Remembering Nelson Mandela: What His Legacy Means For Us

Image from biography.com

When Nelson Mandela passed away last week at the age of 95, the world lost a great leader and a champion of social justice and human rights. Mandela’s legacy will last long beyond his lifetime, as he helped bring justice and equality to South Africa and served as a shining example for the rest of the world to follow. There have been countless articles, posts, and even internet memes popping up everywhere all week of Mandela and his many inspiring quotes about equality and human rights. So, you may ask, all of this is very nice, but what does Nelson Mandela have to do with the LGBTQ community? The answer is simple: Mandela devoted his life to the fight for human rights. We are humans, therefore his fight is also our fight, and the fight of all people, regardless of race, religion, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation.

Why People Don't Listen to Silence

IDAHOBIT involves a minute of noise rather than silence (S)

IDAHO (also known as IDAHAT and IDAHOBIT) is the International Day Against Homophobia. It is set on May 17th every year, and its main aim is to raise awareness of bigotry that is often experienced by QUILTBAG people all around the globe. May 17th was the date that the World Health Organisation declassified homosexuality as a disease.

Everyone Wants Things No Exceptions

The elusive majority of a population, maybe? (S)

America voted to reinstate Barack Obama this month, despite the almost universal belief that the polls were running (however slightly) in Mitt Romney’s favour. A lot of people believed that the right wing’s views on certain sensitive subjects actually made up the majority of the country. Now we can see that what we thought they wanted, they don’t.

So how sure can you be when you say “the majority of the population want this”? 

Dear Australia - Where's the Love?

Photo from the May '12 Equal Love Rally in Brisbane

Dear Julia Gillard, and other members of authority in Australia,

This week, we watched Barack Obama as he was reelected as the President of the United States. Many people, like I, spent the day glued to their televisions, while American political analysts told us what each state’s electoral vote meant for the two main candidates. The election was important to all of us, all around the world; the US government has influence on governments everywhere.

When President Obama announced his support for marriage equality, leaders worldwide followed suit. And you, Ms Gillard? You maintained your staunch silence on the issue.

No Time to Back Down

Time to (wo)man the barricades. (Artist: Kathe Kollwitz)

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, it doesn't take me a lot to make me actively angry. I threw the remote at my TV and started screaming during a 40 minute anime that failed to live up to my exacting artistic standards. The rendering was awful, the voice acting was stale, and the inconsistencies in the incredibly simplistic plot almost made me flip a table. Here's the thing, though: It only lasted 40 minutes. Those feelings of rage, helplessness, and injustice were only valid for less than an hour. If worst comes to worst tomorrow, I could be feeling like that for the next four years. Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, welcome to The Day Before the End. Welcome to the Day Before Election Day.

Queer Tea Party

Not the same ones we made,
but the same design.

Dudes and dudettes!

It’s Saturday the 3rd of November (in the US at least!), and this week I finished a major anti-homophobia campaign in my school!

If you missed the memo, here’s a bit of a rundown on what we did.

We started with a discussion on issues we’d like to cover with our Amnesty International Committee. We knew we had little over a month of time to work with, so were determined to find something that would be straightforward enough to pull off. (Our other campaigns this year went with a little fizzle and no pop, so we were all keen to do a million times better this time around). We eventually concluded that we were all sick of hearing other students using homophobic slurs in everyday language, and that the best way to make a group of teenagers listen was to offer them free food.

A Positive Start

So I wanted to write an angsty post about how flawed the gay rights system is in my country. I hear about this all the time, right next door in America, the UK and even where some of my roots are in Ukraine. Well, especially Ukraine right now.

But my findings for my country were a bit... disappointing in a good way. 

Voting - the ultimate dilemma

Get out and be heard! (via AIGA)

Unless you're a penguin living somewhere on the shores of Antarctica, you've probably either voted, or will vote in the future. And it's not an easy choice, right - especially when you're an LGBT person. We don't only have to think about what the candidate will do about healthcare or education, but also whether they think that we deserve basic human rights... My own country will hold Parliamentary Elections in October, and my head is hurting already! I just can't find a candidate or a party that, in my opinion, would deserve my vote... Moreover, none of them support LGBT rights - even the most "liberal" party in the country has openly stated, that same-sex couples shouldn't be considered a family, and not one candidate gives me any hope as a trans person.

However, throwing away my vote is not an option to me. Even though I've been called naive so many times for believing that it can make a change, I am still sure that voicing your opinion is still the only way to go - even if it's something as small as that one little ballot in a million, or an article in a blog. Because I believe that victories are won by actively participating and trying, instead of surrendering. So today I'm going to get a little political again and talk about why this right that we have is still important, how we can get more people to voice their opinions, and why I think it's so important to use this right in the first place. Yes, even if you can't find a party that openly supports LGBT rights.

"His Very Act of Protest Confers Dignity on Him"

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, I'd like to start us out with some Ancient Gay History before delving into into the Introduction to Paleolithic Gay History that will be the subject of this article. Because I am a member of Generation Z, by "Ancient" I mean "one year ago" and by "Paleolithic" I mean "like, fifty or sixty years ago, like, you know?". Anyway, about a year ago in the San Antonio area, Democratic Party county chairman Dan Ramos stirred up some trouble by comparing gays to termites, the Tea Party (okay, that one hurt), and the Nazi Party. Yes. The ones that slaughtered gays, lesbians, and other gender nonconformists. Those Nazis. Well, I'd like to spend this article making good ol' Dan look like more of an idiot than he already does, a herculean task no doubt, but we'll give it the old college try, shall we?

Suicidal thoughts: a manual

Last-minute solutions. Maybe give them a chance?

Recently I came across an article that talked about the high suicide rates in Greece. It’s quite shocking, especially when you have in mind that Greece once had one of the lowest suicide rates. So I became curious - what may be the reasons behind the huge suicide statistics? How could we reverse them? And, most importantly, how to handle suicidal thoughts ourselves? I won't be going into things like clinical depression, because I'm not a psychiatrist, but I will try to talk a little about different demographics and different situations that might push a person to the edge, and how we can learn to handle those situations and feelings better. From 16 to 60, from old age to financial problems and bullying - let's break the silence for a moment.

Not a Bunch of Pussies: The reaction to Pussy Riot jailing

Punk band Pussy Riot protest the government (S)

Three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot have been sentenced to two years in jail following an anti-Putin, pro-LGBT protest at Moscow Cathedral in February of this year.

According to government-funded, 24-hour news channel Russia Today, the "vulgar song" has "caused a storm in Russian society" and more than 60 people were arrested outside the courthouse.

They also said that "making an exception for religion [in the freedom of speech act] is a dangerous path". So is this really reflective of that picture of a tyrannic Russia which some people are trying to paint?

Making Me Illegal Won't Make Me Go Away

Over here in Lithuania, transgender healthcare and medical transitioning is a bit of a hot topic. The European Union is pushing our government to fix the laws that prevent trans people from having access to trans healthcare, but most politicians aren’t too enthusiastic about it. Local politician, Vida M. Cigriejiene, even proposed to make transitioning illegal in order to “save the money” we need to make it legal and accessible, perfectly illustrating how completely clueless a lot of politicians are about transgender healthcare. Several other conservative politicians, such as Antanas Matulas, teamed up with her, and now this is pretty much the moment of truth for transgender people in Lithuania. Both of the politicians are doctors, which makes it even more depressing. Since I have seen some of the most ridiculous and dehumanizing transphobia from our politicians, my hopes aren’t very high for this law. That's why I decided to write this article/open letter, about why it's a bad idea.

Being Gay at the Olympics

It’s a pretty warm day today, for London at least. For the last two weeks, there has only been one event to watch. With the closing ceremony on tonight, the Olympics has almost taken over the airwaves in the UK. Never before in Britain has an event sparked such national pride. It could be the fact that we’ve won more medals than we have since we hosted the Olympics in 1908, or maybe the fact that the biggest celebration of human sporting achievement is hosted in the capital for the third time. It’s possibly just due to the fact that certain people have questioned whether Britain is ready for the Olympics.

It’s certainly not due to the fact that London 2012 has the highest number of openly gay or lesbian competitors in any Olympic games.

When Sci-fi becomes Reality

(S)

Have you ever heard of Gattaca? It's a sci-fi movie that revolves around reproductive technologies, in order to create "perfect" children. It explores a possible future that would allow parents to decide what sex their child will be, the colour of their eyes, make them immune to illness, etc... Now, I'm sure some of you are already aware that this is already possible to do to some extent in special clinics, but what concerned me when I watched this film in philosophy class is the fact that in future there would be a possibility for parents to tick the box "heterosexual" and "cis-gendered" on a sheet of paper and there it would be, the end of all people whose gender and or sexual orientation didn't fit into what society considers as normal and acceptable. It worried me, children would no longer be conceived out of love and loved for who they are but would be made through a laboratory and wouldn't be loved for who they are, but for who they're made to be.

Dear Russia, You Can't Arrest an Idea

Alexei Kiselyov (above) and Kirill Nepomnyashy were arrested in Saint Petersburg
for holding a sign that read "Gay is normal" in April (S)

As we know, Saint Petersburg banned gay rights activism back in March and quite frankly I'm getting a bit tired of talking about this on this blog. But unfortunately, it has to be done seeing as it isn't getting much press from the main news websites.

Another ban was put on  pride parades in June and the law treats gays the same way as paedophiles, arresting them for "perverting the minds of Saint Petersburg's young".

Similar bans have also been put in place in Moscow in a draconian trend that's spreading across Russia.

John Boehner's At it Again, But What Else is New?

Over-compensation. That's all I'm sayin'. 

Here we go. Once again, John Boehner is pretty much begging the Supreme Court to find DOMA Constitutional. The good news is he's lost FOUR times in a row now in the federal courts. I guess this is his last ditch effort at trying to prove a point. I invite the delightful gentleman to try. However, before I get too deep into this, I'd like to explain a few terms for the readers among us who aren't familiar with United States politics.

DOMA is the Defense of Marriage Act, which basically says that if you're gay and get married in a place like New York which allows gay marriage and you move to somewhere like Georgia where it's considered unconstitutional, Georgia is not legally required to recognize a same-sex union. It also defines marriage as between one man and one woman on a national level. That means no tax benefits for us. Yippee. 

Alberta SRS Coverage. In Other News, Most People Still Suck.

(S)

Arguably the most pressing issue facing trans people in Canada, is legal recognition. The kind of recognition that lets people put what they feel is the most correct gender identifier on all of their identification. Furthermore, the sort of recognition that acknowledges the things a trans person needs to lead a happy existence. This includes things like protection from wrongful termination, access to services like shelters, but perhaps most importantly, access to necessary medical services, such as any surgeries, hormones, or therapy required.

The Beautiful New Same-sex Marriage Videos by Mike Buonaiuto

Urgent message from St. Petersburg: We Will Not Be Silenced!

Show LGBT Russians your support: http://www.allout.org/russia_silenced 

UN sparks LGBT rights debate: A Glimmer of Hope for Many

The United Nations Human Rights council held a panel this Wednesday to discuss ending discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The panel follows a resolution passed by the council in June 2011 which called for universal rights for the LGBT community.

It was led by South Africa, Brazil, moderated by the Ambassador of South Africa, and featured panelists from Brazil, Pakistan, Sweden and the United States.

The panel was opened by Ban Ki-Moon's video, in which he calls discrimination and violence against the LGBT a "monumental tragedy" and "a stain upon our collective conscience".