Holland, gay rights and the Bible (letters)

Contents:

• 'WE DON'T BELIEVE YOU ARE GAY': LGBT REFUGE NETHERLANDS LOSE HOPE
• IS TOM HOLLAND GAY?
• GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME
• CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS SOCIAL STUDI TEXTBOOKS THAT CLU GAY RIGHTS AFTER WARNGS OM ERNOR
• AFTER YEARS OF PROGRS ON GAY RIGHTS, HOW DID THE US BEE SO ANTI-LGBTQ+?
• HOLLAND, GAY RIGHTS AND THE BIBLE (LETTERS)
• THE 1975 NCEL SHOWS INDONIA AND TAIWAN AFTER MALAYSIA GAY KISS UPROAR

'WE DON'T BELIEVE YOU ARE GAY': LGBT REFUGE NETHERLANDS LOSE HOPE

Jt two years ago, the church received much public praise for rcdg a 2015 policy, ntroversial among Mormons at the time, that clared the mor children of gay people uld not be baptized to or jo the church as members—at least not until they were 18 years old, and only then if they would nounce their parents’ marriage and nmn their sexualy.

Given how ntent the qutn of gay rights has been among Mormons sce the church threw s whole weight behd California’s anti-gay-marriage Proposn 8 2008, the post-2019 perd has been one of wele relative quiet om the church.

IS TOM HOLLAND GAY?

C., Holland’s speech was the first time I tly worried that my future kids might attend public school wh peers who would be tght about the evils of beg gay, week and week out at church.

GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME

The church clud the proclamatn as evince of s doctral mment to a heterosexual fay s amic brief agast gay marriage Hawaii jt two years later.

Mormonism is now facg a world which not only the majory of outsirs, but also a signifint portn of their own membership—cludg s own universy’s faculty—seem to regnize that doctre for what is: a list of proposns phrased as irrefutable tths, issued by a group of men who grew up wh homophobia suffg every stutn their liv. He sgled out one openly gay BYU alum particular, former valedictorian Matt Easton, who me out as gay his 2019 mencement speech.

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS SOCIAL STUDI TEXTBOOKS THAT CLU GAY RIGHTS AFTER WARNGS OM ERNOR

The same day Holland issued his revanchist addrs to the faculty, BYU’s admistratn was openg and publicizg s new Office of Belongg, a long-sought-for refuge not only for BYU’s growg number of openly gay stunts, but also s relig and racial mori, who are reported to face wispread bias and prejudice on mp, acrdg to a report issued by an ternal Commtee on Race, Equy, and Belongg. Still, today, the church funnels members who nfs to feelg “same-sex attractn” to support groups that enurage members to enter heterosexual marriag, wh promis that the gay feelgs will be overe after sufficient fahfulns, or at least, ath. Matt Easton has ced the wily publicized 2016 ath by suici of one of his classmat at BYU, Harry Fisher, as part of the reason for his cisn to e out as gay his valedictorian speech.

Due to Mormon teachgs that there is no way to have romantic relatnships wh those of the same sex and be exalted the afterlife, gay Mormons face high rat of lonels, suicidaly, and prsn.

AFTER YEARS OF PROGRS ON GAY RIGHTS, HOW DID THE US BEE SO ANTI-LGBTQ+?

Picture: iStock@mizoula Last week, all of Amsterdam was given over to Gay Pri: for an entire week, extra attentn for the acceptance of homosexualy and LGBTI+ rights was asked and given, pped off by the world-famo Amsterdam Pri Para. Four qutns for John W, Profsor of Social and Behavural Scienc and an expert the study of homosexualy and social scienc.

The abolishment of homosexualy – more specifilly sodomy – as a punishable offence origated the French era at the start of the 19th century, while the societal emancipatn that has been unfoldg sce the late 19th century has been driven by velopments Germany. There is no doubt that Amsterdam was an ternatnal (homosexual) tourist attractn, pecially for gay men, the last s of the 20th century.

This untry also has a long tradn of gay-rights anisatns, the heir to the beg today's COC (Dutch anisatn advotg for LGBTQI+ rights). What else n you tell about the current state of acceptance for homosexuals (and other LGBTI+ persons) the Netherlands? The Netherlands is performg pecially poorly the area I like to summarise as protectn agast homophobic statements and homophobic vlence.

HOLLAND, GAY RIGHTS AND THE BIBLE (LETTERS)

In recent years, attentn paid to promotg the acceptance of homosexualy has foced primarily on the tolerance of others, of migrants and of people wh an Islamic background. The past year has been a turbulent one for the Netherlands: take, for example, the two gay men who were beaten Arnhem, or the advertisg poster om Susupply that picted two men kissg. The ntext and the perceptns of the victims here n offer val rmatn and should play a major role such s, along wh the rmatn provid by the perpetratorsFirst and foremost, the asslt on Jasper and Ronnie Vern-Sewratan Arnhem begs the qutn of why the public prosecutor felt this was not an stance of anti-gay vlence and, more generally, what exactly nstut homophobic vlence the Netherlands.

There is a long tradn of superficial acceptance here the Netherlands, terms of both homosexualy and other social differenc: 's all fe and well for you to be different, as long as I don't see . Image: Susupply But is tly acceptance when people say that homosexuals n live their liv as they please, yet those same people then e a stir over the romantic pictn of two men.

While more and more untri are hostg their own versn of Gay Pri, the Gay Pri events origated as a prott of police vlence agast gays, lbians and transgenr dividuals New York Cy.

THE 1975 NCEL SHOWS INDONIA AND TAIWAN AFTER MALAYSIA GAY KISS UPROAR

Furthermore, Haarlem is loted jt a stone's throw away om some of the most betiful parts of the Dutch beach (cludg a gay nu beach). Together wh untri like Germany, Canada, and Swen, is currently ranked among the gay-iendlit natns the world, acrdg to the annual Spartac Gay Travel Inx 2018.