Hello!

To my Jewish friends, happy Hanukkah! ...um, Chanukah!  (crap, I always mess this one up...)  Here's this week... Boston, Massachusetts... Brussels, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, Belgium... Atlanta, Georgia... Kings Park, New York... Easton, Pennsylvania... Wilhelmshaven, Niedersachsen, Germany... Croydon, England, UK... Stillwater, Minnhesota... Malmo, Skane Lan, Sweden... Groningen, Netherlands... Chaun, Kangwon-do, South Korea... Deerfield, New Hampshire... Sezana, Bohinj, Slovenia... Portland, Oregon... Dallas, Texas... Cebu, Cebu City, Philippines... Taipei, Taiwan... Virginia, Beach, Virginia... Jersey City, New Jersey... West Hartford, Connecticut... Ankara, Turkey... Oak Lawn, Illinois... Corona, New York... Chelles, Ile-de-France, France... San Luis Obispo, California... Brooklyn, New York... Bratislava, Slovakia... Seattle, Washington... Laingsburg, Michigan... Mountain View, California... Canton, Ohio...

This month's top dog: Grady High to host CNN forum on LGBT issues

Hey, it's the last days before we celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa!  Make someone's fortunes are down on their luck are happier.  Donate to one of these charities:

American Red Cross
www.redcross.org

International Red Cross/Red Crescent
www.ifrc.org

Doctors Without Borders
www.doctorswithoutborders.org

Rainbow Fund
www.rainbowfund.org

Hollywood vigil for slain transgender woman (latimesblogs.latimes.com)

*more above*

ezs note:  Please take a good look at the suspect.  If you know who it is, please call the LAPD right away!

Peace

credit: Adelle Laudan

11th Circuit rules for transgender employee in sex discrimination case (www.lexology.com)

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Filipinos hail UN gay rights report (www.mindanaoexaminer.com {Philippines}))

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Elizabeth Warren announces support for LGBT rights (www.baywindows.com)

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UN urges global LGBT protections (www.democracynow.org)

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A UN milestone: LGBT rights are human rights (www.undispatch.com)

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UN calls for protection gay rights worldwide (af.reuters.com {Africa})

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Thailand's transgender flight attendants PC Air takes on groundbreaking crew (www.huffingtonpost.com)

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Anchorage municipality clerk verifies signature for initiative protecting gay, transgender rights (www.therepublic.com)

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Help fight against LGBTQ bullying (my.hsj.org)

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Peace

The End and the Beginning
by Wisława Szymborska

After every war
someone has to clean up.
Things won't
straighten themselves up, after all.

Someone has to push the rubble
to the sides of the road,
so the corpse-filled wagons
can pass.

Someone has to get mired
in scum and ashes,
sofa springs,
splintered glass,
and bloody rags.

Someone must drag in a girder
to prop up a wall,
Someone must glaze a window,
rehang a door.

Photogenic it’s not,
and takes years.
All the cameras have left
for another war.

We’ll need bridges back
and new railway stations.
Sleeves will go ragged
from rolling them up.

Someone, broom in hand,
still recalls how it was.
Someone else listens
and nods with unsevered head.
But already there are those nearby
starting to mill about
who will find it dull.

From out of the bushes
sometimes someone still unearths
rusted-out arguments
and carries them to the garbage pile.

Those who knew
what was going on here
must make way to
those who know little.
And less than little.
And finally as little as nothing.

In the grass which has overgrown
causes and effects,
someone must be stretched out
blade of grass in his mouth
gazing at the clouds.

Transgender icon Carmen Rupe dies (news.smh.com.au {Australia})

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Fox News invites anti-LGBT guests to mock, smear transgender Macy's guests (www.lgbtqnation.com)

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Twin boys, one transgender, become brother and sister (www.firstcoastnews.com)

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Transgender Taser victim fighting potential charges (www.windycitymediagroup.com)

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Guatemala: discrimination undermines AIDS prevention (www.ipsnews.net)

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CNN dialogues, Outwrite, fundraiser set for Dec. 14 (www.atlantaintownpaper.com)

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Eyewitnesses tell how Sonia Burgess was pushed under train (www.bbc.co.uk {UK})

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Transgender patients outed by the health care system (www.montrealgazette.com)

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LGBT employees welcome at big banks and law firms, report says (latimesblogs.latimes.com)

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Peace

source: Deepak Chopra

2012 buyers guide (issuu.com)

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ezs note:  This is a powerful guide.  Why? You can spend your hard-earned money on good people who are rated 85-100, and avoid the pitiful zeroes.  (Hello? Chick-fil-a?)

Transgender people: the new civil rights frontier (ideas.time.com)

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*note*

ezs note:  What do you get here?  Hmm... let's see...  transgender news from US, Canada, various places in South America, England, France, The Netherlands, Isle of Man(!), Scotland, Greece, Spain, Russia, New Zealand, Australia...whew!

If you can, a donation would be most kind. The "donate" button is located on the right side of the screen,  below the globe.   Thanks.

Things to think about in the Buddhist world (www.patheos.com)

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Google, Yahoo, Ebay, Dell, Apple, Gap earn top marks on HRC gay index (www.ontopmag.com)

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Casablanca, Morocco

Credit: Suzy-Q

Hello!

Peace and love, Jim... here's what's happening... Casablanca, Morocco... Groningen, Netherlands... Swidnik, Lubelskie, Poland... Glasgow, Glasgow City, Scotland, UK... Minneapolis, Minnesota... Faaborg, Syddanmark, Sweden... Brampton, Ontario, Canada... Taipei, Taiwan... London, England, UK... Istanbul, Turkey... Twickenham, Richmond, England, UK... Tulsa, Oklahoma... Boston, Massachusetts... Farmington, Minnesota... Jonquiere, Quebec, Canada... Austin, Texas... Eskisehir, Turkey... Atlanta, Georgia... Makati, Manila, Philippines... Burbank, California... Riyadh, Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia... Johnson City, Texas... Morganton, North Carolina... Brussels, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, Belgium... Kovenig, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany... Chicago, Illinois... Council Bluffs, Iowa... Newark, New York... Dublin, Georgia... Kings Park, New York... Brockton, Massachusetts...

This month's top dog: Grady High to host CNN forum on LGBT issues

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but let's give anyway!

American Red Cross
www.redcross.org

International Red Cross/Red Crescent
www.ifrc.org

Doctors Without Borders
www.doctorswithoutborders.org

Rainbow Fund
www.rainbowfund.org

See you!

LGBT education is not sex education (stlouis.injuryboard.com)

*more above*

Debate fierce over protections for transgendered people (columbia.patch.com)

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Council of Europe Secretary General condemns persistent discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population in many parts of Europe (www.hrea.org {Europe})

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Acceptance is protection: how can parents support gender nonconforming and transgender children?

*more above*

More on Jim Burke

ezs note:  This morning we attended the funeral of Jim Burke III. It was after a night of little rest, my thoughts being with this kind man, whose death was much too soon... much too soon.

I recently read an article in The Cenacle, where Jim wrote an article opposing the death penalty.  I was quite impressed with it.

As it turns out, Jim's thirtieth letter also turned out to be his last.  Because of the very kind permission of Ray Soulard, I have excerpted a portion of Jim's letter.

Peace and love, Jim.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the death penalty is not, I repeat is not, a deterrent.  The very fact that murders in this country occur on a daily basis proves  that use of the death penalty is based on the revenge motive, and this also depends on the time and place of the crime and the trial.  The execution of citizens  by the states in this country is used to cover up the failure of our society as a whole to educate people equally and give all people to better themselves.  When hopelessness and despair set in, the recidivism rate of prisoners increases correspondingly, from the upper to the middle to the lower socio-economic strata.  Figures from the U.S.  Department of Justice have confirmed this data as recently as 2009.  The politicians in this country, as well as the Supreme Court, have become embarrassed and frustrated about their inability to stop the violence and so-called capital crimes.  Their solution has been to put the convicted to death as cleanly as they think is possible, by lethal injection in most cases.

I hope I live to see the day when our culture will transcend revenge, and rise above hate.  Peace and love for all humanity would enable us to realize our potential, which is God-like.  John Lennon had it right after all. IMAGINE!

JBIII

--------------------------------------------------------------------

To see more of The Cenacle, please see http://www.scriptorpress.com

13 Minnesota employers receive highest rating for workplace inclusiveness (www.twincities.com)

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Hate crime laws extended (www.budepeople.co.uk)

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High rate of harassment of black lesbians and transgender men in South Africa (www.msmagazine.com)

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Hillary Clinton vows to support global fight for gay rights (globalspin.blogs.time.com)

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ezs note: see the complete remarks Secretary of State Clinton made in this article.

Macy's fires employee for refusing to let transgender customer use the women's dressing room (www.huffingtonpost.com)

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Advocates hope passing of Howard transgender anti-discrimination bill will aid statewide movement (www.baltimoresun.com)

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Escalating police violence and transgender people (www.huffingtonpost.com)

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Black lesbians live in terror (www.iol.co.za {South Africa})

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Jim Burke - rest in peace, my friend

Source: unknown

Formal support group for gay Defence force (www.radionz.co.nz {New Zealand})

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Peace

I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.

Mahatma Gandhi

Cyndi Lauper and more celebs come together for the 'Home For The Holidays' benefit concert (www.ontheredcarpet.com)

*more above*

Massachusetts signs law prohibiting gender identity discrimination (www.lexology.com)

*more above*

ezs note: This article may seem a wee bit old, but please read it anyway.  There is more detail here than in other places.

Royal Oak, Michigan

Credit: April Segedi

Hello!

Ah, yes... Christmas songs, over and over and over (sigh)... here's what happened this week... Royal Oak, Michigan... London, England, UK... Wesley Chapel, Florida... San Ramon, California... Rochester, New York... Groningen, Netherlands... McArthur, Ohio... Orinda, California... Columbia, South Carolina... Trenton, New Jersey... New Haven, Connecticut... Nottingham, England, UK... Kings Park, New York... Yerseke, Zeeland, Netherlands... Izmir, Turkey... La Plata, Maryland... Atlanta, Georgia... Branford, Connecticut... Brooklyn, New York... Tulsa, Oklahoma... Madison, Alabama... Albuquerque, New Mexico... Council Bluffs,Iowa... West Hartford, Connecticut... Spotsylvania, Virginia... Charleston, Illinois...

This month's top dog: LGBTQ discussions

Aw, just kiddin' about the Christmas songs... they're great, really!  (Well, there is one song...)  There is one way you can feel a whole lot better... give to those less fortunate!

American Red Cross
www.redcross.org

International Red Cross/Red Crescent
www.ifrc.org

Doctors Without Borders
www.doctorswithoutborders.org

Rainbow Fund
www.rainbowfund.org

Happy happy!