Exporting homophobia.In your story about Ruslan Sharipov, the gay Uzbek journalist who was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison after being convicted under an Uzbek criminal code that bans homosexual conduct ["A One-man Gay Rights Movement," March 2], activist John Aravosis John Aravosis (born November 27, 1963) is a Democratic political consultant, gay activist and blogger. Aravosis, an attorney who lives in Washington, D.C., is the founder of Americablog and a co-founder of StopDrLaura.com. is quoted as saying that the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , in its attempt to woo Muslim allies, "is supporting yet another dictatorship in the name of freedom and democracy." While I agree with this statement, I believe there's more to it than that. In light of Bush's State of the Union address “State of the Union” redirects here. For other uses, see State of the Union (disambiguation). The State of the Union is an annual address in which the President of the United States reports on the status of the country, normally to a joint session of Congress (the , I would say it proves how deep Bush's prejudice against homosexuals is. He attacked the terrible way women's rights The effort to secure equal rights for women and to remove gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioral patterns. The women's rights movement began in the nineteenth century with the demand by some women reformers for the right to vote, known as suffrage, and are being violated in Iraq, even using it as one reason to topple Saddam Hussein's regime. Yet he not only contributes money to Uzbeistan but has tripled aid there since September 11, 2001. If that doesn't speak loud and clear about Bush's prejudice, what does? James Hall, Dalton Ga. I was very moved by your article about Ruslan Sharipov and would like to get him out of jail. But think: If the authorities did let him out, what next? Since Uzbekistan has sodomy laws and Sharipov proposes both to commit sodomy sodomy Noncoital carnal copulation. Sodomy is a crime in some jurisdictions. Some sodomy laws, particularly in Middle Eastern countries and those jurisdictions observing Shari'ah law, provide penalties as severe as life imprisonment for homosexual intercourse, even if the and to talk about it, they can pop him right back in his cell any time they want. Suppose he refrains from sodomy; he obviously is not willing to give up writing In favor of gay rights. They are not committed to free speech. Once again, he can't expect to win. Can he even expect words of sympathy from the American embassy? Our Supreme Court did make sodomy legal, but over vociferous objections from Scalia and Thomas. As for our politicians, things might improve after November, but at present we have a president who favors banning gay marriage by a constitutional amendment. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if Sharipov would agree to this, but what I see as the only practical solution is sending a mission to Uzbekistan requesting that they let him out of the country. I am willing to be a member of such a mission and contribute my share of dollars. Any takers? Eric Bentley, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , N.Y. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion