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Human Connections Unite Panelists Fundamental Right to Love Dissected September 12, 2007 From Gulf Islands Driftwood By ELIZABETH NOLAN Driftwood Staff
Canada's community of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) people know how important it is to have legal recognition of their rights and privileges — in the past few years, same-sex couples have seen politicians debate their right to marry, grant that right and then debate whether it should be taken away again. As Gulf Islands youth activist Jacob Schweda says, it is bizarre to be the subject of such debates, to in effect have one's humanity questioned. “People fundamentally need to have the right to love,” said Schweda. Love Beyond Borders, the panel discussion at this year's Freedom to Love pride weekend, brought into focus the fact that while Canadian queers still face many challenges in society, there are other places where these questions are not even up for debate. After a fun opening bit by co-hosts Deirdre Rowland and John Dolman and some gay trivia questions, ArtSpring's theatre took on a serious air that would remain throughout the evening. Ahava Shira, a well-known island poet and educator, replaced scheduled moderator Briony Penn for an evening of thoughtful questions and guidance. Four panelists discussed their role in working for human rights for GLBT people globally, with special emphasis on Iran. In countries like Iran being homosexual is not just illegal, it is so reviled as to be almost invisible. Iranian gays and lesbians face terrible persecution and even death if their sexual orientation is made known. Panelists (in speaking order) Arsham Parsi, Chris Morrissey, Peyman Khosravi and Schweda described the concerns faced by GLBT refugees and immigrants at home and in Canada, and their work dealing with these issues. Speaking on their experiences in Iran, Parsi and Khosravi gave a chilling picture of the conditions there for those who fall outside of the culturally conservative, Islamic society. Parsi described how the presence of homosexuality is so repressed, that he didn't know there was anyone else like him until he discovered gay websites on the Internet. He then started his own Internet-based support group and educational website, (described in a CBC television documentary as “perhaps the most vulnerable civil rights movement in the world) and subsequently was forced to flee to Canada to protect his family. Khosravi is also committed to helping the GLBT community in Iran, although he himself is not homosexual. After creating the documentary film “I Know that I am” on transgendered Iranians, he too was forced to leave the country. As a journalist and filmmaker, Khosravi believes in exposing the problems of society — whether in Iran or in Canada — and in his responsibility to help other people. Morrissey, a former Roman Catholic nun who campaigned for social justice and human rights in Chile under Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, now helps support GLBT refugees and immigrants to Canada with the Rainbow Refugee Committee. Morrissey's work is routed in personal experience; she was the first Canadian gay person to challenge immigration legislation to include same-sex couples in the family category of sponsorship. Morrissey provided the valuable insight that GLBT refugees and immigrants may seem to have more freedom on entering Canada, but in fact they can be doubly isolated. If they want the support of their home community within Canada, they must often continue to hide their sexual identities. Racism and discrimination within the Canadian GLBT community also exists, said Morrissey. Schweda, a Gulf Islands Secondary School alumnus and co-founder of the school's Gay Straight Alliance, now attends Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific where he continues to help educate and support students around GLBT issues and human rights. As Schweda stated, there is nothing better than thinking critically and having your beliefs challenged. Being exposed to an extremely diverse international body of students, he has come to learn how vital basic information is to helping understanding unfold. All of the panelists' stories served to underscore the theme of connectedness, both in terms of common tragedies such as discrimination and persecution, and in the hopes for a brighter future that global networks have inspired. Parsi pointed to the fact that when he started his work just a few years ago, homosexuals were not believed to even exist in Iran; now their plight has been made known through international media such as the CBC and BBC networks. And despite their individual journeys and challenges, each speaker remains committed to the human rights cause. “It breaks your heart that there are so many people who can't be who they are,” said Schweda. Khosravi said, “It is a task for everybody to defend, it doesn't matter what background we have.” For Parsi, helping others makes himself feel more free. Morrissey agrees: “It is truly what has given my life meaning and has given purpose to my day to day.”
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