Jonah Mowry, the 14-year-old whose heart-wrenching four-month-old YouTube video described his despair at being bullied for being gay, resurfaced online Sunday, telling his supporters he is doing just fine.
Jonah, chewing gum and with a female friend by his side, says on a more recent YouTube video, “To the people who think nobody likes me … Everyone in my school loves me.”
This kid’s gonna make it.
Amen.
Jonah wrote: "IM NOT GOING TO KILL MYSELF. I JUST NEED TO GET THIS OUT HERE".
Jonah is a young guy that happens to be gay – and has been harassed at school. He’s scared and sad. But he teaches us a lot in this video. Please show your support and never forget to become who you are.
Jonah Mowry has a twitter account: http://twitter.com/jonahmowryreal
Support Jonah on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Support4JonahMowry
Sia – Breathe Me (Lyrics)
Help, I have done it again
I have been here many times before
Hurt myself again today
And, the worst part is there’s no-one else to blame
Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I’m needy
Warm me up
And breathe me
Ouch I have lost myself again
Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found,
Yeah I think that I might break
I’ve lost myself again and I feel unsafe
Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I’m needy
Warm me up
And breathe me
Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I’m needy
Warm me up
And breathe me
Brandon Arnold and Michael Burns dressed as women to commit robberies in Chicago's Lincoln Park. Archived on November 26, 2011. | Police photo
Had to write this one up.
The two dudes on the right are, well, dudes, arrested by police and charged after they allegedly threatened people with pepper spray to get them to give up their goods.
Brandon Arnold, 24, and Michael Burns, 21, appeared Saturday in weekend Bond Court — where defendants don’t always look their best — sporting well-groomed, luxurious hair. Burns had his tight shirt unbuttoned almost to his navel.
“They were both dressed as women” when they accosted two people in two separate cases Friday afternoon in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, a Cook County prosecutor said.
“They approached the victims, demanded property, and threatened [them] with Mace.”
Well, at least they looked fabulous for their close-ups — allegedly.
The following was sent from President Barack Obama after the United States Senate voted to repeal the infamous "Don’t Ask Don’t Tell" and allow our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to serve in our military with a clean conscience, no longer forced to hide or lie.
President Obama fulfills yet another campaign promise.
From the President of the United States:
Moments ago, the Senate voted to end "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell."
When that bill reaches my desk, I will sign it, and this discriminatory law will be repealed.
Gay and lesbian service members — brave Americans who enable our freedoms — will no longer have to hide who they are.
The fight for civil rights, a struggle that continues, will no longer include this one.
This victory belongs to you. Without your commitment, the promise I made as a candidate would have remained just that.
Instead, you helped prove again that no one should underestimate this movement. Every phone call to a senator on the fence, every letter to the editor in a local paper, and every message in a congressional inbox makes it clear to those who would stand in the way of justice: We will not quit.
This victory also belongs to Senator Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and our many allies in Congress who refused to let politics get in the way of what was right.
Like you, they never gave up, and I want them to know how grateful we are for that commitment.
Will you join me in thanking them by adding your name to Organizing for America’s letter?
I will make sure these messages are delivered — you can also add a comment about what the repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" means to you.
As Commander in Chief, I fought to repeal "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" because it weakens our national security and military readiness. It violates the fundamental American principles of equality and fairness.
But this victory is also personal.
I will never know what it feels like to be discriminated against because of my sexual orientation.
But I know my story would not be possible without the sacrifice and struggle of those who came before me — many I will never meet, and can never thank.
I know this repeal is a crucial step for civil rights, and that it strengthens our military and national security. I know it is the right thing to do.
But the rightness of our cause does not guarantee success, and today, celebration of this historic step forward is tempered by the defeat of another — the DREAM Act. I am incredibly disappointed that a minority of senators refused to move forward on this important, commonsense reform that most Americans understand is the right thing for our country. On this issue, our work must continue.
Today, I’m proud that we took these fights on.
Please join me in thanking those in Congress who helped make "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" repeal possible:
http://my.barackobama.com/Repealed
Thank you,
Barack
I clicked and thanked Congress. Amen to that all day long.
From the Economist:
THE debate over gay marriage is at the heart of many races in America’s mid-term elections. On Sunday October 10th Carl Paladino, the Republican candidate for governor of New York, said that children should not be “brainwashed” into thinking that homosexuality was acceptable and that he would veto any gay-marriage bill. But that view places him in a minority. For the first time since the Pew Research Centre began conducting polls on the subject in 1995, fewer than half of Americans (48%) are opposed to gay marriage, while 42% are in favour. All religious groups are more accepting than they were in polls taken between 2008 and 2009. The most notable shift has been among white mainstream Protestants and Catholics, 49% of whom are now in favour, and that figure was even higher for those who attend church less than once a week.
This is good news for our gay and lesbian friends.
This is just too, too sad.
From Judy Shepard:
Our family, and the staff and board at the Matthew Shepard Foundation, are all deeply saddened by the devastating report of at least the fourth gay or gay-perceived teen to commit suicide in this country in the last month.
Reports say that Tyler Clementi, 18, leapt to his death from the George Washington Bridge near his New Jersey college campus after a roommate allegedly broadcast him in a same-sex encounter behind closed doors in his dorm room, and apparently invited others, via Twitter, to view it online. Regardless of his roommate’s alleged tweet, Tyler had apparently made no statement about his own sexual orientation. I’m sure we will all learn more about this terrible tragedy as legal proceedings unfold, but the contempt and disregard behind such an invasion of privacy seems clear. In the meantime, we send our thoughts and prayers to Tyler’s family as they mourn their loss.
In the last month there has been a shocking series of teen suicides linked to bullying, taunting, and general disrespect regarding sexual orientation, in every corner of America. Just a few days ago, Seth Walsh, a 13-year-old in Tehachapi, Calif., passed away after 10 days on life support after he hanged himself. Police say he had been mercilessly taunted by fellow students over his perceived sexual orientation.
Billy Lucas, 15, hanged himself a few weeks ago at his Indiana home after years of reported harassment by students who judged him to be gay. Asher Brown, a 13-year-old in Harris, TX, who had recently come out, took his life with a gun after, his parents say, their efforts to alert school officials to ongoing bullying were not acted upon.
Many Americans also learned this week about Tyler Wilson, an 11-year-old boy in Ohio who decided to join a cheerleading squad that had been all-female. As a gymnast, he was interested in the athletic elements of cheering. He was taunted with homophobic remarks and had his arm broken by two schoolmates who apparently assumed him to be gay. He told “Good Morning America” that since returning to school, he’s been threatened with having his other arm broken, too.
Our young people deserve better than to go to schools where they are treated this way. We have to make schools a safe place for our youth to prepare for their futures, not be confronted with threats, intimidation or routine disrespect.
Quite simply, we are calling one more time for all Americans to stand up and speak out against taunting, invasion of privacy, violence and discrimination against these youth by their peers, and asking everyone in a position of authority in their schools and communities to step forward and provide safe spaces and support services for LGBT youth or those who are simply targeted for discrimination because others assume they are gay. There can never be enough love and acceptance for these young people as they seek to live openly as their true selves and find their role in society.
Suicide is a complicated problem and it is too easy to casually blame it on a single factor in a young person’s life, but it is clear that mistreatment by others has a tremendously negative effect on a young person’s sense of self worth and colors how he or she sees the world around them. Parents, educators and peers in the community need to be vigilant to the warning signs of suicide and other self-destructive behaviors in the young people in their lives, and help them find resources to be healthy and productive. We urge any LGBT youth contemplating suicide to immediately reach out to The Trevor Project, day or night, at (866) 4-U-TREVOR [866-488-7386].
Judy Shepard
President, Matthew Shepard Foundation Board of Directors
She’s right. And those of us who work with youth must find the courage to help them where they are, accept and love them as they are.
The 16-year-old Canadian pop star, who teenagers either undyingly love or massively loathe, has been singled out for protest by the notorious Westboro Baptist Church, just like his top-charting rival Lady Gaga.
When Bieber plays the Sprint Center on Wednesday night in Kansas City, fans can expect to see Westboro church members holding signs and issuing taunts. The church is known for picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan with signs reading "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "God Hates Fags" — because they believe that as long as America countenances sin, American soldiers deserve to die.
Earlier this month, they protested at Lady Gaga concerts in St. Louis and Oklahoma City. They plan to picket her again at her Kansas City concert on Aug. 3.
The group certainly gets around. A few days after their Gaga gig in St. Louis, they picketed Al Gore and the hugely popular Comic-Con convention, both in San Diego. At the latter, they were greeted by an array of unique protesters — "robots," magical anime girls, Trekkies, Jedi and even kittens. The comic book hero wannabes chanted at Westboro: "What do we want? Gay sex. When do we want it? Now!"
Neither Bieber nor his fans are a genuine threat to humanity — not to anyone’s knowledge, anyway. But Westboro strongly disagrees. Church members say they are picketing the pop star "to remind all of those in attendance that America’s destruction is imminent!"
They add via their website, "There are no jobs, homes, money or hope, but you’ll pay big bucks to attend rock concerts by the thousands."
I’ve only heard Justin Bieber perform one song, unless he did more than one the night he hosted Saturday Night Live. Sounds good, not a lot of depth, but then, he’s only 16. I have no idea what his nascent political views are.
I don’t know a single song Lady Gaga sings. Unless I don’t know that I know.
Still, no one deserves Fred Phelps and his church of loons. They are vicious.
From our friends at the ACLU via ENEWSPF:
In two related cases, a federal district court in Massachusetts has ruled that critical portions of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violate the federal Constitution. In striking down the section of the statute that bars federal legal protections to legally married same-sex couples, Judge Joseph Tauro found that the law violates states’ rights to define marriage and violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause by treating married same-sex couples differently from married different-sex couples. Prior to the passage of DOMA, the federal government always recognized the states’ right to define marriage. The cases were brought by the Massachusetts attorney general and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD).
A bill is currently pending in the House of Representatives that would repeal DOMA and respect state marriages by providing federal protections for married same-sex couples. The Respect for Marriage Act would ensure that, once the federal government recognizes the marriage of a same-sex couple, it would continue to recognize that marriage even if the couple moved to another state that would not have allowed the couple to marry in the first place.
The following can be attributed to James Esseks, Director of the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project:
"Today’s decision is an important step forward for marriage for same-sex couples. There are thousands of same-sex couples lawfully married in the five states and Washington, DC that currently allow them the freedom to marry. Today’s ruling recognizes that the federal government has literally no justification for refusing to respect those marriages.
"To finish the job, Congress should pass the Respect for Marriage Act, which is pending in Congress and would completely repeal DOMA. We applaud this decision and congratulate GLAD and the Massachusetts attorney general for their work in bringing the cases."
This is good news for all of us who hope for true equality in this country. We are very happy for all of our GLBT friends.
One day, this will all seem oh-so-silly.
DOMA has got to go.