Monday 30 August 2010

Times: Church cannot play God in people’s consciences - theologian

Monday, 30th August 2010 - 09:00CET; by David Schembri

The Church can only say that a person’s decision is not in accordance with the Church’s teaching; saying it is a sin would be playing God in people’s conscience, according to the Dean of Theology at the University.

“When one makes a decision in conscience, seeking the truth, and the decision is different from what the Church teaches, one could say the individual is not in agreement with the Church’s teachings, but when we talk about sin we’re talking about something between the individual and God, and that is something where we can’t play God ourselves,” Fr Emmanuel Agius said.
“Just like we can’t play God in science, we can’t play God in people’s consciences.”

Fr Agius was speaking to The Times in the wake of comments, made earlier this month, by Mgr Anton Gouder, the Curia’s Pro-Vicar, who said that convinced Catholics voting in favour of divorce would be going against Christ’s teachings and thus committing a sin, stoking the already heated debate on the introduction of divorce in Malta.

The Church has so far not commented on Fr Gouder’s statements. On Saturday, the Bishops issued a pastoral letter asking anyone contributing to this debate “not to distort the love for each person ingrained in the Christian message by embarking on some kind of crusade, even in the case of clear signs of provocation”.

Theologian Fr Charlò Camilleri wrote a Talking Point published in The Times on Friday criticising the overzealous approach of Catholics and “Curia spokesmen” in the discussion on the introduction of divorce.

Arguments based on an “I command, you obey” attitude, such as “voting in favour of divorce is a sin” and “no MP can vote for divorce without sinning seriously against God”, put forward by particular people, be they a Curia spokesman or zealous Catholics voicing their opinion, sound as nothing more than a fundamentalist retrograde interpretation of the positive teaching of the Church on marriage, Fr Camilleri wrote.

“Sin is a matter related to one’s own personal conscience. It is matter of the foro interno! And while the Church is surely in duty bound to form consciences by proposing objective guidelines, she cannot coerce the individual conscience of its members even when these take decisions that differ from the official Catholic teaching.”

Fr Agius said Fr Camilleri’s position was consistent with the Catholic Church’s teaching on conscience, but emphasised that in no way did this mean that either he or Fr Camilleri should be interpreted as being in favour of the introduction of divorce in Malta.

“The Church has the moral authority to teach and enlighten the conscience of its members but one should always respect the decision of the individual,” Fr Agius said.
“Obviously, one should always keep in mind the risk of self-deception. One could easily deceive himself he is taking a good decision in conscience while he is not striving for truth. When we speak on conscience formation it’s very important that the individual enlightens himself and refers to moral authority, but the final decision should be taken by the individual.”

The professor of moral theology said that when “we talk on the question of divorce we must also take into consideration empirical facts and truths, and we must be humble enough and admit we are not experts in empirical facts.

“The Church must always be in dialogue with experts in the area to enlighten its teaching and individual decisions.”

Mgr Gouder’s argument was that since Jesus spoke explicitly against divorce, convinced followers would not vote in favour of it.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Joseph Muscat was asked about Fr Gouder’s comments in the context of the clash Labour had with the Church in the 1960s when voting Labour was declared to be a sin.

“I don’t intend to open another political-religious confrontation in our country... All I want is a debate through which all parties can express their opinion so that a mature decision can be reached,” he said during a radio interview.

Dr Muscat has declared himself in favour of divorce and said that if elected Prime Minister, he would present a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament and give his MPs a free vote.

Yesterday, he said he hoped Mgr Gouder’s comment had been blown out of proportion by the media, adding that some Labour supporters were still suffering from the 1960s battle.

He emphasised that he was in favour of divorce for those families who were suffering because of the lack of this legislation, but stressed that he believed there had to be control mechanisms to ensure there was no abuse of the system.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on the Times' website.]

KullĦadd: Is-suwiċidji qegħdin jiżdiedu?

Saturday, 28 August 2010 15:24 Kevin Mercieca

kevin-mercieca-editur-l-isfera_copyFis-sena 2002 naraw li kien hemm 19-il kaz ta' suwicidju, fis-sena 2003 telghu ghal 20, fis-sena 2004 telghu ghal 24, fis-sena 2005 nizlu ghal 18, fis-sena 2006 telghu ghal 26, is-sena ta' wara rega' kien hemm 26, waqt li fis-sena 2008 kien hemm tnaqqis bl-ammont ikun ta' 14.

Fl-ewwel sitt xhur tas-sena 2009, is-suwicidji regghu telghu u kien hemm 19-il kaz. Din ir-ricerka kienet dehret fuq gurnal lokali ftit tax-xhur ilu u jkolli nistqarr li bqajt allarmat b'dak li kont qrajt peress li ma kontx rajt qabel ic-cifri f'pajjizi ohra Ewropej.

Ghalkemm fl-ahhar snin Malta esperjenzat zieda f'suwicidji li saru minn Maltin u Ghawdxin, madankollu hu fatt maghruf li s-suwicidji fl-Ewropa naqsu filwaqt li l-pajjizi Mediterranji ghandhom rati anqas baxxi. Jien nirraprezenta liz-zghazagh u b'hekk nista' nitkellem dwar kazijiet li jikkoncernaw lilna z-zghazagh.

Wiehed ghandu mnejn jistaqsi – x'qieghed jigri u ghaliex is-suwicidji fost iz-zghazagh zdiedu f'dawn l-ahhar ghoxrin sena? Issib min jibqa' sorpriz u jghidlek, l-adoloxxenza u z-zghozija huma l-isbah zminijiet ta' hajjitna u b'hekk jaraha stramba li guvni jew tfajla jkunu mdejjqin f'dan iz-zmien partikolari f'hajjithom. Sa certu punt naqbel ma' min huwa ta' din il-fehma, izda xorta wahda trid tara l-istampa kollha – jista' jkun li l-isfond familjari tal-individwu qieghed ikissirlu hajtu, xeba' jara glied bejn il-genituri tieghu jew sahansitra gie jew ghadu jigi ibbulijat mill-familjari tieghu.

Jista' jkun li persuna tkun giet abbuzata u ghalkemm ghaddew is-snin, psikologikament tkun ghadha ma fiqitx. F'dan il-kaz tidhol is-sahha mentali - fil-fatt hu kkalkulat li f'pajjizna hawn xejn inqas minn 11.5% jew ftit aktar minn 35,000 li jbatu bid-dipressjoni (dawn ma jinkludux zghazagh biss).

Minn dawn 30 fil-mija biss jiehdu l-kura u din hija xi haga inkwetanti hafna u li zgur fil-futur ghandha naghmlu pjan holistiku u nahdmu dwarha. Tajjeb li wiehed jistaqsi ghaliex il-Gvern sena wara l-ohra ma jippruvax itejjeb id-Dipartiment tal-Psikjatrija la jaf li hawn eluf ta' persuni li jehtiegu dan is-servizz essenzjali.


Fid-dawl ta' dan kollu jista' jkun hemm nies li mhux qeghdin jiehdu l-kura ghax ma jifilhux imorru ghand psikologu jew psikjatra privat jew minhabba li l-pilloli hafna drabi jekk ma jiktiblikx ittra l-psikjatra tieghek ikollok thallas ghalihom ukoll.

Fattur iehor li mir-ricerka li ghamilt jidher li qieghed iwassal biex aktar zghazagh iwettqu suwicidji, hija l-orjentazzjoni sesswali – minkejja l-hafna kampanji li jsiru fuq LGBT, xorta wahda ghadek ssib persuni li ma jaccettawx li huma bisesswali jew omosesswali u dan qieghed iwassal ghal ansjetà, solitudni, dipressjoni u sfortunatment hafna drabi anki suwicidji.

Barra minn hekk issib whud li ghalkemm ikunu eterosesswali, jibzghu li jistghu jkunu omosesswali, fil-verità minhabba li jibdew jiffissaw fuq certi azzjonijiet li jkunu sarulhom qabel f'hajjithom.

Il-parir tieghi lil dawn iz-zghazagh hu biex jifthu qalbhom ma' nies li jistghu jghinuhom. Il-genituri mhux dejjem jistghu jkunu effettivi, anzi xi kultant ikunu aktar distruttivi fil-konfront tal-individwu.

Ghalhekk huwa tajjeb li nitkellmu ma' psikologi u jekk hemm bzonn naghmlu ricerka zghira dwar dak li jkun qieghed ibezzaghna. Meta tara li eluf ohra ghaddejjin mill-istess sitwazzjoni tieghek, taghmel hafna kurragg.

Is-suwicidji biex jonqsu hemm bzonn li minn ckunithom it-tfal u l-genituri jikkomunikaw bejniethom u l-aktar haga vitali hi li l-genituri juru lil uliedhom li huma lesti li jisimghhom f'kull mument.

Il-gvern centrali jista' jahdem ukoll b'mod aktar koerenti f'dan ir-rigward billi jindirizza aktar il-problemi li qeghdin iwasslu ghas-suwicidji u jkun hemm moniteragg kull sena biex naraw x'progress jkun sar.

www.kottoner.com/sfera.html; gurnal_sfera@hotmail.com


Sunday 29 August 2010

Times: Pastor found guilty by Church of conducting gay weddings

Saturday, 28th August 2010 - 10:27CET; PA

A retired US Presbyterian minister was found guilty of misconduct by a church court for officiating at the weddings of 16 gay couples when same-sex marriage was legal in California.

A regional commission of the Presbyterian Church (USA) ruled 4-2 that the Reverend Jane Spahr of San Francisco "persisted in a pattern or practice of disobedience" by performing the weddings in 2008 before Proposition 8 banned the unions in the state.

The church's highest court held that Presbyterian ministers may bless same-sex unions as long as they do "not state, imply, or represent that a same-sex ceremony is a marriage".

At the same time, however, the tribunal devoted most of its ruling to praising the 68-year-old pastor, a lesbian who founded a church group in the early 1990s for gay Presbyterians.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on the Times' website.]

Friday 27 August 2010

PrideVille: Għadira Bay 28.8.10; 16:00

http://gaymalta.com/diverso-presents-prideville-goes-sexy-beach-maya-beach-ghadira-bay/

[Click on image to enlarge]

Beautiful People! Feeling the summer heat? Want to refresh yourselves along with the best and finest? Well problem solved.. PrideVille is coming back with a vengeance! After the massive success we’ve had with our first party we’ve come together once again to celebrate summer in the sexiest way possible!

On the 28th of August get ready to show us all of your best bits as we invade the Maya Beach Complex situated in Ghadira for a full day party.. Probably the very first of it’s kind, and we’re proud to say that it is all for us to enjoy! With acts such as DJ Ruby, Cathy-K, Mr.M, Andy Luca and JDV along with fire jugglers and a couple of more surprises to be revealed real soon. Dare you miss out?!

If you thought that the first PrideVille event was massive wait till we get through with this one.. Bigger and betters’ our motto? Obviously.

Tickets will be priced at EUR8.00 from our usual runners, at the door EUR10.00 from 4:00pm (opening) till 7:30pm, and EUR14.00 from 7:30pm till closing time. Miss it and regret it!

Friday 20 August 2010

MaltaToday: Mexican mayor sues Catholic bishop over gay marriage allegations

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/gay-marriages/mexican-mayor-sues-catholic-bishop-over-gay-marriage-allegations
WORLD Thursday, August 19, 2010

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard of Mexico City on Wednesday sued Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez of Guadalajara, upping the ante in a high-profile political spat over gay marriage in Mexico that pits emboldened secular institutions against the country's influential Roman Catholic clergy.

The suit comes after Ebrard demanded that Sandoval retract suggestions made over the weekend that Mexico's Supreme Court justices were bribed for their recent landmark rulings in favour of Gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples in the Mexican capital.

Sandoval made the allegations on Sunday during an event in Aguascalientes state. He also used a slur against gays while decrying the recent high court decisions that were called victories for the gay-rights community.

Thursday 19 August 2010

L-Orizzont: Raġel u mara

http://www.l-orizzont.com/news.asp?newsitemid=65420
19.8.10 minn Lawrence Dimech mill-Awstralja

Tony Briffa (ritratt), id-Deputat Sindku ta’ Hobsons Bay fl-istat ta’ Victoria twieled Altona. Ommu hija minn Ħaż-Żabbar u missieru minn Ħal Għaxaq. Bla dubju dan l-aħħar kien fl-aħbarijiet meta ddikjara s-sess tiegħu bħala ‘other’.

Jidher li kien l-uniku persuna li għamel hekk fi stħarriġ li għamlet il-Victorian Local Government Association. Dan il-kunsillier ta’ Altona Ward twieled b’kundizzjoni intersesswali fejn ġie assessjat bi żball bħala femminili meta kien għadu żgħir.

Ġie mistoqsi minn gazzetta lokali (The Mail, 7 ta’ Lulju) għaliex iddikjara ‘other’ meta ilu tant żmien jissielet biex ikun ta’ sess maskili. “Dejjem iġġilidt biex inkun dak li jien mhux biss Tony, raġel, iżda aktar biex ikun naf x’kelli nkun kieku t-tobba ma ndaħlux, ma mmodifikawnix b’operazzjonijiet u trattamenti bil-hormones.”

Tony Briffa kompla jispjega li huwa twieled fi stat ambigwu fejn jidħol is-sess tiegħu u t-tobba ma kinux ċerti dwar is-sess tiegħu mat-twelid.

“Kemm meta kont żgħir u anke bħala ‘teenager’ kont nistaqsi, kont tifel jew tifla? Dejjem kont femminista. Dejjem emmint f’azzjoni affermattiva u opportunitajiet indaqs. Dejjem kont aktar moħħni fit-tfajliet mhux fis-subien, ħaġa li iktar ikkonfondietni speċjalment meta kont nattendi skola għall-bniet.”

Tony Briffa beda l-vjaġġ li jwasslu biex jiskopri min hu jew x’kien u kif għamlitu n-natura kieku ma ndaħlux l-interventi medikali. Bħala Viċi President tal-Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Support Group, Awstralja, il-Kunsillier Briffa ilu jitlob għal ‘childhood gender assignments’ u mhux azzjoni fejn ikun hemm interventi serġikali. Huwa qal li grazzi għax-xogħol li wettaq u l-appoġġ mill-grupp li jmexxi fir-Royal Children’s Hospital, wasslu biex sar studju wara 30 sena ta’ tfal li kellhom din il-kundizzjoni.

Skont l-istħarriġ li sar mir-Royal Children’s Hospital, instab li fil-perjodu speċifikat kienu 8% tat-tfal li għexu ħajja b’sess ħa-żin. Skont Tony Briffa din hija statistika orribbli speċjalment meta s-sess ġie inforzat serġikament.

Fl-aħħar id-Deputat Sindku ta’ Hobsons Bay enfasizza li dawn iż-żminijiet hija ħrafa li tgħid li n-nisa mhumiex kapaċi jipparteċipaw bi kwalità daqs l-irġiel u semma kif għandna Gvernatur Generali u Prim Ministru t-tnejn nisa.

Huwa qalli wkoll li hu attiv ferm fil-komunità Maltija. Huwa membru tal-Hobsons Bay Maltese Association u tal-Maltese Historical Society – it-tnejn membri tal-Maltese Community Council of Victoria. Qalli li jaħdem ħafna għall-Komunità Maltija. Il-kundizzjoni medika u ġenetika tiegħu hija xi ħaġa personali li fil-fatt imbuttatu biex jaħdem bi sħiħ fejn jidħlu d-drittijiet tal-individwu.

[L-artiklu ikompli fuq suġġetti oħra. Biex tarahom ikklikja fuq il-hyperlink ta' fuq nett.]

Wednesday 18 August 2010

MaltaToday: Medical treatment carries possible side effect of limiting homosexuality

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/world/medical-treatment-carries-possible-side-effect-of-limiting-homosexuality
16.8.10 By Rachel Zammit Cutajar

A prenatal pill for congenital adrenal hyperplasia to prevent ambiguous genitalia may reduce the chance that a female with the disorder will be gay. Critics call it engineering for sexual orientation.

Each year in the United States, perhaps a few dozen pregnant women learn they are carrying a foetus at risk for a rare disorder known as congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The condition causes an accumulation of male hormones and can, in females, lead to genitals so masculinised that it can be difficult at birth to determine the baby's gender.

A hormonal treatment to prevent ambiguous genitalia can now be offered to women who may be carrying such infants. It's not without health risks, but to its critics those are of small consequence compared with this notable side effect: The treatment might reduce the likelihood that a female with the condition will be homosexual. Further, it seems to increase the chances that she will have what are considered more feminine behavioural traits.

That such a treatment would ever be considered, even to prevent genital abnormalities, has outraged gay and lesbian groups, troubled some doctors and fueled bioethicists' debate about the nature of human sexuality.

The treatment is a step toward "engineering in the womb for sexual orientation," said Alice Dreger, a professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University and an outspoken opponent of the treatment.

The ability to chemically steer a child's sexual orientation has become increasingly possible in recent years, with evidence building that homosexuality has biological roots and with advances in the treatment of babies in utero. Prenatal treatment for congenital adrenal hyperplasia is the first to test — unintentionally or not — that potential.

The hormonal treatment "theoretically can influence postnatal behaviour, not just genital differentiation," said Ken Zucker, psychologist in chief of the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, who studies gender identity. "Some people refer to girls with CAH as experiments of nature because you've got this condition and you can take advantage of studying it."

Complicating the situation is the fact thatthe daily hormone pill does nothing to treat or cure the underlying condition, caused in this case by a defective enzyme in the adrenal gland.

Dreger and critics — which include the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Advocates for Informed Choice (an organisation that works to protect the rights of people with intersex conditions), and some pediatric endocrinologists and parents of children with the condition — say far too little is known about the safety of the hormone, the steroid dexamethasone, when used prenatally. They say it should be used sparingly, in closely monitored clinical trials, or not at all. They're even more concerned that some doctors might tell parents that a reduced chance of homosexuality is one of the therapy's benefits.

"Most clinicians speak about this treatment as ambiguous-genitalia prevention," said Dreger, who co-wrote an editorial about the treatment in a July publication of the Hastings Centre, a bioethics organisation. "Others suggest that you should prevent homosexuality if you can. But being gay or lesbian is not a disease and should not be treated as such."

To that end, in September, a consortium of medical groups led by the Endocrine Society will release updated guidelines on treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia that acknowledge the controversy. The guidelines are expected to describe prenatal dexamethasone therapy — first used about 20 years ago, but now with increasing frequency — as experimental and reiterate that the standard approach for cases of ambiguous genitalia is to perform corrective surgery.

But they're not expected to discourage research on the treatment.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia, caused by a defect in an enzyme called 21-hydroxylase, affects about one in 15,000 infants, and almost all newborns are screened for it. Undetected, the abnormality can make both male and female infants critically ill within a few weeks of birth because of an associated salt loss through the urine. The defective enzyme also causes a deficiency of the hormone cortisol, which can affect heart function, and an increase in androgens produced by the adrenal glands.

The excess presence of the male hormone testosterone in the womb has little effect on a male foetus' genitalia. Even in females, the anatomical defect may be mild, involving nothing more obvious than a slightly enlarged clitoris. However, in severe cases, girls are born with male-like sexual organs although they usually have ovaries and a uterus.

The treatment of such disorders has long been the subject of debate. Early surgery to assign a child's gender is controversial, but prenatal treatment for congenital adrenal hyperplasia is even more alarming, said Anne Tamar-Mattis, executive director of Advocates for Informed Choice. She adds thatthe complicatedsurgery carries risks, including infection and nerve damage, and that parents may not be adequately counseled beforehand. The group favours allowing children born with intersex conditions to participate in decisions about their gender identity, including delaying a decision until adolescence.

Most couples don't know their offspring are at risk for the condition until one child is born with it; prenatal dexamethasone treatment is offered in subsequent pregnancies. The drug is an anti-inflammatory medication used most often for arthritis. Prenatal use is considered off-label.

In animal studies, the treatment appears to cause an increased risk of high blood pressure, plus changes in glucose metabolism, brain structure and brain function, leading to memory problems, for example. Long-term studies in humans are lacking.

"There is not a lot of information on its long-term safety," said Dr. Phyllis Speiser, a pediatric endocrinologist with the Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York who chaired the Endocrine Society task force writing the new treatment guidelines. "The efficacy has been demonstrated in case reports — a fairly sizable number of cases that used untreated siblings for comparison — but not in randomized, controlled clinical trials."

Carriers of the gene mutation that causes this form of hyperplasia have roughly a 12.5% chance of having a daughter with the condition. The hormone treatment must be started as soon as possible, before the gender of the child is determined, for it to have an effect on genital development.

"It would be much less of a controversy if the treatment was just given to CAH girls," said Heino Meyer-Bahlburg, professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University Medical Center and a prominent researcher on disorders of sexual development in children. But, he says, "to effectively treat one foetus, you have to treat seven others."

There have been only a few hundred cases of prenatal dexamethasone treatment in the world. But the emerging data on those cases have captured researchers' and activists' attention.

Dr Maria New, a highly regarded pediatric endocrinologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, is among a handful of physicians worldwide who have studied the treatment. New does not offer the treatment in her position at Mount Sinai, but follows children she treated previously or who have had the treatment provided by other doctors. She declined to be interviewed for this report, but onher website and in publications, New says the data so far show that the treatment is safe and effective in preventing ambiguous genitalia.

However, New's more recent studies have caused more consternation, because — as she describes it — treated girls behave in ways that are considered more traditionally girlish.

In a 2008 study in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour, New and her colleagues administered a sexual behaviour assessment questionnaire to 143 women with congenital adrenal hyperplasia who were not treated prenatally. They found that most were heterosexual, but the rates of homosexual and bisexual women were markedly higher in women with the condition — especially those with the most severe conditions — compared with a control group of 24 female relatives without congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

And, in a paper published earlier this year in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, New and her colleagues reported on data from 685 pregnancies in which the condition was diagnosed prenatally, acknowledging the potential effects of the treatment for reducing traditionally masculine behaviour in girls. Prenatally treated girls were more likely to be shy, they wrote, while untreated girls were "more aggressive."

Moreover, the authors said, failure to provide prenatal therapy seems to lead to traditionally masculine gender-related preferences in childhood play, peer association and career and leisure choices.

"The majority, no matter how severe, are heterosexual," said Meyer-Bahlburg, who has collaborated with New on some of the studies. "But the rate of CAH women attracted to females increases with their degree of androgen exposure during prenatal life."

Studies have not yet been conducted to examine whether the hormone treatment would reduce the rate of lesbianism, Meyer-Bahlburg said.

"I would never recommend treatment in order to take lesbianism away if that is someone's predisposition," he said. "Any treatment can be misused. That could happen here. But this is not the focus of the treatment. The focus is to make surgery unnecessary."

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Times: The season to be silly

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100817/opinion/the-season-to-be-silly
Tuesday, 17th August 2010 by Kenneth Zammit Tabona

It is, as expected, a long hot summer when, by mid-August everything becomes a total bore and doing anything becomes an effort. With temperatures like these, it is no wonder that some people reason things out as if their brains have been casseroled in their craniums.

I have had to re-adjust this article three times already. First of all two great tragedies have rocked Malta sideways. First was the death of President Emeritus Guido de Marco and the other was the huge explosion that shook the entire island on Friday afternoon. As I write, it has not yet been ascertained how many have died in this fireworks factory. All I can say is that, although we all love fireworks and are enchanted by them lighting up the night sky summer in and summer out, I feel that the price in human life is far, far too high and that we should think of curtailing them drastically.

All the same we are lucky not to be Muscovites living in a choking smoke-cloud and whose death rate has doubled, or Chinese with their lethal mudslides or Pakistanis with their violent flash-floods. Every year, the weather becomes freakier and freakier and, yet, we all carry on regardless. As if we have a choice. Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has warned that the human race must colonise outer space within the next two centuries or risk extinction.

With the odd war here, the odd revolution somewhere else and all the natural disasters escalating, unbelievably, all we in Malta get all het up about is the story of two Spanish boys aged 19 and 20, who, after pleading guilty, were fined €100 each and given a one-month jail term suspended for a year because they had the temerity to skinny-dip at 5.20 a.m. in St George’s Bay. And those were the first ones. On Friday afternoon, we were informed that another four young men, Italian this time, were hauled in front of a magistrate and sentenced as well.

What on earth is going on in this country? Have we not got enough to worry about? With an oil well to be sunk in the Med right on our doorstep, can you imagine the scenario should what happened in the Gulf of Florida happen in the Gulf of Sirte? Everything pales into insignificance compared to the questionably delectable sight of six young naked bodies disporting themselves in the “wine dark sea”.

The online comments clearly show that most people think that our humbug, our prurience and our hypocrisy know no bounds. Although I do not normally like to think that online commenting truly shows up the mood of the people, I think that, this time, as more and more PC-literate people realise they have an opinion to voice, these comments cannot be dismissed anymore. The mood can be gauged pretty accurately by those whose minds are not clogged up by prejudice. The result was that, this time round, in the online comments, the Italo-Spanish skinny-dippers have been transmogrified into heroes!

There is a growing number of people who are getting utterly fed up. The amount grows daily. With a social network like Facebook working its communications magic among us at every moment of the day can one really be surprised at how the man in the street is able to express himself about anything under the sun as compared to 10 years ago? Today’s IT has made communication unbelievably fast and efficient. What our legislators do not seem to realise is that our laws are simply not keeping up with the breakneck speed of the IT ongoing revolution.

The silly boys who decided to risk being stung by jellies in vital and tender spots in St George’s Bay have had the whole weight of the asinine law brought down on them when an on-the-spot admonition and a stiff fine would have sufficed without making all this ridiculous fuss that engenders bad publicity and wastes our hard-earned money.

That being said, I am appalled by the subsequent report that pictured St George’s Bay and Paceville as dens of iniquity; the scene of daily mayhem by foreign students and tourists with far too much testosterone than is good for them. It also appears that our boys in blue are unable to control these students to the extent that several of them, including our mermen, had to be hauled before a magistrate to receive a spate of suspended sentences.

The Police Commissioner should note that he simply must send in more policemen, including specialised squads and those in plainclothes, to deal with this sort of thing discreetly, speedily and efficiently. If he is accused of turning Paceville into a no-go area, he ought to stick to his guns and hold the language schools responsible.

What is important here is gauging the disproportionate and practically dissident online reaction to this relatively insignificant incident. I feel that is symptomatic of the mood of the country. We are getting utterly frustrated about civil liberties like divorce and same sex civil partnership being denied to us. We are fed up of being subject to archaic censorship laws.

Although the last thing these drunk and disorderly students should be are heroes, they are being regarded as such by an increasingly disgruntled population that is chafing at the bit for a jump-shift in the stultified status quo. It does not take either great brains or great perception to realise this and when it comes out of summer recess the government should pull its socks up and forge ahead without any further pussyfooting on these social issues in order to avoid potentially dangerous though absurd Clochemerle-like situations developing in future.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on the Times' website.]

Friday 13 August 2010

MaltaToday: California gay marriage may resume next week

13.8.10

A couple is ecstatic as a federal judge lifts up a ban on gay marriages

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ordered to allow gay marriage to take effect next Wednesday, American time, whilst his ruling which overturned a ban on same-sex matrimony is appealed.


Walker said that up until next Wednesday gives enough time to the appeals court to determine whether the voter-approved ban, known as Proposition 8, should be left as it is whilst judges weigh the benefits of the overall case.


Whilst San Francisco City Hall’s steps were lined with gay couples hoping for a green light from Walker to wed, opponents including many religious conservatives, see same-sex marriage as a threat to the traditional family.


Late yesterday, defenders of Proposition 8 filed papers asking the appeals court to block same-sex marriages for the duration of the broader appeal. It is expected that this case will eventually be appealed up to the US Supreme Court, thus giving the battle a national importance.


Currently, only five US states allow same-sex marriages: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire.


In 2008, Proposition 8, also known as the California Marriage Protection Act, provided a new provision to the act which states that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognised in California.”

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Times: A world besieged within a world

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100810/opinion/a-world-besieged-within-a-world
Tuesday, 10th August 2010 by Kenneth Zammit Tabona

The newly formed book club to which I belong has just discussed Giorgio Bassani’s post-war classic entitled The Garden of the Finzi-Contini; a very descriptive, almost languid and lush feast of words that narrates, through the eyes and sensibilities of the author, the story of an aristocratic Jewish family that for generations had lived in this magnificent garden in Ferrara.

Among other things it chronicles the slow and insidious whittling away of civil liberties for Jews by the Fascists in the late 1930s and early 1940s that led to the entire Jewish community of Ferrara, Finzi-Contini included, being herded off to Auschwitz.

Anti-Semitism did not happen all at once; especially in Italy where many Jews were initially enthusiastic and active members of the fascist movement until Mussolini got too embroiled with Hitler. At first many Jews thought that the racist laws were a bit of a silly joke. From being banned from county clubs and tennis clubs they were suddenly unable to employ Christians. Before they knew it they could not consort with Christians at all. Many of the young Ferrarese well-to-do Jews sought refuge on the tennis court and the superb library of the Finzi-Contini; for as long as that lasted.

Gay people find themselves between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, they want to lead lives that are unremarkable in the sense that they want same sex relationships to be considered as normal as heterosexual ones. On the other hand, they inadvertently have to draw attention to themselves by having to fight for their rights. Most gay people do not want their way of life to be such a big deal. Although we have made great strides since Stonewall and since, in Malta, Dom Mintoff legalised homosexuality in the 1970s, there is one last frontier to be crossed: marriage.
Because of our ultra-Catholic heritage I do not expect this Bill to ever pass as such. It may be automatically included in some form or another as part of the cohabitation legislation that the government is working on, however, I have my doubts that, despite last week’s overturning of the 2008 ruling about Proposition 8 in California, it will never ever be officially recognised publicly as a marriage or even a legal partnership. The acid test will be if officially cohabitating gay couples would be asked to government functions. Therefore, although the civil aspects of being gay may not be satisfactory to most, they certainly are a damn sight better than they were when I was young.

Let us substitute the Jewish world within a world of the 1930s with the world within a world of contemporary homosexuality and let us return to the Finzi-Contini. During the last decade all but the most militant have largely ignored or merely poured scorn on the homophobic broadsides that have been launched relentlessly by the Catholic Church in an attempt to divert attention from the terrible and tragic paedophile scandals that today still rock it to its foundations. There is no direct relation between paedophilia and homosexuality apart from the fact that for one thing the clergy involved is all male and that many happen to be homosexual. That is logical. However, for the rest of us, being branded “intrinsically evil” and “pollutant”, among other things, is pretty unpleasant stuff, isn’t it?

Many gay people in Malta tend to treat the cruel attacks from the Vatican as if they refer to someone else. Maybe this is because for many of us in Malta our relationship with priests as sympathetic and understanding human beings makes the homophobic propaganda sound as unreal and absurd as those anti-Semitic edicts from Palazzo Venezia in the 1930s did to the Judaic jeunesse doree of Ferrara.

Adolf Hitler famously quipped that it was so fortunate for governments that the people they ruled do not think.

That, however, was before the days when freedom of the press, freedom of expression and freedom of speech was taken for granted. Today, only the deliberately indifferent or brain-dead do not think. Because conservatism is unnerved by the information technology revolution it is getting cold feet and hence we have panic buttons being pressed wildly as conservatism backpedals for the safety of an increasingly Right Wing ideology, not only here in Malta but all over the civilised world. Again in the forefront of all this, the gay world lies smack in the line of fire. The latest barrage to come from the Catholic front was from a certain Emeritus Bishop Babini of Grosseto who declared that practising homosexual priests are worse than paedophiles.
This declaration was made in the aftermath of a revelation on Panorama Magazine about a ring of priests who frequent gay bars and brothels in Rome and who were secretly filmed in flagrante delicto and then subsequently celebrating Mass, not in a church, mind you, but in some nondescript room which makes me suspect that it was either a put-up job or that the particular priest was already banned from publicly practising his calling. Bishop Babini has made an episcopal horlicks of his comparisons.

Nothing, but nothing, can remotely compare to the intrinsic horror of paedophilia.
I do not hold with priests who have voluntarily made a vow of celibacy indulging in any sort of sex although I sympathise as, like me, they are but human; however, to say that homosexuality is worse than paedophilia is a statement that can have ghastly repercussions while the world, like Pavlov’s Dog, is fed increasingly insidious homophobic propaganda.

Sex between consenting adults of whatever gender is harmless and should be of no interest to anyone, but sex with a child by whoever is quite another story, Your Grace. It is an abomination; no more, no less. This sanctimonious and inexorable fanning the flames of homophobia must stop. If it doesn’t, it will be a matter of time before the first openly homophobic hate crime is committed, and then, Mgr Babini, who should we blame?

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on the Times' website.]

Monday 9 August 2010

Evening Standard: Must a man hang because he is accused of being gay? [in Iran]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23864280-must-a-man-hang-because-he-is-accused-of-being-gay.do
06.08.10 by Peter Tatchell

Eighteen-year-old Ebrahim Hamidi has been sentenced to death by a court in the Iranian city of Tabriz, on charges that he sexually assaulted another man.

His accuser has since withdrawn the assault claim in a sworn affidavit, admitting that he lied under parental pressure. But Ebrahim is still scheduled to hang.

Two years ago, Ebrahim caught the alleged sex attack victim damaging his father's crops. There had been a history of feuding between their families. A fist fight ensued, involving Ebrahim and some friends. During the fracas, the accuser's trousers slipped down 20cm, which he claimed was evidence of a sexual assault.

Ebrahim and three friends were arrested on sodomy charges and tortured in a detention centre for three days. Ebrahim was hanged upside down by his legs and badly beaten. To stop this abuse, he signed a confession.

There is no evidence that Ebrahim is gay or that a sexual assault took place; just the word of one person against another and a confession under torture, which was later retracted.

At his first trial in 2008, Ebrahim was sentenced to hang on the basis of the “knowledge of the judge” — a bizarre legal protocol whereby, in the absence of sufficient evidence to convict in sodomy and adultery cases, a judge is free to assess that a person is guilty.

Ebrahim's death sentence is in defiance of the Supreme Court of Iran, which has twice rejected the local court's guilty verdict and ordered a re-examination of the case, citing errors in the legal investigation and an “issue of doubt”.

These two Supreme Court rulings against conviction and execution have been ignored by the judiciary in Tabriz.

At the third and most recent trial in June, Ebrahim's three co-defendants were acquitted. He was not. Two of the five Tabriz judges cleared him of all charges but the other three upheld his execution order.

Soon afterwards, a third appeal was submitted to the Supreme Court. Alas, at this crucial stage in his appeal, Ebrahim suddenly has no legal representation, which puts him in great peril. His lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, was forced into hiding after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He has since fled Iran, fearing that the government was planning to jail him over his highly publicised efforts to stop the stoning to death of a 43-year-old woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, on charges of adultery. She, too, was sentenced by a Tabriz court.

Without a lawyer, Ebrahim cannot further challenge the death sentence. If the Supreme Court this time confirms his execution, he could be hanged in a matter of days. Hanging in Iran is by sadistic strangulation. The noosed victim is hoisted by a crane, which causes them to writhe and convulse. They die a slow, painful death from asphyxiation.

Ebrahim's case highlights the flaws and injustices of Iran's legal system. It is further evidence that innocent people are sentenced on false charges of homosexuality, often after torture.

To avoid the hangman's noose, Ebrahim's best hope is to persuade the Chief Justice of Iran, Sadeq Larijani, to veto his hanging. I have written to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, urging him to press the Chief Justice to halt Ebrahim's execution, annul the death sentence and order a retrial. I hope MPs, and the public, will lobby the Iranian ambassador to save both Ebrahim and Sakineh.

Sunday 8 August 2010

Times: Marriage and homosexuality

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100808/letters/marriage-and-homosexuality
Sunday, 8th August 2010 by Lino Vella Clark, Msida

Julian Borg (The Sunday Times, July 18) recounted the experience of a Nigerian man and his problem with his wife and her family [see letter below]. After a few years of his marriage he admitted to her that he was gay. Mr Borg stated: "Hence, one good point in favour of divorce."

Apparently Mr Borg is completely ignorant of civil and ecclesiastical laws which both give the aggrieved party, in such circumstances, the right to have the marriage annulled and start a new life.

So, I ask Mr Borg, what has divorce got to do with this particular case?

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on the Times' website.]

---

Times: It must be 'yes' to divorce

Sunday, 18th July 2010 by Julian Borg, Gżira

Driving home one late night this week, I listened to a very interesting programme on BBC radio.
The subject discussed was homosexuality. A Nigerian man described the trauma he experienced when, after a few years of marriage, he admitted to his wife he was gay.

His wife left him straight away, and sought revenge by making life very difficult for him. She even refused to allow him to visit his son and, to add insult to injury, her family were out to kill him. Perhaps those against divorce will take note of this situation. Both husband and wife are entitled to start a new life, hence, one good point in favour of divorce.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on the Times' website.]

Saturday 7 August 2010

Times: Let gays marry, says Schwarzenegger

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100807/world-news/let-gays-marry-says-schwarzenegger
Saturday, 7th August 2010 - 08:58CET; PA

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and attorney general Jerry Brown have filed legal motions calling for same-sex weddings to resume in the state.

The motions came after US District Judge Vaughn Walker overturned California's voter-approved gay marriage ban, known as Proposition 8, on Wednesday.

The judge ruled that the ban violated federal equal protections and due process laws but agreed to block gay marriages from resuming immediately until he could consider arguments while supporters of the ban launched an appeal.

Resuming gay marriage "is consistent with California's long history of treating all people and their relationships with equal dignity and respect," actor-turned governor Schwarzenegger said in his legal filing.

Mr Brown, a candidate for governor, said the ruling meant it was time for gays to begin marrying again.

"While there is still the potential for limited administrative burdens should future marriages of same-sex couples be later declared invalid, these potential burdens are outweighed by this court's conclusion, based on the overwhelming evidence, that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional," he said in his filing.

It was unclear when Judge Walker would issue a ruling on the possible resumption of same-sex marriages.

The outcome in the appeals court could force the US Supreme Court to confront the question of whether gays have a constitutional right to wed.

Currently, same-sex couples can legally marry only in Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Washington DC.

California voters passed Proposition 8 five months after the state supreme court legalised same-sex unions and an estimated 18,000 couples already had tied the knot.
Judge Walker presided over a 13-day trial earlier this year that was the first in federal court to examine if states can ban gays from getting married without violating the constitutional guarantee of equality.

Supporters argued the ban was necessary to safeguard the traditional understanding of marriage and to encourage responsible childbearing.

But opponents said tradition or fears of harm to heterosexual unions were insufficient legal grounds to discriminate against gay couples.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on the Times' website.]

MaltaStar: Same sex marriages should resume - Schwarzenegger

http://maltastar.com/pages/r1/ms10dart.asp?a=11067
07 August 2010 12:04

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who twice vetoed legislation that would have legalized same-sex marriage, has surprised gay rights supporters by urging a federal judge to allow gay couples to resume marrying in the state without further delay.

Lawyers for Schwarzenegger, Attorney General Jerry Brown, two gay couples and the city of San Francisco all filed legal motions Friday asking Chief U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker to implement his ruling striking California's voter-approved same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional.

"The Administration believes the public interest is best served by permitting the court's judgment to go into effect, thereby restoring the right of same-sex couples to marry in California," the Republican governor's lawyers said on his behalf. "Doing so is consistent with California's long history of treating all people and their relationships with equal dignity and respect."

In his 136-page decision overturning Proposition 8 Wednesday, Walker said he was ordering the state to cease enforcing the 22-month-old ban. But he agreed to suspend the order until he could review the briefs submitted Friday.

The measure's sponsors have asked the judge to keep the ban in effect until their appeal of Walker's ruling invalidating Proposition 8 is decided by higher courts.

They argued in court papers filed earlier this week that resuming gay marriage now would cause legal chaos if the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals or U.S. Supreme Court eventually reverse Walker's ruling.

It was unclear when the judge would decide whether to grant a stay that would prevent marriage licenses from being issued to gay couples during the appeals process.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on MaltaStar's website.]

Thursday 5 August 2010

BBC News: US judge overturns California same-sex marriage ban

A US federal judge has overturned California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. The judge found it unconstitutionally discriminated against same-sex couples who sought to wed.


Print

Repeal supporters celebrate after the rulingThe judge found "California has no interest in discriminating" against gays and lesbians


The state measure, known as Proposition 8, was passed by voters in 2008. It banned same-sex marriage, although the state offered same-sex civil unions.

Backers of the ban intend to appeal against the judge's ruling. The case is likely to reach the US Supreme Court.

The measure was passed in a ballot referendum by a vote of 52% to 48%.

Currently, five states and Washington DC allow same-sex nuptials, though many states have enacted bans.

The ruling does not immediately allow California same-sex couples to marry, as US District Judge Vaughn Walker has delayed final entry of his judgement so he can hear arguments on whether to stay the ruling, pending appeal.

Same-sex marriage in the US

  • Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington DC allow it
  • Maryland and New York recognise same-sex marriages from other states
  • Four other states provide civil unions that are legally equivalent to marriage
  • 29 states have constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage

Sources: Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger quickly welcomed Wednesday's judgement.

"For the hundreds of thousands of Californians in gay and lesbian households who are managing their day-to-day lives, this decision affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves," he said in a statement.

"At the same time, it provides an opportunity for all to consider our history of leading the way to the future, and our growing reputation of treating all people and their relationships with equal respect and dignity."

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, also hailed the ruling.

"Proposition 8 has taken away individual rights and freedoms, and is a stain upon the California Constitution," she said in a statement.

Supporters of the gay marriage ban vowed to appeal against the ruling.

Randy Thomasson, of the socially conservative group SaveCalifornia.com, described it as a "terrible blow" to voter rights.

"Judge Walker has ignored the written words of the constitution, which he swore to support and defend and be impartially faithful to, and has instead imposed his own homosexual agenda upon the voters, the parents and the children of California," he told the AFP news agency.

'Right to choose'

The 2008 ballot measure, known as Proposition 8, amended the California constitution to state that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognised in California".

Start Quote

Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage licence”

Judge Vaughn Walker

Two same-sex couples challenged the measure, saying it violated their right to equal protection under the US constitution.

They said the measure violated gays' and lesbians' right to choose whom to marry while allowing it to heterosexuals.

Supporters of the ban said it affirmed the will of California voters to exclude same-sex couples from marriage and argued the state had an interest in promoting procreation within marriage.

In his ruling, Judge Walker permanently forbade enforcement of the same-sex marriage ban.

"Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage licence," he wrote.

"Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same-sex couples.

"Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional."


[Watch video here.]