Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Fed UP
I am totally fed up as to how this society can continue to murder and kill one another. I hope to be one member of society that totally makes a worldwide difference.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
He was only 15 years old
Gay student in Oxnard,
Ft. Lauderdale, FL (February 15, 2008) - On February 13th 15-year-old Lawrence King was declared brain dead after he was shot by a fellow student at Oxnard Junior High School. King, an openly gay student, was shot during his first period English Class in front of twenty four other students. According to classmates, King was known to wear makeup and feminine jewelry to school and was in conflict with other boys for his open display.
Suspect: Brandon McInerney (14 yrs old)
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-oxnard13feb13,0,432082.story
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oxnard14feb14,0,7204301.story
Opinion:
http://fruitfly.wordpress.com/2008/02/14/
who-will-mourn-lawrence-kings-death/
Unity Church of Hawaii
This past sunday I attended a church for which I was overwhelmingly welcomed. I attended with a very good friend who is gay. He too felt very very welcomed. You can visit the churches website at www.unityhawaii.org.
I have never been to a religious place where I did not feel a sense of condemnation. But this group of people were different. I actually knew that love was possible as I walked amongst the people and participated with the people in the service.
One aspect of the church that stood out was the phrase: We believe in original Virtue. I am used to hearing the phrase: We believe in original SIN.
Their approach is understandable I too would rather hold on to the fact that I was created by GOD in original Virtue. All that GOD created was and is GOOD. Therefore I too am GOOD. I do sin (miss the mark) I do miss the bulls eye...and know I will never be PERFECT in and of myself. But I can be PERFECT in LOVE. The fact that I can love at all is the perfection GOD gives me strength to perform.
GOD LOVES ME and YOU.
I have never been to a religious place where I did not feel a sense of condemnation. But this group of people were different. I actually knew that love was possible as I walked amongst the people and participated with the people in the service.
One aspect of the church that stood out was the phrase: We believe in original Virtue. I am used to hearing the phrase: We believe in original SIN.
Their approach is understandable I too would rather hold on to the fact that I was created by GOD in original Virtue. All that GOD created was and is GOOD. Therefore I too am GOOD. I do sin (miss the mark) I do miss the bulls eye...and know I will never be PERFECT in and of myself. But I can be PERFECT in LOVE. The fact that I can love at all is the perfection GOD gives me strength to perform.
GOD LOVES ME and YOU.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Gay American Heroes
I've just come across a website that has totally hit home to what I've been thinking about lately.
www.gayamericanheroes.com
I have been moved by all the international news regarding hate crimes toward gay men in particular but also toward the GLBT community as a whole. Gay American Heroes is a new foundation that seeks to promote the human side of being Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, or Transgendered. The new foundation focuses on the USA and it's continued hatred toward the GLBT community.
I hope to have their support for our first "ATU" Acceptance, Totally, and Unconditionally Conference.
I still cannot understand how the majority of our society will not stand against the bigotry that exist in our world.
www.gayamericanheroes.com
I have been moved by all the international news regarding hate crimes toward gay men in particular but also toward the GLBT community as a whole. Gay American Heroes is a new foundation that seeks to promote the human side of being Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, or Transgendered. The new foundation focuses on the USA and it's continued hatred toward the GLBT community.
I hope to have their support for our first "ATU" Acceptance, Totally, and Unconditionally Conference.
I still cannot understand how the majority of our society will not stand against the bigotry that exist in our world.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Friends that Make a Difference (Earl)
I just got back from my friends place. I met this guy a while ago and he has taken special care of my feelings. I mean he is respectful of what one goes through when one is learning how to walk in his own skin. His hospitality, words, and care are genuine. He has a smile that says "I really like you". Anyway, learning to accept yourself is a journey for anyone. But an especially difficult journey when all around you it seems you are ducking from the stones of bigotry.
It is friends like Earl that add to my strength. It seems that I gather strength from all of the past struggles that my friends have already endured. So I thank you that you did not give up when you struggled because now your life has strengthened mine.
It is friends like Earl that add to my strength. It seems that I gather strength from all of the past struggles that my friends have already endured. So I thank you that you did not give up when you struggled because now your life has strengthened mine.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
R.I.P
In Sylacauga, Alabama, the body of 39-year-old Billy Jack Gaither was found bludgeoned with an ax handle and charred on a pile of burned tires; killed, as one paper described it, ''for being himself.''
Last October, in Laramie, Wyoming, Matthew Shepard, an openly gay young man, was found badly beaten and tied to a fence. He died five days later from 18 blows to the head. The state charged two men with the murder; one defendant has pled guilty to the murder, and the second awaits trail on first-degree murder charges.
Last October, in Laramie, Wyoming, Matthew Shepard, an openly gay young man, was found badly beaten and tied to a fence. He died five days later from 18 blows to the head. The state charged two men with the murder; one defendant has pled guilty to the murder, and the second awaits trail on first-degree murder charges.
Topic: The Conference
How would you like to see and participate in a state to state conference that focused on acceptance of GLBT people?
Well I thought this would be a great place to think out loud on the possibilities of a state, National, and International Conference that supports the GLBT community.
It is shameful to think that such a notion of non-acceptance even exist. But discrimination is not new to our society/world.
The conference would fulfill the wishes of all GLBT peoples. "Acceptance" Totally and Unconditionally. (ATU) With speakers and workshops of inclusion and encouragement. To recognizing the fallen and those who have come "OUT". To the historical pitfalls and advances by the GLBT community.
Well I thought this would be a great place to think out loud on the possibilities of a state, National, and International Conference that supports the GLBT community.
It is shameful to think that such a notion of non-acceptance even exist. But discrimination is not new to our society/world.
The conference would fulfill the wishes of all GLBT peoples. "Acceptance" Totally and Unconditionally. (ATU) With speakers and workshops of inclusion and encouragement. To recognizing the fallen and those who have come "OUT". To the historical pitfalls and advances by the GLBT community.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
'My life as a gay Ugandan Christian'
Christopher Senteza is a committed Christian who has been with his partner for six years.
He teaches English and religious studies at a school in Uganda, close to where he lives in the capital, Kampala.
The 33-year-old is a pillar of the community, and would dearly love to be ordained into the Anglican church.
But Christopher is also gay, something the church in Uganda frowns upon and the state can throw you in prison for.
Christopher realised he was gay when he was a teenager, and confided in his uncle, who is also gay.
He says his family has been his rock, because of their loving care.
"My family has been very supportive - which has been very powerful for me," he says.
But he adds some families are not so helpful.
Society needs to have an appreciation of what we can offer to benefit everyone As part of his work for Integrity Uganda, a Christian group which offers support for gays and lesbians, he recalls a visit with a friend to a gay teenager's mother he was trying to help.
"We went and visited the son and his mother decided to chase us from the house,"
"She accused us of trying to preach homosexuality to him - which, of course, we were not trying to do.
"We were trying to help him."
Rural rejection, urban acceptance
He says Ugandan society is split on the issue of homosexuality between those in cities and towns and those in rural areas.
"The rural population is very against homosexuality, but urban people tend to be more accepting."
There is a perception amongst many Africans that homosexuality is something that was brought with European colonialism.
There is no word in Christopher's native tongue - Lugandan - for homosexuality.
"They say it is a Western word, but there were many cases of it documented in Uganda before the white man came to Africa."
Christopher joined fellow worshippers at a Christian service. He hesitates about speaking of President Museveni - who has well publicised hatred of gays and lesbians - saying he has never spoken to the president so it would not be right for him to speak of what he thinks.
In 1999 the president launched a fierce attack on homosexuality and said gays should be sent to jail.
"I know of two men who were jailed for being gay," Christopher says, starkly.
He added himself and his partner Francis are accepted in their community, but agrees more needs to be done to get full acceptance.
Uganda is a country which has introduced democratic reforms and has improved its human rights record since Yoweri Museveni became president in 1986.
Christopher believes a change in society and a change in gay action is needed.
Given time, Uganda will have to move towards acceptance "Gays are a little bit shy and afraid to come out. Both members of the gay community and society itself have their part to play to improve things for gays and lesbians.
"Society needs to have an appreciation of what we can offer to benefit everyone."
The church, too, takes a dim view of homosexuality.
Christopher would dearly love to become an Anglican minister, but has been rejected, despite his impeccable credentials.
"I wasn't given the reason why I was rejected, but I believe it was because I am a homosexual."
But he also believes things are changing within society, and within the church.
"They must move towards acceptance."
Visa problem
Christopher was in Manchester for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement conference, where he delivered an address titled "Lesbian and Gay Identity in Uganda: a Christian Vision for my Country".
He also attended a controversial gay Christian service which had been banned from Manchester cathedral.
But he almost didn't make it because the UK immigration service questioned his motives for coming to the country and was refused a visitor's visa.
He had to go to MP Ben Bradshaw who then had to take the issue to a ministerial level before he was granted a visa.
He arrived in London one day before the conference was due to begin.
The immigration service need not worry - he will be heading back at the end of this week, where he will continue his work.
"Given time, Uganda will have to move towards acceptance," he said.
He teaches English and religious studies at a school in Uganda, close to where he lives in the capital, Kampala.
The 33-year-old is a pillar of the community, and would dearly love to be ordained into the Anglican church.
But Christopher is also gay, something the church in Uganda frowns upon and the state can throw you in prison for.
Christopher realised he was gay when he was a teenager, and confided in his uncle, who is also gay.
He says his family has been his rock, because of their loving care.
"My family has been very supportive - which has been very powerful for me," he says.
But he adds some families are not so helpful.
Society needs to have an appreciation of what we can offer to benefit everyone As part of his work for Integrity Uganda, a Christian group which offers support for gays and lesbians, he recalls a visit with a friend to a gay teenager's mother he was trying to help.
"We went and visited the son and his mother decided to chase us from the house,"
"She accused us of trying to preach homosexuality to him - which, of course, we were not trying to do.
"We were trying to help him."
Rural rejection, urban acceptance
He says Ugandan society is split on the issue of homosexuality between those in cities and towns and those in rural areas.
"The rural population is very against homosexuality, but urban people tend to be more accepting."
There is a perception amongst many Africans that homosexuality is something that was brought with European colonialism.
There is no word in Christopher's native tongue - Lugandan - for homosexuality.
"They say it is a Western word, but there were many cases of it documented in Uganda before the white man came to Africa."
Christopher joined fellow worshippers at a Christian service. He hesitates about speaking of President Museveni - who has well publicised hatred of gays and lesbians - saying he has never spoken to the president so it would not be right for him to speak of what he thinks.
In 1999 the president launched a fierce attack on homosexuality and said gays should be sent to jail.
"I know of two men who were jailed for being gay," Christopher says, starkly.
He added himself and his partner Francis are accepted in their community, but agrees more needs to be done to get full acceptance.
Uganda is a country which has introduced democratic reforms and has improved its human rights record since Yoweri Museveni became president in 1986.
Christopher believes a change in society and a change in gay action is needed.
Given time, Uganda will have to move towards acceptance "Gays are a little bit shy and afraid to come out. Both members of the gay community and society itself have their part to play to improve things for gays and lesbians.
"Society needs to have an appreciation of what we can offer to benefit everyone."
The church, too, takes a dim view of homosexuality.
Christopher would dearly love to become an Anglican minister, but has been rejected, despite his impeccable credentials.
"I wasn't given the reason why I was rejected, but I believe it was because I am a homosexual."
But he also believes things are changing within society, and within the church.
"They must move towards acceptance."
Visa problem
Christopher was in Manchester for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement conference, where he delivered an address titled "Lesbian and Gay Identity in Uganda: a Christian Vision for my Country".
He also attended a controversial gay Christian service which had been banned from Manchester cathedral.
But he almost didn't make it because the UK immigration service questioned his motives for coming to the country and was refused a visitor's visa.
He had to go to MP Ben Bradshaw who then had to take the issue to a ministerial level before he was granted a visa.
He arrived in London one day before the conference was due to begin.
The immigration service need not worry - he will be heading back at the end of this week, where he will continue his work.
"Given time, Uganda will have to move towards acceptance," he said.
Arrests for Senegal 'gay wedding'
Homosexuality is illegal in Muslim-majority SenegalPolice in Senegal have arrested several men following the publication of pictures claiming to depict a wedding ceremony between two men.
The pictures were published in Icone magazine, whose editor, Mansour Dieng, has since received death threats.
Mr Dieng has also been questioned by police over the issue.Homosexuality is illegal in Senegal but it is not clear whether the arrests were in connection with the ceremony or the death threats.
The BBC's Tidiane Sy in Senegal said that at least five of the men arrested appeared in the photographs.
According to pro-government newspaper Le Soleil, the arrested men were all seized in "a meeting house which could act as a brothel".
Police have not commented on the case but an official at the Department of Criminal Investigations told AFP news agency that an investigation was under way.
The ceremony is believed to have involved a Senegalese man and another from Ghana or the Ivory Coast, who has not yet been found.
Mr Dieng told Africa Global News that he published the pictures to dismiss accusations that an earlier article on homosexuality in Senegal was untrue.
Senegal is a predominantly Muslim country and gay men and women remain socially marginalised.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Petition for the lives of Hamzeh and Loghman
Petition for the lives of Hamzeh and Loghman: two young gay men who are in love and who risk the death sentence in Iran. And let’s not forget Pegah: the United Kingdom could still hand her over to the executioner.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is persecuting homosexuals, dissidents and free thinkers, and carrying out political crimes towards them. Homosexual relationships in Iran are considered a crime liable to sadistic corporal punishment and the death sentence. On January 23rd, 2008, Hamzeh Chavi and Loghman Hamzehpour, two homosexual young men of 18 and 19, were arrested in Sardasht, in Iranian Azerbaijan.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is persecuting homosexuals, dissidents and free thinkers, and carrying out political crimes towards them. Homosexual relationships in Iran are considered a crime liable to sadistic corporal punishment and the death sentence. On January 23rd, 2008, Hamzeh Chavi and Loghman Hamzehpour, two homosexual young men of 18 and 19, were arrested in Sardasht, in Iranian Azerbaijan.
Topic: General Comments
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Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin
24.95 at
www.rustin.org
Bayard Rustin: Gay March on Washington Organizer
From Ramone Johnson,
Gay Rights Leader Bayard Rustin
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2002/brotheroutsider/rustin.html
Did you know that Bayard Rustin, one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s colleagues and the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, was gay?
Openly-gay Bayard Rustin was born in 1912 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Rustin began his impressive political career at an early age after an education at Wilberforce University, Cheyney State College and City College of New York (never received B.A.). Not only was he an integral part of the African-American civil rights movement, but became one of the leading advocates and examples for gay equality.
Bayard Rustin's celebrated career captured the attention of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who recruited Rustin as an assistant and colleague in 1956. Below is a streaming time line of affiliations and causes that led up to Rustin's lead role in organizing the 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech:
1937 Rustin began activist career by training at the American Friends Service Committee.
1937 Became organizer for the Youth Communist League (later to become anti-Communist).
1941 Quit Youth Communist League. Colleague of A. Philip Randolph, President of The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Race Relations Secretary for the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR).
1942 Field Secretary for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Colleague of Norman Thomas, a leader in the democratic socialist movement.
1947 Helped plan the Journey of Reconciliation "freedom ride" which paved way for the freedom rides in the early 1960's. After being arrested, Rustin's experiences on a chain gang were chronicled on The New York Post which initiated an investigation that eliminated chain gangs in North Carolina.
1940's Assisted in lobbying President Truman to eliminate segregation in the military.
1945 Organized the Free India Committee, fighting for India's independence from Britain.
1951 Organized the Committee to Support South African Resistance (American Committee on Africa).
1953 Joined the War Resisters League.
1956 Began assisting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1957 Organized the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom.
1960's Helped form the Recruitment and Training Program (R-T-P). Vice Chairman of the International Rescue Committee.
1963 Deputy Director and chief organizer of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr. King presented the "I Have a Dream" speech.
1964 Helped found the A. Randolph Institute (APRI).
1980 Participated in the March for Survival on the Thai-Cambodian border.
1982 Helped found the National Emergency Coalition for Haitian Rights. Chairman of the Executive committee of Freedom House.
1983 Rustin's report South Africa: Is Peaceful Change Possible? led to the formation of Project South Africa.
Before his death, Rustin wrote several essays, recorded songs and received numerous honorary doctorates while continuing his involvement as an officer on numerous human rights committees until his death in 1987. He is survived by his partner of 10 years, Walter Naegle.
You can learn more about and his inspiring influence on today's African-American and gay civil rights movements in the documentary Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.
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