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Thank You for Working to Pass the Matthew Shepard Act
Target: Judy Shepard, Matthew Shepard Foundation, Human Rights CampaignSponsored by: Care2.com
On Wednesday, October 28, as part of the 2010 defense authorization bill, President Obama made law the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This law classifies crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity as hate crimes and allows the Justice Department to assist in their prosecution.
It's taken Congress 12 years to pass this legislation, and it wouldn't have been possible without the efforts of activists across the country and across the globe.
However, special mention should go to Judy Shepard, the Matthew Shepard Foundation and Human Rights Campaign (HRC). All three have been tireless in their advocacy, and we'd like to thank them for all the sweat and tears it's taken to get to this point.
Sign below to pass along your gratitude to Ms. Shepard, the Foundation and HRC for their hard work to protect LGBT people against hate crimes.
It's taken Congress 12 years to pass this legislation, and it wouldn't have been possible without the efforts of activists across the country and across the globe.
However, special mention should go to Judy Shepard, the Matthew Shepard Foundation and Human Rights Campaign (HRC). All three have been tireless in their advocacy, and we'd like to thank them for all the sweat and tears it's taken to get to this point.
Sign below to pass along your gratitude to Ms. Shepard, the Foundation and HRC for their hard work to protect LGBT people against hate crimes.
Say Thank You see who signed this
We signed the “Thank You for Working to Pass the Matthew Shepard Act” petition!
# 2,792:
6:08 am PST, Feb 6,
Name not displayed, Belgium
# 2,791:
4:57 pm PST, Feb 4,
Annmarie Little, Idaho
# 2,790:
5:50 am PST, Feb 3,
Dianne Hillier, United Kingdom
Buddhists believe that saying the mantra (prayer), Om Mani Padme Hum, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. "Buddha of great compassion, hold me fast in your compassion. From time without beginning, beings have wandered in samsara, Undergoing unendurable suffering. They have no other protector than you. Please bless them that they may achieve the omniscient state of buddhahood. With the power of evil karma gathered from beginningless time, Sentient beings, through the force of anger, are born as hell beings and experience the suffering of heat and cold. May they all be born in your presence, perfect deity." "There is not a single aspect of the eighty-four thousand sections of the Buddha's teachings which is not contained in Avalokiteshvara's six syllable mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum", and as such the qualities of the "mani" are praised again and again in the Sutras and Tantras.... Whether happy or sad, if we take the "mani" as our refuge, Chenrezig will never forsake us, spontaneous devotion will arise in our minds and the Great Vehicle will effortlessly be realized." Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche -- Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones In the Bhaisajyaguruvaidūryaprabharāja Sūtra, the Medicine Buddha is described as having entered into a state of samadhi called "Eliminating All the Suffering and Afflictions of Sentient Beings." From this samadhi state he spoke the Medicine Buddha Dharani om namo bhagawate beshajye guru; vaidurya prabha rajaya tathagataya; arhte sammyaksambuddhaya tadyatha om bheshajye beshajye maha beshajye; beshajye rajaya samungate svaha The last line of the dharani is used as the Medicine Buddha's mantra
Buddhists believe that saying the mantra (prayer), Om Mani Padme Hum, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. "Buddha of great compassion, hold me fast in your compassion. From time without beginning, beings have wandered in samsara, Undergoing unendurable suffering. They have no other protector than you. Please bless them that they may achieve the omniscient state of buddhahood. With the power of evil karma gathered from beginningless time, Sentient beings, through the force of anger, are born as hell beings and experience the suffering of heat and cold. May they all be born in your presence, perfect deity." "There is not a single aspect of the eighty-four thousand sections of the Buddha's teachings which is not contained in Avalokiteshvara's six syllable mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum", and as such the qualities of the "mani" are praised again and again in the Sutras and Tantras.... Whether happy or sad, if we take the "mani" as our refuge, Chenrezig will never forsake us, spontaneous devotion will arise in our minds and the Great Vehicle will effortlessly be realized." Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche -- Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones In the Bhaisajyaguruvaidūryaprabharāja Sūtra, the Medicine Buddha is described as having entered into a state of samadhi called "Eliminating All the Suffering and Afflictions of Sentient Beings." From this samadhi state he spoke the Medicine Buddha Dharani om namo bhagawate beshajye guru; vaidurya prabha rajaya tathagataya; arhte sammyaksambuddhaya tadyatha om bheshajye beshajye maha beshajye; beshajye rajaya samungate svaha The last line of the dharani is used as the Medicine Buddha's mantra
# 2,789:
10:37 pm PST, Jan 30,
Nichole Dreiling, Kansas
Thank you for everything thing you put into this law, you are a true hero (: .
Thank you for everything thing you put into this law, you are a true hero (: .
# 2,788:
9:21 am PST, Jan 30,
Andrea Menzies, Texas
# 2,787:
12:33 am PST, Jan 29,
Richard Hollister, Arizona
# 2,786:
11:12 pm PST, Jan 27,
Nicole Tozier, Arizona
# 2,785:
4:41 pm PST, Jan 26,
Kathryn Majicka, Texas
# 2,784:
8:33 am PST, Jan 26,
Rachel Hinton, New York
# 2,783:
6:34 am PST, Jan 25,
Ruthie Ward, Georgia
# 2,782:
1:57 am PST, Jan 24,
Name not displayed, Belgium
# 2,781:
9:04 am PST, Jan 23,
Isak Sandberg, Sweden
I am glad to finally see that atleast one part of this cruel world is trying to move forward instead of backwards. No matter if you are homosexual, bisexual, transexual or heterosexual, we are all human beeings, and we all deserve the right to live the way we want, to love who we love, and to spend our lifes with who ever we want to. Nobody should ever have the right to decide over somebody elses life.
I am glad to finally see that atleast one part of this cruel world is trying to move forward instead of backwards. No matter if you are homosexual, bisexual, transexual or heterosexual, we are all human beeings, and we all deserve the right to live the way we want, to love who we love, and to spend our lifes with who ever we want to. Nobody should ever have the right to decide over somebody elses life.
# 2,780:
7:28 pm PST, Jan 21,
Crystal Rodriguez, Texas
# 2,779:
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11:14 am PST, Jan 21,
Carly Sheil, Australia
Hope is something that I've always found hard to come by, but seeing what you manage to achieve gives me that hope I so greatly need. As long as people like you are taking great steps to help the LGBT towards equality, then a wonderful future is a lot closer than I would have previously thought! |
# 2,778:
6:15 pm PST, Jan 20,
BRION BAKER, Arkansas
# 2,777:
11:58 am PST, Jan 20,
Carmen Armillas, Illinois
# 2,776:
8:14 am PST, Jan 19,
Cathy Richardson, Utah
# 2,775:
5:50 pm PST, Jan 18,
Jennifer Henderson, Florida
# 2,773:
9:42 am PST, Jan 17,
Amy Barany, New York
# 2,772:
5:47 pm PST, Jan 16,
Jesse Counsell, Canada
# 2,770:
11:52 am PST, Jan 11,
Meghan Au, Hawaii
# 2,769:
8:21 am PST, Jan 10,
ALPHA WI, Germany
# 2,768:
7:56 am PST, Jan 10,
Alisha Migliore, Washington
# 2,767:
10:03 am PST, Jan 9,
Sarah Baker, Illinois
# 2,766:
8:55 am PST, Jan 9,
Mark Stemen, Oklahoma
On a personal note, I will **never** forget the day I heard about Matthew. I knew I was gay, however I hadn't come out to anyone at that time because I was only 12 years old when that tragedy happened. I cried so so hard not understanding how people could be SO heartless and full of hate. However, thinking about it for 2 years, I felt like it was my duty as a gay male to be myself and not hide. I wanted to show other closeted peers that they too could be liberated if they were open about how they felt. At the age of 14 I came out to everyone including family and friends. I really felt liberated. I became proactive in my community - and in Oklahoma there was a great deal of criticism, especially from schoolmates, church, and even my own mother. Fortunately my dad accepted me. My mother not so much. She still to this day is homophobic and it's been over 6 years since I talked to her. I get the greatest support from my dad and my friends and my grandmother. I'm almost 24 now and I truly appreciate the work you have done to help the GLBT community, Ms. Shepard. Matthew would be SO proud of you. I know he's smiling down from heaven on you with so much pride and love. And I admire you so much myself. <3
On a personal note, I will **never** forget the day I heard about Matthew. I knew I was gay, however I hadn't come out to anyone at that time because I was only 12 years old when that tragedy happened. I cried so so hard not understanding how people could be SO heartless and full of hate. However, thinking about it for 2 years, I felt like it was my duty as a gay male to be myself and not hide. I wanted to show other closeted peers that they too could be liberated if they were open about how they felt. At the age of 14 I came out to everyone including family and friends. I really felt liberated. I became proactive in my community - and in Oklahoma there was a great deal of criticism, especially from schoolmates, church, and even my own mother. Fortunately my dad accepted me. My mother not so much. She still to this day is homophobic and it's been over 6 years since I talked to her. I get the greatest support from my dad and my friends and my grandmother. I'm almost 24 now and I truly appreciate the work you have done to help the GLBT community, Ms. Shepard. Matthew would be SO proud of you. I know he's smiling down from heaven on you with so much pride and love. And I admire you so much myself. <3
# 2,765:
10:23 am PST, Jan 8,
Josey Warren, Minnesota
# 2,764:
10:00 pm PST, Jan 6,
Gino Mazzella, New York
# 2,763:
4:54 pm PST, Jan 6,
Melanie Fedele, Massachusetts
# 2,762:
3:51 pm PST, Jan 3,
Stephan Brown, Nevada
# 2,761:
10:53 am PST, Jan 2,
Kristian Brandreth, Nevada
# 2,760:
4:52 pm PST, Jan 1,
Clinton Akins, Kansas
# 2,759:
6:17 pm PST, Dec 31,
Deanna Zimmerman, California
# 2,758:
1:38 pm PST, Dec 31,
Andrew Singer, California
# 2,757:
1:15 pm PST, Dec 31,
Amber Holten, Oregon
What you are doing is beautiful.
What you are doing is beautiful.
# 2,756:
10:08 am PST, Dec 31,
Kelly Cleveland, Colorado
# 2,755:
2:01 am PST, Dec 31,
Don McKelvey, California
# 2,754:
2:57 pm PST, Dec 29,
Christopher Lee, Illinois
# 2,753:
12:57 pm PST, Dec 29,
Sheila Behounek, Maine
# 2,752:
11:15 pm PST, Dec 27,
Noelle Cruz, California
# 2,751:
8:34 pm PST, Dec 27,
Nicole Dorer, Maryland
