http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/community/members_rss The following posts were created from our member blogs. It seems that the world we live in is so concerned with political correctness, equality to all, options for upward mobility,rights and civil liberties and all that matters to us humans. Oh and I forgot the big one...The right to have one's own reality show...sorry! Well, miracles happen in very strange ways. Sometimes we don't even know that they are happeening. The hardest one of all and the one that reaps the most rewards is the one that noone teaches us. Oh they say they did back in grade school but they lied to you!Forgiveness doesn't have to be so hard. It is a learned dicipline. Start with yourself. I am sure you can think of a millon things to forgive yourself for. Then start with the ones you love. Here's the important thing about forgiveness...It is a timeless thing. it knows no barriers. So you have to forgive for everything in the past, everything in the present and everything that will happen to you in the future. So the next time you are walking your dog and you see the poop that someone left there for you to clean up, clean it up and forgive them. The next time someone isn't so nice to you, forgive them and say something nice back. Oh hell, while we are at it, let's forgive Charles Manson. Let's face it, the poor shmuck is crazy, had a terrible life on this planet and is just plain doomed. He hurt a lot of people and doesn't even realize it. At least we could forgive him while he rots in prison. By now I think you see my point. I am not a Jesus freak but he said something really cool while up there bleeding to death with nails in him and a giant sword stuck in his side. Forgive them, Lord. For they know not what they do. Yes, there is a lot of pain in this world but we choose most of it consciencely. Yes, most of our pain is chosen by us. Some of us even really like our pain. I don't think that most human beings decide to go out every day and cause a little pain to everyone they meet. Most of it is done unconsciencely and we really don't mean it. So start out each day with this little phrase...I will forgive those today who I meet in my travels for everything they have done, everything they do and everything they will do. After time it becomes automatic and you won't believe the changes you will experience in your reality. You smile when something bad happens, you laugh when someone has done you wrong (you think)and you start seeing things differently. Your own reality begins to change, to take on a new and better shape and you are transformed forever. And guess what? You can never go back to the way you were again. That's the best part of all. In all that time, we can never see or realize the miracles we have caused because we were so busy forgiving everyone it would be impossible for the physical mind to actually see infinity or divinity and if we could we would be overwhelmed with sheer profoundness! It only took me about seven years to perfect that one and since then I have a new perspective on this thing we call life. So go ahead and try to hurt me. I would probably just give you a hug and ask you to dinner. Do you like Italian food? http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/michaelmenna/C2X2 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/michaelmenna/C2X2/commentary#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:09:00 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/michaelmenna/C2X2 Michael Menna http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/521518cf10ba6f5bd1_yn3mv2lq2.gif Michael Menna 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2X2/ I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve had my head in the sand and haven’t read, watched or heard much about the Prop 8 Trial currently underway in California. I have, however, checked the websites and blogs for a quick catch-up and found it’s going pretty much as I expected, which is probably why I’ve not paid much attention. The decision to not allow cameras to expose the bigotry and fear that is the heart of Prop 8, the ballot measure in California that changed the state constitution and stripped same sex couples of the right to marry, seemed an all too familiar gag on the truth. How can it be anything but proper for a democratic society to be given the opportunity to bear witness to the testimony at hand? I’m feeling the frustration again.... The voters of California, I believe, are not bigots. (The authors and big financial supporters of Prop 8 are a different story.) But they are grossly uninformed. The core of this whole issue boils down to the fact that the majority of people believe homosexuals choose to be gay. Some will say that you can be gay and not choose the “homosexual lifestyle”. Semantics aside, they think being gay is a choice. And while laws can be tossed aside as unconstitutional and rights can be restored, the animus will not fade to the annals of history until it is understood on a deep and profound level that sexual orientation is not chosen. We are born gay. The bottom line is that the majority thinks being gay is something you CHOOSE. Or at the very least, something you can choose to NOT be. Our choices in life can be influenced, and the choices made by children are even more susceptible to influence; by teachers, parents, aunts and uncles, the media, etc. Our fate at the polls took a turn for the worse when the proponents of Prop 8 convinced the population that gay marriage would be “taught in the schools”. What does that even mean?! It means that no American parent wants their kid to be gay and they are terrified of the prospect. If gay is a choice, then gay is a possibility, and they would rather strip us of our rights than run the risk of their kids being influenced to choose gay. They are terrified that their straight kids could choose to be gay and their gay kids could summon the courage to come out of the closet. They fear that if gay relationships are taught to be acceptable, if gay relationships are proven to be stable, sustainable sources of love and joy, then straight kids with no same sex inclinations may choose to go gay. They fear that if the lead weight of bigotry was lifted and the tools it employs to keep so many shamed and terrified in the closet were rendered useless, then those who would normally deny their true selves due to fear of god’s eternal wrath, parental disowning, church banishment and community rejection, could see a happy, healthy and fulfilling alternative and choose to come out of the closet and accept their true sexuality. Either way, it all boils down to the frustratingly common fallacy that one chooses their sexual orientation like one chooses flannel over chenille, or vice versa. Those who claim they have no prejudice against gays and are just trying to protect “traditional marriage” are not being truthful with themselves. Do they hate us? Some do, some don’t. The more important reality is they don’t understand how we came to be gay. Ignorance is the breeding ground for fear and hatred, and the proponents of Prop 8 very successfully tapped into the innermost fear held by the VAST majority of straight voters: that their kids could grow up to be gay. Their tactics are subtle, but the effect is enormous. All of the Prop 8 propaganda I’ve seen says things like “we love our gay neighbors and respect their lifestyle choice” before going on to enumerate the litany of catastrophic events that could take place if children were taught that it’s OK to be who you are, even if that is gay. They’re nailing “choice” to our foreheads. I ask those fighting to “protect traditional marriage” which tradition of marriage they speak of? The truth is marriage has been a constantly evolving institution for centuries. Wives are no longer bought and sold with a dowry. Polygamy is no longer accepted (except, it should be noted, by those who claim the right based on religious beliefs, and those are usually the men, and not the 16 year old girls staring down the barrel of a life of sexual servitude, misogyny, and forced and continual child bearing). Brothers are no longer required to take the hand of their dead brother’s wife. Blacks and Whites can now legally marry. All of these evolutions have been, at the core, the result of the very human tradition of striving for personal freedoms. Freedom to marry the person you love, freedom to control your own destiny. The rally cry for the gay community has been to “tell our stories.” And I agree. Research shows that if people feel they know a gay person or couple, they are less likely to vote against our rights. That’s only true in part. While all of my co-workers would certainly vote against a law that tried to legalize workplace discrimination, some clearly voted to disallow gay marriage. We all tip toe around the heart of the matter, and thereby we all fail to tell the truth that really needs to be told. My story is that I’m an American and I have a birthright to all the same freedoms as everyone else, pure and simple. My story is that I live in a country where forces are at play to make the bible, and not the US Constitution, the law of the land. My story is that god made me this way. It is very hurtful to my psyche to know that my very humanity is on trial. Yes, our stories need to be told, but only if they strive to prove the point that we did not choose to be gay. In a perfect world, that wouldn’t matter, but let’s be practical. It does. While we are a minority, we could blend in if we wanted. The choice isn’t to be gay, the choice is to live truthfully. The world needs to really understand this to really understand us. Just as we can’t choose to be straight, straight kids can’t choose to be gay. The threat is imagined. It is only by accepting this most important truth that all the laws, hatred, and bible thumping in the world will be seen as useless attempts to change what can not be changed. True equality, and through that harmony, will only be reached when acceptance replaces fear and love becomes the tradition we all defend. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/seancooley/C2XL http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/seancooley/C2XL/commentary#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:25:36 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/seancooley/C2XL User from Los Angeles, CA User from Los Angeles, CA 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2XL/ In the wake of this week's dramatic Congressional hearing on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" the Courage Campaign is organizing to push Congress to repeal the outdated and unjust policy as quickly as possible. Below is the email we sent to our members asking them to push Senator Carl Levin to include DADT repeal in the defense budget . "No matter how I look at the issue...I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens... For me, it comes down to integrity -- theirs as individuals and ours as an institution. " -- Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Dear Friend -- In the war over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the battle lines have been drawn: It's Republicans vs. the military. And John McCain vs. John McCain. On Tuesday, Admiral Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates gave game-changing testimony to Congress strongly supporting President Obama's effort to repeal DADT. Then, Wednesday morning, Colin Powell -- the man who made DADT possible -- announced his opposition to this discriminatory policy, saying that "attitudes and circumstances have changed." That isn't stopping recalcitrant Republicans like John McCain from flip-flopping on the stance he took in 2006 to follow the lead of our nation's top military brass on DADT. You can watch the embarrassing blow-by-blow in the "McCain vs. McCain vs. Mullen" video linked below. After you watch, please sign our letter to Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who vocally opposed McCain and other Republicans on Tuesday in support of repealing DADT. To allow soldiers like Lt. Dan Choi to serve their country, Sen. Levin needs to immediately take the lead on including DADT repeal in the defense budget bill. Please sign our letter to Sen. Levin right now -- and help us get to 500,000 total Courage Campaign letters against DADT: http://www.couragecampaign.org/DontWait Here's what John McCain said back in October 2006 on MSNBC's "Hardball": " I listen to people like General Colin Powell , former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and literally every military leader that I know... The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, Senator, we ought to change the policy, then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it because those leaders in the military are the ones we give the responsibility to." Seems pretty clear, right? Or did we miss the " * Void if Barack Obama is President" fine print? Obviously, John McCain and his Republican colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee are not listening to Colin Powell, a man McCain says he admires "as much as any man in the world." Or to Admiral Mullen or Secretary Gates -- both originally appointed by George W. Bush. Chairman Levin can't let Sen. McCain get away with delaying justice on DADT. Sign our letter to Sen. Levin right now asking him to immediately include DADT repeal in the defense budget bill -- and help us reach 500,000 total Courage Campaign letters against DADT: http://www.couragecampaign.org/DontWait Colin Powell gets it. Admiral Mullen gets it. Secretary Gates gets it. Even Cindy McCain and her daughter Meghan get it, having come out strongly in favor of same-sex marriage a few weeks ago. Help us spread the word by forwarding this email to more people who get it -- so we can save Lt. Choi's job and defeat John McCain's obstruction. Thanks for helping us bring equality to our armed services, one action at a time. Eden James Managing Director, Courage Campaign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/C2X3 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/C2X3/commentary#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:58:45 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/C2X3 Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/8e501f6005c216fc9b_j8m6b99j3.jpg Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2X3/ Is there any way we can see the results of the Courage for 2010 polls? http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/joshuahjerge/C2XQ http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/joshuahjerge/C2XQ/commentary#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:52:13 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/joshuahjerge/C2XQ User from Vallejo, CA User from Vallejo, CA 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2XQ/ It's nice to consolidate our thoughts among the many evolving aspects of the Universe as its continuing endeavor of reoccurring challenge restructures our life style every day. It's nice to absorb these challenges of reflective dualism, and learning as we travel through the Universe in search of a better; or more affinite life style of harmony, and nature. Silence is golden, knowledge’s wisdom; learning’s infinite, education's the ability to make decisions and the ability to be able to make decisions is freedom. Infinite aspects of an infinite learning that's easily ignored by our modern world; or its ideals of creative development, and enlightenment. Ideals that need to be cultivated by a greater degree of learning; or its goals towards a brighter, and more educative future. Ideals that are to be challenged by the simple things in life that can't be denied, or ignored. Ideals that need to be seen as cultured or cultivated by our Universe that will hopefully guide us through to the next generation of challenges, and greater learning. Thus allowing for a greater degree of the fluidness, or learning that’s needed to rule ourselves with dignity, and the eternal grace of confidence! http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/jwpavlic/C2XK http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/jwpavlic/C2XK/commentary#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:58:45 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/jwpavlic/C2XK Johnny http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/a06d00f22ccb23d778_vlqnmv4wc.jpg Johnny 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2XK/ I recently noticed these candidates running for the governors office tend to wear their fund-raising achievements like some sort of badge of honor. Yet, I never see any of them indicating how much money they raise once in office for the benefit of the State. If they are so talented at raising campaign funds to get themselves into office, why can't they use the same talents to raise funds for the financial problems within the State. Seemingly, the only candidates silent regarding fund-raising enterprises are the ones already in office. The rest are all money magnets and willingly broadcast it all over the place as if it makes some sort of difference to the constituents. The fact is, it does make a difference to the constituents, but the timing is all wrong. They should be doing this once in office and announcing how successful the objective is by signifying the amounts filling the state coffers for the benefit of the constituents. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/tallywhacker/C2Xb http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/tallywhacker/C2Xb/commentary#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:14:46 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/tallywhacker/C2Xb Tallywhacker http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/f4a304b8cf2567e468_4d8mv26wx.jpg Tallywhacker 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2Xb/ Like many Americans, I love football. I was raised in a football crazy family in a football crazy city and have serious ancestral roots in the birth of the NFL. I played in school as a boy, played pickup ball for years, and for nearly 20 years, I played adult flag-football just because I love the game. I even went so far as to spend the better part of a decade owning and operating one of the largest adult flag-football league operations in the country. So when it comes to Super-Bowl Sunday, I have pretty strong views on the subject. It's a National Holiday as far as I am concerned, and I do not like it when people mess with my Holidays anymore than Christians like it when non-Christians mess with Christmas. So when I read that CBS is for the first time allowing an extremely partisan organization to run an anti-abortion ad during the broadcast of my Holiday celebration, I get pretty hot under the collar. CBS is allowing James Dobson's "Focus on the Family" group to run a Tim Tebow featured anti-abortion screed during the telecast. This is a first. Until now, the networks and the NFL have kept the game strictly non-partisan. As it should be. Left, Right, or Center, the game has always been a place where we can come together as a people. Not ONLY is CBS putting politics into the game, it is simultaneously declaring its own bias by rejecting ads that support left-leaning causes. This is a personal foul. The airwaves are owned by the public. The game is a national treasure. Over the air networks are strictly forbidden from taking partisan stands of any kind and the NFL has never taken a public stand like this because to do so would alienate huge parts of its fan base. This needs to be stopped - whatever your feelings on abortion, gay rights or any other social screed you may care about, can we not agree that SOME things can be just for entertainment? Not EVERYTHING needs to become another forum to pick a fight, does it? I have sadly decided that unless CBS changes this stance, I will not watch the game - for the first time in my life. I will not attend or have a party as I usually do, and I will also not watch ANY CBS broadcast until this practice is ended. I urge you to do the same. Please - lets keep some things simple. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/nickhofmann/C2XF http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/nickhofmann/C2XF/commentary#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 12:49:27 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/nickhofmann/C2XF User from Van Nuys, CA User from Van Nuys, CA 1 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2XF/ Pundits like to claim California voters are anti-tax. Of course, we've raised various kinds of taxes at the state level, including the Prop 10 cigarette taxes in 1998, and the Prop 63 millionaire's tax for mental health programs passed in 2004. Still, even though our reputation remains, we've got nothing on Oregon, where no tax has been approved by statewide voters since 1930 . Until now. Yesterday Oregon voters delivered a huge victory for progressives by approving Measures 66 and 67 , raising taxes on incomes over $125,000 and on corporations to generate $733 million to close the state's budget deficit. The Oregon legislature had approved the taxes last summer, but a corporate/teabagger alliance organized to put it to voters in a referendum. One wonders if the national media will cover this victory at all - much less at the levels of the Massachusetts Senate race. Although they'll almost certainly ignore it, the lessons for California are enormous and extremely important. The opposition ran a well-funded campaign, led by Nike, Columbia Sportswear, and other big businesses. They were joined by Ari Fleischer's FreedomWorks and the libertarian publisher of the Oregonian, who used to be at the Orange County Register before it went belly-up. Together they ran a campaign arguing that the tax increases would worsen unemployment. But 55% of voters have rejected that, and instead showed that when a truly progressive campaign is waged, the right-wingers can be beaten. Even on taxes. What it also shows is that progressive policies, supported by smart progressive organizing led by folks such as former US Senate candidate Steve Novick and the Oregon Bus Project, which reached out to younger voters and had a strong ground game, can beat well-funded, well-organized corporate/teabagger alliances. Their message was deeply progressive: These reforms protect nearly $1 billion in vital services like education, health care and public safety. These funds preserve class sizes, save jobs for teachers, provide seniors with in-home care, and provide health care for thousands of Oregonians through the Oregon Health Plan. In this time of economic crisis, we must protect those who have been hit the hardest — seniors, children and the unemployed — without putting more of a burden on the middle class. It's a message that works nationally. And it's a message that'll work here in California. Voters don't like seeing their neighborhood schools close, or mass layoffs of teachers, or ending care for the disabled, or kicking kids off of health care. They don't want it, and are willing to raise taxes to prevent it. All eyes now turn to Sacramento. Oregon proved, beyond any doubt, that anti-tax sentiment can be beaten by progressive taxes on the wealthy and corporations in order to save programs people like. The message could not possibly be any clearer. Voters want their programs saved, and are willing to tax the elite to do it. Oregon netroots activist Carla Axtman may have had the best take on the victory : Dear OR Legislators: When you take bold, progressive action--we have your back. Remember this night. There is no reason now for California Democrats to not propose doing the same. We know that the 2/3rds rule is a huge obstacle that Oregon did not have. But if Democrats are to avoid making horrific choices like ending Healthy Families, it's time they took the fight to the Republicans, and made them defend these policies to the public by making them oppose progressive taxes. We know a progressive message, selling progressive policy, backed by progressive organizing, can win. All California waits to see whether Sacramento Democrats know it too. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/C2XH http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/C2XH/commentary#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:34:41 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/C2XH Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/8e501f6005c216fc9b_j8m6b99j3.jpg Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2XH/ As a minister, I routinely perform marriage ceremonies. The couple pay for the license at the city hall. I sign it and mail it back to be filed. In between the two actions, I perform a wedding ceremony. I write the ceremony and being a disciple of Jesus Christ, all of my ceremonies are based on a foundation of vows that include a commitment one to the other and a promise of fidelity. However, it is the piece of paper that makes the marriage a marriage in the eyes of the law. It has nothing to do with what one partner promises the other. It is basically a legal contract that the government collects revenue for and that provides the two parties with tax advantages, medical benefits and protection in the case of a crisis. As much as I would like it to be about what is promised in the ceremony, it isn't. It is simply a legal document. And everything that this legal document provides for a straight couple, should be provided for a gay couple or a transgender couple. To me that is a given. It is logical. It should be understood that any citizen in the United States should have the same rights as every other citizen, no matter what their sexual orientation is. What happens intimately between two adults is private and shouldn't be the business of any government agency. It has nothing to do with the legal provisions in a marriage license. Nothing. A marriage license must be available to everyone, not just a portion of the population in this country! I have performed wedding ceremonies and I have performed commitment ceremonies. And these ceremonies are all about love and fidelity and promising to take care of each other. But whether a ceremony has that included in it or not, really doesn't matter as far as what a marriage license provides. A license doesn't guarantee monogomy or "happily ever". It doesn't require fidelity or that you treat your in-laws well. It guarantees legal umbrellas to the two parties who have entered into the legal agreement. A license is a license and should be available to anyone and everyone who is an adult and a citizen of the United States. Anything less than that is a travesty of everyone's constitutional rights. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/rickihorst/C2Xv http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/rickihorst/C2Xv/commentary#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:00:06 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/rickihorst/C2Xv Rev Ricki Horst Rev Ricki Horst 1 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2Xv/ The ONLY thing that would make me happier to be with my girl friend Ren, is to be able to make her my wife some day. Instead of going common law where you live together for 8 years, you're practically married. I envision one day being able to see her walk down the aisle and marry me. Honestly, I don't see that coming soon in the future like we'd hope it will. This nation is suppose to be "free." If that is so, then why is America one of the only countries that doesn't allow same sex marriage? Why is it that we're so "free" that we can't have a man marry a man or a woman marry a woman? Love sees no Gender. Neither should marriage. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lesbianlove10/C2Xr http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lesbianlove10/C2Xr/commentary#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:49:19 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lesbianlove10/C2Xr User from Brandenburg, KY User from Brandenburg, KY 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2Xr/ There are many people out there in the world that are afraid to come out and admit their sexuality. People are afraid to be themselves. I was once one of them. My name is Ashley. I'm 17 years old. When I was about 13 or so, I started to notice myself staring at girls a lot more than I ever did boys. I came out to my mom about my thought of me being bisexual. My older sister is a lesbian and many thought I'm just this way cause I follow my sister. I don't believe that's true at all. I'm now 17 years old. Many people already knew I liked women. Not so many know that I ONLY like women. I've become far to terrified to tell my own father that I'm a lesbian for fear that he'll disown me like he did my now 28 year old sister. Oddly enough to say, I have found love. She's an amazing woman at that. Very bright and funny. (Continue to next blog entry) http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lesbianlove10/C2Xc http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lesbianlove10/C2Xc/commentary#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:45:21 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/lesbianlove10/C2Xc User from Brandenburg, KY User from Brandenburg, KY 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2Xc/ http://gendentity.info/2010/01/20/hey-masturbator-thats-so-gay.aspx http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2XW http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2XW/commentary#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:11:06 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2XW Justice Calo Reign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/c6b824aca266679c24_jnm6bt94h.jpg Justice Calo Reign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2XW/ http://gendentity.info/2010/01/18/good-lookin-out.aspx http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2XZ http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2XZ/commentary#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:10:17 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2XZ Justice Calo Reign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/c6b824aca266679c24_jnm6bt94h.jpg Justice Calo Reign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2XZ/ http://gendentity.info/2010/01/15/im-jealous-of-my-self.aspx http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Xq http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Xq/commentary#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:09:42 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Xq Justice Calo Reign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/c6b824aca266679c24_jnm6bt94h.jpg Justice Calo Reign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2Xq/ http://gendentity.info/2010/01/12/that-boy-is-a-monster-a-cookie-monster.aspx http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2XX http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2XX/commentary#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:08:12 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2XX Justice Calo Reign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/c6b824aca266679c24_jnm6bt94h.jpg Justice Calo Reign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2XX/ http://gendentity.info/2010/01/12/only-the-lonely.aspx http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Xt http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Xt/commentary#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:06:55 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Xt Justice Calo Reign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/c6b824aca266679c24_jnm6bt94h.jpg Justice Calo Reign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2Xt/ http://gendentity.info/2010/01/06/you-stole-my-tears-from-me.aspx http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Zy http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Zy/commentary#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:05:37 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Zy Justice Calo Reign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/c6b824aca266679c24_jnm6bt94h.jpg Justice Calo Reign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2Zy/ http://gendentity.info/2010/01/04/why-dont-you-make-love-to-my-hair-and-makeup.aspx http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Z9 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Z9/commentary#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:01:51 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2Z9 Justice Calo Reign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/c6b824aca266679c24_jnm6bt94h.jpg Justice Calo Reign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2Z9/ http://gendentity.info/2009/12/31/2009-a-decade-of-coming-out-floyd-hadden-tisha-tamarrah-justice.aspx http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2ZY http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2ZY/commentary#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:28:44 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/Gendentity/C2ZY Justice Calo Reign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/c6b824aca266679c24_jnm6bt94h.jpg Justice Calo Reign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2ZY/ Since we launched last Monday, the Courage Campaign's Prop 8 Trial Tracker has become a leading source for information about the trial in Judge Vaughn Walker's courtroom, since ProtectMarriage.com got the Supreme Court to block plans to televise the trial . We've had over 800,000 views and over 6,400 comments since we launched, a sign of how popular our liveblogging has become. But there's one group out there that isn't a fan, and that's ProtectMarriage.com. Last Friday they sent Courage Campaign a cease and desist letter regarding our parody of the "Yes on 8" logo that we use on the Prop 8 Trial Tracker. Late yesterday, we learned that ProtectMarriage.com filed suit in US district court seeking a temporary restraining order asking a federal judge to order us to take our logo down. Our lawyers' response: no way. As our lawyer said, our logo is a "sassy" parody of their logo. We continue to be entertained by the Prop 8 attorneys simultaneously admitting that the two images of gay parents and straight parents are "substantially indistinguishable," and yet failing to grasp that that the difference between the logos illuminates the core difference between their views and ours. My colleague Julia Rosen posted the complaint and our response over at the Prop 8 Trial Tracker. We don't know yet whether Judge Lawrence K. Karlton will grant, deny, or ask for a hearing on the TRO. Rick Jacobs, founder and chair of the Courage Campaign, had this to say in our press release: The Courage Campaign Institute will continue to focus our energy on this historic trial and the rights and protections at stake for loving, committed same-sex couples. ProtectMarriage.com can continue to expend time, energy and resources on a logo. Frankly, I think that says a lot about our respective priorities. We thought that our response laying out the tremendous legal precedent in cases like this would be the end of this silliness. But we are more than happy to defend our case if Prop 8 supporters continue to argue that the difference between their logo and ours is “substantially indistinguishable,” given that their logo features a father and mother and our logo features two mothers. This is yet another attempt by Prop 8 supporters to distract from the facts being brought forth at this trial that are demonstrating quite clearly both the discrimination same-sex couples face and the need and benefit to society of equal treatment under the law. We're confident that the law and precedent are on our side. Our logo is an obvious parody of the ProtectMarriage.com logo. More importantly, ProtectMarriage.com is essentially claiming that there isn't a difference between a family headed by a man and a woman and a family headed by two women. Wouldn't it be nice if they argued that in Judge Walker's courtroom? As one of the commenters on the Prop 8 Trial Tracker argued : I just really want to hear [Rachel Maddow] say "Protectmarriage.com is suing Courage Campaign, saying a lesbian couple is indistinguishable from a heterosexual one. In other news, protectmarriage.com continues to argue that homosexuals are too different from heterosexuals to deserve equal protection under the law." You can see the logos for yourself: We'll be sure to keep you updated as to how this turns out. We're not going to let the opponents of equality silence us. http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/C2Zs http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/C2Zs/commentary#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:17:19 PST http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/post/roberticruickshank/C2Zs Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/profile_picture/8e501f6005c216fc9b_j8m6b99j3.jpg Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign 0 http://couragecampaign.org/page/community/comment_rss/C2Zs/