WATCH: Kentucky Clerk Defends Marriage Equality Opposition, Wants Licenses Issued Online
Casey Davis won’t grant licenses for same-sex marriages because such unions go against God and nature, he says.
Trudy Ring
Monthly Archives: July 2015
My Transgender Life: I Know Someone Who Knows Someone Who…..
My Transgender Life: I Know Someone Who Knows Someone Who…..
Do you remember the old game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? You know, name any actor and try to connect in the fewest “hops” of what movie were they in with someone who ultimately was in a movie with Kevin Bacon.
The entire game was based on a concept called six degrees of separation, which posits that any two people on earth are fewer than six acquaintance links apart.
This made me think about the recent survey report that only about 8% of the population knows someone who is transgender. I know that my own personal world does not fairly represent the country as a whole, but when I go out to teach or speak I ask the question and often see 20-30% or more hands go up.
I do believe that knowing someone who is transgender goes a long way to acceptance and understanding – and for those that have been following some of my writing, you know that I think the acceptance can come first. So the questions started to swim around my mind that how far can the “separation” of acquaintance links be in order to foster and grow transgender acceptance.
If you know someone who is trans, have you ever been in a conversation with a friend, a co-worker, even a stranger in a line somewhere, where you got to say, “I know someone who is transgender and they are so courageous and happy being their true self!” Have you ever heard this from someone and repeated as ” I know someone who knows someone who is transgender and…..”
…
Once again, I will state that we are all unique, just like snowflakes! There is no one way, no right way to BE transgender. Just because you may know someone who is transgender that does not mean you know everyone who is transgender. There are trans people in the public. Some do great things, while some do not! Some are heroes while some are not. Some are highly visible and some hide themselves and their past, which all is fine. Almost all of them, all of us, have gone through an internal battle to understand and hopefully accept ourselves as best we possibly can. No two of us have taken the same path to live our truth. Each one of us has had the courage to move forward and possibly lose everything and everyone that is near and dear to us. Yes, each one of us reached this crossroad!
When you know someone you have met someone who has had an incredible challenge in his or her life and was incredibly brave enough to face their internal challenge in spite of not mapping to society’s expectations. The more people you meet and get to know, you will realize that they are really not that much different than you, but perhaps their specific challenges are! Perhaps it is the millions of trans people that are facing their challenges can teach everyone to face their own and live their true life, what ever that may be.
…
Six degrees of separation does not seem so far away. Neither does even 2 degrees or 3 degrees of separation. It was reported that over 17 million people saw the Diane Sawyer/Jenner interview this past April. If each of those people told two people they know a trans person and then they told 2 people, there would be over 150 Million people at 2 degrees of separation. This may sound silly, but that is the power of the media and the way we see knowledge being spread.
Most of us, not just trans people, want to live our lives as our true selves. We need people in our life to accept us just as people who had a challenge that we did not ask for but have learned to deal with it. We are not crazy, impaired or doing anything wrong.
We are just trying to end our internal six degrees of separation, and bring together all those parts and aspects inside of us that have been internally battling for many years and bring them all together as the people we truly are.
I bet you are too!
###
Grace Stevens is a transgender woman who transitioned at the age of 64 and holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology. She is a father of three, grandparent of two, athlete, advocate and author of No! Maybe? Yes! Living My Truth, an intimate memoir of her personal struggle to transition and live her true life authentically as a woman. Grace is available for speaking about authentic living with Living on-TRACK, and Gender Variance Education and Training. Visit her website at: www.graceannestevens.com/. Follow Grace on Twitter: www.twitter.com/graceonboard .
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REVIEW: Jen Cafe – Chinatown, London
REVIEW: Jen Cafe – Chinatown, London
Jen Cafe is a fairly simple place but it’s one of the stand-outs in London’s Chinatown.
Occupying a prime corner location in Newport Place, Jen Cafe specialise in freshly made dumplings (steamed or fried) but also has a full menu of numerous classic dishes.
The service is brusque, and this isn’t a place to linger over your food, but if you fancy some freshly made dumplings then this is a winner.
The post REVIEW: Jen Cafe – Chinatown, London appeared first on Gay Star News.
Gareth Johnson
www.gaystarnews.com/article/review-jen-cafe-chinatown-london/
Parents Give Son Gift Of NSA Gay Dating Apps. Happy Birthday, “RagingBottom96″!
Parents Give Son Gift Of NSA Gay Dating Apps. Happy Birthday, “RagingBottom96″!
What did you get for your 19th birthday? A subscription to Rolling Stone? A car if you were one of those kids?
Well for one fresh-faced 20-something actor playing 19, the big gift was a smart phone loaded up with Jack’d and complete with a ready-to-go profile crafted by mum and dad.
They even chose a solid user ID to get him stated — RagingBottom96. How very touching.
Watch the entertaining marketing ploy below:
Dan Tracer
YouTuber Shane Dawson Comes Out As Bisexual in Moving Video: WATCH
YouTuber Shane Dawson Comes Out As Bisexual in Moving Video: WATCH
Vlogger Shane Dawson, who has more than 6.7 million followers on YouTube, came out as bisexual in a new video posted to his channel Tuesday.
Shane first started his channel back in 2008 and in many ways was at the forefront of the YouTube movement.
In an emotional no-frills video, Shane shared his struggle to come out as bisexual:
“Over the last year I have been extremely sexually confused…I mean my whole life, but this last year is when it really hit me. I always wished that I was gay, that I was just 100 percent gay. For so many reasons, you know, number one, that would mean I knew who I was. Number two, it would be a lot easier for me to be accepted by people. Because I wear wigs and dresses on the internet and I’m feminine and all these things. And it would be so much easier to just say, yeah, you know, I’m gay. But I’m not completely gay, and I can’t sit here and say that I am… but I also can’t sit here and say that I’m straight…I’ve come to the conclusion, through therapy and through being honest with myself, I am bisexual.
Shane confessed that he had only said out loud that he was bisexual once before while in therapy. He decided he wanted to talk about it because he felt that other viewers might identify with his struggle to understand who he is.
Watch Shane’s emotional coming out video in which he touches on how his same-sex attractions were shut down and repressed as a kid because of his family’s religion as well as what he hopes others can take away from his story, below:
The post YouTuber Shane Dawson Comes Out As Bisexual in Moving Video: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Sean Mandell
YouTuber Shane Dawson Comes Out As Bisexual in Moving Video: WATCH
Pedro Sánchez – Orgullo 2015
WATCH: Ted Cruz, Glenn Beck Think Marriage Equality Has Destroyed the Constitution
WATCH: Ted Cruz, Glenn Beck Think Marriage Equality Has Destroyed the Constitution
The right-wing politician and the pundit traded doomsday fantasies now that the freedom to marry has gone nationwide.
Sunnivie Brydum
Refusal to Grant Marriage Licenses Because of Alleged Religious Conviction Is Based More on Politics and Bigotry Than Scripture
Refusal to Grant Marriage Licenses Because of Alleged Religious Conviction Is Based More on Politics and Bigotry Than Scripture
Clerks have granted marriage licenses to convicted murderers while still in prison despite the Commandment that thou shall not commit murder, but some clerks have decided to draw the line at same-sex marriage licenses–apparently, in their view, a much more serious offense to their religious principles. Have these same clerks refused to grant a marriage license because one or both of the applicants has violated one of the Ten Commandments? Do clerks inquire as to whether the applicants have taken the name of the Lord in vain or failed to keep the Sabbath holy? Have they denied licenses to those who have been convicted of theft or committed adultery? Do or have Catholic clerks refused to give licenses to persons who have been divorced? Can Jewish clerks deny licenses to applicants who eat pork? Critics of the Supreme Court’s decision protecting same-sex marriages, such as Ted Cruz, have suggested that not only is the decision a “violation of the justices’ oath” and a threat to democracy, but it represents an intrusion into religious liberty as well. Nonsense.
As to the first claim, “thwarting the will of the majority” is the duty of the Supreme Court when the majority seeks to impede or interfere with the equal rights of some of its citizens. Neither the states nor Congress have the option of enacting laws that discriminate and violate the Constitution. Matters of constitutional law are decided by the courts—not by the public or its representatives. But the further charge that the decision impinges upon religious liberty is even more absurd. The claim is made that government employees may be required to grant marriage licenses in violation of their religious beliefs. As set forth above, they have had no trouble doing so for much more serious violations of universal religious teachings.
I have no doubt that there are many persons opposed to same-sex marriage for sincere religious beliefs, but I sense that the sudden refusal to grant marriage licenses supposedly based on religious conviction is based more on politics and bigotry than scripture.
— 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.
Jimmy Carter believes Jesus would have approved of gay marriage
Jimmy Carter believes Jesus would have approved of gay marriage
Jimmy Carter, president of the US from 1977-81, is a well-known Christian who has spoken out in support of same-sex marriage in the past.
He said this week that he believes his point of view is in line with that of Jesus despite much of the marriage equality opposition being due to people’s religious beliefs.
‘I believe Jesus would approve gay marriage, but that’s just my own personal belief,’ Carter tells HuffPost Live. ‘I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else, and I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else.’
Carter describes himself as a born again Christian and he still teaches Sunday school classes when he’s at home in Plains, Georgia.
Even though same-sex marriage was not legal in any of the 50 states when Carter was president, he says he has ‘no problem’ with it.
‘I think everyone should have the right to get married regardless of their sex,’ he says.
But, he adds, he is not in favor ‘of the government being able to force a local church congregation to perform gay marriages if they didn’t want to.
‘But these partners should be able to go to the local courthouse or another church and get married.’
Carter is promoting his latest memoir A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety.
The post Jimmy Carter believes Jesus would have approved of gay marriage appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
www.gaystarnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-believes-jesus-would-have-approved-of-gay-marriage/
Tweet: It’s Time for LGBT Equality Around the Clock
Tweet: It’s Time for LGBT Equality Around the Clock
