Extreme Religious Superstition Oppresses Transgender, Bisexual, Lesbian And Gay People

Transgender, Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay people are oppressed to different degrees on a global basis. Why? In many cases, it is because of extreme, conservative religious opinions based on superstition and not fact. Those who share these extreme religious superstitions fear change and fear anything and anyone else unlike them. They do not believe in social justice because it forces change putting them in the very uncomfortable position of losing control. Extreme religious conservatives have the mindset that their way is the only way. In this case, people with different gender identities and sexual orientations are demonized because we are not part of the status quo. LGBT people do not fit into their paranoid and selfish ideology that again is based on superstition. By accepting the proven fact that there are as many gender identities, individual gender expressions and sexual orientations would validate the need for change. Something these extremists are not willing to do. This narrow minded, all consuming, self serving belief system produces paranoia, hate and in many cases violence. It seems to apply to all belief systems that have become extreme and perverted. It includes religious systems like Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Confucianism and Hinduism. Examples abound throughout history. The early Hebrews were led by their extreme religious superstitions on their brutal conquest of Canaan The Crusades and the Inquisition were promulgated by The Roman Catholic Church's / Holy Roman Empire's quest for world domination. Women in Salem, Massachusetts were accused of being witches and burned at the stake by the conservative, fanatical Puritans. The Holocaust and Stalin's Great Purge ("There is a person, there is a problem; there is no person, there is no problem.") were the direct result of mad men gaining absolute control of Germany and Russia modeled on the same extreme religious principles used by Charlemagne, The Holy Roman Empire, Popes and extreme Christian Protestant religions of the time. The September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States were based on Islamic extremism. Currently, conservative talk show pundits like Limbaugh, Beck and Coulter who attack anyone and anything that does not fit into their extreme religious superstitions and anyone are admittedly conservative Christian extremists. The Westboro Baptist Church demonstrates hatred against everyone based on their extreme and perverted form of Christianity. Ugandan politicians influenced by conservative American religious extremists have proposed legislation that would impose the death penalty on LGBT people. Neo Nazi organizations much like Westboro Baptist are based on a perverted form of Christianity and also hate everyone. Currently, US politicians who voted for health care reform have been personally threatened and attacked by extreme, conservative, fundamental Christians. What does all of this mean? It means if you do not fill a religious extremist's profile of what in acceptable, you are in harm's way. You cannot hide by assimilating. You cannot run from the truth. If there ever was a need for all oppressed people living in the margins of society including ALL Transgender, Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay people to put aside their petty differences and to stand together in support of each other, it is now. Cancel sexuality talks: MUI Indra Harsaputra and Wahyoe Boediwardhana , The Jakarta Post , Surabaya/Malang | Thu, 03/25/2010 9:17 AM | Headlines The police refused Wednesday to grant a permit for the upcoming conference of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex associations across Asia set to be held in Surabaya, East Java, citing fears of protests from religious groups. Chief of the Surabaya Police community alliance division, Adj. Sr. Comr. Sri Setyo Rahayu, said the National Police had instructed the Surabaya office not to issue a permit for the three-day conference set to be attended by 200 participants from across Asia. “Based on a police intelligence report, the event could trigger social unrest. The East Java chapter Indonesian Ulema Council [MUI] also recommends that the event be canceled as it’s against religious teachings and culture,” she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. Under the plan, the 4th Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (ILGA) regional conference will be held from March 26 to 28. The last three conferences were held in Mumbai, India (2002); Cebu, the Philippines (2005); and Chiangmai, Thailand (2008). ILGA Asia Regional Conference organizing committee head Poedjianti Tan said the group would try to lobby and approach religious figures to change their minds since it had already distributed invitations to group members and activists in 16 countries including in Japan, China, Thailand and Singapore. “The event is actually held to seek a way out on social issues faced by the minority group. We will also hold a seminar on health, education, discrimination and others,” she said. Tan said the meeting was not exclusively held for the lesbian, gay and transgender communities, but would also pay special attention to women’s issues in Asia. The East Java MUI and clerics from Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah Muslim organizations have strongly opposed the conference. East Java MUI head Abdussomad Bukhori said the event would hurt Muslims in Indonesia because lesbianism and homosexuality are against religious norms. “We will make strenuous efforts to call off the event because it would likely spark social unrest and waves of protests,” he said. An Islamic sociologist at the Muhammadiyah University in Malang, Syamsul Arifin said homosexuality and lesbianism were still controversial issues here but encouraged religious leaders not to perceive the issue only from religious aspects. “I’m in favor of the event. We will even invite clerics and religious figures to attend it,” he said. “There would definitely be pros and cons. The devout would definitely see the issue as a form of pathology that should be set aside since it’s apparently against any religion,” the university’s post-graduate program deputy director said. He urged the public to look at the issue from the sociological perspectives, saying the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities are a social reality. “Basically, they only wish people to recognize their existence, socially and legally.” ORIGINAL ARTICLE

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