Another front for fairness
AT A HEARING at the State House last week, supporters of a bill to ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression outlined the myriad barriers that confront transgender people - those who are born male but live as females, or vice versa. Unlike those whose religions or sexual orientations expose them to discrimination, transgendered people might not be able to avoid the issue when applying for jobs, apartments, or loans. The truth may become evident from a check on a Social Security number or a search of credit reports.
Transgender advocates aren’t looking for sympathy. The goal of the legislation, introduced by Representative Carl Sciortino, is to give transgender residents of Massachusetts space to live without discrimination or violence. The bill responds sensibly to a real problem, and deserves to pass.
Transgender people don’t make the transition lightly; many, though not all, undergo gender-reassignment surgery. The case of Dana Zircher, profiled recently by the Globe’s Bella English, underscores the difficulty of the process, even when individuals have supportive families and employers. Zircher, a software designer and a parent, has undergone a divorce, surgery, and 350 hours of electrolysis.
Instead of addressing the complexities of actual people’s lives, though, opponents are trying to undermine Sciortino’s legislation by calling it a “Bathroom Bill.’’ The difference between a transgender woman and a man who wants to infiltrate a ladies’ room is perfectly obvious, at least to anyone who is not deliberately obfuscating the issue. The difference would surely be obvious to police officers and judges. Thirteen other states, including Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island, and dozens of cities, including Boston and Cambridge, already forbid discrimination against transgendered people - and public washrooms are as safe as ever.
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Gay penguin dads in German zoo hatch their first chick
Z and Vielpunkt, two male Humboldt penguins at Germany’s Bremerhaven Zoo, are the proud new parents of a healthy penguin chick.
“Another couple threw the egg out of their batch. We picked it up and put it in the nest of the gay penguins,” veterinarian Joachim Schöne told the German newspaper Bild of the pair’s entry into parenthood. Z and Vielpunkt faithfully cared for their adopted egg for more than a month; in late April it hatched. Since then, they’ve been taking care of their chick around the clock; it’s still too young to feed itself, so the dads feed him fish mash, Schöne explained.
“Since the chick arrived, they have been behaving just as you would expect a heterosexual couple to do,” the zoo said in a statement.
The Bremerhaven Zoo’s same-sex penguin couples (there are three such pairs in residence there, all males) first made news back in 2005, according to the BBC. At the time, the zoo announced plans to “test” the sexual orientations of the six penguins, who’d been seen engaging in mating rituals and trying to incubate rocks as if they were eggs. Gay rights advocates were outraged when the zoo brought four new female penguins into the colony in a bid to encourage the penguins to reproduce, and the zoo later nixed the idea. (In the zoo’s defense, Humboldt penguins are classified as vulnerable to extinction, so it does make a certain amount of sense to be concerned about them reproducing. And since Z and Vielpunkt have done just that, everyone wins!)
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Wyoming murder “really a hoax,” congresswoman
As Congress approved legislation to expand the legal application of hate crimes, cosponsor Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., proclaimed on Wednesday that “We have
declared America to be a hate-free zone.”
It may not be that easy.
During debate on the legislation, a Republican congresswoman from North Carolina questioned the decade-old Laramie, Wyoming murder that galvanized a national drive to impose penalties on hate-driven crimes.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., used the word “hoax” to describe the killing of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man who was tied crucifixion-style to a fence, repeatedly pistol whipped and left for dead. He later died in a local hospital.
“. . . We know that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery,” Foxx told the House. “It wasn’t because he was gay This — the bill was named for him, (the) hate crime bill was named for him, but it’s really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”
The “hoax” argument is directly contradicted by court testimony by girlfriends of the two men who murdered Shepard. Both girlfriends testified that the killers set out to find and rob a gay man. They befriended Shepard in a bar. The slight Shepard asked them to give him a ride home.
Foxx was not alone in her heavy prose. “Pedophiles and other bizarre sex orientations given protection by Congress,” headlined a release by the Traditional Values Coalition.
The legislation extends to women, gays and the disabled provisions of America’s existing hate crimes law. The law already singles out for special punishment violent crime based on race, religion and/or national origin of the victim.
Asked about Rep. Foxx’s “hoax” allegation, McDermott replied with a Latin maxim: “Res ipsa loquiter.” Translated, it means: The matter speaks for itself.
See Wyoming murder “really a hoax,” congresswoman Seattle Post Intelligencer
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Homophobic conference to promote gay “cure”.
Christian organisation – ‘Anglican Mainstream ‘- to promote fear and dangerous gay “cure”.
his weekend in London (UK) The Anglican Mainstream Organisation are holding a fear mongering anti gay conference called Sex & the City. The Anglican Mainstream are the first organisation of the week to be awarded the title “Homo Zeros” for their homophobic conference where speakers will advocate the use of Reparative Therapy which aims to “cure” people of homosexuality.
For anyone who has seen the film But I’m A Cheerleader (about a girl whose parents send her away to the True Directions Camp in order to cure her of her lesbianity) the conference reads like a sick joke.
The Judaeo - Christian conference claims to be: “Ideal for clergy, rabbis, psychologists, therapists, educators and others concerned about the plethora of sexual issues confronting us in today’s society, including mentoring the sexually broken, the sexualization of culture, pornography, the Bible and sex, and marriage, the family and sex. There will be a special focus on how religious professionals and friends/relatives can respond biblically and pastorally to those struggling with unwanted SSA (same-sex attraction).”
The organisers of the event are determined to whip up hysteria about gay relationships and portray gay life as a disaster which is sweeping the nation. The Anglican Mainstream feel that the UK is “capitulating” to the LGBT agenda.
They also seem disgruntled with the progressive legislation brought into protect LGBTs and are a living, breathing example of why such protective legislation needs to be in place. They say: “Given the present cultural endorsement and legal protection of these ‘orientations’, we will soon be in a situation where there is no turning back: the damage will be complete.”
The Anglican Mainstream promote Affect Focused Therapy (AFT) and Reparative Therapy as the way forward in “curing” gay people; who they prefer to call the “sexually broken” or “sufferers”.
They say: “AFT is transferable across the board to all sorts of deeply-ingrained patterns of dysfunctionality, sin, brokenness and pain.”
Reparative Therapy is a dangerous practise which seeks to change sexual orientation, and views homosexuality as a mental disorder.
Joseph Nicolisi a leading proponent of Repartive Therapy and author of “Shame, Homosexuality and the Practical Work of Reparative Therapy” will be speaking at the confererence. The Anglican Mainstream say: “Joe has a proven track record over almost 30 years in helping people exit the gay world.”
The American Psychological Association have stated that “scientific evidence does not show that conversion (Reparative) therapy works and it could do more harm than good. Changing one’s sexual orientation is not simply a matter of changing ones behaviour. It would require altering ones emotional, romantic and sexual feelings and restructuring ones self concept and social identity.”
News of this conference is particulary worrying especially after the recent report from The University College London and St. Georges University London, which suggested that many UK health professionals had attempted to change their client’s sexual orientation.
The Anglican Mainstream feel that Reparative Therapy “needs to be far better known”.
At the core of Gay Affirmative Therapy (GAT) is the belief there is nothing inherently wrong or bad with being LGBT. Instead your counsellor will affirm your sexuality rather than trying to convince you to alter or change it. The Pink Therapy website is an excellent resource for questions to ask potential counsellors.
A Spokesperson for the Lesbian and Gay Foundation said: “It is worrying to hear of this conference aimed at promoting such a deplorable and dangerous approach to therapy, and giving a platform to homophobic ideas. We encourage people to access Gay Affirmative Therapy, rather than internalise the homophobic beliefs of others.”
Stand Up to Hatred: Should a conference which promotes homophobia and a harmful approach to therapy be allowed to take place in the UK? The Anglican Mainstream have not disclosed the location of the conference on their website, but it has been reported that the anti gay conference will take place at a Christian run conference centre called the Emmanuel Centre (9-23 Marsham Street, London SW1P 3DW) in the City of Westminster on April 24/25th.
To lobby Westminster Councillors to stop the conference, or at the very least question the methods it is promoting, click here.
If you would like to talk to someone about your sexuality call The LGF Helpline on 0845 3 30 30 30. If you think you would like to access the Face 2 Face counselling service at the LGF call the Helpline and ask for an Application for Counselling form. All LGF counsellors use Gay Affirmative Therapy.
See Homophobic conference to promote gay “cure”.
The Lesbian and Gay Foundation
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