Happy Easter! Happy Pesach! Or, just happy Sunday Funday. Did you know tomorrow a lot of candy will be on sale?
Whether you spend today with your family, your girlfriend, your laptop, or your dog, it won’t change your new life plan to get married in Buenos Aires or the fact that you’ll need tissues to get you through the Brigham Young University’s “It Gets Better” video. But the best part? There are bunnies to come.
Let’s Get Married in Buenos Aires
The City Legislature in Buenos Aires is currently considering legislation allowing foreign couples without local addresses to marry there. Give me one second.
Same-sex marriage has been a thing in Argentina since the Argentina Same-Sex Marriage Act of 2010, but the legislation put forward now would open that law up to LGBT visitors:
According to the proposed draft, non-resident couples will only be asked to present the authorities with a photocopy of their passport, containing an entry stamp, temporary address and the duration of their visit to Argentina.
Lawmaker María Rachid’s initiative argues that Article 20 in the Argentine Constitution establishes that “while on Argentine territory, all foreigners are protected by the citizens’ civil rights … they can make up their will and get married in accordance to the law.”
Simón Cazal, 31, and Sergio Lopez, 18, from Paraguay, became the first foreign gay couple to marry in Argentina last month. They married in the city of Rosario, the only place when no residency is currently required for marriage between a same-sex couple.
When do we book our flights? What will I wear? Should we have A-Camp 2.0 here? Stay tuned to find out.
Bully is Now PG-13
In the name of All That Is Good For The Children, Bully is now rated PG-13, opening the film screenings up to, well, bullies and the people they bully and probably a majority of people in the movie Bully.
Brigham Young University: “It Gets Better”
Gay and straight students at Brigham Young University, AKA “a school owned and operated by Mormons,” came together to speak to their queer peers and tell them to stick around:
This isn’t it, though. There’s an entire channel of videos for you to dig into and maybe cry to! I am crying right now, actually.
So You Wanna Be A Girl Hacker
Hacker School sounds fake but it’s actually “a three-month, full-time school in New York for becoming a better programmer.”
Etsy is offering ten scholarships of $5,000 to women hoping to go to Hacker School this year:
Today, in conjunction with Hacker School, Etsy is announcing a new scholarship and sponsorship program for women in technology: we’ll be hosting the summer 2012 session of Hacker School in the Etsy headquarters, and we’re providing ten Etsy Hacker Grants of $5,000 each — a total of $50,000 — to women who want to join but need financial support to do so. Our goal is to bring 20 women to New York to participate, and we hope this will be the first of many steps to encourage more women into engineering at Etsy and across the industry.
Marc Hedlund, VP of Engineering at Etsy, wrote up the page summarizing Etsy’s personal desire to see more women in the ranks of their engineers and the Hacker School’s lack of female participants (the current batch has only one).
This is just so something that brings back memories of Angelina Jolie’s existence in general and in Hackers especially and I need to like, drink a cup of water or something hold on.
Maybe Gay People in Arizona Have A Shot
When Aeimee Diaz and Kenyata White were asked to leave a hotel for sharing a kiss, the two women were justifiably angry and upset. Diaz has since been pursuing the issue, specifically because it exemplifies Arizona’s need for (among other changes and progress in general) LGBT inclusion in anti-discrimination laws and requirements.
But maybe this time, a solution is actually on the way:
Mayor Greg Stanton is hoping to change that. He has a group of lawyers exploring the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance to determine what, if any, changes need to occur to insure that gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender people are covered.
“I think that’s a big step” Diaz said. She is hoping any change will help bring about “equality.”
“Its not just about the law,” she added. “It’s also about the hearts of people.”
Since the incident, the Sheraton Hotel has started offering sensitivity training for its employees.
Snoop Dogg’s Book Full of Wisdom, Hemp Products
Snoop Dogg’s latest entreprenurial venture are his Kingsize Slim Rolling Papers, and he’s promoting them the only way a man with tons of time to think about weed would. A completely smokeable book.
“Rolling Words” is a book printed entirely on rolling papers, with lyrics from Snoop’s older songs (like maybe “Smoke Weed Everyday”). He also includes a strike paper for quick-n-easy lighting up. It remains uncertain whether it will ever actually be something we normies can buy on Amazon via the affiliate link on the right-hand side of your page. But if you go to Coachella, it’ll be distributed to you later this month.
Lindsay Lohan Goes Out, Looks Cute
Happy Easter Look A Bunny In The Snow OK Cool Thanks
The BYU video is amazing, I am so impressed by the bravery of the indiviuals involved. I’ve sent it to my Mormon friends and I’m hoping they’ll share it with other members. They support and love me for who I am, but I have to hide myself when I’m visiting with them.
Yeah, but I couldn’t help but be a bit suspicious when I watched this, considering the timing of the BYU students’ “It gets better” video in comparison to the other ones on youtube. Mayhaps this has a lot to do with putting Romney in office…
LiLo, you’re looking so good! Glad to see your red hair again! Please, be someone I love again.
Yay for the return of ginger LiLo
Oh shalom Lindsay’s red hair!
Wait a minute, are these… SCOTTISH bunnies?
How am I even still alive right now
It Gets Better’s Erikka: ‘…girls aren’t supposed to die a little on the inside when they kiss their boyfriends’
MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL DATING EXPERIENCE. And it wasn’t the good kind of little deaths.
SAME. And then one day I learned that kissing is actually supposed to be enjoyable! Who knew?
This was totally my experience with the one boyfriend I had, I always thought kissing was so…gross. Little did I know.
Bueno for Buenos Aires, me la gusta.
Loving Lilo with red hair again. She’s looking healthy to. Let’s hope she’s on the right track!
Speaking of bunnies (but not really) I love this video I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXkp4vmJth8&feature=g-u-u&context=G225fc1cFUAAAAAAAQAA . It has tiny puppies and chicks. It’ll probably be the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen. You’re welcome. :)
That BYU video is on Queerty as well, and a bunch of the comments there depressed me, because they were all snarky, like “It gets BETTER if you TRANSFER” (one I think I saw about five times) which is entirely missing the point of the video. These kids are so, so brave, and so true to themselves, and they have the potential to do so much good where it’s needed the most.
I think religious LGBTQ people are some of the most beautiful people in the world, because they bring together two worlds that don’t always agree, and with their very EXISTENCE bridge the gap between them. I guess my reaction to this is somewhat personal too because I’ve been struggling with whether or not to return to Christianity lately and these kids showed me it is possible to embrace both your sexual orientation and your religion.
However, I’m also really glad I’m not a Mormon because “embracing your alternative sexuality” in that culture looks a lot like “embracing your celibacy.”
And I whine about being surrounded by born-agains who “disapprove” of my sexuality but also think it’s between me and God and not their place to interfere… I think I will stop whining in the future.
Lots of thoughts and feelings about the BYU kids. I wish I knew them, they seem like such incredibly strong people.
“these kids showed me it is possible to embrace both your sexual orientation and your religion.”
Yes! I feel that that’s what makes this video so important too, and I hope in the future more people speak out from this perspective. Having been one once, I know there are people out there who need to hear that sexuality and spirituality CAN be reconciled.
“And I whine about being surrounded by born-agains who “disapprove” of my sexuality but also think it’s between me and God and not their place to interfere… I think I will stop whining in the future.”
Nah, keep whining; they’re still being bullies. It’s not the worst that someone can do to you, maybe, but if they’re allowed to go on thinking that their actions are not hurtful, then they’re never going to change. That’s my perspective, at least.
Hugs if you want ’em, autolurker. The video seems to have brought out similar emotions in the two of us, so if you ever want to talk, feel free to message me.
There are tons of denominations that accept us gays… actually, I only know about Quakers and Lutherans. But I mean, at least there are two.
I also had a hard time with the lesbian-Christian thing. I was questioning my faith in general when I realized I was a lesbian, and I thought, “well, now I have a really good reason to just quit God.” And I almost did, but then I was at church with my parents and this older woman came up to me and said “God wants you to know that whatever you chose, he will always be with you, he will always want you back.” And she didn’t know I was considering giving up on faith. So I then I prayed to God, “I will still be a Christian, but I’m also a Lesbian, and you are just going to have to deal with that.” It wasn’t until much later that I actually started reading about other LGBTQ Christians, and how they reconciled LGBTQ-ness with their faith, and a lot of the arguments make sense. But in this video, two of the people said that they asked God if it was okay for them to be gay, and they got a sense of peace and acceptance. I thought that was cool. I never did that.
Also, do you know about Jennifer Knapp: http://www.advocate.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Entertainment_News/Christian_singer_Jennifer_Knapp_Comes_Out/ and Inside Out Faith: http://www.jenniferknapp.com/insideoutfaith?
The United Church of Christ and the Metropolitan Community Church are two more!
Also the Unitarians, who aren’t Christian per se but are Christian-friendly.
I thank God every day that I grew up in the United Church of Christ, in an Open and Affirming congregation, because I didn’t even stop to think that God might really not like homosexuality until I was about 22 (a good 8-10 years after realizing I was queer). And I mentioned it to my mother and my sister, and their response was basically “are you crazy? God loves you. God loves everyone, no matter who they are or what they do.”
So I’m happy that I can be comfortable in my Christian community. I know a lot of queer people are made to feel unwelcome by religious groups. In fact, when I meet new people, I’m much more comfortable coming out as queer than I am coming out as religious.
I don’t know what made me think I wasn’t going to cry at the BYU It Gets Better video, but I did of course. As a Christian who struggled with spirituality “versus” bisexuality for the worst year and a half of my life, it was especially powerful to hear other narratives centered around the religious aspect of it. I’ve lived parts of their stories. The increased spirituality, praying that God would take it away (one time I prayed that and immediately burst into tears, terrified that He would do just that and I’d lose an important part of myself. Or was I in tears to start with? I don’t remember. It was intense.), having to assume that the spiritual community you’ve grown up with thinks you’re a pitiable (if not despicable) sinner… and then finally the peace that comes of knowing that God has your back even if His fanclub doesn’t.
Annnd yes, apparently I DO have a personal essay to write on the subject every time it comes up.
What does a queer lady bring to the second A-Camp in Buenos Aires?
A Uhaul… And a wedding dress/tux.
Haven’t seen the video BYU video yet, but hope to some other day. Right now I’m in too good a mood. Plus after watching To Kill a Mockingbird last night, I’ve seen enough good and heavy emotional reminders of human compassion in the face of prejedice for a while.
Anyway I found out about these videos from an article I read the other day that was oddly critical. The author (who just happends to be managing editor for the primary GLBTQ encyclopedia online), seemed to think the student came off like unknowing defender of Mormon anit-gay activism and even suggested the video may have been funded by the church or college itself!
I’m withholding judgement till I see it for myself, but I’m curious to see someone elses takes since the reaction here feels so positive.
Here’s the article. See what you think:
http://www.glbtq.com/blogs/byu_students_it_gets_better.html
I disagree entirely with the article you linked. The author seems to think that the only way these people SHOULD be happy with themselves is by rejecting wholesale the church that has raised them. That hurts. I want to re-emphasize that before I get into a more logical argument. It HURTS. It creates this false dichotomy–gay OR religious–that can REALLY HURT. This dichotomy obviously plagued several of the students in the video who then spoke about reconciling their faith with their sexuality and managing to keep both with pride, which is a message that some people out there are going to need to hear.
That’s what the video is about.
The author of the article wants it to be about blasting the Mormon church for its overall oppressive stance on homosexuality, but these students love their God AND themselves. Their message is that It Gets Better: you may be struggling with your sexuality or your faith but there will come a day when that stops, and you don’t have to throw away either to get there.
Yes, the Mormon church as a whole has a soul-crushing attitude towards homosexuality. So do a lot of faiths. And there is a time and place to call them out on that. However, that’s not what this video is for. It’s not what the It Gets Better campaign is for. I think the author of that article needs to step back from his grudges and realize that faith can be as deeply-felt and real as sexuality.
…I’m not sure I’m making my point completely. That article upset me. The author is presenting the same exact damned false dichotomy, just rooting for the opposite side of it.
You know it’s interesting: to a lesser exanct, a had the same kind of reaction!
Except I’m not sure if the author was really arguing that these students should abandon all ties to their faith or that there needs to more emphasis on the role that the Mormon church has played in the passing of Pro. 8, since it does send sort a a mixed message to young people. It’s been suggested they operated more like political lobby than a non-profit religious body during the first year of the fight. It’s something that may be worth greater examination and exposure, though I do agree with you that this isn’t want the video is really about.
I’m not defending the author. Just wondering what’s at the root of his argument.
There is a really deep anti-religion sentiment in the LGBTQI community that I have observed, and I think this is just a manifestation of that.
I can definitely understand why many of us feel betrayed by organized religion, but I think it’s important that we don’t dehumanize people of faith, either.
I agree with Dina that it’s a matter of deep-rooted anti-religious sentiment, and while I’d never deny that there are good reasons for it, it has nothing to do with the IGB video (as we’ve agreed), so the commentary winds up as inappropriate and hurtful.
Heh–thanks for saying that, Mike. I was kind of freaking out for a bit there. (That sounds sarcastic but it’s not.)
If the article author’s analysis is what’s keeping you from watching the video, I can vouch that he has it wrong and the video is sincere and worth watching. :) Peace.
Finally got around to seeing this video. All can say right know is that the people who chose to participate were powerfully humbling in there courage and straight forward reflections of personal struggles. That know if that sounds like my usual rambled attempt to sound elequent or not. (shrugs)
Anyway, just wanted to let you know Rachel that I never doubted the sincerity of those involved. As I said in my first comment, I wasn’t up to seeing something that heavy. Somehow I thought it just leave me feeling down, but it didn’t.
If I seemed a little too easy on the author of the article I you too, it just because the site in question is one of the best references I’ve found for LGBTQ history, art, literature and social studies. I’d GLBTQ.com to anyone who likes to studies that sort of thing. Are all of the article well rounded? No, but most of them are. This was a blog entry, not an ecyclopedia entrie (which makes up the block of it’s conent).
I completely agree, having watched the movie and read the linked article. At the end of the day, it’s a person’s choice if they want to move on from their faith or stay with it. I chose to move on from Catholicism (although my queerness was only a part of that), but many more LGBTQI Catholics decide to stay with the Church despite many flaws. That’s their business, not mine.
There is also something to be said about helping foster change from within. (Not at the expense of your own mental health, of course – another reason I left Catholicism!)
definitely cried at the BYU video.
I graduated from BYU back in the dark ages. I hadn’t yet figured out I was gay but knew I wasn’t really into dating. You have no idea the oppressive religious atmosphere there! There is a large monument as you drive onto campus that says “The World is Our Campus”, but we would joke that The Campus was our World because it truly feels like nothing else you will ever experience.
Before I watched the video I thought “There’s no way I will cry because I know BYU, I know what to expect.” I was so wrong! These kids have balls to come out while still at BYU. Even if I had known I was gay when I was there, there would have been NO WAY I would have told anyone! Maybe they have changed the honor code so that you can’t be expelled for being gay, but that won’t change the homophobia that most Mormons are taught.
The video said they changed the honor code in 2007.
Omigod, that boy Mark’s comment on how his parents would be less heart-broken if he died than if he came out as gay made me break down. How… =(
The BYU video is great and heartwarming and all, but all I could think while watching it was “dayum, there are some cute girls at that school!” hehe. especially the ones with alternative lifestyle haircuts.
Hacker School sounds like an amazing idea! Too bad their summer program begins when I have exams, otherwise I would certainly apply :(
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