Terry Sanderson on "Moderate" Religion

GALHA committee member and President of the NSS, Terry Sanderson has written a thought provoking article for The Guardian's Comment Is Free blog, entitled "Going to extremes" in which he argues:

"Engaging with religious liberals will not help to undermine extremists; it will only enable and protect them."

Read the full article.

Crude Christian anti-gay propaganda

A crude, insulting and factually false propoganda video has been produced to promote a Christian protest in Parliament Square at noon on Wednesday 21 March to protest the introduction of the Sexual Orientation Regulations.

The video claims that "the government is determined to pass a law that will, among other things, force shools to teach homosexual sex and relationships to children of all ages in schools".

In spite of having been exposed as liars, these Christian fundamentalists continue to push the idea that the Sexual Orientation Regulations apply to the content of school lessons. It is false! The SORs have nothing to do with school curricula. They are concerned only with the provision of goods and services. This means that a gay student cannot be denied admission or expelled because of their sexual orientation. That's all.

Bizarrely, since the video features a 'teacher' reading about 'homosexuality' to a group of primary schoolers, it comes with a warning that no one under 18 should view it. What did they do? Send the kids they'd used in the making of the video to re-education camps?

New death threat against Taslima Nasreen

Taslima Nasreen, the Bangladeshi feminist writer who spoke in London at an International Women's Day event co-sponsored by GALHA a fornight ago has had a Rs 500,000 (£6000) bounty put on her head by an Indian Mulsim group, the All India Ibtehad Council.

According to the Daily Times in India, Taqi Raza Khan, the president of the council affered the reward to anyone carrying out the "extermination of this notorious woman", saying "Taslima has put Muslims to shame in her writing. She should be killed and beheaded and anyone who does this will get a reward from the council."

Taslima Nasreen fled Bangladesh in 1994 after Muslim fundamentalists declared her writings blasphemous and demanded her execution.

A website billed as "Islam Under Scrutiny by Ex-Muslims" offers more background information on the death-fatwa againts Nasreen and others.

Keillor Savaged

And if I seem angry, you fucking motherfucker, it’s because I am. Angered and shocked. I’m used to being attacked by right-wingers obsessed with gay sex and fixated on anti-gay stereotypes. It’s a new and different sensation to be attacked so crudely by a man of the left—particularly when that man’s fat ass squats in a large glass house.

So says a very angry Dan Savage as he, as my friend Brian said, "basically rips the large intestine out of Garrison Keillor and strangles him with it".

What has made columnist and author Savage so angry?

Well, radio personality Garrison Keillor wrote in his regular Salon column thus:

"Under the old monogamous system, we didn’t have the problem of apportioning Thanksgiving and Christmas among your mother and stepdad, your dad and his third wife, your mother-in-law and her boyfriend Hal, and your father-in-law and his boyfriend Chuck. Today, serial monogamy has stretched the extended family to the breaking point. A child can now grow up with eight or nine or 10 grandparents—Gampa, Gammy, Goopa, Gumby, Papa, Poopsy, Goofy, Gaga and Chuck—and need a program to keep track of the actors...

... And now gay marriage will produce a whole new string of hyphenated relatives. In addition to the ex-stepson and ex-in-laws and your wife’s first husband’s second wife, there now will be Bruce and Kevin’s in-laws and Bruce’s ex, Mark, and Mark’s current partner, and I suppose we’ll get used to it. "

Trouble is, as Savage explains:

Keillor has been married THREE TIMES. He has children from two of his marriages, children who presumably need a computer program to keep track of their step-siblings, half-siblings, and sprawling extended families, children that have to be “apportioned out on Thanksgiving and Christmas.” Okay, fine, whatever. Keillor can recognize marriage, life-long commitment, and less complicated family structures as the ideal, even if he himself has failed—failed spectacularly—to live up to that ideal himself. It might have been nice, however, if the withered old hypocrite had admitted to Salon readers that he has failed to live up to the ideals he’s espousing. How about a little full disclosure, Garrison?

But not only has he married three times, he's also had long-term affairs. In fact, his second marriage failed because of his adultary.

Garrison Keilor is the author of books like Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts From the Heart of America. The book opens:

"I AM A Democrat, which was nothing I decided for myself but simply the way I was brought up, starting with the idea of Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, which is the basis of the simple social compact by which we live."

Hypocrite!

But there is nothing I can really add to the majesty of Dan Savage's full reply. Read it here.

And many gay Americans still think the party that gave America DOMA and DADT is a friend to the gay community. In broad strokes, the difference between the Left and the Right on gay issues is that the Right will tell you they hate fags to your face. That's about it. Vote Democrat to get rid of that idiot Bush by all means, but don't fool yourself that the Dems will do jackshit for gay folk.

And just to underscore this point. When Hillary Clinton was asked today by ABC News whether, in light of General Peter Pace's outburst, she though gay people were immoral, she managed to muster this:

"Well I'm going to leave that to others to conclude."

Keillor himself has advised the Democratic Party to "jettison" issues that the Republicans use to "divide" them. He said in a radio interview in Kansas recently:

“I think that gay marriage is also an issue that does no good for us and I want to see us divest ourselves of this,” Keillor says. “The symbolism of gay people marrying is terribly potent, terrible powerful, and we ignore this at our peril in our party."

With friends like these, as Brian - a former supporter of Howard Dean - says, as he looks elsewhere.

Still, as Savage says, it always is "a different sensation" when crude attacks come from the Left. Sadly, he'd better get used to it.

Women's Rights, the Veil and Islamic and religious laws

GHQ-Multimedia Presents: The speeches from the seminar "Women's Right, the Veil and Islamic and Religious Laws" held at the University of London Union in London on 8 March 2007 to mark International Women's Day.

Listen online or download the speeches in MP3 format by Sohaila Sharifi, Taslima Nasreen, Maryam Namazie, Mina Ahadi, Sonja Eggerickx and Ann Harrison.

"This was a superb and exhilarating evening. I cannot say how much admiration I have for these courageous women. They sense that they are at the head of a growing movement and that the women of Iran are aching to be freed from the confines of the 'medieval rag' and all it represents," said Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society and the media spokesperson for the Gay & Lesbian Humanist Association (which publishes GHQ).

The seminar was co-sponsored by the International Campaign in Defence of Women's Right in Iran - UK, the National Secular Society and the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association.

About the speakers:

Sohaila Sharifi is a member of the Campaign in Defence of Women's Right in Iran - UK, and chaired the meeting. She also translated for Mina Ahadi.

Taslima Nasreen is a physician, writer, radical feminist, human rights activist and a secular humanist. Her first book of poetry was published in 1986. Her second became a huge success in 1989. Next she started writing about women's oppression. In 1992 she received the prestigious literary award Ananda from West Bengal in India for her Selected Columns, the first writer from Bangladesh to earn that award. Islamic fundamentalists launched a campaign against her in 1990, staging street demonstrations and processions. In 1993, Soldiers of Islam issued a fatwa against her, a price was set on her head because of her criticism of Islam, and she was confined to her house. Taslima has been living in exile. She has written twenty eight books of poetry, essays, novels, and short stories in her native language of Bengali. Many have been translated into twenty different languages.

Maryam Namazie is a rights activist, commentator and broadcaster on Iran, the Middle East, women's rights, cultural relativism, secularism, Humanism, religion, Islam and political Islam. She is the National Secular Society's 2005 Secularist of the Year award winner and an NSS Honorary Associate; producer of TV International English; Director of the Worker-communist Party of Iran's International Relations Committee; co-editor of WPI Briefing and Vice President of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association. She is also involved in the Third Camp against US militarism and Islamic terrorism. She has been threatened by Islamists as a result of her defence of rights and freedoms.

Mina Ahadi was born in Iran in 1956. She started her political activities by setting up discussion clubs and performances when she was only 14. She was actively involved as a university student in the 1979 Iranian revolution. When the Islamic government gained power and Khomeini issued a fatwa for compulsory Islamic veiling, she organised meetings and demonstrations against the government. Mina is the founder and coordinator of the International Committees against Execution and Stoning. Mina Ahadi has lived in Europe since 1990. Recently she has founded the Central Council of Ex-Muslims to expose Islamic laws and its affects on people. She is currently under police protection for her activities.

Sonja Eggerickx was born in 1947 in Brussels. She studied Moral Sciences at the State University in Ghent (Belgium) and was active with the humanist youth, the feminist group and later the humanist union. She has been a teacher of what is called "non-confessional ethics" for 23 years, as well as a school inspector for the same subject. She is President of the Flemish Union of freethinkers/Humanists, co-president of the Belgian umbrella organisation Central Laïque committee and is currently the president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union.

Ann Harrison, currently a Researcher on Iran, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, has worked for Amnesty International in the Middle East and North Africa Programme for a total of about 10 years, first in the 1990s and most recently since June 2005. She has worked on a number of countries in the region, beginning with Israel and the Occupied Territories and Jordan, and later Lebanon and Syria. She has worked on human rights issues in Iran for almost four years.

Listen to the speeches.

Separation of Mosque & State

This week, St Petersburg, Florida, hosted the Secular Islam Summit, an "international forum for secularists of Islamic societies: Keynote speakers included atheists like Ibn Warraq (a former Muslim) and the religious but reform-minded like Irshad Manji.

According to the SIS website, "the next Islamic Enlightenment starts now". They say:

In the last decade we have increasingly heard calls for a "reformation," a new Enlightenment, or a secularization and liberalization of Islamic thought and practice. And yet there is to this day no organized international response. At the same time, a growing number of secular Muslims and secularists from majority Muslim countries have been undertaking these intellectual and strategic challenges independently (here “secularists” includes both those who embrace a thoroughly non-religious worldview, as well as those committed to separation of religion from overnment and robust freedom of conscience).

The purpose of the Secular Islam Summit is to bring together these thinkers and activists in an ongoing cross-cultural forum and clearinghouse to generate and share new practical strategies and disseminate these to the public and opinion-makers worldwide.

Professor Walid Phares provides a summary of the conference here and there are some video interviews with some of the participants here.

SciFi GHQ now out!

The new print edition of GHQ is in the post to subscribers, but it is also available as a free PDF download from the GHQ website.

The cover story looks at how Science Fiction on television (like Star Trek, Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica) deals with themes of Humanism vs religion.

There are also stories about 'The Festival of Blight' (where religious fundamentalists protested outside the House of Lords in opposition to the inclusion of gay people in anti-discrimination legislation) and a report back from the recent Faith, Homophobia & Human Rights conference, including the text of a speech by Ali Hilli who details the latest atrocities against LGBTs in Iraq by Islamist militias.

Keith Porteous-Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society explains why secularism is good for everyone - even the religious. There is also an op-ed from Humanist author Barbara Smoker on free-speech, respect and religion.

There are also details about the GALHA Film Festival starting this weekend.

Download the new issue, enjoy, fume, etc...

GALHA Film Festival - 10 -18 March 2007

Bookings now open for the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association's film festival - 10th-18th March in London

The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) is hosting a film festival in the exclusive private screening room at the One Aldwych Hotel, Covent Garden, London.

Keith Angus - festival organiser - says "GALHA is proud to be arranging this film festival, and offering a great selection of films including a UK premiere that's only just previewed at the Berlin LGBT film festival"

The carefully selected programme has been chosen to appeal to a lesbian and gay audience, with a mix of the intriguing, fantastic, disturbing, thought-provoking, and downright funny.

Online booking is open. The private screening room only seats 30 people so book now. Tickets are £8 per show, which not only gives you a reserved seat in the private screening room, but also includes free popcorn!

The programme kicks off on Saturday 10th March with the Magdalene Sisters, a harrowing true story about the infamous Catholic laundries for fallen women. The second film - also on the 10th - is Twenty Centimetres, an Almodovarean fantasy comedy film which was showcased at New York's 2006 LGBT film festival, and went down a storm.

Next in the programme is The God Who Wasn't There; a film documentary that holds modern Christianity up to a bright spotlight and picks it apart with help from luminaries such as Richard Dawkins. This is preceded by the UK premiere of Moscow Pride '06 Uncut, a fascinating depiction of the festival banned by city officials. It's just been showcased at Berlin's LGBT film festival and GALHA is very fortunate to have secured its UK premiere. This double bill is showing on Saturday 17th March.

The fourth and final showcase is another double bill: 'Boys Beware!' is a selection of short public information films from the 1950's warning young people of the evils of homosexuality. These films have only just been released into the public domain and really are a must-see. These are followed by a Sunday matinee treat showing of Brief Encounter. An affair de coeur superbly acted by Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, Brief Encounter is often described as one of the ultimate gay films - for whom the subject of forbidden love in ordinary lives - has special resonance. This final double-bill is showing on Sunday 18th March.

Keith adds: "all these films are well worth seeing in their own right, and to watch them in the comfort of a private screening room makes them unmissable. And free popcorn? The icing on the big gay humanist cake!"

Book now, at http://www.gayhumanist.com/filmfestival/

Women’s Rights, the Veil and Islamic and religious laws

To mark International Women's Day, a seminar entitled Women's Rights, the Veil and Islamic and religious laws will be held at the University of London Union from 6 - 10pm.

The seminar is co-sponsored by the International Campaign in Defence of Women’s Right in Iran-UK and the National Secular Society and the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association.

The speakers are:

Sonja Eggerickx: President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union
Ann Harrison: Researcher, Middle East and North Africa Department of Amnesty International’s International Secretariat
Maryam Namazie: Director of the Worker-communist Party of Iran’s International Relations Committee, 2005 National Secular Society’s Secularist of the Year Award, Winner and producer of International TV.
Taslima Nasrin: Physician, writer, radical feminist, human rights activist and secular humanist

In Iran yesterday, over 30 women were arrested and charged with endangering national security, propaganda against the state and taking part in an illegal gathering after protesting outside the court where 5 women were being tried for organising a protest last June against laws discriminating against women.

There will also be a showing - for the first time - of a short film “In the name of honor” by Reza Moradi.

Reza Moradi famously errupted in anger during Tony Benn's speech at the The War Coalition's "Time To Go" rally when some of the "peace demonstrators" in the crowd started waving Iranian flags. "We will not allow it! We will not alow the Islamic Regime to be represented here!" Moradi exclaimed, while attempting to explain what the Islamic Republic of Iran's flag meant to socialists, trade unionists, human rights activits and others who had been on the receiving end of torture, imprisonment and execution. His protestations, of course, fell on deaf ears, as the StWC stewards pushed him around and allowed the triumphant fascists to wave the flags in his face.

Admission is free

University of London Union
Room 3D, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY
(Nearest underground stations: Russell Square, Goodge Street)

For more info, call 07719111738 or 07950924434