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The virtual scrapbook of an optimistic pessimist .
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Butler has uploaded a video of my commencement address to the class of 2013, which one can’t help but notice…is longer than the 12 minutes I so...
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Mt. Davidson 3.16.13
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These are some of my favorite desserts but redone in a healthier way! Many of them use lighter ingredients like bananas and...
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“Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are, it solely relies on what you think.”— Buddha (via excrutiate)
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“I want to force myself again and again to leave the warmth and security of static situations and move into the world of growth and suffering where...”
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We totally are (a married couple). We write and record together, we do press together, we travel together on tour. And now that we don’t have...
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A splash of Sotomayor love
| JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: | Outside of the marriage context, can you think of any other rational basis, reason, for a State using sexual orientation as a factor in denying homosexuals benefits or imposing burdens on them? Is there any other rational decision--making that the Government could make? Denying them a job, not granting them benefits of some sort, any other decision? |
| MR. COOPER: | Your Honor, I cannot. I do not have any -- anything to offer you in that regard. I think marriage is -- |
| JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: | All right. If that --if that is true, then why aren't they a class? If they're a class that makes any other discrimination improper, irrational, then why aren't we treating them as a class for this one thing? Are you saying that the interest of marriage is so much more compelling than any other interest as they could have? |
| MR. COOPER: | No, Your Honor, we certainly are not. |
| -------------- | |
| Told. |
Define yourself and stand in your own strength.
Same Love by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, feat. Mary Lambert
No law is gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever god we believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it’s all the same love
About time that we raised up
Beautiful. Smart. Powerful.
I’m stunned. This is all still hitting me. Adding three more states with marriage equality last night, we now have as many as 20% of Americans who live in a marriage equality state, 25% if Prop 8 falls as it’s more likely to now. My marriage to Keaton, legal in NY, is that much closer to being recognized here in Texas, meaning our ability to raise three children as a family just got a little easier. No, we don’t need “no piece of paper from the City Hall” as Joni Mitchell said, but that piece of paper is symbolic — it says that we don’t have to fight as hard, that our family is recognized and, dare I say it, VALUED. For all the children growing up in LGBT homes, for all the LGBT teens watching the election returns last night, things just got SO. MUCH. BETTER. I always maintain that the vitriol against gay people commonly heard in Evangelical and other conservative communities provides the ammunition for the suicides so common among young gay teens.
Last night just threw a little water on all that gunpowder.
I lost my uncle to that ammunition; I almost lost myself.
Thank you. Thank you to everyone who came before, to all of you who have been fighting this fight over the last 40 years. This is all possible because of you. The fight isn’t over, but last night we saw our Gettysburg. The rest is just the long, daily slog of cleaning up what’s left of the mess.
"This is fascinating.
Dan Savage hosted a dinner at his house with Brian Brown (from the National Organization for Marriage) and they discussed their opposing views on same-sex marriage.
An actual discussion!!!! Important stuff.
Personal Note: I rarely repost but I feel this is an important video to pass on. No matter how you feel about Dan Savage or Brian Brown(and even if it is a publicity stunt), it is very important that we all realize how important it is to discuss our differences. It is ever more important to LISTEN to people who don’t agree with you. As an ally or a person who identifies as any term of empowerment under the LGBTQ* umbrella, it is important that you watch this because many of your peers and others will watch it and use this as reference. -Rebecca
An excellent discussion I believe everyone should watch.
Why It Matters
I know that everyone is tired of hearing about this, but I believe this post is too important not to share. It is the best synopsis that I have found of why this issue matters to me and so many others. It’s not about freedom of speech or chicken. If that’s all you think this is then you’ve missed the point entirely. Please read this with a soft heart and an open mind. Thank you.
What is friendship to you? What is loyalty? How important are human life and dignity to you? Are they more important than fitting in with your social group? Are they more important than loyalty to a corporate brand, or a political party, or some misguided church teaching?
To read the article follow this link: The Chick Fellatio: stuck in the craw.
Happy Birthday, Harvey. Thank you for the amazing example you set for all of us.
“Somewhere in Des Moines or San Antonio there is a young gay person who all of a sudden realizes that he or she is gay; knows that if their parents find out they will be tossed out of the house, their classmates will taunt the child, and the Anita Bryant’s and John Briggs’ are doing their part on TV.
And that child has several options: staying in the closet, and suicide. And then one day that child might open the paper that says ‘Homosexual elected in San Francisco’ and there are two new options: the option is to go to California, or stay in San Antonio and fight. Two days after I was elected I got a phone call and the voice was quite young. It was from Altoona, Pennsylvania. And the person said ‘Thanks’.
And you’ve got to elect gay people; so that thousands upon thousands like that child know that there is hope for a better world; there is hope for a better tomorrow. Without hope, not only gays, but those who are blacks, the Asians, the disabled, the seniors, the us’s; without hope the us’s give up.
I know that you can’t live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. And you, and you, and you, and you have got to give them hope.”
— Harvey Milk (May 22, 1930 - November 27, 1978)
Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry: The Story of Monica and Naomi
A few months ago I began dating a future Navy Sailor. Today this story strikes a chord in my heart more deeply than it likely would have in the past.
Equality. Safety.
Such simple words, yet their reality makes a world of difference. May we all keep fighting for our youth, for our service members, for each and every LGBTQ* individual and the ones they love.
And may we never stop fighting.
One step at a time.
