Vatican vows to fight gay marriage after gains in U.S., Europe

* Twin Vatican editorials come after U.S. elections, decisions in France, Spain

* Vatican says supporting gay marriage part of "politically correct ideology"

* Says will never stop fighting gay marriage

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The Vatican, reacting to strong gains for gay marriage in the United States and Europe, on Saturday pledged never to stop fighting attempts to "erase" the privileged role of heterosexual marriage, which it called it "an achievement of civilisation".

For the second consecutive day, Vatican media weighed in with forceful editorials restating the Roman Catholic Church's unequivocal opposition.

"It is clear that in Western countries there is a widespread tendency to modify the classic vision of marriage between a man and woman, or rather to try to give it up, erasing its specific and privileged legal recognition compared to other forms of union," Father Federico Lombardi, said in a tough editorial on Vatican Radio.

Voters in the U.S. states of Maryland, Maine and Washington state approved same-sex marriage on Tuesday, marking the first time marriage rights have been extended to same-sex couples by popular vote.

Same-sex unions have been legalized in six states and the District of Columbia by lawmakers or courts.

Lombardi's editorial on Vatican Radio, which is broadcast around the world in some 30 languages, called the votes myopic, saying "the logic of it cannot have a far-sighted outlook for the common good".

Lombardi, who is also the Vatican's chief spokesman as well as director of Vatican Radio and Vatican Television, said there was "public acknowledgement" that "monogamous marriage between a man and woman is an achievement of civilisation".



WHY NOT POLYGAMY?

"If not, why not contemplate also freely chosen polygamy and, of course, not to discriminate, polyandry?" he said.

Polyandry is when a woman has more than one husband.

The Catholic Church teaches that homosexuality is not a sin but homosexual acts are. It says the rights of homosexuals should be guaranteed but that their unions should not be recognised as equal to heterosexuals and they should not be allowed to adopt children.

The constitutionality of restricting marriage to unions between a man and a woman is widely expected to be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court soon.

The powerful U.S. Catholic Bishops conference, which is already at odds with the administration of President Barack Obama because its health care law obliges most employers to cover contraception, is expected to take a lead in trying to influence the court's decision.

Earlier this week, Spain's highest court upheld a gay marriage law, and in France the socialist government has unveiled a draft law that would allow gay marriage.

An editorial in Friday's edition of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said local Catholic Churches in many countries around the world were "the sentinels of religious freedom" for opposing gay marriage.

It called support for gay marriage "an ideology founded on political correctness which is invading every culture of the world".

"The Church is the only institution to say that, while persecuting homosexuals in undoubtedly unjust, opposing marriage between people of the same sex is a point of view that must be respected," the Vatican newspaper editorial said. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Sophie Hares)

ENDS

meanwhile here is a clip edited from a documentary where local antigay lawyer Shirley Richards fears future agitation for marriage rights if buggery is repealed or decriminalized 

Frankly speaking having gay marriage rights is not going to take away from rights and freedoms presently enjoyed by heterosexuals and it's not going to be the end of the race as some Jamaicans crazily believe.

When will we just grow up?

Peace and tolerance

H

Deadly mix of homophobic paranoia and vigilante mob

Blakka Ellis

Check this story. On a 'double date' for Valentine's Day a few years ago, two young heterosexual couples went out for a meal in an uptown fast-food joint.

The girls were sitting at a table. The guys were in the bathroom putting last-minute finishing touches on the Valentine's Day cards they bought earlier to give to their girlfriends, who were waiting outside.

They were laughing, reading and comparing each other's cards when a man walked in, assumed they were giving the cards to each other, and raised an alarm. "Yow people, two by bwoy inna di bathroom ah exchange Valentine's Day card!"

It was Kingston, Jamaica, so you can imagine the rest of the story. Yeah peeps, in no time a crowd converged. And no amount of explaining from the guys, and begging for mercy by the girls, could prevent the beating.

And as they crowd increased and people inquired about what happened, someone added 'dem mussi did in deh a have sex'.

So the details got more sensational by the minute, and the condemnation got more intense.

UTech saga

It's a true story. I shared it on my Facebook page a few days ago because the whole UTech saga had me remembering it.

The post generated an intense conversation. Coming out of that discussion, and from some of the comments I've picked up elsewhere, I'm particularly intrigued by the number of people who somehow feel that we're being unfair by only condemning the caught-on-tape beating of the student and calling for the punishment of those involved, if we don't also denounce and demand punishment for the two young men for the alleged indecent act they were supposedly involved in.

But, oh gosh, man, how we even compare those two scenarios?

One is an accusation based on allegation, speculation and hearsay, and we've still not been told whether that has not been officially reported by a credible witness or verified by a trustworthy source.

And the other is a stark case of violent assault backed up by irrefutable video evidence. For all we know, like the guys in my story, the young men in the Utech bathroom may have simply fallen victims to the deadly mix of homophobic paranoia and vigilante-mob mentality that now seeks to claim space among the descriptions of what it means to be Jamaican.

It's not a good look. We need to take a long hard look at ourselves as a people.

To those who seem to want to diminish outrage against the senseless beating by harping on the inappropriate behaviour, I say, let the witness to the alleged act step forward and make a formal complaint. Let him clearly explain how long he watched, and describe in detail who he saw doing what to whom.

Of course, we all know that would probably never happen, especially since any man, who self-identifies as the main witness, may also immediately incriminate himself as chief initiator of the mob.

I watched the tape. And any way unnu want to spin it, self-righteous preoccupation with alleged public indecency is a meagre excuse for the strident barbarism I witnessed.

Poet Mbala said it right. He said, "No matter how outraged /disgusted we are at 'inappropriate public behavior', let's understand that mob violence is also WRONG. And remember it could be you or me on the receiving end due to misunderstanding (as in Blakka's tragic story) or maliciousness (somebody who has an issue with you just has to label you a homo in public). Some time ago an old man in a market in Spanish Town was heard saying how he liked some big okra. Some idiot decided that meant he was gay and he was ambushed, badly beaten and left in a wheelbarrow in the middle of town ... dis can't work people"

box-mi-back@hotmail.com

also see his take some years ago on being Homophobic yet homosocial in Jamaica and on Gay Jamaica Watch an older post written by him entitled: "I love you man" - J'can men afraid of saying it openly.

also see

Discipline raging anti gay UTech Students says Church group

Days since the  physical attack by the security detail at the University of Technology campus on Friday November 2, 2012 several points of views have been coming out, I had done an initial post on the issue on GJW but have been listening intently to the other comments and voices as we know well amidst the noise will be the dormant anti gay feelings resurrected so I am waiting until the dust settles some more while I slowly comment this time around. I have been also distracted by my participation in an ongoing gay men's health seminar where I was at when I got the call of the incident.

Here is my two cents:

one of the stereotypical cartoons since

Here comes an article from the Gleaner today:

Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer

The Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches (JUGC) has broken its silence on last week's incident in which an alleged homosexual student was beaten at the University of Technology (UTech) in St Andrew.


"It is atrocious to have a university of young people who are supposed to be thinking rationally, and yet they are displaying savagery, brutality and violence. That doesn't augur well for the society. It is really a bad sign for the society," said Rev Donald Reece, who was speaking on behalf of the umbrella group yesterday.

Reece said if the students can be identified as having played a part in the beating, they should be punished.

The Catholic priest added that while the group would not ask the university to go as far as to expel the students found culpable, it had a responsibility to take reasonable disciplinary actions against them to show the society that such action should not be tolerated.
"I am not saying they should be dismissed but should be disciplined somehow. Have them do community service or whatever it is because, of course, (the security guards) have been disciplined, they have been fired from their job," Reece noted.
"Even though what they did was wrong, the students are more reprehensible because they should know better. Have them render some service to the society to let them realise that they are called to be responsible to the society and to humanity."
international media

In the meantime, he said with the incident already making its way into the glare of the international media the local churches were concerned that the reputation of the country would further deteriorate in the eyes of the world.
"But we are not just concerned about our reputation, we are concerned about us being able to live like good human beings without brutalising anybody and not to demand that other people's behaviour conforms to ours," he said.

"Even though I might not agree with their behaviour, I have to respect their choice and not impose my choice on anyone," Reece said.
In the meantime, the JUGC said it does not support violence towards anyone, irrespective of their beliefs or behaviour.

The JUGC said it "strongly denounces the acts of violence meted out to the UTech student who was alleged to have been found in a compromising homosexual situation."
"The JUGC is further appalled at the behaviour of the crowd, especially those who are students of UTech who represent the future of our society," the church body said in a media release yesterday.

The JUGC has called upon all Christians to live out the virtues of the Christian faith, exemplified by Jesus Christ.

Last Thursday night a male student at the UTech was reportedly set upon by a mob on the university's compound after he was allegedly caught "in a compromising position" with another male student. He reportedly sought refuge in one of the guard rooms on the campus, where two security guards employed to Marksman Limited were caught on camera hitting him all over his body. The two security guards have since been taken into police custody and are to face an identification parade.

ENDS

On Reverend Clinton Chisolm's morning show on Love 101FM he had three other men of the cloth who also condemned the mob attack luckily missing their intended target but the three on the show continued to suggest reparative therapy for the men (including the other missing party) in the alleged compromising position issue. Also see this letter as well from the Gleaner as well:

Punish Gay-bashing students

I read Gordon Robinson's column 'Why gay rights?', published Tuesday, October 23, 2012, and in light of the incident that happened at the University of Technology (UTech) on Thursday, November 1, I write to implore you to take action.

I am Jamaica-born, internationally educated, returning resident to the island. The incident at UTech is shameful and embarrassing.

Those students involved should have their careers, hopes and dreams taken from them, and they should be incarcerated, along with the security guards that beat that young man.

What happened is a hate crime, and such a crime needs to elicit harsh punishment to deter any such acts in the future.

strong solidarity

Jamaica is uneducated on the nature of homosexuality. Those of us who are more evolved have to stand up. If people didn't stand up during the civil-rights movement, nothing would have ever changed for the black man.

It is our responsibility to fight for those whose lives would be endangered if they dared to fight. I stand with you in this fight.

This is the 21st century. It is too late for Jamaica to remain backward on this issue. Enough is enough!

And for the record, I am a heterosexual woman.

NICOLA SEIXAS

nikkiseixas@gmail.com

ENDS

What was disturbing to me also was the fact that the institution had its graduation on Saturday November 3, 2012 and no mention was made of the issue where Shelly Ann Frazer was named ambassador for the institution.

also see:

HERE

and 

Brutal Guards Must Pay For Sins

The Civilised Must Stand Up To The Mobs

also see Reverend Clinton Chisholm's letter:

Mob Mentality Is Reprehensible

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I want to register my outrage and outright denunciation of what was done to the student at the University of Technology, Jamaica, at the instigation of a security guard.

To assault another person because you disagree with his sexual behaviour is reprehensible and criminal, and part of the despicable mob mentality that ought not to be allowed in a modern civil society.

Incidentally, Christians who think the young man got what he deserved should confess those sinful sentiments to God and seek cleansing, while remembering our Lord's words and deed concerning the woman taken in the act of adultery.

CLINTON CHISHOLM (Rev)

clintchis@yahoo.com

also hear this: