Casamento, adopção, e outros que mais....
Quando vejo reacções sobre o casamento entre casais homossexuais, em que se questiona o tipo de lar/família que pode ser construido por pessoas do mesmo sexo, questiono-me: Qual é o problema? Será o facto de serem duas pessoas do mesmo sexo, e portanto numa sociedade hipócrita e discriminadora, uma coisa horrível e anormal? E será que essas pessoas que decidem formam um lar/família têm de se conformar com a mente limitada dos outros? Será que têm de se limitar às limitações alheias? Será que não têm o mesmo direito a serem felizes junt@s?
Depois vem a questão da adopção e então aí temos dois cenários típicos: um que afirma convicto que uma criança precisa de modelos masculinos e femininos. Até concordo, mas até que ponto esses modelos são os pais e mães? Então e os avós e avôs? E tios e tias? Não existem modelos familiares onde a figura parental masculina ou feminina é representada por outro elemento da família sem ser o pai ou a mãe? As famílias em que por tragédia (viuvez) ou dissolução (divórcio) não têm modelos masculinos e femininos?
Outro são aqueles que afirmam que tipo de educação podem ter os filhos adoptados por casais homossexuais. Ora, como qualquer outro casal, quando duas pessoas decidem partilhar a adopção de uma criança, fazem-no de livre espontanea vontade e com a noção da responsabilidade que isso implica. E caso não apresentem condições socio-económicas então serão rejeitados pelo sistema de selecção das instituições governantes. Mas apenas assim é que será admissível essa rejeição. Porque a educação de uma criança não se basea na orientação sexual dos elementos parentais, e sim pelo caracter, educação, valores morais e principalmente afecto e carinho que estes podem, devem e dão às suas crianças. Quando falam que estas crianças na escola, na rua ou na sociedade em geral serão marginalizadas/discriminadas/gozada pergunto-me se não será por falta de educação das outras crianças e/ou da sociedade preconceituosa.
E pergunto-me como se sentiram as crianças nas décadas de 70 e 80 de pais divorciados, numa época em que o divórcio era quase que infame? Serão estas crianças, hoje adultos, participantes na sociedade, marginais nos dias que correm?
E depois ainda há a questão da concepção medicamente assistida. Não terá uma mulher solteira (homossexual ou não) direito a conceber por si só? Se tiver condições sócio-económicas? Não será um dos direitos mais fundamentais à condição feminina a concepção de uma nova vida?
Monday, January 30, 2006
Friday, January 27, 2006
O Primeiro Passo
A Teresa e a Lena vivem juntas há quase três anos.
O amor que a Teresa e a Lena vivem e que sentem uma pela outra levou-as a
projectar e a planear uma vida conjunta pelo resto dos seus dias.
Por isso, e como é natural, querem constituir uma família em plena comunhão
das suas vidas.
Querem celebrar um compromisso formal e solene entre ambas, que as vincule
reciprocamente tanto do ponto de vista patrimonial como do ponto de vista
moral.
Querem formar uma sociedade familiar que integre todos os seus bens, e querem
celebrar um compromisso mútuo de respeito, fidelidade, coabitação, cooperação
e assistência.
Querem também que a família que pretendem formar seja reconhecida e tenha
plena eficácia jurídica na sociedade em que vivem.
Querem, numa palavra, casar-se!
Por isso, no próximo dia 1 de Fevereiro de 2006 pelas 14,30 Horas a Teresa e a
Lena vão apresentar-se na 7ª Conservatória do Registo Civil de Lisboa (sita na
Avenida Fontes Pereira de Melo, nº 7 - 1º andar em 1050-115 Lisboa), onde
requereram já a abertura do respectivo processo de publicações, precisamente
para se casarem.
A Teresa e a Lena têm todo o seu processo legal de casamento perfeita e
legalmente instruído junto daquela Conservatória do Registo Civil. Como
cidadãs gozam de total e inequívoca capacidade matrimonial para se poderem
casar.
Mas, acontece que "um pequeno detalhe" se interpõe entre elas e os seus planos
de uma vida familiar livre e de uma plena comunhão de vida legalmente
reconhecida:
É que o artigo 1.577º do Código Civil português ainda define o casamento
como «o contrato celebrado entre duas pessoas de sexo diferente que pretendem
constituir família mediante uma plena comunhão de vida».
Ou seja, apesar de o casamento não ser mais do que um simples e mero contrato,
de natureza exclusivamente civil, o que é facto é que a lei civil
inexplicavelmente ainda restringe e limita a sua celebração a pessoas de sexo
diferente.
Mas, no entanto, acontece que o artigo 13º da Constituição da República
Portuguesa estabelece de forma perfeitamente clara o princípio da igualdade
entre todos os cidadãos, e a absoluta interdição de qualquer forma de
distinção entre eles:
«1. Todos os cidadãos têm a mesma dignidade social e são iguais perante a lei.
«2. Ninguém pode ser privilegiado, beneficiado, prejudicado, privado de
qualquer direito ou isento de qualquer dever em razão de ascendência, sexo,
raça, língua, território de origem, religião, convicções políticas ou
ideológicas, instrução, situação económica, condição social ou orientação
sexual».
Então, a conclusão só pode ser uma:
A expressão «de sexo diferente» contida no corpo do artigo 1.577º do Código
Civil é, absoluta e inequivocamente INCONSTITUCIONAL!
Por isso, a Teresa e a Lena não têm qualquer dúvida nem hesitação em se
apresentarem naquele dia na 7ª Conservatória do Registo Civil de Lisboa, para,
como duas cidadãs livres e no gozo pleno dos seus direitos, procurarem exercer
um direito de cidadania tão simples como é o de celebrarem um mero contrato de
natureza exclusivamente civil.
Mas, se a sua pretensão vier a ser recusada pelo Conservador do Registo Civil,
com base precisamente no facto de serem do mesmo sexo, a Teresa e a Lena não
se conformarão: de imediato interporão recurso judicial dessa decisão, se
preciso for até ao Tribunal Constitucional.
É que a inconstitucionalidade do artigo 1.577º do Código Civil, que restringe
a celebração de contratos de casamento a pessoas de sexo diferente é tão
óbvia, que a decisão jurisdicional que vier a decidir sobre o caso só poderá
ser uma: permitir o seu casamento!
Ao contrário do que acontece em tantos países por esse mundo fora, e mesmo até
aqui na nossa vizinha Espanha, em Portugal os cidadãos ainda não podem
celebrar livremente contratos de casamento sem quaisquer restrições ou
discriminações em razão da sua orientação sexual.
A Teresa e a Lena sabem que até que isso aconteça, muitos passos terão ainda
de ser dados.
Mas uma coisa é certa:
- Este é o primeiro!
Fonte: http://rprecision.blogspot.com/
Da minha parte, parabéns às duas e boa sorte.
A Teresa e a Lena vivem juntas há quase três anos.
O amor que a Teresa e a Lena vivem e que sentem uma pela outra levou-as a
projectar e a planear uma vida conjunta pelo resto dos seus dias.
Por isso, e como é natural, querem constituir uma família em plena comunhão
das suas vidas.
Querem celebrar um compromisso formal e solene entre ambas, que as vincule
reciprocamente tanto do ponto de vista patrimonial como do ponto de vista
moral.
Querem formar uma sociedade familiar que integre todos os seus bens, e querem
celebrar um compromisso mútuo de respeito, fidelidade, coabitação, cooperação
e assistência.
Querem também que a família que pretendem formar seja reconhecida e tenha
plena eficácia jurídica na sociedade em que vivem.
Querem, numa palavra, casar-se!
Por isso, no próximo dia 1 de Fevereiro de 2006 pelas 14,30 Horas a Teresa e a
Lena vão apresentar-se na 7ª Conservatória do Registo Civil de Lisboa (sita na
Avenida Fontes Pereira de Melo, nº 7 - 1º andar em 1050-115 Lisboa), onde
requereram já a abertura do respectivo processo de publicações, precisamente
para se casarem.
A Teresa e a Lena têm todo o seu processo legal de casamento perfeita e
legalmente instruído junto daquela Conservatória do Registo Civil. Como
cidadãs gozam de total e inequívoca capacidade matrimonial para se poderem
casar.
Mas, acontece que "um pequeno detalhe" se interpõe entre elas e os seus planos
de uma vida familiar livre e de uma plena comunhão de vida legalmente
reconhecida:
É que o artigo 1.577º do Código Civil português ainda define o casamento
como «o contrato celebrado entre duas pessoas de sexo diferente que pretendem
constituir família mediante uma plena comunhão de vida».
Ou seja, apesar de o casamento não ser mais do que um simples e mero contrato,
de natureza exclusivamente civil, o que é facto é que a lei civil
inexplicavelmente ainda restringe e limita a sua celebração a pessoas de sexo
diferente.
Mas, no entanto, acontece que o artigo 13º da Constituição da República
Portuguesa estabelece de forma perfeitamente clara o princípio da igualdade
entre todos os cidadãos, e a absoluta interdição de qualquer forma de
distinção entre eles:
«1. Todos os cidadãos têm a mesma dignidade social e são iguais perante a lei.
«2. Ninguém pode ser privilegiado, beneficiado, prejudicado, privado de
qualquer direito ou isento de qualquer dever em razão de ascendência, sexo,
raça, língua, território de origem, religião, convicções políticas ou
ideológicas, instrução, situação económica, condição social ou orientação
sexual».
Então, a conclusão só pode ser uma:
A expressão «de sexo diferente» contida no corpo do artigo 1.577º do Código
Civil é, absoluta e inequivocamente INCONSTITUCIONAL!
Por isso, a Teresa e a Lena não têm qualquer dúvida nem hesitação em se
apresentarem naquele dia na 7ª Conservatória do Registo Civil de Lisboa, para,
como duas cidadãs livres e no gozo pleno dos seus direitos, procurarem exercer
um direito de cidadania tão simples como é o de celebrarem um mero contrato de
natureza exclusivamente civil.
Mas, se a sua pretensão vier a ser recusada pelo Conservador do Registo Civil,
com base precisamente no facto de serem do mesmo sexo, a Teresa e a Lena não
se conformarão: de imediato interporão recurso judicial dessa decisão, se
preciso for até ao Tribunal Constitucional.
É que a inconstitucionalidade do artigo 1.577º do Código Civil, que restringe
a celebração de contratos de casamento a pessoas de sexo diferente é tão
óbvia, que a decisão jurisdicional que vier a decidir sobre o caso só poderá
ser uma: permitir o seu casamento!
Ao contrário do que acontece em tantos países por esse mundo fora, e mesmo até
aqui na nossa vizinha Espanha, em Portugal os cidadãos ainda não podem
celebrar livremente contratos de casamento sem quaisquer restrições ou
discriminações em razão da sua orientação sexual.
A Teresa e a Lena sabem que até que isso aconteça, muitos passos terão ainda
de ser dados.
Mas uma coisa é certa:
- Este é o primeiro!
Fonte: http://rprecision.blogspot.com/
Da minha parte, parabéns às duas e boa sorte.
o novo ipod
http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html
Bolas, o lerdo comprou um e não resisti a ir vê-lo. Bolas bolas bolas... é um espectáculo. Lá vou eu ter de deixar de almoçar durante 1 mês para comprar um!
Bolas... é um caganhoto da mínimo, com uma resolução de ecrã melhor que do meu portátil (ou quase), som bestial (não experimentei mas julgo que sim), com 30 Gb para músicas, fotos, videos. Tem agenda de contactos, calendário, etc etc...
Raios para estas cenas...
*vou jogar no euromilhões*
http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html
Bolas, o lerdo comprou um e não resisti a ir vê-lo. Bolas bolas bolas... é um espectáculo. Lá vou eu ter de deixar de almoçar durante 1 mês para comprar um!
Bolas... é um caganhoto da mínimo, com uma resolução de ecrã melhor que do meu portátil (ou quase), som bestial (não experimentei mas julgo que sim), com 30 Gb para músicas, fotos, videos. Tem agenda de contactos, calendário, etc etc...
Raios para estas cenas...
*vou jogar no euromilhões*
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Estados Unidos contra LGBT nas Nações Unidas
Estados Unidos contra LGBT
(em inglês)
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH United Nations: U.S. Aligned With Iran in Anti-Gay Vote Rice Must Explain Repressive UN Ban on LGBT Rights Groups (Washington, D.C., January 25, 2006) - In a reversal of policy, the United States on Monday backed an Iranian initiative to deny United Nations consultative status to organizations working to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, a coalition of 39 organizations, led by the Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called for an explanation of the vote which aligned the United States with governments that have long repressed the rights of sexual minorities.
"This vote is an aggressive assault by the U.S. government on the right of sexual minorities to be heard," said Scott Long, director of the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch. "It is astonishing that the Bush administration would align itself with Sudan, China, Iran and Zimbabwe in a coalition of the homophobic."
In May 2005, the International Lesbian and Gay Association, which is based in Brussels, and the Danish gay rights group Landsforeningen for Bøsser og Lesbiske (LBL) applied for consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Consultative status is the only official means by which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) around the world can influence and participate in discussions among member states at the United Nations. Nearly 3,000 groups enjoy this status.
States opposed to the two groups' applications moved to have them summarily dismissed, an almost unprecedented move at the UN, where organizations are ordinarily allowed to state their cases. The U.S. abstained on a vote which would have allowed the debate to continue and the groups to be heard. It then voted to reject the applications.
"The United States recklessly ignored its own reporting proving the need for international support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "The State Department's 'Country Reports on Human Rights Practices' show severe human rights violations based on gender identity and sexual orientation occur around the world."
As the U.S. government acknowledged in its 2004 country report on Iran, Iranian law punishes homosexual conduct between men with the death penalty. Human Rights Watch has documented four cases of arrests, flogging, or execution of gay men in Iran since 2003. In its 2004 country report on Zimbabwe, the U.S. government noted President Robert Mugabe's public denouncement of homosexuals, blaming them for "Africa's ills." In the past, Mugabe has called gays and lesbians "people without rights" and "worse than dogs and pigs."
The U.S. has reversed position since 2002, when it voted to support the International Lesbian and Gay Association's request to have its status reviewed. Officials gave no explanation for the change.
"It is deeply disturbing that, at the UN, the United States has shifted gears toward an aggressive stance against human rights for LGBT people," said Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. "Unfortunately, denying LGBT groups a voice and a presence within the United Nations - the world's most important human rights institution - is fully in keeping with the U.S.'s assault on basic human rights principles worldwide."
In voting against the applications to the NGO committee, the U.S. was joined by Cameroon, China, Cuba, Iran, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Votes in favor of consultative status came from Chile, France, Germany, Peru, and Romania. Colombia, India, and Turkey abstained, while Côte d'Ivoire was absent.
"It is an absolute outrage that the United States has chosen to align itself with oppressive governments - all in an effort to smother the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people around the world," said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "It is deeply disturbing that the self-proclaimed 'leader of the free world' will ally with bigots at the drop of a hat to advance the right wing's anti-gay agenda."
In addition to the Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the organizations signing the letter are:
Advocates for Youth
Al-Fatiha Foundation for LGBT Muslims
Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, Yale Law School
Amnesty International USA
Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
Center for Women's Global Leadership
Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association (COLEGA)
Congregation Beth Simchat Torah
Equality Now
Family Care International
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
Gay Men's Health Crisis
Global Rights
Immigration Equality
International Women's Human Rights Clinic, City University of New York School of Law
Ipas
Jan Hus Church
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
Latino Commission on AIDS
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
Legal Momentum
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (New York City)
MADRE
Mano a Mano
Metropolitan Community Churches
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Coalition Building Institute Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Caucus
National Center for Lesbian Rights
New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition
Open Society Institute
Queer Progressive Agenda
Queers for Economic Justice
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S.
Women's Environment and Development Organization
---------------------------------
Related Material
More work on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender rights
Thematic Page
Letter to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
Letter, January 25, 2006
---------------------------------
From: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/25/iran12535.htm
© Copyright 2003, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice January 25, 2006
The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520
Dear Secretary Rice,
On behalf of forty U.S.-based organizations advocating for human rights, including the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, we write to express deep disappointment at the United States' actions this week in the Non-Governmental Organization Committee of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
As you may be aware, both the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), and the Danish national gay and lesbian organization Landsforeningen for Bøsser og Lesbiske had applied for consultative status with the ECOSOC. The United States abstained on a virtually unprecedented motion to deny these organizations a fair hearing on their application. Still more disturbingly, the United States supported a separate motion to summarily dismiss their applications. The motion to dismiss passed by a vote of 10 to 5 with three abstentions.
Monday's vote represents a reversal of U.S. policy. When the ECOSOC voted on ILGA's previous application for consultative status in 2002, the United States joined sixteen other nations in supporting ILGA's application for consultative status.
We hope you will provide the reasons for this reversal. Is it now the policy of the U.S. government to oppose consultative status for all organizations working to promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people?
As the State Department's own reporting demonstrates, severe human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression take place in many countries around the world. Arbitrary arrest, torture, and extrajudicial killing are common. We are grateful for the State Department's effort to include these incidents in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. We find it incomprehensible that the U.S. government would recognize these human rights abuses-while denying the people subject to them the right to make their case, alongside other respected human rights organizations, before the U.N. It is, moreover, widely recognized that persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression drives populations vulnerable to HIV/AIDS underground, and contributes substantially to the spread of HIV/AIDS.
As long as human rights abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people occur, it is vital that non-governmental organizations working on their behalf are given a place and voice at the United Nations. Applications of three other such organizations are pending before the ECOSOC: the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA-Europe), Coalition Gaie et Lesbienne du Québec (CGLQ) from Canada, and Lesben- und Schwulenverband in Deutschland (LSVD) from Germany. We urge you to support these applications. In this week's vote, the U.S. ranged itself on the side of severely repressive governments. As U.S.-based organizations working in the fields of human rights and sexual rights, we are dismayed-and we expect better.
Please reply to Scott Long, Director, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program, Human Rights Watch, 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor, New York, NY 10018-3299 (tel: 212-216-1297).
Sincerely,
Advocates for Youth
Al-Fatiha Foundation for LGBT Muslims
Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, Yale Law School
Amnesty International USA
Catholics for a Free Choice
Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
Center for Women's Global Leadership
Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association (COLEGA)
Congregation Beth Simchat Torah
Equality Now
Family Care International
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
Gay Men's Health Crisis
Global Rights
Human Rights Campaign
Human Rights Watch
Immigration Equality
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
International Women's Human Rights Clinic, City University of New York School of Law
Ipas
Jan Hus Church
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
Latino Commission on AIDS
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
Legal Momentum
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (New York City)
MADRE
Mano a Mano
Metropolitan Community Churches
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Coalition Building Institute Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Caucus
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Center for Lesbian Rights
New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition
Open Society Institute
Queer Progressive Agenda
Queers for Economic Justice
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S.
Women's Environment and Development Organization
Cc: The Honorable John Bolton, United Nations Ambassador for the United States
The Honorable Richard G. Lugar, Chair, United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Ranking Member, United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The Honorable Henry J. Hyde, Chair, United States House of Representatives International Relations Committee
The Honorable Tom Lantos, Ranking Member, United States House of Representatives International Relations Committee
The Honorable Mitch McConnell, Chair, United States Senate Appropriations Committee
The Honorable Patrick Leahy, Ranking Member, United States Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs
The Honorable Frank Wolf, Chair, United States House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice and Commerce and Related Agencies
The Honorable Alan B. Mollohan, Ranking Member, United States House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice and Commerce and Related Agencies
---------------------------------
Related Material
United Nations: U.S. Aligned With Iran in Anti-Gay Vote
Press Release, January 25, 2006
---------------------------------
From: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/25/iran12536.htm
© Copyright 2003, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA
(em inglês)
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH United Nations: U.S. Aligned With Iran in Anti-Gay Vote Rice Must Explain Repressive UN Ban on LGBT Rights Groups (Washington, D.C., January 25, 2006) - In a reversal of policy, the United States on Monday backed an Iranian initiative to deny United Nations consultative status to organizations working to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, a coalition of 39 organizations, led by the Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called for an explanation of the vote which aligned the United States with governments that have long repressed the rights of sexual minorities.
"This vote is an aggressive assault by the U.S. government on the right of sexual minorities to be heard," said Scott Long, director of the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch. "It is astonishing that the Bush administration would align itself with Sudan, China, Iran and Zimbabwe in a coalition of the homophobic."
In May 2005, the International Lesbian and Gay Association, which is based in Brussels, and the Danish gay rights group Landsforeningen for Bøsser og Lesbiske (LBL) applied for consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Consultative status is the only official means by which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) around the world can influence and participate in discussions among member states at the United Nations. Nearly 3,000 groups enjoy this status.
States opposed to the two groups' applications moved to have them summarily dismissed, an almost unprecedented move at the UN, where organizations are ordinarily allowed to state their cases. The U.S. abstained on a vote which would have allowed the debate to continue and the groups to be heard. It then voted to reject the applications.
"The United States recklessly ignored its own reporting proving the need for international support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "The State Department's 'Country Reports on Human Rights Practices' show severe human rights violations based on gender identity and sexual orientation occur around the world."
As the U.S. government acknowledged in its 2004 country report on Iran, Iranian law punishes homosexual conduct between men with the death penalty. Human Rights Watch has documented four cases of arrests, flogging, or execution of gay men in Iran since 2003. In its 2004 country report on Zimbabwe, the U.S. government noted President Robert Mugabe's public denouncement of homosexuals, blaming them for "Africa's ills." In the past, Mugabe has called gays and lesbians "people without rights" and "worse than dogs and pigs."
Com declarações destas será ou não necessário explicitar o direito à diferença na constituição? Ainda há dúvidas?
The U.S. has reversed position since 2002, when it voted to support the International Lesbian and Gay Association's request to have its status reviewed. Officials gave no explanation for the change.
"It is deeply disturbing that, at the UN, the United States has shifted gears toward an aggressive stance against human rights for LGBT people," said Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. "Unfortunately, denying LGBT groups a voice and a presence within the United Nations - the world's most important human rights institution - is fully in keeping with the U.S.'s assault on basic human rights principles worldwide."
In voting against the applications to the NGO committee, the U.S. was joined by Cameroon, China, Cuba, Iran, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Votes in favor of consultative status came from Chile, France, Germany, Peru, and Romania. Colombia, India, and Turkey abstained, while Côte d'Ivoire was absent.
"It is an absolute outrage that the United States has chosen to align itself with oppressive governments - all in an effort to smother the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people around the world," said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "It is deeply disturbing that the self-proclaimed 'leader of the free world' will ally with bigots at the drop of a hat to advance the right wing's anti-gay agenda."
In addition to the Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the organizations signing the letter are:
Advocates for Youth
Al-Fatiha Foundation for LGBT Muslims
Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, Yale Law School
Amnesty International USA
Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
Center for Women's Global Leadership
Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association (COLEGA)
Congregation Beth Simchat Torah
Equality Now
Family Care International
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
Gay Men's Health Crisis
Global Rights
Immigration Equality
International Women's Human Rights Clinic, City University of New York School of Law
Ipas
Jan Hus Church
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
Latino Commission on AIDS
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
Legal Momentum
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (New York City)
MADRE
Mano a Mano
Metropolitan Community Churches
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Coalition Building Institute Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Caucus
National Center for Lesbian Rights
New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition
Open Society Institute
Queer Progressive Agenda
Queers for Economic Justice
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S.
Women's Environment and Development Organization
---------------------------------
Related Material
More work on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender rights
Thematic Page
Letter to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
Letter, January 25, 2006
---------------------------------
From: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/25/iran12535.htm
© Copyright 2003, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice January 25, 2006
The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520
Dear Secretary Rice,
On behalf of forty U.S.-based organizations advocating for human rights, including the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, we write to express deep disappointment at the United States' actions this week in the Non-Governmental Organization Committee of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
As you may be aware, both the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), and the Danish national gay and lesbian organization Landsforeningen for Bøsser og Lesbiske had applied for consultative status with the ECOSOC. The United States abstained on a virtually unprecedented motion to deny these organizations a fair hearing on their application. Still more disturbingly, the United States supported a separate motion to summarily dismiss their applications. The motion to dismiss passed by a vote of 10 to 5 with three abstentions.
Monday's vote represents a reversal of U.S. policy. When the ECOSOC voted on ILGA's previous application for consultative status in 2002, the United States joined sixteen other nations in supporting ILGA's application for consultative status.
We hope you will provide the reasons for this reversal. Is it now the policy of the U.S. government to oppose consultative status for all organizations working to promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people?
As the State Department's own reporting demonstrates, severe human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression take place in many countries around the world. Arbitrary arrest, torture, and extrajudicial killing are common. We are grateful for the State Department's effort to include these incidents in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. We find it incomprehensible that the U.S. government would recognize these human rights abuses-while denying the people subject to them the right to make their case, alongside other respected human rights organizations, before the U.N. It is, moreover, widely recognized that persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression drives populations vulnerable to HIV/AIDS underground, and contributes substantially to the spread of HIV/AIDS.
As long as human rights abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people occur, it is vital that non-governmental organizations working on their behalf are given a place and voice at the United Nations. Applications of three other such organizations are pending before the ECOSOC: the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA-Europe), Coalition Gaie et Lesbienne du Québec (CGLQ) from Canada, and Lesben- und Schwulenverband in Deutschland (LSVD) from Germany. We urge you to support these applications. In this week's vote, the U.S. ranged itself on the side of severely repressive governments. As U.S.-based organizations working in the fields of human rights and sexual rights, we are dismayed-and we expect better.
Please reply to Scott Long, Director, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program, Human Rights Watch, 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor, New York, NY 10018-3299 (tel: 212-216-1297).
Sincerely,
Advocates for Youth
Al-Fatiha Foundation for LGBT Muslims
Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, Yale Law School
Amnesty International USA
Catholics for a Free Choice
Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
Center for Women's Global Leadership
Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association (COLEGA)
Congregation Beth Simchat Torah
Equality Now
Family Care International
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
Gay Men's Health Crisis
Global Rights
Human Rights Campaign
Human Rights Watch
Immigration Equality
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
International Women's Human Rights Clinic, City University of New York School of Law
Ipas
Jan Hus Church
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
Latino Commission on AIDS
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
Legal Momentum
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (New York City)
MADRE
Mano a Mano
Metropolitan Community Churches
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Coalition Building Institute Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Caucus
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Center for Lesbian Rights
New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition
Open Society Institute
Queer Progressive Agenda
Queers for Economic Justice
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S.
Women's Environment and Development Organization
Cc: The Honorable John Bolton, United Nations Ambassador for the United States
The Honorable Richard G. Lugar, Chair, United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Ranking Member, United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The Honorable Henry J. Hyde, Chair, United States House of Representatives International Relations Committee
The Honorable Tom Lantos, Ranking Member, United States House of Representatives International Relations Committee
The Honorable Mitch McConnell, Chair, United States Senate Appropriations Committee
The Honorable Patrick Leahy, Ranking Member, United States Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs
The Honorable Frank Wolf, Chair, United States House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice and Commerce and Related Agencies
The Honorable Alan B. Mollohan, Ranking Member, United States House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice and Commerce and Related Agencies
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Related Material
United Nations: U.S. Aligned With Iran in Anti-Gay Vote
Press Release, January 25, 2006
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From: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/25/iran12536.htm
© Copyright 2003, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA
Monday, January 23, 2006
Air
Moon Safari (1998)
You Make It Easy
never been here - how about you?
you smile at my answer
you've given me the chance
to be held and understood
you leave me laughing without crying
there's no use denying
for many times i've tried
love has never felt as good
be it downtown or way up in the air
when your heart's pounding
you know that i'm aware
you make it easy to watch the world with love
you make it easy to let the past be done
you make it easy
how'd you do it? how'd you find me?
how did I find you? how can this be true?
to be held and understood
keep it coming - no one's running
the lesson i'm learning
'cause blessings are deserved
by the trust that always could
be it downtown or way up in the air
when your heart's pounding
you know that i'm aware
you make it easy to watch the world with love
you make it easy to let the past be done
you make it easy
you make it easy to watch the world with love
you make it easy to let the past be done
you make it easy
Moon Safari (1998)
You Make It Easy
never been here - how about you?
you smile at my answer
you've given me the chance
to be held and understood
you leave me laughing without crying
there's no use denying
for many times i've tried
love has never felt as good
be it downtown or way up in the air
when your heart's pounding
you know that i'm aware
you make it easy to watch the world with love
you make it easy to let the past be done
you make it easy
how'd you do it? how'd you find me?
how did I find you? how can this be true?
to be held and understood
keep it coming - no one's running
the lesson i'm learning
'cause blessings are deserved
by the trust that always could
be it downtown or way up in the air
when your heart's pounding
you know that i'm aware
you make it easy to watch the world with love
you make it easy to let the past be done
you make it easy
you make it easy to watch the world with love
you make it easy to let the past be done
you make it easy
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
The Gift
Film
Five Minutes of Everything
Give me please five minutes of everything
Those days when you wake up
And there's no one by your side
My arm slides slowly to my left side
And to my right side, there's no one there
To kiss you or to hear you
And you go out of bed
Thinking in those days that you need
You used to talk and talk about
And everything that stops your attention
You used to talk, talk about
Everything
Those days when you walk at the bar
And try to keep a conversation with somebody else
And no one out there you could sit down or walk
There's no one there.
Five minutes of love
Five minutes of hate
Five minutes I try to call your name
Five minutes of passion
And no one knows the right place to go
No meaning or just self-control maybe
And you walk out of there
You need to talk with somebody else
And to know the problems are waiting for
Outside the door
Are waiting for
The clock won't stop
And even if it stops
Five minutes of love
Five minutes of hate
Five minutes I try to call your name
Of passion
Five minutes of everything
Of everything
Maybe you want to talk about old questions
Right next to my ear
But I don't care about those silly things
Cause all I need is five minutes of everything
Film
Five Minutes of Everything
Give me please five minutes of everything
Those days when you wake up
And there's no one by your side
My arm slides slowly to my left side
And to my right side, there's no one there
To kiss you or to hear you
And you go out of bed
Thinking in those days that you need
You used to talk and talk about
And everything that stops your attention
You used to talk, talk about
Everything
Those days when you walk at the bar
And try to keep a conversation with somebody else
And no one out there you could sit down or walk
There's no one there.
Five minutes of love
Five minutes of hate
Five minutes I try to call your name
Five minutes of passion
And no one knows the right place to go
No meaning or just self-control maybe
And you walk out of there
You need to talk with somebody else
And to know the problems are waiting for
Outside the door
Are waiting for
The clock won't stop
And even if it stops
Five minutes of love
Five minutes of hate
Five minutes I try to call your name
Of passion
Five minutes of everything
Of everything
Maybe you want to talk about old questions
Right next to my ear
But I don't care about those silly things
Cause all I need is five minutes of everything
Annie Lennox
Bare
The Saddest Song I've Got
Darling are you feeling
The same thing that I'm seeing
The troubles of the day
Took my breath away
Took my breath away
Now you're no longer talking
And I'm no longer listening
There's nothing left to say
Said it anyway
Said it anyway
And I want you not
And I need you not
I'm dying
Cos this is the saddest song I've got
The saddest song I've got
Darling are you healing
From all the scars appearing
Don't it hurt a lot
Don't know how to stop
Don't know hot it stops
Now there's no sense in seeing
The colours of the morning
Hold the clouds at bay
Chase them all away
Chase them all away
And I'm frozen still
Unspoken still
Heartbroken
Cos this is the saddest song I've got
The saddest song I've got
Monday, January 16, 2006
A Verdade - parte II
Mentiras, omissões e afins, outra vez. Pensamento meu recorrente, considerações sempre recontempladas. A verdade como limpeza da consciência. A verdade, essência de uma moral ensinada como bastião último da evolução. Evolução do ser, evolução do sentir, do amar, de dar, de nos dar-mos. A verdade como bem supremo, sem olhar a meios nem a consequências. Seremos sempre seres maiores ao dizer a verdade? Ou será a verdade fruto da nossa geral incapacidade de não aguentarmos a mentira? Será o acto de mostrar a verdade realmente o nosso querer consciente? Ou consequência do medo de não sabermos lidar com a mentira? Mas quantas vezes o problema é realmente o oposto, quando objectivamente não conseguimos é lidar com a verdade, quando esta nos é posta de bandeja aos pés. Confusos? Ainda bem.
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