Posts Tagged ‘gays’
Gays and Guns: Pink Pistols
Read the article: http://www.sovo.com/2008/12-19/news/localnews/9577.cfm
Vatican: Gays aren’t criminals, but must not have marriage rights
Vatican City – The Vatican’s chief spokesman said Thursday that the Roman Catholic Church believes homosexuality must not be considered a crime, but added that initiatives aimed at “putting all forms of sexual orientation on the same level” are wrong. Father Federico Lombardi was commenting on controversy triggered by the Holy See’s decision to oppose a proposal by France, backed by the 27-nation European Union, for a United Nations resolution calling governments to decriminalize homosexuality.
Lombardi said the Vatican opposed all forms of discrimination. But he added that the proposal, if accepted, could end up making those, like the Catholic Church, who oppose granting marriage rights to gays “guilty of infringing human rights.”
“The Church is in favour of decriminalizing homosexuality,” Lombardi said. But it opposes granting “parity of rights,” such as marriage. According to Catholic teaching, only unions between a man and a woman can be accorded such parity.
Last week, the Holy See’s envoy to the UN, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, described the French proposal as unacceptable. He argued it implied the possibility that nations which did not recognize same-sex unions as “matrimony” would face pressure to do so.
Gay rights groups in Italy and elsewhere have since staged demonstrations to protest what they say is the Vatican’s apparent willingness to ally itself with those who treat gay people as criminals.
Homosexuality is currently punishable by law in more than 85 countries. It is punishable by death in a number of them, including Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen.
LA Diocese wants gays to become bishops
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has joined seven other dioceses in passing a resolution asking the church to let gays and lesbians become bishops.
The vote Friday at the church’s 113th annual Diocesan Convention rejected the Episcopal Church’s de facto moratorium on the election of gay or lesbian bishops.
The resolution will be forwarded for consideration at the July 2009 national convention in Anaheim.
Also at the meeting the LA diocese expressed support for gay marriage with the creation of the “Sacramental Blessing for a Life-long Covenant.”
Jamaica Criticized for Alarming Violence Level Against Gays
Howard Campbell, AP | Article Date: 12/07/2008 12:00 AM
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said Friday that there are still too many incidents of excessive police force and attacks against gays in Jamaica.
More than 350 questionable shootings involving Jamaican police are being investigated, with the majority occurring in poor communities, according to the island’s Bureau of Special Investigations.
“Everybody acknowledges (police) are under stress, but there is no adequate system of accountability and investigation,” commission chairman Paolo Carozza said.
His team arrived Dec. 1 in Jamaica and expects to issue a full report next year on what it calls an “alarming” level of violence.
More than 1,240 killings have been reported this year in the island of 3 million people.
Carozza said he also is concerned about the lack of law-enforcement resources. Carozza said the government’s forensic lab is understaffed and not properly equipped, while the coroner faces a massive backlog.
Carozza’s team also met with police and government officials about the increasing attacks on homosexuals.
“What alarms us is the general level of violence against gays that goes unpunished. As far as we can tell, these are not investigated properly,” he said.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding came under fire earlier this year for saying he would not allow gays in his Cabinet.
This report reprinted with permission of the Associated Press.
Gays On Strike
If you have Facebook, you can join Gays On Strike. On January 19th (the eve of change when Obama is sworn in) the GLBT community is going On Strike! Details on the web-site:
Kicking A Lion 