Sunday, April 05, 2009

Iowa and Vermont

Hooray!  Iowa has legalised same-sex marriage.  This is significant because it's not on the more liberal coast but inland.  Iowa joins Massachusetts and Connecticut in granting marriage equality to same-sex couples.

The state of Vermont is on the way there, but sadly the bill is being opposed by the state governor.

Hopefully this will now give the same-sex marriage campaigners a boost in California, where Proposition 8 is already being challenged as illegal.

"Saying 'NO!' to homophobia is one of the healthiest steps any one of us can take, yet when our whole self-definition is based on negation, we miss something vital. We know who we're not, but we still don't have answers to the same basic questions, 'Who are we?' 'What does it mean to love as we do?'" -- John R Stowe
And in case you weren't heard the first time, say it again.
We can campaign for fairer laws – 86 member states of the United Nations still criminalise consensual same sex among adults. Among these, 7 have the death penalty for homosexuality. In addition, there are 6 provinces or territorial units which also imprison people for homosexuality. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people still do not receive completely equal treatment under British law.

We can challenge homophobic attitudes whenever we hear them. We can support campaigns like Stonewall (the gay rights lobby group) and IDAHO. IDAHO is the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. May 17th was chosen because it marks the anniversary of the day in 1990 when the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its list of mental diseases.
And then say YES to positive LGBTQ identity:

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