induction to its Hall of Honor. Kameny's legacy as a civil rights leader has made a monumental difference in improving the lives of all workers all across America. A World War II veteran and Harvard-educated doctor of astronomy with the U.S. Army Map Service, Kameny was discharged and barred from federal government employment in 1958 after U.S. Civil Service Commission investigators asked if he was a homosexual.

Kameny fought the injustice, eventually taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied his petition in 1961. The setback led him to become a co-founder of the first gay rights organization in Washington, D.C., and began his tireless fight to force the nation's largest employer — the federal government — to end discrimination in its employment practices based on sexual orientation. "Frank Kameny was a groundbreaking leader in the LGBT civil rights movement. He fought tirelessly to live out his truth and to end workplace discrimination," said Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "At the Department of Labor we work every day to carry on his legacy and ensure that all workers, no matter who they are or who they love, have equal access to opportunity."

Kameny died at age 86 in 2011. Earlier Hall Of Honor inductees include Ted Kennedy, Bayard Rustin, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, and the 9/11 Rescue Workers. Kameny's ceremony will take place on June 23rd and the Labor Department suggests the Twitter hashtag #ThankFrank. (Tipped by JMG reader Jeremy)

Labels: activism, American history, feds, Frank Kameny, Labor Department, LGBT History, LGBT rights, Obama administration

Reposted from Joe Jervis

JMG Quote Of The Day - Daniel O'Donnell

"As for many, there is a deeply personal element to this historic victory for me. I am very recognizably Irish-American, from my face to my name, but until these last few weeks, I have often felt that I don’t belong. Last month I was invited to Ireland by the Lawyers for Yes Campaign to help kick off the final weeks of advocacy. As the legislative sponsor of Marriage Equality in New York State, I shared my experience on the fight to achieve equal rights. Irish people from all over the world returned home to vote in this election. I returned to the birthplace of my family to help in any way I could. I feel proud to be Irish in a new way today after the people of Ireland declared that one can be Irish and gay and recognized in loving same-sex relationships. Thank you, Ireland, for voting for another step toward universal human rights for all." - New York Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell, in a letter published today by the New York Times.

Labels: Daniel O'Donnell, Democrats, gay politicians, Ireland, LGBT rights, marriage equality, New York state, NY Assembly

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via NYT: On Same-Sex Marriage, Catholics Are Leading the Way

Take a look at this list of countries: Belgium, Canada, Spain, Argentina, Portugal, Brazil, France, Uruguay, Luxembourg and Ireland. Name two things that they have in common.

They don’t share a continent, obviously. Or a language.

But in all of them, the Roman Catholic Church has more adherents, at least nominally, than any other religious denomination does.

And all of them belong to the vanguard of 20 nations that have decided to make same-sex marriage legal.

In fact, countries with a Catholic majority or plurality make up half of those where two men or two women can now wed or will soon be able to.

Make the jump here to read the full article on the NYT

Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 27/05/2015

“Nascemos querendo receber amor exclusivo. Passamos a vida exigindo esse amor em nossas relações. Mas isso não existe, então sofremos. Apanhamos até perceber que tudo que buscamos está dentro de nós mesmos. Então compreendemos que seremos amados somente quando esse amor estiver fluindo abundantemente dos nossos próprios corações. Parece absurdo, mas assim é.”

“Nacemos queriendo recibir amor exclusivo. Pasamos la vida exigiendo ese amor en nuestras relaciones. Pero esto no existe, entonces sufrimos. Sufrimos hasta percibir que todo lo que buscamos está dentro de nosotros. Entonces comprendemos que solamente seremos amados cuando ese amor esté fluyendo abundantemente desde nuestros propios corazones. Parece absurdo, pero así es.”

"When we are born, we want to receive exclusive love. We spend our lives demanding this love from our relationships, but it does not exist, so we suffer. We get caught up in this idea until we realize that everything we are looking for is within us. Then we understand that we will only be loved when love is flowing abundantly from our own hearts. This seems absurd, but that’s how it works.”

Today's Daily Dharma: Caught Up in Thoughts.

 

Caught Up in Thoughts

The thoughts are not the problem. Thoughts are the nature of the mind. The problem is that we identify with them. 

- Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, "No Excuses"  

 

Via Global Secular Humanist Movement

Sesame Street: Grover and Zachary Quinto are Flexible

Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 26/05/2015

“Às vezes é necessário realizar a prática de uma austeridade inteligente, que é quando fazemos um esforço, um exercício, para redirecionar os vetores da nossa vontade. Tenho incentivado e sugerido cada vez mais a prática do silêncio, porque ele é a fundação que sustenta o templo da consciência.”

“A veces es necesario realizar la práctica de una austeridad inteligente, que es cuando hacemos un esfuerzo, un ejercicio, para redireccionar los vectores de nuestra voluntad. Vengo incentivado y sugiriendo cada vez más la práctica del silencio, porque éste es la base que sustenta el templo de la consciencia.”

“Sometimes we need to practice an intelligent austerity, which means putting our energy towards an activity that redirects our willpower. More and more, I have been encouraging and suggesting the practice of cultivating silence. Silence is the foundation on which the temple of awareness rests.”

Today's Daily Dharma: Respect Between Sects.

Respect Between Sects

Whoever honors his own sect and disparages another man’s, whether from blind loyalty or with the intention of showing his own sect in a favorable light, does his own sect the greatest possible harm. Concord is best, with each hearing and respecting the other’s teachings. 

- Ashoka, "Ashoka, Beloved of the Gods"  

Read More 

Via JMG: Greenland Approves Same-Sex Marriage

 

Google Translate has a bit of difficulty with Danish, but our resident international expert, JMG reader Luis, advises us that Greenland's Parliament has just voted unanimously to adopt Danish laws legalizing same-sex marriage and gay adoption. Greenland is an autonomous country within the kingdom of Denmark and is not a member of the United Nations. More than three times the size of Texas, Greenland has a population of about 57,000.

Labels: Denmark, gay adoption, Greenland, marriage equality

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Vi JMG: TEXAS: Lawmaker Vows To Kill His Own Bill Rather Than Allow Anti-Gay "Defy SCOTUS" Marriage Amendment

 

From the Houston Chronicle:

A Democratic state senator has dredged up anti-gay marriage legislation that advocates thought was dead this session, attaching the language to an uncontroversial county affairs bill under the noses of his fellow Democrats. While gay rights advocates decried the move, the bill's original sponsor in the House said he would never let his legislation pass with the anti-same-sex marriage language in-tact. "I'm the author of the bill. I will resolve the bill," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D- Houston, a staunch gay marriage advocate.
House Bill 2977, as Coleman originally filed it, was an uncontroversial county affairs placeholder bill, meant to act as a vehicle for lawmakers to ensure important local issues can be passed late in the session. As the bill was headed to the Senate committee for approval this week, however, Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. attached a number of other bills to Coleman's legislation, including one that would seek to block a Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage.
If the bill passes in the GOP-dominated Senate, which Coleman expects it to, it would need to return to the House, where the lower chamber's members would have to concur with the changes. Coleman said if he can't strip the anti-gay marriage off his legislation, then he would withdraw it completely. "If I can't get it off, then the bill goes to bill heaven," Coleman said. "I don't support that legislation or that language."

BOOM. (Tipped by JMG reader American Putz)

Labels: Cecil Bell, crackpots, Eddie Lucio, Garnet Coleman, LGBT rights, marriage equality, religion, SCOTUS, Texas

Reposted from Joe Jervis