- European court rules faith doesn't trump LGBT laws
- The
European Court of Human Rights, ruling in several cases testing the
rights of people of faith, said religious objections are not sufficient
to absolve certain individuals from complying with LGBT
non-discrimination laws. "The court showed conclusively that the
principle of equality and equal treatment cannot be circumvented with a
simple reference to religion," said Sophie in ‘t Veld, vice-president of
the European Parliament’s LGBT Intergroup. GlobalPost.com
(1/15), Washington Blade (Washington, D.C.)
(1/16)
Friday, January 18, 2013
Via Gay Politics Report:
Via JMG: Dear Abby Dies At 94
Phillips’ column competed for decades with the advice column of Ann Landers, written by her twin sister, Esther Friedman Lederer. Their relationship was stormy in their early adult years, but later they regained the close relationship they had growing up in Sioux City, Iowa. The two columns differed in style. Ann Landers responded to questioners with homey, detailed advice. Abby’s replies were often flippant one-liners. She willingly expressed views that she realized would bring protests. In a 1998 interview she remarked: “Whenever I say a kind word about gays, I hear from people, and some of them are damn mad. People throw Leviticus, Deuteronomy and other parts of the Bible to me. It doesn’t bother me. I’ve always been compassionate toward gay people.”Ann Landers died in 2002. Dear Abby is written today Phillips' daughter, Jeanne.
Labels: newspapers, obituary, writers
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 18, 2013
Body in Practice
In
a sense, all of Buddhist practice takes place here, in this most
intimate realm: here, in the family, shoulder to shoulder with fellow
workers, beside each other on the cushion. Even alone in a cave, there
is no way out of the sense object we call the body. We meet each other
face to face, and so have all our teachers and ancestors met each other.
In this way have all the Buddhas taught. Hand to sweating hand.
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- Sallie Tisdale, "Washing Out Emptiness"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 19th, 2013
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Thursday, January 17, 2013
Via 2012 Healing the Planet 2012 / FB:
2012 Healing the Planet 2012 shared a photo:
"To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~
With Bows of Gratefulness to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States:
Once again
on Facebook and other venues, there have been a number of interesting
discussions about GLBT people and their incorporation in the Bahá’í Faith.
Unfortunately nothing is new – the conservatives continue to point out to those of us who already know that the writings say this or that, and appear to have free reign to spew their nonsense (essentially reminding us that we are not welcome). Though they will never really say so, because hiding their disgraceful homophobia behind a wall of the Sacred Writings, appears to give them power and weight. Instead they increasingly engage readers in the same tired discourse related to why the Faith cannot change (which I interpret why they do not want it to change). Meanwhile most of us GLBT folks, friends and family try to engage in other possibilities, trying to show that many other religious communities have found a way to ignore the very same teachings, and are welcoming GLBT people. But alas…
Unfortunately nothing is new – the conservatives continue to point out to those of us who already know that the writings say this or that, and appear to have free reign to spew their nonsense (essentially reminding us that we are not welcome). Though they will never really say so, because hiding their disgraceful homophobia behind a wall of the Sacred Writings, appears to give them power and weight. Instead they increasingly engage readers in the same tired discourse related to why the Faith cannot change (which I interpret why they do not want it to change). Meanwhile most of us GLBT folks, friends and family try to engage in other possibilities, trying to show that many other religious communities have found a way to ignore the very same teachings, and are welcoming GLBT people. But alas…
All of this
has allowed me to recognize the “wisdom” of the National Spiritual Assembly of
the United States in removing
my rights as a Bahá’í. In some unintended way, they have given me the opportunity
to speak out fearlessly (what do I have to loose now?); investigate alternative
truths and embrace Buddhism; to really come to question the need for organized religion
at all; and even for the first time in my life question the actual existence of
god him/herself…
This officially
sanctioned homophobia by the Bahá’í leadership and majority of the Bahá’ís
themselves, was for me, the final nail in the coffin --no women on the UHJ was a major one, birth control,
length of your hair, and some other weird and funky rules the Aqdas appears to
be ready to implement -- that until then I was willing to forgo, and I like
others accepted the official answer for etc… but now seeing that the shunning of
science, reason and any sense of compassion for GLBT people is official, my concerns
for all sorts of other oddities in the Faith opened up. And the Faith looks like a cult or at best, silly,
irrelevant and terribly sad…
To be honest,
before having been defrocked, I was probably headed this way anyway… I had pretty much
had it with the Bahá’ís in my community. I had made a couple of visits to the
Shrines in Israel to pray and reflect
and was treated coldly. Their officially sanctioned homophobia accelerated
a process that I rather think was underway within anyway. So ian a funny way, their disgraceful
act of showing me the door only allowed me to escape their cage. A Fulbright research trip to Nepal and encounter with the
Sacramento Buddhist Mediation Group confirmed what I was looking for -- a home,
a refuge a sangha, that no Bahá’í Community has ever offered me.
Removing my
status as a member of the Bahá’í community unless I undergo some sort of treatment
and divorce my husband, I think was intended to be a form of punishment for being
a happy, open, and honest gay man. But I
rather think it has had the opposite effect, it has liberated me, made hundreds
of people I know and love turn away from a religion that once held such promise,
that once was held up to be progressive, loving and tolerant, and has shown the
world that the Faith actually is no better than many of the other homophobic religions
or cults it seeks to compete with.
So it is I
offer bows of gratefulness to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of
the United States;
may they liberate more and more people as time goes on!
Namaste!
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 17, 2013
Our Highest Intentions
No
matter what situation we find ourselves in, we can always set our
compass to our highest intentions in the present moment. Perhaps it is
nothing more than being in a heated conversation with another person and
stopping to take a breath and ask yourself, 'What is my highest
intention in this moment?' If you can have enough awareness to take this
small step, your heart will give you an answer that will take the
conversation in a different, more positive direction.
|
- Jack Kornfield, "Set the Compass of Your Heart"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 18th, 2013
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Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Via JMG: Quote Of The Day - Chuck Hagel
"I fully support the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 and value
the service of all those who fight for our country. I know firsthand the
profound sacrifice our service members and their families make, and if
confirmed as Secretary of Defense, I will do everything possible to the
extent permissible under current law to provide equal benefits to the
families of all our service members." - Chuck Hagel, in a letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Huffington Post has a reaction from Log Cabin Republicans head Gregory Angelo.
Reposted from Joe
Huffington Post has a reaction from Log Cabin Republicans head Gregory Angelo.
"For years the Pentagon has been dragging its feet with regard to extending benefits to the families of gay service members. To ensure that action is taken on this front, we need to be sure that there is a champion for our cause at the helm of the defense department. There is nothing in Hagel's record to suggest he will be that champion. "While Senator Hagel's recent professed support for gay military families is encouraging, it stands at odds with his record of opposition to the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and his broader record of opposition to equality for gay and lesbian Americans. We look forward to the confirmation hearings when the Senator will be able to explain his apparent epiphany in greater detail. We continue to remain cautious about his nomination until that time."
Labels: Chuck Hagel, DOD, LCR, Obama cabinet
Via JMG: Today In Christian Love™
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 16, 2013
Revealing What is Hidden
Meditation,
simply defined, is a way of being aware. It is the happy marriage of
doing and being. It lifts the fog of our ordinary lives to reveal what
is hidden; it loosens the knot of self-centeredness and opens the heart;
it moves us beyond mere concepts to allow for a direct experience of
reality. Meditation embodies the way of awakening: both the path and its
fruition. From one point of view, it is the means to awakening; from
another, it is awakening itself.
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- Lama Surya Das, "The Heart-Essence of Buddhist Meditation"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 17th, 2013
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Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Via JMG: Rep. John Boehner Secretly Ups The House DOMA Defense Budget To $3 Million
Late Monday, House Democrats learned that the Republican leadership had once again secretly renegotiated its contract with attorney Paul Clement to defend the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act at the Supreme Court. This is the third time the contract has been adjusted, raising total costs to $3 million from the original $500,000 cap. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) both sit on the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), the House body intervening to defend DOMA in court in lieu of the Department of Justice’s decision not to. However, they did not find out about BLAG’s new agreement with Clement until after it had already been finalized.Hit the link for Pelosi's pissed off letter to Boehner.
Labels: DOMA, GOP, John Boehner, U.S. House
Via JMG: SAN FRANCISCO: Voters May Consider Renaming Airport For Harvey Milk
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is considering a ballot measure which would rename the airport for slain LGBT rights icon Harvey Milk.
Reposted from Joe
A charter amendment sponsored by Supervisor David Campos would put the question of creating Harvey Milk-San Francisco International Airport on San Francisco’s November ballot. If five of Campos’ colleagues agree to submit the proposed name change to voters and the amendment goes through in the fall, the city would become home to the world’s first airport honoring an openly gay person, said Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk. Milk, who runs an international gay rights foundation in his uncle’s memory, said that adding an airport to the list of public venues named for Harvey Milk would mark a milestone since flights to and from San Francisco International serve 68 countries where homosexuality is illegal.The wingnuts are gonna love this one. (Image via Harvey Milk Foundation)
Labels: airports, Harvey Milk, LGBT History, San Francisco
JMG HomoQuotable - Nathaniel Frank
"Still, gay people are born with the unique burden of disclosure, one that is supremely unfair. Coming out is never just a single act but a constant obligation if one is to assure that people don't assume that they're straight. We're always encountering new people who won't know, hence stuffing us back into the closet and reimposing the burden of coming out. And for years the world has berated and punished us not only for being gay but for being honest. [snip] How hard it is to get it perfect. If there's one thing LGBT people should agree on, it's the importance of compassion, and of not bullying our own." - Nathaniel Frank, writing for the Huffington Post.
Via JMG: GOP Rep Backs WY Marriage Bill
Laramie Democratic Rep. Cathy Connolly filed legislation late Monday afternoon that would create a path for gay couples to form civil unions or get married. The dual approach already has won the backing of Reps. Ruth Ann Petroff, R-Jackson, and Gingery. Both Teton County lawmakers said they would prefer to see gay marriage allowed in Wyoming but are willing to debate whether civil unions might be a better way to go. “It’s a basic human rights and fairness issue,” Petroff said Monday. “It’s a basic constitutional issue. There should just be no reason why same-sex couples shouldn’t have the same rights as everyone else.” Gingery is the chairman of the judiciary committee, which will be the first to debate the bills. He said the issue poses a legal problem that state officials need to resolve. “The population of gay couples in the state is increasing, and the law is not very clear about what rights they have,” he said. Gingery, who is Catholic, says the question of whether to allow same-sex couples to get married in Wyoming isn’t a religious issue. If passed, the laws wouldn’t affect church policy, he said.Same-sex marriage bills have failed in the Wyoming legislature in 2007, 2009, and 2011.
Labels: GOP, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Wyoming
Via Gay Politics Report:
- GOP insiders want party to ditch marriage topic, poll finds
- A
National Journal poll of 99 Republican Party insiders finds that just
11% want the GOP to actively oppose marriage rights for same-sex
couples. More than a quarter of respondents want the party to support
marriage equality, and nearly half said the party should avoid the topic
altogether. "We can’t be a party that supports a zone of personal
freedom and then try to use federal power to curtail it. Plus, we
increasingly look prejudiced, and not a little stupid, on this issue,"
said one respondent. National Journal/Political Insiders Poll
(1/10)
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Vida Rz / FB:
Vida Rz shared Karmapa Supporters's photo.
Turning our attention toward light and hopefulness ~ 17th Karmapa
While we are living and remaining in this world, if we only pay attention to darkness and hopelessness, we will not see anything but darkness. But if we turn our attention toward light and hopefulness, then even if we have only a little hope, we will eventually be able to find a way to reach the light. For this reason, the world environment and all the beings in it are not all bad. The beings in the world are not unilaterally vicious, and the external world is not exclusively poisonous and polluted. If we make efforts with a courageous heart, we can transform the world into a pure realm. We can transform the beings in the world so that they become the beautiful and majestic deities present within their minds.
(from: Teachings before a Medicine Buddha empowerment - India, December 2007)
Posted by Kagyu Samye Dzong Venezia
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 15, 2013
The Ultimate Reflection
The
Buddha exhorted his disciples to reflect on death a lot—to use it as
the ultimate prompt to practice now, in this moment; to practice every
day. To stoke the fire before it’s too late. To prepare ourselves to
make skillful choices in the moment when we leave this body. The same
things that impede meditation are those that cloud our view at death:
pain and emotional distraction. The better we master these fetters in
life, the better chance we have of forgoing them at death.
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- Mary Talbot, "How Buddhists Can Prepare to Die"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 16th, 2013
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Monday, January 14, 2013
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 14, 2013
Adversity's Blessing
When
empathy spontaneously arises, we sense the power of love as a blessing
revealed by adversity. How embarrassing it is to see how preoccupied we
have been with our own petty concerns! Seeing how affection stirs people
to acts of selflessness inspires us to extend ourselves as well. With
loving kindness we see the needs of others and respond.
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- Judith L. Lief, "Welcome to the Real World"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 15th, 2013
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For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member
January 14, 2013
Adversity's Blessing
When
empathy spontaneously arises, we sense the power of love as a blessing
revealed by adversity. How embarrassing it is to see how preoccupied we
have been with our own petty concerns! Seeing how affection stirs people
to acts of selflessness inspires us to extend ourselves as well. With
loving kindness we see the needs of others and respond.
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- Judith L. Lief, "Welcome to the Real World"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 15th, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 13, 2013
Knowing When to Speak
Saying
things you shouldn’t say or speaking much more than is necessary brings
a lot of agitation to the mind. The other extreme, complete silence, or
not speaking up when it is useful or necessary, is also problematic.
Applying right speech is difficult in the beginning; it takes practice.
But if you practice every time you talk to someone, the mind will learn
how to be aware, to understand what it should or should not say, and to
know when it is necessary to talk.
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- Sayadaw U Tejaniya, "The Wise Investigator"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 14th, 2013
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Saturday, January 12, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 12, 2013
Compassionate Action
When
we are energized with anger we often do things that worsen our
situation. Being compassionate does not mean being passive. We can
actively work to counteract injustice and harm, but we do so with
compassion, not self-righteous anger. With compassion, our positive
efforts can be sustained for a long time and will be effective.
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- Thubten Chodron, "Working with Anger"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 13th, 2013
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Friday, January 11, 2013
Via JMG: Buzzfeed Interviews Edith Windsor
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 11, 2013
Facing Fear
To
willingly reside in our distress, no longer resisting what is, is the
real key to transformation. As painful as it may be to face our deepest
fears, we do reach the point where it's more painful not to face them. This is a pivotal point in the practice life.
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- Ezra Bayda, "Bursting the Bubble of Fear"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 12th, 2013
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Thursday, January 10, 2013
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
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Via The Advocate: Fighting Back in Brazil
Fighting Back in Brazil
January 10 2013 4:00 AM ET
Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring project in November revealed that among the 265 murders of trans people reported globally in the preceding 12 months, 126 of them were in Brazil, the largest number of any country. It was the only country with triple digits (notoriously biased Pakistan had five reported killings, for example), and according to the monitoring project, it’s only getting worse. In 2008, 57 trans killings were reported in Brazil.
A well-publicized 2011 report from the gay rights organization Grupo Gay da Bahía found attacks and murders on the rise; LGBT people were being bashed once every 36 hours. And last fall at least 15 gay activists in Curitiba, a prominent southern city, received death threats.
“You are going to die, you, your husband, and your son. Your mother is a dyke,” was the phone message left for Toni Reis, president of the Brazilian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transvestite, and Transsexual Association.
But unlike those in Jamaica, Russia, or Uganda, officials in Brazil are working to curb homophobic violence. After Reis and the other activists reported the disturbing phone calls and emails, the Human Rights Secretariat of Brazil sent several of its people to Curitiba to interview those threatened. The national officials met with local law enforcement, which set up a special committee to investigate the threats (no one’s been arrested yet). Meanwhile, the federal government operates a 24-hour national telephone service for LGBT people to report violence and discrimination, and the federal government is forming “pacts” with the 27 state governments to stem homophobia, which Reis says derives from Christian sources.
“Religious intolerance among some evangelical groups against LGBT people is increasing,” he says, adding that many church leaders actively lobby politicians against gay rights.
Evangelical Protestants, especially, have pushed back against efforts by the Brazilian government to protect the nation’s LGBT people. Last year, even before the Grupo Gay da Bahía report made international headlines, liberal legislators introduced a bill to outlaw anti-LGBT bias, providing jail time for those discriminating or inciting violence against LGBT people. Conservative Christians said the legislation would make it impossible for them to preach against homosexuality, and the bill was watered down as a result of their efforts.
Even with many gay-supportive government leaders, Reis admits, “Progress is slow and impunity continues to reign.”
http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2013/01/10/fighting-back-brazil
Make the jump here to read the full article
Via The Advocate: Minister With Antigay History Chosen for Inauguration Ceremony
Minister With Antigay History Chosen for Inauguration Ceremony
January 09 2013 5:50 PM ET
Pastor Louie Giglio
Pastor Louie Giglio of the Passion City Church in Atlanta, chosen to give the benediction, or closing prayer, January 21 at President Obama’s second inauguration, gave a sermon in the mid 1990s in which he said being gay is a choice and a sin that merits eternal damnation and that Christianity can help gays can become straight, ThinkProgress reports.
In the sermon, available on a Christian website, Giglio says the Bible clearly teaches that “homosexuality is not just a sexual preference, homosexuality is not gay, but homosexuality is sin,” and it is among the factors that “prevent people from entering the Kingdom of God.” He also says, “The only way out of a homosexual lifestyle, the only way out of a relationship that has been ingrained over years of time, is through the healing power of Jesus.”
When the item was posted, Giglio had yet to respond to a ThinkProgress inquiry about whether the sermon represents his current thinking. The Advocate has also asked the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which plans the ceremony, for comment on the choice of Giglio, but there has been no response so far. A “Beliefs” section on Passion City Church’s website describes the church as “conservative and evangelical,” apparently with a literal view of the Bible, as it says, “We believe in the accuracy, truth, authority and power of the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God.”
Four years ago, at Obama’s first inauguration, antigay minister Rick Warren, pastor of a California megachurch, delivered the invocation, or opening prayer. The choice of Warren was much criticized, although his prayer received some praise as a “message of unity.”
Some other news about the second inauguration was more welcome to LGBT audiences: Gay poet Richard Blanco will read one of his works there. He is the youngest inaugural poet, the first gay one, and the first Latino.
Make the jump here to read the full article
Via JMG: Marine Corps Orders On-Base Social Clubs To Accept Gay Spouses
Marine Corps Orders On-Base Social Clubs To Accept Gay Spouses
Responding to an ongoing controversy at Fort Bragg, the Marine Corps today issued a directive that on-base "spouses clubs" must admit the husbands and wives of gay service members.
It's a step that the other service branches have not yet announced as they grapple with how to accommodate same-sex couples following repeal of the don't ask, don't tell policy that barred gays and lesbians from serving openly. Underscoring the challenges, the Marines' legal advisory — obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press — refers to an ongoing controversy at the Army's Fort Bragg in North Carolina where the officers' spouses club has denied admission to a same-sex spouse.OutServe-SLDN praised the move via press release:
The Marine Corps commandant's Staff Judge Advocate, in an e-mail to legal offices throughout the corps, said the Fort Bragg events had "caused quite a stir" and cautioned, "We do not want a story like this developing in our backyard." The memo noted that spouses clubs and various other private institutions are allowed to operate on bases only if they adhere to a non-discrimination policy encompassing race, religion, gender, age, disability and national origin. "We would interpret a spouses club's decision to exclude a same-sex spouse as sexual discrimination because the exclusion was based upon the spouse's sex," the memo said.
The Marine Corps guidance issued today is a breakthrough and a clear indication that General Amos meant what he said when he promised Marines would lead the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Secretary Panetta should use his authority immediately to bring consistency across the services with regard to this issue and in doing so, a greater measure of equity to gay and lesbian service members and their families.
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