Need Help in Orlando After Pulse?

This is from Mayor Buddy Dyer

I am so proud of our community and how we have come together to support each other during this difficult time. We have shown the world the strength of our city and how we are better together and will not be divided. 

As our community continues to recover from the Pulse tragedy, we have opened a Family Assistance Center to serve as a critical connection between victims and the important services they need as part of their recovery. 

Over the past two days since we opened the center at Camping World Stadium, 94 families and 256 individuals have visited to receive help. But we know there are still more victims in need of help and we want them to know we are here for them. 

The Family Assistance Center isn’t just for those who lost loved ones or were injured, it is for anyone affected by the tragedy. If you, your friends or family members have been affected by the shooting, please encourage them to seek help. 

We have made access to these services as easy as possible. Hours of operations and resources available at the Family Assistance Center are listed on our website cityoforlando.net/familyassistancecenter. 

Thank you for continuing to stand together as one Orlando. 
Buddy Dyer 
Mayor

Orlando to open center for families, survivors of Pulse tragedy

Two Disgusting Camp Pendleton Marines Post Threat After Orlando Massacre

Facebook photo of Marine threatens gays?
Camp Pendleton investigating 2 Marines for social media post following Orlando massacre
San Diego Union Tribune
By Jeanette Steele
June 16, 2016 


A social media post that seemingly references Sunday’s mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub has led to an investigation of two Camp Pendleton Marines.

The Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force announced Thursday that it is looking into a photo posted Wednesday in a Facebook group called Camp MENdleton Resale, which advertises itself as a private forum for male troops and veterans.

The photo, which has since been removed, shows a uniformed Marine corporal pointing a rifle toward the camera. A caption at the bottom says, “Coming to a gay bar near you!”

Based on other features shown on the post, it appears the photo also was sent through the instant messaging program Snapchat. The post has since been shared on several other Facebook pages.

This incident continues a week of questionable or disturbing responses to the massacre at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, where 49 people — most of them gay or lesbian — were killed and more than 50 others were wounded. The death count makes it the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
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President Obama Feels Pulse of Orlando

I have never been more proud of this city. To see the way people have stepped up to help strangers for no other reason than love, to see businesses set aside profit because of heartache, folks show up standing in line to donate blood and hold a candle to light the darkness, that shows the pulse of this city is beating strong enough to prove that hate will not defeat love.

President Obama meeting with victims’ families, survivors in Orlando
WESH 2 News
UPDATED 3:45 PM EDT Jun 16, 2016

After leaving the Amway Center, President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden stopped at the memorial resurrected outside the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center.

Orlando Mayor Buddy dyer shows President Obama a black "Orlando Pride" t shirt with a rainbow heart. AP IMAGE

3:30 p.m.

President Obama’s motorcade left the Amway Center shortly after 3:30 p.m. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden spent a little over two hours meeting with survivors and family members of the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting.

2:30 p.m.
Hundreds of people have gathered outside the Amway Center as President Barack Obama meets with survivors and family members of the victims inside.

1:30 p.m.
President Obama's motorcade arrived at the Amway Center just before 1:30 p.m. He will be meeting with the families of victims and survivors.

Survivors of the mass shooting were brought to the Amway Center Thursday morning.

After meeting with the families and survivors. President Obama and Vice President Biden will be meeting with local law enforcement officials to thank them for their work in response to Sunday's mass shooting.
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Trespass and Peril For Your Religious Freedom

Religious freedom is only threatened when one person or group thinks they have the right to force anyone else to surrender their own choice to them. It is as simple as that. Christianity is not being threatened. It may appear that way because few seem able to actually think about what it means to believe what you want while respecting the rights of others to believe what they choose to believe or not.

Trespass Law. an unlawful act causing injury to the person, property, or rights of another, committed with force or violence, actual or implied. a wrongful entry upon the lands of another. the action to recover damages for such an injury. 2. an encroachment or intrusion. 3. an offense, sin, or wrong.

There law is clear and gay rights should not be surrendered due to some religious groups. There are some Christian churches that have no problem with gay parishioners or even performing gay weddings.

The Episcopal Church approves religious weddings for gay couples after controversial debate and so do these. The Presbyterian Church (USA) formally recognized same-sex marriages and Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and United Church of Christ has allowed same-sex couples to get married since 2005.

Most churches will not allow them and that is fine considering Christians have not agreed on much over the last few thousand years, still, had there been any law establishing the right for all gay people to be married wherever they wanted, there would have been a scream heard around the world because then there would be no freedom of religion.

So why would anyone be ok when one Christian believes she has the right as an employee of the government to prevent someone else from having the same right to believe as they want? It is not her right to hinder the rights of others because she does not agree with them.

I am naturally referring to Kim Davis and what she is pulling in Kentucky. It isn't just about the folks seeking equal rights in that county it is about setting a standard for all rights to be reduced in the eyes of the law.

What on earth would she say to a servicemember seeking a license to marry his/her partner? "Sorry but your rights are not as good as mine?"

Any level headed person should be appalled by this because if you are not, then ask yourself who you'd give the power to over your own right to believe as you will. Let them trespass someone else's freedom and you put your own in peril.

Senator Says VA Needs to Halt Discrimination

Sen. Shaheen urges Veterans Affairs to halt “discriminatory policy” 
Metro Weekly
By Justin Snow
March 9, 2015

“No one who has served our country in uniform should be denied the benefits they’ve earned because of whom they love or where they live,” Shaheen said in a statement. “The VA should immediately halt enforcing this discriminatory policy until the Supreme Court or Congress acts to end it.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to suspend a policy in which the department recoups benefits awarded to same-sex couples until the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on marriage equality later this year.

The letter comes after the American Military Partner Association (AMPA) drew attention to an incident involving a veteran who was forced to repay the federal government for benefits she received but was later declared ineligible for after moving to a state that did not recognize her marriage to another woman.

The New Hampshire Democrat wrote in a March 9 letter to Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald that a moratorium on collection efforts should be enacted until the Supreme Court issues a decision on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans, which is expected in June.

“I am hopeful that this issue will soon be addressed through either the legislative or judicial process,” Shaheen wrote, who has introduced legislation to legislation that would correct areas of federal law that continue to prevent the extension of benefits. “In the interim, I urge the Department to make every effort to mitigate the impact of this plainly discriminatory policy.”

Shaheen specifically mentions the case of Melissa Perkins-Fercha, an Iraq War veteran who received a 50 percent disability rating from the VA. Although the VA said she could not list her legally married wife and child as dependents because she lives in Texas, which does not recognize her marriage performed in Washington state, the VA failed to remove her wife and daughter from their system. That error resulted in Perkins-Fercha being compensated at the higher rate disabled veterans with dependents are entitled to, only for the VA to then remove her dependents and inform Perkins-Fercha that her disability compensation will be withheld until the compensation based on dependents is paid back.

“No one who has served our country in uniform should be denied the benefits they’ve earned because of whom they love or where they live,” Shaheen said in a statement. “The VA should immediately halt enforcing this discriminatory policy until the Supreme Court or Congress acts to end it.”
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VA Wants Money Back From Texas Iraq Veteran

World Vision to hire married gay Christians

What is this country coming to when people are treated equally as if the are not being judge? What does it mean when a Christian group spreads acceptance instead of judgment? Oh my! How would Christ feel about people taking care of others in need? Considering what I read in the Bible, He would approve of this even though He may not approve of their life style but the again, since He never said anything about them, pretty much leaves that part out of the debate.

Major Evangelical Charity to Hire Married Gay Christians
NBC News

The prominent Christian relief agency World Vision said Monday it will hire Christians who are in same-sex marriages, a dramatic policy change on one of the most divisive social issues facing religious groups.

Richard Stearns, president of the international humanitarian relief group, announced the hiring change for the United States in a letter to staff. Stearns said the World Vision board had prayed for years about how to handle the issue as Christian denominations took different stands on recognizing same-sex relationships.

"The board and I wanted to prevent this divisive issue from tearing World Vision apart and potentially crippling our ability to accomplish our vital kingdom mission of living and serving the poorest of the poor in the name of Christ," Stearns wrote in the letter.

The agency's new hiring policy was first reported by Christianity Today magazine.
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Army extends new benefits to soldiers' same-sex spouses

Army extends new benefits to soldiers' same-sex spouses
Army Times
By Jim Tice
Staff writer
December 1, 2013

Army Secretary John McHugh has approved several policy changes that support extending military benefits to the same-sex spouses of soldiers.

The changes were prompted by a June 26 Supreme Court ruling that found portions of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

As a result, the Army now recognizes all marriages that are valid in the location where the wedding ceremony was performed, and “will work to make sure the same benefits are available to all spouses, regardless if they are in same-sex or opposite-sex marriages,” according to a directive issued Nov. 7 by McHugh.

Entitlements for same-sex spouses are retroactive to the June 26 court decision. The Army will not grant any claims to entitlements before that date, under the McHugh directive.
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Same-sex military couples to benefit from court ruling

Same-sex military couples to benefit from court ruling
KDH News
Brandon Janes
Herald staff writer
Posted on June 30, 2013

Less than two years since soldiers at Fort Hood were prohibited from being openly gay, same-sex married couples in the Army now have more rights than other same-sex Texas couples.

After the Supreme Court’s rejection of the Defense of Marriage Act last week, all military spouses will now receive full military benefits, regardless of their sexual orientation, the Pentagon said.

Many federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service, look at where you live before issuing marriage benefits — such as filing joint tax returns.

The Department of Defense, however, looks at where you were married to decide what benefits you receive.

Same-sex military couples who were married in one of the 13 states that issue same-sex marriage licenses will now receive their federal benefits regardless of the state or country where they live.
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Gay marriage ruling will help many veteran spouses

Gay marriage ruling will help many veteran spouses
Bloomberg Business
By By Kevin Freking
June 28, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — For Stewart Bornhoft, who completed two tours of duty in Vietnam, the Supreme Court's decision granting federal benefits to married, same-sex couples means that he and his spouse, Stephen McNabb, can one day be buried together at Arlington National Cemetery.

For Joan Darrah, who served nearly 30 years in the Navy and lived through the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, the decision means her spouse, Lynne Kennedy, can join her more generous, less expensive health plan.

Just two years ago, gays and lesbians were prevented from serving openly in the military. Now, with the Supreme Court ruling this week, same-sex spouses of gay veterans and service members will be able to share in their benefits.

The Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA School of Law, reports that 650,000 same-sex couples live in the United States and about 13 percent of those relationships include a veteran. The institute said it's unknown how many of those estimated 85,000 relationships involve marriages. A dozen states and the District of Columbia allow for gay marriage.
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Gay marriage is not what you may think

I am reading a lot of religious leaders coming out against what the Supreme Court decided was right on gay marriage. It got me thinking about what too few people are aware of.

In December of 2010 a Denver church grew after accepting homosexuals.

Highlands Church marks its first birthday Sunday, having survived a year in which it lost half its congregation and two-thirds of its financial support after the pastor declared that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people could participate fully in church life and leadership.

The Rev. Mark Tidd, married father of five, said his decision created a maelstrom that forced his break with the denomination of his ordination, the Christian Reform Church.

It also led him to end his affiliation with Pathways Church.

They were not bitter partings, the pastor said, just inevitable.

"I knew my views and practices were outside their bounds," Tidd said. "My church extends the love of God to people who are treated like the last group of lepers on earth."

On October 10th, 2011 First openly gay pastor ordained in the PCUSA spoke to CNN

(CNN) - It was nearly three decades in the making, but the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has ordained its first openly gay pastor. The Rev. Scott Anderson was ordained Saturday at Covenant Presbyterian Church, in Madison, Wisconsin.

"It's an exciting time for me personally to be the first openly gay person ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and it's a big moment for our church that has has excluded gays and lesbians for so many decades, so it's a new day for us," Anderson told CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.

Anderson had previously been a Presbyterian pastor but left the ministry in 1990 after he was outed by congregants.

Eastern Orthodoxy

The Orthodox Church holds the opinion that sexuality, as we understand it, is part of the fallen world only. In Orthodox theology both monasticism and marriage are paths to Salvation (sotiriain Greek; literally meaning, "becoming whole"). Celibacy is the ideal path, exemplified in monasticism, while marriage is blessed under the context of true love ("Man must love his wife as Jesus loved his Church": this phrase is part of the Orthodox Marriage Ritual). This context can be interpreted by the non-Orthodox as not being exclusive of homosexuality; whereas it is seen as exclusive of homosexuality by the vast majority of the Orthodox. Traditionally, the church has adopted a non-legalistic view of sin (see above), in which homosexuality is a sin. Although some members of the church may have assumed an active role in encouraging negative social stereotypes against gay individuals who do not repent, they misrepresent the stance of the Orthodox Church, which does not promote judgment of people but judgment of actions. However, several prominent members of the clergy have made statements condemning homosexuality.

All jurisdictions, such as the Orthodox Church in America, have taken the approach of welcoming people with "homosexual feelings and emotions," while encouraging them to work towards "overcoming its harmful effects in their lives," while not allowing the sacraments to people who seek to justify homosexual activity.

LGBT activism within Orthodox churches has been much less widespread than in Catholicism and many Protestant denominations. In 1980 the group Axios was founded in Los Angeles to advocate for sexual minorities in the Orthodox church, and has since started several other chapters in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

There is what is legal and what is religious. There is a difference. What is right with one church may not be right with another but you have the right to join or quit whatever church you want to. In my case, I am Eastern Orthodox so according to them, they can deny me sacraments if I justify homosexual "activity" but I am not sure what they mean by that. My church taught me to love others and that is how I have tried to live. I am not trying to justify anything other than they have the same rights under the law to live free and must live with the rules of the religious groups they want to belong to. If they do not feel welcomed there, there are other places they can go and feel loved.

I have talked to far too many members of the military risking their lives for this land of freedom but were not free to live as themselves.

Anti-gay group shuts down, leader "accepts part of his life"

'Ex-gay' group says it's shutting down; leader apologizes for 'pain and hurt'
NBC News
By Erin McClam
Staff Writer

A Christian ministry that led the so-called ex-gay movement, which professes to rid people of their homosexuality, has announced that it will shut down, and its leader apologized extensively to gays for causing “pain and hurt.”

The ministry, Exodus International, was founded in 1976 and claims more than 200 branches, churches and counselors in the United States and Canada. It had insisted that people could overcome same-sex attraction through prayer and therapy.

Mainstream psychiatric and medical groups have said that the movement, also known as reparative therapy, is unfounded in science and can be harmful. The American Psychiatric Association said 15 years ago that it could cause depression, anxiety and self-depressive behavior in patients.

The president of Exodus, Alan Chambers, said late Wednesday on the ministry’s website that he had “conveniently omitted my ongoing same-sex attractions” but now accepts them “as parts of my life that will like always be there.”

Addressing gays, Chambers, who is married to a woman, wrote: “You have never been my enemy. I am very sorry that I have been yours.”
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Mitt Romney confronted by gay Vietnam veteran on gay marriage

Mitt Romney confronted by gay Vietnam veteran on gay marriage in New Hampshire: VIDEO

The cringe-worthy confrontation over same-sex marriage is just the latest for Republican presidential candidates this campaign cycle.
BY ALIYAH SHAHID
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, December 13 2011,

When asked by reporters why he wanted to grill Romney on the issue, Garon said, "Because I'm gay, all right?" he said. "And I happen to love a man just like you probably love your wife."

A Mitt Romney endorsement event in New Hampshire turned incredibly awkward for the Republican presidential candidate after he was confronted by a gay veteran who challenged his views on same-sex marriage.

The former Massachusetts governor approached Bob Garon, 63, at a Manchester diner to ask him about his tour in Vietnam.

But Garon — who was accompanied by his husband — wanted to know if Romney would back efforts to repeal the state's law that legalized gay marriage in the state.

Romney insisted during the stop — meant to tout his recent endorsement by the city's mayor — that he believes marriage is “between a man and a woman.”

"It's good to know how you feel, that you do not believe everyone is entitled to their constitutional rights, Garon retorted.

"No actually I think at the time the Constitution was written it was pretty clear marriage was between a man and a woman," said Romney as an aide jumped in, insisting they had an interview with Fox News to go to.


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A life thrown into turmoil by $100 donation for Prop. 8

A life thrown into turmoil by $100 donation for Prop. 8
Steve Lopez
December 14, 2008
Margie Christoffersen didn't make it very far into our conversation before she cracked. Chest heaving, tears streaming, she reached for her husband Wayne's hand and then mine, squeezing as if she'd never let go.

"I've almost had a nervous breakdown. It's been the worst thing that's ever happened to me," she sobbed as curious patrons at a Farmers Market coffee shop looked on, wondering what calamity had visited this poor woman who's an honest 6 feet tall, with hair as blond as the sun.


Well, Christoffersen was a manager at El Coyote, the Beverly Boulevard landmark restaurant that's always had throngs of customers waiting to get inside. Many of them were gay, and Christoffersen, a devout Mormon, donated $100 in support of Proposition 8, the successful November ballot initiative that banned gay marriage.

She never advertised her politics or religion in the restaurant, but last month her donation showed up on lists of "for" and "against" donors. And El Coyote became a target.

A boycott was organized on the Internet, with activists trashing El Coyote on restaurant review sites. Then came throngs of protesters, some of them shouting "shame on you" at customers. The police arrived in riot gear one night to quell the angry mob.

The mob left, but so did the customers.

Sections of the restaurant have been closed, a manager told me Friday during a very quiet lunch hour. Some of the 89 employees, many of them gay, have had their hours cut, and layoffs are looming. And Christoffersen, who has taken a voluntary leave of absence, is wondering whether she'll ever again be able to work at the restaurant, which opened in 1931 (at 1st and La Brea) and is owned by her 92-year-old mother.

"It's been so hard," she said, breaking down again.

A lot of customers saw Christoffersen as the face of the restaurant. She was the hostess who roamed from table to table with a pitcher of water, refilling glasses and schmoozing with friends.

Christoffersen, raised Mormon by her late father, told me she has no problem with gay people.

"I love them like everybody else."
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Does she really "love them like everybody else?" This reminds me of a conversation I had a while back. A religious has a brother that, according to him, made the choice to be gay. There was no convincing him that biology has more to do with it than anything else and there was really no choice to make at all. I couldn't convince him that we were born in the image of God and that image, is not flesh and blood and bones, but the soul we carry within us. After all, if we were born in a physical image of God, we'd all look the same. He wouldn't listen to the fact that there were gay people walking on the earth when God handed Moses the Ten Commandments and there is not one reference to being gay among them. He wouldn't listen to the fact that according to the laws at the time, it was ok to marry more than one woman and you can see that with David, the other kings and for adultery, well Abraham had his own reasons. He didn't want to hear what Christ had to say about it either, or actually what He didn't have to say because there is not one case where the words in the New Testament were attributed to what He said. They were the interpretations of they thought was good. Even though the "rules" did not fit into what Christ said.

Then the man stunned me by saying that while he loved his brother, he couldn't have anything to do with him because he was a sinner living the way he did and he couldn't support it.

I pointed out that Christ said no one sin is worse than others. We are all sinners and all we have to do is read the Red Letters of the Bible to discover that one. There were really two great commandments according to Christ. First love God and then love each other. How can you really love someone if you condemn them? How can you point your finger at someone, call them a sinner, then forget about what you have within you condemning you?

We get so much twisted up in the Christian faith and even Christians can't agree with each other. If we could there wouldn't be so many different denominations and fracturing within Christianity. Christ said to take care of each other and forgive each other. He didn't tell us to live their lives or tell them how to live. He told us how to live our own lives. It's up to them how they live, what they do or do not do but we are accountable for how we live our own lives. Being gay isn't a sin. Even if it was, Christ would forgive them because He died for all sinners.

Well, my friend finally understood what I was talking about but I think he was just being polite and didn't really get it. I hope he had a change of heart, but somehow I doubt his brother will be invited to his house this Christmas either. First it was traumatic for the gay people to have their right to marry taken away. Now it's the people supporting the ban suffering the traumatic reaction to what they did. Is anyone happy over any of this? The churches, well they backed it with money, but they could have done what Christ said with the money they spent on this and took care of the poor and needy instead of supporting something hateful. No one won.