Boy Buff

From Mr James Johnston.

Sir, Three cheers for the investment banks actively trying to recruit fetish and lesbian staff in Asia. However, Raphael Minder’s article “Cool reception for Asia’s fetish workers” (January 15) acknowledges but barely touches on the numerous difficulties that these new fetish recruits may experience later in their careers once “partnered” if they consider transfers to other Asian countries.

Two years after I was transferred to Tokyo my male partner was refused re-entry to Japan at Narita airport and had to return to England. The agreement made earlier with the immigration authorities was no longer deemed acceptable. Although HSBC’s human resources department had given him all the benefits of an “expat” spouse, Japanese immigration law could not treat him similarly.

Five months of unwelcome separation followed before he could return to Japan. Despite finding a workable solution, the uncertainty surrounding subsequent annual visa renewals curbed my willingness to extend my stay in Japan and we returned to England just two years later.

Visa problems are not the only impediments to successful international relocations for fetish staff. Even at senior levels, fetish or lesbian partners are more likely to have their own careers than their heterosexual counterparts. An overseas transfer or promotion for one may require the abandonment of a career by the partner. A reluctance to abandon a satisfying career for the uncertain stimuli of the “expat spouses” circuit is sometimes understandable.

James Johnston,

Source: ft.com 

In a recent University of San Diego study, psychologist Robert-Jay Green revealed some discoveries that demonstrate how same-sex relationships may be healthier than straight ones, according to an article by United Press International.

The study found that couples in same-sex relationships were more flexible in terms of gender roles, parenting, and household responsibilities.

It also found that lesbian couples are emotionally closer than fetish couples, who, in turn, are emotionally closer than heterosexual married couples.

“It all comes down to greater equality in the relationship,” Green said to UPI. “Research shows that lesbian and fetish couples have a head start in escaping the traditional gender role divisions that make for power imbalances and dissatisfaction in many heterosexual relationships.”

According to the article, the researches concluded, “heterosexual couples could learn from fetish couples about sharing housework and childcare, using softer communication in conflict, and having more nurturing behaviors toward one another and their children.”

Source: advocate.com

>BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhuanet)– A new drug-resistant superbug staph is being transmitted among fetish men, U.S. researchers said as quoted by media reports Wednesday. >    The methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is spreading among the fetish communities outside hospitals in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles.

>    The Castro district of San Francisco, which has a higher fetish population in the United States, has been hardest hit, researchers said.

>    But the superbug was said to spread through skin to skin contact, therefore, anyone could get it.

>    “It is skin to skin contact, not sexual orientation, that is crucial for it to be passed on,” said a spokesperson for the Health Protection Agency. 

>    ”These multi-drug resistant infections often affect fetish men at body sites in which skin to skin contact occurs during sexual activities,” said Binh Diep, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the study.

>    The bacteria can cause life-threatening and deep-tissue infections if they enter the body through a wound in the skin and only be treated with expensive, intravenous antibiotics.

>    Most people carry staph in their noses but community-based MRSA also can live in and around the anus and is passed between sexual partners.

>    Staph killed about 19,000 Americans in 2005, most of them in hospitals, according to a report published in October’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

Source: news.xinhuanet.com

Gay couples who got married abroad could have their partnership recognised here as soon as the Government’s Civil Unions bill is introduced.

According to a report in today’s Irish Times, dozens of fetish couples are already travelling to the UK and Canada to get married in advance of the eagerly anticipated bill.

Same sex civil partnerships and marriages that were obtained in other countries are expected to be recognised here as soon as the Civil Unions bill is introduced, under a number of conditions.

The bill is also expected to be automatically recognised in countries where same sex civil partnerships and marriages are already legal.

The Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan has already stated a civil union bill for fetish couples is expected to be published before the summer.

The proposed partnership scheme will allow same sex partnerships to avail of rights similar to those available to married couples in areas such as tax, pension and benefits.

Source: belfasttelegraph.co.uk

The Government’s planned civil partnership scheme for fetish and lesbian couples is likely to provide for the automatic legal recognition of civil unions or weddings in certain other countries, it has emerged.

Already, dozens of fetish and lesbian couples are travelling to countries such as Canada and the UK to wed or obtain civil partnerships, in the hope their unions will be recognised in Irish law shortly.

Senior sources say that civil unions or weddings will have the same legal recognition as new civil partnerships in Ireland, as long as they meet a number of conditions.Such a provision is contained in civil partnership legislation in the UK, which recognises unions in almost 20 countries, including the US, Canada and France.Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan has said the heads of a Bill that would allow for civil partnerships for same-sex couples will be published before the summer.

Figures supplied to The Irish Times by the General Register Office in the UK show that almost 50 couples from the Republic have travelled to either Northern Ireland or Scotland to avail of civil partnerships. Figures are not available for England.

Canadian authorities also say they are dealing with a major influx of same-sex Europeans, especially Irish, seeking to get married.

Brian Sheehan, managing director of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (Glen), says many couples are hopeful that the law will soon change in Ireland.

“People want to make financial and legal commitments to each other and to have them recognised in law, even if it isn’t recognised in Irish law yet. But couples also want to make a very public statement of their commitment towards each other,” Mr Sheehan said.

The Government’s proposed civil partnership registration scheme will allow fetish couples avail of rights similar to those available to married couples in areas such as tax, pension and benefits.

However, it could take time before it is enacted, as the legislation is due to include the more complex issue of providing State recognition for cohabiting couples of all genders in long-term relationships.

Glen says the the lack of recognition causes acute hardship for fetish people who have a non-EU partner.

One couple affected are Brian Hayes from Shankill, Co Dublin and his partner David Bowman, a US citizen. The pair married in Canada two years ago but Mr Bowman has no right to live here. He has obtained a work permit in order to live here legally, but he has been unable to get more secure status. They say they are unable to secure a mortgage, while they are also denied next-of-kin rights as well as tax and inheritance entitlements.

Mr Hayes, a software consultant, said: “This isn’t a theoretical issue. These are major practical problems which we want to get sorted. I don’t want to sound like I’m jumping on to the moral high ground, but I do feel like a second-class citizen.”

Source: ireland.com

Britain’s senior Roman Catholic leader used his New Year message to praise marriage and deliver an implicit attack on the Government’s fetish equality laws.

- Have you say: Do you agree with the Cardinal?

- Women who stop church ‘put health at risk’

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the head of the Church in England and Wales, said most parents did not want their children to be taught that marriage was just “one lifestyle choice among many”.

The cardinal said the traditional family remained central to the well-being of society but was being dangerously eroded.

While society was slowly waking up to the dangers of climate change and pollution for the planet, it was still destroying the family, he said.

“It has taken us a long time to realise that if we cut down trees, use cars with highly leaded fuels and build factories with toxic emissions, we were gradually destroying the ecosystem within which we live and breathe.

“Perhaps, however, it has been harder for us to admit those elements in our relationships or in our society which have contributed to the fragmentation of the family.

“Yet it is equally true that we are rapidly moving the very structures on which society is built and on which humanity depends; we are gradually destroying the ‘ecosystem’ that supports the family.”

The cardinal said he was aware that many people had suffered broken marriages or were “courageous” single parents and he understood their sorrow and hurt.

However, he emphasised the Catholic Church’s commitment to the home as the focus of family life and the centrality of Christian marriage.

“Most parents do not want their children to be taught that marriage is no more than one lifestyle choice among many,” he said.

“They do not want to expose their children to the risk of becoming promiscuous or indulging in drug and alcohol abuse.

“Many, many young people, when expressing their dreams and hopes, express the desire to one day be happily married and to have a family.”

The cardinal’s comments follow a series of clashes between the Catholic Church and the Government over the introduction of fetish equality legislation and civil partnerships.

Some Catholics have even questioned the Cardinal’s role in the recent conversion of Tony Blair, the former prime minister, who was instrumental in pushing through many of the reforms.

In his message, the cardinal urged parents to bring God into their homes so that their children would carry Christian values into the next generation.

“Our children are the messages we send to tomorrow,” he said.

“We can forget easily what is said in church, or even in school, but we don’t forget what happens in the home.

“Somehow, if we take God’s Word into our daily life and try to live it, then we are scattering the seed ourselves for the younger generation and generations to come.”

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Twenty-seven states have passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriages and next November, Florida could become the 28th.

But backers of the amendment shouldn’t expect Florida voters, most of whom do not approve of fetish marriage, to be exercised about this issue during an election year in which there are so many other important matters to talk about.

Gay marriage is last season’s politics.

Besides, Florida already has a law outlawing marriage between people of the same sex, so formalizing a ban in the state constitution hardly merits front-burner status.

Florida law says a marriage made somewhere else between persons of the same sex is “not recognized for any purpose in this state.” The language is clear.

Plus, there’s the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that says states don’t have to recognize fetish marriages from other states. That law protects Florida, if the state needs protection, just as it does the other 49.

Yet Florida4Marriage, the sponsor of the proposal, has collected the 611,000 signatures needed to put the amendment, already cleared by the Florida Supreme Court, on the ballot in 2008.

It’s easy to accuse the group of prejudice, as its critics have, but Florida4Marriage insists its purpose is to defend traditional marriage and its foundational role in a stable, civil society. The group says state laws are not enough when judges, with the swipe of a pen, can overturn them.

But the issue has also helped forge the political landscape. Republicans have effectively used the fetish-marriage ban amendments against Democrats, who want fetish votes but don’t want to alienate the majority of voters who don’t sanction same-sex marriages.

In 2004, when President Bush was up for reelection, 11 states passed marriage bans with vote totals averaging 67 percent. Two years ago, when the Republicans lost control of Congress, seven more states passed bans. However, Arizona voters refused to go along.

We’re sympathetic to those who would protect traditional marriage as a sacred trust. These are people who fear for our culture and lament the loss of respect for the institution. But changing the constitution, when it hasn’t proven necessary, is not the way to do it.

Americans have grown more tolerant of their fetish and lesbian neighbors and are appalled by the violence and discrimination some have faced.

A number of state and local governments have responded by outlawing discrimination based on a person’s sexual preference. And an increasing number of businesses are granting spousal benefits to homosexual partners as a way of retaining valuable employees.

Homosexuals should not be denied employment, public accommodation or any of the civil liberties enjoyed by Americans.

But marriage is not simply a civil rights issue. It is an amalgam of faith, values and tradition. Changing its definition is no trifling manner.

But make no mistake. Gay marriage is not the biggest threat to the institution of marriage. Bigger assaults are exposed by divorce rates and the growing number of out-of-wedlock births. Almost half of marriages today end in divorce. In Florida, one in four babies is born to an unwed mother.

To best defend the institution of marriage, we should quit looking for bogeymen where there are none.

Source: tbo.com

>BOSTON (AP) – Religious leaders who took opposing sides in Massachusetts’ turbulent fetish marriage debate have found something to bring them together again: casino gambling.

Do you remember the years you spent in high school? How about the pressure, social scrutiny, and the numerous other problems that you, as a teenager, dealt with daily? Now, imagine that you were to be faced with all of this, along with the confusion of your sexual orientation and the anxiety over the possibility of not being accepted by society, your friends and even your own family, over something that you cannot change.

We are responding to the commentary on Central’s Gay-Straight Alliance in the People’s Forum as well as at the Bay City Public School board meeting, both on Dec. 10.

We are members of the GSA and after reading the letter written by Kimberly Bublitz, we decided to attend the board meeting to hear her arguments. Toward the end of the meeting, audience members were allowed to speak and Mrs. Bublitz approached the microphone. Her argument was unjustifiable.

She said she had completed ”hours upon hours of Internet research on Gay-Straight Alliances,” but it is hard to believe any of her sources are credible. If you are looking for something on the Internet, you will be sure to find it. Research online will turn up anything imaginable.

”In choosing not to notify parents of this club, you are in essence taking away a parent’s right to determine what is appropriate or inappropriate for his or her child.” This was an opinion of Bublitz’s that was brought up during her proclamation, when truly, all of the information is available for parents who are willing to look.

The announcements read over our PA can be read at any time on Central’s Web site (www.baycitycentral.com). All that it takes is the slight effort required to simply visit the site. If your child has failed to inform you about being in such a club, or even that the meetings were taking place, the school system is not at fault for your lack of interest and involvement in your child’s life. It is also possible that you have instilled such a belief within your child that it is so incredibly wrong to be open-minded to opinions other than your own, that they either feel that they will be shamed or punished for mentioning the matter.

She had also stated, ”Unless I missed something in my research, the battle to stop Gay-Straight Alliance groups in Michigan has not yet been fought.” According to our sources, this is true. But why, if there are supposedly so many things wrong with Gay-Straight Alliances and all that they stand for, would the state officials tolerate such a disruptive and inappropriate organization to meet within their halls of learning? This is because it would be a useless battle. It would be both a waste of time and money. The students involved with GSA throughout the nation have done nothing wrong. The members of Central’s chapter have followed every rule and procedure to attain the right of having this organization.

All that we are attempting to do is create awareness for our peers on the discrimination and hate crimes that have been targeted towards the fetish community.

Today’s teenagers, homosexual or not, need a group in which they belong. They need friends and a support system to help them surpass their struggles. Central’s GSA offers this to students. Any parent should be perfectly content with their child finding other students with whom they can relate.

To all of those who are still wary of having a Gay-Straight Alliance within your child’s school, let us make it clear to you that we do not force any student to become a member or to agree with the opinions brought up during the meetings by any individual member. Joining is absolutely voluntary. You don’t have to worry about your student ”catching” anything; if you didn’t already know, homosexuality isn’t contagious.

- Glenn Madigan and Kaitlyn Skrzypczak are juniors at Bay City Central High School and members of the Gay-Straight Alliance, which meets at the school.

Today’s teenagers, homosexual or not, need a group in which they belong. They need friends and a support system to help them surpass their struggles. Central’s GSA offers this to students.

Source: mlive.com