JMG Editorial Of The Day

From the Baltimore Sun:

The opponents [of same-sex marriage] are resorting to spurious arguments to convince voters that the law will somehow be unfair to those with objections to gay marriages because they don't want to face the real question of fairness at stake. Should the law treat people differently because of their sexual orientation? Or should everyone be treated equally? Maryland's gay marriage ordinance doesn't require anyone to violate their religious beliefs or personal conscience. As much as we hope the debate over this issue will persuade everyone in the state of the value of acceptance and tolerance, the law doesn't force anyone to change the way they think. All it does is to remove a major vestige of discrimination from state law, and that is something all Marylanders should be able to support.

Labels: Baltimore, marriage equality, Maryland

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Undercover At NOM's Anti-Gay Conference

Equality Matters reporter Carlos Maza went undercover at a NOM conference to pose as a straight college student interested in "defending traditional marriage." Today he has posted a lengthy accounting of the events, seminars, and outright lies told to NOM's young attendees.

Maza's report is quite lengthy and I'll excerpt just a bit:

At noon, I sat in on a talk titled "The Truth About Same Sex Parenting Studies," led by economist Douglas Allen. I had read Allen's work through the Ruth Institute blog before - including a piece in which he wrote that same-sex relationships were more unstable, unhealthy, and promiscuous than heterosexual relationships.

Allen began his talk by attempting to debunk the enormous body of research indicating that same-sex parents can effectively raise children. He listed a number of familiar but inaccurate criticisms of modern same-sex parenting studies: sample sizes are too small, sample sizes aren't random, the studies' authors are biased, and so on.

Allen went on to claim that lesbian relationships were more likely to experience instability and dissolution because women's menstrual cycles become synchronized when they live together for a long period of time. I could barely choke back my laughter when I heard Allen's explanation. I'd been exposed a lot of terrible arguments against allowing same-sex couples to raise children, but "lesbians will menstruate at the same time" was the kind of claim I'd expect to hear from someone parodying the anti-gay position.

A few moments later, though, I wasn't laughing...

Read the full Equality Matters report.

Labels: hate groups, Media Matters, NOM, religion

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Log Cabin Republicans Publish Full-Page Marriage Ad In Tampa Newspaper

Good for them! Now let's see if they endorse the man who has pledged to inflict an anti-gay marriage amendment upon the U.S. Constitution.

Labels: homocons, LCR, LGBT rights, RNC, Tampa

reposted from Joe

Republican Party Won't Budge on Marriage Equality: Aug 27 Marriage News Watch

Major news in the Prop 8 case, with new briefs filed with the US Supreme Court. Another survey shows a majority of Americans support the freedom to marry, so why is the Republican party turning its back on relationship recognition? And challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act were already on the fast track, but now that track could get even faster.

AFER online: http://afer.org
AFER on Facebook: http://facebook.com/AFER
AFER on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AFER

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 28, 2012

Transforming Obstacles

Every meditator has challenges. Rather then taking the obstacles as problems or as unfortunate distractions, a more useful attitude is to patiently and contentedly learn the skills and insights that can transform them into stepping stones along the path of practice.

- Gil Fronsdal, "Evaluate Your Meditation"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through August 30th, 2012
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Via JMG: GOP Platform: Obama Adminstration Supports Overseas Homosexual Agenda

Again we see (probably) the hand of Tony Perkins in the GOP party platform, this time in its foreign policy section. Think Progress quotes from a leaked copy:

The effectiveness of our foreign aid has been limited by the cultural agenda of the current Administration, attempting to impose on foreign countries, especially the peoples of Africa, legalized abortion and the homosexual rights agenda. At the same time, faith-based groups — the sector that has had the best track record in promoting lasting development — have been excluded from grants because they will not conform to the administration’s social agenda. We will reverse this tragic course, encourage more involvement by the most effective aid organizations, and trust developing peoples to build their future from the ground up.

Lest we forget, Perkins denounced Obama for expressing opposition to Uganda's plan to start executing homosexuals. That's the real "homosexual agenda" of the Republican party.

Labels: bigotry, GOP, hate groups, Obama administration, religion, theocracy, Uganda

Reposted from Joe