I Speak of Dreams

Supporting Same Sex Marriage = Supporting Religious Freedom

Here's a great video from Robtish:

I saw it first at Ed Brayton's

Robtish links to the blog Waking Up Now.
Read this post, Why We Fight, on the plight of a teen in a religiously conservative family who is gay.

It was prompted by this video (warning - images of badly-injured people.)

Fake People Tell Fake Stories About The Threat Of Gay Marriage

Maggie Gallagher's  National Organization for Marriage recently launched a set of TV ads, purporting to be real stories about real people,

Today the National Organization for Marriage launched a $1.5 million ad campaign to protect marriage and religious liberty throughout the nation. The centerpiece of the new ad campaign is the 60-second TV spot "A Gathering Storm," bringing viewers face to face with the growing religious liberty threat posed by same-sex marriage.

The only thing is, the spot is totally false.

Exporting Anti-Gay Hysteria

Last night I was reading Box Turtle Bulletin about a truly appalling anti-gay international conference held in Uganda,

The Uganda seminar featuring three American anti-gay activists is starting to attract international attention. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, along with Sexual Minorities Uganda, has issued a press release denouncing the appearance of Nazi revisionist and Watchmen On the Walls co-founder Scott Lively, Exodus International board member Don Schmierer, and Caleb Lee Brundidge of Richard Cohen’s International Healing Foundation at a conference to be held this weekend in Kampala.

This morning the San Jose Mercury News reports that "anti-gay hate crimes" have increased dramatically.

Homosexual behavior is

Hate crime cases involving anti-gay sentiment shot up in Santa Clara County last year, a striking increase that a leading prosecutor attributes to controversy over Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on gay marriage.

Anti-gay incidents accounted for more than half of hate-crime cases last year — 56 percent — a big jump from only 15 percent in 2007. There were 14 anti-gay cases out of 25 hate-crime cases in 2008, compared with only 3 out of 20 in 2007.

"My belief from having done this work for many years is that surges in types of hate incidents are linked to the headlines and controversies of the day,'' said Deputy District Attorney Jay Boyarsky, who is assigned to monitor hate crimes. "Marriage equality and Proposition 8 have been in the news, and we have seen an increase in gay-bashing.''

The Southern Poverty Law Center lists three groups in California as being specifically anti-gay hate groups:

• Traditional Values Coalition
• Abiding Truth Ministries
• Chalcedon Foundation

December 10, 2008: Day Without A Gay (DWAG)

David Craig came up with the idea of Day Without A Gay

Our community contributes $700 billion a year to this economy (the same amount as the bailout), yet we are not given equal protections under the law that every citizen deserves. As such, it is time we make a stand. During the largest shopping season of the year, we ask that you do one very important thing: Don't Buy Anything! What would happen to this world if the LGBTQ community didn't exist? Why is it that we continue to contribute to an economy and government that does not contribute to us? Let's answer these questions on December 10th.

Join the Impact is aware that there are still 30 states where a person can be fired for his or her sexual orientation.

That said, here are 5 ways you can make an impact tomorrow:
1. Volunteer your time and services after work
2. Do not buy anything
3. Do not watch TV or use your cell phone
4. Do not go online (yup, don’t even visit this site tomorrow)… Online advertising is everywhere and a simple page load could cause money to be spent.
5. Do not buy lunch (and don’t go out today to get what you need for lunch tomorrow), find something you already have and pack your lunch.

#1 I'm booked for anyway, #2 is fairly easy, #3 (a) is easy, #3(b) harder... #4 hmmn. Check back tomorrow evening. #5, doable.

Role of Dishonor

Names and giving amounts of those who supported the passage of Proposition 8.

denialism blog : What the family values folks don't get about family

Pal MD is a straight physician and a father.  After watching his daughter at services, it dawns on him: What the family values folks don't get about family.

The anti-gay marriage folks think that family is all about fear, sex, and violence. For them, marriage is about control---control of who marries and why, control of the woman by the man. It's also about sex. Sure, marriage and sex are related, but most people understand that sex is only one aspect of marriage. If you listen to the Prop 8 types, you'd think that gay people get married for the sex (and that soon enough people will marry their cousins or their goat for sex). News flash, folks---gay people aren't getting married in order to have sex. They can already do that (thanks to a recent supreme court decision). They get married for the same reasons as most straight couples---love, comfort, freedom from fear. Believe it or not, some gay people want to trade places when their daughter is having a tantrum, and want to cuddle in bed afterward. They don't want to have to worry that when their kid is in the hospital, there will be a problem figuring out who the "real" parent is.

These folks who fought [for passage of]  Prop 8 don't understand the real meaning of family, of love, of comfort. For most of us, it's not about fulfilling one fringe group's idea of what God wants. It's about creating a life with another, sharing a physical and emotional space with someone, rejoicing together when things are good, and holding each other when things are tough. It's human.

Myths About Prop 8 Voter Behavior

Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight (538) has a post on myths about voter behavior (especially African American and Hispanic voters).  Go read.

What Are You Doing January 10 2009?

EqualityCamp will begin to plan MarriageEquality2.0 so that all Californians and Americans and their families- including the gay people-are equal under the law.  Equality for all.

Where:

Citizen Space, #300, 425 - 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA  94107

Join the Impact: Support Marriage Equality on November 15, 2008

JoinTheImpact.com is a brand-new venture.  One of the  events is a national protest on November 15 to protest the passage of Prop. 8.  Find your state on this page.

Candlelight Vigil for Marriage Equality November 10 2008

Updated

Last night was a candlelight vigil, "Still Standing on the Side of Love" in support of marriage equality and the overturning of Proposition 8.  I was invited by a Facebook (and real life) friend.  Evidently the Bay Area vigil was an action of an ecumenical group supporting marriage equality. Santa Clara County Council of Churches
(Here's the direct link.)

Join a prayerful, peaceful candlelight vigil in solidarity with the LGBT community.  Families, students, allies, people of faith, of conscience, of compassion - everyone is encouraged to stand on the side of love and the freedom to marry.  There is no proposition that can be passed, no law that can be written, and no constitutional amendment that can be added which can ever truly deny the love and commitment between two people.  We cannot be silent when the rights of anyone are eliminated.  Now is the time to stand on the side of love.

My corner had The Rev. Chip Larrimore, rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, and another member of the clergy, a woman whose name I did not catch.

The Flag of the Episcopal Church: