ABC News ran a feature today about being gay in Saudi Arabia. In this country home to the most sacred place in Islam, Mecca, being gay is a crime punishable by corporal punishment or death.

Going under the pseudonym Samir, a 34-year-old gay man discusses life in a society where homosexuality is considered one of the worst sins.

I pray to God to help me be straight, just to avoid hell. But I know that I’m gay and I’m living as one, so I can’t see a clear vision for the future.

Samir has to guard his sexuality with the utmost secrecy. He cannot show any affection towards the same sex without arousing suspicion from family and coworkers.

The Saudi has a secret boyfriend in Thailand, where he takes long vacations. He also visits the more tolerent Lebanon on weekends.

Gays in Saudi Arabia are under constant threat from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, a religious police force that recently arrested a man because his jeans and shirt were too tight.

The oil-rich country is notorious for remaining behind the times. It didn’t abolish slavery until 1962.

Liberty University, a “Christian” school in Virginia cofounded by Rev. Jerry Falwell, has banned its one-year-old College Democrats club because of the party’s views on various social issues, most notably LGBT rights.

An email from the school to the club officers stated the following:

[W]e are unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by [Liberty University]. The Democratic Party platform is contrary to the mission of Liberty University and to Christian doctrine

The message went on to indicate specific issues on the Democratic agenda that the university was most concerned about: abortion, the LGBT agenda, socialism, and attempts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

According to an announcement published about the formation of the club last year in The Liberty Champion, the purpose of the club was “to promote the values of: tolerance, equal opportunity for all, and a commitment to social justice. Liberty democrats are here to educate fellow peers about the Democratic Party and the principles the party stands for.”

The university has had an active Republican club for some time. According to the article, many Republicans on campus supported the creation of the College Democrats.

In regards to the 30 or so club members, Falwell said, “They are good Christian kids who sit with me at ball games. I just hope they find a pro-life family organization to affiliate with so they can be endorsed by Liberty again.”

Brian Diaz, President of the club, stated, “I want to be able to share the love of Christ, but I guess I can’t do that on campus because I’m a Democrat as well.”

Photo: Flickr

Before taking office, President Barack Obama pledged to end the ban on openly gay personnel in all branches of the armed forces. He has yet to do this, but most analysts believe hs is just biding his time, waiting for the right moment.

A senior military official speaking on the condition of anonymity yesterday stated that the Pentagon wants more time before the ban on openly gay servicemen is repealed. He is concerned about the change sparking a polarizing debate and splitting unity among personnel.

There have been instances of gays serving openly in the military for years without problem, though. What about Lt. Daniel Choi, who graduated from West Point and was recently discharged? He said, “My subordinates know I’m gay. They don’t care. They are professional.”

If some of our servicemen and women aren’t able to handle a few openly gay individuals, then perhaps these dissenters aren’t mature enough for the military. Don’t our armed forces call upon recruits to be more professional and mature than the average citizen, after all?

The fact of the matter is “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” doesn’t work. It represses the rights of those brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day, but also discourages qualified individuals from entering the military because of a sexual preference.

Photo: Flickr

Just a few months after garnering criticism for calling gay civil unions “crazy,” GOP Chairman Michael Steele has done it again. At a party conference with weekend in Georgia, the Maryland politician tried to caste gay marriage as a pocketbook issue. According to Steele, gay marriage would put too much financial strain on small businesses:

Now all of the a sudden I’ve got someone who wasn’t a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for. So how do I pay for that? You just cost me money.

So apparently its ok for hard-working Americans to trade in their rights for the good of business. Steele said portraying gay marriage as a financial issue is one way the Republican Party can repositon itself with voters. Am I the only one who finds this insulting?

What Steele is suggesting is against fundamental human and moral values. He should apologize for his discriminatory comment.

Besides, I have yet to hear any business complain that having to pay health benefits and the like to gay spouses caused a financial difficulty. If marriage is so expensive for businesses, then why let anyone marry?

In other news, a study recently published by UCLA estimates that gay marriage brought in $111 million for Massachusetts over the last five years. A second study conducted by the same group found that young, educated gay couples were 2.5 times more likely to move to the state because of the marriage law.

Photo: Flickr

When most people think of the Air Force, they usually imagine aircraft like fighter jets and bombers. A report obtained in 2005 under the Freedom of Information Act by the Sunshine Project, however, paints a much different picture of the fighting force meant to protect and defend America’s skies. The secret document, written in 1994, reveals that Air Force scientists flirted with the idea of creating an aphrodisiac chemical weapon that could turn its victims into full-fledged homosexuals. Read more…

In defiance of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s ban on gay rights protests, 30 activists took the to the streets in Moscow today for “Slavic Gay Pride.”

Moscow put an end to the event before it could get started, however, arresting all 30 participants, including Peter Tatchell, who had offered to meet with Luzhkov and to find a “cooperation and an amicable solution” to the protest ban.

During his arrest, Tatchell, who was severely beat up at a 2007 Moscow march, said, “This proves that Russian people don’t have freedom.”

Rather than organize in one central location, this year the protesters decided to spread themselves out at various places around Moscow State University in order to avoid confrontation. The protest was held during the Eurovision 2009 song contest, an event popular in the gay community. Yesterday, the mayor’s spokesman dismissed the rights march as threatening to “destroy the moral foundations of our society.”

This was to be the city’s fourth “Moscow Pride” organized by LGBT activist Nikolai Alekseev. Previous marches sported greater attendance, but ended in violence.

A counter-demonstration was held in the central part of the city earlier in the day by conservative nationalists.

Source: Telegraph
Photo: Flickr