babble home
rabble.ca - news for the rest of us
today's active topics


Post New Topic  Post A Reply
FAQ | Forum Home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» babble   » current events   » international news and politics   » Nepal: ongoing abuse of LGBT people

Email this thread to someone!    
Author Topic: Nepal: ongoing abuse of LGBT people
Hephaestion
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4795

posted 20 April 2005 08:25 AM      Profile for Hephaestion   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
queerday reports:

quote:
Police attacked a group of 18 metis (a traditional term for biological males who dress and identify as women) who were walking toward a festival in Kathmandu. Nine were severely beaten with batons, gun butts, and sticks.


Reuters alertnet.org

quote:
(Geneva, April 19, 2005) -- Police in Kathmandu attacked a group of transgender people on Wednesday, underscoring the vulnerability of all Nepalese to police abuse since King Gyanendra seized direct power in February and suspended most civil liberties, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 13-the Nepalese New Year's Eve-police attacked 18 metis (a traditional term for biological males who dress and identify as women) who were walking toward a festival in Kathmandu. Nine were severely beaten with batons, gun butts, and sticks.

"This attack is only the latest of a string of police assaults in Nepal against transgender people," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "In a country where political and civil rights have been suspended, the violence sends a message that no one who looks or acts differently can feel safe."

[ 23 December 2005: Message edited by: Hephaestion ]


From: goodbye... :-( | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
NDP Newbie
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 5089

posted 20 April 2005 04:59 PM      Profile for NDP Newbie     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The Maoists would not support them...

Mao-Stalinism is the most homophobic secular ideology in human history.

[ 20 April 2005: Message edited by: NDP Newbie ]


From: Cornwall, ON | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged
Gir Draxon
leftist-rightie and rightist-leftie
Babbler # 3804

posted 20 April 2005 05:31 PM      Profile for Gir Draxon     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
biological males who dress and identify as women

Are they "transgender" even if they didn't have the operation?


From: Arkham Asylum | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged
ShyViolet
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6611

posted 20 April 2005 05:39 PM      Profile for ShyViolet     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
someone correct me if i'm wrong, but i thought transsexual=dresses like opposite sex, but hasn't had a sex change and transgender=had a sex change.
From: ~Love is like pi: natural, irrational, and very important~ | Registered: Aug 2004  |  IP: Logged
Hephaestion
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4795

posted 20 April 2005 05:46 PM      Profile for Hephaestion   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Exactly right, SV, except in reverse...

transsexual= had a sex change

transgender= dresses like opposite sex, but hasn't had a sex change


From: goodbye... :-( | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
spatrioter
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2299

posted 20 April 2005 05:50 PM      Profile for spatrioter     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Actually, TG can include those who have had a sex change.
quote:
Broadly speaking, transgender people are individuals whose gender expression and/or gender identity differs from conventional expectations based on the physical sex they were born into. The word transgender is an umbrella term which is often used to describe a wide range of identities and experiences, including: FTMs, MTFs, cross-dressers, drag queens, drag kings, gender queers, and many more. Because transgender is an umbrella term, it is often thought to be an imprecise term that does not adequately describe the particulars of specific identities and experiences. (For example, the identity/experience of a post-operative FTM transsexual will probably be very different from that of a female-identified drag king who performs on weekends, but both are often lumped together under the term "transgender.")
Great terminology listing

From: Trinity-Spadina | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
Hephaestion
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4795

posted 20 April 2005 05:56 PM      Profile for Hephaestion   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Okay, spatrioter. I can live with that. I was just going by the definition given here on babble a couple on months back by someone who seemed to have more experience/knowledge in this area than did I.

All I know is that my buddy, Nick, who used to be a female, doesn't make a huge issue of it and will go along with either name.


From: goodbye... :-( | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
ShyViolet
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6611

posted 20 April 2005 06:00 PM      Profile for ShyViolet     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Hephaestion:
Exactly right, SV, except in reverse...

transsexual= had a sex change

transgender= dresses like opposite sex, but hasn't had a sex change


ok, thank you.... i'm forever getting them reversed!


From: ~Love is like pi: natural, irrational, and very important~ | Registered: Aug 2004  |  IP: Logged
Cartman
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7440

posted 20 April 2005 07:21 PM      Profile for Cartman        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Is it not curious that transsexuals seem to suffer from the effects of a rigid gender system, as the above article illustrates, yet actually sustain those very structures by strictly committing to the so-called rules for the opposite sex? That is, many seem to present an exaggerated gender role performance. Let me pose the case of a male who becomes female. Rather than wearing ordinary or plain clothes, the tendency seems to be for flashier clothing and perhaps more make-up etc?

I realize that I may be generalizing to the point of being offensive and apologize in advance. By no means do I want anyone to interpret this as Cartman engaging in subtle victim-blaming because I really hate when people do that. I just find it interesting that transexxuals are not really gender benders at all, but actually gender conformists and, as such, I am led to believe that the behaviour may very well partly be the manifestation of biological impulses. Yet, at the same time, I just cannot wrap my head around how clothing choice can be of biological origin.

ok I will just shut up now and listen.


From: Bring back Audra!!!!! | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Gir Draxon
leftist-rightie and rightist-leftie
Babbler # 3804

posted 20 April 2005 09:03 PM      Profile for Gir Draxon     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Ah. Thanks Hephaestion
From: Arkham Asylum | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged
spatrioter
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2299

posted 20 April 2005 09:34 PM      Profile for spatrioter     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Let me pose the case of a male who becomes female. Rather than wearing ordinary or plain clothes, the tendency seems to be for flashier clothing and perhaps more make-up etc?
If your only experience with trans-identified people is watching drag shows, I can see why you might be under that impression. You're operating under the assumption that you can tell who is trans and who is not. Think about all the supposedly "normal" people you know, and consider that some of them may be trans, and you don't even know it.
quote:
I just find it interesting that transexxuals are not really gender benders at all, but actually gender conformists
You're disregarding genderqueers, genderfucks, and others who abide by no gender rules at all. And I think your opinions on gender conformity are an observation on human nature in general - not trans people.

Regardless, I think overanalyzing other people's identities and choices is a waste of time, and offensive. If I had people constantly questioning my motives for identifying as male, I'd be pissed off.

I realize you didn't mean to offend, though.


From: Trinity-Spadina | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
Cartman
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7440

posted 20 April 2005 09:57 PM      Profile for Cartman        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
You're operating under the assumption that you can tell who is trans and who is not.

True enough. I will accept that point.

quote:
I think overanalyzing other people's identities and choices is a waste of time, and offensive. If I had people constantly questioning my motives for identifying as male, I'd be pissed off.

I understand the argument and have heard it before. My interest is in gender in general and not the motivations of one specific group.

Thanx for the response.


From: Bring back Audra!!!!! | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
pennyw
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7399

posted 22 April 2005 11:04 AM      Profile for pennyw     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Transgendered is a politically correct term that is somewhat derogatory for transsexuals and miss-classifies them. Transsexuals are completely different from the rest of the transgendered community, but look similar due to dressing and behaving like the opposite sex. Generally transsexuals are very binary oriented and don't blend genders at all. Their goal is to fit in with societal norms and don't dress to extremes or draw attention to themselves if at all possible. Some confusion arises from the fact that transsexuals go through a cross-dressing (blurring) phase while they try to sort themselves out, but once they do and are diagnosed, they move out of the transgendered world and try to fit in with the rest of society as the opposite sex into which they were born. Transsexuals have a brain structure that corresponds with their new sex. Here is an article on it. A really good book on the differences and evolutionary reasons for transsexuality in nature and humans is "Evolution's Rainbow" by: Joan Roughgarden.
I consider myself pretty lefty and find it quite discouraging that often communist contries are the most intollerant when it comes to the whole LGBTT community. Hating people from the LGBTT community seems to be one of the things that both left wing and right wing groups can agree on.

From: The smallest town in the world | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Bacchus
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4722

posted 22 April 2005 11:30 AM      Profile for Bacchus     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
All I know is that my buddy, Nick, who used to be a female, doesn't make a huge issue of it and will go along with either name.


How about we just call them human?


From: n/a | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
Hephaestion
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4795

posted 22 April 2005 04:36 PM      Profile for Hephaestion   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Works for me, Bacchus. Other useful terms are "ally" and "friend"...
From: goodbye... :-( | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
Hephaestion
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4795

posted 23 December 2005 01:37 AM      Profile for Hephaestion   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Investigation demanded into soldiers' abuse of lesbians

quote:
Nepal's LGBT rights organization Blue Diamond Society is calling for a government investigation into allegations soldiers are threatening lesbians in the capital Katmandu.

The women, all members of a Blue Diamond support group, have been running a small grocery store in an affluent area of the city, not far from the home of the Prime Minister and other government leaders.

Most of the women have been disowned by their families once it became known they are lesbians. Because of their sexuality many businesses refuse to hire them. The women say the tiny store is their only means of support.

They say that men claiming to be soldiers of the Royal Nepalese Army routinely harass and threaten them. The men identify themselves as "RNA soldiers stationed at the Baluwatar base".

[...]

"The women are very scared of these men and phone calls especially after the recent Nagarkot incident," said Blue Diamond spokesperson Sunil Pant, referring to the incident less than a week ago when a soldier went berserk, gunned down 11 civilians at a fair and himself died under mysterious circumstances.

Pant said Blue Diamond wants an investigation into the abuse by the Army and the government.

[ 23 December 2005: Message edited by: Hephaestion ]


From: goodbye... :-( | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
Hephaestion
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4795

posted 14 January 2006 04:30 AM      Profile for Hephaestion   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Nepal accused of attempting a gay genocide

quote:
An international human rights organization has joined local LGBT activists in accusing the government of Nepal of trying to wipe out gays and transsexuals.

In a harshly worded letter to the Home Ministry, Human Rights Watch calls on the government " to intervene to ensure that allegations of police abuse are fully investigated."

"Human Rights Watch is gravely concerned by a continuing pattern of arbitrary arrest and police violence against metis (men by birth who identify as women, and might in different cultural circumstances be called transgender people), men who have sex with men, and activists for sexual rights in Kathmandu," the letter signed by Scott Long, the director of HRW's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program.

The latest reported incident occurred on January 3 when four police officers reportedly spotted a group of metis on the street in Katmandu.and shouted, "Metis! Kill them!"

One woman was beaten with a baton. A police officer pulled his gun and pointed it at her, threatening that "These [transsexuals] pollute the society and must be cleaned out". The two other metis also were beaten severely. 

[...] 

Human Rights Watch detailed the all of the allegations in its letter and called for swift action.

It calls on the government to release any sexual minorities being held in jail, that persons found responsible for abuse are punished, and that police and other criminal-justice officials "are trained in respect for all people1s human rights, including the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people."

The government has refused to comment.

[ 14 January 2006: Message edited by: Hephaestion ]


From: goodbye... :-( | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged

All times are Pacific Time  

Post New Topic  Post A Reply Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
Hop To:

Contact Us | rabble.ca | Policy Statement

Copyright 2001-2008 rabble.ca