Parents of gay Poles urge pope to help fight homophobia

[DonViejo]

Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


31 JUL 2016 AT 08:21 ET

The worried parents of 16 young gay Poles have implored Pope Francis to help combat what they call “widespread” homophobia in Poland, as the pontiff visited the strongly Catholic EU state for the first time.

Pointing to a recent string of “attacks on offices of organisations working with homosexuals, burning of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) symbols, and beatings of non-heterosexuals”, the group implored Francis to intervene.

“Instead of compassion for families, society is engulfed by a wave of homophobia,” the group said in an open letter, which was published by several Polish newspapers and magazines in the past week.

“Only the voice of Your Holiness can prevent future tragedies,” they told Francis, who famously remarked “Who am I to judge?” about gays earlier in his papacy. But in April, the Argentine failed to recognise homosexual couples in new Church guidelines on family life.

-snip-


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/parents-of-gay-poles-urge-pope-to-help-fight-homophobia/

[uawchild]

1. Our progress here in the US has been very recent in regards to equal treatment for gay Americans

We have been about 20 years behind Canada when it comes to things like marriage equality, so it is not surprising that Poland and other eastern European countries are years behind us now. There is much still to be done here in the US to secure equal protection for gay Americans.

"The Human Rights Campaign, along with tens of thousands of advocates, works around the clock to lobby members of Congress on critical legislation that would greatly affect the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans.

Legislation and Policies HRC Supports:
...
Equality Act
The Equality Act would provide consistent and explicit anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people across key areas of life, including employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service."
http://www.hrc.org/resources/federal-legislation


"Current U.S. LGBT employment discrimination laws.

There is no federal statute addressing employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Protections at the national level are limited. Some regulations protect government employees but do not extend their protections to the private sector. Twenty-two states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and over 140 cities and counties have enacted bans on discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or sexual identity. Employment discrimination refers to discriminatory employment practices such as bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, and compensation, and various types of harassment.[13] In the United States there is "very little statutory, common law, and case law establishing employment discrimination based upon sexual orientation as a legal wrong."[14]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_States#Anti-discrimination_laws

[Bluenorthwest]

2. Canada made marriage equal 11 years ago, not 20. A year after Massachusetts.

And it's a multi-layered thing it's not all about marriage equality. Canada during my lifetime has been far behind and far ahead of the US in various aspects of equal rights.

And the families are very much correct to confront Francis about this. RCC is very influential in Poland.

[uawchild]

3. You are correct, it was 11 years ago federally in Canada.

Thanks for the correction.