marriage equality

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NYU Langone Medical Center just launched a new online research study called “Project Rewind.”  Anyone can go fill out the survey.

From the Project Rewind Site:

Project Rewind is an anonymous online research survey. The purpose of this study is to help us better understand the relationship between pornography, drug and alcohol use, and the sexual practices of men who have sex with men.

This survey is being conducted by NYU School of Medicine. Participation is voluntary. All information in this survey will be recorded anonymously, so names and contact information will not be attached to survey responses. The survey will take about 15 minutes to complete.

At the end of the survey, you will have an opportunity to enter a raffle for a $200 gift certificate to iTunes. Entering the raffle will not link your name to your survey responses.

Click over to Project Rewind to take the survey!

Gay Research Study, Safe Sex Study, Gay Porn

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Fellow Activists:

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dear
friend and community activist, Gay Catholic Priest, Rev. Dr. Paul E.
Murray.

Rev. Dr. Murray, Chairperson of the God &
Sexuality Conference, Catholic Chaplain and Visiting Assistant
Professor of Religion at Bard College passed away on On
January 31st in his home in
Tivoli, NY.

Dr. Murray was an author, teacher, scholar, and activist. 
He touched thousands of lives and devoted his spiritual and intellectual
energies to creating a more dynamic, welcoming, and safe Catholic
church and understanding of religion in general.  Paul was the founder
and executive director of Among Friends, Inc.,
which provides transitional housing, counseling, and job-search support
to persons in crisis. 

Paul was a great and quiet man.  He changed the lives of thousands and
offered a vision of compassion, spirituality, and promise to Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer people of all ages and faiths.  
His work was confident, his beliefs deep, his patience endless.  He
is greatly missed.

He most recently published his memoir Life in Paradox, The Story of a Gay Catholic Priest
(2008, O Books). Other publications include: “A Cultural Reading of Literature on the Catholic Church in the South,” Culture of Bible Belt
Catholics; “The ‘International Outlook’,” Place of the Person in Social Life; and articles, interviews, and book reviews in
Anthropos; Technology and Disability; National Catholic Reporter; Charities, U.S.A.; Washington
Blade. 

He is survived by his mother Verna H. Murray, sister
Rebecca Burns, nieces Julia Warga and Jennifer Glynn, and many friends, students, and colleagues.

Friends may call at the Arlington Funeral Home, 3901 N. Fairfax Dr.,
Arlington, VA on Friday, February 13, 2009 from 6 to 8 p.m. A mass of
Christian burial will be celebrated on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at
10:30 a.m. in St. Stephen-Martyr Catholic Church, 2436 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW, Washington DC. Interment to follow in Oakwood Cemetery, Falls
Church, VA.

Memorial contributions maybe made to the
The God and Sexuality Conference at Bard College, PO Box 5000,
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504.  Please let us know if you would like to make a contribution in Paul’s memory.

In Sorrow,

Gabriel Blau

Director, The God & Sexuality Conference

Gay Catholic Priest, Paul Murray, Bard College,

Nehirim just sent out a newsletter with info on a slew of upcoming events.  You’ll be seeing more info on the Calendar.

Register Now for Nehirim’s First Annual Women’s Retreat.  Slated for March 20-22, 2009 at Isabella Freedman Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT, the Women’s Retreat welcomes all self-identified women to build a vibrant, diverse community in a beautiful natural setting.  Also, children’s programming will be available, so bring along those smaller members of the family.

Also, Super-Early Bird Registration is now open for this year’s Nehirim West and Nehirim East retreats.  Register by March 1 (by clicking here for Nehirim West and here for Nehirim East) to get a double discount!  Nehirim West will be held at Walker Creek Ranch, in Petaluma, CA, on May 8-10, 2009.  Nehirim East will take place at Isabella Freedman Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT, on May 15-17, 2009.

We also have some exciting upcoming local events in the New York City metro area:
We hope to see you at Ma’agal, our monthly Nehirim women’s group, facilitated by Chani Getter, or at Social Networking for Couples, Parents, & Prospective Parents, an event for LGBT Jews who are considering marriage, parenting, and other forms of family-building, run by Marlene Rachelle, whom you may have met at Queer Shabbaton New York or the Nehirim Gathering.

nehirim, gay, jewish, events

Here’s an alternative invocation recorded by CBST Senior Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum.  CBST (Congregation Beth Simchat Torah) is the LGBTQI synagogue in New York City and the largest in the world. 

Obama, Inauguration, Rick Warren, CBST, Gay, Lesbian, Prayer

Visit http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/

Protests are happening around the country tomorrow.  This is important.  Be a part of it.  Use the above link to get more info for your area.

Together we can secure our rights and gain equality!

Visit http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/

This is really wonderful.  Kudos to Keith and MSNBC.  Let them know how you feel about Keith’s comment by emailing them here.

This isn’t about yelling, and this isn’t about politics, and this isn’t really just about Prop-8.  And I don’t have a personal investment in this: I’m not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their lives.

And yet to me this vote is horrible. Horrible. Because this isn’t about yelling, and this isn’t about politics. This is about the human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.

If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not understand.

Click below to watch the video and see the full transcript… (more…)

Stand Up.  Fight for your Rights.  The measure may have passed, but it’s the wrong change in state law.  Good must prevail and the promise of equality restored.

Here’s a list of protest happening this weekend in California care of Towleroad.com

CALIFORNIA VOTERS VOTE FOR DISCRIMINATION AND BIGOTRY

We had hoped never to have to write this email.

Sadly, fueled by misinformation, distortions and lies, millions of voters went to the polls yesterday and said YES to bigotry, YES to discrimination, YES to second-class status for same-sex couples.

And while the election was close, and millions of votes still remain uncounted, it has become apparent that we lost.

There is no question this defeat is hard.

Thousands of people have poured their talents, their time, their resources and their hearts into this struggle for freedom and this fight to have their relationships treated equally. Much has been sacrificed in this struggle.

While we knew the odds for success were not with us, we believed Californians could be the first in the nation to defeat the injustice of discriminatory measures like Proposition 8.

And while victory is not ours this day, we know that because of the work done here, freedom, fairness and equality will be ours someday. Just look at how far we have come in a few decades.

Up until 1974 same-sex intimacy was a crime in California. There wasn’t a single law recognizing the relationships of same-sex couples until 1984 — passed by the Berkeley School District. San Francisco did not pass domestic-partner protections until 1990; the state of California followed in 2005. And in 2000, Proposition 22 passed with a 23% majority.

Today, we fought to retain our right to marry and millions of Californians stood with us. Over the course of this campaign everyday Californians and their friends, neighbors and families built a civil rights campaign unequalled in California history.

You raised more money than anyone believed possible for an LGBT civil rights campaign.

You reached out to family and friends in record numbers — helping hundreds of thousands of Californians understand what the LGBT civil rights struggle is really about.

You built the largest grassroots and volunteer network that has ever been built — a coalition that will continue to fight until all people are equal.

And you made the case to the people of California and to the rest of the world that discrimination — in any form — is unfair and wrong.

We are humbled by the courage, dignity and commitment displayed by all who fought this historic battle.

Victory was not ours today. But the struggle for equality is not over.

Because of the struggle fought here in California — fought so incredibly well by the people in this state who love freedom and justice — our fight for full civil rights will continue.

Activist and writer Anne Lamott writes, “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”

We stand together, knowing… our dawn will come.

Dr. Delores A. Jacobs
CEO
Center Advocacy Project

Lorri L. Jean
CEO
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center

Kate Kendell
Executive Director
National Center for Lesbian Rights

Geoff Kors
Executive Director
Equality California