Sunday, February 2, 2014
Via JMG: State Department Issues Gay-Inclusive Clip To Promote Team USA At Sochi
Via press release:
In honor of Team USA’s participation in the 2014 Winter Olympics (February 7-23) and Paralympics (March 7-16) in Sochi, Russia, the U.S. Department of State has produced a one-minute video highlighting the diversity of the U.S. athletes competing in the Games as well as everyday Americans. The video focuses on the theme “We Are All Athletes,” to promote diversity, social inclusion, sportsmanship, and teamwork. “We Are All Athletes” showcases U.S. Olympians, Paralympians, and recreational athletes of various backgrounds, including gender, race and ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and abilities. Viewers are encouraged to join the U.S. Department of State in cheering on Team USA to bring home the gold by sharing the video and discussing it via the hashtags #Sochi2014 and #TeamUSA.
Reposted from Joe Jervis
Via JMG: Coalition Of Human Rights Groups: Sochi's Top Corporate Sponsors Must Speak Out
A coalition of 40 human rights groups have issued a joint letter
to the top ten corporate sponsors of the Sochi Olympics which demands
that they denounce Russia's abuses against LGBT people. Via press
release:
Corporate sponsors of the Sochi Winter Olympics should act now to urge Russia to halt the rising tide of discrimination, harassment and threats against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, 40 of the world’s leading human rights and LGBT groups said today, in an unusual joint open letter. The letter to all of the leading sponsors of the Sochi Olympics asks them to use their leverage as underwriters of the 2014 Winter Games in a variety of concrete ways.Among the groups in the coalition: Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Human Rights Campaign, Athlete Ally, GLAAD, Family Equality Council, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Including in the requests for action, the letter asks that Sochi's top corporate sponsors address LGBT rights in their Olympic advertising.
The groups urged sponsors to speak out against Russia’s anti-gay “propaganda” law, which violates the Olympic Charter’s principle of non-discrimination, and to ask the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to undertake systemic reforms to monitor and prevent human rights abuses in future host countries. “Time is running out for the sponsors to take a clear stand in defense of Olympic values,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “These companies are sponsoring an Oympics marred by ugly discrimination and serious rights abuses. They should speak out forcefully for equality and human rights.”
The joint letter is addressed to the 10 TOP Sponsors of the Sochi Games (members of “The Olympic Partner” (TOP) Program)--Atos, Coca Cola, Dow Chemical, General Electric, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, and Visa. The Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch and several other groups have engaged with the sponsors for nearly a year to urge them to act on abuses.
Labels: advertising, Amnesty International, Athlete Ally, Coca-Cola, General Electric, GLAAD, HRC, Human Rights Watch, LGBT rights, McDonald's, NCLR, Russia, Samsung, Sochi Olympics, Visa
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 2, 2014
Unconditional Freedom
The
Buddha taught that freedom is going beyond conditions. For me, the
people who have been through the harshest conditions—and survived—have
the greatest potential to transform the madness of their lives. See,
that madness made them who they are. So if they can take that madness,
claim it, and stand on top of its incredible energy, they can transform
it into power.
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- Vinny Ferraro, "The Heartful Dodger"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through February 3, 2014
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Saturday, February 1, 2014
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 1, 2014
Reason for Faith
For
ordinary people, faith is the cause that opens the door to wisdom. For
many convert Buddhists in the West, the central place of faith in
Nichiren Buddhism, as well as in Pure Land, might seem strange and even
un-Buddhist. But this has little to do with how the religion has
traditionally been practiced and much to do with how Buddhism has been
interpreted for the modern West.
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- Jacqueline Stone, “The Final Word: An Interview with Jacqueline Stone”
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through February 2, 2014
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Friday, January 31, 2014
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 31, 2014
Right Understanding
According
to Buddha's teachings on the Four Noble Truths, all life is dukkha,
suffering or unsatisfactoriness; suffering is caused by desire; desire
can be dissolved; and the means to achieve this is the Noble Eightfold
Path. Furthermore it's essential to note that the first step on the Path
is right understanding. In order to attain liberation from suffering,
we need to understand the nature of that suffering. We need to have
knowledge of the world—including ourselves—as it really is.
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- Jeffery Zaleski, "The Science of Compassion"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through February 1, 2014
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Thursday, January 30, 2014
Via JMG: Christian Hate Group Cheers Uganda: Homosexuality Is Worse Than Murder
Brian Tashman writes at Right Wing Watch:
Paul Cameron’s Family Research Institute is upset that Marvin Olasky of the Religious Right-aligned WORLD magazine dared to criticize Uganda’s draconian anti-gay bill, which recently passed parliament but has been blocked by the president, at least for now. In a response on its website, Cameron’s group took issue with Olasky’s claim that the bill is “harsh and unlikely to be effective,” saying that harsh measures are needed to curb homosexuality…just like murder.From the Family Research Institute:
Homophobia? This propaganda word does not belong in Christian discourse. Dislike of homosexuality, general avoidance of those who practice it, and trying to keep our kids safe from gay predators are hardly ‘problems’ for Christians — it is ‘who we are supposed to be.’ To be sure, we will find ourselves out of tune with Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s “If I go up to heaven and find a homophobic God, I will tell him I prefer the other place.” Similarly, we will find ourselves on the wrong side of President Obama, Hollywood, David Cameron, Bill and Hillary Clinton, the EU, the media, etc. If God calls something wrong but our elite say it’s precious, our marching orders are clear. Laws against murder are harsh and unlikely to be effective (in completely stopping murder). But such laws educate as to what is ‘correct’ and serve as a disincentive to commit murder. Just because we cannot specify how many lives were saved by a particular law hardly means the law was ineffective. Surely the fact that people still commit murder, rape, or theft would not cause Dr. Olasky to label them as “ineffective” and not worth having.And then we get this:
Homosexuality violates God’s first commandment to ‘be fruitful,’ and is at the very heart of Biblical denunciation of rebellion against God (see Deut 32 and Romans 1). Homosexual lust led to the painful incineration of 26 brave Ugandan Christian boys and young men. It cannot be ignored without substantial intellectual and moral peril. Arguably Christianity’s greatest preacher, John Chrysostom, called it the worst sin, worse even than murder. While every sin in Scripture is not to be carried into public law, if this sin is not, what would Olasky nominate and how would he justify it?Paul Cameron, lest you forget, is the lunatic whose deranged claim that average gay man dies at age 42 is regularly parroted by anti-gay hate groups.
Labels: Africa, batshittery, Christian Love, disgusting, Family Research Institute, hate groups, Paul Cameron, religion, Right Wing Watch, Uganda
Via JMG: UK: It's Raining Men Re-Enters Pop Chart
Earlier this month a member of Britain's far-right UKIP party declared that God was flooding the country in anger over the legalization of same-sex marriage. That prompted a Facebook campaign to push It's Raining Men to #1 on the singles chart more than 30 years after its release. The Guardian reports that might happen:
Three decades after its original release, It's Raining Men sits at No 21 on the midweek singles chart, now less than 40 copies from entering No 20, according to the Official Charts Company. This is a meteoric rise for a campaign launched just over a week ago, and around 15,000 supporters have registered on the crusade's Facebook page. Yesterday, Jeremy Joseph, owner of the London nightclub G-A-Y, pledged a £1,000 donation to the Elton John Aids Foundation if the song cracks the end-of-week Top 20. This month's It's Raining Men campaign has the full support of Martha Wash, the sole surviving member of the original Weather Girls, who has been promoting the cause on Twitter. While Geri Halliwell's version of the song debuted at No 1 in 2001, the disco original only ever reached No 2.(Tipped by JMG reader Wayne)
Via Equality has lots of GOP friends
Equality has lots of GOP friends
A coalition of Republicans has formed agroup that will support asame-sex marriage referendum
Several
prominent Republican figures came together Wednesday to announce the
formation of a new group supporting the gay-marriage initiative that
appears headed for the Oregon ballot in November.
The
new group, Freedom Oregon, includes several Republicans — including
former Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer and former Secretary of State
Norma Paulus — who came from a once-dominant wing of the state GOP. But
there are also several figures, such as Stimson Lumber CEO Andrew
Miller, who have been prominent backers of conservative Republicans.
Political
consultant Elaine Franklin, the wife of former Sen. Bob Packwood,
R-Ore., and his former chief of staff, helped organize the group.
This
group is “clearly fighting against the national brand” of the
Republican Party being opposed to same-sex marriage, Franklin said. “But
Oregon Republicans have done this before.”
Franklin
is now a non-affiliated voter, having left the party in 2002 in a
dispute over the abortion issue. She said that she hopes the new group
helps bring more support for the gay-marriage measure from both
Republicans and independents.
The group will hold a
kickoff event at the Cerulean Wine Bar in Portland on Feb. 20 that will
feature Jason Collins, the openly gay NBA veteran who sat in first lady
Michelle Obama’s box during the State of the Union address Tuesday
night.
Other members of the new Oregon group
include two Republican state representatives, Rep. Vicki Berger of Salem
and Rep. Jim Thompson of Dallas, former New Zealand Ambassador Bill
McCormick, former state Treasurer Bill Rutherford, and political
consultant Doug Badger, who ran the Bush-Cheney campaign in Oregon in
2004. Packwood is also a member of the group.
This is not the first effort by prominent Oregon Republicans in support of the measure.
Portland
political consultant Dan Lavey, a top aide to former Sen. Gordon Smith,
and his wife, GOP fundraising consultant Lori Hardwick, formed a group
to drum up support in the business community for the initiative.
The
group leading the initiative campaign, Oregon United for Marriage, last
week said it has gathered more than 127,000 signatures. The group needs
116,284 valid signatures to qualify and appears likely to do so well
before the July deadline.
In addition, a federal
judge is hearing aconsolidated lawsuit filed by two sets of same-sex
couples attacking the state’s gay-marriage ban. If that case continues
on a fast track, it’s possible that gay marriage could come to Oregon
well before the issue would go before voters in the Nov. 4 general
election.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane
has scheduled an April 23 hearing on whether he should issue a summary
judgment in the case, which involves the constitutionality of Ballot
Measure 36, the 2004 initiative approved by voters that placed a ban on
same-sex marriage in the state Constitution.
View original at:
http://digital.olivesoftware.
View original at:
http://digital.olivesoftware.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 30, 2014
Eight Steps
Each
step along the Buddha’s path to happiness requires practicing
mindfulness until it becomes part of your daily life. Mindfulness is a
way of training yourself to become aware of things as they really are.
With mindfulness as your watchword, you progress through the eight steps
laid down by the Buddha more than twenty-five hundred years ago—a
gentle, gradual training in how to end dissatisfaction.
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- Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “Getting Started”
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 31, 2014
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Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Photographer documents watershed period in gay history with The Gay Men Project
Jan 21, 2014 at 05:30 pm
For
more than two years, New York City-based photographer Kevin Truong has
been traveling the globe, curating what he calls "the visual catalog of
gay men around the world" - The Gay Men Project."This project is simple," Kevin (pictured, right) writes on his blog. "Basically I’m trying to photograph as many gay men as I can. My goal is to create a platform, a visibility on some level, and a resource for others who may not be as openly gay."
As support for the freedom to marry across the United States - and, increasingly, internationally - has grown in the past few years, it's become clearer than ever that one of the best ways to encourage support is by sharing the stories and images of same-sex couples and their families. In the same way, The Gay Men Project presents a diverse array of gay men, sharing their portraits and stories and capturing how gay men live in every city, every country, and come from every different cultural background out there.
Kevin has amassed a collection of photographs featuring more than 350 gay men - and it's a wonderful testament to the power of story-sharing. Below, Freedom to Marry caught up with Kevin this year to chat specifically about his photographs of gay men in committed relationships - why he's inspired to work on this project, and how it works in tandem with the global momentum to win the freedom to marry.
What motivated you to begin this project?
The project really stemmed from my own coming out to my mom. I was sitting across the table from her, and I told her I was gay, and she just looked really confused.I asked her a year later what that look was - and she said she was trying to visualize if I would look different or seem different now that she knew I was gay. She explained that she didn't have any reference point to what gay people are like. She was just this 56-year-old Vietnamese woman relying on these stereotypes that aren't always accurate. So this project is about photographing a wide range of men from many cities and many different backgrounds. It's about showing that there is no 'gay look,' no singular gay experience.
The Gay Men Project isn't specifically couples-focused - but what is the benefit of including couples in your project?
I think it's important to see visual representations of gay couples and families. It helps the viewer, whoever that is - people from around the world, people like my mom - who had never seen these visual representations of what a couple could be, what a marriage could be. It's important to include these because they could change people's views.One of the first couples I photographed was a friend of a friend in Baltimore (above). I went out to Baltimore, where they have the most beautiful, idyllic home with an adopted son from Vietnam. The father of one of the men lived in the same house with them, too, so there were three generations of men living there. And for me personally, even as a gay man living in New York City, it was the first time in my life that I had seen a gay family firsthand. I had never been able to conceptualize it before - and this was at the age of 29. After meeting Mark and Andy, I left thinking for myself, 'Maybe I could have a family like that. Maybe this is something I could have.' I want to help further that dialogue and give more and more visual reference points for the community.
We're seeing such amazing momentum for the freedom to marry nationwide - how does the Gay Men Project fit in?
We're witnessing something very historic right now - when we look back 30, 50, 60 years from now at LGBT rights in the United States, I do feel like there's this period of time right now that will be in history books. It's one of those watershed moments that we will remember, and I want to do my part in documenting the many stories that are out there.I don't want to just document these court cases and news articles about famous couples and openly gay celebrities - I want there to be documentation of the stories of people like Dustin and Alan, who live in Washington state and plan to marry there soon. It's important to have these people's histories recorded. I think that through The Gay Men Project, I'm working to document these stories. I photograph couples and then urge them to write their story in their own words. I like that I'm able to record and document these stories, and that they're coinciding with this historic, awesome moment for LGBT individuals and the people who love them.
I hope someday stories like these will stand side by side with the Jason Collins and Edie Windsors of the world - I want these everyday stories to be remembered, and I want to photograph as many people as I can.
You've said that you feel like the more men you photograph, the more impact the project has. Will you elaborate on this?
By this point, I've profiled around 350 guys - and that's a cool collection of stories and images. I think there's something about having them stand together in one collection that provides a particular kind of reference point to look back on this historic time.
What do you hope people take away from the photos?
With this project, I feel like any change that I can effect is at the micro level - I'm not a policy maker, and a photo alone doesn't make a grand change. But a photo can leave a big impact on individuals - and that's more of the goal with this project.For example, it's really changed my mom. When I came out to her, she was supportive and said everything she was supposed to say, but we didn't really ever talk about it. More recently, my mom and I traveled to Vietnam, where I had set up a bunch of times to photograph gay men in Ho Chi Minh City. She went with me to every shoot - and since I don't speak Vietnamese, she was my translator.
When we got back to the United States, I sent her some of the paragraphs I asked these guys to write for the project, and she replied to me in an email, explaining that she checked out The Gay Men Project for the first time. She specifically referred to this guy we met in Ho Chi Minh City, saying, "I remember that guy. I enjoyed meeting him. It was brave of him to tell his story.'
At the end of the email she wrote, 'I hope you make these photographs into a book and share it with the world.' That was the first time in my life where she was really celebrating me being gay - that that was something she was proud of.
That's a change happening in my own life - and I hope that's the kind of change happening in other people's lives. I hope that's the kind of change The Gay Men Project can bring about.
Learn more about The Gay Men Project.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 29, 2014
Imagination
I
don’t think we have an imagination apart from the environment . . . .
And I don’t think we have an existence apart from the environment
either. And if the imagination isn’t about our existence, I don’t know
what it’s about.
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- W. S. Merwin, "The Garden & The Sword"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 30, 2014
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Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Via AmericaBlog: Buddhist student harrassed, ridiculed, told to accept it, leave school or convert
Buddhist student harrassed, ridiculed, told to accept it, leave school or convert
So here's a fascinating -- and by fascinating, I mean appalling -- case
that the ACLU is filing on behalf of a local family, against a Louisiana
school district and several officials/teachers. The family suffered a
tremendous litany of unconstitutional behaviors directed against them,
but they are perhaps best represented by the words of plaintiff Scott Lane, husband of plaintiff Sharon Lane, father of plaintiffs S.L and M.L, and stepfather of plaintiff C.C.
He gives examples of some of the issues his Buddhist stepson
encountered, and the disregard for constitutional separation of church
and state is simply staggering:
And while C.C.'s troubles are not over, neither are those of his siblings (one of whom is a Christian):
On a science test, their teacher had included a fill-in-the-blank question: "ISN'T IT AMAZING WHAT THE _____ HAS MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" When my stepson didn't know the answer ("Lord"), she belittled him in front of the entire class. When he wrote in "Lord Buddha" on another exam, she marked it wrong. As she was returning that exam to students, one student proclaimed aloud that "people are stupid if they think God is not real." In response, my stepson's teacher agreed, telling the class, "Yes! That is right! I had a student miss that on his test." The entire class broke out in laughter at my stepson.While this particular teacher, Rita Roark, was especially problematic, Lane gives a number of other examples of the general atmosphere of the school, including that of defendant and school superintendent Sara Ebarb:
The same teacher also told our children that the Bible is "100 percent true," that the Earth was created by God 6,000 years ago, and that evolution is "impossible" and a "stupid theory made up by stupid people who don't want to believe in God." She's also told the class that Buddhism is "stupid." (emphasis added)
When we went to the school to meet with the principal, we saw a large picture of Jesus over the school's main doors, a Bible verse on the school's electronic marquee, and numerous religious posters and pictures on the walls. Religious images and messages are displayed throughout the school, in fact.Supporting evidence is provided. But the embrace of religiosity and disregard for constitutional protections goes much higher than teachers and event coordinators. When the Lanes took their complaints to the school superintendent, she told them
We learned from our children that official prayers, typically led by the principal or teachers, are routinely incorporated into class and school events like assemblies, and sporting events. The school even requires students to attend "See You at the Pole" each year, where they must take part in prayer and worship.
We discovered that school officials were distributing religious literature to students. For example, one of our other son's teachers passed out copies of a book from the "Truth For Youth" program, a revivalist ministry. The book included the entire New Testament of the Bible as well as cartoons that denounce evolution and trumpet the evils of birth control, premarital sex, rock music, alcohol, pornography, homosexuality, sorcery, and witchcraft. (emphasis added)
that “[t]his is the Bible Belt” and that they would simply have to accept that teachers would proselytize students. She also asked whether C.C. had to be raised as a Buddhist and whether he could “change” his faith, and she suggested that C.C. transfer to another district school – more than 25 miles away where, in her words, “there are more Asians.” The day after meeting with the Lanes, the Superintendent sent a letter to Negreet Principal Gene Wright stating that she approved of Negreet’s official religious practices. Wright read the letter to the entire Negreet student body over the school’s public address system. (emphasis added)The superintendent's complete lack of comprehension of religious freedom is made more clear in the complaint, which details how she told the Lanes
that “[t]eachers have religious freedom.” She further stated that “if they were in a different country,” Plaintiffs would see “that country’s religion everywhere,” and that, therefore, they “shouldn’t be offended” to “see God here.” Purporting to illustrate her point further, she noted that, because she did not find it offensive that “the lady who cuts [her] toenails has a statue of Buddha,” Plaintiffs should not be bothered by Roark’s in-class proselytization.In her mind, "freedom" is not a freedom to hold a belief, but a freedom to force others to hold that belief. The illogicality of such a position is made apparent when one considers what happens when you have people who hold different beliefs exercising this "freedom". Furthermore, Erbarb's response to the family -- that C.C. should go elsewhere, because he was in the Bible belt -- illustrates that her view of religious freedom is entirely one sided. It is not freedom, and it extends only to Christians. It is worth noting that, while C.C. did transfer, he is still subject to much of the same religious harassment. Even if that were not the case, it should go without saying that no child, and no family, should have to go half an hour out of their way each morning simply to avoid being harassed and intimidated -- much less by authority figures -- for praying to Lord Buddha (or not praying at all) rather than Lord Jesus.
And while C.C.'s troubles are not over, neither are those of his siblings (one of whom is a Christian):
Plaintiffs S.L. and M.L. are minor children and brothers to C.C. They are both enrolled at Negreet High School, where they are subject to the customs, policies, and practices of Defendants Sabine Parish School Board, Superintendent Ebarb, and Principal Wright. Although M.L. attends church, he believes that faith is a personal matter. He believes that he should be able to decide, with the guidance of his parents and religious leaders, which beliefs he will follow and when, as well as how to express those beliefs, without pressure from his teachers and school officials. S.L. is a non-believer who does not subscribe to the religious beliefs promoted by schools officials.It's simply mind boggling that adults would think that doing this to children was in any way appropriate, much less legal.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 28, 2014
Attention.
The
Zen master Ikkyu was once asked to write a distillation of the highest
wisdom. He wrote only one word: Attention. The visitor was displeased.
“Is that all?” So Ikkyu obliged him. Two words now. Attention. Attention.
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- Jenny Offill, "Bit of Poetry that Stick Like Burrs"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 29, 2014
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JMG Quote Of The Day - Queen Latifah
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