Roland, Thank you for broaching this delicate topic which is currently being challenged in India. Canada has followed the lead of a few Scandanavian countries ( http://marriage.about.com/cs/samesexmarriage/a/samesex.htm ....much to the chagrin of Benedict16 http://tinyurl.com/nt9vb ) legalizing same-sex marriage at a federal level and thereby acknowledging homosexual rights at the highest level. Convincing homophobic religionists of it's validity is another hurdle altogether.
This is what a recent article had to say... "It took centuries of struggle against theocracies of many kinds to establish the modern separation of church and state. Most lay Catholics heaved a sigh of relief that papal delusions of grandeur seemed to have finally been set aside with the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65." http://tinyurl.com/ld7s2 And from the Indian Press... "In an open letter written by the author Vikram Seth, many activists have asked for the removal of Section 377 in the Indian penal code which they insist is entirely obsolete." http://tinyurl.com/oyaem Which was picked up by the New York Times.... "As with most things in this country, whatever generalizations one can draw about attitudes towards homosexuality, its opposite is also just as likely to be true. And yet, stigma and scorn prevail. Indian newspapers earlier this year, for instance, carried the story of a woman who attempted suicide after being forcibly separated from her lover, whom she said she had married in a Hindu temple." http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/world/asia/16india.html The Open Letter and signatories can be read at http://www.openletter377.com/ Changing the Indian Penal Code will probably be much easier than changing peoples' attitudes. I would be interested in the response to your pointed query. From my perspective and understanding of the completely biological origins of sexual orientation, discrimination of the same would be akin to discriminating against an individual based on height or eye colour. Just today, in the homily delivered at our church (yes, I do attend services, if only to gather evidence ;-) the priest accused the congregation of apathy towards the fight against same-sex marriage being the main reason for its passage into law in Canada. I guess he hasn't realized that hate mongering is a crime in Canada too. Kevin Saldanha Mississauga, ON. --------------- Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 08:49:50 -0400 From: "Roland Francis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Goanet] Are Goans Homophobe? With regard to Kevin's link to the Lutheran website/debate on homsexuality acceptance and the matter of celibacy (it truly is a mind provoking one), I ask Goanet: <...> I would like to know how these dynamics would actually happen in today's Goa. And I would be more than happy to get perspective from the straights on Goanet as well as the gays. If there are no gays here (and I don't see why not) would someone please get some responsible, expressive gays or lesbians to give us their views also. I know there is no single collective Goan reaction but the diversity of views would indicate some common threads as to our outlook. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
