Friday, December 30, 2022
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Via White Crane Institute // WILSON CRUZ
This Day in Gay History
December 27
Born
1973 -
WILSON CRUZ (born Wilson Echevarría) is an American actor , born on this date, known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life, Angel in the Broadway tour production of Rent, Dr. Hugh Culber on Star Trek: Discovery, and the recurring character Junito on Noah's Arc. As an out gay man of Afro-Puerto Rican ancestry, he has served as an advocate for gay youth, especially gay youth of color.
Cruz went to Hollywood to seek work as an actor, intending to be open about his sexuality from the beginning of his career. In 1994 he was cast as Enrique "Rickie" Vasquez, a troubled, gay teen, in the short-lived, critically acclaimed cult classic TV series My So-Called Life. This made Cruz the first out gay actor to play an openly gay character in a leading role in an American television series.
Cruz works with and advocates on behalf of LGBT youth, especially youth of color. He has volunteered his time as host for the Youth Zone, an online community at Gay.com for LGBT youth. He was the Grand Marshal of the 1998 West Hollywood Gay Pride parade, the 2005 Chicago Pride Parade and the 2019 Fierté Montréal Pride Parade in Québec. In 2008, he was the keynote speaker at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Lavender Graduation and Rainbow Banquet honoring graduating LGBT students.
Cruz joined the board of directors of GLAAD in 1997 in order to assist the organization through a leadership transition, and joined the staff of GLAAD in 2012 as a National Spokesperson and Strategic Giving Officer.
In 2020, Wilson was honored on one of the covers of Out magazine's annual Out100 issue, saying Wilson "beautifully weaves his activism inside every aspect of his work".
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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute
"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson
Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org
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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Bodily Action
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Via Daily Dharma: Creative Problem-Solving
We
have to see with fresh eyes all of the conflicts that create suffering
in our world. We don’t want to lose our heads. Instead we’re looking for
new and imaginative ways to approach the suffering we behold.
Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, “Bodhisattvas Have More Fun”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Via Lions Roar // The Practice of No Practice
“How do we come to trust in Amida Buddha’s generosity and compassion?” asks Nagapriya. He explores Shinran’s teachings and the practice of nembutsu.
Via GBF //Make a tax-deductible donation that saves the lives of LGBT+ refugees, today...
To my dear Gay Buddhists,
With the help of many friends here, my brother Frank Rodriguez and I are grateful to have gotten 24
Afghan activist and LGBT+ refugees to safety in the last year,
including many to Canada. Just last week we successfully evacuated a
lesbian human rights defender and her 5 daughters, and a young gay
activist who is almost finished with his veterinary degree.
We now face a crisis and an opportunity: we
have 5 remaining refugees in Afghanistan. These women, human rights
defenders, and LGBT+ are being actively hunted by the Taliban and face
persecution, prison, death or forced marriage and rape. However, Canada
has graciously invited these at-risk refugees in Afghanistan to come to
Canada to become permanent residents, and then citizens. Since Canada
has no embassy in Afghanistan, they must travel to a nearby country by
the end of January, before this invitation expires.
We
are raising $30,000 to transport them out of Afghanistan (paying for
their transportation, visas, and accommodations while they wait in an
interim location to be flown to Canada). 100% of your tax deductible
donation goes directly to the refugees for their safe passage and care.
When Canada offers an invitation to refugees, their government program
provides a year of financial support, free medical care, and language
and career education. For refugees fleeing harm from the Taliban, it's a
golden ticket to a hopeful future so these invitations are both hard to
get and not to be taken for granted. But first we have to sneak them
out of Afghanistan (dangerous) and support them in another country while
they wait for their flight to Canada (often months of waiting).
We
are now collaborating with one of the most effective and agile refugee
rescue organizations in the U.S., a 501c3 called SCM Medical Missions in
Seattle. This week, we created a special fund to rescue these refugees,
called the Freedom Partners Fund, at SCM. All donations are 100% tax
deductible and directly to fund the evacuation of these refugees out of
Afghanistan by the January 31st deadline. This is a completely
volunteer operation, with no staff or overhead.
If
you are moved to contribute again by the promise of these 5 people and
the extraordinary invitation from Canada, please donate now at this
special landing page, by credit card, Paypal, or check. A donation of ANY AMOUNT would be helpful to raising the $30,000 needed.
Happy New Year! We would be glad to answer any questions you may have about our LGBTQI refugee work.
Joe and Frank Rodriguez
P.S. Feel free to share this post to interested friends and family members.
Via Ram Dass LGBTQ+ Jan Meetup ~ Meditating with Ram Dass
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