Tuesday, August 30, 2011

I'm back, and a fun video

Hi,

Yeah, tis been a while since I last posted.  Sorry about that, had a lot on my mental and physical plate lately, and some things just got pushed onto the back burner.  And as you can tell, this blog was one of them.

The news on the glbt front has been rather mixed lately, some very hopeful, some ever so not.  Ding dong the wicked DADT is soon to be an entry on the misguided law page.  And while I couldnt be happier to have gays and lesbians the right to serve our country, once again transgender folks were left without a place at the table of civil rights.  It seems that every time glbt issues come up, the only way for gays and lesbians to get a slice of the civil rights pie is to throw the trans folk under the bus.  And I get that, I really do, when the piece of the pie is so incredibly small, it does cause the mentality of "every person for themselves" sinking ship kinda thing.

Tonight while chatting with Newleaf, he asked me had I seen this video, and when I told him no, he sent me this link. Hopefully it will make you smile and brighen your day.







Wednesday, August 3, 2011

If a Married Lesbian Couple Saves 40 Teens from the Norway Massacre and No One Writes About it, Did it Really Happen?

By this point, most of you have heard about the tragedy in Norway a few weeks ago when a Christian Fundamentalist* murdered 77** people and injured another 96. The story has been well-covered by International media and the mainstream press here in the US.
What you probably have not heard about is the married lesbian couple who rescued 40 teenagers during and after the bloody event. Several blogs and gay and lesbian publications are now picking up the story, but the heavy hitters who usually kill for hero stories like this, have remained silent.
The Finnish capital city’s largest daily newspaper, Helsingin Sanomatpublished this account (translated from Finnish):
Hege Dalen and her spouse, Toril Hansen were near Utöyan having dinner on the opposite shore across from the ill-fated campsite, when they began to hear gunfire and screaming on the island.
“We were eating. Then shooting and then the awful screaming. We saw how the young people ran in panic into the lake,” says Dale to HS in an interview.
The couple immediately took action and pushed the boat into Lake Tyrifjorden.
Dalen and Hansen drove the boat to the island, picked up from the water victims in shock in, the young and wounded, and transported them to the opposite shore to the mainland. Between runs they saw that the bullets had hit the right side of the boat.
Since there were so many and not all fit at once aboard, they returned to the island four times.
They were able to rescue 40 young people from the clutches of the killer.
“We did not sleep last night at all. Today, we have been together and talked about the events,” Dalen said.
Please share this story and make sure people know the heroism of Hege and Toril.
Check out our follow-up to this post here: Hege & Toril: Why We Write, which addresses many of your comments and questions about this article.
*The term “Christian Fundamentalist” has been disputed greatly in both the press and the comments section below this post. According to Norwegian police investigating the massacre, Anders Behrin Breivik was a “Christian Fundamentalist” as described by the New York Times and several Norwegian sources. There is a great post from CNN, which discusses at length, the use of the term being used for Breivik.
**Thank you to readers who have provided credible sources as to the actual number of deaths from this tragedy. We originally reported that 92 had been killed, but according to Norwegian sources, the total number is at 77, with many still in the hospital.
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reposted from Talk Equality