Gay rights campaigners should be wary of calling for censorship of a “sexual purity” app, says Sean Gallagher
All Out, a gay rights organisation, is behind an online petition calling on Google to remove an app called Setting Captives Free from its Play store. The group claims that Apple removed the app from iTunes after “just 24 hours”.
The app springs from a “non-denominational ministry which teaches the biblical principles of freedom in Jesus Christ” founded by Mike Cleveland. It connects users with the ministry’s free 60-day courses aimed at ridding them of their “habitual sins” like over-eating, substance abuse, gambling, smoking and impurity. One of the courses explores “sexual purity”.
All Out’s position is that these so-called “gay cures” “cause terrible harm to lesbian, gay, bi, and trans people, or anyone forced to try to change who they are or who they love”. The organisation should be applauded for its fight against bigotry and intolerance.
But their misguided petition — which has drawn 154,299 supporters as of this writing — crosses a very clear line into censorship.
Arguments for the public good were previously used to silence gay and lesbian people. We should be wary of even well intentioned censorship. If we apply All Out’s stand to all apps, we’d need to get Google to drop Manhunt, Grindr or other hookup apps that have the potential to harm gay men by spreading disease — a link made by New York authorities during a recent outbreak of meningitis.
There are over 700K apps on Google Play as of October 2012. Downloading is a choice.
Sean Gallagher is Editor, Online and News at Index on Censorship. He tweets from @seangallagherla
Russia’s drive against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people continues unabated as the country’s Duma considers a law banning “homosexual propaganda”, Elena Vlasenko reports from Moscow.
Before 1993, being a homosexual in Russia meant the possibility of being sent to either a mental institution or prison — and it wasn’t until 1999 that it was dropped from the country’s official list of mental illnesses. Even though homosexuality was eventually decriminalised twenty years ago, there is still an active campaign to silence Russia’s gay community.
More than 70 per cent of Russians consider the LGBT community to be “dissolute” and “mentally retarded”. The government has nourished the already negative public opinion around homosexuality. Ten Russian regions have implemented laws banning “homosexual propaganda” since 2006, and the country is currently considering passing a countrywide ban.
The bill was passed unanimously in a preliminary vote at the start of this year, and this month it will be considered by the State Duma. The law forbids promoting information about homosexuality amongst minors. If caught spreading the message that “traditional and non-traditional relationships are socially equal” to minors, offenders face criminal charges and a fine of up to 500,000 Roubles (£10,782).
Activists have expressed concerns over the law, which they say gives the authorities ground to fine organisations and activists for public work — in the name of protecting minors.
In addition to its campaign against “homosexual propaganda”, the country has never sanctioned a gay pride parade. Approximately 30 LGBT activists were arrested on 25 May for attempting to hold unsanctioned protests against discrimination, in front of the State Duma’s building. In 2011, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) declared the ban to be illegal. According to gay rights activist Nikolay Alexeev, the annual bans on pride parades as well as his own appeals to the ECHR should make it clear to the court that Russia’s violations of gay rights are systematic.
Russia was recently rocked by a violent homophobic murder: Vadislav Tornovoy was allegedly brutally beaten and murdered by 2-3 drunk acquaintances last month. Investigators say that Tornovoy came out to his friends, and they then broke his ribs, and pushed beer bottles into his anus. After a failed attempt to set him on fire, the men smashed unconscious Tornovoy’s head with a 20 kg stone. Alexeev told Index that the authorities’ policies towards the LGBT community reflect a deep-seated homophobia in Russia, and unless they change the country would still continue to see cruel and homophobic attacks.
A 28-year-old middle school teacher at a private school in Mexico City has been fired after showing her students the 2008 film Milk, which tells the story of gay rights activist Harvey Milk, who was murdered in San Francisco in the 1970s. Mexico’s capital has been celebrated as a champion of gay rights in the region, permitting civil unions in 2006 and approving gay marriage in 2009. However, the scandal around the dismissal of the teacher, Cecilia Hernandez, shows some of the ongoing battles for gay rights in the city.
Until December last year, Hernandez was an adjunct professor of civics and ethics at Lomas Hill middle school, which serves a well-heeled community on the outskirts of Mexico City. In a telephone interview, Hernandez said the dismissal surprised her, since she was only “following Mexican educational standards”. According to Mexico’s Education Ministry guidelines, teachers in public and private schools should provide lessons on tolerance and against discrimination.
The film was given a B15 rating in Mexico, deeming it appropriate for viewers older than 15 years old. While Hernandez´s students were 13 and 14 years old, a B15 rating stipulates that younger viewers can see the film if an adult is present. “For me it was important that my students watched this movie. We had agreed to show the least explicit parts of the film and I was there to explain to them the meaning of the movie,” said Hernandez.
Initially, the teacher planned to show the film to three of her scheduled classes, allowing a period of discussion during every session. However, students during the initial screening were riled up with the film, and asked the teacher to stop the screening and change the assignment. A few students made derogatory statements about homosexuals — and according to Hernandez, one of them was the nephew of the school’s prinicipal, Annette Muench.
Following class Hernandez received an angry email from Muench, calling the film “filth”, and accusing the teacher of showing the film without her approval.
Hernandez says she went through the correct procedure to show the controversial film. “I never had any problems with this school. I wrote them a list of my school activities and they never objected to my lesson plans,” she said.
Later that week, Hernandez was welcomed by two security guards when she arrived to school. She was held for two hours against her will before being reprimanded by Muench in front of the staff and student body. She was eventually escorted off of school grounds.
Shortly after being fired, Hernandez blasted the decision on Twitter, and her account of the incident went viral. It soon turned into a personal showdown between the school principal and Hernandez. Muench accused Hernandez of embarrassing her and of promoting pornography among innocent children.
Hernandez says Lomas Hill pride itself on their reputation as a school that protects the rights of all children and favors education for children with special needs. “My students were always very open to the rights of others,” she said.
A petition calling for a public apology from the school has now garnered more than 80,000 signatures, but the school refuses to budge on the matter. Mexico’s federal anti-discrimination agency, CONAPRED, has now taken on her case.
