"I'd like to send a
respectful and considerate message in rejection to the homophobic remarks made
by Nicolás [Maduro] today. It's not the first time. I believe in a society
without exclusion and that's the way I express it to the country. A society
where no one feels excluded based on the way they think, their race, their
creed, their sexual orientation. People should go out and reject it. That's
fascism. Absolute fascism. From the extreme right. If that's how you want to
attack me, let it be. But from here on I will always demand respect for all
Venezuelans. Because the society that we want to build in Venezuela is a
society without exclusion. You cannot talk of inclusion if there is exclusion.
There should be overwhelming rejection of something like that."
Hopefully, Capriles is
elected and this kind of ‘talk’ ends.
“We’ve seen the total breakdown
of the family over the last 45 years in part because of legislation that was
meant to do well but it did harm. We’ve damaged the home. Kids suffer as well.
The great thing about this country is, I have no problem with 100 people
telling the Supreme Court that this is what they believe. But when you look
historically, you see the nuclear family home -- mother, father, children --
break down, you see society break down, and you see a society, a civilization
in decline, all under the name the name of advancement but it’s normally on the
road to the dust bin of history. ... You’re breaking up the nuclear family,
man, woman and children. It’s hard to argue biologically that is what
nature intended or we would not have had a second generation on this earth.”
Hey Louie? Tell me how, with
specifics, the family has broken down in the last 45 years and then please,
again with specifics, tell me how The Gays are responsible.
That’s what I thought.
"[The bullying epidemic] is no different from a white
supremacist hanging a black man from a tree before the Civil Rights movement.
It's no different than a member of the Taliban shooting a young girl in the
head for writing a blog about the importance of female education. It's no
crazier than an Iranian gay man being hanged for falling in love with a man. I
don't know about you, but I can't take this sh*t anymore. That is why I want to
start a revolution. Are you with me? It's 2013, people. We live in America --
land of the free, home of the brave -- that's a question, not a
statement."
While I sometimes take issue with Madonna, I gotta give it
to her for speaking up, while dressed as a Boy Scout.
"As a gay person, it's important for me to remember
that all of us come from a community whose stories have for too long been
forgotten and ignored, a community whose lives have for too long been ridiculed
or misrepresented, a community that in spite of all that has found ways to love
and to laugh and to care about one another, a community that has found ways to
stand tall and stand up and make ourselves visible. I know that I'm only able
to be on this stage because of generations of gay people who have come before
and some of their names are known, but so many have lived and died in silence… Their
lives never even acknowledged, their love hidden in the shadows, hands
furtively held in the dark… I've had many blessings in my life and being gay is
certainly one of the greatest blessings. It has allowed me to love and be
loved; it has allowed me to open my head and open my heart in ways that I never
could have predicted. The ability to love one another, The ability to love
another person is one of God's greatest gifts and I thank God every day for
enabling me to give and share love with people in my life, with my family, my
friends, and my partner Benjamin."
It’s kinda funny. We all knew
Andy was gay—or at least secretly wished he was gay—and then he comes out
and his whole life changes, opens up.
He can now speak honestly about who he is, what he feels,
what he’s learned, endured, seen, and talk openly and sweetly about who he
loves.
It’s a good thing, this coming out business. Plus, you know,
you get a Toaster Oven and stuff.
"I want you to think about this, one time in Heaven,
God was sitting up there with his sketch pad and he said, ‘You know, I’m going
to design human beings and wouldn’t it be fun if they started doing this together with one another?’ I mean, think
about it. God dreamed up sex! He thought it up for our enjoyment! He gave us
the equipment to enjoy it with. And here's how it operates. It should be
between a man and a woman, and it should be in the security of a marriage
relationship.... You know, in the instruction manual, it said, now plug this
into a 120 outlet. Suppose I said, ‘Oh, I’m not going to follow those
instructions, those are antiquated instructions. I’m going to plug it into a
220 outlet. It’s my TV and I can do whatever I want to with it. Well, it is my
TV to do what I want to with it, but I’m going to blow that TV to smithereens
if I put it in a 220 outlet!"
Pastor, you don't look like you have a 220 outlet. I’m
sensing maybe, maybe, 40, on a good
day. But you keep on thinking about a 220 outlet and what you might stick in it. I'm sure it keeps you all kinds
of occupied.
"It’s time for the church to stop talking so much about
sex. It’s the perfect time, in fact. It’s on matters of sexual morality
that the church has lost much of its authority. And it’s on matters of sexual
morality that it largely wastes its breath. By insisting on mandatory celibacy
for a priesthood winnowed and sometimes warped by that, by opposing the use of
contraceptives for birth control, by casting judgment on homosexuals and by
decrying divorce while running something of an annulment mill, the church’s
leaders have enraged and alienated Catholics whose common sense and whose
experience of the real world tell them that none of that is wise, kind or
necessary."
To paraphrase, those who can, do; those who can’t, preach.
Michelle Shocked, "apologizing" for her 'God Hates
Fags' onstage rant, saying, oddly, that she never said it:
"I do not, nor have I ever, said or
believed that God hates homosexuals (or anyone else). I said that some of His
followers believe that. [I was] predicting the absurd way my description of, my
apology for, the intolerant would no doubt be misinterpreted. The show was all
music, and the audience tweets said they enjoyed it. The commentary came about
ten minutes later, in the encore. I'm very sorry: I don't always express myself
as clearly as I should. But don't believe everything you read on Facebook or Twitter.
My view of homosexuality has changed not one iota. I judge not. And my
statement equating repeal of Prop 8 with the coming of the End Times was
neither literal nor ironic: it was a description of how some folks–not me–feel
about gay marriage. Folks wonder about my sexuality, but denying being gay
is like saying I never beat my husband. My sexuality is not at issue. What is
being questioned is my support for the LGBT community, and that has never
wavered. Music and activism have always been part of my work and my journey,
which I hope and intend to continue. I am damn sorry. If I could repeat the
evening, I would make a clearer distinction between a set of beliefs I abhor,
and my human sympathy for the folks who hold them. I say this not because I want
to look better. I have no wish to hide my faults, and–clearly–I couldn't if I
tried."
Maybe Michelle should think before she speaks, and
then, if misunderstood, apologize before, before, her upcoming concert tour gets cancelled.
Had Shocked apologized immediately, maybe
this wouldn't have gone so far, so, she has no one to blame but herself, and still, the fact remains that she said those things and kept saying them with no sense of irony.
Lindsey Graham, South Carolina senator, and confirmed 'bachelor,' on marriage equality:
“I’m with South Carolina. I believe in traditional marriage — between a man and a woman, without animosity. I don’t mind if people are able to transfer their property, visit their loved ones in hospitals, but marriage to me, I’ve stayed with the concept of traditional marriage.”
He wants all the rights of marriage given to The Gays without calling it marriage; separate but equal?
Methinks Miss Lindsey has a secret.
“I’m with South Carolina. I believe in traditional marriage — between a man and a woman, without animosity. I don’t mind if people are able to transfer their property, visit their loved ones in hospitals, but marriage to me, I’ve stayed with the concept of traditional marriage.”
He wants all the rights of marriage given to The Gays without calling it marriage; separate but equal?
Methinks Miss Lindsey has a secret.