Saturday, November 29, 2008
Salon.com interviews author Richard Rodriguez
Rodriguez, is a Mexican-American, gay and a practicing Catholic. He says the real reason that churches are
panicking about same-sex marriage lies elsewhere: the breakdown of the traditional heterosexual family and the shifting role
of women in society and the church itself. The majority of women choose to live without men, and as a result, churches
are losing their grip on power and scapegoating gays and lesbians for their failures.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/11/25/proposition_8_religion/index.html
New Yorker Article Predicts that Gay Marriage will Happen Eventually
The New Yorker cites the field poll as support for the view that gay marriage will eventually be a reality:
The
Field Poll, one of California’s most respected, found last month that while the state’s over-sixty-fives oppose
gay marriage by a thirty-point margin, the under-thirty-fives favor it by thirteen points—and it’s hard to think
of a reason that getting older should change their minds.
Here is what the New Yorker has to say about African
Americans voting down Propositon 8:
If exit polling is to be believed, seventy per cent of California’s African-American
voters did indeed vote yes on Prop. 8, as did upward of eighty per cent of Republicans, conservatives, white evangelicals,
and weekly churchgoers. But the initiative would have passed, barely, even if not a single African-American had shown up at
the polls.
2:16 pm est
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving! Read More About Being Happy!
There was a conference on happiness this week in San Francisco. It featured psychologists, biologists, MD's and others.
This article talks about the conference as well as a study showing there is no a correlation between money and happiness.
Given the recent stock market declines, most people should be happy to know this. Try and be happy today...and give thanks
to all.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/us/27happy.html?ref=us
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Big Day for Gay Rights! Here are the four articles in today's paper. Most interesting is that a Florida court ruled that
a ban on allowing gays and lesbians to adopt is unconstitutional!!
And CA is going after the Mormons!!
Australian Legislators Back Gay Rights
By MERAIAH FOLEY (NYT)
Australian
lawmakers have approved legislation giving homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexuals but have ruled out legalizing
same-sex marriages.
U.S. / POLITICS
Inquiry Set on Mormon Aid for California Marriage Vote
By JESSE McKINLEY (NYT)
California
officials will investigate accusations that the Mormon Church neglected to report nonmonetary contributions on behalf of a
ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage.
US
Florida Gay Adoption Ban Is Ruled Unconstitutional
By YOLANNE ALMANZAR (NYT)
A
Florida law that has banned adoptions by gay men and lesbians for over three decades is unconstitutional, a judge ruled on
Tuesday.
US
California: Head of Festival Quits
By DAVE ITZKOFF (NYT)
The
director of the Los Angeles Film Festival, Richard Raddon, has resigned after the revelation that he donated money to support
a ballot measure that outlawed same-sex marriage.
MOVIES
Freedom Fighter in Life Becomes Potent Symbol in Death
By A. O. SCOTT (NYT)
Harvey
Milk was an intriguing, inspiring figure. And “Milk” is a marvel.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
NY Times Opinion on Proposition 8 v.s. Opinion by McGurn in WSJ
The New York Times opinion supports the idea that it isn't right for a popular
vote to take away rights from someone who already has them. It says that if this type of vote was to hold, it should require
a 2/3 majority vs. a simple majority. Otherwise this same-sex vote is going to set a precedent for all kinds of rights to
be taken away. I guess we'll know sometime in the middle of next year whether the CA Supreme Court agrees with the NY
Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/opinion/25tue4.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
William McGurn takes the opposite view in his opinion in today's
WSJ. He says, "The great achievement of our system was to create a political order where these great moral disputes,
as a matter of policy, are left to the people -- with allowance for differences according to region and locale. Moral agents
have a role to play, generally by shaping the larger culture in which these decisions are framed and debated. But the outcome
is left to the people acting through their elected representatives, a process that inevitably involves compromise, trade-offs
and messy accommodations." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122757137423754669.html
Mr. McGurn wants to let a simple majority decide whether rights should be given or taken away. Let the decision
to discrimminate be decided based on the current culture and the debate surrounding the issue.
I hope CA Supreme
Court follows the opinion the NY Times has laid out.
7:38 am est
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Globe Article Discusses the Desparity in Gay Movies
This is a good article looking at the range of movies from documentary or serious
ones, like Milk or Philadephia to ones that are more sexually oriented, too flamboyant. It asks the question, how come we
don't have movies that gay people would be proud to say they are going out to see, maybe even with their straight friends.
Good question. Maybe its that Hollywood is uncomfortable with a "motherhood and apple pie" movie about gay characters.
The reality is that there aren't many mainstream books written either about gay characters. I am writing one....almost
done. Preference for Love is about my family. It's a real story about real characters, some of whom are gay. It's
about how everyone deserves to be as happy as they can be, gay or not. More to come soon!!
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2008/11/23/how_gay_is_that/?page=3
Friday, November 21, 2008
More on CA Proposition 8 Going to CA Supreme Court
9:02 am est
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
CA Supreme Court to Review Whether to Overturn Proposition 8 Ban
6:17 pm est
Anna Quindlen Speaks Out and Provides Hope
8:16 am est
Monday, November 17, 2008
Massachusetts Finds Same-Sex Marriage Approval Ratings Have Increased Significantly -- to Nearly 60%
7:39 am est
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Tens of Thousands of Gay Rights Supporters Protect Throughout U.S.
10:28 am est
Saturday, November 15, 2008
What a Double Standard!!
The diocese of Charlton SC has publicly rebuked
Rev. Jay Scott Newman for telling Catholics who voted for Barack Obama they shouldn't take Communion unless they
go to confession first. He said this because Obama supports abortion. When the comments caused a huge outrage, Newman said
he'd been misinterpreted. But his diocese is now saying that he misrepresented the church's position, and that Obama
voters don't need to go to confession before seeking Communion. Per the diocese released statement,
* The
Catechism of the Catholic Church states, 'Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make
moral decisions.'
* The Catechism goes on to state: 'In the formation of conscience the Word of
God is the light for our path; we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our
conscience before the Lord’s Cross. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice
of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church.'
* Christ gives us freedom to explore our own conscience and to make our own decisions while adhering to the law of
God and the teachings of the faith. Therefore, if a person has formed his or her conscience well, he or she should not be
denied Communion, nor be told to go to confession before receiving Communion.
* The pulpit is reserved for
the Word of God. Sometimes God’s truth, as is the Church’s teaching on abortion, is unpopular. All Catholics must
be aware of and follow the teachings of the Church."
But it's okay for the San Franciso archbishop to
call the Mormon's into fight against same-sex marriage. What happened to allowing people the right to their own individual
conscience?
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles_of_faith/2008/11/diocese_priest.html
Mormans Role in Gay Marriage Defeat Initated by Catholic Church
A NYTimes article reported yesterday that two weeks before the Proposition 8 vote, the San Franciso archbishop of
the Catholic Church reached out to the Mormon leadership for help defeating the proposed amendment. The leaders
of Protect Marriage, the main group working for the gay marriage ban raised more than $5 million just a few weeks before
the vote, including a $1 million donation from Alan C. Ashton, the grandson of a former president of the Mormon Church. Also
a strategist with Protect Marriage said that Mormans made up 80-90% of the initial canvasing efforts. At my Catholic
Church the pastor repeatedly tells us that God loves us all without judgement. Catholics in San Fransisco who
support same-sex marriage, and I am sure there are many who do, should stop contributing $ to the church. Go if you want to,
but don't give financial support. It became obvious from the priest pedophile scandal that the Catholic Church responds
when they are hit in the pocketbook.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/us/politics/15marriage.html?th&emc=tho
Friday, November 14, 2008
Judith Warner of the WSJ writes compelling article supporting gay marriage
8:00 am est
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Huge Percentage of Middle and High School Student Face Harrassment
GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, released the most comprehensive report ever on the experiences of
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students, the
2007 National School Climate Survey. The survey of 6,209
middle and high school students found that nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students (86%) experienced harassment at school in the
past year, 60% felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 33% had skipped a day of school in
the past month because of feeling unsafe.
http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/2340.html
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Same-sex marriage
I am so happy to live in Massachusetts! But even those of us who live here have to keep working to support people who live
in other states. We all deserve to achieve our dream of obtaining the same benefits heterosexuals take for granted.
5:01 pm est
