I expect simple behaviours here. Friendship, and love. Any advice should be from the perspective of the person asking, not the person giving! We have had to make new membership moderated to combat the huge number of spammers who register
Location: U.S.A.
Registered: April 2007
Messages: 907
President Must Choose: 'Lose the Gays, or Lose the House'
By Sahil Kapur 7/13/10 6:00 AM The Washington Independent
The gay community caught a huge break last Thursday when a District Court judge in Boston ruled unconstitutional parts of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Gay rights activists who had been frustrated with the Obama administration’s halting approach to its promised repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” finally saw tangible progress, as Judge Joseph L. Tauro declared that same-sex couples are entitled to the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples.
“Congress undertook this classification for the one purpose that lies entirely outside of legislative bounds, to disadvantage a group of which it disapproves,” Tauro argued. “And such a classification the Constitution clearly will not permit.” Gay rights groups like the Human Rights Campaign hailed the decision as an important step toward equality, while social-conservative interests like the Family Research Council slammed it as an affront to traditional values.
But the Obama administration could be setting up same-sex marriage advocates for another disappointment as it weighs an appeal of Tauro’s ruling. And both options for the administration come with risks: Challenging the ruling would be perceived as a major snub by the gay community, whereas standing behind it would give Republicans a powerful political weapon to use against Democrats in the November elections.
So, I guess this is where the rubber meets the road. Will Obama do what's expedient for his party or will he back up his promises to the gay community?
Youth crisis hot-line 866-488-7386, 24 hr (U.S.A.)
There are people who want to help you cope with being you.
Location: Canada
Registered: December 2003
Messages: 869
... and he deserves the support of all of us, regardless of where "we" reside.
Cory Booker is the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, and has recently been quoted in the media as having said:
“I find it very strange that some people have just enough religion to make their hate but not enough religion to make them love one another.”
Continuing, he added, “To be able to choose someone as your life partner and to be able to proclaim that to the world…is such an intimate personal issue but also should be a fundamental right in the United States of America.”
As happenstance would have it, as Mayor, Cory Booker has the power to perform legal marriages, but he said, “Until I can marry people equally, I don’t think I should be doing it all.”
Good one, Cory!
My hat's off to Cory, as well should be all of our hats (even if we don't wear one); and, whilst I, like most, can't usually abide by the "8-second Sound-bite", I truly believe that I may have finally heard one uttered that actually says something meaningful.
Although I couldn't find an e-Mail for him, I did succeed in locating these:
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
I'm watching a UK TV documentary right now talking to under and over age of consent boys and girls about their sex lives.
I'm not advocating that the boys who have had sex with sub 16 year old girls should be prosecuted, nor that the kids under 16 who have had sex with under 16 year olds should be prosecuted.
But how can this all be the subject of a TV documentary that identifies these kids without putting them at risk of prosecution?
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
Our apologies. We're uploading a huge new project designed to help with advertising revenue to keep the server free, perhaps to upgrade it. Unfortunately that is producing a heavy load. Add to that what was almost a denial of service attack by Yahoo yesterday where it chose to ignore the sitemaps we submit and, instead, spidered pretty much the entire server (sitemaps are designed to avoid that), and had to be sent home with its tail between its legs, and you see why we're mumbling along instead of running fast.
Normal service, Yahoo willing, will be resumed in a couple of days.
From the land of unpronounceable names and ashy volcanoes comes good news. I wish the couple a long and happy marriage. I hope this brings them a bunch of gay tourists since I hear the hot springs there are delightful.
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
Location: US/Canada
Registered: September 2009
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By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) June 22 | A Service of inclusion and celebration for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people of all faiths at Manchester Cathedral will be held at 7.30 pm this Wednesday 23rd June. This is the second time that Manchester Cathedral has hosted a special LGBT service and is the result of the continuing partnership between The Lesbian & Gay Foundation, The Bishop of Manchester - The Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch and his Advisory Group on Sexuality.
In June 2008 the Cathedral played host to a special service aimed at sending out positive messages of an inclusive church that celebrates the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people. At the last service The Bishop of Manchester brought attention to the fact that more needed to be done to challenge homophobia, Bishop Nigel says about the 2010 event:
"We believe that this service will further our work together for the benefit of all in our communities to promote tolerance, understanding and break down the barriers which may still exist between us."
Chief Executive of The Lesbian & Gay Foundation Paul Martin says:
“Manchester has such a rich LGBT heritage that has been serving the community for many decades, and it is welcome and appropriate that we can not only welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people to this important event at Manchester Cathedral but that we celebrate their achievements.”
During the service which will also be attended by the Dean of Manchester, The very Reverend Rogers Govender and the Cathedral Choir. There will be an opportunity for those who wish to light candles in prayer, in remembrance or thanksgiving.
Location: US/Canada
Registered: September 2009
Messages: 733
By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) June 16 | The Seattle, Washington Police Department already under fire for using excessive force and having strained relations due to what, some in the LGBT community see as blatant homophobia, is today under fire in the African American community for a video posted online Monday that has now gone viral.
According to Britain's SKY News journalist Pete Norman in an online article published earlier today, Police officials in Seattle have launched an investigation into the conduct of an officer after he was filmed punching a black teenaged girl in the face.
Officials said they have a "number of concerns" over the officer's actions, which was captured on several mobile phone cameras and broadcast on Komonews.com.
"The issue we have to investigate is whether the force he used is reasonable given the combative resistance he was facing," Assistant Seattle Police Chief Nick Metz said.
"That appears to be an overreaction to what appears to be a non-violent jaywalking situation," said James Kelly, president and CEO of the Urban League of Seattle.
"Unfortunately this seems to become too far and too often of the typical police response.
"The provocation of the 17-year-old may have presented a confrontation situation but the violence in the form of a full-blown fist to the face was wrong."
Norman writes:
"According to a police statement, an officer stopped a teenage male after he walked across a street instead of using a footbridge, and while talking to him four girls jaywalked at the same spot.
Walsh, 39, alleged the group was "verbally antagonistic" and events escalated when the 19-year-old girl, Marilyn Levias, tried to walk away."
YouTube footage of Monday's incident has already attracted over 264,000 views with more than 6,600 comments being posted about the event.
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BLANTYRE (AFP) – The gay couple in Malawi, who were spared a 14-year prison sentence by a presidential pardon, said Tuesday they have split nearly six months after the wedding that led to their sodomy convictions.
"I am no longer in love with Tiwonge Chimbalanga. I am in love with a woman called Dorothy Gulo," Monjeza told AFP. "We are planning something for the future with Dorothy."
Chimbalanga said Monjeza has been "pressurised by his uncle" and relatives to leave him and instead seek a woman as a lover.
His uncle, Khuliwa Dennis Monjeza, said: "I will make sure that Chimbalanga does not seek a reunion with Monjeza."
Location: USA
Registered: April 2009
Messages: 429
I would like to be off topic for a moment and give a gentle nod to a great man who died this past week in Los Angeles. John Wooden was basketball coach at UCLA for about 46 years and won 12 NCAA basketball championships. He was by far the best sports coach ever. His philosophy was very old fashion, part of his Indiana upbringing. He coached at UCLA during turbulent times of Vietnam and the protests. His players included Kareem Ablul Jabbar and Bill Walton, two of the best players ever. He was deeply devoted to his wife Nell who died in 1985. He wrote love letters to her often after her death and kept them on his dresser as a way of communicating with her.
So what? Well, he was a one of a kind man. Private and yet well known. I got to meet him twice, saw most of his championship games and admired him as a great man. He never directly coached me in sports but his coaching lessons have made me a better person.
Location: US/Canada
Registered: September 2009
Messages: 733
By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) June 4 | Before I begin I want to wish all of you here at timmy's 'Other' home a very Happy Pride month.
Now, having said that, after considerable soul searching and after a massive blow-out which ironically was kept off-board & out of public view, I have removed myself & my staff [ BL Freelance News Wire Services LLC ] from another Gay Literary site quite frankly owing to rather distasteful internalised homophobic reactions and petty amateurish and childish behaviours displayed. It was quite fetching... if you are into that sort of loutish nonsense which I am not.
But it got me thinking about a huge problem that still runs rampart in the Gay community especially amongst those who are of say age 45 and up. Acceptance of who we are and why. Since I've learned a quite valuable lesson from all this, and, having received some heartfelt and very wise counseling from the wise gentleman in regard to my faith or lack thereof, I'm going to share these 2 videos with you folks. I hope, that maybe, it may help at least a couple of you.
Shalom wise one and Cheers eh! timmy? As always, Thanks. And to the rest of you, celebrate Pride with your heads held high.
Warmest regards,
Brody
Vid One:
Vid Two:
[Updated on: Sun, 06 June 2010 07:10] by Moderator
Location: US/Canada
Registered: September 2009
Messages: 733
By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) May 26 | Mariana van Zeller, Peabody-Award-winning correspondent for Current TV’s no-limits documentary series, “Vanguard," premieres her documentary 'Missionaries of Hate,' tonight at 10PM Eastern/9PM Central on Current TV.
In an interview on Monday, van Zellar said;
"As California marked its inaugural Harvey Milk Day this past weekend, celebrating the gay rights icon, I couldn’t help but remember an interview I recently conducted in Uganda, the east African nation that is home to proposed legislation that would make being gay a crime punishable by life in prison or, in some cases, death.
“I was shocked the other day when I was watching this American movie ‘Milk,’” said Sylvia Tamale, dean of law at Makerere University in Uganda, referring to Gus Van Sant’s 2008 biopic. “I was shocked to see that the arguments put forward by the proponents of anti-homosexuality sentiments were exactly the same, almost word for word. These arguments are not new at all that Ugandans are using to justify the anti-homosexuality bill.”
I met with Tamale while filming the documentary “Missionaries of Hate” for the new season of Current TV’s Vanguard. While I was in Uganda, the campaign to push through the controversial anti-gay bill was reaching a fever pitch, with backers of the legislation drumming up support by holding mass rallies and marches condemning homosexuality.
Just as it was during the life and times of Harvey Milk, the movement against homosexuality in Uganda is being led by a group of conservative Christian evangelicals. And the arguments they’re using are an echo of Anita Bryant and the Save Our Children campaign.
"I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children,” Bryant said in 1977. “Therefore, they must recruit our children.”
More than 30 years later, our cameras were rolling as Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa brought a young woman to a press conference to testify about how she had been allegedly recruited to be a lesbian.
“American money...is being used to seduce our children into homosexuality,” Ssempa said. “This bill is in response and desire to protect our children.”
The connection, while decades apart, is perhaps not so surprising if you believe those who trace the current anti-gay campaign in Uganda back to March 2009. That’s when three American evangelicals were invited to speak at a conference in the country about how Africans can protect themselves from homosexuality. Being gay in Uganda was never easy. But according to many local gay and human rights advocates, it was that conference where the depiction of homosexuality as predatory by nature gained currency in Uganda.
From there, local politicians and pastors—many with long-standing relationships with American Christian groups—took this notion and ran with it. Ssempa, as you’ll see in the documentary, went so far as showing hardcore gay porn in church in order to demonstrate the “sickness” of homosexuality.
It’s been more than three decades since Harvey Milk’s assassination, but the battle he led continues and is now open on new fronts.
“I believe that the Christian fundamentalists in the US have found fertile ground in Africa to fight their battles,” Tamale told us. “Obviously they are not making a lot of the headway in the U.S., and they can very easily find allies here to fight their wars on the continent.”
Even after Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill drew the ire of international human rights organizations and governments around the world, another American evangelical, Lou Engle, traveled to Uganda to hold a rally with many of the leaders of Uganda’s anti-gay crusade.
Despite their best efforts, the anti-gay bill is still wavering in Ugandan parliament. Few now believe it will pass in its current form. But the public campaign to push it through created one of the most hostile environments for gays in the world today.
Yet even in this extremely charged climate, we managed to find gay men and women, activists and ordinary citizens who were willing to speak openly about their struggle.
“Admitting I’m gay is no longer a shame to me,” explained Long Jones, a gay man we met in Kamapala who had already been jailed, beaten and blackmailed because of his sexual orientation. “I’m not afraid because this is the opportunity that most people are getting to know that we really exist.”
Mariana van Zellar began her journalism career in her native Portugal, where she was a producer and correspondent for SIC Televisão, the nation's largest private news channel. In 2001, Mariana moved to New York to attend Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. A month into the program, she was reporting live back to Europe on the events of 9/11. Mariana's master's thesis on children asylum seekers in the US won a number of awards and earned her a job at Insight News Television, an award-winning documentary production company in London. In 2003, Mariana went undercover to report on Syrian mujahideen crossing into Iraq to fight against the US invasion.
She has since camped out in the Amazon jungle to cover the battle between Brazil's Indians and miners over South America's largest diamond mine, rode the Death Train to report on the desperate risks Central American migrants take to reach the US and snuck into the swamps of Nigeria to meet with militants fighting for control of the country's oil wealth.
Location: U.S.
Registered: August 2003
Messages: 565
Obama admin. backs Vatican’s claim of immunity to sexual abuse lawsuits
By Agence France-Presse
The Obama administration in a brief to the Supreme Court has backed the Vatican's claim of immunity from lawsuits arising from cases of sexual abuse by priests in the United States.
The Supreme Court is considering an appeal by the Vatican of an appellate court ruling that lifted its immunity in the case of an alleged pedophile priest from Oregon.
In a filing on Friday, the solicitor general's office argued that the Ninth Circuit court of appeals erred in allowing the lawsuit brought by a man who claims he was sexually abused in the 1960s by the Oregon priest.
The unnamed plaintiff, who cited the Holy See and several other parties as defendants, argued the Vatican should be held responsible for transferring the priest to Oregon and letting him serve there despite previous accusations he had abused children in Chicago and in Ireland.
Location: USA
Registered: November 2008
Messages: 973
I read that a study in Sweeden determined that gay male couples are 50% more likely to divorce than hetero couples, but that female gay couples are 167% more likely to divorce than hetero couples.
Is this all damned lies and statistics, or can you think of any credible reason why this might be so. I mean the disparity with the lesbian couples.
Max
[Updated on: Fri, 21 May 2010 01:38]
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
Ps 133:1 NASB
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
Location: Canada
Registered: March 2010
Messages: 188
If in accordance with the Church, the morning-after pill is already regarded as an abortion:
Can masturbation be seen as premeditated homicide?
Moreover, does fellatio become cannibalism?
In the same way, should we regard coitus interruptus as parental abandonment?
What can one say on the condom? Would this be a murder by asphyxiation?
Anal sex?... wont even GO there.
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
Location: US/Canada
Registered: September 2009
Messages: 733
By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) May 6 | Antony Grey, who passed away a week ago on Friday, April 30th, was a leading British LGBT equality rights activist. He lived with his partner, Eric Thompson, for 50 years and had been together since before homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK in 1967, which was thanks in part to Grey's action. He was credited by Lord Arthur Gore, 8th Earl of Arran, to have “done more than any single man to bring this social problem to the notice of the public”. Arran was the sponsor in the House of Lords of the 1967 private member's bill which decriminalised homosexuality between two consenting adult males.
In a column published yesterday by the pinknews.co.uk, leading LGBT activist Peter Tatchell wrote in tribute:
"As secretary of the Homosexual Law Reform Society in the 1960s, he was one of the founding fathers of the gay law reform struggle in Britain. Although a true pioneer, he sadly remains a largely unsung hero of the movement for LGBT equality.
More than 20 years before Stonewall and OutRage!, he was spearheading the campaign to end the criminalisation of homosexuality, which remained totally illegal and punishable by life imprisonment until 1967."
The obituary written by pinknews editor in chief Jessica Geen Tuesday details Arran's rich life and significant contributions to equality rights for all LGBT folk in the UK:
Mr Grey, born Anthony Edgar Gartside Wright, had been ill for several years with leukaemia and died at King Edward VII Hospital in London on Friday April 30th. He is regarded as Britain's first gay rights activist and was instrumental in forcing the government to push through the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which paved the way for modern law reform.
He began campaigning for gay equality in 1958, when he joined the Homosexual Law Reform Society, which campaigned to change laws which criminalised gay men. He later became secretary of the Albany Trust, a charity set up to help gay men who had developed psychological problems after being persecuted.
Mr Grey also wrote several books, such as Quest for Justice: Towards Homosexual Emancipation, Speaking of Sex and Speaking Out: Sex, Law, Politics and Society.
Later in life, he was involved in counselling and training work and joined the executive committee of the British Association for Counselling.
Mr Grey had lived with his partner Eric Thompson for 50 years, even at a time when it was considered dangerous for gay couples to share a house.
Mr Thompson described his death as the "end of an era" and recalled how things had changed from the early 1960s.
He said: "One night, when we were living in Hampstead, there was an almighty crash, as though the chimney had fallen down. A coach had crashed into several houses. But the first thing we did was not to call the police – it was to make up a spare bed, because you knew that when the police came round they would have been far more interested in our sleeping arrangements than the crash." Mr Thompson added: "I don't think the younger generation realises how things were in those days."
Fellow gay rights campaigner Andrew Lumsden, who had known Mr Grey since the age of nine, said: "I was one of his oldest friends and he was an extraordinarily brave man.
"His work paved the way for the Gay Liberation Front, which is 40 this year, OutRage!, Stonewall and the Campaign for Homosexual Equality."
Alan Horsfall, the life president of Campaign for Homosexual Equality, said:
"He'll be much missed, he did a lot of valuable work. He kept things going when it looked like the Wolfenden report might disappear into the dustbin of history. He was a one-man reform movement prior to 1967. He kept the flag flying almost single-handedly."
Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill also paid tribute to Mr Grey:
"Everyone at Stonewall is terribly saddened to hear of Antony's death. He was a real hero for gay equality and was genuinely very brave but he was also someone who never sought publicity for his own sake. And all of Britain's 3.6 million lesbians and gay men owe him a huge debt of gratitude."
Before he died, Mr Grey requested that no funeral or memorial be held for him.
Tatchell continued in his column:
While MPs like Leo Abse got the publicity and credit for decriminalisation, it was Antony's astute, meticulous behind-the-scenes lobbying that was the key to securing the passage of the ground-breaking 1967 Sexual offences Act. His crucial role was never properly acknowledged or recognised.
Antony was immensely frustrated by the way the MPs and Lords sponsoring the decriminalisation Bill watered down his draft legislation, resulting in the passage of a liberalisation law that was not nearly as liberal and progressive as he had wanted and proposed. Undeterred, he continued lobbying for further gay law reform for a further two decades, mostly through the Homosexual Law Reform Society and its successor, the Sexual Law Reform Society.
When he first attended Gay Liberation Front meetings in the early 1970s he was often treated quite shabbily. I was involved in GLF and remember some radical firebrands unfairly branding him as an "Uncle Tom". In fact, he was much more radical than his critics claimed. He was a supportive of GLF and later of OutRage!
I don't believe in the honours system but it is absolutely outrageous and despicable that he was never offered even an OBE, let alone the knighthood that his work for homosexual equality merited. Successive Labour and Conservative governments deserve severe condemnation for failing to honour this truly great social reformer.
I salute Antony Grey and his trail-blazing contribution to LGBT equality and human rights. We all walk in his shadow.
Location: US/Canada
Registered: September 2009
Messages: 733
WARNING THE FOLLOWING SATIRICAL MUSICAL CARTOON & ACCOMPANYING LYRICS COULD BE DEEMED HIGHLY OFFENSIVE. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. (IN OTHERS WORDS FOLKS-THIS IS NOT PG-13 NOR ANYWHERE NEAR IT)
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
Location: Canada
Registered: March 2010
Messages: 188
I am totally impressed that same-sex unions are being recognised more by society as a whole these days and being included in censuses (spelling?) such as this one http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/canada/2010/04/20/13649891.html . Maybe there is hope for the future
Location: US/Canada
Registered: September 2009
Messages: 733
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Brody's Scribbles... Critically Acclaimed Independent film Director Peter Bratt Releases 2009 Sundance Film Critic's Choice
By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Apr 10 | Aside from being Emmy award winner Benjamin Bratt's brother, Peter Bratt is a growing force as a Director & film maker in his own right. In his critically acclaimed independent first feature film Follow Me Home (1996), he dared to explore race and identity from the multiple and intersecting perspectives of Chicanos, African Americans, and Native Americans.
When no major studio would distribute this film, Henri Norris, an African American woman who was an attorney then engaged in malpractice litigation, created New Millennia Films so that Bratt's film and message could reach a significant audience.
Bratt was honored for his artistic genius with a 2000 Rockefeller Foundation Film/Video/Multimedia Fellowship, further demonstrating that he is poised to become one of the twenty first century's major filmmakers.
'La Mission,' a 2009 Sundance Film Festival Critic's Choice winner released to audiences nationwide today, explores the world of growing up in the Mission district of San Francisco.
Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt) has always had to be tough to survive. Hes a powerful man respected throughout the Mission barrio for his masculinity and his strength, as well as for his hobby building beautiful lowrider cars. At the same time hes also a man feared for his street-tough ways and violent temper.
A reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic, Che has worked hard to redeem his life and do right by his pride and joy: his only son, Jes, whom he has raised on his own after the death of his wife. Ches path to redemption is tested, however, when he discovers Jes is Gay. In a rage, Che violently beats Jes, disowning him. He loses his son and loses himself in the process. Isolated and alone, Che comes to realize that his patriarchal pride is meaningless to him, and to maintain his idea of masculinity, hes sacrificed the one thing that he cherishes most the love of his son. To survive his neighborhood, Che has always lived with his fists. To survive as a complete man, hell have to embrace a side of himself hes never shown.
Los Angeles Times film critic Reed Johnson writes:
Peter and Benjamin Bratt are on a mission-'La Mission' fulfills their long-time dream of making a film about San Francisco's Mission District, where they grew up.
"We always wanted to tell a story in our backyard, in our hometown," says Peter, who still lives in San Francisco. "When you go see a Spike Lee film, 'Do the Right Thing,' now we can say, 'Brooklyn,' or 'Queens,' or 'the Bronx,' [and] in South America or France, people know where those neighborhoods are. And we've always said, you know, La Misión is as vibrant creatively, culturally as Harlem."
But the right project didn't come along until Peter, a director and screenwriter, came up with the idea for "La Mission," starring his younger brother Benjamin, known for his award-winning role as Det. Rey Curtis on NBC's "Law & Order" as well as "Piñero," "Traffic" and other films.
Peter says that one of the film's central themes;
"The uneasiness (if not outright hostility) of a Chicano male toward his son's homosexuality, is "a complex thing" and "something that as a sociologist you would have a field day writing your dissertation on."
With the release of "La Mission," that new story can be added to the cultural annals of the city of Dirty Harry and Harvey Milk, and now of Che and Jes Rivera, and of the brothers Bratt.
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
I'm not going to go into the story in detail here. In Europe we are strong on Human Rights. In the UK we have The Equality Act 2006 which outlaws discrimination, criminalises it.
Location: US/Canada
Registered: September 2009
Messages: 733
By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Mar 20 | In the papal letter to the Irish Catholic Churches released today by the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI has apologised to victims, called on abuser priests to tell the truth, and charged bishops to cooperate with civil authorities. Critics of the Pope's reaction to the mounting crisis in the church have charged that the papal letter, which carries no punitive provisions, fails to address the fact that abuse is a global and structural problem for the church. "It would be good if there would be a mea culpa from him for all victims around the globe," said Christian Weisner spokesman for the prominent German Catholic activist group, We Are Church.
In the section of the letter addressed to the Bishops & Church hierarchy Benedict wrote:
"I must also express my conviction that, in order to recover from this grievous wound, the Church in Ireland must first acknowledge before the Lord and before others the serious sins committed against defenceless children. Such an acknowledgement, accompanied by sincere sorrow for the damage caused to these victims and their families, must lead to a concerted effort to ensure the protection of children from similar crimes in the future."
To the victims of abuse and their families the Pope stated:
"You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I know that nothing can undo the wrong you have endured. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated. Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen. Those of you who were abused in residential institutions must have felt that there was no escape from your sufferings. It is understandable that you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the Church. In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel. At the same time, I ask you not to lose hope. It is in the communion of the Church that we encounter the person of Jesus Christ, who was Himself a victim of injustice and sin. Like you, He still bears the wounds of His own unjust suffering. He understands the depths of your pain and its enduring effect upon your lives and your relationships, including your relationship with the Church."
Benedict then addressed the priests and others who have abused the children:
"You betrayed the trust that was placed in you by innocent young people and their parents, and you must answer for it before Almighty God and before properly constituted tribunals. You have forfeited the esteem of the people of Ireland and brought shame and dishonour upon your confreres. Those of you who are priests violated the sanctity of the sacrament of Holy Orders in which Christ makes Himself present in us and in our actions. Together with the immense harm done to victims, great damage has been done to the Church and to the public perception of the priesthood and religious life.
I urge you to examine your conscience, take responsibility for the sins you have committed, and humbly express your sorrow. Sincere repentance opens the door to God's forgiveness and the grace of true amendment.
By offering prayers and penances for those you have wronged, you should seek to atone personally for your actions. Christ's redeeming sacrifice has the power to forgive even the gravest of sins, and to bring forth good from even the most terrible evil. At the same time, God's justice summons us to give an account of our actions and to conceal nothing. Openly acknowledge your guilt, submit yourselves to the demands of justice, but do not despair of God's mercy."
The letter was met with disappointment by survivors of abuse in Ireland. Maeve Lewis, executive director of the Irish victims group One in Four reacted to the papal missive:
"Victims were hoping for an acknowledgement of the scurrilous ways in which they have been treated as they attempted to bring their experiences of abuse to the attention of the church authorities. Pope Benedict has passed up a glorious opportunity to address the core issue in the clerical sexual abuse scandal: the deliberate policy of the Catholic Church at the highest levels to protect sex offenders, thereby endangering children. We feel the letter falls far short of addressing the concerns of the victims."
and then added;
"In relation to the Irish bishops, the pope acknowledges their failings, but situates them in failures to adhere to cannon law," the group said. "There is no appreciation that the law of the land supersedes cannon law, and that the Catholic bishops, like any other citizens, are obliged to abide by Irish law. If the Church cannot acknowledge this fundamental truth, it is still in denial.”
Benedict's letter addressed only the scandal in Ireland, not the other cases of abuse which have recently come to light in other countries across Europe, including in the pope's native Germany. When asked today why the German-born pope didn't directly address the German scandal or take the opportunity of the letter to make a more sweeping commentary on the now-global dimensions of the scandal, Vatican spokesperson, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, acknowledged the other cases but said the Irish scandal was unique in its scope. But he said that obviously issues in the letter could be read to apply to other countries and individuals.
"You can't talk about the entire world every time," he said. "It risks becoming banal."
Television Network Al Jazeera's correspondent in Dublin, Laurence Lee, said victims of abuse will see the letter as a massive let down.
"The concrete initiatives that the pope suggested should be carried out involved things like Friday penances, fasting, works of mercy and reading the scriptures; ... clearly what the victims of abuse and pressure groups ... want are concrete measures which are much more to do with resignations or even criminal charges against bishops and priests. It was more a re-statement of the importance of the laws of the church which historically have been seen by the church as more important than an overriding criminal law."
While Benedict's letter to Ireland is striking in both tone and substance, critics have also pointed to what it does not contain. For example, there is no call for bishops who reassigned abuser-priests to resign. Although the pope calls bishops to renew their "accountability before God," he offers no new mechanisms or policies to enforce that accountability.
Benedict also does not allude to suggestions in some quarters that the sex abuse crisis ought to occasion a re-examination of the discipline of priestly celibacy in the Catholic church. One week ago, Benedict XVI reaffirmed the value of celibacy, calling it "the sign of full devotion, the entire commitment to the Lord and to the Lord's business, an expression of giving oneself to God and to others."
A prominent Catholic believer who wished to remain anonymous in an interview today said;
"So, Benedict, what are YOU going to DO! One only need imagine Jesus going into the temple and seeing the money-changers; JESUS didn't ask for prayers for those evil-doers, HE DID something! He ELIMINATED the problem. Benedict, for whatever reason, you still don't understand that the structure of the church is what enabled these crimes to occur and flourish. YOU need to begin a restructuring--------similar to what JESUS did with the tables and chairs of the money-changers! YOU are the one responsible to begin the restructuring and dismantling of the hierarchical power structure of the church; return the church to the lay people, the People Of God, the same ones that Jesus gave his church to. If you are unable to do this because of your age or alliances with other hierarchical cliques, then you need to do the honorable thing and step down."
Location: US/Canada
Registered: September 2009
Messages: 733
By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Mar 18 | In the first awards ceremony of its kind, the Stonewall Youth Awards took place in London last night, according to Stonewall's Communications Director, Gary Nunn. The new event celebrates the impact Stonewall’s Youth Volunteers are having on combating homophobic bullying in Britain’s schools.
Fifty people attended the event at Pearson publishers. Sixteen year old Danny Fryer from Birmingham was named Stonewall Young Campaigner of the Year. Danny’s campaign focused on a peer mentoring programme for lesbian, gay and bisexual pupils attending schools and colleges to help them overcome underachievement as a result of homophobic bullying.
Collecting his award, Danny said:
‘I’m genuinely shocked but very honoured to win this award. Working with Stonewall is my main passion – and seeing the effects of my volunteering on lesbian, gay and bisexual young people is the greatest benefit. It’s fantastic to inspire young people to tackle homophobia and to support them to stop being a victim of it."
Fifteen other Stonewall Youth Volunteers from across the country who run their own original campaigns in their local schools, colleges or local communities were also celebrated at the ceremony.
The V-funded Stonewall Youth Volunteering Programme was launched in 2008 and since then has trained 150 young people to tackle homophobic bullying in their own local communities. This weekend, Stonewall will hold its next youth training camp, where 30 young people aged 16 - 21 will learn how to run their own original and high-impact campaigns to tackle homophobia.
Tim Williams, HR Director for Pearson Education, presents Danny Fryer with the Campaigner of the Year award.
Photo Courtesy of Stonewall UK
Location: United States
Registered: April 2008
Messages: 195
How much money would you be willing to pay to get a picture and dinner with the faces of the "We Hate Government" group trying to take control of the United States Congress? Most people would not be able to afford a picture and dinner at the steep price of $10,000 but somehow Sarah Palin and Michele Bachman are the voice of average Americans whose lives are being ruined by the big bad GOVERNMENT. Why can't the Republicans see that it is preciesly this type of entitled radical mentality that just happens to be the problem? They are bringing to life every single conspicary theory that can possibly exists.
We have wasted enough precious time, money and talent trying to persecute and pretend. It’s time to stop burying our heads in the sand and denying reality for the sake of politics. It’s time to deal with this straight on and be done with it. It’s time to get on with more important business. Barry Goldwater
He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake since for him a spinal cord would suffice. Albert Einstein
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
I have asked Brody to resume posting LGBT oriented, sometimes controversial, always interesting articles, often from his blog, provided no copyright infringement is present.
When he joined us there were some voices raised in dissent over the volume of the posts.
I think the issue was not the volume, but a mixture of proportion and the fact that we are unused to campaigning here. Each of these has a solution.
Proportion: Post other interesting stuff too.
Campaigning: Get over it. And campaign. We only have the rights we have today because others campaigned in the past. So campaign today, in the present.
Location: USA
Registered: November 2008
Messages: 973
Anybody here ever read a good description of great hair in a story? There's lots of kinds of hair. I'm limiting myself to the hair on top of the head here.
I mean a guy can lack in muscles or looks, but give me good hair and he can compete with the best of them.
I have yet to read a convincing description of beautiful male hair in a story. Here's what needs to be mentioned.
Length-
Personally, I like a medium length on a man. Too short and I'm too turned off to pay attention to muscle or general looks. Lojng is OK a so long as it is taken care of. By that, I mean I don't like straight curtain hangy type long hair. However, if the wearer of long hair puts some work into the other areas of hair maintenance body sheen movement, covered below, then long hair can be very beautiful indeed! But medium is really my favorite.
Sheen-
I like hair that shines. But it musn't be greasy or oily. It needs to be a natural looking shine like you get with a good conditioner. If one keeps his hair clean and conditions or just has the type of hair that handles light well, well,that's a big plus. Part of the sheen is the sculpting too. That's covered in body below. But I'll just say that the sculpting of male hair can make for some delightful plays with the sheen, so that different lights affect it differently. There's probably a science of what sculpting looks best in what lighting, but I'm not going there now.
Movement-
Who doesn't like bouncy hair? Authors- Just think of how your sex scenes could be enhanced by describing the dance of an oral active male's hair! THere are 2 basic kinds of movement in male hair 1) bounce 2) cascade. I've already mentioned bounce. Cascade is when the hair slides across itself succumbing to gravity. It's usually a sign of a hair do coming undone. But if a guy has good body he can flick his head and everything flops back into place. I love when hair slides down and the strands soet of separate. If a jerk of the head makes it all fall back in place...just wow!
Body-
Thin wispy hair is a no-no. Guys like that should go for a shorter medium cut. Dry looking hairspray helps. But thicker hair can have some body. It can hold a wave. Waves can be in a multitude of shapes. I think that they alll look nice. When a guy is trying to decide how to show off his hair's body, he needs to take the shape of his head and face into consideration with it. There are countless shapes to do, but they have to conform with the rest of the body.
Now authors....get out there and give me a description of really good hair that is more than the triteness of color.
Max
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
Ps 133:1 NASB
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Someone is going to stay warm tonight! 
Inclusion & Celebration For LGBT Folk In Manchester UK 
Blade TV Washington Presents The DC Cowboys @ Pride 2010 
Cop Captured Punching Girl In The Face 
Forced back into the closet! 
It is Dangerous to View this Picture 
Godfather & Champion Of British Gay Rights Is Paid Tribute 
