The Audacity of the stupid.

This woman feels like she was forced to leave her position as a court clerk because she didn't want to validate same sex marriage in NY. What an idiot. No one forced her to do anything but her fucking job. If her religious views prevent her from doing her job it's the religion at fault.

A Special Message to my LGBT Family and Friends.

Dear Family,
We have had a huge breakthrough with the ending of DADT here in the states and we have a lot of things to be thankful for. It's actually starting to seem like we may not be second class citizens too much longer. We have a long way to go however in American and in the world to make intolerance towards all people end.
The "Religious Right" in our country is shaking their sabers and calling for an end to the DADT repeal already and even there is talk of heightened violence against us. Please remember that we are the better people, we have the innate capacity to love across gender lines and with that comes the compassion and insight to love beyond the walls placed in our way.
I believe in peace and love being the only way to face hatred and fear head on and that's what we need to do now. Get out of your closets and comfortable 'invisible' lives and talk to people from different religions and opinions. We are a strong people because we COME FROM these groups and have survived their scorn and ignorance, lets use this strength of will and love to help them come to terms with the fact that we don't want to harm them or their way of life. you see that's what they are being led to believe, that we are a threat to them and the fact that we live among them yet they don't actually get to know us makes them all the more worried.
It's time for love-ins at religious centers. We need to come together in peace in-order to help them evolve to the new paradigm, the new world of thought and acceptance that is the only way we as a species, gay or straight will survive into the next millennium.

Love and Lightning,
Joseph Leven

A special Message to God's "Gentle Loving People".

Dear Religious people who hate LGBT people,
I understand that you feel your way of life is threatened and the "traditions" of intolerance you so cherish make it hard for you to accept that MY people are becoming accepted over your strong protestations but please allow your bigotry to die with a bit of grace.
It's bad enough that you fear and hate us for no REAL reason, but this campaign against us has brought you and your people nothing but ridicule and has make you the pawns of powers that want to subjugate us all.

I pray you are aware that this is all coming from a place of love for you and all people when I say these things. While I an not Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or any other sect that allows hatred as a virtue I understand how you all must feel. I'm sure the Neanderthals must have felt something similar when our Cro-Magnon ancestors came along. The LGBT people have been persecuted long enough. We have nothing against you except for what you have done and continue to do to us as a message of your "faith".

Please realize that if your faith comes from anything outside yourselves such as the teachings of a book or the teachings of your elders than it's not worth the paper it may or may not be written on. NOTHING is immune to the manipulation of people who want to subjugate others. It's a proven FACT that the "bible" has been rewritten many many times as has the Koran and the Talmud even many of the Heathen and Pagan faiths are guilty of this, Each rewriting has been done to bend the messages in the direction of the people telling the story. It's a simple game of "whisper down the lane" gone horribly wrong.
The only true faiths left are ones based on universal love and compassion. We all understand that the world would be a better place without war, disease, and poverty yet it's these teachings that divide humanity that create all of these abuses against humanity.

I implore you to see the wisdom in what I say. Those who are calling for the deaths of ANYONE let alone the LGBT people are fundamentally anti-life and anti-love.

Love and Lightning,
Joseph Leven

Internalized occupational bigotry and bias, or Why can't we stop judging each other?

Yesterday I was chatting with a very nice man from Great Briton and he mentioned he was on Lunch break. I naturally asked him what he did for a living and all of a sudden the conversation (ie typing) stopped. A few minutes later he stated he was a gardener/janitor for the local city hall. I said that was cool and he seemed to think at first that I was humoring him. I assured him I wasn't and he admitted he gets a lot of grief for his profession, especially from other gays. I was kind of ashamed that he had to put up with that kind of garbage, With all the abuse we get hit with from outside 'our people' we really shouldn't be doing it to each other.

Stereotyping and automatic assumptions are nothing new to any of us. We all had our detractors who see what we are or do as some how less that 'standard', I worked for many years in fast food and honestly liked doing it. I got satisfaction working with the food and making people happy in a very direct way. I was known for my biscuits at Roy Rogers, I would say a prayer to Hestia while making the dough and people said they were the best any of the had ever tasted. I love being a Mage.
Of course it gets worse when you look at the other jobs I have had, I worked as a clerk in a Porn store, sold auto parts, file clerk, customer service for Bell Atlantic and for TLA video, but the hardest to get people to accept as a legitimate job was Tarot card reader.
I have never felt comfortable in a normal 9 to 5 job. They are just not my thing, I hate being in crowds so big offices suck to me and punching a clock makes no sense to me as I like to work long hours when I really like what I do. The thing is what I like to do is what I'm called to do, I'm a healer. I am honestly compelled to help people become healthy spiritually and mentally as well as physically. But i didn't become a physician or psychiatrist as that's not what i was called to do. I became who I am, a spiritual healer, a shaman. Among my spiritually inclined friends and community That's a great thing but to the Gay and outside worlds it's looked down upon as quackery.
What I do is just as important to my clients as what a doctor or dentist or janitor or clerk and to look down on me or anyone for what they do for a living is poor people skills at the very least. and ignorant at the most.

We are on the cusp of great things for the LGBT community, equal rights and world wide acceptance are within sight but how much will it be worth if we can't be accepting of one another? The ageism, body image issues, it's all nonsense that needs to end so we can put up a united front.
So go out today and let your fellow man know you love and accept them for who they are and what they do.

First Commentary; The age of Truth and Compassion.

This will be the first in a long line of commentary from me as a part of my truth.

Two days ago, August 4^th 2010, the state of California’s Proposition 8 ban on Gay marriage was overturned and ruled unconstitutional. I’m still riding a high on it.

Of course there are all of the detractors claiming that it’s unconstitutional that the “Will of the People” has been overturned because the people of California had voted against gay marriage. What they are not looking at (Because the truth burns ignorance away) is that they never had the right to vote on anyone’s civil rights at all.

One of the great things about the United States of America is that our country was founded by people who understood that Religion has no place in government. They also understood that there are certain rights due to ALL PEOPLE and these rights are not up for vote, there is no popularity contest for other peoples’ rights.

It makes me very sad that there are still people in this modern world that feel it’s their right to interfere in others lives based on their own set of morals. I would never think to push my own agenda on anyone who I had no contact with. I don’t try to convince others that there are angels all around us, or that Psychics exist, I never force people to heal, Heck most of the time I don’t even talk about these things because I don’t want to intrude my views on others who are very happy with their lives. But I’m really tired of this way of life, and that’s why I started this blog.

Truth is the key to ignorance. Truth is the light that reveals falsehoods.

This song is my Mantra right now.

When the Moon is in the seventh house
and Jupiter aligns with mars
The peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars

this is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
the age of Aquarius

Aquarius
Aquarius

harmony and understanding
sympathy and trust abounding
no more falsehoods or derisions
golden living dreams of visions
mystic crystals revelations
and the minds true liberation

Aquarius
Aquarius

when the Moon is in the seventh house
and Jupiter aligns with mars
then peace will guide the planets
and love will steer the stars

this is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
the age of Aquarius

Aquarius
Aquarius 

Love and Lightning,

Joe.