This is the counter-protest by students in response to the arrival of 7 protesters from the Westboro "Baptist Church." It's a shining example of what happens when young people aren't taught from day one that being LGBTQ is a shameful thing they must hide. When young people who are LGBTQ are accepted for who they are by those who are closest to them - parents, friends, teachers - they stand up for themselves and put hateful bigotry in it's rightful place - silenced.
Kudos to Walt Whitman High School and it's students, faculty, parents and friends.
27 April 2009
One more reason why I love the UCC: JPANet: Support Vital Hate Crimes Prevention Laws!
Home: Justice and Witness Ministries
A hate crime occurs when the perpetrator of the crime intentionally selects the victim because of who the victim is. Hate crimes rend the fabric of our society and fragment communities by targeting a group of people, not just the individual victim. A law protecting all of our citizens against senseless hate violence is long overdue.
Current hate crime statutes offer no federal protection against bias motivated crimes rooted in sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability. The Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1913) would include these categories and permit federal authorities to help investigate and prosecute cases when local authorities are unable or unwilling to do so.
Tell Congress that now is the time to ensure protection for all people and all communities against bias motivated crimes!
The sacred scriptures of many different faith traditions speak with dramatic unanimity on the subject of hate. Crimes motivated by hatred or bigotry are an assault not only upon individual victim’s freedoms, but also upon a belief that lies at the core of our diverse faith traditions - that every human being is created in the image of God.
A vote is just days away. It's up to us to demand that Congress help protect our communities from the terror and brutality of hate-driven violence.
Some critics of this legislation have erroneously asserted that enactment of the measure would prohibit the lawful expression of one’s deeply held religious beliefs. These fears are unfounded. H.R. 1919 does not in any way violate the First Amendment protections of offenders. Hate crime laws do not restrict free speech. They target only violent criminal activity motivated by prejudice.
Make sure Congress hears from you. Email here or Call 866-346-4611 (TOLL FREE)* and tell your member of Congress to vote for the Matthew Shepard Act.
* Phone number made available Monday-Wednesday, April 27-April 29 by our friends at LCCR
A hate crime occurs when the perpetrator of the crime intentionally selects the victim because of who the victim is. Hate crimes rend the fabric of our society and fragment communities by targeting a group of people, not just the individual victim. A law protecting all of our citizens against senseless hate violence is long overdue.
Current hate crime statutes offer no federal protection against bias motivated crimes rooted in sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability. The Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1913) would include these categories and permit federal authorities to help investigate and prosecute cases when local authorities are unable or unwilling to do so.
Tell Congress that now is the time to ensure protection for all people and all communities against bias motivated crimes!
The sacred scriptures of many different faith traditions speak with dramatic unanimity on the subject of hate. Crimes motivated by hatred or bigotry are an assault not only upon individual victim’s freedoms, but also upon a belief that lies at the core of our diverse faith traditions - that every human being is created in the image of God.
A vote is just days away. It's up to us to demand that Congress help protect our communities from the terror and brutality of hate-driven violence.
Some critics of this legislation have erroneously asserted that enactment of the measure would prohibit the lawful expression of one’s deeply held religious beliefs. These fears are unfounded. H.R. 1919 does not in any way violate the First Amendment protections of offenders. Hate crime laws do not restrict free speech. They target only violent criminal activity motivated by prejudice.
Make sure Congress hears from you. Email here or Call 866-346-4611 (TOLL FREE)* and tell your member of Congress to vote for the Matthew Shepard Act.
* Phone number made available Monday-Wednesday, April 27-April 29 by our friends at LCCR
Fight Hate Now part 2: Response From Congressman David Scott
Unlike Saxby Chambliss, here is an example of someone who gets it...
Thank you, Congressman Scott!
From: Congressman David Scott <imaga13@mail.house.gov>
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 9:08 AM
Subject: Response From Congressman David Scott
Dear Kristi:
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. I am honored to have the opportunity to respond to you on such an important issue.
I recognize your concern with respect to hate crime legislation. I personally, along with all of my fellow Democratic colleagues, support preventing acts of crime in all circumstances. I also feel strongly that a responsible society must identify and strive to protect individuals and groups most vulnerable to bias-motivated crime. In the past, I have co-sponsored bills to end hate crimes against gays and lesbians and supported a policy to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, religion, or race. You recently expressed a concern for H.R. 1913, which would provide federal assistance to states, local jurisdictions and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes. We must do what we can to promote a society that values liberty and free expression and where all Americans possess equal protection under the law. As you may already know, H.R. 1913 is under review by the House Judiciary Committee. Though I am not a member of this committee, please be assured that should this legislation come to the House floor, I will be sure to keep your views in mind while voting.
I appreciate that you contacted me to share your thoughts. I hope you will continue to give me the benefit of your opinion in the future. Also, I encourage you to visit my website at http://davidscott.house.gov, where you can view the latest news and obtain information on issues and legislation that are important to you. You can also sign up for my electronic newsletter, and receive periodic updates on my activities as your representative in Washington. I thank you again for contacting me, and I look forward to continuing to serve you.
Sincerely,
David Scott
Member of Congress
"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up." - Anne Lamott
24 April 2009
This woman, a Catholic from Farmington, made the trip down to Augusta< Maine on Wednesday to say a few things.
(humble hat tip to Pam's House Blend...)
23 April 2009
Fight Hate Now
Angie Zapata
On July 16, 2008, in Greeley, Colorado, Angie Zapata, 20, was fatally beaten after her date discovered she was transgender. Her body was discovered on July 17th, by her sister.
Jose and Romel Sucuzhanay
The two brothers from Ecuador had attended a church party and had stopped at a bar afterwards. While walking home arm-in-arm, a car pulled up and three men came out of the car shouting anti-gay and anti-Latino epithets at the brothers.
Lawrence King
Lawrence King, a 15 year old junior high student, was shot and killed on school grounds on Tuesday, February 12, 2008. King, who self-identified as gay, had recently been harassed at school by students for having painted nails and wearing feminine accessories.
Ryan Skipper
Ryan Keith Skipper, 25, was brutally stabbed to death in Eloise, Florida. The suspected killers, 20 year old David Brown and 21 year old Joseph Bearden, are in custody and the investigation is proceeding as a hate crime.
Sean Kennedy
Sean William Kennedy was punched in the face by Stephen A. Moller as he used anti-gay slurs. The blows caused Kennedy to fall and strike his head on the pavement and he died later in the hospital.
Duanna Johnson
Duanna Johnson was arrested on charges of prostitution and was sitting in a chair in a holding area at the Shelby County Jail at 201 Poplar Avenue when an officer walked up and punched her several times.
David Ritcheson
David Ritcheson was viciously attacked by two individuals because of his heritage as a Mexican-American. Ritcheson was sucker punched and knocked out, and dragged into the back yard for an attack that would last for over an hour.
The U.S. Department of Justice—Federal Bureau of Investigation released a Hate Crimes Statistics Report in October 2007. It noted the following:
An analysis of data for victims of single-bias hate crime incidents showed that
• 52.0 percent of the victims were targeted because of the offender’s bias against a race.
• 17.1 percent were victimized because of a bias against a religious belief.
• 15.9 percent were targeted because of a bias against a particular sexual orientation.
• 14.1 percent were victimized because of a bias against an ethnicity/national origin.
• 0.9 percent were targeted because of a bias against a disability.
Of those bias, or hate, motivated crimes, the only group of victims not protected by Federal hate crime laws are those victims who were targeted based solely on their percieved sexual orientation.
On that note...here is the response I received when I sent an email to Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) urging him to support H.R. 1913:
"Dear Ms. Wright:
Thank you for contacting me regarding your thoughts on hate crime legislation. I appreciate hearing your concerns on this matter.
There is little evidence that indicates that violent crimes motivated by "hate" go unpunished in the United States. Most states already have criminal laws that prohibit the anti-social behavior addressed by hate crime legislation - including laws against murder, rape, arson, assault, and battery.
I oppose the creation of Federal hate crime legislation for a variety of reasons. First, I do not believe the Federal government should interfere with the criminal laws already on the books in our states. Second, many hate crime bills attempt to establish a "protected class" of crime victims who would receive special protection under the law. And finally, we already have laws to prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes. Those people guilty of violent crimes against anyone should be prosecuted under existing law."
Senator Chambliss is missing the point.
Bias crimes committed against one person tend to have the effect of terrorizing an entire group of people, whether they are motivated by race, color, religion, sexual orientation or any other class. There are already federal protections for race, color, religion, national origin. These federal protections enhance the penalties for violent acts committed as a result of bias.
H.R. 1913 (or The Matthew Shepard Act, as it is commonly known, named for the gay Wyoming college student who was severly beaten, tied to a fence and left to die by his attackers) would strengthenalready existing federal hate crime laws in three ways:
1) Expand the law to authorize the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute certain bias-motivated crimes based on the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. Current law only includes race, color, religion or national origin.
2) Eliminate a serious limitation on federal involvment under existing law which requires that a victim of a bias-motivated crime was attacked because he/she was engaged in a specified federally-protected activity such as voting, serving on a jury or attending school.
3) Add "gender" and "gender identity" to the Hate Crimes Statistics Act
11 March 2009
Wayne Besen: Religion and Republicanism Losing Converts
Fantastic article by Wayne Besen...check it out:
Religion and Republicanism Losing Converts
In pandering to the fanatical and the fearful - both religion and Republicanism may have compromised their future.
First, the Republican Party seems in an awfully big rush to implode with Rush Limbaugh as its mercurial mouthpiece. The GOP's other savior, Michael Steele, is just a big mouth who seems more suited to Limbaugh's talk show gig than chairman of the Party. The GOP's first African American leader, Steele, promised a "hip hop makeover" that would attract even "one armed midgets." It is Steele, however, who is the incredibly shrinking chairman, with his promised "Big Tent" turning into a circus act.
This carnival of "conservatives" has led the once-mighty Republican Party to O.J. Simpson-like popularity levels. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll this past week put Republican approval at just 26 percent, compared to Barack Obama's 68 percent.
The state of the modern GOP was best captured on CNN's D.L. Hughley Show, when the host interviewed Frank Schaeffer. A former member of the Religious Right and author of Crazy For God, Schaeffer said the GOP had created a "hard-assed neo fascist kind of direction in America."
He went on to say, "The Republican base is now made up of religious and neoconservative ideologues and the uneducated white underclass with a token person of color up in front of the TV to obscure the all-white, all reactionary, all backward, and there is no global warming, rube reality."
The Republicans Schaefer is referring to have lately come out of the woodwork in Utah, where State Sen. Chris Buttars called GLBT advocates, "the meanest buggers". A right wing organization, America Forever, placed full-page ads in the Salt Lake dailies comparing gay men and lesbians to "druggies" and "hookers." Of course, Utah Republicans might know about these things. A new study reveals that the conservative state leads the nation with 5.47 Internet pornography subscribers per thousand.
Similar to the Republican Party, religious organizations have catered to the crazies for far too long. The "ex-gay" organization, Exodus International, is a perfect example. It travels the world to proclaim its "love" for homosexuals. Yet, a Board member, Don Schmierer, spoke at a Ugandan conference that pledged to "wipe out" gay practices. Schmierer joined Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively to urge Uganda to continue its persecution of gay people, including life prison sentences for the "crime" of homosexuality.
Last week, the Vatican defended the excommunication of a 9-year old Brazilian girl's mother and doctors, who helped abort the pregnant child's twins. The procedure was recommended because delivering these babies might have killed the 80-pound girl. The local Archbishop, Jose Cardosa Sobrinho, justified this despicable decision by saying, "God's law is above any human law."
Such transparently vindictive versions of "love" is why Christianity has lost followers in Europe and is now draining them in the United States. A new survey by researchers at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. documents that the percentage of Americans identifying as Christians has dropped to 76 percent of the population, down from 86 percent in 1990. Fifteen percent of Americans now say they have no religion at all.
It may be that socially conservative churches and their anti-gay pastors are directly responsible for much of the erosion of Christianity. Sure, their mega-churches may be growing. But, for every new person they attract, they likely turn off ten others to all religion with their vituperative sermons.
Focus on the Family's "ex-gay" road show, Love Won Out, is a perfect example of how the radicals are ruining the image of Christianity. The conference may lure a few self-loathing dupes who briefly claim they have "prayed away the gay." But, for every temporary convert (It rarely, if ever, lasts a lifetime) they turn off thousands of gay people to all religious belief. How does Focus on the Family justify this as a "win"?
Even as the Religious Right rapidly contracts, conservatives are foolishly demanding that Republicans veer further right. Come to think of it, Rush Limbaugh may be the perfect leader for a party intent on alienating the majority while talking endlessly and aimlessly to itself.
© 2008 Wayne Besen. All rights reserved.
Anything But Straight | www.waynebesen.com
Religion and Republicanism Losing Converts
In pandering to the fanatical and the fearful - both religion and Republicanism may have compromised their future.
First, the Republican Party seems in an awfully big rush to implode with Rush Limbaugh as its mercurial mouthpiece. The GOP's other savior, Michael Steele, is just a big mouth who seems more suited to Limbaugh's talk show gig than chairman of the Party. The GOP's first African American leader, Steele, promised a "hip hop makeover" that would attract even "one armed midgets." It is Steele, however, who is the incredibly shrinking chairman, with his promised "Big Tent" turning into a circus act.
This carnival of "conservatives" has led the once-mighty Republican Party to O.J. Simpson-like popularity levels. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll this past week put Republican approval at just 26 percent, compared to Barack Obama's 68 percent.
The state of the modern GOP was best captured on CNN's D.L. Hughley Show, when the host interviewed Frank Schaeffer. A former member of the Religious Right and author of Crazy For God, Schaeffer said the GOP had created a "hard-assed neo fascist kind of direction in America."
He went on to say, "The Republican base is now made up of religious and neoconservative ideologues and the uneducated white underclass with a token person of color up in front of the TV to obscure the all-white, all reactionary, all backward, and there is no global warming, rube reality."
The Republicans Schaefer is referring to have lately come out of the woodwork in Utah, where State Sen. Chris Buttars called GLBT advocates, "the meanest buggers". A right wing organization, America Forever, placed full-page ads in the Salt Lake dailies comparing gay men and lesbians to "druggies" and "hookers." Of course, Utah Republicans might know about these things. A new study reveals that the conservative state leads the nation with 5.47 Internet pornography subscribers per thousand.
Similar to the Republican Party, religious organizations have catered to the crazies for far too long. The "ex-gay" organization, Exodus International, is a perfect example. It travels the world to proclaim its "love" for homosexuals. Yet, a Board member, Don Schmierer, spoke at a Ugandan conference that pledged to "wipe out" gay practices. Schmierer joined Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively to urge Uganda to continue its persecution of gay people, including life prison sentences for the "crime" of homosexuality.
Last week, the Vatican defended the excommunication of a 9-year old Brazilian girl's mother and doctors, who helped abort the pregnant child's twins. The procedure was recommended because delivering these babies might have killed the 80-pound girl. The local Archbishop, Jose Cardosa Sobrinho, justified this despicable decision by saying, "God's law is above any human law."
Such transparently vindictive versions of "love" is why Christianity has lost followers in Europe and is now draining them in the United States. A new survey by researchers at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. documents that the percentage of Americans identifying as Christians has dropped to 76 percent of the population, down from 86 percent in 1990. Fifteen percent of Americans now say they have no religion at all.
It may be that socially conservative churches and their anti-gay pastors are directly responsible for much of the erosion of Christianity. Sure, their mega-churches may be growing. But, for every new person they attract, they likely turn off ten others to all religion with their vituperative sermons.
Focus on the Family's "ex-gay" road show, Love Won Out, is a perfect example of how the radicals are ruining the image of Christianity. The conference may lure a few self-loathing dupes who briefly claim they have "prayed away the gay." But, for every temporary convert (It rarely, if ever, lasts a lifetime) they turn off thousands of gay people to all religious belief. How does Focus on the Family justify this as a "win"?
Even as the Religious Right rapidly contracts, conservatives are foolishly demanding that Republicans veer further right. Come to think of it, Rush Limbaugh may be the perfect leader for a party intent on alienating the majority while talking endlessly and aimlessly to itself.
© 2008 Wayne Besen. All rights reserved.
Anything But Straight | www.waynebesen.com
23 January 2009
The World I Live In and Life In General
I haven't blogged for awhile. It felt like I just ran out of things to say about the things I feel so passionately about.
I've felt so angry since the election...not about the outcome of the presidential race, but about the passing of those anti-gay initiatives in several states. It felt like at the same time I was rejoicing about my candidate winning and celebrating the dawn of a new day filled with hope, my heart and soul were being slowly crushed under the weight of the sadness I was beginning to feel. As I watched and listened, I slowly began to recognize that even though we have come a long, long way, there are enough people who STILL believe it's okay to trample all over the rights of a certain group people, based solely on their perception of 'morality,' and those people actually keep managing to pass laws that make life harder for gay families. I felt devastated and angry, and as time has passed, my anger has not abated. I have raged out loud to those closest to me, I have sat in stony silence when alone and with others, I have slowly, over the last few months, disassociated myself from my feelings until all I can feel is this strange, numb nothingness.
Oh, and probably most importantly, I have stopped going to church. After all, it was those 'christians' who were mostly responsible for this, right? Those 'christians' who used the Good Book as their weapon of choice to bash over my head; those 'christians' who used their faith in God as justification for barging into my bedroom and deciding I wasn't worthy of entitlement to the same rights as every other American citizen. Those 'christians' are EXACTLY who I should be mad at, right?
Well...maybe not. The Christians in MY church don't feel the same way as other christians. The Christians in my church believe in inclusion, not exclusion. They have been nothing but loving, kind and compassionate since I walked through the door. Every week they remind us that no matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome in this place. Still, I haven't attended church since shortly before Thanksgiving. My anger and hopelessness are so powerful that it has spilled over to affect those around me who don't even deserve it...affecting the one place where I could find people who could help heal the wounds in my heart and soul. This is no one's fault but mine. After a few conversations with Julia, a dear friend and sort of 'spiritual sponsor,' I am recognizing that I'm not mad at Christians. I'm mad at God.
There. I've said it. I'm completely and totally pissed off at God, and I'm not sure God even exists. What kind of a God allows his very own followers to think that creating injustice is the right thing to do? I feel kind of lost, and I'm mad that I won't allow myself to do the things I need to do to move forward.
Cry, for instance. And I don't mean just shedding a few tears; I'm good at that. For instance, the other night talking to Julia I said 'I'm mad at God and I don't know if he exists' and started crying. Then, because Big Girls Don't Cry, I got up and started doing other things...checked my messages, read some news stories, looked at good looking women in tank tops on the internet...all so I could stop the crying. What I mean is a good, soul wrenching, chest pounding, nose running, eyes streaming, heart aching, wailing out loud, it-doesn't-matter-if-big-girls-don't-cry-because-crying-is-what-I-really-need kind of cry.
I really need to start there. Then, I can move on, and stop looking at the people around me as the enemy. I can get back to my church home, where I feel loved and accepted by everyone, not just those who are gay like me; back to being an activist helping to educate others and fight for justice so that the next generation has it just a little easier than I do, in much the same way that I have it a little easier than the ones who came before me.
Julia, we'll have that cry-date soon. ;)
22 December 2008
18,000 marriages on the line
This is a blog post from a poster at Pam's House Blend:
1 of 18,000 Being Attacked This Holiday Season
by: waymonhudson
Sat Dec 20, 2008 at 17:41:24 PM EST
My "homosexual agenda" is pretty much the same everyday. Wake-up, give my husband a kiss on the cheek, give one of our dogs his allergy medicine and make sure there is food in their bowls, decide if I can skip another day of going for a jog as I munch on leftover holiday cookies, eventually make my way over to the computer to check my email and start my work day. Pretty sinister, right?
It's this threat to society as we know it that has kept the "Yes on H8" folks marching forward, now seeking to nullify the over 18,000 marriage that occurred in California, of which me and my husband are part of.
Yes, as I type this sitting on my couch with my dog sleeping in my lap, looking at my Christmas tree that symbolizes the season of giving, my marriage is up for debate and being challenged by people that have nothing to do with it.
Wrap a bow on that gift and put it in your stocking...
I often wonder if the people fighting to strip away our marriage really stop to think of the individuals involved, to really put a face on the news story and the nameless numbers. They are great about putting out press releases, commercials, and emails talking about the dangerous homosexual agenda, but I wonder if they think about the people they are working so hard to take things from.
I wonder how they would feel waking up one day to read a headline in a newspaper that their marriage is not valid and is over. Talk about being breaking news- the two people who are directly affected, whose marriage is being dissolved, have no real say in it.
So once again, our relationship is suddenly making headlines. Our marriage is a "political issue", not the simple expression of love between two people. Talk about redefining marriage...
It's interesting that the people that are quite literally destroying marriages, mine and 18,000 others, are somehow taking the stance of moral authority. I know for certain that part of my day does not include trying to break up other marriages. Can they say the same?
So for now I sit next to my husband, the man I love, and wonder how someone else gets the right to decide if our marriage is valid. I know they can never change how we feel for one another, but it doesn't stop it from stinging as you read a headline about how your marriage is getting dissolved.
Happy Holidays, indeed...
1 of 18,000 Being Attacked This Holiday Season
by: waymonhudson
Sat Dec 20, 2008 at 17:41:24 PM EST
My "homosexual agenda" is pretty much the same everyday. Wake-up, give my husband a kiss on the cheek, give one of our dogs his allergy medicine and make sure there is food in their bowls, decide if I can skip another day of going for a jog as I munch on leftover holiday cookies, eventually make my way over to the computer to check my email and start my work day. Pretty sinister, right?
It's this threat to society as we know it that has kept the "Yes on H8" folks marching forward, now seeking to nullify the over 18,000 marriage that occurred in California, of which me and my husband are part of.
Yes, as I type this sitting on my couch with my dog sleeping in my lap, looking at my Christmas tree that symbolizes the season of giving, my marriage is up for debate and being challenged by people that have nothing to do with it.
Wrap a bow on that gift and put it in your stocking...
I often wonder if the people fighting to strip away our marriage really stop to think of the individuals involved, to really put a face on the news story and the nameless numbers. They are great about putting out press releases, commercials, and emails talking about the dangerous homosexual agenda, but I wonder if they think about the people they are working so hard to take things from.
I wonder how they would feel waking up one day to read a headline in a newspaper that their marriage is not valid and is over. Talk about being breaking news- the two people who are directly affected, whose marriage is being dissolved, have no real say in it.
So once again, our relationship is suddenly making headlines. Our marriage is a "political issue", not the simple expression of love between two people. Talk about redefining marriage...
It's interesting that the people that are quite literally destroying marriages, mine and 18,000 others, are somehow taking the stance of moral authority. I know for certain that part of my day does not include trying to break up other marriages. Can they say the same?
So for now I sit next to my husband, the man I love, and wonder how someone else gets the right to decide if our marriage is valid. I know they can never change how we feel for one another, but it doesn't stop it from stinging as you read a headline about how your marriage is getting dissolved.
Happy Holidays, indeed...
19 December 2008
11 December 2008
Argh...1/20/09 can't get here soon enough!
Check out the 'right of conscience' nonsense Bush is trying to sneak through on his way out the door. It starts at about 1 minute 30 secs into this clip:
Support this Band!
Hi Everyone!
South Cobb High School's Blue Eagle Marching Band was selected from over 350 applicants to be the ONLY band to represent Georgia at the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Parade. While this is an amazing opportunity for the high school band members, it is extremely expensive to transport a 95 member band and all their equipment to Washington, D.C. These kids and their families just don't have the approximately 700 dollars per student it will cost to fund this trip. Q100's 'The Bert Show' had a fundraiser yesterday, and, along with several other fundraisers at the school and in the community, managed to raise just over 50,000 dollars. They are still about 20,000 dollars short of their anticipated costs for this trip. Please copy this link into your browser and take 2 minutes read about these students, and then if you feel so moved, please donate whatever you feel comfortable with. Even if it's only a dollar or five, every little bit helps, and these students are worth it!
http://www.q100atlanta.com/BertShow/SCobbHSMarchingBandTrip/tabid/281/Default.aspx
South Cobb High School's Blue Eagle Marching Band was selected from over 350 applicants to be the ONLY band to represent Georgia at the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Parade. While this is an amazing opportunity for the high school band members, it is extremely expensive to transport a 95 member band and all their equipment to Washington, D.C. These kids and their families just don't have the approximately 700 dollars per student it will cost to fund this trip. Q100's 'The Bert Show' had a fundraiser yesterday, and, along with several other fundraisers at the school and in the community, managed to raise just over 50,000 dollars. They are still about 20,000 dollars short of their anticipated costs for this trip. Please copy this link into your browser and take 2 minutes read about these students, and then if you feel so moved, please donate whatever you feel comfortable with. Even if it's only a dollar or five, every little bit helps, and these students are worth it!
http://www.q100atlanta.com/BertShow/SCobbHSMarchingBandTrip/tabid/281/Default.aspx
25 November 2008
Finally! The state of CA sticks their nose into the business of a group who stuck their nose into someone else's business!
State of California to Investigate Mormon Church Involvement in Prop 8
Finally, someone is questioning the not-so-fine line between church and State!
Finally, someone is questioning the not-so-fine line between church and State!
People are entitled to believe that God doesn't 'condone' marriage between same gender couples. People have every right to believe they should only marry someone of the opposite gender. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, but they are NOT entitled to impose those beliefs on others.
I personally believe that if we want to protect the sanctity of marriage, it should be harder for couples to obtain marriage licenses - they should have to take marriage classes, go through a year of pre-marriage counseling with a licensed professional and pass a pre-marriage test before they are issued a license. It should also be more difficult to use divorce as an option to disolve marriages. In fact, since the Bible strictly forbids divorce accept in a few rare circumstances, christians should be banned from divorce altogether, accept for those few circumstances. This is just my opinion, and I am FULLY aware that my beliefs should NEVER be used as a basis to dictate civil law, and I don't even have a 'tax exempt' status to worry about violating, like the Mormon Church does. Most people who are capable of logic and reason can recognize that the personal beliefs of one group cannot infringe upon the civil rights of another group. The Mormon Church should be held to the same degree of logical reasoniong.
I hope the State of California does a VERY thorough job of investigating this religious group, and that it gives other religious groups pause.
20 November 2008
On Coming Out to Your Grandmother
My friend Julia and I were talking the other day, and she shared peices of the following story with me. I was genuinely moved by her words - they illicited memories of my life with my Dad's mom. My grandmother knew I was gay from the get-go, and she supported me fully. I lost her when I was 21. I was so inspired by Julia's story that I asked her to write it down. Here it is, with her permission - enjoy:
"To say that I just came out to my grandmother would be a misnomer since I actually came out to her last week. However, with the onset of dementia and recent change of blood pressure medication, I was certain during our initial conversation that given 20 minutes she would forget that I was gay. And she did. Within 15 minutes she had forgotten that she had already eaten dinner, taken her medicine, and been a very supportive, albeit incoherent, Nana of a lesbian granddaughter. So one can imagine my surprise when watching CNN with her tonight, and having a rather lucid evening, that she mentioned she felt “just plain awful” about that Proposition 8 business. It was clear she didn’t recall our previous dialogue but was certainly ready to discuss the civil rights implications of the bill. In her articulate but soft-spoken manner that I miss incredibly, my Nana sat beside me on the couch and rattled off arguments about civics and equal rights that would make any member of the lgbt community proud. Her main concern was about how a government by the people and for the people could discriminate against so many of the people. God bless you Nana. The truth is, I have never been prouder to be a lesbian, or to be the much loved curly-headed-mater-picker granddaughter of such an intelligent and well-expressed Nana. Consequently, although I could write pages on how amazing this second conversation was and how my grandmother allayed my every fear, I have books to read, papers to write, and literally, miles to go before I sleep, so……….how about a top ten list of things Nana said instead?
Top 10 Comments from Nana when I told her I was a Lesbian
1. You will always be my granddaughter.
2. You can bring any woman you want home with you and don’t worry I will still fix you cornbread, turnip greens, and boiled cabbage.
3. I never could pretend to be anything I wasn’t….so you shouldn’t pretend any longer.
4. Julia, do you think Obama’s wife is pregnant? (Proof positive that sometimes there are more important discussions than whether or not you’re gay!)
5. Everyone deserves the opportunity to spend their lives with the person that makes them happy and treats them kindly. (Why didn’t I come out to her sooner?)
6. But now wait a minute…..how will I get my curly-headed grandbabies?
7. (In answer to #6) Well, I guess you could get invitro fertilized like our cows!
8. Good Lord, he’s got on a black suit, a blue stripped shirt, and a red paisley tie. He looks worse than I do and I didn’t even curl my hair today. (Comment about Bill Clinton’s campaign manager and further proof that somewhere in my DNA is a fashion goddess just trying to get out.)
9. This isn’t about politics. This is about you. (In answer to my question about whether this meant she was a liberal.)
10. Well, you’ve certainly been beat over the head with the Bible enough to know what it says, and honey, it’s up to you because there are a lot more important things to worry about than what other people think.
Nana came out with several other one-liners…it’s nobody’s business, you deserve to be loved, did we get everything for Thanksgiving, just lie if you have to, she might be a preacher but she’s not perfect,…but my favorite three comments were…
a. Now, does this explain why you’ve been in college for seven years and you still can’t sew on a button? (Four quilts Nana, four!)
b. Well your mama never really did care much about you anyhow. (Really, I hadn’t noticed!)
c. What kind of government have we got anyway? That George Bush has just about ruined this country.
Amen Nana…Amen."
19 November 2008
Commentary: National LGBT rights leader says stand firm, move forward
These encouraging words bear repeating...
Standing firm, moving forward
By Rea Carey, Executive Director,National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund
By Rea Carey, Executive Director,National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund
This last weekend, the nation witnessed an outpouring of emotion and determination from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the wake of both a historic and painful Election Day. The outcry by LGBT people at having a fundamental right taken away in California is understandable and our demand to participate fully and equally in society is inspiring.
The LGBT community played a significant role in the election of our first African-American president. According to exit poll data, 69 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual voters cast their votes for President-elect Obama compared to 53 percent of the general electorate. In doing so, we saw how far the nation has come in its struggle to honor the dignity and contributions of all Americans.
Yet in the passage of multiple statewide ballot measures targeting LGBT equality, we experienced firsthand just how far we still have to go.
After Nov. 4, LGBT people juggled a sense of exhilaration in closing a particularly ugly chapter in our nation’s history, while finding ourselves the target of vigorous, well-funded, dehumanizing campaigns.
America voted decisively to break the racial barrier but also drew a line in the sand when it came to the right of LGBT people to marry the person they love and form their families.
During his acceptance speech, we took President-elect Obama’s remarks to heart:
“What we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve for tomorrow. … America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more for us to do.”
Yes, so much more to do.
Despite losses in Florida, Arizona and California on same-sex marriage, the LGBT community can draw strength from how far our struggle has come in just four years. In 2004, same-sex marriage lost on the ballot in 13 states, by margins that ranged from largely the mid-70s to as high as 88 percent. This year the margins were much, much closer: in Florida it was 62 percent to 38 percent, in Arizona it was 56 percent to 44 percent, and in California it was 52 percent to 48 percent. In short, the point spread is bending toward justice.
In California, millions voted against Proposition 8 and tens of thousands gave up their evenings and weekends to canvass their communities or participate in No on 8 phone banks. From grandparents to college students to everyone in-between, Californians worked passionately and tirelessly for LGBT equality because it is a principle they believe in. Proposition 8 passed because it was among the most vitriolic anti-LGBT campaigns in our nation's history. But the progress being made cannot be disputed, and one day, in the not-too-distant future, we know that our families will be accorded the same dignity, respect and recognition as all other families in America.
After coming so close, it’s hard to accept these defeats, to analyze what we did right, what we might have done better, and to roll up our sleeves and get back to the daily work of making a case for LGBT and marriage equality. But, as the president-elect told the crowd in Grant Park:
“This victory alone is not the change we seek; it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.”
We will never go back.
As has always been the case, the simple fact of LGBT people living our lives and contributing to our communities continues to build the support we need to strengthen our partnerships, our families and our case for equality.
In vast numbers on Election Day, Americans expressed great hope in Obama’s life story of rising from humble origins and crossing many cultural and racial divides to form himself and to create both the family and a life’s path he passionately believes in. We are buoyed by his belief in the inherent worth of all Americans, including those who are “gay [and] straight,” as he noted only moments into his acceptance remarks.
It is up to LGBT people and our allies to insist on the recognition of our humanity, to continue to press for the lives we dream of and for the safety and well-being of our families — families we are stretching to support and protect, against all odds — against even the disapproval and disdain of our very neighbors, every day.
We saw this insistence at full force on Nov. 15 in rallies from San Diego to D.C., from Boston to Seattle, and we inspired each other in the process.
I truly believe that one day, and within one generation, we will all look back and wonder what all the fuss was about. We will simply be able to get married and create our families without having to go door to door, asking for permission.
What we’ll remember better, I hope, is that we stood firm despite our grave disappointment, took up the charge President-elect Obama put before us, and quickly got to the business of reshaping this country after a defining moment in American history.
18 November 2008
The Obama-Biden Agenda for Equal Civil Rights
The fine folks at proudparenting.com have an article about President-Elect Obama's plans for gay rights:
http://www.proudparenting.com/node/2268
You can also find President-Elect Obama's plans to strengthen civil rights at: http://www.change.gov/ (follow the link under 'agenda' to civil rights)
or go directly to the civil rights section here: http://www.change.gov/agenda/civil_rights_agenda/
17 November 2008
Scenes from the National Day of Protest in ATL:
and just because she is totally cool, and her words describe my true feelings to a 'T', here's Wanda Sykes in Nevada:
14 November 2008
Personal Faith
My faith is a very personal thing. It is my personal relationship with a Higher Power, whom I choose to accept as God. I don't expect people to have the same beliefs I do, and I try not to judge the faith of others. Sometimes this is a hard task when those 'others' are using their faith as an excuse to condemn. If people want to believe that God created earth, then put a man and woman on the planet and followed them around testing them every chance He got, that is fine with me. Just please extend me the same courtesy - don't judge my faith, and don't tell me that I don't have the right answers. God speaks to each of us individually and what God thinks is good for you might not be good for me. I was born with an inquisitive mind - after much prayer and thoughtful study it has led me to accept that while the bible may have been inspired by God, it is not infallible - man put some stories in there to teach lessons, or to try and make sense out of things that had happened in the past. Much of the bible is not based on fact -it's allegory. This thinking has not damaged my relationship with God - in fact, it has made my faith stronger. God does not change...our understanding of God changes, and, with understanding, our relationship with God - you know, that PERSONAL one - grows. Imagine all the good we can do if we were truly witnesses for God - allowing our very lives to be the TRUE testement of God's unconditional love? Imagine if we focused on what God intended for OUR LIVES instead of focusing on what we think God condemns in others. Imagine what could happen if we were truly focused on compassion, love and justice for those who are denied equality.
I think we'd really be doing what Jesus would do.
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