MAY WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE?: LGBT ¨Anti-bullying¨ and ¨Gender Nondiscrimination¨ bills become LAW in California!

Victim of Bullying, Seth Walsh, R.I.P.

¨California Governor Jerry Brown on Monday signed into law an anti-bullying measure named after gay student Seth Walsh.

Walsh is the 13-year-old boy who hanged himself after he was endlessly harassed by classmates who perceived him to be gay. He died 9 days after his mother Wendy Walsh found him hanging from a plum tree in their backyard. A federal investigation concluded that Tehachapi Unified School District failed to properly respond to the teen's ongoing harassment.

The legislation was introduced by openly gay Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a Democrat from San Francisco, and cleared the Assembly on June 1 on a 52-26 vote.
Senators approved the legislation with a 24 to 14 vote on September 7.

The new law mandates that schools post anti-bullying policies throughout campuses, provide complaint forms on their websites and give schools a timeline to investigate and resolve complaints...¨ HERE

Jerry Brown, the younger, Governor of  (D)

¨California Governor Jerry Brown on Monday announced that he had signed into law a transgender protections bill.

The Gender Nondiscrimination Act (AB 887) takes existing protections based on gender identity and expression and enumerates them as protected categories in non-discrimination laws.

“Californians support fair and equal treatment for everyone, but many employers, landlords and transgender people themselves are unaware that the law protects transgender people,” Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego, said in sponsoring the bill. “As a result, transgender people experience housing and employment discrimination and often are not even aware they have any recourse. AB 887 will strengthen our state's anti-discrimination laws and move us closer to equality for every Californian.”

The law also makes it clear that gender identity and expression are included in the definition of gender and sex in all California codes.

Brown also signed into law The Vital Statistics Modernization Act (AB 433), sponsored by Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, a Democrat from Long Beach.

Lowenthal's legislation makes it easier for a transgender person to get a legal gender change by streamlining current law...¨ HERE

·  Thanks to On Top Magazine, sidebar
·  Thanks to Governor Jerry Brown, California
·  Thanks to Bonnie Lowenthal, Long Beach Assemblywoman
·  Thanks to Tom Ammiano, San Francisco Assemblyman

LGBT ¨PIONEER¨ ACTIVIST PAULA ETTELBRICK, R.I.P.-- “Paula is a legendary figure. She was an passionate organizer, a smart lawyer, an incredibly astute lobbyist and a fighter to the end...¨

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum remembered Paula Ettelbrick, pictured, for her groundbreaking career as a LGBT activist who she said “fought with every fiber of her being.”

¨Paula Ettelbrick, the former legal director of Lambda Legal, the former executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and a heralded LGBT activist of more than 25 years, passed away Friday at the age of 56, after a battle with aggressive ovarian cancer.

Ettlebrick was a fiery activist who took many fights to the court room and won. She pushed and prodded government officials for every inch of equality she could extract, and often gave much better than she received. Paula Ettelbrick was always tilting at windmills and meeting new horizons, as recently as 2003 when she moved into international gay human rights, having spend the majority of her career in domestic gay politics. She was as comfortable in the classroom teaching students as she was taking on homophobes at the barricades; she worked as an executive in the board room and battled federal and state representatives. Sadly, Ettelbrick has lost a life-​ending battle and the LGBT community will be much poorer for her absence...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to The New Civil Rights Movement, sidebar
·  Thanks to Paula Ettelbrick, R.I.P.
·  Thanks to Tanya L. Domi, Columbia University

The Disease to Please: Are You Being Congenial or simply a Pro-Covenant Co-dependent? Hello? Bishop Victoria Matthews?

Bishop Victoria Matthews, Christ Church, New Zealand

Being Nice and Being Enabling Are Not the Same Things (well, maybe sometimes at the Anglican Communion)

¨Although a person may tolerate and learn to accept and live with abuse, neglect and disrespect, that acceptance is not a function of kind congeniality or of gracious tolerance. It may be an illness in-and-of itself. We call it co-dependency.

Getting along and being pleasant are two of the core characteristics of what is generally meant when we describe a person as being congenial. When these behaviors and attitudes persist, however, in the face of abusiveness, neglect or disrespect, they may not be elements of congeniality at all but rather of what we call co-dependency.¨  David A Reinstein

Our Unity in Christ: In Support of the Anglican Covenant

An Apologetic Series

¨People are sometimes surprised that I support the proposed Anglican Covenant because there is a widespread belief that the crafters of the Covenant intend to stop new developments in the Communion. Similarly, many Anglicans believe that if there had been a Covenant 25 years ago, we would not have both sexes elected and consecrated to the episcopate. (“We would not have women bishops,” they say, without speaking of “men bishops.” Bishop is not a gender-exclusive noun, and women is not an adjective.)

Are YOU activating the disease to PLEASE Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, when validating the punitive Anglican Covenant?

The real question to consider, as we weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed Anglican Covenant, is whether it would help or hinder inter-Anglican communication. The 20th and 21st centuries have restructured the way that communication happens across the world. As I write this, the rumor has begun that Rowan Williams will step down as the Archbishop of Canterbury next year. Every sort of media, from blogs to newspapers, speculates on who will succeed Archbishop Rowan, although Lambeth Palace has declined to comment on the rumor...read more, by Bishop Victoria Matthews HERE

¨My friend Jim Beyer has written a great response to a post by Bishop Victoria Matthews' of New Zealand¨  Mutha+

Peter Arnett, a legendary TV and print news reporter famously wrote:

“It became necessary to destroy the town to save it,” a United States major said today. He was talking about the decision by allied commanders to bomb and shell the town, regardless of civilian casualties, to rout the Vietcong. [“Major Describes Move,” New York Times, February 8, 1968.]

It awakens my sense of irony to note that Mr. Arnett is a New Zealander. I have no idea if he is an Anglican, but his description of the US (failed, we now all know) strategy in Vietnam is apt for the defense of the Anglican Covenant mounted by Peter Carrell and his boss, Bishop Victoria Matthews. They stand willing destroy the communion to save it. While Matthews’ defense of the Covenant achieved only incoherence, Carrell peels down the layers and give us clarity. The picture is really, really ugly...¨ please read it all, by Jim Beyer, HERE

¨In American parlance especially in the South the term 'nice' is what boys and girls are taught from first breath. 'Nice' becomes the be-all-and-end-all of all social engagement. Nice is more important than truth, 'nice' is more important than kindliness. It is more important than agreement, compassion, meaningful exchange, or even love. 'Nice' is a plastic expression of pleasantry that usually masks integrity...¨   HERE  by Mutha +

·  Thanks to Stone of Witness, sidebar
·  Thanks to David A. Reistein
·  Thanks to Mutha+
·  Thanks to Jim Beyer
·  Thanks to Comprehensive Unity,  No Anglican Covenant Blog HERE

QUESTIONABLE ETHICS? ¨Justice Thomas’ conduct does not meet the high standard we must demand from those entrusted to sit on our nation’s highest court¨

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas,  The Supreme Court of The United States of America

Several members of Congress have filed a formal ethics complaint HERE against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas because of his wife's prominent role with the Tea Party.

"Public records demonstrate a failure by Justice Thomas to exercise the care expected of a Supreme Court Justice," the letter says. "Not only did Justice Thomas fail to report at least $1.6 million in income from his wife's employer, but the very public role played by his wife as co-founder, president and CEO of Liberty Central clearly merits investigation considering that federal law bars judges from participating in any matter in which their impartiality could be questioned. "The very public role played by his wife in opposing healthcare reform, and Justice Thomas’ insinuations in public speeches that he supports her positions, raises clear questions about the appearance of bias," it continues. Public records demonstrate a failure by Justice Thomas to exercise the care expected of a Supreme Court Justice," the letter says. HERE  (emphasis added by Leonardo Ricardo)

Virginia ¨Ginni¨ Thomas and her husband, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas

¨When we’ve heard in the past about Virginia Lamp Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, it was usually as his fellow RV road warrior. But Ginni Thomas is now much more high-profile. The Los Angeles Times reported this weekend that she has launched Liberty Central Inc., a conservative non-profit inspired by the Tea Party movement...please read it all, HERE

Experts tell the L.A. Times that Thomas’ work doesn’t violate ethical rules for judges, but that it could give rise to conflicts of interest for her husband.

¨People are already pointing out that the 5-4 decision in Citizens United cleared the way for Liberty Central to fill its coffers with corporate cash.

So what exactly does Virginia Thomas plan to do with Liberty Central? From the L.A. Times: HERE

·  Thanks to Joe.My.God., sidebar
·  Thanks to People For the American Way, sidebar
·  Thanks to Justin
·  Thanks to Kathleen Hennessey
·  Thanks to Kashmir Hill
·  Thanks to The Los Angeles Times

THE 13TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FATAL ATTACK OF EPISCOPALIAN MATTHEW SHEPARD: ¨No person should have to live in fear simply because of who they are¨

Matthew Shepard, R.I.P.

¨Thirteen years ago tonight Matthew Shepard was lured to a rural road, tied up, crucifixion style, pistol whipped then left for dead, simply because he was gay. He wasn't found for nearly a day, still barely alive in the 30 degree weather, the only part of his face not covered by blood was where the tears had streamed down. The attack on Matthew, and his subsequent death a few days later, was a galvanizing moment for the gay community. It was one of only a handful of moments I can think of, in the twenty years that I've been out, that something changed in all of us, nationwide, at a much larger, meta level...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Americablog Gay, sidebar
·  Thanks to John Aravosis,  HERE
·  Thanks to Noah Baron, HERE
·  Thanks to Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

COMPREHENSIVE UNITY -- NO ANGLICAN COVENANT

CENTERS FOR SEXUAL HYGIENE IN EQUADOR: Clinics torture LGBT to ¨cure¨ them

¨At age 24 Paola Ziritti says she suffered "forcible confinement" in a clinic which her parents were led to believe would "de-homosexualize" their daughter. There, for 18 months, she suffered battering, sexual abuse, deprivation of all kinds, constant insults and being chained. Guards threw urine and ice water on her. She spent nearly three months in chains before her mother realized what she had done and freed her, Ziritti told Têtu magazine.¨ HERE

¨Ecuadorean authorities have so far this year closed 27 'ex-gay' clinics which claimed to “cure” homosexuality following allegations of torture and abuse by former 'patients'.

For a decade, lesbian groups have been calling for government action on the physical and psychological torture inflicted on lesbians to try to "cure" them...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sidebar
·  Thanks to Paul Canning
·  Thanks to Tetu Magazine

UNFINISHED LIVES: The vicious nature of hate crimes against LGBTQ persons is extremely brutal, grotesquely violent, and egregiously hateful...¨

¨The Unfinished Lives Project website HERE is a place of public discourse which remembers and honors LGBTQ hate crime victims, while also revealing the reality of unseen violence perpetrated against people whose only “offense” is their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender presentation. LGBTQ people in the United States are suffering a slow-rolling decimation of terror and murder all across the country. Every locale and demographic of society are affected: First Nations, Anglo, Black, Latino and Latina, South and Southeast Asian, Transgender, Bisexuals, Gay men, Lesbians, disabled, young, and mature. Homophobia has a long, crooked arm, and it is reaching out to snatch the life away from women and men whose tragic stories are under-reported to begin with, and whose memories are swiftly forgotten.

The horror of these killings transcends the shock and bereavement of loved ones and friends. These are not typical homicides; they are not killings for money or drugs, incidents of domestic strife, or crimes of passion. The vicious nature of hate crimes against LGBTQ persons is extremely brutal, grotesquely violent, and egregiously hateful...¨ visit ¨Unfinished Lives¨, HERE

·  Thanks to Unfinished Lives, sidebar
·  Thanks to Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle
·  Thanks to the Rev. Dr. Joretta Marshall

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD: The Global Revolution Beginneth!

Whose side are you on?

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

· They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

·  They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

·  They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

·  They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

·  They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.

·  They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

·  They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

·  They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

·  They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

·  They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

·  They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

·  They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

·  They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

·  They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

·  They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.

·  They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

·  They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.

·  They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

·  They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

·  They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

·  They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

·  They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

·  They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.

·  Thanks to Counterlight Peculiars, sidebar
·  Thanks to Preludium, sidebar
·  Thanks to The Guardian, United Kingdom
·  Thanks to Wall Street Protestors

PRESBYTERIAN POWER OF ATTRACTION: On Saturday, Scott Anderson, of Madison, will become the first openly gay minister ordained by the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.

The Reverend Scott ¨with a sense of integrity¨ Anderson

¨Twenty-one years ago, Scott Anderson had a choice. He could continue to serve as a Presbyterian minister but hide his identity as a gay man. Or he could leave the ministry and live, as he says, "with a sense of integrity" about who he is.

Anderson left the ministry in 1990, believing that door would never open to him again. Now it has.

On Saturday, Anderson, of Madison, will become the first openly gay minister ordained by the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. since the denomination amended its constitution this year to allow it.

Hundreds of friends and supporters, and possibly some protesters, are expected to turn out at Covenant Presbyterian Church for what is being called a watershed moment in the life of the denomination. It is also the culmination of one man's deeply personal spiritual journey...¨  HERE

·  Thanks to Annysa Johnson
·  Thanks to The Reverend Scott Anderson
·  Thanks to The Journal Sentinal, Wisconsin
·  Thanks to The Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.

SURVIVING EX-GAY: ¨ Ex-gay experiences can harm us in several ways ¨

Ex-Gay Harm--Let Me Count the Ways

by Peterson Toscano

In the past 4.5 years I have been in contact with over 1000 ex-gay survivors. These are people who pursued ex-gay experiences, either on their own, or more often, assisted by others like a therapist, minister, ex-gay program. They attempted to change or suppress their sexual orientation and may have referred to themselves as ex-gays or simply strugglers or by some other name.

Through hearing their stories (some of which posted HERE at Beyond Ex-Gay--bXg) and in unpacking my own ex-gay journey, I have begun to understand the many ways people can be harmed by their ex-gay experiences. Many of us also received certain benefits from our ex-gay experiences, but in most cases the harm outweighs the good.

I realize that the ex-gay experience is not the only culprit in bringing harm. The anti-gay church and a homophobic society and in many cases one's own family contribute to the damage. But what the ex-gay experience does is deepen that harm by offering hope for some sort of change or freedom. Led by sincere and caring people, our ex-gay programs, therapists and ministers encouraged us and because of their kindness and sincerity, we often pressed on long after we realized the it was not working. Only afterwards did we began to understand the trauma we introduced into our lives as a result of submitting to ex-gay experiences.

Below is a list of categories outlining areas of harm along with brief descriptions for each. I invite ex-gay survivors to contact us  HERE with specific examples and further explanations for any of the categories that resonate for them. They can even add new categories.

(warning: this can be heavy stuff to look at, so before you do, make sure you feel somewhat prepared and aware that this might bring up stuff for you)

Ex-gay experiences can harm us in several ways.

•Emotional Harm--evidenced in feelings of shame, fear, stress, disappointment, exhaustion and rejection (especially when one is shunned)

•Psychological Harm--manifested in the forms of depression, suicidal tendencies, post traumatic stress and in some cases the triggering of a psychotic break

•Spiritual Harm--

◦in the form of chronic discouragement, fear of God, and loss of faith communities and even of faith

◦distrust of spiritual leaders

◦a spiritual crisis of integrity and incongruence through the constant message that You cannot be gay and Christian

•Relationship Harm--through the loss of vital relationships or damage to relationships with

◦parents

■who, believing change is possible and necessary, reject children who will not choose to be ex-gay

■who through ex-gay teachings get blamed for their child's sexual orientation thus creating tension between the child and parent (and also causing deep pain and shame for parents)

◦spouses/partners

■partners of the opposite sex that we dated and married because we believed such a life was possible but found it led to divorce and pain and loss for our spouse, ourselves and others, including children.

■relationship with a current same-sex partner that gets hindered because of the shame and fear drilled into us by our ex-gay experiences

◦friends

■who we kept/keep at a distance because we were trained to distrust intimacy for fear that we will develop an emotionally dependent/enmeshed relationship or romantic/sexual relationship

■who we rejected once we became ex-gay and they represented a risk to the ex-gay lives we pursued

■who rejected us because the conditional nature of the friendship. Once we no longer identified as ex-gay and a struggler, they ended the relationship

•Financial Harm--

◦Some spent hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars on ex-gay treatment, at seminars and conferences and on books and tapes

◦Some parents refused to pay for college or even basic living expenses when a child would not attend an ex-gay program.

•Career Harm--

◦Some left careers considered "unsafe" for a struggler

◦Some interrupted school and careers to take a diversion into ex-gay treatment

•Physical Harm---in the form of health issues triggered by stress and depression leading to back problems, skin conditions, etc.

•Sexual Harm--in the form of damaging sex eduction

◦Sexually naive people (many who never even had sex) learned about "gay sex" from sex addicts who expressed their sexuality through risky and even illegal behaviors often because of the shame and self-loathing they felt.

◦Program leaders, therapists and "testimonies" transmitted negative messages about sexual expression between people of the same-sex which can hinder people from enjoying a healthy, satisfying sexuality even after leaving ex-gay treatment.

•Developmental Harm--because of stunted growth in key areas while we focused our efforts on our ex-gay experiences. Many of us stopped living our lives and diverted our limited energies into the ex-gay process thus hindering personal growth at vital developmental moments

Those of us who have suffered and still stuffer harm from ex-gay experiences need not be victims. The process required to face the pain and loss and unpack our ex-gay experience takes time and support. It requires grieving and forgiveness--especially we need to forgive ourselves for the times we subjected ourselves to harmful ex-gay conversion therapies and ministries...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Beyond X-Gay, sidebar HERE
·  Thanks to Peterson Toscano