Showing posts with label equal rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label equal rights. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Hillary Clinton: Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.
I am so pleased to know the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (whom I supported in the primary 2008) not only participated in Pride Week 2010, but made this very public statement in supporting rights for ALL LGBT people.
She also encourages straight people to stand up for those who cannot stand for themselves. I'm so very pleased to be standing with her, and encourage you to listen to her speech. It matters to us all - in the name of equal rights. Toward the end of her speech, she speaks of the doing all we can to create safe spaces, and to look for those who need to be mentored. Let's follow Hillary's example, and be a part of history!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Evidence that Miss California/candidate for Miss USA is prejudiced and wrong on gay rights
First off - I watch TV. I like TV. I start my day with either the TODAY show, or turn the channel to CNN for some real news. When the TV is set for TODAY, I go about filling orders, having my breakfast, walking next door to see my dad, and so forth. At 10:00 the "4th hour" of TODAY comes on, and most days, I hate it. I only leave it on so that at 11:00 ELLEN comes on. I really can't stand Kathie Lee Gifford's mean-girl attitude, and I don't like how Hoda Kotb sucks up to her. I've told my kids how I hate the show, and they look at me with puzzled looks as they say, "Mom, why do you leave it on?" Good question! (I think one reason I am glad I've watched it is when I get to see the spoofs of it on SNL!)
Just now the two women began to speak about Perez Hilton and Miss USA competition and gay marriage. I was just getting to my personal e-mails (which is in a different room than my office) and my ears perked up. I paid attention and WATCHED as they played a clip of Perez (who was a judge for the contest) asking Miss America what she thought. Here is her response:
The transcript:
So many things need to be questioned in her response! In saying that people CHOOSE "one or the other" she's assuming that sexual attraction is a choice. In saying that people "choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage," she's supposing that everyone must be bi-sexual. (I don't really think she's saying that.) And just because it was "how she was raised," does NOT mean that our country should continue to disallow civil rights to the gay population.
So I listened to Kathy Lee proceed to say that Miss America spoke, "without being mean." I heard Hoda chime in as they both said "we all have our opinions." I know that Kathy Lee speaks as a fundamentalist Christian - not sure about Hoda. I'm continually puzzled that "they" think that as long as they aren't screaming, "God hates fags," that somehow it is "not being mean." It's just that they are making gay people "less than," straight ones, they are denying civil rights, and they do think that only their view is Christian.
I hear that all the time. I hear that those who have religion are "not being mean," and that they "don't hate." I heard it on Sunday in conversation, "Oh, I believe we should love them [gay people]," but I knew this person felt a righteous superiority over what she sees as a group of "others."
I realize that we should all "get along." I know that Jesus said, "by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." But how do we - how do I - bridge this gulf of difference? How do I break through the HUGE division of people who hold the opinions like Kathy Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb, Miss America, and the woman I conversed with on Sunday? These represent a huge tide of opinion.
As gay marriage is supported in more states LEGALLY, (four states so far) I believe there is change coming. I also want to say that it doesn't even matter to me if gay people want or don't want to get married - their lives are JUST LIKE anyone else, and are deserving of the same rights and privileges of life as any other person! Regarding change, I am one that changed, and I keep hoping to affect others. I keep thinking, "If I, as the former wife of a gay man, can change my belief system, and come to realize that there is no difference regardless of sexual attraction, won't others see that as well?"
Just now the two women began to speak about Perez Hilton and Miss USA competition and gay marriage. I was just getting to my personal e-mails (which is in a different room than my office) and my ears perked up. I paid attention and WATCHED as they played a clip of Perez (who was a judge for the contest) asking Miss America what she thought. Here is her response:
The transcript:
I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And...you know what? In my country...and in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there. But I think that is how I was raised, and that is how it should be between a man and a woman.
So many things need to be questioned in her response! In saying that people CHOOSE "one or the other" she's assuming that sexual attraction is a choice. In saying that people "choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage," she's supposing that everyone must be bi-sexual. (I don't really think she's saying that.) And just because it was "how she was raised," does NOT mean that our country should continue to disallow civil rights to the gay population.
So I listened to Kathy Lee proceed to say that Miss America spoke, "without being mean." I heard Hoda chime in as they both said "we all have our opinions." I know that Kathy Lee speaks as a fundamentalist Christian - not sure about Hoda. I'm continually puzzled that "they" think that as long as they aren't screaming, "God hates fags," that somehow it is "not being mean." It's just that they are making gay people "less than," straight ones, they are denying civil rights, and they do think that only their view is Christian.
I hear that all the time. I hear that those who have religion are "not being mean," and that they "don't hate." I heard it on Sunday in conversation, "Oh, I believe we should love them [gay people]," but I knew this person felt a righteous superiority over what she sees as a group of "others."
I realize that we should all "get along." I know that Jesus said, "by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." But how do we - how do I - bridge this gulf of difference? How do I break through the HUGE division of people who hold the opinions like Kathy Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb, Miss America, and the woman I conversed with on Sunday? These represent a huge tide of opinion.
As gay marriage is supported in more states LEGALLY, (four states so far) I believe there is change coming. I also want to say that it doesn't even matter to me if gay people want or don't want to get married - their lives are JUST LIKE anyone else, and are deserving of the same rights and privileges of life as any other person! Regarding change, I am one that changed, and I keep hoping to affect others. I keep thinking, "If I, as the former wife of a gay man, can change my belief system, and come to realize that there is no difference regardless of sexual attraction, won't others see that as well?"
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Equality Ride
Tonight, Jan. 17, there is going to be a program on the LOGO channel, called Equality U. This is a documentary about the Equality Ride, which has gone to Christian colleges and military schools, where students can be dismissed or expelled just for being gay. If you don't get the LOGO channel, which I don't, you can watch it streaming online, here: http://www.logoonline.com/video/?id=1602603&vid=332444.
In the spring of 2007 I was privileged to participate for the first time with Soulforce. To do so I drove about 5 hours to Grand Rapids, Michigan where I would be a small part of the Equality Ride. I'd read about it the year before, and sent a small donation to support Kara Speltz. Now the bus was going to be at two Christian colleges that were within driving distance of my home. I made the contacts with someone that I was coming - and I was stepping out for the first time to make myself part of the cause of equal rights.
Going up there I was not even sure what to expect. It was pretty vague what I'd be able to do, and I'd only read the accounts on the Soulforce website. I had no idea if other non-riders were going to be there, and I was still flying under the radar, not yet letting anyone know that I was going to stand up for gay rights!
In 2007 the Equality Ride was made up mostly of college-aged people, and here I was, mid-fifties! I was welcomed, but was definitely not very connected. The first evening, at Calvin College, I got to meet and talk with some of the Riders, and I knew their names and profiles from the Soulfoce website. I'd been getting postcard updates and could connect some of the names - and this was all good.
When I approached Cornerstone University, I was driving my own car. The plan was to have a candlelight vigil on a sidewalk along a busy road, and the Riders were let out on their bus. For me, I had to find a place to park. I tried using a parking lot close by, but was approached by Campus Security, with a flashlight, and asked, "Are you with this group, Soulforce?" When I answered, "yes," the officer told me, "You are not allowed to park here." I felt dismissed in a very small way, but knew that if I was there, on campus, as a parent, or even as a visitor, I'd never have been met by any kind of security, much less be told to move my car. I found a local side street and walked to the vigil site.
As we stood in a line of prayer, the candles were easily blown out by the wind. When they went out, we'd re-light them. Small points of light and fire in both the candles and the Riders. Still, in the dark, gradually some Cornerstone students began to call out, and in small groups they came, just to talk. I heard them talk about classes and about books they were reading. I heard them tell where they were from, and they began to talk about why they were there. Students had been "warned" that the bus was coming, and told not to talk with the Riders lest they be swayed to the "other side." But I also heard as some exchanged names and smiles. It was a start of communicating who each of them are - just people, and not from either "side."
The next morning I stood again in the same spot in broad daylight. It was windy, cold, and misting, and we wore emergency ponchos to try to stay warm. In the daylight mostly "official" Cornerstone faculty/administration/staff came out and it appeared that they were there to make sure that students did not approach the Equality Riders.
Throughout the morning we stood outside on the hill, praying, talking to whoever came forward, and encouraging everyone involved that God loves us all, no matter if one is gay or straight.
Eventually some of the Equality Riders stepped forward to present a literal "cornerstone." It was a stone they had made, with words of equality etched in. As the police handcuffed and arrested the young Equality Riders, I was never more proud to be standing with them.
For me, this was a start of something I had come to believe in. Personally, I have never felt the unkind words, the fear, the name-calling, or the shame for being gay. But I was PROUD to be there, in the wind, in the dark, and on the outside of the campus, alongside young people, gay and straight alike, asking for dialogue, asking to be included in Christian fellowship.
Now I am even more "out there," as I try to stand up for the rights of all and the inclusion of all. Be sure to watch this LOGO documentary, and share it with others.
In the spring of 2007 I was privileged to participate for the first time with Soulforce. To do so I drove about 5 hours to Grand Rapids, Michigan where I would be a small part of the Equality Ride. I'd read about it the year before, and sent a small donation to support Kara Speltz. Now the bus was going to be at two Christian colleges that were within driving distance of my home. I made the contacts with someone that I was coming - and I was stepping out for the first time to make myself part of the cause of equal rights.
Going up there I was not even sure what to expect. It was pretty vague what I'd be able to do, and I'd only read the accounts on the Soulforce website. I had no idea if other non-riders were going to be there, and I was still flying under the radar, not yet letting anyone know that I was going to stand up for gay rights!
In 2007 the Equality Ride was made up mostly of college-aged people, and here I was, mid-fifties! I was welcomed, but was definitely not very connected. The first evening, at Calvin College, I got to meet and talk with some of the Riders, and I knew their names and profiles from the Soulfoce website. I'd been getting postcard updates and could connect some of the names - and this was all good.
When I approached Cornerstone University, I was driving my own car. The plan was to have a candlelight vigil on a sidewalk along a busy road, and the Riders were let out on their bus. For me, I had to find a place to park. I tried using a parking lot close by, but was approached by Campus Security, with a flashlight, and asked, "Are you with this group, Soulforce?" When I answered, "yes," the officer told me, "You are not allowed to park here." I felt dismissed in a very small way, but knew that if I was there, on campus, as a parent, or even as a visitor, I'd never have been met by any kind of security, much less be told to move my car. I found a local side street and walked to the vigil site.
As we stood in a line of prayer, the candles were easily blown out by the wind. When they went out, we'd re-light them. Small points of light and fire in both the candles and the Riders. Still, in the dark, gradually some Cornerstone students began to call out, and in small groups they came, just to talk. I heard them talk about classes and about books they were reading. I heard them tell where they were from, and they began to talk about why they were there. Students had been "warned" that the bus was coming, and told not to talk with the Riders lest they be swayed to the "other side." But I also heard as some exchanged names and smiles. It was a start of communicating who each of them are - just people, and not from either "side."
The next morning I stood again in the same spot in broad daylight. It was windy, cold, and misting, and we wore emergency ponchos to try to stay warm. In the daylight mostly "official" Cornerstone faculty/administration/staff came out and it appeared that they were there to make sure that students did not approach the Equality Riders.
Throughout the morning we stood outside on the hill, praying, talking to whoever came forward, and encouraging everyone involved that God loves us all, no matter if one is gay or straight.
Eventually some of the Equality Riders stepped forward to present a literal "cornerstone." It was a stone they had made, with words of equality etched in. As the police handcuffed and arrested the young Equality Riders, I was never more proud to be standing with them.
For me, this was a start of something I had come to believe in. Personally, I have never felt the unkind words, the fear, the name-calling, or the shame for being gay. But I was PROUD to be there, in the wind, in the dark, and on the outside of the campus, alongside young people, gay and straight alike, asking for dialogue, asking to be included in Christian fellowship.
Now I am even more "out there," as I try to stand up for the rights of all and the inclusion of all. Be sure to watch this LOGO documentary, and share it with others.
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