Religious Action Center :: RACBlog

RACwlu on RSS

2008-08-28T03:19:44Z

That's right folks! Now you can enjoy your RACNews Weekly Legislative Update more ways than one. The RACwlu Feed is now available; joining the RACBlog feed, the RAC Action Alerts feed, the RAC Press Releases feed and our RACPodcast feed! You can easily add our feeds to your customizable home page from many major sites (such as Yahoo and Google), or see them using the latest web browsers (free from folks like Microsoft, Firefox and Apple).

Subscribe this way to get easy access to the latest updates, in a convenient quick format!

feeds.rac.org/wlu - copy and paste this into your prefered feed reader! or just follow the link and let your browswer do the work!

A Jewish Mother's Plea

2008-08-27T20:53:56Z

Rabbi Don Goor of Temple Judea in Tarzana, CA, forwarded this video to a colleague of mine. Called "Jewish Mother on Proposition 8," it features 88-year-old Molly Pier, the mother of a gay doctor who passed away in 1989, as she recounts the story of his love for his partner - whom she considers a fourth son.

This November, Californians will have the opportunity to vote on Proposition 8, a ballot initiative that, if passed, would amend the state constitution to define marriage as being solely between a man and a woman. Two other states face similar initiatives: Florida's Amendment 2 and Arizona's Proposition 102 would both amend their state constitutions to ban same-sex marriage.

It seems impossible not be affected by stories like Molly's. At the end of the video, she says, "I support marriage equality to the nth degree." If you're a Californian, Floridian or Arizonan who feels the same way, I encourage you to vote no on the proposed ballot initiatives in your state come Election Day.

Invocation Invitation

2008-08-26T03:21:02Z

Rabbi David Saperstein will invocate the DNC's headline program on Thursday night! Much better than his previous plans of milling about Denver looking for tickets to the big event. (I kid, I kid...)

There's more! Orthodox and other Rabbis were on deck as well at the Interfaith Caucus, as were leaders from a ton of different faith groups.

Many folks felt that this was too much mixing of religion and politics, etc. Others disagreed. This post isn't about that - it's about Rabbi Saperstein's receiving such an honor!

Principal Values

2008-08-22T19:24:43Z

I didn't exactly grow up in the most open-minded of cities myself, but yesterday's MSNBC story on a Florida high school principal's blatant discrimination against a gay student absolutely floored me.

When the teenage girl, a lesbian, went to her principal at Ponce de Leon High School to ask him to help put an end to her classmates' teasing, MSNBC reported, "he told her homosexuality is wrong, outed her to her parents and ordered her to stay away from children." When her friends showed their support for her by wearing pro-equality t-shirts, they were suspended.

At the behest of the mother of one of those suspended student supporters, the American Civil Liberties Union stepped in to sue the school district and won. Still, many Ponce de Leon residents have sided with the (now former) principal - they don't understand what he did wrong and don't like being criticized for their opposition to homosexuality.

This sad story serves as yet another reminder of how far this country has to go in the fight for equal rights, highlighting the importance of the work being done by pro-equality organizations such as the Religious Action Center. As we anticipate the November elections, I've got my fingers crossed that no matter who sits in the Oval Office come January, he will encourage our lawmakers to enact laws that both protect and respect GLBT individuals.