Homosexual Haitian Migrants Focus of UA Doctoral Student’s Research
Erin Durban spent time in Haiti last year initiating her field research about individuals who immigrate to the United States. While there, she worked to immerse herself in the culture, which included learning about vévé, religious symbols used during rituals, from a Haitian vodou priest, Edouard Glissant.
Erin Durban, center, is making her second trip to Haiti to learn about the decisions homosexual Haitians make in immigrating to the United States, but then opting to return to their home country.
Erin Durban, a doctoral degree candidate in the UA’s gender and women’s studies department, will travel to Haiti to study the decisions homosexual Haitians migrants make when they leave for the U.S. but then return home.
As an undergraduate in Denver, Erin Durban began to study the conditions of Haitian immigrants and ways the United States has been embroiled in the history of the country.
Now a University of Arizona doctoral degree candidate in gender and women’s studies, Durban is studying the immigration of “queer-identified” Haitians who choose to leave for the United States, but then opt to return home.
Perplexing to Durban is the idea that the United States has a reputation for offering “more liberated spaces” to people around the world seeking asylum – whether for political, economic, religious reasons or because of sexual orientation – and yet certain populations of Haitians decide to return to a county that has offers little protection against sex-based discrimination.
Durban, whose research interests are in sexuality, migration and cultural studies as well as social and economic justice, said she is interested in studying way Haitians interpret the relationship between the United States and Haiti within the context of what is defined as “home.”
She recently received a Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute grant for her project, “Desire to Return, Desire to Leave: Investigating Queer Haitian Migration.” The institute, which operates out of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, promotes research in the college.
The project will take her later this month to the country of more than 9 million inhabitants, where she will spend several weeks conducting research in Jacmel and Port-au-Prince to better understand the complexities association with the migration of Haitians who are homosexual.
Her investigation, she said, may also help to shed more light on the ways in which economic, political and social interactions and pressures influence certain people.
One challenge she’ll face is the limited amount of information about homosexuals in Haitians, said Durban, who intends to publish an article about her research and incorporate her findings into her dissertation.
“Surprisingly, there is not a lot of research about queer migration in Haiti,” Durban said, noting that of existing literature and documentaries, most tend to focus on gay men or the vodou, or voodoo, religion, which tends to be more accepting of homosexuals.
The focus, too, tends to be on the turmoil in Haiti, considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
Durban’s interest in these issues was heighted about five years ago with the announcement of the United Nations’ Stabilization Mission in Haiti, a mandate established in response to armed opposition in the country. The United States is among the countries offering military and police personnel in the effort.
“Everywhere I went it seemed I was hearing about Haiti and I found it very strange that here is this place that is really close that no one ever really talks about,” she said. “But when they do, all we ever hear about is corruption, violence and disease.”
Durban said it is important to understand – outside of the typical contexts of violence and poverty – how gender and sexuality are shaping the experience of migrants.
She was encouraged to begin studying what she described as “the coexistence” of two seemingly conflicting beliefs about migration after visiting Haiti last year.
One belief describes the desire by gays and lesbians to leave Haiti for the more “progressive” United States, whereas another describes a strong desire to return to Haiti once in the United States because of a preference to live in their home countries.
Her research, she said, may help explain the role that family obligations, work-related struggles, the pursuit of citizenship, homophobia, the stigma associated with being an immigrant, “the heightened anti-immigrant fervor post-Sept. 11″ and other factors play in migrants choosing to leave the United States.
In her grant proposal, Durban noted that her research could potentially “rethink the idea of the United States as a site of ‘liberation’ for queer people of the world from a new vantage point.” Of particular concern are ways in which racism, xenophobia and homophobia affect and influence the decisions of Haitian migrants.
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Hindu guru claims homosexuality can be ‘cured’ by yoga
The world’s most popular Hindu guru, Swami “Baba” Ramdev, has claimed homosexuality can be “cured” by yoga in a petition to India’s Supreme Court.
The television guru whose yoga programmes are watched by an estimated 85 million people throughout the world, made the claim in an appeal to the overturn a ruling last week which legalised homosexuality.
He has warned he will launch nationwide protests if the ruling is not struck down and said all of India’s main religions regarded homosexual acts as sins.
In his petition, he argued that homosexuality was a curable disease and that sufferers could seek a cure.
“It can be treated like any other congenital defect. Such tendencies can be treated by yoga, pranayam and other meditation techniques,” he said.
Pranayam are a series of breathing exercises which include hyperventilation, a slow release of breath while chanting “Om”.
His followers have said there are particular yoga positions which also help prevent sexual urges.
The overturning of India’s law criminalising homosexuality was welcomed by India’s gay community and by campaigners, including several leading designers and Bollywood stars.
See Hindu guru claims homosexuality can be ‘cured’ by yoga
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Gay Men Kissing Ousted From Chico’s Tacos in Texas
The Chico’s Tacos restaurant chain in El Paso Texas doesn’t like homosexuals eating their fast-food tacos and the police agree reasoning, that a business can refuse service to anyone it wants, despite the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance.
When two men briefly kissed at the popular taco chain, bigotry, homophobia and ignorance of the law came out in full force, beginning with the security guards’ hurling anti-gay slurs at the men and ending with the El Paso Police ordering the men to leave the restaurant or face a “homosexual conduct” citation.
The incident has garnered national attention and the taco chain faces a growing movement by gay rights activists to boycott the restaurant, with protests planned at the restaurant’s multiple El Paso locations.
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ChattahBox
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Vatican does U-turn to praise Oscar Wilde
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Oscar Wilde once said, ‘We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars’ and in a heavenly way the gay playwright found praise today from an unlikely source – the Vatican.
In its second U-turn in a week, the official mouthpiece of Pope Benedict XVI, L’Osservatore Romano, wrote that he was a man ‘always looking for the beautiful and the good but also for God’.
It also added that: ‘Wilde was a fortunate man, as more than 100 years after his death his works had not been forgotten and continue to fly off the shelves.’
The eulogy comes just days after the Vatican changed its stance to give its approval to JK Rowling’s Harry Potter – who it had once described as the ‘wrong kind of hero’.
Wilde, who converted to Roman Catholicism as he lay dying in a Paris hotel bed in 1900, served two years in prison for acts of gross indecency with men, and his behaviour shocked strait-laced Victorian England.
Given his homosexual tendencies and the Catholic Church’s strict view of homosexuality, the fact that it had now embraced him was all the more surprising.
The article praising the Irish-born writer was headlined ‘When Oscar Wilde met Pius IX’ and was a review of a new book on him called ‘A Portrait of Oscar Widle’ by Italian author Paolo Gulisano.
L’Osservatore Romano wrote: ‘Oscar Wilde was a man constantly looking for the beautiful and the good, but also for a God that he never challenged, respected and who he fully embraced after his dramatic experience of jail, concluding with his communion in the Catholic Church.’
Monda also noted how Dublin-born Wilde had said that ‘Catholicism was the only religion to die in’ and also recalled his little remembered audience with Pope Pius IX in 1877.
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Rep. Sally Kern says ‘debauched’ gay marriage caused bad economy
Rep. Sally Kern of Oklahoma, who has called being gay a “deadly lifestyle”, has released what she calls a “Proclamation for Morality”, which reads more like a manifesto against homosexuality. Kern, who apparently is unfamiliar with the fact that the United States was founded on the principle of separation of church and State, consistently uses religion as a basis for her arguments.
The New Civil Rights Movement published Kern’s “proclamation”, in which she says gay marriage is a form of “debauchery” like “abortion, pornography, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, and child abuse.” She blames the bad state of the economy on this so-called “debauchery”:
“WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national
moral crisis; and
WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion,
pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and
many other forms of debauchery; and
WHEREAS, alarmed that the Government of the United States of America is forsaking
the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built; and
WHEREAS, grieved that the Office of the president of these United States has refused
to uphold the long held tradition of past presidents in giving recognition to our National Day of
Prayer; and
WHEREAS, deeply disturbed that the Office of the president of these United States
disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to
an immoral behavior”
Tulsa World called the reading and signing of Kern’s proclamation “circus-like”. About 200 supporters stood with her inside the State Capitol gathering signatures, while Kern was repeatedly interrupted by protesters.
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Michael Jackson Memorial Confirmed For Staples Center July 7
LOS ANGELES — Organizers and representatives for the Jackson family have confirmed memorial services for Michael Jackson will take place Tuesday (July 7) inside the Staples Center. The announcement ended days of speculation about how the King of Pop would be memorialized.
Fans will be able to attend after registering for free tickets at StaplesCenter.com beginning Friday morning, and registration will run until Saturday evening at 6 p.m. On Sunday fans will be notified and receive information on how to pick up tickets on Monday. The registration process is elaborate and has caused the site to crash once already — but the Jackson family insisted on a process that was democratic and fair, taking into consideration the many fans expected to arrive in Los Angeles for the memorial.
“It was our wish to allow as many of Michael’s fans to be a part of the memorial, and we wish to thank everyone for their support and understanding at this difficult time,” the Jackson family said in a statement.
Only 17,500 tickets will be given away, with 11,000 entrants able to go inside the arena and the remaining 6,500 ushered just across the street to the Nokia Theater where the proceedings will be simulcast. There are no guarantees for fans who register online and only 8,750 people will be selected randomly by a computer-generated program. Each selected fan will receive two tickets and two wristbands.
No further details regarding the service were announced. At a press conference held outside of the Staples Center, Jackson family representative Ken Sunshine said the plans are still being developed. Sunshine said he hopes the ticket process is handed with “dignity” and that tickets not be resold or counterfeited.
See Michael Jackson Memorial Confirmed For Staples Center July 7
MTV.com
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Delhi HC verdict on panel provision of gay sex likely Toda
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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court is likely to pronounce its verdict tomorrow on the controversial penal provision on homosexuality even as the government is grappling with the option to scrap it from the statute.
A bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar had reserved its order on November 7 last year after marathon proceedings in which the government had vociferously opposed scrapping of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which prescribes punishment upto life imprisonment for indulging in unnatural sexual acts.
Before the judgement was reserved, the Ministries concerned with the issue in the previous UPA government had unanimously described homosexuality as “the most indecent behaviour” in society.
The Centre had submitted that gay sex is immoral and reflection of a perverse mind and its decriminalisation would lead to moral degradation of society.
“Every citizen has the right to lead a decent and moral life in society and the right would be violated if such behaviour (gay sex) is legalised in the country,” the government had contended adding allowing gay sex would pose a health hazard to society.
The Centre had said that homosexuals comprise only 0.3 per cent of the population and the right of rest 99.7 per cent of the population to lead a decent and moral life in society would be violated if such behaviour (gay sex) is legalised. See Delhi HC verdict on panel provision of gay sex likely tomorrow
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The Gay Movement, After Marriage New York Observer -
On the night of June 26, two days before the gay pride parade would overtake Manhattan in honor of the 40th birthday of the Stonewall riots that are popularly imagined as the birth of the gay rights movement, a group numbering a couple of dozen mostly gay men and women found themselves crammed into the parlor floor of the West Village townhouse of John Connor, a former banker who lives with his companion, the designer Steven Gambrel.
It raged and stormed outside, while inside, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the first openly gay person to win that office, thanked the group for coming.
They’d been summoned either because they had money or because they had influence in the “gay movement,” such as it is today, and the organizers of this affair needed their money and influence to stage a large national march for gay rights in Washington, D.C., this October.
The mood was intense, and hardly celebratory, despite the tremendous progress toward legalizing gay marriage in New York State that many of the attendees had been involved in.
“We want results,” Ms. Quinn said. “We want them now. We don’t want to be told any longer that we have to wait. ‘Cause look, in Albany? They said they couldn’t do marriage at the beginning of the session—that they had to get other business done first. And now it’s exploded in Albany. If they kept their promise from Day 1, we wouldn’t be where we are.”
See The Gay Movement, After Marriage
New York Observer -
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Boy? Girl? Parents aren’t telling — and s/he’s 2!
A Swedish couple believe so strongly that gender is a social construction that they do not reveal whether their 2.5-year-old is a boy or a girl.
Only those who have changed the toddler’s diapers know if “Pop,” which is not the child’s real name, is male or female. “We want Pop to grow up more freely and avoid being forced into a specific gender mold from the outset,” the tot’s 24-year-old mother told the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. “It’s cruel to bring a child into the world with a blue or pink stamp on their forehead.”
Pop’s wardrobe includes both pants and dresses, and the child usually gets to decide what to wear. “Although Pop knows that there are physical differences between a boy and a girl, Pop’s parents never use personal pronouns when referring to the child — they just say Pop,” according to the English-language Swedish site the Local.
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How long has Seattle supported gay rights?
Seattle: 1st in gay rights
Seattle has been at the vanguard of gay rights for at least three decades. Remember Anita Bryant? While she was getting cities across the county to repeal gay rights ordinances in the 1970s, Seattle voters held the line — the first city in America to vote in favor of gay rights. The City of Seattle adopted a fair employment ordinance in 1973 which specifically prohibited discrimination against gay people in the workplace, followed by a fair housing ordinance in 1975. But in 1978, Initiative 13 attempted to repeal the ordinances. It went down in defeat, and Seattle voters successful stopped the national movement to turn back the clock of gay rights. Since then, the cities of Tacoma, Spokane, and others followed suit; Seattle has elected openly gay city council members for decades and is considered to have one of the largest gay populations in the nation.
– Leonard Garfield
Sunday’s gay pride parade marks the event’s 32nd year. See photos from the event here.
Learn more about Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry at seattlehistory.org.
See How long has Seattle supported gay rights?
Seattle Post Intelligencer
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