The American public estimates on average that 23% of Americans are gay or lesbian, little changed from Americans' 25% estimate in 2011, and only slightly higher than separate 2002 estimates of the gay and lesbian population. These estimates are many times higher than the 3.8% of the adult population who identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in Gallup Daily tracking in the first four months of this year. The stability of these estimates over time contrasts with the major shifts in Americans' attitudes about the morality and legality of gay and lesbian relations in the past two decades. Whereas 38% of Americans said gay and lesbian relations were morally acceptable in 2002, that number has risen to 63% today. And while 35% of Americans favored legalized same-sex marriage in 1999, 60% favor it today.Only 9% of respondents estimated the LGBT population to be under 5%.
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Friday, May 22, 2015
Daily inspiration and practical advice
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The State of Pure Awakening
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Dismiss
all the thoughts which bother your mind. Train yourself during many
days, many months, many years, to retain this pure mind. One day, when
your empty mind has become crystallized, suddenly it will be illumined
by its own intrinsic wisdom. At that instant you will realize the state
of pure awakening.
- Sokei-an, "Return to Your Original State!" |
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Thursday, May 21, 2015
Daily inspiration and practical advice
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Fearless Generosity
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I
see a fearless generosity in the flowers and trees, in the way birds
sing out at dawn, in the steady drumming of the rain. As I grew older
and found I had things to protect, I forgot. I completely forgot that I
had always had enough in the first place. Now I am trying to learn this
once again?total abundance, nothing begrudged.
- Sallie Tisdale, "As If There Is Nothing to Lose" |
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Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Daily inspiration and practical advice
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On Tuesday morning, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California will introduce a federal bill to ban commercial efforts to change people’s sexual orientation or gender identity — often called conversion therapy. “The public views conversion therapy as quackery, as something that harms people,” Lieu told BuzzFeed News on Monday afternoon, just after landing back in D.C. from California. “Eventually, I believe Congress will catch up to that, but you do need to start somewhere, so that’s why we’re introducing this legislation.” He faces an uphill battle: The legislation, which would label conversion therapy an “unfair or deceptive act or practice” that would be illegal under the Federal Trade Commission Act, is being introduced with less than three dozen co-sponsors — all of whom are Democrats. Lieu does, however, have a powerful ally in his effort. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has signed on as an original co-sponsor of the bill.While a state Senator in California, Lieu was behind his state's successful ban on the "ex-gay" torture of those under age 18. His federal bill, however, would not limit the ban to minors. Lieu tells Buzzfeed, "Fraud is fraud, whether you practice it on a 16-year-old or a 45-year-old." The SPLC is currently suing an "ex-gay" group in New Jersey on the same grounds.
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Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Daily inspiration and practical advice
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"Get-What-You-Want" Buddhism
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Wearing her black robe with her signature white lace collar, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg presided over the marriage on Sunday afternoon of Michael Kahn, the longtime artistic director of the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington, and Charles Mitchem, who works at an architecture firm in New York.I guess it's too late for the wingnuts to demand that she double-extra recuse. (Tipped by JMG reader Ed)
The gilded setting was elegant: Anderson House in the Embassy Row neighborhood, the headquarters in Washington of the Society of the Cincinnati, a club for the descendants of the French and American soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War. During the ceremony, the couple slipped black and gold Harry Winston rings onto each other’s fingers.
But the most glittering moment for the crowd came during the ceremony. With a sly look and special emphasis on the word “Constitution,” Justice Ginsburg said that she was pronouncing the two men married by the powers vested in her by the Constitution of the United States. No one was sure if she was emphasizing her own beliefs or giving a hint to the outcome of the case the Supreme Court is considering whether to decide if same-sex marriage is constitutional. But the guests began applauding loudly, delighted either way.
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The march, organised by by the Movement of Integration and Sexual Liberation (MOVILH) and the Movement for Sexual Diversity (Mums), ended at the presidential palace of La Moneda, with speeches from various activists and political leaders. The demonstrators urged the government to implement the Gender Identity Bill, currently being debated in the Senate. They also recalled the murders of five people in 2014 because of their sexual orientation with a short ceremony during the march. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet signed a bill into law recognising civil unions between same-sex couples on 13 April, while another piece of legislation on gay marriage. The LGBT movement in Chile has made great advances in recent years, they now are protected by anti-discrimination laws covering employment, gay people also can serve openly in the Army, gay men are allowed to donate blood and lesbian couples can have access to in-vitro fertilisation treatments.RELATED: Last month MOVILH was sued by Opus Dei over their ownership of the URL OpusGay.cl.
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"The government supports the fight for equality and we will adopt measures providing equal marriage rights for all," Cristo said at the Andes University in Bogota on Thursday, as reported by Efe. He said he would not submit to the mercy of the majority on matters related to human rights, as 'respect for equal rights is not optional'. In July 2011, Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled Congress had two years to legalize same-sex marriage or an equivalent of marriage. As Congress failed to mass a marriage equality bill, the courts began approving marriages themselves. But then, the country's Inspector General requested the Court invalidate all the marriages approved in Colombia. Only 30 same-sex couples were given a license.Cristo claims that Colombia's leading political party, the National Unity Coalition, is behind him. The party presently holds 60 out of 266 seats in the national legislature.
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