Thursday, August 4, 2011
Via Bilerico: Adam Polaski Last Known Gay Holocaust Survivor Dies
Rudolf Brazda, who was believed to be the last survivor of the Holocaust who was specifically targeted because of his sexual orientation, died yesterday, at the age of 98. Brazda was interned for three years at the Buchenwald concentration camp and made to wear a Pink Triangle to represent his "crime" - his reason for being taken prisoner. When the camp was liberated in 1945, Brazda moved to France. He and his partner, who passed away in 2002, made their lives together there. Brazda had been raised in Germany, born there in 1913. Brazda has been selective in his choices of to whom and where to speak out about his internment. In 2008 he spoke with the French media outlet TĂȘtu in a video interview below. He reflected on his post-internment life:
I had found freedom. I started a new life. Of course, I was a homosexual and I wanted to find a new boyfriend. And that's how I met Edouard. He had been kicked out of Yugoslavia, since his parents were Germans. And he didn't have a home. So he stuck with me, he was so young. He must have been 18 or 19 years old, and I was 18 years older. But we were good for one another, and we started a new life together. It was going well, we each had a job, and we managed to live just like everyone else.Make the jump here to read the full post
Via AmericaBlogGay: American Psychological Association endorses marriage equality
The APA is on board with marriage
The world's largest organization of psychologists took its strongest stand to date supporting full marriage equity, a move that observers say will have a far-reaching impact on the national debate. The policymaking body of the American Psychological Association unanimously approved the resolution 157-0 on the eve of the group's annual convention, which opens here today.
The group, with more than 154,000 members, has long supported full equal rights for gays, based on social science research on sexual orientation. Now the nation's psychologists — citing an increasing body of research about same-sex marriage, as well as increased discussion at the state and federal levels — took the support to a new level.
APA relies on real research, not the made up crap cited by NOM and the other haters.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Via JMG; Mrs. CPAC On The Gays
"Rena, it IS a threat to society. It is not nature's way. They can't procreate, can they?....You hvae them in your family? Well, there is no reason not to like them or love them, the same way you would love one who has a disability, or an illness, etc. I just DO NOT want them pushing their agenda on the majority who are not. This is just about sexual preference--keep it in the bedroom!!!! It is not about being denied any constitutional rights.....Ana, I got your point.....I am just tired of this topic being shoved in our face continually by all these gay activists and I have to ventilate my feelings.... You know I always wondered why homosexuals are referred to as 'gay', kind of an oxymoron? Nothing really 'gay' about them or their movement......I am all for intellectual honesty too!!" - Diana Cardenas, wife of CPAC chair Al Cardenas, in a virulently anti-gay Facebook battle.RELATED: Pam Spaulding directs us to this Scribd page where screenshots have been preserved.
Via JMG: More Ridiculous Lying Lies From The Lie-Tastic Liars At Lying NOM
Local activists in gay-gay-gay Wilton Manors, Florida threatened to stage a boycott after a local business group invited virulently anti-gay Rep. Allen West to speak at one of their meetings. Under pressure, the business group rescinded their invitation to West. Story over? Nope. The unrepentant and inventive liars at NOM are trying to escalate this little low-level bit of local theater into some kind of rallying cry about HOMOFASCISTS shutting down debate. In fact, a casual glance at NOM's blog headlines and tweets on this story give the impression that West has suffered personal, physical intimidation and/or threats.
As usual, when boycotts work AGAINST the Christianists, they are "intimidation" and "homofascism" and "harassment." When THEY boycott, that is GOD'S PLAN, people.
RELATED: NOM has a public relations firm on call to field media inquiries about this "outrageous attack on Rep. West."
Via Utne: Public Displays of Meditation
It was the om heard ’round the world. Yesterday in 108 cities—from London to Los Angeles, Hong Kong to Houston, Barcelona to Birmingham, and more—“MedMob” groups participated in large-scale displays of meditation.
Playing off of the flash mob concept, in which strangers organize online, arrange to meet at a specific time and place, and then perform an unexpected public act, MedMob members delight in presenting meditation in a surprising, inclusive way, says Shambhala Sun. MedMob’s goals aren’t complex, but they are significant:
1. To create an environment for people from all walks of life to come together in meditation.The MedMob movement, which began in Austin early this year, is for everyone, reports David Telfer McConaghay for elephant journal. Telfer assures us that passers-by do not need to believe in “hippy-dippy feel-goodery” to participate in meditation, whether in a group or alone. “The goal is not to attain some state of illusory bliss, then wander around all day in a disconnected daze with a silly grin,” he writes. “The goal (if meditation can be said to have a goal) is to allow the naturally arising chaos and distractions of the mind to settle and fade so that we can act and make choices with greater intention and clarity.”
2. To expose the world to meditation through public display of meditation.
3. To come together as a global community to send positive intentions out into the world.
4. To show that leading by example is the best way to lead. Simple acts can stimulate major paradigm shifts in thinking.
Below are a handful of blissful (and maybe even a little hippy-dippy) feel-good photos from the July 28, 2011 international MedMob event:
Long Beach, California (above)
London (above)
Rome (above)
Sources: Shambhala Sun, elephant journal
Images courtesy of MedMob. (The photo at the top of this post comes from Amsterdam.)
Via Telling Dick Cheney to Shut the Hell Up (by Leftake.com) and Not having George Bush as President (by Leftake.com) shared a link.
LeftAction: Speaker Boehner: Stop Wasting Money Defending DOMA!
Send a message to Speaker Boehner: "Stop Wasting Money Defending DOMA!"
Via AmerticablogGay:
If things keep going this way, it won't be safe for bigots anywhere. And then what kind of country will we have?
Oh that's right, a nice one.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Via Just Out: Washington State’s Suquamish Tribe Makes Gay Marriage Legal
The Suquamish Native-American tribe in Kitsap County, Washington, this week made same-sex marriage legal on tribal land, reports The Seattle Times. Heather Purser, a commercial diver who lives in Seattle but was raised in Kitsap County off the reservation, sparked the issue with tribal council after months of attending meetings. She was assigned a tribal attorney who asked her to get proof that the tribe recognized homosexuals by collecting stories from the elders.
That effort was dropped until she moved to Seattle and met her partner. This renewed her efforts with the Suquamish Tribe.
That effort was dropped until she moved to Seattle and met her partner. This renewed her efforts with the Suquamish Tribe.
Via AmericablogGay: Mormon study looks at gay experience within church
There is a study of 1,000 gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender Mormons being conducted by Utah State University, and is said to be the first to focus on that particular demographic. One of the gay Mormons featured in this article claims to have given a talk to his congregation as to how the Holy Ghost had been a comforter to him:
Watching television one day with his mother, Clayson said he pointed out that one of the "Survivor" cast members was both gay and Mormon.
"She said, 'You can't be both,'" Clayson said.
It's a dilemma many gays in the church face as they struggle with their identities as both homosexual and religious faithful.
No, that is not true. It depends on one's denomination or theology as to whether or not there is any sustained cognitive dissonance for someone who is gay and a religiously faithful person. The analogy I would make is between being a member of GOProud or Stonewall Democrats, and then making a spurious claim one can't be both gay and politically active. It depends on the policies that group stands for. True, being an active Mormon or Catholic and gay is a stretch, but being a progressive member of the United Church of Christ is not inconsistent in the slightest.
One can make the argument that one is both gay and working within an organization to make it more progressive, but it is self defeating and ridiculous to claim one believes the tenets of an organization that disagrees with your very right to exist.
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