First off I hope everyone is having a good weekend.
I know you're all thinking "Woo hoo, another Edwards diary, Yay! <snark>
I understand both sides of the Edwards discussion. One side says it is a private affair (pun intended) between Edwards and his wife and we should not be involved as the public. On the other (I would thin popuiation-wise the bigger group) are those that are upset or angry either at Edwards for hurting his wife, or what he could have done to the Democratic party.
But this is not an Edwards diary per se. I just use it as a springboard to a more important, I think, issue.
If you thought that product placement was one of the fastest growing forms of marketing due to TV viewers TiVo'ing past all the commercials, think again. Now comes the commercial-free cable channel Showtime jumping into the lucrative game. And why not, when there's so much cash to be had. Then more cash will be had from all of the lesbian viewers being targeted.
Now I need to be honest here about a few things. I call myself a Jewish agnostic. I am culturally Jewish but I am a "strong agnostic" so I do not fit into the following article. Also I am a gay man. I know the gay/lesbian/Bi/transgender community all will be impacted by this potentially, however for sake of discussion and to save on time/fingers I will just use the word "gay" not to be exclusive but to be able to let my fingers have some rest. However I felt the need to bring it to the attention of everyone as I think it very much attacks the fundamentalist Christian position on gay "agenda" (snark).
For those of you that want to read the actual article, it is from an APA publication which is not in the free public domain so I cannot direct you to a copy of it to review and read. However the study was published in the June issue of the Journal of Family Psychology. Co-authors are Eric Clausell of the University of Illinois, Kate Kuvalanka of Miami University of Ohio, and Abbie Goldberg of Clark University. You can Google the name of the journal or just go to www.apa.org for more information on the APA or the journals.
It is a fact that the republicans use attacks on gay rights to gain votes. It seems to me that an awful lot of conservatives are trying to legislate and control american bedrooms. The republican Viagra loving and gay hating platform is a "do as I say, not as I do" political machine.
Apparently all that oil money doesn't get them excited enough, even if you throw in a 100mg pfizer best seller.
Portions XPosted 8/3/2008 11:23 AM PDT on MyDesert.com
According to one of my activist friends, a former deacon of a religious extremist church in Utah, who attends an evangelical megachurch in the Coachella Valley in order to monitor its adherence to the tax code as it applies to its tax exempt status, churches across America today began '100 Days of Prayer' against Marriage Equality and cajolled their members and attendees to vote in favor of Proposition 8 and defeat gay marriage at the polls in November.
Imagine a world in which SCHOOLS have all the resources they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.
I remember seeing this as a poster and bumper stickers when I was growing up.
My Mom often baked for these bake sales, as all moms seem to do. We'd raise a couple hundred, maybe, but never enough to rehab the playground or buy books for an entire grade, not in my rural Ohio school district. However, today, I'm encouraged that if anyone can make sure that schools can get the resources they need, we're looking at the leadership that can get this done.
UPDATE
This diary is NOT about NCLB, it is about a major change in leadership and the promise that change holds for the future.
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Sure, this generation is not free of homophobia, but this is a generation that grew up with openly gay and lesbian people serving in Congress, acting in films, hosting television shows and fronting rock bands. This generation grew up in schools where students unite in gay-straight alliances and march for tolerance. This generation grew up in a country that shared a common grief over the murder of a gay college student. This generation grew up watching gays and lesbians marry on cable news, bicker on reality TV and compete in pro sports. This generation grew up with gays in the Secret Service, gays in the FBI, gays in the CIA and yes, gays in the military, such as former Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, the first soldier injured in the ground war in Iraq and a recipient of the Purple Heart.
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I'll be frank, my previous diary on school bullying touched a nerve both here on DailyKos and also at Pam's House Blend. I want to share these comments with my readers and also use this opportunity to respond. Emotions were (rightfully so) very raw on this issue, and to understand the full context I do encourage all readers to check out Part I of this pair of diaries for background. I want to thank every single commenter for sharing their thoughts. More than anything else, I appreciate your time and thank you for adding to this very important discussion.
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I have never endured a more difficult experience than the cliquey, judgemental, make it or break it middle school crowd of my childhood years. I'll be perfectly honest, at 20 years old, those memories are quite fresh in my mind. I'm sure you can relate in some way.
I know, I'm well aware of the demographics of Dkos, however I also am aware of the universality of assholes, bullies and jocks throughout time, culture and class. If not middle school, then high school or certainly college. So many of us Kossacks can recall those dark experiences of school harassment in the form of intimidation, humiliation and sometimes violence.
Some of us, like me, remember those days as perpetrators. I know it may be hard to imagine, but for us reformed bullies, the experiences can sometimes be far worse than anything we dished out. Please allow me to explain.
Ryan learned about the honor Monday, when she and her partner of 30 years, Carol Adair, arrived home from the Aspen Ideas Festival ...
The next day was a busy one, because she and Adair were scheduled to be remarried, having married the first time in 2004 at City Hall in San Francisco. "We'll have to get the rings re-engraved with the new date," she said.
A group that opposes same-sex marriage has called for a boycott of McDonald's, saying the fast-food giant has refused "to stay neutral in the cultural war over homosexuality."
Say what? The fast food corporation that is notorious for clearing rainforest to pasture thier cattle is coming out for gay equality? I think my head is going to explode. Wanna watch? Follow me!
Last month, California gave its stamp of approval to same-sex marriage, becoming only the second state after Massachusetts to do so. Fear of gay marriage has long been exploited by right-wingers as the ultimate homophobic weapon to scare up bigotry and votes. Predictably, a parade of anti-gay idiots came out of the woodwork, howling in protest.
But they're on the wrong side of history. And to fully understand recent events, it's important to remember a tragedy that happened thirty-five years ago, and how much things have changed for gay Americans since then.
On the last Sunday in June, 1973, a gay bar in New Orleans called the UpStairs Lounge was firebombed. The resulting blaze killed 32 people. The death toll was the worst in New Orleans history up to that time. It was almost assuredly the largest mass murder of gays and lesbians to ever occur in the United States.
As millions of GLBTs and our supporters attend Pride events acorss the country this weekend, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the origins of Gay Pride Day, the origins of the Gay Pride March, where we have come from in terms of justice and equality, and where we are going.
Many people do not know the origins of Gay Pride Day, or that it is a commemoration of the Stonewall Rebellion, which occurred in New York City on June 27, in 1969. Many people just think it is about drinking beer and gyrating on a float in a g-string. Many straights I've encountered think it's just a gay mardi gras or bacchanalia, but have no sense of our history and the significance of us gathering in public to declare who we are, and to celebrate surviving in this homophobic world.
So, I've included in this diary a video that shares first-person accounts of the first gay pride march, as well as a poem/speech I wrote a few years ago to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Stonewall. It explains a little bit about what actually happened that night.
Happy Pride Everyone! Come out, Come Out, Whoever You Are!
Is helping the LGBT community important to you? Is defending my rights, your rights or the rights of friends and family something you care about? If it is, and you live in New York City, I’m sure you can find 3 or 4 hours to help fight for equality this summer! Please make some time for equality and civil rights and watch our combined efforts win this November! Read below for more info.
On May 17th, 2004 we were victorious in the marriage fight in Massachusetts. As every battle energizes the movement for marriage equality, likewise every defeat sets back our mission for equality by years, if not decades. Our thriving and passionate marriage equality movement stands to face the largest setback in the 21st century this November if California passes an amendment which would wipe out all signs of progress that we have made for equal marriage.
By Eric Francis
This topic is presented in honor of Gay Pride Week, an opportunity for queer folk to celebrate their sexuality and reflect on the coming out process. Enjoy the following editorial on queer sexuality and Happy Pride!
YESTERDAY we brought up the topic of queer, which is actually not a new topic for Planet Waves; we just don’t usually call it that. Queer means different, and it’s not that difficult to be different when it comes to sex. In fact, it’s the easiest thing in the world — we’re all different. However, many factors, such as social condition to act a certain way, or to seem a certain way, so that people think you’re not a certain something else, influence how people act. The truth is, we’re all different and we feel different on the inside. As my friend Beth once said, we’re all baskets inside of boxes.
The military’s need for qualified and experienced personnel continues to grow. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee recently released data showing the Army has doubled the number of waivers it grants to recruits convicted of violent felonies including manslaughter, rape and kidnapping. In an attempt to meet personnel goals Pentagon leaders have recently relaxed enlistment standards regarding age, physical fitness, education and criminal records. The discharge of lesbian and gay Americans, however, continues.
Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) is the military's ban on openly serving lesbian, gay or bisexual service members. It was enacted by a Democratic President and has been sustained by both Democratic and Republican congresses for over a decade. Like many progressive initiatives, Democrats in Congress, who remain too skittish about being labeled a "Gays before Berets" party, have not brought up the issue in any meaningful, challenging way this session.
California has now become the second American state to affirm that two men or two women can marry. Yet some organizations are planning to challenge this decision by referendum, and most of them cite as an explanation for their hostility verses in Leviticus 18 and 19, condemning a "male lying with a male as with a woman."
Is that the whole story -- or does the Bible look forward to its own transformation? Does
the Bible call on the human race to "grow up" into a new maturity, with a new sexual ethic?
