LGBT children would be more in tune with the possibility for abuse from the Staff ~ of course they do not want these children in their schools. No one knowingly admits a "Whistle Blower" to an organization with the history of abuse that the Catholic Church has shown through recent history.
Sign the Petition at : hXXps://secure3.convio.net/hrc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=819
SENATE PASSES FEINGOLD RESOLUTION CONDEMNING UGANDA ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL AND SIMILAR EFFORTS WORLDWIDE
_in UNITED STATES, 14/05/2010
Bipartisan Resolution Urges All Countries to Reject and Repeal Laws Criminalizing Homosexuality Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed a resolution introduced by U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Susan Collins (R-ME) calling on members of the Ugandan Parliament to reject the so-called “Anti-Homosexuality Bill._
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed a resolution introduced by U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Susan Collins (R-ME) calling on members of the Ugandan Parliament to reject the so-called “Anti-Homosexuality Bill.” The bill, which was introduced in the Ugandan parliament in October 2009, would expand penalties for homosexuality in Uganda to include the death penalty, and require citizens to report information about homosexuality to the police or face imprisonment. In addition to condemning the proposed legislation in Uganda, the bipartisan resolution also urges all countries around the world to reject and repeal similar laws that criminalize homosexuality, and encourages the United States Department of State to closely monitor human rights abuses based on sexual orientation. In addition to the proposed bill in Uganda, there are laws on the books in nations around the world criminalizing homosexuality. In several countries including Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, the penalty for homosexuality includes the death penalty.
“I am glad that so many political, religious and civic leaders in Uganda and around the world have spoken out against this hateful and dangerous bill before the Ugandan Parliament. Sadly, this legislation is just one example of actions taken around the world to restrict the rights of people just because of their gender or sexual orientation. We need to speak out consistently against all such discrimination. The Senate’s passage of this resolution begins to move us in that direction, and I will continue working with my colleagues and the administration to continue to address this issue,” said Feingold, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.
The resolution reads:
RESOLUTION
Calling on members of the Parliament in Uganda to reject the proposed ‘‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’’, and for other purposes.
Whereas a bill introduced on October 14, 2009, by a member of Parliament in Uganda would expand penalties for homosexuality to include the death penalty and requires citizens to report information about homosexuality to the police or face imprisonment;
Whereas many countries criminalize homosexuality, and in some countries, such as Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan, the penalty for homosexuality includes the death penalty;
Whereas the United States, in seeking to promote the core American principles of equality and ‘‘Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,’’ has long championed the universality of human rights;
Whereas religious leaders in the United States, along with representatives from the Vatican and the Anglican Church, have stated that laws criminalizing homosexuality are unjust; and
Whereas the people and Government of the United States recognize that such laws undermine our commitment to combating HIV/AIDS globally through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) by stigmatizing and criminalizing vulnerable communities: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) calls on members of the Parliament in Uganda to reject the ‘‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’’ recently proposed in that country;
(2) urges the governments of all countries to reject and repeal similar criminalization laws; and
(3) encourages the Secretary of State to closely monitor human rights abuses that occur because of sexual orientation and to encourage the repeal or reform of laws such as the proposed ‘‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’’ in Uganda that permit such abuses.
CSBR Sexuality Institute 2010
_in INDONESIA, 18/05/2010
The Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR) is pleased to announce the 3rd CSBR Sexuality Institute 2010 to be held between September 18th and 25th 2010 in Jakarta, Indonesia._
Deadline for Applications: 28 May 2010
The Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR) is pleased to announce the 3rd CSBR Sexuality Institute 2010 to be held between September 18th and 25th 2010 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Designed as a comprehensive curriculum on sexuality, sexual and reproductive health and rights with an in depth discussion on the linkages between research and practice, the CSBR Sexuality Institute offers a holistic interdisciplinary program combining history, theory, research and politics of sexuality with applications of advocacy, and fieldwork.
The CSBR Sexuality Institute brings together leading sexual and reproductive rights activists, academics and researchers. Held previously in Malaysia (2008) and Turkey (2009) with participants from 19 countries throughout Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the institutes include lectures, group work, roundtables, panels, site visits and film screenings, as well as a methodology to engage participants' own experiences around sexuality.
More information on CSBR is available at hXXp://www.wwhr.org/csbr.php.
Homofobia:(sic) Challenges to the Cuban Family and Society
_in CUBA, 15/05/2010
Enjoying our sexuality is inherent to our nature and a prerogative that is rightfully ours, and passing laws to protect the rights of the least favored groups has been intrinsic to the Cuban Revolution’s humanist nature. It’s not about being ready; it’s an act of justice that must be dealt with immediately._
by Alberto Roque Guerra, May 16, 2010
Remarks given at the opening of the panel on the family and society
during the observation of World Anti-Homophobia Day, 2010
A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
We are holding the Third Cuban Conference against Homophobia at a time when our nation is immersed in a lively discussion about sexual diversity that stands as a great opportunity for most of those who have joined the Educational Campaign for Respect to Free Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity to gain sustained and enriching knowledge on these topics.
Fortunately, people have reacted to this campaign in ways no less diverse and supportive, showing respect and solidarity as much as ambivalence, rejection and skepticism. A very small minority, admittedly backed by the U.S. Interests Section in Havana and a Spanish LGBT organization tied to the fascist Popular Party, have launched a counter-campaign based on cock-and-bull stories and lies to bring discredit on our work.
So much rage and fuss is due to the fact that in the last three years we have made progress in raising awareness that the sexual rights should be considered as human rights. As a result of Resolution No. 126, approved in 2008 by the Ministry of Public Health to regulate every medical procedure that all transsexual individuals are entitled to receive free of charge, they can be recipients again of gender reassignment surgery.
Furthermore, the Cuban Multidisciplinary Society for Sexuality Studies issued a statement making clear that transexualism is not a mental illness and urging to guarantee the medical and psychological care as well as the social and legal help that these individuals need as victims of gender-based discrimination.
In this connection, on December 18, 2008 our state and government endorsed in the General Assembly of the United Nations the Declaration against human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, a clear sign of the positive turn taken by the dialogue with our top leaders.
In January this year, the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) signed a cooperation agreement on Sexual Diversity with the Office of the Ombudsman of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. We recently held the first seminar that paves the way for the inclusion of this topic in the governmental policies laid down by ALBA member countries.
However, our domestic legislation still has many obstacles in its path. The modifications to our Family Code proposed to the National Assembly of People’s Power in 2005 have remained shelved ever since, a delay apparently caused by the hesitation to provide for the legal recognition of same-sex couples and the legitimate right we all have to adopt and build alternative family models. Another significant step would be to make assisted reproductive technology available to lesbians with the same rights as heterosexual couples.
Some well-intended people are wondering whether our society is ready for this new Code, which suits Cuban families in our country today. I will answer them with other questions: were we by any chance ready to recognize Cuban women’s full rights in 1959? Where we ready to establish in one fell swoop the laws that protect people from racial discrimination?
Enjoying our sexuality is inherent to our nature and a prerogative that is rightfully ours, and passing laws to protect the rights of the least favored groups has been intrinsic to the Cuban Revolution’s humanist nature. It’s not about being ready; it’s an act of justice that must be dealt with immediately. As a Cuban citizen, I ask our compañero deputies to think about these facts carefully and fairly.
Another important matter is the negative reaction of some Cuban churches to these legislative proposals, particularly to the alleged danger that “same-sex marriage” be condoned and the Decree-Law on gender identity which, if approved, will recognize a transsexual individual’s right to alter their gender of identity even if they can’t or won’t have a sex-change operation. Come from where it may, fundamentalism severs human freedom. I have every confidence that our secular state will never give in to pressure based on pseudoscientific and medieval judgments.
Luckily, not all Cuban churches have taken the same stance. The presence in this Conference of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center, the Christian Student Movement, the Martin Luther King Jr., the Oscar Arnulfo Romero Reflection Group, the Protestant Seminary of Matanzas, the Genderism Institute, and members of Christian orders from the U.S., Brazil and other countries, is further evidence that we are not alone in this struggle.
As to education, the inclusion in syllabi at all levels of subjects related to sexual diversity is still pending. Reluctance to implement the National Sex Education Program eternalizes homophobia, lesbophobia and transphobia at school and legitimates the two-fold approach to gender –masculine and feminine– sprung from heterosexual, patriarchal, sexist norms. If we really want a cultural change capable of tearing apart patriarchy’s hegemonic powers, we must make sure our children start getting this kind of education at an early age.
In this same respect, our media are obviously more willing to join our campaigns to raise public awareness of these issues. However, those in charge of designing editorial and informational policies should come up with methodical strategies and think about seeking advice to ensure the proper dissemination of the educational messages about sexual diversity. No debate or process of absorbing cultural change is ever free of resistance. We are witnessing a dynamic of swift changes in Cuban society that our media cannot overlook at the risk of damaging our nation.
I’d like to make a brief reference to the LGBT policies within the Communist Party of Cuba. I’m convinced that the individual is political and, therefore, that the party statutes should ban sex and gender discrimination. Despite a number of appropriate and positive changes along these lines that we have seen in this political organization, some of its members still believe that “homosexuality is a remnant of the bourgeoisie and contrary to socialist morals”. In light of present knowledge, there’s plenty of proof that homophobia is bourgeois and contrary to socialist morals if anything is. Failure to address this issue in the statutes surely paves the way for discrimination.
Homosexuality has been decriminalized in Cuba since the 1990s. No one can be arrested or brought to trial on grounds of their sexual orientation or gender of identity. Despite the training that both CENESEX and the National Center for STD and HIV/AIDS Prevention give in a number of units of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR), some police officers still harass LGBT people in the places where they gather. It’s regrettable that many of these officers are out of line with the law and keep acting on the basis of prejudice and lack of knowledge about these facts. Likewise, we disapprove of any citizen’s behavior in violation of the current laws regardless of their sexual orientation or gender of identity. Taking into account the experience we have gained from our work with the police force, we urge CENESEX and PNR to step up their joint efforts. I am specifically suggesting that a Training Program on Sexual Diversity be developed on the basis of a methodology designed by all the parties involved that makes it possible to train a group of police officers as promoters of these issues among their colleagues.
Finally, I’d like to reassure all people, be they lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexual or heterosexual, as well as those who identify themselves with none of the above definitions, that each and every one of us are individual agents of socio-cultural change devoted to fighting homophobia, machismo and patriarchal power. May the coming sessions continue to provide a framework that sets an example of collective participation in our steps toward such a difficult and long-cherished goal.
Thank you very much.
The Executive Board members of the Pan Africa International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, condemns the conviction and sentencing of Tiwonge and Steven in Malawi.
_in MALAWI, 21/05/2010
Pan Africa ILGA join all our global human rights organizations and especially the Malawian organization the Center for the Development of People (CEDEP) in condemning the conviction and harsh sentencing of 14 years imprisonment with hard labour by a Magistrate Court in Blantyre, Malawi of Tiwonge ("Tionge") Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza for "unnatural offences" and "indecent practices between males" under Sections 153 and 156 of the Malawi Penal Code._
"This is an appalling, vindictive and brutal sentence, which tramples on Malawi's constitution, violates personal privacy and reverses the country's commitment to human rights.
"Steven and Tiwonge love each other and have harmed no one. Yet they get a sentence more severe than some rapists, armed robbers and killers.
"With so much hatred and violence in Malawi, it is sick that the court has jailed this couple for loving and caring for each other.
"The sentence echoes the era of dictatorship under President Hastings Banda, when personal prejudices determined law enforcement, and when individual rights were crushed and dissenters persecuted,"
We are calling for an immediate response from all parts of the world as we are not going to stand for these injustices, not in Africa and not anywhere else.
We call on government authorities and leaders at the commonwealth and United Nation for their response. We call on African states to condemn these violent breaches of gay people’s right.
This precedence will endanger the very fabric of society that we seek to protect, to live peaceful side by side and will jeopardize the process of saving lives.
In 1969 John Rendall and Ace Berg saw a lion cub for sale at Harrod's. Cramped and lonely in a small cage they decided to bring him home. A local vicar allowed them to exercise the lion,now named Christian, in the church grounds but he very quickly became too large for their flat. The only thing they could was try and reintroduce him to Africa, which they managed to do. A year later they wanted to visit Christian but were told that Christian was now the head of his own pride and as such completely wild and would not remember them. Undauted they went anyway…........
Christian The Lion Full Reunion Ending HQ
hXXp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeE4c3U63Hc&NR=1
Other clips available to help explain the details.
WASHINGTON (May 24) – Congress may vote as early as Thursday to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" law on gays after a compromise deal between the White House and Democratic lawmakers cleared the way for action before a Pentagon review is complete in December.
The deal unplugs the bottleneck created a few weeks ago when Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Congress to go slow on repealing the 1993 Clinton administration policy, in order to give the military time to gauge attitudes within the ranks and to assess the best way to go about implementing any changes. Gay-rights groups complained that violated the intent laid out by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union speech when he said he would work "this year" to repeal the law.
White House budget chief Peter Orszag sent a letter to Democratic lawmakers saying the administration supports a legislative amendment that will step up the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."
Under the brokered agreement, an amendment to repeal the law this year would be added to the annual must-pass defense spending bill. Last year's defense authorization act was used as a vehicle to pass the nation's first federal civil rights law protecting gays and lesbians against hate crimes.
In a letter to Democratic sponsors of the repeal, White House budget chief Peter Orszag wrote that the administration supports the proposed amendment, which "will allow for completion of the comprehensive review, enable the Department of Defense to assess the results of the review, and ensure that the implementation of the repeal is consistent with standards of military readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, recruiting and retention."
The repeal, which would allow gays and lesbians to serve openly without fear of being discharged, would not take effect until the Pentagon's Comprehensive Review Working Group completes its nine-month implementation management study and then only after it is approved by the president, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Rep. Patrick Murphy, the Pennsylvania Democrat and Iraq war veteran who is the lead sponsor in the House, is expected to introduce the measure Tuesday. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who has spoken out for quick repeal, could bring it to a vote as early as Thursday. House Republican leaders have vowed to oppose lifting the ban.
Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin and Sen. Joseph Lieberman are expected to introduce the repeal in the upper chamber, where it is unclear whether there are enough votes to head off a filibuster. Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the armed services committee, has said he would fight to keep the law as is.
Gay rights groups, which had the wind knocked out of their sails by Gates' earlier caution, hailed the "dramatic breakthrough."
Aubrey Sarvis, head of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said Obama's support and "Secretary Gates' buy-in should ensure a winning vote, but we are not there yet. The votes still need to be worked and counted."
Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United and a former U.S. Army interrogator discharged under "don't ask, don't tell," said, "We have been making the case to White House staff for more than a year now that delayed implementation is realistic, politically viable and the only way to get the defense community on board with repeal, and we are glad to see the community and now the administration and defense leadership finally rally around this option."
While the amendment's passage is far from assured in Congress, its return to the front burner comes as the midterm election campaigns are heating up. Republicans – already confident at gaining seats in November -- are likely to add the hot-button social issue to their list of complaints about the Democratic administration now in charge in Washington. Conservative Democrats also are unlikely to sign on unless they are sure military leaders are on board with any changes.
More than 14,000 gays and lesbians have been discharged from the military since 1994 when the law -- itself a compromise between President Bill Clinton and conservatives in Congress and the Pentagon -- took effect. Gay-rights activists estimate there are about 66,000 gays serving in the military.
Maybe Mods should not reply here but…...
Gay Themed is a Wonderful Category indeed :jaj: and Thank you for the job you do with Category : :jaj: :jaj:
Now, Gay Interest covers a much broader spectrum of material and therefore a Must Have Category from my perspective.
I am in {b]Support adding this Category to the tracker 100% and will assist in any way I am can!! Just HOLLA!!!
I guess!! ::) There is certainly something wrong with the whole concept of celibacy!!! IMHO…....
The church must not be complicit in gay persecution in Africa
Anglican influence must be brought to bear to end this vile practice
~ Editorial ~
Homosexuality is not a sin or a crime. There is no caveat or quibble that should be added. The repression of gay men and women by legal means and public intimidation is an offence against the basic principles of a free and just society. Where it exists, which it does to varying degrees in many countries around the world, it must be confronted and defeated.
The case last week of two gay men sentenced to 14 years' hard labour in Malawi is a stark reminder of how urgent the task is. The judge said it was a "scaring sentence, so that the public will be protected". The country's president has described homosexuality as "evil and bad before the eyes of God".
In five countries around the world – Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen – the death penalty can be applied to gays and lesbians. They can be prosecuted for the fact of their sexual orientation in 76 countries, 38 of them in Africa.
There are also countless jurisdictions where homophobic attacks are tolerated by police. Britain hardly has an impeccable record on that front. But the UK has undergone a cultural revolution with regard to gay rights in the last decade: the repeal of Section 28, which banned teaching about homosexuality in schools; an equalised age of consent; civil partnerships and the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.
Britain is also not without influence in countries where persecution is institutionalised. A particular obligation falls on the Anglican church, which counts in its communion clergymen who preach venom and hatred. The Anglican bishop of Uyo in Nigeria, Isaac Orama, has described homosexuals as "inhuman, insane, satanic and not fit to live".
The Anglican hierarchy in Britain has avoided speaking out too frankly on this matter to avoid a schism, but the church's quiet diplomacy has done nothing to help the victims of homophobic repression. Increasingly, it looks like complicity.
Military personnel take part in a Gay Pride parade in London. A British officer says integrating gays was not a problem.
From Larry Shaughnessy, CNN Pentagon Producer
Washington (CNN) – The U.S. and its military allies agree on many things, from the size of bullets for their rifles to the design of future fighter jets. But on the issue of gays in the military, the United States stands alone among its Western allies.
Representatives from Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Israel and the Netherlands gathered Wednesday at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington, to describe how the militaries in those countries handled allowing homosexuals to serve openly. The consensus was that, in spite of concerns before the change, it became a nonissue once gays and lesbians were allowed to serve.
"I did not see one case at any level when homosexuals did not get along with other soldiers. The problems are among men and women," said Maj. Gen. Walter Semianiw, an infantry officer in the Canadian military. "This is not an issue for our country."
"We know the U.S. as a country that favors the individual rights, freedom, giving the people the opportunity to flourish in their life," said Col. Kees Matthijssen of the Royal Dutch Army. "From that perspective it's still very strange the U.S. is still having a kind of ban on openly having gays and lesbians in the military."
"There were concerns in the late '90s of gay men walking across the gangplank in feather boas and high heels," said retired Lt. Cmdr. Craig Jones of the British Royal Navy. "That just did not happen."
Jones said British military officials saw an unexpected benefit of allowing gays to serve openly -- better retention of qualified soldiers and sailors in key positions. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the British military had a 6 percent to 8 percent gap in unfilled positions. Now it's down to the 2 percent to 3 percent range.
Jones said one reason for that is the new policy allowing gays to serve.
Now that gays are able to serve, military recruiters in the United Kingdom have more volunteers to choose from, Jones said. Also, having children is often cited by British troops as one reason why they leave the military in their late 20s or 30s. Jones said because gays and lesbians are less likely to become parents, they tend to stay in the military longer.
During a recent congressional hearing on the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell," policy, retired NATO Commander Gen. John Sheehan testified that he believed the Dutch military's policy of allowing gays to serve was in part to blame for the Dutch military's failure to halt the massacre of Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995.
Sheehan later backtracked on his testimony, but Matthijssen of the Dutch army addressed the comments.
"I was in Srebrenica myself, I was a company commander, I was there. I had a full professional company," Matthijssen said.
"The homosexual, sexuality that he suggested would have affected that unit, that is absolutely not the case."
Matthijssen said, "There was good cohesion within the unit, the unit was effective. But the unit was put in a place -- based on political decisions within the U.N., within the international community -- with too [few] troops, too few means, not the mandate to really fight and overwhelm … That's what really happened."
Matthijssen said allowing gays to serve openly has made the Royal Dutch Army better.
"We're much more effective because we have an organizational culture and climate that people know that they can tell about who they are, and that's what we encourage," he said.
Homophobic countries want their gay nationals in UK extradited to face prosecution over sexuality
Home Secretary Theresa May has said she will block attempts by Uganda to force extradition of gay Ugandans in Britain
By Emily Dugan and Jane Merrick
Britain's immigration system is guilty of "institutional homophobia", according to a new report. The result is that 98 per cent of gay asylum-seekers fleeing persecution for their sexuality are returned home to a likely fate of death or persecution, says the report.
The hard-hitting study by the gay rights group Stonewall will add to pressure on the Home Secretary, Theresa May, and the new coalition government. This weekend, in a move applauded by campaigners, the Home Secretary said she would block moves by the Ugandan government to force the extradition of Ugandan gay asylum-seekers who had fled to the UK.
Proposed new laws in Uganda threaten imprisonment of anyone found "guilty" of homosexual acts. The proposals extend this to Ugandan nationals living abroad, who could face extradition back to Uganda.
The Home Office made it clear yesterday that the UK will only extradite people to their home countries if their "crime" was an offence in this country.
A spokesman for Refugee Action said: "This is a really welcome announcement and a very positive step. Obviously we will want to sit down with ministers and seek clarification over how a ban on deportations will be administered, but it is excellent news that extraditions to Uganda have been categorically ruled out."
The move follows international protests over the sentencing last week of two gay men in Malawi to 14 years' hard labour. Yesterday Andrew Mitchell, the International Development Secretary, said he would make "urgent representations" to the Malawi government over the jailing of Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza.
Despite the Home Office statement, the Stonewall report is deeply critical of Britain's record on homosexual asylum-seekers. The report says UK Border Agency staff and the judiciary show "systemic discrimination" against those claiming asylum on the basis of sexual persecution.
The report, No Going Back, found that between 2005 and 2009 almost all cases involving people claiming asylum on the basis of their sexual orientation were refused by the Home Office. During the same period the general refusal rate for asylum-seekers in the UK was 76.5 per cent.
The report quotes one UKBA staff member admitting: "Someone from Jamaica claiming they're gay will just automatically be disbelieved." Another said "Colleagues have said that they don't know what questions to ask; we feel rude prying and embarrassed about asking these questions."
Many cases are turned down simply on the basis that someone fleeing a country where homosexuality is punishable by death or hard labour could simply "live discreetly" – in other words, go into hiding. UKBA staff admitted this was discriminatory.
UKBA staff also showed a lack of understanding and training, the report says. One case worker asked an asylum-seeker: "Why do you choose to be homosexual when you know it is illegal in your own country?"
Another senior caseworker suggested the type of books a person read could determine if they were gay. "I would look at how they've explored their sexuality in a cultural context," he said, adding, "reading Oscar Wilde perhaps, films and music".
Stonewall's chief executive, Ben Summerskill, said: "This report provides both shocking and clear evidence of institutional homophobia in Britain's asylum system. Legitimate asylum-seekers are frequently being deported. We'll now be pressing the UK Border Agency and the Home Office urgently to implement the manifesto promises made by both partners in the new government to end this profound injustice."
A Home Office spokesman said: "The new Government is committed to stopping the deportation of asylum-seekers who have had to leave particular countries because their sexual orientation or gender identification puts them at proven risk of imprisonment, torture or execution. We are considering the best way of implementing this policy. In terms of extradition, the UK will only extradite someone if they are wanted for an offence that is also a crime in the UK. Clearly this does not apply to homosexuality."
Chris Rabideau said the suspects beat him in the lobby of his apartment building and used anti-gay slurs. He said they determined he was gay from his demeanor and became very angry when he told them they were on video. (CBC)
Suspects made homophobic slurs during assault
CBC News
A gay rights activist and director of a one-act play in Windsor about tolerance is recovering from a savage beating that he says exposes a hateful act of homophobia.
Chris Rabideau, 26, said he was robbed and then beaten by two men who told him the attack early Friday was justified because he's gay.
He said the incident began after one man approached him outside a convenience store at Ouellette Way and Giles Boulevard. When he reached the corner of Ouellette and Erie Street, another man joined the first suspect.
A police report said they took Rabideau's wallet and tried to force him to go to a bank machine to withdraw money. He instead ran to his apartment lobby, where they caught up to him.
During the incident, the men denigrated Rabideau, referring to him with slurs commonly used in gay bashing.
"I think it was drug-related, I think they wanted money. It became a hate crime because they started calling me 'faggot', 'homo' and everything in between," Rabideau said. "They said now that you're gay, this gives us more reason to do what we're doing."
Rabideau said he thought he was going to die when one of the men began choking him.
A security camera in the apartment lobby caught the assault on tape. It shows Rabideau lying on the floor as the suspects leave.
"They grabbed me, put me into the corner and started kicking into my head," he said.
The attack occurred a few days after Rabideau directed the play Waking Up Blue in order to raise awareness about homophobia and to teach tolerance.
He said he decided to speak out about the beating so that people can see how ugly homophobia is.
"Many people around me have told me not to come forward and talk about this yet, but I see the urgency of doing it now," Rabideau said. "I want people to see the face of hate."
Police are still looking for suspects. They're asking anyone with information about the case to call Crimestoppers, at 519-255-TIPS.
Police released this security camera image photo of one of the suspects. (Windsor police)
Immigration debate enters a kiddie phase…...
"Playground politics" is usually intended as a metaphor — describing the all-too-frequent occasions when political debate descends into "I know you are, but what am I?" territory. This past week, however, the nation's long-running dispute over immigration policy lurched literally into the schoolyard, with a pair of incidents showing how the furor hits home for kids in often unexpected ways.
First, after a second-grade girl in a suburban Maryland school quizzed Michelle Obama about whether the president would be deporting her mother because she "doesn't have papers" documenting her U.S. citizenship, officials with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that they would not be trying to locate the parent in question. They have also announced that they will not deport the girl's mother if she were to surface.
"ICE is a federal law enforcement agency that focuses on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes criminal aliens who pose a threat to our communities," ICE spokesman Matthew Chandler told the Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe. "Our investigations are based on solid law enforcement work and not classroom Q and As."
The exchange highlighted the complexities of deportation as a strategy for dealing with illegal immigration, since an estimated 3.1 million U.S.-born children have a parent who is an illegal immigrant, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
Meanwhile, a beloved kids' cartoon character, Dora the Explorer, has been dragged into the heart of the immigration fray. A doctored image of the popular Nickelodeon character — who stresses basic reading and math skills and occasionally speaks in Spanish as she travels around the world from her home in a never-specified country — has lately cropped up in disputes in Arizona involving advocates on both sides of the state's tough new immigration law.
[Another kiddie controversy: Obesity activists want Ronald McDonald to go the way of Joe Camel]
In the altered image, Dora is shown in a police-booking photo, sporting a black eye and holding a sign that says "Illegal Border Crossing Resisting Arrest." The depiction has circulated widely, although its author, Florida resident Debbie Groben, told the Associated Press she created it last year simply to be an irreverent entry in a fake-news contest. (We are not including the image, but you can click over to it here — with the clear warning that it's a graphic and disturbing depiction of a beloved children's icon.)
Meanwhile, a Facebook group called "Dora the Explorer is so an illegal immigrant" shows Dora jumping over the U.S.-Mexico border with her backpack strapped on.
The broad political appropriation of the character is a reflection of Dora's audience appeal, experts suggest. "Dora is kind of like a blank screen onto which people can project their thoughts and feelings about Latinos," Erynn Masi de Casanova, a sociology professor at the University of Cincinnati, told the Associated Press. "They feel like they can say negative things because she's only a cartoon character." Indeed, Groben told the AP she opposes the law. The image can be read as satire, ridiculing a policy that would arrest and deport an adorable cartoon character.
As the AP reminds us, it's not the first time that a children's TV character has been conscripted into a culture-war conflict. In 1999, Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell created a furor over his announcement that Tinky Winky, a character in the toddler-themed BBC TV franchise "The Teletubbies," was a "gay role model," largely because the character sported a purple costume — a color associated with gay pride — and a triangle on its head. The BBC countered that the little fella was "simply a sweet, technological baby with a magic bag."
It will be some time, presumably, before we reach closure on the question of Dora's citizenship status — and the related issue of which camp in the immigration debate will be entitled to claim her as a political mascot. But there may be another shot for the Maryland schoolgirl to broker a new accord on immigration: She recently told the AP that she'd like to get a follow-up session with the first lady at the White House. Maybe this could be Michelle Obama's own version of the "beer summit" — only with juice boxes, of course.
— Liz Goodwin is a national affairs writer for Yahoo! News.
Dora the Explorer Caught Up in Immigration Debate
Debbie Groben created this image of Dora the Explorer for a fake news site late last year, before Arizona's immigration law became the center of a national debate.
CHICAGO (May 21) – In her police mug shot, the doe-eyed cartoon heroine with the bowl haircut has a black eye, battered lip and bloody nose.
Dora the Explorer's alleged crime? "Illegal Border Crossing Resisting Arrest."
The doctored picture, one of several circulating widely in the aftermath of Arizona's controversial new immigration law, may seem harmless, ridiculous or even tasteless.
But experts say the pictures and the rhetoric surrounding them online, in newspapers and at public rallies, reveal some Americans' attitudes about race, immigrants and where the immigration reform debate may be headed.
"Dora is kind of like a blank screen onto which people can project their thoughts and feelings about Latinos," said Erynn Masi de Casanova, a sociology professor at the University of Cincinnati. "They feel like they can say negative things because she's only a cartoon character."
It's not the first time a children's character has been dragged into a serious debate.
In the late 1990s, Tinky Winky the Teletubby, a purple children's TV character with a triangle antenna -- was called out by Christian leaders for being gay. Sesame Street roommates Bert and Ernie are often involved in statements on same-sex marriage.
Both shows' producers say the characters aren't gay.
In Dora's case, she's an easy target as discussion ramps up on how lawmakers should address the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.
For about a decade, the pint-sized Latina character has taught millions of children the English alphabet, colors and Spanish phrases on a Nickelodeon TV show and through a global empire. Her smiling cherub face is plastered on everything from backpacks to T-shirts to fruit snacks.
But since the passage of the Arizona law - which requires authorities to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally - Dora's life and immigration status have been scrutinized and mocked.
Several websites, including The Huffington Post, have narrated Dora's mock capture by immigration authorities. One picture circulating on Facebook shows an ad for a TV show called "Dora the Illegal Immigrant." On the Facebook page "Dora the Explorer is soo an Illegal Immigrant," there are several images showing her sailing through the air over the U.S.-Mexican border.
Many of the Dora images assume the Latina character is an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
But that's where it gets complicated.
Representatives from Nickelodeon declined to comment on Dora's background, and her place of birth or citizenship have never been clear." She has brown skin, dark hair and speaks Spanish with an American accent.
"She's always been ambiguously constructed," said Angharad Valdivia, who teaches media studies at the University of Illinois and has explored the issue. "In the U.S. the way we understand race is about putting people in categories and we're uncomfortable with people we can't put into categories."
Dora lives in an unidentified location with pyramids that suggest Mexico, but also tropical elements such as palm trees and her friends, Isa the iguana and Boots the monkey. Does that mean she's from South America or Florida?
Then there's oak trees and her fox nemesis Swiper, which are more common to the American Midwest.
The show often plays Salsa-like music, which has some roots in Cuba and is popular across Latin America.
Even the voice actresses behind Dora don't provide insight.
The original Dora voice belonged to Kathleen Herles, whose parents are from Peru. Dora is currently voiced by actress Caitlin Sanchez, a New Jersey-born teen who calls herself Cuban American; her grandparents are Cuban.
As for the mug shot, it's been around since late last year, when Debbie Groben of Sarasota, Fla. created it and entered it in a contest for the fake news site FreakingNews.com.
Since debate over the Arizona law heated up the nation's immigration debate, it's been e-mailed and texted widely and used on signs at rallies.
"My intentions were to do something funny, something and irreverent," said Groben, who said she opposes Arizona's law. "I actually like the little kid."
The issue appears to have resonated little with Dora's biggest fans, the millions of parents and their children who seem mostly unaware of the discussion encircling their beloved cartoon.
Altamise Leach, who has three children, said Dora's ethnicity and citizenship are irrelevant.
The stay-at-home mom credits the cartoon with helping teach her children team work. She even threw her 3-year-old daughter a Dora birthday party, complete with a Dora-like adventure, Dora cake and a woman who dressed up as Dora.
"We have so many diverse cultures, let's try to embrace everybody," Leach said. "She puts a smile on my daughter's face, that's all I want."
Erick Wyatt said he never thought about Dora's origins and his three children never asked.
"I just thought she was a cartoon character that spoke Spanish," the Flint, Mich., man said.
You Tube News Story <–-> hXXp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba3VqzFb-Tc
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