LGBT rights pioneer Del Martin passes away

NCLR Press Center

(San Francisco, CA, August 27, 2008)—Today, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community lost an iconic leader and a beloved friend. Del Martin, 87, passed away in San Francisco. Martin was one of the nation’s first and most visible lesbian rights activists who dedicated her life to combating homophobia, sexism, violence, and racism. Martin’s many contributions to the LGBT movement will resonate for decades to come.

“Today the LGBT movement lost a real hero,” said Kate Kendell, Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “For all of Del’s life, she was an activist and organizer even before we knew what those terms meant. Her last act of public activism was her most personal—marrying the love of her life after 55 years. In the wake of losing her, we recognize with heightened clarity the most poignant and responsible way to honor her legacy is to preserve the right of marriage for same-sex couples, thereby providing the dignity and respect that Del and Phyllis’ love deserved.”

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Micro Management is killing us

Our government has micro managed our lives. Perhaps it’s to keep us off balance.

Inundate us with red tape. We are lucky to keep our head above water, much less worry about the slow back stabbing counter attack. Which will pull us under! Complacent people only feed this fire. Instead of questioning they have blind faith.

On state and federal levels our rights are eroding. Pursuit of Happiness is under attack, but they are doing it slowly hoping we won't notice. So it will be a "pain we can learn to live with".

We've all heard it said the government wants to control us with fear. Fear is but a small part! They have us fighting amidst each other causing a “blinder effect” (like a horse with blinders your vision is narrowed). People are so busy fighting each on little issues they can’t see the big issue! Their blind faith can't imagine a corrupt government!

We are taxed much higher then we should be partly because we have far more "government" than needed.

Of course more government means more laws and rules affecting our everyday life and usually costing us more money. Chopping away, bit by bit, at the foundation of survival.

This world is becoming a playground for the greedy, with the bill being paid by a disappearing middle class.

You folks remember in the past when there was a war, the economy always flourished? It was a windfall for the entire nation.

Do you think it's patriotic for a few powerful men in our government to benefit so much from the war? Not only did our government take us into a war we had no business being in, a few of them profited handsomely.

We placed our trust in these individuals when we elected them to office (or when a corrupt government placed them into office). They weren’t placed there so they could help themselves to whatever they want, giving themselves raises and generally act as if they are doing us a favor!

If they want to do us a favor they should all be working for minimum wage. Remember when they used to be called public servants? Who’s the servant now?

Maybe my memory is bad but didn't the government used to fear the people?

They wonder why there is so much crime and why the children are involved.

Maybe my memory is bad but didn't at least one parent used to stay home and raise the children? Perhaps children turn out better when they have parents present? But I suppose the government doesn’t get as much money when only one parent works!

Didn’t adults use to set examples for the younger generation? Didn't politicians, police and other elected/appointed officials use to set examples for the general public?

Come on folks! These things are "no brainers".

We created a machine to better our society. That machine has taken over our lives and is now choking us!

Please stop the complacency.

If we don't change direction soon, in a radical way, our doom is inevitable.

SILENCE = DEATH of life as we know it

In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

Iran official admits executing gays

In 2005 Mahmoud Asqari and Ayad Marhouni were hanged in Justice Square, Mashhad.

Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Nigeria apply the death penalty for homosexuality.

Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured, an Iranian leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference.

According to the Times Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit that Iran believes in the death penalty for homosexuality.

Gay rights groups in Britain, such as Outrage!, have accused Iran of cloaking executions for homosexuality with bogus charges for more serious crimes.

Minutes taken by an official describe a meeting between British and Iranian MPs at the Inter-Parliamentary Union in May. When the Britons raised the hangings of Asqari and Marhouni, the leader of the Iranian delegation, Mr Yahyavi, "explained that according to Islam gays and lesbianism were not permitted," the record states.

"He said that if homosexual activity is in private there is no problem, but those in overt activity should be executed [he initially said tortured but changed it to executed].

"He argued that homosexuality is against human nature and that humans are here to reproduce. Homosexuals do not reproduce."

A researcher present at the gathering also told the Times that Mr Yahyavi has said homosexuality was to blame for a lot of diseases, such as Aids.