Via JMG: Cher Turns Down Sochi Oympics Gig

 

Cher, seen above performing in June to 10,000 screaming gay men at the NYC Pride Pier Dance, has rejected an offer to appear at the Sochi Olympics. She tells Maclean's: "I can’t name names but my friend called who is a big oligarch over there, and asked me if I’d like to be an ambassador for the Olympics and open the show. I immediately said no. I want to know why all of this gay hate just exploded over there. He said the Russian people don’t feel the way the government does."

Labels: Cher, gay icons, Russia, Sochi Olympics

Reposted from Joe

Via GayPolitics Report:

Russian leader criticized by Pelosi

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday that she hoped LGBT people were seen by Vladimir Putin as "God's children," a reference to a line in a New York Times op-ed by Putin this week in which the Russian president stated "God created us equal." Separately, the new president of the International Olympic Committee, who received a call from Putin after his election, said the two did not discuss Russia's new anti-gay laws, adding that the IOC would develop a response to those who seek to protest the laws while participating in the upcoming winter games in Sochi. BuzzFeed (9/12), Chicago Tribune (tiered subscription model) (9/10), The New Civil Rights Movement (9/12)
 

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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 13, 2013

Life and Death

Life and death, as my teacher used to point out, are just different names for different states. These are not permanent states. If we have to give it a name, Life with a capital "L" is the basic reality. Ours is not an inert universe, it's an alive universe; so what we call birth and death are just temporary states, temporary transformations, names for our true self at one time, and in one situation.

- Philip Kapleau Roshi, "Life with a Capital ‘L’”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through September 14, 2013
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Tricycle Daily Dharma September 12, 2013

Our Own Salvation

We don’t just seek our own salvation—we are only fully happy when we can be born together with all others. No one is left behind by Amida, no one is left out. This does not sound like the sort of society that we live in today, but it does give us something to aspire to.

- Jeff Wilson, "Come Together"

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Tricycle Daily Dharma September 11, 2013

Power to Shape the Present

Do what you can to help the living, and dedicate the merit of your practice to the dead. We may be powerless to change the past, but we do have the power to shape the present and the future by what we do, moment to moment, right now. And in maintaining our intention to be as skillful as possible in thought, word, and deed, we’ll find the only true refuge there is.

- Thanissaro Bhikkhu "What We've Been Practicing For"

Read the entire article in the 9/11 Special Section through September 12, 2013
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Via GayPolitics Report: New Mexico Supreme Court to hear marriage equality case

New Mexico Supreme Court to hear marriage equality case
The New Mexico Supreme Court agreed Friday to hold a hearing next month to consider whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry in the state. Clerks from all 33 of the state's counties requested the court address the matter, which has gained attention since eight counties in the state, including the three most populous, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The hearing is scheduled for Oct. 23, and a decision is expected shortly thereafter. NBC News/Reuters (9/6), Albuquerque Journal (N.M.) (subscription required) (9/7), Talking Points Memo/TPMLivewire blog (9/9)

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 10, 2013

On the Cushion

We all have cherished hopes about what our meditation practice should look like. However, the point is not to achieve some model or ideal but to be aware of all the different states that we experience. That’s a difficult message to believe, and somehow we need to hear it again and again.

- Sharon Salzberg, “Sticking with It”

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Via JMG: Sochi Olympics Head Asks IOC To Stop Bad Press About Russia's Anti-Gay Laws

The head of the Sochi Olympics yesterday asked the IOC for help in squashing the international headlines about Russia's anti-gay laws.

Sochi organizing chief Dmitry Chernyshenko was asked at the IOC general assembly about the possible impact of the legislation that bans gay "propaganda." He said the Russian government had made clear the law would not affect the games, and he urged the IOC to convey the message to "those who are still trying to speculate on this very transparent and very clear topic." "It's very important to have your support to stop this campaign and this speculation regarding this issue," Chernyshenko said. Chernyshenko reiterated that the law doesn't ban homosexuality in any way and "doesn't contradict any element of the Olympic Charter." He noted that President Vladimir Putin has assured that the Russian constitution "guarantees the equality of rights and freedom for everybody" in the country, including guests, visitors, athletes, fans and the Olympic family.

(Tipped by JMG reader Deanna)

Labels: IOC, LGBT rights, Russia, Sochi Olympics

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Same-Sex Marriage Shows The Genius Of The US Constitution

Speaking on Friday in Philadelphia, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that growing acceptance of same-sex marriage demonstrates the genius of the US Constitution.

"So I see the genius of our Constitution, and of our society, is how much more embracive we have become than we were at the beginning," Ginsburg said in a far-ranging discussion of her work at the National Constitution Center, steps from the nation's founding at Independence Hall. Ginsburg, 80, gave no hint she would wind down her judicial career anytime soon, noting that the fall docket includes such important issues as campaign finance limits and affirmative action. And, despite her sharp ideological differences with some colleagues, including close friend Antonin Scalia, she said their work environment remains cordial.

Last week Ginsburg became the first Justice to officiate at a gay wedding.

Labels: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, U.S. Constitution

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 9, 2013

Fearless

Fearlessness is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to walk into it. When I walk into my fear, practice there, sit upright in the middle of it, completely open to the experience, with no expectation of the outcome, anything is possible. When our circumstances look impossible or terrifying, there is a way.

- Judith Randall, "The Hidden Lamp"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through September 10, 2013
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Jóhann Jóhannsson - Free the Mind

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Tricycle Daily Dharma September 8, 2013

Get Up Where You Fell Down

In Genjokoan, Dogen writes, 'Those who have great realization of delusion are buddhas.' The place where you get to be Buddha, so to speak, is in delusion, and there’s plenty of that to go around. You get up where you fall down. You don’t get up somewhere else. It’s where you fall down that you establish your practice.

- Ryokan Steve Weintraub, "Umbrella Man"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through September 9, 2013
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 7, 2013

Every Time a Good Time

A hundred flowers blossom in spring, the moon shines in autumn, there is a fresh breeze in summer, and there is snow in winter. If your mind isn’t occupied with trivial matters, every time is a good time.

- Wumen Huikai, "Zen Basics"

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Via JMG: RUSSIA: President Obama Meets With LGBT Activists In St. Petersburg

The Washington Times reports:

President Obama told Russian gay rights leaders and other activists Friday that fighting for social justice helped him to get elected president. “I got my start as a community organizer,” Mr. Obama said during a meeting with activists in St. Petersburg, Russia. “I got elected president by engaging people at a grassroots level.” Mr. Obama, who has criticized Russia’s new anti-gay laws that outlaw “homosexual propaganda,” met with the director of a Russian LGBT network and others at the conclusion of the G-20 summit. He said the work of such activists is “critically important” to an open society.“I’m very proud of their work,” Mr. Obama said. “Part of good government is making sure we’re creating a space for civil society."

A spokesman for Russia's Human Rights First called today's meeting a "terrific first step."

Labels: activism, Barack Obama, LGBT rights, Russia

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: NEW MEXICO: Dona Ana County Clerk Requests Donations To Defend Marriage Suit Brought By GOP Lawmakers

 

New Mexico's Dona Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins is asking for donations to help defend the lawsuit brought against him by state GOP lawmakers.  Ellins was the state's first county clerk to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses and since he tipped that first domino, seven other county clerks have joined in, bringing marriage equality to a slight majority of New Mexico's citizens. The "Sharer" mentioned in the above graphic is GOP state Sen. William Sharer, who last week said that gay men should "stop whoring around and marry a woman."  From the above-linked donation site:

For months leading up to his decision, Mr. Ellins and a close circle of confidants conferred with a legal team to make sure that if the decision to issue licenses were challenged, a quick and effective defense could be mounted. Before the first license was issued on Aug. 21, more than $10,000 in legal fees already had been incurred.
Mr. Ellins is mindful that not all of his constituents agree with the principal or the ideology behind his decision, and he has stated his intention not to spend taxpayer funds defending his decision to issue licenses. Legal action has now been filed and legal costs will begin to climb rapidly.
We're asking you to support Mr. Ellins and his daring leadership by making a donation to help cover legal costs already incurred, as well as legal costs that may be lurking in the near future. In the event that we receive more contributions than we need to cover the actual costs, we'll donate the excess to an organization that will continue the fight for equal rights for all New Mexicans in every sense of the word.

I'm kicking in $20 with an added quote from Ellins himself: "Let me put it this way, some people have balls, some people don’t, alright?"

Labels: Lynn Ellins, marriage equality, New Mexico, straight allies

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 6, 2013

Everything is Dukkha

A lot of what meditation is teaching, a lot of what Buddhism is teaching, is basically how to acknowledge all of the traumas that are around us. That's what the Buddha was talking about with the word dukkha, that everything is dukkha.

- Mark Epstein, "Tricycle Talks: Buddhism & Psychotherapy"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through September 7, 2013
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Via JMG: BRITAIN: Gay Group Nominates Lively & Robertson For 2013 Bigot Of The Year

 

The British LGBT rights group Stonewall has short-listed Scott Lively and Pat Robertson for their 2013 Bigot Of The Year award.  Gay Star News recaps the three other nominees:

British vicar George Gebauer stunned parents Aimi and Victoria Leggett when he refused to baptize their baby because they both wanted to be named as the child’s mothers. Not only that, he claimed the two moms probably ‘pinched’ the baby and gay people were ‘imbalanced’. UKIP candidate Winston McKenzie is also nominated, for when he said same-sex couples adopting was like throwing ‘children to the dogs’. And historian Niall Ferguson made headlines for saying following the ideas of gay dead economist John Maynard Keynes was to blame for the current recession.

It seems obvious that Lively should be this year's selection.
RELATED: Stonewall's 2012 "winner" was Scotland's disgraced former Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who vehemently opposed same-sex marriage while secretly conducting homosexual affairs with fellow priests. Local Catholic officials demanded that Stonewall's public funding be yanked after they selected O'Brien. That didn't happen. Two major banks also threatened to cease their sponsorship of Stonewall, but that didn't happen either.

Labels: bigotry, Britain, gay death penalty, Pat Robertson, religion, Russia, Scott Lively, Stonewall UK, Uganda

Reposted from Joe

JMG Quote Of The Day - Lynn Ellins

"Let me put it this way, some people have balls, some people don’t, alright? Some of them truly believe that they need direction from on high and they’re not willing to do a constitutional analysis. Some of them are philosophically opposed so they wouldn’t do it unless they were brought to the shed and whacked." - Dona Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins, who started the ball rolling in New Mexico.

UPDATE: I've just been sent the lawsuit filed against Ellins by New Mexico GOP lawmakers.  Note that the first name is state Sen. William Sharer, who last week said that gay men need to "stop whoring around and marry a woman." Read the full lawsuit here.

Labels: LGBT rights, marriage equality, New Mexico, straight allies

Reposted from Joe

Via Tao & Zen Community Forum / FB:

Do not let pleasure distract you from meditation, from the way. Free yourself from pleasure and pain. For in craving pleasure or in nursing pain there is only sorrow. Go beyond likes and dislikes. Free yourself from attachment.

~Buddha,
Dhammapada

Tao & Zen Community Forum
https://www.facebook.com/groups/702381836444150/

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 5, 2013

For Peace

Why do I consider it so crucial to balance the outer aspects of nonviolence and compassion with the inner support of contemplative practice? Because in the end, all politics are local, and we cannot love life and humanity if we do not love each other, one on one.

- Lama Surya Das, "Why Sit?"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through September 6, 2013
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Buteyko Breathing 3 min clip

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Via Global Informer / FB:

Via JMG: Vladimir Putin: I'm Not Homophobic, I've Given Awards To Those People

Vladimir Putin: I'm Not Homophobic, I've Given Awards To Those People

"I assure you that I work with these people. I sometimes award them with state prizes or decorations for their achievements in various fields. We have absolutely normal relations, and I don’t see anything out of the ordinary here. They say that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a homosexual. Truth be told, we don’t love him because of that, but he was a great musician, and we all love his music. So what?" - Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking to the Associated Press.

Labels: Associated Press, LGBT rights, Russia, Vladimir Putin

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 4, 2013

On Silence

Silence arrests flight, so that in its refuge, the need to flee the chaos of noise diminishes. We let the world creep closer, we drop to our knees, as if to let the heart, like a small animal, get its legs on the ground.

- Barbara Hurd, "On Silence"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through September 5, 2013
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Tricycle Daily Dharma September 3, 2013

Our Fellow Muddlers

At our best, we muddle ahead together, hoping to get things right occasionally and trying not to do too much damage along the way. It is in the muddling that we find our humanity, and in doing so, if we are lucky, we find each other.

- Andrew Cooper, "Sex in the Sangha . . . Again"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through September 4, 2013
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Via JMG: KEY WEST: Rainbow Flags Fly As Diana Nyad Completes Swim From Cuba

 

Openly lesbian marathon swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, has just finished her swim from Cuba to Key West. Hundreds of people cheered Nyad's arrival as some in the crowd waved rainbow flags.

Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad became the first person to swim the treacherous waters from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage on Monday, arriving in Key West two days after starting her 110-mile trek. Nyad, 64, unsuccessfully tried to swim the Florida Strait four times, mostly recently in 2012. The New York City native’s latest journey began Saturday morning when she jumped from the seawall of the Hemingway Marina into the warm waters off Havana. As she closed in on the Key West shores, a couple of hundred people gathered on the beach to watch her make the final leg of the swim.

Nyad's first notable swim came in 1975 when she swam the 28 miles around Manhattan in under eight hours.

Labels: Cuba, Diana Nyad, gay athletes, Key West

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Headline Of The Day

Buzzfeed reports:

Following his cancellation of a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Barack Obama may infuriate the Kremlin further by meeting Russian human rights activists, including LGBT rights groups, during his upcoming trip to St Petersburg for the G20 summit. Four Russian non-governmental organizations told BuzzFeed Monday they had been invited to the meeting, scheduled for this Thursday at St. Petersburg’s Crowne Plaza Hotel. The groups include veteran human rights activists Lev Ponomarev and Lyudmila Alexeyeva, legal aid NGO director Pavel Chikov, and Coming Out, a St. Petersburg-based LGBT organization. Another local LGBT group, the LGBT Network, is believed to be attending, though director Igor Kochetkov declined to comment to BuzzFeed, saying that he had been “asked not to say anything.”

This should prove quite interesting.

Labels: Barack Obama, LGBT rights, Russia, Vladimir Putin

Reposted from Joe

Via Bizarro / FB:

Calling Out Vladimir Putin On Gay Olympics

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 2, 2013

Support for your Meditation

If you are not leading a morally upright life, you cannot expect to sit down on a little pillow and find yourself secluded from sense desires, secluded from unwholesome states of mind. If there is not sufficient morality, there is too much to desire, too much hate or fear, too much to worry about.

- Leigh Brasington, "A Mind Pure, Concentrated, and Bright"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through September 3, 2013
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JMG Quote Of The Day - Scott Lively

"Dear President Putin, On behalf of millions of Americans and Canadians who are concerned about the seemingly unstoppable spread of homosexuality in our countries and internationally, I wish to respectfully express my heartfelt gratitude that your nation has take a firm and unequivocal stand against this scourge by banning homosexualist propaganda in Russia. You have set an example of moral leadership that has shamed the governments of Western Europe and North America and inspired the peoples of the world. Already Lithuania, Moldova, Hungary and the Ukraine have begun to follow your principled example, and you have engendered real hope in the international pro-family movement that this destructive and degrading sexual agenda might finally begin to be brought to a halt across the globe." - Crackpot pastor Scott Lively, in a letter accompanying a copy of his book, The Pink Swastika, which Lively says is being translated into Russian and will contain a dedication to the Russian government.

Labels: Christian Love, Christianists, crackpots, gay death penalty, hate groups, lawsuits, religion, Russia, Scott Lively, Uganda, Vladimir Putin

Reposted by Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 31, 2013

Constant Okayness

It’s not impermanence per se, or even knowing we’re going to die, that is the cause of our suffering, the Buddha taught. Rather, it’s our resistance to the fundamental uncertainty of our situation. Our discomfort arises from all of our effort to put ground under our feet, to realize our dream of constant okayness.

- Pema Chödrön, "The Fundamental Ambiguity of Being Human"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through September 1, 2013
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What I want to be when I grow up: Daniel Orey at TEDxSacramento

Now with 100 hits and  Brazilian Portugese subtitles!

Via JMG: HRC's Chad Griffin Slams Sochi Sponsors

Image via Memeographs.

Labels: Chad Griffin, HRC, Russia, Sochi Olympics

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: IOC Responds To New York's LGBT Pols

The International Olympic Committee has responded to a letter sent them by New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and other local LGBT elected officials which asked the IOC to publicly condemn Russia's abuses of LGBT people.  Here's the IOC's response in full:

Dear representatives of the state and City of New York,  We would like to confirm receipt of your letter of 9 August to IOC President Rogge. Thank you for having shared with us your concerns and proposals on the important topic of LGBT rights in Russia in the context of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
The IOC agrees that the Olympic Games should be free of any kind of discrimination and I can reassure you that we work hard to make this a reality at each of the games. However, it is important to stress that the IOC remit is limited to the scope of the Games. For instance, the IOC cannot influence national legislation and has to respect the law of any host country.
In regard to Sochi 2014, the IOC is currently in close discussions with the highest government level in Russia and has received a number of assurances, but we are continuing the dialogue with Russian authorities on this important topic. As you will understand, it would be inappropriate and counterproductive to comment publicly on the details of the discussions while they are on-going.
However, we have widely communicated our position which was also published on our website at the end of July. Rest assured that the safety of athletes, spectators and others attending the Games remains a top priority for the IOC and we will continue to work to ensure that this will be the case in Sochi and future editions of the Games. I hope you find this background information helpful. Thank you for your important work and for your commitment to ensuring an environment free of discrimination.

The letter is signed by Christophe De Kepper, Director General of the IOC.

Labels: IOC, LGBT rights, Russia, Sochi Olympics

Reposted from Joe

A letter to the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith about Homosexuality, and his response

Via HRC / FB:

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 30, 2013

Good Anger

Anger that is motivated by compassion or a desire to correct social injustice, and does not seek to harm the other person, is a good anger that is worth having.

- The Dalai Lama, "The (Justifiably) Angry Marxist"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through August 31, 2013
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Via JMG: Queer Nation Responds To Coca-Cola

Yesterday Coca-Cola issued a statement declaring their support for the LGBT community after Queer Nation staged a protest in Times Square and denounced the company's sponsorship of the Sochi Olympics.  Today Queen Nation responds to Coca-Cola's statement via press release:

Coca-Cola made a horrendous error when it sponsored the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany. This company knows better and it must not sponsor any Olympic Games in Russia as long as Russia’s anti-gay laws remain in force. We also commend Coca-Cola for its Global Mutual Respect guidelines. Unfortunately, they are just that — guidelines. They are not binding. The guidelines close as follows:
“The Company reserves the right to amend this policy at any time. Nothing in this policy says or implies that a contract exists between the Company and its employees or that participation in this program is a guarantee of continued employment with The Coca-Cola Company.”
Coca-Cola’s U.S. non-discrimination policies and benefits packages are binding, and they are to be praised. That is why we demanded that Coca-Cola implement those policies worldwide. The LGBT community has won respect on its own since the 1969 Stonewall Riots. What we demand is equality before the law in every nation around the world. Coca-Cola cannot provide that, but it can and must extend its non-discrimination policies and benefits packages to all of its employees around the world.
And so we reiterate our demands.

Among those demands is a call for Coke to withdraw from sponsoring the Sochi Olympics and for the company to "publish and publicize its LGBT employment policies on its Russian website in Russian and on physical bulletin boards and websites at all Coca-Cola owned and operated facilities."

Labels: activism, business, Coca-Cola, LGBT rights, protests, Queer Nation, Russia, Sochi Olympics

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: CALIFORNIA: Appeals Court Upholds Law Banning "Ex-Gay" Torture For Minors

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the attempt to block California's law that bans "ex-gay" torture for minors.

In resolving two separate legal challenges to the new law, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the arguments of a group of therapists and families who sued to block its enforcement. The three-judge panel was unanimous in upholding the statute, the first of its kind in the nation.
"(It) does not violate the free speech rights of practitioners or minor patients, is neither vague nor overbroad and does not violate parents' fundamental rights," Judge Susan Graber wrote for the court.
The therapists and families sued over the ban, arguing that it violates the free speech rights of therapists to discuss gay conversion with young patients, and families argued that the law tramples on religious freedoms to seek therapy to convert their children from homosexuality. The law barred licensed mental health professionals from using the therapy on those under the age of 18.

Another big loss for the Liberty Counsel! Stand by for the sadz AND threats about SCOTUS.
UPDATE: Courtesy of JMG reader Joe, I've posted the full 42-page ruling to my Scribd account.
UPDATE II: The National Center For Lesbian Rights responds via press release.

NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter, who argued the case on behalf of Equality California in the Ninth Circuit, said: “This decision clears the way for this life-saving law to protect California youth from cruel and damaging practices that have been rejected by all leading medical and mental health professional organizations. The court of appeals ruled in very clear terms that state-licensed therapists do not have a constitutional right to engage in discredited practices that offer no health benefits and put LGBT youth at risk of severe harm, including depression and suicide. We thank Attorney General Kamala Harris, Deputy Attorney General Alexandra Robert Gordon, and the entire legal team at the California Department of Justice for their brilliant and tireless advocacy in defense of these vital new protections for LGBT youth.” “The court's decision today on Senate Bill 1172 is a major victory for anyone who cares about the well-being of our youth. It will directly impact the lives of thousands of young people by protecting them from this horrific practice," said John O’Connor, Equality California executive director. "We thank Sen. Ted Lieu for authoring this bill and Speaker John A. Perez for his bold leadership in getting the law passed."

Labels: brainwashing, California, child abuse, David Pickup, ex-gay, NARTH, Ninth Circuit Court., torture

reposted from Joe