Via JMG: MARYLAND: Bill Introduced To Ban "Ex-Gay" Torture Of LGBT Youth

Maryland Del. Jon Cardin has introduced a bill to ban the "ex-gay" torture and brainwashing of minors. Via Washington Blade:

“There are numerous gay conversion therapy providers as well as organizations like the infamous International Healing Foundation located right here in Maryland advocating for what I consider very harmful conversion therapies,” said Cardin, noting Prince George’s County Public Schools last year stopped using an anti-bullying curriculum that included references to the Bowie-based organization and other “ex-gay” groups. “To me it is incredibly repulsive.” International Healing Foundation Director Christopher Doyle criticized Cardin and others who seek to ban conversion therapy to minors in Maryland. “This is not being fueled by mental health advocates,” Doyle told the Blade on Tuesday. “This is being done by political organizations that are more interested in promoting a political ideology as opposed to clients’ rights.”

Similar bills have been approved in New Jersey and California. In November the anti-gay Liberty Counsel lost a court battle to overturn New Jersey's ban.
Truth Wins Out reacts via press release:

If Delegate Cardin's bill passes, it will render a blow to the "ex-gay" industry nationwide, as one of the worst organizations advocating for such "therapy," the International Healing Foundation, is based in Maryland. IHF Executive Director Richard Cohen was banned from the American Counseling Association for life in 2002 after multiple ethics violations, and advocates "therapeutic practices" which involve beating pillows with tennis rackets in order to heal anger toward one's mother, followed by sessions where he cuddles his male patients in order to recreate a father's love. IHF Director Christopher Doyle admitted that he tried to molest little girls in his mother's daycare when he was ten, a disturbing fact considering IHF's focus on youth and Doyle's status as an ill-credentialed counselor. Another "ex-gay" activist, Greg Quinlan of the Maryland-based PFOX, claims to heal LGBT people, but when he's around like-minded people, is more inclined to practice verbal gay-bashing than healing, telling an anti-gay conference in 2010 that he was never a "limp-wristed, flaming faggot," a statement revelatory of his true feelings about the LGBT community.

Labels: brainwashing, Christopher Doyle, Democrats, ex-gay, LGBT youth, Maryland, religion, torture

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: GOP House Rep. Randy Weber Introduces Bill To Ban Feds From Recognizing Out-Of-State Same-Sex Marriages

Freshman U.S. House Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), a former HVAC repairman who won the seat vacated by retiring fellow crackpot Ron Paul, has introduced a bill he calls the State Marriage Defense Act. The bill appears to limit the federal government to only recognizing same-sex marriages that are conducted legally in the state where the married couple resides. From Weber's website:

The State Marriage Defense Act will simply require federal agencies to look to a person’s legal residence when determining marital status and application of federal law. The 10th Amendment was established to protect state sovereignty and individual rights from being seized by the Federal Government. For too long, however, the Federal Government has slowly been eroding state’s rights by promulgating rules and regulations through federal agencies. I drafted the State Marriage Defense Act of 2014 to help restore the 10th Amendment, affirm the authority of states to define and regulate marriage, as well as, provide clarity to federal agencies seeking to determine who qualifies as a spouse for the purpose of federal law. By requiring that the Federal Government defer to the laws of a person’s state of legal residence in determining marital status, we can protect states’ constitutionally established powers from the arbitrary overreach of unelected bureaucrats.

KKK-affiliated hate group leader Tony Perkins is cheering:

Family Research Council strongly supported the Defense of Marriage Act, and disagreed with the Court's decision in Windsor. However, if the federal government is required to defer to state determinations of which of their residents are "married," it must defer to those determinations in all fifty states – not just those that have redefined marriage. The State Marriage Defense Act is consistent with the ruling in Windsor, which reiterated that states have the "historic and essential authority to define the marital relation." The current Obama administration policy is doing the very thing which the Court condemned – "creating two contradictory marriage regimes within the same State."  The State Marriage Defense Act serves to protect state definitions of marriage against what the Court called efforts "to put a thumb on the scales and influence a state's decision as to how to shape its own marriage laws."

I can't yet quote from Weber's bill as it hasn't yet been posted to the House website. The only previous House legislation authored by Weber is a failed 2013 resolution which declared that "extensive scientific studies" have found the Keystone pipeline to be "environmentally sound." Which means, of course, that the FRC surely had a hand in writing today's bill. Weber has a 100% approval rating from the virulently anti-gay Heritage Foundation. He will appear tonight on Tony Perkins' nationally syndicated radio show.

UPDATE: The Family Research Council just published a petition for their supporters to call on other members of the House to co-sponsor Weber's bill.

Labels: assholery, Christianists, FRC, GOP, hate groups, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Randy Weber, religion, teabaggers, Texas, Tony Perkins, U.S. House

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via the Other 98% / FB:

'Define Me' - Ryan Amador (featuring Jo Lampert)

Via HimalayaCrafts / FB:

"Silence is an empty space, space is the home of the awakened mind." - Buddha

 

 

Via Being Liberal / FB:

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 9, 2014

How Ignorance Causes Suffering

This is what we call ignorance: not recognizing the void nature of phenomena and assuming that phenomena possess the attribute of true existence although in fact they are devoid of it. With ignorance comes attachment to all that is pleasant to the ego as well as hatred and repulsion for all that is unpleasant. In that way the three poisons—ignorance, attachment, and hatred—come into being. Under the influence of these three poisons, the mind becomes like a servant running here and there. This is how the suffering of samsara is built up. It all derives from a lack of discernment and a distorted perception of the nature of phenomena.

- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, “An Investigation of the Mind”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 10, 2014
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Via JMG: German Soccer Star Comes Out

Via BBC Sports:

Former Aston Villa midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger has revealed he is gay. The 31-year-old, who won 52 caps for Germany and also played for West Ham and Everton, made the announcement in newspaper Die Zeit. He is the most prominent footballer to publicly reveal his homosexuality and said it was "a good time" to do so. "I'm coming out about my homosexuality because I want to move the discussion about homosexuality among professional sportspeople forwards," he added. The midfielder said he has only realised "in the past few years" that he would "prefer to live together with another man", adding: "I've never been ashamed of the way I am."

Hitzlsperger retired last year due to injuries. (Tipped by JMG reader John)

Labels: coming out, gay athletes, Germany, sports

posted by Joe Jervis

The DOs and DON'Ts of PRAYER

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 8, 2014

The Self’s Misconception

In Pali, the language of the oldest written Buddhist teachings, the belief in some core notion of self is called sakkaya-ditthi; this is sometimes translated as ‘personality belief.’ It’s said to be the most dangerous of all the defilements, more dangerous than greed or even hatred, because these are rooted in this mistaken belief. This wrong view of self is central to how we go about in the world, and all kinds of unskillful actions come out of it. The aim of the practice, central to everything we’re doing, is to free the mind from this misconception.

- Joseph Goldstein, “Everyday Meditation”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 9, 2014
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Probably Gay, the Homophobia Song - Katie Goodman's Broad Comedy

Via HimalayaCrafts / FB:

"The man who conquers himself is superior to him who conquers a thousand men in battle." - Buddha

 

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 7, 2014

Dualistic Divisions

We divide our world into me/you, friend/enemy, desirable/ undesirable, fulfilling/frustrating, and so on. It’s a natural process, but a very arbitrary, utterly subjective one. Somehow we’re able to ignore this last fact. We’re in dualistic division mode, and we act on that; all sorts of emotions come into play, and we act on them. We reinforce the tendencies—Buddhists might say, we create or compound karma—that make the illusion thicker, stickier, more solid. And the further we are from truth, the more elusive happiness becomes.

- Pamela Gayle White, “The Pursuit of Happiness”

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Via Gay Proud / LGBT INCLUSIVE / FB

JMG Editorial Of The Day

From the editors of the Salt Lake Tribune:

Same-sex attraction, far from being unnatural, has been around since the dawn of time, and in recent decades mainstream America has come to accept it as something other than deviant. The American Psychiatric Association has considered homosexuality a normal sexual variation, not a mental disorder, since 1973. The Supreme Court in 2003 made same-sex sexual activity legal in every state, and then last June the court took that step of saying same-sex couples have a due-process right to marry. Younger people by and large take a more libertarian view of same-sex relationships, and that is what has fueled the nation’s shift since Utah passed its ban in 2004.
There are 32 states with laws still in effect banning gay marriage, but only one state has passed such a law since 2006. Since that time seven state legislatures have passed laws to allow same-sex marriage, and three more states did so through popular vote. Court decisions have struck down the laws in another seven states, including Utah. One of those states is California, where state officials stopped defending their same-sex marriage ban when it became obvious where the future lies. Utah’s ban passed with 66 percent of voters approving it, but it’s a legitimate question whether it would pass today if another election were held. Even the LDS Church has gone from actively participating in the marriage wars to simply explaining its own beliefs and practices.
The tide has turned. It’s time for Utah to turn with it.

(Tipped by JMG reader Matthew)

Labels: marriage equality, Salt Lake City, Utah

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: The Friendly Atheist Reviews Linda Harvey

Last week Linda Harvey screamed that Amazon didn't pull her book because it advocates the torture and brainwashing of LGBT children, SHE pulled it herself because of nasty reviews spurred by evil gay bloggers.  The Friendly Atheist has read Harvey's book and today posted a review. An excerpt:

Harvey says that “hundreds” of organizations in the U.S. can help gay people work through their feelings and turn straight, and that plenty of “converted homosexuals” will tell you that it really works. Never mind that the most prominent ex-gay organization Exodus International shut its doors and its president said homosexuality is unchangeable — Harvey says he’s not a good representative of the ex-gay movement because “there seems to be a lot of confusion going on in his life.” If you insist…
Later, she defends parents who kick their gay children out of their homes. She suggests that children whose parents don’t try to shield them from homosexuality will commit suicide. She says that it’s the responsibility of churches to try to warn people about homosexuality. She suggests that gay teenagers are the victims of broken homes or sexual abuse. She waxes poetic on Sodom and Gomorrah. And finally, she says that God is the answer to a troubled life of homosexuality.

Hit the link and read the full review.

 

Labels: Amazon, assholery, bigotry, brainwashing, crackpots, evil, ex-gay, hate groups, LGBT youth, Linda Harvey, religion, torture

Reposted from Joe Jervis

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 6, 2014

The Four Reminders

We all know that we’re going to die, but we don’t know it in our guts. If we did, we would practice as if our hair were on fire. One way to swallow the bitter truth of mortality and impermanence—and get it into our guts—is to chew on the four reminders.

- Andrew Holecek, “The Supreme Contemplation”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 7, 2014
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Via JMG: The Man Who Invented San Francisco

The Days Of Anna Madrigal, the ninth and final installment of Armistead Maupin's legendary Tales Of The City series, will be published later this month. Yesterday the Guardian heaped praise upon Maupin. An excerpt:

Quentin Crisp once introduced him with the boast: "This is Mr Maupin. He invented San Francisco." More importantly, Maupin virtually invented the mainstreaming of gay life and helped the world see that "the gay experience" was nothing lesser or greater than human experience. Maupin came to a realisation of his homosexuality relatively late. He was 30 when he came out, the same year he began writing. Taking stock of himself the way he would one of his characters, he once observed: "He had kept his heart (and his libido) under wraps for most of his life, only to discover that the thing he feared the most had actually become a source of great comfort and inspiration." At the time he began writing, he saw gay fiction as both bleak and myopic. This was an era when Truman Capote still equated his homosexuality with his alcoholism and a climate in which Gore Vidal could claim: "There were homosexual acts, but not homosexual people." Maupin, however, had discovered a joyful fraternity and welcoming community in the bath houses and nightclubs of the city and decided, as he put it, to "[allow] a little air into the situation by actually placing gay people in the context of the world at large".

Read the full article. The book is available for pre-order on Amazon.

Labels: Armistead Maupin, gay writers, LGBT History, San Francisco

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 4, 2014

Language in Practice

The first three practices of the eightfold path are right view, right intention, and right speech. These make right conduct possible, and when there is right conduct, there can be meditation practice and mindfulness, which lead to wisdom, thereby reinforcing right view. So from the first, the Buddha saw that our language conditions our spirituality through our views, intentions, and uttered words, and that training in an increased awareness of this process has to be the starting point for spiritual practice.

- Zoketsu Norman Fischer, “Beyond Language”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 5, 2014
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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 5, 2014

Walk Like A Buddha

Walking is an important form of Buddhist meditation. It can be a very deep spiritual practice. But when the Buddha walked, he walked without effort. He just enjoyed walking. He didn’t have to strain, because when you walk in the practice mindfulness, you are in touch with the all the wonders of life within you and around you. This is the best way to practice, with the appearance of nonpractice. You don’t make any effort, you don’t struggle, you just enjoy walking, but it’s very deep. ‘My practice,’ the Buddha said, ‘is the nonpractice, the attainment of nonattainment.’

- Thich Nhat Hanh, “Walk Like A Buddha”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 6, 2014
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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 3, 2014

The Cleaning

The very distinguished abbot of a huge Zen monastery wrote this little article that said, ‘In Zen, there are only three things. First, cleaning. Second, chanting. And third, devotion. That’s all.’ Many Americans go to Zen hoping to get enlightened, but they don’t want to do the cleaning.

- Taitetsu Unno, “Even Dewdrops Fall”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 4, 2014
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Via JMG: CALIFORNIA: Rose Bowl Parade's Gay Wedding Float Wins Award For "Color And Color Harmony"

 

Well, of course it did. During the 30 seconds that the float was onscreen during NBC's coverage, the two grooms atop the wedding cake waved, beamed, held hands, and generally seemed to be having a wonderful time. Parade host Al Roker: "A sincere shout-out to the newlyweds and the happy couples on the float." It's the end of America, people!

Labels: California, gay weddings, Rose Bowl Parade

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Carl Siciliano On Phil Robertson

 

Via Memeographs.

Labels: Ali Forney Center, Carl Siciliano, Duck Dynasty, homelessness, LGBT youth, NYC, Phil Robertson, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Coulter: I Recommend Capital Punishment For Pro-Gay Television Pundits

"We know A&E is not the government. It may shock your tiny little pea brains, but free speech existed even before we had a Constitution. Free speech is generally considered a desirable goal even apart from its inclusion in the nation's founding document. Suppose TV networks were capitulating to angry Muslims by suspending people for saying they opposed Sharia law? Would that prompt any of you pusillanimous hacks to finally take a position on the state of free speech in America? Or would you demand that we stop the presses so you could roll out your little cliche about a television network not being the government? A&E didn't dare cross the gays, never anticipating that the Robertson family wouldn't back down -- and the rest of the country wouldn't, either. Even non-Christians can have only contempt for the network's utter cravenness in suspending Robertson for stating basic Christian doctrine. The first time someone stands up to a bully and the sky doesn't fall, the tyranny is over. The gay mafia was out of control, drunk with power. This time, they got their wings clipped. Christians, 1; Angry gays: minus 1,000. Cliche-spouting hack TV pundits: I recommend capital punishment." - Ann Coulter, writing for Townhall.

 

Labels: Ann Coulter, assholism, crackpots, Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson, reality shows, religion, Tea Party, teabaggers, television, Townhall

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 2, 2014

Clear Seeing

One of the main pursuits of Buddhism is to bridge the gap between the way things appear and the way things are. That approach does not come just from a curiosity to investigate phenomena. It arises from the understanding that an incorrect perception of reality inevitably leads to suffering.

- Matthieu Ricard, "Why Meditate?"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 3, 2014
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Tricycle Daily Dharma December 31, 2013

Skillful Intention

It’s all about intention. If your intention is skillful, imbued with compassion, the quality of your effort will be skillful. And you can develop skillful intention.

- Peter Doobinin, “Skillful Effort”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 1, 2014
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Tricycle Daily Dharma December 25, 2013

Planting the Seeds of Happiness

We spend decades of our lives wanting happiness, peace, and contentment—without sowing the causes for that aspiration. Why did we not plant the seeds of the fruition we aspire to? Buddhist logic says that if you plant a lemon seed and pray for a mango fruit, logically it won’t work. But this is what we do: we wish for happiness without planting the seeds of happiness.

- Khandro Rinpoche, “Planting the Seeds of Happiness”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 26, 2013
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Tricycle Daily Dharma December 24, 2013

True Generosity

The practice of true generosity is rare; it is an exchange in which both giver and receiver are enriched.

- Judy Lief, "The Power of Receiving"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 25, 2013
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Tricycle Daily Dharma December 22, 2013

Starting from Here

Understanding and accepting who you really are right now is as important as the commitment to become someone more open and generous. Whatever the quality of motivation, when we intentionally reach out to others in giving, some degree of transformation occurs.

- Dale S. Wright, “The Bodhisattva’s Gift”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 23, 2013
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Via JMG: Updated Marriage Map

 

Wikipedia's editors are already on it, even though Utah may not stay blue in the short term. 

Labels: marriage equality, United States, Utah

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: INDIA: Government Asks Supreme Court To Review Anti-Homosexuality Law

The Indian government yesterday petitioned the Supreme Court to review its decision to reinstate the criminalization of homosexuality.

The government asked the court to review its order saying it believed it "violated the principle of equality". There has been outrage over the ruling seen as a huge blow to gay rights. There have been street protests and many activists and even government ministers have criticised it. "The government has filed the review petition on Section 377 in the Supreme Court today. Let's hope the right to personal choices is preserved," Law Minister Kapil Sibal tweeted on Friday. In its petition filed in the Supreme Court, the government says "the position of the central government on this issue has been that the Delhi High Court verdict... is correct". The Supreme Court's earlier order was widely criticised in India. The president of the ruling Congress party Sonia Gandhi described it as "an archaic, unjust law" and Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the ruling had taken India "back to 1860".

Very encouraging.

 

Labels: homosexuality, India, LGBT rights

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 21, 2013

Basho on Haiku

If you describe a green willow in the spring rain it will be excellent, but haiku needs more homely images, such as a crow picking snails in a rice paddy.

- Basho (trans. Robert Hass), "Swamp Marigold"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 22, 2013
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Via Wipe Out Homophobia / FB:

 

See / Listen also: 

Henry Rollins - KCRW 89.9 FM | Internet Public Radio Station

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Tricycle Daily Dharma December 19, 2013

Spreading Merit

When a candle is lit in a dark room, it illuminates the room to some extent, but its power is limited. But if you use the same candle to light another candle, the total brightness increases. If you continue to do this, you can fill the room with brilliant illumination. The idea of transferring merit to others is like this. If we keep our own light selfishly hidden, it will only provide a limited amount of illumination.

- Master Sheng Yen, “Rich Generosity”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 20, 2013
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Via JMG: Married After 60 Years

 

From Oregon Public Radio:

Eric Marcoux and Eugene Woodworth have been together since they the day they met in Chicago in 1953. “I am here today to be legally married to Eugene Woodworth, with whom I have had an intimate deeply committed relationship for a little over sixty years,” Marcoux says. Marcoux is 83 years old and Woodworth is 85. They can’t marry in Oregon, where a constitutional amendment outlaws same-sex marriage. When same-sex marriage was legalized in Washington last year, they didn’t rush across the state line to get married. “No, no, no….” says Woodworth. “We wanted to have it in Oregon,” Marcoux explains.
But Woodworth has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and he’s been given weeks to live. They’re getting married today with the hope that Marcoux might be eligible to receive social security benefits as the surviving spouse. “We’ve observed federal government extending privileges. Then it occurred to us, ‘well, maybe we’ll be able to transfer his social security,’ which is significantly greater than mine, to me. And although it’s a modest one, it will make an enormous difference in the kind of life that I will be able to leave – live! – and leave,” Marcoux says. “He deserves it after living with me for sixty years,” Woodworth laughs.

Hit the link for the rest of the story. Take a tissue. (Tipped by JMG reader Homer)

Labels: gay seniors, marriage equality, Oregon

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Karmapa / FB:

When you think about compassion, it’s not just a feeling of empathy for other people or understanding where they come from. Compassion actually has a much stronger power than that.

 

 

Via PoliticusUSA & Politicus Sports / FB:

President Obama Defies Russia By Including Two Openly Gay Athletes In Olympic Delegation

sports.politicususa.com

President Obama announced that two openly gay athletes will be part of the delegation he's sending to Sochi for the Winter Olympics.

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 18, 2013

Breaking Through

It’s imperative for us to understand that spiritual practice is not just something we do when we’re sitting in meditation or when we’re on retreat. Failing to see everything as an opportunity for practice is a setup for frustration and disappointment, keeping us stuck where we are and limiting our possibilities for inner growth. The more we include in our practice, the more satisfying our life can be.

- Ezra Bayda, “Breaking Through”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 19, 2013
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Via Being Liberal/ FB:

Don't you think that this definition might be actually better definition than this: http://bit.ly/merriam-webster-homophobia?

Navajo Healing Song By The Navajo & The Sioux

Via Gay Politics Report: Social Security Administration to pay some same-sex couples' benefits claims

The Social Security Administration announced Monday that it will begin processing some benefits claims for same-sex couples following June's Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act. "Social Security is processing some widow's and widower's claims by surviving members of same-sex marriages and paying benefits where they are due," Acting Commissioner of Social Security Carolyn Colvin said in a statement. "Our goal is to treat all Americans with dignity and respect." The Baltimore Sun/Gay Matters blog (12/16), Washington Blade (Washington, D.C.) (12/16)