Speak out, Act now: "The New Prop 8"

Plaid may be the new stripes, but don't let Iowa become the new Cali!

http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/campaign/next_prop_8/x7ikg5grhj6nemmx

Urge officials in Iowa to keep the hawkeye state an equal state!

SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW: "Don't ask, Don't tell" - Don't Wait!

"Let's push that one down the road a little bit," said Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this past Sunday when a Fox News anchor asked him about the timetable for repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

With all due respect, Mr. Secretary, let's not. Our military, and our service members, can't afford to.

Write a letter to President Obama telling him why we can't wait:

http://www.sldn.org/dontwait

Here's Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Aubrey Sarvis' take on why we can't wait:

"We're fighting two wars, and we need the most qualified people possible to wage them. In fact, President Obama recently announced plans to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. Meanwhile, more than 800 hundred mission-critical service members -- including linguists and intelligence analysts -- have been fired under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."Almost 13,000 service members have been fired since the law took effect in 1994. The longer the president and Pentagon delay the issue, the longer the military will keep firing service members because of their sexual orientation. And because intelligence experts and people who speak Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and Dari aren't exactly easy to come by, we'll have fewer people to call on in the fight against terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan. "

What do you think? Tell President Obama here: http://www.sldn.org/dontwait

THEO'S THOUGHTS: History has proven, the nation has only improved with military equality. If we separate and segregate ourselves with shallow labels, we only become easier to divide and conquer.

By excluding willing and able men and women from serving because of their sexuality or gender identity, we are handing ourselves to the terrorists in the form of pre-sliced bread and saying "Here, try to make a sandwich of us now."

This hits home for me too, as my very dear friend leaves for the Air Force in a few weeks. I worry about him terribly, as he is gay, but I know he cares more about this nation then he does his own comfort, and is willing to not only risk his life and his reputation, but willingly condemn himself to six years of torturous secret keeping, staring at his tongue anxiously making sure he doesn't slip.

And to think, he's making all these extra sacrifices for a country that won't allow him equal rights.
It's ridiculous.

This would never happen in Canada.

Theo.

SPEAK OUT ACT NOW! Vote NO on 1!

"1" is the new "8",
but will "WON" be the new "H8"?
It's up to us!
http://equalitygainesville.com/

Here's a SPEAK OUT ACT NOW related email straight from my buddy Anthony Haynes, HRC organizer. He said it best so I'm just going to copy and paste his call to action!


“Now that we are on the other side of the election and each one of you have been trained on campaign work we have some work to do. There are many opportunities to get involved and many of you are already doing great things, but there is one item that I need to rally as many people around as possible. It is short term work because there is a Charter Amendment up for vote on March 24, 2009. This work can be done from your home. All you need is a computer with internet access and a cell phone. We are working to help HRC's very own Regional Field Director, Sultan Shakir, who has been sent to Gainsville FL to help defeat Charter Amendment 1.

Here is a brief breakdown:
* Charter Amendment 1 eliminates protections against discrimination and makes it legal to fire someone from their job or kick them out of their home because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.


* Charter Amendment 1 takes away the City’s power to protect its citizens from discrimination! It prohibits the City Commission from prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, economic status, or political affiliation and gives Tallahassee politicians the sole power to dictate what is best for the citizens of Gainesville.



http://equalitygainesville.com/



In the short term we need as many people working the phones as possible to help fight this awful Charter Amendment. Why help with this Amendment in Gainesville when you live in NY? Simple: what happens in FL effects all of us no matter where we live, and we have HRC members calling from across the country to help defeat this Charter Amendment. All of this work can be done from your home and we will be organizing call centers once a week to work together as a group. If you are interested in helping with this and other efforts here in NY please email me today!

Anthony Hayes
Anthony.Hayes@hrc.org
Human Rights Campaign
Regional Field Organizer"





So ...What are you still doing on this blog? GO TO THE SITE!
http://equalitygainesville.com/




Don't wake up on March 5th feeling like its November 5th all over again!
This world has a funny way of mixing great achievements (President Obama) with devastating loses (Prop. 8) and hey, SEAN PENN WON AN OSCAR!!!
-- We can't risk this one! It has all the tell tale signs!!!



Really, if I didn't think it were big, I wouldn't be saying this:
THEO CAN WAIT, EQUALITY CAN'T! GO HELP OUT NOW!
http://equalitygainesville.com/




My blog will still be here when you're done, k? Promise.
Now, really, time for this: http://equalitygainesville.com/

Thank you all!
Theo.

OH GOD: Not another religious website 'chopping' away at gays!

As the grandchild of a lumberjack, I am sincerely offended. Chopping? Really?
Read on.









Step One: Go to this site, so you know what I'm talking about.
http://www.lovegodsway.org/
Step Two: Turn on some angry 'gate way' music.
Step Three: Continue reading.

Thank you.


C.H.O.P.
Changing Homosexuals into Ordinary People.

The anger and astonishment provoked by this hip new acronym for all the cool christian kids has not only made me severely dizzy, but tempts me to quote fellow Canadian Avril Lavigne's song "Anything But Ordinary" but on second thought, I won't go there.

Just, Look at the ADs they have! Don't you just want to put that on a can of soup? It's Slim Fast for gays! How can they put that on their site and STILL try to maintain some sort of seriousness?

Not only that, but they quote Oscar Wilde "reformed homosexual":

"Suffering is one very long moment. We cannot divide it by seasons. We can only record its moods, and chronicle their return. With us time itself does not progress. It revolves. It seems to circle round one centre of pain."

Are these words supposed to make someone want to be straight? Personally, I interpretted it to validate alchoholism. Or writing poetry, much like Walt Whitman and Emily Dickenson did. Both 'reformed homosexuals' themselves.

I think they're using the word reformed where they should say Closeted. Why closeted? Becaues "God Hates Fags" still exists.

Don't forget to check out the "GAY BANDS" section. Elton John is on there twice!!!
So are the Jonas Brothers, Toby Keith "(cowboy)", The Butchies "(lizbians)", and some chick named "Kate Bush (kissed a girl)" -- Wait, is that supposed to be Katy Perry?

While you're at it, take a tour of their safe bands.
CYNDI LAUPER - Speaks at Gay Rallies all the time!
UNDEROATH - Worst Emo Band Ever. They aren't safe from themselves!
FLYLEAF - What?! Ok, they are a disputable "Christian" band, but, what? They're scary!

And to top it all off:
THE DRESDEN DOLLS
Flyleaf + Creativity - Christianity = Dresden Dolls.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Dresden Dolls. And, hey, they are straight! They just like to wear make up and fishnet, and sing about murder and alcohol and self mutilation... BUT if straight is what makes you safe, they are most definitely happily married!

My personal favorite by them, and really if I had time for a music column I'd write loads about them, but my personal favorite is "Bad Habit" because it's the happiest song I've ever heard about cutting yourself. See:

"the ugly marks are worth the momentary gain...when i jab a sharpened object in choirs of angels seem to sing hymns of hate in memorandum"
Aww, see, they do sing about Angels after all... Totally
safe band.


Here's a really crappy live version of that song so you can get an idea of how happy this song is, and how "Safe" they are...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0aNGyPwSoM&feature=related

And because lyrics are important, read along! http://www.dresdendolls.com/downloads_n_lyrics/lyrics/badhabit.htm


ANYWAY, I figured I'd share this insanity with you guys for two reasons:

1) For a laugh, or a scream
2) TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
Anything. Tell your friends, point out the innaccuracys of EVERYTHING.

Personally, I chose to write a blog.
And while I wrote that blog, I wrote two emails from two different addresses.

1. One simply said "check your facts" and had a link to these sites:
1) http://www.beyondexgay.com/
2) http://www.news-medical.net/?id=20718
3) http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_mental_health.html
of some pretty good arguments for homosexuality that this guy didn't even touch.

2. The other email said "I HATE GAYS" and told them to list Relient K, Chevelle, and Carrie Underwood under their gay bands.
Hahaha! My three favorite Christian artists thrown right there on the gay band wagon!
So keep an eye out for them!


OH and before you go, check this out!

Right under their FEEL THE MIRACLE Music Video, they have a little link to their shop, reminding us gays that right under heterosexuality, money is also important.

Oh! Oh! Homoaroma Therapy Candles! Mmm! Cures my same sex attraction with every whiff!

It even says PURCHASING GOD'S WAY! I didn't know there was such a thing!

...

This has to be a joke. Thoughts?
-Theo

SPEAK OUT ACT NOW: Christian Anti-Defamation League, aka CADL, aka Cattle?)

Ok, I know, it's been a while.

But I'm coming back, and I am bringing a bang.

Here's the background story, in case I loose you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20M9ywn7Zgs


So, I went to this site, http://www.christianadc.org/ and let me tell you, it is suspicious. Just to read an article I had to register! So, of course, I did, because I wasn't going to let that stop me from seeing what they had to say.

And, boy, what they had to say!

Here's a copy of their article called "Obama's Dangerous Hate Crime Agenda ":
(I bolded all the good stuff)

"Within moments of Barack Hussein Obama, the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate, being sworn in as the President of the United States, the White House's website was updated. It showed that President Obama is strongly in favor of hate crimes legislation and will work to see it passed. Hate Crimes will silence Christians and keep them from fulfilling their duty to God to proclaim the truth!
As a State Senator, Obama helped pass hate crimes legislation in Illinois. On his White House website Obama shows that he is determined to pass the most pro-homosexual, free-speech destroying legislation ever to come before Congress, including expanded hate crime laws, and legal "support for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender) community."

WHOA - Let me stop right there. I'm breaking this down in bullets:

• Do we REALLY have to use the middle name? You have to go there? Within seconds, their maturity level has sunk to fifth grade status.
  
• "The Most Liberal" - instantly inaccurate. He is probably the farthest from. Not only are you lying, but your sores from losing are showing. Get a bandage for it, get over it, TELL THE TRUTH!


• This is my favorite. This quote will be the topic of the next few bullets:
  "Hate Crimes will silence Christians and keep them from fulfilling their duty to God to proclaim the truth!"


• Now, shall I make an indented numbered list of whats wrong with that statement? I shall. In fact, I'll talk to you like you are a 5th grader:
  1. Hate Crimes are bad things. I don't know if you've realized this. But you should.
  It's got that H word in it. Hate. That is the opposite of Love. Thats right. That L Word that Jesus liked so much. No, I'm not talking about the show on showtime. I wish it was as trivial as that. No, this L word is a big deal. It's kind of what the Messiah spoke about his entire life. Love, love, love. Love is good. Hate? No, Jesus didn't like hate.
  2. It also has this C word in it. Crime. Say it with me. Crime. Do you know what a crime is? Why, it is something a criminal does. It is something bad, and against the law. This could be the law of the government, or of the church. Now, these two laws, they are two seperate things. For example, in 30 AD, the government thought Jesus was a criminal, but the church knew he was a savior. Then, the church though Gaileo was a criminal for thinking the Earth goes around the Sun, and it turns out they were wrong. See, they are different, because some people have one religion but a different government, or vice versa. I'll explain more on this. But, whether its religious law or legal law, crime is also bad.
  3. Thus, you have a Hate Crime. When you combine the words, specifically what the government is saying is: You cannot commit a hate crime, aka, a Crime because you Hate someone. More specifically, you cannot hurt a person just because of a bias, like the color of their skin, their gender, their nationality, their religion, their gender identity, or their sexual preference. Hate crimes are usually acts of violence against innocent people who are discriminated against for these reasons by someone who is very biased, or in other words, has a lot of hate towards a kind of people, enough to hurt them in a crime.
  4. The President wants to fix this, and make it wrong to hurt people. He won't be silencing anyone, just protecting. In fact, if he DIDN'T do this, he would be silencing the people who would have to live in fear of these people who do hate crimes, or maybe even silencing them by making it ok to hurt them until they can't talk anymore.
  5. What Would Jesus Do? Now, I wouldn't call myself an expert on this stuff, but I'm pretty sure the Bible doesn't want you to hurt people. The Bible wants you to help people and love people. So, wouldn't this be the RIGHT thing to do? By protecting people with this new law? Its a religious law too, not to hurt people. What's wrong with making it a legal one, so everyone follows it?
  Do you get it? Good. Class dismissed.
  
• Back to adult talk. "...the most pro-homosexual, free-speech destroying legislation"? You idiots, it isn't giving anyone any priviledges! It is giving UNALIENABLE RIGHTS. The right to LIVE without getting your teeth kicked in! The right to be yourself without being MURDERED for BIAS! It destroys NO speech - except the filthy mouth you might talk to a child in. YES, YOU WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO CALL A CHILD OR A STUDENT OR EMPLOYEE A FAGGOT. YOU SHOULDN'T BE DOING THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

"The only reason that we do not already have Federal Hate Crime Law is because of President George W. Bush's veto. President Obama has pledged to sign Hate Crime Legislation if it reaches his desk. We must stop the legislation before President Obama can sign it!"

LOOK: This is not a game, CADL. This isn't a session of Chess, and you aren't losing a Rook here. These are people's LIVES at stake, ok? Whether you think they are abomination or not, they are GOD'S CHILDREN just like you, just like me, just like everyone else in this world. Just like the Saints and Apostles themselves.
President Obama is not giving them any more priviledge or anymore right then he would give a minority race, a foriegn ethnicity, or a RELIGION which also suffers attacks. If you are not willing to help pass legistlation to STOP the HATE and the crime, you are supporting the act of violence.
Don't you see? Every dollar you spend, every effort you put forward to stop this legistlation from passing is another fist in someones jaw, another foot in a teenager's mouth, another hateful word in the ears of a child, confused like a lost lamb.
Regardless, Whether homosexual and transgender lifestyles are right or wrong, they are still people who come from the same creator.
Think about the Good Samaritan, think about the shepard's lost lamb, the prodigal son, the story of Paul/Saul, so many stories of people who get lost and abused but are given the chance to return and live life once again. This law could be their chance to live, perhaps a different lifestyle, perhaps a similar but more grateful one.
Think about it.

I am... out of words.
Theo.

SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW: Let's stand with Bishop Robinson!

If you haven't heard (in which case, I can't really blame you because until recently neither have I) of Gene Robinson, you're about to.

I love wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Robinson

Bishop Gene Robinson, as summarized in a few words by wikipedia, is "best-known for being the first openly gay, non-celibate priest to be ordained a bishop in a major Christian denomination believing in the historic episcopate. His homosexual feelings were privately acknowledged in the 1970s, when he studied in seminary, was ordained, married, and started a family. He went public with his sexual identity and divorced in the 1980s. When delegates to the Episcopal convention were voting on the ratification of his election, he was a controversial figure. His election was ratified 62 to 45. After his election, theologically conservative parishes have aligned themselves with bishops outside the Episcopal Church in the U.S., a process called the Anglican realignment. His story has appeared in print and film "

Bishop Gene Robinson was chosen to deliver Sunday's inauguration concert prayer after much dismay for the decision to have Reverend Rick Warren, an opposer of gay marriage, for the inaugural invocation.

Hear his prayer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWWAnitUCw4
(video sucks but the audio works)

Read-a-long:
"O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN."
( http://www.hrcbackstory.org/2009/01/video-bishop-gene-robinson-gives-invocation-at-inaugural-concert.html )

Sign this petition asking President Obama (I love saying that) to keep his word and recognize GLBT rights!
http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/campaign/robinson
Signatures mean mucsle, and that will give us the strength we need to REALLY make this a Era of Change!

SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW: Way You Can Give!

Ok, ok, so you read my last S.O.A.N. post and you weren't diggin the whole "membership" scene. That's chill. But, now, you have no excuse.

Here are your options:

1. GIFT IT: Well, if you don't want a membership, but you know someone who does, give a Gift Membership to them. See, now everyones happy! https://secure.ga3.org/03/honorandgift1
2. DEAL IT: Make your business donate. Pay an annual fee and you can brag about how you support Equality and such to your clientele. There's nothing wrong with boasting!http://www.hrc.org/get_involved/hrc_federal_club.asp
3. EDUCATE IT: Do you identify yourself as a student? Get involved, join/start a club, and help them help everyone else! You'll get free stickers! https://secure.ga3.org/03/campusmember
4. REMEMBER IT: Donate in someone else's name, as a memorial. Celebrate their life, preserve their legacy, and continue the fight for equality in their name. https://secure.ga3.org/03/memorialgifts1
   
   and for my FAVORITE way to give...
   
5. SHOP FOR IT! They've got shirts, accessories, backpacks, napsacks, inaguration coins, staplers, etc! If you can't find it, you're not looking. If you still really can't find it,... maybe they don't have it. But check the site for what you want/need first! Then you can buy your stuff AND support the cause all at once, thus kindly and nonviolently subduing two birds in one attempt, so to speak.
   http://hrccornerstore.myimagefirst.com/store/
   

So... remind me.
Why are you still on blogger?

Yeah, thats what I thought.

Peace and hope,
Theo

SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW: Help HRC reach 2,009 in 2009 by JANUARY 20th!

If you're reading this blog, and you're not yet a member of the Human Rights Campaign, something's up.

Here: https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09

Its easy, simple, and for the greater good! When was the last time you did something for Human Rights? Today? Yesterday? A week ago? Never?
Well, whatever your response was, giving is a good thing! And you can never have too much of a good thing. Hence, sign up!

Here: https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09

Donate once a month. Its easy and you'll be helping out a good cause once every lunar cycle. They'll take credit or debit cards, and if you're nearing overdraft, they won't take your donation for that month. They only will recieve what you can give!

Come on! Go: https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09

You don't even have to give a lot. I donate eleven dollars a month, thats it. My reasoning is, I'm a broke college student with really patchy income, and yet, I used to pay $10 a month for a membership to a gym I rarely visited. So, I canceled that gym membership, bought myself a pair of shoes, and join HRC and I do not regret it one bit!

Seriously, go: https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09

Since August, I've donated 55 dollars. Could I cough up that much all at once? Not really. But it adds up over time, and within one year I will have donated 122 dollars, which goes towards towards programs like Camp Equality, teaching everyday nobodys how to be activists, and HRC lobbyists who fight anti-GLBT rights legistlation every day. These two examples I have witnessed first hand, so I know they're legit.

What are you waiting for? https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09

Speak out, Act now, Make the world a better place - One membership, one month, one donation at a time!

Peace, Hope, Change.
Theo.

PS: GO https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09
There, I have drilled this into your head.

SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW:: Police Brutality in Mass. = HATE CRIME

[I don't suspend disbelief when reading articles and news reports, so read this with a grain of salt, as the source isn't exactly an official news source or anything. BUT then again, with police brutality as bad as this, and as covered up as this - who would want to cover it and face all the legal pressure? The establishment has a lot of money and they can do a lot of damage. Keep that in mind when you decide for yourself what the facts are, and if you think they are face, HELP OUT and SPEAK OUT - Theo]


http://mysite.verizon.net/freebarryscott/provincetown.html


**"To show your disgust for this corruption and disregard for the Constitution, ask Attorney General Martha Coakley to investigate this crime perpetrated by the Provincetown Police. She needs to be held accountable for police and hate crimes!
She can be reached at (617) 727-2200 or via e-mail: Martha Coakley"

[Can we get a phonebank on that number ASAP? If you too, join me in my grievance, then have a pizza party with a few friends who would relate, bring your cells, and make some phone calls. Don't let them get away with this. Once again, HELP OUT and SPEAK OUT - Theo]