Even the way he walked up to the waiting class in the hallway was amazing. He was this chipper jolly ol' guy (who happens to resemble Santa Claus--NO LIE) and he greeted the people who had been one of his prior classes and he said hello to everyone else. EVERYONE gets a nickname! I think that's so cool. I don't know he is just so interested in the subject, and I know it's going to be amazing.
Even in out introductory class we got a lot of information, and he added his own anecdotes--which are as equally cool and GAY as he is!!
He quickly mentioned a few things, and I jotted them all down because I knew I would want to research them later..which is what I'm in the process of doing now.
And the topics of interest are::::
* LGBT rights in Spain and South Africa
 |
| http://blog.outtakeonline.com/2007/07/welcome-gay-spain_23.html |
Today, Spain is one of the eleven countries around the world that allows same-sex marriage and has the most progressive laws, since they also permit adoption by same-sex couples.
| Same-sex sexual activity legal |  (since 1979) |
| Equal age of consent | |
| Anti-discrimination laws in employment | |
| Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services | |
| Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech) | |
| Same-sex marriage | (since 2005) |
| Recognition of same-sex couples | |
| Both joint and step adoption by same-sex couples | |
| Gays allowed to serve openly in the military | |
| Right to change legal gender | |
| Equal access to IVF (in vitro fertilization) and surrogacy for all couples and individuals | |
| MSMs (men who have sex with men) allowed to donate blood | |
| Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples |  |
Meanwhile in America...........RIGHT!!! Still working on the MAJORITY of these things!I mean, basically in Spain being gay = being straight in the legal sense, which is how it should be!!!!! Reasons I would NOT mind living in another country! We are supposed to be the "land of the free" and all that rubbish when that is no where near the truth.
Now, as far as South Africa goes:
South Africa's post-apartheid constitution was the first in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, and on December 1, 2006 South Africa became the fifth country in the world, and the first in Africa, to legalize same-sex marriage.
During apartheid, the LGBT community was punished very harshly. Homosexuality was punishable by prison for up to 7 years, not to mention the harassment that came from common people around them.
 | |||
| Because they can be out in S. Africa! |
Not to mention the fact that LGBT awesomeness is able to marry, adopt children, serve openly in the military, and all this lovely stuff...
| Same-sex sexual activity legal | (since 1998, retroactive to 1994) |
| Equal age of consent | (since 2007, retroactive to 1994) |
| Anti-discrimination laws in employment | (since 1995) |
| Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services | (since 1997) |
| Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech) | (since 1997) |
| Same-sex marriage(s) | (since 2006) |
| Recognition of same-sex couples as de facto couples | (since 1999) |
| Recognition of same-sex couples as civil partnerships | (since 2006) |
| Both joint and step adoption by same-sex couples | (since 2002) |
| Homosexuals allowed to serve openly in the military | (since 1998) |
| Right to change legal gender | (since 2003) |
| Equal access to IVF and surrogacy for all couples and individuals | (since 2003) |
| MSMs allowed to donate blood | 6-month deferral |
Now isn't that something? Honestly, when I think of LGBT(insert rest of alphabet soup here) politics in Africa, I just think about the Kill the Gays Bill in Uganda, and just think about how Africa as a whole is just NOT there yet when it comes to this issue. Meanwhile, In South Africa, they have made MAJOR advancements!! Definitely moreso than the U.S.ofA. I feel like there really is no excuse for the United States to be so behind. Spain...maybe, but S. Africa...c'mon (no shade).
*ENDA & Obama's nonchalant response
Chorlton made a point to mention that just because its an LGBT Politics class doesn't mean that it's going to be a worship Obama class. While he is a supporter of Obama (although he voted for the Green Party Candidate in the 2012 election) he does recognize flaws in his response to LGBT issues, the biggest of which seems to be the handling of ENDA.
Now, according to good ol' Wikipedia ENDA is legislation proposed in Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity
by civilian, nonreligious employers with at least 15 employees.
According to Chorlton, and the reading I have been doing, President Obama could sign an Executive Order and ENDA would be a done deal, but Obama will not. 4 openly gay members of Congress signed a letter on April 3, 2012 urging him to sign an Exec Order, but White House officials said that he would not. Apparently Obama finds it important that the focus be the passing of ENDA in Congress, which depending on your standpoint could be admirable.
I feel as though Chorlton may be a little impatient. After reading a few things, and seeing WHY Obama will not sign the Executive Order, it makes sense. Take this excerpt for example:
ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, is more comprehensive than the proposed executive order. ENDA would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in both public and private employment. The executive order would prohibit such discrimination for those employed by federal contractors.
The executive order does not carry as much weight as the passing of ENDA in Congress would. In my personal opinion, I really do think that Obama is trying to get us as much as he can, and signing that Exec Order would add a stipulation to ENDA that doesn't necessarily have to be there. Chorlton has been dealing with gay rights for a long time; maybe he is just getting tired of waiting and wants what he can get as soon as he can get it.
But then I read excerpts like this, and I understand where Chorlton is coming from:
“The reality,” said Stachelberg, “is we’ve been working on ENDA for 18 years and only in two of those years was there what I would call a pro-ENDA Congress, and we still couldn’t get it done. It’s an enormous challenge to pass any kind of civil rights legislation, so our best chance is to have an executive order first. … Suggesting that an executive order needs to wait for passage of a piece of legislation is not a good strategy.”
(Both excerpts received from: http://www.dallasvoice.com/obama-enda-executive-order-dont-expect-anytime-10107053.html)
ENDA is obviously a touchy issue, especially with the very temperamental Congress. We just have to wait it out and see I suppose.
* National Gay Democrats--apparently he is the boss of this group, and one of his tasks is to update all of the Democratic presidential candidates on gay issues/rights
As far as this group, I can't really find too much. I don't really know what that means, but it seems like the group actually has another name. Or maybe it is just a spinoff of the National Stonewall Democrats. Who's to say?
* AFFA (Alliance for full Acceptance)-- he talked about how he hated the name because it implies that we are all out for acceptance.. He said, "I don't give a S*** about acceptance, I want rights!" Then, he went on to say how he could not care less about people liking him, in some cases that's not going to happen regardless, but he DOES care about having the rights he deserves. Now, how awesome is that!! And based on his view on Obama and ENDA, he wants those rights NOW!
* We discussed tolerance and the origin of the word: It apparently was introduced in reference to the Jews to say not killing and letting live= tolerance...interesting aye?
* We then briefly talked about some gay NFL players, and how they are definitely his type. Haha. So he has a lovely round belly but loves the muscular tall big guys! I think that's so cool! Yet, somehow hard to imagine O_O lol
*Study of Gender & Sexuality at NYU
OK, so this program really does exist!!! OMG. I just think that's crazy. NYU was on my list of colleges at 1 point in time, but let's face it my mother barely wanted to let me apply to Spelman, which is just in ATL, so I knew New York was out of the question ='(
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