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Seriously? A Gay Exorcism?

watch?v=vhedHERfcXk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.examiner.com%2Fx-6665-Liberal-Examiner~y2009m6d26-Seriously-A-Gay-Exorcism&feature=player_embedded

Seriously? A Gay Exorcism?

Jenny Kakasuleff

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Liberal Examiner

June 26, 7:42 PM

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A Manifested Glory Ministries church is shown Wednesday, June 23, 2009 in Bridgeport, Conn. Gay rights advocates are outraged over a video that shows the Connecticut church performing an apparent exorcism of a boy to drive out what they call his homosexual demons. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey)

Proving once again, that one need not rely on The Onion for their daily, news-based comic relief—there is just nothing better than the ridiculous things that people actually do. Scouring headlines, I often find myself asking, “Seriously? That actually happened?” In honor of this reaction, I have begun a new series, tentatively and appropriate titled, “Seriously?”

Ignorant Pastor + Stigmatized Black Teen = Gay Exorcism

A video has emerged illustrating the exorcism of a reportedly 16 year-old homosexual teenager by a Connecticut church—Manifested Glory Ministries—which had posted the activity on their website. Not surprisingly, the footage of the young, black man, flailing about on the floor, sometimes violently and to the point of physical illness as Pastor Patricia McKinney ordered the “homosexual demon” out of his body, has garnered some attention.

The suggestive power in this particular case is quite striking, considering that Pastor McKinney described the young man as deeply “religious and spiritual.” Viewing the video as a skeptic, there seems to be a natural progression of give-and-take between the pastor and the “possessed” teen. As the pastor’s tone grows increasingly aggressive, the teen’s body seems to convulse more violently; as the pastor urges onlookers to quiet down and stop moving—the boy then stops moving. When the pastor once again takes up a harsh, aggressive tone toward the “demon,” and places a hand on the boy’s forehead, he begins writhing about violently, once again. See what’s going on here? I wonder if the demon was cast out, but instinctively, I’d bet probably not.

Pastor McKinney spoke out to defend the ministry, insisting that they do not have anything against homosexuals, they just “don’t agree with their lifestyle.” She goes on to describe when she had been overtaken by the “crack-cocaine spirit,” (poor decision-making) that forced her to exorcise the demon (get clean), before founding the ministry to help others controlled by Lucifer (ignorance.)

It is unfortunate that a young man, who likely not only feels the pressure of being a racial minority, but who is obviously afflicted by his sexual orientation—the so-called double-minority—has been made to believe that his lifestyle should have a stigma attached to it. What is even more unfortunate; is the role that religion has played in the falsified views he holds against himself. It is doubtful that his publicly-broadcasted exorcism is going to serve any other purpose than to provoke further guilt and shame. The act of counseling homosexuals against their natural impulses is ludicrous, and religious folk should spend more time spreading love, instead of hate.

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http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_govt-reviews-law-against-homosexuality_1268919

Govt reviews law against homosexuality

Govt reviews law against homosexuality

Vineeta Pandey / DNA

Saturday, June 27, 2009 2:37 IST

Text

New Delhi: After years of procrastination, the government has finally decided that section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) needs to be reviewed. The section bans sexual relationships among people

There is a move from the government's side. We are re-looking at the law. The Union home minister (P Chidambaram) has invited health minister (Ghulam Nabi Azad), home ministers of all states and me for consultations," Union law minister M Veerappa Moily
said on Friday.

A petition challenging arrests under the law is pending in the Delhi high court (HC), where the health and home ministries were at loggerheads over decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Former home minister Shivraj Patil and former health minister Anbumani Ramadoss had taken conflicting stands in court. Upset over the squabbling, prime minister Manmohan Singh had directed the ministers to resolve their differences.

Terming the matter 'serious', the HC, too, had told the government to sort the matter out at the earliest. While Moily refused to express his views on repealing section 377, saying the matter was sub judice, he made it clear that the ministries would no longer take conflicting stands.

Incidentally, Delhi will host the second gay pride march on Sunday. Anjali Gopalan of Naz Foundation, which filed a public interest litigation challenging the legality of the section, welcomed the move.

The home ministry is against a change in the law, arguing that homosexuality is not accepted by 'Indian society' and repealing the law would "open the floodgates of delinquent behaviour". It says this is the only law against child abuse and male rape.
But the health ministry has argued that homosexuals are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, hence the discrimination against them should end.

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http://www.geocities.com/pg2/coll/pras/prasstor.html

Friday, June 26, 2009

Re: shame on us - deviating from topic

Dear friends,

I found that some of you (Amit 69 <xtremesucker@...>, Angel <hairyandroid@...> ) have deviated from the topic and instead of discussing the main point, i.e., whether it is a logical decision to disclose your homosexuality when you are arrested by the police while attending a gay party, you are discussing my personal life. You are talking things like why I married my wife and why I am showing proud that I have disclosed my homosexuality to my wife after so many years.

I would like to clarify that I am not at all taking pround in my disclosure to her (I am actually repenting it). I always avoid writing anything about myself on these forums or anywhere else on the Internet. I wrote this only to point out the fact that although i am out to my wife and children, still I cannot take the risk of getting arrested by police. There was absolutely no other purpose. I am a little surprised why you people could not understand this simple thing. Please read my mail again. Have I anywhere shown any such proud?

Anyway, now that you have raised those questions, I am not able to resist my temptation to answer it. Please go through my autobiography:

My above story does not contain how and why I disclosed to my wife. That happened after I wrote my story.

My disclosure has reduced my pain of taking birth as a homosexual to a great level (although it has also increased my problems very much), but my wife is now in much more pain than she was before. My children's pain also increased. By disclosing, I passed on my pain to my wife and children.

However, one thing. My wife loves me very much even after disclosure. I suggested that we will take divorce so that she can marry again. She started weeping. She said - "Let me live with your in your house. There is no man better than you in this world. I can live without sex but not without you. I have already suffered a lot. Please do not give me more pain."

A man is proposing me for last four years. I also like him. I have seen his photo. We remain connected through E-mail and on STD. But there is no chance for me. I cannot divorce my wife and, thus, get him. I have already told him to find another partner. I will get something only in next birth.

I am a coward. I am not brave enough to commit suicide. Please pray for my early death.

Prashant

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Live-in gay couple still in the closet




Live-in gay couple still in the closet 26 Jun 2009, 0210 hrs IST, Shonali Ghosal, TNN

NEW DELHI: Every morning, without fail, Ravi wakes up well before the maid knocks at the door. While his lover Harsh sleeps, he folds the sheet and straightens his side of the bed. Then he goes to his own room and ruffles the sheet. It’s a daily ritual. Ravi needs to create this setting every day because he doesn’t want the maid to discover his closely-guarded secret: they are a gay couple. It isn’t just the maid. Barring some friends, neither their parents, nor their landlord or neighbours know that Ravi and Harsh (names changed) are homosexuals. They haven’t, as the expression goes, ‘come out’. Staying in the closet has enabled them to live together posing as just roommates. “One day I forgot to fold up my sheet in Harsh’s room. We were really scared thinking what if she finds out? There’s a lot of stress and tension over the slightest of things in our life, in order to keep our relationship a secret,” says Ravi. Ravi, 22, works for an MNC in South Delhi. Harsh, 24, is a computer engineer. They share an apartment in Gurgaon. They have been living together for about six months now. On several occasions, they were almost ‘caught’. Once a friend of Harsh came over when the two really weren’t expecting company. “We got into our separate rooms. But when he went into Harsh’s room he smelt perfume and asked what that was all about,” says Ravi, who’s over six feet tall. His partner made up the excuse that he had been with a woman whom he picked up the night before. “His friend bought the story instantly and even congratulated him! It is sad because it only means that for some people it is okay to be loose and immoral but not gay. The friend would’ve walked out on him if he had found out his sexual orientation,” he says. On another occasion, the two had gone for a walk at night and were holding hands when a cop saw them. He slapped them and asked them what they were doing. “Thankfully Harsh had a cigarette in his hand and we pretended to be just exchanging that. Since the cop had seen us from far, he wasn’t sure of what he’d seen. We told him we were just walking home after a drink and got off with a heavy fine. I don’t know for what,” says Ravi. Despite the constant worries and the need to be really careful all the time, Harsh prefers it this way. “We are afraid of being discovered not only for our own sake but for our families. Even if we assume our families will eventually learn to accept us, society will not. We don’t want our family to face the consequences. We’ve seen it with our other gay friends who came out.” Adds Ravi, “Even your job is at risk. You don’t get accommodation anywhere. Life becomes a living hell.” Some of their close friends cut them out once they came to know of their sexual orientation. “Quite a few, especially male friends, begin to behave differently and are almost scared of interacting with us. A few made us the target of their jokes saying things like ‘couldn’t find a woman so he decided to turn gay’. We have even been called faggots to our face,” says Ravi. The couple adjust their behaviour according to the place and the people around them. “If we are at a party at a close friend’s house, where we know most people, we sit back and relax. But if it’s anywhere else, we are really conscious and go out of our way to behave like two ordinary guys binging together. Even among our friends we have different levels of comfort with different sets of people,” he says. “Even if it’s just the two of us and we are out for dinner to celebrate an anniversary or something, we cannot do simple things like holding hands because of what other people will think or say,” says Ravi.

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Law panels OK with gays, but govt prefers ban




Law panels OK with gays, but govt prefers ban 25 Jun 2009, 1132 hrs IST, TNN

NEW DELHI: Two years after the gay rights movement kicked off around the world, India did the first review in 1971 of its colonial-vintage law criminalising "carnal intercourse against the order of nature." Now, when a gay march is due to be held this Sunday in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bhubaneswar to mark the 40th anniversary of the global movement, the Delhi HC is in the process of delivering its much-awaited verdict on whether section 377 of the Indian Penal Code should be "read down" to decriminalise private, consensual sex between adults. While making a case last year before the high court for retaining the archaic ban on homosexuality, government’s counsel P P Malhotra claimed that, despite having reviewed section 377 thrice since 1971, “none of the law commissions have suggested any change” in that provision. A closer look at the three law commission reports however reveals that they had, contrary to Malhotra’s submission, expressed reservations about section 377 and recommended various amendments. Consider the manner in which law commissions separated by over three decades sought to undo the anomalies of section 377 reflecting an evolution of their own understanding of this vexed issue: Fifth Law Commission in 1971: The first review of section 377, conducted by this panel headed by jurist K V K Sundaram, followed the repeal in 1967 of a similar ban on homosexuality in Britain. Much as it appreciated Britain’s new position that an act that fell in the realm of private morality and did no harm to others could not be penalised, the commission still felt that there were “a few sound reasons for retaining the existing law in India”. Adopting a conservative view, the commission was: “We are inclined to think that Indian society, by and large, disapproves of homosexuality and this disapproval is strong enough to justify it being treated as a criminal offence even where adults indulge in it in private.” Despite such reluctance to rock the boat, the commission could not help suggesting two significant reforms to section 377. It said that the heading of the provision should change from “unnatural offences” to “buggery”. Since unnatural offences have been defined to include not just buggery but also bestiality, the commission suggested that animals be kept out of the purview of section 377. Further, it said that the maximum penalty for buggery be reduced from 10 years to two years while prescribing a more severe penalty for paedophiles committing this offence. Fourteenth Law Commission in 1997: Headed by former Supreme Court judge K Jayachandra Reddy, this commission reiterated the need to amend section 377 so that its focus shifts from criminalizing homosexuality to cracking down on “the growing incidence of child sexual abuse”. It sought to serve this purpose by proposing a minimum sentence of two years for those who commit the offence on a person less than 18 years. Fifteenth Law Commission in 2000: The clearest signal to emulate the British precedent of decriminalising homosexuality came from this panel chaired by former Supreme Court judge B P Jeevan Reddy. For, it recommended that no sexual intercourse between adults, whether heterosexual or otherwise, should be penalised unless it was non-consensual. Accordingly, the commission proposed that the definition of rape should be made “gender-neutral” so that a non-consensual sexual act committed on a person of the same sex was also covered by it. As a corollary, it said that section 377 would have to go as homosexuality per se could no more be treated as an offence. “In the light of the change affected by us in section 375 (definition of rape), we are of the opinion that section 377 deserves to be deleted... (as) the only content left in section 377 is having voluntary carnal intercourse with any animal. We may leave such persons to their just desserts,” the commission said, with a touch of irony. The irony seems to have been lost on the government as its counsel made out before the high court that none of the law commissions over the years had ever called for any change in section 377.

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Thursday, June 25, 2009

If impotent couples can marry why can't lesbians or gays

If impotent couples can marry why can't lesbians or gays

In her latest blog post Celina addresses detractors who feel threatened by gay rights with a meticulously reasoned defence. She quips: 'Nobody wants you to change your sexual preference'.

Here are some of the excerpts from her post:

Of recent a group called YUVA has challenged my movement and sent a letter to the police / various politicians and, can you believe it, to the Pope as well (from what I’ve heard) to take action against me. I have only one thing to say to them...

I am a motivator and an activist; I am here to do things with love and peace. India is the world’s largest democracy and just like they are expressing their views, other people also have the right to express their views and practice their basic fundamental rights.

In case they forgot, the list is mentioned / available in any 5th grade civics book. However, let me refresh their memories with a few fundamental rights... especially those that imply to my movement...

RIGHT TO CONSTITUTIONAL REMEDY

Right to constitutional remedies empowers the citizens to move a court of law in case of any denial of the fundamental rights.

Once again, thanks to many supporters (especially iTimes), my best friend Indu (who people think is my mystery man), all my fans — especially 12-year-old Astangla who wrote to me by postcard from Kohima to tell me she understands me... thank-you all for making this possible.

I took out time to research points which bother the non-supporters and here they are: I welcome more feedback from people who have constructive points to offer...

So let’s begin with what exactly is Section 377....

Section 377 of Indian Penal Code basically bans gay sex and has to be amended/overturned as this law has been used to systematically persecute, blackmail arrest and terrorize sexual minorities.

The legislation was introduced by British colonial authorities and does not reflect on Hindu cultural values. Section 377 was drafted as early as 1860 and it reads as follows: “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

The irony about this law is it is a British colonial relic... and while the Brits have changed their homosexuality related legislation, we in India are still clinging on to it for our lives.

Being gay is not a western / new concept. Homosexuality has existed since the homo erectus became homo sapien. In fact, according to zoologists, homosexual behaviour is seen in over 1, 500 species of animals.

Many societies, including classical Greece and Rome, ancient China and pre-colonial America had accepted homosexuality as a part of every day life.

In ancient Greece, sex between men was not uncommon and was considered a natural part of the socialisation process. The term “army of lovers” also comes from this period. Each man in the army had a male partner who fought beside him in battle.

The idea being that an army of lovers would fight to protect each other more fiercely than a regular army. While in some tribes in Papua New Guinea when a woman is pregnant her husband will have sex with other men.

Furthermore in certain African tribes homosexual men are honoured so highly they are given the right to perform religious acts normally reserved for priestesses.

If we look at the origins of the European Judeo-Christian culture we can see that homosexuality has been attacked to a greater or lesser extent from about the 17th century BC. At this time the Jews were returning from exile in Babylon.

Until then, homosexuality had been associated with the rituals of many religions. The Jews were afraid that their culture would be absorbed into the surrounding peoples and thus developed a series of laws that separated them from their neighbours. These laws became the Book of Leviticus in the Old Testament.

One of the practices that was changed to create a sense of national identity was that homosexuality was banned.

So far this is what ‘I’ know historically about homosexuality...more to come soon from my further research.

If two adults out of consent want to live their lives together then why should a third party get offended? In what way does a gay union disrupt our regular lives?

At least people are getting together for love and not for war and for using religion to harm innocent people. The first country to allow same-sex couples to enter into legally recognized marriage was the Netherlands, effective in 2001.

Since then, six other countries and seven US states have followed suit, though voters in California revoked it. Additionally, Israel, the US state of New York and Washington DC recognize legal same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions but do not perform their own.To think of same sex marriage is of utmost importance because as a human right every one has the right to “have a family” and if two people are capable of creating a loving environment, why not.

According to certain bloggers, they say gay marriages will cause population to decrease (some were worried about extinction as well), because marriage is meant to procreate. Consider this. If there is a necessary link between marriage and procreation, strange consequences would follow.

A state could and, to be consistent, should prohibit marriage in which one or both partners are sterile or impotent. If procreation is the essential goal of marriage, why should postmenopausal women be allowed to marry? Surely, discrimination against sterile, impotent, or aged couples would be unacceptable to citizens of many different perspectives.

The rationale would be that marriage serves functions that are as important as, if not more important than, procreation, including interpersonal commitment, religious or moral expression, sexual satisfaction, and the legal entitlements associated with spouse-hood.

If elderly, sterile, or impotent couples cannot be denied the right to marry because of a traditional link between marriage and procreation, neither can lesbian or gay couples be denied the right for that type of reason.

Come on people, why are we finding silly reasons to hate? Here I am spending hours on trying to convince you to accept and not reject. My reason to speak on this platform is to invoke passion for your fellow beings... that’s it.

Nobody wants you to change your sexual preference, nobody wants you to start embracing an alternate way of living, I just want you to be nice. It’s ok if you do not support the cause but that doesn’t give you a reason to hate...

Courtesy: itimes.com

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How to increase the gay factor in your life

posted: Thu, Jun 25 2009. 10:20 PM IST

Culture

How to increase the gay factor in your life

I admire gay people because they have to tread a path wrought with thorns. Their life pits conviction against convenience

As you read this, I might be marching in Bangalore’s Gay Pride march that takes off tomorrow from the conservative suburb of Basavangudi and ends at Town Hall. The police permissions still haven’t come through (I write this a week in advance) but the organizers are hoping that everything will work out. Last year, about 800 homosexuals, lesbians, hijras (eunuchs), kothis (effeminate homosexuals) and transgender activists marched at this now annual parade, which marks the end of a week of events that Bangalore’s gay community puts together to celebrate itself and spread the message.

Out and about: At the gay and lesbian cricket match in Bangalore. Photo: Shoba Narayan

This column is about the collision of worlds: the straight and the gay. When I was an art student in college most of my friends were gay. I went from viewing them as abnormal to being their friend.

I admire gay people because they have to tread a path wrought with thorns. Their life pits conviction against convenience. For Nitya Vasudevan, who is doing a PhD in culture studies, this means swimming against the tide of the TamBrahm culture that she belongs to. Vasudevan is thoughtful and pretty, with light eyes, and in a sleeveless red tank top. “Identity is a huge part of being gay,” she tells me. “The hijras and the kothis, for instance, are able to celebrate their homosexuality openly—in the way they dress and talk—while most of us in the professional world play it down and try to appear normal.”

I meet Vasudevan at a gay and lesbian cricket match. I am there because I miss my gay friends. I miss their refreshing take on life; their ability to balance risk with compromise; and the cool things they wear and try. After three years in Bangalore, I’ve had my fill of the wholesome mommy-wagon. I want change, variety, a contrast to my granola world. In desperation, I call a journalist friend in Mumbai and ask how I can access the gay scene in Bangalore. He mentions the gay and lesbian cricket match, which is how I find myself, one Sunday afternoon, watching cricket and talking to gay people.

Also Read Shoba’s previous Lounge columns

First, there are the formalities. The archaic section 377 of the Indian Penal Code still deems homosexuality illegal in India. This means that I have to warn everyone I talk to. Are you sure it will be okay for your photo to appear in a newspaper, I ask. Will you lose your job because of this? Are you out—to family and friends?

My guide is Siddharth Narain, a lawyer with the Alternative Law Forum. How do straight people like me access your world, I ask. He rounds up some people and instructs me on who to photograph, including Vasudevan and Joshua Muyiwa.

I begin with the journalese. “I want to write a column about how straight people in Bangalore can access the gay world,” I say. Are there gay nightclubs like the ones in Berlin and New York?

No such thing, they reply. Come to Koshy’s, where we hang out. Or come to Golden Rose bar, off Brigade Road; or Bunkers. I make notes. Muyiwa writes about dance and culture for Time Out Bangalore.

I have an easy way to measure my prejudices. I simply ask myself, would I want to be part of that world? Would I want my kids to be part of that world? My own answer is that I wouldn’t mind being gay (even though I am not) but I would have trouble if my children were gay. Not because I don’t envy the intellectual freedom and creativity that gay people possess. It is no accident that some of the world’s best photographers and designers are gay. I don’t want my kids to be gay for that oldest (and arguably stupidest) of reasons: No parent wants his or her child to struggle. And the gay life in India, while rich in experience and texture, forces you to fight for social acceptance. And life is hard enough… You get the gist.

How is it for you, I ask Nitin Manayath, who teaches communication at Mount Carmel College. And then I go through the drill. Are you sure it is okay to mention your name and your employer’s? Manayath is sanguine. The management of Mount Carmel has been incredibly supportive, he says, even though some people complained about his nose ring. The thing about being gay, he says, is that every human interaction is like coming “out” all over again. When people at work find out you are gay, they think you are an ambassador for the gay community. They ask questions such as “Do I look gay,” and “What do gay people think about this”. So you have to explain and justify all the time. It reminds me of being an immigrant in a foreign land and the tiresome explanations it demanded.

A nose ring is a small thing but it encapsulates the worlds I straddle. My mother (who doesn’t read Mint, which is why I can write this with impunity) thinks of a nose ring as a sacred ornament. She often asks me if I want to get my nose pierced. To her, a nose ring is one of the solah-shrungar—16 ornaments or “love charms” that Hindu women wear. A nose ring is also what Manayath wears, just for fun, at the risk of appearing weird to the students who throng his communication classes at Mount Carmel College.

So I have a request of Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi. Repeal section 377. Decriminalize homosexuality. “Gayness” has been around for years; long enough to measure control groups; long enough to realize that it is biological; long enough for each of us to contend with the possibility that our kids might end up gay. And that would be okay.

I realize that the things we struggle for are the things that transform us; that a struggle, in retrospect, is what makes you who you are. Being gay may be a struggle, but it also just is—not a choice, not a consciously articulated path—but just part of who you are.

Shoba Narayan plans to go to Bunkers after putting her kids into their bunk beds. Write to her at thegoodlife@livemint.com

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