January 23, 2012

‘Black Folks Won’t Vote For A Mormon’ And ‘Gays Make God Want To Vomit

  By Bossip Staff

dozier santorum gay vomit
Rick Santorum’s honorary chairman of his Florida campaign, Rev. O’Neal Dozier, is an interesting character with strong beliefs against gays and Mormons:
Rick Santorum will quietly make his first stop in Florida, site of the next primary on January 31. He’ll be dropping in to see the honorary chairman of his state campaign—a Bush-connected Islamophobic pastor who says gays “make God want to vomit.”
Santorum, the other conservative darling in the Republican presidential race, plans to speak from the pulpit at the Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach on Sunday morning. It might seem a strange stop for a white Catholic Republican from the Northeast: While the ocean-facing side of Pompano is affluent and conservative, WWC literally sits on the wrong side of the tracks in the Collier City neighborhood—a poor, tight-knit African American district that swung strongly for Barack Obama in 2008. But WWC is different: It’s run by the Rev. O’Neal Dozier, a firebrand social conservative who’s tried to turn this depressed community red, and has been rewarded handsomely by Republican politicians for his efforts. Dozier opened his church in 1985 and immediately began preaching a different kind of gospel. “We teach and preach on the cultural issues,” he says in a recent video. “We also teach and preach on the war on terror. We teach and preach on the dangers of Islam and Islamic fascism here.” He says he was heavily influenced by the work of the Rev. D. James Kennedy, a founding father of the Christian right who started the annual Reclaiming America for Christ political conference at his church complex just down the street in Fort Lauderdale.
As Republicans courted him, Dozier continued to express some of his most extreme views. At a Reclaiming America convention in 2003, Dozier declared that “We should take control of every facet of society.” He added that God was “100 percent for capital punishment. Oh, yeah, God knew some were going to slip through, a few innocent ones. He knew that. But you cannot have a society without capital punishment.”
 It is cursed.”After Santorum said his piece at Worldwide Christian Center, Dozier told the Palm Beach Post that Mitt Romney was bound not for the White House, but for hell. “You can look at the June Gallup poll that shows the people have already spoken—22 percent of the electorate will not vote for a Mormon,” he told the paper. “The American people will not vote for a Mormon to be president of the United States.” Dozier added that he expected his neighborhood to turn out for Romney. “Blacks are not going to vote for anyone of the Mormon faith,” he said. “The book of Mormon says the Negro skin 
He reserved his greatest fervor for that “paramount of sins,” homosexuality—which he declared was “something so nasty and disgusting that it makes God want to vomit.”
 Only would black not vote for the muslims?  Evangelicals wont either. The thought that this nation had turned around from its bad days in killing,  based on religion and color of skin after we elected our first half black president. 
I never believed  and had Obama had my ear I would have said wait a little longer…you are young and things will only get better for your running for President. But he doesn’t listen to adamfoxie*. No problem.  Some of us that know history knew that something good had happened and it will be followed by the same type of paranoia and violence when John F Kennedy, a first Catholic was elected. But should it be?
 Nothing is more discriminatory than any club, be a credit card, vets club or a church temple or synagogue.  All based on rules that belong, based on some guys idea of how it should be. 
Now we see a president..a good man..that over-promised because as he was told thats how you get elected. But the Issue is not the president but how the GOP puts out it’s panties out to dry. Very wholly and only in white. We can only be spectators as the republicans don’t destroy them selves but rather unify to bring out their worse can see on a candidate since……Jown W.? I don’t know…but I do remember how cocky many of us were until Gore decided to go and invade Bush’s space to look tough and alpha meo. I said 'what an idiot we just lost'…we did…I bet no $ should have done at least that. 
But I am to much depress to think about the next 4 years, and then it turned to 8 years. That was it. Lost All my faith on the system and saw that we americans have been lucky. Lucky to survived after we have had so many ass’s of Presidents.  But after 9/11 this power of the presidency is grown to unknown proportions. Another Nixon there..and we have candidates now that would put him to shame..ask his son or the writings of his wife. We would destroy who we are and just be a good place to fuck anybody and I don’t mean making love! Adam Gonzalez for adamfoxie*

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Steven Tyler's National Anthem? } Any Beef From You?


 

What did you think?

By Tom Weir, USA TODAY
 
By Matt Slocum, AP

American Idol
 judgeSteven Tyler is getting some grief for his somewhat screeching version of theStar Spangled Banner,performed yesterday before the Patriots-Ravens game.
Here's the YouTube of it, which included the muffed lyric of "as bombs bursted in air."
That made it somewhat reminiscent of Christina Aguilera's rendition of the national anthem at last year's Super Bowl, when she too forgot the lyrics.
Given that Tyler has moved on from being an Aerosmith performer to being a judge on Idol, shouldn't we expect him to give a little more attention to the simple matter of getting our national anthem right?
Our Lifeline blog ran a poll, and it's getting slammed there.
So, what do our sports readers think about Tyler's performance?






Bullying Claims Another Young Life } 14 yrs Old Phillip Parker

GORDONSVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
A Gordonsville boy's parents say bullying caused their son to take his own life.  Phillip Parker, 14, died this week. His parents said he was constantly bullied for being gay.
More than 100 people gathered in Gordonsville on Saturday night, grieving the loss of Phillip.
"He was fun, he was energetic, he was happy," said Gena Parker, Phillip's mother.
To his many friends, Phillip was known as the boy who told everyone they're beautiful.
"He kept telling me he had a rock on his chest," said Ruby Harris, Phillip's grandmother. "He just wanted to take the rock off where he could breathe."
Phillip's family said they reported their concerns over their son's bullying to Gordonsville High School on multiple occasions, but the bullying by a group of students just got worse.
"I believe my whole family up in heaven's taking good care of him," said friend Megan Redinger. 
"I want to say I love him dearly," added friend Heather Hunt. "He'll never be forgotten. He's always in my heart."
"That's my son," said Phillip Parker, Phillip's father. "I love him. I miss him. He shouldn't have had to kill himself to be brought to life."
An official with Smith County Schools told Channel 4 they are now planning how to handle a crisis situation with students Monday. Friends added they are planning to set up a memorial fund in Phillip's name but haven't made the arrangements just yet.





Unimaginable Japanese Censorship on Gay/Homosexual Comics

http://www.weirdasianews.com



Extreme Japanese Censorship: Manga Comics and Homosexuality?

  •  Japanese Manga censors have always collided with the public perception of artistic expression.
censor2 Extreme Japanese Censorship: Manga Comics and Homosexuality? picture
The issue usually concerns “Loli Manga,” the adorable childlike characters that are depicted in potentially erotic situations.
That’s one thing, perhaps, but it’s quite another to claim that sexually aggressive women turn children who read about them into homosexuals and lesbians.
Part of the problem with the censorship law that went into effect in 2010 is the fact that it is very vaguely worded. It permits censorship of any media that “promotes illegal or immoral sexual activity.”
censor1 Extreme Japanese Censorship: Manga Comics and Homosexuality? picture
Censors can interpret those parameters any way they see fit, imposing their own standards onto a medium considered by many to be art.
Of course, the definition of “art” is subject to interpretation as well, and not every Japanese parent may consider beautiful gay boys engaging in erotic situations suitable reading material for their children.
For years, Japanese censors have tolerated manga comic books and animated movies.
Japanese comics are read by adults as well as children and have seeped into pop culture. Fetishes, violent sex, incest and so-called Lolita-porn, or erotic drawings of female childlike characters are common themes, but these comics are also more sophisticated than others of their ilk.
They often explore complex subjects, including business, war and politics. A manga version of Marx’s Das Kapital recently made it into print, joining Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Hitler’s Mein Kampf and Shakespeare’s King Lear.
Manga has never been accepted by the conservative element in Japanese society as it is considered “unwholesome.” A genre called boys’ love aimed at younger women depicts idealized, homo-erotic relationships between young men.
The impact of such material on children has been a controversial sore spot for years, much like the American debate concerning violence on television and its ramifications on young minds.
Violent manga and anime have been cited in the trials of several notorious Japanese serial killers, but the truth is that sexual and violent crimes are comparatively rare in Japan.
The latest complaint about manga pushes the envelope into the realm of the weird and totally ridiculous. It concerns those manga scenes depicting women as sexual aggressors.
The logic behind this complaint defies reason as it suggests that women who take the lead in sexual matters are making children understand that this means they will develop sexually as homosexuals.
In consequence, conservative politicians may well cripple one of Japan’s few growth industries with their absurd censorship laws.
Fear of homosexuality cannot be legislated or un-legislated, for it comes from a cosmos of ignorance and prejudice from where, without an honest appraisal of one’s own fears, there can never be an escape.




Thor star Chris Hemsworth having a splash about in St Barts.


Here's Thor star Chris Hemsworth having a splash about in St Barts.

Chris Hemsworth
© WENN.COM


Chris Hemsworth
© WENN.COM


Chris Hemsworth
© WENN.COM


Right, we're off to have a "splash about" in the bath.





Honduras Is Test of New US Policy on Gay Rights


Honduras


by: Tim Johnson, McClatchy Newspapers | Report
San Pedro Sula, Honduras - From U.N. chambers to the halls of the State Department, global pressure on countries to protect the rights of gay people and transgender people is rising.
For Josue Hernandez, the new emphasis can't come fast enough.
The 33-year-old gay activist bears the scar of the bullet that grazed his skull in an attack a few years ago. He's moved the office of his advocacy group four times. Still, he feels hunted in what is arguably the most homophobic nation in the Americas.
"We are in a deplorable state," Hernandez said of gays in Honduras. "When we walk the streets, people shout insults at us and throw rocks. Parents move their children away."
Three months ago, a U.N. report declared that discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people — or LGBT — violates core international human rights law. It listed nations where violations are most severe.
Joining a push that originated in Europe, the Obama administration said in December that respect for LGBT rights is now a factor in its foreign policy decisions.
"Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in what diplomats described as a landmark speech Dec. 6 in Geneva. "It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal to be gay, or allow those who harm gay people to go unpunished."
But even as that view grows more prevalent, it has yet to translate into better security, less hostility or fewer killings in places like Honduras, a nation of 8 million people in Central America.
Since the beginning of 2010, Honduras has tallied at least 62 homicides within the LGBT community, and some experts say the count may be far higher. Some victims have been mutilated and even burned.
The killing of gays is part of broader lawlessness. Honduras registered more than 6,700 homicides last year and has the highest per capita murder rate in the hemisphere.
One recent victim was Carlos Porfirio Juarez, a 25-year-old deaf mute who was taking hormones as part of a switch in gender to become "Karlita."
On Dec. 4, Juarez vanished while seeking sex clients at the Obelisco Park near the army general staff headquarters in Comayaguela, a city adjacent to the capital, Tegucigalpa.
"She didn't have a purse, a cellular phone or anything of value," said Jose Zambrano of the Association for a Better Quality of Life for those Infected with HIV/AIDS in Honduras.
"Only her life," added Zambrano's sister, Sandra, a leader of the group.
The killer stabbed Juarez in the chest multiple times.
Experts point to conservative religious sentiment, machismo, rampant impunity, and social pressure on police to "cleanse" undesirables for the violence against people who defy sexual and gender norms.
"The connotation of being gay, lesbian or trans here is that we are worthless. We have no rights. We should be killed," said Ramon Antonio Valladares, leader of the nonprofit Sanpedrana Gay Community. "We've had people who were tortured, who were crushed and spattered against the wall."
Few businesses catering to the gay community find a way to keep doors open in this manufacturing metropolis. It has only two known gay bars.
"The police always come around with 'orders.' They allege some regulation or other, trying to shut the door. They say things like, 'There are minors here,'" said Valladares.
For gays, the battle can be both public and private. Some relatives shun them when they reveal their sexual orientation, forcing them onto the streets. Many, struggling to survive, turn to prostitution to earn a living.
Several dozen nonprofit groups that offer services, such as HIV testing, say they've been thwarted in efforts to register as corporations, a step that would grant them the legal status to open a bank account, appoint a board of directors or function as organizations.
"We've tried to incorporate twice and we've been rejected both times," said Josue Hernandez, a leader of the Center for Education in Health, Sexuality and AIDS Prevention, a group with some 500 volunteers that has been operating since 1996.
Despite public antipathy, dozens of gay activists gather in front of the federal prosecutor's office in Tegucigalpa on the 13th of every month, the anniversary of the 2009 slaying of Walter Trochez, a prominent activist killed in a drive-by shooting.
Hostility toward gays spilled into the newspapers in October.
When promoters announced a benefit concert by pop singer Ricky Martin, who is openly gay, evangelical and Catholic leaders demanded that he be detained at the border to "protect the moral and ethical principles of our society." President Porfirio Lobo ordered immigration to let him in, saying that anything else would be "a highly reprehensible act of intolerance." Still, youngsters under 15 were banned from the concert because of alleged "erotic content."
Under Clinton's directive, U.S. embassies around the world have been instructed to champion LGBT protection and to take an active role in hotspots like Honduras, Uganda, Malawi, Pakistan and Serbia by channeling funds to advocacy groups and ensuring local officials know that assistance is linked to the issue.
Under pressure from Washington, Honduran authorities ordered police to set up a unit to investigate crimes against gay people and others. The unit began work in November. That unit and a partner squad of a prosecutor, three detectives and two analysts have been given U.S. funds to function. Even so, there have been fewer than five arrests in LGBT slayings.
U.S. Ambassador Lisa Kubiske said she believes the policy emphasis to protect rights associated with sexual orientation will have an impact, and not just in Honduras.
"It's a little bit like Secretary Clinton's work with women. Some people laughed when she first started focusing on women-led initiatives. But over the years, she's encouraged a lot of people to get active," Kubiske said in an interview. "I'm sure that getting LGBT conversations into the mainstream of what gets discussed creates an acceptance, and when you use language like 'these are people, too' it will make a difference."
Advocates for legal protection of sexual diversity say they see favorable global trends. Groups supporting gays are emerging openly, they say. Spikes of violence against activists may actually signal headway.
"The general arc of acceptance and tolerance is headed in a positive direction," said Mark Bromley, chairman of the Council for Global Equality, a Washington-based advocacy group.
In some parts of the world, violence against gay people rises and falls in tune with political cycles. Leaders use the issue to divert attention from other pressures, including economic hardship and demands for greater participation.
"President (Robert) Mugabe created the textbook in Zimbabwe for scapegoating the LGBT community for distracting attention from corrupt elections and difficult economic times," Bromley said, referring to a campaign in that southern African nation over the past decade.
Laws criminalizing homosexuality have led the U.S. and British governments to threaten economic assistance to Malawi, Ghana and Uganda in Africa.
"It does translate into dollars and cents," Bromley said, referring to the economic assistance, but "conditionality really is not the main tool in the tool kit."
He said a greater emphasis on providing training and funding to gay rights groups operating in difficult environments, such as Russia, has the potential for lasting impact, while U.S. diplomats bring up gay rights as part of broader human rights discussions.
Bromley said persistent discussions on the matter "can be slow and, at times, tedious, but over the long term they do have impact."
© 2012 McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
Truthout has licensed this content. It may not be reproduced by any other source and is not covered by our Creative Commons license.

 





Ruffalo: “ I was Hesitant Actor Should be Gay" } "Glee" "The Normal Heart."


Roberts Baldwin Parsons Bomer - H 2012
Getty Images

 This article posted at  Hollywoodreporter.com

Ryan Murphy is putting together an all-star cast for his latest film project, the big-screen adaptation of the Tony Award-winning drama The Normal Heart, being produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B shingle.
 
Julia Roberts and Alec Baldwin, plus White Collar   star  Matt Bomer and Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons, are joiningMark Ruffalo in the autobiographical drama, written by Larry Kramer, that details the rise of HIV/AIDS in New York’s gay community in the 1980s. Murphy, who hit mainstream success with Glee, is directing from a script by Kramer.
The play won the Tony for best revival last year, as well as best supporting actor and best supporting actress (for John Benjamin Hickey and Ellen Barkin, respectively). It also garnered nominations for best actor and best directing. It was originally staged Off-Broadway  in 1985 and has seen several revivals in London and Los Angeles.
Murphy optioned the rights to the play last August and had Ruffallo attached as Ned Weeks, who is one of the first to raise an alarm when what was then known as  “gay cancer" surfaces in New York.
Roberts will play Emma Brookner, a wheel-chair bound doctor who is one of the only doctors in New York talking the new disease seriously. That role is the one that won Barkin her Tony.

Baldwin is playing Weeks’ brother, a lawyer having a hard time dealing with his sibling's sexuality.
Bomer’s character is that of Felix Turner, a gay fashion journalist who becomes Week’s boyfriend and tragically contracts the disease. Bomer will be stepping into the shoes that won Hickey his Tony.
Parsons, who acted in the Broadway version, will reprise his role, that of a Southererner who is a gay activist and part of a gay men’s health crisis group. 
Murphy's last film was Eat, Pray, Love, which starred Roberts. With Glee and his FX series American Horror Story, he is one of the few writer/directors who regularly tackle gay themes to both critical and popular success.
CAA is putting together the financing and insiders say Participant Pictures is circling.
Roberts (CAA, Hirsch Wallerstein) next stars in Relativity’s Snow White fairy tale Mirror Mirror while Baldwin (CAA, N2N Entertainment) next appears in New Line’s adaptation of the Broadway hit Rock of Ages.





Tunisia } Interior Minister in Gay Scandal

Interior minister, Ali Larayedh
Tunisia’s new interior minister, Ali Larayedh, has been embroiled in controversy and scandal as a leaked video allegedly shows him in a gay prison sex video. This scandal has outraged and inflamed public opinion regarding homosexuality which was already jittery due to the electoral political tactics that used sexuality in order to discredit various opponents.
On 18th January, a 45 minute long black and white video dating from 1991, showing two men having sex, was posted on YouTube. The occasional close-up on one of the men’s faces resembles Ali Larayedh, the current interior minister and a member of the ruling Islamist party Ennahda who won last years’ October elections after the first Arab spring rebellion which deposed dictator Ben Ali. The poor quality of the video makes it difficult to determine the video’s authenticity, or whether Larayedh is actually in the video. The video on the site was quickly removed, although it is still available on file-sharing sites.
In 1990 Ali Larayedh was arrested by Ben Ali’s police for his activity as a member of the then illegal Ennahda party and was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a show trial. He alleges that he has been tortured while serving his jail sentence, while in 1992 his wife was sexually assaulted during an investigation at the Ministry of the Interior.
The alleged video of Ali Larayedh from his time in prison was posted shortly after an announcement by the Tunisian government that three arrest warrants had been issued for senior officials at the Ministry of the Interior. Responsibility for uploading the video was claimed by Jalel Brick, a well known left wing opponent to the ruling islamist party Ennahdha, who claimed he got the video tape from a Tunisian secret police officer.Tarek, Tunisian Editor for Gay Middle East notes that “the security forces of Tunisia have largely remained intact since the time of Ben-Ali and thus many of its personnel are potentially hostile to the Ennahda party,” In other words, the video may have been leaked by someone in the Ministry of the Interior, or perhaps former a high-ranking police officer, wishing to undermine Ali Larayedh by further inciting public opinion using a tactic dubbed “porno politics” by Tunisian activist Ahmed Manaï. According Manaï’s book, book, “Tunisian Torture: The Secret Garden of General Ben Ali”, tactics to discredit political opponents through exposing sexual scandals, and in particular homosexual ones were used by the deposed Tunisian dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, during the early 1990s.
The background to this scandal is important to note. Two days before this incident (16.1.12) Naji Behiri, the brother of the Tunisian Minister of Justice, Noureddine Behiri, was released from prison under presidential amnesty, despite allegation from his hometown that he raped a young boy. Tarek attests: “A wave of public anger erupted across the nation accusing Ennahda party of being at league with homosexuals and paedophiles, terms that were used interchangeably. Highly homophobic comments were posted on related news articles and throughout the social networking sites, mostly asking that Naji Behiri remains in prison and tried and punished for sodomy. Conspiracy theories of homosexual corruption and cover up within the Ennahda party have become commonplace.”
These two scandals have ignited a kind of “homosexual panic” according to Tarek. Many people have been voicing their opinions that the Interior Minister should resign as his behaviour contradicts Islamic values while others even called for him to be indicted for violating Article 230 of the Tunisian penal code that punishes homosexual acts between consenting adults with up to three years imprisonment. Public discourse has been saturated with conspiracy theories that the ruling party is rife with homosexuals, protecting gays/paedophiles or failing to protect Tunisia from a homosexual epidemic. Mocking satires such Ennahda is a “fag” party, “they are all shaz (fags in arabic) in Ennahda”, are “quite commonly heard in the streets of Tunisia” stated Tarek, “often conflating the terms ‘paedophilia’, ‘homosexuality’, ‘sodomy’ and ‘Islamists’ intentionally.” The picture to the left, spread via Facebook, depicts two veiled women are portrayed kissing, while on the right it reads: “Legal fags/Haraam fags” with the logo of the Ennahda party below.
In an attempt to stop such allegations, Samir Dilou, a spokesperson for the Tunisian government, claimed the video was an attempt at a set-up and that the private life of politicians should not be used as a political weapon. All the Tunisian political parties condemned what they called an unjustified attempt to discredit the minister. Tunisian media has not published even one frame shot from the video.
However the current wave of “homosexual panic” and homophobia can be traced to the pre-election campaigning. Firstly to discredit the preceding dictatorship, the party claimed that the deposed Ben Ali and preceding dictator Habib Bourguiba encouraged homosexuality, prostitution and vice which would be swept clean should Ennahda be elected.
During this period nationwide marches entitled أعتقني aatakni (“Leave me alone”) were held in support of the secular parties and against the islamsits. Supporters of Ennahda used the fact that in some of these marches the PEACE rainbow flag (often used in Italian rallies) were waved, alleging and ridiculing that aatakni are in fact gay pride marches. For example in the following poster the viewer is asked to “spot the pictures of Tunisian aatakni from a variety of ‘aatakni’ marches worldwide”, which Israeli gay prides (pictures 2,7), gay pride marches (4,5,8) and Tunisia (1,3,6), where in picture 6 the logo of the secular and tolerant Modern Democratic Pole” (MDP) is almost equated with the star of David. Thus creating and associative link of aatakni=fags=zionists, i.e. bad and morally corrupt/suspect, which was spread via social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter.
Opposing political parties were signalled out using this “homosexual panic” tactic. For example in this Photoshop edited picture the banner of the Socialist Party has been altered to read “sodomy is the basis of the republic”, most likely sodomy replaced the word “freedom.” Tarek testifies “many banners reading ‘give us freedom, we want freedom’ were reworked replacing ‘freedom’ with ‘sodomy’ on blogs and facebook pages of supporters of the Ennahda party.”
Supporters of Ennahda did not stop there and vilified leaders or public figures they saw as opposing to their political ideas via scandalous allegations as to their sexuality or support of “social vices”. Most notably this was the case with Dr. Olfa Youssef a famous female intellectual, writer, psychoanalyst and director of the National Library of Tunisia. She is a public figure that appears on TV shows and writes many articles regarding freedom, women’s rights and human rights in general. She was consistently called a lover and supporter of prostitutes and fags. The Facebook page where the picture above was posted is entitled “Against Olfa Youssef who says liwat (sodomy) is not haraam”.
It thus appears that the current “homosexual panic” has its roots in the campaigns started by supporters of the Ennahda party against competing parties. The islamists used far more public and forceful tactics than the old style Ben-Ali “porno politics” that formed the probable basis of the Ali Larayedh scandal. This was done by linking unpopular subjects which were previously taboo, like homosexuality and prostitution, to spread fear, rumours and ridicule of opponents.
Jalel Brick claimed that he uploaded the video of Ali Larayedh to counter balance Ennahdha’s method of denigrating and attacking its opponents morality online and via gossip.
The opposition adopted identical methods to Ennahda during the two recent scandals of Naji Behiri and Ali Larayedh, which found an already receptive public which has been continuously imbued with bigotry throughout the electoral campaign. Tarek explains: “what shocked me most is the readiness and enthusiasm that opposition supporters that champion Human Rights and democracy have readily adopted such homophobic discourses previously used by the islamists against the islamists Ennahda party. I did not expect them to use this as a weapon, it created a kind of public consensus and consciousness of homosexuality as something evil and sick”.
Tarek despairingly notes that “the main victims of this ‘homosexual panic’, are unfortunately, the Tunisian LGBT community. In public discourse homosexuality has now become synonymous with paedophilia and hypocrisy, entrenching further negative stereotypes. Under Ben-Ali dictatorship we were invisible, with the occasional scandal and harassment, but this increased negative and smear campaigning has inflamed public opinion and brought immense fear to gays and lesbians living in Tunisia.” The one ray of hope is that all the political parties have now committed themselves not to use any such tactics further. “This I hope will be a lesson for Ennahda, since they let loose this tactic only to find it rebounded on themselves. I really hope this realisation is going to last.”

by Dan Littauer is the editor of Gay Middle East via http://www.pinknews.co.uk



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