NO ONE SHOULD BE DENIED THE LUXURY OF LOVE

The Michael Sam kiss stirred much controversy – only because it was a male-on-male kiss.  We have never seen this type of scrutiny over a heterosexual kiss.  People need to realize that we are not all the same and there are different types of relationships.  I don’t recall as much controversy on the show ‘Sister Wives’ and their polygamist lifestyle (which I believe, doesn’t really justify the sanctity of marriage).  Needless-to-say, this group of polygamists are supposed to be in a loving and devoted marriage consisting of 1 man and 4 wives.  Yet – many of the religious right are outraged by two men kissing on live television.  Shouldn’t we be encouraging people to celebrate love?

Bill Maher gives his perspective on the kiss and I applaud him!

Love doesn’t just happen to a man and a women – it happens to all men and all women.  There are all types of love – love for your friends, love for your family, love for your pets, love for a television program/celebrity – there is also love for a partner, soul-mate, lover and spouse.  If we grant, respect and validate this type of love for a man and a women, why is the concept so hard to grasp for two men or two women who love each other?  Simply – religion.  People take certain (not all) religious passages to be the word of God – only when it suits their purpose and only to justify their hate and ignorance for what they don’t understand or simply – what they don’t like.  To them, I say:  “Life is too short to waste hating someone you don’t even know.  Don’t tell me that what you believe is what is – because when it comes to LOVE and being in love – no one should be denied that luxury.”

Together, we can make the world a more positive one!

 

COMING OUT – WHEN LIFE BEGINS FOR THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY

How was it like for me to hide part of my true authentic self?  I was born gay, so why was I trying so hard to hide this amazing part of myself…..well, here are some of the reasons I refused talking about my sexuality:

• I didn’t want my family to be ashamed of me.
• I didn’t want to lose any of my friends.
• I didn’t want to be kicked out of my parents house.
• Society invoked violence against the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender, queer) community – so why would I want to endure that?
• Gay people were going to hell.
• Gay people get AIDS and die.
• Gay people are not “normal”.
• Gay people are not equal to normal heterosexuals
• Gay people are “dykes”, “faggots”, “sissies”, “pussies”, “gross”, “pedophiles”…..

So why didn’t I stay in the closet?  I was tired of trying to please everyone else but myself.  Once I embraced my homosexuality as part of my true authentic self – I was able to live my life with more clarity, honesty and authenticity.  No longer was I trying to hide who I was, no longer was I imprisoned by my desire to be what everyone else wanted me to be.  I was free, I was whole, I was finally me.  I was no longer afraid – I came to peace knowing that some people in my life (including family) would not accept this part of me but I didn’t care because there was nothing wrong with me.

I hope that there will be a day where gays and lesbians don’t have to ‘come out’ anymore because there is nothing to come out from.  ‘Coming out’ isn’t for the sake of making other people feel better – coming out, for me, was a way for me to liberate myself from the fears and stereotypes that society imposed on gays and lesbians.  If people accepted me already – why wouldn’t they embrace me after I empowered myself to live my true authentic life?  People fear what they don’t understand.  People are also slaves because of their religious beliefs and believe that the “sin of homosexuality” is an abomination.  Not very Christian is it?  (Please see my previous post ‘The Bible Mythology’ on many of the other things Christians should not be engaged in).

So – should we care when a celebrity comes out?  Absolutely!  What is the difference between homosexuals and heterosexuals (no this isn’t a joke)?  Nothing but our sexual preference!  As I have said many times before….I didn’t just decide to try being with men one day – I just knew I liked them and wanted to be with them in every way.  If it was that easy for me to choose to be gay – then it must have been a choice for heterosexuals to be straight.  Think about it – if, all of a sudden, I made the decision to be gay – then every other  straigh man or woman could make the same decision as I did.  Celebrities, athletes, politicians, and anyone else in the public eye should use their celebrity status as a platform to potentially save the lives of many individuals who struggle so hard in their decision to come out and live their authentic lives.  Whether you are homosexual or heterosexual – we all want the same things – to be happy, to contribute to the community, to help those in need, to love, to be compassionate and to spread positivity into the world.

I love all those who have paved the way for me, like gay icons – Harvey Milk, Liberace, Elton John, Carole Pope, Boy George, Jimmy Sommerville, Holly Johnston, Divine, Rupaul, George Michael, Barney Frank, Rachel Maddow, Ricky Martin, Ellen DeGeneres, Jason Collins, Dan Savage, Gareth Thomas, Greg Louganis, Cazwell, Frank Ocean and so many others.  I also love those who have continued to support the gay community and in our fight for equality, people like;  Madonna, David Beckham, Bill Maher, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Cho, Joy Behar, Adam Levine, Chris Evans,  Michelle Visage, Lady Gaga and so many other wonderful people.

Coming out isn’t easy – despite what others may say – coming out is about finally being able to face your fears and to go against everything that you believed to be true.  Coming out is a realization that there was never anything wrong with you and only in those that instilled their hatred, ignorance and fear about homosexuals into society.  Coming out is brave, liberating, joyous, loving, wonderful, strong and honest but, most importantly,  coming out is about loving yourself.

Enjoy these videos:

Together, we can make the world a more positive one!

ROB FORD – POLITICAL DISTRACTION?

What is happening in Toronto, Ontario Canada?  Toronto has been all over the news due to the mayor’s ‘crack-cocaine and excessive drinking’ scandal.  Will this be the legacy of Toronto’s latest mayor instead of his policies?  As a citizen of Toronto since 1973, I don’t ever remember there being a mayoral scandal that has had as much media attention as this.  Here are the mayor’s that I remember and a brief review of some of their accomplishments/scandals:

Art Eggleton (Liberal)  December 1980 – November 1991

• Produced record level of social housing projects for low-income people.
• 50 acres (200,00 m2) of new parks.
• moved forward on implementing its new official plan which resulted in several new significant buildings in the downtown west, or railway land areas, including:  The Convention Centre, Skydome and The CBC Broadcast Centre.
• Instrumental in the establishment of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund and other environmental programs that resulted in the City receiving a United Nations award.

***Did not support Toronto’s lesbian and gay community at their annual Gay Pride parade***

June Rowlands (Liberal)  December 1991 – November 1994

• First female mayor of Toronto.
• Came under fire for hiring a relative for a municipal position without an advertised process.
• Best remembered and blamed for banning pop group ‘Barenaked Ladies’ from performing at a City Hall function, claiming that the name objectified women (Rowlands was out-of-town during this and it later became know that it was a mayoral staffer that thought the group’s name objectified women).
•  Gained further notoriety when she seemed to be staggeringly uninformed about—and even completely unaware of—a large-scale youth riot that had shut down parts of Yonge Street, Toronto’s main street located just one block east of City Hall.

Barbara Hall (Liberal)  December 1994 – December 1997

• 61st mayor of Toronto.
• Last mayor to run before Toronto’s amalgamation of municipalities.
• First Toronto mayor to participate and march in Toronto’s lesbian and gay Pride Parade.

POST-AMALGAMATION

Mel Lastman (Progressive Conservative)  January 1998 – November 2003

• Prior to amalgamation – Mel Lastman was mayor of North York from 1972 to 1997 (Under the provincial leadership of Progressive Conservative, Mike Harris, Lastman’s position was abolished due to the city’s amalgamation.
• Supported by many in North York for operating the city effectively and efficiently and for keeping property taxes low.
• Gained national attention after multiple snowstorms, including the blizzard of 1999 and effectively closed the city.
• Re-elected in November of 2000 with 80% of the vote.
• Brought World Youth Day to Toronto in 2002.
• Succeeded in pushing the development of the TTC’s Sheppard Subway line (the first new subway in decades).
• Decided to officially recognize Gay and Lesbian Pride Week as opposed to Pride Day.

David Miller (New Democratic Party/Independent)  December 2003 – November 2010

• Announced $70 million in waterfront investments over five years, dedicated toward new board walks, promenades, public places and related attractions (which resulted in Toronto having its first urban beach).
• Mayoral run was endorsed by American environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
• David Miller’s first term in office focused on issues such as waterfront renewal, public transit and municipal reform.

Rob Ford (Independent/Progressive Conservative)  December 2010 – incumbent

• Cancelled $60 personal vehicle registration tax.
• Balanced frist budget with no tax increases and no significant changes – the budget used a surplus from 2010 and reserve funds to avoid raising taxes.
• 2012 budget consultation review of services provided indicated a $700 million shortfall with no new taxes or cuts made.

Rob Ford has constantly been surrounded by controversy and unfortunately, that is what he will most likely be remembered for.  People don’t want to focus on the good that our politicians can initiate and accomplish when the scandals are much more interesting and what makes them like us.  Here are some of Rob Ford’s much publicized controversies:

1. Arrested for DUI (drinking under the influence) and marijuana possession in Miami (1999).  Marijuana charge was withdrawn.
2. Removed from a Maple Leafs hockey game for being visibly intoxicated and belligerent.
3. In 2005 – Ford spoke out against donating $1.5 million to help prevent AIDS by saying, “If you are not doing needles and you are not gay, you wouldn’t get AIDS probably, that’s bottom line…those are the facts.”
4. In 2007 – Ford remarked about cyclists – “What I compare bike lanes to is swimming with the sharks.  Sooner or later you’re going to get bitten… Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks, not for people on bikes.  My heart bleeds for them when I hear someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault at the end of the day.”
5. In 2008, he made a statement about Asians –  “Those Oriental people work like dogs.  They work their hearts out.  They are workers non-stop.  They sleep beside their machines.  That’s why they’re successful in life.  I went to Seoul, South Korea, I went to Taipei, Taiwan.  I went to Tokyo, Japan.  That’s why these people are so hard workers.  I’m telling you, the Oriental people, they’re slowly taking over.”
6. Conflict of Interest Trial (2010) – the City of Toronto’s integrity commissioner ruled that then-Councillor Ford had not followed City Council’s Code of Conduct by using official letterhead and other council resources in fund-raising letters for his football foundation.
7. On-going claims that Rob Ford is and alcoholic and smokes crack regularly.
8. Hired known criminal as personal driver, paying him in access of $150,000/year.
9. Asking municipal staff to complete personal tasks at his residence and often after hours.

Here is the most recent interview in which Rob Ford and his brother, councillor Doug Ford speak to CBC’s Peter Mansbridge:

In the first 3 minutes Rob Ford makes 3 comments that are not true:

1.  “The people elected me with the largest mandate in Canada’s history.”  FACT:  Mel Lastman had approximately 100,000 more votes in 2000 than Ford did in the 2010 election.

2.  “Having the lowest tax increase of any major city in North America.”  FACT:  Windsor, Ontario, Canada and San Antonio, Texas, USA, have tax freezes which have been in place for a lengthy period now.

3.  “I’ve showed up every day to work for the last 13 years.” FACT:  Rob Ford was declared absent from committee or council meetings 84 times out of 440 meetings.  Which constitutes an absentee record of 19% – attendance records for all councillors can be found via the following link:  http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/getAdminReport.do

Mayor Rob Ford has been in worldwide media, but not for his policies or the positive changes he has implemented but for his personal life.  He has given comedians around the world material that will last decades – he has been the topic of discussion on late night shows such as;  Real Time With Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Jay Leno and David Letterman.  We are all responsible for the ‘celebrity status’ of our politicians.  This is wrong.  They should be held accountable for engaging in behaviour that is against the law, disrespectful, homophobic, racist and irresponsible. 

Clearly – Mayor Ford has to ensure that he gets his personal life in order prior to retaining his duties as mayor of Canada’s largest city.  Mayor Ford (or any other mayor), should not be allowed to lie to the people who elected him.  His behaviour is not mayoral.  If a CEO of a major corporation displayed the same behaviour and incompetence that Mr. Ford has shown – shareholders would ensure the removal of that CEO.  Toronto City Council was accurate in revoking the mayor’s powers until he is fit to resume those duties.  The mayor is a representation of the city’s people and Mr. Ford has certainly been vocal on many social issues which are not respective and inclusive of Toronto’s very diverse community.  This is why more people need to get involved in the democratic process to ensure we elect government representation that is reflective of all their constituents.

Mr. Ford’s behaviour is not conducive to creating positive change in the world – which is clearly evident in some of his quotes above.  But, we must not allow this distraction to deter us from what needs to happen in our municipalities, towns, cities and countries.  People are becoming increasingly agitated about our government officials self-serving needs.  They need representation that will focus on the issues of our time – like the environment, social and financial inequality, health, unemployment, poverty and crime.  Instead of focusing on these issues – they continue to neglect the environment, promote tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, forget about the health care system, and are responsible for committing crimes themselves.

I hope that Rob Ford manages to get his personal life in order, for his own sake.  But, reality is – WE NEED A REVOLUTION of positive change and it isn’t going to happen when we keep elected these self-serving politicians.

Together, we can make the world a more positive one!

WATCH and BECOME INSPIRED TO ACT!

Here are some great videos that should inspire us to act for our environment, wildlife and for those who are unable to act for themselves:

GAY MAN STANDS UP AGAINST BIGOT ON NYC SUBWAY TRAIN

IMPACT OF THE GARBABE WE THROW OUT TO WILDLIFE and ENVIRONMENT

LOUISE L. HAY – YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE

JAY CLAY – HOW BIG BRANDS CAN HELP SAVE BIODIVERSITY

IT GETS BETTER CAMPAIGN

BILL MAHER on KILLING VS RELIGION

RESPECT FOR THIS CHRISTIAN – PASTOR TALKS ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE THE WORLD A MORE POSITIVE ONE

THINGS CELEBRITIES SAY……..

As a gay male and vegetarian – I am very interested on what celebrities have to say on these issues.  I have compiled a list of quotes from some celebrities (living and deceased) on various issues, here are some of my favourites:

“I think every person has the ability to affect change…through our every thought, our every word, the way that we interact with other people, we are constantly affecting the world” – Adam Yauch (Rapper – Beastie Boys/Activist)

“I was horrified when Richard Chamberlain and Rupert Everett said gay actors should stay in the closet.  They were saying to people that they should live a lie and not be liberated, to live in fear of being found out” – Alan Cumming  (Actor – played Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United and is currently on the television series, The Good Wife)

“There’s a cleanliness to how I eat now.  I’m much more in tune with my body, so now that I’m so in tune based on having become semi-vegan, I can tell what foods affect energy levels” – Alanis Morissette (Singer/Songwriter/Actress)

“Nothing will benefit human health and increased chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet” – Albert Einstein

“I try to eat healthy, but I won’t get on other people’s nerves about it” – Angela Bassett (Actress – played Tina Turner in What’s Love Got To Do With It)

“I think I’ve always been bi-sexual.  I mean, it’s something that I’ve always been interested in.  I think people are born bi-sexual, and it’s just that our parents and society kind of veer us of into this feeling of ‘Oh, I can’t’.  It’s ingrained in our heads that it’s bad, when it’s not bad at all.  It’s a very beautiful thing” – Billie Joe Armstrong (Lead Singer – Green Day)

“Let us be the ones who say we do not accept that a child dies every three seconds simply because he does not have the drugs you and I have.  Let us be the ones to say we are not satisfied that your place of birth determines your right to life.  Let us be outraged, let us be loud, let us be bold” – Brad Pitt (Actor/Activist)

“I’ve been vegetarian for about 17-18 years now, since I was about 28.  And of course, my motto has always been ‘if you love animals, don’t eat them’.  I’m opposed to fur and any kind of use of animal products.  I don’t eat them and I don’t wear them.  I’m not for the killing of any creature – whether it be seals, cows, dogs, anything.  So anytime it comes to any kind of animal cruelty, I’m totally against it” – Bryan Adams (Singer/Photographer)

“I think and speak clearer since I cut the dairy out.  I can breathe better and perform at a better rate, and my voice is clearer.  I can explore different things with my voice that I couldn’t do because of my meat and dairy ingestion.  I am proud and blessed to be a vegetarian, everything became clear” – Common (Hip-hop artist/Actor)

“The fur industry butchers animals and pollutes our environment.  I could never wear fur” – Fernanda Tavares (Brazilian model)

“Being vegan helped me realize I can say and do what I believe is right.  That’s powerful” – Alicia Silverstone (Actress/Author)

“I gave up meat when I was twelve.  One day I was cutting up a chicken for my mom, and I hit a tumor with the knife.  There was pus and blood all over the place.  That was enough for me” – Josh Harnett (Actor)

“People get offended by animal rights campaigns.  It’s ludicrous.  It’s not as bad as mass animal death in a factory” – Richard Gere (Actor/Activist)

“In some roles I have to wear fur, and I always make sure it’s fake, like in Austin Powers:  The Spy Who Shagged Me.  Faux fur is great because it shows people that faux can look fabulous” – Kristen Johnston (Actress)

“You need to hunt something that can shoot back at you to really classify yourself as a hunter.  You need to understand the feeling of what it’s like to go into the field and know your opposition can take you out.  Not just go out there and shoot Bambi” – Gov., Jesse Ventura (Former Governor and Pro-Wrestler)

“I’m picky when it comes to food – as long as there’s not meat in it” – Orlando Bloom (Actor)

“Meat is dirty.  I wouldn’t touch a hot dog without a condom on it” – Bill Maher (Comedian)

“To become vegetarian is to step into the stream which leads to nirvana” – Buddha

“Some people are still going to want to eat meat…we do agree though that vegetarianism is a healthier diet” – David Stroud (American Meat Institute)

“I abhor vivisection.  It should at least be curbed.  Better, it should be abolished.  I know of no achievement through vivisection, no scientific discovery, that could not be obtained without such barbarism and cruelty.  The whole thing is evil” – Charles Mayo (founder of the Mayo Clinic)

“If any kid ever realized what was involved in factory farming they would never touch meat again.  I was so moved by the intelligence, sense of fun and personalities of the animals I worked with on Babe that by the end of the film I was vegetarian” – James Cromwell (Actor)

“The medical argument for animal testing doesn’t stand up.  Even if it did, I don’t think we should kill other species.  We think we’re so much better; I’m not sure we are.  I tell people, we’ve beaten into submission every animal on the face of the Earth, so we are clear winners of whatever battle is going on between the species.  Couldn’t we be generous?  I really think it’s time to get nice.  No need to keep beating up on them.  I think we’ve got to show that we’re kind” – Paul McCartney (Singer/Actor/Activist)

“I grew up in cattle country – that’s why I became a vegetarian.  Meat stinks, for the animals, the environment, and your health” – K.D. Lang (Singer)

“You ask people why they have deer heads on the wall.  They always say, ‘because it’s such a beautiful animal’.  There you go.  I think my mother’s attractive, but I have photographs of her” – Ellen DeGeneres (Talk Show Host/Comedienne/Actress)

“How can you eat anything with eyes?” – Will Kellogg (Inventor, Corn Flakes)

“Behind every beautiful fur, there is a story.  It is a bloody, barbaric story” – Mary Tyler Moore (Actress)

“Fur used to turn heads, now it turns stomachs” – Rue McClanahan (Actress)

“When I was old enough to realize all meat was killed, I saw it as an irrational way of using our power, to take a weaker thing and mutilate it.  It was like the way bullies would take control of younger kids in the schoolyard” – River Phoenix (Actor)

“I think there will come a time, and this is down the road a great many years, when civilized people will look back in horror on our generation and the ones that have preceded it:  the idea that we should eat other living things running around on four legs, that we should raise them just for the purpose of killing them!  The people of the future will say, meat-eaters in disgust and regard us in the same way we regard cannibals and cannibalism” – Dennis Weaver (Actor/Humanitarian/Environmentalist)

“The thing that has been weighing on my mind this week is that I wanted to go and save all the little live lobsters in restaurants and throw them back in the ocean.  Imagine me being arrested for that” – Drew Barrymore (Actress/Director)

“The average age (longevity) of a meat eater is 63.  I am on the verge of 85 and still work as hard as ever.  I have lived quite long enough and am trying to die; but I simply cannot do it.  A single beef-steak would finish me; but I cannot bring myself to swallow it.  I am oppressed with a dread of living forever.  That is the only disadvantage of vegetarianism” – George Bernard Shaw (Playwright/Co-Founder of London School of Economics/Writer/Nobel Prize Winner(Literature) 

“They’ve been trying to test on animals for the past 50 years.  Nobody’s come up with a cure.  If you want to test on somebody, test on me” – Montell Williams (Former Talk Show Host)

“Many years ago, I was in a Broadway show and I had to wear a fox fur around my shoulders.  One day my hand touched one of the fox’s legs.  I t seemed to be in two pieces.  Then it dawned on me….her leg had probably been snapped in two by the steel trap that had caught it” – Bea Arthur (Actress)

“I’d like to see animals removed from the entertainment business.  Chimpanzees and apes won’t perform unless you beat them.  Circuses keep elephants in chains 90 percent of the time.  Elephants need freedom of movement.  In circuses, they live in cramped quarters, which is not the life intended for them by nature.  Some are beaten daily, forced to do ridiculous tricks and robbed of every shred of dignity” – Bob Barker (Television Game Host/Activist)

“If you look at the course of western history you’ll see that we’re slowly granting basic right to everyone.  A long time ago only kings had rights. Then rights were extended to property-owning white men.  Then all men.  Then women. Then children.  Then the mentally retarded.  Now we’re agonizing over the extension of basic rights to homosexuals and animals.  We need to finally accept that all sentient creatures are deserving of basic rights.  I define basic rights as this – the ability to pursue life without having someone else’s will involuntarily forced upon you.  Or, as the framers of the constitution put it, the ability to have “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.  By what criteria can you justify denying basic right to any living thing?  Realize that by whatever criteria you employ someone could deny basic rights to you if they objected to your species, sexual preference, colour, religion, ideology etc.  Would you eat your house cat, or force a mentally retarded child to ingest oven cleaner?  If not, then why is it ok to eat cows and test products on sentient animals?  I believe that to knowingly commit actions that cause or condone suffering is reprehensible in the extreme.  I call upon you to be compassionate and treat others as you want to be treated.  If you don’t want to be beaten, imprisoned, mutilated, killed or tortured then you shouldn’t condone such behaviour toward anyone, be they human or not” – Moby (Singer/DJ/Activist)

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” – Mohandas Gandhi (Preeminent Leader of Indian Nationalism)

Together, we can make the world a more positive one!