ATTENTION GLOBAL SOUTH/GAFCON ¨religiouslike¨ ABUSERS OF LGBT CHRISTIANS/others: California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill banning therapies that attempt to alter a minor's sexual orientation from gay to straight...¨

It´s time: For the common good, and for the nurturing of authentic spirituality and for emotionally healthier societies, to forbid the feardriven and ignorant abuse generated against innocent LGBT youth. The ongoing ¨sexual identity-conversion¨ fraud and spiritual/religious abuse ¨ex-gay con¨ that is most often initiated in the name of a twisted-into-being God (not  the same God that commands us to LOVE God and oneanother...all one anothers) by unwholesome/nervous pontificating zealots on the run.

¨Efforts to change minors' sexual orientation are not therapy, they are the relics of prejudice and abuse that have inflicted untold harm on young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians,”

The measure (Senate Bill 1172) was sponsored by Senator Ted W. Lieu, a Democrat from Torrance, and supported by dozens of organizations, including the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Equality California (EQ), Courage Campaign, Lambda Legal and Mental Health of Northern California.

“Governor Brown today reaffirmed what medical and mental health organizations have made clear: Efforts to change minors' sexual orientation are not therapy, they are the relics of prejudice and abuse that have inflicted untold harm on young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians,” Clarissa Filgioun, board president of EQ, said in a statement.

“This law will ensure that state-licensed therapists can no longer abuse their power to harm LGBT youth and propagate the dangerous and deadly lie that sexual orientation is an illness or disorder that can be 'cured,'” said NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell...¨ HERE

·  Thanks to On Top Magazine, sidebar
·  Thanks to Carlos Santoscoy
·  Thanks to Governor Jerry Brown, California
·  Thanks to State Senator Ted W. Lieu, Torrance

OTTO PEREZ MOLINA -- President of Guatemala Breaks New Ground by Proposing Legal Regulation of Drugs

¨Proposal Bolsters Opposition to Drug War Among Latin American Leaders as Drug Prohibition Debate Continues to Escalate¨

¨Yesterday, the president of Guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, announced his intention to propose legally regulating currently-illicit drugs as a means of reducing crime, violence and corruption. He is expected to elaborate on his proposal today when he addresses the United Nations General Assembly.

According to the Associated Press, President Perez Molina said the war on drugs has failed and that Central American nations have no choice but to pursue legalization, since the U.S. has proven incapable of reducing its demand for drugs. Perez Molina’s speech today may be the first time a sitting head of state discusses the legalization and regulation of drugs before the UN General Assembly.

The president’s statement adds to the growing debate about alternatives to the drug war throughout Latin America. Both former and current heads of state in the region are demanding that the full range of policy options be expanded to include alternatives that help to reduce the prohibition-related crime, violence, and corruption in their own countries – and insisting that decriminalization and legal regulation of currently illicit drug markets be considered.

President Perez Molina first garnered worldwide attention in February by calling for a debate on alternatives to the war on drugs, including decriminalization and regulation. His proposal quickly received support from other leaders in Latin America, including the presidents of Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador. Over the next few months, the failure of the war on drugs and alternatives to current strategies were discussed at significant high-level events, including the Summit of the Americas in Colombia. Most recently, Uruguay announced a plan to legalize marijuana, with a regulatory system that would make it the first country in the world where the state sells the drug directly to its citizens.

Even President Obama was obliged to acknowledge the legitimacy of the debate earlier this year during the Summit of the Americas – where opposition to drug prohibition was a major focus – when he said, “it is entirely legitimate to have a conversation about whether the laws in place are doing more harm than good.” The Organization of American States is conducting a study of legalization and regulation and will be releasing a report of its findings next year.

In Latin America, where the war on drugs has caused high levels of violence, death and corruption, many see this debate is an important step toward improving the region’s economy, security and quality of life...¨  read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Elizabeth Bell, Antigua Tours

THE CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE: Anglican Bishop Senyonjo/Uganda receives Global Citizen Award

The Rt. Reverend Christopher Senyonjo, Anglican Bishop in Uganda

Clinton Global Initiative has announced that the Rt Rev Christopher Senyonjo of Uganda is among the recipients of annual Global Citizen Awards.

¨... President Bill Clinton will honor recipients at the sixth annual Clinton Global Citizen Awards in New York City in a ceremony featuring performances by recording artists and appearances by heads of state and celebrity philanthropists. The Clinton Global Citizen Awards recognizes individuals from various sectors who demonstrate visionary leadership in addressing global challenges. Carlos Slim Helú, founder of Fundación Carlos Slim; Luis A. Moreno, president of Inter-American Development Bank; Denis O’Brien, chairman and founder of Digicel Group; Pepe Julian Onziema, programme director and advocacy officer of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG); The Right Reverend Christopher Senyonjo, executive director of St. Paul’s Reconciliation and Equality Centre; and Katie Stagliano, founder and chief executive gardener of Katie’s Krops, will accept awards this year.

...

The Right Reverend Christopher Senyonjo (Joint Honoree), executive director, St. Paul’s Reconciliation and Equality Centre, Kampala, Uganda. The Right Reverend Christopher Senyonjo is perhaps best known for his courageous advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ persons in Uganda. Bishop Senyonjo received his Master of Divinity in 1966 and his Master of Sacred Theology in 1967 from Union Theological Seminary in New York. From 1974 until 1998, Bishop Senyonjo was the Diocesan Bishop of West Buganda. He completed a Doctor of Ministry at Hartford Theological Seminary, which was key to his understanding of marriage and human sexuality... HERE

LET US NOT FORGET THE RIDICULE AND GREAT SACRAFICE BISHOP SENYONJO HAS SUFFERED ALONG THE WAY TO WINNING THIS AWARD

Anglican Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi/Uganda ¨excommunicated¨ retired Bishop Christopher Senyonjo and removed his retirement pension because of +Bishop Christophers pastoral counseling to the LGBT marginalized, terrorized and brutalized outcasts of Uganda.

Feb 13, 2010

Archbishop Orombi of Uganda: Do you intend to continue punishing Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo for his Pastoral Counseling to the desperate and often suicidal Homosexual outcasts of Uganda?

Anglican Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda:

Do you know not what you do as you abuse others? Do you lie? Can you be Trusted? Why do you harm and abuse LGBT Anglicans/Christians and others? Why do you withhold the pension of Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo? Bishop Ssenyonjo served the Anglican Church of Uganda for 50 years! Why do you persecute Bishop Ssenyonjo?...¨ HERE


·  Thanks to Episcopal Cafe, sidebar
·  Thanks to Ann Fontaine
·  Thanks to The Clinton Global Initiative
·  Thanks to President Bill Clinton
·  Thanks to Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, Uganda

KIRKEPISCATOID: I am on the team of missioners traveling to Lui in the Republic of South Sudan from November 25-December 12...¨

Diocese of Missouri November-December 2012 Mission to Lui, Republic of South Sudan
(The April 2012 team of missioners from the Diocese of Missouri to the Diocese of Lui, Republic of South Sudan, with Bishop Stephen Dokolo and his wife Lillian, courtesy of Lui Network)

¨When I was 25 years old, and was considering the possibility of returning to school to go to medical school, one of my dearest mentors told me, "If you weren't going to be a doctor, I think you'd either be a firefighter or a missionary." I told him in no uncertain terms just how full of baloney he was about that "missionary" thing. I had pushed religion to the periphery of my world. I had walked out the door of the institutional church and had no intention of ever returning. I thought his statement was absolutely crazy.

Well, it's official. I am hereby officially eating those words I told my mentor over 25 years ago. In fact, he's 81 years old and I told him, "Well, I was wrong and you were right." I think he was glad to have lived long enough to get an apology from me on that one!

You see, I am on the team of missioners traveling to Lui in the Republic of South Sudan from November 25-December 12. Believe me, it's exciting. I hope I can bring something of myself to these people that they need to prosper in God's service. I am sure this trip will change me, but am not speculating on the "how" of that--I think I'll leave that one open to the Holy Spirit.

If you would like to read more about my diocese's relationship with Lui, my blogging pal Lisa Fox has written about it many times on her blog. Two of my favorite posts she's written on Lui are HERE and HERE. If I were to pick the person who could match my own excitement about this trip, it would be Lisa.

I invite you to be a ministry of presence for our team. There are many ways to participate in this ministry:

1. Follow the action in the next few weeks on the Lui Partners Network HERE .

2. Hold our team in prayer at this time. (I suspect I will be thinking, "Toto, we are definitely not in Kirksville," a lot on this mission.)

3. Offer a donation to the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri http://www.diocesemo.org/donate/. Please select the "Diocese of Lui" button. Also, at the bottom of this page is a box where you can earmark your donation; if you would earmark it in support of missioner Maria Evans, I'd be very grateful.

4. Publicize this mission on your blog or Facebook page, or via Twitter.

Thank you in advance for your prayers and support. I hope to be able to blog "boots on the ground" some, as well as upon my return!  Kirkepiscatoid, HERE

THERE MUST BE NO HOMOPHOBIC CHURCHES: "Never let other people define your reality or put you into bondage to their ways of thinking." Jerry Maneker

HERE

"A Church that doesn't provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin of society in which it is being proclaimed, what gospel is that? Archbishop Oscar Romero (1917-1980)¨

THE CROWN NOMINATIONS COMMISSION: The Archbishop of Canterbury to be replaced next week

Prayers ascending

¨Next Wednesday, four women and 15 men on the Crown Nominations Commission will gather for two days of prayer and horsetrading to replace Rowan Williams as archbishop of Canterbury. We know who they are, and when they will meet – but not where, so they can't be doorstepped.

Only three members of the commission, chaired by the former Conservative arts minister Lord Luce, are bishops. One of the women and two of the men have no vote, but are there to advise. Five, including one of the women, are priests. The rest are lay people. Almost all the parties of the church are represented and there is even Dr Barry Morgan, a Welshman, to represent the rest of the world for the first time in this process. They will pick two names to present to the prime minister, who is bound to choose the first, unless he proves unable to take the job...¨  please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to The Guardian, United Kingdom
·  Thanks to The Crown Nominations Commission
·  Thanks to Ann Fontaine+

CANDIDATE FOR CANTUAR: A passionate proponent of mission and evangelism, Bishop Stephen Cottrell´s inclusive attitude and charm might be just the right prescription for the Anglican Communion and Church of England at this juncture? Lay Anglicana

Bishop Stephen, ¨I too have been drawn in to the group of his followers´ Lay Anglicana (me too, and we can see his face and look him in the eye. Leonardo Ricardo)

The Rt. Reverend Stephen Cottrell,   Bishop of Chelmsford

¨I have never met Bishop Stephen, but I too have been drawn in to the group of his followers. I became hooked one August, when researching a ‘thought for the day‘ for a service of Matins which I was due to take. I came across Bishop Stephen’s ‘Do Nothing to Change Your Life: Discovering What Happens When You Stop‘. I was entranced. Realising that I needed to quote a large chunk of it for full effect, I thought I had better ask the bishop whether he minded. So I, the smallest of small fry, emailed the Bishop of Reading, as he then was. I don’t know what I expected – a standard reply from a minion perhaps – but instead I had the most charming personal reply from Bishop Stephen himself, wishing me (I don’t think he used the word ‘luck’) as a lay worship leader...¨ please read it all, by Lay Anglicana, HERE

Bishop Stephen http://www.stephencottrell.org/ index.php has his own website, though I don’t think he has yet been persuaded to blog or twitter. His Wikipedia page is HERE

·  Thanks to Lay Anglicana, sidebar

ROMNEY IS NO YANKEE DOODLE DANDY: ¨With apologies to H. L. Mencken, the Republicans are about to go bust by underestimating the intelligence of the American public.¨

Yankee Doodle went to London, cartoon by  Sam Guzik

Why Obama's lead is even better news than you think

¨The lead that President Barack Obama currently enjoys in the polls is very good news for the nation. I don't just mean that in the sense that the better candidate with the better policies is leading. Not just that it appears America will be spared yet another Republican president who feels that a smirk passes for foreign policy. Not just that the middle class won't be devastated by another round of gift giving to the 1% and corporate incentives to ship jobs overseas. Not just that the deficit won't be driven skyward by more trickle down mythology and military adventurism. Not just that the climate will not continue to race toward Venusian while a Republican commander-in-chief pretends that global warming is a joke.

Nice as all those things are, there's something even more important behind these poll numbers.

There's a deep conviction among conservatives that it's not the message that's wrong, but the messenger. Mitt Romney, like John McCain, is too leaky a vessel for their hopes. He's tainted with the sin of past compromise and lapses in conservative orthodoxy. Even though all of the deep crimson conservatives who piled into this season's competition foundered so badly that they could not win a majority of votes even from highly conservative Republican primary voters, the right is convinced that if the banner of conservatism were only held by pure hands, they would gain the victory they richly deserve. Presumably by capturing all those conservative Democrats out there...¨ it´s all here, HERE

·  Thanks to Daily Kos, sidebar
·  Thanks to Mark Sumner

MINE IS BIGGER THAN YOURS: My Netanyahu/Romney conspiracy theory!

Romney and Netanyahu:  A bargain made in Hell?

My conspiracy theory is wilder than Josh Thomas and Rachael Maddows ¨How Romney Might Win¨

I think the Netanyahu ¨folks¨ started the anti-Obama ball rolling with ¨he won´t see me¨ crap (naturally it´s all about Benjamin as President Obama won´t schedule him in during the vital October reelection campaign). Suddenly the tacky gossip/propaganda and DANGEROUS Republican machine suggests that Israel thinks ¨America isn´t our friend¨  into the U.S. Presidential campaign (of course, it turns out Netanyahu says he didn´t say it)…then, hark, timing-is-everything, the inflaming anti-prophet movie is passed around (produced by a multi-felon-name-changer-for-sale) the Middle East…by YOU TUBE?

Many in the Arab/Muslim World have played into, or have been flat out manipulated, by the dark hand of those who would like us to believe that Arab Spring, the ¨ingrates¨, are treacherous friends (after all we´ve done for them) and the only person you can trust is Romney with his open check (read, irresponsible pandering for votes) written out and signed as a promissary note to Netanyahu of Israel.

Timing is EVERYTHING. Just so you know, Netanyahu´s popularity figures are at a ALL TIME LOW in Israel HERE- …his coalitions are falling apart and this guy needs a war, or a U.S. Presidential election, to make, and save, his day and get the popularity boost he needs to stay in power.

What no American needs, or deserves, is a Romney President who has lots of favors to repay to Netanyahu (clearly, much smarter than Romney).

It´s Netanyahu who can´t be reelected (he doesn´t want a new election now) TODAY! Netanyahu’s approval rating: The decline continues    Netanyahu desperately needs President Obama to fall in November to simulate his all world grand standing.

Israel is loaded with brilliant/honorable women and men who could easily replace Netanyahu after Obama is reelected on November 6th.

We need a better lead/partner in Israel, but until then, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM US as you are dangerous to our collective good will and wholesome National/World HEALTH!

I SMELL A RAT, OR MAYBE IT´S JUST THE SAME OLD SKUNK:  Pre-U.S. Presidential Election Troublemaking HERE

THE FUEGO VOLCANO: It´s peaceful, the air is clear today and we can see forever!

Looming above me, the Fuego Volcano is silent once again

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for all the telephone calls and messages yesterday when the Volcan de Fuego erupted.  It was a very dramatic eruption and many villagers were impacted on the Esquintla side where traditionally all the lava spill flows.

Fortunately, in our case, we live at the foot of the North side of the volcano and although we look directly up at the peak of Fuego the lava flow goes to the leftside, toward Alotenango, or down the back, Pacific Coast side.

A interesting fact is that although we live at the far South end of the Panchoy Valley we are still quite high up and experience Springlike weather most of the time.  Just 20 minutes down the hill, on the Southside of Fuego, is the Pacific Coastal region and it´s humid all of the time.  It feels very much like Puerto Rico weather just 1/2 hour from here and they grow sugar cane and other tropical crops.  That is the side where the lava flows down to when the Volcan de Fuego erupts.

Again, thank you for your telephone calls and concern.  We do have an evacuation plan if the going ever gets tough (and we have time to initiate it).

Abrazos,

Leonardo/Len and Juan Carlos, at the ¨Foot of the Volcano¨

PRE U.S. ELECTION TROUBLE MAKING? I smell a anti-Obama pre-re-election rat or maybe it´s just the same old skunk!

Dr. Shapiro, a shrink I once went to for professional services,  always said ¨the spokes always lead to the hub¨

They hate us?

¿ Por Que ?

First it was our grumpy and/or jilted/blabbering buddy President Netanyahu/Israel and then suddenly a handful of ¨anti-American¨ instigators in Muslim countries where we´ve tremendeously aided their freedom!  What´s wrong with
scenario?

Please, it´s starting to look like we best keep our enemies closer to us than our friends and let a the ¨who´s really behind this¨ investigation begin. 

Reality just takes some getting used to and it may be time for us to adjust to the reality of not-for-our-collection-own-good politics before we get sucked into another Iraq!

Nothing would surprise me as to the extent Republican politicos would go to for another reign of greed-terror-for-profit ¨Democracy Building¨ led by another Republican President. HERE

WISE WORDS FROM FATHER CHRISTIAN: ¨... the taking of life – wasn’t anything fundamentalists haven’t been accomplishing for millennia. Because that’s all fundamentalism ever does – kill people...¨

A painting in the Sanctuary Notre-Dame des Fontaines, La Brigue called the "Last Judgment : the damned souls".

¨...The events of one terrible day in 2001 have forever changed our world: just because this has been said so many times that it’s become a cliché doesn’t make it any the less true...

Yet in another way the foul actions of a few gullible young men with box cutters changed very little: yes, they cut short the lives of a great many people who were dearly loved by those close to them, but that was all they accomplished of any significance. And even that – the taking of life – wasn’t anything fundamentalists haven’t been accomplishing for millennia. Because that’s all fundamentalism ever does – kill people.

Mostly the slaughter is more subtle and drawn out than the crash of hijacked aircraft: it’s the hellish torture inherent to a lifetime of submission to an abusive husband, or the brutal bashing of a young homosexual man, or the forced rape of a young lesbian, or the burning of child witches, or maybe just the quiet suicide of yet another reject who just couldn’t cope with their sect’s theology of hatred. It’s in the denial of affordable health care, in the refusal of access to contraception, and in the opposition to education. And it’s always justified by quoting a text written in a very different place and time in such a way as to preclude any other interpretation of the passage in question. Which, incidentally, but well worth mentioning, also happens to be the means by which Jesus' crucifixion was deemed just and legal by those braying for his death 2,000 years ago.

Not, of course that these murderers normally dance in celebration like the Wahabist psychopaths did while news of their colleagues' crime spread across the world. Most fundamentalists lack such transparency, and seek to hide the horrors in their wake behind an endless claim of innocence. While in their next breath always further advocating the mechanisms by which these deaths have become systemic. Or blogging about the need for order in the face of a clash of cultures. And then berating the victims for “their choice of lifestyle...” please read it all,   HERE  (emphasis added by Leonardo Ricardo)

·  Thanks to GAFCON, sidebar
·  Thanks to Father Christian Troll

HOLY BULLIES AND HEADLESS MONSTERS: ¨How do we deal with the conflicted feelings of loving our religion and our church while having to deal with homophobic leaders? Here is a big secret...¨

Anti- gay pastor - 'It wears me out to see two men together. It does something to me' The Rev. Terry Turner, Southern Baptist

¨I know that I am supposed to get angry at the words of Southern Baptists of Texas Convention President Terry Turner, but I can't.

They are simply too funny. I can just picture gay men in the church, whether they be behind him in the choir stands or in the pews, secretly laughing to themselves because of unintentional Freudian slip of his words.

And check out the urgency in his voice when he talks about how wrong it is for gays and lesbians to be together. It would be another thing that should get me angry, but I can just picture two black women talking to each other on the phone:

"Please? That queen? Who is he trying to kid?" or even better: " I don't know who he is trying to condemn. Like we don't know his son is dating so-and-so." Turner underscores the hypocrisy in some black churches about the gay community. We sing in choirs, we are deacons, usher board members, even pastors and no one is naive about who we are. But publicly, we are reviled.

So how do lgbts of color deal with it, you ask? How do we deal with the conflicted feelings of loving our religion and our church while having to deal with homophobic leaders? Here is a big secret - People like Turner make it so easy for us sometimes with their stridency because they give us so much to laugh at...¨  read it all and see the videos, HERE

·  Thanks to Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, sidebar
·  Thanks to ¨Arn Anderson to my Tully Blanchard¨, Jeremy Hooper

The 2012 U.S. National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: LGBT people may be particularly at risk because of ´minority stress´and ´institutional discrimination´

A new strategy unveiled Monday aimed at reducing the suicide rate in the United States includes a section on the rate of suicide for LGBT people — saying they may be particularly at risk because of “minority stress” and “institutional discrimination” resulting from anti-gay laws on the books.

Andrew Lane, a gay member of the Action Alliance’s executive committee, said the strategy lays the groundwork to reduce the suicide rate among LGBT people.

“The 2012 NSSP represents a significant step forward in our ongoing efforts to highlight the unique health needs of the LGBT community and ensure government responsiveness,” said Lane, who’s also executive director of the Johnson Family Foundation.

The strategy attributes the prevalence of suicide in the LGBT community to “minority stress” stemming from cultural stigma as well as “institutional discrimination” that comes from laws that deny benefits and protections for LGBT people that are provided to others.

“These negative outcomes, rather than minority sexual orientation or gender identity per se, appear to be the key risk factors for LGBT suicidal ideation and behavior,” the strategy states. “An additional risk factor is contagion resulting from media coverage of LGBT suicide deaths that presents suicidal behavior as a normal, rational response to anti-LGBT bullying or other experiences of discrimination.”

Among the factors that the strategy has found that reduce suicides among LGBT youth are family acceptance and access to mental health treatment. The Action Alliance also recommends reducing LGBT-related prejudices and associated stressors, improving access to LGBT-affirming treatment, working to reduce bullying and eliminating discriminatory laws. Notably, the strategy makes no mention of any particular discriminatory law against LGBT people that should be eliminated...¨ read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to The Action Alliance
·  Thanks to Andrew Lane
·  Thanks to LGBT Inclusive Nation, sidebar
·  Thanks to Chris Johnson
·  Thanks to The Washington Blade
·  Thanks to GETTY, multi-image

MEET THE DESPOT, BIGOTS, HOMOPHOBES and CENSORS of UGANDA: Behind the Scenes of the Nation's Anti-Homosexual Politics -- the Bible has been used to service malignant forces

¨A play suggesting there may be hidden agendas behind politicians' anti-gay rhetoric has been banned.¨

Anglican and MP David ¨kill all the gays¨ Bahati HERE

¨Since Ugandan MP David Bahati proposed an anti-homosexuality bill in October 2009 that included provisions for capital punishment for homosexuals, Uganda has earned a reputation as one of the most homophobic countries in the world. Media and arts regulators lived up to that billing in August by banning The River and the Mountain, a play that charts a gay man's difficulties confronting intolerance in Ugandan society.

First Lady and MP Janet Museveni (she wants to be President after her three term husband finishes)
aka Deadly Despot is said to be behind Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda HERE

However the most controversial aspect of the play is not homosexuality per se, but rather the suggestion the work makes that politicians and religious interests may have manufactured a viciously anti-gay climate in Uganda to further their own agendas...¨

The ¨not so ethical¨ government minister of ¨morals and ethics¨ Father Simon Lokodo

¨The River and the Mountain was due to run at three venues in Kampala from August 17-26. However on August 16, the day before the opening, the Ugandan Media Council informed producer David Cecil that it would require seven working days to review the script and grant clearance for the play to be staged. In a letter copied to the Minister for Ethics, the Commissioner of Police in Charge of Media Violations and the Central Police Station, the Media Council wrote that "in the meantime this play is not to be staged in any theatre or public place in Uganda".

There may be another potential holocaust developing in the world. Today.

And yet the world has done little to stop it. As with The Long Walk and the Holocaust of WWII, the world is not taking immediate and meaningful action. If history is any guide, little may happen until a population is decimated.

“Some people have to die so that there is freedom.”

That’s a sentiment in the film Call Me Kuchu, a documentary about the lives and deaths of courageous Ugandans. The film raises questions: How many people have to be sacrificed until one moves or is moved? And what have we learned from history?

What have the Ugandans learned from history? Once held under the despotic Idi Amin regime, the Ugandan people have emerged from under Amin’s thumb and, in the process, accepted white Christian missionaries into their lives. These missionaries and ministers preach the elimination of African culture, as they always have, the film suggests. They’re sly about it, using fear and hate to act as surreptitious carriers for the notion that cultural eradication is desirable.

anti-LGBT Anglican/Uganda Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, Poisoness statement against LGBT Anglicans/others and ¨spiritual counselor¨ to MP David Bahati 

Religion, especially Christianity, it seems, can sometimes be a vector for hate because it’s easy to bastardize the teachings and values of an unseen power. Twisted iterations of the Bible have been used to service malignant forces.

This time around, gay Ugandans are targets. By using hate and fear as tools and sweeping up the population in the fervor of religious righteousness, anti-gay forces may be priming the pump for a new genocide. You may have heard about the proposed laws in Uganda that would allow the killing of homosexuals. But it’s so remote…. And we only hear smatterings of news about it...¨  read it all,
HERE

· Thanks to All Africa, sidebar
· Thanks to Peter Jones
· Thanks to Call Me Kuchu,
· Thanks to All Africa, sidebar
· Thanks to David Kato, LGBT Activist and Martyr, R.I.P.
· Thanks to ¨KC¨ Kampala, Uganda
· Thanks to Wide Lantern, http://widelantern.com/2012/07/call-me-kuchu-documentary-shows-courage-in-the-face-of-bigotry-murder/

SEXUALITY EDUCATION BOOK REVISED IN CHINA: Mothers of LGBTs protest sexuality education textbook in Hangzhou

¨Following complaints from 18 mothers of gay children and gay groups over a sexuality education booklet targeted at parents of teenagers that describes homosexuality as a type of "sexual deviance", the publisher has agreed to revise the sections about homosexuality in its second edition.¨

¨Families of gay men and women in China have protested a sex education booklet given to parents of teenagers that describes homosexuality as a type of "sexual deviance", the China Daily reported today.

The affected pages (in Chinese) can be read on Aibai.com.About 50,000 copies of Parents, Please Walk Your Children Through Puberty is believed to have been distributed in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, since last year.

Jointly published by the Hangzhou Institute for Educational Research and Northeast Normal University Press, the booked has been designed to aid parents whose children are going through adolescence...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Fridae Asia, sidebar
·  Thanks to LGBT Mothers of Hangzhou, Zhejiang

ATTN -- ARCHBISHOP OKOH -- NIGERIA: ¨The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.¨ Albert Camus

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh/ NIGERIA : Homosexuality is ¨intended to destroy the established standard of morality¨  HERE

THE GUARDIAN NIGERIA REPORTS: Inaugurates Missionary Diocese Of The Trinity In US

¨The Primate said that the creation and inauguration of the Missionary Diocese of Trinity is a child of necessity to salvage the expired gospel that is being propagated in the TEC and Anglican Church of Canada.¨ 

¨SUNDAY, August 19, 2012, was a memorable day in the history of the Anglican Communion Worldwide.

It was when the Primate of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh; the Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, Most Rev. Robert Duncan, accompanied by three Nigerian Archbishops (Most Rev. Olu Akinyemi, Most Rev. Ikechi Nwosu and Most Rev. Ignatius Kattey), and nine other Bishops, inaugurated a new diocese in North America.

The duly elected and consecrated Bishop of the Diocese, Rt. Rev Amos Akinseye Fagbamiye, was also enthroned at the Anglican Cathedral Church of the Resurrection, Indianapolis.

The new cathedral was filled with the glory of God and people from within and outside the United States of America and Canada who gathered to witness the historic event.

In his sermon, Primate Okoh thanked the Missionary Bishop of CANA, Rt. Rev Martyn Minns, for his commitment to the mission of the Church. He congratulated the Bishop and members of CANA on birth of the new diocese. He also empathised with some of the CANA churches that lost their buildings after years of litigations with The Episcopal Church of the USA.

He said: “The loss is clear sign of the sickness afflicting our Communion. Those churches should see this new reality as a privilege for them to serve the Lord in a different way, move them out of their comfort zone, give them opportunity to share in the call of Christ, like the early apostles, and God’s way of doing new things in their lives”.

He asked them to remain focused and pray that their courage would not fail and that God would grant them grace to stand firm till the end...¨ there is more, HERE

·  Thanks to The Guardian, Nigeria
·  Thanks to Albert Camus

PRESIDENT CLINTON ENDORSED PRESIDENT OBAMA LAST NIGHT: ¨...Americans are looking for, somebody who´s got a heart¨ Josh Thomas



Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama: ¨The pictures that tells you a thousand words¨

¨...I mean, presidents come and go, and four years from now America will still be here, and the devil you know is probably better than the devil you don’t, so pull it for Barack this November and walk out proud, with one of those little stickers, “I VOTED.

The Good Ol’ Boy said Barack’s the one, so even though you have never in your life known anyone named Barack, you can trust him. He’s okay. Lives two blocks over, solid citizen, nice wife. “I’m voting for him.”

Okay, Bubba. Good to see you again. Take care now, hear? Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

President Clinton endorsed President Obama last night, and I think it will be enough to carry the election.

There’s always the chance of an October surprise, but anyone who tuned in to the Clinton speech last night knows, that boy was born to be a rock star...¨ please read it all,   HERE   (emphasis added Leonardo Ricardo)

·  Thanks to Gay Spirit Diary, sidebar
·  Thanks to Josh Thomas
·  Thanks to The New York Times, photo

CONFESSIONS OF A GAY AMERICAN MALE: I love Michelle Obama (I really do)

Michelle Obama, America´s First Lady

I love you Michelle Obama. 

I admit to you that I do.

It´s true.

Your speech last night at the Democratic Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, won my heart. 

You touched my ¨innermost feelings¨ and I am much more alive today.

You tweeked my heart and my soul. 

You made me feel young again and full of hope.

It wasn´t just words that captured me.

You included me and shared your family and friends and your personal life experience with me.

You initiated a renewed zest for the living of life inside of me.  You validated my ¨being¨ and my desire for self-authenticity and my Gay pride accountability.

You included all of us.  It wasn´t just me. You opened the way for all of us no matter what color we are or how much money we have/don´t have,  and you wished our person(s) and families well and embraced and included all whom we love. 

You gave of yourself with emotional and spiritual wellness and gladness and made all of us better friends. 

I identified with you as you drew me closer to you and the whole world was watching you too...there were millions of witnesses.

Finally, I have trust in my lifelong wish for all of us ¨to get along¨ better with one another and become a continent sized, even worldwide, family of genuine and loving friends.

Thank you, Michelle Obama, my wisest and newest best friend. I´ll be voting by absentee e/ballot for Barack for President once again...I can´t wait to celebrate:  FOUR MORE YEARS!

Your friend,

Leonardo Ricardo
Leonard Clark Beardsley
Guatemala, Central America

UPDATE:  Michelle Obama Asks LGBT Elected Officials At DNC For Election Support HERE

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — First Lady Michelle Obama was an honored guest this afternoon at a Human Rights Campaign and Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund luncheon to honor LGBT elected officials attending the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

THE FOUNDER OF THE MORMON CULT: Joseph Smith was a documented convicted con artist, polygamist, pedophile, racist, and scam artist...Bill Keller

'god' Elohim Creating Adam, William Blake, 16" X 20" print on canvas
HERE

¨Republicans Pray to Satan at the GOP Convention as Romney and His Surrogates Lie to Make Mainstream the Mormon Cult¨

ST PETERSBURG, Fla., Christian Newswire/ -- ¨Bill Keller, the world's leading Internet Evangelist and the founder of LivePrayer.com, http://www.liveprayer.com/  with over 2.4 million subscribers worldwide reading the Daily Devotional he has written every morning for 13 years on the issues of the day from a Biblical worldview, was horrified as he watched a Mormon cult member lead mostly Biblical Christians at the Republican Convention last night in a prayer to Satan, since Mormons do not pray to the God of the Bible, but to a mythical "god" they believe who was once a man!

Keller stated, "The founder of the Mormon cult, Joseph Smith was a documented convicted con artist, polygamist, pedophile, racist, and murderer, and in his greatest scam claimed to be visited by an 'angel' who led him to gold tablets in the Catskills. Mormons like Romney believe the Bible is a flawed and an incomplete book, superseded by Smith's writings, the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrines and Covenants."

Keller goes on, "Mitt Romney, Glenn Beck, and all Mormons LIE that they are Christians, when their beliefs are in 100% contradiction to Biblical Christianity. They love to tout their charity and good works as Romney and his surrogates did at the GOP convention to influence people, but good works and charity do NOT make you a Christian, only faith in the Jesus of the Bible make you a Christian!"

He continues, "Those in the Mormon cult use the words 'god' and 'jesus,' yet the 'god' and 'jesus' of the Mormon cult are NOT the God and Jesus of the Bible! Mormons believe their 'god' used to be a human who rose to god-like status, just like Romney, Beck, and all Mormons believe they will too after their death. The 'jesus' of the Mormon cult is the natural offspring of their 'god' Elohim who had sex with Mary, meaning their jesus is a created being and NOT a deity as the Bible teaches, and is also the brother of Lucifer!"...there is more, HERE (emphasis added)

·  Thanks to Rev. William Keller,  http://www.liveprayer.com/
·  Thanks to Joe.My.God., sidebar

Father Geoff Farrow: Every Biblical Argument Against Being Gay, Debunked Biblically

Father Geoff Farrow: Every Biblical Argument Against Being Gay, Debunke...: 

¨This election year the states of Washington, Maryland and Maine will vote on Marriage Equality. The state of Minnesota will vote to prohibit Marriage Equality in its constitution.

Father Geoff Farrow, Washington D.C.

Some Christian church leaders will encourage members to vote against Marriage Equality citing the Bible as their reason. This presentation debunks their arguments and makes a compelling case for Marriage Equality. I urge you to watch it, take notes and incorporate these arguments when debating this issue.¨ HERE

THE IRAQ WAR: George Bush and Tony Blair ought face prosecution at the International Criminal Court, Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in fighting apartheid, speaks during a felicitation event for him in Dharmsala, India, in this Feb. 10, 2012  Associated Press file photo.

LONDON (AP) — Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu called Sunday for Tony Blair and George Bush to face prosecution at the International Criminal Court for their role in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq

Tutu, the retired Anglican Church's archbishop of South Africa, wrote in an op-ed piece for The Observer newspaper that the ex-leaders of Britain and the United States should be made to "answer for their actions."

The Iraq war "has destabilized and polarized the world to a greater extent than any other conflict in history," wrote Tutu, who was awarded the Nobel prize in 1984...¨  please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Associate Press, photo/story
·  Thanks to Archbishop Desmond Tutu
·  Thanks to Episcopal Cafe, sidebar
·  Thanks to DAVID STRINGER
·  Thanks to The Observer, United Kingdom

¨When you cast your vote for Mitt Romney and the GOP platform this November you are casting your vote for policies that assert that I am not equal to you.¨

¨From the words of my brother-in-law Adam Thompson¨

 Jody Kennell Thompson

¨When you cast your vote for Mitt Romney and the GOP platform this November you are casting your vote for policies that assert that I am not equal to you.

You are casting your vote for policies that would strip my sister and her partner of the right to parent my nieces.

You are casting your vote for policies that say what I have with my partner is not only disordered, but sinful.

You are casting your vote and saying to me and every other gay person in this country that we are not deserving of the same equality and liberty that you clearly take for granted.

So as you wake up this morning and look at your wife or husband, consider for a moment that this basic right; the right to declare your love and form the basic foundation of our culture – the family – is a right that currently I do not have.

So as you go to your job, consider for a moment that this basic right; the to work is a right I do not have and can be fired simply because I am gay.

You may be able to establish some cognitive dissonance from the issue and rationalize that this vote is about “jobs” – well I say to you, yes it is about jobs. Only this vote is more than about creating jobs, it is about my right to have one … period.

You may be able to establish some cognitive dissonance from the issue and rationalize that this vote is about the “economy” – well I say to you, yes it is about the economy. Only this vote is more than just the economy, it is about my right to enter into that economy with my partner and get all the benefits you and your spouse enjoy.

Your vote for the GOP candidate and their platform is saying to me that you care more about the money in your pocket than you do about my basic right to earn money for mine.

Your vote for the GOP candidate and their platform is saying to me that you care more about your ability to hold a gun than you do about my ability to hold my partner’s hand.

So yes, it offends me. But more than that it hurts me. Because for you, who will cast these votes in November, what you are saying to me is that I, as your family or your friend, mean so little to you that you can knowingly vote away what little rights I do have to simply coexist equally with you.

So for me this election is about liberty … my liberty.

So when you claim you are less free because of Obama … it offends me.

When you claim your vote is rationalized about your priorities of economic principles … it offends me.

That you would so easily cast a vote for a party who spent less time creating jobs and more time to ensure that I can never have one … it offends me.

So when I tell you that it offends me, do not be surprised, do not try to rationalize to me what choice you are making … you are choosing to say that I am not equal to you...¨ please read it all, LGBT Nation, Comments, Jody Kennell Thompson

And then of course, there are Romney's lies: From Slacktivist, commenting on Steve Benen's efforts to document Mitt's 533 lies in 30 weeks.

...This is unprecedented. “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers,” Romney’s pollster, Neil Newhouse, said.

This has produced what James Fallows calls the “post-truth” age — a relentlessly dishonest onslaught of brazen falsehoods with which the media and the political system are struggling to cope. What do you do when every article, every “fact-check,” every arbiter denounces a lie and corrects it, but then a politician just keeps repeating it?

It’s remarkable to behold.

One of the weirder aspects of this for me is watching this unfold in the politically conservative culture of my evangelical world. The most partisan evangelical conservatives are also those most likely to rant against “relativism” and to trumpet their status as defenders of “absolute truth.” Those same folks will dismiss this post — and all 30 of Benen’s posts above — as mere partisan attacks without ever bothering to examine the 533 factual instances of Mitt’s mendacity, chronicled.

That’s the only cognitive defense they have, I guess. Jam fingers in ears and shout la-la-la-you’re-being-partisan!

Republicans: they do make their own reality. And facts aren't part of it... HERE

·  Thanks to LGBT Nation, sidebar
·  Thanks to Jody Kennell Thompson
·  Thanks to Adam Thompson
·  Thanks to Friends of Jake, sidebar
·  Thanks to Steve Benen