Senate Homosexuality: the Thread

its a disgrace in todays day and age that same sex marriage isnt law everywhere. i am christian so i was born to believe that marriage was only meant for a man and a woman and all that. but i also believe that just as you cant choose what family you are born into and the colour of your skin you cant help what sex you are attracted too as long as its between 2 consenting adults its none of anyones business.and should have the same marriage rights as everyone else if thats what they so desire.

im ashamed at the fact that the australian goverment still wont do the moral and just thing.


as for homophobia its still rife and i can understand why so many people decide to hide it which is a shame in 2017

 

Actually, many would have.

Europeans are quite liberal on social issues, including many former Soviet states.

 

Ah, not people from Ireland and Serbia I talk too, but still, it's a good thing.

 

European Court of Human Rights rules that Russia's 'Gay Propaganda' law is discriminatory and promotes homophobia.

 

I can't speak for all of Eastern Europe but in Greece and nearby Balkans countries it changed and is still changing very fast. I'd say that now a majority of people are quite liberal, but those who were conservative before have become more stridently conservative (if that makes sense).

 

And this years winner for the "Stating the ****in' obvious" Award goes too...

 

European Court Condemns Russia's 'Homophobic' Gay Propaganda Law

In practical reality, this ruling doesn't really matter. Both the Russian Constitutional Court and Putin himself have said, back in 2015, and he signed a law accordingly, that ECHR rulings that contradict Russian law will not be considered legally binding on Russia: Vladimir Putin signs law allowing Russia to ignore international human rights rulings

And the Constitutional Court reaffirmed this once again, this year: Russian Constitutional court denies enforcement of ECHR decision on Yukos | CIS Arbitration Forum - Online Journal about Dispute Resolution in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and the Region

But even before that, Russia has almost never complied with ECHR rulings. People, for example, from Chechnya, who suffered brutality and rights violations at the hands of federal forces during the conflict there, and won ECHR compensation orders as much as a decade ago, have yet to see a cent of that money. Moreover, they and their relatives then faced violent retaliation from Putin's Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov and his goons, and had to flee Chechnya and Russia altogether, in many cases.

The European Court is powerless to actually do much there, in Russia.

And most Russians back the anti-gay legislation, 68% supported it in a 2013 poll, with only 7% definitely against: Poll: vast majority of Russians support and aware of antigay law | Queerussia.Info

These backward attitudes there will take many more years to change, if ever...

They only became entrenched since the Soviet period, you know...

This is very interesting:

More: Irina Roldugina: ?In Russia, rabble-rousing specifically targets homosexuals? | Europe | DW | 17.05.2017

It's true.

All the way to today, when, in modern Russian prison camps, an inmate can get what is called "lowered" (opushchen) by other men there, i.e. violently raped, gang raped, by multiple other male prisoners.

This is routinely done to those serving time for sexual crimes against children, for example, in fact, pedophiles face a particular hell in many camps, they get turned into, essentially, sex slaves for the other inmates, and then murdered, when the others get bored with them. Many who go in for rapes of adult women also have to deal with such things.

But, not only deviants get "lowered". It is used as a punishment, as part of the Ponyatia, the Understandings, the unwritten, yet harshly enforced code of conduct of the Russian criminal world. For example, a man who rats/snitches on his comrades in a camp gets "lowered" for first offense. Do it again, and they will just slit your damned throat.

Only a Thief in Law, the highest criminal rank in the Former Soviet Union, the Tsars and Godfathers of prison gangs in the Russian speaking world, identified by their shoulder star tattoos

are exempt from "lowering". However, a Thief who is, for any reason, stripped of his title in prison (the title is also awarded ONLY behind bars, anyone claiming to be a Thief must provide info about the camp he was in and the other high ranking inmates who did the ceremony on him, as proof) can also be "lowered" as part of this.

Truthfully, in much of Russia, especially far away from Moscow, where people are less educated, many don't really even use the internet; and where the criminal culture is widespread; this is what homosexuality is associated with...

Many Russians spend time behind bars, Russia is second only to the US, as far as imprisoning citizens goes.

Up to 1.2 million men are incarcerated in Russia on any given day

Spoiler

I've read a statistic that something like 1 in 3 adult males in Russia have been through the prison camps, at this point, up to even 1 in 2, in some especially bad regions, in Siberia...

About 100,000 women are doing time as well

Spoiler

"Lowering" happens among females also, btw. In many ways, even worse than among the men, actually, from what I heard. Among other things, mop and broom handles have been used by female inmates to forcibly violate each other...

Thousands of juveniles are also imprisoned, and learn the Thief culture early on, with some of the toughest pack leaders already tattooing the stars on themselves, to get respect and fear from the other boys

Spoiler

And they also "lower" each other, as a punishment, again, mimicking the adults...

I think all this awful experience; this whole criminalization of Russian society, very much contributes, as the lady in the article notes, to the homophobic attitudes.

Gays are seen as "lowered" men; inferior by definition. Not people to respect or even really tolerate...

This won't change, until society itself changes for the better...

And this judgement, again, legally, means nothing. Russia has no intention of complying with it, their lawmakers already said so:

Council of Europe Using ECHR to 'Smear' Russia - Lawmaker on Gay Propaganda Ban

State Duma is Russian parliament. Federation Council is their senate.

So, in other words, as I said, they will change absolutely nothing, have no intention of complying with the ruling, and don't give a damn. And the court has no way to enforce its judgement on a big and powerful country, like Russia...

So, there you have it.

My only question, then, is, what's the point of continuing to participate, and keep your representative judge, in a court whose decisions you do not respect or honor anyway???

But, anyway, IMHO, this is, at least, a nice symbolic gesture of support to Russian LGBT people, who face violent repression and arrests from their state and from vigilante thugs, simply for proudly proclaiming themselves as who they are...

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

Ummm, just so people know...I am in fact gay myself.

 

We had an LGBT panel discussion at work this week, which I attended, asking a question for which I will provide full background within this forum.

As a kid, I was raised mostly by my mom while my dad worked the 2nd shift at work (2pm-10pm). As such, I'm much more comfortable around women than I am around men, particularly when having idle conversation. Additionally, my whole life, I have preferred to cross my legs when I sit. Add to this the fact that most of my "best friends" through the years have been men, and sometimes people in primary school would tease me for not conforming to gender norms (read "call me gay" or somesuch).
As a 12 or 13 year old, before puberty hit full swing, I was playing a game of truth or dare with a guy friend (and looking back on this, i think this was his plan at the beginning). One time, when I was brave enough to say 'dare' he waned me to put my mouth around his penis. At that age, I really didn't understand sexuality or anything like that. I had known this guy forever, our parents were friends, I had stayed with his family several times when my parents went on vacation, in our early life during sleepovers we would sometimes take showers at the same time (we used to play in a pond).
Now, I never told anybody about the 'truth or dare' encounter, but by high school, when I had determined to which gender I was attracted (turns out, I like the ladies), people knew at least a little about the encounter. He and I still were cordial by this time, but weren't spending time at each others houses any more. Additionally, he didn't really have a significant other until college...but anyway, back to the story.
My then-girlfriend, now ex-wife (another long story) had heard the rumor. Fast forward about 10 years, when the divorce was in full swing, and one of her epithets which were hurled at me as an attempt to get under my skin was that "she hoped I realized one day that i was gay so I could find happiness". Again, I've known for many years which gender arouses me, and who is anybody else to tell one otherwise...
She and I had had a son together who was diagnosed as autistic. I was awarded full custody of him (a smaller part of that above long story i left out) and about a year after the divorce was done, I was selling the house and temporarily living in my brother's mother-in-law apartment in the basement of his house in a nice neighborhood. One neighbor took it upon themselves to ask my brother "whether he was renting to two gay men", to which my brother replied that it was his brother and his nephew.
By the way, the other guy in the 'truth or dare' story got together in college with a girl from our high school whom many had called "butch". They're married and have two girls that I've only seen through online videos. Do they love each other, or did they find a kindred spirit, both afraid of their feelings, to which they were afraid to relate? The world may never know...

Anyway, moral of the story and back to the question I asked at the LGBT panel: There have been several times in my life where people have made the assumption that I am homosexual, at which times I have felt the need to defend myself. Are there times in anybody's life where they have had encounters where people assume they are heterosexual, where they have then felt they had to announce themselves, even if the situation wouldn't have otherwise called for it?

I've said this in the forum before, my experiences have led me to the privilege that I know who I am. I comport myself only as 'me' not as anybody's interpretation of me. I'm given that comfort and I do my best to afford that comfort to anybody else. I'm proud to be an LGBT ally.
I apologize for the long post...

 

Defend yourself? That's an interesting choice of words. It kind of sounds like you think being gay is something negative. Most people who are truly allies wouldn't bat an eye at somebody assuming they're gay.

 

I've been called gay countless times. I wear it as a badge of honour.

 

I've been called gay countless times. I wear it as a badge of honour.

 

Don't get me wrong, and much of what I explained was in and before high school, but my reaction "defending myself" was more of an attempt to set the record straight. I don't mean to imply that being gay is or was shameful, I just have always made conscious decisions on the road to who I am. At work, I sit on a Diversity & Inclusion committee where throughout the year, we celebrate the diverse lifestyles & ethnicities within the office.
No judgement of lifestyle other than my own...

 

I'm sorry, all. I certainly meant no offense in anything, especially my wording. I am a supporter for everybody's choices, including my own, to comport themselves how they chose and live your life as one desires.

 

Uh, hey bro.... homosexuality isn't a choice or a lifestyle.

 

I just must not be good at trying to pick the right words. Of course it's a lifestyle.
Point I've been trying to make is that who i am is important to me and I applaud everybody else for being the people they are.

 

I thought you made a very good post , a person's sexual preference is important to them , and having someone tell you that you're not that is basically like being called a fake/dishonest , and no-one likes that .

.

 

Don't apologize for your opinion man. Everyone has a right to support it or not to, that's your choice.

 

Without knowing the full story I'd guess it perhaps acts as an easy answer for your ex thinking the breakup was down to sexual preference rather than whatever actually caused it, something that potentially removes any blame from her side as well.

 

yeah man totally, this one time when i was in fifth grade the other boys kept yelling STRAIGHT STRAIGHY UR A STRAIGHT BOY and HAHA BREEDER STUPID BREEDER YOU LIKE GIRLS and other similar things at me and it made me sooo mad and i was like omg no im gay, i like boys!!!!! but they wouldnt even listen to me and they kept teasing me for liking girls even though i didnt!

so then i kicked them all in the balls, so as to assert my homosexuality.

 

I know a PE teacher who literally introduces herself to classes by saying "Hi, I'm Miss _____, I'm a lesbian." Does that count?