File this under crazy

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Image from HRC blog

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of Indiana has gotten plenty of press attention when the Governor of Indiana Mike Pence made it legal to discriminate against the LGBT community (and other minority groups) if that’s what your religion believes in.  There is similar legislation in place now in Arkansas (shocking).  Here is a little nugget of information straight from HRC on their blog.

The wave of anti-LGBT bills filed across the country continues to swell. As of today, lawmakers have introduced more than 85 anti-LGBT bills in 28 state legislatures.

Some state legislative sessions have already drawn to a close, but other state legislatures will be in session for several more weeks or even months.  So far this year 34 anti-LGBT bills in nine states have been defeated or failed to meet key legislative deadlines, but two have passed — one in Arkansas and one in Indiana.

To me, the bottom line is simple.  Religion should not be used to justify hate.  If a religion is preaching hate it’s wrong.  It’s actually that simple.  There is no room for debate here.  Here is the other thing.  We should all know better.  Especially people in the government.

As it turns out, companies are outraged as well.  Apple, Walmart, Salesforce NASCAR and Subaru have all spoken out against the laws  The list of supporters is growing by the hour.  Indiana is facing very real backlash which will ultimately result in a loss of revenue for the state.

In closing, check out this quote…“Discrimination is always wrong, always beneath the dignity of our nation, and always a shameful legacy to leave our children.” – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.  I agree Nancy.  And good for you for making to very clear.

Hope the world wakes up and soon. We have come so far and yet have so much further to go…

Equality on hold in Utah

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The Supreme Court has pleased equality on hold in Utah. Utah’s AG was granted his emergency stay of the bigoted law banning same-sex marriage.

There was no reasoning offered and this stay is “pending final disposition”. This is truly a shame and slap in the face of equality.

Read more here.

Moving visual poem by Iranian poet

The poem is called “I” and is pretty cool. The video is produced by the International Gay And Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and by J.D. Kamran. It shows the struggle of the LGBT community in Iran. Being gay is illegal in Iran like it is in many neighboring countries. Not only is being gay illegal but the crimes against the LGBT community are too much and too disturbing to list. It is truly a different world and we should all be thankful for our freedom.

Here is the touching poem. Be sure to check out the video too.
I have always been here
In the black and white of stories
I have always been here
Here, in the empty frame of pictures
I have always been here
In the hidden closet of poetry
In the broken crystal of moments
I have always been here
Not in the pit stoned to death
Not on the gallows
Not in death
I have always been here, in life
Listen to the sound of my voice
Hear my call
Recognize me
I have always been here

Hey Queen, Pardon more gays!

As you know, computer science legend Alan Turing was just pardoned by the queen for his crime of being gay (official crime was “gross indecency”) in the 1950’s. Well…it turns out that there were around 50,000+ men that were prosecuted for being gay. British LGBT activist (and great person) Peter Tatchell is pushing the British government to pardon the rest of the men who were also convicted of the 19th-century law criminalizing being gay. The crazy thing is that there are 15,000 men who are still alive that were charged with that crime.

The government had previously and wrongly may I add, refused to pardon these men. But now the Queen has pardoned Turing so this has provided an additional (and much needed spotlight) on the topic.

Apparently, the first step for the pardon is a formal application of some sort. This is COMPLETE bull s*it. What kind of world do we live in where someone would have to apply for a pardon..for being gay?!!’ How is that even happening!?!

Hopefully people will do what is right and pardon all who experienced discrimination due to the dated and wrong anti-gay laws of the past.

Take that Putin, you moron!

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Billie Jean King, the tennis legend and President Obama

President Obama has delivered a very clear message to Russia for the upcoming winter olympics.  As you probably have read, Russia has come under fire for their extremely anti-gay laws.   President Obama announced his delegates for the winter olympics and 2 of them are openly gay lesbians! 

Billie Jean King is a tennis legend and Caitlin Cahow is an Olympic medalist in women’s ice hockey.  The icing on this cake is that the President, First Lady and VP will NOT attend the winter olympics in Russia.  This is the first time that a President, VP or first lady is not attending the olympics since 2000.  

 Good for you Mr. President! Well done.

65 year old man in Uganda may get 2 years in jail for being gay

Seriously?! This is another one to file under crazy.  There are SO many things to worry about in this world.  Who someone choses to love, sleep with or be sexually attracted to is NOT one of them.  It is seriously shocking that in 2013 discrimination based on sexual orientation is so openly promoted in some countries…

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Bernard Randall at his home in November 2013.
AFP PHOTO / ISAAC KASAMANI (Ph | AFP via Getty Images

Bernard Randall is a British citizen who is being charged with “trafficking obscene publications”.  Randall’s laptop was stolen in October and the criminals that stole the computer used some of the content on the computer to blackmail him.  As you most likely know, being gay is very illegal in Uganda.  They have an anti-gay bill, which is known as the “kill gays bill” because of how brutal, and horrible it is.  Not only are homosexual acts illegal in Uganda but also if you are Ugandan, committing homosexual acts are illegal NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE.  Holy bat-shit crazy folks! Yes, this is for real.

Back to the story.  So Randall may face up to 2 years in jail because there was a picture of him having gay sex on his laptop.  His Ugandan partner (who is 33 but that’s another story), Albert Cheptoyek, faces up to 7 years in prison “acts of gross indecency”.  His trial is now set for January of 2014.  As a side-note, the actual criminals who stole is laptop are also going to have a trial.  Can’t make this stuff up folks.

This type of discrimination is truly disheartening.  It also should remind us of just how lucky we are if we live in a relatively free country like the USA.  If only people would focus on things like education, feeding the hungry, crime and the millions of other things that actually need attention… This should make us all question the priorities of countries or governments that have any type of discriminatory laws in place.  We should also ask where does it come from.  My thoughts on where it originates are here.