Where The Bears Are – Season 2: Episode 3 CLEAR THE BEAR from Where the Bears Are on Vimeo.
Where the Bears Are Season 2: Episode 3 “Clear the Bear”
While we wait on SCOTUS – cool interactive marriage equality map
While we wait for the US Supreme Court to render it’s decisions – most probably on Monday, June 24th – the New Yorker has come up with an online interactive map where you can click on a “decision” and see how each option would affect marriage equality in the US.
Take a look by clicking here.
(h/t JMG)
I love when it rains
Rough and tumble in the rain.
American Medical Association supports ending gay blood ban
On Tuesday, the American Medical Association voted to end the 30 year ban on gay men donating blood.
“The lifetime ban on blood donation for men who have sex with men is discriminatory and not based on sound science,” AMA board member William Kobler said in a statement.
“This new policy urges a federal policy change to ensure blood donation bans or deferrals are applied to donors according to their individual level of risk and are not based on sexual orientation alone.”
The ban began in 1983 as a response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as patients were becoming infected through blood transfusions. However, with all blood now being tested, many believe the ban has become an outdated policy.
(via Advocate)
Exodus International, so-called “ex-gay” organization, ends it’s harmful run
Exodus International, the most prominent “ex-gay” ministry, is closing up shop after more than three decades.
Decades have passed as we’ve seen Exodus and other offer so-called “reparative therapy,” seeking to turn from gay to straight, only to find the therapy is not only ineffective but harmful.
From the Exodus International website:
“We’re not negating the ways God used Exodus to positively affect thousands of people, but a new generation of Christians is looking for change – and they want to be heard,” Tony Moore, Board member of Exodus. The message came less than a day after Exodus released a statement apologizing to the gay community for years of undue judgment by the organization and the Christian Church as a whole.
“Exodus is an institution in the conservative Christian world, but we’ve ceased to be a living, breathing organism,” said Alan Chambers, President of Exodus. “For quite some time we’ve been imprisoned in a worldview that’s neither honoring toward our fellow human beings, nor biblical.”
Chambers continued: “From a Judeo-Christian perspective, gay, straight or otherwise, we’re all prodigal sons and daughters. Exodus International is the prodigal’s older brother, trying to impose its will on God’s promises, and make judgments on who’s worthy of His Kingdom. God is calling us to be the Father – to welcome everyone, to love unhindered.”
Alan Chambers has also released his own apology in a post entitled I Am Sorry “to the people within the LGBTQ community who have been hurt by the Church, Exodus International, and me”:
Please know that I am deeply sorry. I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn’t change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents. I am sorry that there were times I didn’t stand up to people publicly “on my side” who called you names like sodomite—or worse. I am sorry that I, knowing some of you so well, failed to share publicly that the gay and lesbian people I know were every bit as capable of being amazing parents as the straight people that I know. I am sorry that when I celebrated a person coming to Christ and surrendering their sexuality to Him that I callously celebrated the end of relationships that broke your heart. I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and mine.
More than anything, I am sorry that so many have interpreted this religious rejection by Christians as God’s rejection. I am profoundly sorry that many have walked away from their faith and that some have chosen to end their lives. For the rest of my life I will proclaim nothing but the whole truth of the Gospel, one of grace, mercy and open invitation to all to enter into an inseverable relationship with almighty God.
I cannot apologize for my deeply held biblical beliefs about the boundaries I see in scripture surrounding sex, but I will exercise my beliefs with great care and respect for those who do not share them. I cannot apologize for my beliefs about marriage. But I do not have any desire to fight you on your beliefs or the rights that you seek. My beliefs about these things will never again interfere with God’s command to love my neighbor as I love myself.
You have never been my enemy. I am very sorry that I have been yours. I hope the changes in my own life, as well as the ones we announce tonight regarding Exodus International, will bring resolution, and show that I am serious in both my regret and my offer of friendship. I pledge that future endeavors will be focused on peace and common good.
Good riddance to Exodus and others who have caused great harm and injury to so many.
The Oprah Winfrey Netowork will air a special tonight that features Alan Chambers apologizing to gays and lesbians who were affected by his organization. Check times on your local guide.
Music video – “Woman’s World” from Cher
Love the retro graphics in this lyric music video for Cher’s new single “Womans’s World.”
Cool. And now I know the real lyrics 🙂
No decision from SCOTUS today
Some folks thought there was a small chance we might get word on the Prop 8 and DOMA cases today.
We did not.
Look to Monday for the big day.
James Gandolfini dead at 51
TMZ is reporting that 3-time Emmy Award winner James Gandolfini, of The Sopranos fame – reportedly died earlier today in Italy.
Gandolfini is believed to have suffered a heart attack. He was 51.
Gandolfini, in Italy to attend the 59th Taormina Film Festival in Sicily, was scheduled to participate in a festival event this weekend with Italian director Gabriele Muccino.
Gandolfini shot to fame playing a hitman in the 1993 hit “True Romance” … and quickly became a Hollywood legend when he was cast as Tony Soprano in 1999.
He won 3 Emmy awards for the role during the show’s 6 season run.
His many films include “Get Shorty,” “The Mexican” and “Zero Dark Thirty.”
Gandolfini is survived by his wife Deborah Lin, who gave birth to the couple’s daughter in October 2012. He also has a teenage son from a previous marriage.
(via TMZ)
Cher says she’s “disappointed” Lady Gaga doesn’t like their duet
A fan asked Cher on Twitter about her recorded duet with Lady Gaga – “The Greatest Thing,” saying fans have been waiting a long time.
Cher tweeted, “U Think You’ve Waited? It’s done & she doesn’t like it, or want it to come out.”
Cher brought up her concerns on The Voice last night, saying: ”I did a song with Gaga and I think it’s brilliant and I thought her performance was great but she doesn’t like it.”
Is Cher respecting Gaga’s artistic feelings? Or mocking her?
Can’t tell…
(source)
GOP Congressman Gingrey suggests classes for young children to teach gender roles
So NOW the Republicans, who say sex education belongs at home, want to teach elementary school students who and what a “daddy” is and who a “mommy” is?
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) suggested Tuesday that young boys and girls should be enrolled in classes to educate them on gender roles so that they can learn “what’s important.”
Talk about indoctrination….
Here’s the transcript:
“Maybe part of the problem is we need to go back into the schools at a very early age, maybe at the grade school level, and have a class for the young girls and have a class for the young boys and say, you know, this is what’s important,” Gingrey said on the House floor, while defending the Defense of Marriage Act.
“This is what a father does that is may be a little different, maybe — maybe a little different, maybe a little better than the talent that mom has in a certain area and same things for the young girls, you know, this is what a mom does and this is what’s important from the standpoint of that union. Which we call marriage. And we have called that since the beginning of this country and long before the beginning of this country.”
You may recall that Gingrey, who is a medical doctor, said earlier this year that former Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin was “partly right” when he made his infamous “legitimate rape” comment.
(source)