Via Bilerico: Almost 90% of Americans Think This Can't Happen. They're Wrong

The tiny town of Latta, South Carolina has been making headlines this week after the mayor fired the town's popular police chief, Crystal Moore, in spite of her exemplary 20-year record of service. Moore and many others in the town strongly believe that Mayor Earl Bullard, who took office in December, fired her because she's a lesbian: he's an outspoken opponent of LGBT rights, he was caught on tape delivering a vile anti-gay rant, and one city council member claims Bullard openly discussed his intention to fire Moore before he even took office. But while Moore's firing is undoubtedly disgusting, it's also perfectly legal, because South Carolina law does not protect LGBT people from workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. And neither does federal law -- even though nearly three out of every four Americans support employment protections for LGBT people, and almost 90% erroneously believe such protections already exist. In the absence of federal nondiscrimination legislation, it remains totally legal to fire someone like Crystal Moore -- just for being lesbian, gay, or bisexual -- in a staggering 29 states (see the graphic below). If you're trans, that number rises to 33. 

Read more at http://www.bilerico.com/2014/04/almost_90_of_americans_think_this_cant_happen_they.php

*Vida Diária*

"Pergunta: Eu não sei o que fazer com a minha vida. Sou puxado para muitas direções diferentes, mas eu nunca consigo ficar com coisa nenhuma. Estou sempre triste e confuso. O que pode me ajudar?"

Thich Nhat Hanh: Às vezes a gente planta rosas utilizando estacas. Sabendo-se que o ramo não tem raízes, colocamos o corte em solo úmido. Se deixarmos o ramo por tempo suficiente no solo rico, úmido, ele se torna estável e cria raízes. Você tem o potencial para se tornar uma linda roseira, mas precisa de um pouco de terra, e precisa também permanecer no solo por tempo suficiente para que as suas raízes cresçam fortes.

Estamos acostumados a ver o sofrimento como algo negativo. Vamos aprender a olhar para o sofrimento como algo positivo. No ensinamento do Buda, o sofrimento é chamado de nobre verdade, e podemos aprender muito com ele. Um ser humano deve ter a capacidade de lidar com o sofrimento e com a felicidade. Os dois sempre andam de mãos dadas, se não há sofrimento, não há felicidade. Todos nós temos uma tendência natural a evitar o sofrimento, e isso não é bom para nós. Sem o sofrimento não podemos crescer como seres humanos, não podemos aprender a ser mais compreensivos e compassivos. É por isso que nós temos que aprender a reconhecer o sofrimento e abraçá-lo. Enquanto você continuar a tentar fugir dele, vai continuar a sofrer.

Muitas pessoas encontram-se na situação de estar sem raízes. Você precisa de um ambiente adequado, o tipo de solo no qual enraizar-se. Uma Sangha, a comunidade de amor de irmãos e irmãs, vai lhe dar o tipo certo de apoio e você poderá estar sozinho muito em breve. Não demorará muito para que o corte se torne uma roseira.

"P. Eu me sinto culpado quando não estou ocupado. Está tudo bem em não fazer nada?"

Thay: Em nossa sociedade, estamos inclinados a ver o não fazer nada como algo negativo, mesmo maligno. Mas quando nos perdemos em atividades, diminuímos a nossa qualidade de ser. Fazemos a nós mesmos um desserviço. É importante nos preservar, para manter o nosso frescor e bom humor, nossa alegria e compaixão. No budismo cultivamos a "ausência de objetivos" e, na verdade, na tradição budista a pessoa ideal, um arhat ou um Bodhisattva, é uma pessoa sem atividades, alguém sem ter para onde ir e nada para fazer.

As pessoas devem aprender a só estarem presentes, sem fazer nada. Tente passar um dia sem fazer nada, nós chamamos isso de "dia de preguiça". Para muitos de nós que estamos acostumados a correr disto para aquilo, um dia de preguiça pode ser realmente um trabalho muito duro! Não é tão fácil apenas ser. Se você pode ser feliz, relaxado e sorrir quando não está fazendo algo, você é bastante forte. Não fazer nada traz a qualidade do ser, o que é muito importante. Então, não fazer nada é realmente algo. Por favor, escreva isso e exiba-o em sua casa: Não fazer nada é alguma coisa.

"P. Meu desejo de conquista levou a muito sofrimento. Não importa o que eu faça, nunca me sinto como se fosse o suficiente. Como posso fazer as pazes comigo mesmo?"

Thay: A qualidade de sua ação depende da qualidade do seu ser. Suponha que você está ansioso para oferecer a felicidade, fazer alguém feliz. Isso é uma boa coisa a fazer. Mas se você não está feliz, então não pode fazer isso. A fim de fazer a outra pessoa feliz, você tem que ser feliz sozinho. Portanto, há uma ligação entre o fazer e o ser. Se você não conseguir ser, não pode ter êxito em fazer. Se você não sentir que está no caminho certo, a felicidade não será possível.

Isto é verdade para todos. Se você não sabe para onde está indo, você sofre. É muito importante perceber o seu caminho e ver a sua verdadeira direção. Felicidade significa sentir que você está no caminho certo a cada momento. Você não precisa chegar ao final do caminho, a fim de ser feliz. O caminho certo refere-se às formas muito concretas de você viver sua vida em todos os momentos.

No budismo, falamos do Nobre Caminho Óctuplo: visão correta, pensamento correto, fala correta, ação correta, modo de vida correto, esforço correto, atenção plena correta e concentração correta. É possível viver o Nobre Caminho Óctuplo a cada momento de nossas vidas diárias. Isso não só nos faz felizes, mas também faz as pessoas ao nosso redor felizes. Se você praticar o caminho, se torna muito agradável, com muito frescor e muito compassivo.

Olhe para a árvore no jardim da frente. A árvore não parece estar fazendo nada. Ela fica lá, vigorosa, fresca e bonita e todos lucram. Esse é o milagre de ser. Se uma árvore for menos do que uma árvore, todos nós estaríamos em apuros. Mas, se uma árvore é apenas uma árvore real, então não há esperança e alegria.

Por isso, se você pode ser você mesmo, isso já é ação. A ação é baseada na não-ação, ação é ser. Há pessoas que fazem muito, mas que também causam um monte de problemas. Quanto mais elas tentam ajudar, mais problemas criam, mesmo que tenham as melhores intenções. Elas não são pacíficas, não são felizes. É melhor não tentar tão arduamente, mas apenas "ser".

Então a paz e a compaixão serão possíveis a cada momento. Sobre essa base, tudo o que você diz ou faz só pode ser útil. Se você pode fazer alguém sofrer menos, se pode fazê-lo sorrir, você vai se sentir recompensado e vai receber muita felicidade. Sentir que você é útil, que você é útil para a sociedade: isto é a felicidade.

Quando você tem um caminho e desfruta de cada passo em seu caminho, você já é alguém, não precisa se tornar outra pessoa. No budismo, temos a prática de 'apranihita', ausência de objetivos. Se você colocar um objetivo na sua frente, estará correndo por toda a vida e a felicidade nunca será possível. A felicidade só é possível quando você parar de correr, valorizar o momento presente e quem você é. Você não precisa ser alguém diferente, você já é uma maravilha da vida.

"(Do livro de Thich Nhat Hanh - "Answers from the heart” - Tradução Leonardo Dobbin)"
"Comente esse texto em http://sangavirtual.blogspot.com/
"

Via JMG: OREGON: Marriage Gets Its Hearing

Here's how things went in Oregon yesterday:

Lawyers for four gay and lesbian couples and the state of Oregon urged a federal judge Wednesday to strike down Oregon's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. No comments were made in favor of the ban, so lawyers on both sides of the case were in the rare position of asking for the same ruling from the judge. Oregon's attorney general, Democrat Ellen Rosenblum, has said the ban is legally indefensible and has refused to offer arguments in favor of keeping it.
Judge Michael McShane did not say which way he was leaning. His questioning focused heavily on how he should apply precedents from higher courts and whether he should delay implementation of his ruling until appeals courts sort out gay marriage cases pending around the country. The judge is deciding two parallel cases. The couples who filed suit are asking him to declare the ban unconstitutional and allow same-sex couples to wed. They also want an order that same-sex marriages performed in other states must be recognized in Oregon.

NOM isn't happy about not being there.

McShane has said he won't rule on the constitutionality of the same-sex marriage ban until he decides on a request filed this week by the National Organization for Marriage to defend it. McShane said he'll consider the group's request next month and, if he grants it, he'll hold new oral arguments so the group can defend the ban. The group's chairman, John Eastman, said the judge would benefit from hearing several arguments that weren't raised in court Wednesday because nobody was defending the ban. "The notion that there are no plausible arguments to make in defense of marriage is ludicrous," said Eastman, who also is a law professor at Chapman University in California.

Labels: John Eastman, marriage equality, NOM, Oregon

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: PolitiFact Rates Ralph Reed's Claims About Gay Parenting As Totally False

On Sunday, Ralph Reed appeared on ABC's This Week to declare that social science has found "irrefutable" proof that children are better off being raised by a mom and a dad. PolitiFact has rated his claims as totally false.

We did find one study funded by conservative organizations as showing gay parents are worse than straight ones, but it’s been denounced by the American Sociological Association, the researcher’s own university and many reputable sociologists. In conducting the study, Mark Regnerus loosely defined same-sex couples and, in doing so, only spoke with two children who were actually raised by gay parents. Research is still limited, but many reputable studies so far have concluded that children of gay parents, generally speaking, are just as well off as children of straight parents. What’s more important is the number of parents a child has, experts told us. "Kids are better off with two parents," said Andrew Cherlin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University. "But we don't have much evidence that those parents must be of the opposite gender."

Their final ruling: "All reputable research so far indicates that children brought up by gay parents are just well off as those brought up by straight parents. We rate Reed’s statement False."

 

Labels: bigotry, Christianists, gay families, gay parenting, LGBT rights, liars, PolitiFact, Ralph Reed, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

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For the Practice | April 24, 2014

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You practice the piano not in order to perform but for the sake of practicing the piano. With music, you don’t practice and then one day become a concert pianist. You are that. Practice is as much an expression of that as of practice itself. 

 

—Philip Glass, “First Lesson, Best Lesson”

 

Via JMG: Which Case Will Get To SCOTUS First?

 

While various legal groups jockey to get to the Supreme Court, Freedom To Marry head Evan Wolfson speaks about the marriage equality cases currently before the various circuit courts of appeal:

Presumably, we will soon - meaning, in a matter of months - have rulings from one or more of the federal appellate courts. Then there's the possibility of further procedures as to whether the three-judge panels in those courts that will rule will then go to the broader, full panel of the entire circuit courts [a process called en banc review]. That could consume a few more months. When that gets resolved (either by bypassing that step or by having another set of arguments and further round of decisions), then whoever loses that ultimate appeals court ruling may ask the Supreme Court to hear the case. That's called "seeking cert." That stage then requires another few months of briefing and argument, with one side saying the Supreme Court should hear the case and the other side saying the Court should not hear the case. Then, it's up to the Supreme Court to decide whether it's going to take one of the cases or not. It takes only four of the nine justices to vote to hear a case.

There are presently 65 marriage equality lawsuits in progress in 31 states and US territories. Freedom To Marry has posted a handy chart.

Labels: Evan Wolfson, Freedom To Marry, marriage equality, SCOTUS

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Betty White Defends The Gay Community | Betty White Interview | Larry King Now Ora TV

vIA Budistas Gays: Uma opinião sobre a homosexualidade

O Precioso Senhor da Dança, S.Ema. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, partilha sua opinião sobre a homosexualidade. Essa história foi retirada do facebook de um aluno que presenciou esse fato.
Uma senhora, após a palestra do lama sobre a diversidade da vida, perguntou:

- Mestre, o que é um homossexual?
Ele: – Um homossexual é uma pessoa que faz sexo com o mesmo sexo.
Ela: – Acho que o senhor não entendeu… Como o budismo vê o homossexualismo?
Ele: – Nós não vemos o homossexualismo. No budismo, não temos o costume de ver as pessoas fazendo sexo.
Ela [impaciente]: – Mestre, o que eu quero saber é a opinião do budismo sobre pessoas que fazem sexo com o mesmo sexo.
Ele: – Alguém pode dar opinião sobre quem não conhece? Você está falando em “pessoas”. Que pessoas?
Ela [quase louca]: – Qualquer uma! Qualquer uma!
Ele: – Todas as pessoas são milagres.
Ela [começando a espumar]: – O HOMOSSEXUALISMO É CERTO OU ERRADO?
Ele: – Atos homossexuais consensuais são atos de amor.
Tudo isso com a mesma expressão de quem vê um passarinho azul. Seguem-se aplausos e gargalhadas. Rinpoche sorri.

Mais histórias do Senhor da Dança

Este blog é fantásticos e conta muitas histórias sobre S.Ema. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, um mestre tibetano autêntico e reconhecido da linhagem Niygma.

Acesse: O senhor da Dança.

Via Budistas Gays

Via Daily Dharma

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Suffering Ends, Wisdom Begins | April 23, 2014

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When it’s time to suffer, you should suffer; when it’s time to cry, you should cry. Cry completely. Cry until there are no more tears and then recognize in your exhaustion that you’re alive. The sun still rises and sets. The seasons come and go. Absolutely nothing remains the same and that includes suffering. When the suffering ends wisdom begins to raise the right questions. 

 

—Seido Ray Ronci, “The Examined Life”

 

Links - Via Dan Nicoletta / FB:

Dan said, "I am really excited about the upcoming Milk stamp but sickened that news agencies are saying he is the first openly gay person elected to office as ABC7 just did. It matters because women matter.  Kathy Kozachenko — first openly gay or lesbian candidate to win public office in the United States (won a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan, city council). Elaine Noble became the first openly gay or lesbian candidate ever elected to a state-level office in America when she was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Party_%28United_States%29
One of the 1972 HRP winners, Nancy Wechsler <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nancy_Wechsler&action=edit&redlink=1> , came out <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_out> as a lesbian <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbian> during her term on city council, thus becoming the first openly lesbian public-office holder in the United States <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States> . When Wechsler declined to run for reelection in 1974, her seat was won by HRP candidate Kathy Kozachenko <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Kozachenko> , who became the country's first openly gay <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay> or lesbian candidate to win public office.[6] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Party_%28United_States%29#cite_note-5>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Spear
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Kozachenko
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Noble

Via Daily Dharma

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Complete Transformation | April 22, 2014

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If spirituality is only about self-transcendence—about seeing through the story of ‘me’ that we habitually inhabit—then it runs the risk of cutting us loose from that story so that we no longer take care of the human wounds of self and other. No matter how imaginary the self proves to be, we return to its world. If spiritual or transcendent insight doesn’t lead to healing and transformation in our actual daily lives, it is clearly incomplete. 

 

—Henry Shukman, “Light and Dark”

 

Via JMG: xkcd On Brendan Eich

  (Via JMG reader Mike)

Labels: boycotts, Brendan Eich, Mozilla, xkcd

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: USPS Begins Milk Stamp Pre-Orders

 

Via press release from the White House:

The U.S. Postal Service officially revealed the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp today. The stamp’s official first-day-of-issue ceremony will take place May 22 at the White House. The public is invited to attend the May 28 Harvey Milk Forever Stamp special dedication ceremony in San Francisco. Details on the time and location will be forthcoming. Customers may order the Harvey Milk stamp now for delivery following the May 22 stamp issuance. The stamp image is based on a circa 1977 black and white photograph of Milk in front of his Castro Street Camera store in San Francisco taken by Daniel Nicoletta of Grants Pass, OR. Antonio Alcalá of Alexandria, VA, was art director for the stamp.

Pre-order your stamps here.

Labels: Harvey Milk, LGBT History, USPS

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

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Union of Compassion and Wisdom | April 21, 2014

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The essence of Buddha’s teaching is the union of compassion and wisdom, the view of interdependence and emptiness. An altruistic attitude is altruistic. It is not confused in itself. But without wisdom, we can act with obscured compassion or stupid compassion. 

 

—Matthieu Ricard, “Karma Crossroads”

 

Via Daily Dharma

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Inner and Outer Nature | April 20, 2014

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When there is no ego or selfishness, there is nothing that will destroy nature, nothing that will exploit and abuse nature. Then the external, physical aspect of nature will be able to conserve itself automatically.

—Buddhadasa, “Conserving the Inner Ecology”

 

Via Daily Dharma

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Not Part of the Deal | April 19, 2014

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The mind must be monitored and inventoried like an alcoholic in recovery or a Washington lobbyist: It never goes away until it gets what it wants. And what it wants is to be in control at all times. But control is not part of the deal of being a human being. We may rightly try to confront injustices, but some things can only be seen, noted, and accepted for what they are. 

 

—Stephen Altschuler, “Sitting Practice Redux”

 

Via JMG: Tumblr: Judgmental Maps

 

Embiggen for better reading. More cities here.

Labels: maps, NYC, silliness, Tumblr

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: OREGON: An Openly Gay Federal Judge Will Hear Next Week's Marriage Case

Openly gay US District Court Judge Michael J. McShane will hear next week's marriage equality case in Oregon.

Unlike the five federal judges who have struck down laws prohibiting same-sex marriages in other states in recent months, McShane won't have anyone in the courtroom defending Oregon's constitutional ban when he holds oral arguments Wednesday. And, unlike the other judges, McShane also happens to be one of just nine openly gay members of the federal judiciary, according to the Human Rights Campaign. It's an unusual combination of factors for the 53-year-old jurist, who has served as a federal judge for less than a year. McShane, citing the sensitivity of the case, declined to be interviewed for this story. But friends say they're confident he'll produce a careful decision while setting aside any personal feelings. "You don't want to be the lawyer going in saying with a wink, 'I'm the lawyer on the gay-marriage side and he's going to be with me,'" says Lane Borg, who heads Metropolitan Public Defender and has known McShane for decades. "They would be ill-advised to think that just because Michael is gay that he is going to rule that way."

NOM chairman John Eastman has the sadz: "The question is not his sexual orientation, but whether he is situated identically to the plaintiffs and will benefit from the exact relief he provides to them."

RELATED: McShane began his career as a public defender in Portland. He was nominated to the federal bench by President Obama in September 2012. (Tipped by JMG reader Sam)

Labels: lawsuits, marriage equality, Oregon

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Oregon Readies Gay Marriage Licenses

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum declared in February that she will not defend the state against the marriage equality suit filed in October 2013 by local attorneys on behalf of two gay couples. That case hasn't even been heard yet, much less ruled upon, but the state is getting ready for good news. Via the Associated Press:

In light of the Oregon attorney general's decision to not defend the state's ban on gay marriage, Oregon is now revising its marriage licenses to include forms for same-sex couples. Previously, when people applied for a marriage license, they were asked either to identify as a "bride" or "groom." Now, the new form designates as "Party A" and "Party B." Applicants can also choose to be identified as "bride," "groom" or "spouse." Another change to marriage licenses: eliminating the term "maiden name." Instead, applicants will be asked to provide their "name at birth." Most of Oregon's counties use an electronic version of the marriage form. Clerks are in the process of working with a software vendor to update the online forms.

(Tipped by JMG reader Robert)

Labels: LGBT rights, marriage equality, Oregon

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

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Let Go in a Discerning Way | April 18, 2014

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When you let go of the body, let go in a discerning way. Don't let go in a way in which delusion and misunderstanding overcome the mind. Don't get disgusted with the body so that the mind becomes restless and agitated and stops meditating. That kind of dislike is wrong. When we look at things we don't like—such as the inconstancy, the stressfulness, and the unattractiveness of the body—remember that they're part of the noble truths. 

 

—Phra Ajaan Suwat Suvaco, "This Body of Mine"

 

Via JMG: Lawyer Who Defended Prop 8 At SCOTUS Is Changing His Mind On Gay Marriage

 

Protect Marriage attorney Charles Cooper, who last year argued against the overturn of Proposition 8 before the Supreme Court, says his opinion on gay marriage is "evolving" now that his own daughter is planning to marry a woman.

The revelation is an unexpected footnote in the years-long debate over Proposition 8, the California measure struck down by the Supreme Court last year. It is also offers a glimpse, through the eyes of one family, of the country's rapidly shifting opinions of gay marriage, with most public polls now showing majorities in favour of allowing the unions. Cooper learned that his stepdaughter Ashley was gay as the Proposition 8 case wound its way through appellate court, according to a forthcoming book about the lengthy legal battle.
And with the Supreme Court ruling now behind him, Cooper cast his personal opinion on gay marriage as an evolving process. "My views evolve on issues of this kind the same way as other people's do, and how I view this down the road may not be the way I view it now, or how I viewed it ten years ago," Cooper said in journalist Jo Becker's book "Forcing the Spring: Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality." Cooper's words are reminiscent of the language President Barack Obama used throughout his first term to describe his "evolving" views on gay marriage. In 2012, Obama announced publicly that he did, in fact, support the rights of same-sex couples to marry.

Cooper's daughter will marry in Massachusetts in June. He says, "My daughter Ashley's path in life has led her to happiness with a lovely young woman named Casey, and our family and Casey's family are looking forward to celebrating their marriage in just a few weeks."

HRC president Chad Griffin reacts: “I spent the better part of five years sitting across courtroom aisles from Mr. Cooper, disagreeing with just about every word that came out of his mouth, but I have profound respect for his decision to love and celebrate his daughter and her fiancée because his story reflects the experience of so many of the 90 percent of Americans who personally know someone who is LGBT."

Proposition 8 plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier react: "We were so moved to hear of the Cooper family's constant love and support of their own daughter, even as the Perry case was in full swing and Mr. Cooper was spending his days planning Prop 8's defense. Some may find this contrast between public and private jarring, but in our opinion, loving an LGBT child unequivocally is the single most important thing any parent can do. We are overjoyed for Ashley and her fiancée, and we wish them the very best."

Will Brian Brown issue his usual denouncement?

Labels: Charles Cooper, LGBT History, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Proposition 8, Protect Marriage, SCOTUS

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Sodomy Banned But Not Necrophilia

Via Gawker.

Labels: Kansas, Louisiana, necrophilia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, religion, sodomy

Reposted from Joe Jervis

VIa Daily Dharma

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Commit to Love | April 17, 2014

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To commit to love is fundamentally to commit to a life beyond dualism. That’s why love is so sacred in a culture of domination, because it simply begins to erode your dualisms: dualisms of black and white, male and female, right and wrong.

 

—bell hooks, "Agent of Change"

 

Via JMG: LOUISIANA: House Votes 66-27 To Keep Unconstitutional Anti-Sodomy Law

Thanks to pressure from a local anti-gay Christian group, the Louisiana House yesterday refused to repeal an unenforceable and unconstitutional anti-sodomy law. The vote was 66-27.

A House Committee passed the legislation onto the body's floor by a vote of 9-6 last week. But one of the state's most powerful lobbying groups, the conservative Christian Louisiana Family Forum, opposes striking the sodomy ban. The group sent out a letter to every legislator urging them to vote against the proposal, claiming that teenagers would be less protected from sexual predators if they went through with the repeal. They also said the bill would put the public health at risk. "Louisiana's anti-sodomy statute is consistent with the values of Louisiana residents who consider this behavior to be dangerous, unhealthy and immoral," stated the letter to lawmakers from the Louisiana Family Forum. During a floor discussion of the bill, the legislation's sponsor, Rep. Patricia Haynes Smith, pushed back on the Family Forum's assertions. The bill only seeks to repeal a statute that is already unconstitutional, she said.

Fucking a human corpse? Legal in Louisiana. A blowjob from a consenting adult? Technically a felony and punishable by five years in prison. Praise! Glory!

Labels: Christianists, Louisiana, religion, sodomy

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Salon Writer: Porno Pete "Humiliated" By Student Walkout At My College

 

Salon writer Kate Geiselman recounts the walkout that took place last week when Peter LaBarbera delivered a speech about the evils of homosexuality at her Ohio college.

Mr. LaBarbera approached the podium and apologized affably for keeping us waiting. He talked about the importance of dialogue and respect. And then he said there was no scientific evidence that homosexuality is not a choice. He reminded us that the hypocritical left, in silencing voices like his, is really the party guilty of intolerance. And that was our cue to leave. We stood, without a word, and walked out. I heard a woman shouting, “Shame! Shame on you!” There were gasps and a few loud grumbles of disapproval, LaBarbera’s aforementioned “Are you effing kidding me” among them. We walked out of the venue and into the Student Activities Center, where we hugged and laughed and ate Honey Maid graham crackers. Photographs of the venue after we walked out show that about 12 people remained behind, at least two of whom I recognize as allies who likely stayed to see what he would say. It was a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Hit the first link and read the full story. (Tipped by JMG reader AJ)

Labels: Christianists, crackpots, education, hate groups, Ohio, Peter LaBarbera, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Dialy Dharma

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The Truth Is Never Far Away | April 16, 2014

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We tell stories about who we are and what life is, but seldom see that they’re only stories. The good news is that the truth is never far away. It’s right here, in fact, posing as backdrop. 

 

—Erik Hansen, “The Island”

Via FB:

Matt Gold "Appreciated "- Official Music Video

Via JMG: NYT Calls On Obama To Issue Executive Order On Employment Discrimination

From the New York Times editorial board:

Mr. Obama said in November that workplace discrimination “needs to stop, because, in the United States of America, who you are and who you love should never be a fireable offense.” An executive order barring discrimination by federal contractors would extend badly needed job protections to more than 11 million employees who work in states that lack such protections and whose companies fail to provide them voluntarily, according to the Williams Institute at the U.C.L.A. School of Law. What Mr. Obama needs to do is act on his principles and issue such an order, without the religious exemption that was put into the Senate bill to lure Republican votes. Challenged last week to explain the mystifying delay on this issue, Mr. Obama’s spokesman said that the president supported broader legislation and that its enactment by Congress would make an executive order “redundant.”

The Times concludes that the president should "lead by example" in order to prod the House to do the right thing on ENDA. The Senate passed ENDA in November.

Labels: Barack Obama, employment, ENDA, executive orders

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Out Issues Power 50 Ranking

 

Out Magazine today published its eighth annual ranking of the 50 most powerful LGBT people in the United States.  Here's a bit of the list.
1. Ellen DeGeneres 2. Tim Cook 3. Rachel Maddow 4. Sen. Tammy Baldwin 5. Glenn Greenwald 6. Ryan Murphy 7. Neil Patrick Harris 8. Andy Cohen 9. Michael Sam 10. Robin Roberts
Homocon billionaire Peter Thiel is #13. Former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman is #18. Andrew Sullivan is #26. New to the list is DOMA attorney Roberta Kaplan at #47. Curiously missing from this year's ranking is closeted homocon blogger Matt Drudge, who ranked at #21 last year and at #16 in 2012. Since there's no obvious reason for Drudge to completely fall off the list in one year, I wouldn't be surprised if somebody got a cease-and-desist letter.

Labels: Ellen Degeneres, Glenn Greenwald, Ken Mehlman, Matt Drudge, Michael Sam, Out Magazine, Peter Thiel, Rachel Maddow, Roberta Kaplan, Tammy Baldwin, Tim Cook

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

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Giving Up Addictions | April 15, 2014

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Starting to wake up is a lot like giving up an addiction. You’re going to go through withdrawal symptoms, weaning yourself from this addiction to habitual, small-minded patterns of perception. You could say enlightenment is no more addiction. You’re just fully awake, fully on the spot, without having to hide out. 

 

—Pema Chödrön, "No Right, No Wrong"

 

Joseph Arthur - In The Sun

Via Daily Dharma

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The Healing We Seek | April 14, 2014

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Perhaps we all carry an immemorial wound, an infinite loss, a self-exile we perpetrate on ourselves. It turns us into isolated entities stalking the earth in search of what we think we need—the temporary stays against ennui, despair, loss, and terror. But sooner or later, the wound can carry us toward its own remedy, if we only let it. 

 

—Henry Shukman, “Beautiful Storm”

 

Via Daily Dharma

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Idleness | April 13, 2014

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Doing nothing is essential for thinking to occur. Many of the most important thoughts are unintentional—they can be neither solicited nor cajoled but have a rhythm of their own, creeping up, arriving, and leaving when we least expect them. It is important to cultivate the lassitude of mind that clears a place for the arrival of what cannot be anticipated. Idleness allows time for the mind to wander to places never before imagined and to return transformed. 

 

—Mark C. Taylor, "Idleness Waiting Grace"

 

Via Daily Dharma

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Where You Fall | April 12, 2014

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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" 

 

Via JMG: Harvey Milk Stamp To Be Dedicated At White House Ceremony On May 22nd

Via press release from the White House Office of Communications:

The official first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp will take place at the White House May 22. Harvey Milk was a visionary leader who became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S. when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk’s achievements gave hope and confidence to the LGBT community in the United States and elsewhere at a time when the community was encountering widespread hostility and discrimination. Milk believed that government should represent all citizens, ensuring equality and providing needed services. His remarkable career was tragically cut short nearly a year after he took office, when he and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated. In 2009, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. May 22 is Harvey Milk Day in California. The stamp image will be previewed at a later date and a public dedication ceremony will take place in San Francisco May 28.

I predicts some super-sadz over this!

Labels: Harvey Milk, LGBT History, USPS, White House

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Utne: Collapse of Human Civilization 'Difficult to Avoid'

Collapse of Human Civilization 'Difficult to Avoid'

According to a NASA-funded study led by mathematician Safa Motesharrei, the collapse of human civilization is likely unless mankind accepts one of two major policy changes.

Read More...

Via Daily Dharma

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Study and Practice | April 11, 2014

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Deepening study can inform and empower practice and deepening practice can bring meaning to what you are studying. That unity of practice and learning can be informed by understandings of our contemporary world.

—John Makransky, "Bridging the Gap"