My Saltire Award + Youth Work History ~(YQSA,NKBL,LGBT)
I was awarded my Saltire Summit Award on the 10/9/2014 and decided I would explain about my award and all my past work over 6-7 years in youth work and my other awards and things like that .
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Same-Sex Marriage Radio Stunt Angers LGBT Groups
WATCH: 'Trouble in Paradise' Is a Drag for Isabel Rose
WATCH: 'Trouble in Paradise' Is a Drag for Isabel Rose
The songstress is joined by drag divas Hedda Lettuce, Paige Turner, and Ivy Winters in her classy and sassy new music video, ‘Trouble in Paradise.’
Jase Peeples
www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/music/2014/09/12/watch-trouble-paradise-drag-isabel-rose
The Integration of Church and State
The Integration of Church and State
Once upon a time, a bunch of guys got on a boat and left England and its crazy religious leadership and decided to start a new country, free of all that nonsense. When our founding fathers started drafting and amending our constitution, they included something to make sure that our government would make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, and also allow people to practice whatever religion they wanted. It was the First Amendment and it was a separation of church of state, allowing people to do what they wanted for themselves and their religion and allowed the government to exist separate of that. Time went on, the country changed, and the founding fathers’ words were completely forgotten and abandoned. What was left of their words were completely mutilated and reassembled to mean something completely different, and solely, the religious communities of America lived happily ever after under the misconception that the United States of America was founded as a religious nation. The end.
This is the story of religion in this country. It is true that once we were led by brilliant men who understood that religion and politics should be separate. Anyone that tells you that our founding fathers intended this country to be a Christian nation, frankly, has no idea what they are talking about. In fact, many of our founding fathers couldn’t get far enough away from Christianity. Thomas Jefferson said that Christianity was “the most perverted system that ever shone on man.” If Thomas Jefferson could only see us now.
States across the country are proving themselves to be truly religious states. In March of 2014, in what may be one of the most hypocritical religious moves I’ve ever heard of, the state of Tennessee took the side of the religious community and passed a bill legalizing the bullying of LGBT students in the name of “religious freedom.” Yes. You read correctly. The protection of one’s religious freedom now includes legal bullying. If you feel that a gay student is imposing upon your religious freedoms, you’re allowed to call them names, harass them, you name it. When I heard this, my head spun so dramatically, Linda Blair could have asked me for pointers. The part that breaks my heart is that these poor LGBT children, that already exist with minimal protection from these monsters in their schools, now have no protection from their state whatsoever. If, for example, a gay student happens to kill himself as a result of bullying, the parents of that student wouldn’t be able to prosecute those students that bullied their child because they can claim that they were protecting their religious freedoms and their actions are then protected under the law.
Does anyone else feel as if they’re living in the Twilight Zone?
To me, this law makes about as much sense as being able to break the nose of anyone that doesn’t believe in Santa Clause, but to Tennessee, it makes total sense. It also makes sense to those people that view homosexuality as the single greatest threat to God and His people. To some law makers, protecting religious freedom from people like the homosexuals is the single most important thing to do in political office. However, to some lawmakers in this country, the true definition of the First Amendment is unclear. To some, the First Amendment only allows people the freedom to practice their religion. Period. That part where there can be no laws respecting an establishment of religion? Well, we can just blur that part a little until people don’t remember that it’s there.
Let me start by saying that I have never been more proud to be an atheist. I’ve never been so relieved to live a life not only free from any type of god, but free from any ties to a religious institution. I can feel such a burden being lifted from my shoulders and feel such relief knowing that my children will be raised far, far away from that school of thought. What kind of world do we live in where as long as you name your god as the driving force behind your actions, any action is then acceptable? Are we terrorists?
To me, this law feels like Pandora’s Box. What will come next in Tennessee? Will it soon be legal to attack Muslim people? Jewish people? If LGBT students in Tennessee schools, purely by existing, threaten the religious freedom of other students, surely people actually practicing other religions must be doing the same thing as well, right? And if violence is ok for one, is it not ok for others? What is Tennessee saying by allowing not only this type of law, but this type of thought into the minds of the people of this state? I’ll tell you. They’re saying discrimination is ok. They are saying that violent acts against people who are different from you are totally fine. Why? Because the word freedom isn’t a word for a gay person to use in Tennessee or states like Tennessee. And what freedom is more important than religious freedom anyway, right? It’s the First Amendment.
If only more leaders would allow themselves to exist as religious people just for themselves and not for me. Yes. You believe that that the earth is only a few thousand years old. That’s fine — for you! You believe that and let me believe what science has taught me. I won’t make any laws saying that you have to believe what I believe and you don’t make any laws saying that I have to believe in what you believe in. Deal? But sadly, no. Everyone is a threat and somehow, there is always a war on Christmas.
It pains me to know that the driving force behind so many horrible things is religion. It pains me because I know that there are some truly wonderful people that have nothing to do with this kind of religion at all, but purely because they call themselves Christians, they will forever be associated with it. I wish religion didn’t have such a bad reputation. I know very well that even though I’m an atheist and don’t believe in the things religious people believe in, I still know and respect that religion is both incredibly important and incredibly positive to some people. I have been witness to religion inspiring great change in communities and deep love within people’s hearts. I know what power it has for good in the world. But sadly, it’s not all good. The Holy Wars? The Holocaust? September 11th? The last decade in the Middle East? I truly believe the worst thing that ever happened to religion was man, and, subsequently, the worst thing that ever happened to man was religion.
Another founding father, Benjamin Franklin, said that “lighthouses were more useful than churches,” and I believe that fully. All lighthouses exist to guide you out of the darkness and into safe waters. The same can not be said for all churches. And the churches that slither their way up our political ladders and into the offices of those men and women that seek to shape this country, who’s to say where they will guide us? It could be to safe waters or it could be straight into the rocks — they’ve been known to do both. A lighthouse doesn’t care what the ship is carrying, or who’s commanding it. A lighthouse is built strong and earns its reputation as a reliable, consistent, and true beacon that doesn’t discriminate. Don’t you wish all churches could have that reputation as well?
The dream I have for this country involves consistency, reliability, truth and the acceptance of all people — no matter what. I feel lucky to live a life free of religion because I feel that I am able to see what a government can be without it as well. That isn’t to say that religion shouldn’t exist at all. It should most certainly exist — in the hearts of honest and accepting people — far away from government.
Our founding fathers knew that you could consistently rely on a lighthouse and not a church, hence the reason that church was separated from the government. What does the integration of church and state do for us? Well, take a look at Tennessee. They’re heading straight for the rocks without a lighthouse in sight.
Tell Congressman Pittenger: We Will Not Tolerate Discrimination
Unlikely Opponents: Widower Fighting His Mother-In-Law On Behalf Of Her Dead Son
Unlikely Opponents: Widower Fighting His Mother-In-Law On Behalf Of Her Dead Son
When Dr. Paul Hard and his longtime partner David Fancher traveled to Massachusetts in May of 2011 to get married, they knew the union wouldn’t be recognized in their home state of Alabama. But tragedy struck three months later when Fancher was killed in a car accident, and Haggard learned all too quickly what the state’s stance on same-sex marriages feels like in times of crisis and loss.
The first blow came at the hospital, when a frenzied Hard was essentially turned away by staff. A receptionist told him he “wasn’t family,” and he had to fight tooth and nail for over an hour to get information about his husband. An orderly finally told him Fancher had died, but it took a break of protocol for him to receive basic human kindness.
But that wasn’t the end of nightmare.
Next Haggard heard from the funeral director, who informed him that David’s death certificate would have to say that he’d never been married, because according to Alabama law, he hadn’t.
The administrator of David’s estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit, but because his death certificate states he’s never been married, the suit fails to mention Paul’s loss. David’s mother would collect any awards granted.
Rather than accept the repeated messages from the Alabama legal system that his marriage to Fancher was illegitimate, Paul decided to sue the state.
“If I can spare one other person that kind of indignity and hurt, I would do it. If I can let people know how this law unjustly and cruelly affects people, I will do it. And ultimately I hope that these laws are overturned so that it now longer can give folks permission to treat Americans as second-class citizens.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center decided to take Paul’s case, and if they’re successful, Paul will be able to amend David’s death certificate and share in the proceeds of the wrongful death suit.
And though Paul is taking on some powerful opponents, he’s finding that David’s 75-year-old mother (right) is the one fighting against him the most.
Upon hearing about the lawsuit, she issued this statement:
“I am a devout Christian and I am deeply disturbed that the death of my son David is being used by Dr. Paul Hard to advance the cause of same-sex marriage. I did not agree with all of the decisions that my son made, but I loved him very much and we always had a good relationship. It is wrong for David’s death to be used in this manner.”
And sadly she didn’t stop there. She contacted a right-wing legal organization called The Foundation For Moral Law (gag), who released a statement of their own:
“We here at the Foundation agree with Ms. Fancher. Ms. Fancher and the majority of Alabamians, believe marriage is an institution established by God for the governance of the most basic unit of society, the family, and this institution is intended to be between one man and one woman. The Foundation will protect not only Ms. Fancher’s beliefs and interests, but also the right of Alabama citizens to preserve the traditional definition of marriage.”
The day we can look back and say The Foundation For “Moral Law” and people like them were on the wrong side of history can’t come soon enough.
Dan Tracer
Gay Comedian Billy Eichner Pays A Screaming Hilarious Visit To David Letterman: VIDEO
Gay Comedian Billy Eichner Pays A Screaming Hilarious Visit To David Letterman: VIDEO
“Let’s play a game and you scream at me and stuff.” Classic.
Openly gay and hilarious Billy on the Street comedian Billy Eichner made his first appearance on The Late Show and, after receiving the above instruction from David Letterman, proceeded to yell his way through an absurd game called “Celebrity Child or Kentucky Derby Winner?” Pilot Inspector? War Admiral? Blue Angel? Moxie Crime Fighter? It is shockingly impossible to win.
The results are laugh-out-loud funny, and it is clear that Eichner’s caustic brand of comedy has a new fan in Letterman. “Do you have any more games we can play? I just like being yelled at! It’s exciting,” says Letterman, and with Eichner in command it’s hard not to believe him.
Check it out, AFTER THE JUMP…
Joseph Ehrman-Dupre
Stand Up's MartinFoy On LGBT Rights
Stand Up's MartinFoy On LGBT Rights
Stand Up’s MartinFoy On LGBT Rights.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlqhE_0HEAQ&feature=youtube_gdata
ALINE RAMOS B-DAY (25/08/2014)
Numbers Crunch: Prostitution
Numbers Crunch: Prostitution
A few historic stats on the world’s oldest job. This one’s a freebie.
Alex Panisch
www.advocate.com/health/love-and-sex/2014/09/12/numbers-crunch-prostitution
