Homophobia: The issue of the era

The aftermath of the Prop 8 failures is still driving the discussion about equal rights in the country. The Coloradoan posits that homophobia could be the issue of our era:

Fifty years ago the Civil Rights movement was the issue of the era. Martin Luther King and several others fought to make blacks an equal part of this country, and his life was sacrificed for this cause. Now, we as a country can proudly say that we are past that sort of thing. I mean we have a black president now for Pete's sake. Two women were prominent figures in the presidential race. Discrimination against race and sex is a thing of the past, right? That's certainly cause for celebration, but there is still another hurdle or two for us to leap over before we can safely say that America is the land of equality.

Today there's a new battle being fought in the war against discrimination, and it is that of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) rights. Bigotry in this country has, for the most part, left behind the racist and sexist themes but that of homophobia is still around and as strong as ever. There are many definitions and ideas of the word homophobia, but what does it really mean? Merriam-Webster defines it in the following manner:
Homophobia (n.) [hoh-muh-foh-bee-uh] - The irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals; From the Greek words homs (one and the same) and phbos (fear, phobia).

To me, homophobia is that and a little more. Every true homophobe I've ever encountered has been repulsed by the very mention of homosexuality. Every one of these same people has probably never known a homosexual person, much less befriended them, much less tried to open their mind and understand the nature of homosexuality. It is, in many minds, a black-and-white matter. You choose to be gay or you choose not to be; if you so happen to choose to be gay, then you are so choosing a life of discrimination and intolerance. That is just how it is. Ok so perhaps that is a bit of an extreme outlook on the matter, but it's actually how a lot of people think, which is a scary concept. This is America, the land of the free; where people are welcome to be what they are and believe what they want, right? Wait, I said welcome. I should have said free, because while I have the legal right to be gay, I am not necessarily welcome to be gay wherever I want to be. If you looked at a fancy statistics map that gave different colors for different areas of the country where gays were accepted and tolerated, sure you'd see splotches here and there around the country where it's acceptable, but there's still a lot of work to be done.

You can read more after the jump...

Gay man shot, killed in Logan Circle

Here in Washington, DC, Durval V. Martins was killed last night on his way home from the 17th street bars in the area of 11th and Q. This is the same general area where Tony Hunter, another gay man, was killed a few months ago. The Washington Blade reports:

A 35-year-old gay man was shot in the head and killed shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday at 11th and Q streets, N.W., while walking home from the Fox & Hound, a restaurant and bar near Dupont Circle, according to D.C. police.

The victim was identified as Durval V. Martins of the 200 block of Bates Street, N.W. A police statement said Martins also suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body.

Acting Lt. Brett Parson, who oversees the police’s Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit, said the motive for the killing was unknown but could have been robbery. He noted that officers found the victim’s wallet in his hand.

Martins’ credit cards, cash, cell phone, and jewelry were still in his possession, Parson said.

The victim lived off of New Jersey Avenue near Q Street, Parson said. The residence is located about 16 blocks from the Fox & Hound.

Parson, who also responded to the scene, said a police officer on patrol along the 1000 block of Rhode Island Avenue, N.W., “heard multiple gunshots and observed several individuals fleeing north on 11th Street.”

Upon arriving on the scene, the officer found the victim unconscious with a gunshot wound to the head, Parson said. Emergency medical responders found no signs of life.

Parson told the Blade that people who knew the victim said he had patronized the Dupont Circle gay bar Omega and the 17th Street restaurant Jack’s before going to the Fox & Hound.

People who knew the victim said he was openly gay and apparently worked at a D.C. restaurant, Parson said.

You can find out more about this incident after the jump...

American gay rights advocate dies in Scotland

Sad news of a student activists death has crossed the Atlantic. 365gay.com reports:

(Edinburgh) Cody Lavender, an American exchange student, has fallen to his death from a dormitory room window at the University of Edinburgh.

Police are investigating but say there is nothing to indicate foul play.

Lavender, 20, had been watching television with friends when he suddenly plunged through the window witnesses said.

He was to have returned this week to the US for Christmas.

Lavender was raised in southern Arizona and in 2006 headed east to Dartmouth College to major in women and gender studies . He became co-chair of the student LGBT group Gender Sexuality XYZ and was an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights.

Earlier this year he went to Edinburgh as a part of Dartmouth’s foreign study program to take a religious studies course.

For the rest of this tragic story jump here...

Faith Leaders from LGBT Groups Issue Joint Statement Denouncing Vatican, Supporting UN Resolution

The Vatican has taken a position against decriminalizing homosexuality as the UN moves to encourage such a measure in countries around the world that hold on to such draconian laws. HRC has just released a statement about the Vatican's decision:

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization, along with faith program directors from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and National Black Justice Coalition today issued a joint protest over the Vatican's recent decision to oppose an initiative to decriminalize homosexuality. Advocates are pushing the U.S. State Department to support the initiative and urging media to cover this life and death concern.

The following joint statement was issued on United Nations Human Rights Day and the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“For far too long people around the world have been ostracized, imprisoned, tortured and denied basic rights to housing, health care and employment simply because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). In more than 70 countries people can be imprisoned for homosexuality and in several countries same gender love is a crime punishable by death.

“This is why the French government, backed by 27 European Union nations, put forward a proposal, on Human Rights Day to recognize that LGBT rights are human rights and to decriminalize homosexuality. Such a statement simply affirms the most basic of rights for LGBT people: that they be allowed to live in dignity and safety. As faith leaders who work every day with LGBT people who feel the stigma of discrimination, this UN initiative speaks to our core belief that we show our love for God when we care for our neighbors, particularly those who are shunned and marginalized.

“As faith leaders we were shocked by Vatican opposition to this proposed initiative. By refusing to sign a basic statement opposing inhumane treatment of LGBT people, the Vatican is sending a message that violence and human rights abuses against LGBT people are acceptable. Most Catholics, and indeed most Catholic teachings, tell us that all people are entitled to live with basic human dignity without the threat of violence. The Catholics we know believe that Scripture asks us to be our brother and our sister's keeper. Many are speaking out against this immoral stance in the name of religion.

“Compounding the Vatican's opposition is the inaction to date of the government of the United States. As faith leaders and citizens of the United States, we call on the U.S. government to join the 50 countries throughout the world that have officially supported this U.N. proposal. We urge U.S. leaders to stand against discrimination. It is time to let the teachings of the world's great religions guide us toward justice rather that encouraging prejudice, fear and violence. It is time for the U.S. to stand as a moral leader for LGBT people and to help create a more just world for all of us.”


Harry Knox, Director
Religion and Faith Program
Human Rights Campaign Foundation

The Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, Director
Institute for Welcoming Resources and Faith Work
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force



Dr. Sylvia Rhue, Director
Religious Affairs
National Black Justice Coalition

Ann Craig, Director
Religion, Faith & Values Program
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)

The Lexington News reports an officer has been found guilty of killing his gay lover because he feared the student would reveal their relationship to his wife and family. The officer slashed the students throat and left the young man's body in the yard of a neighbor.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A former Columbia police officer was convicted yesterday of first-degree murder in the death of a gay college student from Kentucky with whom he had an affair.

The jury, brought in from Clay County, Mo., deliberated nine hours before convicting Steven Rios of slashing Jesse Valencia's throat last June. Valencia, 23, of Danville, was attending the University of Missouri-Columbia.Rios, 28, was also convicted of armed criminal action and faces a mandatory sentence of life without parole for the murder conviction.

The jury recommended a 10-year term for armed criminal action. Formal sentencing was set for July 5.

"I hope every day he's in prison, he suffers," said the victim's mother, Linda Valencia of Perryville, Ky. "I never felt compassion for him while I looked at him because he had no compassion for my son."

You can find the full account after the jump...

US researchers find evidence that homosexuality linked to genetics

The Guardian is reporting that scientist are drawing closer to proving a genetic link to sexuality. On the one hand this is encouraging, but on the other it's scary. Does this mean that parents will be able to request gene therapy to ensure they child doesn't turn out to be gay? Is that even ethical...

Compared to straight men, gay men are more likely to be left-handed, to be the younger siblings of older brothers, and to have hair that whorls in a counterclockwise direction.

US researchers are finding common biological traits among gay men, feeding a growing consensus that sexual orientation is an inborn combination of genetic and environmental factors that largely decide a person's sexual attractions before they are born.

Such findings - including a highly anticipated study this winter - would further inform the debate over whether homosexuality is innate or a choice, an undercurrent of California's recent Proposition 8 campaign in which television commercials warned that "schools would begin teaching second-graders that boys could marry boys", suggesting homosexuality would then spread.

Some scientists say the political and moral debate over same-sex marriage frequently strayed from established scientific evidence, including comments by Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin that homosexuality is "a choice" and "a decision".

Until 2007, CNN polls had found that a majority of Americans believed gay people could change their sexual orientation if they chose to; it was only last year that a majority for the first time said homosexuality was an inborn trait.

You can read more about these latest discoveries after the jump...

Is gay the new black?

The New York Blade is taking its cue from the Advocate and ponder whether gay is the new black. I find a few things problematic with this article, for example, "Racism was defanged by Obama's triumph, leaving gays as perhaps the last group of Americans claiming that their basic rights are being systematically denied." Racism still has it bite though, trying being me and catching a cab...

Gay is the new black, say the protest signs and magazine covers, casting the gay marriage battle as the last frontier of equal rights for all.

Gay marriage is not a civil right, opponents counter, insisting that minority status comes from who you are rather than what you do.

The gay rights movement entered a new era when Barack Obama was elected the first black president the same day that voters in California and Florida passed referendums to prevent gays and lesbians from marrying, while Arizonans turned down civil unions and Arkansans said no to adoptions by same-sex couples.

Racism was defanged by Obama's triumph, leaving gays as perhaps the last group of Americans claiming that their basic rights are being systematically denied.

"Black people are equal now, and gay people aren't," said Emil Wilbekin, a black gay man and the editor of Giant magazine. "I always have this discussion with my friends: What's worse, being a black man or a black gay man?"

"Civil rights have come much further than gay rights," he said. "A lot of people in the gay community have been condemned for their lifestyle and promiscuity and drugs and sex, so it's odd that when they want to conform and model themselves after straight people and have the same rights for marriage and domestic partnership and adoption, they're being blocked."

You can read more after the jump...