Attention Archbishop Datuk Bolly anak Lapok/S.E. Asia: HATE CRIMES TARGETED AGAINST LESBIANS IN THAILAND!

Anglican Bishop Datuk Bolly anak Lapok -- where is the pastoral care for LGBT Anglicans/others in South East Asia?

¨It’s the first report of its kind that draws attention to what activists have described as hate crimes against lesbians and masculine-presenting women in Thailand – a country commonly regarded to be one of the most LGBT-friendly in Southeast Asia.

In a statement published by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) on Mar 27, 2012, the commission – in association with local LGBT human rights advocates – wrote to the government of Thailand to “express shock and outrage and demand an immediate investigation into the pattern of gruesome murders of lesbians and gender variant women – those who identify as toms [derived from 'tomboy' to mean butch lesbians], between 2006 and 2012.”

The IGLHRC say the murders have been dismissed by the police as 'crimes of passion, love gone wrong, or the fault of the victims' and were not investigated as hate crimes. Thailand however does not have hate crime legislation or legal provisions to protect anyone facing discrimination based on any grounds.

The New-York-based NGO sent a list of eight demands, including an immediate investigation of the killings and rapes of lesbians, the implementation of a national monitoring system of homophobic crimes, and to train and sensitise all law enforcement personnel about equality before the law regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The letter was sent to Thailand’s Inspector General of Women’s Affairs and Family Development (which comes under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security), the Commissioner General of the Royal Thai Police, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The IGLHRC reports that in all cases the deaths have been verified, and most victims identified. HERE

A Word About Human Sexuality from Archbishop Datuk Bolly anak Lapok -- Thailand and South East Asia*

"The frustration resulting from the acrimonious debates over the issue of human sexuality and about the future of the Communion has not abated in any way. I was hoping that the Anglican Primates have all gone tired and exhausted and running out of steam over it, and have begun to focus their minds on something else more urgent and more relevant like the task of presenting the Gospel to a burdened church and an unbelieving world that is groaning in pain and suffering.

"But unfortunately that is not to be; and I should be despairing and panicking as the Israelites were that day. But strangely I am not!"

The Archbishop, whom God enabled to move on after the painful episode of the untimely death of his wife, is confident of the Gospel's power to secure the future of Anglicanism, of which the presence, at his installation, of friends and representatives from across the Anglican Communion is a sign.

"We should not be despairing," he exhorted them, "because the joy of the gift of the Gospel outweighs by far the burden and the pain caused by the failure with which the Church handles her mission." HERE

*Datuk Bolly anak Lapok (born 10 August 1952) is currently the fourth Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of the Province of South East Asia as well as the Bishop of Kuching.

NO ANGLICAN COVENANT

·  Thanks to Fridae Asia, sidebar
·  Thanks to Wikipedia
·  Thanks to IGLHRC
·  Thanks to The Christian Post, Singapore Edition