5/19/10

Save the Life of Kiana Firouz Iranian Lesbian Activist

Iranian lesbian activist Kiana Firouz is currently seeking asylum in the United Kingdom after a controversy over the upcoming release of Cul de Sac. The film, which stars Firouz and includes explicit lesbian sex scenes, is based heavily on Firouz's life and struggles as a lesbian in Iran. Directors Ramin Goudarzi-Nejad and Mahshad Torkan posted the trailer on YouTube in December 2009 (below, NSFW) and since then, the Iranian government has attempted to deport Firouz back to Iran to be tried and punished for her crime of homosexuality. Firouz applied for refugee status in the UK, but was rejected.



If she is not granted asylum in the UK, she will be sent back to Iran, where the minimum punishment for homosexuality is 100 lashes. The punishment for "unrepentant" homosexuality, which Firouz's LGBTQ activism clearly demonstrates, is public execution by hanging.

To sign a petition asking for asylum in the UK endorsed by Firouz herself, click here: petitiononline.com

Send a letter asking for amnesty for Firouz here:
Minister of State (Borders and Immigration) -
Home Office, 2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
Fax: +44 870 336 9034

Secretary of State for the Home Department -
Home Office, 2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
Fax: +44 20 7035 0900

A form letter can be found here: madikazemi.blogspot.com

This is the face of death the moment Neda was shot dead by Iranian militia simply for watching a freedom protest. The need is real. If we fail to save LGBT Activist Kiana Firouz's life she will be exucuted for who she loves

5/18/10

2008 KNUS 710 AM Radio's Trevor Carey Encourages Listeners to Kick Transgender "Fraud" Teeth IN! AUDIO, TEXT, LINKS



Source: colorado.mediamatters.org


KNUS host Trevor Carey (pictured right) stated that transgender individuals who commit "fraud" about their previous gender identity are "at least gonna get [their] teeth kicked in"

Summary: KNUS weekend host Trevor Carey asserted that a transgender woman murdered in Greeley had committed "fraud" in presenting herself as a woman and agreed with a caller that it was grounds for physical violence against her. Carey also stated that the victim, Angie Zapata, had "faked" the suspect into having "some sexual relations," and claimed that "rage" regarding "the fact that [Zapata] was living as a woman" had "so much to do with the murder."

KNUS 710 AM
Mailing Address:
KNUS
3131 South Vaughn Way Suite 601
Aurora, Co 80014

PHONE:303-750-5687
FAX:303-696-8063
KNUS Opinion Line: 866-710-KNUS

Programming Department

When contacting the media, please be polite and professional. Express your specific concerns regarding that particular news report or commentary, and be sure to indicate exactly what you would like the media outlet to do differently in the future.

Discussing the case of a transgender woman murdered in Greeley, allegedly by a heterosexual acquaintance, 710 KNUS host Trevor Carey on his March 14 broadcast stated that the victim, Angie Zapata, had committed "fraud" against the suspect by presenting herself as a woman -- and agreed with a caller that this was grounds for physical violence against Zapata or any transgender person who did the same thing. Carey said that "that man didn't deserve to die" and that "the transgender segment of our society needs to be telling their type" that "you don't commit fraud" because "you're at least gonna get your teeth kicked in."

Carey stated that Zapata had "faked a guy into" having "some sexual relations," and claimed that "rage" regarding "the fact that [Zapata] was living as a woman" had "so much to do with the murder."

According to a March 12 article in the Greeley Tribune:

Prosecutors will have to proceed without some key evidence in the murder trial of Allen Andrade.

Andrade is accused of killing Angie Zapata, a transgender woman found dead in her southeast Greeley apartment on July 17. Zapata, 18, was biologically a man named Justin Zapata, but she lived her life as a woman.

Police believe Andrade, 31, of Thornton killed Zapata when he discovered she was actually a man.

[...]

According to a police affidavit, Andrade told [Greeley Police Det. Greg] Tharp he met Zapata on the Internet and that they had arranged a date. The affidavit said he stayed at Zapata's apartment alone while she went out, and he realized Zapata was a man. When Zapata returned later, Andrade confronted her about being a man, eventually hitting her with his fists and knocking her to the ground, the affidavit stated.

Andrade, according to the affidavit, said he then hit Zapata with a fire extinguisher, and later, when she started to wake up, he hit her several more times until she died.

After referencing remarks he made on an earlier program that he said prompted a response from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) national advocacy group, Carey and a caller contended that Zapata had committed "fraud" against the suspect for presenting herself as a woman -- which was grounds, they said, for physical violence against Zapata or any transgender person who did the same thing.

From the March 14 broadcast of KNUS 710 AM's The Trevor Carey Show:

CAREY: Topic B for me tonight is transgenders. Now, you might have heard of the story that happened in Greeley where there was a man who was a transgender who was a man living as a woman; Angie Zapata was his name. Now, I got in a little bit of trouble; the Associated Press states that transgendered are to be referred to as "shes." The Weld County District Attorney's office in this case is referring to this victim as a she.

She faked a guy into, there was some sexual relations. It didn't go all the way, but there was some sexual relations that happened. And when this man found it out that it was another man, he beat the victim. The victim woke up from the beating gurgling blood, whatever, out the mouth. He took a fire extinguisher and finished the victim off. Then stole the victim's car, got caught, I think it was in Denver. Anyhow, he's in jail now. So the big issue is, do we call this individual a he or she?

So in a quote in the Greeley Tribune, I stated that I had said "he," "she," and "victim" all in the same breath almost once; I didn't know what to say. I talked to our news director, and he said, "I'm calling the victim 'the Greeley transgender.' " Of course, I stated in the article that that man didn't deserve to die, but we can't -- the fact that the man was living as a woman is the whole point of the story. It had so much to do with the murder -- the rage.

So then I get a call from GLAAD in Los Angeles from this guy saying, calling in referencing to the referencing of transgenders with the gay and lesbian, blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. And we got into a conversation; I found out, I asked him, "Are you homosexual?" he said, "Yes, I am." I said, "Do you wanna, you know, have you ever had the desire to have your manhood removed?" He said, "No." And I said, "Well, I'm glad to hear you're normal," and, you know, "you don't want to have that removed." I go, "If you were down in Trinidad strapped to a stretcher and they were coming at you with a saw to remove it, would you be screaming bloody murder?" He said, "Of course I would." I said, "because see, that's abnormal."

What you want to do in the privacy of your own life in your own bedroom, go ahead and do it. That's between you and God, whatever. But -- I'm not here to say my sin's worse than your sin, whatever you want to balance it out here. But at least you're normal in the state that you want to keep what God gave you. I think I said "junk in the trunk," and he got offended, but that's what I was saying, you know, you want to keep that.

I said, "Why is it that you guys don't see this as a mental illness? Why do you associate yourself with the transgenders?" 'Cause I got him to say it was abnormal. I said, "So if it's not normal, why wouldn't you want to help these people; there's obviously something going wrong in their head.

So I've invited him on the show; let's hope he comes on the show, 'cause I think that could be some lively discussion. I said to him -- [caller], I'm about to come to you in Littleton here -- but I said to him, "What if I just wanted one day to say, 'Hey, I'm black. My name is Dimitri; I'm black, I want a NAACP scholarship.' " Well, you're not black. Yes I am, because in my mind and in my heart I'm black. This is what he told me the transgender felt -- in his or her mind or heart, they felt like they were a woman, so they should be called a woman.

[...]

CAREY: And what the transgender segment of our society needs to be telling their type is, you don't commit fraud because --

CALLER: No, that's exactly what it was.

CAREY: A), you're at least gonna get your teeth kicked in, and B) -- [caller laughs] -- here's a story from Greeley that turned out very tragic, and you should pay attention to this, because --

CALLER: You know, when I was growin' up in Greeley, I grew up in Greeley, that kind of stuff didn't ever, you know, surface in this town. And it's just sad, you know; my heart just weeps for all, everybody that's concerned. But, you know, we gotta go back to basics. You're a man or you're a woman, and, like you said, if you're fraudin' somebody, then you deserve to have your teeth kicked in. Not necessarily hung or you're killed, but it just -- they shoulda known better, you know?

CAREY: Well, you do know, now, that Governor Ritter paid back the homosexual platform by passing the transgender law now, where a transgender can go into the restroom and use the restroom right next to your daughter?

CALLER: Yes, sir; I read about that, you know. And I was in Black Hawk and Central City, and they have them type of bathrooms up there. It's like: "What the hell am I doin'? Maybe I oughta go out and piss on somebody's car." [Carey laughs] You know? I don't know where I'm safe anymore. Maybe I oughta just be taken to jail for indecent exposure and pay the consequences there rather than --

CAREY: Well, in this economy, [caller], that's three square meals a day; you could get yourself a college degree, if you don't have one already. You could work out. I mean, that's -- what's a health club membership? Seventy bucks a month? You got cable. You got cable. You got, you know, you got some friendship, you know, you develop some --

CALLER: Ah -- no, I want my freedom more, you know? I want to smoke a cigarette when I want, and drink a beer and live my lifestyle the way that, you know, and be a man about things, and man up to it. But you, it all comes down to what you said about fraud.

CAREY: That's right, [caller]; we gotta roll though, buddy. Thanks for listenin' to the show; I appreciate it. [Caller] right there on The Trevor Carey Show, back in a minute".

Source colorado.mediamatters.org

Malawian Gay &Trans Couple now Convicts Waiting Sentence of up to 17 Years

BREAKING NEWS May/29/2010: Steven Monjeza and Transwoman Tiwonge Chimbalanga recently sentenced to 14 years of hard labor for marrying now free after "pardon" by Mutharika, president of Malawi during UN Sec. Gen. visit.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Chivuli Ukwimi, Health and Human Rights Officer, IGLHRC Cape Town
Office: (27) 21 469 3700; Mobile: (27) 79 443 3938;
Email: cukwimi@iglhrc.org

Dunker Kama, Administrator, CEDEP Blantyre
Mobile: (265) 8888 7 5050;
Email: shorinjkenpo@yahoo.co.uk

For further contact information see below.
Read IGLHRC's letter on this case and the human rights situation in Malawi »

(Cape Town, May 18, 2010) - The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and the Malawian organization the Center for the Development of People (CEDEP) condemn today's conviction by a Magistrate Court in Blantyre, Malawi of Tiwonge ("Tionge") Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza for "unnatural offences" and "indecent practices between males" under Sections 153 and 156 of the Malawi Penal Code. The Court is expected to sentence the two on May 20th and issue the full judgment within three weeks. Chimbalanga and Monjeza face up to fourteen years in prison with the possibility of hard labour.

"By ignoring basic standards of evidence, this ruling undermines Malawi's commitment to the rule of law and jeopardizes the human rights of all Malawians," said Chivuli Ukwimi, Health and Human Rights Officer of IGLHRC. "In a context of escalating persecution of LGBT Malawians, this decision damages life-saving efforts to address HIV and AIDS."

Monjeza and Chimbalanga have been held in Chichiri Prison in Blantyre since December 28, 2009, when they were arrested after a traditional engagement ceremony attended by family and friends. Following their arrest, Chimbalanga was forced to undergo an involuntary anal examination and both were forced to undergo an involuntary psychiatric evaluation. The two were repeatedly denied bail - a decision severely criticized as unjust by the Malawi Law Society. There have been reports of the Court allowing the couple to be subjected to humiliating treatment during the trial, including being mocked for their relationship by trial attendees and being forced to clean up vomit after one of them became ill.

Today's ruling is part of a broader pattern of mounting pressure and persecution on LGBT people by authorities in Malawi. This persecution has come from the highest levels of government. On April 23rd, President Bingu wa Mutharika reportedly denounced homosexuality as "un-Malawian," "evil" and "disgusting" and linked it to corruption, violence, theft and prostitution. Days later, on April 26th and again on the 27th, police appeared at a conference on the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) populations in HIV/AIDS programming. Police demanded the names of conference organizers, seized copies of the conference program, and inquired about specific individuals believed to be in attendance. Police refused to present a warrant or justification for the intimidation.

Speaking after today's decision, Dunker Kamba, Adminstrator of CEDEP, said, "This judgment is going to drive the gay community further into hiding. It is not only a ruling against Steven and Tionge but the whole LGBT community in Malawi and Africa."

These incidents violate the Constitution of Malawi and the human rights treaties to which Malawi is a party. The continued discrimination and persecution of people on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity threatens to undermine the right to privacy, the right to non-discrimination and equality before the law, and freedoms of assembly, association, opinion, and expression that all Malawians are entitled to enjoy.

Additional Contact Information:
Gift Trapence, Director, CEDEP BlantyreMobile: (265) 888 50972; Email: gtrapence@yahoo.co.uk, directorcedep@yahoo.com
Cary Alan Johnson, Executive Director, IGLHRC (currently in Berlin)Mobile: (347) 515 0330; Email: cjohnson@iglhrc.org
Jessica Stern, Director of Programs, IGLHRC New York1- 212- 430-6014; Email: jstern@iglhrc.org
For general media inquiries, please contact:
Sam Cook, Director of Communications, IGLHRC 1-212-430-6023; Email: scook@iglhrc.org

The mission of The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is advancing human rights for everyone, everywhere to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. A non-profit, non-governmental organization, IGLHRC is based in New York, with offices in Cape Town and Buenos Aires. Visit http://www.iglhrc.org for more information.
Photo copyright World Economic Forum/Eric Miller. Bingu Wa Mutharika, President of Malawi, captured during the Opening Plenary of the World Economic Forum on Africa 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa, June 4, 2008.

Uniting American Families Act needed NOW!

The NYCLU, in collaboration with the 'Britta & Carla,' the LGBT Community Center and the Office of Congress Member Jerrold Nadler, is proud to announce the release of our new short video, “Citizen Non-Citizen,’” which looks at discrimination against LGBT families in our immigration system and the ongoing efforts to reform the system in Congress through the Uniting American Families Act and comprehensive immigration reform.



“Citizen Non-Citizen” highlights the heart-wrenching story of Britta and Carla, a married same-sex bi-national couple living in New York City fighting to stay together in the United States.

There are an estimated 36,000 same-sex bi-national couples in the United States seeking recognition by our immigration system in order to keep their families intact.

Please feel free to share, post, and distribute this video widely as you see fit. To find out more about the NYCLU’s work on comprehensive immigration reform, please visit www.nyclu.org/immigrationreform.

Gov. Perry's temporary digs costs Texans 10G a MONTH!

AUSTIN, Texas – With the state facing a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has spent almost $600,000 in public money during the past two years to live in a sprawling rental home in the hills above the capital, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

It costs more than $10,000 a month in rent, utilities and upkeep to house Perry in a five-bedroom, seven-bath mansion that has pecan-wood floors, a gourmet kitchen and three dining rooms. Perry has also spent $130,000 in campaign donations to throw parties, buy food and drink, and pay for cable TV and a host of other services since he moved in, the records show.

The public spending on Perry's rental comes as the state grapples with a budget shortfall forecast to reach at least $11 billion over the next two years. Perry has asked state agencies to cut their budgets by 5 percent and the Republican House speaker has begun to consider furloughs and shortened workweeks for state employees.

UNITED ENDA LEADERS mum about why it's FAILING!

Bathroom cop Barney says SNIP~SNIP~SNIP

To transgender people it is or will be as plain as the dangly thing or absence of, between your legs.

  • Who is responsible for this EPIC ENDA FAIL?

    Homophobic and transphobic 'religious' zealots mixed in with generic right wing political doomsayers, some sadly disguised as Democrats prognosticating the downfall of society should 'men with penises' be allowed in the women's room and in our classrooms.

  • Who among our supporters and benefactors would be so ignorant, transphobic or self serving to completely abdicate their responsibilities and refuse to vote for ENDA?

    The Congressional blue dogs of the United States Congress.

  • Who in the goverment has rejected these outrageous fear mongering tactics?

    The local and state governments who have previously passed like protections because they feel a moral obligation to protect ALL of the citizens within in their Cities and counties!

  • Who is NOT talking about this?

    The transgender people who are positioned in Washington to advocate on our behalf! They see this "concession" as something they can sneak past the transgender population so they can claim a historic victory!

    At your expense poor transwoman. Transmen are not exempt who have not had 'bottom surgery'! AS unjust as this concession may be the law MUST act equally regardless if you are a MTF or FTM.

    Pass or fail in Congress this is a no win. In fact it could be a draconian defeat sending transgender people back twenty years, ensnared in spiderweb designed to limit there growth and be all but prohibitive to gender questioning!

    This could mean death to so many yet to come.

  • What can you do? We have lobbied senators and Representatives. We have talked and emailed, educated untill our jaws and fingers have gone numb and to NO EFFECT!

    First lets contact the transgender 'leaders' who remain silent NOW! Demand they stop putting there ambition before our well being and TALK about the real reason ENDA is FAILING us so miserably.
    United ENDA
    ENDA NOW .com