Protest // Current

“Guilt by Blog”

The phrase “to incur guilt by one’s words” describes a worrying trend that is growing amongst Chinese netizens,... more

purplefox
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Gay haters and the like have been beguiled by organized religion.
I used to be one of your kind. I too fell into the group of being someone that was self elevated and bigoted. In time I became educated to the reality of what it means to be gay.

I watched someone dear to me deal with the fact they were gay. They lived in the heart of a racist and bigoted land. You know I am speaking of Utah when I say this.

From an early age, this boy knew he was attracted to people of the same sex. He listened to his father and stepmother make jokes with his friends about all of those "gay bastards."

He decided he was going to make himself not gay. He tried everything he could think of to entice himself with things from the opposite sex. Relentlessly for two years he pursued this endeavor with no avail.

He sought out advice from counselors and numerous friends as to what he should and could do. He found nothing that could resolve his issue of being gay. He chose not to be gay but it wouldn't go away.

Facing great fear of condemnation and bodily harm from the Mormon masses and others he often contemplated suicide. For a period of about two years he toiled with the battle of whether or not he was worthy of living or if he should end it all by killing himself.

Having observed his intense struggle, I came to the conclusion that being gay was not his choice, but rather being something he was born with. Since this observation I have become an advocate for gay rights.

Hopefully you will witness someone near and dear to you go through this same struggle. I do not mean that I wish this experience on anyone that is gay.

However, if you are fortunate enough to have someone you care about that is gay, you will come to understand as I have. It will literally change your life and perspective if you have any dignity what so ever as you watch them try to deal with it.

Being gay is not a choice!

Is this really the cross they must bear? The things written in the bible as to this subject were written by people such as you. They neither could understand it nor could they accept it. Thus they invoked God and condemned it. Since, how many have been tortured by the likes of you?Gay haters and the like have been beguiled by organized religion. I used to be one of your kind. I too fell into the group of... more

JuliusBC
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32 responses

1 day ago

Day of action against coal

In a stirring column in Mondays New York Times, editorial writer Lawrence Downes urged former Obama campaign volunteers to enlist in another tour of duty.

The country is not in the best shape to simultaneously fix a sinking economy, a withered government and an ailing planet. But it has no choice, and not much time. So why wait until January to get started?

Downes is right -- we cant wait. Thats why the citizens of Coal River Mountain, West Virginia are already working on building their own future with clean power. I cant think of another place anywhere in the U.S. where such clear distinctions can be drawn between Americas energy past and future.

Nearly 500 mountains have been destroyed throughout Appalachia by mountaintop removal coal mining. Now, West Virginia-based Massey Energy plans to blow up Coal River Mountain piece by piece over the next 14 years so it can extract the coal underneath. When its all done, another mountain will be destroyed, ten square miles devastated, at least 18 miles of streams will be buried or contaminated, and Massey will have supplied less than a quarter of one percent of U.S. annual electricity demand, as estimated by Coal River Mountain Watch.

The citizens of Coal River Mountain have a very different vision: to stimulate the local economy with investments in clean, renewable wind power. Coal River Mountain is blessed with high wind speeds that offer the potential to produce up to 440 megawatts of power without a single stick of dynamite or a whiff of greenhouse gas emissions. Hundreds of jobs would be created; county tax revenues would increase by up to $3 million, and more than a million tons of CO2 would be kept underground each year.

Although Massey has received permits to commence mining, pressure is mounting to consider alternatives, as evidenced by a recent demonstration at the state capitol and a lawsuit to stop the project before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The battle in West Virginia is a microcosm of what is happening across the country. Communities from Appalachia to Arizona are organizing to resist destructive mining practices, stop the construction of new coal plants, and promote a just transition to clean energy. As Times Bryan Walsh reported in the magazine's special election issue:

Environmentalists are fighting new plants with every weapon in their arsenal, from launching lawsuits over CO2 regulations to lobbying financiers to stop investing in coal.

Walsh wrote how Americans are learning lessons from history:

For many green activists, climate change is fundamentally a moral issue. To accept a new generation of polluting coal plants is to doom future generations to an impoverished planet. So the response should be fundamentally moral as well, using the same tactics--civil disobedience, nonviolent protest--as those of the civil rights movement.

If the citizens of Coal River Mountain can do it, so can the rest of us.
___________
All those thousands of young people who were so captivated and motivated by Barack Obama need to then continue to be motivated for their planet. Now that the election is over the work must begin. And it does not all fall on any one person. To truly make change not just for the sake of saying it but to really mean it, those who went to rallies must now hold the ones they voted for accountable to their promises and hold their feet to the fire if those promises are not adequate to meet the threat of climate change. It is encouraging to see so many groups around the country beginning to awaken to the dangers of continuing fossil fuel use and working to move our country into the future.In a stirring column in Mondays New York Times, editorial writer Lawrence Downes urged former Obama campaign volunteers to enlist... more

JanforGore
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9 responses

3 days ago

US: day of protests for gay rights

"Nearly two weeks after California voters narrowly passed Proposition 8, an amendment to the state constitution that... more

DeliaTheArtist
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16 responses

3 days ago

Thailand mourns princess with six-day funeral

Princess Galyani Vadhana, elder sister of King Bhumidol Adulyadej, was honoured in Thailand ten months after her death. The... more

nazbags
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0 responses

3 days ago

Iraqi cleric calls for peaceful demonstration against the US

Muqtada al-Sadr, an Iraqi cleric, has called for a massive peaceful demonstration against the US presence in Iraq. The... more

nazbags
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8 responses

3 days ago

Attention Prop 8 supporters!

This is what your "Christian" donations are working hard to do - create more suffering and hardship to your neighbors,... more

str8friend
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44 responses

3 days ago

Texas school students wear black to protest Obama victory

In a Ft.Worth,Texas suburb students wore black to "mourn the death of capitalism." The protest was organized by the... more

donnyin3d
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70 responses

3 days ago

Police Chief under fire after detaining journalist

The Oakland School District Police Chief detained an Oakland Tribune photojournalist in a shocking confrontation caught on tape.

toreyray
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0 responses

4 days ago

Neil Young's 'Let's impeach the President for lying'

It's the American thing to do! Homework: : ) Neil Young's song "Let's impeach the President for... more

CarolynGillis
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13 responses

4 days ago

Gay in Mormon country ... so now what?

I have a very close friend that is gay. He was greatly troubled by the fact that he was gay and tried to hide it for most of his life. He had noticed that he was attracted to guys even at a very early age. At one point in his life he neared the escape of suicide. Later on he wrote this letter to himself to express his feelings. I have chosen to share it as it may give someone a glance into the world of one tortured soul learning to cope with what some think is a choice.

He has recently turned eighteen. His letter goes as follows:
I knew that if I went through with this, the stakes would be extremely high; everything would be on the table. If I failed in this task, my connection with my father would once more become as it had after the divorce: distant and cold. I didn't know if that was a risk I could take.

He wasn't in a state of ignorance by any means. He had known that I was gay for some time and he had reacted temperately for someone of his background; yet I was still burdened. He would avoid speaking on the subject, and when he did, there was a tone of shame in his voice. He seemed unable to connect with and understand me and my situation. It is easy to explain, of course. We both live in rural Utah where the Mormon faith is held quite strongly, and he is not exceptional in this regard. One might even go so far as to say that, due to his upbringing, he could not have reacted any differently. Knowledge of the socio-historic machinery behind my struggle was of little comfort to me. The problem was that I simply did not feel loved by my father. I felt insecure and I wanted there to be someone who could comfort me when I felt alone and hopeless about the world. His inability to provide warmth on this level harmed my thoughts so greatly that I began to question what worth I had to the world. I would wonder if I really was as bad as he would say, whether I really did contribute to all the awful ills that he would list to his friends. I could no longer continue our mutual deception.

I sat down with him to tell him my experiences in dealing with sexual orientation: the isolation and shame, the depressive fits, my own torment between embracing who I am and being pulled down by the person that I was raised to be. I told him how what I needed from him, as his son, was love and acceptance, and that I didn’t feel like I was getting that because of all the hurtful comments he would make about gay people and because of how he approached the issue specifically with me.

He paused for a large amount of time before finally responding to me. He told me that those were his beliefs, that I had no right to attempt to criticize them, that my communication was disrespectful, that sons do not speak to their fathers like that, and that it wasn’t right that I was "guilt-tripping" him. He said that I had a sense of entitlement, that it was emotional blackmail and that he wasn’t going to coddle me.

The shame and guilt and depression I felt was overwhelming. I knew that our relationship could not continue. This pain that I felt in hearing his words haunted me for months after our discussion, and I still even today have trouble comprehending and experiencing the memory of the discourse. In my efforts to reach out for support, I knew that I had destroyed my relationship with my father - too much was said and too little was done and that could never be erased from our history. I often replay the event in my head, and wonder what I might have done differently. Perhaps if I had been less angry, or less confrontational, then maybe the outcome could have been avoided.

Due to the length of his letter I am cutting it into two parts. The rest will be added as a response immediately hereafter.I have a very close friend that is gay. He was greatly troubled by the fact that he was gay and tried to hide it for most of his... more

JuliusBC
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7 responses

4 days ago

Taiwan's former president on hunger strike

The former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian who is currently in custody facing corruption allegations - has allegedly gone on... more

purplefox
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0 responses

4 days ago

Antiwar Iraq Vets Arrested for Dissent at Debates

Ten antiwar Iraq veterans, along with five civilians, pleaded not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct this week in Hempstead,... more

synclaire
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5 responses

4 days ago

NYers Protest Mormon Support of Prop. 8 (with photo gallery)

Supporters of gay marriage gathered outside a Mormon temple Wednesday night to protest the church's support of a California... more

ebindelglass
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1 response

5 days ago

Stonewall was a RIOT

Stonewall's decision to nominate transphobic Julie Bindel of The Guardian for the Journalist of the Year award sparked an... more

QueerYouth
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1 response

8 days ago

Protests in Germany as nuclear waste rolls through countryside

Thousands of anti-nuclear campaigners have assembled along a train route in Germany to protest the annual convoy carrying tons of... more

Beta_Boy
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0 responses

8 days ago

Prop 8 (eliminates gay marriage) Protest in California; Man is beaten by LAPD

Many people gathered all over California to protest the passing of Prop 8, which eliminates gay marriage. Even though I am not... more

cvancefilms
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3 responses

8 days ago

The Real Million Marijuana March on DC - July 4th 2009

There are plans for a Million Marijuana March on DC for July 4th 2009.

I've been talking with the organizer who had some interesting things to say about support he has gotten. This could be a pretty big deal if he pulls it off!

Here's what he said about the initial plans and who's involved:

"Ask Larry Lippert of American Cannabis, or Richard Rawlings from Norml, Or Casper from Time for Hemp, all people I have associated with and are collaborating with me on this.

... I am willing to give up my freedom, even my life, so that others can be free, that I was able to confidently coin myself in the phrase and context of a civil rights leader... Fear cannot drive freedom. Only spur on tyranny. So be not afraid brother. There is no greater an action in a man's life then to be a martyr of freedom, and many have sacrificed to do so, I am not afraid to sacrifice.

Also me and my counter-parts in NORML, American Cannabis, The Marijuana Policy Project, and artists like the Individuals and DJ Slim are currently contacting Willie Nelson, Cheech and Chong, Cypress Hill, ZZ Top and Woody Harrelson personally, to help us promote the march. The Million Man March only had Snoop Dog as they're main artist helping them promote, and they acquired nearly 750 THOUSAND marchers. Imagine what we can do with the artists we are acquiring.

There is nothing to fear but fear itself. Be brave my brother, the world needs you too."

-Tom D. (TRM3)

We need more freedom fighters like Tom. The media won't cover it unless it's impossible to ignore it. A million people in DC would certainly draw some attention. Especially with headliners like DJ Slim, Willie Nelson, Cheech and Chong, Cypress Hill, ZZ Top and Woody Harrelson!

Here's the TRM3 mission statement:

WHAT IS TRM3 THE REAL MILLION MARIJUANA MARCH: TRM3 The Real Million Marijuana March is a grass-roots organization based out of Salt Lake City Utah, who's aim is to gather one Million protesters in D.C. July 4th of 2009 for the worlds largest sit-in and protest of marijuana being illegal!!! Being as it is the worlds largest sit-in, it is a great act of civil-disobedience, and though we may get permits for our routes there and to arrive there, there is no permit issued by the U.S. government for a sit-in with no end date. We want a million activists to gather and STAY in D.C. until the United States government legalizes marijuana. This massive act of civil disobedience will cause the United States government to react in one of three ways: They will ignore us (which is highly doubtful) or; They will remove us (probably by force which will most likely end in rioting and martyr our cause further like the civil rights riots of African Americans in the past) or; Legalize it. These are the only options we give our government if we can accomplish one million people in D.C. next year. So help spread the news, help spread the word, and those that believe in personal freedom and the right for everyone to choose for themselves, I ask for a dedication to be there and protest with us in non-violence. Thank you! -Tom D. (TRM3)
There are plans for a Million Marijuana March on DC for July 4th 2009. I've been talking with the organizer who had some... more