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Marriage Equality Victory in Puerto Rico
With today’s pro-equality ruling from the First Circuit Court of Appeals, same-sex marriages can begin in Puerto Rico on July 15, according to reports.
Dawn Ennis
www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2015/07/08/marriage-equality-victory-puerto-rico
What Men Ages 5 To 50 Think 'Be A Man' Means
A powerful new video features 50 men between the ages of 5 and 50 opening up about what they think of when they hear the phrase “be a man.”
The many varied responses, put together by Cut Video, open up an important dialogue about changing cultural perceptions of masculinity. Many of the men featured either had negative associations with the phrase “be a man,” or thoughtfully explained why they think commanding someone to “be a man” is problematic or limiting.
“Misleading,” one 21-year-old said. “I’ve learned that being a man doesn’t mean to shut out your feelings — it’s to embrace them.”
“Who defines what a man is?” another 39-year-old respondent asked. “I mean, we all have to walk our own paths. What I consider to make me a man may not be what makes you a man.”
Taken as a whole, the responses provide some valuable insight about how idioms like “be a man” can reinforce stereotypes and perpetuate systems of violence, by shaping cultural expectations of behavior. When we raise boys who are constantly told to “man up” and “be a man,” it shapes and informs the way they handle their relationships — both with themselves and those around them.
Watch the full video above. Want to see more from Cut Video? Check out another word association project about the word “gay” here.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
REVIEW: Seashore
Set on the wintry coast of southern Brazil, this is a slow-moving and poignant story about two school friends.
Martin (Mateus Almada) has been sent by his father to the beach-side town where Martin’s grandfather has recently passed away. Tomaz (Mauricio Barcellos) goes with him for company.
Alone together, secrets are shared and boundaries are tested.
Written and directed by Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon, this is a subtle approach to story-telling – allowing the characters to gradually reveal themselves and their narrative.
Heavy use of hand-held camera-work gives the scenes an immediacy and intimacy, lingering across the features of a face or the imperfections on skin.
Adolescence is confusing time, and Seashore embraces that with a very contemporary sensibility.
An intriguing glimpse into the not-so-sunny side of life in Brazil.
Seashore is distributed by Wolfe entertainment.
Seashore – Trailer from FilmBuff on Vimeo.
The post REVIEW: Seashore appeared first on Gay Star News.
Gareth Johnson
Texas Couple Finally Gets Marriage License From Homophobic Clerk Who Initially Denied Them
When Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton went to their local courthouse in Granbury, Texas, to get married last week, Hood County Clerk Katie Lang (not to be confused with lesbian singer-songwriter K.D. Lang) turned them away, citing religious objections.
Then she called the police to try and have the men removed from the building. What followed was a showdown between antigay activists and supporters of marriage equality the law of the land.
On Thursday, dozens of “religious freedom” activists held a protest outside of the courthouse where they waves signs that read “Impeach Supreme Court” and “Protect Religious Freedom” and demanding “the biblical understanding of marriage.”
“Government should not be able to punish people because of their religious faith,” Jonathan Saenz, president of Austin-based Texas Values, which opposes same-sex marriage, preached to the crowd. “We will not be silent! We will continue to stand for God and country! We are here to support Katie Lang!”
Related: Another Uppity Texas County Clerk Is Denying A Gay Couple Their Marriage License
On the other side of the courthouse lawn, supporters of Cado and Stapleton held their own protest.
“We live in Granbury,” Cato told press. “We pay our taxes in Granbury. We do not feel like we have to travel somewhere else for our marriage license. We will stick it out here until we get our license in Granbury.”
And stick it out they did. On Monday, Cato and Stapleton filed a federal lawsuit against Lang for denying them their legal right to a marriage license. Knowing she had no legal ground to stand on, the clerk’s office caved, citing “software issues” for Lang’s initial refusal to perform her job.
“Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton are delighted that they finally have been issued a marriage license and can get married in their home county,” their attorneys, Jan Soifer and Austin Kaplan, said in a statement this week. “It’s a shame that they needed to hire lawyers and file a lawsuit to make that happen.”
Lang has since vowed that she will “personally refrain” from issuing licenses, but said that others in the office could do so once “the appropriate forms have been printed and supplied to my office.”
Perhaps she’d be better off looking for a new line of work. Just sayin’.
Related: Christian Government Clerk Hijacks The Law, And It’s All Caught On Tape
h/t: The Huffington Post
Graham Gremore
One Man’s Fight To Legalize Gay Marriage in the Navajo Nation: VIDEO
In the Great Navajo Nation, gay people — or nádleehí — were traditionally associated with wealth, and families they were born into were considered fortunate, according to Fusion.net.
In fact, the Navajo nation — the largest American Indian reservation in the US with 300,000 people in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico — recognized same-sex unions until 2005.
However, due to assimilation into U.S. culture, Navajo leaders gradually adopted the rest of the country’s views about LGBT people. Ten years ago, on the heels of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and a wave of state-level same-sex marriage bans, the Navajo nation passed the anti-gay Diné Marriage Act.
And today, while the rest of the nation has marriage equality, gay Navajos still do not. But one man, Alray Nelson, is leading a new push to change that.
From Fusion.net:
“There were same-sex couples from our creation story all the way to today. Those relationships were there, they were recognized, and they had every right to be productive members of our community,” Nelson said.
“If they repeal the [Diné Marriage Act] it brings it back to what our traditional values used to be. They’re using the whites man’s language, a foreign way of speaking, to redefine something that was already sacred and defined, we didn’t need to redefine it at all,” he said. …
“When we talk about discrimination in regards to taking away someone’s rights, Navajo people get that,” he said. “They get it because they’ve dealt with decades of assimilation policy and continue to deal with those issues. So when a certain segment of the community feels left out and aren’t treated with respect and fairness, Navajos understand that and they get that fight.”
The New York Times profiled Nelson in a story about same-sex marriage and the Navajo nation back in February:
Other gay tribal citizens say they support same-sex marriage but do not consider marriage rights a priority, pointing out that many gay Navajos suffer from drug abuse and debilitating depression.
Fixing these ills, said Jeremy Yazzie, 33, who counsels gay and transgender Navajos, is far more important. “Everyone is worried about repealing the gay marriage act,” Mr. Yazzie said. “That’s far from my work. How can we love somebody else if we can’t even love ourselves?” …
Gay Navajos tend to maintain a quiet existence here, connecting with potential partners on the Internet and coming out to their families, but keeping their sexuality largely private. In interviews, several said they would not hold hands in public. Others said they had endured taunts or even physical abuse in school or in their neighborhoods, leading to depression and attempts to harm themselves. Some had moved off the reservation to places where they felt more comfortable.
Now, Nelson and Dr. Denetdale both note, young LGBT Navajos can face bullies and teasing on their own reservation. But they say the discussion about lifting the ban on same-sex marriage is creating a dialogue and awareness of the issues LGBT people face on the reservation.
If the activists are successful and push the Navajo Nation to lift the ban on gay marriage, could have a sweeping effect. The Navajo nation is the largest of the 566 federally recognized tribes and smaller tribes look to see how they handle their policies.
Watch a New York Times video featuring Nelson below.
The post One Man’s Fight To Legalize Gay Marriage in the Navajo Nation: VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.
John Wright
One Man’s Fight To Legalize Gay Marriage in the Navajo Nation: VIDEO
Look for me this afternoon and evening!! I will definitely be online today and looking to have some serious fun haha 😉 You guys have been awesome and I can’t thank you enough for all the support and kind words! You ran me outta lube!! Hahaha, I have to go to the mall and pick some more up this morning!Again, I’m so thrilled to be here and doing this, and you guys are all amazing for making it happen. I wouldn’t be able to model without awesome viewers and fans, like you guys! I’m almost never going to be available in the mornings for camming, but I check my messages on here, and on Twitter all throughout the day. So don’t be shy, feel free to shoot me a line.And don’t forget, I have a bunch of wild, hot, steamy videos on demand for you guys to watch whenever I am not online 😉 so please check them out and let me know what you think!!! I don’t think you will be disappointed haha ;)And don’t forget to check out my wishlist too, I can’t wait to expand my inventory of toys and fun things haha. Please, let me know if you have any suggestions of things you would like to see me wearing, or playing with! I’m always UP for trying different things, and I also try to customize my shows to meet my customers wildest desires and cravings haha :)I’m gonna do my morning stuff, errands, cleaning, stuff like that haha and I will be online later today, like usual. Can’t wait to chat guys!!! Talk to you very soon!~Devon
EXCLUSIVE: Nick Jonas Shares the Dave Aude 'Teacher' Remix
Our favorite Jonas brother debuts a new dance remix of ‘Teacher’ with The Advocate.
Jase Peeples
An Open Letter to American Muslims on Same-Sex Marriage
The following is reprinted with permission from Religion Dispatches. Follow RD on Facebook or Twitter for daily updates.
To Our Fellow American Muslims,
Hey there. It’s two of your brothers. We’re writing to you about the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage in all fifty states. The good news is that a whopping 42 percent of you support marriage equality, as do both of our Muslim elected officials in the United States Congress. One even serves as vice chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus! There are many faithful gay and lesbian Muslims in the U.S. and we love and support all of them.
At the same time, many of you are scandalized by the ruling (we know because you keep tweeting about it), and many more of you are equally perturbed but have chosen to keep it to yourself. With all the rainbow-flag waving and self-congratulatory pats on the back this country is giving itself right now, you don’t need another reason for Americans to dislike you.
Sure Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee can call the Supreme Court decision the precursor to the End of Days and the final battle of Armageddon. But if you try saying something like that on TV you may end up in Guantanamo. So you’re staying quiet. You may not like the Supreme Court’s decision but you’re willing to tolerate it.
We understand where you’re coming from. Being Muslim in America is not easy. On the one hand you’re a part of mainstream culture. You’re a Warriors fan. You listen to Kanye. You watch Game of Thrones. You even went to the office Christmas party and sang Silent Night!
On the other hand, you want to stay true to your faith and traditions: You go to the mosque and send your kids to Islamic school, fast during Ramadan, and swap Turkey bacon on your BLT, all in an attempt to establish a firm Muslim identity in a non-Muslim country.
But now that same-sex marriage is legal in America, it’s shaking up your faith. You’re afraid of the future and what this could mean for your kids. You recognize the growing acceptance of gay rights, but personally you just can’t bring yourself to embrace the shift. You may feel okay with having gay acquaintances or coworkers. You may even agree that being gay doesn’t disqualify you from also being a Muslim. But privately, you still feel like the LGBT community is a living contradiction to what you were brought up to believe.
But here’s the thing. When you are an underrepresented minority–whether Muslim, African American, female, etc.–democracy is an all or nothing business. You fight for everyone’s rights (and the operative word here is “fight”), or you get none for yourself. Democracy isn’t a buffet. You can’t pick and choose which civil liberties apply to which people. Either we are all equal, or the whole thing is just a sham.
We Muslims are already a deeply marginalized people in mainstream American culture. More than half of Americans have a negative view of us. One-third of Americans–that’s more than one hundred million people–want us to carry special IDs so that they can easily identify us as Muslim. We shouldn’t be perpetuating our marginalization by marginalizing others. Rejecting the right to same-sex marriage, but then expecting empathy for our community’s struggle, is hypocritical.
Think about the way people look at your hijabi sister or your bearded brother when they walk through the mall. Think about the grumbles and stares you get at airports. Think about the vitriol that’s spewed on you by your own elected political leaders. That’s how your LGBT brothers and sisters feel every day of their lives. Are you okay with that?
We don’t know about you, but our faith teaches us to care for the weak and the marginalized, the poor and dispossessed, those who are trampled underfoot, those who are persecuted–no matter who they are, no matter what they believe, no matter who they choose to love.
“Believers, stand firm for God, be witnesses for justice. Never allow the hatred of people to prevent you from being just. Be just, for this is closest to righteousness” (Quran 5:8).
It doesn’t get any clearer than that.
You may think LGBT rights is a new conversation, something that’s only recently come into contact with modern Islamic thought, but trust us, it’s not. Challenging the status quo for the betterment of society is one of the very foundations on which Islam was built.
No one is asking you to change your beliefs. If you feel your faith tells you that homosexuality isharam, fine. We disagree with your interpretation, but you’re entitled to it.
Ain’t America grand?
But if you can’t find it in your heart to accept gays on principle, think about the country you want to live in. After all, the constitution that just ensured the rights of LGBT communities is the same constitution that protects our mosques and community centers, that keeps our Islamic schools open, that allows us equal rights and privileges in the face overwhelming hatred and bigotry from our fellow Americans. You can’t celebrate one without the other.
That’s why it’s not enough to simply “tolerate” the Supreme Court decision. Tolerating another community only stirs up concealed fear toward the marginalized and apathy toward the political process. As minorities we don’t have the luxury to have either of those emotions. We have to do more than tolerate. We have to embrace. We have to fight for the right of others to live their lives as freely as we want to live ours.
Bottom line is this: standing up for marginalized communities, even when you disagree with them, is not just the right thing to do, it’s the Muslim thing to do. Remember that whole God is merciful and compassionate thing? That extends to all people, not just those who are straight.
Celebrate. Don’t tolerate. Love really does win.
Yours Truly,
Reza Aslan and Hasan Minhaj
Agree, disagree, find out more about LGBT issues in Islam, and continue the conversation here.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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