Music Video: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis "Same Love"

Listen to the words of the song. The words impacted me deeply. 

"I can't change, even if I tried, even if I wanted to"

"Whatever God you believe in, we come from the same one, strip away the fear, underneath is all the same love"

"God loves all his children" is somehow forgotten, but we paraphrase a book written thirty-five hundred years ago, I don't know"

"The right wing conservatives think its a decision, and you can be cured with some treatment and religion. Man-made rewiring of a pre-disposition, playing God. Ahh, nah, here we go" 

"Kids are walking around the hallway, plagued by pain in their heart, A world so hateful some would rather die than be who they are and a certificate on paper isn't gonna solve it all, but it's a damn good place to start, No law's gonna change us, we have to change us." 

"Bunch of stereotypes in my head"

"L.A.'s Persian Jews struggle with the issue of gay marriage" by Matt Hamilton

8/16/13- When Joseph Harounian came out of the closet to his Persian Jewish family, relatives told him to march right back in.

Some worried he'd turn his cousins gay. Others feared for the family's reputation. They began excluding him from family events. It was only after his grandmother intervened that he was gradually welcomed back into the fold.

Now, years later, Harounian says his family has come to terms with who he is. But he knows that the fear of ostracism still keeps other gay Persian Jews from coming out.

Support for gay rights and same-sex unions has never been higher, according to numerous polls. But in many religious communities, acceptance has been much slower.

"A Letter to My Bullies" by Aviv Shemer

4/23/13- A letter from a 12-year-old boy  who’s being bullied because he likes to dance (and Justin Beiber) has captured the hearts of the Israeli LGBT community in the past few days. The brave kid published on Facebook a description of his life as a bullied kid (in words of a 12 year old), along with a photo of him dancing, saying that he will continue doing what he loves, despite what everyone says: “Curses are for the weak.”

Hello, my name is Aviv Shemer, I’m the 12 year old boy everyone is talking about, saying  he’s gay because he likes to dance, calling him “Gayfriend” because he likes Justin Bieber, calling him “stutter  homo ” because he has speech problems. It’s time you should know that I don’t really care what you say about me, so maybe you should start to internalize it.

You think you’re cool, you insult me in front of everyone,  you gossip about me. Every time someone fights with me you tell me “no one loves you, everyone says you’re a homo? What do you think, that it makes you to more acceptable? Lol.”  Let me tell you something.  It makes YOU poor and small.

If you really had a problem with me you would talk to me in private instead of looking for attention in people with a common denominator against me. No one has the right to judge me without knowing me.

"N.J. Governor Chris Christie responds to my email: Dear Mr. Dweck"

Office of the Governor

Office of Constituent Relations

Post Office Box 001

Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0001

GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE RESPONSE

 August 20, 2013

Dear Mr. Dweck:

            Thank you for writing to express your support for Assembly Bill No. 3371, which would protect minors by prohibiting attempts to change sexual orientation. I appreciate hearing your views on this important issue. 

            As you may know, I signed this legislation into law on August 19, 2013.  I have stated in the past that I oppose conversion therapy but expressed my concerns about government limiting parental choice on the care and treatment of their own children. I still have those concerns and believe that government should tread carefully into this area.  However, I also believe that on issues of medical treatment for children we must look to experts in the field to determine the relative risks and rewards.  The American Psychological Association has found that efforts to change sexual orientation can pose critical health risks including, but not limited to, depression, substance abuse, social withdrawal, decreased self-esteem and suicidal thoughts.  I believe that exposing children to these health risks without clear evidence of benefits that outweigh these serious risks is not appropriate.  

I hope you find this information helpful.  Thank you again for writing and best wishes. 

                                                            Sincerely,

                                                           Chris Christie

                                                             Governor

"Gay, Orthodox and Outspoken" by Michael Kaminer

Shlomo Ashkinazy

8/14/13 The Forward- The Supreme Court’s decisions around marriage rights may have elated gay and lesbian Jews and their allies. But for LGBT Jews in the Orthodox community, the ruling might have the opposite effect. 

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations issued a statement reiterating Judaism “forbids homosexual relationships”; Agudath Israel went a step further, claiming the “sanctity” of marriage “may have been grievously insulted by the High Court.”

Enter Shlomo Ashkinazy. A quiet but pathbreaking activist, Ashkinazy has counseled gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews about reconciling “untenable contradictions” in their religious and sexual identities. 

Most recently, he’s leading a video storytelling project for Eshel, the New York-based organization which advocates for acceptance of LGBT Jews in Orthodox communities.

"Sorting Sins: When the Law Stays the Same and Everything Else Changes" - Rabbi Steve Greenberg

8/1/13 Sh'ma Magazine- It has long been the claim of the Orthodox community that Jewish law does not or should not change to accord itself with the times. Among certain Jews, since the early 19th century, all new things are considered a priori forbidden.

Despite this oft-repeated and historically questionable insistence on formal continuity, there are ways that prohibitions of sinful behavior can remain on the books unchanged in their form, and still be wholly transformed in their social effect. By shifting the over-arching category under which a prohibition falls, it can remain in force while being entirely changed in regard to its meaning and application.

"New Jersey Bans Efforts to Change Sexual Orientation of Teens"- HRC.ORG

August 19, 2013 by Paul Guequierre- Today New Jersey became the second, in what is hopefully a growing number of states, to outlaw dangerous practices to change the sexual orientation of teenagers.  

 Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed the legislation into law this morning.  

In a signing note accompanying the bill, Christie said he believes people are born gay and that homosexuality is not a sin.  

HRC, along with our partners at Garden State Equality and other advocates, played an active role in getting the legislation passed, providing technical support to lawmakers.  HRC State Legislative Director Sarah Warbelow testified on the harms of so-called reparative therapy.

Last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a similar bill into law.  California SB 1172 made California the first state in the nation to outlaw these dangerous practices to change sexual orientation and gender expression, but the law is in the midst of a legal challenge.

Efforts to change sexual orientation or gender expression have been debunked as junk science, and have also been proven harmful to children and adults.  

All major medical and mental health organizations have denounced the practice including: the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American School Counselor Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Pan American Health Organization.  Learn more at www.hrc.org/reparativetherapy.

"Dear Community Member" by Rich Dweck

* Any emails I receive are always confidential and no names will ever be published on here or anywhere else.*

Dear Community Member,

I want to thank you for your many wonderful words of encouragement. You have helped me understand I am not alone and that people do care about me. You've also made me realize that even though I have been gone for over 15 years, that we are all still connected. Sometimes I forget the positive attributes our community has.

Personally, I came out about 15 years ago and left the community which was so central to my life. I didn't have a choice. For me it was literally about saving my life. I understood at that time, that I didn't have a place in the community. 

I have been told not to do the ritual cohanim blessing in the synagogue I grew up in, because it makes people feel uncomfortable that a gay person is blessing them. They hurt me and my family and the many others out there dealing with this issue. When these types of things happen, it makes me lose faith in where I come from.  

The focus of my website is not to bash our community, but to provide a voice to those of us that cannot speak. Many of us don't speak, because we fear being rejected by family, friends and community members. 

Many times we are the ones that any mother would want for their daughter or son. We are the sweet, respectful and kind ones that just want the same thing everybody else wants, which is to be fulfilled, loved and accepted. We have the same aspirations and values we all grew up with.

Out of sheer desperation some of us even get married, which many times lead our wives/husbands (w/h) to blame themselves for not being able to make their spouses happy. This leads these poor and innocent w/h down a road of immense depression, pain, pill popping and feeling unworthy of happiness. 

Many of us feel that God has given up on us and simply hates us. I know I prayed deeply and tried everything possible to be the Jew I felt God wanted me to be. I can't even count the amount of times I asked "Why Me?" 

The consequences of shame and internalized homophobia, might play out in anxiety and/or panic attacks, depression, self-inflicted harm, drug and/or alcohol intake, unsafe sexual encounters and possibly even suicide. 

Sometimes, what we might think is a curse can actually be a blessing. Channelling our experiences into helping others can be very healing. 

To the many community members that have entrusted me with their personal struggles of being gay or dealing with a family member that is; I thank you for reminding me that I'm not as unique as I might think. As well as, how powerful sharing our experience, strength and hope can be with one another. 

Respectfully Yours,

Rich Dweck 

A few quotes that I try to live by from author Viktor Frankl (Holocaust survivor and author of "Man's Search For Meaning") 

"Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone's task is unique as his specific opportunity to implement it."

"What is to give light must endure burning."

"How to Whitewash a Plague" (AIDS in New York: The First Five Years) - NYTimes

“AIDS in New York: The First Five Years,”
at the New-York Historical Society,
opened on June 7 and runs through Sept. 15.

8/3/13 by Hugh Ryan- The New-York Historical Society’s current exhibition “AIDS in New York: The First Five Years” accomplishes a neat trick: it takes a black mark in New York City’s history — its homophobic, apathetic response to the early days of AIDS in the early 1980s — and transforms it into a moment of civic pride, when New Yorkers of all stripes came together to fight the disease. It’s a lovely story, if only it were true.

"Harvey Fierstein On Russia's Anti-Gay Crackdown, Stoli Vodka Boycott And 'Rat Putin'" - HuffPost

Harvey Fierstein

08/01/2013 by Michelangelo Signorile- Playwright and actor Harvey Fierstein says it’s time to let the world know that the LGBT community is “too dangerous to mess with” and that “Rat Putin” is the perfect guy to use to send that message.

The Tony Award-winner, whose smash Broadway hit “Kinky Boots” is riding high, had sounded the alarm on Russia’s anti-gay crackdown in a NewYork Times Op-Edand called for a boycott of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. In an interview with me on SiriusXM Progress, Fierstein said he was just “getting angrier and angrier” about the Russian government’s actions and wanted to try to get people involved.(Scroll down to listen to the interview)