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Caz
Last Chance Saloon
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 836
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 Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:45 am Post subject: African rights campaigners criticise Peter Tatchell |
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http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/437731.html
| Quote: | PRESS RELEASE: African LGBTI Human Rights Defenders Warn Public Against Participation in Campaigns Concerning LGBTI Issues in Africa Led by Peter Tatchell and Outrage!
PUBLIC STATEMENT OF WARNING
In order to prevent Peter Tatchell and Outrage! from causing further damage through their unfounded campaigns and press releases, we issue this public statement of warning.
As Human Rights Defenders from across Africa, we strongly discourage the public from taking part in any LGBTI campaigns or calls to action concerning Africa that are led by Peter Tatchell or Outrage!
Collaboration across continents is both important and valuable. We are willing to work with those who respect our advice and expertise regarding our continent.
However, Outrage! has been acting in contempt and disregard of the wishes and lives of African Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) Human Rights Defenders. We have made every attempt to address this matter with Outrage!, personally, and they have refused to listen. We now take this matter to the public, requesting you not to take part in any of Peter Tatchell or Outrage!’s campaigns regarding Africa , as they are not factually-based and are harmful to African activists.
Through the following actions, Outrage! has repeatedly disrespected the lives, damaged the struggle, and endangered the safety of African Human Rights Defenders:
1. Outrage!’s press releases contain information that is not factual. They do not verify information before including it in their press releases. When they are corrected by local activists, they refuse to print retractions or to make any attempt to stop the damaging effects of their press releases.
2. Outrage! repeatedly quotes people out of context and uses these statements to further their own agenda rather than presenting the truth.
3. Outrage! does not consult the relevant local activists before embarking on campaigns that directly affect us and are destructive to our work. They disregard collaborative efforts by African LGBTI Human Rights Defenders and international Human Rights organisations, and come up with unilateral strategies that work against the progress being achieved by the rest of the Human Rights actors. We are tired of having to constantly expend energy working to undo irreparable damage that Outrage! has caused.
4. Outrage! exaggerates the violations our governments commit. When they quote African Human Rights Defenders in the very same press releases where they are exaggerating claims against our governments, we are held responsible for their reckless outbursts. As African activists, we are then left to face the wrath of our communities for statements we never made.
5. Outrage! does not listen to, value, or heed the advice of local genuine activists. They mix our words with the opinions of uninformed, naïve, or crook individuals. They take whatever information is available, regardless of the source, and twist it to gain more publicity. Certainly, Outrage! is not acting on our behalf.
Therefore, we urge the public not to participate in any LGBTI campaigns regarding Africa that are led or influenced by Peter Tatchell or Outrage!, as they repeatedly put our lives in danger through their reckless, non-factual, and inflammatory press releases, letters, and calls to action.
As African LGBTI Human Rights Defenders, we are working toward the recognition of our rights by our governments in Africa . We do not appreciate or accept the efforts of Western-based individuals or organisations who try to make our work for liberation into an ego-boosting publicity campaign for themselves. We condemn Peter Tatchell and Outrage! for their irresponsible journalism and a deplorable lack of respect for the very people they claim they are defending.
We will continue to work with our governments on the acknowledgement and protection of our basic human rights as African lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people. Furthermore, we will proudly defend our right as Africans to praise our governments when they protect and acknowledge us.
OUR MESSAGE
United as African LGBTI Human Rights Defenders, we send out the following messages:
To Peter Tatchell and Outrage!:
Stay out of African LGBTI issues. You have proven that you have no respect for conveying the truth with regards to Africa or consulting African LGBTI leaders before carrying out campaigns that have severe consequences in our countries. You have betrayed our trust over and over again.
This is neo-colonialism and it has no place in our struggle or in Africa .
To the Press:
Responsible journalism is one of the keys to social transformation and the protection of human rights. Verify information about Africa before publishing it. Consult the leaders of the LGBTI Movement in Africa about strategy and do not just spread any misinformation you find on the internet.
Abide by the rules of good journalism with regard to Africa , as you would be expected to do with regard to your own countries.
To the Public:
International collaboration can give strength to already vibrant LGBTI campaigns in Africa . Consult from reliable sources that investigate cases before they report, such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International (AI), and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). Peter Tatchell and Outrage! are not reliable sources on LGBTI issues in Africa and information from them should not be trusted or used as a basis for action.
PRESENT SITUATION
We fear that Peter Tatchell’s sudden call for a campaign to pressure the Nigerian government regarding the proposed same-sex marriage prohibition might backfire and cause the oppressive homophobic bill’s passage.
After being warned that the advice of Nigerian activists is to refrain from putting attention on the dormant bill, Outrage! looked for some individual in Nigeria to support them in the course they had already chosen to take. To serve this purpose, Leo Igwe’s comments were quoted in George Broadhead’s recent press release and are being taken out of context. While Leo is a very courageous friend and ally of the movement, Outrage! should have contacted and requested advice on strategy from the LGBTI Human Rights Defenders who led the original campaign against the bill from Nigeria .
Over the past ten months, Human Rights Defenders from the region and elsewhere have exercised a lot of formal and informal pressure on Nigerian law-makers to make sure the bill did not get passed into law. Until Outrage!’s action was issued, the bill was dead. By calling on people to begin a campaign at this stage, interest could be awakened in the bill. Outrage! is acting irresponsibly and in direct contradiction to the advice of leaders of the Nigerian LGBTI movement.
BACKGROUND
Just five months ago, a similar situation was evolving in Uganda . Outrage! had included unverified information in a press release on Uganda and was refusing to listen to the concerns of Ugandan LGBT Human Rights Defenders. After many conversations about the importance of accuracy, fact-checking, and consultation with genuine African activists, Ugandan Human Rights Defender Juliet Victor Mukasa, finally wrote directly to Peter Tatchell:
"You have included unverified information in your press releases and those allegations against the government are going to come back to us. You will sit safely in London while our activists in Uganda pay the price for your deeds ... We have many people in the West who support our struggle, but they would not do anything to jeopardize our safety. ... You have shown a blatant disregard for the reputations and safety of legitimate activists in Uganda ... I know what effect your press releases have on my country. Please put a stop to all your press releases regarding my country. It must stop."
Immediately following the receipt of this message, Outrage! issued yet another press release on Uganda , and helped organise a demonstration against the Ugandan High Commission in London.
These examples from Nigeria and Uganda are just two out of many instances of breaches of trust and disregard for the work, wisdom, and lives of African Human Rights Defenders. We have repeatedly asked Outrage! to retract their calls to action and to restrain from any further action regarding LGBTI issues in Africa . Outrage! has refused. As we would do in the case of any person or organisation acting out of such blatant disrespect for the truth and for the people they claim to defend, we urge the public not to participate in LGBTI campaigns led by Peter Tatchell or Outrage! which pertain to our continent, Africa .
Signed:
Dorothy Aken’Ova
INCRESE, 1E, Bosso Road
G. P. O. 3684, Minna
Niger State Nigeria
increse@lycos.com, darlyndotty@yahoo.co.uk
08065488417, 08034500714
Juliet Victor Mukasa
Chairperson of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG)
julie.mukasa@gmail.com
+27 79 194 9561
Fikile Vilakazi
Director of the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Wendy Landau
Human Rights Researcher, Behind the Mask (BtM)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Kasha N. Jacqueline
Chairperson of Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG)
jnkasha@gmail.com
+256 772 463161
David Kato
Integrity Uganda
Samuel Ganafa
Chairperson of Spectrum Uganda
Danilo da Silva
LGBTI Mozambique
Judith Ngunjiri
Minority Women in Action, Kenya
Emmanuel Kamau
Chairperson of ISHTAR Kenya
Peter Njoroge
Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK)
Joel Gustave Nana
Human Rights Researcher, Alternatives-Cameroon
Ayesha Imam
Human Rights Defender
Nigeria/Senegal
Sokari Ekine
Human Rights Defender, Black Looks
sokari@blacklooks.org
Carlos Idibouo
Consellor at TAGL
Advisor at AfriCar Project
idibouoc@yahoo.fr
famillegay2006@yahoo.fr
+1 647 261 3214/ +1 416 922 4226
Mac Darling Cobbinah
Centre for Popular Education and Human Rights Ghana
Kanuma Georges
Leader of LGBTI group ARDHO, Burundi
Linda Baumann
The Rainbow Project (TRP)
Namibia
Thuli Madi
Director, Behind the Mask
Johannesburg, South Africa
Oludare Odumuye
Alliance Rights, Nigeria
For more information about the current situation in
Nigeria , please contact INCRESE at:
darlyndotty@yahoo.co.uk
FOR A BETTER AFRICA! |
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fish5133
Site Admin
Joined: 13 Sep 2006
Posts: 2568
Location: One breath from Glory
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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Thats telling him!. Call a spade a spade.
_________________
JO911B.
"for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places " Eph.6 v 12 |
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Caz
Last Chance Saloon
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 836
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Caz
Last Chance Saloon
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 836
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| Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 11:18 pm Post subject: Peter Tatchell, Actup and the 'Man-Boy Love association' |
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Peter Tatchell was a founding member of 'Act Up'
from: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113089
| Quote: | CZAR WARS
'Safe schools' chief was member of radical Act Up
Jennings now responsible for public school students
The man chosen by the Obama administration to head the Department of Education's Office of Safe Schools was an activist with the radical pro-homosexual organization Act Up, known for its aggressive badgering of those who don't support the homosexual lifestyle, according to a new report.
Mass Resistance, a pro-family organization in Massachusetts that has battled over homosexual agenda points there, has posted online a report and video documenting Kevin Jennings' participation in the extremist organization.
The video shows Jeff Davis, Jennings' "partner," addressing a banquet and saying of Jennings, "He was a member of Act Up. Act Up! So it's like – you know – here's a big gay activist. BIG gay activist!"
According to "The Marketing of Evil," by WND's David Kupelian, Act Up members gave homosexual activists a bad name. Kupelian wrote:
The defiant, storm-trooper tactics of in-your-face groups like ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) may or may not have been successful in pressuring the federal government to increase its commitment to combating AIDS. But such tactics definitely were successful in giving activist homosexuals a very bad name.
One infamous incident was the assault on New York's famed St. Patrick's Cathedral on December 10, 1989. While Cardinal John O'Connor presided over the 10:15 Sunday morning Mass, a multitude of "pro-choice" and "gay rights" activists protested angrily outside. Some, wearing gold-colored robes similar to clerical vestments, hoisted a large portrait of a pornographically altered frontal nude portrait of Jesus.
"You bigot, O'Connor, you're killing us!" screamed one protester, while signs called the archbishop "Murderer!"
Then it got really ugly. Scores of protesters entered the church, resulting in what many in the packed house of parishioners described as a "nightmare."
"The radical homosexuals turned a celebration of the Holy Eucharist into a screaming babble of sacrilege by standing in the pews, shouting and waving their fists, tossing condoms into the air," recounted the New York Post. One of the invaders grabbed a consecrated wafer and threw it to the ground.
Outside, demonstrators, many of them members of ACT-UP, carried placards that summed up their sentiments toward the Catholic Church: "Keep your church out of my crotch." "Keep your rosaries off my ovaries." "Eternal life to Cardinal John O'Connor NOW!" "Curb your dogma."
Clearly, the young movement was flirting with oblivion if it persisted in such ugly, indefensible tactics. It needed a new, more civilized direction if it ever hoped to convince Americans that homosexuality was a perfectly normal alternative lifestyle.
According to Mass Resistance research assembled by Amy Contrada, the Act Up organization also:
Staged a "die in" at Massachusetts General Hospital to protest the unavailability of PCP drug AP.
Protested Astra Pharmaceutical Products' refusal to release the experimental antiviral drug Foscarnet.
Disrupted opening night at the San Francisco Opera.
Protested design of clinical trials planned by Harvard School of Medicine.
Jammed phone lines of health insurance database company protesting their use of "sexual deviation" classification.
Halted Boston's trolley service and traffic in front of Harvard School of Public Health to press the federal government into approving two new AIDS drugs.
Brian Camenker, the chief of Mass Resistance, told WND, in fact, that Harvard is just at this point opening up an exhibition on Act Up, and has thanked Jennings publicly for helping assemble the necessary components.
Also in the video, it was revealed that Davis and Jennings played host to Obama for a 2008 fundraiser that yielded $170,000 in donations.
"This is an unbelievably important election," Jennings also told the LA Times in May 2008, when asked why he co-hosted the Manhattan fundraiser.
"That should answer any doubts over whether Obama 'vetted' Jennings before his appointment as Safe Schools Czar in the Department of Education," Mass Resistance wrote in its report.
This association, and that revealed earlier of Jennings' support for Harry Hay, who was honored by the North American Man-Boy Love Association, "help us to understand Jennings' agenda behind his major accomplishments, founding GLSEN, and pushing the Massachusetts law banning 'sexual orientation' discrimination in the state's schools," Mass Resistance said.
"Jennings worked closely with another Act Up radical, David LaFontaine, who convinced Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld to establish the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth – which directly promoted homosexuality in the schools," the report said.
Find out how immoral, self-destructive behaviors have become enshrined as normal and even heroic in David Kupelian's culture-war classic, "The Marketing of Evil."
Act Up also has covered Sen. Jesse Helms' house with a 'giant condom" and threw ashes of dead AIDS patients on the White House lawn, the report said.
Members of Congress have written to Obama demanding he dismiss Jennings following WND disclosures about his past, including an incident in which he counseled a 15-year-old student to keep quiet about being seduced by an older man.
Jennings says now he should have handled the situation while he was a teacher involving the sexually active student "differently," but the statement from Jennings failed to express "regret."
Jennings also wrote the foreword for a book called "Queering Elementary Education: Advancing the Dialogue about Sexualities and Schooling."
Another incident in his organization's past is the "fistgate" scandal in which his organization led discussions at a seminar where "young teens were guided on how to perform dangerous homosexual perversions including 'fisting.'"
Yet another was Jennings' address in a New York City church on March 20, 2000. He said:
"Twenty percent of people are hard-core fair-minded [pro-homosexual] people. Twenty percent are hard-core [anti-homosexual] bigots. We need to ignore the hard-core bigots, get more of the hard-core fair-minded people to speak up, and we'll pull that 60 percent [of people in the middle] over to our side. That's really what I think our strategy has to be. We have to quit being afraid of the religious right. We also have to quit – I'm trying to find a way to say this. I'm trying not to say, '[F—] 'em!' which is what I want to say, because I don't care what they think! [audience laughter] Drop dead!"
Messages WND has left with Jennings' office never have been returned.
Related special offers:
"Back Fired," by William J. Federer, shows how the faith that gave birth to tolerance is no longer tolerated!
"The Little Book of Big Reasons to Homeschool"
"The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom"
"The Gay Agenda: It's Dividing the Family, the Church, and a Nation"
Previous stories:
Besieged czar, EEOC chief safe, Obama tells homosexual crowd
'Gay' sex morally good, says Obama pick
Obama nominee praised polygamy
'Safe schools' chief encouraged child sex with older man
Congress expanding 'gay' protections in classrooms
Obama school-'safety' chief: How to jam homosexuality
'Gay' activist to promote 'safe' schools
'Gay' activist to oversee public classroom 'safety'
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