So, the battle isn’t holy in the sense of being “with God” or even “with Religion,” in the biggest sense of the term, but rather, this is the last and desperate attempts by a group of human beings in Rome to control the lives of others in the name of their religion.
If you aren’t familiar with it, check out the Ballotpedia, a Wikipedia-type site that provides a ton of great info in an interactive format. http://ballotpedia.org
What I do want to really own from Jillian’s position however, is that today, more than ever before, we have a need to both accentuate our differences, and at the same time embrace our togetherness. Even if we can easily see how to cut ourselves up into isolated parts, there is enormous value in owning our connectedness which makes us one community full of diversity. Our sense of community isn’t about how we are alike, but rather, our willingness to celebrate our differences without it harming our individual or collective identity.
To help students understand and assert their rights in schools, the National Center for Transgender Equality is releasing Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students: Your Rights at School, a new resource that outlines the laws protecting trans people in school and steps for bringing harassment and discrimination complaints to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. via NCTE Release Student’s “Know Your Rights” Guide « National Center for Transgender Equality’s Blog.
Activism doesn’t always mean doing big and risky things. Somethings the best for of activism, is just being, and making sure to do what you can do, rather than rationalize why you can’t do something else. These five things are things that anyone of us can do, ad we all need to do:
This is from Box Turtle Bulletin’s Daily Agenda, and I thought it was interesting. As we struggle today for same-sex marriage and full equality, it may be helpful to remember that it wasn’t that many years ago, when there was very little gay visibility, let alone public support for our basic civil rights. My, how far we have come, even if we still have farther to go! I have never been to Gay Days at[Read More…]
The Ninth Circuit was not really asked if it as a whole body supports Prop 8 or not. It was merely asked if it wanted to re-hear the appeal. The reason it would re-hear the appeal would be if, a majority of the judges felt that the both sides had not had a fair trail in the first appeal before the three judge panel. Today’s actions merely mean that the whole court, or a majority of the 26 justices believed that the three panel judgement was fair, reasoned and based on sound judicial principles.
The linked story is an excellent read concerning what today’s ruling means: Assuming that the proponents will seek Supreme Court review of their appellate loss, they would file a petition for a writ of certiorari. The plaintiffs and the state defendants — who have opposed Proposition 8’s constitutionality — as well as outside groups and individuals would then be able to file a response to the proponents’ filing. The Supreme Court, which generally recesses for the[Read More…]
This afternoon at 1PM, Pittsburgh time, the Ninth circuit is expected to announce if a larger number of judges will re-hear the Prop 8 appeal. The best write up of this I have read, is Chris Geidner’s in MewtroWeekly. Check it out to understand what the various outcomes might mean.
Today, I’ll be calling Wisconsin Democrats as part of the GOTV effort in the Walker recall election. The GOP understands why this is a crucial win for them. If they can keep Walker in office, the Union leading progressives have no real strength, and the same energy that went into busting collective bargaining, women’s rights, and education, will spread even further. If Walker remains in office, the OWS movement and all other progressive efforts in[Read More…]