Angelo Lopez's blog

During the 2008 election year, one of the biggest political fights in the California state ballot was on Proposition 8, a proposition against gay marriage. Sadly, the proposition passed. One of the keys to the passage of Proposition 8 was the efforts of the Mormon church, the Evangelical church, and the Catholic church to lobby its members to vote for the measure.

In the early 1930s, Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day conceived of the Catholic Worker communities to make the social justice aspects of the Catholic Social Encyclicals come alive. These communities are advocates for the poor, for immigrants and against war. Today there are over 185 Catholic Worker communities all over the United States.

I've always admired the Quakers. Over the years, I've read about how this group is always in the forefront of social issues in the last 200 years of American history: they were in the forefront of the abolitonist movement, the right of women to vote, the antiwar movement. I attended 2 Quaker services about 3 years ago and was impressed with the spirituality and quietness of their service.

A few months ago I had written a post on religious people who have spoken in youtube against homophobia. Since then, I have found in youtube various houses of worship who have collectively taken a stand against bullying against LGBT youth. In here I'll post some of those youtube videos.

Just over two years ago, I read my first Howard Zinn book.

Here is a list of Raging Grannies in the United States and Canada

San Francisco Bay Raging Grannies

Raging Grannies of San Jose

Raging Grannies International

SOME CATHOLIC WORKER COMMUNITIES

Oakland Catholic Worker

Dorothy Day House Berkeley

Los Angeles Catholic Worker

Many people have been exasperated by the Obama administration's appeal of a recent court case that repeals DADT and I understand that frustration. During the 2008 campaign and in his State of the Union earlier this year, Obama promised to repeal the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy that has been in effect since the Clinton Administration in the 1990s.

Recently advice columnist Dan Savage launched the "It Gets Better Project" on youtube in response to the recent deaths of Tyler Clementi, Billy Lucas, Asher Brown, and Seth Walsh, four teens who committed suicide after being bullied for being gay.