Thanks to my brother Victor( I only really have one but still…) for the link and heads-up.
December 9, 2011
Homophobic bullying represents grave violation of human rights – Ban
8 December 2011 –Homophobic bullying of young people constitutes a “grave violation of human rights,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, urging States to take the necessary measures to protect their citizens from violence and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Bullying of this kind is not restricted to a few countries but goes on in schools and local communities in all parts of the world,” Mr. Ban said in a message delivered by Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Šimonovic to a panel discussion on ending violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation at UN Headquarters in New York.
“It affects young people all the way through to adulthood, causing enormous and unnecessary suffering. Bullied children may become depressed and drop out of school. Some are even driven to suicide.”
Mr. Ban stressed the need to change harmful attitudes in society that encourage discriminatory laws and practices by State authorities.
“Tackling this problem is a shared challenge. We all have a role, whether as parents, family members, teachers, neighbours, community leaders, journalists, religious figures or public officials,” he said, adding that States are legally obliged to protect their citizens from this type of violence.
There are currently 76 countries where individuals face criminal sanctions for engaging in private in consensual sexual relations with another adult of the same sex, Mr. Šimonovic told the panel, adding that the UN has been working to establish dialogue with these States to advance the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons and that while several countries have made remarkable progress, there is still much to be done.
“Gradually, States are coming to see that the commitments to eliminate discrimination enshrined in the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights] and in our core United Nations human rights treaties apply to everyone, not just heterosexuals but gays and lesbians and bisexual, transgender and intersex people too.”
October 22, 2011
New report on discrimination in Europe
A new report by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights on discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity doesn’t exactly paint a rosy picture of Europe.
Many people in Europe are stigmatised because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity and cannot fully enjoy their universal human rights. Some of them are victims of hate crimes and may not receive protection when attacked in the street by fellow citizens, while some of their organisations are denied registration or are banned from organising peaceful meetings and demonstrations. Some people have fled to Council of Europe member states from countries where they risk being tortured or executed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Too few opinion leaders and political leaders have taken a firm stand against homophobic and transphobic expressions, discrimination and violence.
Read the full report (PDF file) here.
May 18, 2011
Interview with Colin Robinson of CAISO
Interview with Colin Robinson of Trinidad & Tobago’s Coalition Advocating for the Inclusion of Sexual Orientation. This interviewed on ieTV Channel 1, Trinidad on May 18, 2011.
March 25, 2011
Another troubling proposed UN resolution – this time from South Africa
Via Mail & Guardian
“The resolution calls for an “open-ended intergovernmental working group to elaborate [on] new concepts such as sexual orientation”, and “decides that the aforementioned working group shall be the single modality and framework of the United Nations Human Rights Council within which all the deliberations on sexual orientation … shall be undertaken”.
The proposal has riled South African and international human rights and gay rights activists. Said Zackie Achmat, co-founder of the Social Justice Coalition: “As it stands the resolution would be unconstitutional.”
Read the article here.
December 21, 2010
The travesty of a UN vote is now reversed.
In the Caribbean St. Lucia shamelessly voted no to reinserting ‘sexual orientation’ into a resolution condemning extrajudicial killings. Trinidad & Tobago ( shockingly) abstained again while Jamaica, unsuprisingly, also abstained.
November 25, 2010
Trying to Understand What Triggers Hatred and Bullying
As I mentioned in a previous entry I downloaded the book pictured above to my Kindle reader in an effort to make some sense of all the hatred and bullying that affects LGBT kids. I am not fooling myself into thinking that a genetic/fetal hormone explanation for same sex attraction will suddenly make all the ignorance go away . Last time I checked being black or Asian was also genetic and those groups still have a lot of crap to endure from the ignorati. I am hoping to see why some kids get attacked for being gay or lesbian even before they have any clue what those terms mean. Young kids have no firm grasp on what sex or sexuality is and yet even at a very young age they are often singled out by bullies and their lives are made a living hell. I am pretty sure that the vast majority of LGBT kids who are victimized don’t even act on their attraction until years later.
The book, written by (gay) former Harvard neuroscientist Simon LaVey looks at many possible determining factors that might lead to someone being gay or lesbian. He examines the more likely scientific explanations such as genes, hormonal influences in the womb and permutations of those scenarios as well as casting a scientific eye on the usual “mommy’s boy” and “daddy’s girl” theories. His analysis is deep and determined.
I am not finished reading yet but one section stood out for me in terms of the bullying issue:
“Psychiatrists who have seen many gay men in their practices do report that such men consistently speak of having been gender-nonconformist during their childhoods. Thus, Richard Isay, himself a gay man, wrote as follows:
Each of the several hundred gay men I have seen in consultation or treatment over the past 30 years has described having had one or more gender-discordant traits during childhood. Most frequently, they report a lack of interest in rough-and-tumble or aggressive sports; many speak of having preferred to play with girls rather than other boys… . Almost all recall that as children they felt a close bond with their mothers, with whom they shared many interests.
Reports such as this suggest that the stereotypes are correct, but still, there is reason for caution in interpreting them . Typically, these reports deal with gay men, not lesbians. And they may not be representative of all gay men: Boys who are strongly gender-nonconformist are more likely than other boys to experience anxiety and depression in adulthood, and for this reason may be more likely to end up in therapy.”
Mind you it is a no-brainer to me that the reason these kids experience depression and thoughts of suicide is because they believe all of humanity views them as an aberration and a sinner destined to rot forever in hell. They are too young to sort sense from deluded religious nonsense.
Even though ( as is obvious to most of us) pre-gay kids may display gender non-conformist behaviors at an early age , the victimization problem lies squarely on the shoulders of the parents of the bullies. If they raise kids who cannot see variations from the norm in terms of appearance and behavior without attacking the difference – they have to look at themselves as the cause. Parents teach intolerance in many ways, sometimes they are subtle and sometimes they are overt. If your normal dinner table conversation involves words like “those faggots” then don’t be surprised if your child ends up in court.
Without giving the game away; the author scientist seems to leave little doubt that being gay or lesbian is something that is biologically ingrained. And speaking of which who knew that sheep were closest to humans in having a definite orientation regardless of the ratio of males to females? Hello Dolly!
