Saturday, October 27, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Nigerians meld Christianity, Islam with ancient practices
From the Canadian PressNigerians meld Christianity, Islam with ancient practices
Oct 14, 2007
OSHOGBO, Nigeria - Wasiu Olasunkani drops to his knees in the sacred grove, lowers his chin to his chest and turns his palms skyward: a gesture of thanks to a traditional water goddess embodied by the massive stone idol with outstretched arms that sweep over an ancient shrine.
Olasunkani, a Muslim whose 1998 pilgrimage to Mecca fulfilled one of the five pillars of Islam, joins tens of thousands of ethnic Yoruba people each year to pray before the idol and offer libations to her mermaid-like spirit, Osun. Last year, Olasunkani beseeched the goddess for a baby. This year he's thanking her for twin boys, Farook and Cordroy.
"If you want to get a baby, you come here and pray, and you'll certainly have one," said the 46-year old doctor after finishing his riverside reverie. Speaking of his fellow Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria - 20 million strong and roughly evenly split between Christians and Muslims - he says: "We've been doing this for centuries."
Across West Africa, churches or mosques can be found in virtually every settlement: evidence of deep Christian and Muslim roots sown by the merchants, missionaries and slave traders who brought the religions hundreds of years ago. But also firmly settled in the red soil are indigenous practices that West Africans integrate with the foreign beliefs.
The results may sometimes seem to flout the monotheistic holy books, the Bible and Qur'an. But many West African faithful say their interpretations are equally valid - although they don't always tell their pastors or imams.
He says his prayers to Osun, only one goddess in the Yoruba pantheon, are cultural, and shouldn't be considered in conflict with Islam's monotheism.
"I believe that there is God. What I mean is that we should have the fear of God," he says, water still dripping from his face after ablutions in the river also called Osun, near the city of Oshogbo.
"In Saudi, they'll tell you that this isn't good. But God is our creator, and he made everything. If God thought this wasn't good, he wouldn't allow it."
Tunde Osunleti, a Christian also at a recent festival celebrating Osun, agrees.
"Jesus is the one who created this Osun. I just believe we're serving one God," says the 19-year old artist. "My pastor would say, 'Don't go here.' But my pastor is not my God. I only believe in God, and myself."
In the largely Christian areas farther south, many professed Christians have more than one wife, which tallies with pre-Christian practices where men took on many spouses to ensure survival of the bloodline during times of drought or war.
Some people practice both Islam and Christianity. One taxi driver in Freetown, Sierra Leone, tells of travelling with his first wife to mosque on Friday and his second wife to church on Sunday.
In Nigeria, shrines with old icons abound, with members of many ethnic groups praying to their old gods.
The first visitors who brought Christianity, largely by boat to the coasts, and Islam - to inland areas by camel over the Sahara Desert, tried to end local practices. Their spiritual descendants, now often Africans themselves, are still trying.
"Generally Christianity tries to preach against what's considered idolatry, or idol worship. There may be aspects of local culture that the church allows, but as long as it tries to wipe out the worship of God, we're against it," said Rev. Akintunde Popoola, a spokesman for the Anglican communion in Nigeria
"As a Christian, I sincerely believe, the Bible says there's one God and it makes me believe all other attempts to worship are futile. My Bible tells me accept one God, not two Gods."
Christians, particularly evangelicals, have told some followers to smash the idols near their homes. In Nigeria's Muslim north, some imams tried to end the tribal dances and mask displays.
But the prayers to multiple gods, or treating animals as deities, continues even among self-avowed Christians and Muslims.
Nigerians joke that their notoriously corrupt politicians enter office swearing on the Bible or Qur'an to uphold the laws of the land, but if they were forced to promise fealty to the law before their local god of thunder, the thievery would end immediately.
Still, Christian and Muslim leaders are powerful in Nigeria.
The top traditional leader in the predominantly Muslim north - a young reformer called the Sultan of Sokoto who emphasizes female education and literacy - has about 70 million subjects.
Baptist preachers draw crowds of hundreds of thousands, and the leader of the Anglican communion is at the centre of an international row over the ordination of a gay bishop in America, which threatens to cause a schism.
Back at home, the persistence of local beliefs seems to have led to a general tolerance.
While the Yoruba are evenly divided between Muslims and Christians, religious disputes are rare among them, and Islamic extremism virtually unknown. The sheer volume of belief systems forces Nigerians to accept others' practices, lest their own be rejected.
Across Nigeria, members of the two faiths live in close quarters, and when fighting has occurred, ethnic or other considerations have also been a major factor. Usually, uneducated and impoverished young men are cajoled into conflict by cynical leaders.
"Where there's understanding, it helps that we have more than one religion" in Nigeria, says Popoola, the Anglican spokesman. "We must understand each other while holding onto our beliefs. The problems arise when there's not enough understanding, and one religion tries to lord it over another."
While many of the old practices go on in secret, others don't. Each year, upwards of 100,000 Yoruba people like Osunleti and Olasunkani travel to a forest in the middle of the southern city of Oshogbo to pray to Osun.
Osun, the fable holds, rose from the river to help lead the Yoruba people to the area, and each year hordes of Yoruba people of all ages cram into the riverside glen that has been named a UNESCO world heritage site.
On a recent Friday, throngs of people made their way down into the forest to partake in the festivities, where they give thanks and praises.
The festival is so popular that it's broadcast live on national television, sponsored by Nigerian telecommunications and alcohol companies.
Liquor company employees hand out sachets of schnapps to the crowds - a libation to be poured on the ground as an offering to Osun, although much of the tongue-scorching liquid never makes it into the earth. "Original 1 Prayer Drink" reads one huge advertising banner strung between trees.
Beneath the stone idol of Osun, about five metres high with arms flung straight out like the bars of a cross, worshippers cast money into the river and toss in doves, their wings broken so they can't immediately fly away. As cash and birds swirl in the eddies of the muddy river, droves of Nigerians fill jerrycans from the river, carting home the sacred water.
Later, a virgin is presented to the water goddess amid nearly hysterical drumming and dancing. Worshippers touch the stone Osun statue.
"Some people may say we're worshipping idols. But no, this is our heritage and we can't forget it," says Oladunjoye Wasiu, a 25-year-old student standing by the river. "Allah sent the water in the days of our forefathers, so there's a rapport," he says.
"We Yoruba people, we have many small deities, but they are all servants of God," says Osunleti, the artist. "All these idols are servants of God: I'm a Christian, I'm a Muslim, I'm an idol worshipper, I'm an artist, I believe in everything," he says.
"I just believe in God. We're all servants of God, and we can pray through anything."
Freedom to Dress (Op-Ed from a Pakistani Newspaper)
From the International News, a leading English-language newspaper in Pakistan
Freedom to Dress
Friday, October 26, 2007
Azmat Ashraf
While watching a show on television the other night it was brought to my attention that the media sometimes is not so objective in its approach. Even though every journalism course teaches one to be objective and impartial when reporting, this doesn't appear to be the case. Dr Zakir Naik has created quite a stir because of his elephant's memory and vast knowledge on Islam and other major religions of the world. He was asked if Sadia Mirza, being a Muslim, should refrain from dressing in a short skirt while playing tennis because it is haram. To which the learned doctor replied that when media personnel asked the same question to the young tennis star she wondered why she was asked this question and no other player. Just because she is a Muslim?
Dr Naik said that the point she raised was valid because all religions stress modesty in dress. Be it Christianity, Hinduism or Islam. He also focused on the point that Sadia Mirza is said to pray five times a day. Prayer is the first pillar of Islam. It is what differentiates a Muslim from a non-Muslim and in this regard prayer takes precedence on dress. Dr Naik also said that there were some Muslim cricketers who did not even pray and asked why that was not brought into the limelight?
Another interesting thing is that the burqa-clad women are not the one's complaining, rather the more moderate ones.
The requirement to dress modestly is there in all religions of the world. Its just that people of other religions refuse to follow it. There is little difference in how nuns dress and how women are supposed to dress in Islam. Does this means that all Christian women should wear a wimple and be covered head to toe? Modesty of dress, however, is not synonymous with liberalism – something the west takes great pride in being. Also if women in the west are free to dress in any manner they deem fit, so too should Muslim women. The first amendment focuses on freedom of expression, so why is that freedom one sided? If a woman walks into a store dressed in the way that Muslim women might choose to dress, why are they stared at and seen with resentment?
The media writes about Sadia Mirza because writing about a Muslim girl who has made it big sells, especially since there are no Muslim tennis players. In that the media is ignorant and is going with the flow. How come no one comments about beach volleyball which is played by women wearing bikinis?
And how is that what was considered taboo many years ago is slowing becoming acceptable in today's society? Many years ago women who dressed in a revealing fashion were considered to be of loose morals even in the west. Nowadays baring one's body is considered 'sexy' which is what men desire. If one watches music videos on MTV women are shown surrounding rappers skimpy dressed with the singers referring to them as 'my bitches'.
Previously homosexuality was a social taboo, people were ashamed of their kids being gay but now the law in America has allowed people of the opposite sex to live in matrimonial bliss. The tiniest of bikinis worn these days do not require people's imaginations to come into play since much skin is bared. Will there come a time when the norm would be to swim in the nude, or is that trend here already? Indulgence in pornography was considered a vice. Now such websites are among the most popular on the web. Some may argue that that too is freedom of expression.
What is this world coming to?
The writer is a staff member. Email: azmat.ashraf@then ews.com.pk
Freedom to Dress
Friday, October 26, 2007
Azmat Ashraf
While watching a show on television the other night it was brought to my attention that the media sometimes is not so objective in its approach. Even though every journalism course teaches one to be objective and impartial when reporting, this doesn't appear to be the case. Dr Zakir Naik has created quite a stir because of his elephant's memory and vast knowledge on Islam and other major religions of the world. He was asked if Sadia Mirza, being a Muslim, should refrain from dressing in a short skirt while playing tennis because it is haram. To which the learned doctor replied that when media personnel asked the same question to the young tennis star she wondered why she was asked this question and no other player. Just because she is a Muslim?
Dr Naik said that the point she raised was valid because all religions stress modesty in dress. Be it Christianity, Hinduism or Islam. He also focused on the point that Sadia Mirza is said to pray five times a day. Prayer is the first pillar of Islam. It is what differentiates a Muslim from a non-Muslim and in this regard prayer takes precedence on dress. Dr Naik also said that there were some Muslim cricketers who did not even pray and asked why that was not brought into the limelight?
Another interesting thing is that the burqa-clad women are not the one's complaining, rather the more moderate ones.
The requirement to dress modestly is there in all religions of the world. Its just that people of other religions refuse to follow it. There is little difference in how nuns dress and how women are supposed to dress in Islam. Does this means that all Christian women should wear a wimple and be covered head to toe? Modesty of dress, however, is not synonymous with liberalism – something the west takes great pride in being. Also if women in the west are free to dress in any manner they deem fit, so too should Muslim women. The first amendment focuses on freedom of expression, so why is that freedom one sided? If a woman walks into a store dressed in the way that Muslim women might choose to dress, why are they stared at and seen with resentment?
The media writes about Sadia Mirza because writing about a Muslim girl who has made it big sells, especially since there are no Muslim tennis players. In that the media is ignorant and is going with the flow. How come no one comments about beach volleyball which is played by women wearing bikinis?
And how is that what was considered taboo many years ago is slowing becoming acceptable in today's society? Many years ago women who dressed in a revealing fashion were considered to be of loose morals even in the west. Nowadays baring one's body is considered 'sexy' which is what men desire. If one watches music videos on MTV women are shown surrounding rappers skimpy dressed with the singers referring to them as 'my bitches'.
Previously homosexuality was a social taboo, people were ashamed of their kids being gay but now the law in America has allowed people of the opposite sex to live in matrimonial bliss. The tiniest of bikinis worn these days do not require people's imaginations to come into play since much skin is bared. Will there come a time when the norm would be to swim in the nude, or is that trend here already? Indulgence in pornography was considered a vice. Now such websites are among the most popular on the web. Some may argue that that too is freedom of expression.
What is this world coming to?
The writer is a staff member. Email: azmat.ashraf@then ews.com.pk
Jordan's Queen Talks for Women and Education in LA Visit
Queen Rania's websiteFrom the Los Angeles Times
Jordan's queen talks of women and education in L.A. visit
Queen Rania seeks to dispel stereotyped images of Muslim women
By Carla Hall
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 25, 2007
Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan listened Wednesday morning to students at Taft High School in Woodland Hills chronicle their attempts at bridging multicultural gaps in their diverse student body. They talked of their organizations, their successes, their personal stories.
Then, microphone in hand, she sat on stage and, without so much as a note card, praised their various programs by name. The strife-torn Middle East could use a few of them, she mused.
"In my opinion, people who don't see eye to eye are standing with their backs to each other," Rania said.
"Ooohh," murmured the crowd.
"So you have to start with turning them around to face each other."
In the modern-day annals of royalty, women tend to fall into the category of the stately, matriarchal Queen Elizabeth or the paparazzi-hounded Diana, Princess of Wales.
Now Rania, the well-educated, multilingual wife of King Abdullah II of Jordan, is crafting a new sort of image. At 37, Rania chairs a variety of non-government organizations working on education and women's issues, as well as a micro-lending initiative, and has a website detailing it all.
She travels Jordan and the rest of the world speaking on issues that concern women, education and international relations. It's not unusual for royals to have portfolios thick with nonprofit deeds. And, to be sure, Rania owes something to her predecessor, Queen Noor al Hussein, the widow of the late King Hussein, Abdullah's father. Noor, too, is beautiful and versed in foreign policy. (The two women keep in touch by e-mail.)
But Noor is an American. Rania, born in Kuwait of a Palestinian father, is an Arab woman, a practicing Muslim on a mission to show the rest of the world that Arabs, particularly women -- "Muslim women are the biggest victims of stereotypes," she says -- are not the oppressed, terrorist-supporting, American haters that some people think they are.
In a day and a half of visits in Los Angeles, she moved with ease from the California Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women on Tuesday afternoon to a Q&A with Arianna Huffington that evening before an audience at Creative Artists Agency, and on to the Wednesday meeting with Taft students.
Although her messages were always about dispelling stereotypes and promoting multiculturalism, she subtly shifted argot for each appearance. She got a laugh when she said to a crowd of 14,000 gathered at the Long Beach Convention Center for the women's conference: "To hear some in the West, all Arab women are backward and oppressed -- while some Arabs assume all American women are desperate housewives seeking sex in the city."
At Taft, the Jordanian queen invoked Facebook and YouTube and lamented: "We have all this technology, but understand each other less."
At CAA's glistening marble and glass building in Century City, startlingly beautiful and dressed in Alberta Ferretti, she didn't flinch from foreign policy questions, whether they came from Huffington or a member of the audience, a well-heeled crowd that included the talent agency's staffers, invited guests and a sprinkling of celebrities -- producer Quincy Jones and director Taylor Hackford among them.
On honor killings of women, she said, "In Jordan, we have about 20 cases a year. For me, one is too many. This has nothing to do with Islam. . . . It's a misguided cultural undertaking."
Ever the diplomat from a country that prides itself on being modern and nonaggressive, Rania spoke of how Jordan -- a country of modest means at best -- takes care of its citizens and scrambles to cope with the 700,000 refugees of the Iraq War. "Jordan doesn't have any oil unfortunately -- or fortunately," she said at CAA. "It's made us focus on our human resources."
Everywhere she goes, she talks about her decision not to wear the hijab, the veil that Muslim women often wear. (In Jordan it is not mandatory.)
"I always say it's more important to judge a woman by what's in her head, not on her head," she told the Taft students, repeating a line she uses often.
Asked why she made the choice not to wear it, she said: "For the same reason that any woman decides how she wants to wear her hair or how she wants to dress. It's a personal choice.
She also thinks people in the West "attach some political implications to this item of clothing. To many people's minds, it represents oppression of women and powerlessness of Arab women and backwardness. . . . That's a misperception and something that needs to be corrected."
Rania was in the midst of a fledgling banking career in Amman when she met then-Prince Abdullah at a dinner party. She married him in 1993. Both she and her husband were caught by surprise when the dying Hussein decreed that Abdullah (and not Hussein's brother) would ascend to the throne of the constitutional monarchy.
Now she has her work -- she's fond of saying that being queen is a job -- and she watches over her four children, rationing their television and Internet time. "I think all parents have a responsibility to really know what their children are up to when they re on the Internet. . . . It's a dangerous place," she said. "It's a great medium, but like everything else you have to understand the pitfalls."
She has a nanny and a tutor to help her with Prince Hussein, 13; Princess Iman, 11; Princess Salma, 7; and Prince Hashem, 2. And when she's out of town, her mom stops by to check on the kids.
When she's not traveling, she and the king relax with their "House" and "Grey's Anatomy" DVDs or go to their beach house in Aqaba in south Jordan. She admits she enjoys shopping. "It's about self-expression," she said.
Some in Jordan think she should be more traditional. "Some people would like to see me be in a more conservative situation, where I'm not playing such a public role," she said. "But the point is representing my country is part of my job. . . . That means I have to go out and tell Jordan's story."
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
From Oprah Show: Egyptian Imprisoned for Being Gay / Oprah Calls for Tolerance and Understanding
  The Cairo 52A night on the town turns tragic when 52 Egyptian men are arrested for being gay. One man's harrowing story.  | |  What Oprah ThinksThe show ended, but cameras kept rolling. Oprah opens up after the show about what she thinks about tolerance. |
The segment on Mazen and Oprah's closing statements were not shown on the show, but they can be viewed online at: http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200710/tows_past_20071024.jhtml
IGLHRC responds to legal threat against Lambda Istanbul
Date: October 16, 2007 Middle East » Turkey » For Your Information
IGLHRC responded with the letter below to a call from colleagues at Lambda Istanbul whose legal status as an association is threatened by the Istanbul government. The call from Lambda Istanbul of October 18, 2007 is available here .
To view a pdf version of the file, click here.
His Excellency Mehmet Ali Sahin, Minister of Justice, the Republic of Turkey
Fax: +90 312 419 33 70
Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Republic of Turkey
via email: besir.atalay@icisleri.gov.tr
Civil Service Commission on Human Rights Violations, Ministry of Justice
Fax: +90 312 418 12 60
Human Rights Council of Istanbul Province
via email: insanhaklari@istanbul.gov.tr
October 16, 20007
Your Excellencies:
On behalf of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), I am writing to ask that the Government of Turkey respect and protect the freedom of association and expression of all citizens, and take measures against the closure of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, travesty, and transsexual (LGBT) group Lambda Istanbul.
Denial of the right to free association effectively denies the right to free expression. We urge you to consider the following arguments in your position:
The right to free association falls within the scope of the political criteria that Turkey is required to observe for accession to the European Union, as established by the European Council in Copenhagen in 1993. On this basis and upon insistence from the European Union, Romania eliminated from its Penal Code the former art. 200 on same-sex relations, which had explicitly outlawed association and infringed upon free expression related to homosexuality.
Freedom of association and expression are guaranteed under international human rights law. LGBT people are fully included in the right to enjoy freedom of association and expression -- discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited (the Council of Europe’s European Convention of Human Rights, art. 11 and 10, and the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights art. 22 and 19, both ratified by Turkey). In its decision in Toonen v. Australia (1994), the UN Human Rights Committee affirmed that existing protections against discrimination in Articles 2 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) include sexual orientation. The European Court of Human Rights has also established a consistent jurisprudence in support of the elimination of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity under the European Convention on Human Rights. This Court takes an evolutionary approach to interpreting the provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights, basing its rulings on current understandings of the provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights, as opposed to the understanding when the Convention was adopted more than 50 years ago.
Turkey decriminalized consensual same-sex relations between adults in the 19th century, ahead of most other European countries, thus showing respect for the human being even before human rights became a universal reference and an element of international law.
We urge you to continue this vision and take measures against the closure of the Lambda Istanbul association, in order to respect and protect the right of association and expression for LGBT people.
Sincerely,
Paula Ettelbrick
Executive Director
IGLHRC works to secure the full enjoyment of the human rights of all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation or expression, gender identity or expression, and/or HIV status.A US-based nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, IGLHRC effects this mission through advocacy, documentation, coalition building, public education, and technical assistance.
IGLHRC responded with the letter below to a call from colleagues at Lambda Istanbul whose legal status as an association is threatened by the Istanbul government. The call from Lambda Istanbul of October 18, 2007 is available here .
To view a pdf version of the file, click here.
His Excellency Mehmet Ali Sahin, Minister of Justice, the Republic of Turkey
Fax: +90 312 419 33 70
Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Republic of Turkey
via email: besir.atalay@icisleri.gov.tr
Civil Service Commission on Human Rights Violations, Ministry of Justice
Fax: +90 312 418 12 60
Human Rights Council of Istanbul Province
via email: insanhaklari@istanbul.gov.tr
October 16, 20007
Your Excellencies:
On behalf of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), I am writing to ask that the Government of Turkey respect and protect the freedom of association and expression of all citizens, and take measures against the closure of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, travesty, and transsexual (LGBT) group Lambda Istanbul.
Denial of the right to free association effectively denies the right to free expression. We urge you to consider the following arguments in your position:
The right to free association falls within the scope of the political criteria that Turkey is required to observe for accession to the European Union, as established by the European Council in Copenhagen in 1993. On this basis and upon insistence from the European Union, Romania eliminated from its Penal Code the former art. 200 on same-sex relations, which had explicitly outlawed association and infringed upon free expression related to homosexuality.
Freedom of association and expression are guaranteed under international human rights law. LGBT people are fully included in the right to enjoy freedom of association and expression -- discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited (the Council of Europe’s European Convention of Human Rights, art. 11 and 10, and the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights art. 22 and 19, both ratified by Turkey). In its decision in Toonen v. Australia (1994), the UN Human Rights Committee affirmed that existing protections against discrimination in Articles 2 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) include sexual orientation. The European Court of Human Rights has also established a consistent jurisprudence in support of the elimination of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity under the European Convention on Human Rights. This Court takes an evolutionary approach to interpreting the provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights, basing its rulings on current understandings of the provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights, as opposed to the understanding when the Convention was adopted more than 50 years ago.
Turkey decriminalized consensual same-sex relations between adults in the 19th century, ahead of most other European countries, thus showing respect for the human being even before human rights became a universal reference and an element of international law.
We urge you to continue this vision and take measures against the closure of the Lambda Istanbul association, in order to respect and protect the right of association and expression for LGBT people.
Sincerely,
Paula Ettelbrick
Executive Director
IGLHRC works to secure the full enjoyment of the human rights of all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation or expression, gender identity or expression, and/or HIV status.A US-based nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, IGLHRC effects this mission through advocacy, documentation, coalition building, public education, and technical assistance.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Oprah Winfrey Show - "Gay Around the World" - Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tomorrow, October 24, a live (in the US) episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show, "Gay Around the World," will feature one of the Egyptian men arrested in the famous "Cairo 52" case in 2001. Human Rights Watch helped make his appearance on the program possible. He will talk not only about his arrest and imprisonment (the show will feature video recorded at the trial) but about his life in exile since. For more about the case and Human Rights Watch's three-year work on it, visit:
and
Also featured will be Manvendra Singh Gohil, scion of the Rajpipla royal family in India, who has become a voice for LGBT rights on the subcontinent. The program will also include segments on LGBT life in Iran, and Staceyann Chin, a Jamaican-born lesbian activist and artist. Check out http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200710/tows_past_20071024.jhtml?promocode=HP51 .
One guest was arrested and spent a year in jail. Another says she was so fearful, she moved to a different country. And, a prince's secret was so taboo, it ripped his royal family apart. A look at what it is like to be gay around the world.
Tune in Wednesday! - Preview at http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200710/tows_past_20071024.jhtml?promocode=HP51
Staceyann Chin and John Amaechi Live on Oprah – Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Gay Around the World
Please tune in to check out former NBA player John Amaechi and Tony-Award winning playwright and poet Staceyann Chin on Oprah's Show "Gay Around the World." We pitched her for the show, which broadcasts LIVE tomorrow (so set your DVD recorders). Staceyann is an outspoken, Jamaican-born lesbian artist/activist. For more info about Staceyann's work visit: http://www.staceyannchin.com/v2/index.html
Former NBA player John Amaechi will also appear on the show. Amaechi made headlines earlier this year when he became the first NBA player to come out. Throughout 2007, he's made numerous appearances on talk shows and has done an amazing job articulating his journey. To read more about Amaechi visit: http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2007/03/john_amaechi_interview/
The show description is as follows:
Tune in LIVE on Wednesday, October 24 when The Oprah Winfrey Show travels the globe for a look into the lives of gays and lesbians in the U.S. and worldwide. Go behind the headlines to see the secret lives of gays in Iran. Meet an Indian prince whose coming out caused a controversy in his homeland. Plus, meet inspiring gay couples and families from around the world. Check local listings for exact time and station.
http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200710/tows_past_20071024.jhtml?promocode=HP51
Tune in Wednesday! - Preview at http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200710/tows_past_20071024.jhtml?promocode=HP51
Staceyann Chin and John Amaechi Live on Oprah – Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Gay Around the World
Please tune in to check out former NBA player John Amaechi and Tony-Award winning playwright and poet Staceyann Chin on Oprah's Show "Gay Around the World." We pitched her for the show, which broadcasts LIVE tomorrow (so set your DVD recorders). Staceyann is an outspoken, Jamaican-born lesbian artist/activist. For more info about Staceyann's work visit: http://www.staceyannchin.com/v2/index.html
Former NBA player John Amaechi will also appear on the show. Amaechi made headlines earlier this year when he became the first NBA player to come out. Throughout 2007, he's made numerous appearances on talk shows and has done an amazing job articulating his journey. To read more about Amaechi visit: http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2007/03/john_amaechi_interview/
The show description is as follows:
Tune in LIVE on Wednesday, October 24 when The Oprah Winfrey Show travels the globe for a look into the lives of gays and lesbians in the U.S. and worldwide. Go behind the headlines to see the secret lives of gays in Iran. Meet an Indian prince whose coming out caused a controversy in his homeland. Plus, meet inspiring gay couples and families from around the world. Check local listings for exact time and station.
http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200710/tows_past_20071024.jhtml?promocode=HP51
Monday, October 22, 2007
Women in India Break Tradition with Prayer
From the Times of India
Women break tradition with namaz
16 Oct 2007
PUNE: In a city where Mahatma Phule and Maharishi Karve first sparked off the trend of women’s education, Muslim women offering ‘namaz’ together for the first time openly on the occasion of Ramzan Eid on Sunday came as no surprise.
In an initiative by the Kerala Muslim Jamath, almost 70 women, including 20 teenagers, gathered at the Pune Kerala Muslim Jamat (PKMJ) Hall at Nana Peth here for the purpose.
Since this is a widely followed practice in Kerala, the women’s cell of the PKMJ felt that this should be implemented in Pune as well.
“In Mecca and Medina as well, women read the namaz in mosques, and the Quran also doesn’t stop women from that. So we put forth our request to the PKMJ executive committee and it was approved,” said Sulu Gafoor, women’s president of the PKMJ.
Considering that this was the first time that such an initiative was held in the city, the attendance was more than expected, said Gafoor.
According to C Shamsuddin, executive chairman of the PKMJ, with a population of 2,000 to 3,000, we are a very small community in Pune. “We have almost 500 member families of the PKMJ here. That makes it all the more important for us to generate new ideas to keep the community close-knit and what better way than to bring women to the forefront?”
Renowned poetess Kamala Suraiyya also hailed the initiative by sending out a letter of appreciation to the women who participated in the namaz.
Abeda Inamdar, vice-president of Maharashtra Cosmopilitan Education Society, said, “Fifty per cent of society constitutes of women, so if they come together in a holy or a social atmosphere to discuss their issues, it will lead to the development of the community in particular and the nation in general.”
The PKMJ is now trying to have women offer namaz along with men on Fridays.
Women break tradition with namaz
16 Oct 2007
PUNE: In a city where Mahatma Phule and Maharishi Karve first sparked off the trend of women’s education, Muslim women offering ‘namaz’ together for the first time openly on the occasion of Ramzan Eid on Sunday came as no surprise.
In an initiative by the Kerala Muslim Jamath, almost 70 women, including 20 teenagers, gathered at the Pune Kerala Muslim Jamat (PKMJ) Hall at Nana Peth here for the purpose.
Since this is a widely followed practice in Kerala, the women’s cell of the PKMJ felt that this should be implemented in Pune as well.
“In Mecca and Medina as well, women read the namaz in mosques, and the Quran also doesn’t stop women from that. So we put forth our request to the PKMJ executive committee and it was approved,” said Sulu Gafoor, women’s president of the PKMJ.
Considering that this was the first time that such an initiative was held in the city, the attendance was more than expected, said Gafoor.
According to C Shamsuddin, executive chairman of the PKMJ, with a population of 2,000 to 3,000, we are a very small community in Pune. “We have almost 500 member families of the PKMJ here. That makes it all the more important for us to generate new ideas to keep the community close-knit and what better way than to bring women to the forefront?”
Renowned poetess Kamala Suraiyya also hailed the initiative by sending out a letter of appreciation to the women who participated in the namaz.
Abeda Inamdar, vice-president of Maharashtra Cosmopilitan Education Society, said, “Fifty per cent of society constitutes of women, so if they come together in a holy or a social atmosphere to discuss their issues, it will lead to the development of the community in particular and the nation in general.”
The PKMJ is now trying to have women offer namaz along with men on Fridays.
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