Gay – Page 7 – mikeybear

Is your Passover really about freedom?

Passover is a celebration of freedom, yet many of those who are celebrating are denying others the very same freedoms.

Passover has become for me a time of great conflict between what I have grown up with and what I now know. I find it a time of mixed emotion and I struggle to deal with it very well. I don’t like the message of human suffering and destruction that the traditional story of Passover glorifies. I also don’t like the lie it perpetuates that invokes the notion of a supernatural deity, or “god”. I find that offensive to my intelligence and that of the people with whom I am sharing the Seder table.

Essentially Passover is a celebration of the freedom of the Jewish people, but in that freedom, there are many Jews who have become slaves of the bondage of the more fundamental aspects of the Jewish religion. I talk about the gay and lesbian Jews, the bisexual and transgender Jews; those Jews who are forced to live a life of lies and deceit, and who struggle in trying to do so. And then there are also those who have had their freedoms reduced by the Jewish people.

If you are inclined to think about Passover and what it stands for, think about freedom and the people who have it, and the people who don’t.

I have been shown a Haggadah that offers a more meaningful look at the Passover celebration and offers a more dignified Seder service than the one that many of us have been brought up with. You may want to use this Haggadah at your Seder and, in doing so, tell a better story of freedom.

To demonstrate your support for those who are denied the same freedoms as everyone else, put an orange on your Seder plate alongside the other items. There’s an explanation why in this Haggadah.

JCCV trots out research when it suits and rabbis when it doesn’t

When the JCCV wants to deal with social issues it trots out credible data and when it doesn’t want to deal with them it trots out Orthodox rabbis.

It’s apparent that the Jewish Community Council of Victoria is pandering to the sensitivities of its Orthodox constituents when it comes to tackling the uncomfortable issue of homosexuality.

Compare the radically different approaches it has adopted regarding youth alcohol abuse and the extremely vague problem of “issues affecting GLBT people”.

With the former, it has obtained government funding, trotted out respected academic research and is dealing with it like it is the most pressing issue on the planet. Refer to the latest JCCV media release “YAP begins a new DAY”:

Current research shows that the rate of drinking at harmful levels by 12-17 year olds has doubled in the past decade. Research undertaken by the Victorian Drug and Alcohol Prevention Council has found that 90% of young people have tried alcohol by age 15.

And, there’s not a single rabbi in sight, despite much of this alcohol abuse occurring due to exuberant religious celebration.

Compare this with the uncomfortable problem of “issues affecting GLBT people”. The JCCV has trotted out an Orthodox rabbi, apparently an authority on all matters homosexual, whose most useful piece of advice is that GLBT organisations cannot be members of the JCCV as they will fracture the community.

The JCCV has been briefed by Associate Professor Anne Mitchell, a respected Australian academic on relevant issues of human sexuality, yet the JCCV have not published a single reference to an iota of credible research on the matter. Examples of the research they have not yet quoted include:

Studies conducted over the last decade reveal that GLB individuals attempt suicide at rates between 3.5 and 14 times those of their heterosexual peers

and

Those belonging to religious faiths that promulgate negative discourses about homosexuality are particularly vulnerable to suicide and self-harm. Conflicts between spiritual or religious beliefs and sexuality can result in significant psychological dissonance as well as division and exclusion from family, friends and community.

Why is it necessary for the JCCV to engage an Orthodox rabbi in order to address serious issues like homophobic bullying in schools, mental health issues, self-esteem and suicide, but not for the issue of youth alcohol abuse? Is there no cause for concern that the exuberant religious celebrations might be the catalyst for the binge drinking? Perhaps it’s necessary to bring in the rabbis and suggest they should sermonise on the community tempering celebrations a little if they are going to result in youth alcohol abuse.

So far the only thing the JCCV has achieved in dealing with “the issues that affect GLBT people” by bringing in an Orthodox rabbi is to demonstrate blatant homophobia and further exacerbate the problems they are reluctant to identify and address.

If the JCCV is at all serious about tackling the issues that are affecting GLBT people, such as bullying, marginalisation, invisibility, homophobia, intolerance, mental health issues and suicide, then they must understand the academic research, refer to the academic research and avoid Orthodox rabbis. The Orthodox dogma is the cause of many of the problems, and will never be helpful in finding a solution to these problems.

What do the JCCV, the ACL and fascist regimes have in common?

The Jewish Community Council of Victoria and the Australian Christian Lobby have recently written that GLBT people are harmful to the stability of society and are not normal. Have we not learnt a lesson from how fascist regimes such as the Nazi Party were similarly intolerant of homosexuals?

Two recent media releases have disturbed me deeply, one from the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV), and the other from the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) .

In the February 16 2011 media release “JCCV, GLBT and Halacha, together We Can Move Forward” from the JCCV, President John Searle gives tacit approval to the notion that admission of any gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) organisation will be damaging to the Jewish community:

Rabbi Rapoport contends that the GLBT community must accept that they cannot become official members of the JCCV as this would fracture the Jewish community.

In the March 30 2011 media release “Vic EO Commission oversteps mark in promoting homosexuality” from the ACL, Victorian Director Rob Ward declares that it is troubling that homosexuality be considered a normal behaviour:

“The suggestion that the aim is to have the sexual orientation of “gay, lesbian and transgender sportspeople….so public that it’s normal, so people don’t think about it” is very troubling,” he said.

Here we have two organisations that are making statements that support the notion that GLBT people are in some way a threat to the stability of society and are abhorrent, abnormal and inferior.

Recent history reminds us of the atrocities perpetrated against homosexual men by the Nazi regime. Similarly intolerant to homosexuals was South Africa under Apartheid.

From 1969 to 1987, psychiatrists of the South African Defence Force were implicated in serious abuses, stemming from attempts to cure homosexual conscripts

The long history of medical treatment to convert homosexuals to heterosexuals reached a peak in the seventies. The results were unconvincing, if not hopeless, and experience showed that neither patients nor therapists found it satisfactory.

Current regimes that persecute homosexual men include the Iranian and Ugandan governments. The situation is so dire in Iran that the death penalty is the punishment for homosexual activity.

The JCCV has resigned itself to accepting the exclusionary stance proffered by Rabbi Rapoport and goes on to state:

However, the JCCV has a responsibility as the roof body to what it can do for the GLBT community within this restriction.

The language that JCCV President John Searle endorses in this media release, stating that GLBT Jews are unworthy of JCCV membership sends the message that GLBT Jews are a danger to the stability of society and that full and unconditional acceptance of us and our organisations is unacceptable.

This attitude is reminiscent of that of fascist regimes of the past, the same regimes that persecuted Jews and homosexuals, resulting in the genocide of the Holocaust that marks one of the blackest stains on humanity to date.

It is imperative the JCCV and the ACL distance themselves from any notion that homosexual, bisexual and transgender men and women are inferior to, less normal than, or more damaging to society than heterosexual men and women and the organisations that represent them. While the JCCV, the ACL and any other such organisation perpetuates these notions, they are no better than Germany under the Nazi regime, South Africa under Apartheid or the current Iranian and Ugandan governments.

Lastly, the greatest irony of the stance the JCCV takes on homosexuality is that Anton Block, the chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission (the branch of the JCCV that investigates and fights anti-Semitism and holocaust rhetoric) founded and sits on the very JCCV reference group that gives tacit support to Rabbi Rapoport’s statement. The same organisation that is charged with fighting anti-Holocaust attitudes is actually promoting similar attitudes to that which the Nazi party and Block’s birth country of South Africa endorsed.

ECAJ and The Hypocrisy of Selective Outrage

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry demonstrates its capacity for selective outrage, preferring to ignore Jewish victims of hate crimes when they are homosexual. They find it easier to concentrate on terrorist attacks, tsunamis, and even the occasional Christian saint.

A bomb blows up near a bus stop in Jerusalem and one woman is killed and 39 injured. Peter Wertheim, the Executive Director of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) wrote a letter of condolence to Yuval Rotem, the Ambassador of Israeli to Australia, to convey his deepest sympathy.

In the week prior to the bombing I wrote on how the ECAJ is prolific in writing such letters when Israelis are victims of hate, or in other catastrophic situations such as the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

The ECAJ also likes to put pen to paper for more vacuous situations, such as the letter written to George Pell on the canonisation of a Catholic woman who has been purported to have performed miracles subsequent to her death.

All it seems to take for the ECAJ to write a letter of outrage, condolence or congratulation is a bomb at a Jerusalem bus stop, a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, or the canonisation of a Christian.

Yet when Israeli youth are murdered in cold blood in Tel Aviv by an unknown gunman with unknown motives, the ECAJ turns its back on the tragedy and stays silent. I put it that they stayed silent because this was a crime in a gay and lesbian community centre and that the ECAJ are too afraid and gutless to issue a statement of condolence for the death of gay and lesbian youth.

This silence is deeply offensive and it continues to leave a black mark on this organisation that I’m ashamed to say calls itself Australian. It reeks of hypocrisy and double-standards and exposes the organisation for its moral bankruptcy and spinelessness.

The ECAJ still has no platform position on the welfare of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Jews in Australia, despite it calling itself a council representing Australian Jewry. It is clear to me the priorities of this organisation, an organisation with a penchant for selective outrage, are not with the welfare of any Jew, Australian or otherwise, who is GLBT, and if that’s the case, then that clearly makes the ECAJ a hateful and intolerant Jewish organisation.

Victorian Rhapsody: A post-Purim tale of Jewish Community Council arrogance as told by a bohemian queen

The Jewish Community Council of Victoria continues to announce measures to address the harms of underage drinking, yet arrogantly disregards the evidence that intolerance of homosexuality is equally, if not more destructive.

[SOURCE]

JCCV Contributes to Government Crackdown on Homophobic Intolerance
22 March 2011

JCCV president John Searle today applauded the Victorian Government for its intended introduction of legislation this week, providing for $7,000 fines for adults who misinform children that homosexuality is wrong.

Searle had met with new Attorney-General Robert Clark soon after Clark’s appointment and had proposed this very innovation. He noted that he was extremely gratified with the hearing he had received and delighted that the Government was on the same page and that prompt action has been taken.

According to Searle, the significance of this legislation is that it will educate the community about appropriate behaviour and encourage adults to consider their actions and their duty of care to others.

Searle stated, “It is well established that homophobic intolerance can cause serious harm to developing brains. It is incumbent on older people, particularly those in roles of responsibility, to educate children about human sexuality and also to act as role models in regard to their own behaviour. If we expect young people to change their attitudes, we really need to focus on adults.”

“According to Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA)^[1], gay, lesbian and bisexual people attempt suicide at rates of up to 14 times those of their heterosexual peers,” Searle added. “This groundbreaking research announced in 2009 sets a benchmark for understanding the extent of this grave problem, all too prevalent in our community, perpetuated by too many adults.”

“SPA cautions that those belonging to religious faiths that promulgate negative discourses about homosexuality are particularly vulnerable to suicide and self-harm. They also warn that conflicts between spiritual or religious beliefs and sexuality can result in significant psychological dissonance as well as division and exclusion from family, friends and community.”

The JCCV established a GLBT Reference Group some two years ago that has focused on revealing the issues affecting GLBT people in the Jewish community in response to pressure that the JCCV was directly contributing to this problem. This Reference Group has been seen as a whitewash and smokescreen to date but if taken seriously by the JCCV has the potential to actually achieve some useful outcomes.

For further information, contact John Searle, JCCV President, on 0412251344.

1 SPA: Suicide and self-harm among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Communities

JCCV – Victoria’s serial Jewish bully

The Jewish Community Council of Victoria is a serial bully. It runs to the police to cry out against ant-Jewish hate but tolerates and promotes anti-gay attitudes. The Jewish bully needs a good spank.

[SOURCE]

This week the Australian Jewish News advised that the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) has launched a new reporting system for anti-Semitic incidents. They’ll be working with their Community Security Group and Victoria Police. That’s good news. This sort of hate needs to be identified and countered.

Welcoming the initiative, JCCV president John Searle said, “This is a great step forward in our relationship with the police. They will now have a much better understanding of the issues we face.”

No doubt they will. The JCCV are not shy at bringing “the issues we face” to the attention of the community and authorities, when they are so motivated.

I have a message for JCCV president John Searle. Next time you’re on the phone to Victoria Police, please ask them to transfer you to their Gay and Lesbian Advisory Unit.

Please tell the GLAU that GLBT members of the Jewish community face homophobia, intolerance, marginalisation, hate, discrimination and contempt and that the JCCV tolerates and contributes to these attitudes originating from both within and external to the community.

Please tell the GLAU that the JCCV sees GLBT people as inferior members of the community, to be feared, and does not believe they are worthy of being admitted as members of the JCCV because they are perceived to be a risk to community stability.

Victoria Police needs to know that the JCCV is a serial bully, constantly crying out against anti-Jewish attitudes, but simultaneously perpetrating anti-gay attitudes and intolerance.

The JCCV is not playing the game fairly. It plays by its own duplicitous rules, doing what it wants, when it suits it.

Time is up JCCV. The Jewish Community bully is a bad boy and it needs a really good spank.

Star Observer keeping the AJN & JCCV bastards honest

[SOURCE]

This week Star Observer‘s Andie Noonan flexed her journalistic prowess and went one or two steps further than the half-baked effort by the phantom staff reporter at the Australian Jewish News. Two weeks ago the AJN simply printed a lame rehash of the deeply offensive JCCV media release on addressing the Jewish community’s GLBT problem. The Star Observer’s story contains a well-rounded understanding of the situation and presents a number of perspectives, to help the reader better understand the issues. A far cry from the AJN’s limp coverage.

Why are the AJN always running scared of the JCCV? Does their editorial mandate prevent them from countering JCCV dictate when it comes to matters of homosexuality? Are the gays not allowed a voice?

Thanks Andie. It’s good to see some intelligent and balanced reporting. Keep keeping the bastards honest.

No joy in Jewish community heads gaining Lion membership

JCCV President John Searle fails to gain membership of a Jewish community radio station, yet he endorses the view that marginalisation of GLBT members of the Jewish community is acceptable.

[SOURCE]

This week the Australian Jewish News (Mar 4 2011, p3) reported that heads of key organisations in Melbourne’s Jewish community faced difficulty gaining membership of embattled aspirant community broadcaster Lion FM (Melbourne Jewish Radio):

“MJR president John Kraus … submitted Lion FM membership applications for ECAJ president Dr Danny Lamm, JCCV president John Searle and Zionist Council of Victoria president Sam Tatarka. The executive, however, passed a resolution to defer membership deliberations – “a disgusting and disgraceful state of events”, according to Kraus, particularly given that Searle and Tatarka were present.

This comes two weeks after the JCCV issued a media release (covered in my blog here) stating:

Rabbi Rapoport contends that the GLBT community must accept that they cannot become official members of the JCCV as this would fracture the Jewish community.

In 1999 the JCCV refused membership to Aleph Melbourne^[1], then a social and support group for gay and bisexual Jewish men. Now in 2011 the JCCV unapologetically endorses the unsubstantiated view of Rabbi Rapoport that membership of the JCCV by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the Jewish community would be harmful to said community. In my opinion these two events overshadow the fraught membership application by the JCCV president of community radio station Lion FM.

There may be meritorious reasons for Lion putting on hold the membership applications of Searle, Lamm and Tatarka. It is unhelpful that Searle endorses Rapoport’s claim the JCCV should not have GLBT membership. This action further marginalises GLBT members of the Jewish community. If any community organisation wants to be successful, it must work cooperatively with every member of the community it is a part of, not just those that fit its political agenda.

It’s worth noting that in 1999 that both the State Zionist Council and Danny Lamm actively spoke against membership of Aleph Melbourne to the JCCV.

By no stretch of the imagination do they [Aleph Melbourne] follow Jewish ideals and the motion [for membership] should not be put forward — Erwin Lamm, SZC delegate^[2]

The organisation [Aleph Melbourne] … is not an organisation that ought to be represented at the JCCV. — Dr Danny Lamm, Mizrachi delegate^[3]

If Searle, Lamm or Tatarka approached Aleph Melbourne for membership, they would be pleased to hear that membership would be approved without hesitation. Aleph Melbourne doesn’t ask questions about how prospective members bat or the way they prefer to score goals. The organisation welcomes all members of the Jewish community, with the only prerequisite being a Jewish identity or heritage.

Lastly, if any of the aforementioned wish to become members of a long-standing and reputable community radio station in Melbourne, they can approach JOY 94.9. Their membership application process is especially transparent. Apply here.

1 JCCV Plenum Meeting minutes – May 10 1999

2 “Gay group seeks to join the JCCV” [AJN, Apr 9 1999; p7]

3 “Could Aleph split the JCCV?” [AJN, Apr 30 1999; p7]

Killing two faygels with one stone

I find going to the gym really rewarding. Tonight it was especially so because not only did I get to perve on some ultra-hot guys but I had a flash of inspiration, some might say it was divinely inspired, while I was pedalling away on the exercise bike.

There are a couple of issues that seem to be on the agenda about the offices of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria. One is how to deal with the problem of “alcohol abuse issues affecting Victoria’s Jewish youth”¹. The other is that the JCCV and Rabbi Rapoport fear that if the GLBT community become members of the JCCV “this would fracture the Jewish community”².

I have worked out a really simple solution to both of these problems. It’s simplicity floored me, and I’m sure you’ll feel similarly impressed.

Oh, I just remembered, there’s a third benefit that will come from this. A reduction in child abuse. You get three for the price of one. Such a mitzia!

The answer to the million dollar question? Stop circumcising boys. How simple is that?

You want to know my logic? Well, when a Jewish boy is born, he is circumcised, usually when he’s 8 days old. The mohel (the man who does the snip), according to some ancient Jewish customs³:

takes some wine in his mouth and applies his lips to the part involved in the operation, and exerts suction, after which he expels the mixture of wine and blood into a receptacle provided for the purpose. This procedure is repeated several times, and completes the operation, except as to the control of the bleeding and the dressing of the wound.

What happens here is the infant gets a feel for a man’s mouth around his penis, and this is impressed into his brain. Some baby boys, the more intelligent (and better looking) ones, remember this sensation as they go through puberty, and rekindle the desire to have a man’s mouth around their penis. This leads to their desire to grow up to be gay.

Other baby boys will, similarly, retain the taste of the alcohol and again, later on in their youth, will develop an obsession for more of the substance. This leads to the problem of alcohol abuse.

By stopping this cruel practice, we can effectively stop homosexuality, youth alcohol abuse and as a bonus, reduce the incidence of paedophilia.

It’s really quite amazing. Three remarkable outcomes from one simple action.

I’m so clever.

1) Parents and Alcohol, Educating our Youth

2) JCCV, GLBT and Halacha, together We Can Move Forward

3) Circumcision, Talmud Style

WUPJ – The Jewish Superhero

The World Union for Progressive Judaism are working toward a greater inclusion and acceptance of same-sex attracted people.

[SOURCE]

It’s heartening to see the Progressive Jewish world working to reduce the isolation and marginalisation of same-sex attracted people. Unconditional acceptance and inclusion is the only way this can be done effectively and it seems they are on track here.

Yes, there is the big elephant in the room about same-sex marriage, and there doesn’t appear to be a light at the end of that tunnel yet. I am optimistic that when the federal government here in Australia removes the obstacles to marriage equality, the Progressive community will be open to discussing this issue in a sensible and respectful manner. I would be happiest to hear them say they will fully support the evolution of the Marriage Act.

I have included below a communication from Philip Bliss, President of Progressive Judaism Victoria and the Chair of the World Union For Progressive Judaism Resolutions Committee. It contains the relevant resolution passed at the recent WUPJ assembly in San Francisco. Clearly this is a step in the right direction. I have asked Philip Bliss to have his committee consider including mention of bisexuality and gender identity, and reminded them that same-sex attracted people generally find the term “sexual orientation” favourable over “sexual preference”.

A hearty Mazal Tov to the Progressive community. They are great advocates of human rights and equality and set a high benchmark for others to follow.

Dear Michael
In response to your email
As chair of the WUPJ resolutions committee I was delighted that the resolution below was passed by a huge majority (only one vote against) at our recent WUPJ convention in San Francisco. I also gave on interview on the GLT radio station Swirl a few days after.
I would say that this resolution covers the attitude of the UPJ and PJV here in Victoria
Sincerely
Philip Bliss President PJV

2) WUPJ Resolution on Gender and Sexual Equality
Whereas this International body of the World Union for Progressive Judaism condemns all forms of bigotry and discrimination in our society as being  incompatible with the preservation of human dignity which is destructive of tzelem elohim.
And whereas the WUPJ upholds the principle of treating all people equally whether by gender, age, colour or sexual preference.
And whereas the WUPJ has long championed full equality of women in our movement and in society generally.
IT IS RESOLVED that this International Assembly of the World Union for Progressive Judaism calls on all institutions, colleges, congregations and youth groups to give equal opportunity to gay and lesbian members,  especially in terms of leadership and learning and to be aware of gender issues when developing study curriculum
IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED that this International Assembly of the World Union for Progressive Judaism calls on all institutions associated with the WUPJ to treat gay and lesbian couples in the same manner as married heterosexual couples and families.  This call includes commitment ceremonies, and family membership fees.