Often shunned by family, Oregon's gay Latinos fight for respect
When 16-year-old Edna Vazquez of Colima, Mexico, fell in love with a young woman, her parents ran her out of the house. They sent Vazquez to live with relatives in Oregon, hoping a separation from her girlfriend would save their only daughter and the family honor.
At first, Vazquez -- who had known she was gay since childhood -- felt like a fish in water. She joined the club for gay youths at Century High School in Hillsboro. She reveled in the sight of same-sex couples publicly holding hands. Oregon seemed so unlike Colima, where she had been singled out, ridiculed, even fired from a job for being gay.
But the bubble quickly burst. As family in Mexico continued to repudiate her, so did fellow Latinos in Oregon. Through sideways glances and snide remarks, Vazquez understood that the Portland area, known as a haven for gay and transgender folks, offered her little refuge.
"Emotionally, I felt like I was back in Mexico," said Vazquez, now 31, who is one of several individuals and organizations working to break through taboos on homosexuality in the Latino community.
"Latinos here see us with fear or with compassion, but never as equals," she said. "They think something is wrong with us."
Latino culture includes rigid gender roles and a preoccupation with masculinity known as "machismo," said Rafael M. Díaz, professor at the Cesar Chavez Institute at San Francisco State University.
"Among Latinos, homosexuality is understood as a problem with your gender, and there is a lot of shame connected with that," Díaz said. "The Latino culture is obsessed with the question, 'Are you a man or a woman?'"
For years, Vazquez struggled with accepting herself as a lesbian Latina. She battled shame and isolation, turning to self-destructive behavior, including a suicide attempt.
"For my parents, it was disgusting. It killed them that I wasn't a woman who was going to get married," Vazquez said. "Their fear was that people would find out they had a lesbian daughter and shame the family name."
Many hide their sexuality
Because more Latino sexual minorities call Oregon home, their plight has become urgent, said Dañel Malán, artistic director of Portland-based Teatro Milagro and co-founder of the Latino Sexual Health Coalition.
Many Latino gays hide their orientation from other Latinos, Malán said, and they're not visible in the mainstream gay community.
Some gay Latinos are told they are failures as men or women, Díaz said. Some families say their disapproval is based on wanting to protect their children from growing up alone, being harassed or contracting HIV.
There is some recent acceptance in Latin America: Mexico City legalized same-sex marriage in December; Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador allow civil unions. But prejudice remains high, with several generations caught in between, Díaz said.
Many gay Latinos feel they must leave home, but that's a "geographic pseudo-cure," Díaz said.
"Some Latinos come to the United States in order to find a more acceptable way to live their homosexuality," Díaz said. "But those who have not received the family blessing remain conflicted. It creates a split because family is very important in the Latino community."
And Latino gays must get used to a double-minority status, Díaz said. They may face prejudice based on ethnicity or skin color from the mainstream culture and prejudice for being gay from their own ethnic group. "Coming out" means risking not only rejection from family and community, but also the loss of a refuge, a mainstay of familiarity and assistance in a new country.
"Gay Latinos constantly struggle with multiple identities, trying to be accepted for all the aspects of who they are," said Marysol Asencio, a professor at the University of Connecticut. "Some say, I have two strikes against me, because I'm Latino and gay. Can I be both? What does that mean in terms of my ability to access resources, to feel supported and included?"
Most struggle with identity
Vazquez moved to Oregon in 1997, as the gay community in the state was gaining momentum after the defeat of countless state and local anti-gay measures.
As Vazquez learned English and worked minimum-wage jobs, she was mocked by fellow Latinos, called hateful names and interrogated about her intimate life. The Spanish-language television programs she watched perpetuated stereotypes about gays, she said. Vazquez started to drink heavily and attempted suicide.
"For me, being gay and Latino was a trauma that I had to overcome," Vazquez said.
Few safe spaces exist for gay Latinos. At Embers, a nightclub on Northwest Broadway, couples sway to salsa and cumbia during Latino gay night late Sunday evenings. But when Vazquez meets gay Latino friends at a gay bar, some whisper to her: "Don't tell anyone that you saw me here!"
Many Latinos don't identify with being gay, said David Zambrano, a Multnomah County community health specialist who does outreach in Rockwood to talk about sexuality and disease prevention.
"They say, 'Oh, I was just with that man, but I'm not gay,'" Zambrano said.
Vazquez didn't want to hide; and she didn't want to be ridiculed. She realized she needed to prove the stereotypes wrong. In 2004, she checked herself into a rehab clinic and remains sober. She is completing an associate's degree in education at Mt. Hood Community College.
Vazquez also rediscovered her talent: a deep, low-timbre voice. She joined a mariachi band, a traditionally male genre, and battled to gain the respect of fellow musicians. She now sings and plays guitar professionally.
She hopes to help others on their journey.
"I want Latinos to understand that we are human beings, that they shouldn't treat us differently," Vazquez said. "I hope people can let go of their fear and that our community understands that homosexuality is nothing wrong."
Trying to break taboos
To support gay Latinos such as Vazquez, several groups are raising community awareness.
"American Sueño," which premiered Friday at Teatro Milagro, tells the stories of four marginalized immigrant Latinos -- gay, lesbian and transgender -- as they struggle between living with their family traditions and searching for their identities.
Written by local playwright Rebecca Martínez, it is based on anonymous stories collected at community forums and from the actors, all of whom are gay or transgender.
They are the stories of real Oregon Latinos: a gay man who committed suicide; others who were told they are diseased and need to be fixed; homeless gay teens disowned by their parents; and gay businessmen who lead double lives in order not to lose customers.
The message of the play, which will tour Oregon cities and schools, "is that we just want to be people and we want to be accepted. And we want to be able to talk about it," Malán said.
Last month, several gay Latino leaders in Portland formed the first social and educational group for gay Latinos in the metro area. The group, SOMOS, hopes to provide a safe meeting space for gay Latinos and connect people to resources. The group plans an anti-homophobia campaign.
"We want to be part of the social change so our rights and dreams can be respected," said Cesar Pecori, one of the group's founders. "We want to help break the stigma of being gay among Latinos."
source:
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/01/often_shunned_by_family_oregon.html
Monday, January 18, 2010
Gay man is victimized twice, by killer and state
Gay man is victimized twice, by killer and state
He died before Md. compensation board could act; partner can't collect
Glen H. Footman would appear to be the perfect candidate to get a check from Maryland's Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.
He was shot in September 2008 while walking hand-in-hand with his longtime partner, Alex Chavarria, on Howard Street in Mount Vernon. Witnesses told police that a young man, previously overheard saying, "I'm going to kill myself a gay tonight," stopped to ask Footman a question or bum a cigarette, and then shot him twice.
Baltimore police classified the shooting as a possible hate crime but have not made any arrests. Footman spent months at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, then at a rehabilitation center, then at home. In July, he returned to Shock Trauma for more surgery, and he died Nov. 9.
Glen H. Footman, a true victim if there ever was one in Baltimore, died too soon to get any money from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.
A spokesman for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which oversees the panel, told me an investigator had put the application on the docket in early November, but the board wasn't due to vote until a week after Footman died.
And because Footman, 52, had no spouse and no dependents, there is no one for the state to give the money to.
Footman and Chavarria, together for 13 years, could not marry in Maryland. And had they been legally wed in one of the few states that recognizes gay marriage, it is unclear whether Chavarria could receive compensation here. Maryland's attorney general is working on an opinion as to whether this state would recognize unions that are legal elsewhere.
But even that indignity isn't what has Chavarria, who has moved back to his home state of Texas, so upset.
He is angrier with what he calls bureaucratic fumbling by the board, which he says repeatedly delayed dealing with the case because of lost faxes, missed information and poor record-keeping. He said one clerk told him she had misplaced his file and that it had to be redone and resubmitted.
"I am upset and disappointed that this program never helped us and is not organized to work, even for those who do it right from the start," Chavarria said in an e-mail. "Why does the board not recognize that the victims include the family and/or caregivers who are truly the ones supporting everything financially?"
The Assembly created the compensation board in 1968 to help "innocent victims of crime" and it has paid out more than $100 million. No tax money is used; the money is raised through court costs and fees paid by offenders. The board receives about 1,700 claims a year, and it paid out $6.5 million in fiscal 2009.
The money is to help victims or their families defray medical costs not covered by insurance, cover lost wages, get counseling and even wipe away the blood from scenes of violence. Many criminals try to get money out of the board, and each case has to be investigated; having a criminal record does not disqualify applicants - a convicted heroin dealer can later be a legitimate victim of a crime. But the applicant is not paid if the injury was sustained while committing a crime.
The compensation board was set up to help victims like Footman.
And the only help it is now offering his friends and family is up to $5,000 in funeral costs. That money is not restricted to a spouse or dependent, but can go to the person responsible for the burial. It is money the state said Footman's partner has not applied for and it is money Chavarria said he doesn't need nor want.
Chavarria said Footman first applied to the board for compensation on Feb. 7, 2009, (he sent me a copy of his original form dated 2/7/08, explaining that his partner got the year wrong but did send it in February of last year) It typically takes about 180 days to complete a review and vote on a claim, and based on that date, a decision should have been made before Footman died.
But Rick Binetti, a spokesman for the state prison system that oversees the compensation board, said Footman's application was dated April 1. That puts Nov. 9 at just about the 180-day bureaucratic window.
Binetti noted that Footman's case "was well-documented." The spokesman added, "If it had come in three months earlier, it probably would've made it on time."
He said there is no record of having received an application in February, and it's possible that the file could have been misplaced.
Footman grew up in Brewer, Maine, and attended Purdue University in Indiana. He was a licensed drug and alcohol counselor for youths, had master's degrees in business administration and in pastoral theology. He moved to Texas, where he met Chavarria, and counseled inmates at a maximum-security prison.
The couple moved to Baltimore in 2007, but Footman was not licensed in Maryland to work as a counselor. The night he was shot, he had just learned that he had been hired by an insurance company, which would help pay the bills until he could get his counseling certificate. The couple was out celebrating.
Footman spent five months at Shock Trauma, then a month at Kernan Hospital rehabilitation center and then went home. The couple had to move to a place that made it easier for him to recover. While home, he meticulously filled out paperwork for the state compensation board.
Footman could have asked for up to $45,000, but he wanted just $12,000, what he could document and what his insurance company wouldn't pay. He couldn't claim lost wages because he had not yet started at the insurance company and was technically unemployed.
On his application, under "Brief description of crime," he wrote: "Two gunshot wounds as a result of a hate crime. Critical condition." He sought money for such expenses as hospital parking, $293; prescription medication: $69.75; a copy of a cardiologist report: $45.
Chavarria complains that 180 days is too long to take to process claims. The state says it needs six months to figure out who is entitled to money and who isn't. It's a shame that Footman didn't get the money, and even more of a shame if he died faster than a bureaucracy could churn.
And it's even more troubling that his union with Chavarria can't be recognized; had he been legally married, his death wouldn't be an issue as far as the money is concerned. The state simply would write the check to Chavarria.
Chavarria told me he and his partner did everything right, filled out every form, provided all the paperwork and proof, and deserve better than to be rejected because the state ran out of time. The bills fell to him and to Footman's parents in Maine, and that this was Footman's way of trying to pay them back, even if it was just a token.
Said Chavarria: "He died feeling useless because he couldn't help."
Criminal compensation fund in Maryland
Who can recover: •An innocent victim of a crime who has suffered a physical injury (includes sexual assault and child abuse) and has at least $100 in nonreimbursable expenses or has lost at least two straight weeks of work.
•A surviving spouse or child of a homicide victim.
•A person who is dependent on support provided by a homicide victim.
•A victim (or the surviving family) of an international terrorist attack.
•A victim (or the surviving family) of a hit-and-run, drunk driver or a driver intentionally using a vehicle as a weapon.
•A person who is killed or injured while trying to prevent a crime (includes the surviving family).
•A person who is killed or injured while giving aid to a law enforcement officer performing his official duties (also applies to a person giving aid to a firefighter being obstructed in the performance of his official duties).
•A person who paid or assumed responsibility for the funeral expenses of a homicide victim.
Source: Maryland Criminal Injuries Compensation Board
He died before Md. compensation board could act; partner can't collect
Glen H. Footman would appear to be the perfect candidate to get a check from Maryland's Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.
He was shot in September 2008 while walking hand-in-hand with his longtime partner, Alex Chavarria, on Howard Street in Mount Vernon. Witnesses told police that a young man, previously overheard saying, "I'm going to kill myself a gay tonight," stopped to ask Footman a question or bum a cigarette, and then shot him twice.
Baltimore police classified the shooting as a possible hate crime but have not made any arrests. Footman spent months at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, then at a rehabilitation center, then at home. In July, he returned to Shock Trauma for more surgery, and he died Nov. 9.
Glen H. Footman, a true victim if there ever was one in Baltimore, died too soon to get any money from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.
A spokesman for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which oversees the panel, told me an investigator had put the application on the docket in early November, but the board wasn't due to vote until a week after Footman died.
And because Footman, 52, had no spouse and no dependents, there is no one for the state to give the money to.
Footman and Chavarria, together for 13 years, could not marry in Maryland. And had they been legally wed in one of the few states that recognizes gay marriage, it is unclear whether Chavarria could receive compensation here. Maryland's attorney general is working on an opinion as to whether this state would recognize unions that are legal elsewhere.
But even that indignity isn't what has Chavarria, who has moved back to his home state of Texas, so upset.
He is angrier with what he calls bureaucratic fumbling by the board, which he says repeatedly delayed dealing with the case because of lost faxes, missed information and poor record-keeping. He said one clerk told him she had misplaced his file and that it had to be redone and resubmitted.
"I am upset and disappointed that this program never helped us and is not organized to work, even for those who do it right from the start," Chavarria said in an e-mail. "Why does the board not recognize that the victims include the family and/or caregivers who are truly the ones supporting everything financially?"
The Assembly created the compensation board in 1968 to help "innocent victims of crime" and it has paid out more than $100 million. No tax money is used; the money is raised through court costs and fees paid by offenders. The board receives about 1,700 claims a year, and it paid out $6.5 million in fiscal 2009.
The money is to help victims or their families defray medical costs not covered by insurance, cover lost wages, get counseling and even wipe away the blood from scenes of violence. Many criminals try to get money out of the board, and each case has to be investigated; having a criminal record does not disqualify applicants - a convicted heroin dealer can later be a legitimate victim of a crime. But the applicant is not paid if the injury was sustained while committing a crime.
The compensation board was set up to help victims like Footman.
And the only help it is now offering his friends and family is up to $5,000 in funeral costs. That money is not restricted to a spouse or dependent, but can go to the person responsible for the burial. It is money the state said Footman's partner has not applied for and it is money Chavarria said he doesn't need nor want.
Chavarria said Footman first applied to the board for compensation on Feb. 7, 2009, (he sent me a copy of his original form dated 2/7/08, explaining that his partner got the year wrong but did send it in February of last year) It typically takes about 180 days to complete a review and vote on a claim, and based on that date, a decision should have been made before Footman died.
But Rick Binetti, a spokesman for the state prison system that oversees the compensation board, said Footman's application was dated April 1. That puts Nov. 9 at just about the 180-day bureaucratic window.
Binetti noted that Footman's case "was well-documented." The spokesman added, "If it had come in three months earlier, it probably would've made it on time."
He said there is no record of having received an application in February, and it's possible that the file could have been misplaced.
Footman grew up in Brewer, Maine, and attended Purdue University in Indiana. He was a licensed drug and alcohol counselor for youths, had master's degrees in business administration and in pastoral theology. He moved to Texas, where he met Chavarria, and counseled inmates at a maximum-security prison.
The couple moved to Baltimore in 2007, but Footman was not licensed in Maryland to work as a counselor. The night he was shot, he had just learned that he had been hired by an insurance company, which would help pay the bills until he could get his counseling certificate. The couple was out celebrating.
Footman spent five months at Shock Trauma, then a month at Kernan Hospital rehabilitation center and then went home. The couple had to move to a place that made it easier for him to recover. While home, he meticulously filled out paperwork for the state compensation board.
Footman could have asked for up to $45,000, but he wanted just $12,000, what he could document and what his insurance company wouldn't pay. He couldn't claim lost wages because he had not yet started at the insurance company and was technically unemployed.
On his application, under "Brief description of crime," he wrote: "Two gunshot wounds as a result of a hate crime. Critical condition." He sought money for such expenses as hospital parking, $293; prescription medication: $69.75; a copy of a cardiologist report: $45.
Chavarria complains that 180 days is too long to take to process claims. The state says it needs six months to figure out who is entitled to money and who isn't. It's a shame that Footman didn't get the money, and even more of a shame if he died faster than a bureaucracy could churn.
And it's even more troubling that his union with Chavarria can't be recognized; had he been legally married, his death wouldn't be an issue as far as the money is concerned. The state simply would write the check to Chavarria.
Chavarria told me he and his partner did everything right, filled out every form, provided all the paperwork and proof, and deserve better than to be rejected because the state ran out of time. The bills fell to him and to Footman's parents in Maine, and that this was Footman's way of trying to pay them back, even if it was just a token.
Said Chavarria: "He died feeling useless because he couldn't help."
Criminal compensation fund in Maryland
Who can recover: •An innocent victim of a crime who has suffered a physical injury (includes sexual assault and child abuse) and has at least $100 in nonreimbursable expenses or has lost at least two straight weeks of work.
•A surviving spouse or child of a homicide victim.
•A person who is dependent on support provided by a homicide victim.
•A victim (or the surviving family) of an international terrorist attack.
•A victim (or the surviving family) of a hit-and-run, drunk driver or a driver intentionally using a vehicle as a weapon.
•A person who is killed or injured while trying to prevent a crime (includes the surviving family).
•A person who is killed or injured while giving aid to a law enforcement officer performing his official duties (also applies to a person giving aid to a firefighter being obstructed in the performance of his official duties).
•A person who paid or assumed responsibility for the funeral expenses of a homicide victim.
Source: Maryland Criminal Injuries Compensation Board
Fired for being gay? It's legal in 29 states
Fired for being gay? It's legal in 29 states
Rights groups hope to see law change
WASHINGTON -- After a 15-year fight, gay rights' groups believe 2010 will be the year they persuade Congress to pass a landmark law protecting workers from being fired or denied jobs or promotions because of their sexual orientation.
With Democrats in the majority in the House and Senate and President Barack Obama promising to sign the bill, this is the best chance supporters have ever had to see passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, first introduced in 1994, said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
"I think it's particularly poignant that this comes at a time when the nation is facing such a crisis in unemployment," Carey said. "Each day that a job is lost because of prejudice compounds the problem."
Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., is among the bill's nearly 200 co-sponsors in the House. Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., is among 44 Senate co-sponsors.
"I think essentially it's a civil rights action for all Americans," said Castle, who voted for a similar bill in 2007. "I think that people should be entitled to work and shouldn't be discriminated against based on the obvious things: race, gender, religion, national origin, disability or sexual orientation."
Opponents fear the bill could pave the way for the legalization of gay marriage and create workplace discrimination against people whose religious beliefs denounce homosexuality.
Lead sponsors of the bill say they expect a vote in the House in the first quarter of this year. But others believe Congress may be afraid to pass the law in an election year.
The legislation before Congress would make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire or refuse to promote an employee based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. The gender identity provision seeks to protect transgender people, whom gay-rights' advocates say often face the worst discrimination.
The proposed law would not apply to the military or to religious organizations. It also would exempt small businesses with fewer than 15 employees.
The legislation does not require employers to provide domestic-partner benefits to the same-sex partners of their workers.
Delaware passed its own lesbian, gay and bisexual anti-discrimination law last year.
Gov. Jack Markell signed a transgender anti-discrimination executive order covering state employees.
Douglas Marshall-Steele, a Delaware LGBT advocate, said omitting transgender people from state laws targeting hate crimes and discrimination is "egregious," and federal legislation is needed to provide resources for states and to address issues states might miss.
There are 29 states where employees can still be fired because of their sexual orientation. Discrimination against transgender people is legal in 38 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Meanwhile, 87 percent of Fortune 500 companies have adopted policies barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Nicole Theis, president of the Seaford-based Delaware Family Policy Council, opposes the legislation and cited a "dangerous trend" in the nation where sexual liberty is winning out over religious liberty.
"I just don't think the issue is job discrimination," she said. "I think it's whether private businesses will be forced by law to accommodate homosexual activists' attempts to legitimize homosexual behavior."
Rights groups hope to see law change
WASHINGTON -- After a 15-year fight, gay rights' groups believe 2010 will be the year they persuade Congress to pass a landmark law protecting workers from being fired or denied jobs or promotions because of their sexual orientation.
With Democrats in the majority in the House and Senate and President Barack Obama promising to sign the bill, this is the best chance supporters have ever had to see passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, first introduced in 1994, said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
"I think it's particularly poignant that this comes at a time when the nation is facing such a crisis in unemployment," Carey said. "Each day that a job is lost because of prejudice compounds the problem."
Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., is among the bill's nearly 200 co-sponsors in the House. Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., is among 44 Senate co-sponsors.
"I think essentially it's a civil rights action for all Americans," said Castle, who voted for a similar bill in 2007. "I think that people should be entitled to work and shouldn't be discriminated against based on the obvious things: race, gender, religion, national origin, disability or sexual orientation."
Opponents fear the bill could pave the way for the legalization of gay marriage and create workplace discrimination against people whose religious beliefs denounce homosexuality.
Lead sponsors of the bill say they expect a vote in the House in the first quarter of this year. But others believe Congress may be afraid to pass the law in an election year.
The legislation before Congress would make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire or refuse to promote an employee based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. The gender identity provision seeks to protect transgender people, whom gay-rights' advocates say often face the worst discrimination.
The proposed law would not apply to the military or to religious organizations. It also would exempt small businesses with fewer than 15 employees.
The legislation does not require employers to provide domestic-partner benefits to the same-sex partners of their workers.
Delaware passed its own lesbian, gay and bisexual anti-discrimination law last year.
Gov. Jack Markell signed a transgender anti-discrimination executive order covering state employees.
Douglas Marshall-Steele, a Delaware LGBT advocate, said omitting transgender people from state laws targeting hate crimes and discrimination is "egregious," and federal legislation is needed to provide resources for states and to address issues states might miss.
There are 29 states where employees can still be fired because of their sexual orientation. Discrimination against transgender people is legal in 38 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Meanwhile, 87 percent of Fortune 500 companies have adopted policies barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Nicole Theis, president of the Seaford-based Delaware Family Policy Council, opposes the legislation and cited a "dangerous trend" in the nation where sexual liberty is winning out over religious liberty.
"I just don't think the issue is job discrimination," she said. "I think it's whether private businesses will be forced by law to accommodate homosexual activists' attempts to legitimize homosexual behavior."
Queen's Composer Lobbies Against Malawi
Queen's Composer Lobbies Against Malawi
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, the master of Queen Elizabeth II's music, has called on the Scottish government to discontinue any aid to Malawi unless officials in the African nation release two gay men arrested their after engaging in a same-sex marriage ceremony, London’s Sunday Times reports.
Davies, who lives with his partner, Colin Parkinson, has joined the efforts of renowned gay rights advocate Peter Tatchell in the campaign to release Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga. The Malawi couple have been charged with gross public indecency and could face up to 14 years in jail.
Scotland gives the equivalent of $4.8 million dollars of aid to Malawi every year, and if the gay men aren’t released, Davies says that aid should be discontinued. “I’m keen to put my name forward and to support the campaign to get those people out of jail,” he said. “The way these people have been treated is inhumane and they must be released."
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, the master of Queen Elizabeth II's music, has called on the Scottish government to discontinue any aid to Malawi unless officials in the African nation release two gay men arrested their after engaging in a same-sex marriage ceremony, London’s Sunday Times reports.
Davies, who lives with his partner, Colin Parkinson, has joined the efforts of renowned gay rights advocate Peter Tatchell in the campaign to release Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga. The Malawi couple have been charged with gross public indecency and could face up to 14 years in jail.
Scotland gives the equivalent of $4.8 million dollars of aid to Malawi every year, and if the gay men aren’t released, Davies says that aid should be discontinued. “I’m keen to put my name forward and to support the campaign to get those people out of jail,” he said. “The way these people have been treated is inhumane and they must be released."
Uganda 'Phobe to Attend Prayer Breakfast
David Bahati, the author of Uganda’s so-called “kill the gays” bill, which proposes the death penalty for gay people, has announced that he will attend the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4. President Obama is also expected to attend the event.
The annual prayer breakfast is organized by The Family, a conservative Christian organization that counts several high-ranking politicians among its members and whose teachings are said to have inspired Bahati’s bill.
Uganda’s Monitor newspaper says that Bahati’s bill has given Uganda its worst publicity in years. In an interview with the paper, Bahati blames Jeff Sharlet, author of the book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, for the negative attention. “Sharlet is a liar and is responsible for generating interesting in this bill abroad. He just wants to sell his book.”
The annual prayer breakfast is organized by The Family, a conservative Christian organization that counts several high-ranking politicians among its members and whose teachings are said to have inspired Bahati’s bill.
Uganda’s Monitor newspaper says that Bahati’s bill has given Uganda its worst publicity in years. In an interview with the paper, Bahati blames Jeff Sharlet, author of the book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, for the negative attention. “Sharlet is a liar and is responsible for generating interesting in this bill abroad. He just wants to sell his book.”
A Republican For Marriage Equality
A Republican For Marriage Equality
This week a landmark civil rights court case began in California. The federal trial Perry v. Schwarzenegger challenges the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage. Two couples argue that they have a constitutional right to marry, and that California’s law denies them due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment, relegating them second-class citizens.
You may think, “San Francisco liberals at it again! Hijacking the courts, inventing new constitutional rights!” Stop there. The lead counsel in the case is George W. Bush’s Solicitor General, who successfully argued Bush v. Gore before the Supreme Court in one of his fifty-five performances before the nation’s highest judicial body. He is Theodore “Ted” Olsen, a founder of the Federalist Society, constitutional law expert, and one of the most respected conservatives in America.
Mr. Olsen thinks constitutionally guaranteed rights ought to transcend left vs. right, Democrat vs. Republican divides (he even recruited legal opponent David Boies as co-counsel). I agree with him. And as a proud Republican representing a younger generation of conservatives that cherish individual freedom, I am honored to join the American Equal Right’s Foundation’s Advisory Board.
Full Story from Fox News
This week a landmark civil rights court case began in California. The federal trial Perry v. Schwarzenegger challenges the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage. Two couples argue that they have a constitutional right to marry, and that California’s law denies them due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment, relegating them second-class citizens.
You may think, “San Francisco liberals at it again! Hijacking the courts, inventing new constitutional rights!” Stop there. The lead counsel in the case is George W. Bush’s Solicitor General, who successfully argued Bush v. Gore before the Supreme Court in one of his fifty-five performances before the nation’s highest judicial body. He is Theodore “Ted” Olsen, a founder of the Federalist Society, constitutional law expert, and one of the most respected conservatives in America.
Mr. Olsen thinks constitutionally guaranteed rights ought to transcend left vs. right, Democrat vs. Republican divides (he even recruited legal opponent David Boies as co-counsel). I agree with him. And as a proud Republican representing a younger generation of conservatives that cherish individual freedom, I am honored to join the American Equal Right’s Foundation’s Advisory Board.
Full Story from Fox News
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