Diversity is Natural

While the country obviously has many deficiencies and civil freedoms still are greatly restricted, it is nonetheless interesting that Cuba rather than the USA - alleged land of the free - is implementing a government sponsored Anti-Homophobia Campaign. That's right, communist Cuba not the USA. I continue to be appalled that many countries that are typically viewed as not as advanced or not as democratic as the United States are leaving us in the dust in terms of accepting what medical and mental health professionals tell us: being gay is a natural state of affairs for a minority of the population. Nevertheless, the USA continues to have religious extremists imposing their anti-gay religious views on the larger public in denigration of the freedom of religion promised in the U. S. Constitution. I look forward to the day when religious bigotry will be cleansed from the civil laws in this nation. Here are some highlights on Cuba's new anti-homophobia campaign:

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The 2009 campaign for respect for freedom of sexual orientation, under the slogan "Diversity is Natural", will try to contribute to "the education of society in general, with an emphasis on university students, about respect for people's free and responsible sexual orientation and gender identity, as an exercise in equity and social justice."

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The National Centre for Sex Education (CENESEX) "cannot do this work on its own, which is why we have called on the youth of the country, who will become the future professionals and leaders of society," said Mariela Castro, the head of CENESEX, which has developed a wide-ranging programme in support of the right to sexual diversity since 2004.

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Castro addressed the opening event of the campaign, a forum and debate held on Mar. 26 at the headquarters of the University Students Federation (FEU) at the University of Havana. There was standing room only at the forum, which was attended by students, university professors, CENESEX staff and representatives of the gay community.

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According to CENESEX's Sexual Diversity Project, the campaign includes educational activities under the National Sex Education Programme, small group meetings, workshops, video-debates, talks and exchanges "to stimulate and promote reflection and debate among university students." "This year we want to focus on audiences capable of being multiplier agents and extending the work, like the university population," said Castro. With this goal in mind, CENESEX initially worked on the campaign design with members of the Young Communist League and the FEU in Havana, and will later branch out into the provinces.

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In an interview with IPS, the head of CENESEX and daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro said the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) will be celebrated in Havana this year on May 16 and will be devoted to young people, and also to families, so that "parents may better understand" their homosexual or transsexual children.

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Not surprisingly, the Roman Catholic Church is not happy with these advances for gays in Cuba.

More Monday Male Beauty

Iraqi Gays Sentenced to Death for Being Gay

I never supported the Iraq War even at its outset and recall having a sick feeling when the Chimperator announced the invasion. Six years, billions of dollars, and 4,000+ American deaths later, news out of Iraq underscores the fact that the Chimperator dishonestly led the USA on a fool's errand. Worse yet, the puppet government installed by the Bush/Cheney regime has allowed religious extremists to flourish. Under the current regime gays are being rounded up, convicted for being gay and - based on news out of Iraq via LGBT groups - facing death sentences. I'm sure the the GOP base that supported the Chimperator could care less what happens to gay Iraqis, but one would hope the Obama administration will stand up and demand that these kangaroo court convictions be set aside. Here are some highlights from UK Gay News:

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LONDON, March 30, 2009 – More than 100 prisoners in Iraq are facing execution – and many of them are believed to have been convicted of the ‘crime’ of being gay, the UK-based Iraqi-LGBT group revealed this afternoon. According to Ali Hili of Iraqi-LGBT, the Iraqi authorities plan to start executing them in batches of 20 from this week. There is, said Mr. Hili, at least one member of Iraqi-LGBT who are among those to be put to death.

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And the London-based group, which believes that a total of 128 executions are imminent, is calling on the UK Government, international human rights groups and the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva to intervene “with due speed” to prevent “this tragic miscarriage of justice” from going ahead.

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“We have information and reports on members of our community whom been arrested and waiting for execution for the crimes of homosexuality,” Mr Hili told UK Gay News. “Iraqi-LGBT has been a banned from running activities on Iraqi soil,” he revealed. “Raids by the Iraqi police and Ministry of Interior forces cost our group [to the extent of] disappearing and killing of 17 members working for Iraqi-LGBT since 2005.

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Most are likely to have been sentenced to death by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI), whose proceedings consistently fall short of international standards for fair trial, Mr. Hili said.
“Allegations of torture are not being investigated adequately or at all by the CCCI. Torture of detainees held by Iraqi security forces remains rife.

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Amnesty International has called on the Iraqi authorities to make public all information pertaining to the 128 people, including their full names, details of the charges against them, the dates of their arrest, trial and appeal and their current places of detention.

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For proof that religion and the civil laws should NEVER be allowed to intermix, one need only look to Islamic countries that exhibit savagery towards gays, women, and others who seek religious freedom. These countries also provide a mirror image of what the USA would look like if the Christianists were every allowed to fully implement their extreme religious agenda.

Britons Seek "De-baptism'" from Christianity

In perhaps yet another sign that the toxic fundamentalist, hate based version of Christianity which seems to dominate the news cycles is driving people away from religion, an entrepreneur in the United Kingdom has found a market in those seeking to severe ties with religion. The "certificates of de-baptism" sell for the equivalent of $4.35. While the news coverage of the certificates focuses on those being marketed in the UK, others individuals in other parts of the world are likewise seeking to erase their ties to organized religion. The trend is also noteworthy since the Christianists always argue that religion is an immutable characteristic when it clearly is not. Here are some highlights from Brietbart.com:

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More than 100,000 Britons have recently downloaded "certificates of de-baptism" from the Internet to renounce their Christian faith. The initiative launched by a group called the National Secular Society (NSS) follows atheist campaigns here and elsewhere, including a London bus poster which triggered protests by proclaiming "There's probably no God." "We now produce a certificate on parchment and we have sold 1,500 units at three pounds (4.35 dollars, 3.20 euros) a pop," said NSS president Terry Sanderson.

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De-baptism organisers say the initiative is a response to what they see as increasing stridency from churches -- the latest last week when Pope Benedict XVI stirred global controversy on a trip to AIDS-ravaged Africa by saying condom use could further spread of the disease. "The Catholic Church is so politically active at the moment that I think that is where the hostility is coming from," said Sanderson. "In Catholic countries there is a very strong feeling of wanting to punish the church by leaving it."

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In Britain, where government figures say nearly 72 percent of the population list themselves as Christian, Sanderson feels this "hostility" is fueling the de-baptism movement.

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De-baptism movements have already sprung up in other countries. In Spain, the high court ruled in favor of a man from Valencia, Manuel Blat, saying that under data protection laws he could have the record of his baptism erased, according to a report in the International Herald Tribune. Similarly, the Italian Union of Rationalists and Agnostics (UAAR) won a legal battle over the right to file for de-baptism in 2002, according to media reports. The group's website carries a "de-baptism" form to facilitate matters.

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Elsewhere, an Argentinian secularist movement is running a "Collective Apostasy" campaign, using the slogan "Not in my name" (No en mi nombre).

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I hope James Dobson, Benedict XVI, Tony Perkins and other hate driven Christianists are pleased with their handiwork of making Christianity an unwanted belief system.

[No] Change GOP Style

Some things never change no matter how much lip service the Republican Party talking heads give to moving the party more in the direction of most Americans. The themes of God, guns and gay bashing just seem too well loved among the he GOP base to give up. New evidence of this reality comes from both sides of the country. First, in Virginia we have the new "moderate" Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell announcing that he will campaign around the Commonwealth with Mike Huckabee - the same Mike Huckabee who made statements on national news shows that he thought the U. S. Constitution should be conformed to the Bible. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and a GOP presidential candidate in 2008, will be in Virginia Beach on Tuesday to raise money for Bob McDonnell’s campaign for governor. Huckabee also will join McDonnell at fundraisers in Roanoke and Bristol on Monday, according to the McDonnell campaign.

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Then, all the way across and to the far north of the country, Sarah "Bible Spice" Palin has tapped an extreme homophobe to be Alaska's Attorney General. Not only is her nominee, Wayne Anthony Ross, against equal rights for gays, he has gone so far as to call LGBT Americans as ''immoral, '' ''perversion'' and ''degenerates.'' It's probably a fitting selection for Palin since, Ross, like Palin seems to be a legend in his own mind. Or at least he wants to be. Here are some highlights about Ross from the Anchorage Daily News:

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Though widely known for his gun-rights stand, Ross has been active for 23 years -- on both a personal level and as a lawyer -- with Alaska Right to Life, lead organization in the anti-abortion movement. A devout Catholic, Ross believes his big remaining task on Earth is to help stop abortion, a practice he sums up as ''killing kids.'' ''I feel I have a good relationship with the good Lord (but) if I could overturn Roe vs. Wade, I figure I got my ticket, '' he said.

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Like David Copperfield, Ross is determined to be the hero of his own life, painting his public portrait in extremes and reveling in the reaction. His personalized ''WAR'' license plate is instantly recognizable; directions to his home include reference to a drawbridge and ''the moat, '' neither of which is strictly true. (The moat is a slight ground depression encircling the house.) He admires the legend of Teddy Roosevelt and has been accused of cultivating a slight physical resemblance to the dead president.

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''He's arrogant and opinionated, '' Mendel said. ''He shows up (in court) with his cowboy boots and cowboy hat and doesn't stand up when the judge comes in. . . . He has a very definite view of the world.''

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During a fight several years ago over gay rights, Mendel helped organize Anchorage lawyers in support of an anti- discrimination ordinance. Ross wrote a nasty letter to the Bar Association newsletter, using words like ''immoral, '' ''perversion'' and ''degenerates.'' The language went way beyond reasonable disagreement, Mendel and others said.

Monday Male Beauty

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Boycott Jamaica

In the past I have talked about the horrific situation that LGBT individuals face in Jamaica. Althought many years ago I traveled to Jamaica on business and found it to be a beautiful destination, the nation seems to be moving increasingly backwards in its treatment of gays and I would never visit Jamaica given the current anti-gay situation. Worse yet, the government actively supports the dehumanization of gays and outrageous acts of violence against gays are common. Now, my friend Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out, together with Jim Burroway, of Box Turtle Bulletin, and Michael Petrelis of The Petrelis Files have launched the Boycott Jamaica web site and action center. Since Jamaica depends heavily on tourist dollars to support it's economy, LGBT individuals around the world need to boycott Jamaica. Better yet, they need to convince all of their straight allies to avoid visiting the country as well. Why subsidize a government and country where gays can be beaten or killed with impunity? As the saying goes, money talks and if Jamaica can be forced to feel a real down side to its unrestrained homophobia, perhaps its residents will begin to wake up to the fact that their bigotry is making the country a pariah. Here's what Wayne said recently:

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Gay bashing in Jamaica is so prevalent that in 2006 Time magazine wrote an article about the island headlined, “The Most Homophobic Place On Earth?” The New York Times this week showed that the anti-gay climate has only worsened, with the island caught in a downward spiral of outright psychosis. It is time to hand an ultimatum to Jamaica’s public officials: Stop allowing rampant abuse of gay people or your economy will be crippled.

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The Times went on to report a shocking attack on a gay man’s funeral last year, where hooligans trashed the church with rocks and bottles as the service was in session. Of course, this unholy barbarism occurred in the name of God. Interestingly, Jamaicans have turned their sex-fueled island into a heterosexual bathhouse and ganja den, but seem to get sanctimonious and discover the Bible when it comes to homosexuality.

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On American docks, six hundred miles west of this homophobic hellhole, tourists regularly line up to board massive luxury liners destined for Jamaica. The tropical island earned $2.1 billion from tourism in 2006, an increase of 24 percent over 2005. More than three million people visited Jamaica in 2006, with 1,025,000 arrivals from the United States.

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Clearly, the answer to Jamaica's love affair with lynching is an aggressive campaign designed to put the clamp on tourism - particularly the cruise industry. The goal should be to strangle Jamaica's economy and force the island to change or suffer severe consequences. With tourism Jamaica's second largest source of revenue, such a campaign could have a powerful impact that achieves tangible results.

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For those looking for ways to put pressure on the Jamaican government, boycott Jamaica has some suggestions of what to do that can be found here.

More Sunday Male Beauty

Hate Groups on the Rise

Too often the general public seems utterly unaware of the amount of seething hatred that continues to swirl around within the United States. Many Americans do not realize that they may unknowingly be the targets of organizations that raise money and disseminate lies based solely on bigotry due to one's racial background, religious beliefs, country of origin, or sexual orientation. Fortunately, the Southern Poverty Law Center ("SPLC") tracks active hate groups and tries to inform the public about the activities of such groups. What is alarming is that the number of hate groups has increased 54% since 2000. Twenty six are based in Virginia with four operating out of Hampton Roads (California takes the prize for the most groups at 84). All hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics. A list compiled using hate group publications and websites and citizen and law enforcement reports can be found here. Here are some highlights from SPLC's special report:

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From white power skinheads decrying "President Obongo" at a racist gathering in rural Missouri, to neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen hurling epithets at Latino immigrants from courthouse steps in Oklahoma, to anti-Semitic black separatists calling for death to Jews on bustling street corners in several East Coast cities, hate group activity in the U.S. was disturbing and widespread throughout 2008, as the number of hate groups operating in America continued to rise. Last year, 926 hate groups were active in the U.S., up more than 4% from 888 in 2007. That's more than a 50% increase since 2000, when there were 602 groups.

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The rhetoric of white-skinned hate group leaders in 2008 was equally alarming. Last September, for example the cover of National Socialist magazine depicted then-presidential nominee Barack Obama in the crosshairs of a scope, with the headline "Kill This Nigger?"

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In terms of anti-gay hate groups, SPLC also has some disturbing data on twelve different organizations. The largest of the anti-gay hate groups is the Traditional Values Coalition. Other fairly widely known hate groups are Mass Resistance and the Illinois Family Institute. Not included as "hate groups" - at least so far - are Focus on the Family, Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America even though their tactics are similar and they often repeat the same untruths. Columnist Leonard Pitts has a take on the rise in hate groups that is worth reading. Here are some highlights:

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The answer is that we are a nation where a Jew serves as senator from Connecticut, a Muslim serves as representative from Minnesota, a Hispanic is governor of New Mexico and a black man is president. Because if those things strike you as signs of progress, well, they are signs of apocalypse to those who believe only white, male Christians are fit to lead.But that's not the only reason for the increase. SPLC also cites the debate over illegal immigration that has dominated much of this decade.

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I imagine the SPLC findings land like cold water in the faces of those who took Barack Obama's ascension to the presidency as proof that the nation was finally cured of the sickness of hate. The truth, I'm afraid, is more nuanced than that.Maybe it helps to think in terms of alcoholism, a disease that can, with treatment, be contained, controlled, put into remission — but never cured.

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Hate is something like that, a fact some of us have never quite understood. Such folks are convinced there is a goal line out there somewhere which, once crossed, will allow the nation to declare itself cured. And once cured, we'll never have to grapple with hatred again.But it doesn't work that way.

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This explosion of hate is a reminder of what happens when we forget that, when we are undeservedly sanguine about how enlightened we've become. It is said that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. Well, that's the going rate for tolerance, too.

Gates Says ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy Won’t Change Soon

In yet another move that makes me believe that LGBT Americans were cynically used by Obama during the 2008 campaign Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that a repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell needs to be pushed down the road and that dialogue has not really progressed very far at this point in the administration. Fine and good for Gates and Obama, but not so good for LGBT citizens serving honorably in the military who have to continue to worry about being caught up in witch hunts triggered by anonymous accusers. Obama has shown great skill and implementing nice window dressing - e.g., changing the White House website to include alleged LGBT goals or signing on to the non-binding U.N. resolution decriminalizing homosexuality - but when it comes to substance, Obama is missing in action. Here are highlights from the New York Times on this latest proof that gays have been thrown under the bus:

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Don't expect any change soon to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy about gays in the military. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says both he and President Barack Obama have "a lot on our plates right now." As Gates puts it, "let's push that one down the road a little bit." The White House has said Obama has begun consulting with Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on how to lift the ban. Gates says that dialogue has not really progressed very far at this point in the administration.

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Gates appeared on "Fox News Sunday."