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The Mormons and Latter Day Saints poured money into the campaign "Yes on Prop 8" in California. The Mormons wanted to ban same-sex marriage and, unfortunately, they were successful. It should come as no surprise that their view on homosexuality is.... let's say, archaic. An excerpt from a Mormon pamphlet (2002) states: "Homosexuality Is Sin: Next to the crime of murder comes the sin of sexual impurity." Nor should it come as a surprise that they think that homosexuality is a chosen lifestyle, that it's immoral and sinful to engage in "homosexual conduct", that homosexuality is a cause of bad parenting - particularly an overbearing mother or an absent father and that homosexuality can be cured with therapy, repentance and prayer.
Let's take a look at the Mormons and their conduct, shall we?
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, one of the largest Mormon fundamentalist denominations, practices polygamy. Warren Jeffs, the leader, inherited his leadership from his father - Rulon Jeffs - who had 75 wives and 65 children at the time of his death in 2002. Warren did not only inherit the leadership, but also the wives. As a leader, he was the only one with privilege to perform marriages and the person responsible for "assigning" wives to husbands. It was common to "assign" girls under the age of 16 to men over the age of 65. The church owns all the property in the area where its members reside, as well as the children born into the congregation.
Warren Jeffs was arrested in Nevada in 2006 and charged with sexual conduct with minors, incest, rape as an accomplice. He has also been accused of raping young boys while still in Utah. He is serving ten years to life right now.
In the spring of 2008, local authorities in Texas raided the LDS compound and reportedly took into legal custody more than 400 children and 133 women deemed to have been harmed or in imminent danger of harm. A number of the teenage girls were pregnant at the time. The authorities discovered that the underage girls who were forced into marriage were required to immediately consummate their marriage in a bed inside the soaring limestone temple.
Can you believe these people think of me as an abomination?
Let's take a look at that pamphlet again... "Next to the crime of murder comes the sin of sexual impurity." Yeah, I'd have to say I agree with that. Except "sexual impurity" in this case is their way of using a cult to brainwash women and girls to succumb to the sexual fantasies of dirty, old men. They use the veil of religion to justify rape, incest and more.
Do you think they can be cured with therapy, repentance and prayer?
lördag 14 mars 2009
måndag 9 mars 2009
Jerrie Cobb - a pioneer
In the spirit of the international women's day that just passed I wanted to tell you about Jerrie Cobb.
"Who?", you ask.
Jerrie Cobb.
Her name could have been a household name and rolled off everyone's tounge as easily as Neil Armstrong or John Glenn.
She could have been - and should have been - the first woman in space.
I learned about Jerrie by accident. I've always considered myself a "space nerd", and by that I mean that I can not only tell you that Neil Armstrong was the fist man on the moon but that the other two members of the Apollo 11 mission were Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins. Or that Alan Shepard not only was the first American in space and the fifth man on the moon but also that he was the first one to hit a golf ball on the moon. Or that the Apollo-missions would not have been possible at all had it not been for the Mercury and Gemini missions.
One day I ended up on NASA's website where you can test all your knowledge about everything NASA. "Easy as pie", I thought and took a quiz. I think it was question number three that was life-changing.
"Who was the first woman in space?"
I was flabbergasted. How could I never have considered women in space? Why didn't her name roll off my tongue as easily as Shepard, Glenn, Grissom and Armstrong? I then became fascinated with my own lack of knowledge about women in space and started reading and researching the subject. I soon found Jerrie. I read the two books she wrote in the 60's and have since then met her in person.
In a time when women were supposed to be housewives, teachers or nurses Jerrie became a pilot at the age of 16. By 18 she was a flight instructor and at 21 she delivered planes all over South America for the Air Force. She worked as a test pilot and few higher, further and faster than anyone else. During the 50's she broke three world records - in speed, altitude and distance. By 1960 she had logged over 10,000 flight hours - compared to John Glenn's 5,000.
Jerrie met Dr. Lovelace and General Flickinger who trained and tested the first American astronauts - The Mercury astronauts. Lovelace and Flickinger were fascinated by Jerrie and offered her to take the same tests and undergo the same training as the male astronauts. She passed with flying colors. She helped pick out more women to test and after another 12 passed the tests (they came to be known as Mercury 13) she had high hopes for an official training program for women astronauts.
After a conference in Stockholm, Sweden in August of 1960 where Lovelace introduced the results of Jerrie's training, everyone thought that she would be the first woman in space. She was in the limelight for quite some time but she was never allowed to become an astronaut. It went so far as a Congressional hearing to see if NASA was discriminating women. This hearing took place two years before the Civil Rights movement which made discrimination illegal. Despite that the hearing seemed to go in favor of the women, nothing happened.
June 16, 1963 Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. It would take more than 20 years before the first American woman got into space - Sally Ride, June 18, 1983. Eileen Collins became the first female shuttle pilot and the first female Commander of a mission in 1999. She realized the importance of Jerrie's struggle and invited her to the launch.
Jerrie still works as a pilot. She flies a plane every day - at the age of 77 - but she still dreams of becoming an astronaut. "I would give my life to fly in space", she says. "I would have then. I would now. This is something I would give my life for. It wouldn't be contingent on my coming back. I would go if it was just a one-way trip. I would go if I knew I wasn't coming back."
"Who?", you ask.
Jerrie Cobb.
Her name could have been a household name and rolled off everyone's tounge as easily as Neil Armstrong or John Glenn.
She could have been - and should have been - the first woman in space.
I learned about Jerrie by accident. I've always considered myself a "space nerd", and by that I mean that I can not only tell you that Neil Armstrong was the fist man on the moon but that the other two members of the Apollo 11 mission were Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins. Or that Alan Shepard not only was the first American in space and the fifth man on the moon but also that he was the first one to hit a golf ball on the moon. Or that the Apollo-missions would not have been possible at all had it not been for the Mercury and Gemini missions.
One day I ended up on NASA's website where you can test all your knowledge about everything NASA. "Easy as pie", I thought and took a quiz. I think it was question number three that was life-changing.
"Who was the first woman in space?"
I was flabbergasted. How could I never have considered women in space? Why didn't her name roll off my tongue as easily as Shepard, Glenn, Grissom and Armstrong? I then became fascinated with my own lack of knowledge about women in space and started reading and researching the subject. I soon found Jerrie. I read the two books she wrote in the 60's and have since then met her in person.
In a time when women were supposed to be housewives, teachers or nurses Jerrie became a pilot at the age of 16. By 18 she was a flight instructor and at 21 she delivered planes all over South America for the Air Force. She worked as a test pilot and few higher, further and faster than anyone else. During the 50's she broke three world records - in speed, altitude and distance. By 1960 she had logged over 10,000 flight hours - compared to John Glenn's 5,000.
Jerrie met Dr. Lovelace and General Flickinger who trained and tested the first American astronauts - The Mercury astronauts. Lovelace and Flickinger were fascinated by Jerrie and offered her to take the same tests and undergo the same training as the male astronauts. She passed with flying colors. She helped pick out more women to test and after another 12 passed the tests (they came to be known as Mercury 13) she had high hopes for an official training program for women astronauts.
After a conference in Stockholm, Sweden in August of 1960 where Lovelace introduced the results of Jerrie's training, everyone thought that she would be the first woman in space. She was in the limelight for quite some time but she was never allowed to become an astronaut. It went so far as a Congressional hearing to see if NASA was discriminating women. This hearing took place two years before the Civil Rights movement which made discrimination illegal. Despite that the hearing seemed to go in favor of the women, nothing happened.
June 16, 1963 Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. It would take more than 20 years before the first American woman got into space - Sally Ride, June 18, 1983. Eileen Collins became the first female shuttle pilot and the first female Commander of a mission in 1999. She realized the importance of Jerrie's struggle and invited her to the launch.
Jerrie still works as a pilot. She flies a plane every day - at the age of 77 - but she still dreams of becoming an astronaut. "I would give my life to fly in space", she says. "I would have then. I would now. This is something I would give my life for. It wouldn't be contingent on my coming back. I would go if it was just a one-way trip. I would go if I knew I wasn't coming back."
fredag 6 mars 2009
"Milk"
Tonight I saw a movie I have been wanting to see for months - "Milk". I knew the film would touch my heart in many ways. I knew it would be bittersweet to see the familiar streets, landmarks and intersections of San Francisco. A part of me will always belong there - on the corner of Castro and Market. I knew it would be an honor to see my friends names in the end crawl and I am so proud to be able to say I know people who help make this film what it is. I knew the depiction of Harvey and his life would touch my heart - yet again.
It's 1978 in San Francisco, CA. Senator Briggs and Anita Bryant are trying to get all homosexual teachers fired, along with anyone who supports homosexual teachers - a proposition known as Prop 6.
30 years ago, GLBT-people had no civil rights. We could be fired from our jobs, denied housing and be murdered for just walking down the street. 30 years ago, in Sweden, homosexuality was still classified as a mental illness.
30 years ago, Harvey Milk wanted to make a change. And he did. Prop 6 did not pass. Instead, more people than ever before came out to their friends and families and homosexuals became more visible than ever before.
A lot has happened in 30 years and yet we still don't have the same fundamental rights as everyone else. We have the same obligations and responsibilities, but not the same rights. Isn't it about time?
We can learn from "Milk". It reminds us of what generations before us have done to pave the way. It can inspire us to move on and take the next necessary steps. Together we are strong. Together we can do it.
My name is Tess Lindberg and I am here to recruit you...
It's 1978 in San Francisco, CA. Senator Briggs and Anita Bryant are trying to get all homosexual teachers fired, along with anyone who supports homosexual teachers - a proposition known as Prop 6.
30 years ago, GLBT-people had no civil rights. We could be fired from our jobs, denied housing and be murdered for just walking down the street. 30 years ago, in Sweden, homosexuality was still classified as a mental illness.
30 years ago, Harvey Milk wanted to make a change. And he did. Prop 6 did not pass. Instead, more people than ever before came out to their friends and families and homosexuals became more visible than ever before.
A lot has happened in 30 years and yet we still don't have the same fundamental rights as everyone else. We have the same obligations and responsibilities, but not the same rights. Isn't it about time?
We can learn from "Milk". It reminds us of what generations before us have done to pave the way. It can inspire us to move on and take the next necessary steps. Together we are strong. Together we can do it.
My name is Tess Lindberg and I am here to recruit you...
Annie Leibovitz is in trouble
Famed photographer Annie Leibovitz doesn't just have to deal with the sadness of losing her lover and partner, Susan Sontag, but now also has to deal with financial woes. Is it the harsh times that has put her in this position? No. But how can someone of Annie Leibovitz's fame be in such serious financial trouble that she is using the rights to her photographs as collateral?
Well, kids... Susan Sontag passed away in 2004 and left her entire estate to Leibovitz. That's a good thing, right? Not if you're a homosexual. Same-sex couples do NOT have the same privileges as straight married couples when it comes to inheriting your partner. If you're gay and you inherit your partners estate - you have to pay up to 50% of the value of the inheritance in taxes. If you're straight and inherit your partner - or should the gay couple be recognized as a married couple - you wouldn't have to pay one single cent in taxes.
Same-sex marriage is not just about the right to marry the one you love. It's about equal rights.
OVERTURN PROP 8!!
Together we are strong. Together we can do it.
My name is Tess Lindberg and I am here to recruit you...
Well, kids... Susan Sontag passed away in 2004 and left her entire estate to Leibovitz. That's a good thing, right? Not if you're a homosexual. Same-sex couples do NOT have the same privileges as straight married couples when it comes to inheriting your partner. If you're gay and you inherit your partners estate - you have to pay up to 50% of the value of the inheritance in taxes. If you're straight and inherit your partner - or should the gay couple be recognized as a married couple - you wouldn't have to pay one single cent in taxes.
Same-sex marriage is not just about the right to marry the one you love. It's about equal rights.
OVERTURN PROP 8!!
Together we are strong. Together we can do it.
My name is Tess Lindberg and I am here to recruit you...
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