YouTube: Dustin Lance Black Oscar Acceptance - Gay Marriage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mv35SN3ctU

TRANSCRIPT:

Oh my God. This was, um. This was not an easy film to make. First off, I have to thank Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg and all the real-life people who shared their stories with me. And, um, Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco, and our entire cast, my producers, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, everyone at Groundswell and Focus, for taking on the challenge of telling this life-saving story. When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life, it gave me the hope to one day live my life openly as who I am and that maybe even I could fall in love and one day get married.

I want to thank my mom who has always loved me for who I am, even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches or by the government or by their families that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours. (Wild applause from the audience.) Thank you, thank you, and thank you God for giving us Harvey Milk..."

Related Links:

YouTube: SEAN PENN WINS FOR MILK GIVES GREAT PROPOSITION 8 SPEECH MILK

YouTube: Dustin Lance Black Speaks at the MILK Premiere in Los Angeles

YouTube: California's Proposition 8: Gay Marriage

YouTube: Moms Across California Say NO To Prop 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PSBiaSx3R0

Moms Across California Urge Voters To Vote NO on Prop 8. www.noonprop8.com

Support the No On Prop 8 campaign by rating, commenting on, favoriting, and sharing this video with your friends. Find out more at http://noonprop8.com/ and on our Facebook page at 

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/No-on-Prop-8-Dont-Eliminate-Marriage-for-Anyone/29097894014

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YouTube: Don't Worry Everyone, You're Safe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVRPdQB5BCs

Fashioned after the beloved "Mac vs. PC" ads, this spots is designed to highlight the absurdity behind support for Prop 8. Vote No on Prop 8! www.noonprop8.com

Support the No On Prop 8 campaign by rating, commenting on, favoriting, and sharing this video with your friends. Find out more at http://noonprop8.com/ and on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/No-on-Prop-8-Dont-Eliminate-Marriage-for-Anyone/29097894014

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YouTube: Hello, I'm No On Prop 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9T7ux8M4Go

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YouTube: And She's the California Constitution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU4udzEbcdQ

YouTube: Are you STRAIGHT?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ1I_-MY_NY

This is a video response to Michael Buckley's 'Are You Gay?' video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjAVa9RAfWQ
The video is just poking fun at some of the silly questions straight people sometimes ask gay people. I hope people get the irony. There's bound to be a few who actually answer the questions though xD *sorry for the just-out-of-bed look in this video... I had just got out of bed before filming it xD

KullĦadd: “L-aħjar deċiżjoni minkejja li damet biex waslet” - L-E.T. Paul Cremona, Arċisqof ta' Malta

http://www.kullhadd.com/?task=2&sectid=&articleid=12605

22.2.9

[Silta mill-intervista.]

...

Semmejtlu issa każ ipotetiku ta’ persuna li jaqbel mad-divorzju, mal-kontraċettivi u li jemmen li persuni omosesswali għandu jkollhom drittijiet daqs dawk eterosesswali. Din il-persuna għandha post fil-Knisja li jmexxi Monsinjur Pawl Cremona? “Din il-persuna se ssib dejjem l-imħabba tal-Knisja u ħhadd mhu ser ikeċċiha,” huwa jgħid. 

Ma kontx kuntent u xtaqt iktar fuq dan il-punt. 

“Hawn qed nitkellmu iktar fuq il-persuna fiha nnfisha. Kif jista’ jkollok nisrani li jaqra x’qal Kristu fuq il-permanenza fiz-żwieġ, u min-naħa l-oħra jaċċetta d-divorzju. Jiena nsibha ħafna diffiċli biex persuna jiġi “to terms” miegħu nnifsu meta jgħid li miexi wara l-Mulej u jiġġustifika li hu jaċċetta d-divorzju.” 

Membri Parlamentari fid-dnub?

Staqsejtu jaqbilx li Membru Parlamentari li jivvota favur id-divorzju fil-Parlament ikun qiegħed jagħmel dnub. “Jien mhux hekk inpoġġiha. Jien ngħid li ma nimmaġinax li persuna jista’ jiddeċiedi li jimxi wara Kristu imma mbagħad jivvota favur xi ħaġa li tmur kontra t-tagħlim ta’ l-istess Kristu. Nagħmel paragun ma’ Membru Parlamentari favur l-ambjent. Jekk se ssir votazzjoni, jien naf kif se jivvota dak il-MP għaliex favur l-ambjent. Allura fil-każ tal-Knisja biss ma nafux il-membri tagħha fejn jinsabu? Dan dejjem jekk il-Membru Parlamentari mhux biss Kristjan kulturalment. Jekk wieħed jiddeċiedi li jimxi wara Kristu, allura jrid jobdi dak li qalilna Hu.” 

“L-istess bl-idea tal-kontraċettivi. Il-mentalità tal-kontraċettivi tifred kemm l-aġir sesswali mir-riproduzzjoni u tifred ukoll ir-riproduzzjoni mill-imħabba ta’ żewġ persuni. Aħna nemmnu li mill-att sesswali għandhom joħorġu t-tfal u t-tfal għandhom bżonn stabilità.” 

Semmejtlu iżda li l-fatti juru li speċjalment iż-żgħażagħ jaraw l-aġir sesswali b’mod differenti u li bil-kontraċettivi wieħed jevita konsegwenzi soċjali u ekonomiċi. Staqsejtu jekk il-Knisja għandhiex tieħu l-opportunità u turi t-tiġdid tagħha fuq din il-kwistjoni. 

“Il-messaġġ tal-Knisja huwa għar-riflessjoni u jrid jgħodd għal dawk li huma membri tal-Knisja. Aħna ma nemmnux li tnejn iltaqgħu u jistgħu jmorru flimkien, iżda li din għandhom iħalluha għal meta jkunu miżżewġin u jistgħu jagħtu stabilità lit-tarbija.”

“Ma nimmaġinax li żagħżugħ li jemmen li jista’ jmur ma’ persuna oħra qabel iż-żwieġ, se jagħti każ dak li tgħidlu l-Knisja fuq il-kontraċettivi mbagħad. Din hija kontradizzjoni għaliex il-messaġġ tal-Knisja jrid jasal għall-membri tagħha, jiġifieri dawk li jaqblu mat-tagħlim tagħha. Il-Knisja tgħid lill-membri tagħha kif għandhom jgħixu u tipproponi wkoll lis-soċjetà, mingħajr ma timponi fuqhom.”

Rigward id-drittijiet ta’ koppji omosesswali staqsejtu jarax kritika żejda fil-konfront tal-Knisja meta din m’għandhiex saħħa legislattiva.

“Dan huwa l-prezz li trid thallas il-Knisja. Meta l-Knisja qed tipproponi dak li temmen, ovvjament se jkun hemm il-kritika. Id-deċizjonijiet fl-aħħar mill-ahhar iridu jittieħdu mis-soċjetà, imma l-Knisja taqlagħha dejjem għaliex tkompli tippriedka dak li temmen, mingħajr ma toqgħod lura. Min-naħa tagħna, jekk ma nippriedkawx dak li qalilna l-Mulej kieku nkunu qegħdin niġbdu iktar nies, iżda żgur li ma nkunux qed niġbdu lill-Mulej.” 

...

YouTube: SEAN PENN WINS FOR MILK GIVES GREAT PROPOSITION 8 SPEECH MILK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhJOT7CHO94

"It's a good time for those who voted For the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that wave of support. We've got to have equal rights for everyone."- Sean Penn.

SEAN PENN WINS BEST ACTOR GIVES GREAT PROPOSITION 8 SPEECH MILK

Keywords: Harvey Milk, Oscar, Oscars

See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhJOT7CHO94&NR=1

Il-Ġens: L-omosesswali preferuti fil-GB

http://www.mediacentre.org.mt/gens01.html
21.2.9

Sur Editur,

Fil-ġurnal Ingliż Daily Mirror fl-aħħar ġimgħa ta' Jannar kien hemm għadd ta' paġni li jirrakkontaw kif omm mhux mizzewġa maħkuma mill-vizzju tad-drogi, tilfet il-kustodja taż-żewġ uliedha, u kif missierha u ommha, jiġifieri n-nanniet tat-tfal, wara sentejn jitħabtu fil-Qorti ma rnexxilhomx jieħdu n-neputijiet huma biex irabbuhom, imma s-social workers iddeċidew u pproponew u l-Qrati qablu, li ż-żewġt itfal innoċenti jiġu miftuma mill-familja tagħhom u jitrabbew minn koppja omosesswali! Dan seħħ fil-Gran Brittanja tal-Laburist Gordon Brown wara tibdil fl-liġijiet li seħħ fi żmien il-Laburist Blair. Tassew ma jagħmlux għajb lis-Soċjalista Zapatero fi Spanja.

Marsalforn
MINIEX PROGRESSIV

Il-Ġens: L-omosesswali: imma għaliex il-Knisja Kattolika biss?

[Dan l-artiklu mhux fuq il-website s'issa]
21 ta' Frar, 2009 minn John Żammit, San Ġwann

Sur Editur,

Sinċerament ma nistax nifhem l-antagoniżmu li għaddej bħalissa ta' dawk b'orjentazzjoni omosesswali fil-konfront tal-Knisja Kattolika, għaliex din twassal, kif għandha wara kollox dritt tagħmel, it-tagħlim tagħha dwar l-omosesswalità.

Ma hix l-intenzjoni tiegħi li niddefendi dan it-tagħlim għaliex hemm min hu ferm aktar kompetenti minni biex jagħmel dan; biss, dak li qiegħed idejjaqni dwar dan il-fatt hu li l-attakki huma fuq ir-reliġjon Kattolika biss.

Illum f'Malta, bħalma jaf kulħadd, hawn diversi reliġjonijiet oħrajn li huma mħaddnin minn għadd mhux żgħir ta' persuni, anke persuni Maltin.

Naħseb li l-ikbar reliġjon wara dik Kattolika hija r-reliġjon Musulmana, Għalhekk hu tajjeb li wieħed jara kif din ir-reliġjon tħares lejn l-omosesswali.

Safejn naf jien, ir-reliġjon Musulmana bl-ebda mod ma tittolera l-omosesswalità; aktar gravi, f'pajjiżi li huma Musulmani fundamentlisti, l-omosesswali jiġu mħaġġrin.

Mill-banda l-oħra, dawk id-denominazzjonijiet Insara li jaċċettaw l-omosesswalità għandhom kriżi interna; eżempju ċarissimu ta' dan huma l-Episkopali Amerikani li wara li nħatar Isqof li kien omosesswali fil-beraħ, ħafna telqu u fittxew denominazzjonijiet Insara oħrajn, u b'mod partikolari daru lejn il-Kattoliċeżmu.

Jinkwetani l-fatt li dawn l-attakki kulma jmur qegħdin isiru aktar qawwija f'pajjiżna. Saħansitra kien hemm min talab lill-awtoritajiet biex ktieb li juri t-tagħlim tal-Knisja Kattolika dwar l-omosesswalità jkun irtirat minn fuq l-ixkafef ta' ħanut tal-kotba, u aktar minn hekk, dawk li nbiegħu jinġabru lura!

Fil-fehma tiegħi, dawn l-attakki la huma ġustifikati, u wisq inqas se jbiddlu t-tagħlim tal-Knisja dwar dan il-fatt.

Jidhirli li dawk li jippriedkaw it-tolleranza għandhom ikunu tolleranti huma l-ewwel u, jieqfu milli jsejħu lil dawk li ma jaqblux magħhom injoranti, u li għadhom b'rashom marbuta.

Hekk jitlob id-djalogu sinċier.

Times: Nationalist MEPs go against party principles

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090222/letters/nationalist-meps-go-against-party-principles

Sunday, 22nd February 2009 by Henry Pace, Sliema

On February 1 you reported that Maltese MEPs, including the two Nationalists, Simon Busuttil and David Casa, voted in favour of amendments recognising the need of laws on cohabitation, including that of gay couples, and recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other EU member states.

"This vote in the European Parliament was part of a non-binding resolution to harmonise fundamental EU human rights' laws and shows a marked shift in the position of the five Maltese MEPs", according to Ivan Camilleri's report. Whatever the Socialist MEPs do is their own business, but the vote of the two Nationalist MEPs is of great concern because they both failed to follow the principles of the Nationalist Party, namely:

"2. The Partit Nazzjonalista forms part of the International Christian Democratic Movement. In fact, it is one of the oldest parties that belong to this movement. It is committed to the fulfilment of Christian Democratic principles in Malta and to the spreading of these principles worldwide.

"3. The Christian idea of the dignity of man is the basis of all the policies of the Partit Nazzjonalista. Human dignity is rooted in man's relationship with God and with his fellow men, within the family and other voluntary associations, which the State is obliged to assist and promote."

The founders of the PN had a clear vision of their beliefs and wrote down these principles not to just be read but to be put into effect at all times. Once these principles have not been changed, it is very much regretted that the two MEPs and others within the party who follow their example are going against the PN's roots.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments.]

Times: What gay couples do in private is nobody's business

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090222/letters/what-gay-couples-do-in-private-is-nobodys-business

Sunday, 22nd February 2009 by Marisa Xuereb, Mosta

It is exasperating - rather than 'painful', as Yvette Debono presumes (The Sunday Times, February 15) - to read letters such as hers. Ms Debono asserts that homosexuals - or rather gay people, because there is more than sex in the lives of these people, "may live a normal life and accept themselves as they are if they do not wish to seek psychological or medical help to adjust their confused sexual inclinations".

Who said gay people have confused sexual inclinations? And since when do they need other people's permission to lead a normal life and accept themselves as they are?
Many gay people are well aware of their sexual inclinations and perfectly happy with themselves. They lead fulfilling lives, have stable relationships, and hold their own families very much at heart.

When are we going to stop speculating about what happens between two adults in their intimate life? In my book, this is called "judging others" and is a sin against the great commandment, "Love thy neighbour".

What happens between a couple is a matter of private morality and should not serve to decide whether they should be granted or denied civil rights and responsibilities. Such rights and responsibilities should accrue because of the value of committed relationships to the people involved in them and to society as a whole. A society in which all people are encouraged to have stable, committed relationships and lead fulfilling lives is a better society for everyone.

No one in his right mind would wish gay people to get involved in heterosexual relationships, and by the same token, no one in his right mind should expect gay people to remain single for life, just because of what they might engage in with their same-sex partners. That is nobody's business.

Ultimately, married couples are not afforded rights and responsibilities because of what they do or don't do in bed - and nor because they have children, as some of them don't.
Married couples are granted rights and responsibilities because their commitment is valued by society, whether they have children or not, and so should be the commitment of same-sex couples, whether they have children or not.

And when are we going to stop assuming that children brought up by same-sex couples are at risk of losing their innocence and prone to psychological and emotional confusion? Contrary to what anti-gay advocates would have us believe, research shows otherwise.

A report on lesbian and gay parenting published by the American Psychological Association that cites 151 studies on same-sex parenting concludes that "there is no evidence to suggest that lesbian women or gay men are unfit to be parents or that psychosocial development among children of lesbian women or gay men is compromised relative to that among offspring of heterosexual parents.

"Not a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents.

"Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children's psychosocial growth." (American Psychological Association, 2005: Lesbian and Gay Parenting.)

Ms Debono should note that when a study is quoted, the full reference should be given so that interested readers can verify the sources.

Finally, when are we going to stop excluding all the various forms of non-traditional families that exist in our society from our notion of "the family". Families exist in all shapes and sizes, whether our laws cater for them or not. We should not be concerned by the diversity of our families but by the fact that our laws do not cater for all our families.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments.]

Times: HIV rates soar among gay men in Asia

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090220/world-news/hiv-rates-soar-among-gay-men-in-asia

Friday, 20th February 2009 - 11:34CET

Unprotected sex among gay and bisexual men is fuelling the spread of HIV/AIDS in Asia, public health experts said urging governments to do more to fight the problem.

Discriminatory laws criminalising certain sexual behaviours, such as sodomy, ought to be repealed so these men can more easily obtain information on disease prevention, drugs and treatment, they told an HIV/AIDS seminar this week in Hong Kong.

"Unprotected male to male sex is once again fuelling the spread of HIV infection in the Asia Pacific," Massimo Ghidinelli, regional HIV/AIDS advisor at the World Health Organisation told a news conference today.

"The situation is likely to get worse unless we collectively undertake very urgent action. There is a possibility it may even go out of control."

HIV prevalence among gay and bisexual men in Bangkok rose to 30.7 percent in 2007 from 17.3 percent in 2003. In Jakarta, it increased to 8.1 percent from 2 percent within the same period.
Some countries in Asia, such as Singapore, Malaysia and those in South Asia still have in place anti-sodomy laws, which are formidable barriers to people getting treatment and help, and they frustrate efforts at disease prevention, experts said.

"A young (gay) man went to a clinic for treatment and was slapped by a doctor and scolded for being a bad person. The doctor refused to treat him and he was thrown out," said Shivananda Khan of the help group Naz Foundation International.

"It is not uncommon, it happens in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar," Khan told Reuters.
"If (sodomy) is criminalised, it is a problem for doctors. What does the doctor do when someone comes in with an anal problem? He can get into trouble with the law because he is treating someone breaking the law."

HIV PREVALENCE FAR HIGHER AMONG GAYS

In Thailand, HIV prevalence among gay and bisexual men is 24.6 percent, while that of the general population is 1.55 percent. In Cambodia, the rates are 7.8 percent versus 1.8 percent, while in China, it is 3.8 percent versus 0.09 percent, Frits van Griensven at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's Southeast Asia Regional Office said.

"Psychotropic drug (use among gay and bisexual men in Asia) play an important role here. I am not in favour of repression, the control needs to come from prevention. People need to know how to do these things that you can't prevent in the safest way possible. They need condoms on hand and not be caught by surprise," he said at the conference.

The seminar heard how Australia managed to keep its HIV epidemic contained within its gay and bisexual male communities through public education and knocking down discriminatory laws.

"Laws were all looked at (since the 1980s) to make sure that they didn't contradict or hinder HIV prevention work," said Stevie Clayton of the AIDS Council of New South Wales.

Comments

emanuel muscat (1 day, 3 hours ago)
It is one way of controlling the amount of gay men around!Sodomy is a crime in many countries and it is an abomination!

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments.]

MegaVideo: Roberto Benigni su la Omosessualità, Oscar Wilde e l'amore gay

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=SVOD9XY7

Scroll to: 24 minutes.

Keywords: Roberto Benigni; Oscar Wilde - De Profundis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYSruRRcKco

See the video on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1079043264692&ref=share

17.2.9 San Remo, Italy

Note by Steve C. Portelli

In his appearance yesterday at the San Remo Song festival, the famous Italian actor talked at length about homosexuals, saying that the only sin in homosexuality is stupidity.  The festival has been marked by polemic this year after one of the competing songs, 'Luca era gay' describes the story of a gay person, afflicted with troubles, who becomes straight (and happy) when he meets the right girl.

Benigni said it is incredible that in 2009, people are still condemning other persons for loving others of their same sex.  He also mentioned the thousands humiliated, beaten, tortured, imprisoned and killed - just because they LOVED someone else, and makes a comparision to a situation where a man or a woman are condemned because they love another woman or another man respectively.

Benigni also specifically mentioned the concentration camps where homosexuals were cruelly imprisoned and killed during the Second World War, and said that it was very difficult for the human race to become extinct because of homosexuals - as if dinosaurs had become extinct because they were gay!!!

And then he read the letter that the famous Irish playwright and poet, Oscar Wilde wrote in prison for his lover Bosie, more than 100 years ago.  Oscar Wilde, born in Dublin, had been sent to hard labour in an English prison because of his homosexuality.

A truly moving performance by Roberto Benigni, full of love, dignity and respect - miles away from the patronising and judging attitude shown by many when they talk about homosexuals.

Independent: Accepting a gay child

http://www.independent.com.mt/news2.asp?artid=83168

14.2.9

In this week’s edition of Sejjahtli we will meet another family that is passing through a difficult moment. Today’s story is about parents who have recently discovered that their daughter is lesbian. They are finding it very hard to accept this fact, as well as the daughter’s intention to buy an apartment and move in with her partner. Such a situation triggers various thoughts and questions. What should the parents do? Could they have done anything to avoid this situation? Should they accept their daughter’s partner? What effect will this have on their grandchildren? How does this situation fit in with their religion and beliefs? On the other hand, the parents realise that their daughter has already been through a lot of hardship and don’t want to cause her more suffering. Joyce Cassar presents the programme, while resident guest Fr Rene’ Camilleri will be present in the studio together with Dr Charles Azzopardi and Anthony Gerard. Sejjahtli is transmitted on ONE TV today between 6.15pm and 7.30pm with a repeat tomorrow at 7.45am New websites Centru Animazzjoni Missjunarja (CAM) & CAM Productions international (CPi) have launched new websites which tell you all you need to know about both organisations. Visit www.cam.com.mt or www.cpi.com.mt and enter the evangelisation, missionary and production house world within these two organisations.

Kullħadd: L-MGRM tikkritika bl-aħrax il-kummenti ta’ Tonio Borg kontra drittijiet tal-gays

http://www.kullhadd.com/?task=2&sectid=&articleid=12526

2.2.9 minn Owen Galea

Il-Malta Gay Rigħt Movement irreagixxa bil-qawwa kontra intervent li għamel il-ministru Tonio Borg meta f’diskussjoni fil-Parlament dwar ir-riforma fil-ligi tal-kera, iddikjara b’ton dispreggjattiv li persuni omosesswali u dawk li jikkoabitaw m’għandhomx jingħataw id-dritt li jitħarsu bil-ligi tal-kera.

Il-moviment fisser kliem il-ministru Tonio Borg bħala maqtugħ mir-realtà taż-żmien li qegħdin ngħixu fih. Gaby Calleja, f’isem il-MGRM sostniet li diskors il-ministru Borg joħrog fid-deher in-nuqqas ta’ rispett li għandu l-gvern dwar koppji ta’ l-istess sess.

Fl-istess waqt diskors il-ministru Borg wera bil-fatti li l-koppji gay Maltin u Għawdxin għad fadlilhom ħafna x’jaqdfu biex jikkonvinċu lill-gvern ta’ Lawrenċe Gonzi biex jingħataw id-drittijiet u r-rispett li jgawdu koppji ta’ l-istess sess f’pajjiżi membri ta’ l-Unjoni Ewropea.

Gaby Calleja sostniet li minkejja l-ħafna d-diskors li sar mill-Partit Nazzjonalista dwar il-bżonn li tigi regolarizzata l-pożizzjoni u l-istatus legali ta’ koppji li jikkoabitaw, hi x’inhi l-pożizzjoni tal-koppji, sew jekk ta’ l-istess sess u sew jekk eterosesswali (ragel u mara), ir-rimarki li għamel il-Ministru Tonio Borg ħallew bosta mgħagg bin dwar kemm tabilħaqq teżisti rieda politika biex tiddaħħal legislazzjoni f’dan ir-rigward.

“Kliemu u t-ton li bih argumenta kellhom l-intenzjoni partikolari li jattakkaw ir-relazzjonijiet ta’ l-istess sess u wera insensittività kbira lejn il-lesbjani, il-gays u ċ-ċittadini bisesswali,” qalet Gaby Calleja.

Fil-Parlament il-Viċi Prim Ministru qal li l-Gvern m’għandux jerfa’ fuq spallejh ukoll kunċett ta’ familja u persuni b’orjentazzjoni omosesswali. Huwa kien qie għed jirreaġixxi għar-reazzjoni inizzjali li ħareġ biha l-Partit Laburista dwar il-white paper tal-gvern dwar il-liġi tal-kera fejn saħaq li l-gvern warrab għal kollox realtajiet oħrajn tas-soċjetà Maltija. Fosthom il-koabitazzjoni, relazzjonijiet bejn persuni ta’ l-istess sess u membri ta’ l-istess familja li jgħixu flimkien.

“Qalu li nsejna lil dawk in-nies ta’ l-istess sess li mhux se jiġu protetti bil-liġi tal-kera. Mela… hekk jonqos issa”, iddikjara l-Viċi Prim Ministru b’ton ewforiku, waqt li saħaq li l-gvern m’għan dux jitqanna wkoll b’relazzjonijiet li sallum għadhom mhux regolarizzati. “Tgħidu li fil-liġi tal-kera s-sid għandu jitqanna wkoll b’relazzjonijiet, mhux biss li jintiret mill-miżżewġin, imma jintiret ukoll minn dawk li marru barra, l-Olan da, iżżewwġu ta’ l-istess sess, imbagħad jiġu Malta u s-sid irid jirrikonoxxihom ukoll”, qal Borg waqt li spikkat l-oġġezzjoni tiegħu għall-proposta tal-Partit Laburista li r-riforma għandha tħares ukoll il-jeddijiet tal-persuni gay.

Fl-istess intervent, Borg mar oltre minn hekk u qal: “Wara li se nkunu rriformajna l-liġi, illimitajna l-wirt għal min hu miżżewweġ u għat-tfal, issa nestendu din il-protezzjoni wkoll għal min jiddeċiedi li jmur jgħix flimkien ta’ l-istess sess. Dan huwa abbozz bilanċjat għax iħares id-drittijiet ta’ min ħaqqu il-protezzjoni”, sostna Borg.

Min-naħa tagħha, Gaby Calleja f’isem l-MGRM qalet li bl-istqarrijiet tiegħu, il-ministru Borg implika li fejn tfal ta’ l-koppja ta’ l-istess sess jispiċċaw bla dar, ma hemm l-ebda konsegwenzi partikolari għalihom u li l-problemi li jgħaddu minnhom dawn il-persuni, m’humiex problema għall-istat.

Il-moviment sostna wkoll li minkejja li f’bosta pajjiżi hija prattika komuni li tinżamm registrazzjoni tar-relazzjonijiet ta’ koppji li jikkoabitaw, sew jekk huma gay u sew jekk straigħt, il-ministru Borg ta l-impressjoni li din hija idea redikola. “Aħna ninsabu ċerti li għal bosta politiċi fl-Ewropa hija l-attitudni tal-ministru li titqies bħala assurda u maqtugħa miż-żminijiet tallum,” sostna l-MGRM.

Ma riedx jinkixef

Intant KullĦadd staqsa lid-deputat Laburista Evarist Bartolo jekk il-pożizzjoni meħuda mill-Viċi Prim Ministru hix waħda insid juża, għax waqt li l-partit li jagħmel parti minnu jiċħad l-omofobija, fl-istess waqt qiegħed jiddiskrimina ma’ koppji ta’ l-istess sess u anki ma’ dawk li jikkoabitaw.

Bit-twegiba Bartolo qal li jinsab ċert li l-Ministru Borg ma riedx jinkixef kif ħalla lilu nnifsu jinkixef fil-Parlament bit-ton ċiniku u dispregjattiv tiegħu kontra l-omosesswali u l-koppji li jgħixu flimkien u mhumiex miżżewgin.

”Ċert li fuq it-televiżjoni kien joqgħod ferm iżjed attent u anki jekk ma jaqbilx ma kienx juża dak it-ton li uża fil-Parlament. Tipika tal-PN li qabel l-elezzjoni jippruvaw jintogħgbu ma’ kulħadd biex jaħtfu kemm jistgħu voti. Għam lu ħa mhux biss ma’ l-omosesswali (meta qalulhom li jaqblu mad-Direttiva tal-UE kontra d-diskriminazzjoni, iżda issa biddlu l-kliem) iżda wkoll ma’ bosta setturi oħrajn li qed iħossuhom traduti bil-wegħdi tal-PN qabel l-elezzjoni”, sostna Bartolo.

Argumenta li l-Viċi Prim Ministru ma kellux għax juża t-ton li uża fil-Parlament. “Seta’ ma jaqbilx li nħarsu d-drittijiet ta’ l-omosesswali u dawk li jgħixu flimkien (li l-PN ried iħarishom b’ligi apposta skont wegħda elettorali fl-1998 u li qatt ma wettaq) bla ma jkun daqshekk offensiv, ċiniku u insolenti”, temm jisħaq Evarist Bartolo.

It-Torċa: Il-każ tal-ktieb “The Catholic Church and Homosexuality” - Mitluba r-riżenja tal-Kap tal-Media Centre

[Dan l-artiklu mhux fuq is-sit www.it-torca.com s'issa]
15.2.9

Minkejja li l-ktieb “The Catholic Church and Homosexuality” se jkun irtirat mill-Media Centre, id-dar tal-pubblikazzjoni u distribuzzjoni tal-Knisja Maltija, l-inġinier Patrick Attard qiegħed jitlob għar-riżenja tal-Kap ta’ din l-entità. Fi kliem Attard, dan għaliex anke l-Knisja għandha tagħraf tkun kontabbli u responsabbli tal-azzjonijiet tagħha.

Il-ktieb imsemmi jagħti l-impressjoni li jiġġustifika l-azzjonijiet krudili li kellhom jgħaddu minnhom l-omosesswali fiż-żminijiet tan-nofs minħabba l-orjentament tagħhom, kif ukoll iwaħħal fl-omosesswali għall-katastrofi li naraw madwarna - anke dawk naturali! Jiġġustifika d-diskriminazzjoni fuq l-omosesswali, jikkundannahom u jinsisti li m’għandhomx jingħataw impjieg jew ikunu fdati bit-tfal. Il-ktieb kien irtirat minn fuq l-ixkafef tal-ħanut tal-Media Centre wara li Attard ġieb għall-attenzjoni tal-pubbliku l-kontenut oxxen ta’ dan il-ktieb.

Madankollu, Attard qiegħed jinsisti li l-knisja għandha tagħmel avviżi pubbliċi fil-ġurnali biex min laħaq xtara l-ktieb ireġġgħu lura u jingħata l-flus li kien ħallas biex xtrah. Huwa jxebbaħ il-ktieb ma’ Norman Lowell u jgħid li kif Lowell inżamm responsabbli għad-diskorsi tiegħu, daqstant ieħor għandhom jinżammu responsabbli l-persuni li ddistribwixxew dan il-ktieb. Itemm jgħid li l-Knisja għandha titlob apoloġija lill-persuni omosesswali għall-bejgħ ta’ dan il-ktieb u min kien responsabbli għandu jirreżenja minnufih.

It-Torċa: Il-Papa u l-omosesswali

http://www.it-torca.com/news.asp?newsitemid=7866
15.2.9 minn Omosesswali, Ħamrun

Inkompli ma’ dak li kiteb l-omosesswali fit-TORĊA tal-Ħadd 11-1-09. Jiena wkoll nisrani kattoliku, li bl-istqarrija li għamel il-Papa, aħna l-omosesswali konna nsulentati u kienet insulentata l-intelliġenza tagħna bħala bnedmin. Mela għax hu l-Papa jista’ jgħid li jrid mingħajr ma jqis il-konsegwenzi ta’ wara?

Il-persistenza tal-Papa dwarna l-omosesswali qiegħda żżid il-mibgħeda u l-intolleranza kontrina, fejn qiegħda twassal messaġġ żbaljat ta’ ħsara kontrina inġustament u l-opinjoni pubblika qiegħda tkun manipulata kontrina li aħna nies ħżiena u kundannabbli meta fir-realtà dan mhux minnu. Din mhix il-verità. Il-Papa qed jagħmel ħsara b’għemilu stess lill-istess knisja kattolika tagħna għax ħafna fidili qiegħdin jitilfu l-fiduċja u l-fidi fit-tagħlim nisrani tagħna.

Fejn hu t-tagħlim tal-Papa meta jgħallem dwar il-ħarsien tad-drittijiet u d-difiża tal-bniedem b’ġustizzja, bi trasparenza u valuri fuq is-solidarjetà kontra l-inugwaljanzi soċjali inġusti? Fejn hi l-koperazzjoni, l-imħabba u rikonċiljazzjoni bejn kulħadd? Għax hu meta jitkellem fuqna l-omosesswali jiddistingwina minn dan it-tagħlim. Meta aħna żgur b’ħajjitna qatt ma konna ta’ distruzzjoni għax-xogħol t’Alla jew qatt konna ta’ ħsara lejn l-eterosesswali.

B’dan kollu jidher ċar li l-Papa jew ta’ madwaru huma preġudikati kontrina l-omosesswali u qiegħdin jimponu din l-istrateġija bi skop kontrina, għax jafu li qiegħdin niksbu l-fiduċja tal-Ġnus Magħquda fejn daħħlet riżoluzzjoni dwar id-diskriminazzjoni universali ta’ relazzjonijiet bejn persuni omosesswali u kif wettqet snin ilu l-Unjoni Ewropea fil-liġijiet u r-riżoluzzjonijiet tagħna, li issa huma tagħha wkoll, għax aħna membri tal-Unjoni Ewropea.

Il-Papa stess b’diskorsu weġġa’ bil-kbir u waqqa’ l-moral ta’ sħabu r-reliġjużi, lajċi u għaqdiet oħra reliġjużi u komunitarji li hemm, fosthom ħafna omosesswali; weġġa’ ġenituri u qraba, weġġa’ ħafna nies fosthom lilna l-omosesswali li ma jistħoqqilniex hekk mingħand il-Papa għax fil-kuxjenza tagħna m’għandna xejn kontra Alla. Alla huwa ta’ kulħadd u jħobb lil kulħadd.

Kburin flimkien b’unur u dinjità li aħna ħolqien t’Alla għax Alla jħobbna u jberikna fil-ħajja tagħna, fis-saħħa u fuq xogħolna, għax flimkien aħna komunità li nagħmlu parti minn kull qasam tas-soċjetà tagħna.

Imberkin dawk li bit-tagħlim tagħhom ixandru u jħarsu d-drittijiet, l-imħabba u l-ħajja sabiħa ta’ kulħadd b’eżempji tajbin u ta’ ġid li jnisslu tama, fiduċja u kuraġġ mingħajr preġudizzji, diskriminazzjoni, intimidazzjoni, vjolenza, inġustizzja, intollerenza u stress psikoloġiku.

Flimkien ma rridux naqtgħu qalbna. It-tama u l-lealtà tagħna bħala kattoliċi huma lejn Alla l-Imbierek billi nibqgħu nħarsu l-kmandamenti u l-preċetti fil-knisja tagħna.

Jiena nistenna apoloġija pubblika mill-Papa dwar dak li qal kontrina meta fir-realtà l-Papa jaf sewwa bil-problemi kbar li hawn u min qed joħloqhom u jkunu ta’ distruzzjoni għax-xogħol t’Alla. Żgur li mhux aħna l-omosesswali.

Times: Accepting the person but not the sin

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090215/letters/accepting-the-person-but-not-the-sin
Sunday, 15th February 2009 by Yvette DeBono, Ta' l-Ibraġ

It must be very painful for homosexuals and their families to hear and read of how they should lead their lives and about their civil rights. No one is imposing anything on them but rightly we must first and foremost protect the family, which is the nucleus of future generations.

It is not the norm for two persons of the same sex to live together, get married and adopt children and live as husband and wife-mother and father in the presence of young innocent children. You would be creating, among many other external problems, an even greater psychological emotional confusion while growing up, not to mention the insults and harassments at school and from friends.

To be gay/lesbian is not one's direct fault but somehow these last few years it has become a fashion or a new way of making friends.

A new study released recently has demonstrated that a link exists between family problems, rejection/divorce/physical and emotional abuse, etc. and health problems which can develop into being gay/lesbian and bisexual.

Homosexuals may live a normal life and accept themselves as they are if they do not wish to seek psychological or medical help to adjust their confused sexual inclinations. However, they must not expect society to bend over backwards to approve their abnormal and sometimes imposing suggestions.

God loves all of mankind, irrespective of colour or creed. He loves us as we are with all our defects but hates sin. Sin destroys the soul, the heart and the mind but ultimately separates us from the love of God. It is not God who turns His back on us when we sin; it is a choice that we make. To be gay or lesbian is not a sin, but sexual relations between same-sex people are sinful and detestable before God and man.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments.]

Times: Blog - SO MANY LIBERALS, SO LITTLE SPACE

http://www.timesofmalta.com/blogs/view/20090214/andrew-borg-cardona/so-many-liberals-so-little-space

Saturday, 14th February 2009 by Andrew Borg Cardona

[Excerpt of the article]

...

While on the subject of freedom of expression, the forces of good might have gone a touch too far themselves, just lately. I’m referring to the request for prosecution and destruction made by Dr Patrick Attard in respect of a piece of rabid fundamentalism that purports to outline the position of the Catholic Church on homosexuality.

To be sure, it’s not the call for prosecution that worries me: if the tract breaks the law, by fomenting hatred or by constituting discrimination, let its author or distributor or whatever be prosecuted with the full force of the law. Indeed, this ex post approach is the only one that it is admissible in a true democracy, and it could easily have been applied to “Stitching” if, just for the sake of argument, it violated the rights of any vulnerable group.

And it’s perfectly OK for Dr Attard to call for the book’s withdrawal, too, and for the resignation of the person who authorised its sale: these are consequences that, by and large, would follow logically. No serious organisation that says it bases itself on love and tolerance should countenance such claptrap.

Before anyone gets at me (or sends me crude death threats such as the one I received last week in the mail, from someone who clearly thought he was a Defender of the One True Faith) for condemning the book out of hand without reading it, it is true I haven’t read it, but I’ve had a look at its summary on the ‘Net and it’s as full of half-baked twaddle and selective quotes as that rubbish that gets churned out on GOD TV (in between the sucker-ads that try to make you send money to the two con artists who run it)

Not to put too fine a point on it, if this is the sort of rubbish that is officially sanctioned by the people who want to put the Church’s message out (the book, not GOD TV – no-one in his or her right mind can think that anyone even half-serious believes that that is anything but a scam) then it is really time for the rest of us to start working towards banning organised religion once and for all.

But Dr Attard’s protestations did cause me a twinge of discomfort, for all that his overall position deserves the support of anyone with a liberal bone in his or her body. He advocated the destruction of the book.

A bit too close to events towards the middle of the last century, that.

A closing thought: I received, irony of ironies, an appeal from Norman Lowell, for funds to help his Constitutional case. Just in case, for whatever peculiar reason you like, having received the same thing, you were moved to make a donation, just be aware that the filing of Constitutional cases doesn’t require oodles of cash for Registry Fees.

I thought you might like to know that.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments.]

Independent: There’s no going back

http://www2.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=83109
15.2.9 by Charles Flores

The gay community and its sympathisers all over the world are up in arms following Pope Benedict XVI’s less than kind reference to their cause at a time when they thought they had breached the bastions of utter contempt and obvious prejudice in civilised society. As with other trends and social commotions, the issue has also had its repercussions among us, living as we undoubtedly are in a horrific haven of conservatism.

The fact that there have been exponents of the local gay scene who have had the courage of their convictions, and publicly declared their disgust at the attitude of the Catholic Church, can perhaps be described as an isolated pot shot on behalf of those, gay or not, who genuinely believe there can be no going back to when society could, at will, victimise innocent, law-abiding and tax-paying people whose only “crime” was their different sexual orientation.

The Pope’s recent utterance sent shivers down the spines of liberal people everywhere. It also, perhaps all too quickly and perhaps it was rather far-fetched, re-ignited fears from well over half a century ago about the fate of gay people even in the 21st century. The horrors committed in Nazi Germany against gay people form a substantial part of the whole concentration camp human tragedy best projected in the media and Hollywood films by its millions of Jewish victims, but which also included socialists, communists, trade-unionists and other progressive social players at that shameful moment in time in world history.

Suffice to say that even at the end of World War II in Europe, when the Allies finally reached the concentration camps and frantically tried to bring back some sanity to those poor people’s lives. However, the gays imprisoned in those horrible places of torture and death were not released as were the rest of the thousands of other skeletal inmates. And why? Because gays were still considered taboo then and “a danger to society”, even by the democratic forces of the time. While the Jews and the Left wing progressive elements of those camps were freed and underwent a personal rehabilitation programme, gays were sent directly to prisons in their respective countries. Freedom was won, but not for everyone.

Justice has never been an accessible realm for them, alas. The refreshing changes that occurred during the Sixties had their obvious effect on the gay scene. People suddenly were no longer afraid to reveal their sexual orientation, no doubt a welcome offshoot of the generally happy and peaceful scene that nurtured the back-to-nature trends of the period, the flower-in-your-hair mentality, the anti-war movement and the awesome realisation that society’s rules could after all be changed for the better. They were, which is why the first openly gay media, mostly newspapers and magazines, came to be, and then gaining strength and recognition all through the Seventies and Eighties.

The backlash, however, was inevitable. Society’s forces of darkness have since been waiting for the chance to hit back. The Sixties and Sixties people were never forgiven. Even on the local front there have been politicians, one or two of them still active in the public domain, who openly insisted that the liberal wave of the Sixties had been a “negative” event and therefore needed to be reversed. It is a view held by conservatives and the Right everywhere, including the European Union where we have also had the minority of Nationalist MEPs voting very strangely on gay issues, stuck as they are within the primitive groove of the so-called popular party set-up.

At a time when gays were finally feeling safe in the knowledge that the world no longer sees them as criminals or dangerous human beings, even in ultra-conservative Malta that is still without a divorce law, let alone same-sex marriage, out comes the head of the universal Catholic Church to abruptly drive them back into persecution mode.

As it has done over so many centuries, during which the wrongs of the time – from the relation of earth to the sun and the importance of Church-State separation – were soon found to be right, the Catholic Church continues to resist life’s progressive needs, which include a change in mentality with regard to people of a different sexual orientation. While tactics have changed from utter arrogance to obvious soft-soaping, the message remains the same: the Church is against, the Church dictates, the Church does not want change, the Church refuses to move forward, the Church is not open to everyone, the Church prefers to live in the past.

A former member of Hitler Youth, Pope Benedict XVI chose to use words that hurt those who have been hoping for so long that they can one day feel they belong to the Catholic Church. To be made to feel excluded, as openly as gay people were in Nazi Germany (there were many closet ones within the Fuhrer arm’s reach!), gays today are rightly angered. They have won and continue to win many a civil battle, but on the religious front they seem caught in a downward spiral, which not only reverses the clock, but also creates a new danger: conservative governments and conservative politicians.

When politicians need the psychological assistance of church and churchmen, they are only too willing to stop the movement for social change and so stay within the happy and warm embrace of those who can assure them of votes and power. If the leader of an important world religion chooses to “halt the wave”, obliging politicians are expected to toe the line and join in the race back to the prejudice and injustice of many decades past.

Maltese society at large has changed, as we have seen from decisions taken in our Law Courts where such cases as sex-reassignment procedures are concerned and the attitude to gays in general in the villages and towns, but there is still so much to be done. As expected, the Bishops have come out repeating and amplifying the Pope’s recent stance, soft-soap and all. But there’s no going back. I honestly believe Malta has gone past the stage where people can be made to do and believe things that are contrary to their nature. All that was lost in the Sixties when the progressive forces on the island were ready to forfeit power until society was mature enough to accept their ideas and proposals for a fairer, more positive secular life. They were vindicated in the early Seventies when this nation finally leaped into what was still then the 20th century.

To even think of taking us back to where we were at that time would be an insult and I am sure the vast majority of people do not think it can be done. Hopefully, it is the same all over the world. Spain has shown it has the resolve to resist, the Scandinavians do not even worry about it, the British remain steadfast in their own special ways and the Americans, well, they have overwhelmingly voted Barack Obama in. So it’s not all bleak, after all.

I am sure gays and believers in human rights everywhere hope the Church too has its own Obama ready and willing and who will one day guide it back into humane ways.

Times: Protest over book sold at Church media centre

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090214/local/protest-over-book-sold-at-church-media-centre/

Saturday, 14th February 2009 - 15:55CET

Patrick Attard, a former Alternattiva candidate, has filed a complaint to the police [correction: I sent a letter to the Police Commissioner] and called on the head of the Church's Media Centre to resign because of the contents of a book which is being sold at the Church's Media Centre and advertised prominently on the Media Centre's website.

Dr Attard in a statement said the book, titled The Catholic Church and Homosexuality, says that God sent AIDS to punish gays, homosexuality is diabolic and equal to bestiality and paedophilia. It says homosexuals are worse than murderers and that even the devils are disgusted by homosexuality. All kinds of natural calamities and diseases are attributed to homosexuals and the book says that homosexuality is contagious.

Dr Attard insisted that the Church should withdraw the book and refund those who had bought it. It should also publicly destroy all copies.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the article.]

L-Orizzont: Irtirat il-ktieb Nisrani b'mibgħeda għall-Gays - Patrick Attard jgħid li din l-azzjoni mhix biżżejjed

[Dan l-artiklu mhux fuq is-sit www.l-orizzont.com s'issa]
14.2.9 Minn Victor Vella

Wara li l-orizzont ippubblika l-istorja ta’ kif mill-ħwienet ta’ Il-Qarrej Nisrani’ kien qed jinbiegħ ktieb li kien qed ixerred mibgħeda lejn persuni omosesswali, il-bieraħ ġejna infurmati minn Doreen Vella, li tamministra dan il-ħanut li l-ktieb The Catholic Church and Homosexuality’ miktub minn Atila Sinke Guimaraes, kien se jiġi irtirat b’effett immedjat.

Doreen Vella fil-kummenti tagħha lil l-orizzont qaltilna li "nifhem li tapprezza li aħna ma nistgħux naqraw u niflu kull ktieb li jkollna. Wara r-rapport, stħarriġna fuq dan il-ktieb u sibna li dan kien stokk antik li kien qed jinbiegħ mill-ħwienet tagħna. Se nirtirawh immedjatament u mhux se jibqa’ jinbiegħ".

Minn naħa tiegħu Patrick Attard, qalilna li għalih li l-ktieb jiġi irtirat u li tintalab skuża mhix biżżejjed. "Bħal f’kull ħaġa oħra, ma jistax ikun li tgħid li ddispjaċiek u daqshekk. Qed nistenna li jkun hemm il-konsegwenzi ta’ din l-azzjoni. Dan għax it-traduzzjoni ta’ parti mill-ktieb saret bil-Malti u din xi ħadd għamilha".

Il-Kummissarju tal-Pulizija mitlub jinvestiga

Intant Patrick Attard, kiteb ukoll lill-Kummissarju tal-Pulizija u talbu jinvestiga din il-kwistjoni, hekk kif dan il-ktieb qiegħed joħloq il-mibgħeda lejn persuni gay.
Dun Charles Cordina se jidħol
fil-kwistjoni
l-orizzont għal aktar minn darba għamel kuntatt ma’ Dun Charles Cordina, is-Segretarju Pastorali ta’ l-Arċidjoċesi ta’ Malta. Qalilna li kien qara ir-rapport miktub fil-ġurnal l-orizzont, u kien se jidħol fil-każ. Meta tlabnieh jekk hux se jinvestiga min għamel it-traduzzjoni, qalilna li għad irid jara l-affarijiet.

"Is-sess ma’ l-annimali u l-omosesswalità jitpoġġew fl-istess keffa"

Il-ktieb bl-isem ta’ The Catholic Church and Homosexuality" miktub minn Atila Sinke Guimaraes, fis-sommarju jgħid li "ma jrid iħalli l ebda dubju fl-imħuħ dwar il-kruha ta’ din il-prattika abnormali u l-mod kif il-Knisja dejjem ħarset lejha".

Il-ktieb jgħid li l-omosesswalità hi xi ħaġa tax-xitan u li l-AIDS hi l-kastig ta’ Alla għall-gays. Il-ktieb anke jipprova jqarreb il-pedofelija ma’ l-omosesswalità.

Fil-ktieb il-pedofelija tiġi ċarament magħduda bħala forma ta’ omosesswalità. Is-sess ma’ l-annimali u l-omosesswalità jitpoġġew fl-istess keffa. L-awtur jispjega fid-dettal il-kastigi li kienu jagħtu lill-omosesswali fil-Medju Evu bħall-ħruq, tgħalliq, umiljazzjoni u swat u imkien fil-ktieb ma ssir kundanna għalihom. Anzi wieħed jieħu l-impressjoni ċara meta jaqra l-ktieb li qed jiddefendihom jew jiskużahom.

Apparti dan f’diversi okkażjonijiet l-omosesswalità hi deskritta bħala l-agħar dnub jew ħażen immaġinabbli, sal-estremità li anke x-xjaten ma jifilħuhiex. Fl-istess ħin jgħid li l-omosesswali huma nies imxajtna. Pesti, karestiji, mard u l-Aids jiġu attributi lill-omosesswali. Jiddikjara li l-omosesswalità hi kontaġġjuża.

Patrick Attard, fil-kummenti tiegħu jgħid li "dan il-ktieb qiegħed iħeġġeġ il-mibgħeda lejn persuni gay. Din hi l-istess mibgħeda li wasslet biex 15,000 gays Ġermaniżi jinġabru u jintbagħtu f’Mauthausen fis-sena 1933, fejn inqas minn għaxra minnhom biss baqgħu ħajjin. It-trattament tal-gays fil-kampijiet tal-konċentrament kien wieħed ħażin ħafna, tant li meta kienu jmutu xi Lhud, il-gays kienu jippruvaw jieħdu l-istilla li kien ikollhom ma idejhom biex jaħbu it-trijangolu roża tagħhom. Min qed jimporta dawn il-kotba f’Malta għandu jinżamm responsabbli u anke l-partiti politiċi għandhom jitkellmu fuq dawn il-kotba. Hu xokkanti li ommijiet li jiskopru li uliedhom huma gay imorru biex jixtru kotba minn Il-Qarrej Nisrani’ biex jinformaw ruħhom fuq is-suġġett u jsibu din it-tip ta’ mibgħeda f’dawn il-kotba."

L-Avviż minn Il-Qarrej Nisani"

Intant l-avviż minn Il-Qarrej Nisrani’ kien jgħid hekk: “The Catholic Church and Homosexuality" prezz Lm3.75 jew EUR8.74. Dan il-ktieb jitratta b’mod ħafif it-tradizzjoni Kattolika dwar l-omosesswalità, biex tiċċara bla tlaqliq, il-problemi ta’ madwarha u b’hekk ma jibqa’ l-ebda dubju fl-imħuħ dwar il-kruha ta’ din il-prattika abnormali u l-mod kif il-Knisja dejjem ħarset lejha. Dan l-istudju jdaħħal ħafna kwotazzjonjiet mill-Bibbja, mit-tagħlim tal-Maġisteru, mit-tagħlim tal-Papiet, mil-Liġi Kanonika, mid-Dutturi tal-Knisja, qaddisin u oħrajn. Minkejja li t-tagħlim jingħata fil-qosor, l-ebda kattoliku serju ma’ jista’ jinjora dan l-istudju ċar u miftuħ."

Il-Kummissjoni Nazzjonali għall-Ugwaljanza ma tistax tidħol fil-każ

Ir-rabja fost il-kommunità gay f’Malta għal dan il-ktieb u għall-fatt li dan qed jinbiegħ minn ħwienet u jiġi reklamat minn kumpanija tal-Knisja Kattolika, wasslet biex intalab intervent mingħand il-Kummissjoni Nazzjonali għall-Promozzjoni ta’ l-Ugwaljanza. Biss dawn fir-risposta li taw qalu li huma jidħlu f’każi ta’ diskriminazzjoni abbażi tas-sess fuq il-post tax-xogħol jew fl-għoti ta’ impjiegi, f’servizzi jew oġġetti, jew diskriminazzjoni fuq ir-razza f’servizzi u oġġetti. Il-Kummissjoni Nazzjonali fit-tweġiba tagħha qalet li m’għandhiex ġurisdizzjoni biex tieħu azzjoni fejn tidħol diskriminazzjoni fuq bażi ta’ orjentazzjoni sesswali".

Ara hawn biex tkompli ssegwi l-istorja: http://patrickattard.blogspot.com/2009/02/it-torca-il-kaz-tal-ktieb-catholic.html

Ara l-Intervent tiegħi rigward il-ktieb waqt il-Program Xarabank:

XARABANK, TVM: 20 ta' Frar Ċensura
Iftaħ din il-link ta' hawn taħt bil-Windows Media Player jew bir- Real-Player:
mms://194.158.37.72/TVM/Xarabank/090220.wmv
Mur hawn: 1:14:00

PRESS RELEASE: The Head of the Catholic-Church's Media Centre should resign

14.2.9 by Dr. Inġ. Patrick Attard

Dr. Ing. Patrick Attard is calling for the Head of the Malta's Catholic Church Media-Centre to resign. Dr. Attard sent a complaint to the Police Commissioner on a book sold at the Church's Media Centre and advertised prominently on the Media Centre's website.

The Book, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND HOMOSEXUALITY says that God sent AIDS to punish gays, homosexuality is diabolic and equal to bestiality and paedophilia. It says homosexuals are worse than murderers and that even the devils are disgusted by homosexuality. It describes in detail the punishments given to homosexuals during the Middle Ages such as burning, hanging, humiliations and torture, and these practice is not condemned, on the contrary, on reading the book, one clearly gets the impression that the author is defending or condoning these practices. All kinds of natural calamities and diseases are attributed to homosexuals; and it states that homosexuality is contagious. The book says that the Church has every right to label, condemn and discriminate against homosexual persons and justifies denying employment to homosexuals in the areas of teaching and the military, and defends prohibiting homosexual persons from fostering or adopting children. 

It is not enough that this book is withdrawn from the shelves. Whoever has bought the book must be able to return the book and get his money refunded. Moreover The Church must pay adverts in newspapers to advertise the possibility of refund just like when dangerous toys which have been sold must be recalled. Just as there were consequences when a mouse's head ended up in a salad in Mater-Dei Hospital, this case must not be left without consequences. There is no guarantee that this mistake will not happen again. The recalled books must be destroyed in front of the person returning the book to confirm that it would not be re-sold. Dr. Attard is worried that this book was in an old stock and many copies might have been sold. There are also other books that talk about homosexuality in a similar way in the Media Centre Bookshop. Dr. Attard feels that this is the very tip of the ice-berg of the hatred a number of people hiding inside the Catholic Church's organisation, have against gays.

Whoever put this book on the bookshelves must be held responsible and if possile criminal prosecution should start. Just as Norman Lowell was held responsible to his speeches, in the same way action must be taken against the people responsible.

The Maltese Catholic Church must learn what accountability and responsibility is. A public unambiguos apology to all gay people must be made by a senior Church official must be made, and a clear declaration stating that no such books will be imported. The Head of the Church's Media Centre should resign, the person who was responsible on putting this book on the bookshelves must be sacked, and disciplanary actions must be taken against the person who translated the back cover in Maltese and the person who uploaded the summary on the Media Centre's website.

Related article: http://patrickattard.blogspot.com/2009/02/dr-ing-patrick-attard-condemns-catholic.html

---

See also the following progams in Maltese. Open the links with Windows Media Player or Real Player.

DISSETT, TVM 17.2.09: 

Archbishop talks about the withdrawal of a book from the Media Centre.
mms://194.158.37.72/TVM/disset/090217.wmv
Scroll to: 77th minute (1h 17)

XARABANK, TVM 20.2.09

Censorship and Gay-Hate books
mms://194.158.37.72/TVM/Xarabank/090220.wmv
Scroll to: 1h 14

Times: The good in people - Positivity in persons

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090214/opinion/the-good-in-people
Saturday, 14th February 2009 by Anthony Licari

[Excerpt from the article]

Saving the rainforest

No amount of explanation, clarification and apologetics will change the fact that the Pope of the Catholic Church spoke unkindly about gays in his Christmas speech - as reported in the media. Opinions expressed in this speech include: "homosexuality is unnatural and a destruction of God's work", "saving humanity from homosexual... behaviour (is) just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction". Why not let these people be? They are harming no one.

Dr Licari teaches psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and geolinguistics at the Department of French of the University of Malta.

It-Torċa: Żebliħ minflok kenn

http://www.it-torca.com/news.asp?newsitemid=7849
8.2.9 minn Charles Flores

L-istorja turina li l-Knisja Kattolika qatt ma kienet lesta tipprova l-ġdid u tħares ’il quddiem minflok lura. Saħansitra fil-Konċilju Vatikan II, biex sar it-tibdil li sar kellu jkun hemm taqbid intern li għadu jħalli l-konsegwenzi tiegħu sallum meta donnu li hemm min irid ireġġa’ l-arloġġ lura dwar ħwejjeġ u kwistjonijiet li issa suppost ilhom magħluqin l-għexieren tas-snin. Anki l-quddies bil-Latin qiegħdin jerġgħu jippruvaw jirxuxtaw mill-mewt.

Mhijiex storja sabiħa li tara istituzzjoni dinjija bħalma hi l-Knisja Kattolika, bi skuża jew oħra, teħodha kontra l-progress, l-iżvilupp u r-riċerka. Fl-imgħoddi mbiegħed kien hemm għorrief u artisti kbar li sfaw torturati u mħaġġra, mixwija u maqtula minħabba skoperti u ħidmiet li wettqu u li għalihom kienet oġġezzjonat il-Knisja biex wara nstab li kienu realtajiet li ma setgħux aktar ikunu miċħuda.

Fi żminijietna, il-Knisja rajnieha tikkundanna l-użu tal-kontraċettivi u l-introduzzjoni tad-divorzju u tisfa injorata mill-massa tal-Kattoliċi fid-dinja, baqgħet iżżomm iebes favur iċ-ċelibat u l-qassisin, sorijiet u patrijiet komplew jikkjuwjaw biex jinżgħu, u waqt li kontinwament u bir-raġun taħdem kontra l-abort ma turix l-istess ħeġġa u qawwa ta’ persważjoni kontra l-piena kapitali saħansitra f’pajjiżi (ħbieb) tal-Punent, bħall-Amerika. Aktar riċenti qiegħda wkoll tfixkel il-ħidma fejjieda ta’ xjentisti ġenwini li jaraw il-possibbiltà li jwettqu għeġubijiet mediċi bit-tiftix tagħhom fil-qasam taċ-ċelluli stemmatiċi.

Issa f’dawn l-aħħar xhur rajna l-Knisja Kattolika mmexxija mill-Papa Benedittu XVI tieħu pożizzjoni negattiva u kundannabbli dwar persuni b’orjentazzjoni sesswali differenti, bħallikieku dawn mhux ukoll jistħoqqilhom jgħixu ħajja trankwilla u sabiħa mal-persuna tal-għażla tagħhom, anki jekk tkun tal-istess sess. Intuża kliem li weġġa’ ħafna lil dawk il-persuni kif ukoll lill-familji u l-ħbieb tagħhom, tant li kien hemm min xebbah l-atteġġament tal-Knisja ma’ dak tan-Nażi fil-Ġermanja meta mhux biss il-Lhud sfaw vittmi msejkna tal-qerda u l-preġudizzju, iżda anki l-omosesswali, is-soċjalisti, il-komunisti, it-trejdunjonisti u progressivi oħra tas-soċjetà ta’ dak iż-żmien. Nafu li matul l-aħħar gwerra l-Papa preżenti kien membru tal-Hitler Youth, għaldaqstant huwa ferm iktar gravi li tisma’ minn fommu l-kliem li ntqal.

Hawn Malta wkoll, qiegħdin naraw l-Isqfijiet tagħna jixximjottjaw dwar is-suġġett. Jgħidu kliem u mbagħad idawruh, jagħtu interpretazzjonijiet differenti minn dawk li jkunu fehmu n-nies, speċjalment dawk milquta direttament, bir-riżultat li minflok il-kenn li l-Knisja suppost toffri lil nies li jħossuhom -- mhux għax iridu iżda għax twieldu hekk -- differenti, qiegħda toffrilhom żebliħ miksi biz-zokkor.

Fis-Seklu 21 lil min jgħin jinbidlu l-mentalitajiet marradija tal-imgħoddi għandna bżonn u mhux lil min jipprova jimbotta kollox lura. Huwa proprju għalhekk li tant u tant nies fittxew triqat oħra, lil hinn mir-reġimentazzjoni konservattiva tal-Knisja Kattolika, biex ħaddnu reliġjonijiet oħra jew abbandunaw għal kollox kull twemmin waqt li qiegħdin ikompli jispikka l-argument konvinċenti tar-relattiviżmu. Anki fiċ-ċkejkna Malta issa rajna lil min hu kuraġġuż biżżejjed li joħroġ juri li ma jridx ikun membru ta’ xi ħaġa li wara kollox qiegħda tbarrih.

It-tjubija ma tistax tkun superfiċjali. Trid tkun ġejja minn ġewwa u għalhekk ġenwina. Kif ħafna membri tal-Kleru jsibuha diffiċli biex jimxu mar-regola taċ-ċelibat (Malta żgħira u n-nies magħrufa) hekk ukoll persuni b’orjentazzjoni sesswali differenti ma jistax ikun li jkunu mistennija ma jfittxux dik li għalihom hija l-hena mixtieqa fil-ħajja sempliċiment għax il-Knisja ma tħallihomx, anzi tikkundannahom bl-aktar kliem iebes.

Daqstant importanti hu li l-awtoritajet sekulari ma jiddakkrux minn dan l-atteġġament negattiv tal-Knisja. L-Istat hu marbut li joffri kenn lil kulħadd, mill-fqir saż-żgħir u l-vulnerabbli. Hekk ukoll lil ċittadini b’orjentazzjoni sesswali differenti li iżda xorta waħda jħallsu t-taxxi kollha li jħallsu l-bqija. Jekk il-Knisja trid li tibqa’ ddeffes rasha fit-trab tal-art, l-Istat ma jistax u m’għandux jitħalla jagħmel bħalha.

... 

[Il-kumplament ta' l-artiklu jitratta suġġetti oħrajn. Tista' tara l-artiklu kollu billi tikklikja fuq il-hyperlink ta' hawn fuq.]

YouTube: Love Poem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J-6ZZLMzjE

California's Proposition 8 is a measure on the 2008 ballot to end same-sex marriage. We strongly oppose this initiative. http://www.noonprop8.com/ Directed by Dave Barton & "Greg Adkins" Cinematog...

YouTube: Gay Christian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPUE9xpxjcc


Rowan Atkinson

L-Orizzont: Ktieb li qed jinbiegħ mingħand “il-Qarrej Nisrani”.… Ferment fost il-komunità tal-omosesswali

http://www.l-orizzont.com/news.asp?newsitemid=50984

12.2.9 minn Victor Vella 

Qalb diversi oġġetti sagri lesti biex jinbiegħu fil-ħwienet bl-isem “Il-Qarrej Nisrani” wieħed isib oġġetti li jintużaw fiċ-ċelebrazzjoni tal-Quddiesa, bħal albi, stejjel u kalċijiet. Fl-istess ħwienet issib diversi kotba reliġjużi fosthom dawk maħruġin mill-Knisja Maltija, kartolini, ikoni, kuruni, statwi u diversi forom ta’ slaleb. Qalb dawn l-oġġetti reliġjużi, li normalment wieħed jassoċjahom mal-għaqda, it-tolleranza, l-imħabba u l-maħfra, dan l-aħħar tfaċċa ktieb li qed joħloq ferment sħiħ fost il-komunità omosesswali fil-gżejjer Maltin.

Il-ktieb, bl-isem ta’ “The Catholic Church and Homosexuality”, li anke kien qed ikun irriklamat b’ċerta prominenza fil-websajt ta’ “Il-Qarrej Nisrani”, hu dwar il-Knisja Kattolika u l-omosesswalità, ktieb li mhux biss ma jurix rispett lejn persuni omosesswali iżda ukoll minn dak li jgħid xejn m’hu tolleranti fejn tidħol l-omosesswalità. L-avviż stess li għamel “Il-Qarrej Nisrani” biex jirreklama dan il-ktieb u jħajjar ix-xiri tiegħu, jiddeskrivi l-omosesswalità bħala “kruha” u “abnormali”.

L-Inġinier Patrick Attard, li kien l-uniku kandidat li kkontesta l-elezzjoni ġenerali li ddikjara fi-miftuħ li hu persuna omosesswali u li riċentament kien fl-aħbarijiet meta skomunika lilu nnifsu mill-Knisja Maltija, iddeskriva il-ktieb u r-reklam magħmul minn “Il-Qarrej Nisrani” bħala “injoranza” u li “qed ixerred il-mibgħeda lejn il-persuni omosesswali”.



“L-Aids hi l-kastig ta’ Alla għall-omosesswali”

Hekk kif inġibditlu l-attenzjoni dwar dan ir-reklam imxandar, l-Inġinier Patrick Attard mar u xtara dan il-ktieb mill-fergħa ta’ “Il-Qarrej Nisrani” li dawn għandhom f’Birkirkara. Il-ktieb “The Catholic Church and Homosexuality” miktub minn Atila Sinke Guimaraes, fis-sommarju jgħid li “ma jrid iħalli l-ebda dubju fl-imħuħ dwar il-kruha ta’ din il-prattika abnormali u l-mod kif il-Knisja dejjem ħarset lejha”.

Il-ktieb jgħid li l-omosesswalità hi “xi ħaġa tax-xitan” u li l-AIDS hi “l-kastig ta’ Alla għall-omosesswali”. Il-ktieb anke jipprova jqarreb il-pedofelija mal-omosesswalità.

Patrick Attard, fil-kummenti tiegħu jgħid li “dan il-ktieb qed iħeġġeġ il-mibgħeda lejn persuni omosesswali. Din hi l-istess mibgħeda li wasslet biex 15,000 omosesswali Ġermaniżi jinġabru u jintbagħtu f’Mauthausen fis-sena 1933, fejn biss inqas minn għaxra minnhom li baqgħu ħajjin. It-trattament tal-omosesswali fil-kampijiet tal-konċentrament kien wieħed ħażin ħafna u ta’ min jistmerru, tant li meta kienu jmutu xi Lhud, l-omosesswali kienu jipprovaw jieħdu l-istilla li kien ikollhom ma’ idejhom biex jaħbu t-trijangolu roża li kienu jagħmlulhom. Min qed jimporta dawn il-kotba f’Malta għandu jinżamm responsabbli u anke l-partiti politiċi għandhom jitkellmu fuq dawn il-kotba. Hu xokkanti li ommijiet li jiskopru li uliedhom huma omosesswali jmorru biex jixtru kotba minn “Il-Qarrej Nisrani” biex jinformaw ruħhom fuq is-suġġett u jsibu din it-tip ta’ mibgħeda f’dawn il-kotba”.



“Għandu jitwaqqaf il-bejgħ”

L-Inġinier Patrick Attard enfasizza li “għandu jitwaqqaf b’mod immedjat il-bejgħ ta’ dawn il-kotba. Inħeġġeġ lin-nies biex jitkellmu fuq l-intolleranza li qed juri dan il-ktieb. Dan il-ktieb għamel ħsara irreparabbli lill-komunità omosesswali f’Malta”.

Patrick Attard jgħid li “l-Knisja Kattolika f’Malta għandha tara li tiġi msewwija din il-ħsara u dan billi twaqqaf l-impjieg ta’ min ħalla dan il-ktieb jinbiegħ fl-ixkafef tal-ħwienet tagħha, tieħu passi dixxiplinarji kontra min għamel sommarju tal-ktieb u poġġieh fil-websajt tal-kumpanija tal-knisja – il-MediaCentre. Talab ukoll li l-knisja għandha tagħmel apoloġija mal-komunità tal-omosesswali, li l-ktieb ikun irtirat, li jinġabru l-kotba mixtrija u jingħataw ‘refund’ u li l-knisja tagħmel dikjarazzjoni biex dawn il-kotba ma jiġux importati.



Pożizzjoni mill-politiċi

L-Inġinier Attard sejjaħ lill-politiċi biex jieħdu pożizzjoni fuq dan il-ktieb u reġa’ fakkar kif il-Parlamentari Ewropej tal-Partit Nazzjonalisa, Simon Busuttil u David Casa, b’mod konsistenti vvotaw kontra u astjenew fuq riżoluzzjonijiet li jikkundannaw il-qtil u t-tortura tal-omosesswali. Agħar minn hekk Simon Busuttil, iffirma petizzjoni fis-26 ta’ April, 2007, biex titneħħa riżoluzzjoni li tikkundanna l-omofobija minn fuq l-aġenda.



L-avviż minn “Il-Qarrej Nisani”

Intant l-avviż minn “Il-Qarrej Nisrani” biex jirreklama l-ktieb kien jgħid hekk: “The Catholic Church and Homosexuality” – prezz Lm3.75 jew €8.74. Dan il-ktieb jitratta b’mod ħafif it-tradizzjoni Kattolika dwar l-omosesswalità, biex tiċċara bla tlaqliq, il-problemi ta’ madwarha u b’hekk ma jibqa’ l-ebda dubju fl-imħuħ dwar il-kruha ta’ din il-prattika abnormali u l-mod kif il-Knisja dejjem ħarset lejha. Dan l-istudju jdaħħal ħafna kwotazzjonjiet mill-Bibbja, mit-tagħlim tal-Maġisteru, mit-tagħlim tal-Papiet, mil-Liġi Kanonika, mid-Dutturi tal-Knisja, qaddisin u oħrajn. Minkejja li t-tagħlim jingħata fil-qosor, l-ebda kattoliku serju ma’ jista’ jinjora dan l-istudju ċar u miftuħ.



Il-NCPE tgħid li ma tistax tidħol fil-każ

Ir-rabja fost il-komunità omosesswali f’Malta għal dan il-ktieb u għall-fatt li dan qed jinbiegħ minn ħwienet u jiġi reklamat minn kumpanija tal-Knisja Kattolika, wasslet biex individwi omosesswali jiktbu direttament lill-kumpanija ‘Mediacentre’ biex jipprotestaw għal dawn it-tip ta’ kotba li qiegħda tippermetti li jinbiegħu mill-ħwienet tagħha kif ukoll għall-mod ta’ kif dawn qegħdin ikunu reklamati.

Kien hemm ukoll min talab intervent mingħand il-Kummissjoni Nazzjonali għall-Promozzjoni tal-Ugwaljanza (NCPE) speċjalment fid-dawl ta’ studju riċerkat li għamlet fejn analizzat id-diskriminazzjoni li għadha teżisti f’pajjiżna fuq il-bażi ta’ razza, ix-xorta tas-sess, l-orjentament sesswali, id-diżabbiltà, ir-reliġjon u l-età u x’passi għandhom jittieħdu biex din id-diskriminazzjoni tieqaf darba għal dejjem.

Biss, ironikament, dawn fir-risposta li taw qalu li huma jidħlu biss f’każi ta’ diskriminazzjoni abbażi tax-xorta tas-sess, fuq il-post tax-xogħol jew fl-għoti ta’ impjiegi, f’servizzi jew oġġetti jew diskriminazzjoni minħabba r-razza fl-għoti ta’ servizzi u oġġetti. Il-Kummissjoni Nazzjonali fit-tweġiba tagħha qalet li “m’għandhiex ġurisdizzjoni biex tieħu azzjoni fejn tidħol diskriminazzjoni fuq bażi ta’ orjentazzjoni sesswali”.

Malta Today: Taking it seriously

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2009/02/11/harry.html 

Wednesday, 11 February 2009 by Harry Vassallo

Most of us are not gay. Some of us are homophobic. The vast majority are altogether unaffected by the issue.

Patrick Attard is gay, out and free. When he is insulted publicly he responds appropriately, logically and shockingly in the eyes of many of us who are attuned to the prevailing culture which invites us always to fly low and slow.

His self-excommunication from the Catholic Church in response to Pope Benedict’s “intrinsic evil” Christmas message caused quite a stir just weeks ago. Most people who are no longer comfortable being Catholic walk away quietly. Ing. Attard was not happy to become yet another lapsed Catholic. He discovered that there is a formal procedure for exit from the Catholic Church, filled in the forms and made the fact public.

Ironically his is a very Catholic attitude, logical, legalistic and absolutist. He is the appropriate counterpart to the self-righteous Catholic for whom every issue is clear cut good or bad, permitted or prohibited. Whether or not it arises from an unproven premise, it follows a mechanical logic.

In an irresistible provocation, the Church’s Media Centre advertised, sold and distributed under state license and a book entitled The Catholic Church and Homosexuality with the ominous sub-title The Appendix to In The Murky Waters of Vatican II. Its author, Atila Sinke Guimaraes, demonises homosexuality quoting the Old Testament and describes the AIDS epidemic as God’s punishment on homosexuals. Patrick Attard responded with a press release demanding an apology, the withdrawal of the book and the sacking of the person responsible for its publication in Malta.

Beyond the issue of homosexuality itself, the contest is set to raise the more fundamental question of Church/State interface. When does the expression of one’s belief become a violation of another’s right to live in peace? Any religion must be entitled to teach its faithful that anything is an abomination. If that teaching happens to be in defiance of the guarantees to peaceful co-existence offered by a modern state, can the teaching be done legitimately in public?

Under Sharia law the punishment for adultery is death by stoning just as it was under the law of Moses. Muslims are free to believe that it is morally right to inflict death by stoning on adulterers and even to believe that it is their moral obligation to carry out the sentence. If they act on such beliefs in a modern state they will become liable to the punishments meted out for murder.

It must be the same also for Catholics. Where should the line be drawn and who in Malta Cattolicissima will draw it? Which political party wants to be seen to be in conflict with the Church? Will any Maltese politician dare to defend the fundamentals of civic tolerance in the face of an overwhelmingly dominant faith now spoiling for a fight? Assuming that there exists a such a stalwart, endowed with the philosophical umph to realise the threat to civil authority and peaceful civic co-existence, will his or her party allow any expression of concern when both parties in parliament hang by a thread?

The danger is not only to gays, few of whom will follow Patrick Attard’s example, it is to all of us, also to those of us who lapsed long ago. In this most Catholic of countries, the assault of the dominant current in the Catholic Church on its own Vatican Council II reform can have a devastating success and far beyond the issue of homophobia. Does anybody else see it coming?

Independent: What the Pope really said

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=82964
11.2.9 by Adrian Camilleri Flores; ST Paul’s Bay

During the Xarabank programme of 30 January the fiction that Pope Benedict XVI, in his address to the Roman Curia of 22 December 2008 “described homosexuality as ‘the destruction of God’s own work’,” was repeated.

In fact, anyone who checks what the Pope actually said can confirm that Benedict XVI did not even mention homosexuality. His only clear allusion to it was in a reference to “marriage, understood as the life-long bond between a man and a woman”. How this restatement of the Catholic view that marriage is a heterosexual institution translates into the Pope describing homosexuality as “the destruction of God’s work” (a phrase that occurs several sentences earlier) is beyond my imagination to conceive.

Any illusion in an earlier reference to “the nature of the human being as man and woman” would be to transexuality rather than homosexuality, and in any case would be quite peripheral. The context of the Pope’s whole argument indicates that he is concerned with far wider issues.

One of these is gender theory. As journalist Paul Vallely wrote in The Independent (UK), since the Pope’s remarks “were in an in-house address to his staff, he spoke in impenetrable theological shorthand”. Consequently, many outsiders missed the significance of his use of the term “gender”. (The English word is used in the original Italian and German texts). In fact, as another journalist, Peter Popham, wrote, also in The Independent, “the Pope... was apparently taking up arms against” gender theory’s claim “that our ideas about the categories of sex, gender and sexuality are not the product of biology but are culturally constituted in accordance with what a given society permits”.

Mark Henderson, science editor of The Times (UK), wrote that in attacking gender theory, “the Holy Father has said something that needed saying”. But he added, “as the Pope is finding out, anyone who criticises this “gender theory” invites vitriol from its liberal supporters. Scientists such as Simon Baron-Cohen and Steven Pinker have been accused of rationalising patriarchy and discrimination. Nevertheless, “the work of these researchers and others shows that gender theory is built on sand... the Pope (is) taking the right side in this argument”.

The fiercest critics of gender theory are evolutionary psychologists like Pinker and Baron-Cohen. In his acclaimed attack on social constructionist ideology, The Blank Slate (2002), Steven Pinker devotes a long chapter to gender in which, like the Pope, he never once mentions homosexuality. What he is concerned with is the pernicious effect of gender theory on feminism.

As Paul Vallely wrote, something else that the Pope “seems to have his sights... is questions of bioethics”. This is hardly surprising since the Vatican had issued its most important document on bioethics in 20 years a mere 10 days before. In his address the Pope speaks of the “message... inscribed” in man, or in more scientific language the genetic code, and of defending “human nature against manipulation”.

As has often been said, the Catholic Church thinks in centuries, and the Pope has every reason to be concerned about the dire prospects for humanity if it sets out, as it seems to be doing, on the road of what Cardinal Keith O’Brien and others have called “Frankenstein science”.

Already some countries, like the UK, have given the green light to the creation of clones, human animal hybrids and so on, and there is no telling where it will all end. Many people are worried about genetically modified crops and animals, but they should be even more worried about genetically modified humans.

The Vatican’s concern is shared by prominent secular intellectuals like Jurgen Habermas, Francis Fukuyama and Bryan Appleyard, all of whom have written books on the matter. The Pope’s call to “not only defend the earth, water and air” and the “rain forests”, but also to “protect man” echoes what Fukuyama wrote in his essay Transhumanism (2004): “The environmental movement has taught us humility and respect for the integrity of non-human nature. We need a similar humility concerning our human nature. If we do not develop it soon, we may unwittingly invite the transhumanists to deface humanity with their genetic bulldozers and psychotropic shopping malls.”

“Transhumanist” is the term adopted by those who advocate the (almost) unfettered use of biotechnology to, as Fukuyama puts it, “liberate the human race from its biological constraints” or, in the words of the transhumanist philosopher Max More, “guide us towards a post-human condition”.

This, not homosexuality (which he did not mention), is what the Pope had in mind when he warned against “man’s attempt at self-emancipation from creation”, and called for “a human ecology” and respect for “the language of creation. To disregard this (he warned) would be the self-destruction of man himself, and hence the destruction of God’s own work”.

Malta Today: A defensive church under siege!

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2009/02/08/l4.html

Sunday, 08 February 2009 by JOSEPH CHETCUTI; AUSTRALIA

First it was Benedict’s turn. Cast your mind back to 23 December 2008. The venue: the Sala Clementina. The occasion: Benedict’s Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia. A joyous kind of day and a wonderful opportunity to preach not only the good news but also hammer home the “ecology of the human being”! Rainforests, he tells us, deserve our protection but so do human beings. Who would argue with him? Enter a nasty secular media, staffed by socialists, communists, Protestants, Jews and homosexuals. Benedict’s message of deliverance from gender bending is wrongly reported, or so the Vatican would have us believe, as referring to homosexuals and transsexuals. Gay men, lesbians, transsexuals and transvestites are outraged (the Vatican thinks unjustifiably so). That great defender of the faith Fr Anton Gouder is beside himself. How could the Pope have said what he said? He said so on Xarabank. He checks Benedict’s speech and then … a revelation! Benedict never once made reference to homosexuals and transsexuals.
Now turn your eyes to the sleepy island of Gozo and its Ordinary, Monsignor Mario Grech. On 25 January 2009, a newspaper (mis)quotes the Monsignor as saying: “Who does not accept Christ’s teachings should be honest with themselves and excommunicate themselves from the Church.” Contrary to what was alleged, the affable Monsignor never once mentioned “them”, that is homosexuals, transsexuals and transvestites. Eight days later, the bishop’s Curia issues a declaration consisting of 258 words. In the declaration, the Monsignor states that he made no reference whatsoever to any category of persons, homosexual included. Significantly, he says he did not say that homosexuals should leave the Church. But he admits to having said: “the fact that our Church may not remain one of the masses but becomes one of a minority, must not disappoint us. Because a little salt is enough to give flavor….” Salt and homosexuality! I wonder what Freud would have made of that? The Monsignor also says he said: “He who does not accept the teaching of Christ, would be honest with himself if he excommunicates himself from the Church.”
Two simple questions raise their head. Question 1: What exactly did Benedict and the Monsignor mean? Question 2: Can one refer to an individual or a group of people without actually mentioning them?

What Benedict and the Monsignor meant?
Back to Benedict! Benedict’s contentious statement is located in part 2 of paragraph 1 of his homily where he makes reference to (a) the “nature of the human being [as] man and woman”, (b) “the language of creation”, (c) “the self destruction of man and therefore to the destruction of the same work of God”, (d) “the self-emancipation of man from creation and from the Creator”, and (e) “matrimony, [as being both] the life-long bond between man and woman [and] a sacrament of creation”. Now call me stupid but do not Catholics resort to the Genesis account or accounts of Creation to be more accurate to condemn same-sex relations? And is it not also argued that the practice of homosexuality would spell the end of the world? And have not same-sex registrations, civil unions and marriages ruffled the Church’s feathers in recent years? And is not gender theory inextricably linked with sexual orientation? So, as Fr Anton Gouder so eloquently put it on Xarabank, Benedict’s comments were more general in nature and homosexuals and transsexuals were not intended to take the full brunt of Benedict’s criticism. Charming!

Now return to the Monsignor and his homily which came days or weeks after two gay men and one lesbian excommunicated themselves. I ask: If the Monsignor’s mention of excommunication was not intended to refer to homosexuals, whom was it aimed at? What other inferences can a reasonable person draw?

Referring to homosexuals and transsexuals without mentioning them.
So the argument seems to be that the Church is at liberty to take cheap shots at homosexuals and transsexuals and then hide under the cover of misinterpretation and misquotation. I wonder whatever happened to indirect references and those propositions arrived at by inference? True, inferences may be valid or invalid but given the Church’s record of homophobia, how else, I ask: Could Benedict’s and the Monsignor’s homily have been interpreted? Whatever happed to context? Or are we homosexuals and transsexuals far too sensitive to be taken seriously.

Another venue: the Media Centre website. The occasion: promotion of the book The Catholic Church and Homosexuality. The blurb, amongst other things, refers to the “ugliness of this abnormal practice”. My response: an email in typical Australian diplomatic style with frequent and repetitive use of a word that brought Gordon Ramsay to notoriety. The result: the email is left unanswered (Surprise! Surprise!) but the offending and unchristian comments are removed from the website. And to paraphrase the Cartesian assumption “Je pense donc je suis”, I say: “I am my sexual orientation.”

I simply do not buy into this nonsense. Popes and bishops should weigh carefully what they say. The days when everyone and anyone says “yes” to whatever they utter are long gone.

Times: The winter of our discontent

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090210/opinion/the-winter-of-our-discontent

Tuesday, 10th February 2009 by Kenneth Zammit Tabona
Excerpt from the article

January 2009 has been and gone in a flurry of rain and disagreeable weather that is best soon forgotten. A dull anticlimactic month, as a rule, this particular January has been characterised by several ongoing debates between the government and the increasing number of people who have the temerity to think for themselves. Not a day passes without the government being criticised for this that or the other. Although some theorists say that this is healthy, I feel that carrying it to this, extreme is a rather hazardous gamble for a government who won the last election by a mere whisker despite promising the moon and several planets to boot!

...

Then, of course, there are the social issues. I find it hard to understand how the PN government, after having played a pro-Europe hand for so long and with such tenacity, can be so reluctant to accept social changes like divorce and same-sex marriage, to mention but a few subjects that many people who voted yes in the referendum imagined would become a reality once we joined Europe. We are told that there is no need to have divorce as there is already something like it in our laws, which is its equivalent but is not called divorce. We are told that there is no need to have same-sex marriage as it will be taken care of in the eventual cohabitation laws.

Unable to call a spade a spade, this government hides under euphemisms and displays all the defects and shortcomings of 'Dorothy's Friends' in The Wizard Of Oz!

So indoctrinated are we by the all pervasive power of the Catholic Church that Xarabank chose to air a discussion programme about homosexuality without one government representative on the panel. While the Prime Minister and the Minister for Social Policy probably watched the programme from the safe comfort of their homes, it was left to the Archbishop and Fr Anton Gouder, especially the latter, to squirm under a literal bombardment of scornful criticism that, by rights, should have been aimed at Lawrence Gonzi and John Dalli. So unfair!

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments.]

Illum: L-Amnesty International u l-Malta Gay Rights Movement jirreaġixxu - Mill-iżbarra għal Kordin

http://www.illum.com.mt/2009/02/08/t11.html
8.2.9 minn Julia Farrugia

L-Amnesty International fl-Ingilterra, l-Għaqda internazzjonali li tiġġieled favur id-drittijiet tal-bniedem, irreaġixxiet għal storja li dehret bħal-lum ġimgħa f’din il-gazzetta [ara hawn taħt għall-artiklu].

F’intervista Natal Bonello, transesswali li qattgħet xi żmien fil-Faċilità Korrettiva ta’ Kordin, tkellmet dwar il-moħqrija li ġarrbet hi u dwar moħqrija li allegatament qed issofri bħalissa transesswali li hemm f’Diviżjoni 6 tal-ħabs minn priġunieri oħra.

“Għandi ħabiba transesswali li bħalissa qiegħda f’Diviżjoni 6. Sa din il-ġimgħa stess ċemplitli tibki. Qed issostni li qed tiġi msawta minn priġunieri rġiel oħra. Tibki biki kbir. Hi u tolfoq qaltli li anke l-ħwejjeġ ħarqulha fil-ħabs. Din moħqrija. Qed tiġi abbużata. Ir-recordings tat-telefonati qiegħdin hemm. Jistgħu jisimgħuhom,” saħqet Natal.

Bonello allegat ukoll li meta kienet il-ħabs kien hemm anke uffiċjali tal-ħabs li għaddewha minn martirju bl-inkejja tagħhom.

L-Amnesty ssostni li “f’Diċembru li għadda Malta kienet firmatarja ta’ dikjarazzjoni tal-Ġnus Magħquda favur id-drittijiet tal-bniedem fuq orjentazzjoni sesswali u l-gender. It-tħassib li tqajjem l-istorja jiksru l-istess impenn ta’ Malta meta ffirmat id-dikjarazzjoni.”

Fix-xhur li għaddew Amnesty International ħarġet rapport li ffoka fuq transgender f’detenzjoni u minnu joħorġu numru ta’ rakkomandazzjonijiet li l-għaqda tissuġġerixxi li jkunu nklużi f’Malta.

“Għandha tkun ċara li qatt mhu tollerat li uffiċjali tal-Pulizija jew gwardjani jabbużaw verbalment minn priġunieri fuq orjentazzjoni sesswali, gender jew espressjoni. Għandha tittieħed azzjoni dixxiplinarja xierqa kontra dawk l-uffiċjali li jwettqu abbuż bħal dan,” sostniet l-Amnesty.

“Gwardjani għandhom jindirizzaw lil transesswali bl-isem li jużaw regolarment.
“L-Awtoritajiet Maltin għandhom jikkonsultaw ma’ għaqdiet tat-transgender biex jidentifikaw x’inhuma l-aħjar prattiċi dwar jekk transgender għandhomx jinżammu f’diviżjoni tan-nisa jew f’tal-irġiel.

“Jekk minħabba raġunijiet ta’ sigurtà ikun meħtieġ li persuni lesbiċi, gay, bisesswali jew transgender jinżammu separatament minn priġunieri oħra, iridu jingħataw l-istess livell ta’ aċċess għal servizzi u riżorsi, fosthom toilets u faċilitajiet oħra.”

Amnesty International tkompli li “Tfittxijiet li jsiru fuq transgender għandhom isiru mhux sempliċiment biex tkun sfidata l-identità tagħhom. Meta tfittxija tkun meħtieġa din għandha ssir fil-privat u bl-akbar dinjità. Jekk il-priġunier hu transgender it-tfittxija għandha ssir minn żewġ uffiċjali li s-sess tagħhom jagħżlu l-priġunier. Jekk priġunier ma jispeċifikax preferenza t-tfittxija trid issir minn uffiċjali bl-istess sess tal-priġunier,” tikkonkludi l-għaqda dinjija favur id-drittijiet tal-bniedem.

Il-każ qanqal reazzjoni qawwija fil-Malta Gay Rights Movement li f’kummenti lil din il-gazzetta qal “l-MGRM juri t-tħassib tiegħu dwar l-allegazzjonijiet li saru minn Natal Bonello dwar il-mod ta’ kif qed jiġu trattati persuni transesswali fil-ħabs kemm jekk huma priġunieri kif ukoll jekk huma viżitaturi.

“L-MGRM tħeġġeġ lill-awtoritajiet konċernati biex jinvestigaw dan il-każ b’mod immedjat u biex tiġi miġbura u mismugħha kull evidenza, inklużi t-telefonati rrekordjati msemmija,” appella l-Moviment.

“Għandhom ukoll jiżguraw li fil-ħabs jitwaqqfu prattiċi tajbin bbażati fuq ir-rispett lejn id-dinjità tal-persuna u d-dritt għal trattament uman waqt li qegħdin f’detenzjoni.

L-MGRM qed tappella biex kulmin għandu xi każ simili biex iżomm rapport dettaljat bil-miktub dwar dak li jkun ġralu u jekk hemm bżonn ifittex anke parir legali u/jew appoġġ minn entitajiet bħal MGRM, Amnesty jew Mid-Dlam għad-Dawl.”

Matul din il-ġimgħa kien hemm it-tielet għaqda li rreaġixxiet għal-istorja ta’ Illum. Nhar l-Erbgħa l-għaqda non-governattiva Mid-Dlam għad-Dawl li taħdem fost il-priġunieri sostniet li dan l-aġir hu inaċċettabbli u f’ittra urġenti lid-Direttur tal-Ħabs u lill-Ministru għall-Ġustizzja Carm Mifsud Bonnici talbet inkjesta dwar il-każ.

Dan tal-aħħar għall-mistoqsijiet tal-MaltaToday ta’ nhar l-Erbgħa sostna li “l-awtoritajiet tal-ħabs m’għandhomx informazzjoni li l-persuna f’Diviżjoni 6 qed issofri minn xi abbuż.”

Għal xi raġuni l-awtoritajiet għadhom ma laqgħux it-talba li jisimgħu r-recordings fejn il-priġuniera qed tibki u tallega li qed tkun maħqura.

Tista’ taqra r-rapport tal-Amnesty International dwar transgender f’detenzjoni fuq:
Link

Referenzi għall-għajnuna:
http://www.amnesty.org
http://www.maltagayrights.net
www.mddmalta.org

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http://www.illum.com.mt/2009/02/01/interview.html
Intervista | 01 ta’ Frar 2009 Nr 118

Illum: Mill-iżbarra għal Kordin

Julia Farrugia tintervista lil Natal Bonello

Xagħar imġiegħed twil safrani jinżel jistrieħ fuq spallejn mislutin. B’saqajha puliti rqaq imrikkba fuq xulxin Natal Bonello tpoġġi l-karti kollha fuq il-mejda.
“Kont diġà Kordin sentejn ilu u tefgħuni f’Diviżjoni 13 u wara fit-12,” tistqarr. “Fil-karozza tas-CID tgħidx kemm bkejt meta bdew isuqu biex joħduni l-ħabs għax bżajt li jdaħħluni f’diviżjoni tal-irġiel minflok f’dik tan-nisa,” tispjega.
“Kif fil-fatt ġara. Tefgħuni mal-irġiel. Ħassejtni ħażin ħafna. Ikun hemm min jipprova jwaqqgħek għaċ-ċajt. Min isaffar, min jibdel il-vuċi taparsi mara. Imma wara jibdew jidraw.”

Nistaqsiha kemm ilha li għamlet din il-bidla minn raġel għal mara.
“Ili nħossni mara minn meta kont żgħira. Minn meta twelidt. Jien tewmija ma’ tifla. Inħossni mara. M’għamiltx l-operazzjoni minħabba kwistjoni ta’ flus. Trid xi Lm9,000 minbarra l-ispiża biex tħallas il-vjaġġ tal-ajru u affarijiet oħra li ġġib magħha l-operazzjoni,” tkompli Natal.

Il-kuraġġ ta’ din it-tfajla jikxef maskra reali li f’pajjiż kattoliku u suppost solidari ma juri xejn ħlief ipokrizija u ħruxija.

“Il-ħajja fil-ħabs għal persuni trans mhix waħda faċli. Jien mara u nilbes ta’ mara. Ovvjament il-ħabs mhux se nilbes id-dbielet imma nilbes qliezet diċenti. Darba d-direttur tal-ħabs qalli: ‘Hemm fejn taħseb li sejra?’ Kelli qalziet dejjaq u flokk ta’ mara – xejn mikxuf.”

Imma jkun hemm daqqiet li jinfdu aktar fil-fond u fi kliem Natal trid trabbi qoxra biex biha tiddefendi lilek innifsek minn kull tip ta’ diskriminazzjoni mibnija fuq is-sess.

“Wara li nieħu shower kont naħsel il-ħwejjeġ ta’ taħt u nnixxifhom fiċ-ċella. Darba għadda gwardjan u qabadli qalziet ta’ taħt tan-nisa li kelli minxur. ‘Dan x’inhu?’ qalli filwaqt li ċaqlaq il-qalziet ta’ taħt b’idejh. ‘X’inhu, eh, dan, hi?’
Natal bħallikieku qed tara x-xena quddiem għajnejha wieġbet: “Mhux qalziet ta’ taħt qed tara! Tkunx vojt.”

Il-ħajja fil-ħabs għal persuni trans mhux ward u żahar.

“Persuni bħali qed jitpoġġew ukoll f’Diviżjoni 8 fis-sezzjoni tal-pedofeli. Timmaġinak? Hemm min jidher li hu mara, b’sider bis-silicone u xorta jitfgħuh f’diviżjoni tal-irġiel. Li tpoġġina ma’ nies pedofeli hu nsult. Ma jaħsbux li qed ipoġġu lilna f’riskju wkoll? Qisek qed tpoġġi t-tiben ħdejn in-nar!”
Ir-rakkont ta’ Natal jissokta. Tirrakkonta episodju ieħor li ġarrbet meta kienet fil-Faċilità Korrettiva ta’ Kordin.

“Meta kont il-ħabs qlajt kastig u tefgħuni f’Diviżjoni 6. Fil-ġurnata u nofs li qattajt hemm mort sal-infern u lura.”
Nitlobha tispjega.

“Priġunieri oħra f’din id-diviżjoni riedu ċerti affarijiet minni,” tkun it-tweġiba.
“Jabbużawk sesswalment?” nistaqsiha.

“Le. Diviżjoni 6, peress li hemm sigurtà massima, mimlija cameras. Ħlief fiċ-ċella u fix-showers. X’ħin dħalt biex ninħasel priġunier inbuttani għal ġox-shower u hemm sibt tlieta oħra jistennewni. L-ewwel wieħed dawwar ix-xugaman tiegħu m’għonqi u prova jgħallaqni bih. Kienu jafu li jien kelli passat bid-droga u bdew jinsistu biex nagħtihom id-droga għax ħasbu li għandi fuqi. B’rasi bdejt nagħmel sinjal li m’għandix. Ix-xugaman beda aktar jissikka u x’ħin bqajt ngħid li m’għandix priġunier ieħor qabad isawwatni b’saħħa bil-lasta tal-ixkupa.”

Natal jistqarr li rraporta dan l-episodju ma’ uffiċjal tal-iSpecial Response Team (SRT) li “mar ibeżbiżhom biex jaqbeż għalija.”
U hawn ifaqqgħu akkużi serji.

“Jien għandi ħabiba transesswali li bħalissa qiegħda f’Diviżjoni 6. Sa din il-ġimgħa stess ċemplitli tibki. Qed issostni li qed tiġi msawta minn priġunieri rġiel oħra.
“Tibki biki kbir. Hi u tolfoq qaltli li anke l-ħwejjeġ ħarqulha fil-ħabs. Din moħqrija. Qed tiġi abbużata. Ir-recordings tat-telefonati qiegħdin hemm. Jistgħu jisimgħuhom,” tisħaq Natal.

Transesswali oħra li takkumpanja lil Natal fl-uffiċċju tagħna tikkonfermali li hi semgħet b’widnejha l-appell ta’ din il-priġunier.

“Nitolbu bil-ħrara biex l-awtoritajiet jinvestigaw dan il-każ. Il-ħabiba tagħna għaddejja minn tbatija. Nixtiequ li xi ħadd jintervjeni u jieħu azzjoni.”

Iż-żewġ persuni jikkonfermaw li anke meta jmorru jaraw lil din il-priġuniera dejjem tgħidilhom li qed tinħaqar. Ma nifilħux narawha aktar f’din is-sitwazzjoni. Dan l-aħħar qaltli li tant xebgħet li lesta tneħħi ħajjitha,” tispjega Natal.
Il-ħabiba tagħha ssemmi punt ieħor.

“Meta ġieli semmejna dan il-punt li aħna nisa u ma nistgħux nibqgħu nkunu suġġetti għal din id-diskriminazzjoni kien hemm min qalilna: ‘Mhux aħjar tmorru tiskontaw is-sentenza f’diviżjoni speċjali li hemm Monte Carmeli?’

“Monte Carmeli?! Mela aħna mġienen biex immorru hemm?!” tinsisti seħbitha.
Natal qed tistenna sentenza fuq każ li seħħ fl-imgħoddi. Il-biża’ li minn wara l-iżbarra terġa’ tirfes l-għatba ta’ Kordin bħala priġuniera.

“Naf li għalxejn nitolbu nkunu f’diviżjoni ma’ nisa oħra għax żgur li l-awtoritjiet mhux se jaċċettaw. Imma tal-inqas nixtieq li ma jpoġġuniex mal-pedofeli jew f’Diviżjoni 6.”

Jitfaċċa argument ieħor li meta tisimgħu jtaqqlek. Nammetti li jien u nikteb nipprova nsib l-aħjar damma ta’ kliem. Inħalliha barra? Imma għaliex qed insibha bi tqila? Wara kollox min qiegħed imexxi u jara dawn il-moqżiżati jsiru mhux qed jiddarrass. Hu biss b’din il-kitba li din is-sitwazzjoni tista’ titranġa.

“Il-problemi li nħabbtu wiċċna magħhom mhumiex biss jekk inkunu priġunieri imma wkoll jekk immorru nżuru lil xi ħadd il-ħabs. Isiru tfittxjiet fuqna. Ara taħseb li jibagħtu mara, ta! Iħallu għassiesa rġiel jagħmlulna s-search.

“Ineżżgħuk għarwiena ħuta fil-kesħa u jitolbuk titbaxxa biex jaraw jekk għandekx droga moħbija fit-toqba tal-warrani.

“L-umiljazzjoni ma tiqafx hawn. Jitolbuk toħroġ il-parti tiegħek kollha barra.” Natal tieqaf ħesrem u b’vuċi issa bilkemm tinstema’ tkompli s-sentenza li farrket ftit sekondi qabel.

“L-għassies jgħidlek ‘oħroġ ir-ras tal-pene kollha barra’.” Natal tħares fiss f’għajnejha. M’għandhiex biża’ imma f’għajnejha nista’ naqra l-uġigħ li terfa’ magħha b’din is-sitwazzjoni.

Natal għada tagħlaq 34 sena. Għadha żgħira. Nammira li kellha l-kuraġġ toħroġ fil-beraħ. Ma ssibx problemi biex l-intervista ssir b’isimha. Nistaqsiha jekk jimpurtax jekk noħdulha ritratt għal mal-intervista. Taċċetta.
“Iva, mela le. Imma mhux toħodli r-ritratt hekk, ta’, b’xagħri mhux issettjat u kif jien bit-tracksuit. Għada għandi l-Qorti u kif inkun imbiddla nibqa’ ġejja ħdejk.
Natal titla’ l-Qorti. Il-kawża ġiet differita. Forsi r-rabja, forsì d-diżappunt. Il-mara tmur tinqafel id-dar.

L-intervista toħroġ bla ritratt.