All Things Queer

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all like many of the principles on which this great country was founded; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of marriages like Britney Spears’ would be destroyed.

6) The only valid marriages are those which produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.

9) Children can never succeed without both a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy or longer life spans.

The South African Constitutional Review Comittee is currently entertaining a proposal from the House of Traditional Leaders to scrap "sexual orientation" section from the bill of rights contained in Chapter 2 of the Constitution of South Africa.

South Africa's post-apartheid constitution is known to be one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, and was the first in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.

However, proposals to change the Constitution's provisions on sexual orientation have been referred to party caucuses for consideration. Parliament's constitutional review committee has made the unusual move of referring these proposals to political parties.

This proposal was headed by ANC MP Patekile Holomisa from the The National House of Traditional Leaders.

According  Holomisa, who chairs the constitutional review committee, sexual orientation is a difficult subject. "The last time this issue was discussed was about same-sex marriages. Most of the people in the caucus were opposed to it, but then Luthuli House and the leadership instructed us to vote for it," he was quoted saying.

The ANC caucus would debate whether the matter should be discussed in Parliament.

Meanwhile, you can show your support for preserving South Africa's consitution by signing this petition.

Check out this Kickstarter project that is funding a film called "Family Restaurant," - for children whose moms and/or dads are LGBT.

There are very few family-friendly films where kids with gay or lesbian parents can enjoy a fun story that reflects their own lives. "Family Restaurant" celebrates young children with gay or lesbian parents. It shows them a magical world filled with cute characters who reflect their family lives. Set in a family restaurant, it features talking ketchup and mustard bottles among the colorful residents of the diner. It has a mix of puppetry and actors, including a number of real children with gay or lesbian parents.

*I know living in South Africa, many of us never face these struggles. We are lucky enough to have a government that supports our rights. Our right to marry, live, work and go to school where ever we choose. We are lucky. Some countries, even as seemingly "progressive" as America, do not share these same rights.

The annual Cape Town Pride Festival is a celebration of the wonderful LGBT diversity in South Africa's Mother City. This year's parade took place on Saturday 3 March. Presented by Michele Macfarlane.

“It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself” Lester Burnham, American Beauty

For many years, I have lived by a code of strict self control designed specifically to stop myself from facing up to another heartbreak. I fell in love once, it ended terribly and I thought I would die from the pain. Yet, I didn’t die, I survived to dance another day, but I decided that that dark and terrifying place was somewhere I never wanted to go ever again. That pain of loss took me to the brink of sanity and I feared for a moment that I might fall over the edge into the abyss. For a person who values their peace of mind, that was a trial of the most unsettling nature.

It's a common misconception that domestic abuse and violence are confined to heterosexual relationships, fuelled by drugs and alcohol, and a masculine appropriation of power over women. Domestic abuse is indeed rooted in a desire to dominate and control, but in fact is a serious problem within some LGBTI relationships too. This short film Paws, (by Jason Elvis Barker and GALOP, for Paws for Women website http://www.pawsforwomen.org.uk/film/ ) addresses the issues of domestic abuse in an accessible and engaging way.

Pakistan and the Islamic bloc of nations at the UN have declared their opposition to the UN Human Rights Council discussing discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

A panel discussion is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, 7 March 2012, at the UN in Geneva, during the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Their opposition is set out in a letter to the UN Human Rights Council, signed by the Pakistani Ambassador to the UN, Zamir Akram. He writes on behalf of the government of Pakistan and all 57 countries that belong to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).