The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) on Government of Guyana UPR Consultations

The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) welcomes the commitment of the Guyana government to host consultations on issues related to matters of law reform on sexual orientation and gender identity, as part of its obligations to report back to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process on these and other recommendations by September 2012. 

However, we are disappointed that the Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, misled the Guyanese public that the focus of these consultations is on "decriminalization of same-sex unions," as reported by Demerara Waves. The Cabinet Secretary, as well as the Presidential Advisor on Governance and the cabinet sub-committee on governance, should fully well know that same-sex unions, or "gay marriage" as one newspaper headline has already indicated, are not the subject of the state' obligations which are presently being considered under Guyana' UPR.

We are disappointed that such a high-ranking government official would misuse, whether deliberately or unwittingly, the critical politics of language to whip up public hysteria with such snide references to fearful notions of "gay marriage" Having identified itself as the facilitators of this process, the government's actions raise questions as to whether its intentions to consult are genuine, and whether it can be trusted to lead this process. We therefore recommend a more inclusive framework which includes the parliamentary opposition and can also minimize partisan positions when these reforms reach the National Assembly.
Also troubling are Dr. Luncheon's statements that, quoting Demerara Waves,

"we have the remaining months of this year to conclude the consultations, summarise what comes from these consultations and to present those findings as they are grouped and formulated as the State's policy on these three matters." SASOD would like to make its position unequivocally clear, that consultation does not mean referendum, and reiterate our stated position that the Guyana constitution is the ultimate guide on matters of citizen participation in decision-making. As Article 13 states, "the principal objective of the political system is to establish an inclusionary democracy by providing increasing opportunities for the participation of citizens and their organizations in the management and decision-making processes of the State with particular emphasis on those areas of decision- making that directly affect their well-being."

The key stakeholders of this consultative process are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Guyanese citizens as these discriminatory laws affect our everyday lives and lived experiences. Our communities and organisations must therefore be able to manage and take centre stage in this process as these decisions affect our identities and citizenship and our views must be heavily weighted.
Guyana formally started its UPR process at the United Nations (UN) in 2010.

The UN Human Rights Council recommended that the state repeal all laws which discriminate against persons based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. These include sections 351, 352 and 353 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act Chapter 8:01 which penalize consensual forms of intimacy between adult men in private with prison sentences ranging from two years to life imprisonment, and section 153 (1) (xlvii) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act Chapter 8:02 which criminalises cross-dressing. After a targeted police crackdown in February 2009 where seven persons who were born biologically male were arrested for wearing female attire, four of those persons and SASOD filed a suit against the state challenging the constitutional validity of these discriminatory laws. The case is presently before the court where the Attorney General is representing the government in defence of these laws on which it now seeks to consult to determine its position.

ENDS

see a previous post on sister blog Gay Jamaica Watch 

Guyana seeks public opinion on controversial laws ..............

on the discussion and also this video of a television program as well:

Many are questioning locally when is our democracy going to at least have an open and honest discourse about homosexuality in general (apart from the consultations behind the scenes) and on buggery and the laws that punish consenting adults? When we see other Caribbean neighbours discussing issues far more maturely, such as school girl alleged coercion, St Lucia had a debate where homosexuality was suggested to be added as a curriculum subject in schools yet some years ago a book on our home economics curriculum that just mentioned homosexual relationships as a family unit alongside heterosexual ones nearly led to anarchy.

Let us also remember the 100 days has passed for this new administration and no sign of any look of a review as promised by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller save and except for one of her own in the form of Member of Parliament Damian Crawford who says it is unlikely that it will happen while poking fun at the idea of his own boss at a function, see more HERE on that including the video news clip from CVM TV.

Peace and tolerance

H

Columbia University professor Dr Robert Spitzer Retracts Infamous ‘Ex-Gay’ Study

Retired psychiatrist and Columbia University professor Robert Spitzer has retracted a much-criticized 2001 study that has been used for years by anti-gay activists to buttress their claims that gay men and lesbians can be “cured” of their homosexuality through therapy.

In the controversial study, Spitzer (photo) claimed that some “highly motivated” LGBT people could become straight. His retraction came in an article about the fringe “ex-gay” movement in the American Prospect. In an interview, Spitzer asked the author, Gabriel Arana, to print a retraction of the 2001 study so that he “wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Since its publication, the study has been one of the major weapons wielded by anti-gay groups, which frequently cite it as “proof” that LGBT people choose to be gay and can thus change their sexual orientation. At the heart of this argument is the belief that homosexuality is an unnatural deviation from normal sexual development, a form of mental disorder.

The ex-gay movement, according to Arana, “has relied on the Spitzer study as the single piece of objective evidence that therapy can work.”

Ironically, Spitzer, who is now 80, was one of the psychiatrists who pushed the American Psychiatric Association to stop classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder, a step the organization took in 1973. His 2001 study came as a shock and disappointment to many, and it received a storm of criticism over its suspect methodology and design.

Participants had been referred to Spitzer by ex-gay therapy practitioner groups like the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) and Exodus International. Their claims were self-reported, and Spitzer did not compare participants to a control group. Yesterday, Spitzer told Warren Throckmorton, a psychology professor at Grove City College, that he “has regret for what he now considers to be errant interpretations” of study participants’ reports. He also said that he had “second thoughts” about the study and now believes that “his conclusions don’t hold water.”

“I actually had great difficulty finding participants,” Spitzer told Arana in the American Prospect. “In all the years of doing ex-gay therapy, you’d think [Joseph] Nicolosi would have been able to provide more success stories. He only sent me nine patients.” (Nicolosi is a clinical psychologist who practiced ex-gay therapy and helped found NARTH.)

Ex-gay therapy, also known as “reparative” or “conversion” therapy, has been widely discredited by the scientific community. Most strikingly, in 2006, the American Psychological Association (APA) stated: “There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed.” The APA added, “Our further concern is that the positions espoused by NARTH and Focus on the Family create an environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish.”

Since his study’s publication, Spitzer has tried to make it clear that he didn’t want it used to justify discrimination against the LGBT community, and he emphasized that he did not think that most LGBT people could become heterosexual. Nevertheless, the study became a major part of the anti-gay movement’s arsenal, with claims that here, at last, was “proof” that “all” gay people could become straight through prayer or therapy. Spitzer attempted to point out over the years that such change was either highly unlikely or that anti-gay organizations had misused his research.

It’s not the first time anti-gay groups have used suspect studies or misused legitimate ones to further anti-LGBT sentiment.

In January, Seton Hall professor Theodora Sirota issued a statement taking NARTH’s Rick Fitzgibbons to task for using one of her studies to oppose adoption by same-sex couples. Sirota said that no conclusions about LGBT parents or the “fitness” of LGBT parents can be drawn from her findings. Fitzgibbons has yet to correct his own article or remove the Sirota citation from it

Several other legitimate researchers have publicly asked anti-gay organizations stop distorting their research. Now, with Spitzer’s on-the-record retraction, it remains to be seen whether they will stop using his 2001 study to justify their claims.

Don’t hold your breath.

'Jamaicans For Justice doing church's job' — says Rev Al Miller

Restorative advocate and anti gay pastor Reverend Al Miller is at it again folks this time in a fit of jealousy it seems on the face of it he has come out to say that the goodly Jamaicans For Justice, JFJ is doing the church's job and if one reads the Jamaica observer report on the issue he sounds as if he is saying the JFJ is not fit to do it and it should be him and his church or the church in general. 


Of course he always seems to want to grab attention to himself and the media responds by saying out of the park statements and positions at times, here I would have thought that he would have wanted to have joined the goodly folks at JFJ instead of complaining that they are doing the church's job, if this is not a theocratic thinking move on his part then I do not know what is. Similarly we saw the gentleman also in another forum recently as reported on faith based organizations where he also hinted that they are not morally qualified to be advocating for HIV/AIDS interventions etc.

As in a Gleaner story REPRESENTATIVES OF UNAIDS recently were faced with the dilemma of how to enlist the support of local faith-based organisations (FBOs) in the HIV/AIDS prevention campaign without violating the institutions' doctrinal principles. A major stumbling block, which was identified in a recent consultation between church leaders and UNAIDS officials, is the traditional association of the HIV/AIDS messaging with gay-rights issues.
The views of the clerics are summed up in the comments by churchman Major Richard Cooke: "The perception is that the homosexuals have used AIDS to push their agenda. Allow the Church to speak to the church. When we feel that our help is linked to a gay agenda we do not want to be a part of it." The Rev Al Miller echoed similar sentiments: "Perception becomes reality. Changing the face of the historical sellers of the message of HIV prevention is an important and strategic move. We will, therefore, have to identify faces that can have broader appeal in order for us to be successful."

In other words, the clerics are suggesting that the gay-rights agenda has stigmatised the HIV/AIDS prevention programme, and, consequently, has alienated the religious community.

Ironic twist

This is an ironic twist, as it is the removal of stigma and discrimination from the HIV/AIDS prevention programme that is the goal of the local and international health-advocacy agencies. In fact, that was the purpose of the recent consultation between representatives of UNAIDS and FBOs. The discussions were informed by the findings of a Ministry of Health (MOH)-commissioned study of leaders of FBOs about the level of stigma and discrimination towards the most-at-risk populations (MARPs) in their organisations, including gay men, sex workers, prisoners and people living with HIV (PLHIV).

The study, which is based on a survey of 41 FBO leaders in 35 denominations across eight parishes, found that senior clerics considered it their "responsibility to uphold moral values and hold society accountable to those values." The findings continued: "Issues of faith and belief go deep and most FBOs have defined principles to which they adhere and which they consider divine and, therefore, are not open to discussion. A related finding is the faulty association of HIV/AIDS with sexual promiscuity (which is not always the case) by some church leaders and congregations.

Al Miller points to the dilemma: "If we are going to solve the problem, we cannot create another problem in order to solve it. We have to separate the issues of stigma and acceptance of behaviour. You have to be careful that you are not selling that 'this is good, this is normal, this is an acceptable lifestyle'."


more HERE from Gay Jamaica Watch


However with the JFJ matter here is the Observer report:

OUTSPOKEN Kingston pastor Reverend Al Miller yesterday criticised the church for allowing human rights groups to outdo it in the fight against injustice in the society.

Using local human rights body Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) as his reference, Miller said the church and not JFJ should be leading the charge

"Jamaicans for Justice are doing what the church ought to be doing. It is not their call [but] I thank God for them," the pastor told his congregants at Fellowship Tabernacle during the Easter Sunday service yesterday.

"It is us, it is us who are supposed to be out there, not Jamaicans for Justice," he argued.

Miller's remarks were made after the church offered up prayers for the family of 26-year-old Socrates Johnson who was fatally shot by the police on Clifton Road off Chisolm Avenue on Wednesday. The reverend said the family of the slain man, who are members of his church, were still trying to come to grips with his death. He said he, too, was still in shock as he had spoken with Johnson just an hour before his death.

According to reports from the Constabulary Communication Network, Johnson who is from an Upper Waltham Avenue, Kingston 11 address was fatally shot by the police at around three o'clock. The matter has been reported to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) and is being investigated by the Bureau of Special Investigations.

JFJ was among several civil organisations that mounted a peaceful protest outside the offices of the Ministry of National Security on Oxford Road about two weeks ago, to register its concerns about the increasing number of police killings across the island. Twenty-nine persons were killed by police during controversial operations last month, triggering outrage from citizens, JFJ and Amnesty International. The incidents also arrested the attention of Security Minister Peter Bunting.

In a discussion with the Jamaica Observer following the sermon yesterday, Miller registered his own infuriation.

"The ones who are charged with the responsibility for protecting us, cannot be the ones who are destroying us. Something is wrong," said Miller.

He made it clear, however, that he was not bashing the security forces for doing their job and was keen to point out that extrajudicial killing was just one area of injustice in the society.

"I am not into police bashing, because the police have a difficult task in a difficult society because of what we have allowed to develop," he said. "But at the same time, they cannot do right wrongly and we cannot encourage that."

The "we" he referred to extends to the wider society, but Miller, who headed the National Transformation Programme under the previous government, said it was the church's responsibility to fight injustice.

"The issue of justice is one of the main responsibilities of the church, because justice is one of the major pillars of society and because of our commitment to people and particularly to the poor and to the oppressed, we have to stand up and be a voice for justice [and] for truth," he told the Observer.

"We must be prepared to more than just talk about it or feel bad about it, we must be prepared to act," the reverend said.

"The churches are playing a fantastic role in many areas of society, but certainly in the area of justice, there is a lot more that needs to be done. There should be a stronger and more consistent voice against every form of injustice wherever it pushes up it's head," added Miller.

Transphobia: Miss Jamaica Universe Pageant rep says no to transgender entrant in Canada beauty contest

prepared by Davina Henry of the Star News,

The original headline read:

Jamaicans against sex change contestant - Won't support Miss Universe Canada entrant who was a man

Several Jamaicans, including the organisers of the Miss Jamaica Universe are displeased with the possibility of a transgender contestant being allowed back into the Miss Universe Canada competition.

a recent press conference with her attorney

A transgender contestant, who entered the contest and was disqualified, may now be allowed back into the competition. According to BBC News, the Miss Universe Organisation might reverse its earlier decision and allow Jenna Talackova, 23, who was born a male to compete.

Although the Donald Trump-run competition specifies that entrants must be "naturally born" females, Talackova may be afforded the opportunity to re-enter the competition "provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions," the organisation said.

hormone therapy

After being disqualified, Talackova had announced that she would hold a press conference in Los Angeles with lawyer Gloria Allred. It was after making this announcement that the Miss Universe organisers began considering allowing her back into the contest.

This is not the first pageant that Talackova has entered. She competed in the 2010 Tiffany Miss International Queen Competition for transgendered and transsexual women in Pattaya, Thailand. Talackova has said that she realised she was a woman at age four, began hormone therapy at age 14 and changed her sex at age 19.

But Tessa-Marie Leon, public relations director of the Miss Jamaica Universe Pageant, is not in agreement with the possibility of Talackova entering the competition.

"We have to agree with the international organisers requirements, it says that you have to be born a female. Having changed your organs to become a female should automatically disqualify you," she said.

When pressed as to what would happen if the transgendered competitor was allowed back into the competition, Leon stated that this would "be a revolution that will question the other requirements."

too far

Several Jamaicans who were yesterday asked to comment on the possible move to allow transgender persons to enter beauty pageants were against it.

"Me don't even want to hear dat, what you are saying is really low and I think these men especially are taking this sex change thing too far. The organisers should make up their minds if the competition is a sex change competition or what," James Richards, from Kingston told THE STAR yesterday.

"They should really charge that man, he represents a lie. It is a female competition. He is a shame to the human race, me nuh believe inna dem ting, dem fi charge him," Orlando Grant from Harbour View said.

Also, Kishanie Whyte, who works as a media manager in the Corporate Area reasoned, "really really, my take is no, this person should not be allowed in this pageant. This pageant is for females.

She further said, "What kind of rubbish is that, what is this world coming to, that is nonsense, I have nothing more to say."

Jamaica has always had entrants in the Miss Universe competition, with the most successful being Yendi Phillipps who placed second in 2010. The contestants for this year's competition were recently unveiled and the competition is slated to take place in a few months.

ENDS

Would you consider this response from the local Miss Universe representative a transphobic one?


A perfect opportunity has presented itself again to look at transgenderism and ethics in one go but given how the issue is being reported we may miss this golden period to use it of better understanding.

Originally when this story broke I had issues about the ethical position of Jenna as the rules for the competition stated entrants had to be born female and rules are rules in my book despite the exclusionary position it presents, she also according to reports lied on her application that she was born female. But now that the organizers have bowed and allowed her to re-enter or remain due to some public pressure she has been thrusted into the limelight as a transgender activist now, now she handles herself even if she loses the race she will be remembered for breaking the ice, speaking the truth is also of the utmost importance, advocacy in any form requires a strong ethical base to be effective. 

Will this change other similarly typed competition around the world especially states like Venezuela, Thailand and others where transexualism and transgenderism are part of their cultures and the cisgender battle with some transgender activists may heat up long after this furor has died as concepts of beauty are rigorously applied to transexuals as they are not readily accepted as such when compared to cis women. These circumstances are to be closely watched. 

In speaking to local transgender personalities they seem pleased with the inclusion on Jenna in the Canadian contest as it represents inclusion on transgender persons.

Finally I am a bit perturbed at the use of the word "transgender(ed)" How can someone by a past tense of themselves when in being transgender is there existence as a human being? Common mistakes made by not so enlightened journalists or tabloid writers and even LGBT activists make the error as well.

Peace and tolerance

H


also see a post on sister blog GLBTQ JA on Wordpress: 

What needs to be done to help Transsexuals In Jamaica

In The Life: Becoming Me .... a look at transgender issues in families

Well here comes the usual monthly In The Life Series that I usually carried before and thanks to you guys for reminding me of this series. This month the important transgender discussions continue this follows so timely a meeting locally of some transgender individuals and their allies with a view to merging their skills and ideas to become operational in some sort of way. 

One hopes this materialises in much more in the long run, have a look at the latest In The Life presentation of happenings up north.

Is it a boy or a girl? Many parents learn the answer before their baby is born, and most expect their children to develop a gender identity that mirrors biological sex within their first few years. But for transgender and gender nonconforming children, gender identity unfolds throughout childhood, adolescence and into early adulthood.

Eight families with transgender and gender non-conforming children ranging in ages from 5 to 25 share their stories. With the healthy development of their children at stake, parents must confront binary perceptions of gender, widespread transphobia and controversial parenting decisions.

Also

The first "It Gets Better" video of its kind: Featuring parents from PFLAG's support group for families of transgender children sharing their personal struggles to understand their child's needs and find support for both themselves and their families.

Becoming Me (Full Episode)

some early comments so far:

I am conflicted between feelings of sadness that I didn't have the courage of some of these children to come out so young, but also hopeful that this will become a more common reality for future transfolk.


Great video. My wife is trans and she dearly wishes she had the support that the parents in this video have shown to their children. Hormone blockers are amazing. If only they had been around a couple decades ago.


my transgender daughter was at the conference and we saw her in one of the shots...this is such a necessary video...society must learn to see our children through kinder eyes...stuff like this will help


I do not feel anger at those who cannot understand such insanity as much as i feel envy. No one wants this for themselves. I came out at 52 and it was a good thing, but don't think for a second I actually choose to be what I am! True, these children are very brave, but so are these parents who confronted what is supposed to be true with reality.

ENDS

I enjoyed this episode thoroughly.

Peace and tolerance.

H

Police woman charged for assault & wounding for attacking her lover ......................

(originally posted as awaiting charges March 27, 2012)
A female police officer who is a member of the ISCF, Island Special Constabulary Force has found herself in trouble with the law yesterday March 28, 2012 after she allegedly returned home from work before her regular hours to find her partner in a compromising position with a man who hailed from another area. 


The couple who resides in the Tivoli Gardens area has been known to be having issues for some time in their relationship as reports also suggests there have been public spats before between the two on more than one occasion. It has been rumoured her lover is actually bisexual and has been seeing male companions whilst the policewoman is away at work.


She has also had some issues with other persons in the area due to her status as a police officer reports also suggest. The police woman has been in custody as confirmed since yesterday at the Duhaney Park Precinct and maybe charged soon. It is also alleged that persons from the area and neighbouring apartments have visited the station in an attempt to humiliate her, namely friends of the man who her female partner was allegedly caught in the act with. The police however were said to have warned persons not to come to the station for those purposes and she maybe moved to an undisclosed location according to sources if the practice persists. 

After turning her rage on her cheating lover who created an alarm in the community the policewoman was cornered by her flat that she shared with her hubby and set upon by residents in the area and allegedly beaten before she was handed over to the police who arrived to break up the mobbing in time according to reports. She sustained hits to the face and upper body but was escorted to the car that arrived with persons jeering and condemning her action against her lover. Comments made by some of the persons suggests that people in general cheat and she should not have treated the young lady as if she were her man, dictating what she should do or who she should sleep with. Other persons were overheard to have said they should not be allowed to return to the area and the typical anti gay sentiments were also uttered in the form of no sodomite. no battyman and several others.

This incident comes on the heels of a public brawl recently with two other same gender loving ladies at a business complex recently in the business district after relationship issues came to a head, the incident which is still the subject of discussion in some social circles occurred in February of this year after a series of messages supposedly from an outsider interest in the same gender loving union caused a heated argument at one of the party's place of work where it ended up with the security detail of the office was called to escort the visiting party much to the humour of the shocked co-workers who laughed uncontrollably according to reports at the cursing women.


To have relationship fallouts spill into the public domain can have disastrous effects as the previous case has shown luckily the latter referenced was handled with more care it would seem on the surface based on reports. As at the creation of this post it is not yet clear if the accused policewoman has been charged but given the sensitivity of the issue being homosexuality in general and the major image problems the police has been having with a major human rights group launching a public stand against police abuses and killings she may be used as a poster child I fear. 

Unfortunately we also do not have any serious relationship counseling interventions as well to assist same sex couples in navigating life especially a couple as this residing in an inner city community with all kinds of prying and suspicions lurking that they could have avoided all together. Case in point an attempted suicide in 2010 that was carried by a tabloid newspaper and that was subsequently confirmed by myself and others which shows an urgent need for professional services for persons in long term same sex relationships.

See previous post click HERE

It is most unfortunate that this incident turned out the way it has and one hope she does not suffer too much due to her  error in judgement and that this can pass for both parties involved, the other woman is said to have kept a low profile since then as she is described as a "born and grow" meaning she is originally from the area so she has been circumspect in her moving, she is said to have visited the station but it is not yet known if a report has been filed by her so as to expedite the charges to be laid on the accused. 


UPDATE: She has been charged Yesterday Monday April 2, 2012.


The female police officer who is accused of chopping her female lover with a machete following claims that the complainant was having an affair with a man was remanded in court last Thursday until April 19.

Charged with wounding with intent is Sharnalee Lindsay, who is a member of the Island Special Constabulary Force.

It was also revealed in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court that the medical report is outstanding and the whereabouts of the complainant is unknown.

The Crown is alleging that on March 27, Lindsay and the complainant left home together and went to a location on Marcus Garvey Drive in the Corporate Area where Lindsay lured the complainant into bushes.

It is further being alleged that Lindsay used a machete to chop the complainant all over her body causing wounds that bled.

The Crown also pointed out that in the complainant's statement, she explained that she and the accused were in a very close relationship but she told the defendant that she was now with a male which angered the defendant.

However, Lindsay's attorney, C.J. Mitchell,dismissed the allegations put forward by the Crown and argued that it was Lindsay who was the actual victim.

Mitchell rebutted that his client and the complainant were not in an intimate relationship but were only close friends.

At the same time, he argued that on the day of the incident, it was the complainant who lured his client into bushes where she and a third party, who is now on the run, attacked Lindsay.

Peace and tolerance


H

US Anti-gay marriage group used aparteid-like race-baiting to fight marriage equality ???

So it seems based on a HRC release yesterday to include evidence of same.

Previously Confidential Documents Shed Light on (NOM) National Organization for Marriage Strategy NOM Exposed is a campaign-style operation that tracks and challenges the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage as it tries to influence elections and legislative campaigns across the US.

According to previously sealed documents obtained by The Human Rights Council HRC a human rights group defending LGBT rights in the United States an apartheid type set of strategies were said to have been planned and were to be executed by the aforementioned organization. 

HRC got a hold of internal NOM documents that shed light on the anti-LGBT movement’s overall strategy. These documents were just unsealed in Maine mid-afternoon on March 27. The docs are part of the ongoing investigation by the State of Maine into the campaign finance activities of NOM in that state. Much more to come but some high (low) lights from PDF page 13 of the “confidential” 2008-09 report to the NOM Board of Directors:

“The strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks—two key Democratic constituencies. Find, equip, energize and connect African American spokespeople for marriage, develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots…”

Another passage:

"The Latino vote in America is a key swing vote, and will be so even more so in the future, both because of demographic growth and inherent uncertainty: Will the process of assimilation to the dominant Anglo culture lead Hispanics to abandon traditional family values? We must interrupt this process of assimilation by making support for marriage a key badge of Latino identity - a symbol of resistance to inappropriate assimilation."

On PDF page 12, it talks about “sideswiping Obama,” painting him as a “social radical” and talking about “side issues” like pornography.


It was April 2011 where a top official at NOM had defected to support civil marriage equality and it is not the first time NOM has been accused of suspicious activity.

see the pages below on the latest revelations:

20100716 Doc 128b NOM Depo - Exhibit 2 - NOM Depo Exhibit 12 Nat'l Strategy for Winning 12-15-09

20100716 Doc 128a NOM Depo - Exhibit 1 - NOM Depo Exhibit 3 Nat'l Strategy for Winning 08-11-09

20100716 Doc 128c NOM Depo - Exhibit 3 - NOM Depo Exhibit 25 NOM Board Update 2008-2009

20100716 Doc 128d NOM Depo - Exhibit 4 - NOM Depo Exhibit 28 Marriage $20 Million Strategy

Sad that this is the route based on the evidence before us that opponents of gay marriage have taken to get their point across but then again it was also discovered that right wing Christian groups were financially supporting the anti gay Ugandan campaign including that infamous Bill that attempts are being made to have it pass. 

see:  In The Life Series: Coalition & Allies (anti gay conservatives & Ugandan links) 

In a sense I am not surprised.


here is an interview with Truth Wins Out's Wayne Besen

here is a subsequent interview with the previously absent NOM President in interview 1 (above) with gay Republican Fred Karger

Peace and tolerance

H


UPDATE:

Dr Heather Little-White Ph.D on Lesbianism among schoolgirls in Jamaica .........

The following article below the introduction of this post appeared in the Gleaner 's Outlook Magazine March 25, 2012 and was only available in hard copy and not online on the newspaper's site as is usual for the author's pieces. Given the sensitivities involved and the national uproar recently on the issue (see previous posts here and on GLBTQJA Wordpress) I thought it important to reproduce the article for those who missed it and for us to see the other points of view including those of qualified persons.

Previous blog posts of mine for additional reading include:

Alleged Lesbian Coercers in school – Should Get Proper Help – Expert 

 

Lesbians & Learning – Situtational Homosexuality at a Kgn All Girls School ?

Principals Association to address “Lesbian Issue” 

This is not in anyway intended to infringe on any copyrights held by the author or the publisher of the work but solely for educational and review purposes only. The text was captured by special OCR software and a scanner. Here is the article:

 

SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS: 

Lesbianism among schoolgirls?
Heather Little-White, PhD Contributor

RECENT REPORTS of aggressive lesbian students terrorising younger girls in some Corporate Area high schools have shocked parents and school officials. One may ask why parents and school officials should be distraught when the provision of sexuality education is limited in the home and school. Sex education for girls tends to warn mainly against pregnancy and to a lesser extent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and often ignores the wider issues such as same-sex relationships, incest, sexual slavery, child prostitution and gender identity, among others.

THE LESBIAN TERM

The term 'lesbian' dates back to ancient Greece through a tragic story of an early Greek female poet Sappho who supervised a school for girls on the island of Lesbos in 600 BC. Sappho fell in love with one of the girls who did not respond to her romantic advances. Sappho took the rejection badly and drowned herself at sea.Sappho's legacy was a rich collection of love poems written to women as well as men, thus making her an early example of bisexuality. The term lesbian evolved in reference to the island of Lesbos where Sappho was born. It has been suggested that Sappho's relationships did not include any overt sexual relations and that female homosexuality was common on the island of Lesbos.

LESBIANISM DEFINED

What is lesbianism? It is a homosexual act in which two females are sexually and romantically attracted to each other. Further, it may be defined as a sexual and emotional appeal between females. Lesbianism and other same-sex relationships. have long been practised by teenagers who, influenced by raging hormones, become curious about their bodies and that of their peers. Such liaisons have been reported in primary and secondary schools and all-girls and all-boys boarding schools have had several incidents of same-sex intimacy being uncovered throughout the life of the institutions.

LADYLIKE BEHAVIOUR

School-aged girls in all-girls schools are afraid to be labelled 'lesbian' by their peers and they become overly girly in their dress and behaviour. Even school administrators will go to great lengths to produce ladylike graduates with acceptable standards of appearance and conduct. Despite that attempt to be ladylike, some parents report that their daughters are bullied and stalked by lesbians to join their lesbian groups. The coercive action commonly takes place in school bathrooms where older girls will hold younger ones in a corner, fondle their breasts and stroke their genitals and buttocks. Consequently, some girls refuse to drink fluids throughout the day to avoid going to the bathroom or they go in groups armed with sharp instruments to defend themselves or they may wait until they go home to void their bladder.

UNIVERSAL PRACTICE

Lesbianism in schools is universal. In Kenya, for example, six students in Moi Kadzodzo Girls Secondary School in Kilifi County allegedly admitted to have engaged in lesbianism at the school. The principal of the school pursued the investigation after reports from the general students' body that these girls identified were violating school rules as they were seen lavishly touching and kissing each other, activities that are not normal for people of the same gender and in a culture that is intolerable of lesbianism and transgender practices. (newsupdate.co.ke/)

Counselling was arranged for the students involved as well as for their parents to prevent psychological damage to both parties. Children who have been coerced into the practice of lesbianism could end up harming themselves like cutting their wrists or becoming withdrawn from family and friends.

DISEASE TO BE CURED?

As parents grapple with lesbian tendencies in their daughters, there is the question of the hormone link to lesbianism and whether lesbianism is a disease in need of a cure. Martin Hutchinson, in a BBC online article, posits that lesbians are more than twice as likely to suffer from a hormone-related condition, fuelling theories that hormones play a role in developing their sexuality. However, little is known about the origins of polycystic ovarian syndrome found in one in 10 women and which is linked to an excess of male sex hormones in the bloodstream. Symptoms include excess hair, acne, and obesity, as well as a heightened risk of more serious health problems such as diabetes and infertility. Research is still ongoing in the fields of human reproduction and embryology as to the staggering number of lesbian women who, on investigation, were found to be suffering either from polycystic ovary syndrome, or a less serious but related condition in which their ovaries showed many of the same features, but without the external symptoms.

NATURE VS NURTURE

There is the nature/nurture debate where it is believed that certain traits are innate in humans, a genetic factor that shapes human sexuality. By nature, sex drive affects the development of personal identity influenced by interactions with the physical and social environment. Sigmund Freud's theory is that nature influences the instinctive nature of the sex drive and placed sexuality as the central source of human personality. Another early theorist, John Locke, believed in the nurture perspective based on his theory of the mind it being seen as a blank state to receive the impression of one's environment which evehtually defines one's sexuality.

RELIGION

Religion influences parents' intolerance of lesbianism in their children to the extent that they may resort to violence, beating the 'hell' out of the child. Proponents of lesbianism question what exactly the Bible says about lesbianism The Bible in Leviticus 18:22 says, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as withwomankind: it is abomination." The proponents argue that the biblical passage makes no distinction between men and women. It might be interpreted to mean that sexual relations are to be between a man and a woman, and not same-sex unions. The perspectives on lesbianism are diverse and the issue should not be closeted but aired in any discourse on human sexuality through the life cycle. 

• Send questions/comments to: heatherl®cwjamaica.com.

Article ENDS

A note ................

Way back in 2006 allegations were that adult lesbians were visiting schools and at that time the JFLAG representative was reported to have said that no disciplinary action should be taken against the gay girls. “They should counsel them if this is what they are, but advise them that certain things are prohibited.”

However, the JFLAG repre-sentative condemned the actions of lesbians who are allegedly visiting the campuses and openly displaying their orientation.

“No one should do that. You can’t stay on the premises and do that. I don’t agree with older women going onto the campus to entice girls to do whatever with them.”

However, she said that if that is being allowed to happen on campus, school security is not performing up to par.

She disclosed that her organisation approached several schools “to give information and seminars, but they wouldn’t have it.” She believes that if permission were granted to stage the seminars, the girls would be better able to deal with the uncomfortable situation.

see: Lesbians in schools – Growing number of homosexuals in Corporate Area all girls’ high schools

and also see High school girls gone gay!

also see a previous post on Homosexuality in schools in St Lucia where a similar set or circumstances presented themselves with lesbian activity in a high school and how mature the response was: Homosexuality in schools in St. Lucia

Peace and tolerance

H

Mariela Castro: “U.S government is concerned about LGBT movement in Cuba”

Aday del Sol Reyes

Mariela Castro Espin, director of the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), grants an exclusive interview to CubaSi where she explains the educational work carried out by this institution.

Bachelor of Psychology-Pedagogy and Master of Sexuality, Mariela Castro is known internationally as a champion of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights in Cuba.

joined social networks and created an account on twitter, @CastroEspinM and the blog http://elblogdemarielacastro.blogspot.com in order to dismantle the prejudices that have been historically established and banish homophobia.

- You said “the Revolution has changed not only the lives of Cubans but also their sexuality” in a meeting with U.S. students last November. Why?

The Cuban Revolution meant not only the achievement of the long-awaited national sovereignty, but also a complex process of creating and implementing the project of justice, social equity and solidarity that has been built and defended during these 53 years.


This scenario led to the confrontation and dialogue between generations, cultural patterns, classes and social strata. Old paradigms of power based on domination and exploitation, inherited from Spanish colonial system and the U.S. neocolonialism, were questioned.

Undoubtedly, this process has generated radical and deep changes in our culture, our prejudices about sexuality, in the relation of domination of men over women, in the reconfiguration of courting, in sexual politics that privilege heterosexual relationships and exclude other forms of erotic and love relationships between human beings, which deny certain rights to those who do not meet these parameters.

Cuban cinematography and other artistic expressions have portrayed from a very creative point of view the vicissitudes of men and women for the development of these changes. For example, the overrated criteria of virginity and its contributing factor to marriage have been transformed. The same has happened with the imposition of a couple for the rest of our life, the sole responsibility of men as head of family, the loyalty standard of women and infidelity in men, the rejection of race relations, the myths of menstruation, the disqualification for single mothers and single women, women's rights, a disapproval to transgender people, gay and bisexual, among others.

- What is the status of the analysis of the bill calling for the legalization of gay marriage? Would the new Family Code recognize their property and personal rights besides allowing transsexuals’ change of identity?

At present, the draft bill proposal to amend the Family Code is being subjected to the criterion of specialists from the Ministry of Justice and professionals affiliated with the National Union of Jurists of Cuba. According to the Minister of Justice, its discussion in our Parliament is included in the legislative plan of 2012. I believe that the Party Conference may help to define a policy explicitly prohibiting discrimination on sexual orientation and gender identity and, in turn, help to dismantle the prejudices that hinder its adoption. The purpose of these proposals corresponds to the need to recognize and protect the rights of our population.

With regard to facilitating the legal identity change for transgender people without surgical intervention (as it happens now), we presented, through the Federation of Cuban Women, in 2008, a draft decree-law of Gender Identity to the President of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs of the People's National Assembly. There is no information on the development of this legislative initiative yet.

The proposal has an inclusive character for all transgender persons, identified by a specialized Commission of the Ministry of Public Health, since not all can be performed a surgery because of their health or personal decisions.

On occasion of your visit to Holland, you wrote on your twitter account @CastroEspinM “There exists in Cuba an explicit policy of care not only over prostitution but also over transactional sex, which is individualized”. Could you explain this?

Regarding prostitution topic, I start from the conviction that the autonomy over the body of all persons should be respected as a right. However, sex market has not disappeared thanks to the prevalence of forms of social organization based on patriarchal and class exploitation systems among human beings.

Some of its expressions are hard to make visible because the efforts of governments are focused on the most traditional and explicit interpretations, such as prostitution and human trafficking. These cases include transactional sex that refers to women and men who get some benefit from sex practice, which is not necessarily money. It has always existed, but it is only now that we talk about this phenomenon and in Latin America it is closely related to sex tourism, which has an own logic.

In Cuba, since 1959, the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) led the attention to the problems generated by prostitution as a form of exploitation, mainly toward women, who were also underprivileged not only for their gender status, but for race and social class reasons as well.

It is known that there were more than 100,000 prostitutes in very precarious and humiliating conditions, who have expressed in public testimonies, how the Revolution changed their life, by benefiting them and favoring their prominence within a great liberating process which contributed to dignify them.

The work done by the Revolution to eradicate prostitution is a matter of national pride. The crisis that began in 1990 favored its reappearance as a social problem with new characteristics, especially linked to the development of international tourism and a consistent presence of customers who pay for sexual services and generate this market. Therefore, she praised the Swedish experience of penalising the customer, which has proved effective in the reduction of sexual exploitation.

-How many sex change operations have been performed in Cuba so far and in response to what requirements is the selection made?

There have been 15 sex reassignment surgeries. The first was carried out by Cuban specialists in 1988. But it was not until 2007 that this procedure was retaken by the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP).

There exists a National Commission for Comprehensive Care of Transsexual People that has received 175 requests from trans population since 1979 and they are assisted according to internationally agreed parameters. As long as we divulge these services in the media, there will come more people who experience the conflict and do not know they can receive help.

Until now, trans people should go through a two-year follow-up period in which they are accompanied by specialists, along with a personalized hormone treatment, during the transition to the gender with which they identify themselves. At the end of this process, the Commission endorses the people who are eligible and are apt for the sex reassignment surgery (popularly known as “sex change”) and for the legal change of identify.

This surgery is not an aesthetic whim, but a procedure scientifically agreed on worldwide, which shows a considerable benefit for the welfare of trans people. The surgical procedure contributes to ease the permanent anguish that these people have lived since their early childhood, as a result of the prejudices that lead to incomprehension and discrimination.

- What’s your opinion on the confirmation by WikiLeaks on the financing ($300. 000) the U.S government has established for the subversion of the LGBT project in Cuba?

In the first place, this explicit reaction on behalf of the U.S. government demonstrates that the work carried out in Cuba for the rights of the lesbians, gays, bisexual, transsexual, and intersex (LGBTI) worries and occupies them, in time and resources. Why? Because it shows the Cuban government's political will to face homophobia and transphobia as forms of discrimination, which are not consistent with the emancipating project defended by the Cuban revolution.

What we are doing tears apart the worn-out media campaigns to discredit the spirituality of the revolutionary project and makes evident the resources of North American taxpayers dedicated to lie, slander, demonize, and collapse this changing experience and its leaders.

They have set their efforts in giving privilege to a few unauthentic voices, repeating them in traditional media, blogs and social networks that follow a spiteful misleading program with a pre-established script.

Strong evidences have been presented on the orders received by these mercenaries, on behalf of the U.S. Interest Section in Havana. Some of these evidences were published by WikiLeaks.

Many people who have been eye witness of the facts and later read the news which have been broadly spread can appreciate the gross way of manipulating the international public opinion in largely influential press media like the Spanish CNN, El País, Der Spiegel, Radio Nederland, among others.

- Several steps have been taken in Cuba to promote the respect to the free and responsible sexual orientation and gender identity, however, these are not enough yet. In your opinion which is the path to follow to get to the hearts of all Cubans and banish, once and for all, the homophobia in our country.

The first steps were taken by the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), with the creation of the National Group of Work on Sexual Education in year 1972, forerunner of CENESEX.

The FMC also propitiated a public debate on these topics. A landmark moment was the publication of the book "Man and Woman in Intimacy" (Sigfred Schnabel, 1979), in which a scientific voice argued, for the first time in Cuba, why homosexuality is not considered a disease.

Many homosexual people have told me the benefits these messages meant to them, against stigmatizing burden society imposes on them.

Exactly after assessing the actions we have carried out are not enough, in year 2007 we joined the initiative of the French activist Georges Tin of celebrating the International Day against Homophobia on May 17, because in that date of 1990 the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminated homosexuality from its manual of classification of mental illnesses.

From this experience in 2008 we begin to work with an educational strategy, with the support of the media, for the respect to the free and responsible sexual orientation and gender identity.

These activities have been supported by several state institutions and organizations of the civil society, with the support of the Ideological Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, and they have contributed to create a LGBTIH movement, with the peculiarity of including heterosexual people who actively participate in this cause.

Why do we choose an educational and communicative strategy? 

Because it’s about a deep process of cultural transformation, of contributing with analysis elements to dismantle the prejudices that have been established historically to dominate people, their sexualities and their bodies. The change in the social awareness is really complex and takes a lot of time, but there must be a political will to enable the change, otherwise we would be repeating the ways of thinking of the exploitative societies before us.

- How much of Vilma is there in Mariela?

The permanent opposition to all expressions of social injustice. The commitment with the revolutionary process that has been generated since the first emancipating reactions of our people which became mature in the struggle for the definitive independence of the Cuban nation. The sincerity, the dissent, the humility, and the persistency.

Cubasi Translation Staff