(Editor’s note: The Rev. Canon Albert Ogle delivered these remarks today at the International AIDS Conference at a panel on “Religion, Culture and Law.” This will serve as his weekly RGOD2 column.)
The word religion is from the Latin word religio “to bind.” It is also sometimes described as law – a divine obligation, or sacred covenant which binds humanity with the mystery we call God.
http://sdgln.com/social/2012/07/27/rgod2-religion-and-hiv-remarks
By Robert Mukondiwa
(Washington, D.C.) She has a remarkable smile like sunshine on ones face on a chilly autumnal breezy morning. It lights up the room whenever she speaks.
She can effortlessly read through the directory, dictionary, even the most boing of texts and still capture one’s attention. A golden ray shines from within her.
Yet that ability to smile is the hallmark of a strength that only God can grant. A resilience and inner strength that the horns around Jericho cannot dent and a recovery that many cannot fathom once aced with her situation.
For sitting amongst the St Paul’s Foundation ‘Spirit of 76’ advocates, this soul; Maria*, has a lot of scars on her spirit and soul.
“it was not one, not two, not three but FOUR of them,” she recalled I a testimonial of her story. It is not a smooth kind line from the Lionel Ritchie ballad ‘Three Times A Lady’ but rather a cruel recollection when four bigots, criminals, rapists, stormed into her life and went on to ape and defile her in the hope of making her a ‘real woman’.
Yes, FOUR times a lady, they thought to themselves!
As a lesbian woman, Maria ‘deserved’ to be raped so as to appreciate men and desist from her ‘unnatural’ sexual preference and orientation.
Society would always look aside, condoning such practices in the 76 countries that criminalise same sex unions thereby stripping those in the LGBTQI communities of their rights should such a horrible circumstance befall them. After all ‘criminals’ do not deserve to be protected under the law.
It was the same for the blacks in the civil rights movement-that war has been won. It was the same for the Jews in the Holocaust. That battle has been won. It was the same for women battling for suffrage and enfranchisement; that war has been won. And it is the battles that have been won in the past that make Maia and her peer advocates envision as day in which THEIR own war shall have been won.
She is chivalrous. She is the face of the movement. And she is calling for allies and co-advocates to stand up for her and her rights.
Today like Rosa Parks she sits in the back of the dignity bus but stubbornly walks to the front. To access equal access to treatment and care, she has to exist and live with dignity. So she has walked to the front on the bus and stubbornly taken a seat her society does not want to accord her.
First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
(Martin Niemöller; 14 January 1892 – 6 March 1984)
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“The Spirit of 76” is a program of the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation and the COMPASS Coalition partners who are committed to ending criminalization of LGBT citizens and increasing dialogue and reconciliation between faith and secular organizations. For more information visit: spiritof76worldwide.com. Support our 26 international visitors in Washington DC July 17-30th by donating through: stpaulsfoundation.com/Donate.html. For further information contact Eric Scharf, escharf@kelseymgmt.com or 202-644-1320.
The St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation is an IRS code 501(3) non-profit corporation
St. Paul’s Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Avenue, San Diego, California CA 92103 – Tel 949-338-8830 http://www.stpaulsfoundation.com President, The Rev. Canon Albert Ogle – aogle@stpaulsfoundation.com
By Robert Mukondiwa
(Washington, D.C.) The advocates in the spirit of 76 initiative led by the St Pauls Foundation for International Reconciliation have very diverse backgrounds, appreciation of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but one little prayer runs as a recurring theme of their expectations. They pray for blindness!
It could seem like a rather awkward wish where the gift of sight is a wonderful God given gift, but theirs is a unique type of blindness.
“If we use our eyes to see people we deem different from us and then victimize them based on their being different, we are not doing justice to the wonderful gift of sight that we have,” said one of the delegates working in the field of HIV and Aids amongst the MSM (men who have sex with men) community.
While many in the United States can take for granted the rights of the LGBT communities in an environment where discrimination is not permissible under the law, many of these delegates come from countries that criminalise homosexuality with the possible penalties being incarceration and even the death sentence in other cases.
“A society we pray for is one where people are blind to prejudice and see everyone as an equal human being who deserves respect just like the other. That is the blindness we pray for. That people be blind to the things that divide us and celebrate that we are human and diverse people with differences that ought to be respected,” she added.
Yet the unique call is not coming from those who are themselves gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer or intersex but from even allies who themselves are straight and may choose not look the other way and not be bothered about ‘other people’s problems’.
Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Uganda, the man dubbed the Desmond Tutu of Uganda also weighed in with his thoughts, hate is a cancer that has to be eradicated he said in no uncertain terms.
“I am not gay myself but I want to preach a gospel of love. St Paul said ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ and I am sure if he were alive today he would have said ‘there is neither gay nor straight’ and that is why I preach love despite my church not being happy with me,” he says.
And the stories are intriguing as the group is like a healed Job. Like the Old Testament Job all the people in the team have a heart-rending story to tell which scarred them. From tales of prejudice, personal attacks right down to the ills of ‘corrective rape’ the people have had dark days behind them. But like the sores all over Job’s body they have healed and are in the process of healing in a remarkable turn of events. What has not killed them has now made them hardened and determined to achieve their goals of decriminalisation in their countries.
They say time can turn diamonds to dust as it weathers the sparkling rock, but no amount of time can weather the amazing resolve that shapes this team nor kill their morale as they exhibit tenets of hard work, energy and tireless dedication….plus a dream that one day their battle shall be won and they shall not be labeled or attacked for their sexual identity but by the content of their amazing character!
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“The Spirit of 76” is a program of the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation and the COMPASS Coalition partners who are committed to ending criminalization of LGBT citizens and increasing dialogue and reconciliation between faith and secular organizations. For more information visit: spiritof76worldwide.com. Support our 26 international visitors in Washington DC July 17-30th by donating through: stpaulsfoundation.com/Donate.html. For further information contact Eric Scharf, escharf@kelseymgmt.com or 202-644-1320.
The St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation is an IRS code 501(3) non-profit corporation
St. Paul’s Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Avenue, San Diego, California CA 92103 – Tel 949-338-8830 http://www.stpaulsfoundation.com President, The Rev. Canon Albert Ogle – aogle@stpaulsfoundation.com
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on Monday that the United States would prepare a “blueprint” to confront the global AIDS epidemic and realize her previously stated vision of an “AIDS-free generation.”
In a speech before attendees in D.C. at the 19th International AIDS Conference, Clinton said she directed U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby to develop the plan and said it would be unveiled before Dec. 1 on World AIDS Day.
“I have asked Ambassador Dr. Goosby to take the lead on developing and sharing our blueprint of the goals and objectives for the next phase of our effort and to release this blueprint by World AIDS Day this year,” Clinton said. “We want the next Congress, the next secretary of state, and all of our partners here at home and around the world to have a clear picture of everything we’ve learned and a roadmap that shows what we will contribute to achieving an AIDS-free generation.”
More information and video at: http://www.sdgln.com/news/2012/07/24/hillary-clinton-aids-2012
[Episcopal News Service] Faith in the face of discrimination and disease can be difficult, but for more than 750 activists who have arrived in Washington, D.C., ahead of the July 22-27International AIDS Conference to take part in an interfaith pre-conference, it is also indispensable.
Joining the main event, Turning the Tide Together, which will draw more than 20,000 participants from around the globe, and the two-day pre-conference, Faith & AIDS 2012: Taking Action Together, which kicks off July 20 at Howard University, are 26 witnesses from the 76 countries where being LGBT is illegal.
The witnesses, who each have a faith connection, were brought to Washington by “The Spirit of 76,” a program of the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation and the COMPASS Coalition, nonprofits working to end the criminalization of LGBT citizens and to foster dialogue and reconciliation.
They have traveled from as far afield as Singapore and Uganda to share their personal stories and to build partnerships to enable greater engagement and collaboration in the area of faith and rights.
They will take part in plenary sessions, skill-building workshops and daily worship under the theme of health, dignity and justice at the Interfaith Pre-Conference on HIV, before joining the 19th AIDS Conference to hear from HIV experts from a variety of disciplines and learn of the latest advances in HIV science and the most important policy and programmatic issues. They’ll also hear from a wide range of world leaders and celebrities, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Microsoft Founder and Chairman Bill Gates and Singer/Songwriter Elton John.
Gathering formally for the first time on July 18 at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in downtown D.C. after a day of sightseeing in 98-degree heat, the group dined together and received a warm welcome from the organizers and from Daniel Baer, deputy assistant secretary of state, who greeted them on behalf of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Most had arrived on July 17 and spent their first two nights with hosts from local congregations, among those six Episcopal churches in the Diocese of Washington. (Local coordinator Eric Scharf, of St. Thomas’ Episcopal, D.C., worked with the parishes to find hosts). They will stay at Howard University for the duration of the two conferences, returning to their hosts for the last two nights, when they also will share their stories in their hosts’ congregations.
Maxensia N. Takirambule, executive director of the Lungujja Community Health Caring Organization, the Rev. Canon Albert J. Ogle, president of the St. Paul’s Foundation, Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, the retired former bishop of West Buganda, Uganda, and Daniel Baer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. ENS photo/Lucy Chumbley
“Often when there’s problems in countries with access to HIV/AIDS medication and treatment, the faith community is in the front seat driving [activism],” said the Rev. Canon Albert J. Ogle, president of the St. Paul’s Foundation and a priest of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, San Diego.
Baer said one of the questions he’s asked most frequently is how to engage faith communities. “It is the thing everybody seems to identify as the locus of important conversations,” he said.
Commending Obama for lifting the 22-year ban on travel to the United States by people who had tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS — as did Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in a joint statement on the AIDS Conference released July 20 — Baer said it was essential to have these conversations in person.
“In the age of Facebook and Twitter, we can forget how important it is to come together, face to face,” he said. “It’s important not just to exchange information, but to remind each other that we’re not here alone.”
He described the challenge of HIV/AIDS as “the door you can gently open to how to protect issues of human rights of LGBT people,” adding that “you can’t really solve practical problems without protecting human rights.”
Baer said he had learned from retired Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, a gay rights activist from Uganda who was named by the Huffington Post as one of the 10 most influential religious leaders in 2010, that compassion is a two-way street.
“If we don’t acknowledge that the step for many people is uncomfortable, difficult – something they’ve fought for so long – then we won’t get to the second or third conversation,” he said.
Introduced by Ogle as “one of the great spiritual leaders of the movement,” Senyonjo, former bishop of West Buganda, spoke of the need for religious leaders to refocus on the message of love.
“Instead of preaching good news, we are preaching hate,” he said. “Instead of preaching love we are preaching about people going to hell… We have to change our preaching: God has created you and God loves you in spite of your sexuality. This is good news, and people need to hear it.”
Religious convictions aside, Senyonjo pointed out that on a purely practical note, if marginalized people are unable to seek treatment, the AIDS pandemic will become worse.
“It is worse to allow genocide to take place,” he said.
Human rights activist Maxensia N. Takirambule, the Roman Catholic executive director of the Lungujja Community Health Caring Organization in Uganda, said without the support of advocates like Senyonjo, she would not be able to do the work she is doing.
Takirambule has been HIV positive for the last 16 years and in 1999 lost her husband to the disease.
“If I could not get treatment, if I could not find people like Bishop Senyonjo to talk to me… would I be here?” she said. “I had no hope for life. If I had not been empowered enough to do this advocacy, I would not be here.”
Takirambule stressed the need to build strong and enduring partnerships during the conference. “We need a strong advocacy team, because for us in Africa, individually, it is not very easy for us to speak up. But when we form a group…”
During their time in Washington, The Spirit of 76 witnesses will take part in a July 25 advocacy day, said Sandy Sorensen, director of the UCC’s Washington, D.C., office of justice and witness ministries. The group will gather at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill for a briefing before forming about 13 teams of three (two international religious leaders and one U.S. accompanier) to meet with government representatives.
“Unless you bring things to the forefront with a visit and a story, these issues can get pushed to the side,” Sorensen said. “It really makes a difference to have real live engagement with people and their stories.”
In addition to these in-person meetings, both the UCC network and the Episcopal Public Policy Network will send out action alerts to gather support for these issues from the wider church.
“We have a very clear mandate to care for the sick and the most vulnerable, and the AIDS pandemic is a very clear manifestation of that in our time,” said Sarah Dreier, the legislative representative for international issues for both the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Dreier described the joint statement released July 20 by Jefferts Schori and Hanson as a “proactive and staunch stance on where these churches stand,” and encouraged members of both denominations to advocate for the allocation of robust funding to make treatment more effective and widespread and to contribute to the de-stigmatization of the disease.
To learn more about how to take action, visit the Episcopal Public Policy Network.
Related events:
• At 7 p.m. July 21, Washington National Cathedral will host “From Darkness to Light: An Interfaith Service of Hope and Commitment” honoring those who have died and those who continue to struggle to live with dignity and worth in the face of HIV/AIDS. Dr. James Curran will speak at the service, which will be webcast live from the cathedral’s homepage.
• Marking the 25th anniversary of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the NAMES Project Foundation is overseeing Quilt in the Capital, the display of portions of the quilt at locations around the city. To date, the quilt memorializes more than 94,000 individuals on more than 47,000 panels. Notable panels, blessed on July 18 by Bishop Jane Holmes Dixon, will be on display at Washington National Cathedral through July 24.
– Lucy Chumbley is a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C.
Major private sector, NGO, and foundation sponsors include Abbott Virology, Bristol-Myers Sqibb, Chevron, Gilead, Janssen, Kaiser Permanente, Levi Strauss & Co., MAC AIDS Fund, Merck, Mylan, TD Bank, and ViiV Healthcare
9 July 2012 (Washington, D.C., – United States) - Organizers of the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) – to be held in Washington, D.C., Unites States from 22 to 27 July 2012 – today announced significant private sector support for the Conference, including six major industry sponsors, fourteen corporate sponsors, and fourteen private donors.
Expected to attract more than 20,000 delegates from around the world, AIDS 2012 will be a tremendous opportunity for scientists and researchers to evaluate recent scientific developments and lessons learnt, and collectively chart a course forward.
“We are extremely pleased with the level of commitment shown by so many,” said Dr. Elly Katabira, International Chair of AIDS 2012 and President of the International AIDS Society. “Changing the course of HIV/AIDS is possible, but only with the unified commitment and action of everyone, including the private sector, NGOs, and foundations.”
Major industry sponsors thus far are Abbott Virology, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Janssen, Merck, and ViiV Healthcare. Private sector, NGO, and foundation sponsors are Chevron, Kaiser Permanente, Levi Strauss & Co., Mylan, MAC AIDS Fund, TD Bank, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Abt Associates, Emcure, Ford Foundation, United Nations Foundations, Deloitte, Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS, AIDS United, and Tobira Therapeutics. More agreements are in the pipeline. For a full list of AIDS 2012 sponsors and supporters here or visitwww.aids2012.org and click on ‘Sponsors and Supporters.’
“The AIDS 2012 theme, Turning the Tide Together, has been selected because it captures the current sense of hope and the renewed optimism that a change in direction is possible,” AIDS 2012 U.S. Co-Chair Dr. Diane Havlir. “The support AIDS 2012 has received from the private sector is an example of the level of commitment all stakeholders need to continue to demonstrate if we are going to change the course of HIV/AIDS.”
End
About AIDS 2012
The International AIDS Conference is the largest gathering of professionals working in the field of HIV, including people living with HIV and other leaders in the HIV response. It plays a fundamental role in shaping the global response to HIV and in keeping HIV and AIDS on the international political agenda.
Conference Organization
AIDS 2012 is convened by the International AIDS Society and the conference’s international partners: the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+); the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO); the International Community of Women with HIV/AIDS (ICW) and the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS): the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC); Sidaction.
The U.S.-based Black AIDS Institute; the District of Columbia Department of Health (DOH); the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA); the National Institutes of Health (NIH); the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP); and the U.S. Positive Women’s Network (USPWN) serve as local partners.
AIDS 2012: Join the conversation
Get the latest conference updates and share your thoughts and ideas through the Conference Facebook and Twitter. We are tweeting – @aids2012 – and hope many of you will tweet along with us, using #AIDS2012 to keep the conversation going. Become a fan of AIDS 2012 on Facebook and stay in touch with the latest conference updates and developments. Please visit www.facebook.com/aids2012 to become a fan. If your group or organization is participating in AIDS 2012, we welcome posts of photos and videos of your work on this page. Tell us why you are coming to Washington and what you hope to gain from AIDS 2012.
Media centre opening hours: Media Centre operations begin on Saturday, 21 July at 13:00. The Media Centre will be staffed between 08:00 and 20:00 each day, and will remain accessible 24 hours per day until 24:00 on Friday, 27 July.
About the IAS
The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world’s leading independent association of HIV professionals, with over 16,000 members from more than 196 countries working at all levels of the global response to AIDS. Our members include researchers from all disciplines, clinicians, public health and community practitioners on the frontlines of the epidemic, as well as policy and programme planners. The IAS is the custodian of the biennial International AIDS Conference and lead organizer of the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 30 June– 3 July 2013. www.iasociety.org | www.ias2013.org
For more information about this release:
Shawn Jain (Washington, D.C., U.S.)
AIDS 2012 U.S. Media Relations Coordinator
Email shawn.jain@aids2012.org
Mob:+12027140535
Francesca Da Ros (Geneva, Switzerland)
AIDS 2012 Communications and Media Officer
Tel: +41 22 710 0822
Mob: +41 (0)796 109 679
US Mob (July 16-28): +1 202 997 6917
Washington, D.C. — The Spirit of 76 is joining the International AIDS Conference from July 22 to July 27, 2012 in Washington, D.C. to publicly call to account the 76 predominantly Sub Saharan African countries where LGBT people are criminalized merely for their identities. The 26 “authentic witnesses,” sponsored by the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation, will arrive in D.C. testify on their experiences to multiple interfaith groups as part of the conference. Participants from The Spirit of 76 will be participating in events from July 17 through July 30.
“There are 76 countries where it is still illegal to be LGBT and often illegal to access HIV prevention and health services. The authentic witnesses, 26 courageous individuals from these countries, are taking a huge risk in coming to the USA to tell their stories and help the American and international community understand the negative consequences of religious-based homophobia,” said Canon Albert Ogle, President of the Foundation.
WHAT: The Spirit of 76 Welcoming Reception.
26 “authentic witnesses,” sponsored by the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation and mostly from Sub Saharan Africa, will begin to testify on their experiences.
WHEN: July 18, 2012 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm
WHERE: First Congregational, United Church of Christ
945 G Street, NW
Washington, D.C., 2004
(near Gallery Place and Metro Center stops)
WHO: Daniel Baer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
“The Spirit of 76” is a program of the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation and the COMPASS Coalition partners who are committed to ending criminalization of LGBT citizens and increasing dialogue and reconciliation between faith and secular organizations. For more information visit: spiritof76worldwide.com. Support our 26 international visitors in Washington DC July 17-30th by donating through: stpaulsfoundation.com/Donate.html. For further information contact Frank O’Brien, fjxobrien@gmail.com, 571-214-6619
The St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation is an IRS code 501(3) non-profit corporation
St. Paul’s Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Avenue, San Diego, California CA 92103 – Tel 949-338-8830 http://www.stpaulsfoundation.com President, The Rev. Canon Albert Ogle – aogle@stpaulsfoundation.com
Spirit of 76 Worldwide is a project of the COMPASS Coalition (Coalition on Minority Protection Against Sexual Stigma), through which people of faith are working to eliminate punitive laws that deny LGBT people basic human rights, education, health services and economic security.
