Canada Forces Daniel Garcia To Follow Lesbian Sister Brenda To Their Violent Fates In Mexico

Daniel Garcia, the Mexican teen who arrived in Canada three years ago with his lesbian sister to escape anti-gay torment, was today deported back to Mexico, following his sister Brenda's removal on Monday. The Garcias arrived in 2007 and filed for refugee status, saying Brenda, now 30, had been attacked for being a lesbian and her partner shot to death; having filed an emergency request for a stay of his deportation, Daniel says his mother has already received threats that he too would be targeted, even killed, if he returned home. Daniel, now 18, has been held in a detention center since last week after he was arrested for supposedly not filing a change of address notice with immigration officials, and failing to appear at a hearing. With immigration officials believing neither Daniel or Brenda faced real danger, today she put him on a plane back to Mexico City. 

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Harvey Milk speaks in 78: "Every minority group has had the same problem, there are people and organizations in every minority group that sit there and criticize other organizations, rather then go out and create change...I pay very little attention to these critics"

 

Navy Investigates Antigay Sex Vids

Capt. Owen Honors

By Advocate.com Editors

The Navy has launched an investigation into the production of a series of videos containing simulated sex and antigay slurs shown to servicemembers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The videos were reportedly shown to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in 2006 and 2007. A Navy spokesman called them “inappropriate.” 

The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia first published excerpts from the videos and descriptions of their content on Saturday.

According to Time Magazine, the man behind the videos is Capt. Owen Honors, who at the time was the executive officer, or second-in-command, of the Enterprise. Honors recently took command of the carrier, which is weeks away from deploying.

In one of the videos, two female Navy sailors stand in a shower stall aboard the aircraft carrier, pretending to wash each other. In other skits, "sailors parade in drag, use anti-gay slurs, and simulate masturbation and a rectal exam. Another scene implies that an officer is having sex in his stateroom with a donkey."

According to Time, Honors is likely to lose command of his carrier before it heads out from Norfolk.

Watch the video posted to the Virginian-Pilot's website and an interview with Pilot editor Meredith Kruse below.



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Wow! What A Year

As we begin the new year, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your support and acknowledge some highlights from the year.

New Mexico GLBTQ Centers Highlights of 2010

• Opening New Mexico’s only GLBTQ community center in Las Cruces
• 28 Volunteers contributed over 1200 hours of service at the Las Cruces center
• 322 client visits between June and mid-December
• 13 regular monthly groups and activities (with more coming soon)
• ManREACH Gathering at Black River in August
• Candlelight Vigil with PFLAG Las Cruces in October
• Community Anti-bullying Initiative with County Commissioner Scott Krahling
• Proclamations from the Dona Ana County Commission and Las Cruces City Council for National LGBT Center Awareness Day September 15th

We accomplished all this in a challenging environment for all non-profits which makes the success that much sweeter.  There is still much that needs to be done and we look forward to the challenges of 2011.  Your support allows us to build on each success and creatively attack new challenges, thank you.

Some new things on the horizon include:

·         Reading Q – our new book club

·         Support Group in Spanish

·         Community Connections – our revitalized newsletter – both printed and electronic

·         Business Partners Program

·         Volunteer Appreciation events

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2011.

David Stocum

Executive Director