"Do You Hate The White Man Now, Grandfather?"

Catholic Church Rejoices over Maine

The U.S. bishops applauded the
decision of voters in Maine to repeal a state law allowing same-sex
"marriage." The position of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
(USCCB) was stated by Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, chairman of
the Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage.

"Yesterday on November 3rd, the people of Maine voted to uphold the true
nature of marriage as the union of one man and one woman," Archbishop Kurtz
said in a November 4 statement. "The voice of the people in this country has
spoken once again on the side of justice, in favor of the truth about
marriage."

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

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by: MauraHennessey @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 16:16:57 PM CST

Sickening...

The votes on immigrants rights of the 1840's were led by the Know Nothing party.  A party that targeted Catholics.  How utterly sickening and sadly ironic that the Catholics are now the Know Nothing party of our time.

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by: Will St. James @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:53:01 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Justice?

"The voice of the people in this country has
spoken once again on the side of justice, in favor of the truth about marriage."

The Religious Reich's definition of justice and ours obviously differ.

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by: Jon Michaels @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 23:06:20 PM CST

[ Parent ]

@Maura

"Forgive me for being on a downer, for being angry and frustrated. "

DON'T ask forgiveness of any of that, I feel exactly that way and I apologize for none of it...we earned it.

I feel like a blood soaked Carrie, locking every f*ckin door with my mind, and the bigots heads and stained glass windows are laying in shards in my path.

Robin Morgan a feminist poet, who was married to a Black gay man, wrote her book of poems Monster, after her husband had been bashed.

" I'm pregnant with rage, and my pains are coming closer"

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 16:42:22 PM CST

here's a Carrie image

  http://s810.photobucket.com/al...

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 22:56:30 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Please all, Read DAVID M. .... This is APARTHEID! ...

from his blog today. Which is only Part ONE of TWO. (We all hope the second presents his plan.)

http://tinyurl.com/yzqsv75

First and foremost, Enough!

We have poured over $100,000,000 in the last two years into efforts where Americans feel it is there obligation to vote on our freedom. The entire concept is repugnant and disgusting. That we for the last three decades have been drawn into this game of 'this is politics' and fighting these ballot box horrors so that maybe by in five, ten or twenty years we will have enough victories to force our federal government to protect our freedom is simply not acceptable anymore.

 

Second, call this campaign against us what it is - Gay Apartheid.

Refuse to allow any of our fellow Americans, President Obama or our allies to view this as a political issue who time hasn't quite come. America is in the process of creating a system of Gay Apartheid.

Third, it is clear that the political establishment in Washington doesn't understand that we no longer willing to wait until it meets their timetable or political needs.

President Obama standing on the sidelines in Maine and Washington was appalling. The failure of our national organizations and leaders to demand his involvement was equally appalling. The outrageous act of the Democratic National Committee sending an email into Maine asking Maine Democrats to call into "NEW JERSEY" instead of to support the fight against bigotry was unbelievable.

Yes he does ACKNOWLEDGE all the recent (and past 40 years!!) of hard work.

Finally, yes, as a community we have every reason to be proud. We raised the money, we made the calls, we came not in anger and we made the case. My hats off to the brave people, gay and straight, of Maine and Washington who fought in the trenches. We all are so proud of you and to be part of your community. You have no idea how much we love you for your work, dignity and honor. However, it is no longer acceptable to be viewed as brave, patient warriors in defeat.

I don't want to be a brave warrior, I want to be a free one.

Enough!

I'm not sure when the next column will be out. I for one await it with baited breath, and I think we all should clear our heads and hearts and LISTEN.

It's the Hammer of JUSTICE,
It's the Bell of FREEDOM,
It's the Song about LOVE between,
my Brothers and my Sisters
...All over this Land.

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by: Orion45 @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:12:08 PM CST

I quoted David earlier too

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:18:17 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Humiliating...

As my partner and I tracked returns here in Seattle last night, I realized that this was the first time that I am a resident in a state where my rights are up for a vote. And it was humiliating for me when I fully realized that MY/OUR future is in the hands of people I don't even know!

Yes, we likely will win on R-71, and I'm happy about that; but I'm still bothered that our government somehow does not see the problem with putting the rights of a minority up for a vote by the majority.

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by: seaharp @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:14:30 PM CST

Gay Apartheid is right

It seems that many of the ads that were run should be subjected to "truth in advertising."  I am so sick of Christians bearing false witness that I do feel a yearning to return to the Act-Up years--throwing cream pies in lying faces.

If this is gay apartheid, we should work on using the international community to lay economic sanctions on the U.S. much like the world did to South Africa, and like the EU is doing on non-cooperating Eastern European countries who do not see gay rights as fundamental human rights.  

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by: blakelight @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:26:56 PM CST

Gay?

I suppose this doesn't affect straight folks, of course.

No apartheid there...

http://www.dyssonance.com  Breaking all the rules...

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by: dyssonance @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 20:41:23 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I couldn't agree more.

The Bishop of Maine needs to have his every step dogged.  He needs to be faced with what he has done every time he appears in public.  He needs to see it when he peeks out the rectory window.  He needs to see it when he holds mass.  He needs to not get away with this.

Cue the "Kumbaya" gays now.  "We won't change hearts and minds by being mean."

Yes, yes, we will.  Because the other side doesn't understand anything else.

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by: DavidinPS @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:27:47 PM CST

Agreed

Americans don't respect us. They think we're weak, that we're hysterical effeminate arm-flailing squealing whining pick-your-insult.

And you don't confirm rights or benefits for someone you don't respect.

Bill Maher said back in September, "The Democrats just never learn: Americans don't really care which side of an issue you're on as long as you don't act like pussies."

When we start bashing back, when news reports come in of christians who wound up in intensive care after attempting to bash gays, when we are willing to STOP FUCKING PLAYING NICE-NICE WITH THE PEOPLE WHO WANT US DEAD, then they'll respect us. And that's when we'll start winning referenda.

God save ornery old queens! - kevinchi

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by: Keori @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:46:46 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I second that............

If I hear one more time that we need to play nice so that others grow to like us, I'll scream!  We look like naive imbeciles who will fall for anything. Our opponents are laughing at us and how easy it is to manipulate the public into polling their way.  Let's show our intelligence and resilience and MIGHT.  

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by: exfundie @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 19:07:39 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I third that....

No more nice guy.  I 'woke up' when I heard public pronouncements of rounding up homos and arresting us.  Yep, there are people who want us dead. Fuck that.

http://realitybong.wordpress.com

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by: OregonRed @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 22:05:26 PM CST

[ Parent ]

What a waste of resources.

I am very disappointed in the path the LGBTQ "community" has taken for advancement. It seems as though we are doing it on the backs of others, assuming privilege that I find so distasteful in mainstream American culture. We talk about inclusion but do nothing about building coalitions. Case in point is marriage, I highly exclusionary and discriminatory institution which creates a special class of people who get more rights and benefits then everyone else. So what do we see as our goal? Gaining access to this exclusionary group, gaining membership into the country-club if you will, rather then trying to break down the barriers of access so everyone can benefit. We need universal access to health-care, education, housing, jobs, and immigration, and a sound energy policy much more then we need marriage and the special rights it entails.

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices.
- William James(1842 - 1910)

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by: nudewoody @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:28:23 PM CST

WARNING: Dump and Dash Poster Here

Profile created today and this is the first comment on the blend.

Best to just not reply at all.

Close the GayTM. Only give to candidates who have actually done something other than make promises - most are just pandering for our cash.

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by: JohnVisser @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:35:13 PM CST

[ Parent ]

absolutely

it might not be the BEST day to send in DNC cheerleaders, not when I'm taking scalplocks

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:47:56 PM CST

[ Parent ]

You want them broken. I want them extinct.

The christian right in America has managed to massacre everything its hands have touched. Law and order, "certain inalienable rights," the First Nations people, countless species of flora and fauna, the land itself. They believe the world is evil, so they seek to destroy it. They live for the destruction of everything and everyone around them. The christian right's lust for power and control and carnage has slaughtered everything in its path.

Humans managed to eradicate smallpox on a global scale by recognizing the danger it posed to humanity.

How much more dangerous is the christian right?


God save ornery old queens! - kevinchi

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by: Keori @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:34:55 PM CST

PAAMMMMM!!!!!!

Maine are wanting to take away even more rights from gay people!

Well...

Proponent Information
An Act to Remove Protections Based on Sexual Orientation from the Maine Human Rights Act, Eliminate Funding of Civil Rights Teams in Public Schools, Prohibit Adoptions by Unmarried Couples, Add a Definition of Marriage, and Declare Civil Unions Unlawful

Michael S.Heath
70 Sewall Street
Augusta, ME 04330
(H) (207) 445-4929 (W) 622-7634

http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/e...

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by: WTFBlog @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:37:17 PM CST

and...

the person responsible for trying to initiate this? None other than Michael S. Heath, formerly of the Maine Christian Civic League!

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by: WTFBlog @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:39:42 PM CST

[ Parent ]

What the fuck??

Can someone inform me as to how this stuff goes through the process of actually getting on the ballot?  He needs a bunch of signatures, right??  How worried should we be about this?

I COMPLETELY agree with the original post, by the way.  I don't like using the word "gay apartheid" because I don't like appropriating other oppressed groups' [separate from LGBTQ people, not that there are no African LGBTQ people] situations.  But I am 110% in favor of a return to militant action!

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by: CisgenderLesbianRadical @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 13:23:58 PM CST

[ Parent ]

correction*

"separate from the LGBTQ identity axis, not that there are no African LGBTQ people"

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by: CisgenderLesbianRadical @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 13:24:58 PM CST

[ Parent ]

apartheid is not a good word for us to use

It just begs the comparrison of Africans being slashed with machettes and some lousy all white male A-Gay fundraiser.

USE our own imagry, we have been put in concentration camps, we are kicked to death serving in the military, we were left dying in the streets of AIDS.

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 13:47:18 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Thank you!!

SERIOUSLY.  Let's talk about what has and is being done to us - that's enough, and it isn't infringing on others' experiences while making our movement white-centric and racist.

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by: CisgenderLesbianRadical @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 14:58:40 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I think gays and lesbians would do better for a bang for our buck to hire the smelliest homeless folks to go sit in catholic pews

make it so undesirable to attend Mass the little blue haired ladies stay away.

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:43:18 PM CST

One thing is for sure...

..we have got to stop the "nice nice" to gay catholics.

Sorry, they are collaborating with the enemy.

Cue the Kumbayas: "But they are changing it from within"

Response: Bullshit. The CC is not a democracy.  You can't vote the Bishop out of office.

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by: DavidinPS @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 18:53:08 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Exactly!

The only way real Catholics can take back their church is to take it over -- use the tactics of the 1960s radicals by taking over the bishop's castle and sit-in.

Time to take over the seminaries and sit-in and take over the offices so no work gets done.

It's too bad the leadership continues the myth of the royal divine right of rule. People were afraid of Kennedy becoming President, fearing he'd take orders from the Pope, and countered it by unhesitatingly declaring he believed in the separation between church and state. It's too bad more Catholics did learn from that.

I also agree it's time to declare a de-facto war on the Catholic hierarchy, since they declared war on gay and lesbian families. Our Catholic allies need to leave the church -- NOW. They need to stand up in the middle of services and declare themselves free of a church that acts more and more like royalty than Americans and denies the rights of their friends under SECULAR law.

TLBG families need to stake signs in the bishop's castle reading "A bigot lives here!"

As the Dixie Chicks sang in their replay to the morons who attacked them for telling the truth about Shrub: "I'm not ready to make nice."

Listen to "TransTalk" every Thursday at 4-5pm ET on http://www.falconradio.org

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by: Marlene @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 03:10:51 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I wouldn't openly disrupt services

It puts us in a bad light attacking the nice church folks, look how Mormons turned that on us.

Subterfuge is better. Make them the villians throwing out homeless folks reeking in their pews. I'd send in face tattooed gang members who do absolutely nothing but pray next to them. Play on their racism and hypocricy about helping the poor least among us.

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 13:52:13 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Love. It. N/T

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by: pgraydon @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 14:31:15 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Disrupt outside of the Service, block streets for a little while

Hit and run, protest as people are trying  to get there or when they are leaving....create a traffic snarl, that is not hard to do at all---then melt away....

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

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by: MauraHennessey @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 14:35:09 PM CST

[ Parent ]

When we openly confront a church we are cast as the VILLIANS

subterfuge and bankrupting their donors is our best tactics. Getting secretaries and gophers in their offices as moles, is what we need.

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 15:14:23 PM CST

[ Parent ]

We are always cast as villians , yet live as victims

We have nothing to lose.
Petey, we have to, truly have to make opposing us more costly in terms of time, effort and money than they are willing to endure.

And every time that we lose a brother or sister to death caused by the hatred that they preact, we exact a cost, be it a graffitti list of sex offenders hidden by the church and painted upon cathedral walls, or call then openly on the hate crimes that they endorse in Africa, or their opposition to decriminalisation and how that is rank hypocrisy when they are shouting "we love the sinner, but hate the sin"

No, they hate us and need to be called on their lies.
They need to be made to pay a price

Do people here understand that they would do to us what they do to our brothers and sisters in africa if they had the power to do so in the States?

Think about it. Plan ahead what your strike back will be to our opponents, how we can make them pay for what they cost each and every one of us.

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

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by: MauraHennessey @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 15:32:00 PM CST

[ Parent ]

We can lose...if we make the haters look picked on victims, and others sympathize with them

They THRIVE on that sh*t.

a couple other ideas for protests.
4 people step in dog sh*t before entering the church, wipe a little on the entry mat, then sit throughout the church, so the whole place stinks.
Another would be have LGBT couples mis match to appear straight and sit on both sides of the church, then at a moment prearranged, maybe after the first prayer, the lesbians move to their partners on the right side of the church, and the gay men move to the left.

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 17:04:43 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Maura honestly there is nothing you want, I don't want too

But doing it in the open doesn't help us it helps them.
hell I'd like to spray lawn killer or salt spelling F*CK YOU HATERS on every lawn of every church, and after the ground freezes they wouldn't notice til spring.

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 17:11:12 PM CST

[ Parent ]

We need to find the Knights of Columbus funders

The biggest donors to Catholic Charities, and donors who build their buildings. Find those business owners and the list of business funding NOM and beat them down with MASSIVE BOYCOTTS.

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 13:55:40 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I think we should publicly congratulate the good people who protected marriage in Maine

The actors in stock photos

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 19:06:39 PM CST

URGENT (sorry for the repeat!)

Trying to get the word out about rallies in support of Maine that are happening in areas all over the country SOON! Please pass along this info to EVERYONE and if you can, get active and start posting fliers, sending emails, etc.

Rallies in support of Maine!
http://queersunited.blogspot.c...

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by: wspencer @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 19:08:06 PM CST

Maggie G was at DC Protest

We were nice to her, but all I could think was "that bitch has nerve to come here - it's the equivalent of dancing on graves." We had about 100 - 125 people there. I am really concerned now about DC's marriage law. No telling what NOM will do to stop that, although I don't think there's much of a legal path for them.

I think the lesson of Maine is that we must expand our message - not only that we are human beings worthy of rights, but that our opponents are lying bigots who are deliberately fearmongering.

Of course all the fundie leadership is here in DC, so if we are going to go the path of civil disobedience - and I think we must - they seem like a natural starting point. DC is not only one of the gayest places in the country, we have a very strong base of straight support, so bodies for protests.

I do think we have to be careful, though, about how we handle it. Disrupting Mass, for instance, would only give us bad press, and violence is not likely to work either. I'd like to see us return to things like the "zaps" of the early LGBT civil rights movement in the 70s.

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by: CPT_Doom @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 06:07:38 AM CST

[ Parent ]

It doesn't have to be disruptive

Churches filled with silent queers, tape over their mouths, holding up signs that say, "Gay/Trans human being harmed by this church" would be an interesting visual.

I also like the idea of getting a list of all the publicly-known names of the priest abuse victims and putting them in a full page ad in every newspaper where our rights are suffering through a popularity contest. Put an ad in asking, "WHERE IS THE JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF CATHOLIC-CHURCH FUNDED CHILD RAPE?"

I think I shall do that in Hawaii this coming legislative session.

God save ornery old queens! - kevinchi

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by: Keori @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 23:27:02 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Good people who do nothing.

What I really hate is that less than 1/3 of voters in my state bothered to vote.

I can look around, and assume that 1/6 of the people I see voted against my rights... but 4/6 stood by and did nothing.

Evil doesn't happen because good people say "Yes."  It happens because they fail to say "No."

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by: Sundried @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 19:15:41 PM CST

No more Mr. and Ms. Nice person

I'm ready to start fucking shit up. Mind you, In a non-violent sort of way.

Lay down in the streets. Block traffic. Get arrested and fill the jails and don't bail out. Keep filling then over and over again. Plug up the system. Make them use up resources protecting us queers and transfolk in the clink. If they don't, we'll sue them into the next world. Let the authorities and the fundies know we are willing to do most everything short of violence. At this point what do we have to lose.

 

Cisgender. Because "Genetic" is so 2006.

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by: Denabeth @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 19:55:19 PM CST

Obama's silence

Getting a little off-topic here, but does anyone doubt that when the day comes and Satan calls Pat Robertson home, that our "fierce advocate" will make some sort of statement praising the good works the Reviling Pat Robertson has done?

Please, oh please let this happen in mid to late 2012.

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by: stojef @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 20:12:32 PM CST

Maine's Potheads

When the day comes that the fundies goes after Maine's potheads - and they will - I'd just go "YAAWWWWWNNN!!  Fuck you, I'd rather be getting high than helping you out!".  Or "I'm too stoned to be bothered with you!" LOL!

Not that I have any issues with weed.  Just potheads who are too stoned to care about any other issue except legalizing it.

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by: bluegrassfool @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 20:28:12 PM CST

Plan of action

I couldn't agree more. I just wish someone would articulate what a radical civilly disobedient movement would look like.  I guess it would just be nice to have some sort of plan of action if that makes sense.

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by: Matthew @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 21:30:26 PM CST

Some reassurance from a Disney movie

This is all the right wing is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

I watched this whole movie again earlier today and found it to be comforting.

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by: Dvernon @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 23:12:14 PM CST

Dementors came to my mind

sucking the joy out of life

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 23:15:33 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I'd love to make a commercial / PSA with this footage.

Contrast it with various bigoted speakers and their commercials.  I think I will when I have some [non-existent...] free time.  What was that website where you can take Youtube footage and actually save it to your desktop?  The URL that was going around when people were saving the NOM audition tapes?

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by: CisgenderLesbianRadical @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 15:03:23 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Downloading videos

I'm not sure what the best place is, but you can try here:

http://downloadyoutubevideo.org/

Please go through with this! I'd love to see what you come up with.

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by: Dvernon @ Sun Nov 08, 2009 at 16:15:46 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Excellent Post Maura!

Personally, I've always envisioned a gay organization fashioned like the Black Panthers, ACT-UP, and Queer Nation rolled into one called "The Lambda Legion".  They would be our "military wing" and exist to make the Religious Reich's lives a living hell should they ever try fucking with us.

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by: Jon Michaels @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 23:33:19 PM CST

Sign me up

Cisgender. Because "Genetic" is so 2006.

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by: Denabeth @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 23:50:46 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Wait, one question

do they have a DADT policy?

Close the GayTM. Only give to candidates who have actually done something other than make promises - most are just pandering for our cash.

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by: JohnVisser @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 02:06:33 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Seriously!

Sign me up too!  

"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." ~~~ Thomas Jefferson

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by: SD_Dave @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 03:55:16 AM CST

[ Parent ]

What would be its organizing principles?

I agree that there is value in having a military wing that exists to make your enemies lives hell. But what would it be the military wing of? What would the central organizing principle of the wider group of which it is a part be?

I keep thinking that organizing around policy objectives, as we have been doing, is limiting our advances. When we organize multi-million dollar campaigns around “gay marriage,” we are allowing the cause to be defined in terms of a policy objective that is not directly relevant to most Americans. True, we include the message of a wider objective — legal equality — in our advertising. That, however, is a far cry from being an organization centered around the principle that all people are to be equal under the law and fighting all instances where that is violated, including sex and gender based marriage prohibitions as a specific instance.

Going back to the “us” of which the military wing would be a part, what would its core principles be? A commitment to pass ENDA, or a larger commitment to the principle that all human beings are entitled to decently remunerative work without regard to sex, gender, race, religion, sexuality, lineage, physical appearance, or any other characteristic not inextricably at issue in the performance of job duties?

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by: pgraydon @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 06:08:16 AM CST

[ Parent ]

not directly relevant to most Americans

that, by itself, is the most important thing to remember.

http://www.dyssonance.com  Breaking all the rules...

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by: dyssonance @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 08:01:38 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Paramilitary violence doesn't work.

The IRA and its offshoots have killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, over the last century, yet the closest they have come to the reunification of Ireland is the Northern Ireland Assembly, which can be repealed by Westminster at a moment's notice. ETA's track record at establishing an independent Basque state is equally unimpressive. Contrast that with the SNP and Plaid Cymru: both have independence as a long-term goal, and both Scotland and Wales have reached the same stage as Northern Ireland (devolved government) without resorting to violence at any point. As a result, Scotland could be an independent country as soon as 2011 or 2012. Indian independence was also gained through peaceful means, and the Civil Rights movement's most successful tactics were largely based on those of Gandhi.

I can well understand the desire for revenge, especially given what is (to my mind) a criminal denial of justice. There's a part of me that dearly wants to inflict pain on those who harm us - and believe me, they would not want to find out how creative I could be when it comes to causing pain: my high school was closed down during a child-abuse investigation, so I have plenty of material to draw from. Nor would I shed a tear if Al Quaeda bombed the Vatican. Why should I? We have at least as much reason to want that particular ethical cess-pit wiped off the face of the planet as Islamists do, and perhaps more.

But I also know that, in democratic societies, violent tactics are ineffective in both the short and long terms. One key reason Ireland is further from reunification than Scotland is from independence is because the IRA became a polarising force, and an excuse for the British government to largely ignore the demands of Northern-Irish Catholics. Even through the darkest times of the Troubles, many Britons supported the British government's approach because of the IRA's violence - the bombs and murders were counter-productive. The terrorist attacks by Al Quaeda have caused more long-term harm to Muslims more than any other group other than those directly affected, because of the hate and mistrust that has arisen between Muslims and the West as a result.

____________________________________
Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum.

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by: tavdy79 @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 07:54:30 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Militancy need not be paramilitary violence

I guess I was picturing a different kind of militancy.

If you want to get married and the law says that you can’t, go down to the courthouse, ask for a marriage license, and when you get denied, refuse to leave.

If your hospital says that you can’t visit your loved ones because you don’t fit their definition of family, march past them. Search the hallways if you have to. If they throw you out, call a flash mob to carry on the search.

If an organized religion is organizing against your rights, organize back. If a church passes the collection plate to take your rights away, show up out front with a load of brown paper bags to symbolize all of the meals that could have been given to the poor with that money.

If someone who organizes against your “immorality” is a hypocrite, follow that person around, get the evidence on tape, load it up on the internet, and send it viral.

If your high school claims that wearing clothing in accordance with your gender identity to your prom is “inappropriate,” get some friends, pick some wild outfits, and show them what “inappropriate” really means.

If people “like you” can’t walk the streets of your town or city without fearing violence, organize the troops. Keep a neighborhood watch of people armed with cell phones and video cameras.

Keep tabs on who is having difficulty finding work, and which employers might be making decisions based on race or gender presentation or sexuality even if they claim not to. Set up an experiment to get evidence if you need to. And then boycott the business. Occupy the offices of your local politicians until they agree to do something about it.

If your local anti-gay group seems to be skirting the law, file a lawsuit. Then file another.

If your government is being a roadblock to progress toward legal recognition of your rights, make your protest literal and block its roads. I suggest a few truckloads of manure.

Militancy need not be violent. Indeed, I agree that violence is counterproductive. There can and should be discussions about the counter-spin that our enemies would try to put on any action, and its quite likely that in serious discussion someone will poke holes in many of the ideas above.  But that doesn’t mean that there is not a place for militancy. Indeed, many of Ghandi’s tactics were militant.

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by: pgraydon @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 09:20:11 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Exactly!

That's what I envision.  A force that makes the Religious Reich and their political mouthpieces lives utterly miserable in meaningful ways until we obtain EVERY right, privilege, protection, and benefit that all heterosexuals currently enjoy.

Also, I totally agree that violence isn't the answer.  Thoughts of Petey LaBabs, Bam-Bam, Haggie Gallagher, and Tony KKK Perkins with their heads bashed in is entertaining, but doing so would turn them into martyrs and raise them to a level higher than the stinking pieces of shit that they are now.

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by: Jon Michaels @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 11:36:47 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Here's another tactic

If your local and/or state representative isn't for equality, find some funding and some supporters and run for office!

Join your county political party and get involved! How did the reicht take over the GOP? By doing the scut work and working their way into positions of power, then forced out anyone in the party who didn't blindly goosestep with them.

It's the county parties who make the endorsements for the local and state races, gang... the more TLBGs and our allies who attend these meetings, ask the hard questions, and officially join your party, you get to vote on the endorsements.

I've been involved in my county party for years now, and we've been independent in our endorsements.

If I had the money, I'd be running from one end of my county to the other running for the state legislature.

Listen to "TransTalk" every Thursday at 4-5pm ET on http://www.falconradio.org

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by: Marlene @ Sat Nov 07, 2009 at 19:31:34 PM CST

[ Parent ]

From a book I'm currently reading:

(Emphasis in the original)

TODAY, BLACKS ARE NO LONGER THE LITMUS PAPER or the barometer of social change. Blacks are in every segment of society and there are laws that help to protect them from racial discrimination. The new "niggers" are gays. No person who hopes to get politically elected, even in the deep South, not even Governor Wallace, would dare to stand and publicly argue that blacks should not have the right to use public accommodations. Nobody would dare to say any number of things about blacks that they are perfectly prepared to say about gay people. It is in the since that gay people are the new barometer for social change.

Indeed if you want to know whether today people believe in democracy, if you want to know whether they are human rights activists, the question to ask is, "what about gay people?" Because that is now the litmus paper by which the democracy is to be judged. The barometer of social change is measured by selecting the group which is most mistreated. To determine where society is with respect to change, one does not ask, "What do you think about the education of children?" Nor does one ask, "Do you believe the aged should have Social Security?" The question of social change should be framed with the most vulnerable group in mind: gay people.

-- Bayard Rustin, 'The New "Niggers" Are Gays' (from Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin) March 1986

____________________________________
Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum.

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by: tavdy79 @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 06:29:30 AM CST

Disrupt, Disrupt, Disrupt

If we really, really want our rights, then we will do this; make it impossible for them to funtion to oppress us; protests outside fo every Catholic event featuring the bishop, highlighting closing cchurches to pay for molestors and to fund gay bashing.
We need to point out that an orghanisation that saw now rong in hiding paedophiles is not to be looked to for moral guidance.
We need to make it impossible for them to hold a fundraising dinner without a protest appearing, streets being blocked and then us disappearing as the police arrive, hit and run, over and over, the invisible mauraders in the stylish berets....

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

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by: MauraHennessey @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 12:27:35 PM CST

I want a bust.....bust COOL

Cool from West Side Story
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

the best kind of disruption looks accidental, someone saying a building smelled of burning wiring, toilets which over flow, or sinks left on. if we had moles working within their offices, mailing lists could be deleted, packages which HAVE to get somewhere overnight...don't get sent.
A death from a thousand cuts.

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 17:30:25 PM CST

I noticed Ancestory.com is being sold publicly

A huge cash cow for LDS, and if I had access I'd plug in a USB stick with a virus.
there are thousands of ways to hurt an organization without a trace.

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 17:36:38 PM CST

[ Parent ]