Ivan's posts with tag: human rights
| Start: | Jul 20, '08 08:30a | | Location: | Assembly point is at the Baguio Post Office. |
The Second BAGUIO LGBT PRIDE PARADE: Lesbians for National Democracy (LESBOND) Progressive Organization of Gays in the Philippines (PROGAY- Baguio) BIND Cordillera Womens Education, Action & Research Center (CWEARC) Gabriela Women's Party Thunderbirds Association in the Cordillera & Suburbs, Inc. (TACSI) Gagamba Bar Baden Powell Inn Rumours Stargazer Samurai Male Entertainment Bar Samurai Comedy Bar D' 4th Comedy Bar PhilHair SonyT Productions The Baguio Pride Network is Baguio City's broadest network of Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People and advocates. Hosting this year's LGBT Pride Parade happening on July 20, 2008 at 8:30am. Assembly point is at the Baguio Post Office. For inquiries email at: baguiopride2008@yahoo.com
LGBT remain the most discriminated social group in Russia Head of LGBT Human Rights Project GayRussia.Ru and organizer of Moscow Pride Nikolai Alekseev suggested that an international conference on freedom of assembly should be held in Moscow. Current policy of Moscow authorities means total prohibition of any manifestation of LGBT people and serious breaches of the rights of other social groups including opposition movements. The proposal was announced during the meeting with members of German Bundestag and Russian human rights activists in Moscow office of human rights organization “Memorial” on July 12. The delegation of Bundestag Committee for Human Rights visited Moscow in order to learn about situation with human rights in Russian Federation. The meeting was attended by members of Bundestag Volker Beck (Green), Burkhardt Mueller-Soenksen (Liberal) and Holger Haibach (Christian Democrat). The meeting was dedicated to the problems of freedom of assemblies and associations in Russia. Russian human rights activists pointed out that the freedom of assemblies in Russia was still violated by authorities, which continue to prohibit peaceful assemblies even arresting and detaining their eventual participants. Nikolai Alekseev suggested to hold an international conference in Moscow on freedom of assembly. Only in this case it will be possible to change the situation or at least to inform the international community about constant violations of civil freedoms in Russia. He said that LGBT people were the only social group in Russia which could not hold any manifestation. Authorities prohibit not only marches but also pickets of LGBT people. It’s just enough to mention a single word in application for a picket like “homosexual”, “gay”, “homophobia” or “sexual minorities” so that authorities automatically prohibit this event, activist said. Russian human rights activists who participated in the meeting agreed that LGBT people suffer a double discrimination or “discrimination within discrimination”. Nikolai Alekseev also said about fusion of executive and judicial authorities in Moscow. Judges legitimate all bans of peaceful assemblies by administration. Activist said that activity of Russian Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin was absolutely useless for LGBT people because he didn’t care much about their problems.
| July 14, 2008 | | Aussie activists to hand out condoms to protest Pope's visit | | By News Editor | | | | Activists in Sydney are challenging "draconian" laws that outlaw condom distribution, and T-shirts and placards that could "annoy" Catholic pilgrims as some 500,000 people are expected to be present at the Pope's final mass on Sunday. | | | | | Thousands of protestors are planning to rally and hand out condoms this Saturday on Oxford Street and Anzac Parade ahead of an overnight vigil and papal Mass at Randwick racecourse to rally against the church's attitude homosexuality, contraception and abortion.
 | | News of the regulations have spurred more creative slogans - a T-shirt by Sydney designer Tristan Parry reads: ''5,500 dollars - a small price to pay for annoying Catholics.'' The Sydney Morning Herald online carried a picture of a more loaded T-shirt reading: ''The Pope touched me Down Under,'' a pun on Catholic sex abuse scandals which dog the pontiff on his travels. Under the temporary regulations, a person may be fined A$5,500 for causing annoyance at a World Youth Day event. |
However, under temporary laws, anyone handing out condoms and/or wearing T-shirts with slogans deemed annoying to Catholics may be arrested or face an A$5,500 dollar (US$5,200) fine.
The sweeping new regulations were announced by the New South Wales police to limit behaviour that may cause "annoyance or inconvenience to participants" during Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit in Australia to celebrate World Youth Day (WYD).
The laws will apply in the month of July; and in WYD-declared areas including areas of downtown Sydney, transport interchanges and the pilgrimage route, also taking in a radius of 500 metres around the zones.
The World Youth event was founded by the Pope's predecessor, John Paul II in 1986 and will run from 15 to 20 July. Billed as the largest event Australia has ever hosted, it will culminate in a Papal Mass in front of an expected 500,000 people at Randwick racecourse next Sunday.
Two activists from the NoToPope Coalition of gay and lesbian, religious, and atheist groups have challenged the validity of the powers in court. The court is expected to hand down its judgment on Tuesday, the official start of the six-day WYD event.
"These laws are very draconian and we have the right to protest and say our piece," Rachel Evans, organiser of the NoToPope Coalition, told reporters outside the court.
"Criticising WYD ethics includes promoting contraception, access to abortion and conducting any criticism of the reactionary views of some Catholic Church leaders."
"We’re not planning to get into any trouble, we don’t want to condemn Catholic youth for being Catholics. We want to condemn the Pope for being homophobic," Evans was quoted as saying in a media report.
She said the Pope's teachings contributed to 67,000 women dying every year from backyard abortions and a suicide rate among gay youth that is seven times the average.
Anna Katzman, the president of the New South Wales Bar Association, said making someone's inconvenience the basis of a criminal offense was "unnecessary and repugnant."
"If I was to wear a T-shirt proclaiming that 'World Youth Day is a waste of public money' and refuse to remove it when an officer... asks me to, I would commit a criminal offense," Katzman said. "How ridiculous is that?"
The event is said to cost taxpayers some A$150 million.
As he did during his US trip in April, Benedict is expected to offer apologies to Australian victims of sexual abuse by priests. Meanwhile, Australia's senior Catholic leader, Sydney Archbishop George Pell, came under fire last week following the reopening of a 25-year-old sexual abuse case.
In 2003, Pell sent a letter to Anthony Jones in which he dismissed Jones' complaint of rape against Father Terrence Goodall despite a church investigation that upheld the allegations. Pell said Tuesday that his letter was "badly worded" but stood by his conclusion that the act had been consensual. He said he based his decision on Jones' age - he was 29 - at the time of the alleged rape and Goodall's Goodall's insistence that the act had been consensual.  |
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Related Sites | | Notopope.com |
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FROM http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=2256&viewarticle=1 | July 7, 2008 | | Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkatta hold India's first countrywide pride marches | | By Mayur Suresh | | | | Fridae's Delhi correspondent Mayur Suresh reports on the three pride marches in the capital, Bangalore and Kolkatta on Jun 29 - the first time it has been coordinated on a national scale. |
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| “Section 377 Quit India!” was on of the chants shouted at Delhi’s first Queer Pride Parade on Jun 29, alluding to the ‘Quit India movement’ launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1942, five years before India’s independence from the United Kingdom.
In some senses, there’s been a sense of history for the queer rights movement in the last couple of months. First, the Delhi High Court began hearings on the challenge India’s sodomy law and on the on Jun 29, the cities of Bangalore and Delhi had their first Pride Parades, joining Kolkatta (formerly Calcutta) which has had its Rainbow Pride Walk since 1999.
This year’s pride marches were certainly not the first public celebrations of queerness or of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT) identities in the country. Kolkatta’s Rainbow Pride Week was first organised in 1999, and was made an annual event in 2001. In 2002, the Hijra Habba, or the Festival of Hijras (the generic name given to the transgender community in South Asia) was organised in Bangalore.
What is significant about this year? Firstly, the pride marches were organised and coordinated on a national scale with queer activists in different cities acting in concert with each other.
Mario D’Penha, a historian and queer rights activist in Delhi says: “It’s really amazing that activists from around the country are coordinating the events. While each city will obviously lend its own flavour to the pride parades, it’s great that we can speak about a national day on which people come out to celebrate queerness.”
Secondly, and perhaps most heartening, is the number of people that attended the pride marches in the two cities. “We got a larger than expected turnout of about 700 people,” said Siddharth Narrain, an queer rights activist in the southern city of Bangalore. Activists in Delhi estimated the strength of the parade at about 400 people although only 150 people were expected.
Kolkatta’s parade attracted a crowd of about 400 people. The Rainbow Pride Walk in Kolkata, is part of a week-long celebration. Every year diverse human rights movements working in the city and nationally come together to organise film shows, art exhibitions, discussions and dance performances to in celebration of LGBT identities and to create spaces for dialogue and understanding devoid of hate, stigma and harassment. At this year’s walk, people sang ‘We Shall overcome’ in an overcast as they walked from College Square and up the Esplanade. The walk ended with a candle vigil in the rain at Kandapara in memory of friends we have been lost to violence, HIV and abuse.
While there were no floats or go-go boys in Delhi’s parade, the route of the parade was awash with colour. Loud cheers erupted as queer rights activists were joined by professionals, taxi drivers, families and friends and unfurled a 20 metre long rainbow flag. Hand held rainbow flags were distributed as the parade was joined by a duo of dhol (drum) players. Families, dogs and babies in strollers joined the parade as drag queens danced to the beat heady beat of the drums. Colourful masks were handed out to people who were not comfortable revealing their faces, a reminder that it is still a difficult struggle to be out in India. The parade ended with a candle light vigil at Jantar Mantar, a historic site in the centre of the city, a site at which many social movements have held protests and vigils.
At the vigil, Lesley Esteves - a writer and lesbian rights activist - made the point that while we must celebrate queerness, and the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities, we must not forget that many people still live in the shadows of the law and discrimination by society. “This is for all the people who are still in the closet, this is for every lesbian that has committed suicide, this is for all the people who must live as people they are not,” said Esteves who was nearly moved to tears.
Bangalore’s march, titled Bangalore Pride, began at the National College grounds, passed through the historic centre of the city and one of its more conservative neighbourhoods and ended at the Puttana Chetty Town Hall where the crowd swelled to over 700 people.
Anniruddh Vasudevan, a writer who attended the Bangalore Pride writes: “One corner of the college grounds turned into a carnival zone in less than half an hour. More and more people arrived; hugs and laughter ruled for a while. Painting of faces followed. Some people wondered aloud if they should wear the masks, or paint their faces, or just walk as they were. The decisions, I could see, were very important to all of us… [It was] a psychedelic gathering of not just hijras, kothis, drag queens, sex workers, bisexuals, lesbians and gay men, but also our siblings, friends, and other allies… Then the drummers arrived. And the dancing began. With their superb dancing, the hijras, kothis and drag queens declared the parade open.” The crowd wore t-shirts and held up placards, some of which said ‘God Made me Gay’ or slightly more tongue-in-cheek, ‘377 sucks.’
All this took place three days before the Delhi High Court was scheduled to resume hearings on a constitutional challenge to section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, India’s sodomy statute. However, due to some procedural complications, the case has now been scheduled to be heard on Jul 21 by a bench headed by the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.
While there were some somber moments in all three cities, in memory of friends long passed and in solidarity with those still struggling to come out, overall, the pride parades were marked by music, colour and by a sense of joy and celebration. As one activist put it, “While it’s also a protest, what we’re really here to do, is to party, because we’re happy to be who we are and we really need to spread the joy.” And as Anniruddhan writes, “That the most spontaneous response to happiness is happiness, testifies to what is natural and what is not.”
Mayur Suresh is a lawyer in New Delhi.
Related Articles
Indian LGBTs march this weekend to protest anti-gay laws |
| Start: | Aug 3, '08 06:00a | | End: | Aug 3, '08 11:00a | | Location: | Quezon City Memorial Circle |
Host: Amnesty International Philippines Date: Sunday, August 3, 2008 Time: 6:00am - 11:00am Location: Quezon City Memorial Circle Street: Quezon City Circle City/Town: Quezon City, Philippines Human rights in China and the Beijing Olympics http://www.amnesty.org/en/china-olympicsWith Beijing hosting this year’s Olympic Games, Amnesty International hopes the event can create a positive human rights legacy for China. The Chinese authorities pledged that human rights would improve through the hosting of the Games. Amnesty International will hold them to their word. We are monitoring China’s human rights performance, particularly in areas linked to preparations for the Olympics. We will judge their progress and inform the world. Our aim is to assess the impact of the Games on human rights in China, to highlight important related issues and to get the world involved.
FROM http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=2254&viewarticle=1
July 2, 2008 | | Born This Way But... | | By Ng Yi-Sheng | | | | Journalist/songwriter Dr Ng King Kang publishes his second book on homosexuality in Singapore, a compilation of results from a survey of political and social attitudes towards gay men since 1990. | | | | | In 1999, Ng King Kang stunned Singapore with The Rainbow Connection, possibly the first upfront, unapologetic non-fiction book about gay people in this country. Written as his Masters thesis at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the book used a combination of firsthand accounts and sociological analysis to describe how Internet access was transforming Singapore gay culture.
Now, nine years later, Dr Ng’s come out with a new book, a sequel of sorts to the first, entitled Born This Way But…: The Changing Politics of Homosexuality in Singapore. Its title references former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s widely quoted remarks when asked by a Time magazine journalist in 2003 about the city-state’s policies towards homosexuals: “So let it evolve and in time to come, the population will understand that some people are born that way. We are born this way and they are born that way but they are like you and me.”
At its heart, the book is a compilation of results from a survey on attitudes to male homosexuals, conducted as part of his PhD at Deakin University, Melbourne. However, with its accompanying essays, it forms the most comprehensive printed work to date on the political situation of gay Singaporean men.
“[T]he social and cultural climate with respect to homosexuality in Singapore is changing,” the work concludes. “From what was a very clear-cut, black-and-white negativity several years ago, there is now a developing understanding of the need to recognise that homosexuals make up a diverse society that is necessary for Singapore’s economic competitiveness.”
Dr Ng’s a recognised figure in the local media industry, famed not only for his work in journalism - he’s a Senior Correspondent with the Mandarin daily newspaper Lianhe Zaobao - but also for his creative output.
He’s published 15 books, all written in Mandarin, except for the two on homosexuality in Singapore. These include a quartet of books on travel, his 2359 series, which is a collection of his weekly newspaper column, and his first book, Frivolous Days, which captured his undergrad days in NUS. Several of these books have been bestsellers – Frivolous Days, for instance, is now in its fourth edition and has sold more than 10,000 copies in Singapore alone.
He’s also lauded as a particularly prolific songwriter, with hundreds of Mandarin songs under his bet. Since the mid-‘80s, he’s recorded four albums, won multiple awards for his popular TV theme songs, and been commissioned to write National Day songs twice. He’s also a regular speaker on creative writing and a judge at the songwriting and singing competitions at NTU.
According to Dr Ng, his new book is an extension of the original project of his Masters thesis, which offered only a basic glimpse into the world of gay Singaporeans as they started to build furtive online communities. Since then, the gay community has grown in numbers, visibility and confidence – but it still remains marginalised by the government and media, who exhibit strangely contradictory attitudes on these matters, veering from apparent supportiveness to outright repression.
“The government has been saying that our society is still by and large a very conservative society that is still not ready to accept homosexuality,” the author tells Fridae, explaining the impetus behind his work. “I wanted to find out how true this is, and to provide evidence, be it for or against the government's stand.”
Interviewing hundreds of random 21-29 year-olds in Singapore from 2002 to 2003, Dr Ng gathered opinions on homosexuality and its intersections with education, government and the local media. While the results are decidedly mixed, he notes a clear shift toward tolerance among this younger generation of citizens, paralleling the greater freedom with which politicians and journalists are allowed to talk about the issue today. Yet while there’s tolerance, there isn’t yet widespread acceptance - many interviewees remain convinced of the latent immorality of homosexuality. There’s still a long way to go before we can treat it as a political issue with maturity.
One note of optimism, however, occurs with the publication of this book. Ho Kwon Ping, Chairman of MediaCorp and Singapore Management University, was willing to write a foreword for Dr Ng, despite being solidly, heterosexually married with children. “This book’s publication takes issues beyond an academic realm and will provide thoughtful material for anyone, gay or straight, who cares deeply about the happiness and rights of all Singaporeans, and about the development of this Little Red Dot into a creative, compassionate, and cutting-edge society,” he says.
As a well-researched text examining attitudes towards gay men in Singapore from 1990 to 2004, Born This Way But… is a milestone document in the formation of our country’s queer culture. Thanks to Dr Ng, we’ll have a reference to understand how far we’ve come and how far we have to go.
Born This Way But… is priced at US$35 is available on Fridae Shop.  |
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http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27759
Iran 4 July 2008 Alarm over bill that would extend death penalty to online crimes Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by a draft law that would extend the death penalty to crimes committed online. Passed by parliament on first reading on 2 July, the proposed law would, for example, apply the death penalty to bloggers and website editors who "promote corruption, prostitution or apostasy." "This proposal is horrifying," Reporters Without Borders said. "Iranian Internet users and bloggers already have to cope with very aggressive filtering policies. The passage of such a law, based on ill-defined concepts and giving judges a lot of room for interpretation, would have disastrous consequences for online freedom. We urge the parliament's members to oppose this bill and instead to starting working on a moratorium on the death penalty." The press freedom organisation added: "Death sentences were already passed last year on two journalists - Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar - after judicial proceedings marked by many irregularities. They have been held for more than a year without any certainty as to what will happen to them, and we urge the authorities to free them at once." Submitted by a score of pro-government parliamentarians and consisting of 13 articles with the declared aim of "reinforcing the penalties for crimes against society's moral security," the bill was passed on first reading by 180 votes in favour, 29 against and 10 abstentions. Article 2 of the bill lists the crimes that are already subject to the death penalty, including armed robbery, rape and creating prostitution networks. If the law is adopted, "the creation of blogs and websites promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy" will also become capital crimes. According to article 3, judges will be able to decide whether the person found guilty of these crimes is "mohareb" (enemy of God) or "corrupter on earth." Article 190 of the criminal code stipulates that these crimes are punishable by "hanging" or by "amputation of the right hand and left foot." A blogger, Mojtaba Saminejad, was tried before a Tehran court in 2005 on a charge of "insulting the prophets," which carries the death penalty. In the end, the court acquitted him. Hassanpour, 28, and Botimar, 30, were sentenced to death on 16 July 2007 by a revolutionary court in the Kurdish city of Marivan on charges of "subversive activities against national security," spying and "separatist propaganda." Their convictions were overturned by the supreme court in Tehran on procedural grounds. The Marivan court reimposed the death sentence on Botimar in April of this year, while Hassanpour is awaiting a new trial. A journalist is also under sentence of death in neighbouring Afghanistan. It is Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, of Jahan-e Naw ("The New World) who was arrested on 27 October 2007 in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and was given the death sentence on 22 January, at the end of a trial held behind closed doors and without any lawyer acting for the defence. Kambakhsh was arrested after downloading a controversial article from an Iranian website that quoted suras from the Koran about women. He was convicted of blasphemy although it was established that he was not the article's author.
| Start: | Jun 27, '08 1:00p | | End: | Jun 27, '08 5:00p | | Location: | PH 400 (Claro M. Recto Hall in the Faculty Center), UP Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila |
One of the events in the PRIDE WEEK is the LGBT FORUM. This forum aims to be a venue for information sharing and dissemination. It also aims to educate the attendees most importantly those who do not belong to the LGBT community about the lives of the LGBT individuals. The forum will tackle subjects about the different issues concerning the LGBT Community of today. The forum aims to answer some of these timely questions - Are the issues challenging the LGBT people of yesterday still challenges the LGBT people of today? Or the issues the community faces now are new? What changes do the LGBT community of the country went through thru time? With the help of our respected speakers, we will all try to discover and understand the world of LGBT communities. Speakers and Topics: Percival Cendana on LGBT in Leadership and Mass movement Eva Callueng on Lesbianism Paolo Fontanes on Transgender rights and other related transgender issues Jonas Bagas on Anti Discrimination Bill
HISTORICAL ADVANCE FOR INCLUSION OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY WITHIN THE INTERAMERICAN SYSTEM In the framework of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Charter of the Organization of American States, the 38th General Assembly of the OAS approved by consensus the resolution AG/RES-2435(XXXVIII-O/08) “Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Human Rights”(see below), presented by the Brazilian delegation. After 3 days of intense negotiation and an impressive diplomatic mobilization, for the first time in the history of the hemisphere the words sexual orientation and gender identity appear on an official document approved by consensus by the 34 countries of the Americas. This text recognizes the serious human rights violations faced by individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. The regional system of the Americas follows the European in expressing the importance of establishing a clear political commitment by its Member States and in acknowledging the situation of exposure to human rights violations of LGBTI individuals. This unprecedented document in the region was the result of the consensus, including the English speaking Caribbean countries whose legislation still criminalize sexual conducts between adults individuals of the same sex. The resolution represents a step forward in the working process for the approval of an Inter-American Convention against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, whose negotiation will continue next year. The current draft already includes sexual orientation and gender identity and expression as protected categories. These achievements are the results of a collective working process started at the end of 2006 by Global Rights, Mulabi - Espacio Latinoamericano de Sexualidades y Derechos and IGLHRC – Latin America and the Caribbean (International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission), aiming at strengthening the participation of the regional LGBTTTI movement as component of the civil society within the OAS. In this frame, from the 29th to the 31st of May, more than 20 activists of different sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions from 16 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean met in Medellín to work on a strategy for participation and visibility in this quintessential moment of the political life of the OAS. This event was possible thanks to the support of Global Fund for Women, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, IGLHRC, Global Rights and MULABI. During the event, the participants attended a joint session with the Afrodescendant movement, with the presence of the Director of the Secretariat of the Summit of the Americas, David Morris and the Director of the Department of International Affairs of the OAS, Irene Klinger. Among the most important moments of our participation to the 38th session of the General Assembly of the OAS we would like to highlight the following: On May 31st the informal dialogue between the Secretary General of the OAS José Miguel Insulza and civil society took place: within this space the LGBTTTI groups had the chance to intervene three times, and one of the interventions was applauded by the audience. The Secretary General took in great account the issues raised by the activists, underlining the question of the resolution presented by Brazil and the importance of the participation of the representatives of our Coalition in this process. On the following day, during the dialogue between the civil society and the representatives of the Member States, Secretary Insulza mentioned in his report to the heads of delegations the more important issues raised on the previous day, highlighting the theme of sexual orientation and gender identity. After the mentioned report, 14 years old Camilo Rojas of Colombia, read the declaration of the Coalition (see the text below). The document, making reference to the topic of the Assembly “Youth and democratic values”, highlighted the situation of human rights violation suffered by LGBTTTI children and youth. The declaration obtained the applause of the civil society participants as well as the official delegations, and was circulated in English and Spanish to the heads of delegations. This communiqué aims at sharing with you all the feelings of having been able to witness this event and reporting the achievements in the advance of human rights obtained by travesti, transsexual, trangender, intersex, bisexual, lesbian and gay activists of Latin America and the Caribbean. Members of the LGBTTTI movement and allies attending the 38th session of the General Assembly of the OAS: Belissa Andia (Instituto Runa – Secretaría Trans ILGA, Peru) Caleb Orozco (United Belize Advocacy Movement, Belize) Camila Zabala (Aireana, Paraguay) Camilo Rojas, Sentimos Diverso, Colombia) Cindy Loren (GATTA, Brazil) Claudia Spellmant (Colectivo Travesti de San Pedro Sula, Honduras) Edmilson Medeiros (Red Afro LGBT y Articulação Politica das Juventudes Negras, Brazil) Germán Rincón Perfetti (Asociación. Lideres en acción, Colombia) Javier Minnota Minnota (AfroAmérica XXI, Colombia) July Betances (Colectiva Mujer y Salud, Dominican Republic) Marcelo Ferreyra (IGLHRC, Argentina) Marina Bernal (Mulabi, Mexico-Colombia) Michel Riquelme (Organización de Transexuales por la Dignidad de la Diversidad, Chile) Natasha Jiménez (Mulabi, Costa Rica) Sandra Montealegre (Mesa Joven por la Diversidad Sexual, Colombia) Sara Hoyos (Independent Activist, Colombia) Silvia Martínez (Red LAC/Trans, Nicaragua) Stefano Fabeni (Global Rights, USA) Tamara Adrian (DIVERLEX, Venezuela) Tatiana Cordero (Taller Comunicación Mujer, Ecuador) Maurice Tomlinson (Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, Jamaica) Vidyaratha Kissoon (Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination SASOD, Guyana)
AG/RES. 2435 (XXXVIII-O/08) HUMAN RIGHTS, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, AND GENDER IDENTITY (Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 3, 2008) THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, REAFFIRMING: That the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in that Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status; That the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man establishes that every human being has the right to life, liberty, and the security of the person; CONSIDERING that the OAS Charter proclaims that the historic mission of America is to offer to man a land of liberty and a favorable environment for the development of his personality and the realization of his just aspirations; REAFFIRMING the principles of universality, indivisibility, and interdependence of human rights; and TAKING NOTE with concern acts of violence and related human rights violations perpetrated against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, RESOLVES: 1. To express concern about acts of violence and related human rights violations committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. 2. To request that the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs (CAJP) include on its agenda, before the thirty-ninth regular session of the General Assembly, the topic of “Human rights, sexual orientation, and gender identity.” 3. To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth regular session on the implementation of this resolution, the execution of which shall be subject to the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.
MEDELLIN DECLARATION OF THE COALITION OF LESBIANS, GAYS, BISEXUALS, TRAVESTI, TRANSSEXUALS, TRANSGENDERS AND INTERSEX OF THE AMERICAS Mister Secretary General, Ministers, Members of the Official Delegations, Civil Society Representatives, We, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, travesti, transsexual, transgender and intersex organizations, convened in Medellin, Colombia on May 29, 30 and 31, 2008, in accordance with directives established by the General Assembly of the OAS in its resolutions AG/RES.2092(XXXV-O/05); CP/RES.759(1217/99); 840(1361/03); AG/RES.1707(XXX-O/00) and AG/RES.1915(XXXIII-O/03), which determine a regulatory framework to enhance and strengthen civil society participation in OAS activities and in the Summit of the Americas process, are concerned that in the draft declaration of Medellín “Youth and democratic values” there are no references to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, even though they were part of the recommendations from the civil society meeting in Washington, from the 10th to the 14th of March, 2008. Our reality as youth is characterized by the violation of the right to life; we are victims of torture, genital mutilations, forced medical surgery and sexual violence. Our rights to health, education, identity, work and participation are denied. We are constantly victims of stigmatization and exclusion in our families and in society as a whole. Our visibility and the right to our social and legal identities are also denied. All these rights violations are caused by social, cultural and religious prejudices that destroy our dignity as citizens. All our rights are systematically violated in all countries of the hemisphere. Since this reality contradicts the essence of the democratic values of the OAS, we recommend: - That Member States recognize the existence of diversity in sexual orientation, gender identity and expression among young persons. This includes recognizing the rights to change name and sex in our legal documents without requiring genital mutilation.
- That Member States promote the respect for diversity in sexual orientation, gender identity and expression in education and media to build a just, equitable and inclusive society.
- That Member States ensure, especially to youth, full access to education, health, employment and occupation without discrimination; in case of rights violations within families and communities of origin to provide services sensitive to the needs of young persons
- That Member States repeal all criminalizing and discriminatory legislation, and promote cultural, social and institutional changes which are aimed at preventing and punishing discrimination and violence, and thereby fully guaranteeing our rights.
- That the General Assembly approves the draft Resolution CP/CAJP-2626/08 “Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” presented by the Brazilian Delegation, whose initiative we fully endorse. At the same time we urge all Member States to support the above mentioned resolution.
- That the General Assembly approves the draft Resolution AG/doc4794/08 “Draft Inter-American Convention against Racism and all Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance” and that Member States commit themselves to finalizing the negotiation of the draft accepting the substantive progress achieved during the past year.
We believe that, as long as discrimination and intolerance against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, travesti, transsexuals, transgenders and intersex continue unpunished in our societies, there will neither be democratic values for youth, nor will there be democracy for all.
http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20080608-141442/Gay-Pregnant-and-Marked-for-Harassment  | | Sunday Inquirer Magazine / Sunday Inq Mag  | | http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20080608-141442/Gay-Pregnant-and-Marked-for-Harassment | FEATURE
FEATURE : Gay, Pregnant and Marked for Harassment
| By Jonas Bagas
Philippine Daily Inquirer | Posted date: June 08, 2008 |
MANILA, Philippines - Remember the “flower platoon”?Back when the Reserve Officers Training Course (ROTC) was still mandatory for male college students, it symbolized discrimination against gay students. Real men marched in real platoons; gay students were with their pansy fellows in the flower platoon. Their only duty was to cheer for their manly counterparts or run errands for them. Well, the “flower platoon” disappeared with the abolition of compulsory ROTC in 2001, but the underlying biases that created it still persist. They come in the form of unwritten rules or the ubiquitous “morality clause” in the student manual. They are meant to crack the whip on what some sectors still describe as “moral deviants”—lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT), as well as unmarried pregnant students. Some schools run by religious congregations or organizations, like St. Joseph’s College in Quezon City, ask unwed pregnant students to drop out or take a leave of absence until after they deliver their babies. An admissions officer at the Saint Pedro Poveda College in Quezon City says the issue is simply about being consistent with the Catholic faith. “Pregnancy outside of marriage sends the wrong message about premarital sex,” she explains. But for women’s rights activists, policies against pregnant students are discriminatory. Dr. Guy Estrada-Claudio of the UP Center for Women Studies believes that these policies are very judgmental on women’s sexuality. “It punishes women in the end. To be pregnant, women have to be in a heterosexual marriage. They are not given a choice,” she says. She cautions, too, about the danger of schools being complicit in sexual abuse, especially if the context of the pregnancy is unknown. “Schools could be punishing students who are in fact victims of rape or incest,” she adds. Not all Catholic schools discriminate against unmarried pregnant students though. The College of the Holy Spirit in Manila and Miriam College in Quezon City, for instance, have taken a progressive stance on the issue. In De La Salle University, however, while unmarried pregnant students are not punished, the prohibition could apply to unmarried pregnant female faculty members, if the rather vague clause “public scandal” in the faculty manual were applied.
Notes DLSU professor Natty Manauat: “The rule is contained in a broad and vague morality clause in the faculty manual, but I don’t think it has ever been applied. But that’s exactly the problem—it is there and it can be arbitrarily imposed.” The same vague policies on morality hound lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, who are brought under control through their attire and physical appearance. In the Philippine Normal University in Manila, effeminate gay students are barred from sporting long hair, using make-up, or wearing earrings while inside the university. Curiously though, masculine and ostensibly heterosexual students are allowed to wear long hair and earrings, and even apply foundation on their face. In San Beda College in Manila, masculinity tests used to be imposed on presumably gay students. Students can’t enrol if they fail the arbitrary test administered by a panel composed of school officials and faculty members who rate a student according to their perception of masculinity. Even in the more liberal enclave of the University of the Philippines, discrimination still exists. Perci Cendaña, the first openly gay chair of the UP University Student Council, recounts that during the campaign period, homophobes resorted to nasty tactics against him. “There were even graffiti in some men’s restrooms during the campaign period with phrases like ‘Perci Kadiri’ and ‘Bading ’wag iboto.’ It was a great disappointment because this was UP,” he says. How then does one address discrimination and stigma against LGBT students and unmarried pregnant students? The Student Council Alliance of the Philippines, a broad network of student councils and governments, views discrimination as a sign of a poor democracy. “Education knows no sex, religion, physical status or gender,” says SCAP Sec. Gen. Bianca Lapus. SCAP has been pushing for the passage of the Students Rights and Welfare Bill (HB2584) to ensure equality inside schools and campuses. Also pending in Congress is the Anti-Discrimination Bill (HB956), authored by Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel in partnership with the Lesbian and Gay Legislative Advocacy Network (LAGABLAB), which would penalize discrimination against LGBTs in schools, workplaces, and other areas. Unless these bills are enacted, kicking stigma out of our schools remains a test we all have to face and pass. | | | | ^ Back to top | | ©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company |
Below is the letter of invitation we circulated to people in 2005 when the Arroyo Administration had implemented CPR: callibrated pre-emptive response and a policy on "no permit, no rallies". We, in the LGBT community thought we had to share in the burden and responsibility of upholding the rights and freedoms of all Filipino people--heterosexuals, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, transsexuals, and others. To highlight the community's conviction and aspiration we also used CPR to mean Celebrating Pride and Rights. En route to historic Plaza Miranda in Quiapo there were about 3,000 of us, probably more, participants and spectators cheering, jubilant, proud and most of all, DEFIANT and BRAVE.
With the recent attacks on the humanity of LGBTs in the Philippines--1) Jan-jan's dignity stripped with the humiliation he suffered from the hands of Cebu doctors and nurses at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and with the un-Christian statements of the Cebu Monsignor all these because Jan-jan, the victim, is poor and gay; 2) the bar and bath raids involving police extortion and higher TV ratings; 3) the Makati-Ayala "policy" disallowing transgenders and transsexuals from entering certain bars and establishments to curb "prostitution" which dampened the anniversary celebration of Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines; and 4) the Catholic Church's ban on gays to participate in the Santacruzan/Flores de Mayo with Manila Archbishop calling such participation as "horrendous" and "an insult to the Blessed Mother"--and with the long-standing and continuing socio-economic discrimination and structural-systemic violence towards the poor people of this country, I have a feeling it's time once again to assert the recognition, protection and promotion of human rights and freedoms of the Filipino lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and poor, marginalized people.
What do you think?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 8, 2005
Dear Friends,
Warm rainbow greetings from LGBT Freedom March Organizing Committee!
The current political crisis in this country presents threats to our freedoms and liberties, both as Filipinos and as LGBTs. We continue to experience discrimination, harassment, abuse and violence because of our gender identity and expression and sexual orientation. Yet the state – which is bound to respect, protect, and promote our human rights – has not done its duty.
In this light, we wish to voice out and express our concern at the current crisis in our country. On this tenth year of the Pride March – which we have called the Freedom March – we want to express support to the call for systemic and structural change. The theme for this year is, "CPR: Celebrating Pride and Rights".
On December 10, 2005, in celebration of International Human Rights Day, we are inviting you to join us as we march in the streets of Manila. The parade will be held in the vicinity of España going to Plaza Miranda, with assembly time set at 3 pm in front of UST. The parade is expected to start at 4 pm and end at 5 pm at Plaza Miranda. A program with performances and speeches depicting LGBT pride will be held from 5pm to 8 pm at Plaza Miranda. We have secured a permit from the mayor's office to enable us to hold the parade and program. We hope you will join us in this important event and express your support and solidarity to the aspiration for change of all LGBTs, and of all Filipinos.
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Malu S. Marin and Bruce P. Amoroto
For the LGBT Freedom March Committee
The first time I heard (and saw) this song performed was at the Finale of American Idol Season 7 and since then it stuck in my head. And I smile upon realizing that the love I have recently found as well as my calling to defend human rights and to help bring about social change (for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, transsexuals, intersex, and all oppressed, marginalized, and discriminated people in the world) speaks of a common theme. While development and human rights work mean that change does not happen overnight, Carsten has also reminded me that I can't save the world (alone) and that I need to take things one day at a time.
"To believe, to trust, and to have faith in love and change and to take things one step at a time." -- my motto from now on.
I love you muffin! Import.flv (2.4 MB)
http://china.hrw.org/press/news_release/china_free_tiananmen_prisoners_before_olympics
China: Free Tiananmen Prisoners Before Olympics Dozens Still in Prison on 19th Anniversary of Massacre (New York, June 2, 2008) – On the 19th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, the Chinese government should honor its commitment to improve human rights before the 2008 Beijing Olympics by releasing the estimated 130 Tiananmen prisoners improperly arrested or tried, Human Rights Watch said today. Chinese army troops initiated a massacre of an estimated 2,000 unarmed people in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and other Chinese cities on and after June 3-4, 1989. The Chinese government has wholly failed to account for those killings and bring justice to the victims.
“The Chinese government should show the global Olympic audience it’s serious about human rights by releasing the Tiananmen detainees,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Beijing’s use of Tiananmen Square as a macabre prop for China’s Olympic ‘coming-out-party’ adds insult to injury.”
The 1989 crackdown extended to major urban centers across China and resulted in the arrest of hundreds of people on charges ranging from “counterrevolutionary” offenses to “hooliganism,” including robbery, arson, and assault. The government continues to harass survivors, their families, and those who dare to challenge the official version of the events at Tiananmen Square. Current figures are not made public, but as recently as 2004, at least 130 individuals arrested in the wake of the June 3-4 massacre were still in prison.
The Chinese government intends to use Tiananmen Square for various Olympic functions. It has already held the starting ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay at Tiananmen, and will hold the closing ceremonies there as well. In February 2001, the Chinese government dropped Tiananmen as the proposed venue for beach volleyball at the request of an International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation team that visited Beijing five months ahead of the July 2001 IOC decision to award the 2008 Games to Beijing.
On June 3-4 1989, the Chinese government turned its troops and tanks against its own citizens to suppress a movement of students, plus some workers, academics, writers and journalists, demonstrating peacefully for a pluralistic political system. The death toll included the slaughter of hundreds of ordinary Chinese who massed in the streets of Beijing to stop the army from reaching Tiananmen Square.
China was globally condemned for its crackdown on the protesters, and several states imposed sanctions, including the ongoing European Union arms embargo. In 1990, however, then-President Jiang Zemin dismissed international condemnation of the Tiananmen Massacre as “much ado about nothing.”
On the 19th anniversary of the June 1989 Tiananmen massacre, Human Rights Watch again urges the Chinese government to: - overturn the 1989 official pronouncement labeling the student movement a “counterrevolutionary rebellion;”
- publicly recognize that the June 1989 massacre is a deeply divisive source of pain and frustration even within the ranks of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, by providing redress to the victims;
- cease the harassment, arrest and imprisonment of survivors, family members, and scholars who demand state accountability for Tiananmen abuses; and
- issue a complete list of those who died or were injured, and those who were imprisoned, as no such lists are publicly available.
“The Chinese government wants the 2008 Beijing Games to expunge the memories of the 1989 Beijing massacre,” said Richardson. “China could replace the image of the lone man blocking the tanks with the image of the Tiananmen prisoners being freed – a truly Olympian gesture.” Related Material Beijing 2008: China's Olympian Human Rights Challenges
Special Focus China: Rights Lawyers Face Disbarment Threats
Press Release, May 30, 2008 More on Human Rights and China
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http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-7793.html By Tony Grew • June 2, 2008 - 16:49  Mrs Arbour, 61, is a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
In a valedictory speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council today, Louise Arbour has challenged the continued oppression of women and sexual minorities. She is to step down later this month as the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights. "A failure to understand or accommodate diversity has inevitably led to an erosion of the rights of minorities and vulnerable people within a country, and those of individuals who move across borders, including refugees or migrants," she told the 47-member council. "Fears and mutual suspicions, engendered by the security environment that has prevailed in the past few years, have exposed minorities to additional risks and abuse. "The perpetuation of prejudices continue to deny equal rights and dignity to millions worldwide on the basis of nothing more innocuous than their sexual identity or orientation, or their ancestry, in the case of caste discrimination. "Whether these are explicitly articulated grounds of prohibited discrimination or not, it remains that they are immutable personal attributes, or, as in the case of religious adherence, they are personal choices that could only be forcibly abandoned at an unconscionable personal cost. "Against this background and the moving target of interests and values, international human rights law cannot be pigeon-holed to deny protection to those whose discriminatory exclusion is real, and who are entitled to turn to the law for their protection. "It must provide the best, the most reliable and fairest guidance for managing and protecting the multiple identities that each of us carries and the values and principles that each of us embraces, for ourselves, and for each other." Mrs Arbour, 61, is a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. She came to international prominence as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. She will complete her four-year mandate as High Commissioner on 30 June and is not seeking a second term. Her successor, who will be chosen by the UN Secretary General after consultation with member states, has not yet been named. During her time as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights many Muslim and African countries have expressed their displeasure at Mrs Arbour's insistence that gay and lesbian people and women have human rights equal to those of men. She has highlighted the treatment of sexual minorities through her work. Mrs Arbour said the new state reporting system, known as the Universal Periodic Review, could provide a vehicle for scrutiny of the implementation of rights and norms beyond anything ever attempted by the Commission on Human Rights, the ineffective body that was replaced by the Human Rights Council in June 2006. The UPR, which began functioning in April, has examined the human rights record of 32 states so far, and will take four years to complete its first round of all the UN's 192 member states. It illustrates deep divisions on the issue of gay rights. As part of the second stage of the UPR Tonga was advised to decriminalise sexual activity between consenting adults, recommended by the Netherlands, Canada and the Czech Republic. However Bangladesh, a Muslim country, told Tonga it should retain a ban on gay sex. Pakistan has expressed the view that sexual orientation falls outside "universally recognised human rights." Mrs Arbour sounded a note of caution to the Human Rights Council. "Scepticism has not been fully dispelled. "It may at times erode the clarity with which members of the Council and this body as a whole could and should speak on critical human rights protection issues." "We must guard against using criticism of a State or a group of States as a proxy for the expression of hatred against peoples, their origins or beliefs," she said. "We must forcefully condemn all those deplorable and manipulative distortions that hide sinister purposes, such as anti-Semitic or Islamophobic agendas, or that convey any other form of intolerance. "At the same time, we should not hesitate to condemn human rights violations, irrespective of the origins of the perpetrators." Last year Mrs Arbour declared her support for the Yogyakarta Principles. Named after the Indonesian city where they were adopted, the principles were introduced by 29 international human rights experts at a UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva in March 2007. They refer to the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity and address issues such as rape and gender-based violence, extra-judicial executions, torture and medical abuses, repressions of free speech and discrimination in the public services.
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