Beginning the first day of the new year, the Boy Scouts of America will end their official prohibition of openly gay scouts: starting January 1, the Boy Scouts allow gay members.

The decision was the result of a vote held in May by the BSA’s 1400 member National Council. 60% were in favor, and the outcome came at the end of intense debate. Simultaneously, the council announced that openly gay adults would continue to be barred from leadership positions.

The Boy Scouts have about one million adult, and 2.6 million youth members in the United States. A large number of troops/Scout units are sponsored by religious organizations.

The reversal in policy is a move away from a controversial policy banning atheists, agnostics, and all “open or avowed” homosexuals. Atheists and agnostics will continue to be forbidden from entering.

The decision is a victory for children everywhere and is an important step towards fostering healthy development and a sense of inclusion, normalcy, and acceptance amongst not only gay youth, but also all young people.

Jamaica is a terrible place for LGBT individuals.

Like many areas of the world, such as India or Japan, homophobia in its modern form did not exist until colonization by the west. Legislation prohibiting sodomy, anti-gay sentiment, and Christian traditions exist to a large degree as vestiges of Europe’s influence.

Jamaica is one of these countries. The nation has codified discrimination, as well as a climate of hate, intimidation, and violence.

“Section 76. Unnatural crime. Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery … shall be liable to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for a term not exceeding ten years.”

Laws are specific to males; sexual acts between women are not prohibited by law. This is one reflection of Jamaica’s culture, one of hyperbolic masculinity. Expectations of manliness are high, and any homosexual allusions or ideas are seen as an affront to these ideals. Tying into this male-dominated, machismo structure is a wildly popular music culture: dancehall and reggae are two beloved genres in Jamaica, and often feature homophobic themes and lyrics. High-profile artists such as Buju Banton, Sizzla, Beenie Man, and Elephant Man have all recorded music with vitriolic anti-gay lyrics. The music taps into existing homophobic sentiments, and also encourages them. Other aspects of the culture also contribute, such as Christianity, or attitudes about HIV/AIDS. Fundamental is the sum: a culture in which homophobia is deeply ingrained.

As a result, life in Jamaica for LGBT individuals is not only difficult, but dangerous: beatings, murder, arson, anti-gay mobs, and rejection by family are to be expected. Extreme cases have been reported: in 2004, Jamaican gay rights activist Brian Williamson was murdered in his home with a machete. The killing was handled as a robbery, but many believe it to have been a hate crime. Rebecca Schleifer, a researcher from the Human Rights Watch, described her experience the day of his death:

“…found a small crowd singing and dancing. One man called out, ‘Battyman he get killed.’ Others were celebrating, laughing and shouting ‘Let’s get them one at a time’, “That’s what you get for sin”. Others sang ‘Boom bye bye’, a line from a well-known dancehall song by Jamaican star Buju Banton about shooting and burning gay men. ‘It was like a parade’, says Schleifer. ‘They were basically partying.’”

Youths and gay persons are often driven from their homes and neighborhoods by family members or angry crowds and find themselves with nowhere to go. This article documents the struggle of a group of youths taking refuge in sewers. Even there, however, they do not find safety. Anti-gay action and persecution come from the police, too, in the form of beatings and forced removals.

Human Rights Watch said in 2012 that because of homophobia, “human rights defenders advocating the rights of LGBT people are not safe in Jamaica”. – Wikipedia

Seeking aid or protection from the government or other authorities is also not feasible. 2012 brought a further increase in incidents of anti-gay violence and abuse. Many LGBT individuals have fled the country to live in safer places; for many this is not possible, and they have been forced to face the challenge of LGBT life in their home country.

Changing Jamaica’s culture will be a long process requiring education, diligence, and above all, fearless courage. The process begins with communication and effort to spread awareness across the world.

In a 19-4 vote, Hawaii’s Senate has approved a bill allowing same-sex marriages within the state. The final step is a signature from the governor, Democrat Neil Abercrombie, who has expressed support for the law.

Following the terms in the legislation, gay marriages will be allowed starting December 2.

Hawaii is now the the fifteenth state to legalize same-sex marriages, and rides on a wave of similar legislation rapidly growing widespread throughout America. One year ago, six states and The District of Columbia were the only states to have legalized same-sex marriages. That number has now more than doubled, and Illinois stands poised to make itself number sixteen. Cases similar to the one that led to Hawaii’s new law are underway throughout the country. Moreover, the zeitgeist appears to be changing – according to this Gallup poll, gay marriage is now supported by more than half the country. Poll data must be viewed with skepticism, but the rising number of states allowing same-sex marriages lends credit to these numbers.

The bill did experience opposition – more so in the house than in the senate, where the bill succeeded with a vote of 30-19. This reflects the overall state in the United States – while public opinion is changing, a motivated and fervent opposition to causes such as same-sex marriage and equal rights for homosexuals remains.

November 2, 2013

In Germany a law has been passed which allows parents and individuals to abstain from categorizing themselves as male or female. The state now allows a third gender option on birth certificates. Up until now choosing one of the two was mandatory – this led to problems especially in cases of intersex babies.

Intersex is a condition in which chromosomes do not align to create clearly a male or a female. This can present itself with genitals or an appearance that does not correspond perfectly to either gender. Laws allowing only the options “M” and “F” on birth certificates have been part of a culture in which this natural biological feature was shunned, scorned, and mishandled – when parents are forced to decide which gender their child is, the individual may grow up with a mismatching biological and mental gender identity.

In Germany, birth certificates will now have a third option in addition to male and female – X. The German government also now issues passports with this classification.

Germany is not the only country that has already taken steps to recognize intersexuals. Nepal, the United Kingdom, Australia, Portugal, Uruguay, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have also already officially recognized this third gender. The third gender, or genders outside of the frequently-seen Western dichotomy of male and female, are and were part of cultures around the world today and throughout history. They are mentioned in the Quran, and also among the oldest written human records describing ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Laws like this are the first step for intersexuals towards acceptance in society at large. Another goal for the community is to end gender assignment for intersex infants, and to allow the individuals to decide themselves once they’ve developed a gender identity. This law doesn’t achieve this goal quite yet, but is a move in the right direction.

October 31, 2013

Marriott Hotel will soon be hosting a conference of the organization NARTH – that stands for the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality.

NARTH’s mission is in sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), something deemed futile and irresponsible not only the American Psychological Association, but by psychologists, scientists, and professionals across the world.

Here a statement from the APA:

“The longstanding consensus of the behavioral and social sciences and the health and mental health professions is that homosexuality per se is a normal and positive variation of human sexual orientation.

There are no studies of adequate scientific rigor to conclude whether recent SOCE do work to change a person’s sexual orientation.”

Moreover, it is the opinion of a huge number of psychologists and mental health professionals that not only are attempts to change one’s sexuality futile, but also that they can be extremely harmful to youths, warping their identity and potentially causing lifelong struggles with an unhealthy self-image, a lack of capacity for self-acceptance, and serious problems that can come with them, such as depression and even suicide.

Were we to raise children of a certain skin or hair color to believe their body and mind were from birth wrong, that they needed to struggle to change this, that they needed to do deny to themselves what they were, they would be unhealthy and depressed. They would have a distorted and skewed and terrible image of themselves as wrong and in need of repair. This is exactly what this organization wants to do.

Why is Marriott hosting this irresponsible and hateful organization? This will not be the first time NARTH has convened under Marriott’s roofs – the hotel chain has hosted them many times in the past. What’s worse, Marriott is happy to accept and promote an image of themselves as gay-friendly, providing information on their website about gay vacations and weddings.

Spread this information, and tell your circles about Marriott’s hypocrisy and nasty money-hoarding, and what depths they will sink themselves in order to make a bit of money. Or, worse – are there people behind the scenes at Marriott who support this ludicrous and dangerous organization?

A few links:

Sign your name and help!