Homosexuality

Past or Present customs and their evolution
shivaathervedi
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Post by shivaathervedi »

kmaherali wrote:
shivaathervedi wrote: Other question;

What Homosexuality has to do with Ismaili Heritage? Is this an Ismaili Tariqa issue?
We are not immune to the influences around us. Hence we have Ismailis who drink, gamble and are homesexuals as well. When we have Ismailis who are homesexuals, it becomes a Tariqa issue.
Absurd!!
You wrote," When we have Ismailis who are homosexuals, it becomes a Tariqa issue".
No, it is not a Tariqa issue but a moral issue, an ethical issue. Imam said," follow the ethical values of Islam". Homosexuality has nothing to do with Ismaili ethical values.
shivaathervedi
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Post by shivaathervedi »

Admin wrote:I was once attending a conference by Desmond Tutu and one sentence he said struck me, he said there are so many problems in the world that why should we waste time on what people do in their bedroom.

I think this becomes an issue when people who are homosexuals parade the streets with board which says "Ismaili" then they use and misuse our names in the same way people brand Muslim of "Terrorist" and generalise that they do what they do because they are Muslims!

These are personnal issues which people should not brand as they are "Ismaili Gay and Lesbian". I don't have anything against them but why put the name "Ismaili queers" which would generalised their choice and attempt to label a whole community for their own advantage as an approved community standard which it is not.
I agree with you. Any Gay or Lesbian should not use word Ismaili with them. In North America Problem popped up when a Lady from Canada on TV shows declared herself as a Lesbian belong to Ismaili faith. Shameful statements have hurt Ismaili faith.
Admin
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Post by Admin »

There are even worse, a group of people paraded in Toronto with large board saying that they were "Ismaili" Gay and Lesbian. Why not a board saying "Canadian" Gay and Lesbian, why bring religion into it?
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

shivaathervedi wrote:Absurd!!
You wrote," When we have Ismailis who are homosexuals, it becomes a Tariqa issue".
No, it is not a Tariqa issue but a moral issue, an ethical issue. Imam said," follow the ethical values of Islam". Homosexuality has nothing to do with Ismaili ethical values.
Are you saying moral and ethical issues are not Tariqah issues? What are the messages of the Qur'an and the Ginans about? I am not saying whether homosexuality is acceptable or not, I am simply saying that it is something we have to deal with in our Tariqah.
shivaathervedi
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Post by shivaathervedi »

kmaherali wrote:
shivaathervedi wrote:Absurd!!
You wrote," When we have Ismailis who are homosexuals, it becomes a Tariqa issue".
No, it is not a Tariqa issue but a moral issue, an ethical issue. Imam said," follow the ethical values of Islam". Homosexuality has nothing to do with Ismaili ethical values.
Are you saying moral and ethical issues are not Tariqah issues? What are the messages of the Qur'an and the Ginans about? I am not saying whether homosexuality is acceptable or not, I am simply saying that it is something we have to deal with in our Tariqah.
In my opinion Admin should not had allowed this topic on Ismaili Heritage. My point is homosexuality is not Ismaili Heritage. Why to propagate it on this site, if yes then what is the agenda? Ismaili Tariqa has nothing to do with it. This should stay private and not propagated. I think this topic should be deleted from this site for good.
Admin
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Post by Admin »

This discussion is justified in view of the fact that changing laws in some countries allow 2 people of same gendre to get married as marriage definition has changed from man and women to "between 2 persons".

Recently a women married her dog because since dogs can inherit, some judge has ruled that a dog is a person.

Now imagine a situation where a woman comes to Mukhi with her legally wedded dog and say we want to get married religiously and get blessings?

They may say that our Constitution respect the law of the land.

This will happen and the discussion is healthy and necessary.
shivaathervedi
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Post by shivaathervedi »

Admin wrote:This discussion is justified in view of the fact that changing laws in some countries allow 2 people of same gendre to get married as marriage definition has changed from man and women to "between 2 persons".

Recently a women married her dog because since dogs can inherit, some judge has ruled that a dog is a person.

Now imagine a situation where a woman comes to Mukhi with her legally wedded dog and say we want to get married religiously and get blessings?

They may say that our Constitution respect the law of the land.

This will happen and the discussion is healthy and necessary.
If constitution of a particular country dictates don't recite Du'a, will an Ismaili obey the Farman or the constitution?
We are Muslims, and Islam does not allow marriage of a woman with a dog or a monkey. I don't think an Ismaili woman dare to bring a dog in three piece suit with neck tie in front of Mukhi to recite Nikah Khutba.
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

shivaathervedi wrote:
If constitution of a particular country dictates don't recite Du'a, will an Ismaili obey the Farman or the constitution?
If the law of the land does not allow us to practice our faith, we should not live in that land. That is the guidance of the Imam.
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

shivaathervedi wrote: I have a question for you, did any Pir in Ginans mentioned about homosexuality, gay and lesbians?
I have not come across any references in the Ginans. I know of Ginans which mention the prohibition of extra marital sex.
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

How homosexuality became a crime in the Middle East

Colonialism, culture wars and fundamentalist politicians have restricted sexual freedom


IN THE 13th and 14th centuries two celebrated male poets wrote about men in affectionate, even amorous, terms. They were Rumi and Hafiz, and both lived in what is now Iran. Their musings were neither new nor unusual. Centuries earlier Abu Nuwas, a bawdy poet from Baghdad, wrote lewd verses about same-sex desire. Such relative openness towards homosexual love used to be widespread in the Middle East. Khaled El-Rouayheb, an academic at Harvard University, explains that though sodomy was deemed a major sin by Muslim courts of law, other homosexual acts such as passionate kissing, fondling or lesbian sex were not. Homoerotic poetry was widely considered part of a “refined sensibility”, he says.

The modern Middle East views the subject very differently. A survey by Pew Research Centre in 2013 found that most people in the region believe homosexuality should be rejected: 97% in Jordan, 95% in Egypt and 80% in Lebanon. In 2007 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, then the president of Iran, told a crowd of incredulous students at Columbia University in New York that “in Iran we don’t have homosexuals”. In 2001 the Egyptian Ministry of Culture burnt 6,000 volumes of Abu Nuwas’s poetry. What happened?

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https://www.economist.com/open-future/2 ... lydispatch
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Tanzania's anti-homosexuality purge is making Ottawa anxious

Official anti-gay prejudice in Tanzania is causing Canadian officials to reassess this country's relationship with one of Canada's biggest aid recipients.

Arrests of gay men in Zanzibar over the weekend, and the launch of "anti-gay patrols" in the capital Dar es Salaam on Monday, are the latest incidents to alarm Canadian diplomats. They've come up this week at high-level meetings involving not only Canadian and Tanzanian officials but also those of other western donor nations.

Tanzania's homophobic actions are particularly uncomfortable for Canada, which gave Tanzania more than $125 milllion in direct aid last year, making it Canada's sixth-largest aid recipient in the world.

Canada co-chairs the Equal Rights Coalition, a group of 40 nations that Canada helped to create. The coalition promotes LGBT equality around the world and has roundly condemned some of the practices used in Tanzania — particularly the use of forced anal exams to collect "evidence" of homosexual behaviour, which in Tanzania can lead to a life sentence in prison.

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https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/t ... li=AAggNb9
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Ruling on law banning gay sex delayed in Kenya High Court, what you need to know

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s High Court has postponed until May 24 a ruling on whether to strike out or uphold a colonial-era law banning gay sex, a judge said on Friday.

Judge Chacha Mwita told a packed court in the capital, Nairobi, that the bench constituted to hear the case needed more time to prepare for the ruling, which had been due on Friday.

“The judges on the bench also sit in other courts … we need more time,” Mwita said.


Same-sex relationships are illegal in more than 70 countries, almost half of them in Africa, where homosexuality is broadly taboo and persecution is rife.

In Kenya, where same-sex relationships can lead to a 14-year jail sentence, campaigners for lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender (LGBT) rights have become increasingly vocal in recent years.

Kenya arrested 534 people for same-sex relationships between 2013 and 2017, the government said. Kenya’s high court began hearings on the law last year.

Campaigners say the colonial-era law violates Kenya’s progressive 2010 constitution, which guarantees equality, dignity and privacy for all citizens.

They also submitted arguments based on India’s rejection of a similar law in August.[nL8N1WD360]

Reporting by Baz Ratner and John Ndiso; Editing by Paul Tait and Darren Schuettler

https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/east-af ... d-to-know/
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Brunei to Punish Adultery and Gay Sex With Death by Stoning

The sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, has advocated a conservative vision of Islam.


HONG KONG — When Brunei announced in 2013 that it was bringing in harsh Islamic laws that included punishments of death by stoning for adultery and gay sex, the move was met with international protest. Some investments by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, including the Beverly Hills Hotel, were targets of boycotts and calls for divestment.

Following the outcry, Brunei, a sultanate of about 430,000 on the island of Borneo, delayed carrying out the harshest provisions of its Shariah law.

Now, it is quietly going ahead with them.

Beginning on April 3, statutes allowing stoning and amputation will go into effect, according to an announcement posted by the country’s attorney general last year that has only recently received notice.

That has set off a renewed outcry from human rights groups.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/worl ... 3053090329
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Taiwan Legislature Approves Asia’s First Same-Sex Marriage Law

HONG KONG — As tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the rainy streets of Taipei on Friday, lawmakers in Taiwan voted to legalize same-sex marriage, a first for Asia.

“We want to marry!” supporters outside the legislature chanted in approval of the measure, as they applauded and waved signs and rainbow banners.

“On May 17th, 2019 in #Taiwan, #LoveWon,” President Tsai Ing-wen tweeted after the vote. “We took a big step towards true equality, and made Taiwan a better country.”

The legislature faced a deadline imposed by Taiwan’s constitutional court, which in 2017 struck down the Civil Code’s definition of marriage as exclusively between a man and woman. The court gave the government two years to revise the law, or same-sex couples would automatically be allowed to have their marriages registered by the local authorities.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/worl ... _th_190518
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Kenya’s High Court Upholds a Ban on Gay Sex

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s High Court on Friday upheld laws that criminalize gay sex, declining to join the handful of nations that have recently abolished a prohibition imposed by Britain during the colonial era.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the court, announced in a courtroom packed with activists who wanted to see the laws overturned, keeps Kenya aligned with most of Africa. Anti-gay laws and conservative cultural mores remain prevalent across most of the continent. In addition to the threat of prosecution, discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are common.

“A sad day for the rule of law and human rights,” said Eric Gitari, a co-founder of the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, a Kenyan civil rights group, who was one of the petitioners in the case. He said he and others would appeal the ruling.

Téa Braun, director of the Human Dignity Trust, an international gay rights advocacy group, noted in a statement that Kenya’s constitution guarantees human dignity and freedom from discrimination.

“Yet in handing down this disappointing judgment, the court has ruled that a certain sector of society is undeserving of those rights,” she said.

The Kenyan ruling came on the same day, however, that Taiwan had its first same-sex weddings, which were legalized last week by the legislature.

More than 70 countries criminalize gay sex, most of them Muslim countries or former British colonies, according to advocacy groups.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/24/worl ... _th_190525
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Coke Ad Riles Hungary Conservatives, Part of Larger Gay Rights Battle

WARSAW — By the standards of Western advertising, Coca-Cola’s billboard campaign in Hungary was pretty tame.

Three couples are shown enjoying a soda, smiling and seemingly in love. One picture shows a man, a woman and a Coke; another two women and a Coke; and a third shows two men and a Coke.

“Love is Love,” is the campaign slogan. But in the current climate in Eastern and Central Europe, where “L.G.B.T. ideology” has taken the place of migrants as public enemy number one for many nationalist leaders, love is not love.

It is a threat.

Soon after the Coke ads appeared, a pro-government internet news site ran a banner headline: “The Homosexual Lobby Has Now Besieged Budapest — They Won’t Give You A Chance to Avoid It.”

Istvan Boldog, a lawmaker representing Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s far-right Fidesz party, used Facebook to call on the public to boycott Coca-Cola products until the company “removed its provocative posters from Hungary.”

The battle over the billboards is just a small skirmish in what is emerging as a broader campaign across the region against gay rights. Right-wing politicians complain that their traditional cultures are undermined by a decadent and dangerous import from the irreligious West.

In 2013, Russia made it illegal to expose minors to discussion of “nontraditional” sexual relationships.

More recently, Poland’s leaders have focused attention on what they call “L.G.B.T. ideology,” painting it as an insidious threat to the nation. Other parties in the region are watching closely to see how effective it proves.

In the run-up to national elections in October, Poland’s governing Law and Justice Party, along with Catholic Church leaders, have stepped up their attacks. More than two dozen provincial governments have declared their localities “L.G.B.T.-free,” and the party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has said Poland will not live under “the rainbow flag.”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/09/worl ... ogin-email
swamidada_2
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Post by swamidada_2 »

A person's genes do not determine whether they will be attracted to members of the opposite sex, scientists believe. The research debunks the idea that there is a so-called "gay gene," say the authors of the study published in the journal Science. They said the findings highlight the complexity of human traits such as sexuality.

Between two to 10 percent of the world's population at any given time report having same-sex partners, according to research cited by the authors. But scientists aren't sure what determines whether a person will identify as gay, straight, bisexual, or somewhere else on the spectrum of sexuality.

The study involved 477,522 participants. Researchers scanned their genomes to uncover whether there are genes associated with same-sex attraction. This approach is known as a genome-wide association study (GWAS).

The participants of the study were part of the UK Biobank cohort and consenting customers of 23andMe, a genetic testing service.

The team found five loci—or the position of a gene on a chromosome—associated with same-sex attraction. The loci had small individual effects, spread across the genome, which partly overlapped in females and males, they explained. But the team said these couldn't meaningfully predict a person's sexual behavior.

"There is certainly no single genetic determinant (sometimes referred to as the "gay gene" in the media)," they wrote. "Our findings provide insights into the genetics underlying same-sex sexual behavior and underscore the complexity of sexuality."

It appears that, like most behavioral traits, sexuality is influenced by a range of genetic variants which can't be picked up in the sample size, they said.

Appearing to allude to the discrimination which LGBT people face, the authors wrote: "Our findings provide insights into the biological underpinnings of same-sex sexual behavior but also underscore the importance of resisting simplistic conclusions—because the behavioral phenotypes are complex, because our genetic insights are rudimentary, and because there is a long history of misusing genetic results for social purposes."

In an article accompanying the research in Science, Melinda Mills, Professor of Sociology at the University of Oxford, who did not work on the paper wrote: "Although they did find particular genetic loci associated with same-sex behavior, when they combine the effects of these loci together into one comprehensive score, the effects are so small (under 1 percent) that this genetic score could not be reliably used to predict same-sex sexual behavior of an individual."

https://start.att.net/news/read/article ... egory/news+
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Japan’s Support for Gay Marriage Is Soaring. But Can It Become Law?

The country is being pulled in two directions as it experiences a “boom” in L.G.B.T. awareness but also remains committed to a sometimes inflexible traditional culture.


TOKYO — Ikuo Sato stood in front of a Tokyo court in April and told the world he was gay.

To a packed room, he described the anxiety he had felt as a young man, struggling to express his sexuality in Japan’s restrictive society. If the law is changed to allow same-sex marriage, he said, perhaps “we’ll make a society where the next generation doesn’t have to feel that way.”

Somewhere in the courtroom, his partner sat silently watching, hoping to go unnoticed. His family and co-workers do not know he is gay, and he hopes — at least for now — to keep it that way, fearing discrimination in his workplace.

The couple’s story epitomizes the contradictions that shape the lives of gay people across Japan.

In many ways, there has been dramatic change. Lawsuits filed this year by Mr. Sato, his partner and five other couples seeking recognition of same-sex marriage are the first of their kind in Japan. Public support for same-sex marriage has surged in the last few years, making it seem suddenly within reach. Local governments are increasingly recognizing same-sex partnerships, and even Japan’s famously rigid companies have begun coming out in favor of them.

Yet in other ways, the gains remain abstract. Gay people face overwhelming pressure to conform to the silent, stifling norms of a society in which many parents and workers are still uncomfortable with the idea of their own children and colleagues being gay. And the conservative politicians who run the country and extol its sometimes inflexible culture refuse to touch the issue.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/worl ... 3053091128
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

In India, a Gay Prince’s Coming Out Earns Accolades, and Enemies

Prince Manvendra’s journey from an excruciatingly lonely child to a global L.G.B.T.Q. advocate included death threats and disinheritance.


NEW DELHI — Born into a royal family that once ruled the kingdom of Rajpipla in India, he was raised in the family’s palaces and mansions and was being groomed to take over a dynasty that goes back 600 years.

But then he gave an interview that prompted his mother to disown him and set off protests in his hometown, where he was burned in effigy.

Since coming out as gay in that 2006 interview, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil has faced a torrent of bullying and threats, and was disinherited by his family for a period.

But he has also earned global accolades for his L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy, becoming one of the few gay-rights activists in the world with such royal ties.

As part of his efforts, Prince Manvendra, 55, has appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” three times, swapped life stories with Kris Jenner on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and is working to establish a shelter for L.G.B.T.Q. people on his property in the Indian state of Gujarat. He is also working with several aid agencies to prevent the spread of H.I.V. among gay men.

Prince Manvendra and his husband, deAndre Richardson, have spent the last few months in lockdown getting the shelter ready. They envision a safe space where those who have been disowned by their families can get back on their feet and learn job skills.

“I know how important it is to have a safe space after coming out,” the prince said.

Although India abolished the princely order in 1971, the honorary titles are still commonly used for royal descendants, and traditional responsibilities are still carried out.

When the prince shared that he was gay in that front-page newspaper interview 14 years ago, it created a storm of mostly negative publicity. It was shocking for a member of an Indian royal family, especially one from the rigidly conservative Rajput warrior clan that once ruled over large parts of northern and central India, to come out so publicly. At the time, being gay was a criminal offense in India under the archaic British law in effect at the time. The law was struck down in 2018.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/worl ... 778d3e6de3
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Major Evangelical Adoption Agency Will Now Serve Gay Parents Nationwide

The decision comes as more cities and states require organizations to accept applications from L.G.B.T.Q. couples or risk losing government contracts.


One of the country’s largest adoption and foster care agencies, Bethany Christian Services, announced on Monday that it would begin providing services to L.G.B.T.Q. parents nationwide effective immediately, a major inflection point in the fraught battle over many faith-based agencies’ longstanding opposition to working with same-sex couples.

Bethany, a Michigan-based evangelical organization, announced the change in an email to about 1,500 staff members that was signed by Chris Palusky, the organization’s president and chief executive. “We will now offer services with the love and compassion of Jesus to the many types of families who exist in our world today,” Mr. Palusky wrote. “We’re taking an ‘all hands on deck’ approach where all are welcome.”

The announcement is a significant departure for the 77-year-old organization, which is the largest Protestant adoption and foster agency in the United States. Bethany facilitated 3,406 foster placements and 1,123 adoptions in 2019, and has offices in 32 states. (The organization also works in refugee placement, and offers other services related to child and family welfare.) Previously, openly gay prospective foster and adoptive parents in most states were referred to other agencies.

The decision comes amid a high-stakes cultural and legal battle that features questions about sexuality, religious freedom, parenthood, family structure and theology.

Adoption is a potent issue in both conservative Christian and gay communities. Faith-based agencies play a substantial role in placing children in new families. Meanwhile, more than 20 percent of same-sex couples with children have an adopted child, compared to 3 percent of straight couples, according to a 2016 report from the Williams Institute at U.C.L.A. School of Law. Gay couples are also significantly likelier to have a foster child.

“To use a Christian term, this is good news,” said Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, a fellow with the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress. “For too long the public witness of Christianity has been anti-this or anti-that,” he added. “Today the focus is on serving children in need.”

Bethany’s practice of referring gay couples to other agencies was not official, the agency’s leaders say. “It was a general understanding that was pervasive,” said Susanne Jordan, a board member and former employee. But since 2007, the organization had a position statement saying that “God’s design for the family is a covenant and lifelong marriage of one man and one woman.”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/01/us/b ... 778d3e6de3
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Landmark Ruling Cracks Door Open for Same-Sex Marriage in Japan

A court found that it was unconstitutional for the country not to recognize the unions. But change would come only if Parliament passes legislation.


TOKYO — A Japanese court on Wednesday ruled that the country’s failure to recognize same-sex marriages was unconstitutional, a landmark decision that could be an important step toward legalizing the unions across the nation.

The ruling, handed down by a district court in the northern city of Sapporo, came in a civil suit against the Japanese government by three same-sex couples. The lack of recognition of their unions, they said, had unfairly cut them off from services and benefits accorded to married couples, and they sought damages of around $9,000 per person.

The couples argued that the government’s failure to recognize same-sex unions violated the constitutional guarantee of equality under the law and the prohibition against discrimination regardless of sex.

The court agreed, writing in its decision that laws or regulations that deprived gay couples of the legal benefits of marriage constituted “discriminatory treatment without a rational basis.”

But the court declined to award the couples damages, making a somewhat convoluted argument that the government could not be held liable because the issue of same-sex marriage had only recently entered Japan’s public discourse.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/worl ... 778d3e6de3
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

In Poland, an L.G.B.T.Q. Migration As Homophobia Deepens

An escalation in verbal attacks by the Polish government, with the support of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the threat of physical violence on the streets of many cities, has triggered an exodus of gay people.


For months, government ministers spewed vicious rhetoric about gay people. Trucks blasted anti-gay hate messages from loudspeakers on the streets of Poland’s cities.

Finally fed up with an increasingly hostile environment for gay people in Poland under the governing Law and Justice party, Marta Malachowska, a 31-year-old who works in social media, decided to move to Berlin with her girlfriend in December.

“Last year the situation became too much for me,” Ms. Malachowska said, adding that she had suffered a nervous breakdown during the country’s presidential election last summer when anti-L.G.B.T.Q. rhetoric engaged in by the governing party became especially shrill in an effort to appeal to socially conservative voters. The final straw came when a close friend was assaulted because of her sexual orientation, she said.

Arriving in Berlin, she knew she had made the right choice.

“The first thing I saw was a giant rainbow flag hanging across the street from our flat,” she said. “I take my girlfriend’s hand when we walk in the street, without thinking.” She added: “Back in Poland, there was always this fear inside me. Here, literally no one cares.”

People have for decades left Poland looking for opportunities elsewhere in Europe — an exodus that grew after the country joined the European Union in 2004. But now their numbers are being added to by gay people fleeing an increasingly hostile environment in Poland.

According to a 2020 survey by ILGA-Europe, an international gay rights organization, Poland now ranks as the most homophobic country in the European Union. Activists say that violence against gay people in Poland surged last year, and included cases of physical violence, insults and the destruction of property.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/24/worl ... 778d3e6de3
swamidada
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Post by swamidada »

Mormon sex therapist ousted from faith for critiques
Associated Press Thu, April 22, 2021, 1:43 PM
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A sex therapist in Utah who has publicly challenged her faith's policies on sexuality has been kicked out of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints following a disciplinary hearing.

Natasha Helfer received a letter Wednesday from a regional church official explaining the reasons for her removal from the Salt Lake City-based church, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Helfer was disciplined by church leaders in Kansas, where she lived before moving to Utah in 2019.

“After carefully and prayerfully considering this matter,” the letter states, “it was the decision of the council to withdraw your church membership in response to conduct contrary to the law and order of the church.”

Helfer shared the letter on Facebook. Church spokesman Eric Hawkins said that, based on the letter, regional church leaders' decision was not related to her private practice as a therapist.

“As the letter shared by Ms. Helfer indicates, the decision of the local leaders was based on her public, repeated opposition to the church, church leaders and the doctrine of the church, including our doctrine on the nature of the family and on moral issues,” Hawkins said in a statement.

Helfer has been outspoken on sexual issues and supports same-sex marriage, counsels that masturbation is not a sin and says pornography should not be treated as an addiction. She had said that she hoped to remain in the church.

The story was originally reported by The Washington Post.

Helfer told the Tribune that she was asked to leave her disciplinary hearing before it began on Sunday because she refused to turn off her phone, which contained her notes.

“It is common for participants to be asked to turn off technology (including cell phones) or leave it outside the room, as was the case with this council,” Hawksins said. “All but one of the participants complied with that request and had brought their statements in writing.”

Church members are taught not to have sex before marriage, engage in passionate kissing, touch another person’s private parts or arouse “emotions in your own body” that are supposed to be reserved for marriage. Homosexual relations also are forbidden even if a person is married or in a relationship.

Helfer did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment.

Her ouster means she’ll be leaving a religion she’s been a member of since she was 5 years old.

While not a lifelong ban, the withdrawal of a person's membership by church leaders amounts to the harshest punishment available for a member of the faith. These ousters used to be called excommunication before the faith changed the terminology last year to “withdrawal of church membership.”

People in this category can’t go inside temples where members are married and other ordinances such as baptisms for dead relatives are performed.

Sam Young, a man who led a campaign criticizing the church’s practice of allowing one-on-one interviews of youth by lay leaders that sometimes included sexual questions, was kicked out of the church in 2018. Kate Kelly, founder of a group pushing for women to be allowed in the religion’s lay clergy, was excommunicated in 2014.

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/mo ... 21431.html
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

To Protest Iran’s Anti-Gay Abuses, an Artist Painted a Dictator’s Car

“Wherever there is injustice, we need to talk about it,” Alireza Shojaian said.


The Paykan was the first car manufactured in Iran. Produced from 1967 to 2015, it started life as a licensed copy of an outmoded British vehicle, the Hillman Hunter, but it nevertheless became a symbol of national pride, priced for middle-class Iranians.

Paykans eventually became ubiquitous on the streets of Tehran, serving as sedans, wagons, pickups and taxis. In 1974, as a token of connection (or collusion) between two regimes, the shah of Iran gave a Paykan limousine to Nicolae Ceausescu, the Romanian dictator.

That very car made news again this May among Iranians, at home and in the expatriate community, when it appeared for sale at a Bucharest auction house. Though it had an expected hammer price of 10,000 euros, it ended up selling for €95,000. It has resurfaced, colorfully painted by the Iranian artist Alireza Shojaian, who identifies as queer, and was displayed recently at a human rights conference held in Miami.

“I am from Iran, but to be able to continue my art, I had to leave my country,” Mr. Shojaian said in a call from Paris, where he was granted asylum in 2019 after three years in exile in Beirut, citing the Iranian government’s brutal repression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.

The painting style that Mr. Shojaian used on the Paykan recalls the Shahnameh, a 10th century Persian epic poem. It is inspired specifically by the tale of Rostam, a father who kills his own son. Some panels depict the Iranian athlete Navid Afkari, who was arrested in 2018 during anti-government protests and executed by the state two years later. Others are inspired by Ali Fazeli Monfared, a 20-year-old gay man who was reportedly beheaded by family members when his sexuality was discovered.

“The sympathy we get for the story of the athlete is much bigger than the sympathy for Ali the gay young man,” Mr. Shojaian said. “This is the result of what the government did. With the lack of the knowledge in the society, they dehumanized him.”

“So I am putting both of them next to each other, saying, ‘they both are human beings; they both are children of this country,’” Mr. Shojaian continued. “And, wherever there is injustice, we need to talk about it.”

A sound installation plays inside the car. The first track is a reading of a note sent by Mr. Monfared to his boyfriend, who had fled to Turkey to seek asylum on the basis of his sexuality. “Ali also had the plan to go there, after three days, to join his boyfriend. He had the ticket,” Mr. Shojaian said.

Mr. Shojaian relished the opportunity to bring attention to his community's plight, but had to shift media to create an art car. “Usually, I use colored pencils, which is a very light material that I had to carry with me, because I always had to be an exile,” he said.

The car was acquired and the project funded by an organization called PaykanArtCar, which plans to choose an activist artist to repaint it annually to call attention to other repressed communities in Iran. A nonprofit based in Florida, it is run by Mark Wallace, an ambassador-level representative to the United Nations under President George W. Bush. Mr. Wallace, a longtime figure in Republican politics, is also the head of a group called United Against Nuclear Iran.

The car was unveiled on Oct. 4 at the Human Rights Foundation’s Oslo Freedom Forum in Miami. The foundation was founded by Thor Halvorssen, who approaches human rights from an individual rights perspective but aims to unite people across the political spectrum, he said. Donors to the foundation reflect this: they have included conservative organizations such the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the National Christian Foundation and the Donors Capital Fund; along with more liberal individuals like the Google co-founder Sergey Brin, the eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and the former Democratic National Committee treasurer Andrew Tobias.

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The car, painted by the artist Alireza Shojaian, depicts two Iranian men who were killed, one by the government, and one by family members.Credit...Courtesy of John Parra/Getty Images for PaykanArtCar

Still, these affiliations can raise suspicion in the Iranian diasporic community.

“Advocating for L.G.B.T.Q. rights in Iran is a noble thing,” said Nahid Siamdoust, assistant professor of media and Middle East studies at the University of Texas, Austin. “But neocon and right-wing organizations have used human rights reasonings and justifications in order to propel their own conservative policies — not just in the Middle East, but also at home.” Unfortunately, she continued, “those artists and spokespeople end up being the ones who lose their legitimacy with the wider population.”

Indeed, the backgrounds of the project’s sponsors have brought a backlash. The vehicle was set to be exhibited for the second time in late October at the Asia Now art fair in Paris, but the invitation was rescinded just days before the opening.

A public statement from the Asia Now founder and director, Alexandra Fain, offered an explanation. “This decision is in no way taken against the artist Ali Reza or his artistic practice,” Ms. Fain said, “and least of all against his commitment to the L.G.B.T.Q.+ cause, which Asia Now has always actively endorsed.” She went on, “The problem is neither the artist nor the project, but the organization supporting this project, which uses the L.G.B.T.Q.+ cause for priority reasons that are other than purely artistic, and which endanger the safety of the people working with us on our Iranian platform.” (Mr. Wallace, when asked for a comment, said, “I consider those statements defamatory.”)

Mr. Wallace defended both the art car project and his advocacy against the Iranian government. “Do I think that the regime should change or should be changed? Yeah. I do,” he said. “But I also think that the L.G.B.T.Q. community shouldn’t be killed by hanging from cranes inside of Iran, too. And I think it’s OK to think that.”

Mr. Halvorssen, too, offered a stern defense of the effort. “Trying to tar us by claiming that anyone who has conservative positions is instantly disqualified for having them is some kind of distortion of cancel culture that frankly is really quite reprehensible,” he said. “You should judge us for what we are doing. We should be criticized for having a car that stands for advocating against the mistreatment of gay people in Iran? And that’s a conservative principle? That’s absurd.”

Regardless of the controversy, Mr. Shojaian sees great merit in bringing attention to the issue. “Whoever is doing anything for the L.G.B.T. rights in Iran, I really appreciate that, because I totally understand how difficult that is,” he said, mentioning activists and organizations working, from exile, in Iran, such as 6rang. “We need to work to educate the society.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/busi ... 778d3e6de3
swamidada
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Re: Homosexuality

Post by swamidada »

USA TODAY
For Eid, the end of Ramadan, all LGBTQ Muslims want is acceptance, acknowledgement
Rasha Ali, USA TODAY
Thu, April 28, 2022, 1:10 PM
When Hamzeh Daoud tells most Muslims they're fasting for Ramadan – but not abiding by the religion's daily five prayers – they're met with a range of reactions, but one stings the worst: "You're not a real Muslim."

But Daoud is a real Muslim.

There's a stereotype of what being Muslim looks like in certain communities that usually involves wearing a hijab, praying daily, fasting during Ramadan and being cisgender and straight. When Muslims fall outside these boundaries, criticism is not uncommon, especially for an LGBTQ member of the community.

As the holy month of Ramadan comes to an end and Muslims around the world are gearing up to celebrate Eid al-Fitr by gathering and feasting with family, friends and neighbors, LGBTQ Muslims say they often feel left out, ostracized or forgotten.

Recently, Muslim Americans have become more accepting of LGBTQ Muslims, according to a 2017 Pew Research Center study, but members of the community say there is still a lot of room for growth. As of 2020, 67 countries criminalize consensual same-sex sexual acts between adults, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association’s (ILGA) report on state-sponsored homophobia. Many Muslim leaders and scholars condemn same-sex relationships and families and communities have been known to ostracize queer Muslims.

Historically, Islamic scholars have viewed homosexuality as sinful and many still continue to believe that. In 2013, when Daayiee Abdullah became the first openly gay Imam, his local Muslim colleagues refused to meet with him while others condemned him.

A 2020 report from the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute found that 106,000 LGBTQ adults identify as Muslim, and though the figure doesn't compare to the four million LGBTQ Christians and Catholics, the community wants to be acknowledged and accepted.

"Queer Muslims have always existed. Queer Africans have always existed. Queer Arabs have always existed. Queerness and queer people, Two-Spirit people, gender non-conforming people, all these identities are so historical and so embedded in our cultures," says Marwa Eltahir, a 2022 Activist-in-Residence, through The LGBTQ Community Center of NY fellow.

What does 'Two-Spirit' mean?: What to know about Two-Spirit, indigenous LGBTQ identities

"There's a really big myth that homosexuality is something that was imported or brought to the Muslim community. That's just historically false. What was imported into our psyche and cultural understanding is homophobia," she says.

"Finding other queer people who accept me as I am, without condition has been one of the most healing experiences," Marwa Eltahir says.
Eltahir notes a misconception in the Muslim community (and worldwide) is the idea that queerness is something people choose.

"I know that Allah created me exactly the way that I am," Eltahir says. "I know a lot of queer people, especially queer Muslim people, that upon first coming into their queerness actually didn't want to be queer."

Not all Muslims practice Islam the same: No I don't eat pork, but yes I'd love a glass (or five) of wine.

In light of these myths and attempts to reconcile their Palestinian, Islamic identity with their queerness, Daoud began exploring the history of queerness and transness in Islam and stumbled upon poet Abu Nuwas who wrote about queerness in the 8th century.

"There's queerness and transness that is rooted in Islamic tradition that might not be named queerness and transness, but it's very much on the sexuality and gender diversity expansiveness spectrum," Daoud says.

For Daoud, queerness means resistance. It means joy. It means love personified as fight. Which coincidentally, is also what Islam means to Daoud. It means struggle, surrender and fighting against the world's demonization of Islam.

Daoud and Eltahir are not the first, nor will they be the last, queer Muslim folks.

Often times members of the LGBTQ community are forced to distance themselves from Islam because they are either pushed away by the Ummah (Muslim community) or are made to hate the religion through practices that are rooted in punishment. Some end up embracing Islam only after later realizing they can be Muslim and queer and that's OK.

"It really hurts when people use the Quran or Islam to justify their own biases or mold it in order to fit what their cultural context and cultural biases are. Those are two separate things, do not conflate them," Eltahir says.

Hamzeh Daoud brings up a point they wholeheartedly believe about the religion: "Islam is inherently queer."
Daoud doesn't think there's anything inherently wrong with Islam as a practice, but they do think there's something wrong with the ways the religion has been interpreted and wielded as a tool for power and suppression, which they know is not unique to Islam.

Not only are LGBTQ Muslims forced to face homophobia within the Muslim community, they're also left to navigate Islamophobia. And for Black and African Muslims, racism too.

"You're kind of stuck in this middle ground of like, you're trying to prove your humanity to Muslims who invalidate you as queer and trans, but then you're also trying to prove your humanity to queer and trans communities, but then also to a larger Western community who hates Islam and wants to find any reason to hate on Islam," Daoud says. "That's such a difficult position to be in."

Daoud, who came to study at Stanford University on a student visa, was unable to go back to Jordan after they shared they were queer and trans with their family. They were left to navigate a complex system of seeking asylum in the United States all while being unable to work due to visa restrictions.

Daoud's experience inspired them to work on a survey with Queer Crescent aimed at gathering data on the LGBTQ Muslim community.

"We want to take it a step further so that we're not stuck in this space where we are simply talking about how valid queer and trans Muslims are... We need to start pointing out all the different ways that this invalidity has material consequences," Daoud says.

Eltahir notes that though there are many hardships that come with being a person of color, who's queer and Muslim, there are many other parts of her life that spark joy.

"For many queer folks, including my self, our blood family can feel far away from our queer life and identity. Finding other queer people who accept me as I am, without condition has been one of the most healing experiences," she says.

That joy, she says, is in itself also an act of resistance. She created "Our Political Home," a series that brings together queer African first-generation community members through storytelling.

"It is within the comfort and safety of this community that I am able to show up as a queer Muslim in all my magic and joy," she says.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ramadan: Muslims want you to know 'queer Muslims have always existed'

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ei ... 45577.html
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Re: Homosexuality

Post by Admin »

Question for the sake of knowledge. Not that I am making any kind of judgement. In fact I attended an interview of Archbishop Desmond Tutu after an Episcopal Conference and he said people have to talk of other things than what some are doing in their bedroom. But is seems that society is talking of this group more than anything else.

In Canada there are 100,000 LGBTQ (it seems this extends by the day, now it is LGBTQIAS2+)

This represent less than 0,27% of the population of 38,000,000.

But take the news, the TV talk shows, search engines... it looks like a lot of time of even our Law makes and even our Prime Minister's time is dedicated to this group.

What would be the reason of so much hypes dedicated to a so small group if the population while no one talks of the 600,000 people living with heart failure in the same country or other groups such as the 1.6 millions autochtones which are much more important in number. Is it because people want to be seen as politically correct? Is it because the group is feared or is it because it is subject to curiosity?
swamidada
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Re: Homosexuality

Post by swamidada »

Texas Pastor Calls for Gay People to Be Shot in the Head
Donald Padgett
Fri, June 10, 2022, 9:54 AM

Hate Church Paster Calls For Execution of “Sodomites” Dillon Awes

A pastor at a church in Texas labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center delivered a sermon calling for the government execution of LGBTQ+ folks, and it’s not the first time he’s made such disturbing calls for violence.

In his sermon entitled, Why We Won’t Shut Up, Dillon Awes of the Stedfast Baptist Church in Hurst said gay men were predatory pedophiles who have either committed sex crimes against a child or just haven’t had the opportunity to do so yet, leading him to the conclusion that “We need to put these people to death through the proper channels of the government.”

Awes claimed the Bible’s solution to what he called the “sodomite deception” is queer people “should be lined up against the wall and shot in the back of the head.”

“What does God say is the answer, is the solution for the homosexual in 2022, here in the New Testament, here in the book of Romans? That they are worthy of death,” Awes said. “Every single homosexual in our country should be charged with a crime, the abomination of homosexuality that they have, they should be convicted in a lawful trial, they should be sentenced to death, they should be lined up against a wall and shot in the back of the head.”

Awes and the Stedfast Baptist Church are in the midst of an anti-Pride month where he visits various local churches and organizations celebrating Pride, and films himself calling these churches blasphemous and tools of satan.

Last month, another preacher at the church, Jonathan Shelley, made the news for his call to commit violence against LGBTQ+ people. At an Arlington City Council meeting in May, Shelley railed against Pride, saying the Bible teaches “we should hate pride, not celebrate it.”

“God’s already ruled that murder, adultery, witchcraft, rape, bestiality, and homosexuality are crimes worthy of capital punishment,” he said.

Stedfast Baptist Church’s website says the government should impose the death penalty for homosexuality, but “Christians should not take the law into their own hands.” Other things it lists as sins include abortion, birth control, in vitro fertilization, feminism, and ecumenicalism. It doesn’t say if these are worthy of capital punishment. It’s an independent church, not affiliated with any larger Baptist body.

Awes has also produced a video called the Sodomite Deception which purports to center the alleged dangers of the LGBTQ+ community, but appears to contain little more than anti-gay epithets and threats.

“Why aren’t all these Baptists standing up and saying these freaks should go back to hell, should go back to the closet, put a bullet in your head?” Awes angrily asks in the trailer of the movie. “Why aren’t they saying it?”

“No homos will ever be allowed on this church as long as I’m the pastor here!” Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church shrieks in the film. “Never!”

More ominously, Aaron Thompson of the Sure Foundation Baptist Church calls for the murder of the LGBTQ+ community in the film.

“Is the law of the lord perfect or is it not?” Thompson asks. “It’s perfect, and what did he say? Put them to death.”

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/cm/ ... 52794.html
kmaherali
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Uganda Arrests Man on Antigay Charge Punishable by Death

Post by kmaherali »

Prosecutors used the death penalty provision of a newly passed law to charge a 20-year-old man. The measure has sown widespread fear among gay Ugandans.

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The Ugandan Parliament in May during the passage of a bill imposing severe penalties for same-sex sexual acts. It drew condemnation from human rights groups and the United Nations.Credit...Abubaker Lubowa/Reuters

Ugandan prosecutors have lodged charges of “aggravated homosexuality” against a 20-year-old man — a crime punishable by death — in one of the country’s first applications of a provision included in one of the world’s harshest antigay laws.

Same-sex acts had long been considered illegal under Uganda’s penal code, but a law enacted this year introduced far harsher penalties and vastly extended the range of perceived offenses. Its passage drew condemnation from human rights groups and the United Nations, and the Biden administration called it “one of the most extreme” antigay measures in the world.

The measure, signed into law in May, called for life in prison for anyone who engaged in gay sex and allowed the death penalty for what it labeled “aggravated homosexuality.” That category included same-sex relations with disabled people, who were defined very broadly.

Prosecutors used the death penalty provision this month to charge a 20-year-old man with having sexual intercourse with a 41-year-old man with a disability in the city of Soroti, in Eastern Uganda, according to Jacquelyn Okui, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution. (A separate case against a different man, lodged last month, involved an underage person, Ms. Okui said.)

In Uganda, a conservative, mostly Christian country, many religious leaders and politicians have painted same-sex relations as a Western import. “Africans are being used to accept this nonsense of the Western world, and homosexuality is on the agenda,” James Nsaba Buturo, a former minister of ethics and integrity in the Ugandan government, said in March.

Antigay behavior took a particularly severe turn in Uganda over the past year, with authorities removing rainbow colors from a park and parents charging into a school because they thought a gay person taught there.

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A crowd of young people, mostly wearing shirts and ties, some holding signs. One says, “Thank U Rt. Hon. Speaker to Protect Our Values!”
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Ugandan students in Kampala, Uganda, on a walk in May to show appreciation for President Yoweri Museveni’s signing of the law.Credit...Abubaker Lubowa/Reuters

Justine Balya, a director at the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, said the new law, and the draconian punishments it outlines, had intimidated gay Ugandans.

Her organization, which is representing the 20-year-old, has reported that overall violence and abuse against L.G.B.T.Q. people have increased since the law’s passage: Fifty-three people have been evicted from rented property for reasons linked to their sexual orientation or gender identity, 47 have faced violence or threats of violence and 17 have been arrested on various charges related to sexuality or gender identity.

Frank Mugisha, a prominent gay-rights activist in Uganda, said that many others feared they would lose their jobs or were afraid to visit public places for fear of being attacked or arrested. Some began fleeing the country earlier, as the law made its way through Parliament.

“It has been a brutal three months for the community in Uganda,” said Ms. Balya, who argued that the law was unconstitutional.

Uganda has not had an execution in about 20 years, Ms. Balya said — the death penalty usually winds up as life imprisonment — but advocates say that the harsh legal climate has put L.G.B.T.Q. people in even more danger.

“People are freaking out,” Mr. Mugisha said, adding that many gay or lesbian Ugandans feared they could be arrested at any time and that he worried about an increase in blackmail as a result.

“This law is creating a witch hunt,” he said.

The antigay effort in Uganda drew support from local Christian and Muslim groups along with the financial and logistical backing of conservative evangelical groups in the United States. Politicians insisted that homosexuality was undermining Ugandan stability and putting children at risk.

Even before the latest law, the Ugandan authorities stopped people suspected of being gay on what rights groups said were fabricated pretexts. As early as 2009, a Ugandan politician introduced a bill that threatened to hang gay people. Western countries exhorted Uganda to halt the crackdown and threatened to cut aid to the country.

But the country’s president, Yoweri Museveni, signed the 2023 law in May.

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A group of people holding signs with slogans including “President Museveni; Do not sign the anti-homosexuality bill!” and “Uganda, kill the bill, not the gays. Equality!”
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A protest in South Africa in April opposing Uganda’s law. Same-sex conduct is a crime in more than 60 countries, according to a survey by Human Rights Watch.Credit...Phill Magakoe/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A handful of countries around the world had already imposed the death penalty for gay sex, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, and same-sex conduct is a crime in more than 60 countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, according to a survey by Human Rights Watch.

The Ugandan crackdown comes at a time when other African nations are facing the rise of similarly antigay policies and behavior.

A broad anti-L.G.B.T.Q. law is moving through Ghana’s Parliament, and a lawmaker in Kenya is campaigning for a bill to impose harsher penalties on same-sex sexual acts.

Mr. Mugisha, the gay-rights activist, said that the prosecutions in Uganda might energize these countries to pass the laws.

“They will see the law works,” he said. “They will want to do the same.”

Emma Bubola is a reporter based in London. More about Emma Bubola

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/29/worl ... arges.html
kmaherali
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American Catholics Split on Pope’s Blessing for Gay Couples

Post by kmaherali »

Some conservatives registered disappointment, but gay Catholics hailed the new rule as a landmark moment for the church’s acceptance of L.G.B.T.Q. faithful.

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Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican last month. He announced on Monday that he would allow priests to bless same-sex couples.Credit...Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press

Pope Francis announced on Monday that he would allow priests to bless same-sex couples, a shift that angered some conservatives but was celebrated by those who said that the decision was a substantial step in moving the church toward greater acceptance of L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics.

“It really is a landmark and milestone in the church’s relationship with L.G.B.T.Q. people that can’t be overestimated or overstated,” Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland group that has advocated on behalf of gay Catholics since the 1970s, said. “This declaration is proof that church teaching can — and does — change.”

Conservative Catholics in the United States, many of whom are deeply skeptical of Francis’ leadership, were disappointed. Some reacted with anger and others with a sense of resignation.

The pope’s decision was issued “in contradiction to the unchangeable Catholic teaching that the church cannot bless sinful relationships,” the conservative LifeSiteNews wrote.

The pope’s decision does not mean that the church will now marry same-sex couples. Priests may now offer blessings to people in same-sex marriages, although the blessings must not take the form of a liturgical rite that could be confused with the sacrament of marriage, and they cannot include “any clothing, gestures or words that are proper to a wedding.”

//More on the Roman Catholic Church
//A High-Profile Case: A Vatican criminal court sentenced Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, once one of the church’s most powerful officials, to five and a half years in prison for financial crimes.
//Cremation Rules: The Vatican said that Catholic families may ask to preserve “a minimal part of the ashes” of a relative in a place of significance to the deceased, softening a previous mandate that ashes could be kept only in “sacred spaces” like cemeteries.
//Running Out of Patience: Pope Francis, who recently moved against two of his most vocal critics in the United States, seems increasingly focused on settling scores and cleaning house.
//In the American Catholic Church: The pope’s increasingly open pushback against conservatives in the church has nurtured a deep wariness of his leadership in certain pockets of Catholic life in America.

The new rule upends the Vatican’s longtime assertion that blessing same-sex couples at all would undermine the church’s teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman, including a 2021 ruling that said God “cannot bless sin.”

The head of the church’s office on doctrine, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, wrote in an introduction to the papal document that it was “based on the pastoral vision of Pope Francis.”

In a brief and cautious statement, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops emphasized the distinction between formal sacramental blessings and “pastoral blessings.”

“The church’s teaching on marriage has not changed, and this declaration affirms that, while also making an effort to accompany people through the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs God’s healing love and mercy in our lives,” Chieko Noguchi, a spokeswoman for the bishops, said.

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, an outspoken conservative in a city known as a longtime vanguard of gay rights, stressed that the document did not change Catholic doctrine.

“I encourage those who have questions to read the Vatican declaration closely, and in continuity with the church’s unchanging teaching,” he said in a statement. “Doing so will enable one to understand how it encourages pastoral solicitude while maintaining fidelity to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Francis signaled in October that he was open to the possibility of blessing same-sex couples, the latest in a series of moves on L.G.B.T.Q. issues since Cardinal Fernández assumed his role as the Vatican’s head of church doctrine. In November, the pope made clear that transgender people could be baptized, serve as godparents and be witnesses at church weddings in certain circumstances.

The document does not suggest that every priest will be expected to offer blessings in every circumstance, but some Catholic leaders worried that the guidance could create awkwardness for priests who declined a request from a gay couple as a matter of conscience.

Young priests in the United States are overwhelmingly conservative, even more so than the older cohort of bishops who lead them, setting up the possibility of conflicts in individual parishes and dioceses.

“I will never confer a blessing upon two men or two women who are involved in a sexual relationship that is by its nature gravely sinful,” said the Rev. Gerald Murray, the pastor at Holy Family Church in New York and an outspoken conservative. “The pope has placed priests who uphold Catholic doctrine about the immorality of sodomy and adultery into a terrible position.”

For many conservatives, the document was the logical culmination of a papacy that began with Francis asking, “Who am I to judge?” in response to a question about gay priests in 2013. Though he has made few concrete changes, Francis has signaled for years that he intended to take a softer line on Catholic doctrine on sexuality and marriage, emphasizing openness over restriction.

“It’s another one of these ways to approve of homosexual relations without actually saying we’re approving of them,” said Peter Kwasniewski, a traditionalist Catholic author.

The decision is unlikely to agitate most Catholics in the American pews. More than six in 10 Catholics in the United States said they supported same-sex marriage in a survey by the Pew Research Center in 2019.

Marianne Duddy-Burke, the executive director of DignityUSA, an organization supporting L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics, said the shift from the Vatican’s 2021 statement was “meteoric.”

But Ms. Duddy-Burke, who is married to a woman, said she would not be seeking a blessing for her marriage. “We don’t feel that a blessing from a priest is necessary to validate our commitment or relationship,” she said.

And much was left to be done, as Ms. Duddy-Burke saw it. “It feels like another window in the church has been opened,” she said, “while we’re still waiting for the doors to be thrown wide.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/us/p ... 778d3e6de3
kmaherali
Posts: 25107
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Making History on a Tuesday Morning, With the Church’s Blessing

Post by kmaherali »

A day after the pope’s announcement that Catholic priests may bless same-sex couples, one New York couple receives theirs.

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The Rev. James Martin gives a blessing to Jason Steidl Jack, left, and his husband, Damian Steidl Jack, center, in Manhattan.Credit...James Estrin/The New York Times

As a Jesuit priest for more than two decades, the Rev. James Martin has bestowed thousands of blessings — on rosary beads, on babies, on homes, boats, and meals, on statues of saints, on the sick, on brides and on grooms.

Never before, though, was he permitted to bless a same-sex couple — not until Monday, when the pope said he would allow such blessings, an announcement that reverberated through the church.

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On Tuesday morning, Damian Steidl Jack, 44, and his husband, Jason Steidl Jack, 38, stood before Father Martin in a living room on Manhattan’s West Side. The couple, running a bit late because of subway delays, dressed casually. Damian, a floral designer, complimented Father Martin on the pine smell of the Christmas tree.

In keeping with the Vatican’s admonition that such a blessing should not be performed with “any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding,” Father Martin wore no robes, and read from no text. There is no blessing for same-sex couples in the thick book of blessings published by the U.S. Conference of Bishops. Instead he selected a favorite of his own from the Old Testament.

“May the Lord bless and keep you,” Father Martin began, touching the two men’s shoulders. They bowed their heads slightly, and held hands.

“May the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his countenance to you and give you joy and peace.

“And may almighty God bless you,” he said, making the sign of the cross, “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

And then, with emotion evident on their faces, the three men hugged.

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Two men in suits kiss.
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Damian Steidl Jack, left, and his husband, Jason Steidl Jack, on their wedding day at Judson Memorial Church in the West Village in 2022.

Father Martin is arguably the highest-profile advocate for L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics in America. He has met frequently with Pope Francis about making the Roman Catholic Church more inclusive, and in the fall he participated in a global gathering on the church’s future at the pope’s invitation.

//More on the Roman Catholic Church
//Blessings for Gay Couples: The Vatican said that Pope Francis has allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, his most definitive step yet to make the Roman Catholic Church more welcoming to L.G.B.T.Q. people. The decision caused mixed reactions among American Catholics.
//A High-Profile Case: A Vatican criminal court sentenced Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, once one of the church’s most powerful officials, to five and a half years in prison for financial crimes.
//Cremation Rules: The Vatican said that Catholic families may ask to preserve “a minimal part of the ashes” of a relative in a place of significance to the deceased, softening a previous mandate that ashes could be kept only in “sacred spaces” like cemeteries.
//Running Out of Patience: Pope Francis, who recently moved against two of his most vocal critics in the United States, seems increasingly focused on settling scores and cleaning house.

On Tuesday morning, he was far from the halls of power. He was at home, making history. Father Martin had waited years for the privilege of saying such a prayer, however simple, out in the open.

“It was really nice,” Father Martin said on Tuesday, “to be able to do that publicly.”

The pope’s decision was greeted as a landmark victory by advocates for gay Catholics, who describe it as a significant gesture of openness and pastoral care, and a reminder that an institution whose age is measured in millenniums can change.

The decision does not overturn the church’s doctrine that marriage is between a man and a woman. It does not allow priests to perform same-sex marriages. It takes pains to differentiate between the sacrament of marriage — which must take place in a church — and a blessing, which is a more informal, even spontaneous, gesture. And, a priest’s blessing of a same-sex couple should not take place in connection with a civil marriage ceremony, it says.

News of the pope’s decision spread quickly among gay Catholics, many of whom began preparations for blessings of their own after the busy Christmas season.

On the morning of the pope’s announcement, Michael McCabe’s husband, Eric Sherman, ran into his home office in their apartment in Forest Hills, Queens, bursting with news: Their 46-year partnership could at last be blessed.

“You wait so long for the church to come around, you kind of give up hope,” said Mr. McCabe, 73, who attends Mass every Sunday at the Church of St. Francis Xavier in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

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Two men embrace.
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Michael McCabe, left, and Eric Sherman at their home in Queens, New York. The two have been together for 46 years, and are looking forward to being blessed by a priest in the new year.Credit...Sarah Blesener for The New York Times

The couple married in 2010 in Connecticut, before same-sex marriages became legal in their home state of New York. They had long been resigned to the church’s stance, even if they had not fully made peace with it, Mr. McCabe said.

“I know that myself and my relationship with my husband are good things,” said Mr. McCabe, who taught catechism to first graders at the church.

Although the pope’s decision stops short of recognizing Mr. McCabe’s marriage, he said he could only find the joy in the news. After rejoicing with his husband on Monday, he emailed his priest. They plan to receive a blessing early in the new year.

It wasn’t immediately clear how different priests across the country would respond to the pope’s invitation to bless gay couples. The announcement gives individual priests latitude and encouragement to offer the blessings, but does not require them to do so. Gay couples living in more liberal dioceses may be more likely to find a willing priest than those living in conservative dioceses. In Chicago, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, a close ally of Pope Francis, issued a statement saying that in his archdiocese, “we welcome this declaration, which will help many more in our community feel the closeness and compassion of God.” Many other bishops have remained mum so far. Conservative critics have said the pope’s move essentially encourages priests to bless sin.

“I’m sure many old bishops are open to this, and many young priests will have to be convinced,” said Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology at Villanova University, noting that young Catholic priests in the United States are overwhelmingly conservative.

In New York City, where a handful of progressive Catholic churches have been on the forefront of welcoming L.G.B.T.Q. parishioners, but have stopped short of marrying them and sanctifying their unions, the news from the Vatican was just as exciting for some priests as it was for their parishioners.

“I say it is about darn time,” said the Rev. Joseph Juracek, pastor of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Midtown, who believes the church is finally aligning with Jesus’ teachings: “This is what he is all about: That God is for all people.”

While many Catholics celebrated the pope’s decision, others felt it was too little, too late. Some L.G.B.T.Q. people who left the church years ago, feeling unwelcome, said it was a half-measure that would not tempt them to return.

Thomas Molina-Duarte, 37, a social worker in Detroit, was an active member of his local Catholic parish for many years. But when he and his husband married, they had to do so in an Episcopal church, and they eventually joined a “home church,” where they gather with a small group to do close readings of texts from the Bible.

“I welcome the news, but it’s not going to make me come back to the church,” Mr. Molina-Duarte said of the pope’s decision. “We’ve found a community of other people that we felt we could bring our full selves to.”

In New York City, Damian and Jason Steidl Jack, who were married last year, had previously discussed the possibility of a blessing with Father Martin, a longtime friend of Jason’s. When Father Martin texted on Monday afternoon and asked if they wanted a blessing, they leaped at the offer.

“God’s grace is at work in our lives, whether the Vatican issues an announcement or not,” said Jason, an assistant teaching professor of religious studies at St. Joseph’s University in Brooklyn and an advocate for gay Catholics. “But we are eager for the support of our communities and of our pastors who look after us.”

Walking back to the subway from Father Martin’s Jesuit community residence, Jason and Damian said the blessing he had given them felt both ordinary and profound.

“It’s one grace of many,” Jason said. They were a part of history, and they were also on their way to meet Damian’s mother at Walmart to shop for Christmas groceries.

“It’s like you said,” Jason told his husband, “It’s like we’re claiming our space.”

Kirsten Noyes contributed research.

Audio produced by Adrienne Hurst.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/us/c ... ancis.html
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