September 30th
5:26 AM
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Christian Institute: There aren’t enough gays in UK to justify giving them equal rights

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29 September 2012, 1:58pm

Just 2.6 per cent of people questioned by the Office of National Statistics have said that they are either lesbian, gay or bisexual, leading the Christian Institute to question whether such a small populous should be given the right to marry.

Although charities such as Stonewall have long estimated the LGB population to be between six and ten per cent of the population, the findings of the Office of National Statistics survey were that 1.5 per cent of men say they are gay, 0.7 per cent of women say they are lesbian, and 0.4 per cent of people say they are bisexual.

The Christian Institute believe that the figures showed that the gay population is ‘tiny’, and therefore not worthy of being given equal rights to marry. Mike Judge of the organisation told the Daily Mail: “It is staggering that such a monumental change is being carried out on behalf of a tiny proportion of society.”

But Benjamin Cohen of Out4Marriage said: “Quite aside from the fact that many have questioned the accuracy and usefulness of the ONS’s surveys, even if the lesbian, gay and bisexual population was as low as is claimed, why should that therefore mean that LGBT people are entitled to less rights than heterosexual people?

He continued: “Jewish people make up less than half a per cent of the UK population. Yet as a Jew, I have the legal right to get married, for that marriage to be conducted by a Rabbi and recognised by the state, although obviously only currently to someone of the opposite sex. By the Christian Institute’s interpretation of population data, the Jewish population is presumably even more ‘tiny’, so presumably the Christian Institute believe that Jews should, like gay people, be denied the right to marry.”

Ben Summerskill of Stonewall criticised the Office of National Statistic’s research methods telling the Daily Mail: “People are not answering truthfully.

“There are genuinely good reasons for having accurate figures. For example, you do not need to have so many primary schools in Brighton as in Shrewsbury, because there are a lot of gay people in Brighton and, although some have children, they are likely to have fewer children. This is about public money.

“We reckon 6 per cent, the figure the Treasury has used for some time, is a sensible estimate.”

Despite protests, the official census does not include a question on sexuality.

#homosexuality      #LGBT      #gay rights      #gay marriage      #Christianity      #Politics      #U.K      #Britain      #Religion      #news      #article     
June 20th
5:43 PM
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#Yes      #This      #homosexuality      #homosexual      #homophobia      #Ignorance      #Funny      #Lol      #lGBT     
June 19th
4:29 AM
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Is homophobia associated with homosexual arousal?

Adams HE, Wright LW Jr, Lohr BA.

Source

Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens 30602-3013, USA.

The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia (W. W. Hudson & W. A. Ricketts, 1980). The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire (A. H. Buss & M. Perry, 1992). Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.


Study

#Homosexuality      #Homophobia      #LGBT      #Gay rights      #Civil liberty      #Civil liberties      #Psychology      #Psychiatry      #Sex      #Politics      #News      #Science     
May 17th
4:42 AM
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The day the world comes out for tolerance On International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, Jerome Taylor and Liam O’Brien explain why it’s time for change When Barack Obama came out in support of gay marriage earlier this month, there were many who heralded it as a turning point in the history of equal rights. Symbolism plays a major part in the struggle for acceptance. Just as John F Kennedy finally adopted the cause of the civil rights movement, the gay rights lobby can now claim that the White House is officially on side (even if it suspects Mr Obama had been so privately for a long time). Legislative change is what finally frees a victimised group from state-sanctioned discrimination. But laws tend only to be altered once a significant bulk of the population accepts, tolerates and even celebrates a community’s differences. Today’s International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia is a key part of keeping the gay rights flame alive. All over the world people will make small actions which, taken as a whole, remind us of the victories won and also the amount of work that needs to be done. “[The day] brings to attention just how much homophobia and transphobia there is in the world,” said Lance Price, executive director of the Kaleidoscope Trust, which campaigns on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. “Huge strides have been made in the UK and other countries, but elsewhere the challenges are massive.” Often it seems that international days to promote causes are picked arbitrarily – but there is a good reason why today represents the fight against sexual prejudice. It was on 17 May 1990 that the World Health Organisation finally removed homosexuality from its “International Classification of Diseases” list. The world has come a long way. Civil unions, gay marriages, the repeal of discriminatory laws and punishments for homosexuality have gathered pace across the world. Even in the US, where evangelical Christianity clamours to dominate the debate over sexuality, the acceptance of gay relationships has undergone a radical transformation. Ten years ago, an average of just 45 per cent of Americans supported gay marriage; now that figure is an average of 56 per cent. But the picture is not all pink. There are still at least five countries which retain the death penalty for homosexuality, while almost half of Africa’s 52 nations impose criminal punishment. “We have come so far, and we have a responsibility to try to challenge these things elsewhere,” says Matthew Todd, the editor of Attitude magazine. “It’s a simple human rights issue.” JEROME TAYLOR  , LIAM O’BRIEN     THURSDAY 17 MAY 2012

The day the world comes out for tolerance

On International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, Jerome Taylor and Liam O’Brien explain why it’s time for change

When Barack Obama came out in support of gay marriage earlier this month, there were many who heralded it as a turning point in the history of equal rights. Symbolism plays a major part in the struggle for acceptance. Just as John F Kennedy finally adopted the cause of the civil rights movement, the gay rights lobby can now claim that the White House is officially on side (even if it suspects Mr Obama had been so privately for a long time).

Legislative change is what finally frees a victimised group from state-sanctioned discrimination. But laws tend only to be altered once a significant bulk of the population accepts, tolerates and even celebrates a community’s differences.

Today’s International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia is a key part of keeping the gay rights flame alive. All over the world people will make small actions which, taken as a whole, remind us of the victories won and also the amount of work that needs to be done.

“[The day] brings to attention just how much homophobia and transphobia there is in the world,” said Lance Price, executive director of the Kaleidoscope Trust, which campaigns on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. “Huge strides have been made in the UK and other countries, but elsewhere the challenges are massive.”

Often it seems that international days to promote causes are picked arbitrarily – but there is a good reason why today represents the fight against sexual prejudice. It was on 17 May 1990 that the World Health Organisation finally removed homosexuality from its “International Classification of Diseases” list.

The world has come a long way. Civil unions, gay marriages, the repeal of discriminatory laws and punishments for homosexuality have gathered pace across the world. Even in the US, where evangelical Christianity clamours to dominate the debate over sexuality, the acceptance of gay relationships has undergone a radical transformation. Ten years ago, an average of just 45 per cent of Americans supported gay marriage; now that figure is an average of 56 per cent.

But the picture is not all pink. There are still at least five countries which retain the death penalty for homosexuality, while almost half of Africa’s 52 nations impose criminal punishment.

“We have come so far, and we have a responsibility to try to challenge these things elsewhere,” says Matthew Todd, the editor of Attitude magazine. “It’s a simple human rights issue.”

JEROME TAYLOR Author Biography , LIAM O’BRIEN

 

 

THURSDAY 17 MAY 2012

#Homosexuality      #LGBT      #gay marriage      #Gay pride      #Lesbian      #human rights      #civil liberties      #News      #Politics      #World      #IDAHO     
May 2nd
4:42 AM
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SONY DSLR-A300
The Homophobia of the Catholic Church

The Homophobia of the Catholic Church

#Religion      #Christianity      #Christian      #homosexuality      #LGBT      #Gay      #Lesbian      #Sex      #Anal     
April 8th
3:24 AM
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Brazil’s Surge in Violence Against Gays Is Just Getting Worse One of the developing world’s rising stars is also seeing a surge in antigay homicides. Kristian Jepsen on how the hate crimes are casting a shadow over a major emerging economy. Brazil has never been hotter. Tourists and entrepreneurs are flocking to the country for its natural beauty and its booming business climate. Portuguese professionals are seeking work in the former colony. And the country’s legendary party scene is at a fever pitch. But behind the “Carnaval” mask, an ugly trend is emerging. Though the overall crime rate is down sharply in major cities, murders of gays and lesbians are on the rise. It’s especially acute in the most populous areas: Bahia, Minas Gerais, and the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo—precisely where police have made their biggest dents in criminal activity in general. Attacks against gays have climbed steadily for most of the last decade, with 272 murdered in 2011—one every 36 hours, according to Grupo Gay da Bahía, a leading gay-rights group that tracks antigay violence. This year, GGB reports, it’s even worse, with 75 murders in just the first 10 weeks. That’s one every 24 hours. The antigay surge may come as a double surprise. After all, Brazil is not just famous for its bonhomie, it’s also home to one of the best-organized gay-rights movements anywhere, whose activists pride themselves in rolling out the biggest gay-pride parade in the world. But success has its price. As homosexuals have won a place for themselves, they also have become visible targets. Behind the samba beat, the country remains deeply polarized at home, in politics, and in the pews. “The extent to which the rights movement is able to reach people is a tremendous victory, but this creates anxiety amongst many,” said James Green, a professor at Brown University and an authority on homosexuality in Brazil. The “anxiety” finds its expression in violence, he said. Policymakers have taken note. For the past five years a group of lawmakers has been at work on legislation to stop the bloodshed. Their goal is to turn homophobia into a crime. The so called Anti-Homophobia law calls for up to three years in prison for anyone found guilty of discriminating or inciting violence against homosexuals. One of the leaders of the drive is Sen. Marta Suplicy of the left-wing Workers Party (PT). A trained sexologist and a former mayor of São Paulo, Suplicy is no newcomer to the rugged world of Brazilian politics. As homosexuals have won a place for themselves, they also have become visible targets. Nonetheless, when the bill raised howls from Brazil’s powerful religious lobby, she was forced to dial back, removing an article that criminalized public utterances against gays. Legislators connected to the growing flock of Protestant evangelical churches protested that the new law would criminalize faith-based sermons that drew on Scripture to criticize homosexuality. The bill was reworded. After the evangelicals also rejected an even more watered-down version in December, the bill was sent back to committee, which, in Brazilian political terms, puts it on the legislative endangered list. Fighting back, Suplicy recently announced on Twitter that the Human Rights Commission had approved her request for a public hearing on the bill, scheduled for May. But activists aren’t holding their breath. “The evangelical bloc will never pass one law which would be to our benefit,” says Toni Reis, president of the Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transexuals (ABGLT), who recently criticized the redrafted law for creating a human-rights hierarchy. Brazil’s evangelicals are not the only obstacle. Although many fellow PT members say they favor the criminalization of homophobia, President Dilma Rousseff seems reluctant to take a definite stance. Recently, she has kept conspicuously quiet on the issue, and last year even vetoed the “Kit Gay,” a widely hailed educational packet designed to teach schoolchildren sensitivity around homosexuality and homophobia. Blocked in the national legislature, gay-rights advocates have turned to local initiatives. São Paulo state representative Telma de Souza of the Worker’s Party has proposed a Delegacia Gay, a special unit in the São Paulo police force, tasked specifically with handling antigay crime. The unit would be modeled on the Delegacia da Mulher, a unit charged with curbing and dealing with violence against women. In addition to trying to diminish violence against gays, officers of the Delegacia Gay would receive special training, both in psychological counseling and in human rights, to better deal with victims of hate crime. “There is not enough being done in the political spectrum to combat the prejudice and violence against homosexuals,” says Souza, who is calling for a broad public debate on the problem. The initiative couldn’t be timelier. A little more than a year ago, a young man (who as it happened was straight) was strolling down the Avenida Paulista in the heart of São Paulo’s financial district with two homosexual friends when he was assaulted by a group of teenagers. They crushed a fluorescent lightbulb over his face. The unprovoked violence of the attack jolted the nation, not least because it took place in plain view, in the heart of the nation’s most sophisticated metropolis. Specifically referring to this incident, Souza says, “This should not be occurring in the 21st century. We are not talking about gay rights here, but human rights.”                                   Kristian Jepsen             

Brazil’s Surge in Violence Against Gays Is Just Getting Worse

One of the developing world’s rising stars is also seeing a surge in antigay homicides. Kristian Jepsen on how the hate crimes are casting a shadow over a major emerging economy.

Brazil has never been hotter. Tourists and entrepreneurs are flocking to the country for its natural beauty and its booming business climate. Portuguese professionals are seeking work in the former colony. And the country’s legendary party scene is at a fever pitch. But behind the “Carnaval” mask, an ugly trend is emerging.

Though the overall crime rate is down sharply in major cities, murders of gays and lesbians are on the rise. It’s especially acute in the most populous areas: Bahia, Minas Gerais, and the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo—precisely where police have made their biggest dents in criminal activity in general.

Attacks against gays have climbed steadily for most of the last decade, with 272 murdered in 2011—one every 36 hours, according to Grupo Gay da Bahía, a leading gay-rights group that tracks antigay violence. This year, GGB reports, it’s even worse, with 75 murders in just the first 10 weeks. That’s one every 24 hours.

The antigay surge may come as a double surprise. After all, Brazil is not just famous for its bonhomie, it’s also home to one of the best-organized gay-rights movements anywhere, whose activists pride themselves in rolling out the biggest gay-pride parade in the world. But success has its price. As homosexuals have won a place for themselves, they also have become visible targets. Behind the samba beat, the country remains deeply polarized at home, in politics, and in the pews.

“The extent to which the rights movement is able to reach people is a tremendous victory, but this creates anxiety amongst many,” said James Green, a professor at Brown University and an authority on homosexuality in Brazil. The “anxiety” finds its expression in violence, he said.

Policymakers have taken note. For the past five years a group of lawmakers has been at work on legislation to stop the bloodshed. Their goal is to turn homophobia into a crime. The so called Anti-Homophobia law calls for up to three years in prison for anyone found guilty of discriminating or inciting violence against homosexuals. One of the leaders of the drive is Sen. Marta Suplicy of the left-wing Workers Party (PT). A trained sexologist and a former mayor of São Paulo, Suplicy is no newcomer to the rugged world of Brazilian politics.

As homosexuals have won a place for themselves, they also have become visible targets.

Nonetheless, when the bill raised howls from Brazil’s powerful religious lobby, she was forced to dial back, removing an article that criminalized public utterances against gays. Legislators connected to the growing flock of Protestant evangelical churches protested that the new law would criminalize faith-based sermons that drew on Scripture to criticize homosexuality. The bill was reworded.

After the evangelicals also rejected an even more watered-down version in December, the bill was sent back to committee, which, in Brazilian political terms, puts it on the legislative endangered list. Fighting back, Suplicy recently announced on Twitter that the Human Rights Commission had approved her request for a public hearing on the bill, scheduled for May. But activists aren’t holding their breath. “The evangelical bloc will never pass one law which would be to our benefit,” says Toni Reis, president of the Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transexuals (ABGLT), who recently criticized the redrafted law for creating a human-rights hierarchy.

Brazil’s evangelicals are not the only obstacle. Although many fellow PT members say they favor the criminalization of homophobia, President Dilma Rousseff seems reluctant to take a definite stance. Recently, she has kept conspicuously quiet on the issue, and last year even vetoed the “Kit Gay,” a widely hailed educational packet designed to teach schoolchildren sensitivity around homosexuality and homophobia.

Blocked in the national legislature, gay-rights advocates have turned to local initiatives. São Paulo state representative Telma de Souza of the Worker’s Party has proposed a Delegacia Gay, a special unit in the São Paulo police force, tasked specifically with handling antigay crime. The unit would be modeled on the Delegacia da Mulher, a unit charged with curbing and dealing with violence against women. In addition to trying to diminish violence against gays, officers of the Delegacia Gay would receive special training, both in psychological counseling and in human rights, to better deal with victims of hate crime. “There is not enough being done in the political spectrum to combat the prejudice and violence against homosexuals,” says Souza, who is calling for a broad public debate on the problem.

The initiative couldn’t be timelier. A little more than a year ago, a young man (who as it happened was straight) was strolling down the Avenida Paulista in the heart of São Paulo’s financial district with two homosexual friends when he was assaulted by a group of teenagers. They crushed a fluorescent lightbulb over his face. The unprovoked violence of the attack jolted the nation, not least because it took place in plain view, in the heart of the nation’s most sophisticated metropolis. Specifically referring to this incident, Souza says, “This should not be occurring in the 21st century. We are not talking about gay rights here, but human rights.”

                                  Kristian Jepsen             

#Brazil      #Gay      #Human Rights      #LGBT      #homophobia      #homosexuality      #News      #Politics     
September 8th
2:44 AM
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Incest is more accepted than homosexuality; no wonder the majority of southern states are beginning to look like the cast of the Hills Have Eyes.

Incest is more accepted than homosexuality; no wonder the majority of southern states are beginning to look like the cast of the Hills Have Eyes.

#US      #America      #Southern States      #The law      #Legislation      #Federal Government      #Homosexuality      #Incest      #Gay      #Lesbian      #.     
February 17th
1:53 PM
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Hypocritical Evil (Mormonism)

An old friend called me today; a friend whom I hadn’t spoken to in possibly 3 years. I don’t know the reasoning for him phoning me, but I do know that what he told me both humoured and saddened me. 

He (the person who called) was old ‘churchgoer’, a friend of mine, who used to pick me up every Sunday and take me to Church. A fellow Mormon, he would always be in a suit and tie (black and white) and on my first outings to the church, bought me my own suit, so I would not be out of place, or ‘aesthetically deviant’ as he would put. It was mainly because my Parents couldn’t afford to buy one, that he took him to the expenditure himself. 

Among the conversation, I inquired as to how the Pastor was at my old church was. Apparently, he no longer was Pastor, but, confined to Salt Lake, to a penance of scripture reading and solitude. The Pastor was the man who drove me out of the church.

After reading a leaflet he handed to me on morality, it stated “if you are struggling with your sexuality inform your pastor”…

Perhaps, I was gullible, or genuinely concerned, but nonetheless, I went to see the Pastor to inform him of such “homosexual tendencies”. The preachings of love, compassion and forgiveness, did not seem to be potent enough in the Pastor’s mind when he addressed the issue.

To be humiliated in front of the whole congregation, to be told you are a disordered and disfigured, creature and consequently disowned by God, is not nice. Similar to my own mother, I was at the front of the church, all eyes on me, at 14, being pointed at, for being condemned for now what I did, but for what I was. Similar to my mom, who was kicked out of the church, for being pregnant out of wedlock, I was being ridiculed, for being gay. 

Myself, I live for Irony. It makes things beautiful, humorous, and worth living for. Here’s where the frustration and pain I went through, suddenly was worth it. The Pastor, the ugly toad, who consciously destroyed the self confidence of a 13 year old boy, confused and searching for answers, was confined to solitude for hiring the services of a rent boy. 

The details intrigued me…. 

I was instantly reminded of Ted Haggard, and his disaster. Because, there was drugs involved; apparently, heroin. The love of God, never saved him from his own corruption or filth. 

I don’t know whether to be extremely happy in the knowledge that the Pastor was himself, a dirty faggot, or  sad. Extremely sad, that the teachings that comes from a a clutch of sinister elderly virgins, has caused such misery in Pastor’s themselves, and the children under their pastoral care.

In the end, I know the irony pleases me. And it gives me satisfaction, that cruelty in the end will, hit the fan. It pleases me that this conscious charlatan and fraud is chewing through his own quilt, and shame, coming to terms with his own disordered nature.

#Hypocritical,      #Religion      #Mormon      #Church      #Pastor      #Hypocrosy      #Homosexuality      #Gay      #Lesbian      #Bisexual      #LGBT      #Abuse      #Salt Lake City      #Congregation      #Jesus      #Party Pants      #Irony      #Young      #Teenager     
January 17th
9:01 AM
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The Battle for Reason

To repudiate the theocratic totalitarian evil that spreads from the ignorance of fools, must be the main goal of anyone with any regard for truth, or reason.

For what comes from those who think they have God on their side is capriciousness and cruelty on a sadistic scale. Looking forward gleefully to the end of civilization, and the welcome of the Saviour, they dismiss the harm they cause in the present. They do not consider the lives they destroy now. The effect on a young gay man who is expelled and ostracized, for not what he does, but for who he is.

A young couple in love, denied the freedom and choice to love, without being deemed evil if they use contraception. The writhings and teachings of those in the jewel palace of the Sistine Chapel, or of Mecca, affect all who listen, with the hearts of those mis-guided, bitterly confused, affected most.  

Religion poisons and pollutes everything. Profane in foundation, with the moral teachings of vicarious redemption a standard of morality, it affects us in our most basic integrity. Stating we cannot be moral without the celestial father, the dictator, it abolishes the concept of personal responsibility on which all ethics and morality must depend on.

To be enrolled in the ranks of the comrades who repudiate these evil claims is not only an honour it is to be apart of an alternative history as well as an alternative present and future.

#Atheist,      #Religion      #Ignorance      #Reason      #Science      #God      #Theist      #Faith      #Church      #Homosexuality      #Condoms