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mariacallous · 6 months ago

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For a decade, the husband of Michelle Bulang, a 44-year-old mother of four, made her life hell. He drank and gambled, failing to provide for her or their four children, even as he forbade her to work. He was also regularly abusive “physically, emotionally, verbally, and sexually,” Bulang said, choking back tears. Once, he poured boiling water all over her—her back and legs still bear the scars.

Bulang has since escaped the relationship and not seen her abuser in years, but on paper she is still married to him. The overwhelming power of the Catholic Church in the Philippines means divorce is not legal. That might be about to change. A divorce bill has passed the House of Representatives and faces the Senate, as the power of the church wanes.

“There are two policies which are seen as a litmus test of Catholic influence. The first is abortion, which is forbidden in the Constitution. And the second is divorce,” said Manolo Quezon III, a former speechwriter for Philippine President Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. There are only two countries in the world where divorce is still not legal—the Vatican City and the Philippines. Other heavily Catholic nations legalized the practice long ago, such as Ireland in 1995 and Spain in 1981. But the lingering influence of the church in a country where nearly 80 percent of the population is Catholic is proverbial.

Yet, from 1917 to 1949, divorce was legal in the Philippines. The right was only abolished in 1949 as U.S. control ended and the anti-clerical legacies of the Philippine Revolution faded. Under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the church became a locus for democratic opposition—even as the president was rumored to keep a divorce bill in his desk to brandish at bishops during meetings when he wanted to keep them in line.

The 1986 People Power Revolution that saw the end of Marcos also saw the peak of church authority. The revered Cardinal Jaime Sin, archbishop of Manila, called people to the streets to protest a rigged election. The Philippines faced a potential Tiananmen moment as tanks rolled. But they stopped as nuns praying the rosary knelt in front of the troops and crowds linked their arms behind them. Marcos fell and fled into exile. The new President Corazon “Cory” Aquino, known for her devotion, inaugurated a new constitution that enshrined democracy, banned abortion, and committed to preserving the family.

Those days are fading. “There is a realization that the Philippines is a secular state, and it should not be subscribing to church principles or doctrines, which we respect but not must not control the policymaking processes,” said Rep. Edcel Lagman, who has helped spearhead the divorce bill. On May 22, the bill narrowly passed the House of Representatives with 131 votes in favor, 109 against, and 20 abstaining.

Under the current system, Muslims, who make up about 5 percent of the country’s population, are allowed to divorce. For Christians, their options are to either having their marriage annulled through a civil court, modeled on the Catholic process—reasons including bigamy, psychological incapacity at time of marriage, or use of fraud or threats—or filing for separation—reasons including physical abuse, adultery, abandonment, homosexuality, and drug addiction and alcoholism. The new bill would allow people who currently seek separation for these reasons to now simply seek divorce.

The inadequacies of this system are well understood. It is both extremely expensive and very slow-moving, leaving victims, usually women, trapped in marriages to monsters. Stella Sibonga, a 47-year-old mother of three, has had nothing to do with her husband for decades. Dug out of hiding and marched to the altar after he got an 18-year-old Sibonga pregnant, he took his vows drunk and proceeded to abuse Sibonga and the children she bore. Out of despair, she twice attempted suicide. Later, he tried to kill her and her children with a machete.

In 2005, at age 27, Sibonga left him, and in 2012 she initiated legal proceedings to have her marriage declared null on the grounds of her husband’s “psychological incapacity.” In 2017, a judge ruled in her favor, but the Office of the Solicitor General, charged by the government with upholding marriage, appealed and won in 2019. The case is still ongoing. Sibonga estimates that it has cost her around 300,000 pesos—over $5,000—to pursue the case. This more than most Filipinos will earn in a year. Her experience of the court system is not unusual.

Those who would reform this system smell victory but are treading carefully, keen to reassure the potentially uncertain. “We sympathize with the concern of some of the conservatives as some states have given divorce a bad name. So they don’t want us to have a Las Vegas type of divorce,” said Paul Roxas, an activist with the Divorce Pilipinas Coalition. A recent poll showed that that exactly 50 percent of Filipinos supported divorce among irreconcilably separated couples, with 31 percent opposed and 17 percent undecided.

Navigating the Senate will be tricky. A divorce bill previously passed the House in 2018 but languished in the Senate. So far, at least seven of the Philippines’s 24 senators have are thought to be in favor of the bill. But four have voiced opposition to the bill, and another 8 have previously made statements against divorce. Still, Roxas is optimistic: “A significant proportion of the senators are sort of fence-sitting.” The Divorce Pilipinas Coalition is lobbying hard those they feel are persuadable and has staked out fall back concessions like only allowing people to divorce once in their lifetimes.

Should the bill pass, it will be the fourth big defeat the Catholic Church has faced in 12 years. In 2012, the Philippine government legalized contraception in the face of furious opposition from the church. In 2016, the presidency was won by Rodrigo Duterte, a man who cursed the pope during his campaign. Church condemnations of the man and the extrajudicial killings that took place in his “war on drugs” failed to dent his enormous popular support. And in 2022, the church all but openly opposed the candidacy of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son of the former dictator. Nonetheless, backed by Duterte, he romped home to victory.

With each defeat, wariness of church power seems to have faded. “In the Philippines, there is no Catholic vote—in other words, we should not be afraid of any reprisal from the Church during the elections,” Lagman said. Indeed, he claims that private polling shows that congresspeople who endorse the divorce bill actually stand to receive a bump in support.

Father Jerome Secilliano, rector of the EDSA Shrine built to commemorate the People Power protests, says things very different from 1986. “People were already exasperated with the government” when cardinal sin made the call, he says. Now, according to Seciliano, people are “exasperated” with a church they don’t feel is doing enough for them. “Let’s admit it we don’t have the resources to provide for the people,” he said. “We are a poor country, there are so many poor people, and poor people expect too much from you.” Instead, they turn to politicians who can offer patronage, cash, and practical solutions. “And people have more practical needs than the Mass.”

Cultural change is also part of the story. Gone are the days of Seciliano’s boyhood when he would press his forehead to the hand of elders and all heard the Angelus toll at 6 o’clock every evening. “When we talk about LGBT in the 1980s, perhaps people will still believe us. But now it’s 2024—because of the many different opinions offered, it’s now very politically incorrect to even call him homo or gay.” Indeed, the Philippines is already strikingly accepting of homosexuality for a Catholic country, and polling shows that young Filipinos are among the most likely to support the divorce bill.

Not all the cultural change is necessarily inimical to the church. Pentecostal and born-again Christians are making big inroads among the Philippines. Theological differences between Catholics and these groups that once caused bloody wars now fade as these churches make common cause on promoting socially conservative Christian values. One prominent opponent of the divorce bill, Sen. Emmanuel Villanueva, is the son of Eddie Villanueva, a former politician who founded The Jesus Is Lord evangelical megachurch.

Still, it’s not always so simple as that says Joseph Bonifacio, a former pastor with Victory Church, another evangelical megachurch. These non-Catholic churches are less monolithic in their attitudes. “This allows for other voices, including more liberal ones.” A recent statement by the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches expressed opposition to the divorce bill, stating a preference instead for expanding grounds for annulment to dissolve the marriage. Given that the grounds for annulment are, with some caveats, close the grounds on which the current bill would grant divorce, the differences seem largely cosmetic.

The Catholic Church is trying to regroup. “The church needs to become a church of the poor,” Father Tito Caluag said. As the man who gives the evening Mass on ABS-CBN, the Philippines’s largest media conglomerate, he is perhaps the closest the Catholic Church has to a celebrity priest. Caluag is trying to take on this task himself reorganizing the church’s charitable efforts talking about professionalization, data analysis, and new fundraising that reduces reliance on single ultrawealthy donors. Notably past polls suggest the working poor are among those most likely to support divorce. Yet it is hard not to notice that the interview is taking place in the Village, one of Manila’s ultraexclusive gated neighborhoods. Caluag explains it was donated by a pious socialite, now deceased, and wryly accepts the irony.

Other tensions will be hard to solve, too. The church must also be a listening church, Caluag says, invoking the words of Pope Francis. “And we must genuinely listen. Because I’ve heard young people say we’ve talked our so-and-so, and he listened, but at the end of it all, he said was the same thing like nothing had happened.”

But he remains opposed to divorce—as doctrine requires all Catholic priests must be. For stories like Sibonga’s and Bulang’s, however, the church seems to have few answers.

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camisoledadparis · 1 day ago

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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … January 9

Your Due Date: January 9, 2025

259 – Died: Saint Polyeuct, lover of Saint Nearchus. Soldiers in the Roman army and deeply attached to each other, Polyeuct and Nearchus were both stationed in Militene, Armenia. The earliest account of Polyeuct's martyrdom was written by Nearchus.

The primary thread of their story is the desire of these two friends to spend eternity together. According to the text, when the emperor issued a new edict against Christians, Nearchus was worried that, since Polyeuct was a pagan and Nearchus a Christian, his own possible martyrdom and the eventual death of Polyeuct might lead to their being in separate places in the afterlife. Polyeuct reassured him that he had long been drawn to Christianity and intended to die a Christian. With a convert's fervor, Polyeuct then attacked a pagan procession and had himself arrested. The judge turned out to be his own father-in-law, Felix, who begged him to reconsider.

Polyeuct's wife, Paulina, came to court and unsuccessfully implored him, for the sake of their marriage and their son, to change his mind. After severe tortures, he was condemned to death. Just before he was beheaded, Polyeuct saw Nearchus near. His final words to Nearchus were "Remember our secret vow."

Nearchus was later martyred, being buried alive.

Before his own death, Nearchus recorded this story, which was recounted annually at the church at Militene and eventually erected over Polyeuct's tomb in Militene. In the year 527, a great church with a gold-plated ceiling was built in Constantinople and dedicated to St. Polyeuct. Later in the same century, Gregory of Tours wrote that the most solemn oaths were usually sworn in this church; because Polyeuct had come to be considered the special heavenly protector of vows and avenger of broken promises.

1900 – Richard Halliburton (presumed dead after March 24, 1939) was an American traveler, adventurer, and author. Best known today for having swum the length of the Panama Canal and paying the lowest toll in its history—thirty-six cents—Halliburton was headline news for most of his brief career. His final and fatal adventure, an attempt to sail a Chinese junk, the Sea Dragon, across the Pacific Ocean from Hong Kong to the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco, made him legendary.

Richard Halliburton was born in Brownsville, Tennessee. The family moved to Memphis, where he spent his childhood. He attended Memphis University School. He also showed promise as a violinist, and was a fair golfer and tennis player. In 1915 Richard developed a rapid heart condition and spent some time at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan, run by the innovative John Harvey Kellogg, whose philosophy of care featured regular exercise, sound nutrition, and frequent enemas.

Leaving college temporarily during 1919, Halliburton became an ordinary seaman and boarded the freighter Octorara bound from New Orleans to England. He toured historic places in London and Paris, but soon returned to Princeton to finish his schooling. Travel inspired in him a lust for more travel.

Halliburton idolized mountain climber George Mallory, who died in 1924 while trying to climb Mt. Everest. He knew and admired aviatrix Amelia Earhart. He knew journalist Lowell Thomas, who had made Lawrence of Arabia a living legend. Halliburton craved the celebrity of Rudolph Valentino, the great romantic screen star of the silent era. Richard was acquainted with and looked up to swashbuckling cinema star Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., who was also a world traveler.

Halliburton's first book, published in 1925, The Royal Road to Romance, became a bestseller. Two years later he published The Glorious Adventure, which retraced Ulysses' adventures throughout the Classical Greek world as recounted in Homer's The Odyssey, and which included his visiting the grave of English poet Rupert Brooke on the island of Skyros. In 1929 Halliburton published New Worlds To Conquer, which recounted his famous swim of the Panama Canal, and his retracing the track of Cortez' conquest of Mexico.

(Click for larger)

Halliburton's sexual associations with members of his own sex became apparent. To protect the image of heroic masculinity he had cultivated to win over an admiring public, he kept secret his true sexual orientation. He seems also to have kept it a secret from his doting parents, who longed for grandchildren from their one surviving son. Among those romantically linked to him were film star Ramón Novarro and philanthropist Noel Sullivan, both of whom shared his enjoyment of the bohemian lifestyle. Halliburton's most enduring relationship was with freelance journalist Paul Mooney, with whom he often shared living quarters and who assisted him with his written work.

In 1931 Halliburton hired pioneer aviator Moye Stephens on the strength of a handshake —for no pay, but unlimited expenses —to fly him around the world in an open cockpit biplane. The modified Stearman C-3B was named the Flying Carpet after the magic carpet of fairy tales, and this became the title of his 1932 best-seller. They embarked on "one of the most fantastic, extended air journeys ever recorded" taking 18 months to circumnavigate the globe, covering 33,660 miles (54,100 km) and visiting 34 countries.

Halliburton (R) with Moye Stephens

On March 3, 1939, Halliburton began to sail a Chinese junk across the Pacific Ocean. The Sea Dragon, a gaudily decorated 75-foot (23 m) junk, was made to his commission in the shipyards of Kowloon by cartwright Fat Kau. Emblazoned with a colorful dragon and equipped with a diesel engine, the Sea Dragon was supposed to make its maiden voyage from Hong Kong to the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco (at Treasure Island).

Three weeks out to sea on March 23 the ship encountered a typhoon. The junk was last sighted by the liner SS President Coolidge, itself battling mountainous seas some 1900 km west of Midway Island. That was the last seen the junk. After an extensive US Navy search with several ships and scout planes over thousands of square miles and many days, the effort was ended. In 1945 some wreckage identified as a rudder and believed to belong to the Sea Dragon washed ashore in California.

Missing at sea since March, Halliburton was declared dead on October 5, 1939 by the Memphis Chancery Court.

Simone de Beauvoir (R) with Jean-Paul Sartre

1908 – Simone de Beauvoir (d.1986) is best known for her revolutionary study of women's condition, The Second Sex (1949), a work that changed women's lives worldwide. In 1999, an international colloquium was held in Paris to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of The Second Sex. The conference included a number of papers on Beauvoir and lesbianism, a topic that, a decade earlier, would have been virtually unthinkable.

In 1990, however, when Beauvoir's journals and two volumes of her letters to Jean-Paul Sartre were made available, it became clear that Beauvoir had had a number of same-sex relationships throughout her life. These revelations, along with others, completely shattered the heretofore unassailable myth of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre as the twentieth century's most perfect couple. Today, Beauvoir's same-sex relationships are widely acknowledged, although attempts to excuse them (as "bohemian existentialist experimentation," to give but one example), in the interest of preserving Beauvoir's heterosexual image, persist.

Beauvoir was born in Paris into a bourgeois Roman Catholic family. Her family's fortunes declined after World War I, but she was nevertheless the beneficiary of an expensive private education. She then studied philosophy at the Sorbonne, where she met Sartre in 1929.

From 1931 to 1941 Beauvoir taught philosophy in secondary schools in Marseilles, Rouen, and Paris. In 1943, she published her first novel, L'Invitée, one of several fictional works dealing with her relationship with Sartre.

Although she herself seems not to have been involved in resistance efforts during the Nazi occupation of Paris, in 1945, soon after the end of World War II, she published Le Sang des autres, a novel reflecting on the question of political involvement and the French Resistance.

The feminist classic The Second Sex followed in 1949 and was eventually to make her reputation. Her strongest novel, Les Mandarins, appeared in 1954; a semiautobiographical work, it too focused on her relationship with Sartre, the subject that has preoccupied both her autobiographical works and the scholarship devoted to her life and work.

Beauvoir's same-sex relations, characterized by intense emotion and in most cases with a confirmed sexual component, likely began with Beauvoir's school friend "Zaza." Several of these relationships occurred during Beauvoir's career as a philosophy teacher during the 1930s and 1940s, and involved her students (who seemed to be the initiators, able to resist neither Beauvoir's physical nor her intellectual magnetism).

In one case, Beauvoir's rendez-vous were structured around philosophy lessons. Exasperated at having to discuss Kant before climbing into Beauvoir's bed, the student Nathalie Sorokine called Beauvoir "a clock in a refrigerator." When Sorokine's mother complained to the school, Beauvoir was fired, effectively ending her teaching career.

When Beauvoir was asked point blank in an interview if she were a lesbian, she angrily denied it. It should be noted, however, that Beauvoir tended to define things narrowly (she also claimed she was not a philosopher, again according to a strict definition). For Beauvoir, a lesbian is a woman who refuses to have anything (sexual) to do with males.

Further, Beauvoir was a major participant in the public erasure of her lesbian identity. A comparison of the unpublished diaries with published works shows a very different representation of the relationship with Zaza in Beauvoir's autobiography Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (1958) or of Beauvoir's lover Olga as the fictional Xavière in her novel She Came to Stay (1943). It has only recently been recognized that Beauvoir was the model for the lesbian Inès in Sartre's No Exit (1944).

In the early 1960s, Beauvoir began a relationship with Sylvie le Bon which lasted to the end of Beauvoir's life. In 1980, following Sartre's death, Beauvoir adopted Sylvie so that the latter could legally care for Beauvoir, who was to die six years later. Their relationship offers a model of the lesbian couple described theoretically in The Second Sex.

1924 – Sergei Parajanov sometimes spelled Paradzhanov or Paradjanov; (d.1990) was an Armenian film director and artist from the Soviet Union who made significant contributions to Ukrainian, Armenian and Georgian cinema. He invented his own cinematic style, which was totally out of step with the guiding principles of socialist realism (the only sanctioned art style in the USSR). This, combined with his controversial lifestyle and behaviour, led Soviet authorities to repeatedly persecute and imprison him, and suppress his films.

In 1948 he was convicted of homosexual acts (which were illegal at the time in the Soviet Union) with a MGB officer named Nikolai Mikava in Tbilisi. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but was released under an amnesty after three months. In video interviews, friends and relatives contest the truthfulness of anything he was charged with. They speculate the punishment may have been a form of political retaliation for his rebellious views.

Although he started professional film-making in 1954, Parajanov later disowned all the films he made before 1965 as "garbage". After directing Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (renamed Wild Horses of Fire for most foreign distributions) Parajanov became something of an international celebrity and simultaneously a target of attacks from the system. Nearly all of his film projects and plans from 1965 to 1973 were banned, scrapped or closed by the Soviet film administrations, both local and federal, almost without discussion, until he was finally arrested in late 1973 on charges of rape, homosexuality and bribery. He was imprisoned until 1977, despite a pleas for pardon from various artists.

Even after his release (he was arrested for the third and last time in 1982) he was a persona non grata in Soviet cinema. It was not until the mid-1980s, when the political climate started to relax, that he could resume directing. Still, it required the help of influential Georgian actor Dodo Abashidze and other friends to have his last feature films greenlighted.

His health seriously weakened by four years in labor camps and nine months in prison in Tbilisi, Parajanov died of lung cancer in 1990, at a time when, after almost 20 years of suppression, his films were being featured at foreign film festivals. In January 1988, he said in an interview, "Everyone knows that I have three Motherlands. I was born in Georgia, worked in Ukraine and I'm going to die in Armenia."

1941 – Joan Baez is nothing less than a legend, both as a folk musician and as a catalyst for social change. A singer, guitarist, and songwriter with eight gold records and six Grammy nominations thus far, Baez has long been visible as a protest figure supporting civil rights, peace efforts, and human rights through her direct activism and numerous free concerts.

Born on Staten Island, New York to a Scottish mother and Mexican-American father, Baez moved with her family to California when she was a small child. She lived in Baghdad from 1951 to 1952; there, confronted with rampant poverty and human suffering in the streets, she first realized her passion for social justice.

Baez stood out as an artistic nonconformist and peace activist in her high school in Palo Alto, California, and then at Boston University—where she remained for only a short time. She had begun playing at local coffeehouses and decided to drop out of school in 1958 to concentrate on her musical career.

Baez started playing in clubs such as Gate of Horn, which belonged to impresario (and Baez's future manager) Albert Grossman, and appearing with well-known musicians such as Pete Seeger.

In 1960 her first album, Joan Baez, was released to huge acclaim. Gifted with an extraordinarily beautiful voice, she also brought an unusual intelligence to the interpretation of folk songs, both traditional and new.

Baez became increasingly involved with the civil rights movement, using her growing fame as a means of drawing attention to a cause she believed in deeply. She especially worked in conjunction with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Dr. King's speeches and Baez's singing were a staple of demonstrations and rallies during the turbulent 1960s.

Baez also became very active in promoting nonviolence. During the Vietnam War, she visited Hanoi for thirteen days to witness the horrors of war herself, and for ten years she withheld the percentage of her income taxes that would have been put toward military expenses. In 1967, she was arrested twice—and jailed for a month—for blocking the entrance of the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California.

All the while she continued recording albums in her signature clear soprano, both writing her own material and performing classic songs of resistance such as "We Shall Overcome," "Oh, Freedom," and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"

She founded both the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence (now The Resource Center for Nonviolence) in California in 1965 and the Humanitas International Human Rights Committee, which she headed from 1979 until its demise 13 years later.

Although she may be most famous for her civil rights and peace activism, Baez has also been prominent in the struggle for gay and lesbian rights.

She has been open about the relationship she had with a woman in 1962; in an interview a decade later, she told a reporter that she basically considered herself bisexual, a statement she stood by despite the controversy it sparked. She did marry activist David Harris in 1968, and had their son Gabe in 1969; although the couple eventually divorced, Baez never again pursued a lesbian relationship.

Still, she has been visible in the gay community; in 1978 she performed at several benefit concerts to defeat Proposition 6 (the Briggs Initiative), which proposed banning all openly gay people from teaching in the public schools of California. Later that year, she participated in memorial marches for the assassinated San Francisco city supervisor, openly gay Harvey Milk.

Alongside Janis Ian, she played a benefit for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 1994, and has performed numerous times with the lesbian duo the Indigo Girls.

1994 – Elijah Daniel is an American comedian, rapper, and author. He became popular online through his comedy on YouTube and social media. Daniel is the author of the erotic novel Trump Temptations. His book went viral, and saw significant sales the day it was published; rising to the top of sales lists in multiple categories. Daniel's book received favorable reception. Trump Temptations became the top seller on Amazon.com in three categories: humorous erotica, LGBT erotica, and gay erotica.

Elijah Daniel was born in Detroit, Michigan. He was raised evangelical Christian. After his grandmother became ill, Daniel moved into her residence to care for her. During this period, he began to write comedy to occupy himself. He publicized his comedy work through posts on Twitter, and videos to Vine.

Daniel led an online White House petition in 2013 to make the Miley Cyrus song "Party in the U.S.A." the U.S. national anthem. It received international coverage. Starting in 2014 Elijah began hosting a weekly internet prank with CollegeHumor called Text Prank Thursday, where he would have his Twitter followers text random phone numbers saying whatever he told them to say. Daniel told Vice that he cultivated a group of followers online who appreciated his absurd and bizarre comedic antics. By 2016, his Twitter following had grown to over 95,000.

In 2016 Daniel stated on Twitter that he was going to get drunk and write an erotic novel starring Donald Trump. Daniel was inspired by a tweet which said the user wished to perform a sex act on Bernie Sanders. Daniel wrote the work as a parody of Fifty Shades of Grey. Within four hours, he had released the erotic novel titled Trump Temptations: The Billionaire & The Bellboy on Amazon. The work was Daniel's debut novel.

Trump Temptations became the number one best seller on Amazon.com in three categories: humorous erotica, LGBT erotica, and gay erotica.The book was listed on Amazon above Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James, and was featured in The Washington Post, Daily News, Los Angeles Times, GQ, Gay Star News, London Evening Standard, The Daily Telegraph, and Vice. The Guardian classed the work as part of the "small but burgeoning new genre: satirical books about Donald Trump" that began with the 2016 presidential campaign. Cosmopolitan called the book a literary success.

Daniel hired Trump impersonator Chris Ferretti to read the audiobook.

Trump biographer Marc Shapiro wrote in Trump This!, that Daniel's novel was one of the most infamous works capitalizing on interest in Trump. An article in Fortune said that Daniel displayed a Trump-like skill to capitalize on a niche demand.

After the Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, Daniel publicly urged on Twitter for any individual who is closeted to feel free to contact him privately for support, and he published "An open letter to the LGBT kids who feel lost and scared" on Fusion.net. The letter positively received by ATTN:, which called it a powerful commentary on the attack.

On August 30, 2017, Elijah Daniel performed a publicity stunt centered around Hell, Michigan – an unincorporated town that allows visitors to pay for the opportunity to hold the title of "mayor" for a day. In what he called "a copy-and-paste of Trump's Muslim ban", he announced a satirical law that banned heterosexuals from entering and living in the town. In response, Daniel released an edited version of The Bible called "The Holy Bible… but Gayer" two weeks later. Sales of it were briefly banned on Amazon before being restored.

2016 – When Hubert Edward Spires was twenty years old, he decided to serve his country by joining the military. Because he was a gay man in a very different time, though, he was removed through an "undesirable" discharge. On this day in 2016, the 91-year-old Connecticut man finally received the honorable discharge he was denied 68 years ago.

In 1946, he joined what was then called the U.S. Army Air Force and became a chaplain's assistant at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Spires quickly took to the work, which included writing letters to families worried about their loved ones, playing organ during Catholic Mass and preparing the chapel for various services. When it became known that he was a homosexual he was given an "undesirable" discharge.

Because of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell in 2010, it became possible for Spires to apply to have the status of his discharge changed. The 91-year-old Spires filed a federal lawsuit seeking an honorable discharge so he can receive a military burial.The Air Force has changed the 91-year-old's records to an honorable discharge. Spires said, "I can go to my grave with my head held high."

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 6 months ago

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GOP Convention:: Mike Luckovich

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 16, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUL 17, 2024

The Republican National Convention is a moment to reintroduce Trump and MAGA Republicans to voters who have not seen them up close since at least 2021. So far, the convention has proved that the Republican Party is now the MAGA Party. It has not been a smooth unveiling.

Yesterday, just after House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced that delegates were formally nominating Trump as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, the teleprompter failed. Unable to continue without it, Johnson quickly left the stage. This was awkward, since two weeks ago, Johnson said on the Fox News Channel of President Joe Biden: “Unless the president is reading off the teleprompter, I don’t think he’s capable of making these big decisions and that is something that should alarm all of us….”

The teleprompter having been fixed, Johnson returned forty-five minutes later to introduce Iowa’s attorney general, Brenna Bird, who in turn began the process of nominating Ohio senator J. D. Vance for vice president. The last time a Republican vice presidential nominee has been named so late was 1988, and while announcing at the convention has the benefit of generating enthusiasm for the novel story, it has the downside of bringing an avalanche of opposition. Vance brought the latter.

He is very young—just 39—and has held an elected office for just 18 months, making him notably inexperienced for someone in contention for the vice presidential slot, especially behind a 78-year-old presidential nominee. In the past, he was a never-Trumper, saying that Trump “might be America’s Hitler,” “might be a cynical a**hole,” and is “cultural heroin,” “noxious,” and “reprehensible,” but he came around to embrace the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen and to say that if he had been vice president on January 6, 2021, he would have done what former vice president Mike Pence would not: he would have refused to count the certified electoral ballots for President Joe Biden.

Former Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, who was drummed out of the party for standing against Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, wrote: “JD Vance has pledged he would do what Mike Pence wouldn’t—overturn an election and illegally seize power. He says the president can ignore the rulings of our courts. He would capitulate to Russia and sacrifice the freedom of our allies in Ukraine. The Trump GOP is no longer the party of Lincoln, Reagan or the Constitution.”

Both ends of the Republican spectrum have also expressed concerns about Vance. The far right has been vocal today about their disdain for Vance’s wife, who is the American-born daughter of Indian immigrants. “Do we really expect that the guy who has an Indian wife and named their kid Vivek is going to support white identity?” Nick Fuentes asked.

On the other side of the Republican spectrum, those who opposed Trump because of his extremism, especially on abortion, are unlikely to have their fears relieved by Vance, who has advocated no-exceptions abortion bans, that people stay in violent marriages, and said: “We are effectively run in this country…by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made. And so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”

But for all the talk of unifying the country since last weekend’s shooting, Trump did not pick Vance to bring Republicans together. His selection of Vance reinforces that the MAGAs have taken over the Republican Party with an ideology that rejects democracy in favor of Christian nationalism. Vance has repeatedly elevated Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s destruction of democracy in favor of a strong leader imposing Christian family structures, ending abortion rights, enforcing anti-LGBTQ+ policies and encouraging attacks on immigrants, and seizing universities. Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts, who is also aligned with Orbán and was key to the production of Project 2025, which echoes Orbán’s co-called “illiberal democracy,” cheered Vance’s selection.

On Monday the convention approved a platform, the document that outlines the party’s position for the administration they hope to put into power. The evolution of Republican platforms since 2016 shows the evolution of the Republican Party. The 2016 platform fell pretty much within the norms of the genre, celebrating the nation and attacking the opposition before calling first for tax cuts—standard fare for Republicans since 1980—open markets, and deregulation of business and finance, as well as a smaller government. It called as well for an end to gay marriage, protection of gun ownership, and opposition to abortion.

In 2020 the Republican Party did not write a platform, simply saying “[t]hat the Republican Party has and will continue to enthusiastically support the President's America-first agenda.”

In 2024 the Republican Party platform reiterates the points of a Trump rally. Its capitalization is erratic, as his is, and it is full of sweeping and often incorrect statements. Rather than celebrating the country, it warns that “we are a Nation in SERIOUS DECLINE. Our future, our identity, and our very way of life are under threat like never before.” It promises that, under Trump, “We will be a Nation based on Truth, Justice, and Common Sense.”

The only real sign of the old party is the platform’s promise to make the Trump tax cuts, which have already added $2.5 trillion to the national debt, permanent. Otherwise, the platform is a MAGA document. It portrays a world that reflects Trump’s dystopian vision rather than reality, then promises to fix that dystopia either with vague promises or with culture war victories. In odd passages, it promises to do what Biden has already done: conquer inflation, bring supply chains home, revive manufacturing, and save the auto industry.

The speakers at the convention have largely been MAGA extremists, and the picture they painted of the United States echoed Trump’s. They portrayed a country in decline from the heady days of the Trump presidency, but their image was not based in reality. Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, for example, claimed that “Women, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans all saw record low employment under Donald J. Trump,” when in fact those record lows have come under Biden. Former CEO of Yammer, South African David Sacks, echoed Russian talking points when he blamed Biden for provoking Russia to invade Ukraine. Tennessee senator Marsha Blackburn attacked “racist DEI requirements.”

CNN fact checker Daniel Dale has been kept busy correcting the Republicans’ repeated lie that there is a violent crime wave in the U.S. under Biden; the opposite is true. Both violent crimes and property crimes have plummeted since the Trump administration. Republicans are also saying that Democrats “have eroded the American energy dominance that President Trump delivered.” In reality, while Biden is trying to shift the U.S. to renewables, Dale noted that “the U.S. under Biden is producing more crude oil than any country ever has… the U.S. is setting fossil fuel world records under this administration. The U.S. produced a global record 12.9 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2023, easily beating the Trump-era high of 12.3 million barrels.”

Today’s speakers included Nikki Haley, a last-minute addition to the program after the events of the weekend in an apparent attempt to create a sense of unity. She made a good pitch but didn’t convince everyone: there were scattered boos at her appearance. Her speech was the high-water mark of the unity effort tonight; the rest of the speakers hammered the idea that the country is divided in two and that Trump’s opponents are persecuting him. They singled out the media as a key enemy.

The bitter rift between establishment and MAGA Republicans has been evident in other ways, as well. Attendees booed Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) when he pledged Kentucky’s votes to Trump, from whom he has kept his distance. MAGA congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) interrupted CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins when she was interviewing former House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to taunt McCarthy by pointing out that he had not been asked to speak, adding that if he had been, “You would get booed off the stage.” Gaetz was behind the move to throw McCarthy out of his office, and he resigned from Congress shortly thereafter. McCarthy reacted by noting that there is an ethics complaint against Gaetz for sleeping with a minor.

Trump has appeared at the convention with a large bandage on the ear he says was pierced by a bullet on Saturday. Journalists have begun to note that there has been no medical report of Trump’s injuries, an odd omission after the intense recent scrutiny of President Biden’s health.

Trump seemed oddly subdued on Monday and appeared to fall asleep during the proceedings. His wife Melania has not yet appeared at the convention.

Today, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s son Bobby Kennedy III posted a video of a call Trump made to his father in which Trump appeared to try to win Kennedy’s support first by appearing to support Kennedy’s opposition to vaccines and then by suggesting that he could get Kennedy a job. “I would love you to do something,” Trump said. “And I think it’ll be so good for you and so big for you. And we’re going to win.” He also noted that Biden had called him after the shooting, saying “it was very nice, actually,” and that the cause of the injury he sustained on Saturday felt like “the world’s largest mosquito.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#political cartoon #Mike Luckovich #Heather cox Richardson #Letters From An American #RNC #Republican Convention #MAGA #maga extremists #the Big Lie #heritage foundation

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leannan-sithe · 9 months ago

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I’m wondering where I can learn about like, godspouse courtship processes, marriage rituals, what might be required of each sides in a marriage/relationship, etcetera. Details like that. I get its individual to each Deity or spirit/entity and each relationship, but like, I’m trying to find specific examples.

To be clear, I get that this is a very personal thing, I don’t blame the sources I’ve found for not going in depth. I’m not currently trying to get into a relationship with a Deity or other entity, and I don’t think I’m receiving interest. I just keep getting fixated on this. For some reason I keep ending up down rabbit holes searching, wanting concrete examples, as if I do have a relationship to figure out, even though I don’t. Sorry, if that’s weird. I was just wondering if you had resources that could help.

Yeah! I understand the drive to learn more. If you ever find yourself wanting to engage with the practice with a specific entity, send me a DM and we'll chat.

(You can also DM me to talk in general, I don't mind that, and I don't post callout posts unless it's like the person who dated the ghosts of serial killers and was super racist. Community-level threats get @'d, not randoms with opinions I don't agree with.)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there aren't godspouse courting processes or specific rituals, nor are there requirements. I can give specific examples (and I will) but there's not... anything set in stone. Sorry.

I'm going to fictionalize and slightly dramatize some stories of people I know, with changed names and details.

You worshipped Cernunnos for years, getting into the practice because they reminded you of your childhood fascination with the woods and wilderness and learning about how to build shelters and traps and stuff. It started when you were 17 and were a "baby pagan," just learning about how worship and spirituality might look to you. You grew up in a Christian household, so you just don't know what to think or do. You make a habit of talking at Cernunnos over time, then when you get into spirit work, you start to get communication back (in signs, divination, dreams, etc). You joke and laugh and do things with Cernunnos, having fun with your godly buddy. One day, you're chatting with a friend who brings up godspousing, talking about specific things like dating or flirting. You make a joke about how "if that's godspousing, then you've been godspousing for at least a year." Your friend internet-looks at you blankly. Oh, shit. You've been doing godspousing for at least a year. The next divination you do is effectively a smug look from Cernunnos and a request for a "real date". Have you been dense enough to not notice they were FLIRTING flirting with you?

You're a Hellenic polytheist and you have a broad group of deities you work with in various capacities. You're fond of Hera and Aphrodite in particular, but you leave out offerings and whatnot when you want to appreciate the other deities. Or ask for their help in matters. You've been doing this for 10 years, it seems like. Since you were a preteen, and now you're an adult. You've been seeing a lot of things lately, the same sort of symbols. Lets say it's a specific fruit or color. That symbol has been popping up everywhere. What's going on? You mull on it for a few months until someone gifts you one of those fruits out of nowhere. Confused, befuddled, you leave the fruit on your altar for Hera to have. Over the next week you get these feelings that something is wrong, and you ask a friend to do divination for you -- your cards aren't doing shit for answers. The friend says there's a goddess that wants your attention. What? The friend also says that Hera is annoyed at you. You spend the next week pulling cards, looking into mirrors, analyzing your dreams before realizing she didn't like something on the altar. The fruit, maybe? The mystery goddess comes to mind randomly. You look the fruit up and-- of course it's Persephone, why wouldn't it be Persephone. You spend the next two years adding her to your roster of godly friends, until she starts dropping signs in your lap like mad. Daily, even. It takes another 6 months to figure out that she wants to *date* you. What. Why. How. You're wracked with worry about hubris and guilt, before you finally give in and join a godspousing group at your friend's recommendation. It takes you another 3 months to actually ask Persephone on a date. You do dates, shift her to central in your worship schedule, and.... just in case, you double check with Hades via divination that it's cool. (It is. He gives his blessing.) After a year of dating her, you start getting ring imagery everywhere. Repeatedly. She's proposing. You panic for another few months before writing out marriage oaths -- no one in the GSing community ever gives their vows/oaths verbiage in full as examples to others, it's a personal, sometimes sacred thing that we're all a little embarrassed about, you just gotta wing it -- and while you're practicing, Persephone pops in your mind and says "I do". Wait, no, that was. That wasn't the real one. She sends you mental images of putting rings on fingers. You spend a few weeks discussing it with her (and panicking) because you don't quite understand if it was legitimate or not, and it hurts your feelings a little that she just did it while you were practicing, but you come to the decision that you actually do like the idea of being formally married to her. So you decide it's the for real one.

You're in your early twenties, you decide your life is a bit boring so you decide to get into divination, specifically tarot. One of your dumbass woowoo friends you had a crush on was into them, and you kind of liked the art. In learning about tarot, you learn about witchcraft and crystals and stuff. Okay, sure. You'll do that. In a year, you're googling plant correspondences on tumblr whenever you cook a recipe. You always make your coffee with intention. But it still doesn't feel fine? Something was missing. You get into the wiccan side of tumblr witchcraft, and start adding deities into your lineup, making altars and worshipping any one of them that strikes your fancy. It costs a bit of money but it's worth feeling like you're doing something right. Eventually that gets boring for you and you sort of move on to other things. A few years later you get back into the woowoo stuff, and start thinking about the deities again. You feel a little guilty but don't get any closure about those worship relationships. It feels awkward. You swerve back into divination, choosing to pick up runes instead. You learn about how Odin is weird and masculine and can be evil. Whatever, you just want the runes. A few months in, someone questions an offhand remark you make about Odin being bad. You get corrected, learn a bit more about him, and... he sounds cool? You've known about the concept of godspousing for a while now, but you're a little leery about the whole worship thing, especially since it didn't work out last time. You approach Odin but you're CLEAR you don't want a relationship like a godspouse. You work with him for a few months. He shows up in your dreams as a variety of characters, you start to associate him with certain tv shows and watch those to bond. You started out fearing him a bit and worshipping him in a very rigid way, designing your own prayers and protocols, but now he's just the weird dude that watches Warehouse 13 with you and calls dibs on half your nachos when you make them. (You eat them anyways.) Eventually, you have a dream in which he kisses you. Um. Okay. No. You ignore it. You don't say anything to him, you just pretend it never happened. It happens again. This time, you sit down and have a conversation. You weren't interested in dating him. He's interested in dating you. ....... Well, maybe you're interested in dating him now. After all, he's not the terrifying figure you thought he was. You set a date in 6 months upon which you'll give him an answer, and tell him you expect him to behave until then and any misbehavior means you're booting him out of your life. He does behave, but another of your gods has to kick him in the ass for toeing the line. In 6 months, you tell him that you can date, and you set a bunch of rules out. No showing me imagery of the ocean or deep water, you have a phobia. No bothering me at work. Don't send me sexual stuff unless I ask for it. He reluctantly follows through but he does have to be reminded. Eventually, you dating Odin is just. The thing that you're doing. You don't really want to label it. It gives you some amazing sex dreams and weird fantasies that you're embarrassed about, but there's a lot of people who think about Odin that way online, yeah?

I genuinely don't know what information I can give you, but again, feel free to DM. Hope these were entertaining at least.

#godspouse #godspousing #godspousal

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pompelon · 7 months ago

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They are different

If you really think the two parties are the same, and you live in a blue state, move to a red state. here's some things that are happening in mine, or have happened:

Republicans are currently trying to trick voters into passing a constitutional amendment banning ranked choice voting - our best chance to chip away at the two-party system. Democrats are currently opposing it.

Republicans are, ironically, also trying to gerrymander the process of passing a constitutional amendment to give voters in red counties more weight - because voters passed amendments they didn't like. Democrats are opposing it.

Republicans wrote and instituted an extremely strict abortion ban immediately after roe v. wade was overturned. Democrats are trying to pass a constitutional amendment to make abortion legal again.

Republicans refused to pass medicaid expansion, and then refused to fund it even after it won an overwhelming majority in a ballot initiative. This led to tens of thousands of people (including me) having no access to healthcare. Democrats led the court battle that forced them to institute the law voters passed.

Republicans are currently defending child marriage; that sixteen-year-old girl who can't get an abortion should be "allowed" to marry the man who impregnated her, they say. Democrats are trying to raise the marriage age.

Republicans have deliberately defunded programs that dispense benefits, resulting in kids literally going hungry. Democrats are trying to fund them.

Republicans have already managed to ban some forms of trans health care and are attempting to ban more. Democrats are opposing it.

Republicans are trying to make it a sex crime to support a trans minor, meaning you could go to prison and be labeled a sex offender for life. They also are trying to make sex crimes against minors punishable by the death penalty. Democrats are opposing it.

Republicans are attempting to repeal environmental regulations to allow businesses more dumping of toxic chemicals into our water without consequences. Democrats are opposing it.

Republicans are oppposed to laws that regulate puppy mills, resulting in us being one of the worst states for this form of animal cruelty. Democrats would like to regulate them - though tbh this is not high on their list of priorities with everything else going on.

Republicans are attempting to relax child labor laws so that children's labor can be exploited more easily. Children are already being found working in chicken plants. Democrats are opposing it.

Republicans are leading the charge to ban LGBTQ+ books, book about the experience of being a racial minority, or basically anything that exposes children to the idea that being white, straight, and Christian isn't the only good type of person. Democrats are opposing the bans.

I am not fond of the Democratic party, my politics are far to the left of them, but here's the thing: They are not the same as the Republicans at all. They have not lost their fucking minds. They're centrists, not leftists, but there are real, meaningful differences between living under a centrist government and living under a fascist one.

Electing Republicans in 2024 isn't going to wake up the country and cause a revolution. My state has been under Republican control for way too long, and we have not fucking woken up. You don't understand how easy it is for ordinary, everyday people to compartmentalize the suffering of others.

I think that people are doing that a little bit too when they say "both parties are the same." The child that can't get an abortion, the parent who can't feed their children, the neighborhood with toxic chemicals in the creek - these are minor abstractions - distractions from the fact that both parties are fundamentally capitalist.

Come to me honestly and say that you cannot vote for Democrats because genocide is your red line, and I will talk to you about how I struggled with that too, and why I decided to vote for Democrats anyway. But if you say that both parties are the same, you are not engaging with the truth of that decision.

#politics 2024 #dreading the next year and the next and the next #please vote

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theconstitutionisgayculture · 2 years ago

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I've always wanted to ask how you felt about the Catholic Church's teachings about homosexuality and their refusal to sanctify gay marriages. I know you're on pretty decent terms with multiple individual Catholics (like me), so I assumed you didn't care that much, but still would like to know

I actually feel the same way about the Church's refusal to perform gay marriage as I do about government sanctioned gay marriage, or marriage in general. I don't need any third party to validate my marriage or my relationship. To me, marriage is a lifetime commitment to love another person. I can do that in a cave with just the person I love and it would have the same meaning to me as if I did it in a church with 1000 people. If anything, I understand the Church's position on not accepting it a lot more than I do the government's. Outside the Constitution, which never mentions marriage at all, all laws can be changed or repealed by congress at any time. Hell, even the Constitution can be changed through the amendment process if there are enough states that support it. That's just how our government is supposed to work. If all these politicians wanted to make gay marriage legal, they could have done it at any time instead of waiting until the Supreme Court ruled that banning gay marriage is unconstitutional and then acting like they supported that all along. The Church isn't like that, the way I understand it. Its laws are made by God and aren't supposed to be subject to change. Especially not change because secular society has changed.

As for my feelings about the Church's teachings about homosexuality, I don't really have any. I'd probably feel differently if I was a believer, but even though I was raised Catholic, I don't believe in God and I don't follow the Church's teachings. I've honestly never understood why so many atheists get so mad about what Christians believe. To me, one of the best parts of not believing was not having to care what the Church says about anything anymore. But so many of them seem to base their entire lives around hating Christianity or doing the opposite of what the Bible says and to me that's just another way of having religion dictate your life. That's a whole other thing, though, lol. Basically I have no issue with what the Church, or individual Christians, think about my sexuality. If anyone says they want to pray for me, I take it in the spirit I assume it's intended, that they have genuine concern for my soul and are being compassionate in their own way. If they're saying it with scorn and to feel superior, I just ignore it. And if Christians are right about God and the afterlife, I think Jesus would have a few things to say about people using his teachings as an excuse to hate other people.

#rereading this it feels slightly combative?#which isn't my intent at all #maybe i'm just being oversensitive

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goldieghoulie · 2 months ago

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New Chapter! (14 of ?)

Isabel endures mass, and the week of court life that follows. At least she finds a reason to look forward to the next Sunday morning.

Story summary

Having fled the instability of Scotland when the Bruce declared himself king, Isabel has spent the past years living off the goodwill of her royal godmother, but that can’t go on forever. With no offers of marriage forthcoming, and no other abbeys willing to take her, Isabel hopes the Ministry at Linköping will at last offer her a home.

Read on AO3

or a snippet below the cut

This was what she got for attending a Christian mass as a Satanist, wasn’t it?

When they had all filed into the chapel, Isabel had hoped that the nobility would take all the prime positions, and that she could find a discreet place in the back. She had a feeling that Secondo would put on a grand display and wanted to enjoy and appreciate it without all eyes on her. However, Bunny hadn’t released her until they were both seated, next to each other, right in front of the altar. Isabel on the side of the pew next to the aisle. A space where she was visible to every person in the church who cared to look.

As she had anticipated, Secondo had commanded the room from the moment he walked in. She had heard the feminine draw of breath from both Bunny sitting next to her and Ingeborg who had taken the place directly across the aisle. She had done her best to fight the same reaction in her. Even without his paints, and the pale chasuble in place of her beautiful work, he was a sight to behold.

As if guessing his effect on her, he had sneaked glances and teasing almost smiles all mass and Isabel eventually crossed her hands to tuck them into her sleeves so she could grip her forearms. Better she bruise her own forearms than risk some larger reaction that might be noticed by one of the nobles around her. If she thought that bowing her head would be taken as piety, she would have done that as well. As it was, she would just have to suffer.

At last, the service wound down and, as Secondo stepped past her to lead the procession from the church, she breathed her first deep, full breath since mass had started. They remained in their seats as those closer to the doors rose and exited first, though conversation now filled the hall.

“If Father Peter delivered mass like that every week, I’d certainly stay awake for it.” Ingeborg said, leaning to address the woman seated beside her, but not bothering to keep her voice particularly quiet.

“Certainly! Though I can’t say I’m feeling particularly pious at the moment,” the woman tittered back. Ingeborg collapsed in giggles herself and leaned into her friend. Isabel felt the bite of her nails against her arms and forced herself to turn to Bunny on her other side. She reminded herself that Ingeborg was still young, well a teenager, and commanded herself to remember what her own feelings had been at the time. Even if she had been better at hiding them.

“I’m hungry. Are you?” Isabel asked, striking for what she hoped was an unaffected tone.

“Yes, but don’t worry. They always lay out a big breakfast for after mass,” Bunny reassured with a smile and Isabel tried to smile back.

“That sounds lovely.” As the giggles from behind her hasn’t subsided, she fished for something else to talk about. “I have been thinking that I might improve the coverlet for little Erik. Seems the brown is rather plain for one so important as him.”

“Oh, would you?” Bunny asked, placing her hands on Isabel’s still entwined arms. “I had thought of commissioning you, only it seemed so silly. He’ll only be small for a little while and I don’t want you to work so hard on something that will be put away after only a little bit.”

Isabel relaxed, the familiar world of embroidery allowing her to push past her maelstrom of other emotions. “I’ll do something simple. Something I can complete before I head back to the ministry. He’s a duke, or a future one, he deserves nice things.”

“Oh, Stony, thank you! That sounds wonderful.”

“What sounds wonderful?” Ingeborg’s voice pulled them from conversation and they both turned to see her and the lady she had been chatting with standing in the aisle, waiting for them.

“Stony is going to do some embroidery on Erik’s coverlet,” Bunny confessed with a broad smile.

“That’s nice.” Ingeborg said, though Isabel could see that her smile was slightly strained. “Can you make one for my little Magnus too?”

“Happily,” Isabel said, her own smile never faltering. She had expected this; Ingeborg always needed to have the best and prettiest things, couldn’t abide others getting more attention than her. “Though, as I expect work on Erik’s to take up all of my time during our stay, I hope you can tolerate a delay.”

A small frown pulled at Ingeborg's mouth and Isabel was thankful for being raised with siblings, Ingeborg had never had to share or accept a “no.” She could almost picture Ingeborg stamping her foot and demanding the coverlet now.

“Good things come to those who wait,” Isabel added, trying to keep any note of censure from her voice. Ingeborg pouted still and opened her mouth to reply but Isabel slid a pointed glance to Ingeborg’s friend and then back. Her gentle efforts would be for naught if Ingeborg decided to throw a tantrum and embarrass herself anyways. Ingeborg got the hint, and her mouth snapped shut.

“Of course,” she finally said. “You promised to work on Erik’s first, so that you must do. And with as wonderful as your work is, I’m sure it will be worth the wait.”

“I will do my best,” Isabel promised.

“I look forward to it,” she said, with only a hint of surliness. “Shall we go to breakfast?”

Isabel nodded in response. Ingeborg turned back to her friend, and they took off down the aisle. Isabel and Bunny followed at a more sedate pace, arms linked, as they discussed what design Isabel might work.

“A wonderful mass, Bishop,” Bunny said as they stopped in front of Secondo at the exit of the chapel.

“Thank you, Your Grace,” he replied. “How did you find the mass, Sister?”

“Wonderful, same as Ingeborg,” Isabel replied. She lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “Slightly different than what I have grown accustomed to at the Ministry, but you adapted well to the changes.”

“I am pleased for your approval.” He met her gaze and for a moment Isabel saw her own yearning reflected back at her, but then Bunny tugged on her elbow and the moment was gone.

“Come, let’s get to breakfast.” Bunny nodded towards the main hall. “Something tells me Ingeborg’s in a petty enough mood that she may not hold the meal for us today.”

“Right,” Isabel murmured and allowed herself to be pulled across the bailey. She glanced back as they reached the doors but found him already gone. While she had known she wouldn’t have time with Secondo at court, she hadn’t prepared for how painful it would be. How much his nearness but inaccessibility would a be knife in the heart. As much as she dreaded their return—the sooner they returned to the abbey, the sooner Secondo would leave for Italy—she wished their time at court would pass quickly.

#the band ghost #papa secondo #papa emeritus ii #ghost fanfiction #secondo x oc #fanfic #goldiewrites

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01298283 · 1 year ago

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According to the tradition of my country (Brazil),a good woman,a real woman is one who follows the biblical commandments, which means that according to tradition I am a witch,crazy,slut and pervert and a mockery to society,but I I love being a witch,crazy, slut and horny.

Here you must be submissive to your man and follow moralistic and conservative principles to be accepted,there is a social standard based on religious principles in absolutely everything here,a kind of religious fascism,even adopted by the political and judicial system.

But the majority of religious people here (Christians) are extremely hypocritical and here there is a high rate of femicide,sexism, homophobia precisely because the basis of society here and its teachings are based on biblical principles,even part of the misery in this country is thanks to religious imposition, as this religion is a mass of political maneuver here.

Everything that deviates from Christian modesty and custom is demonized here and most of them live on appearances and are fascists,most Brazilian men are extremely misogynistic and sexist and are part of Christianity,Christianity is a factory of abusers and sexists.

It is normal within religious institutions here to witness different types of abuse and all of this is camouflaged by religion and justified in the name of a God,the Christian God for example,their customs and teachings are similar to Islam. Your value here is based mainly on your religion,many companies when they find out that you are not part of the Christian carcinogenic herd automatically delete you and they declare war on you.

Many women ally themselves with patriarchy and male chauvinism,defending sexist or scoundrel men for fear of criticism and exclusion and for fear of dying single,they shape themselves to fit archaic and medieval standards. Now they are voting in the political plenary to ban gay marriage and are using the Bible as a reference and implementing their religious dictatorship in society and many Brazilians are supporting this,religious fascism is very strong here.

Here it is normal to see women defending patriarchy,archaic customs and abusive men, especially if he becomes a Christian,he will automatically be canonized,rape culture in this country is still very strong and is far from over.

Christians fight to impose their religious dictatorship on everyone and anyone who does not follow their principles will always be hostile to them and seen as inferior, especially women who decide to live a life free from religious and conservative impositions.

They preach the famous charity and Christian love,but all of this is just a farce to camouflage who they really are,their charity is limited, that is it is only done for those who really decide to follow what they believe. They are always looking for ways to brainwash you and convert you, especially with tales of Christian guilt and hell.

There is a high rate of abuse among Christian couples,many husbands abuse their wives physically and psychologically and develop various psychological and physical health problems and the church blames the woman and the Devil,and uses biblical verses to justify abuse and encourage women to continue living alongside their abusive husbands and save the relationship,most of these men are mass abusers,violent,cheaters,manipulators, pedophiles,rapists.

Brazilian justice is abusive in several aspects and continues to abuse victims in the courts, patriarchy and sexism are very strong among them and the entire judicial system has no preparation whatsoever to judge or protect victims of abuse and are extremely slow in the processes on purpose,they try in every way to blame the victim and you can hardly get justice,the judiciary hates women,hates children and hates the poor. If the abuser is white,Christian and has more favorable conditions in the eyes of the law, he is well regarded even if he abused,the majority of judges are sexist,including female judges.

So in fact Brazil is a large medieval colony full of corruption among the majority,especially the political class and judiciary and fascism is present in several places here.

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tomorrowusa · 2 years ago

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Nowadays, if a group has "freedom" or "patriot" in its name, it's more likely than not that it has links to the far right. The "Alliance Defending Freedom" certainly qualifies.

Since it was formed in 1994, Alliance Defending Freedom has been at the center of a nationwide effort to limit the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people, all in the name of Christianity. The Southern Poverty Law Center has termed it an “anti-LGBTQ hate group” that has extended its tentacles into nearly every area of the culture wars. In the process, it has won the ear of some of the most influential people in the US, and become “a danger to every American who values their freedoms”, according to Glaad, the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization. Through “model legislation” and lawsuits filed across the country, ADF aims to overturn same-sex marriage, enact a total ban on abortion, and strip away the already minimal rights that trans people are afforded in the US.

The ADF is a bigtime lobbying and political action group which is a major force in the homophobia-patriarchy industrial complex.

Under the Trump administration, the group found its way into the highest echelons of power, advising Jeff Sessions, the then attorney general, before he announced sweeping guidance to protect “religious liberty” which chipped away at LGBTQ+ protections. The organization counts among its sometime associates Amy Coney Barrett, the supreme court justice who the Washington Post reported spoke five times at an ADF training program established to push a “distinctly Christian worldview in every area of law”. ADF is engaged in “a very strong campaign to put a certain type of religious view at the center of American life”, said Rabia Muqaddam, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “[The ADF campaign] extends to abortion, it extends to LGBTQ folks, to immigration, to what kind of religion we think is America, what kind of people we think are American,” Muqaddam said. “It’s as dramatic as that. I think we are in a fight to preserve democracy and preserve America as a place where we do tolerate and encourage and empower everyone.”

Their connection to the odious "Focus on the Family" is not unexpected.

ADF was founded in 1994 by a group of “leaders in the Christian community”, according to its website. Among those leaders was James Dobson, the founder of the anti-LGBTQ+ Focus on the Family organization who has said the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting, in which 20 children and six adults were killed, was a “judgment” from God because of declining church numbers. [ ... ] Over the past two decades, ADF has been a main driver in dozens of pieces of rightwing legislation and lawsuits.

ADF has gobs of money to spend on promoting anti-LGBTQ legislation – especially in state legislatures. And they have been successful because people on the moderate to progressive part of the political spectrum have been badly neglecting state legislatures for decades.

Emerson Hodges, a research analyst at the SPLC, said what ADF is really doing is attempting to “undo LGBTQ social and legislative progress”. “They go under the guise of religious liberty, and religious freedom. What that means, though, is this religious liberty to discriminate and the religious freedom to invalidate LGBTQ individuals,” Hodges said. Worryingly, there are signs that ADF, and other groups like it, are growing in influence. As Republican politicians and rightwing media fan the flames of an extremist culture war, NBC reported that donations to ADF, which is a registered non-profit, more than doubled from 2011 to 2021. As it has grown in influence, ADF’s “model legislation” has found its way into state legislatures across the country, as the group attempts to strip away LGBTQ+ rights, and the rights of trans people in particular.

[ ... ] “They’ve also worked to ban the right to choose, and are in cahoots with other extremist groups to oppress marginalized people. ADF is a danger to every American who values their freedoms – to be ourselves, live freely, and be welcome to contribute and to succeed in every area of society.”

The only way to curb groups like the ADF on a state level is by making sure there are are fewer Republicans in state legislatures who will do the ADF's bidding.

Find out who represents you in your legislature if you don't already know.

Find Your Legislators Look your legislators up by address or use your current location.

If you have moved since the last election, even just down the block, then register at your new address. Voter registration is done by address.

Be A Voter - Vote Save America

Once registered, never miss an election. There's no such thing as an unimportant election.

#lgbtq+ rights #fundamentalist christians #the far right #anti-lgbtq extremism #adf #alliance defending freedom #religious fanatics #homophobia #the homophobic agenda #republicans #state legislatures #rightwing legislation #register and vote #election 2024

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jiojithwebservices · 2 years ago

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sweeterboylove · 7 days ago

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you mentioned a while ago (maybe on your other blog?) that you had a whole outline for your novel. what does that process look like for you? do you want to share any snippets with us? or otherwise maybe tell us a bit about the characters?

so, bovzek and the devil is based on a fairy tale, so that makes things a little easier, since i already have the barest of bones to work with, and is building off of a short story i wrote in junior year of high school. i've got a few different plot outlines that ive written and rewritten, but research has proven to be most important. batd takes place in 1155 ad in eastern europe and deals with politics, religion, and the expansion of christianity, so if i dont know the details of the time period and space, i can't flesh out things more. Hence the many a night spent pouring over my old university's online library studying the environments, language development, the holy roman empire, early christian theology, and all that jazz.

the main story follows bovzek, the youngest adoptive son of a poor miller's family, on his quest to best the devil. he's the bio son of a fae and her lumberer lover; when a king of a nearby kingdom gets lost in the woods, he finds the fae, whose lover just died in childbirth. the king agrees to take baby bovzek in as a servant in his court, until he finds out the fae intends for bovzek to marry the king's son, alois, when he's grown. the king attempts to drown baby bovzek in a well, where he's found by the miller and raised to adulthood.

alois and bovzek meet when they are grown when Alois stops at the miller's well for water and instantly hit it off. the king realizes who bovzek is and plans to have him killed-- but, because of extensive shenanigans, bovzek is married to alois. the king is worried what religious authority will say if he annuls the marriage or has bovzek killed, so instead he sends him on a wild goose hunt for the devil. bovzek tracks the devil down, but finds himself trapped in hell and has to rely on his wits and new friends to escape. it focuses a lot on the theme of 'old vs new', like with slavic myth vs christianity, alois wanting to abolish the monarchy vs his horrid father, and bovzek as a mix of the old ways through the fae, and the new ways, common blood marrying into royalty.

i'm torn though; i want my book to be historically accurate, but at the same time, i dont want to write homophobia, or misogyny, or racism (bovzek is mixed race, with his fae mother being black and his human mother being white, and alois is from a fake country around the ottoman and persian empires) but at the same time, not including them seems like a cop-out. regardless, ill need sensitivity readers, but im still deciding how heavily i want to lean into the historical revisionism.

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kishu5820 · 13 days ago

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Indian Law for a Comman Man: A Simple Law Guide for Every Indian by Shree Krishna Seelam.

"To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity" by Nelson Mandela

This quotation reimburses a very strong thought into our minds of how absence of law and unawareness of rights pose threat to the very virtue of humanity.

The book " Indian law for a comman man: A simple Law Guide for Every Indian" by Shree Krishna Seelam illuminates the principle of law and how it empowers the citizens and comman man with the realisation of their strength.

The highlights of the book enumerates the understanding of law in an insightful manner.

1) Introducing Constitution: i) The Preamble adopted on 26 November 1949 promotes objective and virtues like Justice, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Sovereignty, Socialism, Secularism and Democratic Republic.

ii) The fundamental Rights (Article 14-32) and fundamental duties under 42 Constitutional amendment of 1976 empower citizens with the enforceable rights and duties towards their country.

iii) The Constitutional Protection under 5 writs namely Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Certiorari, Prohibition and Quo Warranto enable comman man to seek justice who knock at the door of courts in case of infringement of rights.

2) Judicial System: The independent and well laid structure of judicial system contains Supreme court at the top followed by High court and District court, Panchayats to re embark the procedure of justice.

Also , the use of PILs has been elaboratory explained.

3) Laws : i) Criminal Law: The Indian Penal Code born in 1860 is the backbone of Indian criminal law. Different acts committed under the law, with the application of crpc and procedure of arrest and bails along with trials and process of seeking Juvenile justice.

ii) Civil Law: The code of civil law procedure (CPC), the rulebook that dictates the conduct of civil procedures. Also, the integral elements involving contract law and law of injunction has been highlighted .

iii) Family Law: The Hindu Law, Muslim Law and Christian Law along with Special Marriage Act and Alimony and maintanence has been put forth.With the upcoming cases like that of Atul subhash awareness of such alimony laws become more crucial.

iv) Labour laws: The exploitation of labour and workers in working sector is a prominent issue of conflict. There are many laws including ESI act 1948, The payment wages act 1986, The Maternity Benefit act,1961, The Trade unions Act 1926 to protect employees from further degradation of their professional lives by employers.

v) Environmental Laws: Environment degradation is one of the biggest challenges we have, I think a question that we are not asking ourselves is: Isn't humanity committing suicide with this indiscriminate and tyrannical use of nature?

This situation has underlined the need for protection of environment which can be addressed only with the laws like Water Prevention and Control of Pollution Act 1974, Environment Protection Act 1986 , Forest Protection Act 1980 , Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

Here is a report on climate action by UN :https://www.un.org/en/climatechange

4) How to seek help: i) Initiate legal action by filing a case and following the entire legal procedure.

ii) Finding a suitable legal help like advocate, legal consultants who have expertise and knowledge of imparting right course of action.

iii) Opting for Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) . It could be implemented using instruments lie Arbitration, Mediation, conciliation and Lok Adalats.

The book opens up the portal to understand the foundational aspects of how law operates around us .

To get more insights of the book you can buy a free ebook: https://amzn.in/d/bKedTv6

#indianlaw #Shree krishna Seelam #Politics

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seolawchef · 20 days ago

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Divorce Demystified: Your Guide to the Legal Process

Divorce is an emotionally and legally challenging phase in one’s life. Understanding the legal process is crucial to navigate this journey smoothly and ensure your rights are protected. Whether you are seeking guidance from a divorce lawyer in Delhi or opting for divorce lawyer online consultation, this guide covers the essential steps involved in the legal process of divorce.

Understanding Divorce in India

Divorce in India is governed by various personal laws based on religion, such as:

Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 for Hindus.

Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 for Muslims.

Indian Divorce Act, 1869 for Christians.

Special Marriage Act, 1954 for interfaith marriages.

Consulting a divorce lawyer ensures you understand which law applies to your case and your legal options.

Types of Divorce in India

1. Mutual Consent Divorce

This is the simplest form of divorce, where both parties agree to separate amicably. Key aspects include:

Agreement on alimony/maintenance.

Custody of children (if applicable).

Division of assets.

2. Contested Divorce

When one party does not agree to the divorce or its terms, the case becomes contested. Common grounds include:

Cruelty

Adultery

Desertion

Mental disorder

Conversion of religion

A skilled divorce lawyer consultation can help present your case effectively.

Steps in the Divorce Process

1. Filing the Petition

A petition is filed in the appropriate family court.

In mutual consent cases, a joint petition is filed.

For contested divorces, the aggrieved party files the petition.

2. Serving Notice

The court sends a legal notice to the other party.

A divorce lawyer office near me can assist in ensuring timely delivery.

3. Mediation and Counseling

Courts often mandate mediation to help resolve disputes amicably.

If reconciliation fails, the court proceeds with the case.

4. Evidence and Arguments

Both parties present evidence and arguments.

A divorce lawyer in Noida ensures your interests are represented in court.

5. Final Decision

The court passes its judgment based on the evidence and legal arguments.

In mutual consent cases, the process is faster, taking 6-18 months.

Role of a Divorce Lawyer

1. Legal Guidance

A divorce lawyer consultation provides clarity on your rights and legal options, ensuring you make informed decisions.

2. Document Preparation

Drafting petitions and affidavits.

Collecting evidence and preparing witness statements.

3. Representation in Court

Arguing your case effectively.

Handling cross-examinations and legal technicalities.

Benefits of Online Consultation with Divorce Lawyers

1. Convenience

Connect with experienced lawyers from the comfort of your home.

2. Cost-Effective

Save time and money by avoiding frequent visits to law offices.

3. Expert Guidance Anywhere

Whether you’re in a remote area or a metropolitan city, access legal expertise online.

Many clients prefer divorce lawyer online consultation for initial guidance before proceeding with in-person representation.

Common Challenges in Divorce Cases

1. Custody Battles

Child custody is often a contentious issue. Courts prioritize the welfare of the child while deciding custody.

2. Financial Settlements

Alimony and division of assets can lead to disputes. A competent divorce lawyer in Delhi can help negotiate fair terms.

3. Emotional Stress

The process can be overwhelming. Having a compassionate lawyer by your side makes a significant difference.

Why Choose LawChef for Divorce Cases?

LawChef specializes in providing comprehensive legal support for divorce cases, ensuring a smooth and efficient process.

Our Services Include:

Expert Consultation: Get personalized advice from experienced divorce lawyers.

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Court Representation: Skilled advocates to represent you effectively in court.

Online Consultation: Quick and convenient access to legal guidance.

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FAQs About Divorce

1. How long does a mutual consent divorce take?

Typically, 6-18 months, depending on the jurisdiction and case complexity.

2. Can I file for divorce online?

While petitions must be filed in person or through a lawyer, initial consultations and document preparations can be done online.

3. Do I need a lawyer for mutual consent divorce?

Yes, a lawyer ensures the process is legally sound and smooth, avoiding future complications.

Divorce is undoubtedly a challenging journey, but with the right legal support, you can navigate it confidently. Contact LawChef today for professional guidance from experienced divorce lawyers and take the first step toward a better future.

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