DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WEARS NO MASK EVEN on HALLOWEEN!BOO

So Halloween night after you have taken the little ones Trick or Treating join us for the last night in October where we will end the month still talking about DOMESTIC VIOLENCE in the LGBT Community. It may be the last day in this month that it is suppose to be talked about and recognized but we will not let this topic rest it will be back. Here is your last chance to talk about it this month. It will not go away. If you are a victim or a friend of a victim you need to be present. Get some important information that could arm you in helping your friend, family member or yourself. Stop! Listen and Speak Out! Join Teresa Adams, Ina Anthony, Michelle Brown and other guest as we talk, shout and scream about domestic violence in our community. You should not be afraid, because you are not alone. Call in at 10:30 est/9:30cst dial 347-215-8985.
THE NEXT VICTIM COULD BE YOU! OR ARE YOU ALREADY A VICTIM AND DIDN’T KNOW IT? Join us.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WEARS NO MASK EVEN on HALLOWEEN!

DEBATES ARE OVER. Now Let’s talk about what’s really at stake for the LGBT community with the elections on November 6, 2012

Join Ina Anthony, Teresa Adams and me, Michelle E. Brown, and Editor of Windy City Times Tracy Baim as we discuss, What Will happen to the LGBT Community if we don’t take a stand and let our voices be heard through our VOTE. We will continue where the debates left off.

Call in October 24th at 9:30CST/10:30 EDT to 347-215-8985. If you want to be really informed…..CALL and be heard

“So a Mormon, a Catholic and Atlas walk into a bar…..”

The beginning of a bad joke? No it’s the beginning of the Republican National Convention. But if you’re a woman, poor, a person of color or gay, YES it is the beginning of a bad joke.

Now that the Olympics are over and vacation’s are winding down, it’s time to get focused on November and nothing will get folks focused in on what’s at stake more than the upcoming conventions.

The intention of past conventions was to educate attendees about the party’s platform and to nominate a candidate but this year’s Republican National Convention is more like an infomercial rolling out a GOP agenda that has been building steam culminating with a coronation of the party’s standard bearers.

Mitt Romney’s nomination has been a foregone conclusion for several months after the Mormon business man basically out lasted a field of candidates that fell off, dropped out or self-destructed. The only suspense was the selection of the vice-presidential running mate which we now know is Tea Party poster child Paul Ryan.

Although he’s not talking about it that much these days, Ryan has in the past credited atheist philosopher Ayn Rand for inspiring his interest in public service and entry into the political arena even giving copies of her “Atlas Shrugged” as Christmas gifts. More recently the focus has been on his budget plan, anti-abortion stance, “faithful” Catholicism, dedication to the P90X workout plan and of course his 8% body fat.

At the RNC in Tampa, Mitt and Paul plan to energize the base and convert the undecided that “A better future” is possible if given the reins of leadership.

They’re banking that voter’s sitting on the fence will be moved by the glitz, glamour and overlook the basic contradictions of their ideology with today’s diverse America.

Who’d have thought that the party which In recent years has been most closely identified with the traditional values of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) community would have as its standard bearers a Mormon and a Catholic but the times my friends they are a changing.

The well-funded call for traditional, conservative “American” values has become the tie that binds together supporters of this candidacy.

Despite committee chairman Priebus’s disclaimer that “This is the platform of the Republican Party. It’s not the platform of Mitt Romney”, the party platform provides a window to the soul of the party Romney/Ryan hope to lead into power.

This is the cornerstone of the beliefs held dear by party faithful so how can we ignore its influence on this “Better Future” on display in Tampa?

Much has been said about Todd Akins comments on rape – legitimate or forcible – as it related to abortion. This, rightly, set off a firestorm of condemnation amongst not only women but even Republicans from Mitt Romney down, with a message that’s clear “RAPE is Rape.” But there was less substantive discussion of the reality that, although Akin’s remarks were outrageous, they were not outside the realm of far right views on abortion and women’s reproductive rights.

In 2011, Rep. Akin co-sponsored a bill which was supported by Paul Ryan that would have banned federal funding for abortions except in cases of so-called forcible rape. It was later reintroduced with the word “forcible” removed from the bill’s language.

Besides the “forcible Rape” legislation, Ryan and Akins also cosponsored a federal personhood bill, the “Sanctity of Human Life Act of 2009”, which declares that a fertilized egg is entitled to the exact same legal rights as a human being. One interpretation of this act would not simply ban abortion; it would turn many forms of birth control into the legal equivalent of a murder weapon.

While staunchly supporting the rights of the unborn, the party platform stands in its denial of rights for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Americans. Which begs the question how do you staunchly support the rights of a child to be born, even if its conception is the result of rape, yet strip the same child of its rights if it is born gay?

One might also wonder since theses same individuals dare to define the legitimacy of rape while delegitimizing the rights of LGBT Americans, would rapists get a free pass if the rape was part of “conversion” attempt against a gay , lesbian, transgender, bisexual or queer American?

While this year’s Democratic Party platform is the most pro-LGBT in history, Republican Party platform seems to want to pull the country backwards when it comes to LGBT equality. The party platform includes language that implies that for the GOP, LGBT people are not among the Americans who deserve “dignity and respect.”

“A Better Future,” – only for some. While talking about creating jobs, rebuilding the economy and supporting American families, The Republican Party Platform says to LGBT Americans – but not for you.

The Republican Party platform opposes marriage equality and supports a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as the “union of one man and one woman” referring to recent court decisions as “more than a matter of warring legal concepts and ideals. It is an assault on the foundations of our society, challenging the institution which, for thousands of years….has been entrusted with the rearing of children and the transmission of cultural values…”

This year the two major parties’ political platforms tell a tale of stark differences on equality.

For women, Republicans are not backing off their assault on women’s equality and well-being. The attack goes well beyond abortion, into birth control, access to health care, equal pay and domestic violence.

For Immigrants, particularly within the Latino community, the news from Tampa does not bode well. Although candidate Romney has endorsed removing the cap on visas for the spouses and children of lawful permanent residents, an idea championed by Democratic Senator Bob Menendez as part of a broader comprehensive immigration reform bill, no Republican co-sponsored the proposal and they have “failed to endorse” the idea of allowing more family visas.

Minorities, seniors and the poor are battling attempts to take away their right to vote in several states. The Republican attorneys general of Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court arguing that a key provision of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional promoting voter suppression activities in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and many other states.

The GOP Plan for a better economic future would reportedly tax the poor and middle class for the benefit of wealthiest .03 percent. Senate and House GOP Leaders’ Tax Proposals would provide windfall for heirs of largest estates, but would let child tax and earned income tax credits for 13 million working families expire.”

This might not be the platform of Mitt Romney, but it’s the platform of the Republican Party and that’s the party that wants us to turn over control of not only the White House but the Senate and Congress to their leadership in November.

The two major parties’ political platforms tell a tale of stark differences on equality. And we better pay attention or for the millions of women, poor, elderly, immigrant, Black/Brown/Other and LGBT Americans the joke might end

‎”So a Mormon, a Catholic and Atlas walk into a bar. They looked at the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free and Atlas just shrugged.

Throughout June I have been making the Pride Circuit. Every weekend, sometimes at a banquet mid-week, in Michigan and beyond I have been talking to audiences large and small about how we – the LGBTQ community – are going to get from here to there.
What’s here – fear, bias, hate speech, economic disparity, political gridlock, bullying, homophobia and the constant threat on our freedom, our lives and our families?
Where’s there – that more perfect union laid out in the Constitution’s preamble; that nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that we all, each and every one of us, is created equal?
How are we going to get from here to there? We’ve been talking about getting there for a mighty long time.
In 1963, One hundred years after Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the promise of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence – “a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.”
Almost fifty years after King’s historic speech that promissory note – that “promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” remains unfulfilled.
Today not only African Americans but other people of color, the poor, immigrants as well as gay and transgender are bound by the chains of discrimination, economic disparity and homophobia.
And the harsh rhetoric and politics of extremist at the far end of the conservative spectrum forces us- Black, Brown, immigrant, poor, female and LGBTQ to ‘languish in the corners of American society and find ourselves an exile in our own land.’
So how are we going to get from here to there- to the day when we no longer have to say “It gets better” because it is better?
It’s going to take more than just talking about it. So here are five things, I believe, if we each do, again and again over the next five years will get us to that mountain top.
Michelle’s Five steps to Equality
1. Be OUT – not just at the clubs or in the safe places like at PRIDE but over the fence in your back yard talking to your neighbors, at community meetings, in church, at work. When you here a mis-speak about our community set the record straight. Be OUT about things other than LGBT issues – Don’t let politicians pigeon hole you to only LGBT debates. Yes we want marriage equality but we want good schools, paved streets, jobs, good government the same thing as every citizen.
2. Touch five people – it doesn’t have to be strangers. Go for the low hanging fruit – those friends and family who say they love and support you and ask them to be warriors for YOUR equality. To not laugh when they hear the “gay” joke or sit silently when someone makes a homophobic or ignorant remark about our lives. Ask them to be a “Warrior for Your Equality” and shut the bigotry down.
3. VOTE – Vote at every election. We are not turning out to vote and look at what has happened. Those who want to take away our rights show up at each and every election. Look at North Carolina. We are waiting for the big dance in November and/or every four years while they are showing up each and every time, and are filling up the legislative dance card. If we don’t start coming out to the polls when the big dance gets here only the ugly dancers like Mitt will be left on the dance floor.
4. Be self- sufficient. We have entrepreneurs, artists and money in our community. Support our businesses. Support our organizations. If they don’t want to hire us or are ready to fire us for being gay then it’s time we start taking our time, talent and treasures and investing it in our own.
5. Teach the children! Teach the children! Teach the children! Children aren’t born with hate. Teach the children the value of each and every person. Teach the children the beauty of diversity. When the daughter of a lesbian couple I know started school she talked about her family. A little boy commented that she couldn’t have a family because she needed a father and that two mommies couldn’t make a baby because “you need sperm.” She looked at him and said “you can buy that.” And from that day on the entire schools perspective on family changed. Six years later – a family is a family. Teach the children our lives, our loves, our families are just that our lives, our loves, our families – nothing more nothing less
I have a dream this and every day that we will all one day live in a nation where we will not be judged by what makes us different or who we love but by the content of our character and what ultimately makes us all the same – our humanity.
In Pride!