Teen in Northern Ireland Releases Touching Video Asking For His Mom’s Right To Marry

A 15 year-old from Northern Ireland made headlines this week with a video taking a local politician to task for voting against marriage equality. Darragh Tibbs wrote a letter to local assembly leader Gordon Dunne about a month ago asking why the official voted against same-sex marriage. After receiving no response, Tibbs made this video wherein he reads his letter to Dunne.“I am 15 years old and a constituent of yours,” the letter opens, “and I live just around the corner from your office. You voted no in the Marriage Equality vote last year—I want to know why. I’m the child of a same-sex relationship, and I can see absolutely no reason why my brother and I should be denied a secure family set-up. To me it seems perfectly reasonable that a democratic government should give all of its citizens the same legal protections. What gives you the right to take from my brother and me the right for legal protection for our family?” Tibbs goes on to say that the rest of the U.K. has voted for marriage equality and he wonders why Northern Ireland hasn’t done the same. “Gordon Dunne is a straight man, so when the legislation goes through, it won’t actually make any difference to his life. The only conclusion we’re left is that Gordon Dunne doesn’t support equality. He doesn’t truly believe that absolutely everyone is equal, just those who he approves of,” Tibbs says. According to NewNowNext, “a spokesperson for the Democratic Unionist Party commented, ‘The party supports the traditional definition of marriage of one man and one woman…we don’t believe marriage should be redefined.’” Dunne has yet to comment on Tibbs video or letter.

Monday Meme: Heart

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Happy Monday! On this date in 1985, painter Marc Chagall died at the ripe old age of 97. Chagall was the oldest of nine children in his  Jewish Lithuanian family. At that time in Russia, Jewish children were not allowed to attend regular Russian schools and universities so Chagall attended a small private drawing school. Not a fan of the traditional portrait style popular at the time, Chagall struck out on his own. His long, storied career is a triumph in vision and individuality. Chagall works can be seen on permanent display at the Metropolitan Opera, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Opera de Paris and in Tudeley in Kent, England which houses the world’s only complete set of Chagall stained glass windows.  Chagall’s words in today’s meme challenge us to work from the heart and we can’t think of a better way to start our week!

Pick up a card for the person who inspires you here!

Disney & Marvel To Boycott Georgia If Anti-LGBT Bill Passes

CIchTNYUsAEiZT7Add Disney and Marvel to the growing list of companies to say they will boycott the state of Georgia if the governor signs a bill restricting the rights of LGBT people into law. HB 757 formerly known as the “pastor protection act” has passed in the House and Senate and is heading to Governor Nathan Deal’s desk to be signed. HB 757, like Indiana’s ‘religious freedom bill’, would allow pastor’s, churches and other faith-based organizations to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies to certain groups including LGBT couples. The bill would even allow hospitals to deny services to LGBT couples. “Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law,” a Disney spokesman said on Wednesday. This could be a huge  financial hit for the state of Georgia if other studios followed suit. Thanks to great tax breaks for studios, there are currently 10-30 film and television shows being filmed in Georgia at any given time, meaning millions in revenue for the state. According to the Los Angeles Times, “During Georgia’s fiscal 2015, 248 film and television productions shot in the Peach State, representing $1.7 billion in spending there, according to a statement last year by the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Those film and TV projects generated an economic impact of more than $6 billion during the fiscal year extending from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015.”

Disney and Marvel join the NFL, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines and dozens of other companies who have come out in opposition to the measure.

Antarctica Declared First LGBT Friendly Continent

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Non-profit organization Planting Peace has declared Antarctica the world’s first LGBT-friendly continent. Planting Peace hopes to “instill full fundamental rights to LGBT people inhabiting or visiting the continent of Antarctica.” Founder Aaron Jackson has set social media ablaze recently with images of him travelling around Antarctica carrying a Pride flag “to raise awareness for the need for action across the planet because basic rights are still denied to the LGBT community in so many countries across the world.” The group wants to shed a light on the 76 countries which continue to ignore the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, six of which still consider homosexuality a crime punishable by death. Jackson and company first made headlines a few years back when they purchased a house in Topeka, Kansas directly across the street from Westboro Baptist Church and painted it in the colors of the Pride flag. original

 

 

Monday Meme: Technicolor

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Comedian, actress, talk show host and activist Rosie O’Donnell turns 54 today! O’Donnell holds the distinction of being television’s first openly gay talk show host (beating Ellen DeGeneres by just a few months). Thanks to her openness on her daytime talk show, O’Donnell opened up a national conversation about gay parents and adoption. Ever the trendsetter, Rosie also called out a certain presidential hopeful on his shady personality way back in 2006. Never dull, sometimes controversial and always entertaining Rosie O’Donnell deserves her place among other LGBT icons. Happy birthday, Ro!