Punk Smurf pens a bilingual blog

COC Nederland pleit voor een erfrecht dat beter is afgestemd op de wensen en leefvormen van homo- en biseksuele Nederlanders.

fotografie: Ibrahim Farah

Volgens het huidige erfrecht geldt een laag belastingtarief wanneer iemand een erfenis aan haar of zijn kind nalaat, maar is er sprake van een tarief dat tot vier maal zo hoog is als je een ander als erfgenaam wilt aanwijzen. Aangezien veel homo’s en lesbiennes geen kinderen hebben, pakt dit ook voor hen negatief uit.

‘Wij vinden dat de wet geen onderscheid moet maken,’ zegt Vera Bergkamp, vice-voorzitter van COC Nederland. ‘Het is goed dat een dierbare voor een lager belastingtarief kan erven, maar of die dierbare een kind is of een goede vriend of vriendin zou niet uit mogen maken.’

De Tweede Kamer stemt op dinsdag 3 november over een voorstel van Fatma Koşer Kaya (D66) om zélf een dierbare aan te kunnen wijzen die fiscaal voordelig kan erven. Dit zou voor veel holebi’s een aanzienlijke vooruitgang betekenen.

Photo: Joann Toy

Yesterday President Obama signed The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a bill that updates the original 1968 federal hate crimes statute to make violence against gay, lesbian, transgender, and disabled people a federal crime. The bill, a version of which was first introduced in 1996, two years before the hate-motivated murders of Shepard and Byrd in 1998, allows for federal investigators, forensic tools, and funds to be allotted to help state and local officials tackle hate crimes.

“As a straight ally and as a person with many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender family members, friends and fans, I want to thank the Human Rights Campaign, Judy and Dennis Shepard and Senator Edward Kennedy for their leadership in the 11 year struggle to get the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd, Jr. Hates Crimes Prevention Bill enacted,” longtime gay rights advocate Cyndi Lauper said in a statement today. “FINALLY, with President Obama’s signature, violent hate crimes against the LGBT community will be recognized and prosecuted by the Federal government. This is only the beginning, I believe that the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, as well as the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, will soon be here. Today, that light at the end of the tunnel for the LGBT civil rights movement is much brighter.”

Altijd al willen weten hoe het er in de Amerikaanse rechtszaal in het écht aan toe gaat? Grijp dan nu je kans: zaterdag 21 november 2009 vindt in Den Haag de vijfde editie van het International Moot Court (IMC) plaats. Teams van rechters, advocaten uit de Verenigde Staten, Engeland, Roemenie, Turkije, Belgie en Nederland spelen een rechtszaak na volgens de regels van hun eigen rechtsysteem. De voertaal is engels en elke presentatie duurt ongeveer een uur. Na afloop is er kort de gelegenheid om vragen te stellen aan de rechters en advocaten. De toegang in het Paleis van Justitie is gratis. Het thema dit jaar is: Waar ligt de grens?

Informatie: www.internationalmootcourt.com

When I was in NYC last year I really wanted to see the original Giants stadium before it was going to be torn down. Alas, with time not exactly being on our side and too many things my friend Tweety and I wanting to see/do I didn’t get to see it. Now Springsteen, who’s played it many times, is going to say his goodbyes to the stadium. Less than a week to go till my next Springsteen concert Woo-hoo!

In the meantime Iggy Pop is planning on reforming The Stooges! Looks like these dudes will rock till they drop as well.

FYI: an interesting article on Yahoo reminds us all that there is no such thing as “deleted” on the internet. And in the meantime president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran ordered a Facebook block, weeks before nationwide elections. Yup; it’s the ignorant dude who claims that homosexuality doesn’t exist in his country.

Three US service members recently discharged (or facing discharge) under the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy share their stories in the media to highlight the reality facing gay and lesbian members in the US military. Read more here. And read here how the White House was called out on aforementioned policy.

May 21st marked the 30th anniversary of San Francisco’s White Night riots, which happened after a court handed down the most lenient sentence possible to Dan White (voluntary manslaughter) for the murders of Harvey Milk and George Moscone.

Singapore had its first-ever public gay rights rally, which they named “Pink Dot”. Apparently, it was something of a success. Watch a clip here.

Meanwhile, in another part of Asia Indian actress Neetu Chandra apparently caused quite a scene during a photo shoot.

Read about it here. Did you catch the “… The whole group of men suddenly started feeling ignored…”?! God forbid a bunch of gorgeous women ignore a couple of men.

A new documentary, “Straightlaced”, about the pressure to conform to gender roles in American high schools will have its premiere on Tuesday, May 26 at Hunter College in NYC. This is the trailer. It sure looks interesting to me!

Also defying traditional gender roles is a young Russian women appealing a ban on female metro drivers. I hope she wins the appeal; I think it’s time Russia joined the 21st century for real.

Yesterday was finally the day to get another tattoo (I’d made an appointment about a month ago). No pics yet, but I’m planning on posting some next week. In the meantime, enjoy NCIS’s Abby asking Gibbs for advice for a new tattoo

(AFP) Oscar winner Angelina Jolie attended a war crimes trial in The Hague on Tuesday, hailing the bravery of youngsters who testified against Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga.

“Children deserve special protection. Using children in conflict is a heinous crime and destroys the very fabric of a society,” said Jolie, who is a goodwill ambassador for the UN’s refugee agency.

“I imagined how difficult it must be for all the brave young children who have come to testify against him,” she said in a statement.

Lubanga, 48, has pleaded not guilty to using children under the age of 15 to fight for his militia during the five-year civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo which ended in 2003.

The prosecution accuses his militia of abducting children as young as 11 and taking them to military training camps where they were beaten and drugged. The girls among them were allegedly used as sex slaves.

The International Criminal Court was forced to look at new ways to shield child soldier witnesses from their alleged oppressors after the first witness against Lubanga changed his testimony.

Knights Out founder and Army Lieutenant Dan Choi published an open letter to President Obama and every Member of Congress on CNN’s website begging them to not discharge him for being gay. It reads, in part:

“The Department of the Army sent a letter discharging me on April 23rd. I will not lie to you; the letter is a slap in the face. It is a slap in the face to me. It is a slap in the face to my soldiers, peers and leaders who have demonstrated that an infantry unit can be professional enough to accept diversity, to accept capable leaders, to accept skilled soldiers.

“My subordinates know I’m gay. They don’t care. They are professional.

“Further, they are respectable infantrymen who work as a team. Many told me that they respect me even more because I trusted them enough to let them know the truth. Trust is the foundation of unit cohesion.

“After I publicly announced that I am gay, I reported for training and led rifle marksmanship. I ordered hundreds of soldiers to fire live rounds and qualify on their weapons. I qualified on my own weapon. I showered after training and slept in an open bay with 40 other infantrymen. I cannot understand the claim that I “negatively affected good order and discipline in the New York Army National Guard.” I refuse to accept this statement as true.

“As an infantry officer, I am not accustomed to begging. But I beg you today: Do not fire me. Do not fire me because my soldiers are more than a unit or a fighting force – we are a family and we support each other. We should not learn that honesty and courage leads to punishment and insult. Their professionalism should not be rewarded with losing their leader. I understand if you must fire me, but please do not discredit and insult my soldiers for their professionalism.”

Knights Out is encouraging supporters to call the White House today to pressure Obama to take action on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

In the meantime military law experts have said that President Barack Obama can end the dismissal of openly gay soldiers with just a single order.

The study from the Palm Center at the University of California claims that despite popular opinion, Congressional approval is not needed to lift the ban, which was introduced in 1994.

Dr Aaron Belkin, co-author of the study, said that a “political deadlock” was in place between the White House and conservative opinion from both Republicans and Democrats. He added: “This study provides a recipe for breaking through the political deadlock, as well as a roadmap for military leaders once the civilians give the green light.”

According to the study, there are three legal bases to the President’s authority on the issue.

A law granted by Congress titled 10 U.S.C. 12305 allows the authority of the President to “suspend certain laws relating to promotion, retirement, and separation” in the case of a national emergency, which is defined as a time when “members of a reserve component are serving involuntarily on active duty”.

The Army recently announced it would cease its unpopular ’stop-loss’ policy, in which those who wish to leave the military are forcibly required to extend their service periods.

Diane H Mazur, Professor of Law at the University of Florida College of Law and another study co-author, said: “That use of stop-loss forcibly extends service by those who wish to leave the military, whereas suspending discharges for homosexuality would do the opposite: allow ongoing service by those who wish to remain in uniform.”

The second and third bases of presidential authority are contained within the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell legislation itself. Under these bases, the Defense Department has the authority to determine how discharges should be carried out. The law also states that servicemembers can be discharged if they are found to be gay, but does not require such a finding to be made.

Around 12,500 servicemembers have been ejected since the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy’s introduction in 1994, including 60 Arabic linguists.

Speaking on Sunday on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, White House National Security Advisor James Jones said he didn’t know whether to the policy would ever be overturned, describing it as a “complicated” and “sensitive” issue. However, he added that the President was holding “preliminary talks” on the issue.

Currently listening to Bif Naked (single: Sick)

Kelly McGillis has come out of the closet and, as expected, Republican poster boy Bill O’Reilly responded to that in his usual way - by calling her a pinhead. Very classy, Bill.

When I saw this pic I did a double take as I initially thought it was actor George Eads (aka CSI’s Nick Stokes). But a second look told me it wasn’t Eads auditioning for a gay role in a football movie.

The handsome dude in the picture is Brian Sims, a regular Joe, who happened to play football in college and is gay.  Read about his coming out in this gay college football story.

It looks as if he contributed to visibility of gay athletes by defying certain stereotypes, and educated team mates and people around him.

Earlier this week a new Quinnipiac University poll says 56% of Americans support the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” while 37% oppose it:

“The ban on openly gay men and women in the military should be repealed, American voters say 56 - 37 percent, including 50 - 43 percent among voters with family in the military, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. American voters who think being gay is an individual’s choice, 36 percent, are generally less supportive of gay rights than those who think people are born gay, 42 percent.  White Catholics say 64 - 29 percent that gays in the military should be allowed to come out, while white evangelical Christians support “don’t ask; don’t tell” 53 - 40 percent. Voters reject 58 - 35 percent, including 56 - 39 percent in military households, the argument that allowing openly gay men and women to serve would be divisive, the independent Quinnipiac University survey of 2,041 registered voters nationwide finds.”

However, the poll shows much different results regarding same-sex marriage results than an ABC / Washington Post poll released today as well. While the ABC/WaPo poll showed 49% in favor of marriage equality, the Quinnipiac poll show 38% in favor of marriage equality with 55% opposed. The Quinnipiac poll, however, does show 57% would be in support of civil unions for same-sex couples.

AND: The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, has been passed by the US House of Representatives.

The bill expands federal hate crime laws to include crimes where the victims were targeted on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, and disability. It means the federal government could step in to prosecute in states that request it or in those who choose not to prosecute.

The Senate version of the bill is to be introduced soon by Senator Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat.

President Obama has indicated that if the bill comes to his desk he will sign it, releasing a statement prior to yesterday’s vote. He said: “I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance.”

He added it would “enhance civil rights protections, while also protecting our freedom of speech and association.”

The bill, which passed 249-175, has been dubbed the Matthew Shepard bill after the gay teenager who was brutally murdered in 1998.

North Carolina congresswoman Virginia Foxx was forced to apologise this week after she called the murder a “hoax” to justify passing the bill, saying Mr Shepard had died in a robbery. She later said she had used “a poor choice of words,” adding that his killers deserved their punishment of life imprisonment terms.

Opponents have argued that the bill is divisive and could cause religious leaders to be prosecuted. Representative Lamar Smith, a Texas republican, said the bill “divides America” by protecting special groups.

“We should focus on the opposite, uniting America,” he said. “The bill is probably unconstitutional and will be struck down.”

Another clear case of ignorant and misinformed men in Saudi Arabia as they’re trying to clamp down unlicenced gyms for women. Yep: segregation still exists.

In the meantime Saudi Arabia may ban marriage for girls below 18, a government minister said after a case of an eight-year-old girl marrying a man more than 40 years her senior drew international criticism and embarrassed the kingdom.

“Among the options that are available and excluding the issue of puberty, is to ban marriage for [people] under 18,” Justice Minister Mohammed al-Eissa told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. He was responding to a question about his ministry’s plan to deal with the marriage of young girls.

“A girl below 18 is often not fit to take the family responsibility especially if she quickly gives birth [after marriage],” he said.

Saudi Arabia is a patriarchal society that applies an ascetic form of Sunni Islam which bans unrelated men and women from mixing and gives fathers the right to wed their sons and daughters to whomever they deem fit.

Many Saudi clerics, including the kingdom’s chief cleric Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al al-Sheikh, endorse the practice of marrying underage girls, arguing that in doing so they avoid spinsterhood or the temptation of engaging in relationships outside the wedlock.

A 50-year-old man in the small Saudi town of Onaiza agreed this week to divorce his eight-year-old bride.

Financial considerations could prompt some Saudi families to wed their underage daughters to much older men.

Many young girls in Arab countries that observe tribal traditions are married to older husbands but not before puberty. Such marriages are also driven by poverty in countries like Yemen, one of the poorest countries outside Africa…

My latest contribution for EurOut.org is published online and is about the (in)visibility of queer Asian women. Read it here - and don’t hesitate to leave a comment! (Either there or here below )

The last thing I heard of Bif Naked was that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Apparently, she’s battled it AND recorded a new album in the process called “The Promise”. It’ll be released on May 5th in Canada, and her current single is (aptly) titled “Sick”. I like the songs off the album I’ve heard so far!

Watch a recent interview with Bif on The Hour (fast foward till around the 30-minute mark). Oh, and I really like the short ‘do on Bif

The Telegraph reports that Taliban gunmen killed Sitara Achakzai, a women’s rights activist, outside of her home in the city of Kandahar in broad daylight. Police chief Matiullah Khan Qateh said four men drove up on two motorcycles and shot Sitara Achakzai as she was getting out of her car. As Women on the Web reports, the Taliban have been after Achakzai ever since she returned from Germany after the war to work for women’s rights in Afghanistan:

“This isn’t the first time Achakzai found herself in extremists’ cross-hairs. She was injured in a suicide attack at a Kandahar government building two weeks ago. She had just returned from the hospital when the assassination occurred. Her friends urged her to leave the country, but Ms. Achakzai insisted on staying in Afghanistan.”

Achakzai helped organize a nationwide sit-in during which women thousands of Afghan women prayed for peace to mark International Women’s Day.

The Taliban quickly took credit for the assassination. Achakzai’s assassination occurs only a few days after the Afgahnistan government was forced into reconsidering its infamous family law that legalized rape of wives by their husbands. Wenny Kusmuma, the Director of the United Nations Development fund for Women in Afghanistan said:

“This cold-blooded assassination puts in question the direction that Afghanistan is heading. There is no respect for the rule of law.”

Thanks to my friend Michael who pointed out the article to me. And the following case is a clear example of how bullying has gotten out of hand. Very unfortunate:

The Advocate talks to Sirdeaner Walker, the mother of Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, the 11-year-old student who killed himself last week following relentless bullying at school:

“On April 6, Sirdeaner Walker came home, walked up the stairs to the second floor of her home, and saw her son suspended from a support beam in the stairwell, swaying slightly in the air, an extension cord wrapped around his neck, according to police. He apologized in a suicide note, told his mother that he loved her, and left his video games to his brother.

Walker said her son had been the victim of bullying since the beginning of the school year, and that she had been calling the school since September, complaining that her son was mercilessly teased. He played football, baseball, and was a boy scout, but a group of classmates called him gay and teased him about the way he dressed. They ridiculed him for going to church with his mother and for volunteering locally.

“It’s not just a gay issue,” Walker said. “It’s bigger. He was 11 years old, and he wasn’t aware of his sexuality. These homophobic people attach derogatory terms to a child who’s 11 years old, who goes to church, school, and the library, and he becomes confused. He thinks, Maybe I’m like this. Maybe I’m not. What do I do?“

Walker is demanding action from the school. At this point it’s what she has left.

School Yard Bully [the advocate]

An employment tribunal has heard that an airline refused to hire male stewards because it would be assumed they were gay.

Alexandria Proud, a cabin crew manager is claiming unfair constructive dismissal against charter aircraft company Gama Aviation, based in Farnborough in Hampshire.

She claims she was forced to discriminate when hiring cabin crew staff due to employment regulations which dictated all employees must be young, female, physically attractive, aged 18 to 30, single and no larger than a size 12.

Ms Proud also said she was banned from hiring male air stewards because of the stereotype of them being gay.

“I was also specifically informed that if there was a male flight attendant it would be thought that he was gay and the owner would not tolerate such an individual on the aircraft.”

She told the tribunal that one owner, Alireza Ittehedeh, insisted on physically inspecting the candidates himself. She also claims that she was verbally abused by the owners of the airline and was not supported by her employers.

Ms Proud was signed off work with a stress-related illness last August. The tribunal continues.

And to finish this post with something upbeat: a gay friendly MTA quote

A nice message from the not-always progressively minded New York City Mass Transit Authority. It’s a quote from influential Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant.

The Washington DC council has voted unanimously to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

Previously, gay couples who were married in other states were recognized as domestic partners when they moved to DC but the measure, it passes a final vote next month, means their unions will be recognized as marriages.

In a statement, DC mayor Adrian Fenty said he looked forward to signing the bill.

The bill will require that married same-sex couples must be accorded the same benefits as those received by married straight couples.

The development comes days after Iowa and Vermont legalised same-sex marriage.

Jay Mercado and Shirley Tan, a Pacifica, California lesbian couple with twin sons. The couple has been together for 23 years and Tan faces deportation to the Philippines tomorrow because of U.S. immigration laws. The couple has exhausted all their legal options. Mercado is a U.S. citizen and Tan a Filipino national. The couple married in 2004 in California, even applied for political asylum, but Tan was notified in January that she would be deported. Tomorrow’s the day.

Read more on the couple here.

UPDATE 04/03: Shirley Tan gets temporary reprieve from deportation.