GLBT Statistics: The Majority doesn't hate the Minority, and they support them more then you'd think!

Remember that not too long ago, things were a lot different! This is a mark of improvement!

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Three-quarters of U.S. adults (75%) favor either marriage or domestic partnerships/civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Only about two in 10 (22%) say gay and lesbian couples should have no legal recognition. (Gay and lesbian couples are able to marry in two states, and comprehensive civil union or domestic partnership laws exist in only five others and the District of Columbia.)

U.S. adults are now about evenly divided on whether they support allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally marry (47% favor to 49% oppose).

Almost two-thirds (64%) of U.S. adults favor allowing openly gay military personnel to serve in the armed forces. (The current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law bans military service by openly gay personnel.)

About six in 10 (63%) U.S. adults favor expanding hate crime laws to cover gay and transgender people. (Hate crimes laws cover gay and transgender people in 11 states and the District of Columbia, and an additional – 20 states' laws cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.)

A slight majority of U.S. adults (51%) favor protecting gay and transgender people under existing laws that prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. (Existing non-discrimination laws cover gay and transgender people in only 12 states and the District of Columbia, and eight other states' laws cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.)

Nearly seven out of 10 U.S. adults (69%) oppose laws that would ban qualified gay and lesbian couples from adopting children. (In several states, gay and lesbian couples are banned from adopting.)
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Interesting things! Read the full story here at HRC: http://www.hrcbackstory.org/coming_out/

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]

How To Make The World A Better Place via **Get To Know Me First**

What a motto/mantra.

"Get to know me First."

Story of my life. A story of my life that I will eventually post more of on the blog.


BUT this isn't about me.
Well, not only about me.
Its about a lot of people like me.

How often are you judged on first glance? Judged by your race, your appearance, your gender, etc. Well, imagine being a part of the GLBT community, a permanent aspect of the human psyche that is also discriminated against, but not completely visable. Being discriminated against for being GLBT is like beginning a journey with a person you met as you get to know each other and create a friendship, then that person suddenly ditching you on the trail once they find out you're one of 'them'.

Get To Know Me First is an Post-Prop8 Anti-Prop8 campaign to teach the public the TRUTHS, and the in's about coming out and living in a gay family. They say, Don't judge a book by its cover, get to know these families and these stories before you make you choice.
Or, as I like to say, Hey, Don't knock it 'til you've tried it, buddy!
Just kidding.

Anyway, Check it out:
http://www.gettoknowmefirst.org/Overview.html
Watch the full vid. George Takei gets deep! He goes there, and I love him all the more for it. (You know, He's the guy from Star Trek. Wikipedia it, ok? Yeah he's on there!)

Oh hey they have a blog too:
http://www.gettoknowmefirst.org/Blog/Blog.html

Join the face book group too:
http://www.facebook.com/wall.php?id=1039530006&banter_id=1097168140&show_all#/group.php?gid=67255087624

Last link, I swear:
http://gettoknowusfirst.org/
Watch their five 30 second ads!

Sorry, I got trigger-happy about the linking. It happens.
But its good stuff! So... Help out!


Peace and Hope.
Theo.

Theo's Thoughts: How We Can Make The World A Better Place #1

How We Can Make The World A Better Place
Five Steps and a handful of Links every GLBT advocate needs to do, know, have, and see:

1. If your in, come out. Simple as that.
   Ok so that's not a link. If I could, I'd link your facebook/myspace/blogger page right here, right where you can edit your gender/interest/status/orientation etc. And if you're not comfortable with putting the label right there for the world to see right off the bat, then take a page out of my book and blog about it. If you don't want to express all of who you are, at least be honest about what you care about. There's no harm in caring about the fate of humanity and wanting to make the world a better place.
   
   
2. Join the HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN to stay up-to-date on... everything.
   <http://www.hrc.org/get_involved/volunteer.asp>
   I get most of my info from them, along with several other local sources. But if you're looking for a way you join millions of people around the world for this one cause, this is the place to go. You can know whats going on for equality rights around the country down to your home town. But if you're looking for news a little closer to New York...
   
   
3. EXTRA EXTRA! - Read the NY Blade, or any GLBT news, and be IN the KNOW:
   <http://www.nyblade.com/>
   A mix of local and national GLBT news. It's what I personally read. They've got pretty much everything. If they don't, there's always the more local:
   NY Q news <http://www.newyorkqnews.com/>
   Next <http://www.nextmagazine.net/> (another personal fav)
   Chelsea Connection <http://www.chelseaconnection.com/>
   As The Grove Turns <http://www.asthegroveturns.net/>
   
   And then theres the less local but still awesome sites such as:
   The Advocate <http://www.advocate.com/>
   OUT.com <http://www.out.com/>
   HIVplusMag <http://www.hivplusmag.com/>
   GayWired.com <http://www.gaywired.com/>
   Bilthe House Quarterly <http://www.blithe.com/>
   Whosoever (Gay Christian site) <http://www.whosoever.org/>
   
   Find what works for you, bookmark it, and visit it frequently. You can stay up to date on the progression of the cause AND get your daily bit of journalism with your morning coffee/espresso/chai latte/green tea/matte, etc.
   
   
4. Read HRC's "SPEAK OUT" handbook to Advocacy for ideas
   <http://nmmstream.net/hrc/downloads/meetup_docs/HRCActionGuide.pdf>
   How else can you help out? What can you do? What can you give? This guide has every basic, you'll see me reference it a lot. Visit this blog again in a few days and I'll give a basic rundown of what it says, along with some extra links on how you can follow its Action steps locally in the Big Apple.
   
   
5. LINKS TO MORE LINKS (Its Linkinsanity, I know!)
   
   <http://www.newyorkqnews.com/links.html>
   <http://www.gaycityusa.com/>
   <http://www.hrc.org/actioncenter>

Email me at Theoreticalm220@aol.com if you have any specific linkage requests, questions, or comments in general. And if you find anything interesting, you better message me with your findings! (This isn't Holes, so no you don't get a day off of work, but it will be much appreciated)