Cornell University's MOSAICfor Queer People of Color

Rex Wockner - GAY LIFE IN NEW ORLEANS AFTER KATRINA

2005-12-19T21:07:00.000-05:00

[NOTE: Below is the text of an article that has been sent out for syndication and already posted at the Washington Blade website at http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=4106 . Rex often posts his news photos on the Mano a Mano Fotki site and, if you scroll down to the end, you will get instructions on how to get access to two albums with photos he has taken this past month in New Orleans. Even after all these months, it is still stunning just how devastated the city still remains, as I am sure you will see in the photos - Andres ]

GAY LIFE IN NEW ORLEANS AFTER KATRINA

Gayest Neighborhoods Spared, Bars Are Fairly Busy
Gay Community Center May Collapse, Lesbians and Blacks Hit Harder

by Rex Wockner

NEW ORLEANS -- A few Christian political activists blamed Hurricane Katrina on gays, noting that it hit immediately prior to gay-friendly New Orleans' famed "Southern Decadence" gay festival.

But, in fact, about the only parts of the city that weren't severely damaged by the massive flooding from burst levees were the gayest areas. And the New Orleans gay scene appears to be bouncing back faster than the city in general.

"The 20 percent of the city that was spared, 80 percent of those parts of the city are gay [neighborhoods]," said Larry Bagneris, executive director of the New Orleans Human Relations Commission. "The benefits of living in that environment -- the French Quarter, the Marigny, the Bywater, Uptown -- where most gay people live, they were spared the water. We've come back not only to dry land, but to our jobs.

"All those preachers who blamed the gay community for Katrina -- our neighborhoods were the ones that had the rainbow over us and were blessed," Bagneris said.

But many gay people didn't live in those gayest neighborhoods -- especially lesbians, blacks and men who don't frequent gay bars.

"The flooding hit a lot of the community that is less visible than the bar crowd," said Randal Beach, co-chair of the Lesbian and Gay Community Center of New Orleans. "A lot of the people whose social activities revolve around the bar scene live in and around the French Quarter, and they were fortunately spared the flooding. But many others in the community -- particularly the women's and trans[gender] communities -- lived in areas that were badly flooded. New Orleans also has a large black community, and the overwhelming majority those people lived in neighborhoods that were severely damaged."

Former city Health Department director and well-known French Quarter figure Dr. Brobson Lutz agreed that "gay people of color were more prone to live in areas that were more susceptible to the flooding."

Lesbians took a harder hit, Bagneris said, because "more lesbians lived in [the flooded] Mid-City and Lakeview [areas], and many have kids that have to go to school."

Most schools have not reopened, which prevents people with school-aged children from coming home, even if they have a home to come home to, which most evacuees do not.

The city's lesbian population is likely to remain depleted for some time, said Belinda Hernandez, an openly gay executive producer at WDSU-TV.

"A lot of the lesbian population relocated -- and we don't even know where they are," she said. "Lakeview is gone. Much of Mid-City was under water as well."

GAY COMMUNITY CENTER THREATENED WITH COLLAPSE

The fact that most evacuees still haven't been able to come home also has thrown the Lesbian and Gay Community Center into dire financial straits. It may, in fact, have to close if help doesn't arrive soon.

"It's devastating," Beach said. "We have met several times trying to figure out how to keep the doors open. The base of our support has always been in the community itself, we've never had a lot of corporate support, [and] many of our heavy donors are scattered around the country. Many we haven't been able to talk to. We don't even know where they went.

"Also, it's hard to ask people for money when they don't even have a house," he said.

The center has 100 to 150 core donors but has been able to contact "no more than half a dozen of them," Beach said.

The all-volunteer facility, located in the unflooded Faubourg Marigny neighborhood, operates on $30,000 to $50,000 a year. If 2,500 people from the gay community around the country donated $20 each, the center's crisis could be averted for a full year, Beach said.

"At a time when there are a lot of people in our community desperatelyneeding help and desperately needing community, the center needs to be up and running and operating," he said. "But we can't keep the doors open without insurance and rent and utilities."

The center hosts the Metropolitan Community Church; Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); political organizations; a youth group; the gay film festival and other community institutions. It also operates a resource library.

Another way that gays around the country can help out is to start visiting New Orleans again, said Bagneris.

"The crowds in the bars are about the same, if not fuller, because we have FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) people, computer people, people from out of town," he said.

"I'm encouraging gay people to visit now -- if you can get a hotel and a flight. Only about 35 percent of our flights are coming in and out. Hotels are tight because of FEMA and insurance people. But this would be a great time to visit. ... The areas that were preserved are the areas that we enjoy the most. The bars are popping, the restaurants are open, you can view the sights, and you can go through the areas that have been under water and realize how blessed you are."

While FEMA partiers may be helping keep the gay bars afloat, that's pretty much the only positive thing Bagneris and others had to say about the feds.

"The federal government has shown a lack of leadership from the top down," Bagneris said. "We're dealing with an inept president and an inept FEMA. ... But I feel extremely optimistic. We've always done what is best for the city, which has kept this unique culture and individuality. We tend to build and restructure in spite of the federal government's lack of support."

CRAWLING THE QUARTER

FEMA also came in for criticism during conversations with French Quarter gay bartenders.

"We're ready for the FEMA people to go away. In fact, we'll help them pack," said Eric Evans, manager of the Rawhide 2010 bar.

"They've sucked up all the rooms in the hotels," he said. "We don't know what they're doing. We need our tourists to come and visit and stay in the hotels that they can't get into because the FEMA people are occupying them. Basically, we're occupied by the federal government right now. We need them to go away.

"Tell all of our people it's time to come home," Evans added. "We're ready for you."

Evans said business at Rawhide has been "steady ... pretty much normal for December, but it's all locals."

A Saturday-night pub crawl found 40 to 75 people in each of several gay bars between 11 p.m. and midnight -- numbers that some locals said were low. A Sunday afternoon visit to a popular Bourbon Street gay bar found more than 100 patrons.

"It's very unpredictable," said Jerry Frederick, assistant manager of Good Friends Bar. "Some nights we're crazy busy when we don't think we're going to be, and then when we think we're going to be [busy], it's slow. The majority of the time, though, we are generally rather busy, so we're getting back to where we should be.

"It's a lot of locals," Frederick said. "We don't have any tourists in town yet. There's not a lot of lodging available because all the hotels are taken by FEMA and construction workers. When the tourists come back, then it's gonna pick up a lot more.

"We also have a 2 o'clock curfew," he noted. "When they lift the curfew, that's going to change things a lot, too."

Over on Bourbon Street, the main tourist strip, Bourbon Pub barback Marc Anthoni said that "the last month or so, business has been good."

"I think the gay population in New Orleans has bounced back considerably faster than the general population," he said. "I feel we're very fortunate that the business really is here. It's kind of a 50/50 mix here -- we get some relief workers, a lot of construction people who are coming in from out of state to rebuild the community and, yeah, a lot of the local faces have been gracing our humble establishment. We've been blessed."

Cafe Lafitte In Exile, which also is on Bourbon Street, "has been pretty busy," said bartender Manuel Carillo.

"We're getting a lot of out-of-towners," he said. "What we're really worried about is when the relief workers leave, are we going to have enough actual residents to keep the city going. That's the big scare. We just don't have enough people returning, so that's not a good sign.

"Tourism is real, real low because of all the relief work going on," Carillo agreed. "There's no space at the hotels."

Former city health director Lutz predicted it will be many years before New Orleans' population returns to pre-hurricane levels.

"New Orleans was said to have a population of 480,000 to 500,000 pre-Katrina," he said. "There's no way we'll get 200,000 residents in a year. We'll be lucky to have 150,000 residents in a year. I think the next three to four years are really going to be rough. I think it's going to take us 10 years to really start booming again."

Lutz suggested that the present population mix gives the city an Old West feel.

"The city is running 60 to 70 percent male right now, which is very unusual for a U.S. city, and probably more characteristic of an old frontier operation like in the Wild West or in Alaska," he said.

***

Donations for the gay community center can be mailed to: LGCCNO, 2114 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA 70116.

PHOTOS

http://public.fotki.com/MANOaMANO/rex_wockner_news_photos/gay_life_in_new/

PHOTO CAPTIONS (All photos by Rex Wockner)

1. Former city Health Department director and well-known French Quarter figure Dr. Brobson Lutz
2. Former city Health Department director and well-known French Quarter figure Dr. Brobson Lutz
3. Former city Health Department director and well-known French Quarter figure Dr. Brobson Lutz
4. Rawhide 2010 bar manager Eric Evans
5. Good Friends Bar assistant manager Jerry Frederick
6. Bourbon Pub barback Marc Anthoni
7. Cafe Lafitte In Exile bartender Manuel Carillo
8. The Bourbon Pub
9. Cafe Lafitte In Exile
10. Cafe Lafitte In Exile
11. Good Friends Bar
12. Rawhide 2010 bar
13. Typical damage in "The Dead Zone" -- the 70 percent of New Orleans that was wiped out by the massive flooding resulting from burst levees
14. Typical damage in "The Dead Zone" -- the 70 percent of New Orleans that was wiped out by the massive flooding resulting from burst levees
15. Typical damage in "The Dead Zone" -- the 70 percent of New Orleans that was wiped out by the massive flooding resulting from burst levees
16. New Orleans Human Relations Commission Executive Director Larry Bagneris
17. New Orleans Human Relations Commission Executive Director Larry Bagneris
18. Openly gay WDSU-TV Executive Producer Belinda Hernandez
19. Openly gay WDSU-TV Executive Producer Belinda Hernandez
20. Openly gay WDSU-TV Executive Producer Belinda Hernandez

There are many more photos of the massive flood damage here:

http://public.fotki.com/MANOaMANO/rex_wockner_news_photos/new_orleans_after/

PHOTO SITE INSTRUCTIONS

1. Click on a thumbnail.
2. This opens a medium-sized version of the photo.
3. Underneath that medium-sized photo, click on "Get Original Uploaded Photo."
4. This opens the photo full-sized.
5. Then save that full-sized photo to your hard drive.

Jamaica Observer - The misperceptions of gay vs heterosexual murders

2005-12-18T00:51:00.000-05:00

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/html/20051209T210000-0500_94256_OBS_THE_MISPERCEPTIONS_OF_GAY_VS_HETEROSEXUAL_MURDERS.asp

The Jamaica Observer

The misperceptions of gay vs heterosexual murders

Saturday, December 10, 2005

The sad, ugly truth is that Jamaica suffers from a debilitating and corrosive pathology, whose causes are many and complex, but which reveals itself, in part, in the nearly 1,500 people who have been murdered here so far this year.

Jamaica has a murder rate of approximately 56 homicides for every 100,000 of its population, which places the country if not at the top, very near the top of the ranking of murders per capita.

Part of the failure of arresting this pathology of gore and mayhem is the ineffectiveness of the Jamaican constabulary in investigating and solving all crimes.

This year, not much more than 50 per cent of the murders will be "cleared-up" by the police, in that they will have identified a suspect.

In very few of the cases, however, will any of these suspects be taken before the courts to be tried for the crime. And if they are, the majority will be acquitted.

There is a sense among the murderers, therefore, that they can kill with impunity. For there is no consequence to pay. On the face of it, the police have shown no greater competence in solving murders, or for that matter any other crime, based on the gender and/or sexual preference of the victim.

Indeed, we believe that there is a slander abroad against the constabulary, imbuing them with competence, or even attention, when investigating the murder of people who are heterosexual.

In investigating all cases of murder, the record of the police is poor.

Yet, there is a myth, which is gathering steam, most dangerously abroad and perpetrated by skilled propagandists, that somehow the murder of gays, particularly homosexual males, are less likely to be solved than if a straight person is the victim.

The chances in either case, really, is equally poor. Another myth being parlayed with great political skill, is that every murder of any crime against any homosexual is, first and foremost, a hate crime, perpetrated because of the sexual preference of the victim.

This newspaper does not deny that there is in Jamaica what has come to be called, like reflex shorthand for the island - in much the same way as reggae music, rastafari and dreadlocks - Jamaican homophobia.

This label translates to mean the ritual beating and/or murder of gays.

This newspaper does not dismiss the fact that openly gay men, in some circumstances, may face harassment and ridicule and even assault, which can lead to murder.

Indeed, we have, in these columns, urged a sensible debate on the issue of homosexuality and the review of some of the country's existing laws from two standpoints. In the first instance, a person's sexual preference is a civil liberty issue and a private matter, once that person's lifestyle does not impinge on the rights of other individuals.

The state has no place - except in very limited and very extreme circumstances, such as in the protection of minors - in a person's bedroom.

Secondly, we support the notion that bringing these issues out in the open in an environment of tolerance will impact the problem of stigma that helps to push HIV/AIDS and some other debilitating diseases underground.

We, however, do not believe that improving tolerance or ending stigma are achieved through propagandist exaggeration and/or a misunderstanding, deliberate or otherwise, of the social construct of Jamaica so as to place all utterances on a literal plane.

Neither do we believe it credits us to deny the evolution of the society.

We, support the move by Mr Mark Shields, the police crime chief, to appoint a civilian oversight team to monitor the police investigation of the Steve Harvey case, and perhaps any future murder of gay men.

Ms Jenny Campbell would have appreciated such scrutiny during the investigation of the death of her son, Michael Gayle.

Perhaps the system can now be applied to murders in inner-city communities where the bulk of the 1,500 homicides victims reside, whose friends insist that the police will not bring them justice.

Joplin Globe - Cherokee court mulls same-sex marriage case

2005-12-18T00:44:00.000-05:00

Cherokee court mulls same-sex marriage case

The Joplin [MO] Globe
12/2/05
http://www.joplinglobe.com/story.php?story_id=213423&c=87

OKLAHOMA CITY - The case of a lesbian couple fighting to have their union recognized by their tribe was taken under advisement Thursday by three Cherokee Nation justices.

Dawn McKinley and Kathy Reynolds have asked the tribe's highest court to throw out a lawsuit that halted their effort to file their tribe-issued marriage certificate.

They contend that Todd Hembree, the tribe member and attorney who brought the complaint, had no standing to do so because he hasn't been harmed by their attempt to be recognized as a married couple.

Only someone who can demonstrate that they are being personally affected by the couple's marriage, such as a relative or an employer who would need to award spousal benefits, would have standing, Lena Ayoub, the defendants' lawyer, argued Thursday.

"The women seem to be in high spirits," Ayoub said. "They are hoping this challenge will be dismissed so they can get back to living their lives in private."

Hembree, who is also representing nine tribal counselors who are opposed to the marriage, said tribal law clearly prohibits same-sex marriage.

"If we aren't the appropriate people to bring it up then who is?" Hembree asked Thursday. "My clients took an oath to always promote the heritage, culture and language of the Cherokee Nation, and same-sex marriage has never been a part of the Cherokee culture."

Hembree said tribal laws previously used gender-specific terms such as "husband" and "wife" to define marriage. McKinley and Reynolds contend those terms are not gender specific and that in Cherokee, the words used in a marriage ceremony are "cooker" for wife and "companion" for husband.

"They have misinterpreted the statute," he said. "The statute itself says that marriage will be between husband and wife. Both terms have a very distinct, legal meaning and are gender-specific."

Both parties are awaiting a written opinion from the justices on whether the case will be dismissed or will continue. An answer could come as early as next week, Hembree said.

Gay City News - Rebuilding Queer Community, Beyond Marriage

2005-12-18T00:42:00.000-05:00

http://www.gaycitynews.com/gcn_448/rebuildingqueercommunity.html

Gay City News

Volume 4, Number 48 | December 1 - 7, 2005

PERSPECTIVE/ A DISSENT FROM AN AGENDA

Rebuilding Queer Community, Beyond Marriage

By EMMAIA GELMAN

My mother loves gay marriage. She'd vote for it in a heartbeat. She phone-stalked Hillary Clinton about it and kvelled about Gavin Newsom, the San Francisco mayor's whose maverick streak brought back memories of her own rebel days. She loves marriage for the same reason I don't-it's gays' big chance to be normal. If her kid is going to be gay, my mother wants a daughter-in-law and some grandbabies, not some boot-stomping dyke with an authority problem. To her, the whole queer-outsider thing smacks of bad manners. So although it's unsettling, I suppose it's not strange that the Marriage Gays-national institutions such as the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, and others-remind me of my mother. And I so wish the Marriage Gays would stop telling me how to live my life.

During state anti-marriage referenda held during the past two years, exit-pollsters canvassed to find out who was "for or against us." Theirresults surprised Ken Sherrill, a Hunter College political science professor and a strategist for the marriage movement, who made an interesting presentation to a Harvard audience last month. Contradicting the long held view that knowing a gay person was a leading indicator of support for full equality, Sherrill learned that having a queer friend or relative didn't tend to make people vote for gay marriage. In one poll, 20 percent of queers themselves voted against marriage. In another, 51 percent of queers who supported marriage said they were just voting for the right to a loving relationship; it had nothing to do with wanting to register with the state, or at Macy's.

So it turns out that chasing respectability hasn't done much for us. The marriage movement, Sherrill explained, hoped that the coming-out of "respectable people" had changed the image of queers from oversexed riff-raff to "just folks." The image of queers as nice two-children-and-a-dog couples has been a centerpiece of marriage strategy. But queers lost on marriage in state after state, as our friends and family voted to reserve pieces of their state constitutions for "just straight folks."

The polls tell us that Marriage Gays have also been wrong about how queers think about our rights. Turns out we're not all on a mission to be middle-class normal after all. Mortgages and picket fences have to share a place in queerdom with raging feminists, junkies, pier queens, and other "others"-the people whose first-hand knowledge of how mainstream people screw marginal people has been the heart of queer resistance.

But ritzy queers have always used money, politicians, and the media to speak on behalf of the rest of us. The marriage problem is that bad habit in hyper-drive. National gay institutions have big money that hasn't been available to local queer communities. They've tapped the idea that homophobia is bad, and declared marriage to be the opposite of homophobia. They're speaking not just to the powerful, but to people en masse. About us. Without us.

Perversely, queers are on the receiving end too. In place of community organizing through which queers argued back and forth before putting out messages to the world, the marriage messaging campaigns are selling marriage back to us. If some folks do come together to support those campaigns, we're told: "Look, the marriage issue is coming from the grassroots!" But it isn't. And real grassroots organizing, where unity is a difficult, complex thing that can't be dictated from a Communications Department, is simply not equipped to challenge it.

A lot of thoughtful queers have been urging Marriage Gays to shift focus to the issues underlying marriage-that people need health insurance, and that immigrants have rights. Sherrill, reexamining the respectability tactic, has ideas too. He reports that in recent focus groups, ads explaining why it's impractical and disruptive to live a secret life seemed to be better than marriage-focused ads for getting straights to care about us. Although corporate-sponsored ads for tolerance aren't much more democratic than corporate-sponsored ads for marriage, asserting the need to act different-since we are different-makes sense.

But how do we make the switch? National queer groups have no more right to decide for us on a different approach than they had to tell us marriage was the issue in the first place. Is it possible to democratize an organization like HRC, which has a membership but eclipses queers who don't sign up; and whose sponsors include multinational corporation with appalling human rights records such as like Shell Oil and Nike? Can we seriously get queer rights through organizations that exclude us?

Like Iraq war rhetoric about "fighting the enemies of freedom," it's hard to object to "equality"-though it's easier to explain why it's a bad idea to stake a movement on equality legislation, a comparison of the U.S. civil rights movement with the current state racial equality making for a pretty chilling example. But the marriage movement has traded on deep inequalities among queers, and even its strategists are saying it's time to go another way. It's really important that the new way not just be a change in direction at the top of our weird, unelected system of representation. It has to include all of us in thinking about who queers are, deciding what's important, and with all our power, demanding the right to be different. So it can't be led by my mother, HRC, or anyone who wants-out of love or expediency-to mold us in their image.

Positive Impact (?) - Jamaican HIV activist murdered on eve of World AIDS Day

2005-12-18T00:36:00.000-05:00

Jamaican HIV activist murdered on eve of World AIDS Day /01.12.05

Steve Harvey from Christian Aid partner, Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), has been murdered. He ran a programme providing support to gay men and sex workers.

Three men, armed with guns, broke into Mr Harvey's house and demanded money. They then forced him to carry valuables into the JASL car parked outside.

One of the gun men was reported to have said to Mr Harvey and his two house-mates: 'We hear that you are gay'. Two of the men denied it. They were tied up and left in the house. Steve was forced into the car which then sped away. Two hours later, he was found, shot dead.

Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates in the world. With a population of only 2.7 million people, the country has seen 1,383 murders in 2005 alone. Gun violence is common and homophobia rife.

Homophobia

Victims of homophobic violence are often too scared to appeal to the police for protection. According to Human Rights Watch: 'Police actively support homophobic violence, fail to investigate complaints of abuse, and arrest and detain [men] based on their alleged homosexual conduct.'

Last year, the founder of Jamaica's gay rights movement, Brian Williamson, was murdered. Investigators claimed the motive for murder was robbery, since a safe was missing and the apartment ransacked. However, many believe the killing was a hate crime.

Homosexuality is illegal in Jamaica: men convicted of homosexual activity can face ten years' imprisonment with hard labour.

A Christian Aid spokesperson said: 'JASL defends the rights of people who are not considered to have any rights in Jamaica. The work they do is very dangerous.'

HIV

Human Rights Watch also states: 'Jamaica's growing HIV/AIDS epidemic is unfolding in the context of widespread violence and discrimination against people living with and at high risk of HIV/AIDS, especially men who have sex with men.'

An estimated 1.5 per cent of Jamaicans are living with HIV/AIDs. Although two thirds of HIV transmission is through heterosexual sex, many people still blame gay men for spreading the virus.

On Sunday, Mr Harvey led JASL's annual candle-lit vigil in memory of those killed by HIV. JASL is now mourning the death of one of their strongest defendants of people living with HIV/AIDS

Miami Herald - Sheryl Swoopes: A Courageous Announcement

2005-12-18T00:35:00.000-05:00

http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views05/1110-34.htm

Published on Thursday, November 10, 2005 by the Miami Herald
Sheryl Swoopes: A Courageous Announcement
by Andrea Lewis

Basketball superstar Sheryl Swoopes should be applauded for announcing that she's gay. Her courage challenges the homophobic culture of sports.

Swoopes is a three-time Olympic champion, a four-time world champion with the WNBA's Houston Comets and the league's reigning Most Valuable Player. She is highly marketed among women athletes, but her achievements and glossy image don't tell the whole story.

''I'm tired of being miserable,'' Swoopes told ESPN, The Magazine. ``Not being free to be who I am, not being OK with other people knowing who I am -- it has been miserable. And it hurts. I'm sure life is not going to be easier for me just because I'm coming out. But at least I'll be free.''

Her an nouncement is historic. She is still an active professional player and the biggest name to come out of the sports closet since Martina Navratilova. Swoopes is also the first major black sports figure to do so.

Unfortunately, many lesbian athletes and coaches are still locked in the closet, which is where many in the sports world want them to stay.

Earlier this year, Jennifer Harris, a former member of the Penn State women's basketball team, accused the Lady Lions coach Rene Portland of dismissing her from the team because of anti-gay discrimination. Portland has long been rumored to use an anti-lesbian policy as a recruiting device to soothe worried parents and attract homophobic student athletes. Ironically, in spite of what Portland may have perceived, Harris isn't gay.

Mary Stephens, a girls' basketball coach in Bloomsburg, Texas, believes the local school board dismissed her because she's a lesbian. She eventually won an out-of-court settlement.

On one hand, women's sports teams are happy for the ticket sales and other financial support received from their lesbian and gay fans, but on the other hand, when it comes to marketing, they fear lesbians are a turn-off to potential male supporters and are questionable role models for young fans.

''My biggest concern is that people are going to look at my homosexuality and say to little girls -- whether they're white, black, Hispanic -- that I can't be their role model anymore,'' Swoopes told ESPN. ``I don't want that to happen. Being gay has nothing to do with the three gold medals or the three MVPs or the four championships I've won. I'm still the same person. I'm still Sheryl.''

Swoopes made this essential point: ''Sexuality and gender don't change anyone's performance on the court,'' she told the magazine.

Unfortunately, her drive for equality may not be appreciated until our culture learns to value female athletes for their skills and accomplishments more than for their value as sexual objects.

Andrea Lewis wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues.

© 2005 Miami Herald

WTNH - Protest held outside concert in New Haven

2005-12-18T00:20:00.000-05:00

http://www.wtnh.com/global/story.asp?s=4145987&ClientType=Printable

WTNH

Protest held outside concert in New Haven

(New Haven-WTNH, Nov. 20, 2005 11:30 PM) A controversial reggae artist is drawing more than fans to a performance at a New Haven nightspot.

One group is protesting the rapper's performance due to what they call homophobic lyrics.

by News Channel 8's Jamie Muro

For years, gay activist groups have said that Buju Banton's 1992 song Boom Bye Bye incites the killing of gay and lesbian people.

"1,2,3,4... send Buju out the door."

It's rhythmic protest.

"5,6,7,8... tell Toad's to stop the hate."

Hugh Baran is with the Queer Political Action Committee or QPAC of Yale. He and a handful of other students are upset Toad's Place is hosting Jamaican Reggae artist Buju Banton, an entertainer long accused of being violently homophobic.

"Buju is inciting people violence against gay people, and if we're denouncing Buju here, there's a reason," says Baran.

And while QPAC was exercising their first amendment rights, so were some of those paying the price for admission.

"So seeing that he's here, why discriminate against him," says Devorah E. Walters.

Devorah E. Walters says she respects the right of free speech, but does not agree with what some of the signs are saying.

"I don't think the liberty of homosexuals is correct as far as man on man and women on women. I think you can't have a family that way," says Walters.

Regardless of opinion, the rhythm continued... inside - for those wanting to see Buju...

"If they're going to protest, let them go ahead, I'll be in there partying," says Walters.

And outside for those protesting that reggae should not be anti-gay.

"He has every right to say what he wants, but Toad's has the moral duty to say no. To not host him and other singers just like him," says Baran.

News Channel 8 spoke with a representative from Toad's Place who says that they have spoken with Buju Banton's people and that he will not be singing any song of hatred against any group. The rep says that Banton's people say that is part of his past.

NYTimes - AIDS, and Homophobia, in Jamaica

2005-12-18T00:18:00.000-05:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/30/opinion/30wed3.html?th&emc=th

New York Times
November 30, 2005
Editorial

AIDS, and Homophobia, in Jamaica

Jamaica took a tentative step in the right direction recently when two government officials suggested that the country actually debate longstanding laws that criminalize gay sex among consenting adults. The suggestion, by Health Minister John Junor and Deputy Education Minister Donald Rhodd, may seem no big deal to those who live in Europe or North America. But it was revolutionary for Jamaica, where homophobic behavior is pervasive in just about every aspect of public life.

This distressing picture was documented just a year ago in a report from Human Rights Watch called "Hated to Death." The report recounted hair-raising stories of anti-gay bigotry in Jamaican popular culture as well as in the law enforcement and medical systems. Most distressingly, it recounted the experiences of gay Jamaicans who had been forced to flee their homes under threats of death.

The recent call for a national debate on the country's attitude toward gay people represents a belated realization by some in government that homophobia promotes the spread of AIDS by discouraging infected people from seeking counseling or treatment. But the angry reaction suggests that the political leadership will have a difficult time weaning the country away from the anti-gay attitudes that are pervasive throughout the society.

The Jamaican public health system has made progress in the year since Human Rights Watch issued its report. But the government will have to redouble its efforts to stem the tide of an epidemic that is clearly getting worse. For starters, this will mean expanding efforts to reach same-sex partners who are justifiably terrified of seeking medical help.

LATimes - In Jamaica, Gay Rights Now an Issue Worth Debating

2005-12-18T00:12:00.000-05:00

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-gayrights17nov17,0,5354775.story?coll=la-home-world

Los Angeles Times

In Jamaica, Gay Rights Now an Issue Worth Debating
The island, long seen as homophobic, is beginning to rethink its hard-line stance.

By Carol J. Williams
Times Staff Writer

November 17, 2005

KINGSTON, Jamaica - A call by Deputy Education Minister Donald Rhodd to discuss the possible repeal of Victorian-era laws criminalizing homosexuality has provoked predictable outrage among conservative Jamaicans. But gays here see the chance for debate as a glimmer of hope that they may one day be able to move out from the shadows.

Criticized by Human Rights Watch a year ago for fostering a climate of violent homophobia, Jamaica lately has joined other Caribbean countries in taking steps toward acknowledging that discrimination and denial have proved counterproductive in efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Still, many in the devoutly religious Caribbean region reject the notion that gays and lesbians should be granted equal protection under the law, including the right to associate openly and receive public services, as well as to marry. At least eight current or former British colonies in the Caribbean retain anti-sodomy laws, including Barbados, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Jamaica.

But economic realities and the outside world's scorn of anti-gay violence have begun making inroads in the climate of intolerance.

European impresarios have canceled concerts by Jamaican reggae artists who incite hatred of homosexuals in their lyrics. A Dutch court recently ordered authorities in Aruba to recognize a lesbian couple's marriage. And in St. Lucia, a top tourism official has been trying to sell fellow islanders on the idea that money is to be made as a destination for gay travelers.

The most homophobic of the islands, based on Human Rights Watch's assessment of violence against gays, Jamaica suffers one of the highest incidences of HIV and AIDS, with 1.2% of the population infected. Many believe that the consequences of publicly acknowledging that one is gay have hampered government efforts to halt the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.

At the secluded offices of the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, or J-FLAG, activists see progress toward a national dialogue in the fight against acquired immune deficiency syndrome but little movement toward accepting homosexuality as a way of life.

"There is still a policy of denial - 'This does not happen in Jamaica,' " said Gareth, who, like most gays here, uses only his first name to avoid discrimination. "People say Jamaica is a Christian country and they do not want to go down the path of allowing homosexuality."

Rhodd's suggestion of a parliamentary debate this winter session on whether to decriminalize sodomy caused a stir, but the issue remains on the agenda.

Although it was just one of 31 topics proposed for debate this session, the subject has dominated radio talk shows and newspaper front pages.

"The reaction, in my opinion, was emotional, based on a high degree of homophobia in the society and also based on the strong condemnation by members of the religious community," Rhodd said of the mostly negative reaction that his proposal elicited this fall in call-in programs, the main forum for public debate among Jamaicans.

Although those leading the fight against HIV/AIDS applaud the government's push to discuss decriminalization, they say the effort must be undertaken slowly to avoid alienating a public still deeply opposed to any notion of gay rights.

"The risk in an initiative like this is that the general public can get left behind," said Robert Carr, a former director of Jamaica AIDS Support now working as an independent consultant. "There's still much to be done in preparing the public for this dialogue."

Lawmakers have yet to schedule discussions, but Carr says their initiative in raising the subject is encouraging.

"If the dialogue is going to be effective, it has to be clear that it is an internal dialogue, not something imposed from outside influences with different agendas," he said.

Although fundamentalist Christians in the Caribbean say the Bible teaches that homosexuality is an abomination, the islands' exotic hybrid culture of African and European spirituality leads others to conclude that same-sex attraction is a consequence of witchcraft, voodoo curse or demonic possession, said Steve Lyston, a Christian fundamentalist and founder of Jamaica's Miracle Prophetic Ministries International.

Lyston's counseling center in Kingston seeks to rescue those he sees as "afflicted" through rituals aimed at their deliverance from evil spirits.

"If there is someone around you who is gay and you are spiritually weak ... then that spirit will be transferred to you and you will begin to feel these urges," he said, explaining his ministry's efforts to separate gays from the public so they can be "healed."

The stigma attached to homosexuality prompts some gays to avoid testing, treatment and support, said Sheryl O'Neil of the Caribbean Epidemiology Center in Anguilla. That compounds the risk of the disease spreading because governments are unable to adequately assess the problem and allocate money for prevention and treatment, she noted at a workshop for government healthcare officials.

Pushed by courts, international rights groups and fear of AIDS, attitudes toward gays and their legal rights appear to be changing in some venues.

The Jamaican government last month announced that it would try popular reggae artist Buju Banton on charges stemming from the beating of six gay men in a gang attack in June 2004.

Banton's 1992 song "Boom Bye Bye," which talks of shooting gays, has been an anthem for violently homophobic Jamaicans for a decade, but authorities had previously refused to confront him or other artists advocating violence against gays.

In Aruba, the government has been preparing to register its first same-sex marriage following a Dutch high court ruling that the Amsterdam wedding of Charlene and Esther Oduber-Lamers was legal and the island territory must recognize it, said Aruba government spokesman Ruben Trapenberg.

He pointed to the now-routine gay cruises as evidence that Arubans have integrated same-sex couples into the tourism-dependent milieu, but said he doubted that Aruba's tourism industry leaders would openly pursue the gay travel market.

The most striking shift in attitudes probably is the push being made by a St. Lucia hotelier to interpret the island's marriage law as permitting same-sex unions and attract the Western Hemisphere's gay marriage and honeymoon market.

Allen Chastanent, vice president of the island's Hotel and Tourism Assn., points to the prospects for drawing well-heeled gay couples. A recent study by Canada's tourism industry estimated at least $1 billion could be expected in travel spending in the Caribbean by the hemisphere's underserved gay couples, he said.

"More and more people are recognizing the economic potential of this market and are now proactively putting things in place to attract same-sex couples," Chastanent said. "Our first step is to decriminalize homosexuality. We recognize this as an outdated law that has never been enforced and gays are not discriminated against in St. Lucia."

Samar - Why the "Gay Rights Movement" is Anti-Immigrant Rights

2005-12-18T00:11:00.000-05:00

http://www.samarmagazine.org/archive/article.php?id=200

Samar Magazine

Editorial

Why the "Gay Rights Movement" is Anti-Immigrant Rights
The "gay rights" movement has rarely shared a table with the immigrant rights movement. Focused on the right to marry and rights of citizens, it leaves behind much needed coalition building between the movements.

By Debanuj Dasgupta

This piece originally appeared in Samar 20, published online September 15th, 2005.

On July 11th, 2005 in Tres Cantos, Spain, Emilio Menendez and Carlos Baturin walked out of town hall as the first proudly married gay couple of Spain. Earlier, on July 3rd, Spain passed a law that allowed same-sex marriages, bestowing on gay couples the same rights as heterosexuals, including adopting children and inheriting each other's property. While this legal change in Spain is being celebrated as a landmark victory in the gay rights struggle, in a much less publicized event, the High Court of Justice in Spain's Catalonia region decided on July 6th that citizens of other countries cannot marry a same-sex partner in Spain unless the other country allows same-sex marriage. The case involved a Spanish man and his Indian partner. The couple, Vipul Dutt, 33, and Enric Baucells, 45, may appeal to the Ministry of justice.

This contrast of victory and loss evinces the inequality perpetuated between "citizens" and "immigrants" within the "gay rights movement" in North America and most parts of Western Europe. The "gay rights movement" has been absent in the struggles of immigrants. In the United States, where I have spent the last ten years organizing around immigrant rights, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) and HIV/AIDS issues, the "gay rights movement" and immigrant rights movement have rarely shared the table with each other. As a result, both movements have severely suffered in developing a vision, larger base and political power.

The "gay rights movement" is largely dominated by an analysis that is rooted in the premises of citizenship and LGBT identity. LGBT movements demand equality for every citizen within the nation-state structure. Sadly, in the US, citizenship status is a site of major oppression and social control. Historically, citizenship was granted only to white men. The history of the US has been a history of struggle by women and communities of color to gain citizenship. Immigration laws in this country are based on the labor and military needs of the US. Immigrants are allowed legal entry whenever there is a need for labor, as evident in the Bracero Program, and are the first to be thrown out in economically hard times, as evident in the anti-immigrant laws that are now being passed. The US has been and is being built upon immigrant labor. Next time you get laundry done, or take a cab, or call moviefone for cinema tickets, ask for the country of origin for the person serving you!

The LGBT rights movement has been largely silent around anti-immigrant rights legislations that have recently passed, including the Real ID Act. Large national LGBT organizations are busy fighting for "gay marriage"-once again, a set of rights that is based upon citizenship status. In choosing to struggle for the rights of citizens, most LGBT organizations have alienated immigrants from the debate. This is a prime example of how the LGBT rights movement is a movement of privileged citizens of this nation. In centralizing the "right to marry" in its debate, the LGBT movement has failed to build bridges with the immigrant rights movement, which has long been fighting for the rights of immigrant families to reunite with each other. Almost as an afterthought, some "gay rights" organizations have advocated for the Permanent Partners Immigration Act (PPIA) that would allow LGBT citizens to sponsor their immigrant partners. The imagining of LGBT immigrants is limited only as partners of citizens.

The inherently anti-immigrant nature of the LGBT movement is further evidenced in the way dollars are being invested in this movement. While millions of dollars are being spent on "gay marriage" and organizations working around "gay marriage" have profited and grown, LGBT immigrant rights groups have struggled and often closed their doors.

The "gay rights movement " is losing an ally by turning a deaf ear to the immigrant rights movement. LGBT people and immigrants are the most targeted by the right wing in this country. While immigrants are being framed as "terrorists" and "job stealers", LGBT people are eing painted as "immoral" and "sexual perverts." The biggest message hat immigrants give to the nation is "We are not terrorists! We are people seeking opportunities and a better life!" LGBT organizations need to learn how to ally themselves with the immigrant rights movement and organizations.

How can LGBT organizations be allies to immigrant rights movements?

Broaden your analysis: do not frame your message around "equality for all citizens," frame it around equality and justice for all. Support legalization for all immigrants.

Get active in fighting anti-immigrant bills: LGBT people are immigrants too, are being detained and deported everyday. Spend staff time and programming budget on immigrant rights advocacy. Pair up with immigrant rights organizations to send out joint press statements.

Proactively fight for immigrant rights: support access to healthcare and voting rights for immigrants.

LGBT foundations need to support LGBT immigrant rights organizations. For more information on current struggles for LGBT immigrants visit http://www.quir.org

Debanuj Dasgupta is a Steering Committee member of Queer Immigrant Rights Project and Co-coordinator of the National People of Color Organizing Institute. Debanuj can be reached at ddasgupta@quir.org

BBC - Protest over 'censored' gay kiss

2005-12-18T00:06:00.000-05:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4420716.stm

Protest over 'censored' gay kiss
By Tom Gibb
BBC News, Sao Paulo
Wednesday, 9 November 2005, 11:38 GMT

The protest was called "the big kiss"

Hundreds of gay and lesbian activists have staged a mass kiss outside the Brazilian Congress.

They were angry because Globo, the country's main television network, cut the first televised gay kiss out of the last episode of a soap opera.

The protesters also demanded the legalisation of same-sex marriages.

Record audiences tuned in on Friday to see the last instalment of America - even more than for the World Cup final - but the scene was unexpectedly cut.

Promise

There had been speculation for days whether the kiss between Junior and Zeca would be shown or not. To the anger of the actors and the soap opera's creator, it was not.

At first, Globo said that the kiss was never in the version that they had been sent.

The expectation of a Junior-Zeca kiss had Brazilians glued to the TV

Then, two days later, they admitted cutting it, causing an outcry from viewers.

The gay and lesbian community in Brazil is far more organised than in most of Latin America.

But the protesters outside congress complained that the censure of the kiss shows the country needs to change further.

They also demanded that a law to allow single-sex marriages, which has been held up for years, should be passed.

After the mass kiss, they were received by the president of the lower house, who promised to try to move the proposed law forward.

BBC - Brazil denied first gay TV kiss

2005-12-18T00:04:00.000-05:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4412240.stm

BBC News

Sunday, 6 November 2005

Brazil denied first gay TV kiss

Would they or wouldn't they?

Brazil came to a virtual standstill on Friday night to find out the answer to the question that had obsessed the country: Would the soap opera America deliver the country's first televised homosexual kiss?

In the event, it did not.

But in the wake of a TV programme that reportedly drew a larger audience than the last World Cup final, no-one is willing to take the blame for disappointing viewers.

"Marcos Schechtman [the director] and I made the scene - it was recorded," America screenwriter Gloria Perez told Globo newspaper.

"We fought for it and I cannot deny that I was frustrated that it wasn't shown. The actors also were [frustrated]. After all, they had staged it with much enthusiasm," she said.

Trading accusations

Ms Perez said the management of Globo TV had cut the scene.

"I do not want to be made responsible for this. When Marquinhos [Marcos Schechtman] and I decided that we would have the scene, the broadcaster said it would assume [responsibility]. It is an injustice to say that I didn't want to show the kiss."

But Globo TV had denied having cut the scene, saying it had broadcast all the episodes it had received, the Diario de Sao Paulo reported.

Globo TV says there never was one with a gay kiss.

Ms Perez said she was surprised by how well the homosexual relationship between the two men, Junior and Zeca, had been received by the public.

"Even heterosexual men, who tend to be more conservative, wanted the kiss. Everyone wanted it. I was very happy about it because it showed that things were changing in Brazil," she said.

Brazilian media reported that Gloria Perez's web page was bombarded with messages, mostly expressing disappointment.

"What happened to the kiss? They lied to the viewers," one read.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4412240.stm

Published: 2005/11/06 16:32:59 GMT
(c) BBC MMV

Miami Herald - State's gay Hispanics face greater disparities

2005-12-18T00:01:00.000-05:00

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/13078663.htm

Miami Herald
Posted on Sat, Nov. 05, 2005

SURVEY
State's gay Hispanics face greater disparities
BY STEVE ROTHAUS
srothaus@herald.com

R E L A T E D L I N K S
* Read the studies:
http://www.miami.com/multimedia/miami/news/rothaus.pdf

There are more than 100,000 Hispanic same-sex couples living in the United States, according to a study just released by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in New York.

Approximately 5 percent of these couples -- about 4,200 families -- live in South Florida, where more than a third of all same-sex couples are Hispanic, said study author Jason Cianciotto, a Task Force researcher who gleaned the information from U.S. Census surveys done in 2000.

Among the study highlights:

* Two-thirds of female same-sex couples in which both partners are Hispanic are raising children.

* Nearly half (44 percent) of the Hispanic men and women in same-sex relationships report that they are not U.S. citizens, compared to 5 percent of men and women in white non-Hispanic same-sex couples.

* Same-sex-couple households in which both partners are Hispanic earn more than $25,000 less in median annual household income than white non-Hispanic counterparts.

''We recognize that Hispanic families in general across this country face economic, language and immigration disparities, but these disparities are significantly compounded for gay and lesbian couples,'' said Matt Foreman, the Task Force's executive director.

``For example, no matter how long a Hispanic gay or lesbian couple lives together, one partner cannot sponsor the other for permanent residency status. If they were married, they could do so immediately.

'And in Florida, a gay or lesbian couple cannot adopt each others' children,'' Foreman said. Florida is the only state that asks adoption applicants if they are homosexual and bans gay people from adopting.

The study also highlights several similarities between same-sex and opposite-sex married Hispanic couples:

* Same-sex couples are nearly as likely as opposite-sex couples to report living in the same residence for the past five years (39 percent vs. 48 percent).

* Hispanic same-sex households primarily speak Spanish at home at nearly the same rate as opposite-sex married couples (77 vs. 81 percent).

* Hispanic same-sex couples are raising nonbiological children at almost the same rate as opposite-sex married couples (5 vs. 4 percent).

''This puts a face on a community that probably was ignored or considered nonexistent. . . . That's important for lawmakers, advertisers, for the community as a whole that we exist. This is who we are,'' said Herb Sosa, president of Unity Coalition of Miami-Dade, a gay civil-rights group that focuses on Hispanic issues. ``We knew all this stuff. It's nice that other people know it.''

Foreman and other Task Force members are in Miami Beach for tonight's 9th annual Recognition Dinner. This year's Humanitarian Award winner is Richard Milstein, a Miami attorney and civic activist. The Herald sponsors the award.

Newday - Bans May Be Harder on Hispanic Gay Couples

2005-12-17T23:56:00.000-05:00

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-gay-hispanics,0,2022949.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

Newsday

November 1, 2005, 7:56 PM EST

Bans May Be Harder on Hispanic Gay Couples
By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON -- A proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Texas could hurt gay Hispanic couples more than Anglos because they have more children, make less money and are less likely to be U.S. citizens, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said Tuesday.

The group issued a report derived from 2000 U.S. Census data on Hispanic same-sex couple households a week before Texans vote on amending the state constitution to ban gay marriage, which is already against state law.

The Census found about 105,000 U.S. same-sex households in which at least one partner was Hispanic. Most were in the Los Angeles, New York and Miami areas, but Houston, Dallas and San Antonio were among the top 10.

The study concluded that the many benefits of marriage, from tax advantages to the Family Medical Leave Act to Social Security survivor benefits, would be especially helpful to many Hispanic same-sex couples.

The data showed that 66 percent of Hispanic female couples and 58 percent of Hispanic male couples were raising at least one child. That compares to 32 percent of Anglo lesbian couples and 19 percent of Anglo male couples, report author Jason Cianciotto said.

Gay and lesbian couples in which both partners were Hispanic reported annual household incomes in the high $30,000s, more than $20,000 less than same-sex couples who were either white or had just one Hispanic partner.

"Certain Americans are disadvantaged because of their racial or ethnic heritage," Cianciotto said. "When you combine that with the disadvantages people face because they are gay or lesbian, it becomes this double-edged sword."

But Pastor Adalid Verastegui with New Life United Methodist Church in Houston said his Hispanic congregants believe the proposed amendment to ban gay marriage is a good idea.

"The Hispanic tradition is to always have in the family a man and a woman in the home," he said. "Our culture doesn't accept this kind of behavior."

Slightly over half of Hispanic male gay partners, 51 percent, and 38 percent of Hispanic lesbian couples were not U.S. citizens, compared to less than 10 percent each for Anglo gays and lesbians.

Sergio Sarmiento, a Colombian immigrant, said his six-year relationship nearly ended because of his immigration status. Immigration policy does not give status to same-sex partners of U.S. citizens.

"Living day by day with the worry that your family can be broken apart is a very difficult situation," said Sarmiento, who got his immigration status resolved last year. "People in the Hispanic community, like me, are more vulnerable."

InNewsWeekly - Latin@ GLBTs get local

2005-12-17T23:53:00.000-05:00

http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Ll&PHPSESSID=7f826be725b7d958a40ee5fd94d3f513

LATINO COLUMNA

Carmen Oquendo and Wilfred Labiosa October 19, 2005

Latin@ GLBTs get local

This monthly column is the first space Latin@s in Boston have achieved in order to make ourselves visible in mainstream gay culture. It is a first step of inclusion in any GLBT or Latin@ media in Massachusetts. We still have a long journey ahead of us. Whereas the voice of the Latin@ GLBT community of New England has not been manifest in the larger GLBT movement and the activities-speeches at the State House during the recent constitutional convention, we have found a space willing to include our perspectives.

Here you can expect to find an overview of the GLBT Latin@ local and international movement, political perspectives and the social spectrum, among others. It is our hope that you become active in a community that has historically been excluded or underrepresented in both mainstream and Latin@ media.

Almost two decades have passed since the Latin@ GLBT community started articulating itself in the United States as a distinctive movement. LLEGO, established in 1986, came to fulfill a much-needed organization for a national agenda concerning Latin@ GLBT groups scattered around the nation and Latin America. LLEGO accomplished much in little time but quickly became reactive rather than proactive concerning Latin@ issues within the broader political arena and came to an end last year. Bereft of any national queer Latin@ organization on the horizon or any coherent movement to congregate queer Latin@s at large, local communities have been left to their own devices.

With cooperation of National LLEGO, Somos Latin@s LGBT Coalition was established in 2001. The Coalition is a group by and for the self-identified Latin@ GLBT Community of Massachusetts. It works towards the advancement, recognition and awareness of Latin@ GLBT related issues in the larger community. It also provides safe spaces, activities, and social support to its members.

Massachusetts had, for the first time, a Latin@ GLBT Pride weekend this past year. This was a landmark event for the local movement, as it constituted recognition of our existence. During this weekend, political and community leaders supported our initiative, as well as local and national community based organizations. This weekend will be held every spring as long as the organizations and community leaders give their personal commitment and secure its financial support.

Our movement is committed to a sensibility of inclusion of the diversity within the Latin@ community. Likewise, we can no longer accept being excluded from the larger community. Latin@s account for more than 19% of our Boston community, and almost 40% of our Hartford community, and it is estimated that 6 to 10% of our Latin@ population are GLBT individuals. This column is not a form of tokenism but an acceptance that our world, and hence our community, is changing. It is our vision that this space will become a forum for dialogue, for inclusion, for valuing diversity, and for appreciating each one of our community members as important resources. GLBT Latin@s are diverse in language, cultural backgrounds, professions, and immigration status but three things make us equal: we come from Latin@/Hispanic roots, we somehow fall under the GLBT umbrella and we all live in New England.

We appreciate this newly found space for communicating with you. This is the first of many to come! We invite you to visit our website www.somoslatinoslgbt.org for the latest list of events and links to the organization. See you at the next Social Friday event of Somos Latin@s LGBT Coalition! Feel free to send us your comments and suggestions for the upcoming column. We will include some of your letters next time around. *

Worldscreen - MTV Networks Takes Logo to Latin America

2005-12-17T23:49:00.000-05:00

http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=mtv1031.htm

MTV Networks Takes Logo to Latin America

MIAMI, October 31: MTV Networks has announced its first international deal on the gay and lesbian service Logo TV, with the channel set to launch on a pay-per-view basis as a six-hour programming block in Mexico and Brazil.

Logo TV is the first general entertainment service in Latin America to target the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The pay-per-view service will target 25-49 year-olds and will launch on November 4 in Mexico and on November 18 in Brazil.

Pierluigi Gazzolo, the managing director of MTV Networks Latin America, noted, ³We¹re really proud and excited to be the first MTVN operation outside the U.S. to launch such an innovative service as Logo TV. This is an incredible opportunity to serve an audience that is currently underserved, while further strengthening our presence in the region. Logo TV reinforces our strategic goals of growing the MTVN brands in Latin America by providing quality content to a variety of age demographics, as well as specific interests.²

Bill Roedy, the president of MTV Networks International and vice- chairman of MTV Networks, added, ³This launch reflects MTV Networks Latin America's commitment and passion for creating a broad portfolio of channels with the focus and long-term vision that ensures the success of our ventures in the region. Logo TV is a tremendous new addition to our family of brands as we continue to super serve our diverse niche audiences around the world with groundbreaking content."

Logo TV in Latin America is a six-hour programming block delivered through different pay-per-view formats via Sky Mexico and Sky Brazil. The programming blocks will be renewed on a weekly basis with new series episodes, movies and specials. MTV Networks Latin America is also in discussions with other pay TV operators in the region.

³Launching Logo TV in Latin America is further proof that an entertainment network for the LGBT audience can be a real and viable business,² said Brian Graden, the president of entertainment at MTV Networks Music Group, and president of Logo in the U.S. ³Creatively, Logo TV will fill a niche similar to the U.S. channel by giving viewers an entertainment destination on television where they can see themselves authentically portrayed in a range of diverse, quality programming.²

El Universal - Transsexuals protest police raid

2005-12-17T23:46:00.000-05:00

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/miami/12480.html

El Universal / Miami Herald

Transsexuals protest police raid

Community members resent the treatment by police during the raid but want to help police to find serial killer.
BY MARK STEVENSON /Associated Press
El Universal
October 29, 2005

Transsexuals protested this week against a raid by Mexico City police that forcibly rounded them up, photographed them and took their fingerprints as part of a search for a serial killer who allegedly dresses as a woman to gain access to his victims. Since 2003, Mexico City has been gripped by a series of a least five killings and possibly as many as 20 of older women living alone; in many cases, the assailant was described as a man dressed up as a nurse or social worker.

The transsexuals, most of whom work as male prostitutes, offered to join efforts to catch the killer known as the "Mataviejitas," or "Old Lady Killer" but said the Oct. 14 raid was misdirected and had violated their civil rights.

KICKED AND BEATEN

"They kicked the girls and beat them," said Alma Delia, 45, a matronly transsexual who was among the three to four dozen people picked up in the Oct. 14 raid. "They sprayed them with tear gas. When they finally took us to the police station, they told us 'cooperate, give us your fingerprints and you can go.'" Mexico City prosecutors later acknowledged that none of the fingerprints collected in the raid matched those found at the crime scenes. They said the raid in which the transsexuals were loaded aboard a bus and released around dawn the next day was motivated by "complaints from neighbors."

The transsexual groups said they doubted the killer was part of their community, but have produced a wanted poster showing police sketches of the suspect and offered to post it around the gay community, and have offered to turn in their own fingerprints on a voluntary basis.

"We want to cooperate and help catch this person," said Jaime Montejo of the advocacy group Brigada Callejera. "We just don't want the transsexual community to be used as scapegoats." Montejo said he believed the raid was designed to cover up police inaction on the case.

PICKING ON THE VULNERABLE

One transsexual, who gave her name as Paloma, 36, said police "are just picking on us, the most vulnerable ones."

Paloma, who refused to give her last name for fear of police reprisals, called the raid illogical. "Would a serial killer walk around at night dressed as a woman, with all the police who are always watching us?" The killer is believed to gain access by befriending elderly women by offering them health or pension services, and once in their homes, beating and robbing them and then strangling them.

Police said the fingerprints found at five of the crimes scenes belong to the same person, but that there are no similar links in the cases of another 31 elderly women killed since 2003.

However, some details like the cause of death, or the profile of the victims are similar in about 20 of the cases.

Observer - Brazil in a lather over soap's gay kiss

2005-12-17T23:42:00.000-05:00

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1604581,00.html

The Observer
Sunday October 30, 2005

Brazil in a lather over soap's gay kiss
Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

In the flamboyant world of Brazilian soap operas, the next kiss is never far around the corner. But as the latest blockbuster series, América, draws to a close, viewers are bracing themselves for something they had not bargained for: a beijo gay, a gay kiss.

The announcement last week by scriptwriter Gloria Perez that two of the soap's male characters are to share the first homosexual kiss in Brazilian television history has shocked a country considered one of the most liberal in the world.

The television giant Globo, which broadcasts América, has been bombarded with complaints from irate viewers furious at the prospect of the couple's lingering embrace in the programme's finale. At the same time the 'should they, shouldn't they' controversy has found itself splattered across the country's front pages. In one online poll, 25 per cent of respondents said it was 'best to hide these things', while nearly 36 per cent argued that 'society is not ready' for such an event.

Perez is playing down the controversy, insisting that Brazilians are actively willing the couple together. 'Obviously I thought there would be some polemic and I expected a torrent of protests against the kiss,' she told the newspaper Globo last week. 'But this hasn't happened, which proves that our country is changing.'

Bruno Gagliasso, the show's heart-throb, who is to instigate the controversial kiss and plays Júnior in América, also thinks the Brazilian public are rooting for the onscreen couple. 'I have received nothing but affection and respect from the public,' he said. Others, however, believe that the dozens of daily complaints underline worrying levels of intolerance throughout Brazilian society.

A recent study by Rio's Candido Mendes University and gay rights group Arco Iris (Rainbow) found that 60 per cent of Rio's homosexual population had experienced some kind of harassment because of their sexuality. Of the gay men interviewed, 16.6 per cent said they had suffered physical violence, while within schools the figure was 40 per cent.

'Rio de Janeiro and Brazil as a whole are apparently very tolerant and open societies,' the report's author, Silvia Ramos of Rio de Janeiro's Centre for Studies on Public Security and Citizenship, told The Observer. 'But this tolerance does not correspond to tolerance on a private level. The level of victimisation against homosexuals is much higher than in Europe or the United States,' she said.

There were grim reminders of this intolerance last week as the country waited for the hyped snog. In the Baixada Fluminense, an impoverished Rio suburb, 40-year-old Claudio Alves dos Santos, a gay rights activist, was tortured and then killed as he walked home from a party.

In the south of Brazil the leader of a neo-Nazi skinhead group was arrested and charged with attempting to stab to death another gay man last month.

Gay and lesbian couples are nothing new to Brazil's risqué nightly soap operas, a national obsession which regularly pulls in more than 90 per cent of the television watching public. But the liaison between Júnior and Zeca (played by Erom Cordeiro) is the first time two men will have gone so far as to kiss on any of the shows.

But as the complaints continue to rain in, Perez herself has refused to re-script the show's final 'chapter', to be screened on Friday.

'I think that, despite the high levels of violence against Brazil's homosexual communities, there is a tendency in Brazil to value difference of race, gender and sexuality,' said Ramos, the author of numerous studies on Brazil's gay, lesbian and transgender communities, pointing to Brazil's last series of Big Brother, won by an openly gay contestant.

'But I don't think it's going to improve immediately in the next couple of years. It is a cultural thing: enormous acceptance on one hand and a high level of violence on the other.

'It is a very Brazilian characteristic.'

Advocate - Living la vida leather

2005-12-17T23:38:00.000-05:00

http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail.asp?id=21488

An Advocate.com exclusive posted, October 10, 2005

Living la vida leather

Can a gay Cuban-American be too butch for the International Mr. Leather competition? Can gay people be so narrow-minded? A finalist tells his story.

By Will Castillo

I had Ricky Ricardo, conga lines, Cuban cigars, mojitos, and lots of Spanish words swirling in my mind before I walked onto the public stage. There I was in all of my splendor-standing in a leather jockstrap and military boots before thousands of people. I was competing at International Mr. Leather in Chicago for Memorial Day weekend. I had made it to the top 20 finalists out of 52 contestants.

In real life I'm actually a corporate professional. By day I wear a business suit and deliver lectures to medical clinicians on the topics of cancer and death and dying. So it was with some chagrin that I heard the day prior to the final contest from Fernan Royo, my coach, that I should be "less Fidel Castro and more Carmen Miranda." He was commenting on my stage presence.

I've been called Little Ricky many times in my life, but not those two other characters.

I had won the title of Mr. Florida Leather 2005 in November 2004 by representing a type of individual that resonated with the leaders of my home state's organization Florida Leather: a confident, intelligent, passionate, masculine gay man. I travel throughout Florida addressing gay male audiences who feel disenfranchised from the gay world due to not identifying with the dominant gay culture: feminized gay men.

The response is staggering. For them, drag is out, leather is in.

Prior to IML I hadn't received any formal coaching by my sponsor. Since I was the first Cuban to be competing at IML, it was daunting not having any role models to show me the way. Fernan, however, who lives in New York City, came to my assistance, and his Fidel Castro comment crystallized it for me.

The morning of the finals he and my partner, Andrew Tiner, set up our hotel room as a stage runway. They cajoled me into swinging my hips, moving my arms, exaggerating my walk, and beaming a huge smile while waving wildly. I thought I was losing my mind. They told me, "It's a fag contest, honey! Queen it up!" Clearly this was no medical conference where I was a lecturer.

When I attended my first gay "bear" event, Lazy Bear, in Northern California, the men there really had no idea what to do with me. They knew I was not like them, but they also said I was not like the Hispanic men they usually encounter. They lump Hispanics all into one gay basket. Yet the Cuban culture is typified most popularly with masculinity, aggressiveness, passion, and romance-Ricky Ricardo being the Jungian archetype.

So it was a natural fit for me to identify with the leather scene. IML was not only a leather event for me but also a cultural event seen though my Cuban eyes.

I placed fourth at the finals. Not bad for a Carmen Miranda wannabe. I had enough cojones to strut my stuff in a jock in front of total strangers, where few minorities gathered. I heard my deceased mother's voice whisper in my ear before I walked onstage: "Work it!" And I did. I had a blast!

What about the d word, discrimination? Minorities, especially closeted ones, and others want to know if I had been experiencing it. A leather contest producer in Florida did threaten me via e-mail a week prior to IML. And my sponsor told me several times in front of my partner to not be "so Cuban" when in public: He said that I came across with "too much machismo" and needed to stop speaking Spanish in public. "It might work in Miami," he said, "but it doesn't work elsewhere."

Discrimination in the gay world by other gays is verboten: We minorities know it exists, but few wish to acknowledge it. But if it exists within society at large, gays will indeed bring it to the gay community. It shouldn't happen anywhere.

I may perhaps be too "Cuban" for some. Friends call me "Papí" for a reason.

The leather scene is a vibrant side of me. But it's only one facet. Mentoring, leadership, activism, fighting injustices, and speaking out on behalf of those who feel alienated are just some of my life's passions.

Carmen Miranda can have her basket of fruit back to place firmly on her head. She looks better with it in high heels than I do.

Little Ricky sends his regards.

Will Castillo lives with his partner in Miami and may be contacted by visiting
http://www.floridaleather.org

Time - Viewpoint: Civil Rights and Gay Rights

2005-12-17T23:33:00.000-05:00

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1121811,00.html

Time Magazine

Web Exclusive | Nation

Viewpoint: Civil Rights and Gay Rights
What's at stake for blacks in the Massachusetts gay marriage debate
By JENINNE LEE-ST. JOHN

Posted Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2005

My mother's father didn't want to attend her wedding. To a Chinese immigrant who came to New York as a boy, who had lived and toiled in the back of a laundromat and worked his way up to become a successful insurance business owner and community leader, the prospect of his oldest child marrying a black American man was not just shameful, it was a step backward.

As the date approached and the tension increased, my parents had no idea of how many guests to plan for. My father's parents welcomed the marriage, so they were in, but because my grandfather was head of his extended family, no one could go if he didn't. Finally, luckily, his own mother, my great-grandmother, sat him down and told him she would obey his wishes but that he was being pigheaded and should support his daughter. Which, finally, he did and everyone reconciled.

My great-grandmother might also have mentioned that her son's reflexive prejudice was a bit ironic given the innumerable racial slights and indignities he had suffered in America, including in the Army, at the hands of whites. But then, it's hardly an unusual pattern. Just look at the black religious leaders-like Rev. Bernice King, a daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.; evangelical juggernaut Bishop T. D. Jakes; and groups like the Memphis-based Coalition of African American Pastors-who've joined ranks with the conservative Right in opposing gay marriage. They say gay rights are not the same as civil rights. They accuse gays and lesbians of "hijacking" the civil rights movement for their homosexual agenda. They say it's unholy and unnatural. But it's for perhaps that last argument alone that, as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court mulls a challenge to an old state law now being used to prohibit out-of-state homosexual couples from wedding there, black Americans should sympathize with gays and lesbians who want to marry.

Of course there are important differences. "The comparison with slavery is a stretch," Jesse Jackson asserted in a speech at Harvard last year, "in that some slave masters were gay, in that gays were never called three-fifths human in the Constitution and in that they did not require the Voting Rights Act to have the right to vote." All of which is true. Race is most often, rightly or not, signified physically. While gays have been, and still are in many instances, forced to play straight, they at least had a refuge. It was historically difficult, usually impossible, and often illegal, for a black person to pass as white (even if 15/16ths of his blood was). They had nowhere to hide.

So yes, in the game of Who's Been More Systematically Oppressed?, black people win hands down. But that doesn't discount the hardships of other groups. (Remember the federal Defense of Marriage Act?) And it doesn't mean everyone isn't entitled to equal rights. Through the years, America has dished out enough oppression to go around. Much of it has been strikingly similar. The anti-miscegenation laws that were enacted in much of the South were rooted in interpretations of the Bible. Interracial intimacy was seen as unnatural. Blacks were put forth as filthy sub-humans who wanted to muddy white bloodlines and thus destroy the goodness of the white race. Race mixing was akin to bestiality. Sound familiar? "Defenders" of marriage, from Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum to Justice Antonin Scalia to Pope Benedict, have tossed out arguments just like these in their quest to keep same-sex couples from the altar.

And, when his state's high court cleared the way for gay marriage, Gov. Mitt Romney invoked a law from 1913 prohibiting Massachusetts marriage licenses from being given to nonresident couples whose union would be "void" in their home state. Anti-integrationists were plain wrong then; black people had no master plan to destroy the institution of the white family. Who's to say the forces against gay marriage won't be proven Chicken Littles as well?

But let's set aside the moral question of gayness. Conservative blacks should denounce the Massachusetts law in question not because they've suddenly decided to embrace something they find wrong but because the law is wrong. It's ostensibly a Federalist argument that is in fact homophobic-and was racist-in intent. And it offends me to the core that lawmakers would deny equal rights to one minority group using a statute created to target others, a statue that could have barred, even invalidated, my existence and might have prevented me from marrying my (white) boyfriend from Massachusetts in Massachusetts. Remember that it took until 1967 for the U.S. Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional the anti-miscegenation laws that remained on the books in 16 states-and that Alabama still didn't repeal its law until five years ago.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is expected to decide within four months whether to grant marriage licenses to out-of-state gay and lesbian couples, to grant them the same rights enjoyed by in-state homosexual couples since 2003. I'm hoping the Court rules in favor of the eight same-sex couples, from the other five New England states plus New York, that want to certify their commitment to each other. Then the Court would be sticking to the principle that guided its original decision that cleared the way for gay marriage in the first place, the same tenet that led the U.S. Supreme Court to unanimously decriminalize interracial unions forty years ago: the notion that marriage is "one of the basic civil rights." A law that blatantly denies that right and one that essentially affirms such laws elsewhere, are equally unjust.

Black Americans don't need to approve of or understand homosexuality to recognize that. And they owe it to successes of the civil rights movement, to their own triumph over inhumane treatment and accusations of an impure agenda, to try. My mother's father was a religious man too, but I believe he would have.

Hispanic AIDS Forum - Bronx Activist Turns Anti-Gay Bias Attack into Community Action

2005-12-17T23:23:00.000-05:00

October 12, 2005

Contact Information:
Miguel Bonilla, Coordinator of Special Projects
212-563-4500

-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-

Bronx Activist Turns Anti-Gay Bias Attack into Community Action

Nelson Torres, a Hispanic AIDS Forum (HAF) employee who was attacked near his Bronx home last March in an anti-gay bias crime, announced he organized an event to use his personal tragedy to educate his community. The event, called "It's Time/Es el Momento," is sponsored by HAF and takes place on Thursday, October 13, 2005 from 6-9pm at Hostos Community College.

The event is held in honor of National Coming Out Day, which encourages lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people to "come out" and be open about their identities. It will feature skits, poetry, songs and other performances related to coming out, combating homophobia, and dealing with violence by members of the Bronx LGBT community and their friends and family.

"I want families to be aware that gay people are everywhere," said Torres. "They could be a daughter, a son, a father, a mother, a sister, a brother, a cousin, a friend or a colleague... If more of us came out, it would make it harder to ignore hatred and violence against gays knowing it could happen to a loved one."

Torres also said that he planned the event as a safe space for the community to talk about their experiences as LGBT people living in the Bronx, and wants to make sure that the Bronx LGBT community knows about resources if they are victims of bias crimes.

"I am proud to be fighting back against homophobia," said Torres "With education, not with violence as they did with me."

Heriberto Sanchez Soto, HAF's Executive Director, said HAF has supported events such as these because studies have shown there are strong correlations between homophobia and increasing rates of HIV infection. Apparently, the way gay and lesbian people are viewed by their community, affects their self-esteem, which in turns colors their personal health decisions. Sadly, Sanchez Soto stated, one of his employees has became an example of the startling increases in homophobic hate crimes in the city.

"Although I am a strong advocate for improving public perceptions of gays and lesbians by coming out, I also warn against impulsive, hasty decision-making. Coming out must not be taken lightly; to the extent possible, it should be done with professional help. In the end, coming out is almost always a life-altering event. One must be ready for the full range of reactions and consequences-from full acceptance to outright rejection by those one loves dearly and possible violence. We live in a hostile environment for lesbians, gays and transgender people. In making the decision to come-out one must examine the environment one lives in and ensure that one's physical safety and emotional well-being are closely guarded. One has to be ready for what may happen."

Other speakers at the event include: Basil Lucas of the Anti Violence Project, Councilwoman Margarita Lopez, Haidee Galloso, mother of Rodney Velasquez-victim/killed of hate crime) and Bronx Consortium President
Lisa Winters. The event will be held at:
Hostos Community College
Savoy Building, Multi-Purpose Room (Rm 202)
120 E 149 th Street, Bronx, NY
From 6 - 9PM

The Hispanic AIDS Forum is New York's oldest HIV/AIDS health promotion organization targeting Latinos. The organization was founded in 1985 by Latino activists and social services employees concerned on the impact HIV was having on the Latino community. Since then, the organization has evolved into a full service health promotion agency, providing free HIV testing, HIV treatment education, counseling and emotional support. For more information, please contact Miguel Bonilla at 212-563-4500.

WebIndia - AIDS activists see red over universal symbol

2005-12-17T23:21:00.000-05:00

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=128408&n_date=20051004&cat=India

WebIndia123
Bangalore | October 04, 2005 12:06:24 PM IST

News >> India

AIDS activists see red over universal symbol

An AIDS convention in Bangalore has decided to abandon the red-ribbon symbol, saying it is discriminatory.

Over a HIV-positive people across the country attended the two-day convention.

The organisers of the convention claimed that the red ribbon the, symbol of AIDS and HIV, has created a negative impact about victims.

"We have decided in the convention to abandon the AIDS symbol, the red ribbon, which acts as a negative in our minds. If a HIV person sees the AIDS symbol red ribbon we feel like committing suicide," Veena Dhari, an organiser at the convention said.

Veena Dhari, the first woman in the country to declare her self as a HIV Positive person, also said that the convention has decided to give impetus to the HIV/AIDS networking across the country.

"The second thing is the convention has passed a resolution to increase the HIV networking people across the country," she added.

India accounts for about 5.1 million HIV-positive people, next only to South Africa. The northeast has been declared as one of India's high-risk zones with close to 100,000 people infected with HIV.

In a recent report the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency said if the misinformation and stigma about the disease continues at the scale it is now, the number of Indians with HIV could quadruple by 2010. (ANI)

Fox - Man Gets Four Years in Prison for Transgender Slaying

2005-12-17T23:18:00.000-05:00

"It's a rage that is... doesn't justify the conduct... but excuses it to certain degree, and therefore it's not murder" - Defense lawyer

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,170954,00.html

Fox News

Man Gets Four Years in Prison for Transgender Slaying
Saturday, October 01, 2005

FRESNO, Calif. - Four years isn't much time to spend behind bars for stabbing a man 20 times, but that's what one man got for a killing in Fresno, Calif., last year, after a blind date in a bar went terribly wrong.

Estanislao Martinez didn't deny that he repeatedly stabbed Joel Robles with a pair of scissors, but his lawyer told the judge he had a good excuse - he killed the victim in what he called a "gay panic."

Martinez and Robles had been out drinking and went back to Martinez' apartment for some privacy. But at the time, Martinez thought Robles was a woman. He soon found out Robles was a cross-dressing man.

"The decedent represented himself to be female. She/he said he was female to him," said Martinez' lawyer, Roberto Dulce. "There was some sexual activity that occurred. All under the impression that Mr. Martinez was engaging in sexual activity with a woman."

Martinez went into a rage after he realized Robles was a man, stabbed him repeatedly, then jumped out his window onto the street. People found him naked and covered in blood a short time later.

In court, Dulce, a public defender, argued that the attack was a case of "gay panic," not cold-blooded murder.

"It's a rage that ... doesn't justify the conduct, but excuses it to a certain degree and therefore it's not murder," Dulce said.

Dulce said the panic Martinez felt was a sort of temporary insanity brought on by the shock of realizing he had been duped by a transgender man. Dulce said his defense is similar to "heat of passion" arguments made in the past.

"When ... you come home [and] you find your wife in bed with another man and you wind up killing either one of them, it's voluntary manslaughter," Dulce said.

Martinez pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and could have faced as many as 11 years in prison. The crime and the punishment have outraged the gay community.

"It wasn't manslaughter. So, what is their excuse? A plea-bargain so they don't have to deal with it? I think they've made it abundantly clear that transgender people are not valued and it's OK to kill them," said Charlotte Jenks, a gay and lesbian activist in Fresno.

Because Martinez pleaded guilty, the case is not eligible for appeal by either side. And with good behavior, Martinez could be a free man in less than three years.

UConn - Researcher says immigration laws a road block for gay couples

2005-12-17T23:13:00.000-05:00

http://www.advance.uconn.edu/2005/051003/05100309.htm

University of Connecticut Advance

Researcher says immigration laws a road block for gay couples
by Sherry Fisher - October 3, 2005

Kathy and Marie live together. Eventually they would like to buy a house and settle in New England, but that's not going happen anytime soon: Marie, who is from Argentina, is in this country on a work visa that will soon expire. She has to leave the United States within a year.

"A heterosexual couple wouldn't have that problem," says Nancy Naples, professor of sociology and women's studies. "They would get married and apply for a green card."

Since federal immigration laws do not recognize same-sex couples, Kathy and Marie will probably have to part ways, unless Marie stays here illegally.

The couple, like thousands of Americans with foreign-born, same-sex partners, face difficult choices. Immigrants who apply for U.S. residency based on family ties must be the parent, child, sibling or spouse of a U.S. citizen.

"Marriage is a state-instituted arrangement that has privileged those who enter into the arrangement and disadvantaged others," says Naples, who is conducting a comparative analysis of what she calls "sexual citizenship" and immigration. "Two ways a person can become a itizen in the U.S. and in many other countries is sponsorship by a family member and marriage to someone who is a citizen. If you don't have the right to marry, it limits how you can become a legitimate citizen."

Naples is currently conducting a study of the relationship between immigration and national policies regarding gay and lesbian rights. Her research focuses on Australia, Brazil, Canada, Iceland, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, the United States, South Africa, and members of the European Union. She is using data gathered through published reports by international gay and lesbian rights organizations and other relevant national groups as well as by international and national human rights organizations.

She is examining policies that have been created to give access to citizenship rights for gays and lesbians in these countries; how these policies affect immigration to these nations; the role of social justice movements in assuring the passage of these policies; and the role of international governmental and non-governmental organizations in the expansion of citizenship rights for gays and lesbians.

Naples says the past two decades have witnessed a growing number of countries that have passed legislation legalizing gay and lesbian relationships in civil unions or other such forms.

"These new policies have direct implications for access to immigration," she says.

For example, in 1999, the French senate passed the Civil Pact of Solidarity, a domestic partnership act that allows French citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex or different-sex partners for residency cards in France. "This progressive legislation institutionalizing gay and lesbian partnerships is part of a larger trend in European countries and other nations," says Naples.

Until 1990, homosexuals were an excluded class of immigrants, Naples says. "In 1994 sexual orientation became an allowable basis for asylum purposes. People who are HIV-positive are still excluded from immigrating to the U.S., but this policy may be waived for heterosexual spouses. No such waiver exists for same-sex partners."

Naples says the European Union is attempting to make policies parallel across the different nation states.

"That means some nations that might have been more resistant to providing this kind of sexual citizenship will probably be challenged to create more of a level playing field across the different nation states," she says. "We don't have that kind of external pressure that would change policies in the U.S."

Naples' research has been funded by the Human Rights Institute; a social sciences seed grant; and a grant from the Amercan Sociological Association in conjunction with the National Science Foundation.

Bienestar - GAY LATINO BEATEN IN SAN BERNARDINO

2005-12-17T23:08:00.000-05:00

Mario Guerrero
323-727-7896 ext 115
mguerrero@bienestar.org
www.bienestar.org

GAY LATINO BEATEN IN SAN BERNARDINO
ASSAULT YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF RAMPANT HOMOPHOBIA

SAN BERNARDINO, California - (September 28, 2005) -On Monday September 19, a
man who openly identifies himself as a gay Latino was beaten in San
Bernardino. The man alleges that he was beaten by ten men with a hockey
stick, a dumbbell, and a brick. The attack is said to have left the man with
a 4-inch gash on his head. Fortunately, he lived through the attack.

The San Bernardino LGBT community including Bienestar Human Services will
participate in a candlelight vigil to show the community's outrage for the
lack of action from local police department to take the hate crime seriously.
The protest is scheduled for Friday, September 30th from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm
in Victorville on Amargosa Road in front of the Office Max shopping Center.

"Sadly, assaults like this still take place and unfortunately homophobia
continues to plague our community," said Ed Cueto, San Bernardino
Regional Director for Bienestar Human Services. "Bienestar is calling on
the San Bernardino Police Department to investigate this issue fully."

On August 21st Bienestar sent out a media advisory on two individuals that
were attacked while leaving a popular gay club in Silver Lake highlighting the
increase in violence against the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender
community. According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs,
last year, there were 1792 hate incidents against lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) people nationwide. Seventeen-percent of these victims were
Latina/o.

Bienestar is committed to enhancing the health and well-being of the Latino
community and other underserved communities. Bienestar accomplishes this
through community education, prevention, mobilization, advocacy, and the
provision of direct social support services.

Curve Magazine - The Invisible Queer Muslim

2005-12-17T23:07:00.000-05:00

From Curve Magazine - Volume 13 #4 -
http://www.curvemag.com/Detailed/382.html

The Invisible Queer Muslim
Written by: Bushra Rehman
Photographer: Andrea Dobrich

Since September 11, 2001, I’ve felt torn between my loyalties to Muslims
who don’t understand my queerness and queers who don’t understand my
Muslimness.

It all came to a head when I gave a poetry reading at an Ohio university
with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. The next day, I visited a class
with the other writers.

While the class was mostly white, there were also two Muslim women wearing
headscarves and three African-American students in one corner. At first, I
talked about the detentions and hate crimes after 9-11, but that wasn’t
what the class wanted to hear. They wanted to hear about my queerness.

This wasn’t because the majority of the class was queer themselves. It was
because they wanted to annoy the Muslim women. The professor had told me
that earlier in the semester, the Muslim students insisted that
homosexuality doesn’t exist in Islam.

I slowly realized that I was being used to harass the Muslims — and that
what little support I had among them was about to disappear.

“So let me get this straight,” a woman with permed blond hair said. “You
consider yourself Muslim and queer?”

I replied, “Yes,” and a chaos of thoughts rushed through my head. I
realized it was time to get on the tightrope again: I wanted to defend the
Muslim community in America, but I knew that even if I was loyal to them,
they would not always be loyal to me.

“Well, there are some people in this class who would say that’s
impossible.” She looked at the Muslim women.

“I do exist,” I replied. “I’m right here.”

The other students were fascinated. The ones who had been slumped in their
chairs were suddenly wide awake. There was a sway, a shift, like the way
the sounds of a fight on a playground send electricity through the wires
and heat through the air.

I continued, “But if there are people in the class who feel that’s
impossible, it’s not surprising. Most communities, most families, deny the
presence of gay people in their lives. It’s like Margaret Cho’s Korean
mother says: ‘Gays. They are everywhere … except for Korea.’”

Most of the students thought this was funny, but what I thought was funny
was how offended they seemed by Muslim homophobia, even though most
churches take a similar stance.

“Does Christianity accept homosexuality?” I asked.

“Of course not!”

There was some squirming. Then another woman raised her hand. My gaydar
went off and I thought: Thank goodness, an ally.

“I’ve been doing research on gay Muslims for my thesis and I can’t find
information on women. Is this because there are more gay men, or are
Muslim women more sexually repressed?”

Were these people even listening to me? My mind flashed to all the queer
South Asian parties I’ve been to. I saw the sweating brown bodies and
heard the bhangra-bollywood-house mix music. There aren’t enough women at
these parties, but to say that this is only because of Islam is not the
whole story. There aren’t enough spaces for queer women to feel
comfortable, even in New York City.

Actually, there aren’t enough spaces for women to feel safe, period.

“I don’t know if there are more men,” I replied. “But they definitely seem
to get more action. Female sexuality is repressed in general, not just for
Muslim women.”

Then the Muslims stepped in. “We aren’t saying that homosexuality doesn’t
exist; we’re saying that it’s just not accepted in Islam. Do you really
think of yourself as Muslim?”

This was the only question that stopped me inside. The truth was, for
years I didn’t. I grew up in a close-knit Muslim community in New York
City where being gay didn’t seem like an option. I hadn’t known any queer
Muslims (with the exception of, well, myself), so I understood the
students’ confusion over my identity. When I accepted my sexuality, I
dropped my Muslim identity.

But these days, denying that I am Muslim is like denying the color of my
skin. After September 11, after the beatings, the mass arrests and
detentions of Muslim immigrants, after the suspension of their civil
liberties, I know that it doesn’t matter whether or not I fast during
Ramadan. I am Muslim.

If I was attacked on the street (as many of my Muslim-looking friends were
after 9-11), I couldn’t say, “Wait — Mr. Attacker, you know, I haven’t
actually listened to the call for prayer since 1986. So do you want to
reconsider beating the crap out of me?” I wouldn’t be able to tell the FBI
agents when they came to question me, “Hey, I’m queer, so I can’t be a
terrorist Muslim. See you later. No hard feelings. Really.”

Lately, I’ve been having Anne Frank-type nightmares. It wasn’t sudden for
the Jewish people in Germany and it wasn’t sudden for the Japanese in
America. Jewish people were vilified and marked before Hitler’s gruesome
final solution and Japanese-Americans had to register before they were
forced into internment camps for the “safety” of the nation. As a female,
I don’t have to submit my fingerprints (yet). For all its talk about
equality, our government still doesn’t take women seriously. And despite
all the ways I thought I could hide from my Muslim identity because I am
queer, I realize that once the government starts fingerprinting people
based on their religion, I cannot forget.

I told the Muslim women, I told the rest of the class, and I told myself.
I’m Muslim and I’m queer — and I’m never going to forget that again.

SFGate: Transgender community feels joy, anger at Araujo verdict

2005-09-17T15:30:00.000-04:00

Link

SAN FRANCISCO
Transgender community feels joy, anger at Araujo verdict
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

...

Leaders in the community said the jury's rejection of a "transgender panic" defense -- in which Araujo's gender identity absolved the men of some guilt in the crime -- represented significant progress.

"It sends a message that you can no longer blame the victim for what happened," said Cecilia Chung, deputy director of the Transgender Law Center in San Francisco. "You can't blame a transgender person for being who she or he is."

...

The Araujo case has prompted public discourse about the transgender community and transgender issues.

Several thousand students in Bay Area schools have heard Araujo's mother speak about her daughter since the 2002 killing, and the case has received coverage in national and Bay Area media outlets, several of which developed policies on the use of pronouns and names in describing transgender people. The Chronicle, for example, now uses pronouns and names that are preferred by transgender individuals who have the physical attributes of the opposite sex.

Major Spanish-language outlets covered the case more than they had any previous crime with an LGBT victim, said Monica Taher, people of color media director for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

"This was a huge story at the local and national level," Taher said. "Every time there was an update from the court, the (Spanish-language) media was there covering. I didn't see that with the Matthew Shepard case."

...

MSN: Two defendants convicted in transgender killing

2005-09-17T15:26:00.000-04:00

Link

Two defendants convicted in transgender killing
Men beat teen after discovering she was biologically male
Associated Press
Updated: 7:45 p.m. ET Sept. 12, 2005

HAYWARD, Calif. - Two men who had sex with a transgender teen and then discovered she was biologically male were convicted Monday of her murder but cleared of hate crime charges.

Michael Magidson and Jose Merel, both 25, face mandatory sentences of 15 years to life in prison for second-degree murder in the killing of Gwen Araujo, who was beaten, tied up and strangled.

The jury was deadlocked in the case of a third man, Jason Cazares, 25, marking the second time a jury was unable to reach a verdict in his case.

Araujo, 17, was born a boy named Edward but grew up to believe her true identity was female. The defendants, who knew her as Lida, met her in the summer of 2002. Magidson and Merel had sexual encounters with her, experiences that fueled suspicions about Araujo's gender.

...

An autopsy found that Araujo died of asphyxiation associated with head injuries.

Nabors testified that Merel smashed Araujo in the head with a can and also hit her with a pan. Merel said he slapped Araujo and hit her a glancing blow with the pan, but he denied seriously injuring her.

Cazares said he was outside the house when the killing took place and only helped bury the body in a shallow grave in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

...

AOL Black Voices: God, Gays and the Black Church: Keeping the Faith Within the Black Community

2005-09-17T15:22:00.000-04:00

Link

Updated: 2005-09-01 23:32:13
God, Gays and the Black Church:
Keeping the Faith Within the Black Community
by Herndon L. Davis, Special to AOL Black Voices

...

"Homophobic sermons do indeed cause depression, suicidal tendencies, etc., in SGL [Same-Gender-Loving] people," asserts Dallas-based evangelist Tuan N'Gai, co-founder of OperationRebirth.com, a black gay and lesbian religious Web site.

...

Although Foster admits anti-homosexual sermons may cause severe emotional distress for gays and lesbians, he says, "To call homosexuality sin is not homophobic, but to use the knowledge that homosexuality is sin against someone for the purpose of driving them away from God is sin." Though once an active homosexual, Foster believes homosexuality is a sin and continues to preach against it.

...

But what if the "sinner" is the pastor himself or the soloist at the early-morning service? Do the rules against homosexuality somehow change? To date, black church history has shown us that if the rules don't change, then at best they’re severely bent when it comes to gay and lesbian clergy or gospel singers.

...

No one seems to contest the fact that there are gays and lesbians within black churches (and in no smaller number than elsewhere in society), which certainly begs the question: can a pastor effectively minister to his or her gay and lesbian congregants if he/she genuinely believes that homosexuality is a sin?

...

In terms of the church's role as a centerpiece of the black community, could it be that the demeaning and negative labeling of perceived sexual sins ranging from pre-marital sex to homosexuality is really part of the problem -- and not the solution -- in the increasingly difficult fight against AIDS in the black community?

...

Chicago Tribune:

2005-09-17T15:19:00.000-04:00

Link

GULF COAST CRISIS: THE AID EFFORT
Immigrants told to seek help, whatever their legal status

By Oscar Avila and Hugh Dellios
Tribune staff reporters
Published September 8, 2005

Foreign governments and Hispanic advocacy groups scrambled Wednesday to help an especially vulnerable group of hurricane survivors: immigrants who often don't speak English or possess legal immigration status.

In a region coping with a devastated infrastructure, relief workers had to work extra hard to reach immigrant victims, especially with a reported shortage of bilingual volunteers.

...

Hurricane Katrina was especially devastating for Hondurans who have crossed the Gulf of Mexico for decades to work at ports and fishing jobs in Louisiana.

Many Hondurans came to Louisiana for a more desperate reason: to flee the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch, which devastated Central America in 1998. The U.S. government provided temporary legal status for Hondurans affected by Mitch.

...

Hispanic leaders report even worse problems reaching undocumented immigrants. In past disasters, undocumented immigrants have received emergency aid but have not been eligible for government assistance during reconstruction.

Murguia, part of a delegation that met with President Bush, said she has been assured that undocumented immigrants have "absolutely no fear of recrimination right now."

To reinforce that message, Mexican President Vicente Fox broadcast messages to Mexicans in the U.S., trying to persuade them to seek help. "Don't be afraid to follow rescue officials' directions," Fox said.

...

El Observador: Katrina Spells Unspoken Disaster

2005-09-17T15:15:00.000-04:00

Link

Katrina Spells Unspoken Disaster
By Marta Donayre

The images of the devastation and suffering caused by hurricane Katrina are the tip of the iceberg of what is to follow. Many will have to rebuild their lives from scratch, and people in the LGBT and HIV-positive communities will have the hardest time. The states that were the most impacted by Katrina - Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama - all have measures in place that forbid the legal recognition of same-sex couples and their families. After the dust settles, partners will have a harder time locating loved ones. If they succeed, it will be almost impossible to make medical decisions for them if needed. If the family home was in the name of a deceased partner, a surviving partner may have no rights to insurance monies. All of the inheritance may go to the nearest blood relative, who may not approve of the relationship and deny the survivor benefits, including attending the funeral. Children in these families face undue burdens and challenges. If the biological parent dies, their other parent will be unlikely to obtain their custody. Many may end in the foster care system, even though one of their parents is alive and well. And these are only state-wide problems. Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, that defines marriage federally only as that between a man and a woman, many will be denied aid from FEMA, and survivor benefits from the Social Security Administration. Many children too may be denied pensions if they lose their non-biological parent. The HIV-positive population will face incredible hurdles. The South has the largest percentage of people affected by HIV/AIDS. According to a report by the Center for Disease Control and The Aids Institute, 40 percent of all HIV victims live in the South, yet only 38 percent of the U.S. population lives in the South. The majority of all HIV-positive Southerners, 53 percent, are African-American. HIV infection in the South carries tremendous stigma, and many clinics dispense medication through the back door so patients won't be seen entering an HIV/AIDS clinic. Many of them are now in massive refugee camps, and are likely to be without medication. Some may choose to not take it to avoid revealing their HIV status. The human drama caused by discrimination and stigma is unlikely to hit the airwaves. We won't see surviving partners pleading for help, or HIV-positive people asking for their medication making headlines. But they will be there, suffering silently, and ignored by society at large. When disaster hits, minority groups are always hit the hardest. Most of us will never hear their stories. We always hear the sad stories of the stranded tourists, but never learn the full impact of the calamity on the most vulnerable segments of society.

Marta Donayre is the co-founder of Love Sees No Borders, is a member of the National Steering Committee of Amnesty International's OUTFront Program, and a member of the National Latina/o Coalition for Justice. Visit her web site at www.martadonayre.com If you have questions you can write to her at marta_donayre@yahoo.com

The Age: Fiji court overturns gay sex conviction

2005-09-17T15:12:00.000-04:00

Link

Fiji court overturns gay sex conviction
August 26, 2005

An Australian man has won his appeal against a gay sex conviction in Fiji, in a blow to laws against homosexuality in the socially conservative Pacific country.

...

She said the decision would have a big impact in Fiji, although she said state prosecutors have indicated they might appeal against the ruling in Fiji's Supreme Court.

There has been considerable debate in the island nation about its strict but rarely enforced homosexual laws since the case emerged.

...

A Fiji senator earlier this week called for a Christian constitution and harsh punishments for homosexuality.

...

The Weekly News: Gay couple allege attack at Miami bar

2005-09-17T14:59:00.000-04:00

Link

Gay couple allege attack at Miami bar
Police report confirms assault, victim says it was a hate crime

By ANDREA FREYGANG
Contributing Writer
AUGUST 11TH

A couple of hours into the evening, at about 1:30 a.m., Sanchez leaned over at the request of the ladies and gave his partner a quick peck. Shortly afterwards, a staff member he described as a white, Latino male in his early 40s approached him and said the male couple had to leave the club.

...

"The guy who worked the sound system was with him when he asked me to leave, and I didn't understand because we had paid for our drinks, weren't acting out and there were 35 other people doing the same thing I was," says Sanchez. "They insisted it was closing time, but I knew that wasn't the reason.

...

The women then suggested that Sanchez and Perez leave since it seemed there
was going to be a problem. Sanchez says the two staff members grabbed his arm
and led them out the door.

"As soon as we crossed the exit, they pushed me on my back and I fell on my side, while the boss was watching," Sanchez says. "They kick me on the floor and I cover my face and yell to my partner, 'Call nine-eleven, call nine-eleven' as more come to bash me."

Sanchez says the guy who ran the sound system told the attackers to stop and go back inside. But as the attack was happening, he says they yelled at the couple, "Maricoñ - you fag, we don't want you here and this is for you to learn. We take good look at your faces so you not come back here again."

When the paramedics arrived, Sanchez says he could not move; although after examination the paramedics left because there were no visual injuries.

...

"They didn't take care of me, just observe, and I couldn't move because the pain was internal," he says. "My ribs were sore, my back, my left elbow."

A police officer arrived and went inside to speak with restaurant personnel, and then came out and asked if Sanchez wanted to press charges. The officer wrote the case down as simple battery, which infuriates Sanchez. The officer then moved Sanchez and Perez down the street to a gas station to wait for the crime scene unit.

...

Washington Times: Homosexual groups pursue minorities

2005-09-17T14:53:00.000-04:00

Link

Homosexual groups pursue minorities
By Dionne Walker
ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 17, 2005

RICHMOND -- Dyana Mason, the executive director of Equality Virginia, begins each summer with two road trips: one to the District for the black homosexual-pride celebration in May, and a second to its predominantly white June counterpart, Capital Pride.
Through the fall, similar celebrations will unfold in major cities across the nation, underscoring a racial rift that some say splinters homosexual America.

...

We have this rainbow of unity -- 'We're all in it together,'?" said Earl Fowlkes, president of the International Federation of Black Prides. "Truth be told, it's not that way."
His group represents more than 23 annual black-pride celebrations drawing thousands of black homosexuals to cities such as New York, Chicago and Atlanta. Such culture-specific celebrations are on the rise as the face of homosexual America shifts from the white-male stereotype.

...

Despite efforts by the HRC to reach out to minority homosexuals, frustrations linger. For one, Hispanics shrink from organizations with people who think translating documents into Spanish is enough, said Noemi Perez, a Virginia homosexual-rights advocate.
She called for more Hispanic hires from the community -- not handpicked people whose main qualification is a Spanish surname.

SFGate.com: Spanish-language radio show must pay for on-air gay prank

2005-09-17T14:48:00.000-04:00

Link

SAN FRANCISCO
Spanish-language radio show must pay for on-air gay prank
- Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, August 13, 2005

A San Francisco man who was outed as gay on a national Spanish- language radio show and says his life was devastated as a result will receive $270,000 from Univision Radio, an arbitrator in the case has ruled.

Univision Radio, the largest Spanish-language radio broadcaster in the United States, also agreed Friday to sensitivity training for employees in its five biggest markets, said Monica Taher, a media director for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. That action was not part of the arbitration, but it shows the impact of 45-year-old Roberto Hernandez's stand against insensitivity to gays and lesbians, which is rampant in Spanish- language media, Taher said.

...

"It's a nightmare," Hernandez said. "How do you live with such an embarrassment in your life? How do you live when someone makes your life so insignificant? Any kind of help or support would be welcome to my life, because I need it at this moment."

Hernandez had been discreet about disclosing his sexual orientation before the incident, not even telling his family.

...

Washington Blade: Study undermines belief that 'down-low' men feed HIV

2005-09-17T14:43:00.000-04:00

Link

Study undermines belief that ‘down-low’ men feed HIV
Being closeted doesn’t equate to risky sex, researchers say

By RYAN LEE
Friday, August 12, 2005

Closeted black bisexual men — popularly dubbed “men on the down low” and tagged with fueling rising HIV rates among heterosexual black females — are not as careless with practicing safer sex as was often portrayed in media reports, according to research published in the July issue of the Journal of the National Medical Association.

...

With no research data yet complete on the down-low, and scarce data about black bisexuality in general, researchers culled through 24 years of studies on black sexuality, homosexuality and HIV/AIDS dating back to 1980, said David Malebranche, assistant professor of medicine at the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta.

...

Researchers found that only an estimated 2 percent of all black men are bisexual, contradicting the popular notion of men on the down-low serving as a bridge for HIV to cross over from gay men to black heterosexual women, who make up 68 percent of all new female HIV cases.

“If it’s only 2 or 3 percent of the black male population, how can they possibly be accounting for all of these HIV infections?” Malebranche said.

...

Women cheat, too
Malebranche and his colleagues also said studies show both black men and heterosexual women engage in high rates of unprotected sex, which likely contributes to HIV transmission rates.

The down-low went mainstream last year after an extensive piece in the New York Times Magazine and Oprah Winfrey’s profile of author J.L. King, who wrote a tell-all piece about masculine black men with wives and girlfriends who secretly have sex with men. The phenomenon was then often cited as an explanation for rising increases in HIV among black women.

...

365gay.com: Cherokee Court Blocks Lesbian Marriage

2005-09-17T14:38:00.000-04:00

Link

Cherokee Court Blocks Lesbian Marriage
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: August 12, 2005 3:00 pm ET

...

Earlier this week the latest challenge was filed by a group of conservative Cherokee Nation council members. The move came a week after a tribal court dismissed a similar lawsuit.

Todd Hembree, who serves as counsel to the tribe's legislative body and opposes same-sex marriage, went to court arguing the Cherokee Nation had no right to recognize the marriage.

The court ruled that Hembree had no standing to sue and could not show that he suffered any harm by the couple's attempt to be recognized as a married couple.

...

In court filings, the councilors point to several references in the Cherokee Nation Code denoting sex and gender in a tribal marriage. They are asking the court to ban same-sex marriages and make Reynolds and McKinley's marriage certificate null and void.

If allowed to file their marriage license, the women will be the only same-sex couple to be registered with the Cherokee Nation.

...

Signorile.com: Could Catholicism be Good for the Gays?

2005-09-17T14:36:00.000-04:00

Link

Could Catholicism be Good for the Gays?
Michelangelo Signorile
August 8, 2005

...

In Spain, same-sex marriage became increasingly more acceptable to the public largely because its promoters appealed to people’s Catholic sense of “family” and their desire to include their gay brothers and sisters in their lives, even if homosexuality itself is "sinful". Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who spearheaded the same-sex marriage legislation, often talked about “family” and the people we all “love” when he discussed the issue. In his speech to Parliament in June he said: “We are not legislating, honorable members, for people far away and not known by us. We are enlarging the opportunity for happiness to our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends and, our families: at the same time we are making a more decent society, because a decent society is one that does not humiliate its members.”

...

Pacific News Service: Don't Follow America: Tribes Should Lift Bans On Gay Marriage

2005-09-17T14:26:00.000-04:00

Link

Don't Follow America: Tribes Should Lift Bans On Gay Marriage
Youth Commentary, Gabriel Duncan,
Pacific News Service, Aug 08, 2005

Editor's Note: American Indian tribes should follow their traditions of embracing diverse sexual orientations and support same-sex marriage, the writer says. Instead, some tribes are doing the opposite.

ALAMEDA, Calif.--I've long known that about half of America doesn't like gay people. It's been made pretty clear, most recently with the rejection of numerous marriage equality bills, and the approval of anti-gay marriage legislation in 37 states. But now, to my dismay, Indian Country is following the white man's lead.

First, the Navajo Nation Council passed a ban on same-sex marriages in June, overriding the veto of Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. The legislation banned marriages between members of the same sex on the nation's largest Indian reservation. Now, justices in a Cherokee Nation courthouse are hearing arguments in the case of a Cherokee couple who wed, received their tribe-issued marriage certificate, and were set to live happily ever after -- that is, until an attorney contested the wedding. That's when everything got complicated.

...

Native peoples have historically had a more fluid view of sexuality. Bisexual, straight, gay, transgender -- hey, it didn't matter. That was how you were made and people weren't going to stone you to death just because you were different. In fact, your differences made you special.

"Two-Spirits" like myself -- the modern term for gay, lesbian, bi and trans Native Americans -- were hailed as medicine men.

As Two-Spirits, we were depended on to heal, keep the history of our people, and care for the children. Two-Spirited people were often "cookers," though they could also be warriors -- gender roles didn't really matter. Looking back at the travel journals of the Spanish conquistadors, you can find a story about fierce, bare-chested female warriors who obliterated an entire war party. And back then, if a man chose the basket instead of the bow, his tribe would socialize him with the women. No big deal.

I'm not trying to make this sound like the pre-contact world was one big free-love party, but gay marriage was certainly a "non-issue," as Navajo President Shirley said during the debate over the same-sex marriage ban. Sex and sexuality were natural. Love was unconditional. And diversity was celebrated.

...

BBC: HK gay sex rules 'discriminatory'

2005-09-17T14:14:00.000-04:00

Link

HK gay sex rules 'discriminatory'
Last Updated: Wednesday, 24 August

HK gay sex rules 'discriminatory'

A Hong Kong judge has ruled that laws prohibiting gay sex by men under the age of 21 are unconstitutional.

...

A 20-year-old gay man, William Roy Leung, had challenged Hong Kong's existing laws on the issue.

They allow sex between heterosexuals and lesbians from the age of 16, but anyone under the age of 21 who engages in sodomy could face life in prison.

...

Mr Hartmann said the current laws were "demeaning of gay men who are, through the legislation, stereotyped as deviant".

The laws prohibit "gross indecency" or sexual intimacy between men if one or both are younger than 21.

Welcomed

Gay rights activists welcomed the ruling, saying that 63 men have been arrested under the laws in the past five years.

...

"It's the first time that sexual orientation has been upheld as a protected ground against discrimination in a Hong Kong court," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

...

What do you think of the ruling that current laws are discriminatory? Have you been affected by laws prohibiting gay sex for men under 21 in Hong Kong? Send us your comments and experiences using the form at the bottom of the page.

I grew up in Hong Kong. Being queer in that city is isolating enough, given its lack of social programs and clubs/bars, and its homophobic atmosphere. As a queer woman coming of age in that city 7m people, I felt alone, confused and ignorant. I can't imagine what it must have been like for my male counterparts, having that extra level of fear that, even should they *find* someone to love (which is hard enough!), they'd be thrown in jail because of it. Being queer in HK sucked-- I'm glad this ruling will ease the situation somewhat.
Jo McFetridge, Hong Kong / Vancouver

...

I have been affected by laws prohibiting gay sex for men under 21 in the UK. These laws cause great suffering, confusion and discrimination towards the affected young men. The perverse issue here is that law abiding people suffer the most as these people get pulled in two opposite directions.
Shane James, Exeter, UK

...

This is excellent news. It is high time that such archaic laws and beliefs were stamped out. However, Hong Kong is just the tip of a very large Chinese iceberg and many more gay men are suffering discrimination on mainland China. There is much more of a struggle to come, but this is certainly a huge breakthrough.
Andrew Fyall, London

No, personally I don't think the current laws are discriminatory. If the age is lowered to 16 years old, Hong Kong will be opening their doors to more gay sex. I don't think the HK want to be labelled as the sex city of the Far East.
Tony, London

Gay City News: Ancient Transsexuality in Indonesia

2005-09-17T14:12:00.000-04:00

Link

Ancient Transsexuality in Indonesia
Asia Society film celebrates once-revered sect; Lincoln Center performance in
July
By Sam Oglesby
Gay City News
June 23-29, 2005
Vol. 4, Issue 25

...

Shown at the Asia Society on June 17, "The Last Bissu" is a beautiful film by Rhoda Grauer that is part of a series of events celebrating vanishing cultures and the efforts to revive them. It follows the story of Puang Matoa Saidi, the high priest of an ancient transvestite order chosen in 1941. Once all powerful, the leaders of this pre-Islamic sect were honored advisors to the local rajas, the kings who ruled the land. Their gradual demise began as the system of royal courts declined.

...

Quaint and unusual to Western eyes, the transvestite priest tradition is found in numerous traditional societies in India, Burma, Indonesia and other developing nations. More than simply an anachronism, the tradition has conferred legitimacy on gender-variant individuals whose social status might otherwise be compromised were it not for the sacred roles they play.

Website: Sexual Racism Sux

2005-09-17T14:08:00.000-04:00

Link

Sexual Racism / Gay Asian Male (GAM) pages

It's become so easy and so common in Sydney (and some other places) for men to write the terms -No Asians, No GAMs, No Gay Asians - in their profiles. I hope that gay asian guys who use the internet for dating and meeting people, as well as our friends and supporters will join in a campaign to get these phrases out of public spaces where they create an environment where the people think it is acceptable and where it is hurtful to those who encounter it.

NYTimes: Serving Gays Who Serve God

2005-09-17T13:50:00.000-04:00

Link

September 16, 2005
Serving Gays Who Serve God
By ANDY NEWMAN

This spring, Brenda Oliver, depressed and desperate for spiritual sustenance, visited the church near her home in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She lasted until the minister started talking about the men of Sodom who demanded that Lot let them have sex with his houseguests.

He looked straight at Ms. Oliver, a sturdy, dreadlocked woman dressed in her customary long pants and black work boots.

"The preacher said that if a bunch of gays went to his house, he'd start shooting and killing them," recalled Ms. Oliver, who is a lesbian. She walked outside, leaned on the church gate and cried.

...

Unity Fellowship Church, housed in a gray former warehouse in East New York, is the New York outpost of the Unity Fellowship Church Movement, the only Christian denomination explicitly set up to serve gay, bisexual and transgender members of minority groups. Unity, founded in Los Angeles in 1982, has 12 churches nationwide, including two in New Jersey - one in Newark and another in New Brunswick.

...

A gay church in a battered neighborhood led by a black minister with AIDS may sound like something dreamed up by a politically correct screenwriter. But Unity is the very real, raucous spiritual home for hundreds who feel cast out by traditional churches, which for many people serve as the heart of the community and an extension of the family.

...

In July, one of Unity's ministers, the Rev. Valerie H. Holly, spoke at a rally organized in part by the network against the denunciation of gays by black clergy members. "It's not a question of you having to like me," she said in an interview. "It's a question of you having to accept that I am God's child, too."

...

New York's Unity church feels itself to be a bit of an outcast. From 1992 to 2003, it rented space in St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, a middle-class neighborhood with a history of tolerance. But after St. Mary's changed leadership, Unity felt less welcome, said the local congregation's founder, Bishop Zachary G. Jones. "They didn't come and say 'All gay people get out,' but it was increasingly uncomfortable to negotiate the use of the space," he said. The rector of St. Mary's, the Rev. Reginald Nuamah, declined to discuss Unity's departure.

...

"God don't care who you sleep with," she said. "God judges you for the merits of your heart."

Welcome!

2005-08-07T17:33:00.000-04:00

Mosaic is now beginning a blog! To cut down on annoying e-mails, but still keep you updated on non-Cornell news & events relevant to our QPOC communities, we'll be posting interesting articles and links here. Once a week we'll send summaries over the listserve; then you can check out what the e-mail's all about by looking at this blog! Please bear with us as we continue to decide what should be posted here, on the listserve, or on both. =)

Still, keep updated about us on our e-mail listserve and checking out our main website at:

http://sss.dos.cornell.edu/haven/mosaic/