Gay Wedding Bells For Canadian Cabinet Minister?
by The Canadian Press
Posted: October 7, 2005
7:30 pm ET

(Ottawa) Liberal MP Scott Brison hinted Friday that wedding plans may be in the works for him — a union that would have the prime minister's emphatic blessing.

The openly gay public works minister recalled Paul Martin's half-joke to him in June as same-sex marriage cleared the Commons amid a bruising national debate.

"The prime minister said to me after the vote: 'Well, after all I've been through on this Brison, you'd better get married.' "

Asked if he plans to tie the knot, Brison coyly offered: "Stay tuned.

"It's certainly a possibility," he added, during a roundtable interview with The Canadian Press.
Brison doesn't showcase or downplay his sexuality, saying he's not a gay politician, but a politician who happens to be gay.

The Liberal MP for Kings-Hants, a rural riding in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley, declined to offer any other details on his potential betrothed.

He has a new partner since ending a long-term relationship last winter.

Otherwise gregarious and always quotable, Brison, 38, has carefully guarded his personal life since becoming an MP in 1997.

He came out of the closet three years ago just before announcing his bid to lead the former Progressive Conservative Party.

He lost the leadership to Peter MacKay, whose move to help merge the Conservatives with the Canadian Alliance only added to their bitter rivalry.

Brison was asked Friday about his penchant for "tweaking" his former foe with a running catalogue of trademark barbs.

"I've never tweaked him once," Brison said with a laugh. "And if any of those rumors get out, I mean, I told him that was between us."

Brison knee-capped the fledgling united Conservative Party in 2003 with a scathing defection to the Liberals.

"I have no interest in being part of a right-wing debating club where we get together at conventions and debate how to privatize sidewalks," he said at the time.

The former investment banker entered Paul Martin's cabinet just six months later and beat electoral odds by winning in 2004.

Brison says he could never have felt at home with a Conservative party that has voiced plans to roll back same-sex marriage rights if it ever formed the government.

That would amount to a first-ever repeal of rights guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, he added.

Brison's life as a gay man would be very different were it not for the assurance of freedom from discrimination, he said.

"I would not . . . have the opportunity to be doing what I'm doing today."

University and high school students regularly remind him that his is a role model, reluctant or not, Brison said.

"Sometimes when somebody can express something like that to you, that you've made a difference in terms of their confidence or their life — not based on something that you've really done, just by the fact that you're there — I don't think I can articulate how that makes me feel."

Brison has been physically and verbally attacked in the past for being gay. But he discounts the pat notion that wealthier, more educated voters in big cities are necessarily more tolerant.
"I think that's all bullshit. In fact Canadians, regardless of where they live, whether they live in small towns or rural communities or big cities, regardless of education . . . are fundamentally decent people who want to do the right thing."

Opinion polls have repeatedly suggested otherwise, indicating that support for gay marriage noticeably drops among rural respondents.

©365Gay.com 2005

It's the birthday of Desmond Tutu, born in Klerksdorp, South Africa (1931). He was elected the first black archbishop of Cape Town and the head of the Anglican Church in South Africa.

It was Desmond Tutu who said, "When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land."

"Many faces of Islamism "
Whether political Islam develops in a more peaceful or violent way is in the hands of the west

Soumaya Ghannoushi
Wednesday, October 5, 2005
The Guardian

Islam is the second-largest and the fastest-growing religion in the world. In its heartlands in Asia and Africa, the movement of Islamisation has penetrated the fortress of the modernised elites, taking root among students, engineers, doctors and lawyers. And where once western dress was the mark of culture and emancipation, educated Muslim women today are more likely to don the hijab to assert their determination to be active citizens and express an alternative feminist identity.

Far from being a desert of stagnation, as it is often portrayed in the west, the Muslim world is in the grip of powerful change. The quest to renew Islam has always gone hand in hand with resistance to the west's military, political and cultural hegemony over the Muslim world. This goes back to the 19th century when, amid the turmoil that accompanied the shift in the balance of power in favour of Europe, two projects of reform emerged in Muslim society.

One was represented by the men of the tanzimat (reorganisation), who responded to the challenge of the rising European powers by seeking to build a powerful modern army and a centralised administration capable of securing authority over the provinces of an Ottoman empire in long-term decline. But alongside these pragmatic technocrats were the Islamist reformers, led by Jamaluddin al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh and their disciples. Much like the standard-bearers of reformation in Christianity, they sought to reactivate Islam's innate energies through the call to return to "pristine sources" without recourse to custom or tradition. A reinterpreted Islam, adapted to the conditions of modernity, they were convinced, was the only way out of the decadence of the present. This revivalist project, with its many offshoots and variations, is dominant in today's Islam. Ironically, the mighty powers of western modernity have neither dispensed with nor weakened the grip of the religious in Muslim society. If anything, they have acted as a catalyst for the revitalising of Islam's inner resources and as a midwife for the birth of modern Islam.

While modernisation has been wedded to secularisation in much of the world, in Muslim society it has gone hand in hand with Islamisation. The mass appeal of modern Islam is such that any open, free elections are bound to bring to power its representatives and sympathisers - which, in a nutshell, is the trouble with democratisation in the Muslim world for the powers that be. That the political status quo has stubbornly refused to budge in much of the Muslim world has nothing to do with either culture or religion. It is all down to regional and global politics, with their crude stakes and calculations.

Islamism, like socialism, is not a uniform entity. It is a colourful sociopolitical phenomenon with many strategies and discourses. This enormously diverse movement ranges from liberal to conservative, from modern to traditional, from moderate to radical, from democratic to theocratic, and from peaceful to violent. What these trends have in common is that they derive their source of legitimacy from Islam, just as Latin American anarchist guerrillas, communists, social democrats and third-way Blairites base theirs on socialism. To view such a broad canvas through the lens of Bin Laden or Zarqawi is absurd.

Faced with this dynamic and multifaceted force across the Muslim world, the west has two options. It can deal with it peacefully, allowing it to express itself freely and opening a dialogue with it, or it can channel its energies towards violence and destructiveness.

Whatever course of action it chooses, we can be certain that the ensuing consequences will not affect Muslim societies alone. In our globalised world, crises can no longer be kept far away, left to rage in distant lands and devour obscure nations. The troubles of Kabul, Jenin and Falluja now spill over on to our shores, towns and cities, lay bare our fundamental vulnerability, and put an end to our sense of immunity.

Bush and Blair seem determined to turn the clock back to the heyday of Napoleonic and Victorian expansion. The trouble is that the world is refusing to be dragged back to the age of grand colonial conquests, atrocities and tragedies, and Muslims are no exception. London and Washington must decide which Islam they want: a peaceful, democratic Islam, crucial to any pursuit of global stability, or the anarchical and destructive Islam of al-Qaida and its ilk. The shape of contemporary Islam will largely be determined by the environment within which it is forced to operate.

As they ponder how to deal with Islam, our leaders would do well to remember the lessons of history. After all, it was Europe's colonialist adventures that drove the esoteric spiritualist Mahdis of Sudan, Sanussis of Libya and Qadiris of Algeria out of seclusion and on to the road of militancy and jihadism.


· Soumaya Ghannoushi is a researcher at the School of Oriental and African Studies
and a columnist on al-Jazeera.net

soumayak@hotmail.com

Jatukkani asked, "Like the sun which controls the world with its heat and light, you, Master, seem to control desire and pleasure. I have only a little understanding. How can I find and know the way to give up this world of birth and aging?"

The Buddha answered, "Lose your greed for pleasure. See how letting go of the world brings deep tranquility. There is nothing you need hold on to and nothing you need push away. Live in the present but do not cling to it and then you can go from place to place in peace. There is a state of greed that enters and dominates the individual. But when that greed has gone, it is like poison leaving a body and death will have no more terror for you."

-Sutta Nipata

From "The Pocket Buddha Reader,"
edited by Anne Bancroft, 2001.
Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston,
www.shambhala.com .

Hollywood Blamed For Rise In HIV/AIDS

by Jill Lawless, Associated Press
Posted: October 3, 2005


(London) A team of medical researchers has found plenty of sex but only one reference to condoms among the top-grossing films of the past two decades, concluding that blockbuster movies paint a worryingly consequence-free view of sex and drug use.

Australian researchers who studied 87 of the biggest box-office hits since 1983 found they contained no depictions of unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease. Drug use also tended to be portrayed "without negative consequences," they reported in a study published Monday in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

"The social norm being presented is concerning, given the HIV and illicit drug pandemics in developing and industrialized countries," said Dr. Hasantha Gunasekera of the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, the study's lead author.

The researchers studied a September 2003 list of the 200 most successful movies of all time as ranked by the Internet Movie Database on the basis of world box-office takings. They excluded animated features, films with G and PG ratings, and movies released or set before the start of the AIDS pandemic in 1983.

Of the 87 movies remaining, 28 contained sex scenes - a total of 53 scenes in all.

Only one film - the 1990 romance Pretty Woman, in which Julia Roberts plays a prostitute - contained a "suggestion of condom use, which was the only reference to any form of birth control."

"There were no depictions of important consequences of unprotected sex such as unwanted pregnancies, HIV or other STDs," they added.

The sexiest film - in quantity, if not quality - was the 2001 comedy American Pie 2, which contained seven episodes of unprotected sex in which the "only consequences were social embarrassment."

The 1992 thriller Basic Instinct had six sex scenes, no birth control and no "public health consequences" - although "other consequences" included death by ice pick.

Suave super-spy James Bond also was rapped for his promiscuity. The 2002 Bond adventure Die Another Day contained three episodes of sex - "all new partners, no condoms, no birth control, no consequences at all" - but at least no drug use.

Eight per cent of the films studied contained depictions of marijuana use, and seven per cent other non-injected drugs, the researchers said.

Just over half the marijuana scenes - 52 per cent - showed use of the drug in a positive light. In the other 48 per cent of cases it was depicted in a neutral light with no negative consequences.
Characters smoked tobacco in 68 per cent of the films and got drunk in 32 per cent.

Only a quarter of the movies - including spooky drama The Sixth Sense and Tom Hanks survival adventure Cast Away - were entirely free of behavior such as unprotected sex, drug use, smoking and drinking, the researchers said.

"The most popular movies of the last two decades often show normative depictions of negative health behaviors," the authors concluded. "The motion picture industry should be encouraged to depict safer sex practices and the real consequences of unprotected sex and illicit drug use."
Gunasekera said "there is convincing evidence that the entertainment media influences behavior."

But some experts said the issue was more complex than the study suggested.

"I don't think you can pinpoint Hollywood as responsible for sexual immorality in the post-AIDS era," said Paul Grainge of the Institute of Film and Television Studies at the University of Nottingham.

"Hollywood responds to social mores as well as creates them."

©365Gay.com 2005

Here's more news that makes me angry about the regressive politics of the Vatican.


Vatican Considering Barring Gay-Friendly Politicians From Sacrament

by Malcolm Thornberry
365Gay.com European Bureau Chief
Posted: October 2, 2005 12:10 am ET

(Rome) Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who legalized same-sex marriage in their countries, and about a dozen American politicians who support gay marriage - including San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom who issued marriage licenses last year to same-sex couples - could be refused the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church under a proposal being considered by the Vatican.

Catholic bishops meeting in Vatican City at the first synod led by newly anointed Pope Benedict XVI are expected to consider refusing communion to politicians who pass laws that violate church doctrine.

The synod gets underway today.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin called the proposal "unfortunate".
"I am a practicing Catholic, in fact I am a strong Catholic,'' Martin told a Vancouver news conference following meetings with visiting Mexican President Vicente Fox.

"But I am also a legislator and I believe in the separation of church and state.''

Martin said his responsibility as prime minister was to uphold Canadians' rights as defined by the courts and to take the widest possible perspective into account.

"I believe in the Charter of Rights and I do not believe the prime minister of the country can cherry-pick those rights,'' he said.

"Have I discussed (this) with senior churchmen, with bishops? The answer is yes, I have. But as far as any further comment, I'm a legislator and that's public and I will comment on my public position. As a Catholic, that's my faith and I'll keep that to myself.''

Martin's Liberal government passed same-sex marriage legislation in July after courts in several provinces ruled the existing federal marriage law was unconstitutional. Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist government in Spain legalized same-sex marriage only days earlier.

The ban on the sacraments is supported by bishops from Spain and Canada as well as a number from the US. The proposal reportedly has the endorsement of Pope Benedict.

Before becoming Pope, Benedict had long history of attacking same-sex unions. As Cardinal Ratzinger he was the Vatican's most outspoken opponent of gay marriage.

Ratzinger was the author of the a 2003 Vatican directive to priests around the world calling for a proactive stand to stop governments from legalizing same-sex marriage and for a repeal of those those already on the books that give rights, including adoption, to gay couples. (story)
The 12 page document called on Catholic bishops and lawmakers to oppose the legalization of same-sex unions.

He opposes contraception and the use of condoms to combat HIV/AIDS, advocates a diminished role for women in the Church and has called for mandatory celibacy for priests.
In 1999 he ordered two Americans, Sister Jeannine Gramick and Father Robert Nugent, to end their associated with New Ways Ministry which provides educational programs for gay and lesbian Catholics nationwide.

©365Gay.com 2005

Emily Post said, "Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners no matter what fork you use."

It's the birthday of the poet Wallace Stevens, born in Reading, Pennsylvania (1879). He said, "It is not every day that the world arranges itself in a poem."

It's the birthday of Julius Henry Marx (Groucho Marx), born in New York City (1890), who said, "Marriage is a wonderful institution. That is, if you like living in an institution."

(from "The Writer's Almanac")

Word of the Day

Today's Word: Pandiculation (Noun)

Pronunciation: [pæn-di-kyê-'ley-shun]

Definition 1: Stretching the body and extremities when drowsy or tired, usually accompanied by yawning, especially when going to bed or waking; also, around the office, a pastime for those who work at a computer (I should know).

Usage 1: The verb is "pandiculate" and the agent noun is "pandiculator." The term is used by those who not only do not eschew obfuscation but wallow in it with great relish.

Suggested usage: This is a great, albeit rare word, but the slightest bit of context explains it to your (underprivileged) friends who do not subscribe to YDC's Word of the Day: "Archibald could have lounged around all day in a state of constant pandiculation, but the grass wanted mowing." Mentally immobilize your kids (or their teacher) with gems like this: "Thirty minutes into Mr. Furman's driver's ed refresher course, the class was rippling with pandiculation."

Etymology: Latin pandiculari "to stretch one's self" from pandere "to spread out" + icul (diminutive element "a little"). The underlying Proto Indo European root * [s]pen- with variable [s] "pull, stretch, spin" not only gave German spannen "stretch, span" and English "span" and "spin," but the Latin verb pendere "to weigh" behind "pendant," "pendulum," "pensive," and "depend."

(from www.yourdictionary.com)