HBO
pa⋅ri⋅ah /pəˈraɪə/ [puh-rahy-uh] –noun
- an outcast.
- any person or animal that is generally despised or avoided.
- (initial capital letter) a member of a low caste in southern India and Burma.
Origin:
1605–15; < Tamil paraiyar, pl. of paraiyan lit., drummer (from a hereditary duty of the caste), deriv. of parai a festival drum
We are the last pariah.
All over the world gays and lesbians are facing the cruel reality that they will never be accepted by their societies in their lifetimes.
- Gay men and lesbians in Islamic countries face torture and death. Two young gay men were hanged in Iran in 2005.
- Pope Benedict issued another gay edict this last holiday season [Pope’s gay edict gets spirit of the season all wrong
Gay teens being hanged in Irag in 2005
by GILES FRASER]
The Christmas angel tells us: ”Fear not, for I bring you good news of great joy for all people.” The Pope, on the other hand, has been using this Christmas season to spread entirely the opposite message, a message of fear and exclusion that seems more bad news than good.
For, apparently, gay people threaten the planet in a comparable way to the destruction of the rainforest. I guess the idea is that if we all were gay, then we wouldn’t be making any babies. Yes, it’s a bit like saying that if we all were to become celibate priests we wouldn’t be making any babies either. Except that would mean the Catholic church has itself become a threat to the planet. OK, that’s a cheap shot. – Fraser
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Religious leaders in Ethiopia on Monday urged lawmakers to amend the country’s constitution to ban homosexuality in a move they argue could further strengthen existing codes.At a meeting in the Ethiopian capital, nearly a dozen religious figures, including heads of Ethiopia’s Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, adopted a resolution against homosexuality, which they termed as “the pinnacle of immorality.”
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Gays Seeking Asylum Find Familiar Prejudices in U. S.
With the Prop 8 and similar measures passing in other parts of America, many suffered from anti-gay violence in 2008 & statistics show rise in reported hate-based crimes.
- We have yet to see Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policies in the military deemed unconstitutional.
Tonight, Prayers for Bobby airs on Lifetime and portrays the true story of Bobby Griffith a young gay man who struggles with his homosexuality and his ultra-religious mother – and ultimately commits suicide. But that’s not how the story ends. I was excited to see my old ACT-UP friend Dan Butler (Friends) play a sympathetic priest who directs Bobby’s mother Mary Griffith (played by Sigourney Weaver) to a P-FLAG group in this TV movie.
Young gays & lesbians are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. If you are a young person who is struggling with their sexuality, you are not alone. If you are a parent of a young LGBT child – love them, don’t shun them. If you are having trouble dealing with your child, seek help. Call P-FLAG. Then once you have “picked yourself up and dusted yourself off” call your local Congressperson or Representative to support LGBT causes. In what our President calls “The New Era of Responsibility,” it is up to us to make homophobia a thing of the past.
Now I need to run to find and scan my pictures of my mother and I marching with P-FLAG from 1979 – 2006. My mom has taken a break from marching since many of her old friends in the organization are now gone or too old to march. I’ll be posting these pics and more ACT-UP pics over the next few days.
