Gay Rights in Albania...How Things are Changing

Albania has been one of the poorest countries in Europe, and has been one of the last ones to 'catch up' with the times, including acceptance and tolerance of gays and lesbians in society. Many homosexuals, especially men, were afraid to be outted for fear of their lives and safety. But now, Albania is changing their outlook towards homosexual. A beautiful country, with gorgeous beaches in Vlora and Durres, a classic European city (Tirane) full of vibrant life, delicious meatshops and quaint cafes, it is the epitome of unpretentious European living. In close proximity to Montenegro and Italy, Albania is definitely not a place to overlook. Boasting a land of beautiful people and land, and the homeland of Mother Teresa, Albania should have a lot to be pride of...

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Albania may face legal challenges not experienced by heterosexual residents. Both male and female same-gender sexual activity are legal in Albania, but households headed by same-gender couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-gender couples.
There is no non-discrimination law protecting LGBT people. However, a comprehensive draft law on non-discrimination is pending that includes 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' among other categories of non-discrimination. Prime Minister Sali Berisha announced in July 2009 that the governing Democratic Coalition will support the law.
Albania, as a whole, is still considered to be rather conservative, especially in public reactions regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights and visibility of LGBT people.-wikipedia

It is an unexpected move in a country that is still one of the most conservative in Europe and where homosexuality was illegal until 1995.
Mr Berisha acknowledged the proposed law might provoke debate but maintained that discrimination in modern Albania had to end.
The bill was drawn up by a group of non-governmental organisations.
It has been accepted by Mr Berisha's Democratic Party and will now come before parliament in the autumn.
In a predominantly Muslim country with almost no open homosexual community, the announcement by a conservative PM has taken people by surprise.
Goran Miletic, a Belgrade-based human rights lawyer, working partly on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues said it was an important step forward for the country.
"(It is) encouraging for the LGBT community in Albania, bearing in mind that they are not visible comparing to some other Balkan states like Serbia, like Macedonia or Croatia."
But he said he did not think the law would be passed easily in the face of immediate opposition from religious communities
The reaction by Islamic and Catholic leaders has been vehement.
Under the isolationist rule of Enver Hoxha, Albania was officially an atheist state.
But since the fall of Communism almost two decades ago, religion has once again grown and its leaders' voices are influential.
Albania, though, has set its sights firmly on the goal of European Union membership, and it seems this proposed law is aimed at showing Brussels a progressive new image.
If it is passed in the autumn, it could move the country one step further on its European path. --BBC News

Raptors, We Heart You

I am taking my fiancee to a Toronto Raptors game at the Air Canada Centre (ACC) next month for her birthday. It's pretty exciting to go to the huge arena and cheer and shout with all the other die-hard fans who paid a small fortune to be there. Since they traded a few players on each time (Heat, Raptors....I did some research;) it should be very interesting to see who will win that night's game...Let's Go Raptors! Let's Go! Woot woot.

We're happy and excited to show our enthusiasm for our national basketball team by wearing Raptors jerseys and holding up signs until our hands get tired. The prospect of getting an autograph in our Lower Bowl great seats is also a possibility that keeps us grinning excitedly.

Miami Heat has good players (I don't know much about sports but these guys seem to be much talked about!!) like Dwayne Wade. He helped them beat the Grizzlies 99-93 this month.

My favourite part of the whole experience isn't really the game....(other than the score)..it's the cute dancing mascot and the music!! That just puts the icing on the cake for me. And I know my fiancee will really appreciate it and be as excited and go-hung as I am.

But yeah who will win this game? Shawn Marion and Michael Beasley from the Heat? I mean, sure they might have game (I love the sports jargon!! hehe) but the Toronto Raptors are the shit!! The teams I love are the NY Knicks and the LA Lakers, but foremost is love for my Raptors.

With Calderon, Bosh and Bargnani I'm hoping they'll kick the Heat back to Miami! I hope they give it their all and Weems, Johnson and Wright help out! HEAT VS RAPTORS November 16th 2008 and Raptors smoked them at 107-96 score. Enough said.

New York LGBT Youth Org receives $300,000 Gift From Actress

All over the world, homosexuals and trans teens and young adults know how it feels to get kicked out of your home, ostracized, bullied and hated because of your sexual orientation. They become homeless and shut out, social outcasts because their families cannot accept this. Well, thanks to Bea Arthur, the Ali Forney Centre (New York's largest organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youth) announced she would purchase a building to house 12 youth and name it in her honor.

We work with hundreds of young people who are rejected by their families because of who they are. We are overwhelmed with gratitude that Bea saw that LGBT youth deserve as much love and support as any other young person, and that she placed so much value in the work we do to protect them, and to help them rebuild their lives.” says Executive Director Carl Siciliano.
The Ali Forney Center offers emergency shelter and transitional housing in seven residential sites in New York City, and operates two drop-in centers offering food, clothing, medical and mental health treatment, HIV testing, treatment and prevention services, and vocational and educational assistance. It provides services to over 1000 young people each year. -reported by 365 Gay Newswire.

Rufus Wainwright at an Ali Forney benefit.

Maine Governor Wants Locals to Vote YES for Gay Marriage

Maine Gov. John Baldacci is urging residents to vote against repealing the state’s same-sex marriage law while acknowledging his past opposition to gay marriage. Baldacci said Tuesday that he once preferred civil unions to gay marriage but came to believe a civil union is not equal to civil marriage. He signed the gay marriage bill into law last May.
In one week, Maine voters will cast ballots to decide whether to repeal the state’s gay marriage law, which was passed by the Legislature earlier this year.
Baldacci says same-sex marriage is an emotional issue and says good, honest people are on both sides of the debate.
The governor was joined at the news conference by members of the Vote No campaign.

The Chicago Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Presents 28th Reeling Film Festival

Presented by Showtime and Comcast, running November 5 - 15, Reeling will showcase over 150 innovative gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender films from countries as diverse as the Philippines, Sweden, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Reeling continues to demonstrate the expanding breadth of gay-themed work being produced today by showcasing films representing multi-cultural perspectives and in genres ranging from musical comedy to horror to serious drama to compelling documentaries to introspective experimental, and more. (http://www.reelingfilmfestival.org/rg/)

10 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR BOO-BOO YOU LOVE 'EM

1. Throw them a surprise birthday party (one of the cute ones with a cake and candles where everyone jumps out and yells "SURPRISE!!!" and then sings a cheery rendition of "Happy Birthday" with balloons and streamers and those party blower things that make an annoying noise. PS. Don't forget to turn on the lights when he/she arrives!

To make it EXTRA special, try baking the cake yourself!

2.Have morning sex. If they're not in the mood, they can't resist breakfast in bed or a early massage.

3. Buy them socks, and give them a kiss. Everyone always runs out of socks. They'll appreciate the gesture.

4. Make sure after you charge your Blackberry/iPhone that your beaus phone/iPod/Nintendo DS is charged too (they'll love you as they're speeding to work).

5. Scrub the tub clean and have a bath for deux...don't forget the candles and champagne!

6.If they speak an ethnic tongue, surprise them with a few foreign words (doesn't even have to be romantic!) If not, then try cooking a traditional meal from their homeland like schnitzel or cous-cous tangine.

7. Try not to let out gas in their company for a week. Yes, one week. Ah, the love will come floating back in.

8. Offer to take the dog out for a pee/poo for one week. If you own a cat, offer to pick up the cat litter (do this before they pick it up. Ahem.) If there is no pets in the house, name a birdie outside the pet name of your lover (Awww, I'll name this bird Spikey-Mikey!) (Oh, this hummingbird should be June Bug!)

9. Make a painting of your lover's face or entire being. This will illicit the need for kisses.

10. Buy a single rose. Cheesy, but timelessly ROMANTIQUE.

History of Homosexuals

Homosexuality is widely encountered in the animal kingdom.[4]HYPERLINK \l "cite_note-Biological_Exuberance:_Animal-4"[5] Among humans, the prevalence of homosexuality is difficult to determine accurately; studies suggest between two and twenty percent of the population exhibit some degree of homosexual sensibility, though in many earlier cultures homosexual relations were prevalent. Throughout history, individual aspects of homosexuality have been admired or condemned according to various societies' sexual norms. When praised, those aspects were seen as a way to improve society;[6] when condemned, particular activities were seen as a sin or a disease, and some homosexual behavior was prohibited by law. Since the middle of the 20th century homosexuality has been gradually delisted as a disease and decriminalized in nearly all developed countries.[7] However, the legal status of homosexual relations varies widely by country and there remain jurisdictions in which certain homosexual behaviors are crimes with severe penalties including death. -wikipedia
Whether people want to forget or deny it, homosexuality, the big H word, has been around before the dawn of electricity and horse-drawn carriages. Especially in Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece, homoeroticism was very prevalent. In the Bible, it is listed as an abomination in Leviticus, but well, what did they know? Religion is a system where priests are frequently being accused of child molestation and sexual assault, and religion is affiliated with a lot of peril and human suffering in human history from robbing Aboriginal people of their identities and forcing a new identity on them (Catholicism); to brain-washing children to carry guns and teaching men to strap bombs to themselves (Islamic)...it really makes us wonder why we even paid attention to religion. It sounds like something we should be running from! It is so contradicting, unpeaceful and scary.
It is obvious, if you already didn't know that the only reason religion hates homosexuality is because they only care about men spreading their seeds and reproducing! Back in the olden days, when there weren't millions of Jews and Christians, they had to pop out babies like crazy. If they allowed men and women to sleep with each oher, they wouldn't have sustained themselves throughout the history of mankind. Well guess what, St Thomas of Aquinas? We can adopt babies and still reproduce as homosexual couples--so there! We can have lesbian and gay families (and there are many), so this age-old notion is really just a tired, old farty excuse. This is a ridiculous reason to persecuate thousands of gay men and lesbians, because of fear that the humankind, especially the kind who belonged to their own religion, would just dwindle off and become extinct like our friend, T. Rex.
Well, there have always been homosexuals in history and we have to accredit them with the inventions and ideas that made our lives notably easier.
Sophocles, Alexander the Great, Emperor Hadrian, Sapphos, Abu Nuwas, Muhammed al-Nawaji bin Hasan, Johan Joachim Winckelmann and Stefan George were some famed homos from Anicent times.
A few other, if I shall throw out names, are Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter, Radcliffe Hall, Socrates, Leonardo Da Vinci, Colette Valentino, George Sand and Tchaikovksy. If some people out there think homosexuals are degenerates well HELLO! do the names Michaelangelo, Tennyson, Florence Nightingale, Carpenter and Gide sound like 'generates to you? Yeah, no.
If you are Spanish, don't worry you have some ancient homos up your alley. Sixteenth Century Spanish chronicles cite Juan II, Alvaro de Luna and Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba as famous homosexuals. Yes, that's right. There is a list of homosexual pairs amongst the gods in Boccaccio’s Genealogia Deorum (1375), which influenced later writers. Several twelfth-century debates between Ganymede and Helen or Hebe cite the loves of Jupiter and Ganymede, Apollo and Hyacinthus, Silvanus and Cyparissus (Boswell 1980). When Benvenuto Cellini was called a ‘dirty sodomite’ by one Bandinelli, he humorously replied: ‘I wish to God I did know how to indulge in such a noble practice; after all, we read that Jove enjoyed it with Ganymede in paradise.’
Queer history has always been there, it's just up to you to continue the journey.

Celebrate..Joy...Love <3

One thing I love is same-sex weddings. It's a beautiful union, and one to be greatly celebrated. If you're with your special someone, and you are thinking of having a wedding--forget the bells and whistles, have a nice backyard or park wedding, or one in the countryside....love is a beautiful union and love lasts a lifetime. Cheers! MB