Thursday, March 17, 2011

Curing gay people? There's an app for that.

"Curing" gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people? Yep, there’s an app for that -- unless we can convince Apple to get rid of it.
A controversy is erupting around a new application for the iPhone that claims gay people can be "cured," and that gay kids should be put through therapy to "fix" their sexual orientation.
Believe it or not, Apple is providing Exodus International -- an organization that promotes "conversion therapy" to try to brainwash gay people into turning straight -- a platform on iTunes for their homophobic iPhone app. This, despite the fact that Exodus believes that LGBT people should be confronted with "spiritual warfare," and that "freedom from homosexuality" should be a societal goal.
Worse, Apple has given the Exodus app a 4+ rating on iTunes, labeling the app "non-offensive," even though the group tells gay kids that their sexual orientation is "immoral," "satanic," and in need of a cure -- factors that contribute to teen suicide.
The grassroots group Truth Wins Out has started a petition on Change.org , asking Apple to follow their own editorial standards -- and remove this dangerous "ex-gay" app from iTunes now. The more signatures they deliver, the more likely Apple executives -- like Steve Jobs -- will do the right thing. Click here to add your name.
Apple has been a strong ally to the LGBT community for years, even donating $100,000 to defeat California’s Proposition 8, the state’s ban on marriage equality. Just a few months ago, Apple actually removed another app from iTunes that labeled same-sex couples "immoral sexual partnerships."
Exodus International’s "ex-gay" app deserves to be pulled from iTunes as well. "Conversion therapy" has been universally condemned by every major medical and scientific organization around the world. The American Psychological Association, American Medical Association, and American Counseling Association have all rejected "ex-gay" therapy, saying that it results in catastrophic damage to the mental health of its victims.
Please click here to sign the petition to Apple executives, asking them to stand up for equality and remove this dangerous iPhone app from iTunes now:
http://www.change.org/petitions/demand-that-apple-remove-ex-gay-iphone-app?alert_id=YCfIuJlIhG_rXiUkHTPIV&me=aa
Thanks for joining us -- and sharing this petition with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. With your support, we know Apple will do the right thing.
- Eden and the Change.org team
P.S. We’ve got some wonderful news. Last week, more than 50,000 Change.org members signed an urgent petition in support of Nikki Peet -- the high school senior who courageously fought for a Gay-Straight Alliance group at her Corpus Christi, Texas, school -- and won! Under national and community pressure, Nikki’s school board voted to allow her group to establish a safe space for LGBT kids and their allies. On behalf of Nikki, thank you for taking a stand for kids and equality.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

On a Dream

Frostbite is a feline mouth,
Pricks with delicate daggers.
Crawls on padded paws
Across muffled, yielding powder.

She claws at my door,
Scritch scratches and mews.
I stiffen, eyes wide, and wait
For her shadow to slither beneath the door.

But the bolt's in the wall,
I don't answer her call.
Instead, slip into silence,
Sink slowly into simple softness.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Daydream

An open rock,
Wide and flat
Drenched in afternoon Sun
I strip down
To my polka-dot underwear
And lie flat on my back
A photosynthetic starfish.

Saint Paul

Gasoline plumes
Fluid and white,
Disperse, greeting the city snow,
The city air,
With a caress.

Portland

Pink blossoms unfurl slowly,
Hesitant and hopeful.
Steady, strong blooms met with winter rain.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

1

In the stomach of the earth
There grows something green
She's bound to give birth
Any day now.

Bubble over with mirth
And also with girth
While the lean beans
Break forth from the
Soil.

0

What a stupid way to be
Buried to your knees
With useless uncertainty
What a stupid way to be

What a senseless way to act
Covering your tracks
Wallowing in facts
When your abstract becomes cracked

What a sour face to flaunt
When zen turns into want
And old habits taunt
And haunt

And what a terse thing to write
After taking staggered flight
From trite fights that do ignite

We do recite
But now contrite
I bid thee goodnight.