FLEE TOXIC RELIGION LIKE THE PLAGUE THAT IT IS

SOURCE:

A CHRISTIAN VOICE FOR GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER RIGHTS

"A Church that doesn't provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin of society in which it is being proclaimed, what gospel is that?" -- Archbishop Oscar Romero (1917-1980)

"Never let other people define your reality or put you into bondage to their ways of thinking." -- Jerry Maneker.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

In the pathetic attempt to deal with the "homosexual problem" that they themselves, the Vatican and most of the clergy within the Roman Catholic Church, have created, "ministries" to Gay Roman Catholics are occurring within many parishes to help Gay people deal with their "problem" and thereby presumably remain closer to God.

I have absolutely no illusion that I am any closer to God than anyone else out there. Nor do I have any inside track as to what God wants for anyone else's life! Like the Pope and the clergy within the Roman Catholic Church, and the clergy within the Protestant churches, I am a mere human being, and I would never presume to speak for God when it comes to anyone else's life!

In what I view as a cynical attempt to "minister" to Gay Roman Catholics so as to keep the gullible and self-loathing Gay people and their families remaining in that Church, and hopefully attract other Gay people and their families to join the Roman Catholic Church, some parishes have begun facing this "issue" (an "issue" that they, themselves, have helped create) by initiating a program called "Courage." "Courage" views homosexuality as a "problem to be overcome!"

So, the Vatican helps define and create being Gay as a "problem"; seeks to deprive and/or rescind civil and human rights protections from Gay people; calls being Gay "intrinsically disordered"; calls Gay relationships "sinful." And many Roman Catholic clergy now have the chutzpa to create a "ministry" to deal with the fallout from their (and other toxic religions') nefarious creation, and their condemnation of the very essence of a person made in God's image; seek to do so by reinforcing the correctness of their equation of Gay "inclinations" as being "disordered" and Gay relations as being "sinful." And they call "Courage" a "ministry," and undoubtedly view that "ministry" as being a "loving outreach" to "disordered" people!

The Rev. James Fukes, pastor of St. Julia Catholic Church in Siler City, N.C., who will serve as the spiritual director for Courage, said the new ministry was added at the request of parishioners.

"There have been some people who asked for some ministry by the Catholic Church to help them deal with the challenges and difficulties they have and remain close to God," he said.

Next month, the Rev. Paul Check, national director of Courage, will lead a workshop in Raleigh for priests and lay leaders. A priest in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., Check has written widely on homosexuality, including one article in which he suggests that gay men come from broken homes or grew up alienated from their fathers and overprotected by their mothers.

"For example, many men with same sex attraction lack hand-eye coordination and as a result were spurned or the subject of jokes by their fathers or the neighborhood boys because they could not play certain sports easily," Check wrote in the St. Austin Review's November-December 2008 edition.

[For the full article, see here.]

All people, Gay and Straight, regardless of the pull of inertia, must flee toxic religion like the plague that it is, at all costs, given the tremendous harm it does to people's psyches and, often, to their very lives!

"Christianity" is the epitome of showing love and compassion; respecting and honoring all of God's creation; being harmless and never judging or condemning others; trusting God over and above seen circumstances and one's own prejudices; being agents of God's grace in this world!

The pathetic assertion of Rev. Paul Check, the national director of "Courage" that being Gay results from "lack of hand-eye coordination and as a result [being] spurned or the subject of jokes by their fathers or the neighborhood boys because they could not play certain sports easily," or that "gay men come from broken homes or grew up alienated from their fathers and overprotected by their mothers," would be laughable if it weren't so pathetically ignorant, simplistic, and downright dangerous.

Frankly, if being Gay resulted from the old discarded theory that one is Gay because of having strong mothers and weak or absent fathers, then I suggest that virtually everyone would be Gay! And I can't even find the words to deal with the asserted "lack of hand-eye coordination" and the ensuing reactions and their relationship to being Gay. This kind of arrogant ignorance boggles the mind!

But such arrogant ignorance is part and parcel of the discrimination and hateful rhetoric visited upon Gay people and their families by assorted clergy in most denominations of the institutional Church as well as by all too many professing "Christians," by some politicians, and even by many youngsters in schools.

And, it's that kind of arrogant ignorance, if not downright hateful stupidity, that leads emotionally vulnerable Gay kids and adults to live lives of shame and self-loathing, resulting in lives lived in quiet and sometimes not so quiet desperation. All sorts of risk taking behaviors are likely to ensue, as well as many suicides. And the verbal and physical assaults and even murders of Gay people, or murders of people perceived to be Gay, can also be seen to be the direct result of such arrogant stupidity ironically spoken with oracular authority "in the name of God."

Regarding the Roman Catholic Church: here we have presumably celibate clergy, and many of their followers, whose Church has been rife with, and tainted by, assorted ephebophilia scandals by not too few of their clergy, and their systematic coverups by assorted Bishops (who, in my opinion, would be serving hard time in prison for criminal facilitation, if they were not associated with the powerful Roman Catholic Church) presuming to lecture the rest of us on criteria of "morality," as well as on love and sex!

Let's make it crystal clear: God doesn't make junk! God doesn't make mistakes! Being Gay is a gift from God! To deny or seek to suppress this gift is not honoring to God or to the person who seeks to repress this wonderful gift!

To be a Christian is to be a conduit for the love of God to others! And anyone who dares condemn in the name of God what God has made, is a heretic who, wittingly or unwittingly, is a tool of the devil!

Shun and run from toxic religion for your own sake and for the sake of all of God's children! And always trust your own experience and never let other people define your reality for you or put you into bondage to their ways of thinking!

So, who do you trust? God and the reality of your own awareness and life-experience OR those who invoke the name of God to justify their prejudices, and spew ignorant hate-speech couched in sanctimony, falsely invoking the name of God in so doing?

You decide!

Posted by Jerry Maneker

Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Leviticus Revisited

I Just added a "Table of Contents Function" To my Blogs, it is easier to browse the posts' titles and dates, well, I was checking out how the TOC worked at "TUYA", viewing it I saw a post which reminded me of the Same-Sex Marriage... I don't even know how to call it, 'brouhaha?' or 'much ado about nothing?', the one I like the best for being the most descriptive is: 'the supreme exercise in christian hypocrisy', but whatever I call it, when I think about it, I get a wicked fascination and gratefulness at their showing to all the world, the best example of what I have been saying for years.

Anyway, I saw the post titled "Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Leviticus" published Monday, February 25, 2008, I thought that 10 months later was still current and timely so I decided to dust it up and share it again.

This piece came to me via email, it is from a man who identified himself as 'Jim', this message really made the internet rounds at the time, so I never did determined if this was his real name or anything else about the author, the piece was so well written and, albeit it dealt with very serious matters, I found it as hilarious then as I do now.

Funny as it is, this is a very serious matter, indeed, when we just endured the sad spectacle of three States changing their Constitution to ban 'same-sex marriage' on the basis that it goes contrary to 'God's Law'.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by an east coast resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative and thought-provoking:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness - Lev.15:19- 24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted fan,
Jim
Posted by Aurora at 3:55 PM

Many, many christians are what Jesus of Nazareth despised the most; Hypocrites.

I always get a kick out of witnessing these ignorant zealots, please forgive the oxymoron, perform what I call 'contortions in logic', 'intellectual acrobatics' and 'spiritual masturbation', oooooh, I love to say these terms which so aptly describe what these christians are doing in this and other religious issues, I love to say them, they are so accurately descriptive and kind of poetic, c'mon, say it with me, slowly, 'contortions in logic, intellectual acrobatics and spiritual masturbation', ooooooooooh.

There is another expression that I run into while researching another huge example of christian hypocrisy, DIVORCE!!! THE BIGGEST KILLER OF HETEROSEXUAL MARRIAGE, THE REAL THREAT TO THE 'SANCTITY OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE' (I need to make a pause here to have a few guffaws'

As I was saying... I found a post with a very long title of which I selected the first few words and an excerpt of it (immediately below), it was posted on a Blog Titled: "Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian" who, as is the case with most of us, has at least a tinge of what we accuse others of, here is a quote he?, she?, has in this post "Those of us who still believe the Bible is the rule book for marriage, sexuality, moral character and church discipline must confront this craziness."", the post's title starts with "The Fuzzy-Wuzzy World of Charismatic Morality –Christian leaders who flippantly divorce..."

Then we have Bishop Thomas Weeks III, the estranged husband of celebrity preacher Juanita Bynum. Their marriage crashed and burned last August when she accused him of beating her in an Atlanta hotel parking lot. Weeks and Bynum have continued preaching since they announced plans to divorce, and Weeks told Gospel Today magazine last month that he’s looking forward to finding wife No. 3 while he continues to oversee several churches. When asked what he needed to change, the bow-tied preacher replied: "I have to take vacations."

In my research on divorce, I found out that a lot of criticism on it is coming from fundamentalist christians which focus not in divorce itself, but in divorce among christian leaders (Classic christan selectiveness), here is a post which still focuses and makes the point that some denominations, i. e., 'liberal', have a higher divorce rate than others, including the baptists with a very high rate of it, the post goes on to absolve sinners but stops short of agreeing that leaders who divorce should continue in their ministry, but I believe that what he is saying is that for members of the congregation it is ok to divorce and marry again, shouldn't the prescription they suggest for gays apply to them? they say that Homosexuality itself is not a sin, but homosexual acts are, so, be celibate and spend a lifetime without a special person in your life - when a divorcee remarries, isn't he/she committing adultery? Here is a comment on this post "'voice crying in the wilderness' Says: August 23, 2007 at 6:35 pm I wonder how my fellow christians can get a divorce and remarry and not think they’re committing adultery"

Here is the title to the post I just mentioned Divorce Is Rampant Among Christian Leaders, see what I mean?

Post after christian post, they focus on divorce by preachers and ministers and very little in divorce per se, here is another one on "The Baptist" - "BIBLE TRUMPET For Fundamentalism In South Caroline" What About Divorced Preachers?

How about Evangelical leader John Hagee, remember him? He was the one whose endorsement John McCain sought and got during the Presidential Primaries of this year and later denounced him to separate his campaign from the horrible wackiness of this preacher.

He also weighed in by 'taking action' on this, hmmmm... 'divorce is bad only for preachers' issue, he, he, he.
Hagee, divorced preachers are distant

A pair of divorces among prominent preachers in Florida and San Antonio has prompted evangelical leader John Hagee to cool ties with the two, who are linked through a San Antonio church called the Epicenter.

Rick Hawkins, who founded the Epicenter (until recently called the Family Praise Center), divorced his wife last year. Several months later, TV evangelist Paula White divorced her husband; she later joined the board of directors at Hawkins' church.

But he is not being a hypocrite, is he? Check this out

"Hagee, 67, considered an esteemed veteran in Pentecostal and charismatic circles, divorced his first wife when he was a young pastor and remarried."

Has anybody actually confronted him on this blatant contradiction? (One of many)

Let's just close this post with a few afterthoughts and reminders on divorce, period! While divorce itself it is not adultery (Remember abstinence) remarriage is. (The Patriarchal Bible gives a pass on many things to men, but not on this one)

1. -Jesus describes divorce and remarriage as an act of adultery. ... Adultery with a married woman (Leviticus 20:10-11; Deuteronomy 22:22-24)


2. - Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery. (Mark 10:11-12)


3. - Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. (Luke 16:18)


4. - Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. (Hebrews 13:4; see also 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Revelation 21:8)

How about number 4? This is a good one, according to it, "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled;", I don't see any exceptions for homosexuals listed, so, why are christians opposed to same-sex marriage so same-sex couples can be as honorable as they are?
I may be wrong on the second part of it "but fornicators and adulterers God will judge", shouldn't christians, the self-proclaimed "Guardians of Society's Morals", be at the forefront in pro of same-sex marriage to stop single homosexuals from fornicating? Just a thought.


If anybody ever feels the need to be utterly confused and amused by the logical contortions, intellectual acrobatics and spiritual masturbation of the christians, just check out Leviticus on this and other issues and you will find a plethora of christian examples in hypocrisy.

Aurora Grajeda
SFCA 122808

Ratzinger's Unholy Inquisition, is there any other kind?

Did he learned some lessons and is applying them?

He claims that he had to join the Hitler Youth because it was compulsory and that he didn't agree with Nazy ideals, the details are murky but there is enough to glimpse that he has been less than candid.

Joseph Ratzinger joined the Hitler Youth in 1941 when, according to him and his supporters, it became compulsory for all German boys. Millions of Germans were in a position similar to that of Joseph Ratzinger and his family, so why spend so much time focusing on him? Because he is no longer merely Joseph Ratzinger, or even a Catholic Cardinal — he is now Pope Benedict XVI. None of the other Germans who joined the Hitler Youth, were part of the military in Nazi Germany, lived near a concentration camp, and watched Jews being rounded up for death camps has ever become pope.

Ratzinger’s recollections of his youth in Nazi Germany makes it seem as though all the problems, violence, and hatred existed outside his local community. There is no recognition that resistance to the Nazis existed — or was needed — just outside his door.

The pope is supposed to be the successor of Peter, leader of the Christian Church, and symbol of unity for all Christendom. The past actions — or inactions — of such a person matter a great deal if anyone is going to treat him as any sort of moral authority. Ratzinger’s recollections of his youth in Nazi Germany makes it seem as though all the problems, violence, and hatred existed outside his local community. There is no recognition that resistance to the Nazis existed — or was needed — just outside his door.

Hitler Jugend: Joseph Ratzinger’s claims about the Hitler Youth are not true. Compulsory membership was first defined in 1936 and reinforced in 1939, not in 1941 as he says. Ratzinger also says that he was “still too young” at the time, but he was 14 in 1941 and not too young at all: between the ages of 10 and 14, membership in the Deutsche Jungvolk (a group for younger children) was mandatory. Yet there is no mention of Raztinger belonging. If he had managed to avoid the required membership in the Deutsche Jungvolk, why did he suddenly join the Hitler Youth in 1941?

-- About.Com

One of the things that I find difficult to come to grips with RE his campaign against Queer Folk, is the fact that he witnessed the Anti-Jew Nazi propaganda, the effect it had in zealots and it's consequences, he is the Pope, a learned man and author, it is quite a stretch of the imagination to conclude that he doesn't understand the dangers that this hypocritical intolerance poses in his truly unholy Jihad, at a time when the anti-homosexual hate crimes are on the rise, doesn't he understand that this is akin to throwing fuel into the fire? Or maybe, that's the whole idea.

This are the options for the most simplistic way to define him, the Pope is either dumb or evil, and for the apologists, I offer an alternate option, he is being irresponsible, let's not forget that he saw what happened in Germany to the Jews, Unionists, Communists and other groups that the Nazis found unacceptable, and now, he is doing the same.

A lesson well learned? He saw how successful the Nazi Propaganda machine was in consolidating power by galvanizing the fears, phobias, biases, etc., of the populace living in a era on uncertainty, economic and bellicose climate and blaming somebody for the problems, IT IS THE JEWS' FAULT! GET THEM!

He may no have agreed with the Nazis, his family didn't, but today, he has a cause and culprits to blame it on, IT IS THE HOMOSEXUALS' FAULT! GET THEM!.

"Homosexuality is Destroying Human Race, says Pope" Scream the headlines.

In his end-of-the-year address, Pope Benedict XVI said that "saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction."

He added that "defending God's creation was not limited to saving the environment, but also about protecting man from self-destruction."

Rev Sharon Ferguson from the British Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement said statements like this one fuel violence against homosexuals: "When you have religious leaders like that making that sort of statement then followers feel they are justified in behaving in an aggressive and violent way because they feel that they are doing God's work in ridding the world of these people."

A representative of the British Pink Triangle Trust said "this must be the most outrageous and bizarre claim yet made by the Pope who has already got a well-deserved reputation as one the most viciously homophobic world leaders on a par with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe."

Well, what else to expect from a former member of the Hitler Youth?!

WOW, that is power, my community is destroying the human race, what is the difference between him and the religious wacko leaders in the US blaming homosexuality for 911, Katrina, Hurricanes, etc.? He has joined the ranks of the likes of Michael Savage who blames sex-change operations for 911 'that was God speaking' he pontificated.

I may be a lot dumber that I thought, for the life of me I can't see the connection and no details are ever given on the particulars of how we accomplish what we are being blamed for.

So now he is an enviromentalist and wants to save the rainforest, but he is against science, pluralism, Liberation Theology, preventing AIDs by using condoms, oh dear God, the list is so long of what is wrong with this Pope.

I'll never forget how in the US 2004 Presidential Election, he didn't say anything when his Bishops were waging a campaign against Kerry for his stance on Reproductive Rights, they supported Bush even after 4 years of learning of the lies for the invasion in Irak, the crimes against humanity, the war crimes, with all that being public knowledge, he didn't reign in his zealots in positions of power, I hold him responsible for helping give Bush four more years of criminality, he is an accomplice after the facts for thousands of deaths.

It is not because he is a Nazi, I don't think he is, his behavior follows the ultra conservative religious beliefs, for the ones who don't know and the ones who feel it is not important, I'd like to remind you that at the time of his election as Pope, Benedict had been Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, least be left unsaid, this is the historically malignant "Holy Inquisition" of our times, yeah, these were the zealot goons who killed so many people in the name of Christ.

"The Blessed", the arrogance of this man in selecting this name, blessed by whom? And for what?

This "Holy War" He is waging is not new, back of Sep 19, 2005, I wrote a Daily Kos Diary after the sentencing of the young men who killed my young Transgender sister Gwen Araujo titled "Gay Panic Defense? My Ass! - This Pope was busy conducting a 'witch-hunt' for homosexuals in the seminaries.

Excerpt:

Yes, two were convicted, Silvia (Gwen's Mother), says that a murder conviction is a murder conviction, mandatory 15 yrs. to life (Hate crime would add only 4 yrs. to sentence) But the issue of Hate Crimes needs to be included, even as a symbolic conviction so at least it becomes part of the narrative. We need to highlight the circumstances. I fully agree and I'd be satisfied.

So, why am I so angry? I am full of righteous indignation because the instigators, the ones that perpetuate a climate of exclusion, discrimination and hate, the ones that commit Spiritual Violence, the ones that in my book have the tears and blood of my sisters and brothers on their hands, are free. And they are just as guilty, if not more.

Yes, I'm talking about the blobs of wasted human DNA such as the hatemongering preachers in the US and abroad, Repugnicans, specially "If I can't dazzle you with my brilliance, I'll baffle you with my bullshit Bush" Yes all of them, MAY THEY BE DAMMED TO THE HOTTEST PLACE IN HELL!
Oh! We are also responsible for 9/11 and Katrina among other disasters.

The Vatican is going "Faggot hunting" Apparently we're guilty of pedophilia.
"Things do not look very promising under the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI: the Catholic Church has instigated a witch-hunt against homosexual seminarians. The Vatican has launched an inspection of Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States to search for "evidence of homosexuality."
The inspections of hundreds of seminaries and theological schools was authorized as a response to the church's child molestation scandal."

I haven't the foggiest idea as to how they'll identify seminarians' homosexual "tendencies" Really, how are they going to conduct this witch hunt? I don't think the "Throw them in the water and if...." Method will work this time. Hey! Wait a cotton-picking-minute, it never did and as a result some of your predecessors shed the blood of, no, no, I'm wrong, the "Holy" Inquisition was not supposed to spill blood, it was verboten, so they devised the more "Moral" method of burning so no blood would be spilled. Neat feat of intellectual acrobatics and spiritual masturbation. Cooool, you guys are some piece of work.

As a Catholic I have some choice words for Ratzinger, him that controls the Holy Inquisition version 2.0.0.5.

Ratzinger, you charlatan, calling yourself the Vicar Of Christ, you claim to represent Jesus of Nazareth, I have news for you, you DENIGRATE HIM! Were he to come back, there'd be a replay of throwing the merchants out of the temple with a whip, he'd do it himself, just as he did so long ago. You and the priests of your ilk have helped make My Fathers' House in a rathole of corruption, when are you going to clean up the corruption in the Vatican Bank? When will you pay decent wages to lay workers? You exploiter - When will you get a divorce from the Murderer of so many? Yes, I'm talking about Bush, you well know that the Catholic Church is fiercely opposed to unjust wars and the death penalty, when will you denounce him? You hypocritical coward and self-serving misleader, you helped him with the '04 election, your bishops were condemning Kerry and anybody who voted for him and as a result many Catholics voted for Bush, do you have any concept of your guilt at the deaths that occurred since then? Do you realize that you are an accomplice to murder and crimes against humanity?
Do you ever consider the pain and suffering that your policies against birth control cause throughout the world? Specially in poor countries, if you don't, pity you, if you do, you sanctimonious bastard!

No, Jesus is not here to throw you out, but I'm here, I DO believe in Jesus of Nazareth and as a follower and in HIS name I'm ordering you out of our house of Prayer, I'm doing it in the finest tradition of a true Catholic, With the respect that I have, not for you, but to the Holly office that you occupy, I'm kneeling in front of you, I kiss your ring, I stand up and shaking my stretched index finger two inches from your nose, I say unto you: "The stench of corruption and sin surrounds you, you are hurting God's creation, clean up your act or leave!"

If you want to control the masses, control their sexuality, this is the reason this Pope is doing this, no question about it, for thousands of years, religion has made something ugly of one of the most beautiful gifts of creation and one of the most powerful natural instincts, be it for procreation or recreation, it is a most powerful drive and the urge to harness it appeared in early religion, propagated for centuries with lies and misinformation for one purpuse and one purpose only, CONTROL.

THESE ARE THE BASIS FOR RATZINGER'S 21ST CENTURY CRUSADE

This is a little piece that I wrote for a dear friend of mine's Newsletter, it was supposed to be around 200 words, came up with 231:

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Albeit this issue pales in comparison to the momentous impact to the US Population that the Economy, Education, Employment, Health Insurance and War have, nevertheless, it is the hottest item in the political landscape.

The three basic problems that makes this possible are: Ignorance, Hypocrisy and plain Bigotry.

1. Ignorance: Homosexuality goes against Nature, it does not conform to creation's rule of a male and a female (For Obvious reasons the procreation argument mostly has been dropped)

There have been countless field studies RE 'Homosexuality in nature' to list them all, but scientifically it is no longer in question that it does exist, Bruce Bagemihl, PhD wrote in his 1999 book "Biological Exuberance, Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" that homosexual and/or transgender activity has been observed in "over 450 species"

2. Hypocrisy: While Leviticus clearly states that homosexuality is an abomination, similarly classifies eating pork and shellfish in addition to clearly condemn divorce as adultery, the penalty for this infraction is death by stoning, in the town's main square no less.

Religious leaders and their followers are blatantly selecting which precepts are applied, hence, they are being hypocritical.

3. Bigotry: Not much to say here other than research on the subject has shown that it is mostly cultural, rooted in traditional religious beliefs handed down for generations and also that, in it's most virulent expression, it is reflection manifested in projection.

The reason for this "Holy War" Is that we Queers pose a real threat, not to humankind, but to the power that these Ultra Conservative Fundamentalists and Greedy Violence Mongers wield and they don't want to lose it.

There is a new book by an ex-Jesuit Priest that I believe I had the chance to meet at Dignity San Francisco, where I attend functions occasionally, it is about sexuality, sex, the Bible, religion, etc., I need to read it.

In his review, Steve Rothaus says of the book - Citing the generally overlooked Biblical book The Songs of Songs, McNeill argues that human sexual activity represents a form of "play" that provides a source of pleasure, joy and love. From the beginning, he says, this is what God intended sex to be, not a cause of judgment, oppression, and resentment.

Friday, December 26, 2008

New book from John J. McNeill: 'Sex as God Intended'

SOURCE:

Steve Rothaus' Gay South Florida

www.MiamiHerald.com/gay - For and about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people throughout Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
December 25, 2008
Miami Herald Blog

A new book from John J. McNeill: Sex as God Intended. McNeill will be signing books Jan. 11 at Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale. Here's the news release:

Lethe Press is proud to release the latest work from the acclaimed Biblical scholar John J. McNeill.

You can order at
Queerbooks.com or at TLABooks or through Amazon or ask your local bookseller to carry John's latest book.

Aurora Grajeda

SFCA 122708

When did you know you were really a girl?

One of the most frequent questions people ask me is: 'When did you know you were really a girl?' I consider this one to be a valid one, as opposed to the others like 'when did you decided to become a woman?' with variations such as 'chose', 'wanted', etc.

My answer is that it wasn't like that, when I was playing with my cousins and sisters, I somehow was made to realize that I was different, that I wasn't a girl like them, that I was actually a boy, a first-born son and a first-born grandson.

Then the lessons began, till the last time I saw my mother in the summer of 2000, she denied that I ever owned 'trastecitos' (Mexican version of miniature tea sets made of terra cota), but I distinctly remember playing with them alongside my cousins and sisters in a sort of game we used to call 'las comadritas' (The little co-Godmothers), it was my a bit older cousins who started to say that I was the 'compadrito' (Little co-Godfather), I remember that at some time I wasn't allowed to play with the girls anymore.

All of this happened when I was between 2 and 3 years old, I was a very fast learner, I was enrolled in a sort of pre-K when I was around 4 in a small school run by a wonderful retired teacher, she was very good at developing us, gave us attention and engaged us into thinking and conversations.

By then, I knew that I was supposed to be a boy, but I knew that I was different to the other boys, I remember this older boy who used to scream names at me, at the time I didn't know what it was what he said I was, but I knew that it was 'bad' to be what he said I was, I think it roughly translates to 'faggot' (The actual words were 'puto' and 'joto') - I don't know why he called me that, because I didn't behave in any way, that I can remember, to make him think I was one, albeit I didn't know exactly what the words meant at that time, I had already seen how boys got very angry and sometimes fought for being called that, the ones who didn't fight, were ridiculed and excluded from games, whereas the ones who fought and came on top, got respect.

Check! Lesson eventually learned and put into effect by the time I was 7 when I had my first fight and my first victory of the many that were to follow.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself, while I was still enrolled in the pre-K class, in an afternoon after a school day, my mother busted me playing with my cousins and sister while wearing high heel shoes, I think they belonged to my still single aunt, my mother walked in on us and said something like: 'oh, how pretty you look, we should put on a dress on you too', I remember the temblor, shiver and wave of excitement that coursed through my entire body, she then went on to tell me that boys do not do that and started chastising me, I don't really remember all that she said, it was blurred by the shame and guilt that was being bestowed upon me and which became part of my life. (There were additional later incidents of this nature, of course)

But the feeling that I was supposed to be girl never left me and wasn't exteriorized under penalty of shame, abuse and scorn if my many true feelings were allowed to surface, nobody knew until I was 51 years old, which is when I told my family and the world, the discrimination, abuse and scorn materialized almost immediately, in San Francisco of all places.

My father was a bracero and every summer he would travel all the way to California to work on the fields, laboring in ranchos around San Jose, Stockton, Manteca and other areas, every fall on his return from 'El Norte', he would bring us toys, boy stuff for me and dolls for the girls, I remember one year he brought me two silver guns, you know, the ones with caps which detonate when struck by the hammer, they came with a brand new leather gun belt for them decorated with big diamond like plastic things, I remember having it in my hands while looking forlornly at my sisters' dolls, they were the kind that closed their eyes when you lay them down and could say like something like 'mmmmmmaaaaaa', I wanted so much to also get a doll, I only put on the gun belt in the occasions when I was pressured to do it and show them off, they just got old in the crate where mom put them, the last time I remember seeing them, the leather had gotten brownish and there was mold in it, I guess that eventually they were thrown out.

In retrospect I surmise that my father, uncles and grandfather, were advised to instruct me in doing 'boy stuff', regularly catching me when my hands moved in a 'certain way' by telling me that boys didn't move their hands that way, this impulse never left me but I learned to grab my left hand with my right when I caught myself unconsciously doing it, and when classmates were the ones catching me, well, I had learned the lesson on how the 'Law' must be upheld by teaching the offending boy, that it wasn't a good idea to mess with me.

I was attracted to some boys and terrified they could guess that I liked them as a girl likes boys, I knew how queer looking boys were treated, so it is easy to understand my terror of them finding out that I wasn't really a 'puto' or a 'joto', which was very scary in and by itself, but that I actually thought that I was a girl, in seeing how they mistreated boys who were different, it isn't really difficult to imagine the dread I felt were they to find out that I felt I was a girl, this feeling came together with shame, guilt and a tremendous confusion as to why I thought that, I thought that I was really crazy, for, how could it be otherwise?

I didn't know what I was and I always thought that I was the only one with this horrifying crazy feeling, it was not until I was close to 12, while visiting my maternal grandparents in a nearby town, that I came across a magazine, one of the many subscriptions that my uncle, the town's Catholic Priest, oh yeah, in my family there were priests and nuns, a very Catholic family, as I was saying, he had subscriptions to magazines in Spanish of Life, Reader's Digest, Popular Science and Popular Mechanics among others, I read them all, one of my early addictions was reading, it was around 1958 (I was born in 1947), well, this particular day, I think I was reading Life, when I came across the story of this French Woman who had transitioned from a man, oh God, she looked so beautiful, but most important, I was reading how she felt all along that she was really a woman, I was enthralled reading the story, for the very first time in my life, I learned that I was not the only one who felt that way, I think it was in the same article that it mentioned another one who had also transitioned and had surgery to change her sex.

So immersed was I in reading and re-reading about these girls - besides learning that I wasn't the only one, I learned what I was, I was a transsexual, I must be one, I could relate to everything of what they said how they felt all of their lives - that the voice of my grandfather startled me when he asked forcefully 'what are you reading?', I said, 'nothing' and tried to close the magazine and put it away, he took it from my hands and his next words were 'Coccinelli eh?' he then went on to say 'cochinadas' while walking away with the magazine that I never saw again, the word was thrown out at me, or maybe it was at Coccinelli, with a tone of utter disgust.

Yes, I was reading about Coccinelli and Christine Jorgensen, you have to understand why the play of words my grandfather used by saying 'cochinadas', had the impact it had on me, I felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach and my true essence, what many years later I figured out it was my female soul, was pushed deep down in my consciousness where it stayed for many, many years.
(In some parts of Mexico, we refer to pigs as 'cochinos' (Swine), when somebody is really dirty, really filthy, people would say 'you are a cochino' - It didn't matter if he was referring to me, or to Coccinelli, it didn't make a difference, I was the same 'thing' that she was, una 'cochinada' (A filthy something))

Maybe I had some mannerisms, countless times I was told 'boys don't talk like that', Referring to my hands gestures, to this day, I still use my hands a lot when I talk, but now I don't stop myself by holding my hands back, as I did growing up and as an adult, I was terrified of being 'discovered', also the reminders of 'boys don't walk like that' (I had a little hip sway) and the perennial 'boys don't cry', so I didn't cry for the next 40 or so years while a learned how to be a 'man'.

And learn to be a 'man' I did, I fulfilled my 'manly responsibilities' of first son and first grandson, I did marry and had children, it wasn't until I was 51, with a failed marriage, a divorce and a decision to end it all; I had come to the conclusion that it was better for all involved, specially me, if I were to be dead, so a choice was made. (Subsequently, a pro-life choice was made)

That was in the winter of 1997 and no, I didn't end my life as this words attest to, why not? Well, I don't think that part of my life belongs in this narrative, to tell you the truth, I didn't start with the idea or had the desire to write about myself today, but it just happens that I came across articles about Christina and Coccinelli and read them, something prompted me to reminisce about my past and write about it.
(On Dec. 1st, 1952, Christine's transition became National News, after reading the post about her, published Dec. 1st, 2008, I looked up Coccinelli and read about her again as well)

So there it is, if you didn't know who the two brave pioneering transgender women I talked about were, here is a little bit about them and see what I saw when I was not even 12 years old and when finally I learned what I really was.
(In the Magazine spread, there was a picture of Coccinelli, languidly half laying in a bed with white sheets and I think to remember there were also some pelts)

Aurora Grajeda
SFCA 100408

PS
At another time, I'll tell you of reading somewhere about a British Fighter Pilot who fought in World War II and who also......

Coccinelle

Born Jacques Charles Dufresnoy in 1931 (Paris France), he went on to reinvent himself as Coccinelle (means Ladybird in French) as a female impersonator appearing at the famous Travesti club Madam Arthurs.

She later became a regular at Le Carrousel de Paris, a cabaret that would feature other famous transsexuals like April Ashley and Amanda Lear through the years.

Unfulfilled in simply dressing as a woman, Coccinelle under went sex reassignment surgery in 1958 in Casablanca, recieving a vaginoplasty by Dr. Georges Burou. She was later granted legal status as a woman in 1961.

She recorded "Love Me Or Leave Me" in 1959, and appeared in six films, including the 1959 film "Europa di notte", the 1962 film "Los Viciosos" and the 1968 film "Días de Viejo Color".

After her sex reassignment surgery Coccinelle was a media sensation. She was the first French transsexual woman to become a major star, when Bruno Coquatrix put her name in big red letter on the marquis of the Paris Olympia for her 1963 revue "Cherchez la Femme."

It was said that she loved to cook for her and her husband Francis, and host dinner parties for famous friends from the US or the French theater. And later in life she became an advocate for transgender people, founding Devenir Femme, an organization designed to provide emotional and practical support for those seeking sexual reassignment surgery. She also helped establish the Center for Aid, Research, and Information for Transsexuality and Gender Identity.

Even in marrage -- there were three -- she broke new ground: her first marriage was the first transsexual union to be officially acknowledged by the state of France, establishing transgendered persons' legal right in that country to marry.

Her biography Reverse Sex was published in 1962, and her 1987 autobiography Coccinelle was published by Daniel Filipach. Coccinelle died in October 2006, three months after sufferng a stroke. VIEW THE PHOTO GALLERY

Dec. 1, 1952: Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty

By Tony Long



This 1975 triptych shows Christine Jorgensen when she was known as George in 1943, in 1952 immediately after her historic sex change, and in 1975 when she was nearing age 50. The center photo is the one she sent her parents in 1952, in a letter explaining the transformation. Jorgensen died in 1989.
Image: Bettmann/Corbis

1952: It's front-page news when George Jorgensen Jr. is reborn as Christine Jorgensen, gaining international celebrity and notoriety as the first widely known person to undergo a successful sex-change operation.

Jorgensen, who grew up in the Bronx, in her words, a "frail, tow-headed, introverted little boy who ran from fistfights and rough-and-tumble games," was drafted into the Army just after World War II. Military service only reinforced Jorgensen's belief that she was, in fact, A woman trapped in a man's body

After receiving her discharge, Jorgensen returned home and first heard about "sex-reassignment surgery," which was being performed only in Sweden. (It was illegal almost everywhere else, including the United States.)

Encouraged, Jorgensen began taking female hormones on her own, then headed for Sweden. She never made it. Stopping in Denmark to visit relatives in Copenhagen, Jorgensen was introduced to Christian Hamburger, a Danish surgeon who specialized in the kind of surgery she was seeking. He agreed to take the case and put his patient on hormone-replacement therapy as they prepared for surgery.

Several surgeries were required, the first one consisting of castration, which was only carried out after permission was obtained from the Danish minister of justice.

At the time of Jorgensen's transformation, Hamburger did not give her an artificial vagina, so she remained "anatomically incorrect" for several years before undergoing a vaginoplasty in the United States.

The hormone therapy resulted in profound changes to Jorgensen's body. Fat was redistributed, and she began to take on the contours of a woman. Subsequent surgeries completed the process until she was ready to step into the spotlight.

Jorgensen's sex change, which may have been leaked to the press by Jorgensen herself, hit the headlines Dec. 1, creating an international sensation. "Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty" screamed the banner of Jorgensen's hometown New York Daily News.

In fact, Jorgensen was not the first person to undergo sex-reassignment surgery. During the rollicking Weimar period, German doctors performed the surgery on at least two patients. The difference, in Jorgensen's case, was that she underwent hormone-replacement therapy in conjunction with the surgery. The earlier surgeries were strictly cut-and-paste.

Although Jorgensen complained frequently about the jackals of the press, she did become something of a publicity hound and took most of the tasteless remarks with good grace, laughing off jokes such as, "Christine Jorgensen went abroad and came back a broad."

She turned to acting and became a nightclub singer as well, performing, predictably, "I Enjoy Being a Girl."

But Christine Jorgensen's world was not an enlightened one, particularly when it came to transgenderism. She paid the cost for this lack of sophistication. A first announced engagement fell through, and a second one failed as well, when the state of New York refused to issue the couple a marriage license. Her intended husband also lost his job when the marriage plans became known.

She later traveled the lecture circuit, talking about her experiences and advocating for the nascent transgender cause.

Jorgensen died of cancer in 1989, a few weeks short of age 63.

Source: Various

a woman trapped inside a man's body.

Are you gay?

[This piece which is an extremely abbreviated version of why and how I lost my 65K per annum job was presented for the Mission SRO Collaborative’s writing project for it’s first issue of “Hotel Voices", published in the spring/summer of 2006, it was also published in Poor Magazine online the summer of that year.

The themes were about the experiences of SRO Hotel’s residents and/or how we came to be living in SRO Hotels, which is a step short of homelessness.

It was subsequently posted on 03/05/07 at the Coalicion Primero de Mayo Blog and I'm posting yet again as a reminder that phobias and prejudices have consequences for people who are different than oneselves and in relation to the California Supreme Court's Ruling on "Same-sex marriage", the regressive movement to change the Constitution so same sex couples can't marry.

Also at the Daily Kos From this Author ["Tranny"]
"My 2001 Valentine's day story."
“Gay Panic” Defense? My Ass!
"Beyond He and She: A Transgender News Update"

Are you gay?
- By Aurora Grajeda:

Silvia asked lifting her gaze away from my shining pearly-white nails, professionally manicured in the style known as French, the baby pink flesh showing through the neutral-colored nail polish, we were confirming our upcoming first lunch date in 2 plus years of working together.

I tried to think how many times she had asked during the 2 1/2 years of us working together. Today, I didn’t answer with the usual question: Why do you say that?

Today I firmly said, “no“

“Mmmm… Are you sure? Silvia asked, lifting her eyes to mine, pondered, “mmm… I don’t know…” Looking again at my nails… “Are you really sure you’re not gay?”

Tired of her regular queries about my sexuality, this time I said “No, I’m something else”, “What are you then?” She inquired, “I think I’m a girl” I answered.

After a couple of under-the-breath “uhms” And “aahs”, she asked if we could reschedule our lunch date.

“Sure”, I answered walking away.

Why did I tell her? As my boss’ Executive Assistant, she was the Office Politician par excellence who loved the taste of power, was very good at how to keep it and increase it; whereas I, all I wanted was to keep doing the work that I enjoyed, was good at it, was getting paid very well for doing it and having just started hormonal reassignment treatment, was looking at a future with hefty gender transition related expenses.

A superfluous question knowing that a) I resented being thought of as a gay man; it is a question of gender and not sexual orientation, b) the charade was over, I had removed the facade and now I was living my life in a rigorously brutal honesty, and c) I wanted to give her the opportunity to show me her acceptance, tolerance or rejection.

She outed me.

I witnessed and experienced my co-workers reactions, from the utter fixation with the restroom’s ceiling that some men had recently developed - as soon as they noticed my presence in the room - coupled with the not quite whistling but rather an in-between-the-lips and barely audible soft hissing of the latest “Music Brain Worm” In their heads, to the ones that acknowledged me with a curtly nod, or the ones that actually said hi and conducted business with me with a hardly noticeable discomfort, and last but not least, there was a group that never changed a iota, either because of acceptance, tolerance or conscious non-interference in other people’s business. And then, there were the others.

These were the most vicious and cowardly ones, the invisible closeted transphobes that had their own sub-division, passive-aggressive and active-aggressive.

The former chose to live with their misery and only passively projected it on me, among the latter, there was a small delegation of women who approached David, my Director, and shared with him their potential future feelings of violation were I to come into the ladies’ room, the most aggressive ones were David’s superiors who pressured him to cancel my contract, he didn’t yield because my pay came out of his Dept.’s budget, he refused until he was presented with an ultimatum whose dictates were never disclosed to me in neither one of the two official meetings I had with him RE: My “Outing”.

On the first, we talked, he was happy with my work, he pledged his support and wished me well on my journey, told me about his superior’s pressure.

I was reassured and calmer for the next few weeks until he called me again for our second meeting, he looked tired as he told me how fortunate he was because of my hiring, the satisfaction of getting more than what he expected and was paying for, deploring the bad news, he informed me of a directive to cancel my contract because of a job consolidation move, implemented over his objections, or so he told me .

A bucket full of icy water couldn’t have frozen me as much and his voice became a muffled distant murmur as realizations of the travails coming my way started materializing in countless foreboding thoughts which brought fear and anger.

David’s voice brought me back, “Do you want to say anything?”, the breath I drew felt like the first one in some time, with tense body and through clenched teeth I replied, “I’m trying very hard to put aside the thought that this is one of these ‘let’s get rid of that thing type of thing’ “.

His blanching face made his hair look whiter, he said that wasn’t the case.

“Whatever!” I thought, “Effective when?”, I asked, “One month” he answered. We had some shop talk on how best to maintain the continuity of my projects, tie loose ends etc.

And so it came to pass, August 11, 1999 was the last day worked at PG&E by this Transgender Woman beginning to face a hostile world that had no place for her.

“ Aaand no, I’m not gay, I'm a Transsexual Woman.”


"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi

"We are the ones we have been been waiting for"

A Poem for South African Women by June Jordan
In Commemoration of the 40,000 women and children who, August 9, 1956, presented themselves in bodily protest against the "dompass" in the capital of apartheid. Presented at The United Nations, August 9, 1978

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