As most of you have already read in the news, Spain's election has been won by the Socialists. Headlines such as "Pro-gay Zapatero defeats conservatives" and the like appeared in most gay media. However, the Socialist party is not pro-gay, just pro-equality. My two cents (of Euro).
A really interesting analysis on the SF Gate by C W Nevius, on how homosexual marriage will become accepted as normal. Here's the full text, which I mostly agree with.
When defenders of the "sacred union of marriage" held a news conference last Tuesday after oral arguments on same-sex marriage at the state Supreme Court, they weren't facing a friendly crowd.
A small group of activists tried to drown out the comments with songs, chants and heckling. I'm sure they thought they were carrying the banner of freedom, standing up for principle and advancing the cause.
They're wrong.
At the end of the day, when the change comes to allow same-sex marriage - and it's coming, don't kid yourself - it won't be because of protests. It will be because people in this state, and across the country, are talking to gay and lesbian co-workers and neighbors, meeting same-sex couples and their kids at Little League games, and working at companies with domestic-partner health plans.
"It is the normal interaction in everyday life," said City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who is leading San Francisco's legal effort along with attorneys for 23 same-sex couples. "It is the guy at the water cooler at work, seeing them with their kids - that's what drives it home for people."
It is that familiarity driving the change in perception. Polls tell us that those born before 1940 are probably a lost cause. But those in their 40s, for example, have seen a dramatic uptick in support for same-sex marriage. And the real sea change is among the teens and twentysomethings who seem to wonder what the fuss is all about.
When our son told us he was gay, he was in high school (he's a junior in college now). I remember hugging him and saying, "Don't worry. It will be fine." What he didn't hear was my inner voice adding, "I hope."
I worried about him having a miserable time at school, harassed by narrow-minded kids and forced to withdraw into a shell. It wasn't without rough moments, of course, but overall, his problems seemed minor.
He played high school sports, was active in school events and ran for student body president. During the election, a Neanderthal jock anonymously posted an incredibly offensive and obscene comment on an Internet site. My wife and daughter saw it and so did much of the student body. Here we go, I thought.
But his friends rallied around him. They took on the jock, identified him and told him to offer an apology. When he did, my son's group quickly accepted it and moved on. He won that election.
Frankly, with a few blips, that's how it has gone. Having a gay son has been a lot less of a big deal than I ever dreamed. And among his fellow students and contemporaries, it seems to be a big shrug.
As Herrera says, the youth mind-set represents an undercurrent of change that is sometimes overlooked.
"If you look at the poll numbers in 2000 for Proposition 22 (reaffirming a 1974 law that said marriage was between a man and a woman) the support was 61 percent," he said. "But those numbers have changed dramatically. And when you look at the younger demographic, it is totally different."
A California Field Poll conducted in March found that those born in the 1970s and '80s support same-sex marriage by 51 and 58 percent, respectively.
The change in values seems to leave the same-sex opponents struggling to find a rational objection to the question posed by one of the justices: "What are the adverse consequences that could occur?"
Randy Thompson, president of the California Coalition for Children and Families, could only offer that banning same-sex marriage would "be a role model for the next generation. What dream do you want children to have, to grow up and marry a nice girl?"
Yep, that's the dream. I suppose many never guessed it would be a girl's dream, too.
The news conferences went on too long for both groups. At the end, a gentleman who represented the group Stand With Children stood at the podium, talking away as TV crews packed up their cameras and microphones.
No one was listening. He was talking to himself - with one exception.
One of the gay and lesbian activists stayed and heckled him. As the crowd dispersed, the two bickered back and forth. It's funny, because while they are arguing, real change is taking place all around them.
By Sonia Ounissi
TUNIS, March 7 (Reuters Life!) - Homosexual men living with HIV/AIDS In the Arab world face a twin taboo, but Karim doesn't look like someone burdened by stigma. Smiling and self-assured, the healthy looking Tunisian says his peace of mind comes from accepting what he cannot change, living in the moment and taking care to present a normal face to the world. The 34-year-old draws the menace from his infection by seeing it as his offspring. "Personally, I accept the illness. I consider the virus my little baby. Together, we make up the same person," he said.
Dressed in jeans and a V-neck pullover, Karim sounds matter-of-act about his condition, but acknowledges that it wasn't always so easy. Karim first learned he had HIV when he returned to his native country from France in 2005. He was infected during an eight-year relationship with a French man. "First, I thought I had flu. But my health kept worsening and analysis showed I had AIDS. A person who was so important to me had infected me," he said.
"I WAS FURIOUS"
"At the beginning, I was furious. I hated everything. But afterwards, I thought that it's better to be hopeful than crying." He decided to face up to the illness, sensing that a positive mental attitude would translate into stronger physical health. Also, he is on anti-retroviral medication. "I'm quite good. My health situation is stable. HIV-positives who can't move or even walk are people who refuse the fact that they're infected with HIV. They suffer because they're in very low spirits and not because of the virus." "I have a principle in my life which says we must make the most of life while we still have its advantages. So, I still enjoy my life. I consider AIDS a flu." He lives with his Tunisian boyfriend, who is uninfected. They have protected sex. "I was sincere. I told him the truth and he accepted. His attitude really moved me," said Karim.
"ENJOY THE MOMENT"
Unlike most Tunisians, Karim refuses to draw up plans for his future, even in the short-term, as he doesn't know when AIDS will bring his life to an end. "I can't do long-term projects. I can't even plan for the summer holidays. I think just about what I can do in the next week and enjoy the moment." HIV/AIDS is a common topic of conversation widely discussed in many Western countries. But it is still an invisible disease in north Africa and many other parts of the world. Karim, one of 1,428 Tunisians who live with HIV, has learnt to keep his status a tightly guarded secret in a society where fear, prejudice and ignorance about the disease prevail.
Seventy new cases are declared per year in the North African country, according to official figures.
HIV-positive people who become known as such are shunned by society. "To live in Tunisia, people infected with HIV have to lie and never say they suffer from AIDS," he said. "I told my boss, because he's French. If I told a Tunisian about that he'd have a cardiac arrest", said Karim.
"I hate the Tunisian way of thinking. They present themselves as open-mind people and cultured. But it's just a mask," he said. "In reality, they still think they can be infected via the air."
(Reuters, reporting by Sonia Ounissi, editing by William Maclean and Paul Casciato)
When American and British marines started returning from the war in Afghanistan in early 2002, they brought along with them curious stories about Afghanistan’s peasants who put on make-up and consistently followed them around or even sexually abused them. This was a very shocking experience for the soldiers.
- They were more terrifying than the al-Qaeda. One bloke who had painted toenails was offering to
paint ours. They go about hand in hand, mincing around the village – a terrified marine, James Fletcher, told the Scotsman upon returning from Afghanistan.
- We were pretty shocked. We discovered from the Afghan soldiers we had with us that a lot of men in this country have the same philosophy as ancient Greeks: ‘a woman for babies, a man for pleasure’ – Fletcher continued recounting his experience.
For every Pashtun there is an Ashna
After the fall of the repressive Taliban regime in which homosexuality, sodomy and generally any kind of relations outside of marriage between a man and a woman were punishable by death, Afghans have finally become free to enjoy homosexual relationships that have been an integral part of their culture for several centuries.
In the city of Kandahar, which is considered the gay capital of Southern Asia, there is an ancient custom among the ethnic Pashtun people. An adult man picks a young boy, a teenager, called an “ashna” and gives him money and presents in turn for sexual favours. This Pashtun tradition is even represented in their poetry, in odes written about the beauty of young “ashnas”. This is a tradition that is present in all facets of society, practiced by the rich and poor alike. The parents of young boys who are sex slaves are usually aware of their sons’ relations with their “sugar daddies”. And although their parents keep this a secret from others, they do not contest the custom. Especially if the Pashtun is rich.
You can see some Afghanistan male couples HERE.
Traditional dancing in women’s clothing
Such a form of prostitution has been quite widespread in recent years due to poverty among teenagers and the strict rules that forbid any contact among singles of the opposite sex. American Fox writes that in 1994 two Afghanistan officers got into a fight over a boy they both took a liking to. The government even had to pass a law forbidding Afghan soldiers from living with their “ashnas”.
After the Taliban regime, the Afghanistan Supreme Court ruled homosexuality illegal and sodomy punishable by death. But in reality, nobody will lose their life because of homosexual relations. Rather, they will be given long-term prison sentences or just get away with a fine, which is a very lenient punishment in this Islamic country.
The British wrote about gay love in Kabul as far as a century and a half back, which is proof that homosexuality was pretty widespread even back then. Some gay tourist guides claim that there used to be stores in Kandahar which held pets that were considered gay symbols, quails, for example. There are even customs in which, during wedding ceremonies, entertainers dress up in women’s clothing and dance traditional dances. The local population says that birds fly above the city using only one wing. They use other wing to cover their derrieres. Taliban leader Mullah Omar curried favour with Taliban officers by offering them young boys.
Contact with a woman is taboo; contact with a man is not
There are no organised gay associations in Afghanistan, but contrary to many Western countries, 
men can freely walk the streets holding hands. This was especially shocking for foreign troops who became fascinating for the Afghan men. Armed and ready to engage in conflicts with Al-Qaeda, the only conflicts the foreign troops had were with local men who only wanted to stroke their hair.
- It was hell. Every village we went into we got a group of men wearing make-up coming up, stroking our hair and cheeks and making kissing noises – 20-year-old Corporal Paul Richard uttered.
One can only speculate about the roots of sodomy and homosexuality in Afghanistan because the fact is that a long-standing tradition is always the result of various factors. Some claim that the main reason for this is the ban of any contact between men and women who are not married, while men constantly spend time together.
Most indigent boys do not even know what a woman’s body looks like until they are married. And marriage is a very expensive endeavour in Afghanistan – the dowry usually consists of several average Afghanistan salaries, which only a few can afford.
Taking into consideration the reports of Western marines, much is forbidden in Afghanistan. But it would not be surprising if in a few years’ time Kandahar throws its first gay parade.
[From Javno]
While the Pope himself praised the anti-homosexual policies undertaken in the United States, the Spanish Episcopal Conference elected a new head yesterday. During the last years, the main Catholic hierarchy body in Spain had been headed by bishop Blazquez of Bilbao, who held conciliatory views on most social aspects of life, including dialogue with non ultra-Catholic groups. However, bishops Rouco of Madrid and Cañizares of Toledo, known in the leftist blogosphere as "the Toños" seem to have succeeded in renewing (in this case re-olding) Catholic views in Spain. The most ultraconservative views both bishops represent have been raised up and now Archbishop Antonio Maria Rouco Varela holds the position of President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference. Hopefully, Rouco will be celebrating his designation for a few days so that he won't immediately try to change the sign of the March 9th election in Spain, which he has already tried to influence during a mass demonstration in December 30th, 2007, with the Popular Party, allegedly the second political force in Spain, honeymooning with the Church. As the Financial Times puts it:
Instead of acting as a parliamentary opposition, the PP has tried to impugn constitutionally major initiatives of the Socialists, in an effort to paralyse government. Mariano Rajoy, its lacklustre leader, has failed to emerge from the shadow of José María Aznar, the former prime minister, and has colluded in a hysterical campaign by the Catholic hierarchy that calls into question the legitimacy of the government.
So, as we say around here, "el pescado está vendido". We'll see next monday if homosexuals can keep our rights here in Spain, or we'll have to seek for asylum in a much less Catholic place.
After some weeks of watching mostly drama and thriller movies, I was looking for a good comedy this weekend, just to relax from work, also from the political campaign in Spain (which has good points, for instance, as I'm following Spain's politicians I don't have time anymore to follow the candidates in the USA). The only movie I could find in theatres currently, a decent comedy (and I mean "decent" in the sense of "please don't play me another stupid American teen movie") was, of course, Juno. But this is Party for the Rights and Juno is not a comedy about homosexuality, eh? No problem, there's enough comedy worldwide. Would you believe, dear abominable readers, that YOU cause earthquakes "when putting your genitalia where they're not supposed to be put"? That's exactly the collegiate opinion of Schlomo Benizri, who declared in Israel's Knesset, this week, about the measures to be taken on Israel's readiness on earthquakes.
It must have been funny, a committee of lawmakers having experts stating about measures and all that blah blah, and then this guy comes up and says something like, "if you stop passing legislation on how to encourage homosexual activity in the state of Israel, which anyway brings about earthquakes", that's the best measure to be taken in order to prevent victims on earthquakes, and quakes themselves.
If one thinks carefully about the whole thing, it's obvious that religion, ultra-orthodox religion, is always behind such attacks. Those ultra-religious people, fanatics and fundamentalists, are quite similar to little children who aren't able to catch a good sleep without a good tale before switching the lights off. The problem, and I use "problem" here because they move towards creating a problem for us, the problem then, I say, is only that ultra-religious people do believe that their tale is true. Pastors, bishops and preachers in the USA oppose homosexual marriage saying "It's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve". Funny slogan, but it's not Adam and Eve unless you defend Creationism (which is lately labeled as Intelligent Design, as if it was some sort of Italian couch or a masterpiece of Rem Koolhaas). There was no Adam and there was no Eve, there is the Theory of Evolution and that's science. And some people will still go dreaming of Peanut Butter Jars after being read the Bible Fairy Tale before going to sleep.
Mariano Rajoy, the Popular Party candidate, opened last midnight the election campaign in Cadiz, in what he deemed a homage to the Spanish Constitution of 1812. For those not much versed in Constitutional Law, just remind that the article 12th of the Spanish Constitution of 1812 established that the One and Only Religion to be practiced in Spain had to be the Roman Catholic. All others banned. But that was the 19th century, or is it today? Monsignor Rouco must have had several orgasms at Rajoy's words... Oops, bishops don't have orgasms, sorry. It's called "ecstatic ecstasy".
