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Of Mother’s Day and misogyny
I came of age during the AIDS epidemic, and will forever pay tribute to those brave women who stepped into vacant leadership and caregiver roles, whose many accomplishments are now largely forgotten. But simply listing the women whom I admire is a bit akin to the old “some of my best friends are ___” argument. The bigger question is, what makes someone a misogynist, and am I one?
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A Solemn Mother’s Day
When the dawn breaks this Mother’s Day, there will be sons, and daughters who will have made plans to treat their Mums to special dinners, maybe breakfast in bed, or just take them someplace special. Countless flowers, candies, and yes, even jewelry will be bestowed in gratitude by children in a showing of deep love and gratitude for all that their Mums mean in their lives. Yet, for some mother’s, the day will not hold a special meaning at all. Their will be no gifts, no special remembrances or displays of affection and love. There will be an empty place at the dinner table and even larger emptiness in the hearts of those mothers who have lost their children to suicide or bullying…
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MSNBC holds FRC President Tony Perkins accountable
There are some people whose views are so intractable that they will never – as the President put it – “evolve” on this issue. But those folks really are few and far between. To tell the full story on marriage equality, the media needs to talk to folks who have changed their minds on the issue and explore the changes that are happening in our culture that has led to a majority of Americans now supporting marriage equality. It also needs to expose the true roots of the views of people like FRC President Tony Perkins, so that Americans know who he is when he shows up in these debate segments…
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Obama’s bold move on marriage equality presents opportunities, pitfalls
Obama’s decision today shows he has a moral core and is a change agent – just as he promised in his first campaign. Obama’s strategists hope such leadership qualities will play well in the war for Independent voters. Furthermore, Team Obama hopes that today’s decision will energize the progressive base and open the floodgates for gay volunteers and money. An excited base will be needed to counteract the expected onslaught of anti-gay groups that will portray the President as a radical gay-loving socialist. Make no mistake: today’s announcement is risky…
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Amendment One and an angry lament of a native son
As a native son of the Deep South and of North Carolina, tonight, I am ashamed, and angry. … I am ashamed for being too understanding of my homophobic brothers and sisters in Christ, knowing personally just how difficult it is to unravel the hate that can be instilled by the Christian faith. I am ashamed for being too tolerant of intolerance and hate. I am angry that the moral arc of the universe has been so misshapen by so-called Christian morality. I am angry that our churches, by and large, have stood for spirit of the world — the spirit of sin, death and hate — rather than the spirit of God — the spirit of love, creation and just societies.
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Biden releases the marriage genie
President Obama and Vice President Biden are an amusing study in contrasts. Obama is deliberate, contemplative and takes his time to evaluate an issue or problem before venturing a solution. Biden, meanwhile, wears his heart on his sleeve and frequently finds himself in trouble for talking out of turn. So it was on Sunday, when Biden appeared to endorse marriage equality during an interview on “Meet the Press.”
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We Will Not Be Erased…
It’s been said that telling our stories is what will make the biggest difference in the end. It’s easy to see the statistics that have changed since more and more people have come out and more and more of our loved ones have changed their minds about support for our equality.
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Dan Savage a hypocrite? Not even close…
The religious right wing clearly have no clue what bullying is really all about. A speaker, known for his “straight”, sometimes “salty”, talk, at a public forum, is not bullying you when he says your religious beliefs are bullshit. He doesn’t have you cornered against a locker, trapped behind the auto shop building, or head down in the commode in the bathroom stall. He isn’t threatening you with physical harm, not even the promised threat of “getting you later” after school. The right wing thinks all these kind of interactions are not bullying, especially if religiously motivated, but a speaker at high school assembly, who points out logical and factual inconsistencies in the way you behave is the bully and a hypocrite? Bullshit.
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Re-defining ‘Bully Pulpit’ — Pastor sends chilling message of violence
Many have heard and seen Pastor Sean Harris’ shouted exhortations about “squashing like a cockroach,” the first signs of gender-variant behavior in children. Fewer have seen his searing denunciation of transgendered persons as “an affront to God.” … and I have counseled at least three GLBT young adults who have attended this church. They all said they heard similarly hateful messages there, which not only drove them away, but also pushed them into depression and self-harm, even suicide attempts …
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South Africa’s constitutional review of its sexual orientation rights is shocking
Since the end of Apartheid and the inception of South Africa’s new constitution some twenty years ago, the country has been lauded for its lead on the entrenchment of anti-discrimination rights that renders it one of the few in the world to protect sexual orientation and gender identity in its Constitution. Gays and lesbians (LGBTI) enjoy full equality in South Africa. Notwithstanding this South Africa has never managed to escape the brutality of rampant homophobia which is underscored by the high incidence of so called “corrective” rape in its townships, the deployment of an anti-gay ambassador to homophobic Uganda, and its failure to lead the decriminalization of homosexuality in the rest of Africa.