In a striking show of support for World AIDS Day, Apple in Australia has changed the colour of its logo to red at the flagship Sydney store. The tinted iconic logo illuminated a rainy George Street late on Sunday evening, as onlookers watched on, curious as to what was happening. It is the first store in the world to light up in a show of commitment to the (RED) AIDS initiative, that is fighting for an AIDS-free future. Apple will then change the colour of its logo across key stores in Japan, Hong Kong, China, Europe and the United States, as the various timezones tick into Monday. Apple announced on Nov. 26 that the campaign also includes the ability to purchase 24 apps with exclusive (RED) content until Dec. 7; all proceeds go directly to The Global Fund to fight AIDS. In addition, Apple has committed to donating a percentage of sales at its retail and online stores worldwide on one of the company's biggest shopping days of the year — Cyber Monday on Dec. 1 — which coincides with World AIDS Day.
Hundreds of people danced, sang and cheered in a gay pride parade in India's capital on Sunday, the first since the country's top court reinstated a ban on gay sex in the world's largest democracy. Multi-coloured balloons, masquerade masks and wigs, a huge rainbow flag and a St Bernard dog ushered in the seventh Delhi Queer Pride parade, with many shaking their hips to drum beats. Participants chanting "Azaadi" (freedom) and shouting slogans such as "I'm gay, that's OK" carried banners and placards demanding their right to love. In December, India's Supreme Court threw out a 2009 ruling by a lower court that had decriminalised gay sex, saying only parliament could repeal Section 377 of India's penal code which bans sex against the order of nature. The British colonial-era law is widely interpreted to mean homosexual sex, and can be punished with up to 10 years in jail. Many choose to hide their sexuality for fear of discrimination.
Q: Larry, does the President have any reaction to the announcement—the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, that AIDS is now an epidemic and have over 600 cases?They still thought it was pretty funny a year later: June 13, 1983:
MR. SPEAKES: What’s AIDS?
Q: Over a third of them have died. It’s known as “gay plague.” (Laughter.) No, it is. I mean it’s a pretty serious thing that one in every three people that get this have died. And I wondered if the President is aware of it?
MR. SPEAKES: I don’t have it. Do you? (Laughter.)
Q: No, I don’t.
MR. SPEAKES: You didn’t answer my question.
Q: Well, I just wondered, does the President—
MR. SPEAKES: How do you know? (Laughter.)
Q: In other words, the White House looks on this as a great joke?
MR. SPEAKES: No, I don’t know anything about it, Lester.
Q: Does the President, does anybody in the White House know about this epidemic, Larry?
MR. SPEAKES: I don’t think so. I don’t think there’s been any—
Q: Nobody knows?
MR. SPEAKES: There has been no personal experience here, Lester.
Q: No, I mean, I thought you were keeping—
MR. SPEAKES: I checked thoroughly with Dr. Ruge this morning and he’s had no—(laughter)—no patients suffering from AIDS or whatever it is.
Q: The President doesn’t have gay plague, is that what you’re saying or what?
MR. SPEAKES: No, I didn’t say that.
Q: Didn’t say that?
MR. SPEAKES: I thought I heard you on the State Department over there. Why didn’t you stay there? (Laughter.)
Q: Because I love you, Larry, that’s why. (Laughter.)
MR. SPEAKES: Oh, I see. Just don’t put it in those terms, Lester. (Laughter.)
Q: Oh, I retract that.
MR. SPEAKES: I hope so.
Q: It’s too late.
Q: Larry, does the President think that it might help if he suggested that the gays cut down on their "cruising"? (Laughter.) What? I didn't hear your answer, Larry.The laughs just kept on coming: December 11, 1984:
MR. SPEAKES: I just was acknowledging your interest—
Q: You were acknowledging but—
MR. SPEAKES: —interest in this subject.
Q: —you don't think that it would help if the gays cut down on their cruising—it would help AIDS?
MR. SPEAKES: We are researching it. If we come up with any research that sheds some light on whether gays should cruise or not cruise, we'll make it available to you. (Laughter.)
Q: Back to fairy tales.
MR. SPEAKES: Lester's beginning to circle now. He's moving in front. (Laughter.) Go ahead.Now go read Gabrielle's story about what it was they all found so funny.
Q: Since the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta—(laughter)—reports—
MR. SPEAKES: This is going to be an AIDS question.
Q: —that an estimated—
MR. SPEAKES: You were close.
Q: Well, look, could I ask the question, Larry?
MR. SPEAKES: You were close.
Q: An estimated 300,000 people have been exposed to AIDS, which can be transmitted through saliva. Will the President, as Commander-in-Chief, take steps to protect Armed Forces food and medical services from AIDS patients or those who run the risk of spreading AIDS in the same manner that they forbid typhoid fever people from being involved in the health or food services?
MR. SPEAKES: I don't know.
Q: Could you—Is the President concerned about this subject, Larry—
MR. SPEAKES: I haven't heard him express—
Q: —that seems to have evoked so much jocular—
MR. SPEAKES:—concern.
Q: —reaction here? I—you know—
Q: It isn't only the jocks, Lester.
Q: Has he sworn off water faucets—
Q: No, but, I mean, is he going to do anything, Larry?
MR. SPEAKES: Lester, I have not heard him express anything on it. Sorry.
Q: You mean he has no—expressed no opinion about this epidemic?
MR. SPEAKES: No, but I must confess I haven't asked him about it. (Laughter.)
Q: Would you ask him Larry?
MR. SPEAKES: Have you been checked? (Laughter.)
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Strain Out Whatever's Inessential | November 30, 2014
Zazen [meditation] and poetry are both studies of the mind. I find
the internal pressure exerted by emotion and by a koan to be similar in
surprising and unpredictable ways. Zen is a wonderful sieve through
which to pour a poem. It strains out whatever’s inessential.
- Chase Twichell, "The Ghost of Eden" |
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Grief Bringing Us Home | November 28, 2014
It is our grief / heavy, relentless, / trudging / us, however
resistant, / to the decaying and / rotten / bottom of things: / our
grief bringing / us home.
- Alice Walker, "Turning Madness into Flowers" |
Earlier today, Representative Holly Raschein (R- Key Largo) and Democratic Whip Senator Joseph Abruzzo (D- Boynton Beach) filed legislation in the Florida House and Senate respectively that would prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) in employment, housing and public accommodations. Known as the Florida Competitive Workforce Act (FCWA), the legislation would amend Chapter 760 of the Florida State Statutes that currently prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap or marital status to include sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The bill would add protections for more than 536,000 LGBT adults living in Florida. Despite overwhelming public support and the passage of local equal rights ordinances throughout the state, there is no statewide law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida,” said Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida.The map above shows the states that presently provide employment and housing protections. The darker-shaded states include gender identity as well as sexual orientation. For a slightly different map that depicts public accommodation protections, click here.
A
friend wrote: "Yesterday during the celebration of the Day of the
Covenant, the issue of homosexuality popped up during a talk citing how
America is legalizing marriage for gays, state by state. The person
giving the talk said this is wrong and that what keeps the Baha'is
united from these negative forces is the […]
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LOOK: Large Study Finds 'Pretty Good Indication' Of Genetic Link To HomosexualityAnd they seem to have found an evolutionary case that supports same-sex relationships and marriage, even finding them advantageous.
Progesterone is also known as a “social” hormone – it is produced mainly in the ovaries in women and in the adrenal glands in men, and encourages a person to engage with others in a positive way.Fleischman adds that "the research suggests that having exclusively heterosexual thoughts is a disadvantage – it’s better to be a little bit attracted to the opposite sex."
They asked a group of participants questions such as "The idea of kissing a person of the same sex is sexually arousing to me," and: "If someone of the same sex made a pass at me I would be disgusted”. They compared the answers to the level of progesterone in the blood.
The results, published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour, show that the people with higher levels of the hormone are indeed more inclined to have homoerotic thoughts.
Heterosexual men and women, for example, were more open to the idea of engaging in homosexual behaviour when progesterone was high. Men also produced more of the hormone and felt more homosexual if they were reminded of a societal need to be friendly with other males.
