Tag: LGBT activism

Osman Sulaiman: Malay Muslim Community Must Make A Stand As The Government’s Inconsistent Policies Continue to Divide

I believe the reason why some people still fear the Muslim women who wear the hijab is becoz they have little or poor knowledge on why these ladies put it on. And they most probably have not had the opportunity nor the exposure to mingle and make contact with them.

For 50 years, our gov has all of the necessary apparatus to assuage this matter but it has not done so and has in fact shown to be unwilling to do so. It continues to do this so that it can rule by division.

They continue to disallow any muslim child who wear the headgear from attending the mainstream school and thus segregating the mass of the population from these people and thus compounding the misconception about people who wear the hijabs.

Many studies have shown that the younger the child is exposed to a certain environment, the better these children will be able to adapt. Unfortunately, the people that rule us think otherwise.

How then do we integrate people of different faith together? Oddly enough, the Sikh community is given the green light to wear the turban in school if they choose to.

Dont get me wrong. Im not advocating for the gov to ban turbans in pri and sec schools becoz the muslim girls weren’t allowed to practice their faith but rather to apply the policy consistently for the greater good of the people as a whole.

For all of its time in power, our gov has continued with its iniquity towards certain segment of the society in particular the malays and/or muslims.

From time to time, we will also hear the ministers on record to give their skewed perspective of the malays and muslims, creating further doubts. I wonder how our malay/muslim ministers feel serving such a government.

I also find it hard to swallow that Singapore reproves its neighbour up north for their exclusion of talent based on race but at the same time doing exactly the opposite of what it propagates.

Other than disallowing the muslim girls who wear the headgear in pri and sec mainstream schools, many job opportunities (particularly in the uniform groups) are also not made available to them by way of implementing discriminating policies. This act has unfortunately spilled over to the private sectors.

Our gov is certainly not oblivious on the aspirations of the malay/muslim community to be treated justly and to remove any doubts on its loyalty towards the nation. It has come to a point where our fundamental rights are now treated as candies to be given at the pleasure of these people governing us.

If there are social faultlines that divide us, especially on race or religion, then i believe this gov is the main contributor of such matters.

It has been many years my community keep giving this current gov their support but have seen no change to this issue. I implore my community to rethink on their choices. The support should be given to people who believe in inclusiveness. Not the artificial ones that we are experiencing now.

Ask yourself this pertinent question. How many more years do we want to wait? If we have never contributed anything significant to our own community, this is the best chance to do so on a huge scale.

We cant have any success without a little sacrifice. We should not fear the unknown. No one will change our fate unless we change it ourselves.

We need to rally our family members and friends to do what is needed. Im afraid that with the influx of new citizens, our political voices will be diminished further. It might then be too late for any regrets.

Regards,
Osman Sulaiman

Authored by Osman Sulaiman.

December 2, 2014
Response to the Supreme Court Ruling on 377A

Statement from Gary and Kenneth.

“We are deeply disappointed with the judgement of the Court and though it has ruled that it is beyond its judiciary function to help the lgbt community, we are thankful that the justices have taken the time to consider this appeal in detail. We hope that parliament will be able to do so as well.

While the legal road for us has ended, we believe and hope that this case has inspired Singaporeans – straight, gay, bisexual and transgender – not to keep silent in the face of prejudice and inequality.

We have been in a loving relationship for over 17 years and this past year has been an incredible milestone for us. We decided to embark on this journey because we felt that the LGBT community deserves to be recognized as equal to the rest of society in the eyes of the law and have been witness to the discrimination and unfair treatment of the LGBT community on the basis of S377A of the Penal Code.

Being a part of this historical campaign provided us the opportunity to show young LGBT people that there are gay and lesbian couples in Singapore who have weathered the discriminatory nature of our society and though we have to strive harder than heterosexual couples to be together, it can be done. We hope that we and the many other LGBT couples who are increasingly telling their stories will help others, and we hope that Singaporeans will see this as a minor setback for equality and fairness, and that we can as a country recognise the value of LGBT people.

We would like to thank the many people who have supported us on this fight. From the many who have donated funds to the legal case, to those who have contributed their knowledge and expertise. We also thank our lawyers Deborah Barker and Peter Low both of whom have been immensely supportive during the 2 phases of our legal challenge.

This particular journey may have ended for us but it continues for the rest of the community.

Thank you”

Source: www.indiegogo.com/projects/fundraising-for-s377a-constitutional-challenge

October 30, 2014
LGBT Issue: Obama Declaring War on Religion, Bullying People of Faith

Dear Mr. President, I write to you today as a concerned citizen of our great nation, standing as a witness against your historic actions on the morning of July 21, 2014, actions which I hope you will one day repudiate with deep remorse and regret.

I am referring, of course, to your signing an executive order Monday banning “discrimination” by federal contractors against LGBT people, allowing for no religious exemptions of any kind.

This was an outrageous act of discrimination against religion in the name of anti-discrimination—an act of bullying people of faith in the name of the prevention of bullying.

How can you, as a man who professes to be a person of faith and a follower of Jesus, throw religious Americans—in particular Christians—under the bus?

How can you attempt to force Christians, Jews, Muslims and others to violate fundamental aspects of their moral codes in order to appease a small but powerful special interest group, one that is not, in fact, suffering daily economic hardship by being fired from their jobs because of their sexual orientation or expression?

Have you forgotten entirely that our nation was founded on the concept of religious freedom?

It was unfortunate that you did not reflect on the recent Supreme Court decisions that made clear that you and your administration have consistently overstepped your bounds. Instead, once again, you bypassed the will of the people, as reflected in their elected officials, and simply made a decision affecting millions of Americans.

Worse still, you ignored the appeals of trusted religious leaders, some of whom campaigned for you in the past and others of whom have been among your trusted advisors, deciding instead to side with radical LGBT activism.

These leaders made a righteous and reasonable appeal to you, writing, “Mr. President, you have spoken eloquently of your commitment to protecting religious liberty, our nation’s first freedom. As you seek to promote the rights of LGBT persons, please also protect the rights of faith-based organizations that simply desire to utilize staffing practices consistent with their deep religious convictions as they partner with the federal government via contracting or subcontracting.”

In response, you mocked these “deep religious convictions,” and there are no words you can say to minimize the seriousness of your actions.

Mr. President, what was wrong with letting Congress make an informed decision on ENDA? Do you scorn the political process so much that you bypass it entirely?

You stated that, “I’m going to do what I can, with the authority I have, to act,” but the implications of your actions are massive.

An organization like Prison Reform, which utilizes federal funds to help transform the lives of inmates, would suffer dramatic financial setbacks should they simply refuse to hire individuals who violate their time-proven, biblically based code of conduct.

Children supported by World Vision, with the help of federal funds, would be deprived of food and shelter unless World Vision leaders compromised their Christian convictions. (After much soul searching this year, they have made clear that they will not compromise).

Fine Christian universities, which provide important academic and ethical training for the next generation of leaders and which are also the recipients of federal funding, could suffer a massive blow unless they forsake the faith on which their institutions were built.

Mr. President, must you now even take the place of God and tell Christians what they can and cannot actively practice?

I concur with Peter Sprigg who wrote that, “This level of coercion is nothing less than viewpoint blackmail that bullies into silence every contractor and subcontractor who has moral objections to homosexual behavior. This order gives activists a license to challenge their employers and, expose those employers to threats of costly legal proceedings and the potential of jeopardizing future contracts.”

In truth, this is not a civil rights issue, as if gay were the new black. As Catholic leader Austin Ruse observed, “the LGBTs are the most powerful aggrieved minority the world has ever known,” while, in contrast, “Black Americans really were aggrieved: enslaved, not allowed to vote, discriminated against in housing, banking and much else, hunted down and lynched.”

As our nation’s first African-American president, you must surely see the difference. Or is it true, as your critics claim, that you really intend to declare war on religion in America?

It is one thing to treat all people fairly, be they male or female, gay or straight, young or old. It is another thing to trample religious freedoms under foot and to attempt to coerce, with the full force of the government, men and women of deep religious faith and commitment.

Mr. President, there are millions of Americans who pray for you on a regular basis, and I have often called on my radio listeners to pray that you would be the greatest president in American history.

Despite those prayers, you took it upon yourself to enact an order which declares that, in the workplace, sexual rights trump religious rights. What a terrible, tragic shame.

I do pray for you, sir, as my president, that God would grant you the humility to recognize the error of your ways. At the same time, I assure you that there are countless thousands of Christian leaders and people of faith who will neither abandon their convictions nor be silenced from articulating those convictions.

And so, perhaps, in God’s providence, what you intended as a religious restriction will become the impetus for a religious awakening.

After all, you might well be the most powerful human being on the planet, but we will all bow down one day before the throne of God, and He will have the final say.

Michael Brown is author of Can You Be Gay and Christian? Responding With Love and Truth to Questions About Homosexuality and host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire on the Salem Radio Network. He is also president of FIRE School of Ministry and director of the Coalition of Conscience. Follow him at AskDrBrown on Facebook or at @drmichaellbrown on Twitter.

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July 23, 2014