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jueves, 5 de diciembre de 2013

Capitol Police Officer Raises Voice At Immigration Activists: 'Comprende?'

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A Capitol police officer got testy with immigration reform advocates -- including children -- on Thursday when they were singing outside the office of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to ask him to bring a bill for a vote.

"We're not going to have singing in my building," the officer said, which can be seen in a video posted by KFTStories. "We're not going to have it. Warning number one, okay? That's all you get. This is getting old real fast, okay? I'm not going to tolerate it. This is a place of business, and we do not sing in the hallway."

"Comprende?" he asked, raising his voice.

"We've got it, sir," one of the advocates replied.

There have been a number of protesters outside of Boehner's office in recent weeks, as the House prepares to finish the year without votes on immigration reform. Children are in Washington this week to protest as part of advocacy group Fair Immigration Reform Movement's "Keeping Families Together: Youth in Action" campaign.

Although people are allowed to visit congressional offices, they can be removed or arrested for disruptive behavior. Capitol Police public information officer Kimberly Schneider responded to the incident in a statement:

We are aware of the incident posted online concerning an unlawful demonstration today on U.S. Capitol Grounds.
The Department is reviewing the incident and wants to assure the public that the U.S. Capitol Police welcomes daily all people to visit and lawfully express their First Amendment rights.
Further, it is the mission of the U.S. Capitol Police and the basic training of our employees to treat all who visit the U.S. Capitol Grounds with dignity and respect.

There has been criticism of advocacy groups for using children to prove their point, some of which can be seen here.

But the groups argue that they are giving the children an opportunity to speak for themselves about how immigration policy has impacted their lives. The children with the "Keeping Families Together" campaign spoke on Thursday with Reps. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) and Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), according to a press release from the Fair Immigration Reform Movement.

In that release, 11-year-old Esteban Verdugo is quoted telling his story to Tipton.

"The holidays are really hard for me since my dad was deported in June," he said, according to the Fair Immigration Reform Movement. "I'm scared that my stepdad could be next. It’s Christmas time and while most families are together, immigrant families like mine continue to be separated. We need to pass immigration reform now."

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domingo, 1 de diciembre de 2013

Russian 'Gay Propaganda' Law Investigation By Olympic Committee Sought By Activists

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PARIS, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Gay rights activists on Saturday asked International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach to launch an independent investigation into the implications of Russian law during next year's Sochi Games, they said.

Bach met Russian activists during his two-day visit to Paris, IOC and gay rights organisation All Out told Reuters.

"I can confirm a constructive meeting did take place," an IOC official said.

The activists, who had flown from Moscow after others failed to meet Bach in Sochi earlier this month, raised their concerns over the law passed in June that bans "gay propaganda" among minors.

The law has been denounced by critics and in the West as discriminatory and aimed at stifling dissent, prompting some calls for a boycott of the Games.

President Vladimir Putin, who has hoped to make the Games a showcase of modern Russia, last month said all people would be welcome in Sochi.

However, gay rights activists have reported a rise of violence toward their community and stressed on Saturday that the law was not compliant with the Olympic charter.

"During the meeting, the IOC was urged to launch an independent investigation on the legal implications of the anti gay laws ... as these laws are infringing the Olympic charter and notably the sixth principle of non discrimination," All Out said in statement.

A list of questions that could help steer the investigation was handed to Bach, they added, saying they were expecting the IOC to announce within days whether it would proceed.

Though they did not receive any assurance of an investigation, the activists praised Bach's willingness to listen to their point and urged him to take a stronger stance.

"It was a valuable conversation and we delivered first-hand evidence that a clear and strong action is needed," Anastasia Smirnova, who attended the meeting, told Reuters.

According to Smirnova, who represents several gay rights groups in Russia, the so-called "propaganda law" has stirred a fresh wave of violence toward gays.

"The environment is becoming increasingly hostile, with private meetings broken into, gay clubs attacked and various homophobic groups calling for violence against LGBT people," she said.

Gay activists in Russia and worldwide are hoping the Games will be more than a sporting event and will leave a social legacy.

"The Olympics are not simply a good way to draw attention. The Olympics have specific mission and goal of promoting non-discrimination and respect through sport," Smirnova said.

"Russia is the place where this mission is much needed, allowing the 2014 Games to leave a positive legacy."

(Reporting by Gregory Blachier; Additional reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Gene Cherry)

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Thomas Bach, IOC President, Urged To Investigate Russia's Anti-Gay Law By Activists

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PARIS (AP) — IOC President Thomas Bach met with Russian gay rights activists who urged an investigation before the Sochi Olympics into national laws banning "gay propaganda."

International gay rights group AllOut said Russian campaigners asked Bach in Paris on Saturday "to launch an independent investigation on the legal implications of the anti-gay laws in effect in Russia during the Olympic Games."

"A list of precise questions about the implication of the anti-gay laws, to help frame the investigation, were submitted and received by the IOC president," AllOut said in a statement. "The IOC will announce later whether or not the investigation will be done."

The International Olympic Committee and its sponsors have been pressed to take a stronger position against Russia after President Vladimir Putin signed a law in June banning promotion of "nontraditional sexual relations" to minors.

"The IOC must call for an end to the discriminatory laws and ensure that the Olympics never again take place in a city where athletes are silenced because of who they are or who they love," AllOut executive director Andre Banks said.

The IOC has previously said Moscow assured that athletes and spectators will not face discrimination at the Feb. 7-23 Winter Games.

Bach, an Olympic gold medalist in fencing, was in Paris to attend a centenary party for the sport's governing body.

The IOC issued a statement Saturday noting Bach's meeting with France President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace, though it did not refer directly to the issue of gay rights.

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Croatian Gay Rights Activists Protest Ahead Of Marriage Equality Referendum

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Gay rights supporters in conservative and mainly Catholic Croatia staged protests on Saturday on the eve of a controversial referendum that could outlaw same-sex marriage in the EU's newest member state.

More than 1,000 people braved the cold and rainy weather to gather in a square in downtown Zagreb for a protest march against Sunday's vote, which they see as discriminatory.

"We urge voters... to protect minority rights so that no one in Croatia becomes a second class citizen," gay rights activist Sanja Juras told the crowd.

At the end of their hour-long march through the city centre, under a heavy police presence, the protesters unfurled a giant rainbow flag outside the parliament building.

Demonstrators taking part in the "I vote against" march also carried banners in rainbow colours, reading: "Homosexuality is not a choice but hatred is" and "Let's protect all loves".

Sunday's referendum on whether to amend the country's constitution to define marriage as a "union between a woman and a man" is the result of a Church-backed initiative. Croatia's constitution currently does not define marriage.

The vote has sparked a heated public debate, splitting the country's 4.2 million inhabitants.

Many conservatives in Croatia, which joined the European Union this year, began fearing that same-sex marriage would be allowed in the country after the centre-left government announced a bill enabling gay couples to register as "life partners".

In May, the Church-backed In the Name of the Family group collected over 700,000 signatures seeking a nationwide vote on gay marriage.

"We believe that marriage, children and family are so important issues that the whole society has to decide on them," the leader of the initiative, Zeljka Markic, told AFP.

The government, human rights activists and prominent public figures have all spoken out against the referendum, urging people to cast a 'no' vote.

"With this sentence in the constitution we would make lives of our fellow citizens, who are a sexual minority, more difficult," warned Damir Kovacic, who took part in Saturday's protest with his wife.

"And tomorrow a referendum about someone else's rights might be on the agenda," the 34-year-old electrical engineer told AFP.

But in a country where almost 90 percent of population are Roman Catholics, the Church has vehemently urged followers to vote 'yes'.

"Marriage is the only union enabling procreation," said Croatia's Cardinal Josip Bozanic in a letter read out in churches.

"This is the key difference between a marriage... and other unions."

The latest survey showed that 68 percent of Croatians on Sunday would vote 'yes' compared to 27 percent against.

"It is natural and normal that a child grows up in a marriage of a man and a woman," Katarina Mitermajer, a doctor in her 50s, who plans to vote 'yes', told AFP.

Attitudes towards gay rights have slowly been improving since Croatia's first Gay Pride parade was held in Zagreb in 2002, when dozens of participants were beaten up by extremists.

Pride parades are now staged regularly if still under strong security, while gay rights are more openly discussed in the media and people are becoming less fearful of "coming out".

In 2003 Croatia adopted a law recognising same-sex couples who have lived together for at least three years. Yet apart from official acknowledgement, the measure granted them few rights.

Sunday's vote is the first citizens-initiated referendum since Croatia's independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Under Croatian law, a referendum does not require a majority voter turnout to be valid.

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