6/30/12
This is what happens when you have a U.S. President who believes in freedom and equality for all people...
Laos has its first pride event in the country's history, sponsored by the American Embassy. The theme was "Proud to be Us."
Kenya has its first pride event, at the U.S. Embassy there.
And the U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria attending the gay pride parade in Sofia.
And many more LGBT events around the world were sponsored by U.S. embassies this month, including Poland, Estonia, Albania, Germany, etc. Imagine what a statement it makes when the most powerful country in the world does such things.
These things would never happen under Mitt Romney given his anti-gay policies and political constituents. Sure, he would have (closeted and self-loathing) gays all over his administration, who would remain silent as gay people are discriminated against here and abroad. Just like in the Reagan, H.W. and W. administrations.
The GOPers talk a lot about freedom. Barack Obama practices it.
Thank you Teddy...for health care reform*
*It also should be noted that Kennedy killed health care reform twice, once under Nixon and once under Carter. A great man who let his ego get in the way of reform. Indeed, perfection is the enemy of the good as the Clintons learned in the 1990s. Read the story here.
6/29/12
Quote of the day
"The reaction to the law’s passage, Cuomo said, has been overwhelming. He recalled one instance when an older man saw him in the street and thanked him. 'As soon as he saw me, he started to cry. And he said, ‘You know, Mr. Governor. Thirty years ago, my son told me he was gay. He said I haven’t been able to deal with him since. I shouldn’t have needed you to tell me it was OK to love my boy. But I did.’'" -- Andrew Cuomo talking about the public's reaction to the passage of marriage equality in NY state.
The GOP can manufacture all they want about "Fast & Furious" but this is much ado about nothing. Now if they really want to investigate a contemptible AG...
...talk to Alberto Gonzalez, who was also ineffective and let political hacks direct the work of the Department of Justice. Shameful.
6/28/12
The President passed health care reform because it is the morally right thing to do, not the most popular decision. This is leadership
And in this video below, Governor Romney strongly defends the individual mandate in 2006. What has changed that has made him change his mind? Massachusetts' health care system has become a model for the country, and is working. Nothing has changed except he wants to be President -- at any cost to him and America.
Thank you Chief Justice Roberts for saving health care reform. You care about ordinary Americans...and your legacy
Today, conservatives will be angry with John Roberts and shaking their heads and asking why some conservative justices tend to become more moderate the longer they serve. To me, the answer is simple: they realize they have to rise above narrow legal theories and petty politics and do what is right for the American people. Chief justices also tend to worry about their legacies, not wanting to be on the wrong side of history.
Thank you John Roberts! And thank you President Obama!
6/27/12
A positive development for the Middle East: Israel's High Court rules that the Ultra-Orthodox must serve in the military. Soon these 'hawks' will have 'skin in the game'
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and boys (some of them dressed in sacks as a sign of mourning) protest against Tal Law replacement on June 25, 2012 in Jerusalem, Israel. The Tal Law, which exempts ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from mandatory military service, was declared unconstitutional by the High Court in February and is due to expire in August.
Legal scholars shake their heads at the tone of Scalia's dissent on the immigration ruling: He is "sounding more like a conservative blogger or Fox News pundit than a justice"
Someone is beginning to lose it...all that fear and vitriol takes its toll. Read this LA Times article.
Jon Stewart shows just how biased Fox News is, when its commentators try to compare the "Fast & Furious" non-controversy to Watergate. If they want real dirt, they should be investigating News Corp
6/26/12
From 1982: Kate Jackson goes on the Tonight Show and previews the first big budget major movie to focus on homosexuality, "Making Love". This movie brought me out
This movie forced me to come out. I saw by myself during my senior year in college. Then I took my girlfriend to it and I told her everything after the movie. Challenging and cathartic!
In Obama's America, the LGBT are equal citizens, not 2nd class ones. Watch the first Pride event ever at the Pentagon. Historic
Would have DADT been repealed if it wasn't President Obama? McCain and Romney campaigned against the repeal of DADT in 2008 and more recently. They believe in America where the LGBT are not equal citizens. It is as simple as that.
More outbursts of gay pride
From the Facebook page for the makers of the Oreo (just another sign that we are winning the hearts and minds of America):
And the official American embassy's float in the LGBT parade in Berlin. Astonishing!
And the official American embassy's float in the LGBT parade in Berlin. Astonishing!
Dan Savage's brutal response to GOProud, extreme gay conservatives
Dan Savage:
The hard-right gay Republican organization—a rightwing front group that exists to pinkwash the GOP—endorsed Mitt Romney last week. Romney, of course, opposes marriage equality. Romney supports DOMA. Romney has pledged to write anti-gay bigotry into the U.S. Constitution. Romney opposed the repeal of DADT. Romney opposes the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Romney opposes adoptions by same-sex couples. GOProud's endorsement of Romney, while not a surprise, was annoying, and it prompted me to send out this tweet: "The GOP's house faggots grab their ankles, right on cue. Pathetic." The boys at GOProud accused me of using a hate term and claimed that I had bullied them. For the record, boys, this is what the bullying of an adult looks like. Politically-active adults taking the piss out of each other—and you guys have called me all sorts of lovely names—isn't bullying. And "faggot" is a word I've used to describe myself (on MSNBC!), it's a term I've used to describe my husband (in books!), it's a term my friends and I use to describe each other (all the time!). "Faggot" isn't an insult in my book—that's why I had to stick the word "house" in front of it.
Anyway, mixing it up with GOProud last week got me thinking about why a gay man would endorse—much less "commit significant resources" to help elect—a man who has pledged, if elected, to do as much harm as he possibly can to gay people. I mean, what kind of faggot supports a politician who would do him harm?
Oh, right: the same kind of faggot who would harm himself with drugs or alcohol or sex. The kind of gay men who don't like themselves or other gay people much. But while most self-loathing, self-destructive gay men are content to abuse booze, drugs, or dick, the self-hating GOProud boys abuse themselves with politics. And just like gay meth addicts who aren't satisfied harming only themselves, the boys at GOProud aren't satisfied harming only themselves. They want to harm other gay people—they want to harm all gay people—by getting Mitt Romney elected. And just like your meth-addicted friend who pushed the drug on you, or your drunk friend who mocked you for stopping at four, or your sexually out-of-control friend who insisted that you were a prude if you didn't play the come dump with him down at the bathhouse, the GOProud boys want you to abuse yourself the same way that they're abusing themselves. They want you to vote for Mitt Romney for the same reason your meth-addicted pal wanted you to use that stupid drug.
Because they're damaged.Dan continues like this, expressing his full 'Velvet Rage.' Read his whole post.
I think the LGBT movement is giving GOProud too much attention. We should just let them stew in their own self-loathing and talk amongst themselves. And have compassion for them (and former selves) when we see their placating behavior in quotes and tweets.
BTW, I have no problem with outspoken GOPers, like Fred Karger, who are actively trying to change their party on LGBT issues. Fred and I might not agree on everything, but he's a man who I admire and respect.
Quote of the day on gay parenting
The bottom line is simple: no state can effectively prevent lesbians or gay men from becoming mothers or fathers, because they can do so in other ways–such as surrogacy and insemination–or by moving somewhere that permits them to foster or adopt children. So all a state can accomplish if it imposes restrictions, as Arkansas tried to do and as Utah and Mississippi still do, is to shrink the pool of prospective parents and, as a result, decrease the odds that children in its custody will ever receive the benefits of living in permanent, successful families. --Adam Pertman
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association of Family Physicians, the National Association of Social Workers, and the Child Welfare League of America all agree.
via The Daily Dish
The anatomy of lying by Mitt...this is what happens when you will do anything to win
From The Daily Dish, quoting Michael Cohen:
The United States has never been witness to a presidential candidate, in modern American history, who lies as frequently, as flagrantly and as brazenly as Mitt Romney.
First, there is Romney's claim that the 2009 stimulus passed by Congress and signed by President Obama "didn't work". According to Romney, "that stimulus didn't put more private-sector people to work." While one can quibble over whether the stimulus went far enough, the idea that it didn't create private-sector jobs has no relationship to reality. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the stimulus bill created more than 3m jobs – a view shared by 80% of economists polled by the Chicago Booth School of Business (only 4% disagree).
Romney also likes to argue that the stimulus didn't help private-sector job growth, but rather helped preserve government jobs. In fact, the Obama years have been witness to massive cuts in government employment. While the private sector is not necessarily "doing fine", as Obama said in a recent White House press conference, it's doing a heck of a lot better than the public sector.
And the list goes on. Romney has accused Obama of raising taxes – in reality, they've gone down under his presidency, and largely because of that stimulus bill that Romney loves to criticize. He's accused the president of doubling the deficit. In fact, it's actually gone down on Obama's watch.
6/25/12
"Gay Marriage and the Buddha's Path to Spiritual Freedom"
by Larry Yang:
This is when our marriage has become a spiritual transformation, not just for the two of us, but for our whole family. This is when love that is fully supported, can fully support others. This is when the lives of two individuals with the intention to be as good people as we can be, to live as well as we can do, to be as kind as we can be -- becomes something so much greater than just our relationship. It illuminates a path to loving others in the same way, producing the same results: Love. What greater freedom is there, other than to offer love unconditionally? It is a gift that we all deserve. This gift of being able to Love cannot be taken away. And whether or not we are given marriage by any set of laws or conditions, my truth is that I know that marriage, our marriage, cannot be taken away.
My experience in being part of Obama's LGBT army at Pride. And the NYTimes article on the Obama campaign's recruitment of LGBT volunteers
In this election year, I felt it was important to stand up and march with the Obama contingent at Pride and help mobilize LGBT voters, reminding them of the many, many things Obama has done with them. And sure enough, we received a warm reception from 600,000 people gathered along the parade route, where we besieged with requests for special LGBT for Obama stickers, buttons, and house signs. It was an exhilarating experience to connect with thousands during the parade, and to see smile on their faces when they read my sign (which said "Our Advocate in the White House" on one side and "One More Time" on the other.) Grandmothers, children, fathers, twinks, and old gay married couples welcomed us with outstretched arms, knowing that Mr. Romney's election as president would be a major setback for the LGBT.
The mixture of pride in all our accomplishments together and genuine affection for this president made this a very LGBT pride. In the last four years, we have accomplished so much together. Go Obama and go America!
Check out this New York Times article about the Obama's campaign to recruit LGBT volunteers.
6/24/12
6/23/12
The daily lives of million of refugees...World Refugee Day was on June 20th
A Bangladishi boy in Nepal
Tibetan boys in Nepal
Syrian girls in Turkey
Photos from Boston.com
A moving read: "The Gift of Being Gay and a Dad"
By MARCUS MABRY, from the New York Times:
..When I turned 40 I decided it was time. By then surrogacy was so en vogue among those who could afford it – gay and straight alike – that I knew that was the route I wanted to take. My partner wanted to have children, too, but he was younger than I was and he had not decided at that point, as I had, that he would have children, no matter what.
We also differed over the primacy of having a family. As he put it, he did not feel that his life would be incomplete without children. I did. What would a well-off gay couple have to show at the end of a life spent together: photos of the various exotic trips they had taken? This is us at the pyramids. This is us at Angkor Wat. This is us in Patagonia. This is us in Paris.
A series of travelogues as proof of a life well-lived...
The full article
6/22/12
Read this story of a gay North Carolina business man who adopted two boys with his partner
Meet Bob Page and his family. Bob adopted these two boys from Vietnam, employs over 450 people in North Carolina, and has spend his time and money fighting the hateful Amendment One there.
Read about his story
Andrew Sullivan: "One party has become unhinged"
"Or, rather, it is living in an alternative reality. 63 percent of Republicans in a new poll believe that Saddam Hussein had WMDs when we invaded in 2003, despite even George W. Bush's acknowledgment that he didn't. 64 percent also believe that Barack Obama was born in a foreign country, even though we have the long-form birth certificate from Hawaii. This alternate reality is sustained by a 24 hour propaganda network, and hermetically sealed off from any external intervention.
We are reaching a democratic crisis of some sorts. One major political party refuses to accept empirical truths. It has become a hall of ideological mirrors."
- Andrew Sullivan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)