It’s been a rough week….
Friends lost…the past creeping up on us….
Makes me a little reflective…
Some of my friends will get the associations in a special way…
For the rest of you, it’s still relevant….
We are all in this together….
It’s an eclectic mix….just like me.
Here are some of the video’s that reflect that and my mood on a Friday evening….
Filed under Gay, Uncategorized
I wonder what Pat Robertson thinks…
Oh, he doesn’t….he just talks….
From Queerty.com:
A Queerty reader suggested we drum up some faux propaganda suggesting the devastating meteor shower in Central Russia was an act of God, who is p.o.’d at the country for enacting gay-propaganda bans and oppressing his queer children.
We don’t thin the Man Upstairs micro-manages like that—and obviously no one deserves a disaster of this magnitude— but it is interesting to notice how silent the fundamentalist nutbags who have blamed us gays for 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the Penn State child-molestation scandal and even Newtown, are today.
But just in case there is something to this theory, Uganda, you might want to scope out the nearest bomb shelters.
via Is The Meteor Attack In Siberia God’s Wrath For Russia’s Anti-Gay Laws? / Queerty.
Why do I have visions of sackcloth and ashes with a cotton rope cinch belt tastefully accentuated by blue eye shadow and hobnail sandals?
Sorry, but I just can’t help being catty about this…
That’s nicer than drawing the more obvious parallels to Burkha’s and the Taliban….
But then Christianity is all about Fashion for a certain segment of the population. It’s a Lifestyle choice and they insist on incessantly waiving it in everyone’s face. I’m not saying that’s the case with this particular group, but….
I call the group I’m referencing the “Professional Christians” as opposed to what I view as the true Christians- who I do deeply respect for their attempts to live their lives by Jesus’ true principles and teachings. Just as I respect true Buddhists, Jews, Muslims and all those others among us who seek to quietly and devoutly live their lives by their personal beliefs while not imposing them on others and helping others get through life a little more graciously and safely along the way.
One of the main things that really pisses me off about these Professional Christians is that they incessantly seek ways to stand out from the mainstream and scream: “Look at me!!! I’m better and more righteous than you! I’m special!”
They do this so they don’t have to actually deal with the poor, the hungry and the needy, you know, like Jesus did….
For this group, every week is Christian Fashion Week….
It’s all about them-the Professional Christian- and their alternative, self-congratulating universe with things like this ridiculous “Christian Fashion Week” being just another example.
And let’s not even talk about the sexism and paternalism this “Fashion” week implies.
And since Professional Christians hate Gays, who designs this stuff? Without the Gay designers, you know the clothes are really crappy.
But then, most of these Professional Christians just wear their “Christianity” as their Fashion Statement.
I just don’t see Jesus doing something like this…
From Salon.com:
Welcome to Christian Fashion Week.
Backstage, separate changing areas divide the male and female models. And while, sure, there is a swimwear show, only women are allowed in the audience. Gender segregation is an event choice designed to avoid any “awkward” feelings for audience members or models, according to Jose Gomez, co-organizer of the event.
“We are trying to be sensitive to the fact that our audience may be in different places about how they feel about it,” Gomez told the Associated Press.
Adam and Eve might have donned barely a fig leaf, but modesty rules this week in Tampa. The mission behind the event is to showcase designs that “promote and respect stylish moderation instead of sexuality and excess,” according to their website. “A lot of the designers we talked with looked at the challenge as a creative challenge: How do we push the boundaries — with boundaries?” Gomez said.
Christian Fashion Week is yet another example of a Christian cottage industry, from filmmaking to fashion, trying to distance itself from secular culture. It’s also an outgrowth of an evolving conversation on Christian websites about what’s acceptable for believers to wear — particularly for Christian women. Modesty talk is ostensibly directed at males and females alike, but it is most often women who are scrutinized for clothing that reveals “too much” or “provokes” male lust.
And I’ll close out these thoughts with a little info from a little book called The Bible.
I think some of these Professional Christians should pay a little more attention to the New Testament and sections like the ones below– and not just the select Old Testament parts on judging and killing others- where they seem to focus most of their emphasis now.
Matthew 6:5-6 ESV
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-34 ESV
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. …
Filed under Gay, Uncategorized
Here we go again…
Such sick puppies…
From Salon.com:
An “ex-gay” Christian advocate, who blogs about how religion saved him from a life of homosexual sin, was recently discovered on gay hookup app Grindr.
Matt Moore, a blogger for the Christian Post, writes extensively about how Christianity has helped him to turn away from a gay lifestyle. But, apparently it didn’t help him quite enough to steer him away from Grindr.
Freethought Blogs writer Zinnia Jones, LGBT rights activist and HuffPost GayVoices blogger, was the first to expose Moore’s Grindr account on Monday. At first, she questioned if the account could be a fake, but Moore later admitted the Grindr profile was his.
“I am wrong in having been on grindr. I haven’t changed my views on homosexuality, the bible, etc.,” he said to Jones. “Creating a grindr profile and talking to guys on it was major disobedience on my part….disobedience to Christ. Disobedience to a loving and gracious God. Thankfully, I believe that He forgives me for this disobedience. I believe the blood of Christ covers this disobedience. And I won’t be on grindr again….ever.”
via Matt Moore, ‘Ex-Gay’ Christian Advocate, Exposed On Grindr.
Filed under Gay, Religion, Uncategorized
Well, no one saw this coming….
That’s sarcasm, in case you missed it….
Anyway, congratulations to Jim Nabors!
Mayberry will never be the same….
From WBTV Charlotte:
Jim Nabors, the Hawaii resident well known for his starring role in the 1960s television sitcom “Gomer Pyle, USMC,” married his longtime male partner early this month, he told Hawaii News Now Tuesday.
Nabors, 82, said he married his companion of 38 years, Stan Cadwallader, who’s 64, in Seattle on Jan. 15.
Nabors declined an on-camera interview but spoke to Hawaii News Now by phone.
“I’m 82 and he’s in his 60s and so we’ve been together for 38 years and I’m not ashamed of people knowing, it’s just that it was such a personal thing, I didn’t tell anybody,” Nabors said. “I’m very happy that I’ve had a partner of 38 years and I feel very blessed. And, what can I tell you, I’m just very happy.”
Nabors said he and Cadwallader traveled to Washington state, where gay marriages became legal in early December 2012. They were married at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle.
A judge performed the marriage ceremony in the privacy of their hotel room with a couple of friends who live down the street from them near Diamond Head as witnesses, Nabors said.
Before they were married, Nabors said, “It’s pretty obvious that we had no rights as a couple, yet when you’ve been together 38 years, I think something’s got to happen there, you’ve got to solidify something. And at my age, it’s probably the best thing to do.”
Filed under Broadway, Entertainment, Gay, Music, Television
I keep having a recurring thought….
I may be alone here, but stick with me and we’ll see….
I first heard “Les Miserables” on an actual record album when it opened on Broadway in 1987. It would be several more years before I actually saw it on stage. I was in my 20’s and facing something I never thought I would face a that time in my life….
Death. Young people I knew were suddenly dying….
AIDS was at it’s most deadly peak and I was starting to see people disappear. They did that then. They disappeared to die quietly in small towns and big cities while the rest of us were stunned and not sure how to go on with this new normal….
Most of America was still trying to work through this while so many young men just …..disappeared.
I think that’s why the song that stood out for me from “Les Miserables” then was “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables”. We didn’t realize it was a revolution then, but it was….
A quiet, deadly one….
We weren’t all brave and selfless, but we couldn’t miss the empty chairs at empty tables…
It was quite a different context, but it seemed to resonate with me– and I think quite a few others.
And it changed our world….
I think that may have been what made “Les Miz” relevant to our generation….
I think this subtle, subliminal, un-intentional subplot meant more to a lot of us than we realized then and may have added a gravitas for us that the rest of the show may not have otherwise reached….
With this one song, the show became part of the time and place for so many of us…it made it real and in the moment for just that moment.
Like I said, you may not be with me on this, but I think more Gay men may have had this reaction- whether or not they were aware of it- than they realized….
I know I did…
I loved how Eddie Redmayne performed this song in the movie- even if I had issues with the movie as a whole- but his very real version is not on YouTube yet. But Michael Ball’s excellent concert version is…
Filed under Gay, Movies, Uncategorized
This is a very interesting article: A Straight, Liberty University, Right Wing Christian guy pretends to be Gay for a year to learn about Gay people, who they really are and what their journey entails.
And this journey seems to take him on an interesting personal journey as well.
To give away the story, he ends up re-affirming his Christian faith, but also going from a bigoted Fundamentalist to supporting Gay Rights as he begins to understand how Gay people really live, how diverse the Gay Community is, who Gay people really are and the impacts of prejudice, bigotry and hate…
I may have to read the entire book-“The Cross in the Closet” by Timothy Kurek.
Here is an excerpt from and a link to the RawStory.com piece:
For an entire year Kurek lived “under cover” as a homosexual in his home town of Nashville. He told his family he was gay, as well as his friends and his church. Only two pals and an aunt – used to keep an eye on how his mother coped with the news – knew his secret. One friend, a gay man called Shawn – whom Kurek describes as a “big black burly teddy bear” – pretended to be his boyfriend. Kurek got a job in a gay cafe, hung out in a gay bar and joined a gay softball league, all the while maintaining his inner identity as a straight Christian.
The result was a remarkable book called The Cross in the Closet, which follows on the tradition of other works such as Black Like Me, by a white man in the 1960s deep south passing as a black American, and 2006′s Self-Made Man, by Norah Vincent, who details her time spent in disguise living as a man. “In order to walk in their shoes, I had to have the experience of being gay. I had to come out to my friends and family and the world as a gay man,” he told the Observer.
via Why a Bible belt conservative spent a year pretending to be gay | The Raw Story.
The book is “The Cross in the Closet” by Timothy Kurek. Here is the link to Amazon.com where I bought the Kindle version today for only $2.99:
I love this woman….
In a purely, non-biblical way….
Filed under Gay, Religion, Uncategorized
I’ve posted on Chick-fil-a and their cultish behavior before, but now they have really come out of the closet.
Let me say this very clearly: Chick-fil-a is an anti-Gay company. Openly and clearly stated below.
If you know and care about anyone who is Gay, you should really think hard if you want to buy that greasy chicken sandwich and waffle fries knowing the profit is going to be used against your friends and loved ones….
And for the record, “biblical principles” are open to interpretation. He’s using this phrase to justify his personal bigotry….
Form TheAdvocate.com:
Dan Cathy, the chief operating officer of Chick-fil-A, said there is no denying that his company opposes marriage equality.
Cathy said that he does not feel right billing Chick-fil-A as a Christian business because, as Christian business mentor Fred Roach once said, “There is no such thing as a Christian business … Christ never died for a corporation.”
However, Cathy told the Baptist Press he aims to operate the restaurant chain “on biblical principles.” When asked whether his company had an established position against marriage equality, Cathy said, “guilty as charged.”
He added, “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that. … We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”
via Chick fil A COO Dan Cathy Officially Comes Out as Antigay | Advocate.com.
Lost in the 21st Century 