A bit busy lately

But still had some time to browse through the week's news, choosing the worst of them all in Cameroon, another nation which has sentenced three guys to six years of hard labor just for being gay. That's fair justice and treatment, absolute equal rights. One wonders if heterosexuals would be given equal sentences in a gay-leaded country. And speaking of country leaders, from inside Spain it doesn't seem that next March 9th election will only depend on gay marriage, as Deutsche Welle puts it. No, even though the Roman Catholic hierarchy is actively fighting everything they deem as sin, some days ago the Popular Party leader, Mr. Rajoy, said that his party position on gay marriage is to let it be as is. It's of course not clear whether them, the right side of the political spectrum, would amend the gay marriage law if they could obtain Congress majority enough to govern alone.

On the northeastern side of Europe, Topix says that Lithuania is facing the Council of Europe censure over their position on homosexual rights. There must be something in advantage when your country belongs to the European Union, the Bill of Rights is common for all countries (except for Poland, but it'll change too). However, on Eastern Europe, "Metropolitan Kirill, Head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, has made a strong statement condemning societal acceptance of homosexuality and reaffirming the task of the Church to proclaim the truth". Of course, it's a religious thing, what else can they say?

Well, I guess it's been all for today. I promise I'll try to keep updating for the weekend, but forgive me if I'm sending scarce posts till after Carnival... A man also needs a bit of free time for himself. Cheers.

Six men sentenced in Morocco over gay marriage

Justice in Morocco, publishes El Pais, is sometimes quicker than expected. The article refers to a quickly made trial against some of the Moroccan persons who staged and played on a simulation of gay marriage, some of them cross dressed, in Ksar el Kebir. El Pais informs that there were no lawyers to defend those guys, and three attorneys had to be appointed from Rabat. The article describes in brief a hostile environment allegedly boosted by islamic integrism in Ksar el Kebir, with some touches of Tabligh even (which seems to be involved in anti-homosexual actions in Uganda hand by hand with Christian fundies; who said Islam and Christianity can't live together?). The only information I could find about this, apart of the El Pais article, is an editorial on TelQuel, where the staff makes reference to a media war lauched against them by Rachid Nini, who, according to El Pais, played an important role in the media instrumentalization of an anti-gay feeling before the trial. Six of the guys involved in the staged marriage have been sentenced to fines not exceeding $140, and 4 to 10 months in prison.

Technorati tags: Morocco, Gay marriage

Rwandan Bishop leads world crusade against homosexuality

Rwanda's New Times brings forth another Anglican Bishop to crusade against homosexuality: Emmanuel Kolini. During a congregation gathering in Rwanda, dubbed as "a three-day peace crusade". Kolini is informed to have stated that "our church has decided to ignore the 2008 Lambeth Conference because it has not done much to fight homosexuality in the communion". The article goes on saying that "The Anglican Church of Rwanda has been at the forefront in evangelisation and peace building in the world", which is basically true, we only have to check this page to read about the way that "Kolini seems as concerned with the problems of America's Episcopal church as he is with his own.Some of the bishops of the Episcopal Church USA consider Kolini a buttinski. In January, he and Archbishop of Singapore Moses Tay ordained two Americans as missionary bishops to the United States."

But who is this Emmanuel Kolini? Which was his place and standpoint during the Rwanda genocide? Paul Rusesabagina, in an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, says that "while the Rwandan Patriotic Front in power today slowly drove Rwanda into anarchy from 1990 to 1994 with massive killings of innocent civilians, the churches ministering in Rwanda, including the Anglican Church, chose the path of indifference, passivity and silence. When genocide broke out in Rwanda in the spring of 1994, taking the lives of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and Hutus, again the churches operating in Rwanda, including the Anglican Church, chose silence and retreat," which includes Emmanuel Kolini as part of that Anglican church, however strong are his claims that it was the West which kept silent during the 1994 genocide. Mark Harris, an Episcopal priest of the Delaware Diocese, writes in his blog Preludium that "Archbishop Kolini seems to be making peace by making war. An odd bit of doublespeak."

Technorati tags: Christianity and Homosexuality, Emmanuel Kolini, Paul Rusesabagina

A double rule in Europe

While European (and African) LGBT organizations, with help of EU governments, are pushing African governments to stop state-supported homophobia in preview of a EU-Africa summit next week, Italian government Foreign Minister says plainly that gay marriage won't be supported in Italy. That speaks enough for Europe's double rule, and while I personally think that the Yogyakarta principles should be adopted worldwide, and of course welcome the push on African governments, Italy should be pushed too in order to stop anti-gay bias in its governments officials. Not long ago, it was an Italian city major who blabbed in favor of creating gay ghettos there. And then retake the Pink Triangle used in the 40s, that could be next step.

While Italian politic corpse is well aware and ready to hurt feelings of Islam followers, it seems to me that such a territorial insertion as the Vatican State is displaying a lot of force in Italian politics, just in the same way the Roman Catholic Church would love to do in Spain, however not risking the creation of a separate political party. Now, this is how our democracy works: if you want to become a lawmaker you have to run for the Congress and obtain a majority there.

Technorati tags: Double rule on homosexuality, Italy, Africa, Yogyakarta Principles