Madrid Gay Pride 2009

Now begins the countdown to host one of the biggest celebrations of the Spanish capital, the Madrid Gay Pride. The Gay Pride is one of the festivals with the largest number of followers in the whole Spain. On June 28th every year, thousands of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and straight people join together to celebrate and fight for the gay cause in a festive way.

Madrid has the privilege of being one of the major European capitals that has one of the most important and multitudinous Gay Pride Day. Last year only the parade congregated 1,100,000 people, while along the rest of the week hundreds of thousands of people went to the festival and to the special gay pride events. In fact, this celebration only can be compared in terms of attendance with other Spanish events such as San Fermin or the Fallas in Valencia.

This way, from from June 27th to July 5th Madrid will host an amazing Gay Pride that expects to beat, as every year, a record of attendance.

On July 4 it will be held in the famous gay Parade. It will begin at 17:00 in the Independence Square and it will move around the Calle Alcala, the Plaza Cibeles and La Gran Via and it will finish in Plaza Espana, where some concerts will be held.

This year people will fight for visibility and non-discrimination in schools with the slogan “School without Closets”, since 2009 is the “Year of Diversity in the Sexual Health Education”, and after last year people fought for Lesbian visibility. One more time, the festive atmosphere will ensure a great success and fight for an equal cause in Madrid.

Same Sex Adoption

Same sex adoption as it is most commonly referred to or LGBT adoption simply means the adoption of a child by a lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans-gendered couple.

In the past, gay couples have had to be secretive in adopting a child due to certain prejudices that existed against homosexuality. For example, one partner would adopt the child as a single parent and the other would pretend to be a roommate or friend.

Currently in Canada a gay couple can legally marry and they are allowed to adopt, but in the United States it is dependent upon each individual state.

Some of the latest statistics on gay adoption.

To date, all research in the area of same sex adoption has come to the same conclusion:

1. The children of LGBT parents grow up as successfully as heterosexual parents. In fact, not a single study has found that children of gay or lesbian couples to be disadvantaged because of their parent’s sexual orientation.

2. There is no evidence to suggest that gay or lesbian couples are unfit to be parents.

3. Home environments with LGBT couples are as likely to successfully support a child’s development as those with heterosexual parents.

4. Good parenting is not influenced by sexual orientation.

Rather, it is influenced most profoundly by a parent’s ability to create a loving and nurturing home – an ability that does not depend on whether a parent is gay or straight.

5. There is no evidence to suggest that the child of a gay or lesbian couple is less intelligent, suffers more from problems, is less popular or has a lower self-esteem than a child of a heterosexual couple.

6. The children of LGBT parents grow up just as happy, healthy and well-adjusted as the children of heterosexual parents.

So , Are there any different laws or guidelines for same sex adoption?

According to the Child Welfare League of American and the North American Council on Adoptable Children, they both state that gay adoptions should be evaluated just like adoptions of all other applicants.

However, some people feel that a child needs both a mother and a father, they also think that if a child is raised in a same sex environment they will be teased in school. They believe that some gay men are pedophiles and that kids should’t have to be exposed to such behavior and the list goes on.

There are over 500,000 children in foster care, more than 20% of them will become eligible for adoption, if they aren’t adopted by loving homes, they will age out of the system and sometimes go back to the abusive pasts that they came from.

Gay couples adopt children for the same reason as straight couples or even single parents do – to provide for, love, and raise another human being.

Isn’t that what really matters?

Dealing With a Homosexual Child

Being married and staying married is an ongoing learning process. Everyday a couple wakes up and must consciously make a choice that whatever they decide to do, it should be what’s good for their union. It’s a common knowledge that it is not an easy task but for a strong and determined couple nothing is too big or difficult a task in keeping their marriage or family stable and secure. Until some time a couple will reach a certain point that they will seek something that will truly make them whole and make them feel as one. Hence, having a kid comes in the picture.

Married couple should keep in mind that it is much easier and less complicated if they have learned to come in terms with their own personal and “couple” issues before they decide to become parents. Being a parent is a whole new different ball game. The degree of joy and sadness felt as a parent is far more different.

The expectations and disappointment will be something new. Becoming a parent requires a lot of maturity and you should learn to set aside your own personal gratifications and disenchantments. As I have said, the expectations of being a parent can be something new.

Each parent expects the best for their children. The expectations can be so great sometimes that the parents can unknowingly instill pressure to their children. With expectations come disappointments. I believe that nothing can disappoint a proud father more that seeing his little brute combing Barbie’s hair in the girl’s aisle section in a toy store. Having a homosexual child can break any parent’s heart, especially the father’s heart. Dealing with a homosexual child can be very scary and confusing. What you don’t do can be as damaging as what you do.

So before you develop any forms of anxiety disorder here are some helpful tips in helping you deal with your homosexual child.

The first thing that you should do is to accept and internalize the fact that it is not your fault or your husband’s fault that your little Hercules is a little Hera by heart. You have to understand that being gay is not a disease and is not a disorder. It was not something you did or did not do that your kid decided to become gay. Some say it’s inherent and it’s in the genes. So if it’s in the genes, it’s really futile to fight it. Once you have accepted this fact, you can focus on the support and proper encouragement that your son needs.

Keep in mind that being gay is not a personality disorder and going for a consult to a child psychiatrist can have a negative effect. What every gay kid needs is the same as every kid craves for and that is substantial amount of love, acceptance and approval. So embrace your kid whatever his reference is. Another thing that you should do in dealing with a homosexual child is to create an accepting and nurturing environment. The least you want is to let your child grow up with a very judgmental and critical mindset. Set by example that you should see the person beyond their color, reference or religion.

It’s wise to let your child know that what matters most is the kindness and consideration you give and share to others. Nurturing an accepting and compassionate heart will aid your child have a stable self-confidence and self-esteem which will eventually guide him properly when he reaches the stage when he begins to feel different from his peers. Having a homosexual child is not something to be ashamed of or should be condemned about. What is more condemning is being one of those parents who insult, hurt and denounce their own child for being homosexual.

Baguio gays hit President Aquino’s “chaka” health budget

iBaguio gays hit Noynoy’s “chaka” health budget

ProGay Baguio, a progressive organization of gay, bisexual and transgender men of Baguio City, lashed out at the proposed national budget of the Aquino administration, saying it will compromise the already decrepit health situation of the people and sexual minorities of the Cordillera Region.

 The gay group of the summer capital reacted to the protests lodged by GABRIELA Women’s Partylist Representative Luz Ilagan when the House of Representatives started to debate the 2011
budget. According to Rep. Ilagan, “A budget that proposes increased allocations for debt servicing and military and police expenditure while ignoring the needs of a people battered by crisis is not at all a reform budget.”

 William Villacampa, coordinator of Progay Baguio, decried the Aquino regime’s  allocation of a measly 2.35% of the national budget to health. “The international health standards set by the United Nations World Health Organization recommends at least 5%, which may not even be enough to reduce large gaps in the nation’s efforts to get rid of our major illnesses.”

 ”More than ever, the Philippines needs to hike its health budget and cancel its scandalous 357 billion peso share for debt servicing,” the gay group said. “Just this year, the HIV registry jumped 130 per cent from last year,  and a stagnant budget for health will not be happy news for our efforts to stem the rising HIV/AIDS incidence in our country.”

 According to the city social hygiene clinic, 35 cases of positive HIV seroconversions have been recorded since 1992 and the rise in the past four years is alarming. Rates for syphilis, a proxy indicator for HIV incidence, is also increasing fast.

 ProGay Baguio also decried the imminent privatization of major public hospitals in Metro Baguio and the continued rise of user fees from indigent patients. Under the privatization trend, ProGay Baguio said, the Baguio Health Department hikes fees for health services and laboratory fees, making even simple checkups for preventable diseases out of reach for most low income earners.

 The city social hygiene clinic is reporting an alarming rise of the incidence of HIV infections and its proxy indicator, syphilis.

 ProGay Baguio asserts that free and voluntary tests for HIV should be made available to populations at risk such as men having sex with men and transgender persons in the region in order to retard the spread of sexually transmitted infections. The gay group calls the budget proposal of President Aquino as “chaka” (gay speak for ugly or bad) because health budget cuts would severly compromise global and regional efforts to effectively screen people for the virus that causes the fatal AIDS.

A Response To The Article “Anyone But OBama”

To respond to this article, direct your browser to: http://www.calcomui.org/blog2

Recently Outword Magazine published an article entitled “Anyone But OBama” written by Sam Catalano, former Executive Director of the Sacramento County Democratic party. The article is highly critical of the President, and Sam Catalano says he could never vote for Barak Obama again. Sam and I share many of the same political and policy views. However I must respectfully disagree with several of the points he makes in the article.

I suspect many peoples share Sam’s views so I will share my response with you all.

First, let me describe my political biases.

I am very liberal, some say an extreme liberal. During my early adult years I was a registered Democrat. However, by the mid 1980s, I changed my voter registration to “Chooses Not To State”. I no longer supported the Democratic Party because I believed they had become too centrist. They had abandoned the Great Society, Anti-Poverty, Voting Rights Act ideals of the 1960s. Even so, I have voted mostly Democratic since then. They have usually been the better of the two major disappointing alternatives.

In his article, Sam complains that, “Obama did nothing to help repeal DOMA (which prohibits federal recognition of same sex marriages), enact ENDA (which would ban employment discrimination against LGBTI people), or to ensure that DADT (which prohibits LGBTI people from serving openly in the US military) was repealed.

I certainly am unhappy that these things haven’t happened. However, you need to consider things in context. Obama took office during what is arguably the second worst (and one of the longest lasting) recessions in US history. That recession has spawned some of the highest unemployment rates in our country’s history, and that rate has stayed very high in spite of the many things done to try to reduce it. The foreclosure rate on people’s homes were also near historic highs. Soon after Obama took office the US financial markets almost collapsed. If they had collapsed, the negative results would have been catastrophic.

So Obama had to deal with a whole set of very serious challenges. His failure to do so would again probably have been catastrophic. Attacking those problems required a massive effort on his part, and by his administration. It also required a lot of arm twisting of members of Congress. I respectfully submit that it would have been a serious dereliction of his duty to the nation if he had failed to put maximum effort into dealing with those problems and instead took precious time out to exert the effort needed to pass the LGBTI legislation that Sam and all of us want.

Obama faced an additional problem when he became President. The Democrats had a strong majority in the House of Representatives. But many of the newly elected Representatives were from districts with large numbers of conservative voters. Clearly many of those Democrats risked losing in the next election if they supported the LGBT legislation listed above. In fact many of them did loose this fall, in part, because they voted for other liberal legislation that Obama wanted, such as health care reform.

Persuading them to vote for the above LGBT bills would have taken an immense effort that would have drained essential time needed to address the larger problems of the nation. And, even so, Obama, and the Democratic House leadership, did get the House of Representatives to overturn DADT.

Obama faced similar problems in the US Senate. The Democrats had a majority there, but not enough to overcome a filibuster in that house. The Republicans, plus the few more conservative Democrats, have the power to block a vote, on the Senate floor, for any bill they dislike. The difficulty in getting a Senate vote on DADT, illustrates this problem.

Sam Catalano also complains about President Obama’s decision to defend DOMA and DADT in court. But please consider the following. Before becoming President, Obama took an oath of office which says, in part, “I will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” Article 2, Section 3 of that constitution says, in part, that the President “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed”.

I believe that most legal scholars would say that these two together require the President to defend the laws passed by Congress, if challenged in court, until a final disposition is made by the courts on such a dispute. President Obama is a constitutional lawyer, so I expect he considers it his duty to defend even laws like DADT, which he dislikes.

There is another issue. The lowest federal courts (Federal District Courts) generally have jurisdiction over a limited geographic area. So, generally, an order issued by the US District Court for Central California (which recently overturned DADT) probably would not be binding in Massachusetts.

In addition, different lower courts often issue conflicting decisions. For example, In 2006, the US District Court in Boston Massachusetts (in a case called Pietrangelo v Gates) ruled that the DADT policy is legal. Later the 1st US District Court of Appeals upheld that decision. So, in theory, as things currently stand, the Army might be prohibited from discharging a soldier stationed in California but able to do so if that solder was reassigned to a unit in Massachusetts.

The only ways we can be sure to end the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy is for the US Supreme Court to overturn it ( and appealing lower court decisions is a way to get it to the Supreme Court) or to get Congress to overturn the policy.

In the mean time we should give credit to President Obama for doing a reasonably good job in an incredibly difficult climate.

Boyce Hinman

b.hinman@calcomui.org

Parenting Gay Teens – Deciphering the Coming Out Process

The coming out process for a GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) adolescent can be a challenging moment for not only the teenager, but also their family and friends. It is a time of high emotions that can run the gamut from confusion, shock, disbelief, rejection, and anger, to acceptance, calmness, understanding, and concern. It is important at this potentially fragile time for parents and teens to be kind to each other and create room for this new information and identity to be processed.

Adolescence is a time when feelings and thoughts of sexuality become intense and confusing. For many gay teens, feeling different from their friends creates a pressure to fit in and keep their sexual orientation secret. They can fear rejection, discrimination and even violence. It is important to create a space of safety and acceptance for them to better understand their feelings.

The process of coming out usually starts with the sharing of feelings with a close friend or family member.

Although coming out is a normal step in the development of a gay or lesbian adolescent, many different issues can come to the forefront for your child including:

• Questioning their sexual identity. Am I gay, lesbian, or bisexual?
• Who can I trust in this process?
• Will my family and friends accept this new information?
• Am I ready to be sexually active?
• Will I be safe sharing this information with others?

With all of these questions and others filling a gay teen’s thoughts, it may be challenging to come out in a well thought out and structured manner. The coming out conversation may be a reaction to other issues or may be presented in a confrontational manner.

As parents it is important to create a supportive environment for your gay or lesbian teen to speak about what’s going on with them. It is just as hard for them to share this new identity with you as they are still often questioning their own perspectives. When your teenager shares that they are gay, lesbian, or bisexual:

• Try to stay calm. This is probably a moment of shock for all of you. Leave space for it to sink in without having to react immediately.
• Let them know that you understand how hard this conversation is for them.
• Don’t expect them to have all the answers about what it means to be gay for them.
• Know that your own personal beliefs may be challenged in this moment but it is still the same child whom you love sitting across from you.
• Consider family therapy or individual therapy with a qualified counselor who works with gay teens and their families during the coming out process.
• If you have questions about their sexuality, educate yourself. The Internet is a great source of information on the subject. There are also many books available on the subject. Most cities also have a local chapter of PFLAG (Parents & Friends of Lesbians And Gays), which offers a variety of resources and information.

A challenge for parents in being available for their gay teens coming out process is being able to express and address their own fears, concerns, and emotional experience. Parents have often projected a future dream of weddings, grandchildren and traditional development for their child. Realizing that this dream may not come about in the manner they anticipated can shake parents up and bring many questions to the forefront.

Parents may need help for themselves while going through the coming out process with their gay or lesbian teenager. Working with a therapist who specializes in assisting gay teens and their families can be of benefit in relieving parent’s fears and stress. Therapy also provides a forum for parents to ask questions and gather information, while easing their emotional distress.

One of the biggest concerns of any teen in the process of coming out is whether their parents will accept them for who they are. Listen to their feelings as they share this new part of themselves. Although it may feel uncomfortable for all of you at first, an acceptance of their newly shared identity can develop over time creating a stronger family and a more open relationship based on truth and understanding.

Living With a Bisexual Husband

Many women suspect that their husband is bisexual or has bisexual tendencies, and they are very understandably worried.  Some of the main fears that they have are have to do not just whether this is indeed the case, but these fears are often focused on what that would mean for their marriage.

If a man is bisexual, does that mean that his wife has to constantly be worried that he is cheating on her?  Does she have to spend the rest of her life worrying about catching HIV, AIDS, or some other STD?  Is divorce the only other option she has besides living the rest of her life with infidelity?

The answer to all these questions in a resounding “no.”  A man may be bisexual, but that doesn’t mean that it’s ok for him to cheat on his wife.  Just like a heterosexual man has an obligation to remain faithful to his wife, no matter how attractive and seductive his secretary may be, a man who is bisexual and married has the same obligations of fidelity.

Even if your husband is bisexual– meaning that he is attracted to men sexually as well as women, or enjoys sex with men in addition to women– you can still re-establish a loving committed marriage.  This is not necessarily going to be easy, but you basically need to take the same steps you would if he had been cheating on you with a woman, and not a man.

This is something that is very important to keep in mind if you suspect that your husband is bisexual.  Finding out that he is doesn’t mean that you always have to come second, or that you have to get divorced.  You can work things out between the two of you.

My Husband had Affair with a Man Advice ? a Different Situational Affairs

Homosexuality or bisexualism can happen even in an old age. If you would wonder and say “my husband had affair with a man” then you should not be surprised. It is not something new, and it can happen to anyone. Sometimes a person should express himself so that he can be comfortable with his life. For cases like your husband in this kind of affair, then he could have had a terrible childhood. It is either he kept his real colors due to some reasons. There is too much pressure when we are a child because there is something’s that we do not understand. If this happens to you, try to understand your husband.

 

 

It is really a big issue and there is a need for you to talk it out. You should know how gravely this will affect your relationship and how it will change your way of life. People will talk about it and it will hurt you.

The more you do not open up with your husband the more than the issue will grow bigger. There is no reason for you to keep it for yourself. “My husband had affair with a man” is such a statement of a courageous wife. You should admit that and find a solution for you to get out from that mess.

 

 

There are no legal implication or as bases for you to go to such proceedings to sue your husband. If you settle with a resolution would be better. You can either ask for his cooperation not to have an affair with men. You can also live happily in separate lives. Divorce is an option to make everyone happy in the marriage. Ask an expert or get a marriage counselor. They can help you more with such a problem. Get out from the mess so you will no longer say “my husband had an affair with a man“.

 

 

For more information on my husband had affair with a man, visit our website http://www.getbackex.info/blog/marriageordivorce

 

 

Online Dating – Gay Dating And Lesbian Dating Will Never Be The Same

While the singles life is often filled with challenges, it will be significantly challenging for homosexuals looking for love. Initial, there is the easy reality that folks do not sometimes wear signs asserting their sexual orientation. If you’re a woman seeking a woman, how would any alternative woman recognize that you’re in the marketplace for a girlfriend? Within the realm of social activities, unless somebody purpose blank asks, unattached homosexuals usually don’t stand out. (In fact, that’s completely different if it’s specifically a gay event.) You’ll have a huge crush on a cutie at work or at faculty, and half the battle of asking her out could be that you don’t grasp if she even dates women, nor would she know about you.

Second, it can be very frustrating for homosexuals who need a meaningful, committed relationship when it seems that everybody else is simply out for a 1-night stand. Sure, the physical matters, too, however you wish something more. Sensible luck encountering that soul mate during a bar or at the Exotic Erotic Ball! It will be like the proverbial needle within the haystack. Several lesbians who go to clubs, go there together. If they show up single, how would anyone apprehend they’re lesbians?

You’ll take a number of the guesswork out of finding a mate by going online. There are a number of, many people out there who may need to fulfill you and could have a ton to offer. Instead of ordering overpriced drinks whereas pinched into a too-tight corset, they are sitting at their computers, wondering if somebody is out there for them. Services are out there that enable you to order up a date that meets your specifications.

There are services that cater to almost any desire. Lesbian dating services vary from absolve to paid, from general to specific, from friendship to romance and beyond. The services that require payment will typically provide a free trial amount, to form sure the format fits your needs. Most services do enable the final public to surf the ads, however need individuals to register as members in order to contact people through their ads. How do you decide which service is correct for you?

One method to narrow it down, is by your budget. Free on line dating services tend to be like ads within the newspaper: you choose out the ones you want to answer, and answer them based mostly on what you see and browse within the ad. All the “work” is on you, but that may be just fine.

Paid services typically provide more “match-up” services that do a number of the work of finding a date, for you. Some ask you to fill out questionnaires describing yourself, and match your characteristics with alternative participants who have additionally answered the questionnaire. That way, you already have a kind of compatibility index to start with. You might additionally get notified of when a brand new member enrolls who has characteristics that you are wanting for. These paid sites might conjointly enable members to feature their voice to their profile, enter live chat rooms, use instant messaging or video, and management who has permission to look at their profile.

With of these dating options out there, cruising the bars to meet someone will seem downright medieval. Why not find someone through an online dating service, and hit the town together?

Go green PCs

Personal Computer have changed the people life. And every person have a PC in their home in a normal family. And my opinion every one need a PC. But due the the huge amount of use of the energy due to the Computer in huge sector, the energy consumed is growing day by day. And there must be some solution to this problem. If the huge computer can be made to work in low power available then we can managed the energy saving and bring a revolution in the world.

After some research we found that Low Power PC has been introduced by some people around the world and has been a great success. It has a saying that its energy costs reduced 60% of the current energy consumption. So a Low Power PC can be a great revolution for the people and countries.

Its not just about the power consumption, but they are also the cheapest found on market. If people are really concious about the energy and the money then, I suggest people surely should get a one. I have order a piece for myself, as every good things should be started from ownself.

Save energy, Save world – Go green.