Showing posts with label homophobia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homophobia. Show all posts
10/25/13
9/30/13
Sign this petition from All Out: The Olympic Committee is letting Russia violate the Olympic Charter against discrimination. We need to speak out
From All Out:
Outrageous. The Olympic Committee just said they don't think Russia is violating the Olympic Charter – even though Russians are facing anti-gay arrests, violent attacks, and exclusion.
Olympic host nations are supposed to obey seven principles and Principle 6 says discrimination of any kind is not allowed. But, the Olympic Committee is now acting like lesbian, gay, bi and trans people just don't count.
Principle 6 – Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement"
Equality doesn't work like that, so their position needs to be clear. Can you take two minutes to send a quick email to the new Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach and ask him if lesbian, gay, bi and trans people are protected by Principle 6?
The Olympic Committee is accountable to us – the spectators, athletes, and customers of their billion-dollar sponsors. If thousands of us email new Olympic president Thomas Bach now, we can put him on notice. If he won't answer our question, millions of us could even take the fight to the corporate sponsors, forcing them to step in.Send an email directly to the Olympic Committee through All Out's website:https://www.allout.org/email-olympics-pres |
I support Mike Rogers outing closeted, anti-gay politicians, like he did yesterday with Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming. For the good of the LGBT
For me, if you legislate against us during the day and have a gay life at night, you are causing great harm to the gay people who you date/have sex as well as the LGBT community. In essence, you are agreeing with the churches and other forces of gay oppression that we are second-class citizens, not good enough for society. That we are shameful and disordered.
I agree with Dan Savage and Mike Rogers on this subject: first and foremost, we should out anti-gay, closeted political leaders to protect our own rights. And in the process, we are not hurting them -- we are simply telling the truth and setting everyone free. (BTW, most of these outed politicians like their lives more once they admit who they are...but is not our business.)
9/27/13
Dear Barilla CEO: An apology is no apology if it starts "I apologize if I offended...". You are not showing remorse for your words, just protecting your business
Guido Barilla told us how he really feels about gays and our human rights in the radio interview.
What follows is a lesson in how not to apologize to the LGBT community:
In reference to my statements yesterday to the press, I apologize if my words have offended some people.
For clarity I would like to point out that I have the deepest respect for all people, without distinction of any kind.
I have the utmost respect for homosexuals and freedom of expression. I also said, and repeat, that I have respect for marriages between people of the same sex.
Barilla in its advertising has always chosen to represent the family because this is the symbol of hospitality and love for everyone.
-- Guido Barilla
9/25/13
9/23/13
Tweet of the day
While the Minneapolis Archbishop spends his time fighting against the human rights of LGBT and spreading homophobia, he allowed the child-molesting Father Curtis Wehmeyer to continue his duties as a priest despite many complaints about his sexually predatory behavior. What did the Archdiocese of Minneapolis do about this molesting priest? Nothing!
Read all about this here. Time for the Catholic Church to get its own house in order. And to cease persecuting the LGBT.
9/22/13
Just another reason we give up on no one: the former leader of South Carolina's ban on gay marriage becomes a supporter of marriage equality
This is what we mean by a "change of heart." Former SC state senator John Hawkins re-discovered his, and I am grateful for that.
9/20/13
Pope Francis' words yesterday represent a sea change for the Catholic Church. While he didn't change its dogma (yet), he reminded everyone of its purpose: as a champion for love
As a long-time gay activist and a former Catholic, I am still reeling from the importance of the Pope's words in his newly released interview. His words mark the end of the orthodox John Paul II era as much as the election of Barack Obama ended Reaganism.
Socially-divisive priests like San Francisco's Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone have been put on notice by this new pope. No longer can they treat LGBT people as "intrinsically disordered," second-class citizens, who are regularly castigated against from the pulpit. Instead, Pope Francis' words suggest that Cordileone and his ilk have neglected their core spiritual mission of creating a warm and welcoming environment for all Catholics, while spending most of their time lobbying for "small-minded rules" in the political square. The rabidly anti-gay animus of the conservative Catholic hierarchy has cost the church of millions and millions of followers, like my once-very-Catholic family.
I feel that Francis is calling the RC church to return to the core message of Christ: the power of unconditional love (and providing a welcoming refugee from the suffering of the world). This is a winning formula that meets timeless human needs. Modern people want a church that opens up their hearts and lifts them up -- not judges or controls them.
A few months ago, I saw a segment on BBC TV in which they interviewed one of Pope Francis' spiritual mentors. I forget the elderly priest's name but it was clear that he was a big admirer of Pope John XXIII, the convener of Vatican II. So I am not completely surprised that Pope Francis is turning out to be the most reformist pope since John XXIII and just may be able to save the RC church from irrelevancy.
Clearly, Francis' ascendancy marks the end of John Paul's cold-hearted theo-con era. Like with American politics, change is happening in Catholicism...and not a moment too soon. -- Joe
9/18/13
Like in some states in the U.S., teachers in Russia can be fired for being gay. Is this what Putin means when he promises "equality for all"?
From FrontiersLA:
Olga Bakhaeva is 24 years old and works as a teacher of history and social studies in School No. 56, in Magnitogorsk:
It all started with the “VKontakte” community (Russian social network like Facebook. NT). In May the “Straights Alliance for LGBT Equality” posted an item about the persecution of an LGBT teacher, and I left a comment that I was LGBT as well and that I worked in a school. That was the beginning! After a couple of hours, I received a message on “VKontakte” from a user named Valkiria Repina (according to the “Alliance of Heterosexuals”, that is the pseudonym of a man involved in attacks on LGBT demonstrations in St. Petersburg. Ed.). Repina told me to resign at once, otherwise they would “ruin my life”.
In the “Parents of Russia” community (an aggressively anti-homosexual movement. Ed.), which is administered by this Valkiria, a post about me appeared, with my private photos and some unpleasant details. Then came more messages: “Why no answer? Tell us your decision. If you resign we shan’t distribute that information.”
I didn’t answer. I mean, I realised that this story wouldn’t die of its own accord. However, the demands were fascist. I was happy in my job, and wasn’t going to change it.
Full article here.
9/17/13
9/10/13
FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, is rightfully under pressure to push Russia and Qatar over their anti-gay laws. They will host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022
The Guardian reports that with the World Cup scheduled to take place in Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively, FIFA's new anti-discrimination taskforce is joining in the fight to ensure those nations are held accountable for their anti-gay laws:
Piara Powar the director of Football Against Racism in Europe and a member of the taskforce along with the former FA chairman David Bernstein, said it would raise the issue at a meeting this week.
"Qatar is one of the few countries where homosexuality is still illegal and there are also big challenges in terms of the new law in Russia in regard to the World Cup," he said.
"Qatar wants to host the tournament at the start of a new decade, they will want to present an internationally welcoming face and with FIFA's help we are sure it will be possible to win over the Qataris so that they come into line with the rest of the world, including other countries in the Gulf and Middle East and change the law on homosexuality.
"These are issues of civil rights, fans and players of all races, religions and sexuality need to feel comfortable going to the World Cups in both Russia and Qatar. It is going to be quite a challenge but we have to make sure that football becomes the vehicle for social change that we claim it is. This is a big issue."
1/26/12
1/19/12
1/11/12
This scene will become more common: anti-gay politicians being called "bigots" by protesters, as Santorum was in New Hampshire yesterday
Very quickly, homophobia is joinining racism, sexism, and religion persecution as something you can not do in polite society. Anti-gay Christians are going to claim that they are being persecuted, but the truth is that they are being called out now, for the first time, on their hatred. They do not like this anymore than racist whites felt in the 1950's and 1960's. While I personally draw the line in using the word "bigot" to describe another person, I am okay referring to Santorium's bigoted views or bigoted behavior.
1/7/12
The politics of fear exposed...no comment required
On pre-existing conditions and health insurance:
On gay parents:
For the second time in as many days, Rick Santorum waded into the issue of gay marriage, suggesting it was so important for children to have both a father and mother that an imprisoned father was preferable to a same-sex parent. Citing the work of one anti-poverty expert, Santorum said, "He found that even fathers in jail who had abandoned their kids were still better than no father at all to have in their children's lives." Allowing gays to marry and raise children, Santorum said, amounts to "robbing children of something they need, they deserve, they have a right to. You may rationalize that that isn't true, but in your own life and in your own heart, you know it's true."
On gay parents:
For the second time in as many days, Rick Santorum waded into the issue of gay marriage, suggesting it was so important for children to have both a father and mother that an imprisoned father was preferable to a same-sex parent. Citing the work of one anti-poverty expert, Santorum said, "He found that even fathers in jail who had abandoned their kids were still better than no father at all to have in their children's lives." Allowing gays to marry and raise children, Santorum said, amounts to "robbing children of something they need, they deserve, they have a right to. You may rationalize that that isn't true, but in your own life and in your own heart, you know it's true."
12/24/11
The 3 hurtful things that the GOP (and the Tea Party) did to gay people this week...
#1. Michigan Tea Party Governor Rick Snyder signs domestic partner benefits ban for Michigan public employees. Why? To save money because gays are not equal to straight spouses and to energize his Tea Party (and anti-gay) base. Ironically, he exempted public universities because the top gay professors threatened to bolt to more friendly states if this law passed without modifications.
#2. Presidential contender and Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann tells a gay Iowa man that Kinsey's findings are a "myth" and "not valid." Translation: gays are not valid and gay people do not deserve to be a "protected class." This scientific wisdom from the Tea Party darling who does not believe in global warming and other rational facts.
#3. Minnesota GOP Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, one of the leading proponents of Minnesota's 2012 anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment, resigned her post in disgrace after admitting to an affair with a Senate staffer. Koch, who is is married with one child, was been a leading light in Minnesota's Tea Party movement and authored an unsuccessful bill to amend the Minnesota Constitution declaring "a marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in Minnesota.
A Minnesota gay rights advocate wrote this ironic and wry letter to Ms. Koch, apologizing for 'the failure of her marriage' (making light of the conservative claim that public acceptance of homosexuality threatens traditional marriages.) So even in the darkness of homophobia, gay people can have a laugh and make a strong political point:
An Open Apology to Amy Koch on Behalf of All Gay and Lesbian Minnesotans
Dear Ms. Koch,
On behalf of all gays and lesbians living in Minnesota, I would like to wholeheartedly apologize for our community's successful efforts to threaten your traditional marriage. We are ashamed of ourselves for causing you to have what the media refers to as an "illicit affair" with your staffer, and we also extend our deepest apologies to him and to his wife. These recent events have made it quite clear that our gay and lesbian tactics have gone too far, affecting even the most respectful of our society.
We apologize that our selfish requests to marry those we love has cheapened and degraded traditional marriage so much that we caused you to stray from your own holy union for something more cheap and tawdry. And we are doubly remorseful in knowing that many will see this as a form of sexual harassment of a subordinate.
It is now clear to us that if we were not so self-focused and myopic, we would have been able to see that the time you wasted diligently writing legislation that would forever seal the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman, could have been more usefully spent reshaping the legal definition of "adultery."
Forgive us. As you know, we are not church-going people, so we are unable to fully appreciate that "gay marriage" is incompatible with Christian values, despite the fact that those values carry a biblical tradition of adultery such as yours. We applaud you for keeping that tradition going.
And finally, shame on us for thinking that marriage is a private affair, and that our marriage would have little impact on anyone's family. We now see that marriage is more than that. It is an agreement with society. We should listen to the Minnesota Family Council when it tells us that marriage is about being public, which explains why marriages are public ceremonies. Never did we realize that it is exactly because of this societal agreement that the entire world is looking at you in shame and disappointment instead of minding its own business.
From the bottom of our hearts, we ask that you please accept our apology.
Thank you.
John Medeiros
Minneapolis MN
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