Jun 30, 2010

ATTN HENRY OROMBI/UGANDA: ¨We make the country Uganda and the whole world aware of the equality of every individual before God¨

Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo, Founder, Integrity/Uganda
Integrity Uganda is a non-denominational, non-political; faith based registered community based organization.

The Flag of Uganda

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Founder: Bishop C. Ssenyonjo
President: Dennis Iraguha
Sec/coordinator: David Kato
Treasurer: Nabuuma Teddy

INTEGRITY UGANDA / IFU is for all marginalized minorities

VISION

To see a liberated lgbti believer community and others inclusive
in all Ugandan strata.

MISSION

To bring not only spiritual food to the marginalized lgbti
community but to access full human rights despite their sexual
diversity/ orientation and gender differences since all are God's
children.

To cut off antigay religious dogma and attacks on the lives and
civil liberties of lgbti people by sensitizing all citizens and resisting
the injustices through working hand in hand with mainstream
organizations, non-governmental, policy makers, religious leaders
to bring about recognition of the marginalized lgbti community in
Uganda.

OBJECTIVES

David Kato, Secretary and Coordinator, Integrity/Uganda

To bring the marginalized lgbti believer community together for
spiritual enrichment despite their being discriminated against in
their churches/mosques.

To create awareness in the lgbti believer community of their legal
rights despite of their sexual-orientation and the criminalizing law
against same sex relations and sensitize them of their rights to
demand for their freedom since can not be given voluntarily by
oppressors but by being demanded by the oppressed. (Rev
Martin Luther King)

To offer professional guidance and counseling to the depressed,
desperate, hopeless, and homeless, HIV/AIDs lgbti victims to gain
self esteem and not resort to suicide, alcoholism, peer pressure,
drug abuse with a revolving fund project to be set eradication of
poverty among the lgbti community could be reached.

To lobby religious leaders and institutions to tolerate a dialogue
with lgbti people so as to get aware of their ways and determine a
way forward dealing positively with lgbti issues as children of God
also.

To research, document and use non violent direct actions to
confront the oppressors relentlessly until truth will prevail, working
hand in hand with internal and external non governmental human
rights organizations to lobby policy makers for legal reforms. The
documentation of Religious utterances that promote homophobia
done deliberately or unintentional, integrity seeks to make
religious leaders and institutions accountable for misinformation
that has led to suffering, violence and death of lgbti people in the
Uganda society.

To set targets in fighting against HIV/AIDs, ignorance and STDs
among the marginalized lgbti community.

WAY FORWARD

Lobby Religious church leaders, local constitutional and
international non-governmental, agencies in the struggle of
liberating the marginalized lgbti community by seeking law
reforms.

Sensitize and reaching out to the discriminated to gain hope and
join the struggle for liberation to full human rights at least to
toleration and equality before the law despite of the sex
orientation.

STRATEGY

We make the country Uganda and the whole world aware of the
equality of every individual before God and the existence and
worth living of the marginalized lgbti community on a free
environment with full human rights.

PARTNERS:

SMUG (Sexual Minorities Uganda)
Amnesty International
E.A. Horn of Africa
Other sheep Ministries, East Africa
Changing attitude Nigeria
Integrity USA


Kampala, Uganda
Integrity Uganda
David Kato, Secretary

CONTACT INFORMATION
PO Box 70208 Kampala, Uganda (East Africa)
Email: integratedfelug@gmail.com

David Kato, Integrity and Steve Parelli, Other Sheep Ministry
Membership with Other Sheep HERE

Member with Other Sheep since December 20, 2007

INTEGRITY CALLS UPON THE
CHURCHES OF UGANDA TO
ENDORSE GAY RIGHTS:


An Article on Liberty of Conscience

Certain views from different religious leaders against the
fundamental rights of homosexuals have been brought up
in reaction to the LGBTI press release of Friday, August
17, 2007. A spokesperson of Integrity Uganda, a faith
based Christian organization that maintains that the Bible
does not condemn same-sex relationships, says the
question of gay rights in Uganda is a fundamental human
rights question and not a theological question.

Integrity Uganda calls upon the Christian churches of
Uganda to reexamine the scriptures in light of the stories
of gay Christians of Uganda, the social sciences and
psychology. But, says Integrity, though the churches of
Uganda may not reexamine its theological position on
homosexuals, they must be clear on its teaching of
fundamental human rights and the liberty of conscience
when it comes to its official policy on gay rights.

The Christian doctrine of the liberty of conscience
teaches that no mere human authority – civil government
or religious institutions – has power to grant or to withhold
from men the exercise of freedom in matters of religion.
Homosexuality is a private religious matter between God
and the individual. Liberty of conscience teaches that it is
the individual's inalienable right to exercise his judgment
without restraint in religious matters and to give
expression, freely and fully to his religious convictions,
without human dictation or interference. Not all religious
people believe homosexuality is irreligious, ungodly or
sinful. More and more, Christians in South Africa, Nigeria,
the Americas, Europe and other parts of the world are
changing their views on the Bible and homosexuality. read it all,
HERE

"I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also."
John 10:16 NRSV

· Thanks to Integrity, Uganda
· Thanks to Other Sheep, East Africa
· Thanks to Bishop C. Ssenyonjo
· Thanks to Changing Attitude, Uganda
· Thanks to Integrity, U.S.A.
· Thanks to Changing Attitude, United Kingdom

TAKE ACTION AGAINST BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE and OUTCASTING/SOCIAL ISOLATION and THE ABUSERS of ANGLICANS/others at The Anglican Communion:

The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, Anglican HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨

Jun 29, 2010

KENYAN AFRICAN ACTIVIST: Meet The Reverend John Makokha, author of Africa Reconciling Ministries Network


The Rev. John Makokha is senior pastor of Riruta UMC in Nairobi, Kenya. He earned his B.Ed. Degree at the University of Nairobi and served as graduate teacher in various High School s in Kenya. He was ordained as a minister in the Triumphant Pentecostal Church and served as a pastor in a Free Methodist Church. After earning an M.A. degree in Missions at Nairobi Evangelical School of Theology, he started Riruta United Methodist Church, the only Reconciling Ministry in Africa. He is the Africa Author of Reconciling Ministries Network. He is currently the Country Coordinator of Other Sheep Kenya Trust, LGBTI organization. He runs passionately educational awareness seminars on human sexuality and gender identity programs to address religious homophobia and transphobia in Kenya. HERE

The flag of Kenya

About Other Sheep Kenya

Other Sheep Kenya is involved in addressing religious homophobia and transphobia, social justice, HIV/AIDS in Kenya through capacity building and advocacy programs for LGBTI and Parents, Friends of Lesbian and gay (PFLAG) persons.

·Promoting the recognition and solidarity of LGBT through recruitment into the organization & counseling/information sharing and networking.

·Participation in LGBTI activities in the country.

·Sharing information and experience between LGBT and PFLAG groups.

·Promoting the human rights of LGBTI through advocacy and campaigns.

·Training & mobilizing religious allies to win the war on homophobia/transphobia.

·To provide education, training and information on HIV/AIDS, care and treatment to the LGBTI community.

·To promote reproductive health education, reduce gender based sexual violence and substance and drug abuse in the LGBTI community.


Meet the LGBT DEMONIZING BISHOPS of THE ANGLICAN CHURCH of Kenya

The Most Rev. Dr. Eliud Wabukala, Anglican Archbishop of Kenya

Anglican Bishop Benjamin Nzimbi

Anglican Bishop Benjamin Nzimbi/Kenya says:

"The devil has clearly entered our church," said an angry Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya regarding his order to exclude LGBT Christians at all levels of Churchlife. HERE

The Reverend John Makokha/Kenya says:

"...the greatest challenge in the continent of Africa is religious and cultural homophobia. The continent of Africa is on fire because of this kind of homophobia." , HERE

"It's better to be a thief than gay in Kenya," Mathenke/Kenya says:

¨Both are often punished by death, but being the latter means never revealing yourself to the public and remaining perpetually closeted. It means dealing with homophobes at day and pleasuring them at night.¨ read it all, direct from Kenya, HERE

Thanks to African Activist, sidebar
Thanks to Other Sheep East Africa
Thanks to Reconciling Ministries Network, Africa
Thanks to The Reverend John Makokha, Kenya
Thanks to Riruta United Methodist Church, Nairobi
Thanks to Amplifying Africa's LGBTI Voices
Thanks to Gay Uganda

TAKE ACTION AGAINST BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE and OUTCASTING/SOCIAL ISOLATION and THE ABUSERS of ANGLICANS/others at The Anglican Communion: The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, Anglican HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨

ATTENTION ROWAN WILLIAMS, DREXEL GOMEZ, HENRY OROMBI: Did you know Gay Teen Suicides are on the rise?

Care to know why?


Scars and Suicidality

¨...I read an article on gay teen suicide not too long ago and it left a lasting impression. The article read like an analytic requiem which I found quite profound. Many people will say only cowards commit suicide, and that it is the most selfish act in this world. People have moral qualms and quite often condemn the deceased to eternal fire and brimstone without actually knowing the person. After all, it is very easy to pass judgment. It is much more difficult to try to explain motives behind suicide. It is much more difficult to explain the why and moreover the existential conundrums.


Gay teens tend to be especially vulnerable due to the fact that most cohabit with their parents, are emotionally and financially dependent on them, and are legal minors with the profound effect that they do not even have complete authority over their lives. I am sure many gay teens are in precarious situations and wish to be legally emancipated yet it is more than often not as simple as the granting of a court order. Parents often lack understanding and view behaviour as recalcitrant – especially when teens act out due to not being able to discuss their true frustrations. Oh, before the Religious Right claims (again *yawn*) that those evil queers are recruiting our innocent kids I shall explain further from personal experience and avoid hypotheses and psychobabble.

I knew I was gay from a rather early age and obviously lived with my parents in a quaint nuclear family complete with mom, dad, 2.4 kids, 1.6 dogs and a single cat. White picket fences there were not as I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere during the early years of the New South Africa.¨ read it all, HERE


Gay Teen Suicide: On the Rise

¨The teen years can often times be very difficult in general, but for homosexual teens their problems can turn out to be more than they can deal with. Being gay for many teens is something that they can not live with because society, most of the time, says that homosexuality is wrong. These teens usually have no one to go to with his or her problems for fear of being taunted or harassed. Also, schools rarely have groups for gay students to go to for help and parents are often unaware of what their children are going through. With no place to go and no one to help them, homosexual teens can feel alienated which may force them think of more harmful ways of dealing with their problems, so at times gay teens may turn to suicide rather than having to deal with their problems.


In general teens have a hard time dealing with the changes that happen in their lives in school and with their own personal problems, so some teens become depressed and think suicide might be their only way to get away from these problems. The suicide rates among both homosexual and heterosexual teens have been on the rise. In a study reported on the internet site "Healthy Place" the statistics show that "adolescent suicide has increased threefold in the last 10 years, making it the second most frequent cause of death among youth aged 15-24"(Lindop 2001). In a study done on the population in Massachusetts in 1998 there were 503 suicides and 123 homicides (Healy 2001). Nationwide in 1998, there were 30,000 suicides and 18,000 homicides. In a study done in 1997 on 4,000 high school students, the statistics show that about 10 percent attempted suicide.


Most common ways teens attempt suicide is either by ingesting prescription or nonprescription drugs or by self-laceration (Lindop 2001).


I think one reason for this occurrence is because of the fact that, now more so than in the past, children have to learn to grow up a lot faster. There are many more responsibilities that teens have to deal with like fact that in most families both parents work and the older kids are left being the parent to their brothers and sisters or their parents are divorced and this causes a lot more problems in their home lives. These teens are expected to take on responsibilities that they are not ready for, and this can cause added stress and depression.


When depressed, many people can not find a way to be happy. When people are unhappy with their lives and can not make themselves happy, they think of other ways to relieve their pain, and suicide, along with drug use, is becoming a more common way to end ones pain. For homosexual teens there are far more problems that they have to deal with in their every-day lives.¨ read it all, HERE

· Thanks to Kristin Johnson
· Thanks to Liberal Studies
· Thanks to African Activist, sidebar
· Thanks to Cobus Fourie
· Thanks to Amplifying Africa's LGBTI Voices
· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing

TAKE ACTION AGAINST BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE and OUTCASTING/SOCIAL ISOLATION and THE ABUSERS of ANGLICANS/others at The Anglican Communion: The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, Anglican HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨

Jun 28, 2010

ATTN ARCHBISHOPS WILLIAMS and SENTAMU: Facilitators of lies, guilt, shame, bigotry and anti-LGBT hate at The Anglican Communion

¨It’s about spreading and maintaining sectarian religious positions.¨

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

¨The American Psychological Association adopted a resolution stating that the ethical standard for mental health professionals is to “avoid telling clients that they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or other treatments.”

At its annual convention, the approval of the “Resolution on Appropriate Responses to Sexual Orientation Distress and Change Efforts” was based upon a 138-page report (with a 25 page bibliography) from a professional task force that had spent two years systematically investigating the evidence of so-called “reparative therapy” or other sexual orientation change efforts.

Some of the report’s observations:

Same-sex sexual attractions, behavior, and orientations per se are normal and positive variants of human sexuality – in other words, they do not indicate either mental or developmental disorders.”

Homosexuality and bisexuality are stigmatized, and this stigma can have a variety of negative consequences (e.g. minority stress) throughout the life span.”

Gay men, lesbians, and bisexual individuals form stable, committed relationships and families that are equivalent to heterosexual relationships and families in essential respects.”

We found that there was some evidence to indicate that individuals experienced harm from SOCE [sexual orientation change efforts]…. These negative side effects included loss of sexual feeling, depression, suicidality, and anxiety.”

“There is currently no evidence that teaching or reinforcing stereotyped gender-normative behavior in childhood or adolescence can alter sexual orientation. We have concerns that such interventions may increase self-stigma and minority stress and ultimately increase the distress of children and adolescents.”

The report also recognizes that this science will not inform certain right-wing religious prejudices against LGBT people and suggests alternatives for those LGBT folks who are stuck with the need for a religion that says they love the wrong gender. In these cases counselors should “explore possible life paths that address the reality of their sexual orientation, reduce the stigma associated with homosexuality, respect the client’s religious beliefs, and consider possibilities for a religiously and spiritually meaningful and rewarding life,” such as exploring a community of faith that affirms them.


Right-wing religious institutions, of course, are responsible for the guilt, shame, demeaning, bigotry, and self-hate, that those who seek to change the unchangeable about themselves have internalized enough to be suicidal when they fail. Negative feelings were not inborn, but taught incessantly by society and its religious leaders.

So, the APA reiterates professional standards again in the midst of regular misuse of “psychology” by antigay religious people to cover their religious prejudices. The debate really, then, is about the use of religion and religious arguments not anything psychologically wrong with LGBT people.

It’s about spreading and maintaining sectarian religious positions. And it’s been going on too long against decades of professional studies to the contrary often because those of us who disagree won’t label religious prejudice clearly as religious prejudice.

It will continue to be sad to watch LGBT people who won’t leave their abusers but need their love, acceptance, and affirmation so much that they will live lives of denial and depression. But we’ll be clear.

This is only about the religion you have chosen. It’s your choice. Your suffering is your own. Feel that your love is sinful if you need to feel that.

But don’t blame psychology for your sectarian beliefs about LGBT people. Don’t tell them any longer that they‘re the sick ones.¨ read it all, HERE


UNDERSTANDING THE ¨REASON¨ WHY FUNDAMENTALISTS MUST EXCLUDE GAYS (and other ¨sinners¨)

Fundamentalists have to "stand against all compromise" because they themselves are in a constant battle with temptation and these temptations lead to questioning what they say they believe. And if they open that questioning door there is so much that is so plainly insane in their various scriptures that to even look into the room in their brains where all the dark little doubts are kept is to start a process where their whole faith will unravel.

The reason they have to hate every "deviation" is simple: At some point in their lives most fundamentalists do ask questions. At some point they also grow weary of fighting their own bodies. At some point they have a choice: to listen to their reasonable doubts and follow their questions, and therefore grow and change their minds by admitting the fact of paradox, or deny the reasonable voice of doubt and redouble their efforts to "keep faith."

If on top of wrestling with doubts religious believers are earning both their living and deriving their meaning from a religious leadership role -- and the power it gives them over other people -- then they have all the more motivation to deny their doubts (and their bodies and/or their sexual orientation) and dig in their heels.


I think that is why so many closeted gay Evangelical men turn out to be leaders in anti-gay iniatives. I think this is why so many leaders in Congress harping on "family values" or state governors crusading on platforms of "moral rectitude" turn out to be mired in some sexual scandal, say taking trips to South America to visit their mistresses, or getting caught in men's rooms playing footsie with the gay guy in the next bathroom stall. I think that is why sometimes the sons (or daughters) of some religious leaders are, counter-intuitively, harsher and even more extreme in their views than their parents.¨ read it all, HERE

· Thanks to The American Psychological Association
· Thanks to Robert N. Minor
· Thanks to Flickr Photosharing
· Thanks to The Huffington Post, siedebar
· Thanks to Frank Schaeffer, sidebar

Jun 27, 2010

AFRICAN LGBTI ACTIVIST: Discrimination, physical violence and demonizing is a daily reality at Church/Home while living everyday LIFE in Rwanda!

Ms. Naomi Ruzandina, African Activist, Rwanda

My name is Naomi Ruzindana PanAfricanist, Rwandan female lesbian, founder and chair-person of Horizon Community Association (HOCA), an LGBTI organization in Rwanda. HOCA was the first organisation ever that opened a discussion about homosexuality and sexual orientation in Rwanda. I am very committed and involved in many LGBTI movements all over Africa.

I am on the executive board of Coalition of African Lesbian, executive board of Pan ILGA Africa. I am a human rights defender and committed to advancing the fundamental Human Rights for all LGBTI people in Rwanda without any kind of discrimination and empowering them for the role of being respected Rwandan citizen.

The Flag of Rwanda

About Horizon Community Association

¨Horizon community Association is an organization that works towards a society that wants to be liberated from oppression, stigma, and hate crime in which all people should have equal rights, opportunities, peace, prosperity, and dignity and live in harmony.

Horizon community association is an LGBT group that is based in Rwanda. It is a community based organization that advocates for the rights of all LGBTI individuals within Rwanda. It was formed in in February, 2003.

Lesbians and gays in Rwanda face discrimination and hardship on a daily basis, which has a profound impact on their quality of life. Though homosexuality is not against the law in Rwanda, many individuals find themselves harassed, threatened, imprisoned or abused because of their sexual orientation. Discrimination, and even physical violence, is a daily reality for many of those who are open about their sexual orientation, and as a result, many gays and lesbians live a secretive life, unable to tell their families or friends about their sexual orientation. There is a lack of social services targeting the gay and lesbian community, as Rwandan society and the Rwandan government prefers to deny or ignore the existence of a gay and lesbian community.¨

Emmanuel Kolini the Anglican archbishop of Rwanda

ABUSER ALERT: Anglican Bishop Emmanuel Kolini ¨will not mingle with homosexuals¨ at Church.

¨REMERA - Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini has called on churches in the East African region to fight against homosexuality for the good of the society.

The leader of the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda insisted that Anglican churches in East Africa will not mingle with the homosexuals in the affairs of the church for the good of the community.¨

· Thanks to Naomi Ruzandina, ¨The Africa Team¨
· Thanks to Horizon Community Center, Rwanda
· Thanks to The Government of Rawanda
· Thanks to The New Times, Africa
· Thanks to African Activist, sidebar
· Thanks to Pan ILGA Africa

TAKE ACTION AGAINST BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE and OUTCASTING/SOCIAL ISOLATION and ABUSERS of ANGLICANS/others at The Anglican Communion: The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, Anglican HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨

Jun 25, 2010

CULTURE WAR WARRIORS: ¨paranoid and illogical and bereft of the normal functioning of all of their mental faculties...

...that the condition justifies inclusion in Psychiatry textbooks, medical taxonomies, classified as a formal psychiatric disease¨

Martyn Minns of Nigerias CANA Division with +Peter Akinola/Nigeria

PARANOIA: The fuel of the Culture War

¨I have harboured the idea contained in the title for a while now and subjectively it has been proven correct time after time. It is uncanny when one has a grasp on the raison d’être of a social phenomenon and impertinently watch from the sidelines. There is a certain magical realism to it. One is both connected and unconnected, both objective observer and subjective participant. It might sound mutually exclusive but alas it is not.

Intent: the one word which makes the world’s difference. Intent is questioned ad nauseam by a great variety of demagogues, religious and other social conservatives, extremists of every hue, even some moderates and the Pink community sometimes – in a self-reflective way I guess.

After intent has been questioned, more than often being misinterpreted as offensive, contrary to family values, and/or against nature, some will inevitably conjure up outlandish conjecture and delusive interpretations. Those who feign a sense of credibility and scientific aptitude often distort, contort and miscontextualise valid scientific thought to create the illusion that there is factual basis for their conjecture and misrepresentations.

The Culture War thus became a war of words, a battleground of propaganda and counterpropaganda, limitless in its scope of malice and wanton abuse of rhetoric, concept and the lives of the real people caught in the crossfire.

The Pink community has along the way gained a modicum of true equality (only though in some countries). Activists for Pink community equality have been campaigning without respite for the decriminalisation of homosexuality, protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and the hotly contested term “marriage equality” – the right of same sex couples to marry to gain all the rights heterosexual couples enjoy which many take for granted. Think of visitation rights in hospital etc.

For each right fought for and granted in some cases the religious zealots have had a knee jerk reaction of note. Mass hysteria is oft spread through congregations and hysterically, mostly factious and fallacious chain emails: the most pedestrian of methods.

The fight for the decriminalisation of homosexuality was met with a crass counter reaction by the Culture War Warriors. It is contrary to the natural order they say. I wonder if some penguins attack the gay ones... It seems not, these stately birds do not have discriminating tendencies. It is unbiblical they say. They forget that the seminal text is often mistranslated and misinterpreted and contradicts itself quite a couple of times. Many court records confirm the Culture War Warriors’ unhealthy preoccupation with sex; it seems if they imagine gay people they conjure up images of decadent orgies. No darlings, we do not nookie all day long. It is not about sex, it is about being decriminalised, about not being a de facto criminal. It is about attaining basic dignity and equality. Being gay cannot be a crime like being left handed cannot be a crime. And no, it is not a sinful lifestyle choice. Nobody chooses a lifelong risk of defamation, hate speech, harassment, intimidation, intolerance, discrimination, abuse, assault, and possible premature death by violent attack.

Protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity brought along a toxic backlash by the bigots of this world. Those queers want “special rights” they claimed. No special rights just equal rights we answered. Is it too much to ask for to ask not to be fired from your job or kicked out of your apartment just because of your sexual orientation or gender identity?¨ read it all, HERE

· Thanks to African Activist, sidebar
· Thanks to Cobus Fourie

Jun 24, 2010

THE SONG/DANCE OF IGNORANCE: ¨Landlords Who Won't Rent to Gays Because They Fear God's Wrath¨

God of Wrath, from Juan Pablo Giusepponi

¨Perhaps it's the heat, but this has been a very strange month for religion. There was the Church in Tennessee that banished lesbians from its softball league, suggesting that gay people don't make good softball coaches or players.

There's this man, who went viral across the Internet in a tell-all video suggesting that he has been saved from homosexuality by the loving power of God — only to wear what might be the most flamboyant outfit the planet has ever seen. (Seriously, I went as Miss America for Halloween once when I was a teenager, and I didn't even pull off an outfit like this.)

He´s Wrath, My Fall, from V.L.G.

And who can forget the Family Research Council, which is out with a call today urging Christians to rename July 4th "Call2Fall," a day where all people get down on their knees and pray for God to save the country "from moral collapse" and an "agenda of perversion" (among which, you guessed it, includes gay rights).

But this story may take the cake: a landlord in Canada was brought before the Human Rights Commission in the Northwest Territories because he refused to rent to two gay tenants. Why? He feared God's wrath.

Wrath Of God, from Celeriter

"Homosexuality isn't natural and it's a crime against nature. I can definitely not have a part in it," Will Goertzen testified, before picking up a Bible and reading from it. (We'll be curious to see which verses he decided to read to back up his points, since Jesus never really said anything about homosexuality.) Then he concluded: "There's a reason I'm fearful: God is bigger than me and any person on Earth.''


Moral of the story: God is big. God would not lease a condo to gay people. HERE

· Thanks to Change.Org, Gay Rights, sidebar
· Thanks to Michael A. Jones
· Thanks to Flickr, Juan Pablo Giusepponi
· Thanks to Flickr, V.L.G.
· Thanks to Flickr, Celeriter

Jun 23, 2010

UGANDAN/AFRICAN/ANGLICAN DEADLY MIXTURE: Politics. Religion. Sex.


¨...In Uganda, it is a given. Be a politician, you must be anti-gay. Of course you remember what happened in Zimbabwe, where the opposition has had, per-force to come out gay bashing, because that is what is politically correct. [Latest from Zimbabwe, HERE we are waiting for the trial. You know, I think those guys are going to be 'convicted' and then given a huge sentence so that Mugabe glories in thumbing his nose at the west!]

Sigh...!

What really nauseates is the way being religious is by definition, being anti-gay.

No. I am not religious.

But that doesn’t stop me from appreciating the theory that being 'religious' one has to brush up on anti-gay credentials. Ssempa was accusing Kayanja of not being anti-gay enough soon before he came out with his ‘Kayanja is gay’ pastor wars.¨

Anti-Gay religious exclusionist/extremist archbishop Henry Orombi, Church of Uganda, Anglican Communion ¨excommunicated¨ Heterosexual Bishop Ssenyonjo for providing emergency counseling to LGBT Anglicans/others, LGBT families and friends

¨Orombi and the Church of Uganda drove out Bishop Ssenyonjo because he was pro-gay¨

Excommunicated (for ministering to ¨Gay¨ Anglicans) Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo ·PHOTO UPDATE· Bishop Christopher´s International Tour/New York at the United Nations, HERE

¨Now, I have been following some of the Christian right of America… Engel of TheCall. The story is fascinating, simply because it is a microsm of the whole anti-gay ‘good Christian’ politics of America. And Uganda of course.

It’s a deadly mixture. Politics. Religion. Sex. It is volatile, very.

Seems as if no one can be on the side. One cannot be a Christian, and be gay, or gay loving. No, Jesus loved all sinners but homosexuals. That seems to be the underlying theme. And gay hate is love… it is Christian love, however much gay people try to assert that Jesus’ love also included them as members of the human race.

Very interesting, and eye opening.

Why does it concern me? Because this ideaological struggle being played out on a continent thousands of miles away from me, is affecting me in ways that I would not have thought possible.

Kind of funny.Thousands of miles apart, culture and politics separating us… yet our destinies intertwined because of ideaologies that concern my sexuality. I would have loved it to be just something between me and my lover…. But seems that that will not be so.¨ HERE

Sigh….!



UPDATE: Lou Engle’s Uganda Sermon Endourses Nation’s “Stand for Righteousness”

¨TheCall’s Lou Engle has been trying to have it both ways in addressing questions of whether he supports Uganda’s draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill. These questions were especially pertinent when it was announced that Engle would be putting on one of his TheCall rallies in Kampala last May. Engle issued a statement denying that he was going there to promote the bill.

We then learned through multiple sources that he had, in fact, promoted the bill at the rally. He was surrounded on stage with key supporters of the bill: Pastor Julius Oyet; the bill’s sponsor, MB David Bahati; and Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo. Engle later issued another statement saying he regretted promoting the bill at the rally, but in contradiction to eyewitness accounts, Engle protested that the bill’s promotion took place after he left...¨ view the big lie, HERE

Lou Engle Supports Criminalization of Homosexuality

¨Lou Engle, the Dominionist evangelical preacher behind TheCall, has confirmed more or less what Uganda MP David Bahati told author Jeff Sharlet: That Engle supports Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill... HERE

· Thanks to Gay Uganda, sidebar
· Thanks to Zim Online, Africa
· Thanks to Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo, Uganda
· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing
· Thanks to Box Turtle Bulletin, sidebar
· Thanks to Jim Burroway
· Thanks to Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, sidebar
· Thanks to A. McEwen

TAKE ACTION AGAINST BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE and OUTCASTING/SOCIAL ISOLATION: The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, Anglican HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨

U.S. EMBASSY HARARE: "Some families reportedly subjected men and women to corrective rape and forced marriages to encourage heterosexual conduct"


The Associated Press reported on widespread harassment and also the "corrective" rape of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in Zimbawe. This assessment came in a US human rights review with a strong emphasis on LGBTI people.

Gay Zimbabweans face widespread harassment and some have even been raped by those intending to convert their sexuality, the U.S. State Department said in a discussion of its annual human rights report in Zimbabwe.

Gay men were forced into heterosexual acts and lesbian women were raped, sometimes by male relatives, to teach them to change their ways, said Amanda Porter, political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Harare and compiler of the report.

"Some families reportedly subjected men and women to corrective rape and forced marriages to encourage heterosexual conduct," she said Tuesday.

Homosexuals reported widespread discrimination in 2009, the year under review. But the report notes that the conservative southern African country has long frowned on homosexuality.

Hate speech by politicians against the nation's small gay community fueled social pressures on families, Porter said. And crimes against human rights and sexual abuse against gays were rarely reported to police.

"Victims are afraid to speak out," she said.

Same-sex acts are illegal in Zimbabwe and while there have been no reported prosecutions related to consensual homosexuality in recent years, the offense carries a penalty of up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $5,000. HERE

ON THE GROUND IN AFRICA:African Activist Amplifying Africa's LGBTI Voices

The Africa Team is a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activists with African citizenship, living in Africa. The Africa Team will have access to post on African Activist and will eventually rewrite and reshape the draft of the African LGBTI Manifesto. HERE

· Thanks to African Activist, sidebar
· Thanks to Amplifying Africa´s LGBTI Voices
· Thanks to The Associated Press, Africa
· Thanks to The State Department, United States of America
· Thanks to Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, U.S.A.

TAKE ACTION AGAINST BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE and OUTCASTING/SOCIAL ISOLATION: The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, Anglican HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨

Jun 22, 2010

ABUSIVE DELUSIONAL ALERT: Unfit Emotional and Spiritual Leadership at The Anglican Communion?

DELUSIONS/DELUSIONAL?


MEANING: A person who is out of touch with reality or cannot seem to make real world connections between his/her actions and the actual consequences.*

PASSIVE/AGGRESSIVE?


MEANING: Originally a military term, it refers to people who appear to comply yet are actually undermining what they seem to be doing. It has been listed as a personality disorder (PD) in its extreme form.

MANIPULATE?


MEANING: To engineer a person to do what you want without appearing to do so.

Note: This is certainly one of the 'bad' words in psychology and yet I believe all of us manipulates at some point. There are certainly degrees of manipulation, some being more transparent and acceptable, some being more hidden and sinister.

CODEPENDENT?


MEANING: In traditional psycho-babble, the person who allows the abuser to continue and live with his/her behavior. This person is often seen as one who asks to be abused or who is a willing victim.


NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER (NPD)?


MEANING: A personality disorder (PD) recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. While the narcissistic person is self centered and has a grandiose sense of him/herself, he/she only lives through the reflection of him/herself in others (like Narcissus seeing his reflection). At the core these people don't have a complete sense of self.

BALANCE?


MEANING: Emotional stability, equilibrium.

SELFISH, SELF-CENTERED?


MEANING: Egotism, self-serving, self-absorbed

UNSTABLE PERSONALITY?


MEANING: While there is an 'emotionally unstable personality disorder', the general use of this term has not been clinically defined, yet it is used a lot in common speech. It refers to personalities that can be any combination of the following: unpredictable, unreliable, impulsive, unable to understand the consequences of their actions, argumentative and explosive.

IDENTITY?


MEANING: This is a critical term in the understanding of abuse. Everyone knows what identity is, but it is very hard to pin down. Identity is your sense of self: who you believe you are, how you think of yourself, your self-image that you have over time. Identity often involves gender, values, and roles such as wife or husband, father or mother, son or daughter, along with career, skills and accomplishments.

*RELEVANCE TO ABUSE--IDENTITY: Establishing your identity independent of others is crucial to freeing yourself from abuse. When you are sure of yourself, abusers will have a hard time 'pushing your buttons'. Problems arise when your identity gets muddled. Abusers can get you to believe in the abusers' definition of identity. Who you are then becomes who the abuser says you are. If you believe the abuser, he or she now has control over your identity to a certain extent. This makes you vulnerable to the abusers' manipulations. However, you can free yourself by taking control of your own identity. Then you do not try to meet the expectations of the abuser. This is not easy or painless. Removing oneself, creating personal distance and establishing boundaries can be quite difficult.

*RELEVANCE TO ABUSE--TRAUMA, TRAUMATIC: Many personality disorders can be traced back to traumas. The psychology of the 20th century was full of these tales such as the movie, "The Three Faces of Eve," in which the woman's personality split due to a trauma in early childhood. Some personality disorders such as the Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) are almost always linked to early traumas.

*RELEVANCE TO ABUSE--UNSTABLE PERSONALITY: Many abusive people are also unstable: one day they are all sunshine and light, the next storms and darkness. Sometimes their moods can change within minutes or hours for no particular reason. Often dismissed as moody, such people need to seek therapy while also dealing with their abusive behavior

*RELEVANCE TO ABUSE--SELFISH, SELF-CENTERED: Abusers tend to be quite selfish. They are concerned with getting their needs met and not meeting the needs of the people they abuse.

*RELEVANCE TO ABUSE--BALANCE: Balance is critical to mental health. Recognizing and dealing with abuse means that the abused are trying to restore balance both to a relationship and also within themselves.

*RELEVANCE TO ABUSE--NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER: Many experts feel that this personality disorder is at the heart of much abusive behavior.

*RELEVANCE TO ABUSE--MANIPULATE: In general terms abusers manipulate the abused to get what they want. This is how abuse works. There are a myriad number of ways to manipulate.

*RELEVANCE TO ABUSE--PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE: The most difficult abuse is passive-aggressive. It's like chasing shadows. These people will always deny that they meant anything sinister.

*RELEVANCE TO ABUSE--DELUSIONAL: Many abusive people are delusional. They lie, for example, or make stuff up or decide you said something you did not say (see filter, filtering). They often believe their own lies!

· Thanks to Abuse Terms PLUS
· Thanks to Explantions of Emotional, Physical, Intellectual, Social, Sexual, and Spiritual Abusive Behavior
· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing

TAKE ACTION AGAINST BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE and OUTCASTING/SOCIAL ISOLATION: The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, Anglican HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨

Jun 20, 2010

HOMOSEXUAL ALERT: Make way please, your not-so-invisible LGBT family members/friends are stepping-forward to be present in your conscience REALITY!


Gulp! How dare them damn noisy/evil Queers start expect´n that we Godly and blessed hetero´s be accept´n them in our REAL lives!

I became inspired over at Josh Thomas´s STONEWALL ¨Everything Changed¨ Blog entry HERE.

Really, it´s time, again, that WE get something cleared up with our very own heterosexual co-humanbeings. Our very own and personally related family of brothers and sisters, friends, coworkers and everyday loved ones (and fear/hatedriven religious/other bigots too).

I´m always amazed with the incredibly SELFISH/ARROGANT argument ¨what will happen to straightpeople and our children¨ fear/hate worrisomelike trashtalk as OPENLY LGBT step forward and take a RESPONSIBLE place at ALL levels of society!

Yes, what will change? Who ought be threatened? Everyone will be forced to view their own personal character and be RESPONSIBLE and ACCOUNTABLE for IT in the bright light of DAY!

It´s TRUE, we´ve always been right here next to you! Boohoo!

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury practices his very SKILLED ART of PRETEND

It´s so stupid, so selfish, so thoughtless/discourteous that some heterosexual, frightened fundamentalists and maddog bigots are still, as seen on Fox News, The worldwide Anglican Communion, Uganda, Jamaica, Nigeria and elsewere, making disparaging remarks in regard to OUR LGBT family/fellow citizens. Fellow family/citizens who have become more HONEST with others when making ALL of us face REAL! Righteous abusers and the rest of scared/dim witted hate-mongering crowd are OFFENDED and afraid their ¨family morals¨ will be compromised...compromised beyond their inability to face their own compromised moral character and their compromised view of justice for ALL and TRUTH!

Some Heterosexual family/friends AGAIN EXPOSE the fact that they have not-so-concealed disdain for LGBT people and often and conveniently, stuff their hatred but still IGNORE TRUTH. All the while many of these EXCLUSIVE SOCIAL PRETENDERS insist and demand that LGBT people be supportive, for lifetimes, of them but AGREE that LGBT Anglicans/Christians and other LGBT people are, in fact, second class! Clearly not ¨second class¨ enough to stop being best friends, doctors, lawyers, teachers, priests, good listeners and joyous joint celebrators/officiants and fans of every breathing success and personal HETEROSEXUAL NEED for support and validation! You bet, LGBT PEOPLE OUGHT HAPPILY keep being supportive of heterosexuals and the life passage of Heterosexuals from birth to death...no problem, however please don´t YOU demonize us further and speak ill of us to our face and arrogantly expect us to keeping smiling and slapping you on the back as you STAB us in the back.

As the world turns around the everyday lives of HETEROSEXUALS we, your homosexual brothers and sisters, will no doubt stand by/with you and be there for YOU, for our Nation(s), our families and friends! Afterall, it will be ¨our pleasure¨ and IS ¨our pleasure¨ to be full fledged/pledged citizens because we are responsible.

However, many bombastic/excluding heterosexuals don´t like it when they are called upon to face REALITY and reciprocate with REAL LIFE basics such as supporting/embracing and loving LGBT friends and acquaintances with SINCERE friendship and mutual respect.

Fair weather friends?

The all-important lives of some selfish Heterosexuals who often don´t know right from wrong are especially tiresome when they PREACH morals and good emotional and spiritual HEALTH to us!

It´s quite the view LGBT people have of heterosexuals and they often don´t even know we´re paying attention and noting what they say and what they actually DO!

LGBT people are remaining focused on our own CHARACTER ISSUES these days because self-destructive, secret, escapist habits didn´t work for us in the past. We gradually became aware that the self-loathing we felt for ourselves was nothing more than agreeing with the anti-LGBT ¨Straight¨ view that we were somehow defective and WRONG. Finally we know better (mostly), we know who we are (mostly) and we also know that God expects us to be the authentic people that God made us to be.

No more pretending, lieing and/or self-abuse…shudder, no more denial, no more pretending and blaming, and that goes for YOU too!

UPDATE: FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES

BE STRONG, for those who are not. BE VISIBLE, for those who cannot. BE, for yourself and us all. Yes, we are fighting for the right of civil marriage, but it is far more than that. We are also fighting so that the next generation does not have to grow up in shame and live in fear. HERE

· Thanks to Gay Spirit Diary, sidebar
· Thanks to Josh Thomas
· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing
· Thanks to Father Geoff Farrow, sidebar

TAKE ACTION AGAINST BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE and OUTCASTING/SOCIAL ISOLATION: The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, Anglican HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨