Via JMG: More Corporate Support For Equality Act

From the Human Rights Campaign:

Four new major American companies have become the latest to endorse the Equality Act, federal legislation that would establish full, federal equality for all LGBT Americans. In doing so, these leading companies - IBM, Oracle, Orbitz, and Symantec - made clear that they believe all LGBT Americans should have the protections from discrimination in federal law that they deserve. They join American Airlines, Apple, The Dow Chemical Company, Facebook, General Mills, Google, Levi Strauss & Co., Microsoft, and Nike as part of a national business coalition supporting comprehensive, federal LGBT non-discrimination protections. Additionally, Hewlett-Packard in Fortune recently announced its support for the Equality Act.

STATEMENT BY IBM: “IBM’s workplace culture is built on the principles of non-discrimination and equal opportunity for all. We established a corporate policy on equal opportunity more than a decade before the Civil Rights Act. We championed an industry-leading policy of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation over 30 years ago, and expanded it in 2002 to cover gender identity and expression. IBM is proud to support the Equality Act and maintains our steadfast support for all employees to experience equality in the workplace."

STATEMENT BY ORBITZ: “At Orbitz we’ve been advocates of equality and inclusion since our founding in 2001. Our support for the Equality Act is consistent with our other actions, such as signing the amicus brief calling on the Supreme Court to find gay marriage bans unconstitutional.”

STATEMENT BY SYMANTEC: “At Symantec, we are proud to support full and equal rights for the LGBT community. We believe having a diversity of perspectives ensures we make better business decisions and the products and services we offer meet the needs of the broad spectrum of people we serve worldwide, which is why we couldn’t be more proud to support the expansion of legal protections. We unequivocally support the Equality Act – for the future of our business and society.”

As I've mentioned before, the Equality Act will see little traction in the current GOP-dominated Congress, but this early groundwork is critical to what most consider to be the "heaviest lift" in our movement's history.

Labels: business, Congress, employment, Equality Act, feds, housing, HRC, LGBT rights, public accommodations

Reposted from Joe Jervis

WELL-STRUNG - Blank Space (feat. Johann Sebastian Bach)

The Real Queens and Kings of Stonewall

HRC & Jim Obergefell Ask Candidates to Defend Marriages of Same Sex Couples Across The Nation

Via Huffington Post: Want to Know if Being Gay Is a Choice? Let Me Tell You the Answer

Last night when debating equal marriage someone asked on Facebook "What is it that the LGBT don't have?" So I decided to put together a comprehensive little list for those who are 'getting tired of all this equality sh*t' as they have put it.

Until I can hold my partner's hand in the street of the city that I live in, pay taxes in and work in and not be told that I'm a faggot, that I'm going to get my head kicked in or that I'm going to die of AIDS (as my boyfriend and I were told on Saturday) then we don't have everything that those people keep telling us we already have.

Until I can walk out the door on a night out and not hear that little voice in my head tell me that I might look too gay, that I might want to not hold my boyfriend's hand in certain bars, that I should probably not wear that flamboyant t-shirt, that maybe I should tone it down in case a guy gets offended by my gayness and decides to crack a bottle over my head. Until I can be sure that I don't need to 'straighten up' when I get in the back of a taxi, talk to someone new at work, go into a non-gay bar or even talk on the phone on the bus then we don't have everything that those people keep telling us we already have.

Until I can turn down an invite in work to donate blood at the blood drive and not have to out myself to random strangers in the office because unlike the rest of the UK sexually active gay men cannot donate blood in Northern Ireland. Until I can walk into a blood bank and not have to lie about who I am in order to donate blood...Until I can walk into a blood bank and not feel like I am dirty, disgusting, shameful and a constant reminder of a time when gay men and AIDS shared the headlines then then we don't have everything that those people keep telling us we already have.

Until I can say the word marriage when talking to my gay friends who are engaged and not follow it up with "well you know, not a real marriage" and accidentally remind us all that despite being law abiding, tax paying citizens that we still don't have the right to marry the person we love and spend the rest of our lives together in Northern Ireland then we don't have everything that those people keep telling us we already have.

Until I can look at the gay news section of BBC and not read about another trans young person that has taken their own life because their church, their family and their teachers told them they were unnatural or sick or until I no longer have to read about the latest young gay man that has been beaten to death, stoned to death or locked up because they sent a text message to the guy they crushed on or because they just wanted to be happy and treated as a human being and not a walking sex act, pervert or something to be pushed away until they feel that they can't come back then we don't have everything that those people keep telling us we already have.

Yes I am angry. And you should be too. This is the life we have to live day in and day out as LGBT people. You think it's a choice? Read back over what I have written and ask yourself why anyone would choose this.

Read the original and full article here

Via JMG: IOWA: Man Tries To Marry Lawnmower

"Congressman Steve King (R - Iowa) said last week that the recent Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage meant you could marry your lawnmower. So I decided to test his theory and see if I could, in fact, wed my lawnmower in Iowa."

 

(Tipped by JMG reader Blair)

Labels: Christianists, GOP, Steve King, teabaggers

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: KENTUCKY: Anti-Gay Clerk Files Religious Discrimination Suit Against Governor

 

The Liberty Counsel is suing Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear on behalf of renegade county clerk Kim Davis. Via the Lexington Herald-Leader:

Late Tuesday, Davis filed a lawsuit against Beshear in federal district court. She blamed the governor for instructing all 120 of the state's county clerks to comply with this summer's U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage. Beshear's stance left dissenting county clerks vulnerable to lawsuits, including two that she currently faces, filed by groups of her constituents, Davis said. U.S. District Judge David Bunning is expected to rule in these cases in coming days. "The Commonwealth of Kentucky, acting through Governor Beshear, has deprived Davis of her religious-conscience rights guaranteed by the United States and Kentucky constitutions and laws, by insisting that Davis issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples contrary to her conscience, based on her sincerely held religious beliefs," Davis' lawsuit says.

The suit also names the head of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, which changed the marriage license forms to gender-neutral.

The Liberty Counsel has issued a press release:

“Governor Beshear is unlawfully picking and choosing the conscience-based exemptions to marriage that he deems acceptable,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. When Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway refused to defend Kentucky’s natural marriage laws after “pray[ing] over this decision,” Governor Beshear did not command that he perform his duties, but hired private attorneys to pursue the appeal. “In no uncertain terms, Governor Beshear’s policies and directives are intended to suppress religion—even worse, a particular religious belief,” Liberty Counsel’s complaint points out. “Thus, although Attorney General Conway was given a pass for his conscience about marriage without any threats of repercussion, clerks like Davis are being repeatedly told by their Governor to abandon their religiously informed beliefs or resign.” “Simply put, Governor Beshear is making secularism a litmus test for holding office in Kentucky,” said Mat Staver. “The governor is forcing clerks like Davis to choose between following the precepts of her religion and forfeiting her position, on the one hand, and abandoning one of the precepts of her religion in order to keep her position, on the other,” Staver concluded.

The ruling in the ACLU's suit against Davis is expected next week. (Tipped by JMG reader Allen)

Labels: ACLU, Christianists, hate groups, Kentucky, Kim Davis, Liberty Counsel, Obergefell, religion, Steve Beshear

Reposted from Joe Jervis

I Kissed A Boy - Kar Karaoke

VIa JMG: TEXAS: AG Ken Paxton Ordered To Appear In Court Over Marriage Recognition

The San Antonio Express-News reports:

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia has ordered Texas officials to appear in court next week to determine if the state should be held in contempt for failing to recognize same-sex marriage. Garcia issued the order Wednesday in response to a request from a Conroe police officer who says the Texas Department of Health and Human Services refused to amend his spouse’s death certificate to reflect he was married. The death certificate lists him as single. Garcia instructed the state on Wednesday to immediately amend the death certificate of James Stone-Hoskins to add John Allen Stone-Hoskins as the surviving spouse. John Stone-Hoskins, a former police officer who lives in Conroe and is dying from cancer, asked Garcia to hold the department and the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in contempt. Garcia ordered Paxton to appear before this Court next Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Paxton was arrested and booked on multiple felony securities fraud charges on Monday.

Labels: assholery, Ken Paxton, Obergefell, Texas

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via "The Bully Effect" / FB:

From a GLBTqB amigo...

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 05/08/2015

“O êxtase se torna permanente quando o amor não sai do seu coração por nada. Porque o êxtase é uma manifestação do amor; o resultado de você estar amando de forma desinteressada. Mas, me refiro ao amor de verdade, aquele que não pede nada em troca. Esse amor é que proporciona a alegria divina, a alegria sem causa.”

“El éxtasis se vuelve permanente cuando el amor no sale de tu corazón por nada. Porque el éxtasis es una manifestación del amor; el resultado de estar amando de forma desinteresada. Pero me refiero al amor de verdad, aquél que no pide nada a cambio. Este amor es el que proporciona la alegría divina, la alegría sin causa.”

"Ecstasy becomes permanent when love no longer leaves your heart for any reason. Ecstasy is the manifestation of love itself. It’s the result of selfless love. The love I am referring to is true love, the kind that doesn’t ask for anything in return. This love is what provides divine joy, also known as joy without cause."

Today's Daily Dharma: Emotional Acceptance Is Vital

Emotional Acceptance Is Vital

When we open to our feelings as they arise, we create the causes and conditions of mental and physical health. This is what acceptance-based inner awareness entails; it is not a practice to put off, any more than breathing, sleeping, or consuming nourishment.   - Josh Korda, "Flowing Feelings"

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 04/08/2015

“Desapegar do resultado das ações e do desfecho das situações da vida é fundamental para a felicidade. Até porque não é possível controlar a vida. Ao encarnar, a alma escolhe determinados desafios mas, ao encarnar, o corpo esquece disso. Determinadas dificuldades são justamente para acordar seus potenciais e talentos. Cada problema é uma oportunidade de evolução, uma forma de trazer à tona o seu melhor - um verdadeiro presente divino.”

“Detachment to the results of our actions and the outcomes of life situations is the key to happiness, for it’s impossible to control life. While incarnating, the soul chooses certain challenges to appear in its life, but, once incarnated, the body forgets about having made these choices. Certain difficulties arise simply to awaken our potential and talents. Every problem is an opportunity for evolution, a way of bringing out the best in us. Challenges are a true gift from God.”

Via Join the Coffee Party Movement / FB:

Today's Daily Dharma: Good Impatience, Bad Impatience

Good Impatience, Bad Impatience

Impatience can be very good by helping us not put up with tyranny, but it can distort our view of what is possible and how to bring about change. We have to cultivate patience so that our perception isn't distorted.   - Paul Ekman, "The Best and Worst of Us"

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 03/08/2015

“Estamos aprendendo a não resistir ao amor, ou seja, aprendendo a nos tornarmos canais puros dele. Embora conscientemente esse seja o nosso maior desejo, tememos nos tornar esse vazio que é inundado pelo amor. Porque quando isso ocorre, experimentamos o êxtase divino, no qual a ideia de eu desaparece. Essa experiência se assemelha à morte. É por isso que nós pensamos tanto. O pensamento compulsivo é o maior mecanismo de defesa. Ele nos mantém ocupados e nos dá uma sensação de segurança.”

“We are learning how not to resist love in order to become pure channels of love. Even though this is, consciously, our greatest desire, we fear turning into this emptiness and allowing ourselves to be inundated with love. When this does occur, we experience divine ecstasy, in which the idea of the self disappears. This experience is similar to death, which is why we choose to think so much instead. Compulsive thinking is the greatest defense mechanism: it keeps us busy and gives us a sense of security.”

Today's Daily Dharma: Low-income Buddhism

Low-income Buddhism

Those of us in the lower class have no real disposable income, no truly 'free' time, and we have to keep up a break-neck speed just to break even. We get up early to sit before heading to a job that we can tolerate only because we sit. We meditate before bed to alleviate some of the daily stress that would otherwise keep us up all night. Economically and spiritually, it's always a battle just to stay put.   - Brent R. Oliver, "White Trash Buddhist"

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Dr. Barry Kerzin on compassion (Part 1: What is happening in the mind and heart?)