We Know This Could Be Shocking, But Kids from Gay Parents Are Normal

Over and over we see evidence that kids raised by gay parents turn out just the same as kids raised by straight parents. They're fine, physically, mentally, whether raised by two men or two women. But people are still so scared of something that is different from themselves.

A few days ago in Trenton, New Jersey, the National Organization for Marriage held a press conference rambling on about their usual topic, saving "traditional" marriage, preserving the sanctity of marriage, whatever. Meanwhile, Garden State Equality was holding an event of its own, letting kids of gay parents speak out about being just that.

What's so amazing when you look at these kids is that they're just kids. They're awkward. They're wearing Hollister t-shirts. They're fat, they're skinny, they're stupid, they're smart. They're normal kids, just like the kids of straight people.

And look at the parents of the kids. They worry about the youngins. They're affectionate. They snatch the mic away when one of the kids gets a little too attention-happy. They hold their kids like they are their kids. Because they are. Adopted, inseminated, conceived, it doesn't matter. These people are families, they love and take care of one another, and aside from the fact that there are two penises or two vaginas in the master bedroom instead of one of each, they're just normal American families.

The kids speaking about their families is touching, and something the rest of the world needs to see.



Source By Zachary Wilson and QS (Queer Sighted )

NBA Star Manu Ginóbili Loves Argentina's Gay Marriage Law

Living in Boston, it's still a bit hard to talk about the NBA, given that we're barely a month removed from the Los Angeles Lakers stealing a championship from my beloved city. (At least that's how I see it.) But this piece of news is too good to pass up. San Antonio Spurs all-star, and one of the best basketball players even to come out of Argentina, Manu Ginóbili, just went on record celebrating Argentina's historic passage of marriage equality legislation.
We live in a world where homophobia and sports are all too often linked together. Athletes are told to stay in the closet until long after retirement, lest they face homophobia from fans, teammates, coaches and administrators. That's why it makes me swoon to see professional athletes stand up for LGBT rights. The New Orleans Saints Scott Fujita? Wonderful. The Baltimore Ravens' Brendon Ayanbadejo? He's fantastic, too.
And now we can add the San Antonio Spurs' Ginóbili to that list, too. Here's his take on the Argentine marriage equality law, with a wonderful hat tip to Blabbeando and Out Sports.
"I am in favor of gay marriage ... specially of the rights ... needed by people who are equal before the law ... and it doesn’t affect the rest of society … it doesn’t, if they are gays … yes? Let them be and do whatever they want, I am in favor," Ginobli said.
Now here's wishing that the interview would have ended there. Because Ginóbili was asked a follow up question about gay adoption (also legal in Argentina now), and on that subject Ginóbili was a little mixed. Not that he's against gay adoption; he just doesn't have all the information he needs to give a solid opinion.
"Adoption is much more delicate,I don’t feel I have the qualifications, I don’t know which studies have been done, if there is any background. I know that, I believe – I don’t know, as an outside observer, without knowledge of what scientific data there is out there – that for a baby it should be better to be with two dads than to be in an orphanage," Ginóbili added.
Well, heck. That's an easy fix. Because study after study after study after study has been done to show that LGBT parents do a darn good job at raising kids. And the kids? They do pretty darn well, too.
Meanwhile, now that Argentina has legalized same-sex marriage, all eyes are turning to the country's neighbors, Uruguay and Paraguay, to see if they might be next on the marriage equality front. Reports came out in both countries this week that LGBT groups were itching to move marriage equality legislation through their respective legislatures.
Let's see them do it. After all, Argentina needs some friends in the marriage equality club.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Source By: Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor.

Argentina Makes Gay Marriage History

Put your Evita soundtrack on this morning, and head on down to the track "A New Argentina." There's a line in that song, "A new Argentina, the chains of the masses untied!" How apt, given that in the middle of the night, Argentina's Senate cast a historic vote breaking the chains of inequality that the country's gays and lesbians have faced when it comes to civil rights under the law. In a 33-27 vote, Argentina now becomes the first Latin American country to fully recognize marriage equality.

What a victory for gay rights advocates, who in recent days had to face a stepped up campaign of intolerance from the Mormon Church and the Catholic Church. Indeed, the Catholic Church helped organize massive rallies in Buenos Aires to oppose gay marriage, under the framework of children having the right to a mom and a dad. Ironic, one might say, that the Catholic Church in Argentina would center their argument against marriage equality around children's rights, given the lengthy history of Argentina's Catholic Church when it comes to (a) being engrossed in a child sex abuse scandal, and (b) the Catholic Church's acquiescence to, if not downright facilitation of, the seizure of children from tortured, disappeared and murdered women during Argentina's Dirty War. Children's rights: what a nebulous term for Argentina's Church.

But while the Argentine Catholic Church could use a history lesson this morning, the country as a whole is about to make history, becoming yet another country to take the bold step to recognize marriage equality. Sen. Norma Morandini, one of the 33 votes in favor of marriage equality, said that the Senate vote for gay marriage was a vote for humanity. She echoed the words of Argentina's President, Cristina Kirchner, in saying that gay marriage is a human rights issue, and one that countries should eagerly move to recognize.

"What defines us is our humanity, and what runs against humanity is intolerance," Sen. Morandini said. Nothing spells intolerance more than denying an entire bloc of citizens equal rights.

How big is Argentina's decision? Well, so big that it prompted Ricky Martin to tweet: "#Argentina votes yes on gay marriage! A great nation making history."

But even more so, Argentina's bold move toward marriage equality is another example of how when it comes to laws including LGBT populations, the United States is falling more and more behind the rest of the world. That's a fact not lost on Evan Wolfson from Freedom to Marry, the American organization working to achieve marriage equality here in the States.

"Today's historic vote shows how far Catholic Argentina has come, from dictatorship to true democratic values, and how far the freedom to marry movement has come as twelve countries on four continents now embrace marriage equality," said Wolfson. "Key to Argentina's human rights achievement was strong leadership from legislators and the president. It is time we see more of our own elected officials standing up for the Constitution and all families here in the United States. America should lead, not lag, when it comes to treating everyone equally under the law."

So there you have it, America. Argentina has a message for you, and it's that bold leadership requires standing up to the anti-gay forces that try to throw LGBT people under the bus. That's right. It's time to stand up to the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and the institutional Catholic Church, rather than living in fear of them. That's what fierce advocacy looks like.

Meanwhile, let's end this post with the words delivered by Argentina's Senate President after the historic vote. As the vote displayed on an electronic board for all to see, six words were uttered: "Gay marriage is law in Argentina."

Now those are six words to start your morning right.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Source By Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.

Argentina Approves Gay Marriage

BUENOS AIRES — Argentina’s Senate narrowly approved a law early on Thursday authorizing same-sex marriages, making Argentina the first country in Latin America to allow gay couples to wed.

After 15 hours of debate, the Senate voted 33 to 27 in favor of the measure, which was sponsored by the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. For weeks, she waged a bitter war of words with the Roman Catholic Church over the issue, saying that it would be a “terrible distortion of democracy” to deny gay rights and that religious leaders needed to recognize how socially liberal the nation had become.

In its race to derail the change, the church had organized large protests throughout the country involving tens of thousands of opponents of the law, with Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, declaring it a “destructive attack on God’s plan.”

Portugal and Iceland also legalized gay marriage this year, adding to the small but steadily expanding list of nations, most of them in Europe, to do so.

But in a region where the separation of church and state is not always so clear, the law demonstrated a rare but increasing willingness by some Latin American nations to confront the church on fundamental issues, like Chile’s legalization of divorce and Brazil’s public distribution of contraceptives in recent years.

“There is no question that the law is unusual for a country that is not as secular as Western European democracies,” Javier Corrales, a political science professor at Amherst College, said of Argentina’s same-sex marriage measure. “There’s a clear conflict with the church. Very seldom do we see presidents willing to fight the church so strongly on this particular issue in Latin American,” even in countries led by left-leaning governments.

Argentina’s new law will give gay people the same marital rights as heterosexuals, including adoption and inheritance rights, and reflects the broadening legal recognition of same-sex relationships across Latin American.

Mexico City became the first jurisdiction in the region to legalize gay marriages last year. At least two other countries in Latin America, Uruguay and Colombia, allow civil unions for same-sex couples.

But the trend is not universal. Honduras banned same-sex couples from marrying or adopting children in 2005, and refused to recognize same-sex marriages from other countries. The anti-gay atmosphere in Honduras is so intense, according to human rights groups, that more than 20 gay and transgender people have been killed there in the last five years.

“How wonderful for them,” Oscar Amador, a spokesman for Violet Collective, a gay rights group in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, said of Argentina’s gay and lesbian couples. “This inspires us to fight even more. Maybe one day we’ll have the same.”
Source By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Published: July 15, 2010 - The New York Times

LA TIMES Editorial on Marriage Equality

This strikes at the heart of what's wrong with denying marital status
to gay and lesbian couples. Somehow, society -- and in this case, a
federal judge -- are being put in the position of deciding whether
these unions are "good enough" to earn the legal and social status of
marriage. We don't judge these issues for heterosexual marriages.

Marriage is, at its core, a contractual agreement that confers certain
legal privileges and responsibilities on its signatories, as well as
social respect. Within that definition and behind the closed doors of
every couple, the institution of marriage takes many forms, some of
which are more attractive to society than others.

Some people wed for money or health benefits. In this town, some of
them enter short-term marriages for the publicity. (You know who you
are.) Teenagers barely old enough to vote marry despite the higher
likelihood that they will divorce. Serial monogamists wed. There are
couples who swap spouses, and those who live apart yet maintain their
sense of affection and responsibility toward each other. Many a
marriage, even those begun in love, ends up quirky at best and
dysfunctional at worst.

The public as a whole might not look favorably on all of these
marriages, but it does not try to deny others the right to form such
unions. It's gay and lesbian couples who are singled out for this.
Only in a hearing on same-sex marriage would we hear arguments judging
whether a relationship between two adults is loving and committed
enough to gain legal and social standing -- evidence on its own that
homosexuals, who have long faced unreasoned hatred and abuse in many
forms, are being singled out for the withholding of this basic
societal right.


Source by LA TIMES

GOVERNO DE PORTUGAL APROVA CASAMENTO GAY

O Conselho de Ministros aprovou hoje uma proposta de lei que permite o casamento civil entre homossexuais, anunciou o ministro da Presidência.

Pedro Silva Pereira adiantou, em conferência de imprensa, que o Governo aprovou também uma disposição legal onde deixa expresso que esta alteração não tem qualquer efeito no processo de adopção. Assim, o Executivo deixa claro, em letra de Lei, que os casais homossexuais estão impedidos de adoptar crianças.

O ministro da Presidência afirmou também que este "é um passo muito positivo no sentido de se construir uma sociedade mais justa e tolerante".

O governante explicou ainda que, desta forma, o Governo é fiel ao mandato eleitoral e ao compromisso que fez com os portugueses, "acabando com uma velha discriminação".



Source by Economico (Márcia Galrão)

NEW JERSEY: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN POUR LE MARIAGE GAY ET LESBIEN

Alors que le Sénat et le Parlement du New Jersey (USA) sont sur le point d'examiner une proposition de loi visant à régulariser le mariage des personnes du même sexe, le chanteur Bruce SPRINGSTEEN est intervenu dans le débat pour rappeler son engagement en faveur de l'égalité des droits civiques et du mariage gay. Voici ce qu'on peut lire sur son site:

Like many of you who live in New Jersey, I've been following the progress of the marriage-equality legislation currently being considered in Trenton. I've long believed in and have always spoken out for the rights of same sex couples and fully agree with Governor Corzine when he writes that, "The marriage-equality issue should be recognized for what it truly is -- a civil rights issue that must be approved to assure that every citizen is treated equally under the law." I couldn't agree more with that statement and urge those who support equal treatment for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to let their voices be heard now

Comme beaucoup d'entre vous qui vivent au New Jersey, j'ai suivi l'évolution de la législation sur le mariage des personnes du même sexe qui est actuellement pris en considération à Trenton. J'en suis depuis longtemps partisan et j'ai toujours pris position pour les droits dse couples du même sexe, et je suis tout fait d'accord avec le gouverneur Corzine quand il écrit que "La question de l'égalité du mariage devrait être reconnue pour ce qu'elle est vraiment--une question de droits civiques qui doit être approuvée afin que chaque citoyen soit véritablement traité de manière égalitaire au regard de la loi." Je suis entièrement d'accord avec cette prise de position et presse ceux qui sont en faveur de l'égalité de traitement pour nos frères gays et nos soeurs lesbiennes pour faire en sorte que leurs voix soient entendues maintenant.

L'actuel gouverneur du New Jersey, Corzine, est démocrate et favorable aux unions des personnes du même sexe. Il y a urgence que le Parlement du New Jersey vote la loi, car le gouverneur Corzine est sortant et sera remplacé par un gouverneur républicain, Chris Christie, dans le courant du mois de janvier, et le gouverneur entrant a déjà fait savoir qu'il opposerait son veto à une loi autorisant le mariage gay et lesbien.

A noter cependant que le gouverneur Christie est un grand admirateur de Springsteen, comme la plupart des habitants du New Jersey d'ailleurs. Bruce Springsteen, surnommé The Boss, est , on le sait, un enfant du pays. Le gouverneur Christie aurait assisté à 122 concerts du chanteur. Bruce Springsteen a par contre décliné l'invitation à participer aux cérémonies d'intronisation du nouveau gouverneur. Springsteen est, faut-il le souligner, un démocrate convaincu.

Rappelons qu'en 1994, Bruce Springsteen avait reçu un Oscar pour sa chanson Streets of Philadelphia, extrait de la bande originale du film Philadelphia avec Tom Hanks, l'un des premiers films à aborder avec talent le thème du sida. Voici une video tournée au moment de la remise de l'Oscar.



Source by GAY KOSMOPOL

The Golden Girls on Marriage Equality

"Sophia Petrillo puts the need and desire for marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples in a very astute yet simple way."

"GOD BLESS MORTIMER HAYDEN SMYTH"

"Homosexuality, the practice of romantic or erotic love between same gendered couples or groups is as big a threat to our nation's liberty as international terrorism and possibly more so."

"What is the nightmare scenario regarding homosexuality ?"

"The nightmare scenario is that somewhere out there, ... where no one can see there are two men, alone, together, touching each other, giving each other pleasure, and guess what ?, it's happening right now this very instant and there's not a damn thing any of us can do to stop it."

"Some night's I just stay awake in my bed thinking about it ..... all night long .... all night long."

- Mortimer Hayden Smyth, Director of Deviant Homosexual Studies

You can find more of his satire which shows how idiotic the Right Wing Conservatives and others are at Mortimer's blog, The Center For American Free Thought."



SOURCE BY FOCUS

Marriage Equality Works

Marriage Equality Works from Marriage Equality on Vimeo.

Five years after Massachusetts began granting civil marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the vast majority of people in Massachusetts feel that marriage equality has benefited not only couples and families, but society as a whole.

This is a resource to help marriage equality supporters around the country tell the story of marriage in Massachusetts. Here you can learn the facts about equal marriage rights in Massachusetts, access tools to help educate the public in other states and donate to this important work.

Today, 10,000 gay and lesbian couples in Massachusetts are legally married and enjoy all the rights, responsibilities and protections that come with a civil marriage license. With your help, we can spread the word nationwide that marriage equality makes for a stronger society.

MarriageEqualityWorks.org - a project of the MassEquality Education Fund.

Matt Alber "End of the World"

Bom algumas pessoas perguntaram sobre mim! Nao, nao sou misterioso, e devido ao fato de morar no Oriente Medio, acredito que por este fato voces me entendem, se bem que, me sinto seguro aonde moro, apesar de voce ficar limitado!
Falar de mim e complicado, mais vou comecar por minhas lembrancas.: Mais devo falar daquilo que o tempo perdura e me revive a cada momento, 42ND Street, Bryant Park, Central Park, East Side, Village, Fifith Avenue, Hudson Riverfront, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Park, Times Square, Lower East Side e aonde eu morava antes de decidir vir para o Oriente Medio.: Stony Brook - Long Island... E e claro, o meu Brasil!!

Saudades e falar sobre algo que ficou e que me identifico muito, entao segue um pensamento que amo.:

"Quando me amei de verdade,
pude compreender que em qualquer circunstância, eu estava no lugar certo, na hora certa.
Então, pude relaxar.
Quando me amei de verdade,
pude perceber que o sofrimento emocional é sinal de que estou indo contra a minha verdade.
Quando me amei de verdade,
parei de desejar que a minha vida fosse diferente e comecei a ver que tudo o que acontece contribui para o meu crescimento.
Quando me amei de verdade,
comecei a perceber como é ofensivo tentar forçar alguma coisa ou alguém que ainda não está preparado, inclusive eu mesmo.
Quando me amei de verdade,
comecei a me livrar de tudo o que não fosse saudável.
Isso quer dizer:
pessoas, tarefas, crenças e qualquer coisa que me pusesse pra baixo.
Minha razão chamou isso de egoísmo.
Mas, hoje eu sei que é amor-próprio.
Quando me amei de verdade,
deixei de temer meu tempo livre e desisti de fazer planos.
Hoje, faço o que acho certo e no meu próprio ritmo.
Como isso é bom!
Quando me amei de verdade,
desisti de querer ter sempre razão e, com isso, errei muito menos vezes.
Quando me amei de verdade,
desisti de ficar revivendo o passado e de me preocupar com o futuro.
Isso me mantêm no presente, que é onde a vida acontece.
Quando me amei de verdade,
percebi que a minha mente pode me atormentar e me decepcionar.
Mas, quando eu a coloco a serviço do meu coração, ela se torna uma grande e valiosa aliada."

Autor não identificado
***Do Blog Ditudo.blog/Re-Passando