I wish I had heard about this sooner…

from David Craig:

“In the wake of the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which banned same-sex marriage, I posted the event on Facebook. My fellow organizer, Steve Holzer, inspired by the Latino protests, suggested we call it A Day Without Gays.

We soon discovered that other organizers had conceived of the same idea simultaneously, and we all agreed to schedule the protest for December 10, which is International Human Rights Day. A week later, Join The Impact, the group that organized City Hall rallies nationwide November 14, joined forces with us.

Our goal is to raise awareness that marriage is a “basic human right” as declared by the U.S. Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia, the case that ended race-based restrictions on marriage.

We believe that to deny gays and lesbians that right, and the 1,400 state and federal legal and economic benefits of marriage, is discrimination and in violation of the 14th Amendment.

We are asking people who support us to “call in gay” to their workplace by taking the day off or to shut down their businesses. Our goal is to raise awareness that we are gay and lesbian Americans who work, own businesses, pay our taxes and support the economy to the tune of $712 billion a year, according to an analysis by Witeck-Combs Communications, a public relations agency that specializes in the gay and lesbian consumer market. This is a declaration that we take our rights seriously and demand full equality.”

LINK

Gay Marriage Ban Inspires New Wave of Activists
By JESSE McKINLEY
Published: December 10, 2008
Outraged by a ban on same-sex marriage, a new wave of gay rights advocates have pushed to the forefront.
LINK

The Wall Street Journal has a newly-posted entry referencing the possible legal challenges that could stem from the passing of Proposition 8 in California, which constitutionally bans gay marriage.

We are going to Temple Square in a few minutes to protest the LDS church’s stance of mandating members’ resources in favor of changing the California constitution. My first protest in 50 years.

Tonight at 6:00.

Be there — at the Square.

Lesbian activist who fought for marriage rights dies

Story Highlights

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A very nice editorial from Carol Lynn Pearson made its way into the Salt Lake Tribune yesterday.
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This was in a monthly mailing I received from the author:

STORY: THE RING OF LOVE. Most of the readers of this newsletter will be aware that there is a fair amount of controversy around the recent California court decision authorizing gay marriage, and in particular around the entry of the LDS Church into the arena with a strong effort to pass a proposed amendment to the state constitution forbidding such marriages.

A day or two after the letter from church leaders first hit the Internet, I had a long telephone conversation with a friend of mine. We were not on the same page as we discussed these issues, but at the end of our conversation we both said some important things. I said, “You know, I’ve committed to look at this and everything else and ask, ‘Will this thing bring a little more love to the planet, or take a little love away from the planet?’�

My friend replied, “You have a very good point there. And we need also to remember that when this life is done and we meet Christ, we will hopefully be able to say to him, ‘I saw you hungry and I fed you…I saw you naked and I clothed you…I saw you in prison and I visited you…’â€?

I added, “‘And I saw you as a young gay man about to take your own life and I put my arms around you…’â€?

“Yes, yes,� my friend said. “It all comes down to love, doesn’t it?�

Feeling very good as we ended our conversation, I got in the car and drove to Safeway for some groceries. In my mind I was going over what we had said: “Yes, it all comes down to love…will it bring a little more love to the planet or will it take a little love away?…it all comes down to love.â€?

As I parked at the store and got out of the car, my eye spotted something small and round on the ground. I bent down and picked up — a little copper ring. Even without my reading glasses I could tell there was a word etched into the ring. “L-O-V-E.� This did not really surprise me. I know by now that if you think about love, if you talk about love — you find love. The ring was slightly bent, but love often gets bent out of shape a bit.

I knew I would never be able to locate the person who lost the ring, so I put it on the ring finger of my left hand. And — it fit! — just like Cinderella’s glass slipper. I thought — “Wow, I’m engaged! I’m engaged in the work of love with someone that I’ve never met, someone who cared to wear the word ‘love’ on his or her finger.�

I’ve been wearing that ring since. And I love the fact that I will never know who this person is — man, woman, child, black, white, Californian, Asian, Methodist, Mormon, Jew, a straight person or a gay person. All I know is that this person is the angel we might be entertaining unaware that we read about in scripture. This person is the Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief that we sing about. This person is the one in whose face we must see the face of Christ.

I’m not going to take the ring off until after the November election. And every time I look at it, I will remember that when I found it I was thinking of our gay brothers and sisters, and I will hope and believe that more and more of us — whatever our politics — will cease looking at them with fear and judgment, will want to give them a little more love rather than take a little love away from them, will include them in our universal ring of love, will practice seeing in their faces the face of Christ.

This has got to be one of the funniest things I’ve seen:

LINK

The American Family Association’s OneNewsNow site used an automated search and replace feature to get rid of the word “gay” on their entire website and replace it with the word “homosexual” as reported on the People for the American Way website.

Poor runner Tyson Gay, who did so well in the Olympic track trials.

My Note: I guess this falls under the same religious mindset as when the LDS church calls homosexuality, “SSA” [same sex attraction] or some such tripe. I’ve even seen it taken a step further as “same gender attraction” to de-sensualize it further.

Apparently Utah State Attorney General Mark Shurtleff took exception to the EqualityUtah mailing yesterday and asked them to allow him to address their mailing list.

In the sense of fairness, here it is in its entirety:

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has responded to the “Statement from Equality Utah” issued yesterday. Mr. Shurtleff has asked that I share his response with you. Please see below.

Please note the Attorney General’s invitation for further dialogue. If you feel compelled, I encourage you to contact Mr. Shurtleff. Real change happens when we engage in respectful communication.

I would like to thank Mr. Shurtleff for responding to our Statement.

Working for a fair & just Utah,

Mike Thompson
Executive Director

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff’s Response:

Dear Mike,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the “Statement from Equality Utah” emailed yesterday, June 4th. It would be great if you would send this response out to your email list. I appreciate the chance to clarify my actions and invite further dialogue.
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