World's AIDs Day 2018

Worlds AIDs Day 2018 marks the 30^th anniversary of a pioneering global health campaign. A time all gay people and others open up a new conversation on AIDs, gay rights and access to health care around the world.  It’s a great opportunity to review gay rights the world over.  As LGBTQ people become more vocal and build an international network ten countries still have the death penalty for what they call sex against nature.  Many others have life imprisonment.  Even today here in the United States our government has started a new offensive against LGBTQ people.  My partner and I joke that we may not have to get divorced because all LGBTQ marriages may be annulled by the end of Trump’s presidency.  Vashon Island where I live is commemorating World’s AIDS day for the first time, a landmark occasion.  Worlds AIDs day gives us so much to reflect on.

Let’s look a little deeper into a few countries around the world.  Indonesia socially, politically and religiously holds a strong anti-gay position. In Indonesia religion plays a dominant role in society were 90 percent of the population are Muslin.  Homosexuality is not punishable by national law but Indonesia's LGBT community has always been vilified as immoral.  This stigma against homosexuality remains strong and getting stronger with recent incidents this November.  An already vulnerable LGBT minority has become more of a target as a political punching bag in the run-up to 2019 elections.  The public mood is turning increasingly ugly and LGBTQ people are confronted with deepening hostility.  Authorities hosed down a group of transgender women in what they called a "mandatory bath." This incident marks an increase in police crackdown against LGBTQ people.  Things have gotten so bad for LGBTQ people in Indonesia they are setting up hotlines and safe houses as well as removing all trace of their identity on social media sites.  I don’t have to tell all you LGBTQ people out there how devastating all this is for a community, my heart goes out to them.

Going on to Turkey where LGBTQ rights looks like a mixed bag.  Same sex acts even though legal since 1858 Turkey law has no prevision for nondiscrimination against LGBTQ people. Trans people have been able to change legal gender since 1988.  The gay community has organized a pride parade in Istanbul since 2013.  In 2016 the government banned the Pride Parade for the first time.  In 2018 people gathered anyways while activist unfolded a large rainbow flag as someone read a press statement.  The police then advanced on the crowed shooting rubber bullets as a strong warning they were breaking the law.  Couldn’t find anything about a celebration for the 2018 Worlds AID Day a further sign Turkey’s LGBTQ community continues to be under attack.

Sri Lanka has not seen LBGTQ laws change since colonial days 135 years ago, but today the laws are not strictly enforced.  Trans people have been able to change their ID to a different sex for a while.  Sri Lanka has an active LGBTQ community.  The country even has a national AIDs strategic plan for 2018 – 2022.  The down side is that the 135-year-old law cannot be repealed by the courts, courts can just rule to not enforce the law which is the laws current status.  As in any law when the political climate changes a law on the books can be enforcement.  For now, Sri Lanka’s LGBTQ openly celebrates pride for the last 13 years with a prominent parade.

Ending with some bright news in the world LGBTQ in India won a huge victory when the Supreme Court approved same sex marriage in September 2018 also ruling that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a fundamental violation of rights.  We don’t even have this in the United States. As for World’s AIDs Day 2018, google didn’t turn up any concrete information but the land mark Pride Parade of 2018 came up with abundant celebrational news.  This parade was the first time LGBTQ people marched not as criminals but as full-fledged citizens chanting, “We Got Our Freedom.”  

Ending with India’s story of liberation hopefully gives you hope for the rest of the world on this World AID’s Day 2018 it certainly does for me.  I have met LGBTQ people from all over the world and find inspiration and hope in them personally and the work that they do and wanted to pass that message onto you. As part of your celebration for World’s AIDs Day reach out to an LGBTQ friend, an HIV positive person in way to help make a difference one day at a time.  And don’t forget to honor those in your community who are living with this disease or who have lost their lives to this disease and be thankful for their contributions as my community on Vashon is doing over the next couple of days for the first time ever.

Thankful and Thoughtful

Sitting down with my family for Thanksgiving dinner we started going around the table one by one to say what we are grateful for this year.  When it came to my niece’s turn, she didn’t just say what she was thankful for she mentioned several marginalized groups that her thoughts went out to during this season.  Days later her comments still resonate with me.

My thoughts go to the people at the border and yes, the troops sitting waiting for the caravan it can’t be much fun being a pawn in a political fight.  I thought about the homeless, the people in prison, or in immigration detentions, the list seems endless. At the end of all this thankfulness just doesn’t seem enough.  I've heard people criticize Thanksgiving first for the roots of where it came from but also why take "ONE" day a year.  The disenfranchised are disenfranchised everyday of the year holiday or not.

What are disenfranchised people thankful for?  People who are prevented from participating fully in this world how does thanksgiving help them and what can I do?  I ask myself this every day.  Since being in the Peace Corps I strongly object to the tactic of handouts alone.  That’s not to say people don’t need help, they do, but what will help people in the long run?  As much as I believe in opening avenues of self-reliance by building skills and working to end prejudices, I have helped homeless service organizations at hygiene centers, I have helped hand out Christmas presents at a shelter, did childcare, and worked with mentally ill adults. 

What I am most thankful for are all the people who are working to make this world a better place for all of us.  Being a sustainable activist year after year is not an easy task and during this time in history activism, and resistance to the racist, worker, and gender biases in the world today has become more important than ever.  Change doesn’t stop for the holiday.  In the end as I share a meal with my family I just enjoy the moment and think about my goals to change the world in the coming year.

The Never Ending Elections

After blacking out the news for several days, Wednesday morning I turned on Morning Joe.  We won the house. Lost seats in the Senate. Women in record numbers won seats in congress, thank you Emily’s List and the Women’s March.  Many State Legislator bodies turned blue.  Early that morning Trump fired Sessions, people took to the streets to protect Special Counselor Robert Mueller. The tide has changed and the current towards democracy seems strong.

It all seemed settled and I turned to reading enjoyable memoirs, and novels.  Then today, Saturday, I turned on Joy AM, Florida and Georgia elections still in limbo.  Not just Governor races but Senate and Congress races too.  By the end of the day the governor and senator races in Florida went into recount mode.  The Georgia governor’s race still in limbo with many law suits filed to get all ballots counted. Here we go again the fight for the vote. Maybe I jumped to soon about the tide changing.

The blows came from both sides, Republicans accused Democrats of voter fraud.  Democrats accused Republicans of voter suppression.  Most news networks except maybe Fox News, report voter fraud is a rarity. When you look at how to vote even here in Washington State where everyone votes by mail, marginalized populations come up against barriers.  Most people who rent move frequently, making mail ballots hard to keep up with, and voter ID laws in other states where the address has to match where you vote can be cumbersome. 

How many ways can you count a vote, let me tell you the ways, absentee ballot, provisional ballot, at the ballot booth and more. Ballots found here and there, counting by machine, counting by hand.  Law suites filed on both sides.  It’s exhausting.  Are we living in a banana republic, in some country in Africa like the Ivory Coast, where votes are suppressed and incumbents never concede hanging on to the country for months after they have lost an election while people demonstrate in the streets?

Is this how elections are going to go in the future?  Every since Gore ran for President elections have been fought over, ending up in the legal system. Our election system for the average voter is exhausting, and discouraging.  How do we turn this around and make elections respectful without a big cash price at the end? Lately it’s been reported that elected officials spend two thirds of their time campaigning for their next election while spending one third doing their job.  No wonder elections get ugly and congress is dysfunctional.

All I can give you are questions; the ultimate answers seem a complicated road to a true democracy.  I must apologize for complaining but I feel helpless in these elections and have for a while.  If you have positive comments please leave them to bring some hope into the discussion, I would really like to hear from you.