Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Prayers for Bobby 2009

Prayers for Bobby (2009) (TV)

In "Prayers for Bobby," Mary Griffith is a devout Christian who raises her children with the conservative teachings…

…However, when her son Bobby confides to his older brother he may be gay, life changes for the entire family after Mary learns about his secret. While Bobby's father and siblings slowly come to terms with his homosexuality, Mary believes God can cure him of what she considers his 'sin' and persuades Bobby to pray harder and seek solace in church activities in hopes of changing him. Desperate for his mother's approval, Bobby does what is asked of him, but through it all, the church's apparent disapproval of homosexuality causes him to grow increasingly withdrawn and depressed… Read more www.prayersforbobby.com

From big screen to Lifetime, Susan Sarandon to Sigourney Weaver, it's taken 12 years to bring Prayers for Bobby, the story of homophobe-turned-activist Mary Griffith, to life.
Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Sigourney Weaver stars in this emotional true story about a 1970s religious suburban housewife and mother who struggles to accept her young son Bobby being gay. What happens to Bobby is tragic and causes Mary to question her faith; ultimately this mom changes her views in ways that she never could have imagined. Photo & more & video trailer 111,282












By Dale Hrabi Read more Advocate.com - Photo - Mary Griffith and her family and friends participate in a gay pride parade holding a PFLAG banner.
With all due respect, I do not know how Pope Benedict XVI and his hierarchy are able to maintain an uninformed conscience, a self-imposed ignorance about the truth of human sexuality, particularly about homosexual orientation and gender identity and that by their ignorance cause life threatening harm and death to millions of innocent children. How can they be so harden against human life? They did not protect children in the decades of sexual abuse sandals and again they are not protecting children. I do not know how in good conscience they can even cerebrate mass; it is such a sacrilege for them to do so. This is especially true when Benedict XVI has absolutely no substantiated evidence, the supported documentary evidence that is accepted by most authorities in the field to back up his teachings on human sexuality, homosexual orientation and gender identity. I furthermore do not understand how such a religious leader is allowed to continue with this blatant harm (crimes against humanity) in the Catholic Church to go unchecked, unchallenged, and is even allowed to silence the clergy and religious who speak out for the truth. Something is so terribly wrong with this system, which turns a blind eye to the fact that "Kids are being hurt!!!" And that no one in the hierarchy or in the Vatican cares enought to try to stop it. Some serious waves need to be made! It is such a grievous sin agaisnt children that it forever crys to heaven for justice. Thank God for PFLAG, Fortunate Families and many many other parents support groups around the world whose purpose is for the safety and well-being of LGBT children. These parents have a non-stop ticket straight to heaven when they die, they must truly be God's angels here on earth. As a priest, who is concerned and involved in LGBT issues, you very quickly come know more than one story like Bobby's, way too many more to be able in good conscience remain silent and not take a stand to protect children. For every story that is told like Bobby's there are thousands of other similar stories never told that are just as tragic and many even more tragic. Thank God Bobby's story was told for us all. It hurts so deeply knowing that there are ways in the Catholic Church that could of and should of prevented his death. It is criminal that it has to take the death of innocent children to awaken us to our responsibility to protect children, however, it has not yet awaken Benedict XVI and his hierarchy. In the meantime, they can only be left in the hands of God. I do not believe in leaving the priesthood or the Catholic Church, but I wholeheartedly believe in "cleaning house" with the help of God. "Kids are being hurt!!!"

Fr. Marty Kurylowicz


Metro DC PFLAG Education a short excerpt from

Mary Griffith's Story


By Robert Bernstein

...One Friday night in August 1983, Bobby had dinner with his cousin. She noticed that he seemed thoughtful, perhaps depressed. He seemed to want to talk about something, but said little. Then he left, saying he was taking a bus to go dancing downtown.


Early the next morning, two men driving to work noticed a young man, later identified as Bobby, on an overpass above a busy thoroughfare. As they described the next few moments, the boy walked to the railing, turned around, and did a sudden back flip into mid-air. He landed in the path of an eighteen-wheeler.


Bobby's body was return to Walnut Creek for funeral services in the Presbyterian church. The minister told the mourners that Bobby was gay, and suggested that his tragic end was the result of his sinning.


Later, the Griffiths met with their pastor for grief counseling. In her despair, Mary was seeking ways to atone for the loss of Bobby. She told the pastor she knew there were "other Bobbys out there" and asked how she could help them. The pastor merely shrugged his shoulders—and Mary never again returned to that church.


However, she did not lose her sense of religion. Her speech resonates with the tones of spiritual awareness. But she has found a very different God from the one she worshiped at Walnut Creek Presbyterian. She reread her Bible with fresh eyes, and sought out secular books about homosexuality. She concluded that there was nothing wrong with Bobby, that "he was the kind of person God wanted him to be...an equal, lovable valuable part of God's creation." She says now, "I helped instill false guilt in an innocent child's conscience." ...


Read complete story

www.pflagdc.org/education/griffith.php

Just Love Toronto!!!

Guilt is a funny thing. It is sticky and clings to you like a magnet. Read more - I’m a thousand different people, every single one is real - I’ve a million different feelings, OK but at least I feel!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

PFLAG Gay Pride 2009 Highlights

PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.

Learn more at www.pflag.org today



San Francisco
Gay Pride 2009










Gay Pride, Chicago, 2009 Happy Stonewall 40th anniversary!






























PFLAG contingent at the annual Melbourne Pride March held in St Kilda (2009) Victoria, Australia

Photo & Read more www.pflagvictoria.org.au









The Evolution of Prayers for Bobby

From big screen to Lifetime, Susan Sarandon to Sigourney Weaver, it's taken 12 years to bring Prayers for Bobby, the story of homophobe-turned-activist Mary Griffith, to life.

By Dale Hrabi Read more Advocate.com - Photo - Mary Griffith and her family and friends participate in a gay pride parade holding a PFLAG banner.

Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Sigourney Weaver stars in this emotional true story about a 1970s religious suburban housewife and mother who struggles to accept her young son Bobby being gay. What happens to Bobby is tragic and causes Mary to question her faith; ultimately this mom changes her views in ways that she never could have imagined. Photo & more & video trailer 111,282






PFLAG - LA Pride Parade 2009










PFLAG members proudly marching in the parade.

Washington, DC / June 13, 2009 Photos


Highlights Of The 2009 Honolulu Gay Pride Parade In Waikiki

We Are All One Family

The 2009 Honolulu Gay Pride Parade in Waikiki just wrapped up over an hour ago. The parade was sponsored by PFLAG O’ahu, an organization supporting the parents, family & friends of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, intersex, and those questioning their sexuality. Read more


Monday, June 29, 2009

Obama Commemorates Stonewall By Kerry Eleveld

President Barack Obama Monday, with First Lady Michelle Obama standing at his side, delivered a sweeping nearly 20-minute speech that paid tribute to the LGBT movement and promised concrete steps toward equality would be taken during his administration.

“I want you to know that I expect and hope to be judged not by words, not by promises I've made, but by the promises that my administration keeps,” Obama said to the applause of about 250 attendees midway through his speech.

The president acknowledged the frustration felt by many LGBT activist who have felt that his administration has not moved quickly enough on key pieces of legislation such repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” and overturning what he called the Defense of Marriage Act.

“We've been in office six months now,” he said in an assured, matter-of-fact tone, “and I suspect that by the time this administration's over, you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration.” Read more Advocate.com

Obama holds gay pride reception, vows to overturn 'unjust laws'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama honored Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month with a White House reception Monday where he likened the struggle for gay rights with the struggle of African-Americans for civil rights.

With first lady Michelle Obama at his side, the president told the cheering crowd filling the East Room that his administration would work to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays in the military.

"I know that many in this room don't believe that progress has come fast enough, and I understand that," Obama said. "It's not for me to tell you to be patient any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African-Americans who were petitioning for equal rights a half-century ago."

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy bars military officials from asking about a service member's sexual orientation but also bars the service member from revealing it, and allows the dismissal of a service member if a same-sex orientation is discovered.

Read more on




Related links

Obama Pledges to Move on Gay-Rights Agenda THE WALL STREET JOURNAL



Chicagoans at LGBT White House gay pride month reception


Obama reaffirms support for gay-rights activism

Obama: I Am A Champion For Gay Americans


POTUS to LGBT: "Welcome to Your White House"


In a Presidential First, Obama Marks Gay Pride at the White House


President Obama hosts historic lunch for members of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community




No Arrests in Pink Triangle Arson By Layla Dhere –Advocate.com

Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the fire that damaged the Pink Triangle on San Francisco's Twin Peaks.

The arson took place Sunday morning, just a few hours prior to the city's annual Pride Parade. The ornament, a pink fabric triangle, is installed each year on a hill at San Francisco's Twin Peaks.

The triangle is a historically loaded symbol of gay oppression and was once used by officials in Nazi Germany to identify and discriminate against gays. Since then it has become a symbol of gay liberation as well as a way to pay tribute to those who were oppressed and tormented by the Nazis.

The fire was reported at approximately 5 a.m. and was extinguished about a half hour later. No arrests have been made yet, police said.

Read more Advocate.com

THE WHITE HOUSE – PRESIDENT OBAMA WITH FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA AT LGBT PRIDE MONTH RECEPTION - East Room


THE WHITE HOUSE



Office of the Press Secretary

________________________________________________________________________


For Immediate Release June 29, 2009



REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT


AT LGBT PRIDE MONTH RECEPTION



East Room

4:35 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Hello, hello, hello. (Applause.) Hey! Good to see you. (Applause.) I'm waiting for FLOTUS here. FLOTUS always politics more than POTUS.

MRS. OBAMA: No, you move too slow. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: It is great to see everybody here today and they're just -- I've got a lot of friends in the room, but there are some people I want to especially acknowledge. First of all, somebody who helped ensure that we are in the White House, Steve Hildebrand. Please give Steve a big round of applause. (Applause.) Where's Steve? He's around here somewhere. (Applause.)

The new chair of the Export-Import Bank, Fred Hochberg. (Applause.) Where's Fred? There's Fred. Good to see you, Fred. Our Director of the Institute of Education Sciences at DOE, John Easton. Where's John? (Applause.) A couple of special friends -- Bishop Gene Robinson. Where's Gene? (Applause.) Hey, Gene. Ambassador Michael Guest is here. (Applause.) Ambassador Jim Hormel is here. (Applause.) Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown is here. (Applause.)

All of you are here. (Laughter and applause.)ت Welcome to your White House. (Applause.) So --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.) (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Somebody asked from the Lincoln Bedroom here. (Laughter.) You knew I was from Chicago too. (Laughter.)

It's good to see so many friends and familiar faces, and I deeply appreciate the support I've received from so many of you. Michelle appreciates it and I want you to know that you have our support, as well. (Applause.) And you have my thanks for the work you do every day in pursuit of equality on behalf of the millions of people in this country who work hard and care about their communities -- and who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. (Applause.)

Now this struggle, I don't need to tell you, is incredibly difficult, although I think it's important to consider the extraordinary progress that we have made. There are unjust laws to overturn and unfair practices to stop. And though we've made progress, there are still fellow citizens, perhaps neighbors or even family members and loved ones, who still hold fast to worn arguments and old attitudes; who fail to see your families like their families; and who would deny you the rights that most Americans take for granted. And I know this is painful and I know it can be heartbreaking.

Read complete presentation


Photo

Obama reaffirms support for gay rights