RE-ELECT PRESIDENT OBAMA: Unwavering ally who has delivered on promises to LGBT Americans/others

Human Rights Campaign ♥ President Obama

"There can be no doubt that President Barack Obama has improved the lives of LGBT Americans more than any president in history. As with any movement for sweeping social change, our opponents have put up roadblocks along the way, but the president has been an unwavering ally who has delivered on promises both great and small. Much more remains to be done, which is why ensuring that President Obama is able to continue the forward momentum toward equality for another term must be a top priority of our community." HERE

-- Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese in an editorial for the Advocate endorsing President Obama's re-election campaign. The GOP hasn't even found a candidate yet... HERE

·  Thanks to the Bilerico Project, sidebar
·  Thanks to the Human Rights Campaign
·  Thanks to Bil Browning
·  Thanks to Joe Solmonese

FINDING MY TRUE IDENTITY IN CHRIST: ¨Being a pastor and practicing spiritual disciplines did nothing to diminish the power of my innate sexuality...¨

¨Throughout two decades I sought reparative therapy and other ex-gay treatments and methods¨

¨...My story is similar to many others I've heard. A childhood centered in church and family. A growing awareness that I was attracted to guys, not girls, coupled with systems of massive denial. My identity was centered in being a good boy, an obedient son, a committed Christian.

Inner nudges toward ministry set me on a path that included a Christian college and seminary - places where being gay was just not an option. I couldn't imagine a life that didn't include a wife, children, and the respect of others for being a Christian role model.

Being a pastor and practicing spiritual disciplines did nothing to diminish the power of my innate sexuality. I eventually got married to a remarkable woman, hoping the Christian counselors were correct that it would be a sign of my 'healing.' No doubt a very bad decision, though I'm deeply grateful for the two wonderful children who came out of our marriage.

In 2001 the unthinkable happened. On the day after my 40th birthday, I met a man with whom I experienced an overpowering emotional connection. Until then I assumed my attraction to men was only physical and that periodic encounters with men had been a kind of addiction, but not related to who I really was. A very brief 'fling' with this man ended when he challenged me to be completely honest with myself. A gay, Jewish agnostic man demonstrated greater integrity than this married Christian pastor, and his words began what ultimately resulted in my coming out.

For over a year I committed myself once more to finding my 'true identity in Christ' as a heterosexual, or at least as a homosexually abstinent male. I cashed in everything. I told my story to my superiors in the church and surrendered my ordination credentials. No job, no income, no stability. Just incredible pressure and an understandably distraught wife. We attended a 10-day intensive counseling program in Colorado at great expense. I entered reparative therapy... again... realizing on some level that the treatment was sub-standard if not bogus, but hoping that God would honor my efforts and finally fix me.

Throughout two decades I sought reparative therapy and other ex-gay treatments and methods. Prayer, fasting, inner healing, accountability groups, medication, and 12-step groups. Even a scary exorcism attempt with lots of shouting. Since none of it made any difference, I became pretty despondent and hopeless over time. And because so much of it focused on environmental causes of homosexuality, my relationship with my parents suffered greatly

By Nov. 2002 I couldn't pretend to believe any more that the counseling was helping. I asked too many questions one day and received a lengthy tongue lashing from the counselor for my lack of faith. So I stepped back from a lifetime of effort and committed myself for the first time to pursuing the truth about myself and homosexuality...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Beyond Ex-Gay, sidebar
·  Thanks to Rick

How I wish I hadn´t lost trust and respect for Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. How I wish I could continue to play pretend...

,Archbishop Rowan Williams, please resign

I´m American, I live in Latin America, I live at the Global South of The Anglican Communion.

Being a ¨Norte Americano¨ and living over two decades in Latin America, I´ve realized and honored cultural differences as I´ve also spent over 4 years of my working life in the Far East--Hong Kong/China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.  I´ve noticed big differences in ¨acceptable behavior¨ and business/personal style in Europe too as I attended industry shows twice a year for over eight years in England, France and Italy.

I realize that often people do things differently than I do and hold different opinions on standards for ¨honesty¨ than I do.  I don´t know it all and I have benfited much by the experience of learning from others elsewhere throughout the World. However, what I can´t, and won´t, do is continously adjust to  denying and pretending dishonorable behavior is anything different than it really is...especially at Church.

· I try hard not to participate in codependent ¨look the other way¨ habits with anyone (especially if the violator tries to intimidate me).

· I try hard not to live in a world of ¨pretend¨ --sometimes I wish that ¨things¨ are different than they really are (usually because of my own fear of losing what I think I must have, wink, wink).

· I try hard to look reality in the eye. I must keep trying as anything less is dishonest to me/others and destructive to my character (tangled webs/deceive).

· I try hard to call a spade a spade and struggle to keep my eye on reality (especially when I desperately want to see good when the ¨manipulating truth¨ is dangerous to myself and others around me).

·  I try hard, yet hard as I might, I fall short of living my life in my world of integrity building accompanied by underlying levels of twisted thinking.

Sharpening my focus on me/you is a ongoing challenge (especially when I sometimes have much to lose by not ¨playing along¨ with crooks, abusers, liars and thieves because I wish/hope and try to insist, to myself and others, that they/I have personal character that is ¨good at the core¨…portrayed good character that they/I have little of or have none at all).

Admitting deceit at the Anglican Communion

Rowan Williams has proven to be a deceitful, snide and punishing leader to heterosexual women and to our LGBTI sisters and brothers throughout the Anglican Communion. His ¨nuanced¨ (sneaky and blatant) despotic leadership continues to demean, marginalize and discriminate against other Anglicans. He often discriminates against  minority ¨marginalized¨ human beings– he has a cowardly, and codependent ¨working relationship¨ with Anglicans at the Global South and panders to the Gafcon schismatics-- pandering to religiouslike bigots who harm tens of thousands of LGBTI Anglicans on the ground in Jamaica, Uganda, Nigeria, the Middle East and even in the United Kingdom (as with Jeffrey John and many others we can now openly witness ). Anglican David Kato in Uganda has been murdered along with many Anglican/other lesbian ¨rape cure¨ victims because, in part, of poor episcopal stewardship at The Anglican Communion.

· A credible ¨standard¨ of leadership by Lambeth Palace to help enlighten by ¨listening¨ suggested by Lambeth 1.10 has not been encouraged by Rowan Williams (forget the faux monitoring committee).

· Rowan Williams attempts to force-feed a unfortunate Anglican covenant that is a punitive document written and promoted with the deceitful intent to admonish others with ¨relational consequences.¨

· Dr. Williams and his all-new ¨moralike¨ guidelines for homosexuals who are called to the Bishopric at The Church of England do not apply to heterosexuals applicants equally.  More premeditated excuses to punish members of our extended LGBTI Anglican Family at The Body of Christ.

I´m truly sorry that Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, hasn´t risen to a positive and high standard like many Archbishops at Lambeth Palace have before him. As ¨first among equals¨ at the Anglican Communion, Dr. Williams doesn´t live up to universally held standards that demonstrate spiritual and emotional stability.

Best to keep trusting in God when the ¨deciding¨ gets tough

Most in the West have listened, we have done our part, we have many times given Rowan Williams the benefit of our doubt(s) and endlessly trusted him to the point of being irresponsible to ourselves and those whom we defend as equals at The Body of Christ.

I believe for the sake of truth and honesty, and for the good of all Anglicans throughout the Anglican Communion, Rowan Williams ought resign.  Dr. Williams has become a tyrant who intentionally marginalizes, demonzies and worst of all promotes the excluding of many qualified Anglicans who are called to  participate at all levels of Churchlife.

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, please resign.

HOMOPHOBIC PROFESSING CHRISTIANS DEFAME CHRISTIANITY: Aligining with Homophobes/perpetuating Homophobia at Church/beyond

Homophobic clergy and other homophobic professing Christians are doing the devil's work

¨A meeting of Church of England bishops in York this week has broken up without agreement on whether gay clergy should ever be allowed to be chosen for promotion to bishoprics.

The leadership of the established church remains tied in knots over how far it can comply with the Equality Act in its treatment of gay people. Church lawyers have told the bishops that while they cannot take into account that someone is homosexual in considering them for preferment, they also cannot put forward clergy in active same-sex relationships and, even if they are celibate, must consider whether they can "act as a focus for unity" to their flocks if appointed to a diocese.

Conservative evangelicals remain bitterly opposed to the ordination of gay people, even though many clergy are more or less openly gay, and some are in same-sex partnerships...¨ HERE

Dump the Homophobic Nonsense!

Speaking out against the perversion of the Gospel and the demonizing of LGBT people

By the Reverend Doctor Jerry Maneker

¨...The only Gospel to be found in Christianity is the Gospel of grace (God's unmerited favor), faith (trusting God over and above seen circumstances), love, peace, reconciliation, and inclusiveness. Anything else is not of God and is, indeed, a distortion and perversion of Christianity!

That's why the word "Gospel" means "good news!" The Christian is liberated from legalism and from the yokes of bondage imposed by mere fallible human beings.

Jesus tells us that we are free! Hear Him: "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:36)

The homophobic clergy and their blind followers, uttering words and frequently acting in discriminatory ways diametrically opposed to the Gospel, show by their rhetoric and actions the facts that they, themselves, are not free, and that they don't seem to have a clue concerning the Gospel of Christ.

Moreover, they also seek to impose yokes of bondage onto others so that other people can be as warped in their theology and in their lives as they are; by so doing see to it that intelligent, sensitive, decent people aren't likely to even consider Christianity as "a reasonable faith" and as a viable way by which to navigate their lives in this world.

Indeed, homophobic clergy and other homophobic professing Christians are doing the devil's work!

And if professing Christians remain silent in this matter, and don't speak out against the perversion of the Gospel and the demonizing of LGBT people, they are not only aligning themselves with these homophobes, but they are showing themselves to be every bit as culpable in doing the devil's work! ...please read it all, By the Reverend Doctor Jerry Maneker HERE

·  Thanks to The Guardian, United Kingdom
·  Thanks to  A Christian Voice for GLBT Rights, sidebar
·  Thanks to The Reverend Dr. Jerry Maneker

His Graceless: Dr. Rowan Williams is no ¨Focus of Unity¨ as he marginalizes, demeans and vetoes qualified candidates from becoming Bishops at The Church of England

The First Amongst Bigots, Archbishop Rowan Williams, Canterbury

¨A meeting of Church of England bishops in York this week has broken up without agreement on whether gay clergy should ever be allowed to be chosen for promotion to bishoprics.

The leadership of the established church remains tied in knots over how far it can comply with the Equality Act in its treatment of gay people. Church lawyers have told the bishops that while they cannot take into account that someone is homosexual in considering them for preferment, they also cannot put forward clergy in active same-sex relationships and, even if they are celibate, must consider whether they can "act as a focus for unity" to their flocks if appointed to a diocese.

Conservative evangelicals remain bitterly opposed to the ordination of gay people, even though many clergy are more or less openly gay, and some are in same-sex partnerships.¨ HERE

Dr Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, and John Sentamu, the archbishop of York, vetoed candidates from becoming bishops of the south London diocese.

¨...Slee described Williams shouting and losing his temper in last year's Southwark meeting, which left several members of the crown nomination committee, responsible for the selection of bishops, in tears.

The Very Reverend Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans

¨The fraught divisions have been laid bare in the leak of an anguished and devastating memorandum written by the Very Rev Colin Slee, the former dean of Southwark Cathedral, shortly before his death from pancreatic cancer last November. Dr Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, and John Sentamu, the archbishop of York, vetoed candidates from becoming bishops of the south London diocese.

The document reveals shouting matches and arm-twisting by the archbishops to keep out the diocese's preferred choices as bishop: Jeffrey John, the gay dean of St Albans, and Nicholas Holtam, rector of St Martin-in-the-Fields in central London, whose wife was divorced many years ago. Eventually Christopher Chessun, then an assistant bishop, was chosen...¨ please read it all, HERE

Anglican Hero, The Very Reverend Colin Slee, RIP

· Thanks to Episcopal Cafe, sidebar
· Thanks to Wounded Bird, sidebar
· Thanks to Mad Priest, sidebar
· Thanks to Counterlight Peculiars, sidebar
· Thanks to the Very Reverend Colin Slee, RIP
· Thanks to Andrew Brown
· Thanks to The Guardian, United Kingdom
· Thanks to Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/PA

THE MARCH AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA: Undertake a pilgrimage of repentance and please invite Archbishops Chew, Okoh and Orombi too

Bishop welcomes walk of repentance for homophobia

¨The former Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, has said he welcomes plans by Christian writer Symon Hill to undertake a pilgrimage of repentance for his former homophobia

Harries said that the church needs to repent in relation to gay and lesbian people.

Hill, the associate director of the Ekklesia thinktank, will walk from Birmingham to London between 16 June and 1 July, giving talks at churches on the way and urging the Church as a whole to repent of homophobia. He will join the Pride march in London the day after he arrives.

"It is very good that you are undertaking this pilgrimage of repentance," said Richard Harries, in a message to Hill, "I very much hope it will have a wide influence."

Harries, who now sits in the House of Lords, added, "Repentance in the original Greek word means changing one's mind, and rethinking one's whole outlook in the light of God’s saving presence in Christ. That is what the church needs to do today in relation to gay and lesbian people."

Symon Hill said he was "delighted" to have received the bishop's message of support. He added that he has been "deeply moved" by the many people who have contacted him to express their support, including Chrisitians and non-Christians of various sexualities...¨ please read it all,   HERE

·  Thanks to Symon Hill
·  Thanks to Bishop Richard Harris, Church of England
·  Thanks to Ekklesia, ¨A New Way of Thinking¨

OVER THE RAINBOW/PART TWO: The Queen treats the Obamas to a state banquet at Buckingham Palace (they are also invited as overnight guests)



¨After a long day of public appearances, President Obama and US First Lady Michelle were treated to a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, hosted by the Queen tonight.¨ HERE

·  Thanks to The Daily Mail, United Kingdom HERE
·  Thanks to AP/Photo
·  Thanks to  Jessica Satherley

IT REALLY IS GETTING BETTER: "New HRC poll shows Christians support LGBT equality."

HRC commissioned a poll on LGBT issues, which it has been heralding under the subtitle: "New HRC poll shows Christians support LGBT equality."

¨True, the poll does show that. There are issues with it, of course, and one can't expect a brand-conscious corporation like HRC to point out the flaws in its own polling, but there's a lot to like.

It's the only national poll I know of (please let me know if there's another in the comments) on LGBT antidiscrimination legislation that I know of, and it shows broad support for it. 70% of Americans favor antidiscrimination legislation for LGBT people in housing, public accommodations, and employment. The last poll that asked specifically about transgender antidiscrimination legislation showed 61% support, and that was in 2002. Gallup polled LGB employment protections in 2008 and found 89% support.

The poll also found 76% of Americans support LGBT-specific anti-bullying legislation, which you wouldn't know if you're just watching the mainstream coverage of the issue that presents the issue as radical queer activists challenging concerned parents. please read it all, HERE

· Thanks to The Bilerico Project, sidebar
· Thanks to Alex Blaze
· Thanks to The Human Rights Campaign

HATE CRIMES OR BIASED-BASED HEINOUS ACTS ALERT: ¨Precautions you can take as LGBTI or vulnerable heterosexual persons to help minimize your chances of being attacked...¨

•Avoid Dark or Isolated Places

Predators can lurk anywhere, but there are fewer people in quiet places and empty street that can assist you should you need help. So, be sure to stay in areas where there are many people. Dark places such as alleys and parking structures should also be avoided. Besides giving potential attackers a place to hide, darker places tend to make it more difficult for you to see what or who is around you.

•Know Your Surroundings

Avoid surprises by knowing what and who's around you at all times. Does the neighborhood you're visiting have an anti-gay reputation? Does the bar you're heading to welcome gay patrons? Be aware and consider the answers to these questions and any others that may affect your safety.

•Never Travel Alone

Try to travel or commute with a buddy, friend or person you trust. Safety can come in numbers, especially when walking at night or in unknown places.

•Know Where You Are

Make a mental note of your location, street names, intersections and landmarks. Not only will this help you get to safety should you need to, the authorities are better able to locate you should you call for assistance. You can save valuable seconds by knowing your location.

•Say No to Strangers

Never except rides from strangers and always trust your instincts. If you are stranded or in a bind, call a relative or friend to assist you and wait for them in a well-lit and busy area.

•Plan An Escape Route

This may seem like an activity reserved for spies like 007 or bank robbers, but it's always a good idea for everyone to plan an exit or visually identify an escape route in every situation (the club, a parking lot, the convenience store, etc.). In a situation where you have to act fast, knowing an escape route can buy you valuable seconds.

•Keep Your Cell Phone Ready

You may be able access your cell phone quickly, but how fast can you dial emergency numbers? Many cell phones come with speed dial features or programmable codes for quick access to numbers. Program your local police station or 911. Take a few seconds to practice accessing emergency number in haste (Don't actually dial during your practice run, but be prepared to do it if you find yourself in danger). Even one dry run can help you out of a potentially unsafe situation.

•Leave a Trail

Find a trusted friend or family member whom you can keep updated on your whereabouts. While on a blind date some time back, the guy that I was with made it a point to call his best friend to let him know that a) everything was ok, b) what color car I drove and c) my license plate number. At first I thought his actions were extreme, but soon realized how impressive it was that he was concerned enough for his own safety to leave a trail. If you prefer to have more privacy (especially when meeting strangers) leave your destination at home on a sticky note or where it can be easily found. Even if you don't want to disclose your destination, leave the person's name, number and some other means of description where it can be easily found. That way you can be helped more quickly.

·  Thanks to About.com
·  Thanks to  Ramon Johnson

OVER THE RAINBOW: ¨The Obamas met Prince William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at Buckingham Palace in London on Tuesday.¨

Beyond Words:  I can´t tell you how much genuine pride in America and the United Kingdom and pure simple joy this photo brings to me -- Leonardo Ricardo

LONDON — President Obama was welcomed to Britain by Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday with full pomp and ceremony at Buckingham Palace, as the Scots Guards’ band played the “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the 41 booms of a royal salute resounded across the palace gardens...¨  please read it all,  HERE

·  Thanks to The New York Times, Europe
·  Thanks to Mark Landler
·  Thanks to Queen Elizabeth II, United Kingdom
·  Thanks to Charles Dharapak, Pool photo