Showing posts with label human rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human rights. Show all posts
Friday, November 21, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Love
Copyright © 2008 by Constance Pelkey.
This bloggy feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this content in a news reader or on a website related to Constance Pelkey Designs, the you are reading it from is in violation of copyright!
Thanks!! Connie
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Senate OKs Out-Of-State Gays Marrying In Mass.
Move Expected To Boost State's Economy
Senate has voted to repeal a 1913 law used to bar out-of-state gay couples from marrying in the state. The law prohibits couples from obtaining marriage licenses if they couldn't legally wed in their home states. After Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriages in 2004, then-Gov. Mitt Romney ordered town clerks to enforce the little-known law and deny licenses to out-of-state couples.The repeal effort has the support of Gov. Deval Patrick, whose 18-year-old daughter announced last month she is a lesbian. The Massachusetts Senate voted Tuesday to repeal the law. The House is expected to vote this week. An analysis found repealing the law could draw thousands of couples to Massachusetts, boosting the economy by $111 million over three years.
Copyright © 2008 by Constance Pelkey.
This bloggy feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this content in a news reader or on a website related to Constance Pelkey Designs, this site is in violation of copyright!
Thanks!! Connie
Monday, June 23, 2008
The Way Life Should Be: Marriage in Maine
Copyright © 2008 by Constance Pelkey.
This bloggy feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this content in a news reader or on a website related to Constance Pelkey Designs, this site is in violation of copyright!
Thanks!! Connie
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Happy Pride!!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Christian Civic League drops its campaign to repeal the state's equal rights law
Christian Civic League drops its campaign to repeal the state's gay-rights law and prevent other safeguards for gays and lesbians, saying in an e-mail to supporters that it lacks money and volunteers to pursue a referendum in November 2009.
Wednesday's decision, which was made public Thursday, came about two months after the league announced that it hoped to collect 55,087 voters' signatures to place its proposal on the ballot, and less than one month after the state issued petitions to the league on May 21.
In addition to repealing the anti-discrimination law, the referendum would have prohibited unmarried couples from adopting children.
It also would have barred the state from recognizing civil unions, prohibited municipal officials from licensing same-sex marriages and eliminated funding for the state's civil-rights teams.
Supporters say the teams fight bullying in Maine schools. The league argues that the teams persuade teenagers to accept homosexuality.
Thursday's e-mail to supporters from Michael Hein, the league's administrator, said the league dropped the drive because it has "neither enough funds nor enough volunteer support to continue the effort."
Thursday, June 12, 2008
An open letter to Micheal Heath.
(No, I didn't write this, a minister from Bangor did)
Dear Michael Heath and assorted Maine bigots,
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from you and understand why you would be for banning same sex marriage.
As you said "in the eyes of God marriage is based between a man a woman." I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination... End of debate.
I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify?
Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination? Oh, sorry. IS there degrees ...
7. Lev.21:20 states that I may ! not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot.
Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
11. And one of my real concerns is that gay lobsterman who wears clothes made of two or more fabrics and hauls lobsters on the Sabbath....Four abominations in one day....Wow......
12. And one last question.....Why are Christian bigots so obsessed with who people love? I think I know the answer.
I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
Thanks,
Bible Readers of America
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
A sweet story...
I came out many years ago - to myself. You see this was 1980. We, my then partner and I, were each others' "firsts." As in, first foray into lesbianism and all it's glory! We quite literally thought we were the only two women who loved women, who ever lived on this planet, in this life form - EVER!
Ah! To be young and innocent again!
Ha!
We first learned of other lesbians by going to the library and taking out any book we'd find on the subject. I ran across a number of books that touted the virtues of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin.
Wow! I really grew to look up to these two as true pioneers in the lesbian visibility/ rights department!
I'm so heartened to know that they are still together! Here I am on my 7th relationship. Yep, all with women, I've never been with a man.
I wish I could have found the woman I'm with now when we both were kids!
I really want to spend the rest of my life with this woman. Whatever life is left for us, I am 47 years old ya know? My Mom wonders how she could have a 47 year old kid!!?
I want to be with this woman so much so that I want to be legally married to her!
Nancy,
Will you marry me?
"I now pronounce you wife and wife"
If you cry at weddings, grab a hankie; the news of these upcoming nuptials already has me
tearing up at my desk. Next Monday, June 16, at 5 p.m. PDT, Mayor Gavin Newsom will preside over the marriage of Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 83, at San Francisco City Hall, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
You may well remember these two brides from their first trip to the altar back in February 2004. Martin and Lyon, who have been together more than 50 years, were the first same-sex couple to be issued a marriage license by the city of San Francisco. (For a refresher, their iconic wedding photos are here and here.)
Mayor Newsom has said that Lyon and Martin's love story inspired him to start issuing marriage licenses to lesbians and gays. But the couple's first marriage license and those of more than 4,000 other couples who got hitched during San Francisco's Winter of Love were later ruled invalid by the courts. Undaunted, Lyon and Martin became plaintiffs in the lawsuit that in May led the California Supreme Court to rule that same-sex couples do have a right to marry.
This isn't the first time that Lyon and Martin have broken new ground. Back in the '50s, they were also pioneers, founding the country's very first lesbian organization. "The couple first met in Seattle in 1950 and moved in together in a Castro Street apartment on Valentine's Day 1953," reports the San Francisco Chronicle. "Two years later, Lyon and Martin and three other lesbian couples founded the Daughters of Bilitis, which historians call the first lesbian organization in the United States. Lyon and Martin have been leaders of the lesbian community ever since. Their organization's monthly magazine, the Ladder, was an influential publication in the LGBT rights movement and began publication in 1956. Both women were inducted into the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Hall of Fame. A San Francisco medical organization founded in 1979 as a clinic for lesbians -- Lyon Martin Health Services -- was named for them."
The state of California officially starts issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on the morning of June 17. But California has granted permission to San Francisco to start conducting same-sex ceremonies at 5:01 p.m. on June 16, after the state's official workday ends. In deference to their pioneering role, Lyon and Martin's wedding will be the only same-sex marriage held in San Francisco on the evening of June 16. The next morning, same-sex couples around the state will be free to marry, too.
Broadsheet Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, think it's fitting for San Francisco to honor Lyon and Martin's lifetimes of activism by letting them go first: "At a time when being openly gay cost you everything you cared about, they were. And they took risks and spoke out from the 1950s on in a way that I certainly do not believe I would have nor would most of us," Kendell said. Inviting the couple to be the first to marry "is the absolute least we can do to acknowledge how critical their legacy is to the lives of all of us."
Lyon told the San Francisco Chronicle that it's "heartwarming" that San Francisco wants her and Martin to be the first couple to marry, but ever the activist, she said that what really matters is that so many other couples will now have the chance to do so, too: "Hundreds of thousands of couples will be getting married this time, and that's the important thing," Lyon said. "It's something that has been due for a long time, and thank God, it's here."
-- Katharine Mieszkowski
Ah! To be young and innocent again!
Ha!
We first learned of other lesbians by going to the library and taking out any book we'd find on the subject. I ran across a number of books that touted the virtues of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin.
Wow! I really grew to look up to these two as true pioneers in the lesbian visibility/ rights department!
I'm so heartened to know that they are still together! Here I am on my 7th relationship. Yep, all with women, I've never been with a man.
I wish I could have found the woman I'm with now when we both were kids!
I really want to spend the rest of my life with this woman. Whatever life is left for us, I am 47 years old ya know? My Mom wonders how she could have a 47 year old kid!!?
I want to be with this woman so much so that I want to be legally married to her!
Nancy,
Will you marry me?
"I now pronounce you wife and wife"
If you cry at weddings, grab a hankie; the news of these upcoming nuptials already has me
tearing up at my desk. Next Monday, June 16, at 5 p.m. PDT, Mayor Gavin Newsom will preside over the marriage of Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 83, at San Francisco City Hall, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.You may well remember these two brides from their first trip to the altar back in February 2004. Martin and Lyon, who have been together more than 50 years, were the first same-sex couple to be issued a marriage license by the city of San Francisco. (For a refresher, their iconic wedding photos are here and here.)
Mayor Newsom has said that Lyon and Martin's love story inspired him to start issuing marriage licenses to lesbians and gays. But the couple's first marriage license and those of more than 4,000 other couples who got hitched during San Francisco's Winter of Love were later ruled invalid by the courts. Undaunted, Lyon and Martin became plaintiffs in the lawsuit that in May led the California Supreme Court to rule that same-sex couples do have a right to marry.
This isn't the first time that Lyon and Martin have broken new ground. Back in the '50s, they were also pioneers, founding the country's very first lesbian organization. "The couple first met in Seattle in 1950 and moved in together in a Castro Street apartment on Valentine's Day 1953," reports the San Francisco Chronicle. "Two years later, Lyon and Martin and three other lesbian couples founded the Daughters of Bilitis, which historians call the first lesbian organization in the United States. Lyon and Martin have been leaders of the lesbian community ever since. Their organization's monthly magazine, the Ladder, was an influential publication in the LGBT rights movement and began publication in 1956. Both women were inducted into the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Hall of Fame. A San Francisco medical organization founded in 1979 as a clinic for lesbians -- Lyon Martin Health Services -- was named for them."
The state of California officially starts issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on the morning of June 17. But California has granted permission to San Francisco to start conducting same-sex ceremonies at 5:01 p.m. on June 16, after the state's official workday ends. In deference to their pioneering role, Lyon and Martin's wedding will be the only same-sex marriage held in San Francisco on the evening of June 16. The next morning, same-sex couples around the state will be free to marry, too.
Broadsheet Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, think it's fitting for San Francisco to honor Lyon and Martin's lifetimes of activism by letting them go first: "At a time when being openly gay cost you everything you cared about, they were. And they took risks and spoke out from the 1950s on in a way that I certainly do not believe I would have nor would most of us," Kendell said. Inviting the couple to be the first to marry "is the absolute least we can do to acknowledge how critical their legacy is to the lives of all of us."
Lyon told the San Francisco Chronicle that it's "heartwarming" that San Francisco wants her and Martin to be the first couple to marry, but ever the activist, she said that what really matters is that so many other couples will now have the chance to do so, too: "Hundreds of thousands of couples will be getting married this time, and that's the important thing," Lyon said. "It's something that has been due for a long time, and thank God, it's here."
-- Katharine Mieszkowski
Sunday, May 25, 2008
And in a related post...
In reference to my earlier post about Micheal Heath and his Christian Un - Civic League compatriots.
J.P. Devine: An open letter to Michael Heath
Oh Michael, why can't you let our gay brothers and sisters get married? This is pathetic, Michael. You have so many more important works of Jesus to perform. What about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, trying to get cable for the poor?
I'm sorry folks. This was supposed to be a private letter to Michael Heath of the Christian Civic League, but as long as you're listening in, I'll bring you up to date: "
Michael, I understand, is going to have his soldiers on our verdant streets this week, strolling with clipboards and pens and a paper for you all to sign YES on. That would be the league's Anti-Gay Petition Drive to take place on June 10, Maine's primary day, at polling places statewide. The drive that would rescind all state laws prohibiting anti-gay discrimination.
Oh Lord! Not again.
Michael. All that these people want are the same joy and miseries you and your wife share.
They want someone to kiss goodnight, to pull the blankets away from, to cover the snorer with a pillow and get some sleep.
They want someone else to take out the garbage, mow the lawn, drive their kids to school and cuddle by the television on cold nights and watch Obama kick Hillary in her pantsuit.
Give them a break.
My gay brothers and sisters aren't perfect, Michael. There are mean-spirited folks everywhere. Most are happy people.
I see them whenever I pass by a church on Sunday morning. I see them coming out of temple on the High Holy Days, wearing yarmulkes their mothers knitted for them. A yarmulke, Michael, is a skull cap that Jewish men wear to temple. I could get you one from a gay Jewish friend of mine, blue velvet to match your eyes.
And while we're talking Jewish, do you really think it's kosher (that means acceptable) for a Christian to tell Jewish gays that they can't get married, rent a condo in Old Orchard Beach, or adopt Vietnamese orphans and give then a happy home, with a puppy maybe?
Seriously, Michael. Does your mother know you're trying to deny American taxpaying citizens their basic rights, just because they don't play by your rules? Are you ready to go to Heaven and have to explain to Michelangelo, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman and T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia," for God's sake, Michael) that you discriminated against gays?
They'll make you sit at the kids' table on Easter Sunday, Michael. We're in the fifth year of a terrible war: 4,080 dead, 30,329 wounded. Some of those boys and girls, Michael, were and are gay.
And think of this:
In your community of faithful, among your troops close by your side, there is a gay man or woman, boy or girl suffering great psychic pain. And while your followers are out putting tiny American flags on the graves of our fallen heroes, remind them that in some of those graves, a gay warrior is sleeping.
Happy Memorial Day, Michael.
J.P. Devine is a freelance writer living in Waterville, Maine.
J.P. Devine: An open letter to Michael Heath
Oh Michael, why can't you let our gay brothers and sisters get married? This is pathetic, Michael. You have so many more important works of Jesus to perform. What about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, trying to get cable for the poor?
I'm sorry folks. This was supposed to be a private letter to Michael Heath of the Christian Civic League, but as long as you're listening in, I'll bring you up to date: "
Michael, I understand, is going to have his soldiers on our verdant streets this week, strolling with clipboards and pens and a paper for you all to sign YES on. That would be the league's Anti-Gay Petition Drive to take place on June 10, Maine's primary day, at polling places statewide. The drive that would rescind all state laws prohibiting anti-gay discrimination.
Oh Lord! Not again.
Michael. All that these people want are the same joy and miseries you and your wife share.
They want someone to kiss goodnight, to pull the blankets away from, to cover the snorer with a pillow and get some sleep.
They want someone else to take out the garbage, mow the lawn, drive their kids to school and cuddle by the television on cold nights and watch Obama kick Hillary in her pantsuit.
Give them a break.
My gay brothers and sisters aren't perfect, Michael. There are mean-spirited folks everywhere. Most are happy people.
I see them whenever I pass by a church on Sunday morning. I see them coming out of temple on the High Holy Days, wearing yarmulkes their mothers knitted for them. A yarmulke, Michael, is a skull cap that Jewish men wear to temple. I could get you one from a gay Jewish friend of mine, blue velvet to match your eyes.
And while we're talking Jewish, do you really think it's kosher (that means acceptable) for a Christian to tell Jewish gays that they can't get married, rent a condo in Old Orchard Beach, or adopt Vietnamese orphans and give then a happy home, with a puppy maybe?
Seriously, Michael. Does your mother know you're trying to deny American taxpaying citizens their basic rights, just because they don't play by your rules? Are you ready to go to Heaven and have to explain to Michelangelo, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman and T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia," for God's sake, Michael) that you discriminated against gays?
They'll make you sit at the kids' table on Easter Sunday, Michael. We're in the fifth year of a terrible war: 4,080 dead, 30,329 wounded. Some of those boys and girls, Michael, were and are gay.
And think of this:
In your community of faithful, among your troops close by your side, there is a gay man or woman, boy or girl suffering great psychic pain. And while your followers are out putting tiny American flags on the graves of our fallen heroes, remind them that in some of those graves, a gay warrior is sleeping.
Happy Memorial Day, Michael.
J.P. Devine is a freelance writer living in Waterville, Maine.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Offensive?? I think not!!
Yesterdays post was NOT my norm. I'm not very political, although I do follow what affects me. This blog is for me, a place where I can talk about me, my loving partner, our home, our beloved pets and of course my main focus is my art work. It seems every time I stray from my regular focus and comment on something political, as I did yesterday, that's the day that someone comes to my blog, for the first time, looking for polymer clay work or jewelry, they see that political (usually about my Lesbianism) post and wham! They are so offended that they find it necessary to shoot me an email telling me what a terrible person I am for throwing my sexuality in their face! They (innocently) are looking for artwork and they happen across my "offensive post!" Sheesh! Get a grip people! Talking about my basic rights as a human being having been denied me is NOT offensive. Talking about what my (yes, female) partner did to help me whilst I was having shoulder surgery is NOT offensive! I read other artistic blogs all the time and they always post about their family life and various things that affect them. Do I find that offensive?? Nope. And if I did, I'd simply mark it as "read" in my reader and go on about my day! We all have things in our lives and beliefs that not everyone is going to agree upon! Just let it be and don't bash someone because they do or believe in something that you don't!
*shaking head*
So, without further political ado.... here's some shots of the flowers and yard I took the other day!
Ah spring!
*shaking head*
So, without further political ado.... here's some shots of the flowers and yard I took the other day!
Ah spring!
Here's Dilly underneath the flowering tree in our back yard. It always puts on a glorious show in the spring! It smells nice too! Anyone know what kind of tree it is?
Dilly and the lilac...
Lilac close up.
My tomatoes, jalepeno peppers, basil and chive plants.
A flowering bush out front, I believe it's some kind of holly.
Our house plants live on the front porch all summer, the aloe has seen better days, seems every time it gets to looking good the dog knocks it over and breaks a bunch of leaves! The orangy-red begonia was sent to me by a dear woman I know when I had my shoulder surgery. It's quite lovely!
And our front porch...
ooops!
Better not look at that last foto, it has a rainbow flag (gay pride) hanging there in your face!
*removing tongue from cheek!*
Have a GREAT weekend everyone!!!
Connie
~ Life's too short to use cheap beads! ~
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Bloggers Unite for Human Rights
Edited to add the new overturning of the gay marriage ban in California!!! Yay!!
*SIGH*
I'm not all that political, but I do try to follow things that will affect me and my partner. Micheal Heath is a man who potentially could have a big affect on us. He believes we do not and should not have the same basic rights as anyone else. I'm certainly not sure about what drives this man and the group he belongs to - the Christian Civic League of Maine - but the idea that some of the folks in our society are not as - important, deserving, worthy as anyone else, simply because of who they love is mind boggling to me.
Referendum aims to undo gay rights
April 09, 2008
AUGUSTA – Marriage would be limited to heterosexual couples and civil unions would be prohibited under a referendum being pursued by the Christian Civic League of Maine.
Under the proposed legislation, same-sex couples would not be allowed to adopt, sexual orientation would be removed from the Maine Human Rights Act and funding for the civil rights teams in the Attorney General’s Office would be eliminated.
Michael Heath, the organization’s executive director, initiated the process last week. The effort will need to gather 55,087 signatures – a figure equal to 10 percent of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election – within 18 months of the issuance of an approved petition by the Secretary of State.
In 2005, voters supported a state law that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 1998 and 1990, voters had opposed gay-rights laws.
MSNBC Video
Connie
~ Life's too short to use cheap beads! ~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)