Drachma - a Catholic Group for LGBT

Quakers Meeting

2012-01-19T08:34:00.000-08:00

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) have begun to hold a monthly meeting for worship in Malta which members of DRACHMA may be interested to attend. The Quakers have always advocated in favour of equality, originally in terms of gender and race but since the 1960s in terms of the equality between heterosexual and homosexual relationships while Quakers actively participate in annual PRIDE marches around the world to express their solidarity with the LGBT community.

Since 2009 the British Society of Friends became the first and only UK church to support and advocate gay marriage.

It should be stressed that Quakers have no creed, no priests or ministers nor a liturgy from which they preach. The meeting for worship is a silent affair where Friends sit in silence for one hour until a Friend may feel moved to say something. There is no discussion of what has been said and the meeting returns to silence. Quakers have always believed that it is only in silence that we can enter the light/hear God. After the meeting Friends often remain behind for thirty minutes to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and the chance to catch up. All visitors are more than welcome and should you require further information you can contact Mark at georgefoxmalta@gmail.com.

Meetings take place at 11am on the first Sunday of each month in the Church Hall of the Holy Trinity Church (the Protestant Church), Rudolph Street, Sliema (the next meeting is scheduled for 5th February).

The ‘others’ are part of us too - timesofmalta.com

2012-01-12T01:18:00.000-08:00

The ‘others’ are part of us too - timesofmalta.com

Position Paper on Marriage Equality (Launch)

2012-01-04T02:24:00.000-08:00

Drachma Parents' Group

2011-12-27T06:06:00.000-08:00

Building bridges with a Church we strongly feel part of – Drachma Parents

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=137384

Drachma Christmas Mass

2011-12-20T08:33:00.000-08:00

Mass and a get-together will be held on December 28 for all lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, (LGBT), their parents, relatives and friends. It will begin at 6.30 p.m. at the Millennium Chapel, Paceville. Light refreshments will follow, as we welcome any new members wishing to join. All are welcome. drachmalgbt@gmail.com, Contact number: 7944 2317

The yearly conference of the European Forum in 2012

2011-12-19T01:13:00.000-08:00

Lead us beyond acceptance

http://www.euroforumlgbtchristians.eu/index.php/2012-amsterdam/english

Ir-Relazzjoni M’ Uliedek Prezzjuza…Titlifiex. Hobb.

2011-12-17T02:02:00.001-08:00

Ir-Relazzjoni M’ Uliedek Prezzjuża…Titlifiex. Ħobb. from Malta Gay Rights Movement on Vimeo.

Anke Int Ghandek Dritt Thoss il-Ferh

2011-12-17T02:00:00.000-08:00

Anke Int Għandek Dritt Tħoss il-Ferħ from Malta Gay Rights Movement on Vimeo.

Ibda T-Tmiem tal-Bullying

2011-12-17T01:59:00.000-08:00

Ibda T-Tmiem tal-Bullying from Malta Gay Rights Movement on Vimeo.

Well Done MGRM & Drachma Parents' Group

2011-12-09T02:46:00.000-08:00

Think Before You Speak - MGRM

2011-12-09T02:43:00.000-08:00

The Human Rights of LGBT People

2011-12-07T00:18:00.001-08:00

Think Before You Speak

2011-11-29T00:28:00.001-08:00

Natascia e Alessandra di Nuova Proposta

2011-11-22T11:07:00.001-08:00

2011-11-05T04:50:00.000-07:00

2011-09-18T01:29:00.000-07:00

What symbol would you relate Drachma to?

www.christopherfbezzina.com

La Verità ci rende liberi

2011-09-18T01:27:00.000-07:00

Amazing Grace!

2011-09-02T03:58:00.000-07:00

Confessioni di un gay cattolico

2011-08-13T08:23:00.001-07:00

I am Gay and I am blessed. Drachma LGBT Group in Malta

2011-07-10T02:39:00.000-07:00

I am Gay and I am blessed. Drachma LGBT Group in Malta

Interview by Silvia Lanzi, 10 July 2011

http://bit.ly/nrkSTV

"Traducendole, mi sono accorta che chi me le aveva mandate era una persona incredibile. Mi sono commossa, per la loro lucidità e profondità e ho voluto vedere che faccia avesse uno così saggio."

http://bit.ly/mR5waD

Open Letter to Matthew...

2011-06-13T01:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Matthew,

I am writing to you as a brother protestant Christian. Does it surprise you that there are Christians who claim Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour, have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, take the bible as the authority for their lives and yet do not find Christianity and LGBT mutually exclusive?

In the church you attend you have been taught to take the word of God in the bible as authority. You are a new Christian and praise God for that. I have been born again for many years and have read the bible from cover to cover over ten times studying and meditating on God's word. There is a lot in the Old Testament that was for its time. Today, we do not circumcise our male children, we do eat pork and rabbit, we do not have slaves or multiple wives, etc. We are blessed by having the new covenant through Jesus, we are new creations living by faith not by law. There is a wonderful passage by Saint Paul in Galatians - I will copy it for you below but you can check it in your bible it is at Chapter 3 verses 24 to the end

24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

You should learn Verse 28 as a memory verse. In the Old Testament Gentiles, slaves, women and LGBT people were excluded but now we live by faith and are one in Christ Jesus. So do not have people tell you that when our almighty God made people gay he made a mistake. Or that living a loving faithful life as two gay men is sinful. Or that you can change your sexuality because what you can do by force of determination, peer pressure and prayer is simply to suppress it for a time. The problem you will encounter is that your dreams will still be gay and you will find yourself in a constant battle to restrain your God given desires. I would encourage you to watch the You Tube clip from the leaders of exgay exodus seeking forgiveness for misleading people into thinking what you have been taught about curing homosexuality.

What I want to say to you simply is that it is great that you have come to faith in Jesus. It is good that you have a fellowship of believers around you to love and care for you. However, when you find that your sexuality re-emerges and you find that your current fellowship will not accept you because of that, then please do not reject Jesus. There are protestant Christians within Drachma who will love and accept you as you are as a gay man. When that day comes please get in touch, and in a non-threatening way we can talk about what it means to be an authentic follower of Jesus without denying your own sexual identity.

With every blessing in Jesus

Barnabas

PS In case you are wondering about the account of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 this was about the rejection of hospitality and gang rape rather than homosexuality. Just as the similar account of Gibeah in Judges 19 was also about the rejection of hospitality and gang rape rather than heterosexuality. I urge you to read all the bible for yourself under the direction of the Holy Spirit and not just accept the bits that others show you to support their agenda.

2011-06-11T09:15:00.002-07:00

Gay Christians call on Pope to reconsider position on same-sex relationships

2011-06-11T09:15:00.001-07:00

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/gay-christians-call-on-pope-to-reconsider-position-on-same-sex-relationships

LGBT groups request statement from Pope against homophobic violence - timesofmalta.com

2011-06-10T02:24:00.000-07:00

LGBT groups request statement from Pope against homophobic violence - timesofmalta.com

LGBT Christians appeal to Your Holiness to pay attention to human rights

2011-06-10T01:27:00.000-07:00

Berlin, May 7, 2011

Dear Holy Father,

We appeal to Your Holiness to condemn acts of violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people, and for Your Holiness’ co-operation in lifting the penalisation of homosexual acts worldwide.

Silence from Your Holiness is interpreted by people engaged in violence, torture and murder as consent to their actions.

For example, in January 2011, David Kato, an activist for the rights of LGBT people, was brutally murdered in Uganda. Violence, torture and murder of LGBT people happen often in various parts of the world, and their perpetrators are often convinced that they comply with the will of the Roman Catholic Church. This belief was compounded by the fact that, in December 2008, the Holy See refused to support the United Nations declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity. This declaration included a paragraph calling upon States to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests or detention.

Furthermore, we appeal to Your Holiness to provide clear information to all Christians concerning the passages of the Bible that are used to justify these abhorrent actions. As with the passages supporting slavery, the verses advocating the killing of persons engaged in same-sex sexual activity must not be interpreted literally.

There is still pressure from some Roman Catholic clergy on LGBT Christians to undergo “reparative therapy” in order to change their sexual orientation. This strategy, and an official Church demand for LGBT people to live in sexual abstinence lead to many life tragedies, including suicides and severe forms of depression as they try to be obedient to the church’s teachings and heroically follow them.

However, according to modern studies in psychiatry and psychology, sexual orientation cannot be changed, such attempts usually lead to serious psychological damage. Also life in celibacy cannot be demanded from those people who do not have a personal call to it.

LGBT Christians cannot be denied their fundamental right for a relationship with a beloved person, regardless of gender.

As science has testified that homosexuality is a variant of sexuality, we appeal that this scientific knowledge is included in the teaching of the church.

Consequently we appeal to Your Holiness to make sure that it is no longer preached that homosexual people must undergo therapy, but they are entitled to pursue their lives in a loving and faithful relationship.

The personal and social benefits are: a happy life, mental health, ability for fruitful work and for bringing support to others. Otherwise, life often turns into a sad existence, with a series of unsuccessful psychological and psychiatric therapies, loss of belief in God, humanity and love. This result is frequently described in letters and testimonies of LGBT Christians.

Worldwide, many lesbian, gay and transgender people live in relationships based on love, fidelity and mutual interest. Just like in mature heterosexual relationships - love is first a spiritual experience, and secondarily a physical one. Unfortunately, due to stigmatisation and lack of knowledge, the concept of homosexuality is associated by many people only with physical love.

Referring to the statement of Your Holiness in December 2008 about the protection of humanity as an ecosystem like a tropical forest, we can say that LGBT people are a less common species, permanently represented in the ecosystem. And as we know, every species is important and needed to ensure the balance God created.

We appeal to Your Holiness to reconsider the Church’s position on same-sex and transgender relationships and support these relationships being accepted and blessed in the Church.

We appeal to Your Holiness to cease to urge Catholics’ to vote against the law authorising same-sex relationships.

Same-sex and transgender relationships are not dangerous for traditional family existence but in fact support and enhance marriage and family values. LGBT people constitute a small percentage of each population, and their number remains constant.

The lack of acceptance of young LGBT people both in their families and by the Church almost always causes problems in the development of their personalities. The effects of this are often dramatic and are seen in their desperate attempts to enter heterosexual marriages, or disguise their sexual orientation and attempt a life in a seminary or a monastery, not necessarily because of personal vocation.

For these reasons, creating a safe and friendly atmosphere for ‘coming out’ is important for each society.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that homosexual persons should be treated with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Respect and sensitivity should be given to everyone regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. If this was truly the case then compassion would not be necessary. Homophobic behaviour and opinions are especially painful when perpetrated by Christians - both clergy and laity, and are not in keeping with showing respect.

God bless Your Holiness

Diane Xuereb (Netherlands / Malta) Dr. Michael Brinkschröder (Germany)

(Co-Presidents of the European Forum of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual Christian Groups on behalf of the member Groups)

Gay ‘conversion’ therapy can cause great psychological harm and suicides - timesofmalta.com

2011-05-31T04:12:00.000-07:00

Gay ‘conversion’ therapy can cause great psychological harm and suicides - timesofmalta.com

European Forum 2011

2011-05-31T01:56:00.000-07:00

Stigmatised for being blue-eyed - timesofmalta.com

2011-05-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

Stigmatised for being blue-eyed - timesofmalta.com

God loves LGBT people the way they are - timesofmalta.com

2011-05-22T02:05:00.000-07:00

God loves LGBT people the way they are - timesofmalta.com

Reflection

2011-05-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

All Christians affirm that Jesus Christ did incarnate to ‘reform’ the law ‘of Moses’ and transform it into one single affirmation: UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

This ‘Law of Love’ is derived from the great commandment given by Jesus himself: Matthew 22: 34-40, Mark 12: 28-31 and Luke 10:25-28.

God accepts our love for others as if it were love for Himself. So when we love other people, we are giving love to God, Himself. Thus the Great Commandment requirement to love God is fulfilled when we love unconditionally our neighbours, our brothers and sisters, irrespective of gender, age, race, believes, sexual orientation etc.

Hence why Jesus did not utter one single word against homosexuality!

Member of Drachma

Homosexuals are God’s children, too! - timesofmalta.com

2011-05-16T00:45:00.000-07:00

Homosexuals are God’s children, too! - timesofmalta.com

Sexual and Spiritual Integration, a possibility for Christians

2011-05-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

For the past years Drachma has been tirelessly working with the LGBTQ community, parents of Lesbian and Gay daughters and sons, and friends of LGBT persons.

Drachma stands for sexual and spiritual integration and calls for a genuine and intelligent search for truth on LGBT and faith matters. The issue is a complex one from the religious point of view and it becomes more complex when the full Christian landscape is painted. Some Christian Churches today bless same-sex unions - the Anglican Church appoints openly gay bishops. The Metropolitan Community Churches and the Apostolic Catholic Churches are a sign of great hope for the Christian LGBT community, our family and friends. The Roman Catholic Church herself has a number of brilliant theologians who are struggling intelligently with this issue, amongst them James Alison, Jeannine Gramick and Margaret Farley.

On the other hand the bible like any other sacred text can be read in fundamentalist ways, used to persecute others, to propagate fear and hatred especially towards communities that are vulnerable or marginalized in some way. Sadly this is no news. This kind of reading unfortunately happens in all religions including the Christian faith.

As Drachma we are greatly concerned about claims of healing from homosexuality through the intervention of Jesus Christ. One of the first problems is that Jesus is presented as someone who is against the gay person, his love towards the gay person presented as conditional, on condition that ‘you’ change. As Drachma we witness the deep disturbance that such reading brings about to the gay community, especially LGBT people whose faith remains important and an intrinsic part of their existence. Of course everyone is free to choose the path he believes is best for himself or herself. Yet, as LGBT Christians we feel obliged to reach out to our brothers and sisters struggling to reconcile their sexual orientation and faith. We want them to know that there is another way, that there is no need to butcher oneself or deny an essential part of one’s own creation to love God and receive Jesus’ love. Christianity is a life-giving option and should not be a religion leading people into neurotic forms of living. Unfortunately, there are some parents who drive their children 'insane' pushing for 'change' and healing which leaves long-term damage upon the individuals when this is not forthcoming.

Of course, freedom of expression is also a human right but one needs to keep in mind the consequences those words and religious claims bring about. The gay community carries the brunt of such words upon its own flesh and knows these consequences only too well. A number of ex-ex-gay persons like Peterson Toscano today witness how damaging these programmes were to them, how deeply deluded and disillusioned they were. It is an even tougher journey to then recover from this other kind of struggle as clearly pointed out by MGRM when quoting scientific research in their press release. The risks of suicide attempts and suicide itself are other matters of great concern to keep in mind when discussing ‘healing’ or reparative therapy.

At Drachma we like to believe that Compassion is the language of love, that all of creation is essentially good and grace builds on nature. We also believe that Christian teaching is essentially a simple one, to treat one’s own neighbours as oneself (in its positive not negative meaning). At Drachma we believe that in this Jesus’ teaching we find all that we need and that simpler doctrine does not exist. Finally Judgment is best left in our Creator’s hands!

If you would like to obtain further information, kindly contact Clayton and Chris on 7909 1984 or on drachmalgbt@gmail.com

Shane Claiborne & Gay Issues

2011-05-11T01:41:00.000-07:00

Homo No Mo Halfway House

2011-05-09T01:24:00.000-07:00

Introducing the Homo No Mo Halfway House from Peterson Toscano on Vimeo.

podcast- Peterson Toscano

2011-05-09T01:20:00.000-07:00

Peterson Toscano about his experiences with the ex-gay movement

http://anarchistreverend.com/2011/05/petersonpodcast/

Thanks-Giving Mass

2011-04-13T00:07:00.000-07:00

THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION

2011-03-24T05:10:00.000-07:00

A Reflection by Drachma read during an MKSU Human Rights Activity (Prayer Service) held at the University of Malta

2011-03-12T11:05:00.001-08:00

Often times we read beautiful words, documents, we all agree about them. Yet we do not work them out in real life, in concrete ways in our ordinary day-to-day living. The Human Rights Charter, which today we are remembering and celebrating. But let us also remember the teachings of the Catholic Church herself; such as its own teaching - the Social Doctrine, teachings about minorities. What are we waiting for? Why do we lack courage to bring about the necessary changes?

Christianity itself is such a simple doctrine but often sounds complex and heavy, people are pushed away, made to run away from it. It often sounds like it is very far away from our own humanity.

Often times because of words, people of faith are kept away and forced to turn away from this our Church. We dream of a Church that welcomes all in concrete and effective ways, opening up new spaces…for dialogue, for working out the gospel together, bringing into it our real concrete life experiences.

We lament a Church that often neglects its LGBTI children….

We lament a Church who too often comes across as judgmental rather than presenting God’s love for all of His children, no matter who or what we are….

We lament a Church who rarely offers life-giving options to the LGBTI community but often presents closed doors….

We lament a Church who lost the capacity to engage with society and enter into life-giving dialogue. Too often the focus is on heavy morality rather then addressing concrete realities of people’s lives and faith-struggles…spirituality….

We lament a Church who often presents herself as almost an enemy to the rights and dignity of minority groups rather then a mother who is also concerned about these children of hers…

We hope for fraternity, we desire Christian Unity not only amongst the different Churches but also amongst ourselves, Catholics who are so diverse ourselves…

We hope that we truly learn to love one another as brothers and sisters and stop perceiving each other as enemies….

We hope that LGBTI issues are no longer scapegoated to avoid addressing other important faith-issues, we hope that LGBTI issues are addressed fairly and squarely without fear but truly in faith and reason….

We hope for a Church committed to present the gospel message to the LGBTI community as a message of life and liberation and not as one of fear and despair. We celebrate the positive exchanges we already had such as the positive experiences with KDZ during the Pope’s visit...

We hope in Words that are alive and can bring about change and transformation and not simply shelved as beautiful document….

We want to believe in the other Kingdom, we want to dream with the rest of the Church we want to believe in the ‘On Earth as it is in Heaven’ as Good News for us as all….

We want to believe that Peace is possible even between Church Hierarchy and the LGBTI community, that love is a real possibility, and that all people can flourish within the Christian faith…

A Call for Artists

2011-02-16T02:55:00.000-08:00

Is Sexuality the Final Frontier? (Part 1)

2011-01-28T02:07:00.000-08:00

On Including Gays

http://bit.ly/cAZ3tv

European Forum 2011

2011-01-04T00:50:00.000-08:00

Berlin!

Just a reminder that the annual get-together will be in Berlin this year. We hope to welcome delegates from many different countries.

For more details please log on: http://bit.ly/eqng9H

Donations are welcome for the Agape Fund ~ to enable people to attend from some countries where gathering together is very difficult or unsafe.

For more information please log on: http://bit.ly/fe4rWz

Christmas Mass

2010-12-14T07:02:00.000-08:00

Ommossesswali - RTK

2010-11-10T00:07:00.000-08:00

Josh Wilson - Before The Morning

2010-11-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

Desmond Tutu: 'Hate Has No Place in God's House'

2010-11-07T23:59:00.000-08:00

Today I pray for people in Africa and throughout the world who long for freedom because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. It grieves me to be retiring at this crucial moment in history, so I write to you in this open letter, to invite you to pick up the work that remains to be done. More than 70 countries still imprison or execute gay and transgender people, and bullying and murders are all too common. This must change.

Each of you is called to respond to God's urgency for love and life. So whether you are in South Africa, the United States or anywhere else, humanity needs to accept its own diversity as a gift from our Creator. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are part of our family of God.

I have always striven for a life of love in action. Many told me to stop. They called me a communist or they told me that I might be killed. Now, I have lived long, and one choice that comes with age is how to deal with our own mortality. Should we be more careful or be more bold? Should we rest on our laurels or respond to the urgency of justice?

Boldly, I urge all faith leaders and politicians to stop persecuting people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Every day people live in fear because of who they love. We are talking about our family members, our flesh and blood, our humanity. LGBT people are in our villages, towns, cities, countries -- and our whole world.

In South African churches we have sung, "Oh freedom! Freedom is coming, oh yes, I know." We sang this chorus at the lowest points of our journey toward freedom against the racist and colonialist system of apartheid, and we still sing it to this day. Freedom is coming -- and those of us who have freedom must speak out for those whose freedom is under attack. We can and must make a difference.

"It Gets Better" (Broadway sings for the Trevor Project)

2010-11-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

President Obama: It Gets Better

2010-10-22T02:02:00.000-07:00

One Year since the introduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill – 2009

2010-10-14T02:05:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KAMPALA - UGANDA

On October 14, 2009 the draft Anti Homosexuality Bill was introduced to the Parliament of Uganda by Ndoorwa West MP David Bahati. Mr Bahati’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill stipulates the death penalty for repeated same-sex relations and life imprisonment for all other homosexual acts. A person in authority who fails to report an offender to the police within 24 hours will face 3 years in jail. Likewise, the promotion of homosexuality carries a sentence of 5 to 7 years in jail.

This Bill is an expression of prejudice, intolerance, discrimination and violence. The bill abusesthe dignity, privacy and equality of people with a different sexual orientation and identity other than heterosexual. If passed into law, it will further legitimize public and private violence, harassment and torture.

It has promoted hate- speech in churches, schools and the media. It has led to defamation, blackmail, evictions, intimidation, arbitrary arrests and unlawful detention, physical assault, emotional and mental assault of LGBT activists, our families and allies.

The bill has further led to increased violence incited by local media, particularly The Red Pepper tabloid and recently launched Rolling Stone newspaper. The headline of the Rolling Stoneviciously screamed “100 pictures of Ugandan’s top homos leak- Hang them” in their Vol. 1 No. 05 October 02-09, 2010. They published pictures, names, residences and other details of LGBT activists and allies.

“When my neighbors saw my picture in the paper, they were furious. They threw stones at me while I was in my house. I was so terrified somehow I managed to flee my home to safety.” said Stosh [Programme Coordinator- Kulhas Uganda]

“The sad truth is that most evil in Uganda is done by people who end up never being held accountable for their deeds. The Rolling Stone publication has incited violence against a group of minorities making them seem like less of HUMAN BEINGS” Gerald [Admin – SMUG].

The bill constitutes a violation of the right to freedom of privacy, association, assembly and security of the person as enshrined in Constitution of Uganda’s and International Human Rights Law.

The impact of such legal and social exclusion is being felt in the lives of LGBTI Ugandans. Sexual Minorities Uganda strongly condemns such laws and media witch-hunt of homosexuals.

We would like to acknowledge Human Rights institutions and activists, local, regional and international Civil Society, Development partners and friends around the world for the enormous support to the Uganda LGBTI community and request for your continued call to African governments to repeal the ‘sodomy laws’.

www.sexualminoritiesuganda.org

Is it Ethical to be Catholic?

2010-10-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

It Gets Better: Dan and Terry

2010-10-07T05:23:00.000-07:00

Always Our Children

2010-10-05T13:04:00.000-07:00

Always Our Children from Damian Hanley on Vimeo.

Parents urged to support their gay children

2010-07-18T01:59:00.000-07:00

by Elaine Attard

The Drachma parents’ support group yesterday urged fellow parents of gay people to show solidarity with their sons and daughters instead of driving their children to suicide. Spokesmen for the Drachma group spoke to The Malta Independent on Sunday at the Gay Pride march in Valletta yesterday.

Gay people suffer a great deal, especially because they fear that their family will reject them, explained one parent. “We encourage other parents of gay people to love their children with great compassion and not throw them out of their home. When a gay person decides to ‘come out of the closet’ it is an opportunity for the family to unite and show that love is overpowering. Gay people do not need their parents’ sympathy, they need support to stand up for their rights.”

“We are committed to encourage… LGBT people and their families in an effort to create more awareness of the difficulties faced because of the stigma society unfortunately attaches to those with a different sexual orientation,” states the group’s website. The parents’ group was established in April 2008 and welcomes any parents who need its help.

Although the Drachma parents’ support group is a Christian organisation, its members believe that the Church’s stand on matters relating to their children’s sexuality creates a need for them to come together and decide their own response, as parents of LGBT children. “We believe that there may be an opportunity for the Church to grow in this area also and we are perhaps in the best position to offer our discerned reflections and act as intermediaries with the local ecclesiastical authorities, to ensure that LGBT people feel embraced by the Church,” says the website.

The Gay Pride march, which was attended by around 150 people, was organised by the Malta Gay Rights Movement. It was characterised by gay people and their friends holding bunches of colourful balloons and blowing noisy whistles. Some held placards with slogans such as “I really shouldn’t need to be here”, “Attitudes are the real disability”, “God is an equal opportunities lover”. One particularly large banner proclaimed “Civil rights? = Gay Rights!”. The march went from City Gate, along Republic Street, St John’s Street, Merchants Street and South Street. A small stage was erected in front of the Social Policy Ministry and statements were read out by various political parties and NGO spokesmen. Representatives from the political parties attended. David Agius and Karl Gouder represented the Nationalist Party, Owen Bonnici and Evarist Bartolo represented the Labour Party while Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Michael Briguglio and Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros represented the Green Party. German MEP Holger Krahmer, who is a member of the Alliance of the Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), also took part.

Mr Krahmer said in a short speech that the rights of LGBT people were important for him and for society. He pointed out that homosexual people should be treated the same as straight people and should also have the right to be married. He said he look forward to the day when homosexuality is regarded as normal and wondered when homosexual couples would be seen as responsible and trusted and with equal rights to a traditional marriage. “Discrimination and rejection of other individual lifestyles starts in the heads of people and cannot simply be overcome by some anti-discrimination law. Tolerance and the ability for open discussion are necessary to abandon prejudices. Play your part and live in tolerance,” he continued.

Meanwhile, this year’s Gay Pride march marks a number of achievements for the local LGBT community. MGRM are celebrating the Social Policy Ministry’s announcement that the remits of the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality will be extended to cater for sexual orientation discrimination. Earlier on this year, MGRM hosted the ILGA-Europe conference, which saw some 400 international delegates discussing LGBT issues in Malta. Discussions on same-sex partnerships have been initiated, even though there are as yet no concrete solutions to the various points of view regarding same-sex partnerships and cohabitation legislation.

PL spokesman Owen Bonnici reiterated that the acknowledgment of civil partnerships is the first step towards other civil rights. With everybody cooperating, Malta should enjoy the same civil rights as in the rest of Europe, he said. PN whip David Agius, was booed by the crowd when he spoke about the cohabitation law that will be discussed in Parliament soon. He pointed out that discrimination is unacceptable at any level and that the PN is committed to ensuring that everyone enjoys the same opportunities. Green parties are the most ardent supporters of LGBT NGOs, said AD chairman Michael Briguglio. “In Malta, even though homosexuality was decriminalised in the 1970s and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation at work was made illegal following Malta’s EU accession, people with an LGBT identity are being discriminated against in various other areas, most notably when it comes to family policy. The LGBT community can rest assured of AD’s support. Unlike other political parties, we do not say one thing to one audience and another thing to another audience,” he said.

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=109224

Happy Pride!

2010-07-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

'And God saw All that he had made,

and behold,

it was very good"

Genesis 1: 31

Drachma Parents Group | Malta Gay Rights Movement

2010-07-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

Drachma Parents Group Malta Gay Rights Movement: "The Drachma Parents’ Group was established in April 2008 and meets once a month on a Thursday at 8.30p.m at Mt St Joseph Retreat House, Mosta. We are committed to encourage and uphold LGBT people and their families in an effort to create more awareness of the difficulties faced because of the stigma society unfortunately attaches to persons with a different sexual orientation. Being a Christian organisation, we meet and pray for our children and loved ones – not because they are bad persons but because we know that God loves them exactly the way they are and made them in His own image. We consider that the Church’s stand on matters relating to our children’s sexuality creates a need for us to come together and discern our own response, as parents of LGBT children. We believe that there may be an opportunity for the Church to grow in this area also and we are perhaps best positioned to offer our discerned reflections and act as intermediaries with the local ecclesial authorities, to ensure that LGBT believers feel embraced by the Church.

Our first get together was on the 9th April 2008 and from that day on, we have not looked back because Drachma is a vital place of support. We organise special meetings during the Easter and Christmas periods which are open to the public – when we pray Holy Mass and then hold a small party to encourage more fellowship and create further awareness regarding sexual discrimination.

We hope to welcome more and more parents and relatives of LGBT people who are willing to join us and – in our own silent way – give hope to those who may still be finding it difficult to come to terms with their loved one’s sexuality.

May God continue to bless our children and our families."

IDAHO 2010

2010-05-08T01:06:00.000-07:00

Inclusive messages welcomed

2010-04-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

Christian Peregin

The Pope appeared to leave Malta on a high after an enthusiastic welcome and a well-received private meeting with victims of alleged abuse, a sharp contrast to the run-up to his arrival, which was overshadowed by literal and metaphorical clouds of worry.

Pope Benedict XVI is not renowned for his charisma or public relations expertise. But the messages he imparted during his 27-hour visit were uncharacteristically positive and non-controversial, at least in the global context.

The Pope, who looked refreshed rather than defeated, asked forgiveness for the Church's sins, stressed the importance of marriage, encouraged Maltese to extend a hand of friendship to immigrants and called for a Church that rejected no one.

Fr Joe Cassar, director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, welcomed the Pope's frequent references to refugees and asylum seekers. He also noted the Pope's call for Maltese to put into practice "God's all-inclusive love".

"I felt the Pope was not here to chastise or condemn, but to encourage and bring out the best in all of us," he said, adding that people who were sceptical about the visit were positively touched by the visit.

Dominican priest Ġwann Xerri described the Pope's welcome as "an explosion of life, grace and generosity" that went contrary to what had been expected by most opinion makers.

He said the Pope was attentive to young people and instead of dismissing the alleged abuse victims, he met them, out of the media's spotlight and in a chapel.

Mario Gerada, an active member of the gay Catholic group Drachma, described the Pope's address as "very beautiful and all-inclusive", which was based on dialogue.

"What I found beautiful was that we moved away from the mentality that Catholics who have some difficulties on certain moral issues with the Church are enemies. We all believe in the same foundations. If I challenge the Church it does not mean it is my enemy. I felt there was very healthy dialogue."

Divorce lobbyist Martin Scicluna said he did not expect the Pope to speak any differently about divorce due to the Church's clear doctrine on the matter.

He said everyone accepted and respected that, but it did not mean civil society should not seek solutions for the thousands who wished to remarry.

"The Pope had obviously been briefed to speak about this burning local issue and in defence of marriage. The latter is an issue of course on which all who want to see the introduction of civil laws for re-marriage after legal separation would wholeheartedly agree."

Meanwhile, anthropologist and columnist Mark Anthony Falzon was not as excited as the rest and described the Pope's message as "run of the mill".

He said people were mostly moved by the "emotional/visual" experience of seeing the Pope rather than his message - similarly to when they were moved by a statue during a village feast.
However, he was struck by the meeting with the alleged abuse victims, which he described as "a class act by the Vatican media people".

"They got their much-needed news headlines, plus the added bonus of Lawrence Grech saying the Pope had cried. I hate to say it, but Mr Grech and his group have been abused a second time," he said, going contrary to the victims' own positive response to the meeting.

www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100420/local/inclusive-messages-welcomed

Comunicati Stampa

2010-04-14T01:48:00.000-07:00

COMUNICATO STAMPA N°2 DEL 2010

Il Cardinal Bertone e la pedofilia: non si aggiunga danno al danno!

Roma, 13 aprile 2010 - Il Gruppo "Nuova Proposta - donne e uomini omosessuali cristiani" esprime un profondo sconcerto di fronte alle parole del cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, giunte ieri da Santiago del Cile, in cui si è messa in relazione la pedofilia con l'omosessualità.

In un momento in cui ci si aspetterebbe dalla Gerarchia Vaticana, e dalla Chiesa tutta, esclusivamente un atteggiament o di compassione nei confronti delle vittime dei sacerdoti pedofili, il cardinal Bertone non ha perso occasione per aggiungere danno al danno, ribadendo il concetto astruso e assolutamente infondato, di collegamento tra pedofilia e omosessualità.

In questo modo non solo non ha risolto il problema delle vite dei piccoli devastati dagli abusi dei sacerdoti pedofili, ma ha altresì scaricato il fardello sulle spalle delle persone omosessuali che già sono vittime innocenti dello stigma e del pregiudizio della società.

Al cardinal Bertone auspichiamo un sereno percorso di approfondimento della condizione omosessuale che lo spinga in futuro ad agire, nelle parole e nei fatti, in sequela dell'Amore di Cristo e non in contrapposizione, giacché non è frutto della misericordia utilizzare l'orientamento affettivo di alcune persone come "foglia di fico" per allontanare le responsabilità del Magistero Cattolico.

Siamo convinti, infatti, che l a vera genesi della questione pedofilia tra i sacerdoti sia esclusivamente da attribuire alla cultura della repressione sessuale che ha provocato numerosi mostri tra cui si inseriscono a pieno titolo i sacerdoti pedofili.

La sessualità è, infatti, un dono di Dio e non può essere repressa ma semmai incanalata e indirizzata verso un sistema fecondo di relazione consapevole e adulta e avulsa da ogni forma di sopraffazione e abuso dell'altro. E' un'energia e va utilizzata in modo da renderla un patrimonio di fecondità. Tarparla significa innescare una bomba che può esplodere in migliaia di forme pericolosissime, tra cui la pedofilia.

Siamo altrettanto convinti che dalla "questione sacerdoti pedofili" potrà venire un gran bene per tutta la chiesa, intesa come popolo di Dio in cammino, se essa saprà interpretarla come segnale della necessità di una profonda revisione delle proprie posizioni repressive nei confronti della sessualità, in modo da av viare un percorso di confronto sereno e fattivo.

Con preghiera di diffusione e pubblicazione.

http://www.nuovapropostaroma.it/index.php?page=69

Religions, Homophobia, Transphobia

2010-04-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

IDAHO Campaign 2010 : Religions, homophobia, transphobia.

http://idahomophobia.org/wp/

OMOCRISTIANI

2010-04-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

Navigating uncharted waters: the gift of faith and growing up LGBT

2010-03-09T00:30:00.000-08:00

http://www.jamesalison.co.uk/texts/eng61.html

Minn mibegħda tinbet iktar mibegħda

2010-01-31T02:55:00.000-08:00

minn Bernard Muscat, Malta Gay Rights Movement, Mosta

Il-kontribuzzjoni ta’ qarrej tat-TORĊA li kiteb lil Fr Colin Apap u li uża l-psewdonimu ‘Favur il-Knisja’ ħallietni kważi bla nifs. Ma naħsibx li qatt iltqajt ma’ taħ-lita hekk qarsa ta’ miżinformazzjoni u mibegħda kontra persuni gay.

Bħala żagħżugħ gay u attivist għad-drittijiet ugwali għal persuni leżbjani, gay, bisesswali u transgender, qed inkun akkużat li jien “saħta għall-umanità” mill-pinna tal-kontributur li pprefera jżomm ismu mistur. B’dak li kiteb, min bagħat din l-ittra qed juri li m’għandu l-ebda ħjiel dwar is-suġġett li qed jikteb dwaru.

Filwaqt li ma nikkunsidrax lili nnifsi nisrani, niftakar li dak Alla, li din il-persuna għandha tant għal qalbha, qal ħafna dwar nies ipokriti, regħba, ostili, giddieba u ħallelin - iżda qatt ma semma xejn fuq persuni li jħobbu lil xi ħadd tal-istess ġeneru tagħhom.

Possibbli li fis-sena 2010, il-kontributur - mgħammex kif inhu mill-preġudizzji li jħaddan - ma jirrealizzax li persuni gay jinsabu kullimkien fis-soċjetà u li jikkontribwixxu lejha kif tagħmel kull persuna oħra? L-unika differenza hi fl-attrazzjoni affettiva ta’ persuni gay. Filwaqt li persuni eterosesswali jsibu l-milja tagħhom f’relazzjoni ta’ mħabba ma’ persuna tas-sess oppost, persuni omosesswali jagħmlu dan f’relazzjoni ma’ persuna tal-istess sess.

Għaldaqstant nissuġġerixxi li l-kontributur jiffoka l-enerġiji tiegħu fuq nies li tassew qiegħdin ikunu ta’ piż għas-soċjetà bl-għemil tagħhom. Huma l-mibegħda, il-ksenofibija, l-omofobija, il-preġuddizju, il-vjolenza, l-isfruttament, il-fundamentaliżmu reliġjuż u ħafna affarijiet oħra li huma “saħta għall-umanità”. Huma dawn il-“pesti” li rridu neqirdu. Iżda żgur mhix l-imħabba ġenwina ta’ bejn żewġ persuni adulti li qiegħdin jgħixu ħajja deċenti ta’ mħabba mal-maħbub/a tagħhom tal-istess sess, mingħajr ma jagħtu l-ebda fastidju lil ħadd - u li jibqgħu solidi fid-dedikazzjoni tagħhom lejn xulxin minkejja l-kliem ta’ mibegħda bħal dawk ta’ min jinħeba wara psewdonimi simili.

Filwaqt li nfaħħar il-mod li bih Fr Colin tratta s-sitwazzjoni, sfortunatament l-atteġġament pożittiv tiegħu mhux daqstant komuni fil-knisja. Jien smajt b’widnejja lil saċerdot isejjaħ lil persuni gay ‘aberrazzjoni tar-razza umana’ fuq l-istazzjon nazzjonali xi snin ilu, u lkoll smajna kemm-il darba lil bosta membri tal-knisja jirreferu għal persuni gay bħala ‘midinbin’, ‘imsieken’ u ‘intrinsikament diżordinati’, fost kliem ieħor mhux xieraq.

Jien nistaqsi, kemm-il darba jrid jintqal dan il-kliem qabel nindunaw bil-ħsara li qed jagħmel kemm lin-nies li dwaru qed jintqal kif ukoll lis-soċjetà in ġenerali? Kemm iktar imħuħ debboli għandhom ikunu influwenzati biex jiktbu dak li kiteb dan il-qarrej qabel dawk responsabbli jieqfu milli jitfgħu iktar tajn u jxerrdu iktar gideb fuq minoranzi diġà storikament oppressi?Jidher li din l-imġiba ta’ injoranza kbira qiegħda tħalli frott qares, fil-forma ta’ ittri bħal dik mibgħuta lit-TORĊA Minn mibegħda tassew tinbet iktar mibegħda.

http://www.it-torca.com/news.asp?newsitemid=9057

Comment: Bernard your Theology is Beautiful! Thank you!

MGRM's Press release following the National Conference on the Family - January 2010

2010-01-27T01:29:00.000-08:00

Tue, 26/01/2010 - 15:23 — Yao

This press release was sent to President George Abela, Permanent Secretary Frans Borg and a number of local newspapers

---

MALTA GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT – 26 JANUARY 2010
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE FAMILY

Open Letter to President George Abela and Permanent Secretary Mr Frans Borg

The National Conference on the Family entitled 'The Family... yesterday, today, tomorrow' organised by the Ministry for Social Policy was held on Saturday 23rd January and around 800 people ranging from politicians, public servants, service providers, educators, academics, and representatives of religious and other civil society organisations as well as individuals participated.

The first address of the day was delivered by President George Abela. One of his first misguided statements was a definition of family that was so narrow as to exclude a significant minority. Dr Abela defined the family as a man and a woman, in a life-long commitment, linked to procreation. He also emphasised the need for both the need of a mother and a father for the family to exist. Whether intentionally or not, he therefore excluded all those married couples who could not have children including childless couples, adoptive parents and fosterparents, single parents, cohabiting couples and any children they might have, and of course gay and lesbian parents.

On explaining the understanding of marriage in Maltese law the president held that this was understood to mean the natural union of a man and a woman based on the difference between the sexes. The implication is that a union between two people of the same sex is of course unnatural. Clinging to this ‘understanding’ is a failure to acknowledge that, while up to forty or so odd years ago homosexuality was deemed unnatural and a mental illness, science and research have taught us that this is not the case. Homosexuality is simply a natural and normal variant in human nature as well as in other species. While there are plenty of Countries that have failed to take on this knowledge and continue to criminalise homosexuality, we were under the impression that in line with other Western nations, Malta had actually moved on.

To make matters worse the President also questioned whether children adopted by same-sex couples could lead to them suffering psychological and social harm. The President seems to once again have ignored research in this area which clearly indicates that the sexual orientation of parents has no bearing on the development of children. It is parenting qualities such as love, commitment, responsibility and the ability to provide for the needs of the child that matter. To suggest that simply for the fact of being gay or lesbian one causes harm to children is as ridiculous as stating that no harm will befall children if their carer happens to be heterosexual.

His question of whether same-sex unions could possibly be called marriage is surely a moot point, since this is already the case in at least five Council of Europe Member States, namely Holland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium and Spain. The question is not therefore a matter of definition but of prejudice and discrimination, that is, who we choose to include or exclude as a society and on what basis.

Throughout the conference, the move towards secularisation was touted as a threat to the family with the underlying message being that anyone not subscribing to Catholicism was completely lacking in any form of value system, or at the most, could only hold an inferior set of values. So much for the separation of Church and State and the notion of Universal Human Rights!

All unmarried and separated parents were presented as selfish and irresponsible, parading one sexual partner after another with no thought to their children; all children whose parents had undergone a separation were presented as irremediably traumatised; the increased diagnoses of ADHD in children simply the result of unloving parents.

The introduction of divorce in Malta would unequivocally lead to the conceptualisation of marriage as a loose knot that could be easily untied at the first hurdle. Forget the fact that Maltese society does not live in a bubble protected from the wider World and that the concept of divorce is with us to stay or the even more contentious reality that one only has to have the means to access it through a foreign court.

The conference failed entirely to engage critically the subject matter its title portrayed. There was only one family being considered. All others were demonised and shot down a priori as was made evident throughout the day in the presentations, panels and interviews. It was in fact nothing more than propaganda for a conservative government’s agenda and the religious right that sits solidly behind it, present in full force.

http://www.maltagayrights.net/NFC_PressReleaseJan2010

Rowan Williams condemns Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill after weeks of pressure

2009-12-15T04:59:00.000-08:00

'The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has for the first time, publicly expressed his opposition to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill recently proposed in Uganda. His statement follows weeks of pressure, numerous calls for him to speak out and a petition signed by thousands urging him to condemn the Bill.

His office had previously said that he would not be commenting on the issue in public, but today (12 December), Williams said that the Bill was of “shocking severity” and that he could not see how any Anglican could support it.

His comments are likely to be warmly welcomed by human rights campaigners and particularly by the Christian activists in Uganda and elsewhere who are campaigning against the proposals.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill would introduce life imprisonment for sexual activity between people of the same sex. Following international pressure, Ugandan politicians are considering the removal of a clause that would allow the death penalty in certain cases.

In addition, the law would allow three years' imprisonment for anyone in authority, such as a teacher, priest or minister, who failed to report an instance of homosexuality.

“Overall, the proposed legislation is of shocking severity,” said Rowan Williams in an interview with today's Daily Telegraph, “And I can't see how it could be supported by any Anglican who is committed to what the Communion has said in recent decades”.

He added that “Apart from invoking the death penalty, it makes pastoral care impossible – it seeks to turn pastors into informers”.

On 3 December, the Archbishop's office had insisted that he was working behind the scenes to influence the Anglican Church in Uganda, which has still not taken a position on the Bill. They said that his discussions on the issues would be “intensive but private”.

However, the international pressure to speak out seems to have become so great that this position became unsustainable.

The tension around the issue rose dramatically this week, after Williams criticised the election of a lesbian bishop in the USA while remaining silent on Uganda. The LGBT Anglican Coalition described his stance as a “double standard of justice”.

Meanwhile, a petition urging Christian leaders, and Williams in particular, to oppose the Bill has attracted over 3,000 signatures, including those of priests and ministers in Britain, Africa and elsewhere.

“The Archbishop's comments are very welcome, not least because of the importance of Anglicanism in Uganda,” said Symon Hill, associate director of the religion and society thinktank Ekklesia, who started the petition.

He said, “Rowan Williams has demonstrated his willingness to listen to thousands of people from around the world. Other church leaders and Christian groups can demonstrate the same trait by joining him in opposing this legislation”.

Hill added that “Christians with a range of views on sexual ethics have united in opposition to this draconian Bill. Those who refuse to speak out may effectively be giving up any claim to be taken seriously in debates on sexuality”.

Several Christian organisations in Britain have already expressed their opposition to the Bill, including Accepting Evangelicals, Changing Attitude, Courage, Ekklesia, Fulcrum and the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement.

The United Reformed Church condemned the Bill at the end of November, while the Methodist Church did so yesterday (11 December).

Williams' comments are likely to add to the pressure on other Christian leaders, including the Pope, to oppose the legislation.'

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10812

To Hell with Masks

2009-12-03T00:40:00.000-08:00

To Hell with Masks: An Ex-Gay Survivor Speaks Out from
Peterson Toscano's A Musing

http://petersontoscano.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/masks-ex-gay-survivor/

2009-12-02T08:56:00.001-08:00

2009-12-02T08:55:00.001-08:00

2009-12-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

2009-11-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

Letter from Fortunate Families Newsletter November 2009.

www.fortunatefamilies.com/newsletters.htm

‘Dear Bishop … (excerpts)

1-Letter from father of gay son

…. I have … enjoyed more than 53 years of happy marriage…. It has been … an educational journey ….

… there is much in the proposed letter with which I can heartily agree. Most of all perhaps ... the disturbing trends in current culture such as the high divorce rate. My … assessment, however, differs greatly…. your analysis seems little more than a restatement of old platitudes and defunct doctrine.….

My traditional Catholic background … has served me well…. However, I have found new insight regarding marriage and human sexuality. This has resulted in some serious differences between my understanding, and our Church's teaching….

A primary concern … is the absurd focus on genital behavior. The proclivities of sexual libido … are vastly overemphasized by our culture, and by our Church…. The most important characteristic of marriage by far, is unconditional selfless love.… the essential and primary feature of a Christ-driven marriage. Everything else including procreation is ancillary.… The Church's broad obsession with biology and its selective interpretation of nature, is misguided at best, and at worst, very harmful….

I am the father of a gay son…. Church teaching on homosexuality very nearly cost me the life of that only son. As a young teenager, he had heard his unwitting father denounce him as I pronounced Church teaching on homosexuality at dinner … conversations. He heard himself described as objectively disordered and inclined to an intrinsic evil. After a protracted period of silent anguish, at age 18 while away at college, he attempted suicide. It was only through … intervention by a loving God that he survived. He told me later that God said to him: "I made you just the way you are and you are good." ….

The revelation … that my son was gay started me on a journey that continues …. I studied … homosexuality in depth. I … talked to many other parents of gay children, and to many gay people…. I learned … and my Church-formed stereotype was transformed. I gained a new understanding of human relationships….

Having a gay son has helped my marriage - immensely. His 18 year relationship with another gay man is a model of loving unity that many a heterosexual marriage could well emulate. My son is not objectively disordered. His relationship is not intrinsically evil. …it is Church teaching and understanding of human sexuality that is disordered….

When I consider my own experiences of parental and spousal love, I realize that God’s love is more than unconditional. It is unfathomable.… Yet, the Church … implies that while God created LGBT persons, they may not love another person to the fullest. … this is a completely perverse distortion of what Jesus proclaimed. It is certainly not what I have witnessed….

It is Church teaching that is producing intrinsic evil. I have heard and witnessed too many stories of verbal abuse, bullying, violence, suicide, and even murder… which stems from a culture that denigrates folks who are different from the heterosexual norm, and is fed by the self-righteous railing by too many of our religious leaders. The … words of the Magisterium cannot be offset by protestations of "treating the homosexual person with respect." Words matter. Our culture draws its own conclusions - sometimes ones that are unintended.

…. Why is the Church’s solution to marital issues simply to lay on once again heavy and fruitless burdens? Why not begin with an analysis of … contemporary marriage to determine more accurately what causal factors are involved? Contraception is certainly not the issue! Gay marriage is not the issue. I suspect your state of celibacy constricts your understanding. Please! .... Listen. The Spirit speaks to us most often through others….

… the proposed USCCB letter is not pastoral. It … will not help marriage. It is another unwitting assault on simple justice and the love that Jesus gave us. Our mutual challenge is to “Love one another,” but it seems that for some of our bishops, that challenge will require an immense courage…. to examine the possibility that Church teaching needs revision…. My own Cardinal once told me: “Tom, if I could change Church teaching, I would do it in an instant. My response was and is: “If it doesn’t start with you, then who?”

Tom Nelson, Detroit MI’

2009-11-05T01:52:00.000-08:00

The luxury of diversity

2009-11-03T02:33:00.000-08:00

Actress, campaigner and politician VLADIMIR LUXURIA is in Malta for an international conference on gay rights. She talks to Raphael Vassallo about her struggle against prejudice, both in and outside politics.

There is a certain commotion at the San Gorg Corinthia Hotel in St Julian’s as I arrive for my appointment with Italian transgender celebrity Vladimir Luxuria – currently in Malta for the 31st annual International Lesbian and Gay Association conference, and the first event of its kind to be held locally. The hotel lobby is bustling with activity, what with conference guests arriving by the coach-load, and Malta Gay Rights Movement officials scurrying about to iron out the inevitable organisational hiccups here and there. ILGA members are immediately distinguishable from other guests by means of their plastic name-tags, and even more so by the bright purple sashes to which these are attached.

At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, a few are immediately identifiable even without such external paraphernalia. Curiously, however, Vladimir Luxuria herself does not quite fit into that category. For someone best known as an outspoken gay activits and a winner of 2008’s L’Isola Dei Famosi – Italy’s raunchy answer to the Survivor reality show – she is surprisingly inconspicuous in real life. (Note: though Luxuria is physically and legally a man, I have chosen to refer to her in female terms for two reasons: one, out of respect for her own wishes; and two, because gender is invariably more complex an issue than the reproductive organs with which one is born).

“Politics is a cynical and cruel world,” she later tells me, as we finally settle down for an interview overlooking St George’s Bay. I have just asked her about the rather blatant prejudice with which she was received during her brief career as a representative in Montecitorio: a prejudice perhaps best encapsulated by Alessandra Mussolini’s notorious jibe, “Meglio Fascista che frocio” (“Better a Fascist than a faggot”). “If I were the sort of parliamentarian who would be absent more often than present, or who didn’t take my job seriously, then they would perhaps have found other things to criticise me about. But I wasn’t that sort of representative, so they picked on me for the only two things they could – that I’m transgender, and on the Left.”

Vladimir Luxuria can claim the honour of being Europe’s first openly transgender member of parliament, and the second in the world after New Zealand’s George Beyer. Naturally, however, not everyone considers this to be a compliment, and attempts to discredit her as a politician have occasionally bordered on the downright ridiculous. At one point, the Italian parliament even had to pause to discuss her choice of bathroom, after a female Forza Italia MP complained about finding Luxuria in the Ladies (as opposed to the Gents, which – let’s face it – would have caused as much of a stir, if not more). So how does she cope with being attacked on such a trivial level? “Oh, but it’s not trivial,” Luxuria counters. “It is just one more way to try and deprive someone of their identity as a human being...”

Identity issues in fact lie at the heart of Luxuria’s struggle against homophobia. “In Italy there was general agreement in parliament over a law against homophobia,” she points out, “but while politicians on both the Left and Right agreed to include the words ‘sexual orientation’ in an anti-discrimination law, there was no agreement on the words ‘gender identity’. The Right simply refused to accept that there are different ways of identifying oneself with the sex of one’s birth. It is a concept that frightens certain people. To them, you are condemned to the gender in which you are born – regardless of whether your soul is male or female.”

Implicit in these assertions is the existence of a causal link between violence against gays, and recent legislation aimed at ‘normalising’ homosexuality – in Malta as much as elsewhere. For though Vladimir Luxuria concedes that the landscape has significantly changed since the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s – “We are no longer seen as extra-terrestrials, coming from another planet to destroy the sexual order of the Cosmos,” she quips – transgender persons remain particularly vulnerable to discrimination and above all hate crimes, which Luxuria argues have increased in both number and severity in recent years.

“The fact that there is more acceptance of gay issues globally, also means that the people who hate us, who fear us, are now feeling more threatened than before, and therefore have become more radical.”

Another aspect of the shifting landscape concerns a general hardening of the Catholic Church’s stand on homosexuality, ushered in under Pope Benedict XVI. “Papa Luciani – the Pope who reigned for a very short time, and over whose death a shadow still hangs – had signalled a different attitude, when he said that ‘God is both Father and Mother’. But Ratzinger felt he had to publicly correct his predecessor on this point, reasserting that men are men, and women women. Under this new Pope, the Church had stepped backwards.”

Luxuria also identifies a paradox in the evident discomfort of the Catholic Church when dealing with homosexuality in general. “In traditional Church iconography, ‘good’ has always been portrayed in transgender terms,” she claims. “I am reminded of the old Byzantine debates, when the Church discussed whether Angels were male or female. After much debate, they ended up agreeing that they are, in fact, neither...”

More recent developments also suggest an almost comical side to the issue. Luxuria invites me to consider the irony of the Pope’s recent appeal to disgruntled Anglican priests, who were leaving the Church of England in protest at its acceptance of same-sex marriages and the ordination of gay priests.“Pope Ratzinger said that any of these disgruntled Anglican priests could become Catholic priests... even if they were already married. Now, he is facing internal dissent over this issue. But it makes you ask: is the Church’s homophobia so strong, that it has even helped it change its attitude towards celibacy of the clergy?” At this point, I can’t help asking Vladimir Luxuria for her own views on the deep-seated prejudice against persons who do not fit into conventional sexual stereotypes. Why, in her view, is there so much hatred directed towards gays in general, and transgender persons in particular?

She almost sighs as she answers, as though pained to have to once again go over the same old hurtful territory. “There are a number of different reasons. The first and most evident is selfishness. Some people have a tendency to define ‘normality’ according to themselves; they love themselves so much, that they consider themselves to be the rule, and everyone else the exception. So if they are straight, it follows that it is ‘good’ to be straight, and that being gay is therefore ‘bad’. This, by the way, is the same attitude that causes discrimination according to race or religion...”

Another issue is that some people have what Luxuria calls “weak personalities”. “These people are afraid of anything that can threaten their sense of identity, because their identity is so fragile to begin with...” However, the most dangerous of all causes of homophobia is sexual repression – people who are themselves homosexual by nature, but have subconsciously repressed their sexuality. “When people like this see others who are free and happy, comfortable within themselves and with own sexuality, it makes them resentful and angry. These are the people who are likelier to resort to hate crimes against gays.” On a more positive note, Vladimir Luxuria is also confident that the international struggle for gay rights has now reached ‘unstoppable’ proportions. “Now, even people within rightwing parties are beginning to change their rhetoric,” she asserts. “In the past it used to be a case that ‘left’ meant ‘pro-gay rights’, while ‘right’ meant ‘anti’. Now the two sides are in competition with one another to win the gay vote, and the political voice against gay issues is losing strength. They can slow us down, but they can’t stop us.”

rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt
www.maltatoday.com.mt/2009/11/01/t14.html

Other people’s judgments

2009-10-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

Articles copied from Fortunate Families Newsletter October 2009 -www.fortunatefamilies.com
___

by John Corvino. Aug. 28, 2009

“You don’t just want us to tolerate what you gay people do,” my skeptical questioner announced, “you want us to think that it’s RIGHT.” Whenever I hear this point–and it’s pretty often–I always think to myself, “Duh.” Of course I want people to think homosexuality is “right.” Why would anyone think I wouldn’t?

Actually, the latter question is not entirely rhetorical. Even my fellow gays ask me why we should care about other people’s moral approval. Beyond the obvious pragmatic advantages – for example, more moral approval means more favorable voting attitudes means more legal rights means an easier life - why should we give a damn what other people think? And while we’re on the subject, why should THEY care? Why are our lives any of their business?

There’s a myth circulating among well-meaning people that “morality is a private matter,” and that therefore “we shouldn’t judge other people.” This is nonsense of the highest order. Morality is about how we treat one another. It’s about fairness and justice. It’s about what we as a society are willing to tolerate, what we positively encourage, and what we absolutely forbid. It is the furthest thing from a private matter.

There’s a story I always tell in my introductory ethics classes about a freshman who wrote a paper defending moral relativism. His paper was laden with references to what’s “true for you” versus what’s “true for me,” what’s “right for you” versus what’s “right for me” and so on. I gave the paper an F. Surprised and angry, the student came to my office demanding a justification. “Well,” I carefully explained, “I graded your paper the way I grade all papers. I stood at the top of a staircase and threw a batch of papers down the stairs. Those that landed on the first few stairs got A’s…then B’s, C’s and so on. You wrote a long, heavy paper. It went to the bottom of the stairs. It got an F.”

“That’s not right!” he blurted out. “You mean, that’s not right…FOR YOU,” I responded, grinning. The moral of the story (aside from, tenured professors do the darndest things) is this: despite all of our talk of “right for you,” deep down we believe in public moral standards. We may disagree about what those are, and about what actions fall under their purview - but we still believe that right and wrong aren’t entirely relative. (For the record, the grading story is entirely fictional.)

One might object that grading affects other, non-consenting people, whereas relationships affect only the people involved. There are two problems with this objection.

The main one is that the latter point is just false. Unless one endorses a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” secrecy, relationships have a public presence and thus public consequences. Gays aren’t waging the marriage battle just so we can all go back in the closet. Like most people, we want to stand up before family and friends, proclaim our love, have it celebrated for the beautiful thing that it is. (At least, that’s what many of us want.)

We want to send the message to young gays and lesbians that there’s nothing wrong with them; that they, too, deserve to love and be loved, and that there’s nothing sinful or wrong about that. We want to be treated equally in the eyes of the law. All of these aims affect other people in various ways.

Second, the objection invites the response, “Says who?” Who decides that only actions affecting other people are appropriate targets of moral scrutiny? Who decides that that’s the right way to look at morality? And there’s no way to answer such questions without engaging in a bit of moralizing. Value judgments are inescapable that way. Those who claim that they’re not taking any moral stances about other people’s lives are, by that very claim, taking a moral stance about other people’s lives – a “tolerant’ one, though not necessarily a very admirable one.

Sometimes, other people’s behavior really sucks, and we should say so. “Saying so” is part of the confusion here. There’s a difference between MAKING moral judgments and OFFERING them, not to mention a difference between offering them respectfully and wagging your finger in people’s faces. The latter is not just self-righteous; it’s generally counterproductive. I suspect when people say that “we shouldn’t judge other people,” it’s really the latter, pompous kind of moralizing they’re concerned to avoid. But we shouldn’t confuse the rejection of bad moralizing with the rejection of moralizing altogether.

In short, we should care what other people think, and do, because the moral fabric touches us all.

********************
John Corvino, Ph.D. is an author, speaker, and philosophy professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. His column “The Gay Moralist” appears Fridays on 365gay.com.

For more about John Corvino, or to see clips from his “What’s Morally Wrong with Homosexuality?” DVD, visit www.johncorvino.com.

Always and everywhere?

2009-10-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

By John Corvino,
Sept. 4, 2009

Marriage equality opponents frequently claim that marriage has been heterosexual since…well, since FOREVER, and that it is arrogant and foolish to tinker with such a pervasive human institution.

Whatever its logical shortcomings, the “always and everywhere” argument is rhetorically effective. Even gay-rights advocates concede that marriage equality seemed unthinkable just a decade or two ago. Imagine how novel it appears to those who, unlike us, have no direct stake in the issue. It’s tempting to respond that lots of things that seemed unthinkable a few decades ago - iPhones, Facebook, Sarah Palin–are, for better or worse, now familiar. But the reluctance to tinker with marriage is deep-seated. The “always and everywhere” argument demands a response that is not only logically sound but also rhetorically compelling. Several responses are worth pondering. I’ve given them each names for convenience:

(1) False premise: The claim that marriage has always been exclusively heterosexual suffers from what should be a fatal flaw: it is simply not true. Same-sex marriages have been documented in a number of cultures, notably some African and Pacific Island cultures. Marriage-equality opponents retort that these marriages are not quite the same as modern same-sex marriages, since they typically involve a kind of gender transformation of one of the partners. But this response is a red herring. Sure, homosexual marriages in these cultures look different from ours in various respects - but so do their heterosexual marriages.

More important, it is doubtful that opponents would abandon their objection to contemporary samesex marriages as long as one partner agreed to be the “wife” and the other the “husband.” The real problem with the “false premise” response is rhetorical:

The response depends on anthropological data unfamiliar to most people, and it appeals to “exotic” cultures whose practices most Americans find irrelevant.

(2) Heteronormativity: Rhetorical considerations would also weigh against using words like “heteronormativity” when responding to people’s basic fears about marriage. But it’s nonetheless true that the “always and everywhere” argument begs the question against those who argue - quite rightly - that the heterosexual majority tends to oppress the homosexual minority always and everywhere. Because of that oppression, recorded history often ignores or erases our lives and commitments.

Keep in mind that just a few decades ago, gays and lesbians were still considered mentally ill in much of the West; even today, gays are stoned to death in parts of the world. Against that backdrop, it’s not surprising that same-sex marriage seems new fangled. The marriage-equality movement owes as much to an improved understanding of sexuality as it does to changing views about marriage.

(3) Not Mandatory: Even granting the (false) premise that marriage has been heterosexual “always and everywhere,” so what? No one is proposing that same-sex marriage be made mandatory. Heterosexual marriage will continue to exist “always and everywhere” for those who seek it, even while society recognizes that it’s not appropriate for everyone. The opponents’ argument seems to play on the irrational notion that giving marriage to gays somehow means taking it away from straights.

(4) Non-Sequitur: Let’s concede to marriage-equality opponents that history and tradition are important, and that we should be cautious about changes to major social institutions. Yet even if (contrary to fact) marriage were heterosexual “always and everywhere,” it does not follow that marriage cannot expand and evolve. One should never confuse a reasonable caution with a stubborn complacency.

Increasingly, that complacency is more than stubborn–it’s unconscionable. Marriage-equality opponents can no longer ignore the fact that we fall in love, just like they do; that our relationships have positive effects in our lives and the lives of those around us, and that we reasonably seek to protect and nurture these relationships. If not marriage for us, then what? Ultimately, the problem with the “always and everywhere” argument is that each new samesex marriage is a living counterexample to it. Whatever happened in the past, we have marriage equality now–in a small but growing number of places. These same-sex marriages are by and large bearing good fruit.

If ignoring tradition is “arrogant and foolish,” ignoring the evidence unfolding before us is exponentially so.

The Good News according to Alison

2009-10-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

The Fulcrum of Discovery or:
how the “gay thing” is good news for the Catholic Church

Reinvent the Church

2009-10-18T02:43:00.000-07:00

Reinvent the Church

Homily For The 27th Sunday, Year B - October 4th 2009 Fr. Philip Endean SJ

2009-10-10T00:58:00.000-07:00

Genesis 2:18-24; Hebrews 2:9-11; Mark 10:2-16

‘A man must leave his father and mother and join himself to his wife.’ The relationship between today’s scripture and the lived experience of this congregation is … well, interesting. I am not going to duck the challenge of addressing that issue, but I am going to start somewhere else.

‘Let the little children come to me’ ‘Anyone who does not welcome the Kingdom of God as a little child will not enter it at all.’ In passing, it’s worth noting that the image of Jesus putting his arms round children is as jarring with contemporary sensibilities as anything Jesus says about divorce; even with a CRB check you can’t do that sort of thing any more. And however necessary the precautions, they indicate a tragedy—life is the poorer for them.

But to the point: this image of the child, the non-person, receiving the Kingdom of God as a gift. It’s an image associated with St Thérèse of Lisieux, whose feast the Church celebrated this week, and whose relics are currently on a triumphant tour through the land. I happened to be talking this week with someone from the Portsmouth diocese where she had made her first stop. He did not strike me as one of nature’s devotees to the Little Flower, but he had clearly been impressed. ‘It shows you what the Church is really about: not discipline, not teaching, not organization, but people in need finding something very simple in their religion, something that gives them hope, something that helps them struggle on.’ Quite simply, they find love. He might have been echoing Thérèse’s own phrase: ‘love at the heart of the Church’.

Thérèse, for me as an academic interested in spirituality, is a quite fascinating figure. I don’t think we can just ignore the critical, even cynical, comments that have been made about her cult. But one cannot deny its power. Her autobiographical manuscripts—suitably or unsuitably sanitised by her bossy big sister—appeared in the first decade of the last century. If you go to her sanctuary at Lisieux, what is just obvious from the votive stones is how this story of a psychologically damaged child facing an early painful death, and undergoing powerful experiences of abandonment and loss of faith—this story somehow helped French soldiers who had to struggle with the horror of World War I; more generally, she seems to have touched into the experiences of poor Catholics in the workforce of an industrial society of Northern Europe that could often be brutal and insecure. Thérèse’s centenary in 1997 came a month after the death of Princess Diana; and maybe the Diana phenomenon helps us understand Thérèse. Both are vulnerable young women, making lots of mistakes, dying young and tragically—both tap into realities normally hidden within our collective psyche, and provoke it into expression. This expression takes forms that are sometimes disconcerting, sometimes conflicting—the symbols of Thérèse and Diana are used by different people promoting different sets of agenda. In both cults, flowers figure large; there are elements of kitsch, vulgarity, tastelessness. But something important is happening when Thérèse and Diana are evoked. Realities often buried and overlooked, and which because they are unacknowledged are often doing us damage—these come to the surface, in however distorted a form. And we are better off because we have been allowed, however temporarily, however incompletely, to access them.

I can never make up my mind whether Thérèse is a genuine theologian or the fabrication of a successful piety industry, but I am prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt—after all, she has been proclaimed a Doctor of the Church. The problem with her writing is that its doctrinal ideas have been so successful and influential within twentieth-century Christianity that we no longer recognise that they were once new and surprising. In the middle of the century, our mainstream church understanding of grace changed, so that what Thérèse was on about no longer seems a big deal. My current research on Gerard Manley Hopkins has led me to think about what Catholic spiritual life was like in the nineteenth century. The dangers of caricature are considerable; but you cannot avoid the impression that at very deep levels the religious enterprise was set up so that you could only fail at it; and the religious apparatus available to the average Catholic was largely concerned with the negotiation of guilt. In this world, Thérèse saw something new. You can leave all the concerns with rules aside. You can just let God be with you in your weakness and failure, and love you; you can just let that love supply for all your needs. She advocates the so-called Little Way. There are paths to heaven that involve steep climbs; but then there’s this new route which just gets you there in a flash—like these strange new machines called elevators that they have in New York and about which we’ve read newspaper articles even here in dozy Lisieux. The way of love: love at the heart of the Church; love available to all, no matter what the failures they are having to live with, no matter what the burdens they are carrying.

Which brings me, at last, to Jesus’s teaching on marriage and divorce, and the incongruity of such heterosexist talk with the experience of a congregation such as this. And the move I am going to make is an obvious one. Jesus states some rules, but then something else happens: the children come, the bossy disciples want to shoo them away, but Jesus overrules them, takes the children, the non-persons, into his arms and blesses them. The rules of the Church are there, ultimately, because we care about the value of each human being. They are necessary; they have their place. But, for all their divine warrant, they are human creations as well, articulated in corrupt and fallible human language. They cannot fit everyone. You have to read them for what they are trying to do, not for what they actually do to people already hurt—for the good that they are seeking to promote, however imperfectly, rather than the problems they create. At the heart of the Church is not the strict rule, the exceptionless moral norm, but love: love that we only receive in our weakness, in our unpersonhood, as a gift.

Now, it’s important that we not get too complacent here. Catholicism—perhaps unlike Protestantism—has spiritual safety-valves built into its symbolic structures, and this is part of its genius. The figure of Mary meets some of our need for a female element in our imaging of God and salvation; and the figure of Thérèse in early twentieth-century Catholic spirituality relieved the rigorism of a more official, more theological Catholicism all too reflective of the harsh economic conditions under which poor believers struggled. And safety valves are a mixed blessing. They’re like painkillers; they remove the immediate indicator of dysfunction, and perhaps they are a necessary precondition for any serious healing to be attempted. But the danger is that we just stop there, and leave the underlying problem unaddressed.

Marian piety is no substitute for serious work on the structural sexisms of our Church and society; and a pilgrimage to Thérèse’s bones is far short of the Kingdom of God for which we long, for the ultimate transformation of the oppression that Thérèse shared with so many. There is a danger that religion becomes just a painkiller. There are powerful criticisms of Christianity and Catholicism to this effect, and they are not to be written off. But suspicion need not, must not be our only attitude. We can, we should, also be prepared to think positively. The Thérèses and the Dianas of our symbolic world can serve as an inspiration really to change things, or rather to let them be changed. The heart of the Church lies not in its rules or its theologies or its structures, but in openness to love and to being loved, the openness of the child: openness to a love that raises the lowly, taking them up the elevator in a trice. It’s that subversive power that is at the heart of the Church: the power of the leader who, Hebrews said, became through suffering like his sisters and brothers in every respect, dying a death of ritual impurity, under a curse—and who from that condition invites to come to him outside the camp in order that from there we might share his resurrection.

Much remains to be done and suffered. The Kingdom of God is not yet here. But as we hear the gospel rules that we cannot even begin to keep, we are also given the gospel symbol of the poor child, the unperson, embraced by Jesus. Even now this symbol puts the rules in their proper place, and assures us that in the end the fullness of love, the kingdom of God, will truly become a reality. And perhaps we can use our spiritual imaginations when we hear Thérèse. ‘After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses’, she is supposed to have said. Her images may be tacky and girlish, but she was saying something important about a hope will not deceive. For God has called us, and God is faithful.

http://sohomasses.googlepages.com/

The Global Climate Wake-Up Call

2009-09-25T04:14:00.000-07:00

No Comment

2009-08-19T02:12:00.001-07:00

Report:

2009-08-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

Ex-gay therapy does not work

www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-13587.html

Final Report of the Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation

www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/publications/pubsreports.html

Free Ezra

2009-08-06T03:10:00.000-07:00

Soho joins world in vigils for victims of the Tel Aviv anti-gay massacre

2009-08-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

Organised by Twitter, Facebook and text message, all across the world vigils have been held for the victims of the massacre at an LGBT (lesbian, gay and bisexual) centre in Tel Aviv last night. Benjamin Cohen went to Soho to meet gay Israelis, Jews and those of no faith at all to share in their act of remembrance.

www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-13536.html

Ex-Gay

2009-07-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

This Is Who We Are 2009

2009-07-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

2009-07-06T00:31:00.000-07:00

‘Despite persecution, suffering, even tragedy, gay men and women continue to endure, to hope, to rise again and to make festival. Showing us all that life has a meaning if we are foolish enough to believe in it.'

Fr. Richard Woods

Pride '09

2009-07-06T00:30:00.001-07:00

Catholic Theologian James Alison on SistersTalk Lesbian and Gay Radio

2009-06-25T01:43:00.000-07:00

Catholic Theologian James Alison on SistersTalk Lesbian and Gay Radio

Shared via AddThis

2009-06-23T01:53:00.001-07:00

Activity

2009-06-19T00:18:00.000-07:00

new book published by Meem in Beirut, Lebanon

2009-06-02T05:46:00.000-07:00

www.bareedmista3jil.com

IDAHO 2009: One Voice, One Message, Heard Around the World

2009-05-17T02:38:00.000-07:00

A Statement by House Of Rainbow Metropolitan Community Church

2009-05-17T02:35:00.000-07:00

16th May 2009

Press Statement

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press

NIGERIA

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia 2009.
A Statement by House Of Rainbow Metropolitan Community Church

On behalf of Rev Rowland Jide Macaulay, the founder and Pastor of House Of Rainbow Metropolitan Community Church Nigeria, the leaders, friends and entire members.

We are here today as citizens of Nigeria to add our voice against homophobia and transphobia and to remind our government, religious bodies, media, people and society that they may run us out of their churches, mosques, homes, jobs and neighbourhood, but they cannot run us out of this nation nor reduce the love of God that includes us.

Colossians 3:11, there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

This is a progressive and inclusive voice of scripture rejecting discrimination of any kind.

State Sponsored Homophobia
80 countries around the world consider homosexuality illegal, amongst these five of them punish homosexual acts with death which includes Nigeria.

Romans 13:1-3 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; (We LGBT citizens have been a subject to the rules of the land) verse three says 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. (We ask that our government not rule over us in terror for who we are and who we love but judge us on who we hate)

It was not until 1990 that the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from their list of mental illnesses and, to date Nigerian government still attempt to use the old penal code from British colonialism to punish us, also in 2006 introduced the Same Sex Prohibition bill and 2008 followed up with the Same Gender Prohibition bill, these attempts to punish same sex relationship and union are state sponsored threats against our humanity and we demand an end to this.

Our government also denied we exist on the 9th February 2009 at the United Nations in Geneva and in March 2009 we have to debate that we exist at the parliament.

Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Principle 21, The Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion Says; Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. These rights may not be invoked by the State to justify laws, policies or practices which deny equal protection of the law, or discriminate, on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

At House Of Rainbow we believe that building respect for human rights and the rule of law will help ensure the dignity to which every individual is entitled and will halt tyranny, extremism, intolerance, and violence.

We are asking the government to protect people at risk, especially LGBT people, who are increasingly victims of crimes or other mass human rights violations, victims of discrimination, whose rights are eroded in the name of national security and human rights advocates who are targeted for defending the rights of others.

We will continue to fight for equality and for freedom of thought, expression, and religion; by presenting this statement we seek to confront human rights challenges with strategic responses that do not compromise our integrity.

Religious Homophobia
John 9:39-40 Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ 40Some of the Pharisees near Jesus heard this and said to Jesus, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?

There is no doubt that many religious communities and leaders chose to alienate us from their mosques and churches, we believe that Jesus spoke of these leaders when he spoke about spiritual blindness.

Religious Homophobia is on the rampage, religious people who are suppose to be God fearing and law abiding have turn their hands to extreme “Hate” Campaign against God’s LGBT children. What then happened to the message of Christ that said “Love your neighbour as yourself?”

We no longer accept discrimination on the grounds that we are an “unacceptable brand of religion in Nigeria”. We seek to exercise our freedom to praise and worship God without fear and discrimination.

Micah 6:8, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Homophobia in the Media.
Especially since May 2008, the Nigerian media with its circulation has herald the headship of homophobic stories, headlines range from “Homosexuals Must die” “Evil Church” to “We won’t succumb to Homosexuality”, these medium continue to enhance and incite hatred towards LGBT people, and criminality against our community has increased.

We expect that the media will assist to spread human rights awareness, inform people about human rights, empower marginalized communities to stand up, speak out and protect themselves. The media in any form is one of the most powerful methods to share, educate and inform the people. We are calling on the Nigerian media to help to end hate against LGBT people in this country.

Journalist should strive for Human Right goals and make everyone in the world fully aware of their rights. Creating rights awareness should be the first and most necessary step to ending rights abuses. Shamefully today the Nigerian media is the contrary and have endangered LGBT people’s lives in this nation.

Because of the media, today people "Live In Fear Everyday" it is our aim to put an end to this, LGBT people abroad are not only afraid to return to Nigeria, they do not trust the system and equally those at home are being vilified daily by the media and the society.

House Of Rainbow
We are committed to building a national movement of people who share these principles of equality and freedom for all. We are committed to raise a people of praise, build a people of power and spiritual activists.

Within our organization we value learning, mutual respect, collaboration, and a diversity of viewpoints. We are a Justice Ministry and will continue to highlight the injustices against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people in Nigeria regardless of faith background.

We believe we are made and created in the image of God, we believe in the inclusive gospel and expressive love of God for all people.

The United Nations declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity condemns violence, harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization, and prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also condemns killings and executions, torture, arbitrary arrest, and deprivation of economic, social, and cultural rights on those grounds.

We are asking our government to formally endorse the United Nation’s declaration calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality.

God bless you all

Rev Rowland Jide Macaulay - LLB, MTh, FACTS.
On Behalf of the Leaders, Friends, and Members of
House Of Rainbow Metropolitan Community Church Nigeria

More grace more power

Rev Rowland Jide Macaulay;
Founding Pastor,
House Of Rainbow MCC, Lagos Nigeria;
P.O.Box 1430 Isolo Lagos Nigeria
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/07/17/purefoy.nigeria.gay.church.cnn
+234 1 741 0978, +234 (0) 805 256 7170, +234 (0) 702 8161496 Nigeria;
+44 (0) 7949 223 194, (0)7903 767 972 England;
Yahoo ID; revjide;
Alternative email; revjide@yahoo.com;
Blog; www.revrowlandjidemacaulay.blogspot.com
Blog; www.houseofrainbowmcc.blogspot.com
Web; www.mccchurch.org

2009-05-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

"We live in an age in which people, when they hear the word Christian, are much more likely to think of people who hate gays than people who love outcasts, and that is a dangerous thing."

Shane Claiborne

The Irresistible Revolution

living as an ordinary radical

IDAHO

2009-05-15T04:10:00.000-07:00

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia - MAY 17th

A Reflection by Shane Claiborne

2009-05-11T06:54:00.000-07:00

Sanctified

2009-05-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

Sanctified is the world's first poetry anthology featuring works exclusively by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans Christians. "I am excited about this publication because LGBT Christians' voices need to be heard not only in church meetings, city councils, and courtrooms, but also in the literary arena. I believe poetry is an intimate, very revealing form of writing, and that this anthology speaks deeply to the experience of queer Christians in our world," says editor Justin R. Cannon.

Sanctified is a beautiful tome of 142 pages featuring poetry by thirty-three poets including: Stephen Barlett-Re, Jeffrey Barnes, Ben Barton, J. Michael Braiden, Nathan I. Brisby, Justin Cannon, John Coons, Sharon E. Cutts, Trey Dayton, Edward Gerard DeBonis, Christopher Alan Gaskins, Mario Gerada, Mario Gonzalez, Heidi Griepp, Chad Gurley, Linda Heidenreich, Lucas Roberto Hoare, Ryan Hollist, Timothy Holyoake, Wes Jamison, Jeffery Johnson, Henry Juhala, Erik J. Koepnick, Mark Koerber, Jose A. Lopez "Joalby", Gregory Loselle, Timothy Metzner, Lucas Mix, Al-Antony Moody, Connie Schroeder, Richard Tetreault, Robert Thompson, and Fred Turpin.

www.sanctifiedanthology.com

A musing by Ariadne Massa (Sunday Times, 13th July 2008)

2008-07-14T01:03:00.000-07:00

With his infectious smile, spirited remarks and positive energy, it's hard to imagine how Toscano suppressed his true being for 17 years to fit in society's pigeonhole of 'straight' people. At 43, the long traumatic journey has failed to etch wrinkles in his flawless complexion, which he attributes to daily moisturiser and veganism.

"I knew I was different at six. I was on a cabin cruiser with my family and I was staring at these beautiful lace curtains and I just wanted to touch them. Suddenly my uncle roars: 'Don't wipe your hands on those!' " he says, smiling.
By the time he was eight, he had crushes on his male teachers , which he kept to himself.

"I got the message pretty quickly that boys are supposed to like girls, and I heard bad things about homos, fags and queers," he adds.

Raised a Catholic and fascinated by spirituality, Toscano contemplated becoming a priest because being celibate meant he did not have to deal with his sexuality. He even went on a Capuchins' retreat and that was where he confided in a priest.
"He said God could heal me. He had me lie on the ground and prayed to drive the evil out of me. That was my first exorcism," he recalls.

Not finding the solution in the Catholic Church, at 18 he joined the Protestant Christians because the pastor told him God would "fix it". This did not work either, so he joined an ex-gay group in New York.

"This was at the height of the AIDS crisis so it was yet another example of evil," he says.
So why did he refuse to accept himself and prolong the agony?

"I wanted to be a missionary, but I needed to tackle this problem, because I was told I couldn't be gay and Christian," he said.

"I swallowed the lies that as a gay I couldn't be trusted, so I put my trust in older, wiser, straight men. The 10th Commandment says not to covet thy neighbour's wife, but I was coveting my straight neighbour's life."

So intent was he on becoming straight that at 25 he married a woman. She knew his concerns, but the pastor encouraged it and they both believed God would work a miracle.

"We were compatible companions, but I never desired her sexually, which must be one of the cruellest things a woman must face. I battled with depression and even contemplated suicide," he says.

After five years his marriage broke down and he enrolled in the ex-gay residential programme, Love in Action, which he graduated successfully from two years later. This period in life inspired his successful comedy Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo' Halfway House.

After being a "phantom of myself", he finally saw the light in December 1998, at the age of 33. Together with ex-gay survivor, Christine Bakke, he went on to set up Beyond Ex-Gay, an online resource for ex-gay survivors, and speaks regularly about the harm of therapies to change gays.
Toscano's advice to gay people is: "It's not easy or convenient, but if we're ashamed of ourselves, it's as if we give them permission to treat us shamefully."

His brain finally cleared, he started doing what he loves best - acting and stand-up comedy, earning a global reputation for his work, featuring in The New York Times, People Magazine and The Tyra Banks Show, among others.

He is now in Malta to present two performances: The Re-education of George W. Bush on Friday, and the Transfiguration, Transgressing Gender in the Bible on Saturday, at Warehouse 8, in Marsa (park near BoV and follow the signs), at 9 p.m.

"The Re-education of George W. Bush is not just about bashing Bush; it looks at issues of racism and sexism. We all have a little George Bush inside us, we just have to re-educate him. It weaves comedy and pathos and raises a lot of questions. For some people it's a bumpy ride," he says.
Peterson is in Malta on the invitation of Drachma, a Catholic group of gay people. For tickets call on 7940 4134.

Possessed by the Spirit of Perversion?

2008-07-14T00:52:00.000-07:00

Accepting the fact that you are different from others, and sometimes accepting yourself for who you are may seem like a social struggle. However being told that you are possessed by the spirit of perversion, that’s just psychological madness. This is my story…

I knew that I was different from other boys from a young age, however never questioned it or gave it any importance, at the age of 18 I began to start questioning life and myself, and after considerate thinking, together with evaluating my feelings I realised that I was gay. Although deep down I knew, coming out was a very scary matter as one is always struck by that fear of what’s going to happen next?

When I came out to my mum about my sexuality I must admit she was not expecting this, however she was understanding and told me not to rush into things as this might just be one of the phases which adolescences may go through, and if I were gay she would have no problem with it, as nowadays its normal, however in order for me to find out if this were just a phase or not she soon referred me to a psychologist which at that time was a co-host on a local tv program which had to do with faith healing.

Upon my first visit she introduced herself and wanted to base the first session by getting to know more about me, my childhood and religion. Prior to my first visit my mum had also briefed her about the great ordeal and trauma which had hit us with the passing of my dad. After asking me several questions, she then asked, ‘so what are your concerns in life? What’s troubling you?’ She continued by asking if this had anything to do with my dad passing away? I replied by saying it was a very traumatising experience, however life must go on. I continued by saying that I am here in order for you to help me figure out if I am gay or if it may just be a phase.

She paused and said, ‘you gay?, not once did it cross my mind that you could be gay, however not to worry’ she added, and she soon reached out for a book which was created by a priest, whereby she told me to read these prayers, in order for the Holy Spirit to come into me and to basically deliver me from evil, and this was to be discussed in further detail upon my second visit. At that point in time being at such a vulnerable stage I just followed her orders, without any question.

Before I knew it the second visit had arrived, and this was when she dug deep into the subject of homosexuality, saying that our religion does not accept gay people and considers it as being a sinful act, she continued by saying that this can be fixed as gay people are possessed by the spirit of perversion, and this has been proven that by an exorcism the demon can be taken out of you and you would be ‘free to live a normal straight life’, she added by saying not to worry, that this works as an American priest, I believe, has performed an exorcism on a gay couple who had been together for an odd number of years, and by the end of the exorcism these two men turned straight.

At that point in time I was gob smacked, and she had invited me to one of the gatherings which this pastor was going to organise with a bunch of her clients, of course to further go into the subject having a greater effect as one would be hearing this from the mouth of a pastor.

Upon my third visit as she went on about the whole possessed issue and religious acceptance, that for me was the final straw, and I said, ‘I am sorry but who are you to say that god doesn’t accept me?, God accepts and forgives everyone and being gay is not considered as a forbidden sin, and as far as I am concerned I have never stolen, murdered or committed any mortal sin, and I have faith in God and surely I am not possessed and God loves me as I am. After all I am one of his creations!’ and that brought about the end of my third and final visit.

Straight after that I had called my mum, told her with all of the psychologist’s madness, whereby my mum gave her a piece of her mind.

By telling my story all I wish for are three things…

Firstly, people who are meant to give professional advice, must make sure that they know what they are doing, understanding what that person is going through, and before giving any advise, making sure that they have done proper analysis as by giving the wrong information or even nonsense, the amount of damage that they can do on that person is unimaginable, such damage may lead to sever depression and even suicide.

Secondly, what I would love to see happening is for the church to acknowledge that homosexuality forms a great part of the social structure, I know that till this very day people are still living in the shadows, the church must see the fact that being gay doesn’t make one a sinner, all it is, is just being drawn to the same sex, and moreover everyone has the right to be loved, and God himself said that showing love to one another and being loved is the greatest gift on earth.

And thirdly whether one is straight, lesbian, gay, bi, or transgender, this should not stop you from being yourself or for conquering your dreams and no one has the right to ever put you down or discriminate you, as we are all creatures of God and we are all Beautiful.

Anonymous - Drachma

Jgħallmek waqt li jdaħħkek minn Sammy Sammut (L-Orizzont, 9 ta' Lulju, 2008)

2008-07-09T01:58:00.000-07:00

Meta persuna taċċetta lilha nfisha u ma tħossiex mistħija li tkun dak li fil-fatt hi, tkun ukoll kapaċi li tkisser il-ktajjen u ċċarrat l-irbit kollu li jkun qiegħed jassarha u xxekkilha. Dan il-pass iqawwiha u jnissel fiha l-ħila li toħroġ is-sabiħ kollu tagħha li forsi nżamm mistur kawża tal-biża’ li tesprimi dak li tassew tħoss, u li tattwa l-ħolm ta’ l-immaġinazzjoni fertili.

Peterson Toscano ħela kważi nofs ħajtu sakemm irnexxielu jsib rkaptu ta’ din il-filosofija, espressa f’The Identity Monologue, l-awtobijografija tiegħu rrakkontata f’żewġ minuti permezz ta’ YouTube.com. U dan għalih ma kienetx ħaġa faċli, iżda biss wara li qatta’ snin sħaħ jipprova jsib il-paċi mat-twemmin u l-omosesswalità tiegħu.

Fil-jiem li ġejjin, id-drammaturgu/attur/kummidjant Peterson Toscano se jippreżenta lill-pubbliku Malti tnejn mill-aqwa xogħlijiet teatrali tiegħu, The Re-Education of George W. Bush u Transfigurations - Trasgressing Gender in the Bible. Dawn il-produzzjonijiet se jkunu possibli bl-inizjattiva tal-grupp LGBT Kattolika, Drachma, b’kollaborazzjoni sħiħa ma’ Warehouse No.8 tal-Marsa.

Imwieled fi New York 43 sena ilu f’familja Kattolika iżda liberali ta’ dixxendenza Taljana, fl-adoloxxenza tiegħu Peterson inħakem minn biża’ kbir meta nduna bil-ġibdiet omosesswali tiegħu u ried li akkost ta’ kollox jeħles minnhom għax dejjem kien mgħallem li dawn kienu affarijiet maħmuġin u mmorali li jwasslu biss għad-dnub. Darba fost l-oħrajn, meta kellu sbatax-il sena, waqt li kien f’kamartu ħass il-preżenza ta’ Alla u hemmhekk iddeċieda li jibdel ħajtu u joffrilha lil ‘l Alla.

Billi ma setax jipproċessa u jifhem din l-esperjenza, Peterson tkellem ma’ xi parroċċani li bħalu kienu jiffrekwentaw il-knisja f’Times Square u dawn ikkonvinċewh li b’din l-esperjenza kien twieled mill-ġdid u messu jingħaqad mal-knisja nisranija tagħhom, kif fil-fatt għamel. “Dawn qabdu l-esperjenza spiritwali u ġenwina li kelli u interpretawha kif riedu. Nifhem li m’għamlux dan b’xi intenzjoni ħażina, iżda lili fixkluni. Bħala nisrani ridt li nogħġob lil ‘l Alla iżda waqaft infittxu direttament u minflok qgħadt fuq dak li kienu jgħidulu l-mexxejja tiegħi dwar x’ried Alla minni” huwa jgħid.

Għal Peterson Toscano, minn hemm ‘il quddiem bdiet taqbida mifruxa fuq medda ta’ kważi għoxrin sena, fejn għamel dak kollu possibli biex jeħles jew jgħakkes kemm jista’ l-ġibdiet omosesswali tiegħu, fosthom permezz ta’ trattamenti li għalihom nefaq xejn inqas minn $30,000 u għamel żmien jaħdem bħala missjunarju f’Żambja ġewwa l-Afrika u saħansitra żżewweġ lill-akbar ħabiba tiegħu għax ħaseb li b’hekk seta’ jinbidel u jsir “normali”.

Ħaseb li b’dak li kien qed jagħmel seta’ jirbaħ din il-battalja iżda bħal xi ħadd maħkum bil-vizzju tad-droga, huwa beda jgħaddi minn livell għall-ieħor fit-tfittxija tiegħu li jsib il-paċi u s-serħan miegħu nnifsu billi jfittex il-mezz li jeħilsu mill-ħażen li kien iħoss qed jaħkimlu lil qalbu u lir-ruħu.

Iżda minkejja kollox xorta waħda baqa’ ma sabx il-paċi miegħu nnifsu. Wara li kien attenda għadd ta’ gruppi ta’ appoġġ, kellem lil min jaf kemm il-mexxej tal-knisja, bi żwieġ li sfaxxa fix-xejn u li tellfu lill-akbar ħbieb li kellu, u saħansitra wara tliet eżorċiżmi, għaraf li kien jinħtieġ għajnuna professjonali u għalhekk involva ruħu fil-moviment Ex-Gay.

Aktar tard huwa kkommetta ruħu li jattendi programm terapewtiku ta’ sentejn magħruf bħala Love in Action fejn kienu jgħidu li permezz ta’ dan il-programm residenzjali setgħu jbiddlu lil persuna omosesswali f’waħda eterosesswali. Iżda l-verità kienet ħafna ‘l bogħod minn hekk.

Ġurnata minnhom bħal donnu ġie f’sensih u induna li dik deskritta bħala terapija ma kienetx qed tagħmillu xejn ħlief li kienet qiegħda tkissru fiżikament u psikoloġikament..... u agħar minn hekk, kien għadu omosesswali daqs kemm qatt kien. Peterson jgħid: “Matul dan iż-żmien kollu ħsibt li kont kristjan nitqabad ma’ l-omosesswalità, meta fil-fatt naħseb li kont omosesswali nitqabad mal-kristajniżmu”.

Għalkemm il-bidu ma kienx tant faċli, minn hawn ‘il quddiem ntefa’ b’ruħu u ġismu għat-teatru li kien abbanduna ftit snin biss wara li kien ggradwa fih mill-Università ta’ New York. Kien żmien meta kellu wkoll jitqabad ma’ twemminu għax kien ħasel se jibda jitlef il-fidi tiegħu. “Għal snin sħaħ qrajt il-Bibbja bħala arma kontrija”, huwa jgħid waqt li spjega kif waqt li kien f’Memphis sab grupp ta’ nsara li kienu gay u hemm tgħallem li seta’ jkun gay u nisrani fl-istess ħin. Għalih din kienet aħbar tajba għax għaraf li minkejja kollox xorta waħda kien għadu jħoss il-ħtieġa li jkollu kuntatt mill-qrib ma’ Alla.

Fis-sena 1999, Peterson waqqaf il-kumpnaija p2son productions u beda jippreżenta l-produzzjoni tiegħu Footprints: An Inspiration Comedy. Dramaturgu u attur ta’ karattri komiċi, Peterson jibbaża ħafna fuq il-poeżija, il-Bibbja u kitbiet oħra, kif ukoll intervisti estensivi biex jispirawh fix-xogħlijiet teatrali tiegħu.

Magħruf sew għat-trasformazzjonijiet impekkabli tal-karattri diversi li jintepreta, fuq il-palk Peterson litteralment ibiddel il-fiżjonomija ta’ wiċċu u s-sura ta’ ġismu, flimkien mal-vuċi u l-aċċent li juża għal kull karattru maħdum minnu.

Kien għamel id-debutt professjonali tiegħu fuq il-palk fl-1989, fil-play ta’ Peter Hanke “Kaspar” f’Cafè Bustello fi New York. Ħadem ukoll f’diversi films, fosthom Star Queen - A Star is Bored fl-2002, Getting Married? ta’ Eli Parker fl-2001, Fish Can’t Fly fl-2005 u Chasing the Devil: Inside the Ex-Gay Movement fl-2008. Aktar tard din is-sena mistenni wkoll jieħu sehem fid-dokumentarji This is What Love in Action Looks Like u For Such a Time as This.

Kien kemm-il darba mistieden jindirizza konferenzi lokali u internazzjonali, deher f’diversi programmi televiżi u radjofoniċi kemm fl-Ewropa kif ukoll fl-Amerika, fosthom The Montel Williams Show, Public Radio International, Current TV u The Tyra Banks Show, waqt li dwaru u l-esperjenzi li għadda minnhom kitbu għadd kbir ta’ ġurnali, inklużi The York Times u People Magazine.

Ix-xogħlijiet teatrali tiegħu huma diversi. Fis-satira li kien ippreżenta fl-2003 Doin’ Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House, permezz ta’ l-esperjenzi tiegħu huwa jesplora b’mod umoristiku l-istorja ta’ l-omosesswalità, l-omofobija u kwistjonijiet oħra ta’ diversità permezz ta’ monologi minn diversi karattri li jinterpreta fl-istess ħin.

Is-sena ta’ wara kien kiteb Queer 101 li addattaha għall-istudenti ta’ l-iskola sekondarja fejn, minflok ma jitkellem dwar l-istorja ta’ ħajtu, Peterson jagħmel użu mill-poeżiji lesbjani u gay biex jesplora d-diversità u l-umanità.

Bħal Identity Monologue, il-klipp maħduma għal YouTube u How the Indians Discovered Colombus, iż-żewġ plays huma l-vetrina tat-talent li jipposjedi biex jittrasforma lilu nnifsu f’persuni oħra differenti, b’vuċijiet u aċċenti differenti.

Apparti fl-Istati Uniti ta’ l-Amerika fejn huwa jgħix, Peterson ippreżenta x-xogħlijiet teatrali tiegħu f’diversi pajjiżi, fosthom fil-Kanada, fil-Kamerun, fl-Isvezja, fid-Danimarka, Spanja, l-Ingilterra u Wales.

U issa, bis-saħħa ta’ l-inizjattiva meħuda mill-grupp LGBT, Drachma, Peterson se jżur ukoll Malta fejn se jippreżenta lill-pubbliku Malti l-aħħar żewġ xogħlijiet teatrali tiegħu fil-Warehouse No.8, fil-Marsa. Il-biljetti qegħdin jibiegħu bil-prezz ta’ €11 għal rappreżentazzjoni waħda jew €15 għat-tnejn.

Nhar il-Ġimgħa, 18 ta’ Lulju, huwa se jippreżenta l-produzzjoni ta’ The Re-Education of George W. Bush, fejn bħas-soltu, bid-diversi karattri differenti maħluqin u maħdumin minnu, jagħti lezzjoni lill-President Amerikan Bush u lill-udjenza preżenti dwar l-istorja, il-gwerer, il-privileġġ li jġib miegħu l-kulur tal-ġilda, l-ambjent, is-sessiżmu, il-qari żbaljat tal-Bibbja, l-umanità u ħafna aktar.

L-għada s-Sibt, 19 ta’ Lulju, Peterson jagħti ħarsa mhux tas-soltu lejn l-iskrittura Ebrajka u dik Nisranija permezz tal-kummiedja Transfigurations - Transgressing Gender in the Bible, fejn huwa jiffoka l-attenzjoni tiegħu fuq diversi karattri li kellhom sehem kbir fil-ġrajjiet irrakkontati fil-Bibbja u li kienu transesswali jew ta’ xorta ta’ sess omosesswali.

Peterson Toscano, li kien għamel ukoll xi żmien jgħallem kemm studenti kif ukoll għalliema, jispjega li permezz tal-ħiliet teatrali tiegħu flimkien ma’ l-esperjenzi u l-ħafna weġgħat li għadda minnhom, fix-xogħijiet tiegħu jista’ jħares lil ‘l hinn minnu nnifsu u jolqot l-għeruq tal-passjonijiet interni ta’ dawk kollha li jkollu quddiemu.

Illum li sab u għaraf lilu nnifsu, huwa kapaċi jitratta aħjar il-problemi tal-ħajja ta’ kuljum. U b’dan il-mod, permezz tat-teatru kapaċi jdaħħak u fl-istess ħin jgħallem lil ħaddieħor mingħajr ma dawn jirrealizzaw. Għax ma jkunx qed jgħallimhom billi dawn jużaw moħħhom iżda għax jolqothom fil-qiegħ ta’ qalbhom. Jekk trid tkun taf kif u għaliex, nissuġġerilek ma titlifx dawn ir-rappreżentazzjoniet ta’ Peterson Toscano.

ssammut@unionprint.com.mt

Simply Inspiring!

2008-07-05T11:48:00.001-07:00

Scans see 'gay brain differences'

2008-06-17T00:07:00.000-07:00

The study suggests sexual preference is set in the womb
The brains of gay men and women look like those found in straight people of the opposite sex, research suggests.

The Swedish study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, compared the size of the brain's halves in 90 adults.

Gay men and straight women had halves of a similar size, while the right side was bigger in lesbian women and straight men.

A UK scientist said this was evidence sexual preference was set in the womb.

As far as I'm concerned there is no argument any more - if you are gay, you are born gay

Dr Qazi Rahman
Queen Mary, University of London

Scientists have noticed for some time that homosexual people of both sexes have differences in certain cognitive abilities, suggesting there may be subtle differences in their brain structure.

This is the first time, however, that scientists have used brain scanners to try to look for the source of those differences.

A group of 90 healthy gay and straight adults, men and women, were scanned by the Karolinska Institute scientists to measure the volume of both sides, or hemispheres, of their brain.

When these results were collected, it was found that lesbian women and straight men shared a particular "asymmetry" in their hemisphere size, while straight women and gay men had no difference between the size of the different halves of their brain.

In other words, structurally, at least, gay men were more like straight women, and gay women more like straight men.

A further experiment found that in one particular area of the brain, the amygdala, there were other significant differences.

In heterosexual men and lesbian women, there were more nerve "connections" in the right side of the amygdala, compared with the left.

The reverse, with more neural connections in the left amygdala, was the case in homosexual men and straight women.

The Karolinska team said that these differences could not be mainly explained by "learned" effects, but needed another mechanism to set them, either before or after birth.

'Fight, flight or mate'

Dr Qazi Rahman, a lecturer in cognitive biology at Queen Mary, University of London, said that he believed that these brain differences were laid down early in foetal development.

"As far as I'm concerned there is no argument any more - if you are gay, you are born gay," he said.

The amygdala, he said, was important because of its role in "orientating", or directing, the rest of the brain in response to an emotional stimulus - be it during the "fight or flight" response, or the presence of a potential mate.

"In other words, the brain network which determines what sexual orientation actually 'orients' towards is similar between gay men and straight women, and between lesbian women and straight men.

"This makes sense given that gay men have a sexual preference which is like that of women in general, that is, preferring men, and vice versa for lesbian women."

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7456588.stm

www.sincemylastconfession.com

2008-06-13T09:17:00.000-07:00