Is your place of faith anti gay?

So many churches and other places of faith express that they "welcome all". Many have cool pastors or clergy or whoever leads them. They are friendly, loving and seem like awesome places to worship.

But many of them are anti gay. To be specific, they believe that gay people are going to hell. To be a little more specific, they believe that gay people who have sex are going to hell.

They might not talk about it. They might try to convince you that no matter what you believe, no matter how many gay friends and/or family members you have, that being in a sexual gay relationship means hell.

They say things like "we're not against something we are just for Jesus" and "it's really between the person and God". Yet invariably something negative will be said about gay people. My favorite is when these same people refer to our marriage as "so called gay marriage".

I acknowledge that this is a difficult topic for many, and that biblically speaking it is a topic with a lot of feelings and emotions.

I also believe that it is well past time for equality-loving folks to stop supporting anti-equality places of faith.

One of the most difficult things for me to experience in my life is watching people I love, and who I know love me, support places of faith that teach that I am going to hell.

I see this often. I am reminded by it all of the time by posts I see on Facebook. It's heartbreaking.

It's heartbreaking because I know these folks love me, and Mike. I know they support us 100%.

Financially supporting places of faith that denigrate gay people, in any way, is taking action against gay people, against equality.

Our church does not believe that we are going to hell. There is absolute love for us as a married couple. Those who preach at our church believe fundamentally that our love, our marriage, is not "sin".

This is a tough topic for both of us. We both have experienced hate and persecution from religious people.

Please don't support them. As with many things, we can vote with our dollars.

Thanks for reading. 

Long live bloggers

I haven't been able to stop thinking about the murders in Paris this week.

A staff of journalists and cartoonists gathered for their weekly meeting. So many didn't leave the room.

And last year amazing, inspiring journalists murdered by the cowards of the Islamic State.

As I watched vigils across France and Europe, I was fascinated that so many people held up pens and pencils in honor of those killed.

As a blogger, I have always felt that we have the power to change the world. To report, to give opinions, to bring thought to conversations, to open eyes and hearts and minds.

I created The Gay Vegans blog to try to build bridges amongst communities and people, to try to be a voice for the voiceless, and to spread my thought that we all have more in common than not.

Blogs I read teach me amazing vegan recipes, about what is going on with equality or animal and human rights issues I am concerned with, about fitness and exercise, and the list goes on.

Around the world bloggers speak out against in justices, against human rights violations, against torture, against animal cruelty and pretty much any issue that affects them or that they are concerned with.

And some are sitting in jail.

Not all bloggers have it made like I do. Yes, I get the occasional hate mail from religious extremists and I write about that extremism often. But I do not have the fear that one day hooded folks will show up at my house and cart me off because I wrote something that offended them.

Thanks for reading!

Don't forget what the bigots did.

What an amazing week!

Watching gay couples get married in Oklahoma, Virginia, West Virginia, Nevada. Legal marriage is now in a majority of the states. I wept as I watched couples who had been together 20, 30 years finally being allowed to legally marry.

Of course many are not happy. As I write, the state of South Carolina is doing everything they can to not allow gays to marry.

And as hundreds of couples marry around the country, I ask each of you to not forget.

Please don't forget the bigots and the religious extremists. Please don't forget those who used every waking breathe to keep marriage from us.

Please don't forget those who had the power to simply say yes, or vote yes, and instead said or voted no.

Please don't forget those who demonized us, and continue to demonize us.

Which brings me to my point.

Many of these same people are running for election or re-election across the country. Some of them want people to forget their horrible words and votes against gays and lesbians. Some of them think they will get more votes by demonizing us.

Don't let them do it. Don't let them win.

We have the power. It's called the vote.

Vote. Make sure they know we haven't forgotten. Make sure we speak with a loud voice.

Thank you for reading!

Hating gays because of religion

He died this week. He spent much of his life spreading hate towards gays and lesbians. He became famous for colorful signs with big letters that read such nice things as "God hates fags" amongst other things.

If you don't believe in Jesus or heaven, his meaning to you might just be that he spoke out against gay people all of the time.

What I have always talked about in regards to this man and his band of people who traveled around the country with these signs is that what he is saying is no different than what many pastors say in the pulpit every Sunday.

No different.

Yet he got all of the attention. Maybe it was the colorful signs. Maybe "God hates fags" has a more offensive meaning than " if you are gay and have gay sex you are going to hell".

In churches, synagogues and mosques all over the country religious leaders condemn gay people. We are called sinners. We are called unnatural. We are called deviants. In some religious places we are called fags and faggots.

Regardless, there is no difference. The man who died this week said horrible things about gay people, and horrible things about anyone who came close to saying anything nice or supportive about gay people. The same things are said about us by other religious leaders.

So can we start calling them out too? Can we start telling them how awful the things they are saying are and how hurtful they can be.

If you believe in Jesus and you believe that what the Bible says regarding homosexuals means we are all going to hell, that's one thing. Vile hate or supporting laws that take away our freedom and liberty just doesn't work for me.

And please, do not hate in the name of Jesus. If you hate on gay people either with words or actions, please distance yourself from Jesus.

Mr. "God hates fags" has met his maker. In my belief system he sure has been surprised.

Thank you for reading.

Let freedom ring

I remember the first time I heard a religious extremist in the US call herself a patriot. And those agreeing with her hateful rhetoric also called themselves patriots.

Religious extremists in the US like to talk about things like that, and use words like freedom and liberty often.

Many of them point to Jesus as they use hate speech to condemn gay people or anyone who might support equal rights for gay people.

I was thinking of this today when reading about the governor of Missouri who supports a bill that is friendly to gay people in his state. A state senator has called for his impeachment.

Read comments on any story about gay marriage or some of the recent rulings around state constitutional bans of gay marriage and you can see that hatred towards gays and lesbians is strong, and very much alive in our country.

Most folks show this type of hatred in the name of Jesus. They say they love Jesus so they have to treat their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in despicable ways. They have to call us names and treat us in a manner that quite frankly is hurtful.

Faggot. Homo. Pervert. Deviant.

In the name of Jesus. In the name of freedom and liberty.

Marriage equality is happening. It's right, it's just, and it's all about freedom and liberty.

One can have opinions against marriage equality, but one cannot force others to live within those opinions. What some call religious freedom I call bigotry because their religious freedom doesn't include me or my religious beliefs.

This is personal to me. I am in a state that I do not live in to get legally married to the love of my life because we cannot get legally married in our own state. Our marriage here in California won't even be recognized in Colorado. Yet.

It will one day. Soon I believe. With all of the fighting against marriage equality the reality is that it's going to happen. That the millions of dollars spent to stop marriage equality and the extremism expressed to discourage marriage equality will all result in equality throughout our amazing nation.

To all of those who support equality, thank you. And please keep voicing your opinion. Call out bigotry in any form. In a loving way of course.

We all have more in common than not.

Thank you for reading.

Another legislative session in Colorado - make your voice heard!

In Colorado, our state legislature is not year-long. They begin in January and go through early May.

I believe that it is vital for any activist to be politically active. When politicians, especially on the state level, know who you are and are familiar with your concerns, change has a better chance of happening.

This session won't be much different than past sessions. A lot of hot air against the other side.  Egos run rampant. Meanwhile the people of Colorado many times get left behind. I must say that I have met many of those who represent Coloradans at the state capitol and they truly care about the people they represent. I don't know what happens through the process of creating legislation that they tend to forget this.

One of the bills I have been watching is a bill that would allow gay and lesbian couple who have married in states where there is marriage equality to file state taxes as a couple. This passed the state senate along party (Democrat/Republican) lines 18 - 16. One Republican must have not voted as they have 17 folks in the state senate. The bill goes on to the state house where the Democrats have a large majority. Most likely Governor Hickenlooper will sign it.

This bill makes a lot of sense, especially because gay and lesbian couples who are legally married can now file federal taxes as a couple. The religious extremists say this would affect traditional marriage. I imagine many things affect traditional marriage. In this case, the couples are already married. Legally. I think most of the no votes boil down to the fact that many of them just do not like gay folk and the rest feel like they have to vote the party line.

Just as a refresher, Republican politicians in Colorado generally do not care for gay people. Many will talk your ears off that their votes/opinions have to do with a long list of other reasons, yet the simple fact is that they just don't like us.

Why is this important to activists? Many in state races win by a very few votes. The new Attorney General in Virginia won by less than 1,000 votes in a statewide vote!

Also, state legislators have control over state laws, which have a huge affect on each of us.

And just to remind you, everyone has two people who represent them at their state capitol. In Colorado we have one state legislator and one state senator. We also have term limits, so the max a state legislator can serve is four, two-year terms and the max a state senator can serve is two, four-year terms.

If you care about animal cruelty, let your state rep and senator know. If you have an opinion about gun control, send an email. Care about poverty, women's rights, speed limits or GMO's, pick up the phone.

We can complain amongst ourselves as much as we want. Change does not have a chance of happening until we express our opinions to those who have the power to make change.

Here's a website  where you can look up who represents you at your state capitol: http://votesmart.org/

Thanks for reading! 

Target supporting bigots. Again.

I never stopped shopping at Target. Calls for a boycott after news became public about their financial support for anti-gay bigots resonated with me but I kept shopping. Then I thought I heard that they had started giving to gay organizations and would stop supporting bigots.

Just to be clear, I think people can do whatever they want with their money. If a big company (or small business) chooses to support political bigots, so be it. I can then make the choice to not buy their product or shop with them.

As Mike and I packed for vacation I began getting information that Target, through their foundation, had donated to yet another anti-gay bigot, Ken Cuccinelli, who is running for governor in Virginia (which I consider my home state).

Ken Cuccinelli doesn't like gay people. He calls us "soulless". That is pretty harsh. He has said a bunch of other things about us, including that he wants to bring anti-sodomy laws back. He believes there is only one allowable way to have sex, and that way only includes one man and one woman. I digress from my original topic, but he also says he has never had or given or received oral sex. Red flags for sure.

Mr. Cuccinelli received $3 million dollars from a right-wing PAC called the Republican Governor's Association. Target donated $50,000 to the PAC. That is a lot of money. Imagine the bigotry that can be spread with that much money.

If Target did not want to support candidates that are anti-gay, they could say so when giving the donation.

My relationship with Target is on shaky grounds. Supporting a candidate that believes so many of their customers are soulless is disgusting.

Gay people shop at Target. Lots of us shop there.

I think we should stop. And I think anyone who believes in equality or even simple kindness should stop shopping at Target.

You see, when we shop at Target we end up supporting anti-gay bigots.

Ken Cuccinelli is a bigot, and Target loves him.

I would love your thoughts. Thank you for reading!

Not supporting those who fight against gay people

 NOTE: Sometimes I start with a title, like this one about not supporting those who do not support gay people (equality) and the post turns into more. This is the case of this post as I began to write about not only those who do not support equality but also companies that partake in cruelty to animals.

It's not always easy being a voice for the voiceless or supporting equality or being vegan and being up to date with who is on the side of your cause and who isn't.

It's also not fun all of the time. "I really love the product". "I can't wait to go shopping there".  

Sometimes I read about or listen to friends talk about buying something or going somewhere and I cringe.

There are so many examples. One is sitting in our fridge. Several years ago the amazing company White Wave, maker of Silk products, was bought by Dean Foods. Vegan awesomeness meet profiteer of animal cruelty on so many levels. It took us a while to stop buying Silk soy milk and years after the buyout we still purchase Silk creamer. We think about the pigs tortured by Dean Foods all of the time, and yet we still buy Silk soy milk.

We hear from readers all of the time who face the same dilemma.

A coffee house run but religious extremists, or at least promoting churches that are extreme.

A running race supported and promoted by anti-gay religious groups.  Restaurants that serve meat, but have amazing vegan food. On this one, we get it. And we are grateful for restaurants who jump into vegan cuisine. Our favorite restaurants are not vegan-only and serve the best vegan food in town.

Politicians, products lines, whole companies.

What to do, what to do?

Coming out as vegan is a good start. You can see the difference this makes in the huge amount of choices we as vegans have not only in restaurants but in markets and non-food stores. Big change just in the past couple of years.

Coming out as a voice for the voiceless is huge too. "I care about these animals or these people, so I am not going to buy your product or run in your race anymore."

If a company wants to make money, they will listen. Maybe not the first time they hear something, or the second. But eventually they will.

Maybe that's why one of the largest pork producers (an industry losing profit) bought out a soy milk/tofu company (an industry gaining profit).

I write about this a lot. When we use our voices to be a voice for those who have none, we change the world.

Thanks for reading!