[Okay to share. Click here for terms of use] luminosity (May 2003) "Chicks break out of their shells because they�re dying. When the fetal chicken is mature, the egg fills with a toxic gas and the chick inside must break out or die. It seems harsh, but the chick�s passage from incubation to self-salvation and finally into the light is a rite of passage we all must make. Same-gender-loving and transgender people have been encased in oppression�s shell and repression�s closet for too long, and this is the moment for us to break out into a new life of equality, community, and joy..." READ MORE Nail Implies Hammer (April 2003) "...Being LGBT or queer is more than a matter of who you are physically and emotionally attracted to, or whether you fit society�s idea of your gender or not. Being queer should ignite a fire to know Truth, a sort of drive toward intelligence that can only be satisfied when you can see the world from different angles at once..." READ MORE Still and Know (March 2003) "...when we become fully, deeply present--as we begin to recognize our true selves and look God in the eye--we get the rug pulled out from under us. It's not a bad thing, although we have a low tolerance for discomfort. Getting shaken up is just evidence of our rising up. If our feet stayed firmly planted on the rug of our conventional understanding, our feet would never leave the ground..." READ MORE "What's l**e got to do with it?" (February 2003) "...Each LGBT person has the courage and potential to become a stone dropped into a stagnant pool; an emissary of Love whose very presence and example send ripples of change through their surroundings. This is the moment to change. Don't let it pass you by." READ MORE Doctor! It Hurts When I Do This... (January 2003) "...GLBT people who put on the Shirt of Flame are conscious of the selfish component of our work-that we desire the cessation of our own suffering and the development of our inner capacity for genuine, long-lasting happiness (and what could be wrong with that?). At the same time, without deep compassion for self and others, and for the natural world, we cannot behave in ways that develop communion, trust and understanding: true Power." READ MORE Back on the Bus, Ya'll! (December 2002) "...in many small communities it's very difficult to get enough local LGBT and Ally people to show up for door-knocking! We can look to a square coastal state for one solution to this problem. In November 2001, a group of young Oregon Democrats came up with a beautifully simple plan to engage a new generation of progressive leaders in grassroots civic action, educate people, bridge the urban/suburban/rural divide, and elect a more progressive government..." READ MORE McMovement (November 2002) "Their website couldn't be right, I thought, staring in disbelief at my computer screen. Surely something so obvious couldn't have escaped me for long! After all, this was a national queer organization-the staff and leadership couldn't really all be White, right?..." READ MORE Big Gay War Party! (October 2002) "...each and every one of us has inherent value and a shining destiny and purpose, but there are millions of people like me who don't live it or who can't see it. Oppressed people, and queer people in particular, often fall into a trap of believing that they're sinful, worthless or just not good enough..." READ MORE The Near Enemy (August/September 2002) "Being a member of an oppressed group in this day and age is no longer as isolating or unique an experience as it once was. Today when we look around ourselves we are able to see just how much everyone is suffering. The heterosexual, middle class, white American male claims his immobilizing pain just like our Third World Arab Lesbian sister or our Black, inner city gang member on the down-low brother. Just like me. Just like you..." READ MORE Apathy is Lethal (July 2002) "...We need to get it together, people. It's easy for us to get so wrapped up in our own issues as oppressed people that we lose perspective. The answer isn't to forget our issues and only focus on eliminating preventable physical suffering from the world. But the answer isn't to pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist, either, and only worry about getting hate crimes and nondiscrimination laws and policies passed..." READ MORE Just Add Water: Building a 21st Century Progressive Grassroots Base (June 2002) "...Most Americans just don�t know what�s happening, why, or how things could be better. Our citizens are currently not given all the information with which to make sound, proactive and sustainable decisions, and many of them assume that means there isn�t any more information. An effective Permission Marketing campaign could awaken the American voting public to all kinds of submerged possibilities. However, we cannot extract that much benefit just from going door-to-door..." READ MORE Gay Brownies? Creating Change Through Queer Social Entreprenuerism (May 2002) "...This kind of empowerment program is organized to break cyclical poverty and homelessness. It could provide long-term solutions to the immediate challenges that queer youth face on the streets and keep many from turning to survival sex to afford housing and food. A holistic program that could address not only Population Q�s immediate psychological, social and emotional needs but their long term housing and economic needs as well might be the determining factor between death and life, suffering and joy, despair and hope..." READ MORE Genius, Power and Magic (April 2002) "...the right to free speech, the right to express oneself and one's belief system or worldview, must exhaust itself the moment one begins to cause harm. The evolutionary mantle of diversity, liberalism and tolerance cannot shelter pathology, especially when pathology is camouflaged in spiritual drag..." READ MORE Queers: You Are Being Lied To! (March 2002) "...the source of our real liberation lies inside each of us individually, and within us as a queer community. Ultimately, yes, straight people, society and institutions will have to change�no question about that. Yes, working toward that change is worthwhile, and we should all honor and support our sisters and brothers who undertake that great labor. All of us, however, whether we are activists or not, must examine the ways in which we participate in our own oppression..." READ MORE Do We Really Want to be Free? (February 2002) "We often talk about our desire for freedom�from discrimination, from violence, from prejudice, from self-hatred. What would our lives and our activism look like if we really meant it?..." READ MORE Pray for Our Enemies (January 2002) "...Our sisters and brothers around the country (and around the world) are working very hard to block anti-queer movements and violence by using traditional activism--voter education and registration, lobbying, speaking out, increasing queer visibility, writing letters to the editor and so on. The work they are doing is indispensable. At the same time, whether or not you and I are directly involved in that work, we can help arrange the ground for queer victory by unleashing our �Power Tool�--Prayer..." READ MORE Fear Divides and Love Joins (September 2001) "...Frequently in our struggle for full, unequivocal legal and ecclesiastical equality, we demonize and distance ourselves from those with whom we disagree. Like any abused creature, we growl and bark at, and occasionally bite, the one who hurt us in the past. We can even see how we directly `make' our own enemies, giving them power and influence just by virtue of our defensive reaction to their anti-gay activities..." READ MORE [Go Home] |
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