THE USA GAYS

On July 15 2010, Argentina finally ratified a bill that makes gay marriage legal. The bill guarantees gay couples the same rights as heterosexuals, including the possibility of adopting children. Argentina is the 10th country that legalizes homosexual marriages, the first one in Latin America, but a similar trend seems to have been started in the continent. Some months ago the Legislative Assembly of Mexico City declared gay marriages and adoptions legal and some other Mexican states are willing to do the same in the next months.

The bill has been supported by the center-left government of President Christina Kirchner, leader of the Fronte para la Victoria and human rights activist. This is a very important step in homosexuals’ rights recognition, especially because it comes from a Roman Catholic country.

Unfortunately, gay people’s rights are not officially recognized in 90% of the world, and their position may vary from toleration to persecution. Being gay is punished with death in 8 countries (Iran, Mauritania, Saudi-Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Nigeria) and gay sex is considered illegal in almost all the African subcontinent, except for South Africa, and the Middle East.

In Europe, few countries officially legalized gay marriage (Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland) and some others accept the legal cohabitation as an equivalent for civil marriage: France, for example, adopted the PACS (Pacte Civil de Solidariete`) which offers some welfare services (like tax reduction) after 3 months of cohabitation, but ends with the death of the partner and doesn’t allow gay couples to adopt children.

In the U.S. gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Iowa, Vermont and New Jersey, while California recognizes the same rights for civil unions and marriage. California can also boast one of the most important figures in gay’s rights’ battle: Henry Milk, the first openly gay man elected in San Francisco, who passed a crucial gay rights ordinance in 1977, before being assassinated with the Major George Moscone.

Even when gay marriage is officially accepted, other civil rights are endangered by different levels of discrimination: in the U.S. people who are openly gay, lesbian or bisexual are not allowed in military service; in fact, the federal law states that anyone who “demonstrates a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts” is prevented from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because “it would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability”.

Workplace discrimination is another important issue: 61% of Americans would like to have a federal law which protects gay people against discrimination and harassment, anyway, although the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has been presented many times since 1996, this law still doesn’t exist.

In Europe, sexual discrimination at workplace and military service is widespread especially in the Mediterranean countries (Greece, Italy) but 7.9/10 of the people interviewed feel comfortable in having a homosexual co-worker. An interesting report by the Italian MEP Vera Squarcialupi observed that although many countries adopted a tolerant attitude towards homosexuals they don’t offer any kind of protection against sexual discrimination. Many case of dismissal of military service has continuously happened over the last 30 years, causing the victims further inconveniences in presenting their resumes when applying for a job.

Discrimination affects many aspects of gays’ and lesbians’ lives, also juridical. In July 2009 a very debated law against the circulation of information about homosexuals was approved in Lithuania. The law has been immediately opposed by the European Union and other international organizations which defend human rights, so it was amended in December. The text explicitly refers to homosexuals as negative and malicious for young people under 18, defining any information which “denigrates family values” or “encourages a concept of marriage and family other than stipulated in the Constitution … and the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania” as detrimental to children, therefore this kind of information are banned from public places.

Beside these legislative aspects, manifest attacks against homosexuals’ rights have been recorded even in countries where their rights are officially recognized by the law. In 2002 the Mayor of Paris, the illuminated Bertrand Delanoë, was stabbed by a homophobic during the “White Night” (a municipal event celebrated in many European cities), 4 years later in Spain a gay couple was brutally killed in their apartment by a fanatic who eventually set their house on fire. In November 2008 two women were attacked while waiting to pick up their children in front of a school in Ontario, Canada.

The physical attacks against homosexuals are often connected to traditions and religious beliefs: in Germany an alarming rise in homophobia has been recorded since the ethnic and demographic change is influencing the public opinion towards gays and lesbians. Germany is in fact the destination for many Turkish and Russian immigrants, who barely tolerate homosexuals in their native countries and contribute to worsen the situation in Germany

Religious belief is probably the most influencing factor that determines the attitude towards homosexuals; Islam condemns it as it conflicts with the Quran. The solution, according to the holy book, is that homosexuals should “suppress their sexual feelings to follow God’s law”. Homosexuality is considered equally to a physical or mental disability, and can be “cured” with a medical and social supportive therapy.

Christianity adopts a very questionable attitude. In 1986 the Congregation for the Faith’s Doctrine expressed its opinion against physical and verbal aggressions against homosexuals, and generally defined it as an unnatural behavior that has to be fought with the help of the religious community. On the other side, in 2008 Pope Benedict XVI was accused of homophobia after having compared homosexuality to the global warming, stressing the compelling need to fight this trend to survive, and many bishops and cardinals have undergone the same allegation.

It is evident that gays’ and lesbians’ rights are constantly disrespected also in democratic countries that openly accept them socially and juridically. A crucial point is to widespread correct information and awareness of sexual diversity, especially among young people, in order to clarify what homosexuality is and why homosexuals should have the same rights of an heterosexual couple. The Lithuanian act which prevents people under 18 to access information about this topic is one of the most damaging form of discrimination, as the negative prejudice against gays and lesbians should be contrasted at a young age. The most common misconceptions about homosexuals as depraved, sexually libertine, AIDS carrier are the result of years of misrepresentation and misinformation.

On the other side, the LGBT community itself should promote a positive interaction with the public opinion to deny the stereotypes created after years of excessive public demonstrations which showed the most exaggerate side of homosexuality, offering detractors a way to depict the community as “not normal”. This gap should be filled enhancing contacts between the very closed gay community and the conservative bracket of the society, encouraging homosexuals to express their identity avoiding clichés.

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