Category Archives: Guest Author
New Poll Shows More Americans “strongly support” Same-Sex Marriage
Religious Embrace
Helping Fuel Support
for Gay Marriage, Expert
Says
Landmark Poll Finds
More Strong Support
Than Strong Opposition
For the first time, a new poll shows more Americans
“strongly support” same-sex marriage than “strongly oppose” it, a finding that
could be attributed to changes occurring within organized religions, says a
Presbyterian elder and lay preacher.
“For 2,000 years, religion has been the genesis of antipathy
toward homosexuals, but now, three major American denominations have approved
ordination of openly gay clergy,” says Paul Hartman, a retired PBS/NPR station
executive and author of The Kairos (www.CarpeKairos.com), a novel that
imagines Jesus as gay.
“Gay has become the civil rights issue of the 21st century,”
he says.
The May survey of more than 1,000 adults found a dramatic
reversal from earlier surveys: more adults now “strongly support” same-sex
marriage rights (39 percent) than “strongly oppose” them (32 percent).
Over all, Langer Research Associates says, 53 percent of Americans believe
same-sex marriages should be legalized – up from only 36 percent just six years
ago.
“Episcopalian, Lutheran and Presbyterian denominations have
overturned centuries of tradition in welcoming openly gay clergy,” Hartman says.
“There’s a growing realization that religion can and should help lead us all
toward a more mature understanding and acceptance of minority sexual
orientations.”
In 2012, he says, there is a new human rights landscape in
the United States. He cites these additional recent developments:
• The U.S. military joined 43 other
countries when it repealed “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and allowed openly-gay
service members.• Same-sex marriages are now legal
in six states and the District of Columbia. Three other states — Washington,
Maryland and California — have same-sex marriage under active consideration.
Eleven more offer “civil union”-type status for same-sex couples.• A federal appeals court in Boston
recently struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (which defines marriage as
“one man, one woman”), making consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court almost
certain.• Dr. Robert Spitzer, one of the
last nationally-respected scholars whose studies lent credence to “gay
reparative” therapies, recently offered a retraction and apology to the gay
community.
“Unfortunately, the occasionally hateful crowd still
resonates with a very small group of people, including those headed by preacher
Fred Phelps and congregants, who continue to make news as they picket the
funerals of soldiers and celebrities,” Hartman says.
Western cultures’ condemnation of same-sex love appears to
have originated from Judeo-Christian scriptures, but contemporary biblical
scholarship amends old interpretations, he says.
“That’s why I wanted to tell a religion-based suspense story
about homophobia,” Hartman says. “It addresses fear of all kinds, because in
passage after biblical passage, scripture tells humans who are facing change,
sickness, alienation, death, and everything else: ‘fear not.’ It applies
to homophobia, as well.”
About Paul
Hartman
Paul Hartman is a retired PBS/NPR station executive with a
passion for biblical history. He is a Presbyterian elder, a lay preacher and a
Dead Sea Scrolls aficionado. Hartman, a father and grandfather, confesses he is
a lifelong fear-fighter.
7 Year Old Gay Boy in Love with Glee’s Blaine
I just came across a posting from Huffington Post, that done in Feb. Ameila writes, “When Your 7-Year Old Son Announces I’M GAY”.
Considering that my son has a longstanding crush on Glee‘s
Blaine and regularly refers to him as “my boyfriend,” I thought there
was a fair chance that he would someday say, “I’m gay.” But my kid is
only 7 years old. I figured I had a few years before we crossed that
threshold (if we ever did), probably when he was 14 or 15. I never
thought it would happen this soon.
Six months ago “gay” wasn’t even a word in my son’s vocabulary. He
has always known that some of our male friends are married to men and
some of our female friends to women, and it is such a normal part of his
life that he never needed a special word to describe them. When he did
notice the word and asked what it meant, I told him that when boys want
to marry boys and girls want to marry girls, we call that “gay.” He
didn’t seem very interested and quickly went off to do something else
more exciting than a vocabulary lesson with his mom.
This is a great READ! At Huffington Post.
Davey Waveys Life in a Day…at Sundance
under rock the last 5 years,
you should know
who DAVEY WAVEY is.
The pre-Scott Herman fitness hottie who is more delicious than Mom’s Apple Pie! And his blog Break The Illusion is uber popular.
The 27 year old says, “I assumed this physical form to embark on a journey of peace and love.
Though I’m a bit of a nomad, traveling the world from city to city and town to town, my current location is Rhode Island, USA. For a career, I’m a certified personal trainer and have a fitness blog, Davey Wavey Fitness .
My life’s mission is to 1.) share my love with the world 2.) teach others about the pervasive oneness of this perfect universe and 3.) learn, grow and develop from all my experiences and all my teachers.
Though this blog started as a personal diary, it has grown into a vehicle for achieving this mission. It has become a gathering point for people from all over the world to share ideas and connect in a safe, loving space. I’m honored to be the moderator of this community, and I invite you to join in the adventure of self-discovery and exploration unfolding in these pages.”
It is his Videos which are getting international attention now. And I predict, this attention could bring him much deserved fame. You have to love the whole Web 2.0 movement. When I grew up, and I am dating myself (gasp!) we didn’t have YouTube, Twitter or even the Internet! The world is an oyster now. Anyone can be their own PR agent and get seen by millions. Bloggers and Vloggers are becoming the stars of today.
YouTube invited Davey to Park City Utah for the week, for the Sundance Film Festival, because one of his video clips is being used in Kevin MacDonald and Ridley Scott’s documentary, Life in a Day .
Life in a Day is the result of director Kevin MacDonald’s plea to the YouTube community to record one day of their lives – July 24th, 2010 – with the ultimate aim of patching them all together. The call was heard, and 80,000 videos were submitted for selection, totalling 4,500 hours of raw footage.
Produced by Ridley Scott, the footage was eventually cut down to the 90 minute feature that is garnering raves from reviewers and audiences for it’s moving and poignant scenes harnessed from everyday life, by everyday people. Encompassing the most mundane daily activities to the most exhilarating and saddest experiences, the film operates with a kind of rhythm that can change mood on a dime, and can elicit a broad smile as quickly as it can have the viewer choking back the tears .
The movie premiered at Sundance this past week and streamed live on YouTube. And you can watch his MEET THE FILM MAKER interview . The actual film will be released sometime in 2011.
Congratulations Davey!!
Davey on YouTube Davey on Facebook
Best Gay News
We Live In A Straight World – By Edward A. Palmer
I was assigned to cover the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference; (MBLGTACC). Having never heard of such a gathering, especially one with an excessively long title, I was completely unaware of what my day had in store. I arrived with no preconceived notions; I was a clean slate, open for any sort of knowledge that was going to be thrown my way. With this conference I found that there is so much more that I need to learn not only about my community, but most importantly, myself.
It was held at Indiana University, bringing gay folks from all around the Midwest. Chicago and Indianapolis seemed to be that largest represented cites. Gays and lesbians, who had traveled hundreds of miles, from the smallest of towns, simply wanted a sense of solidarity. They wanted to know they weren’t alone. Loneliness and isolation is something that plagues us as a people. I thought my generation had somehow eradicated that, apparently I’ve been incredibly naïve.
The workshops were an important part of the weekend; they ranged from global activism to learning how to relate to other gay people. Everyone that I spoke with said networking was the most important concept. We as gay people still don’t know how to deal with one another. We’re not taught about our sexuality, it’s always been learned through trial an error. Most of these young college students were oblivious to the idea of what it means to be gay. These workshops hopefully fill the gaps. Mandy Greene, a sophomore from Wisconsin, said that straight people can turn on any television show and learn how the sexes relate.
This struck me as incredibly funny and sad; we travel hundreds of miles just to learn how to speak to one another.
To take the edge off, there was entertainment. A hilarious drag quartet named “The Kinsey Sicks” were present. There were also stand up comedians such as Marga Gomez and Jason Stuart. Creator of The L Word: , Rose Troche was a keynote speaker, and vital part of the conference. The Valentine’s Day dance was aptly named The Black and White Affair. Although it was nice too see people take control of their lives, it was refreshing to have fun and enjoy the unity. Surprisingly people from South Dakota can dance.
My final destination was the Kinsey Institute . For those of you who have been under a rock, Alfred Kinsey did ground breaking work with sexuality in the 1940’s, resulting in the controversial publication, “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male”. He invented what is known as the Kinsey scale. 0 is deemed completely heterosexual, while 6 is considered completely homosexual. Most human beings are somewhere in the middle.
My amazing tour guide Garry Milius showed me the pre- stonewall exhibit. Seeing the art showed me how far we have come. When this art was being created it was a crime to be gay. You could be incarcerated on suspicion, which lead to police being paid off. We were forced to become an “underground scene”. This “art” became the manifestation of our revolution.
The photographs, paintings and sculptures were so raw. Large erect penises seemed to be the favorite muse of those days. Kinsey made it clear that when something is made taboo it can become a fetish. As a lover of old photography this was turning out to be my favorite event of the day.
With all this diverse information I was wondering how I was going to present this. Honestly I was scared. On the ride home with my favorite photographer, we discussed the whole event and how it probably meant so many different things to many different people. The one thing we could agree upon is that equality has always been a struggle in America. Although there is an incredibly sad history and a dismal present, we as a people are resilient, like every other minority, we will survive.
With this wonderful event, it’s been proven that we are poets, actors, writers, soldiers, activist; we are everything you can put your mind to. We now have to learn from our history to know where we are going. Never forget those who have gotten us to where we are today. Have successful relationships, families and even children. Things change slowly, but they always change. Conferences are a need even in these times, not only for the knowledge and solidarity, but because we live in a straight world.
Edward Palmer palmer5716 (at) sbcglobal.net
