Jersey Shore PFLAG

Jersey Shore PFLAG blog is moving!

2010-07-27T21:50:00.002-04:00

The Jersey Shore PFLAG blog is moving to a new site. Some people were having trouble posting comments on this one, so I was given the go-ahead to move the blog to a new location. We will now be on Wordpress, which we hope will offer both our readers and writers a better experience.

Our new blog address is JerseyShorePFLAG.WordPress.com

Please visit the new blog, and don't forget to update your bookmarks and links. The blog at this address will no longer be updated.

Don't miss the new documentary Stonewall Rising

2010-07-22T22:36:00.002-04:00

A new documentary called Stonewall Uprising is currently playing in select theaters across the country. As the name suggests, it is about the Stonewall riots that took place during the summer of 1969 which marked the beginning of the gay rights movement. The film includes a look at how the LGBT community was treated before the riots took place, interviews with many of the brave people who participated in them, and of course a reminder of how far we have come in the last 41 years.

Stonewall Uprising, which was co-directed by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, was featured as the pick of the week by movie critics writing for The New York Times, Time magazine, New York magazine, and several other notable publications. In particular, a Time reviewer says the film "evokes the 'Rosa Parks moment' of the gay-rights movement." In Miranda Siegel's review of the film for New York magazine, she says it is a "riveting, powerful documentary." And Jonathan Roche of Metrosource says it's "an absolute must-see! You'll swell with gratitude and joy as the pride spreads like wildfire through the city."

Unfortunately, Stonewall Uprising has only been released to a limited number of theaters, and only one of those theaters is in New Jersey. Luckily for anyone living in the Jersey Shore area, that one theater is The Showroom located on Cookman Avenue in downtown Asbury Park. Stonewall Uprising will have 2 showings there on Saturday, July 25th, the first at 4 PM and the second at 6 PM. If you have some time available that day, be sure to stop by to watch the film and learn about one of the most important events in LGBT history.

Watch the trailer for Stonewall Uprising here.

Why the overwhelming majority of Argentina's predominantly Catholic citizenry supports same-sex marriage

2010-07-21T23:19:00.001-04:00

Today, Argentina's president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, signed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. The country's legislature had passed the bill this past Thursday, the 15th. This action makes Argentina the 10th country in the world and the first Latin American country to provide its gay and lesbian citizens with all the rights and responsibilities of marriage that are offered to their heterosexual counterparts.

This is great news, of course, but it does bring up some interesting questions about the importance of religion in the country. As one might expect, the Roman Catholic Church launched a massive campaign against the proposed bill, but despite claiming a whopping 89% of Argentinians as members, the Church's efforts had relatively little effect. The bill still passed, and polls taken shortly afterward showed that 70% of people in the country support the new law. If you do the math, at least 59% of the citizens of Argentina are both Catholic and supportive of legalized same-sex marriage, and somewhere between 66.3% and 78.7% of Argentine Catholics approve of the new law.

How can such a religious country be so tolerant of people who they are taught are sinful? Most of the people in Argentina seem to recognize that basic human rights are more important than a religious ideology, but what exactly caused that realization? Is Argentina actually more liberal than it appears? Are there simply more gays and lesbians who are out and visible in Argentina? What is going on here?

As it turns out, it has a lot to do with the history of Argentina and the country's relationship with the Catholic church. Thomas Dollar writes on FiveThirtyEight.com that "past Church interference in civic affairs has bred a strong current of anti-clericalism" in Argentina, so the forceful voice of the church on an issue of basic rights simply turned people off. In effect, the Church's attempt to stop gays and lesbians from marrying backfired on them. Dollar continues, "the vote in the Senate became not only a question of whether to allow same-sex marriage, but also of whether the civilian government could make decisions without Church interference."

The citizens of Argentina, then, are religious, but also wary of the motives and power of the Church. The more the Church tries to tell people what to do, the more it hurts its own reputation among its followers, not to mention how gay people view it. Not treating everyone equally is really a lose-lose situation. Ironically, the Catholic church in Argentina would probably benefit by embracing an issue like gay marriage. Individual people would be treated more fairly and the Church would be seen in a more positive light. That's what you call a win-win. It's just a shame they can't see that.

A fresh start

2010-07-21T20:04:00.005-04:00

Welcome to the Jersey Shore PFLAG blog. It's been around for a while, but we're giving it a fresh start now after a long break. Our goal here is to provide information about our PFLAG chapter including our regular meetings and upcoming special events, as well as reports and commentary on recent news and events that affect the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. We hope you like what you read. Please leave a comment if you find anything interesting.