Gay Rights

OK, Madam Secretary, I give you full credit for going to bat for gays in Uganda.  The current campaign against Uganda's gays, fully backed by right wing "The Family" homophobes, is nothing short of genocide.   However, I do have a question.  Secretary Clinton states,"We have to stand against any efforts to marginalize and criminalize and penalize members of the LGBT community worldwide."  Let's give  her credit for being an advocate but I wonder if she has ever heard  the expression, "Charity begins at home?"    After all, it was her husband, President Clinton, who signed off on the totally biased "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.  It's now  been almost a full decade since Bill left office and DADT still remains the law of the land.   I wonder if Secretary Clinton has informed President Obama (as if he does't already know) that he has the power to repeal DADT immediately by simply signing an executive order. (via his position as Commander-In Chief)  Does she not consider the inability to serve in the military, the inability to marry, the inability to adopt children, the inability to be a foster parent etc. forms of persecution?

She speaks about, "the importance of fighting global homophobia."  I wonder if she realizes that the good old USA suffers from the worse case of homophobia of any of the advanced western countries. (England, France, Germany, Denmark etc)   It becomes politically expedient to speak out against  "worldwide" homophobia when right wing nuts like Rick Warren put their  ignorance on the world stage.  However, she has, and her husband had, the ability to influence domestic policy and have largely gotten poor grades.  HOW ABOUT WORKING TO GAIN BASIC RESPECT AND RIGHTS FOR U.S. GAY AND LESBIANS BEFORE SPEAKING OUT ABOUT UGANDA--SIMPLY BECAUSE IT'S POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT.   I respectfully submit Madam Secretary, that charity does begin at home!!

Well put, William! Thank you.

Do you know what Romans 1:24 means?  We are talking about the lust of man and turning to Homosexuals who are born that way!  Not homosexuality is a sin or Homosexuals are sinners!  That’s not what God meant when he said it’s an abomination!  Men should learn to keep it zipped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God is talking about straight men turning to homosexuals for their Sexual needs not two loving GAY parents. 

I am sure that the Bible talks about these acts that are homosexual but not the people themselves are an abomination! I don’t have to read that Book to know that God refers to straight men and women and not Gay people!

Being a Homosexual is natural mutation of cells. Do you think in God’s infinite wisdom He wanted everything to remain the same when he knew and we know today, that everything constantly changes!  Change is good as we know today it make life more interesting, bearable, and entertaining! So fundamentalists give up your CURSADES and let my people go and be!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so happy to see Mrs. Clinton speaking out on this issue.  The only correct side to stand on in any human rights movement is on the side of kindness, compassion and civility.  

Regardless of what religion most people believe in if any at all, I think we can all agree that the most important 'commandment' of Christianity and most others is the sentiment of "Love thy neighbor."  It is not a loving thing to pass judgment on people, persecute them, assault them, or in any other manner inflict cruelty and misery.   There's nothing Christ like about hatespeech.

It's amazing to live in a time when we get to witness gay rights gaining so much press, and to live among the generation that will make sure they gain equal rights to marriage in this country. 

I saw this in the news today too, did you guys see this article:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34209592/ns/us_news-life//

It is great Dave that we are making noise.Too many people were indifferent to the Matthew Shepard tragedy and not speaking out about it because he was gay.We can thank this administration for speaking out against us being persecuted.I am hoping a lot of people will support this day of World Aids day.I am wearing red all day today.

I have never been a big fan of the Clintons, but I'll tip my hat to Hillary on this one and to Obama, her boss. I still hold the belief that there is more going on in the Obama administration on Gay rights issues than meets the eye. I hope I'm right on that point.

While on one side I applaud Mrs. Clinton for speaking out for homosexual rights in the international forum, I would like to see her be more vocal and supporting of gay rights stateside. In a 2003 interview, she was opposed to the Federal Marriage Amendment, but fell short of actually supporting gay marriage stating that the decision should be left to the states. Sitting on the fence constitutes support no more than Rick Warren's silence amounts to condemnation of Ugandan policy.

You know, I have to get something else off of my chest on the issue of discrimmination and violence against Gay people in other countries. I have mostly kept silent on these boards on foreign issues simply because I prefer to concentrate on those things I feel I can actually do more than express my feelings on. But what is going on in Uganda is a mirror of what goes on all over the world insofar as violence against Gays is concerned. I have a personal experience that I want to share just to share.

I have spent a great deal of time in Mexico of and on over the last 20 years. Some 18 years ago when I was dating my wife (she's from there). Where she worked, there was also a young man (Memo) working in his late teens. He was a young man that was very concerned with his macho image and took great pains to show off how manly he was when ever possible. He also had a younger brother (Alejandro) who was probably around 11 at the time. Alejandro displayed effiminate characteristics and I think he was probably transgendered or intersexed (he never developed strong physical traits of a male) rather than Gay (I understand that they are not one and the same issue). It was coomon for the young man to endure verbal abuse on the street being called Joto (fag) and other terrible things by other school age children. Mostly, I think he was the target of opportunistic bullies who found a vulnerable target with no one to defend him.

One day, walking down the street, I caught his own Memo holding his brother against the wall and punching him while screaming at him names like Joto and other horrible references to his sexuality. Memo was more worried about his own reputation than his brother. I intervened (I thumped him pretty good) and Memo knew from then on that if I ever got to hear of it again, he would have to deal with me.

Alejandro spent the rest of the week that I was visiting following me around like a puppy. He told me about the abuse he suffered from his brother and the constant bullying he got at school. I visited the local police station (all 4 officers) to talk to them about doing something about it and they just laughed. I went to his school and was satisfied that the principal was doing what she could to make sure he was safe while on school grounds.

Alejandro knew I was a religious person and had a lot of questions. It turned out that he had a very spiritual personality, but couldn't get anyone from any of the churches in the community to even talk to him and he was treated as some sort of a pariah by the local priest and the ministers of the other local churches.

Every time I came to visit my future wife, he hung out with me. He asked me to teach him the Bible, because no one else would. I never got into ex gay ministry type of stuff with him, I just treated him like anyone else that I was teaching. Here is the big surprise to me as I got to know him (her?) over the next several years (I got married, but we still visited her family regularly before the current round of drug wars). Alejandro really had no real interest in things sexual. He wasn't interested in boys really, or girls, he was just interested in living his life. He wanted to grow up and go to college and be a teacher.

As he got older, it became clear that he would be unable to work in the community, he had to drop out of secondary school because of the constant bullying. When his mother finally died, Memo inherited the house and threw his younger brother out. The last time I saw Alejandro in '95 (about 6 months after his mother died), he was dressing and living as a woman and I found out that he had been taken in by the local commander of the military garrison and was being used sexually by this man (he was only 15 or 16 at this time). I remember talking to my wife about what our options were for getting him out of there and we even contacted some of my wife's family living in Guaymas(gulf of california on the Sonoran side) to inquire about him living over there where he might be safer. I promised him I would be in touch soon. On the drive home, we decided that we could handle his room and board and his education expenses (only primary school is free there, secondary and prepatory education costs).

Three days later, he was dead. He had been dragged to death behind a pickup. The local police didn't care. No one cared to investigate or do anything about it. His brother didn't care and no one even organized a funeral. To this day, no one has been able to tell me where he is buried (including the local clerks office), but I think he was laid in what amounts to a paupers grave.

Today, all over many parts of Mexico it's even worse. Even in areas where there is a will to protect all of their citizens and actually enforce their own laws, there is know power to do so because of the corruption and the drug war. They are very vulnerable to hate crimes or opportunistic bullying.

I'm not even sure why I wrote this here. Every time I read stories like this one or the ones like Mathew Sheppard, I think about Alejandro. I try and write logically and focus my efforts on the things that I believe I can actually make a difference on, but I have had such a sense of grief and anger and helplessness over this for so many years.

I don't even know how to end this post, I usually have some kind of point I'm trying to make, but not today. I just felt I needed to tell the story.

I'm pleased that Secretary Clinton addressed the issue of international anti-gay legislation and violence.  It's important and significant that she did so.  My only question is that while her words may have alluded to Uganda, why are we afraid to name it?  Why are we afraid to say, "We are talking to you, the president of Uganda, and telling you not to do this?"  Why are we playing nice when people's lives are at stake?

Dave-- That makes sense to me.  Thanks for replying. I do hope that if this pending law comes closer to becoming actual law in Uganda, the US will speak more forcefully.

Hillary Clinton is doing the correct thing by supporting LGBT rights, especially so that Uganda will be obligated to abandon the bill which is very homophobic. Violence against LGBT people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is unjustified and is why it's good that Hillary Clinton has made that statement. If Uganda's president does the wrong thing by making the bill law, then the millions in development assistance will no longer be provided until it's repealed and not enforced.