Homophobia as a Global Issue

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“Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it’s a good place to start.”

Jason Collins 

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Gay Rights in the Netherlands (the most liberal country on Earth!)

For my final post, I thought I’d talk about one of the most open countries in the world towards gay rights, the Netherlands.  Same sex relations were legalized back in 1811 after an invasion of the French government.  France has had same sex relationships legalized since 1791 (it was the first country to do so).  The Netherlands was the first country to legalize same sex marriage in 2001, and domestic partnerships have been legal since 1998.  When the bill was passed allowing same sex marriage it passed with 109 votes in favour and only 33 against. A survey conducted in 2015 found that 91% were in favour of same sex marriage and adoption.  The capital city of Amsterdam is considered one of the most LGBT friendly cities in the world because they provide specific accommodations just for the LGBT community.  There are gay bars, bathhouses and hotels, as well as a which provides LGBT friendly information and souvenirs.  There is also the national Homomonument, built in 1987 which was the first to commemorate the homosexuals who were persecuted during World War 2.

Between 1730 and 1811 there was widespread panic about homosexuals, and hundreds were arrested.  When they were invaded by France in 1811, all laws pertaining to sodomy were lifted.  When the Dutch regained their independence in 1813, they did not reinstate any sodomy laws.  The age of consent for homosexual acts was raised to 21 in 1911, while heterosexual acts stayed at 16.  During World War 2 sodomy laws were reinstated.  Homsexuality was removed from the lists of mental illnesses in 1973.

Discrimination against homosexuals in housing, employment, and in  private and public accommodations have been illegal since 1993 as part of  the Dutch Equal Rights Act.  

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Christianity and Homosexuality

Religion is one of the main reasons that homosexuality has been sort of taboo for a long time.  Most religious books say that it is a sin to engage in sexual acts with someone of the same gender.  This has been the stigma for many years, however in recent times it has begun to change.  I happen to know a church minister who is gay, and has a male partner.  When Randy was still living in St. Marys as a minister at the United Church, he faced a great deal of discrimination for his sexuality from the congregation.  I made contact with him recently and asked him a few questions about what his life has been like as an openly gay church minister, how it has affected his career and his personal life.

Randy is out as gay to his family, and has a male partner who he has married.  He currently lives in Colorado and works as the minister for the church there.  He did not get along with his parents when they were alive, mostly because they were not supportive of his sexuality.  Randy’s mother has not been supportive, and has said things such as “if one of my kids is gay, I’ll kill myself,” and “I wish you were a girl” to one of his former partners.  His sister went as far as to not invite him to her daughter's wedding because he and his partner “were not part of the family”.  His partner’s father is very open and supporting their relationship, whereas his partner’s mother is the opposite.  She is a born again fundamentalist Christian, who has sent books on how to “pray the gay away”  and hopes that eventually her son will end up straight.  She doesn’t stay in contact because Randy is one of the few people who can call her on her errors in interpreting the bible.   

Despite the resistance that he has received from churches in the past, Randy has found an accepting church in Colorado.  The church has officially received a designation that they are open and accepting to people of the LGBT community.  They are currently running an advertising campaign which celebrates same sex relationships.  There are certain churches and ministers who still view Randy as a heathen, and a false preacher.  Randy has been asked not to attend meetings of a local Ministerial group because he is not a true Christian Minister.  The Ministerial also changed the bylaws so that their church can no longer be a member because they perform same sex marriages.  

I asked Randy if he thought that change is possible for the church.  He believes that with time people will eventually come to accept people of the LGBT community.  When Randy and his church were removed from the Ministerial, several other ministers left because of their treatment.  This action shows that there has been progress in the church, and I think that given enough time the Christian church will come to accept all members of the LGBT community.

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Attitude Towards the LGBT at DCVI

For this project I had to connect with someone who is working to solve my issue.  Luckily there are people right here in St. Marys trying to promote inclusion and acceptance of the LGBT community.  The GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) is working to have a society, not only in DCVI that accepts people of every sexuality and gender.  They are working to create an open space where no one is bullied or judged for any reason.  A few years ago they started the Safe Space initiative, which was meant to promote inclusion of all sexual orientations, genders, and race.  Talking to the GSA really opened my eyes to the reality of how people in St. Marys view those with different sexualities.  While overall our town and school is very tolerant for people with different sexualities there are still those who believe it's wrong.  Some people that I talked to are too afraid to even open up to their parents about their sexuality, because they could be kicked out.   

First, I talked to a boy in grade 9.  He was quite open about his sexuality to his peers, and he has come out to his mother.  He was too afraid to even mention the idea of him being gay to his father for fear of being kicked out of his home.  Though his mother does accept him, their relationship has become strained because she finds the idea of two men in a relationship weird, and wrong.  She believes that being into the same gender is a phase and that they will grow out of it.   When he came out to his friends, they had kind of homophobic reactions.  The boys thought it was weird, and that they were going to get hit on.  Especially in public school, he was bullied, and called homophobic words like “fag”.  

Another girl I talked to, who identifies as lesbian, has faced some of the same issues.  She has come out to her parents about her sexuality,  and has received mixed responses from her parents on the matter.  Her mother is fully supportive of her sexuality, while her father rejects the idea, saying that it is only a choice.  She has faced similar name calling in the hallways from other students.  

I also talked to someone who identifies as agender pansexual, which means that they choose not to identify with any gender, and that she can date someone of any gender.  I’m probably going to use she/her pronouns.  She is the one who probably has had the most struggles with people accepting her sexuality.  She is out to her father, and he tries to be accepting, however he mostly just ignores it.  When asked about the attitude of the school, she said that although she hadn’t been bullied because of her sexuality and gender, there were many kids who were very insensitive about people's choice in gender.

There are other people that I talked to that have clashed with family, and ended friendships after coming out as someone who is LGBT.  Despite all of the negative reactions to the LGBT at DCVI, most of the school population is accepting, which is rare for such a small school.  The level of acceptance here at DCVI and in Ontario in general is much higher than in many other parts of the world.  There is still progress that could be made, however we’ve come a long way.

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Countries Where Homosexuality is Punishable by Death :(

There are many countries in the world have legalized same sex marriage and relationships.  Unfortunately however, there are still many countries where being in a same sex relationship is punishable by death.  Nine countries still have the death penalty in place, Iran, Yemen, and Nigeria are among them.  Most of these countries are Muslim, and practice sharia law, although in most countries no one has been officially executed.  Under Shari’a Law homosexuality is a sin,  that can result in being stoned to death, or hanged.

The country with the highest rates of executions for homosexuality is Iran.  In Iran “Lavat”  or “sodomy” is a crime punishable by death.  Homosexual acts done by two consenting adults of sound mind in private are punishable by a maximum punishment of death, with both partners facing punishment.  If the homosexual acts are forced then the rapist is usually executed.  Someone who is under the age of 18 who performs sodomy gets 74 lashes (I’m assuming with a whip).  Sodomy is proven when there is testimony from four men (not women, yay sexism), or the person confesses.  If the person confesses they may be pardoned for their crime, but they may also be charged with a different crime.  The punishment for lesbianism is much less severe than it is with men, with the first offense being 50 lashes.  If a person is charged with lesbianism three times, and are punished for it, on the fourth time they are executed.  Amnesty international says that there have been around 5000 people killed for homosexual, and lesbian acts since 1979.  There have been several stories released about people being killed for homosexual acts.  In 2008, two young men Hamzeh Chavi, and Loghman Hamzehpour were arrested  for homosexual acts, and “war against god”.  They allegedly confessed to being in a relationship and being in love.  This sparked a petition for their release to be spread around the internet.  In 2015, a boy (age 17 when he was arrested) was hanged for supposedly forcing a teenage boy to have sex.  In April of 2017, 30 gay men were arrested in a raid in Isfahan Province.  When asked about the issue, a member of Parliament said that all gays should be tortured, executed or both.  Unfortunately gay rights in Iran probably won’t improve for a long time.

~photos from a protest in Brazil  about sexism and homophobia in Iran, in 2010.

In the country of Yemen, men who are caught performing homosexual acts are usually given 100 lashes and sentenced to a year in prison.  For married men they can be stoned to death for homosexual acts.  Women can be sentenced to up to three years in prison.  The LGBT community is mostly hidden from the eyes of the public because the government has put a block on any webpage that expresses support for the LGBT community.  This censorship of the LGBT community also extends to magazines. A government funded magazine Al Thaqafiya wrote a review about an Egyptian movie (which contained a scene with two lesbian women), saying that Yemen should be more open to the LGBT community and allow same sex marriage.  The leaders of Yemen responded by demanding that the actors in the movie and the director be put on trial for homosexual acts.  They also shut down the magazine that wrote the review and subjected it to an official investigation.  The author of the article got several death threats for his comments.  The journalists were arrested for including interveiws with men that had been previously arrested for homosexuality.  The attitude towards the gay community is obviously quite hostile, and very very few LGBT  Yemeni citizens are open about their sexuality.  Many feel pressured to marry girls because they fear for their lives.  There really isn’t much hope going forward for the LGBT in Yemen.

Nigeria has the highest level of homosexual intolerance in the world.  98% of the population think that same sex relationships are intolerable.   There are 12 states in Nigeria where Shari’a law is practices it is punishable by death to engage in homosexual acts.  Men who are unmarried face 100 lashes and a year in prison.  Men who are married or were previously married face being stoned to death.  In some states where Shari’a law is practiced women who are caught performing lesbianism can also be stoned to death.  It isn’t much better in the states that don’t follow Shari’a law, because there is a maximum 14 year sentence for those caught performing homosexual acts.  The police are very aggressive when it comes to hunting down gay men.  In 2006 they passed the Same Sex Prohibition Act, which states that anyone who witnesses, preforms, or aids homosexual acts, can face 5 years in prison.   When gay men are arrested the police torture them into giving out the names and phone numbers of other gay friends, and other people that they have been in contact with.  The police there will also capture innocent men who are not gay, charge them with homosexuality or another charge listed in the Same Sex Prohibition Act. The police in Nigeria often arrest innocent men to make money off of bail.  

The laws in these countries reflect the closed minded attitude of people living in these countries.  There is very little support for the LGBT community, and it saddens me to say that there isn’t much hope for growth in the near future.  

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Same Sex Marriage Rights in Asia

Recently in Asia there have been huge advancements for people hoping to attain a marriage license to someone of the same gender.  Taiwan just legalized same sex marriage last week, making them the first Asian country to do so.  Japan has also begun to legalize domestic partnerships, which give couples similar rights to married couples.

Though same sex marriage is not currently legal in Japan, some areas are legalizing domestic partnerships which give couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.  These partnerships allow for couples to visit each other in hospitals, and share rent on apartments, which is usually reserved for family members.   Shibuya and Setagaya, two wards in Tokyo began to offer these partnerships back in 2015.  Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido (Japan’s northernmost island), after several petitions from a local LGBT group has announced that it will offer similar partnerships as of June 2017 (that’s next month!).  They are the first designated city to do so.  These will allow couples to become the recipient of each other's life insurance money, and many other benefits.  These certificates are said to be equivalent to marriage, though they are not legally recognized as such.  The offering of these partnerships are also under consideration in Chiba (capital of Chiba prefecture), and Yokohama (capital of Kanagawa prefecture).  Same sex marriage is currently not allowed in Japan, however Japanese citizens are allowed to marry  partners in countries where same sex marriage is legal, as of 2009.  Before 2009, the document was not released to those hoping to have a same sex marriage.  Although citizens can be married abroad, the partnership is still not legally recognized in Japan.  In Japan there is also the practice of Koseki, which is the family register.  Being the next of kin gives rights similar to marriage, with the ability to visit in hospitals, collect insurance, and organize funerals.  Many same sex couple chose to go for this method, where the older partner will adopt the younger into their koseki.  This can be used as a substitute for western style marriage.  

This past week, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize gay marriage  bringing hope for a better future to LGBT people in the country.  This resulted after a court hearing with Chi-Chia-wei, a LGBT man who has been fighting for the right to marry his partner for the past 30 years.  This hearing addressed the issue of whether disallowing same sex marriage is in violation of human rights.  The court hearing decided that not allowing same sex marriage is violating rights under Taiwan’s Civil Code.  Not allowing same sex marriage is in violation of the freedom to marry, and right to equality.  The Legislative Yuan now has two years from May 24th to change the laws, or amend them, or same sex marriage will automatically become legal.  This could mean that the Legislative Yuan could amend the law give same sex couples all of the  same rights enjoyed by married couples, or they could amend it to give them only some of the rights.  This huge leap forward brings hope to the LGBT community living in Asia.

The legalization of same sex partnerships and marriages show a leap forward in Asia that brings hope to the LGBT community.  

This is a photo of gay rights activist Chi Chia Wei holding a rainbow flag at a anti homophobia exhibition

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Gay Rights in China

In China, LGBT rights have made a lot more progress than other parts of the world.  The right to homosexuality has been legal since 1997.   The age of consent was set as the same age as heterosexual couples in the same year.   Before 1997, same sex activity was criminalized as hooliganism.  In 2001 homosexuality was taken off of the Ministry of Health’s list of Mental illnesses.  Police enforcement against the LGBT community has been limited to sex acts in public, and prostitution (both of which are also illegal for heterosexual couples).  Same sex couples are not allowed to adopt, and the same can be said for foreign same sex couple wishing to adopt from China.  

Though it is no longer illegal to be in a same sex relationship, it is still frowned upon in many parts of China.  61% of people living in China still view homosexuality as unacceptable.  The government refuses to put in place any laws that protect homosexuals in the workplace.  Generally the Chinese society and government have frowned upon homosexual relationships, however there has been growth in the past few years.  In large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai there are large gay districts.  In the younger generation where individualism is celebrated, being gay can be seen as almost fashionable.  However in the countryside of China there is far more stigma and illwill towards those of the LGBT community.  Many people live with members of their extended families, and are pressured into continuing the family line.  Many fearing what their families reactions will be either enter into ‘fake marriages’, where a homosexual marries someone of the opposite gender, or move away from the countryside into the city.  Right now there are about 16 million homosexual men married to women in China.  Moving into the city isn’t a good option because many of these people feel isolated.  These people from rural backgrounds not only lack the ability to communicate properly (due to language differences), and they also feel like they are sick or abnormal.  In some cases gay men from rural backgrounds end up having to make a living selling themselves to other men.  These cases are directly caused by the vast amount of discrimination and stigma against the LGBT community.

Despite how it seems, there has been significant growth in legalizing gay marriage in China.  In 2016 a gay couple, Sun Wenlin and Hu Mingliang, filed a court case against a marriage bureau after they were refused a marriage license.  The court accepted the case, and while they eventually shut down the lawsuit, an outpouring of support was given to the couple.  Though they could not receive an official marriage license, they exchanged vows in front of a crowd full of supporters and family members, in May 2016.  Sun is planning to have another 99 of these symbolic LGBT weddings to help normalize the idea of gay marriage.

The fight for equal rights in China is far from over, but the progress In the last couple years has been huge.

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Gay Rights Issues in Zimbabwe

Despite their small role in world events, I decided that Zimbabwe should get it’s own post on gay rights.  Zimbabwe actually has some of the strictest laws against homosexuality in the world, similar to many other African countries.  In Zimbabwe the law states that two males cannot perform any type of sexual deviance, be it holding hands, hugging, or kissing.  The law states that “sodomy” is any act between two males that any reasonable person would view as indecent.  All of these laws are in place for men, however none have ever been put in place for women.  These updated sodomy laws were added to the criminal code t in 2006.

The leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe has long been known to detest the gay community, referring to them more as animals than people.  He has made several comments condemning the gay community and those who support them, including GALZ (Association of Gays and Lesbians in Zimbabwe).  After seeing their stall at a book fair in 1995 he made the following comment:

"I find it extremely outrageous and repugnant to my human conscience that such immoral and repulsive organizations, like those of homosexuals, who offend both against the law of nature and the cultural norms espoused by our society, should have any advocates in our midst and elsewhere in the world." (Robert Mugabe)

Later during his speech at Zimbabwe’s independence celebrations, Mugabe called out the gay community again saying that being gay or lesbian is sub-animal, and that if anyone who identifies as homosexual should be handed over to the police and arrested.  Mugabe received hate from around the world for his statements, however this didn’t slow him down on his anti-LGBT campaign.  He has blamed many of Zimbabwe’s problems on the gay community, and views homosexuality as un-African.  Mugabe has also made several comments saying that only white people living in Zimbabwe practice immoral acts like homosexuality.  When called out by the UN for several human rights violations over the course of a decade in 2015, Mugabe lashed out at Barack Obama who openly supports the decriminalization of homosexuality all across the world.  Unfortunately, the views of Robert Mugabe are very common across Zimbabwe.  Any LGBT people are unable to come out to their families without fear of being outed.  Those who do are often beaten and thrown out of their community.  A transgender man, when he was outed to his family his mother threatened to kill herself, because she couldn’t handle the idea of having a gay son.  His community then proceeded to threaten to “beat the gay” out of him, until he was rescued by a LGBT group.  Unfortunately this reaction isn’t uncommon in not only Zimbabwe, but also in several many other areas in Africa.  Although the younger generation is a lot more open to the idea of homosexuality in Zimbabwe, there is still a long way to go.

This is a photo of Samba Chesterfield the leader of the Gays and Lesbians association of Zimbabwe, preparing to hoist the pride flag, along with the Zimbabwe flag, in Harare, 2012.

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"Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it's a good place to start."

Jason Collins (First openly gay athlete in US pro sports)

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Gay Concentration Camps in Chechnya

Not only is the Chechen government denying the existence of these camps, despite quite damning evidence, the Russian government is also backing Kadyrov.  Dmitry Peskov, a Russian representative claims that there is no reason to doubt Kadyrov’s claims, saying there is no persecution based on sexual orientation in the Russian republic.  The Chechen government is demanding that the journalists who interviewed the victims reveal the names, so that they may be punished for their “filthy provocation”.  The world has not seen a vast abduction of gay men like this since World War II when Adolf Hitler rounded up thousands of gay men and sent them to similar concentration camps.  This situation is truly disturbing and must be stopped before of these innocent men get killed simply for their sexuality.

At the beginning of April, reports began to surface about the opening of gay concentration camps in Argun, Chechnya.  The independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta reported about a more than 100 gay men being rounded up, and shipped off to this prison camp.  This action is a reaction to a Moscow LGBT group asking filling out petitions asking to hold a pride parade and demonstrations in Russian province cities. These petitions sparked local drives to begin rounding up gay men.  The Gazeta reported that a “prophylactic sweep” was called in Chechnya.  Armed authorities of the leader Ramzan Kadyrov went searching for closeted gay men, even going as far as to pose as men looking for dates on the internet.  In about February, men between the ages of 16 and 50 began to disappear off of the street.   

The Russian LGBT Network has set up a hotline for people seeking help, and they have been receiving calls about the abuse in the prison camp.  According to those who have escaped the prison, 30 or 40 men are crowded into the same room, and taken out several times a day to be beaten.  According to one man who escaped they tortured him, by electrocuting his hands and feet, trying to get the names of his gay friends out of him.   Along with the more than 100 gay men abducted, at least three have been killed.  Several people who have escaped fear either being outed by their relatives or arrested after being picked up at police checkpoints.  Several men have also been reportedly sent back to their families, so that they can be killed honorably.

One of the most terrifying things about this rounding up of gay men is that the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, deny that this rounding up of gay men is happening.  In fact, they claim that there are no gay men in Chechnya.  Kadyrov’s representative, when consulted on the situation made this statement;

“You cannot arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic, if such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them since their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return.”  -Alvi Karimov

Not only is the Chechen government denying the existence of these camps, despite quite damning evidence, the Russian government is also backing Kadyrov.  Dmitry Peskov, a Russian representative claims that there is no reason to doubt Kadyrov’s claims, saying there is no persecution based on sexual orientation in the Russian republic.  The Chechen government is demanding that the journalists who interviewed the victims reveal the names, so that they may be punished for their “filthy provocation”.  The world has not seen a vast abduction of gay men like this since World War II when Adolf Hitler rounded up thousands of gay men and sent them to similar concentration camps.  This situation is truly disturbing and must be stopped before of these innocent men get killed simply for their sexuality.

This photo is of one of the men who escaped from the camp.  

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Showing some brown boy love at a protest against India’s Supreme Court ruling reinstating the criminalization of homosexuality!

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This is especially important given that the person in the leather jacket is a Sikh of Indian descent while the person in yellow is a Muslim of Pakistani descent.