QUEERING THE GAME OF LIFE

kidbijou:

Gay Youth of New York

poster from 1980 via OMCA

(via communalperversion)

Belief In God Plummets Among Youth

purogallopinto:

SAHIL KAPUR JUNE 13, 2012

The younger generation is abandoning God in droves.

A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that belief in the existence of God has dropped 15 points in the last five years among Americans 30 and under.

Pew, which has been studying the trend for 25 years, finds that just 68 percent of millennials in 2012 agree with the statement “I never doubt the existence of God.” That’s down from 76 percent in 2009 and 83 percent in 2007.

Among other generations, belief in God is high and has seen few changes over the last few decades. Between 81 and 89 percent of older generations say they never doubt the existence of God, although the older the generation, the more likely they are to believe in God.

The chart below reflects the Pew survey’s latest findings.

The results suggest that a new movement of atheist or agnostic thinking during the the last decade — spearheaded by high-profile authors like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris — is steering younger people away from traditional beliefs long held by their parents.

The trend was also reflected in declining numbers of millennials who agreed with the statements “Prayer is an important part of my daily life” and “We all will be called before God at the Judgment Day to answer for our sins.” Answers to those questions also didn’t change much among older generations.

(Source: tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com)

thinkmexican:

Mexican Youth Studying, Working Harder to Get Ahead

Two months ago, Paola Alcázar was counted as one of Mexico’s seven million “ninis,” short for “ni trabajan, ni estudian,” referring those who neither work, nor study. The good news is that, she’ll now be doing both.

A member of Mexico City’s Occupy movement, Paola was selling clothes at outdoor markets, one of millions of Mexicans working in the informal economy, when Al Jazeera first reported on her efforts to find work. In the two months since the first report aired, Paola began working as a teacher on the weekends and is applying to graduate school, while still working as a vendor.

This is the ‘never give up’ Mexican spirit others can learn from.

(Source: thinkmexican)

bbdm:

Red No. 3 | Disney’s Wonderful World of Fat Shaming

“Earlier this month, Disney announced a collaboration between Blue Cross Blue Shield Florida to bring their considerable experience and expertise in marketing to children to the health insurance industry’s long-standing commitment to blaming fat people for their health problems. These titans of industry will pool their talents to give fat shaming of children a brand-new re-branding. Oh, that’s not what they announced, of course, but it is what they are doing.  …

Habit heroes represents some of the worst of our society. It relies on cheap and easy prejudice, pandering to cultural bigotries surrounding weight and morality. It bullies the disenfranchised for the benefit of the status quo. They rely on the widespread of acceptance of fat shaming and fat stigmatization to put forward a message that will be poisonous to fat children. Fat shaming needs no more corporate partners or endorsements. Fat children are constantly being told to feel awful about their bodies. Given that no safe, reliable means of weight loss exists, even for the children, this is a prescription not for good habits, but for self-hatred. Worse than that, its an endorsement of others hating fat people.”

(via creativeconflagration)

quelola:

darlingtonia-californica:

Homeless for the Holidays: Portraits of New York City’s Homeless LGBT Youth

In New York City there are merely 250 youth shelter beds funded by the city and state, though there are 3,800 homeless kids, 40 percent of whom are LGBT. Both Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg have sent the distressing message that these kids do not have any right to be sheltered, with the governor having cut New York State support for youth shelter beds by 50 percent in the last year, and the mayor having repeatedly attempted to cut youth shelter funds in half, as well.

This is one reasons why that ~hobo chic~ bullshit ain’t cute or a punch line.

allsocialjustice:

Chilean students demonstrating for education reform.

(via wordscancrushtheworld)