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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 1993)
Patrick IIamrkix in Gays out of closet, still in cage Monday was Coming Out Day, as declared by Queer Na tion, Gays Against Drunk Driving, or some other homosexual Elk Lodge. I tried to celebrate by sending my girlfriend and family greet ing cards; no one seemed thrilled. I’m surrounded by bigots. The topic of homosexuality kills a conversation as only a gender issue can. Other than the UNL Gay and Lesbian Center or the Lincoln Ukrai nian Assumption Church of Byzan tine Rite, no one can agree on: 1. Whether homosexuality is ge netic, chosen or a condition caused by psychological conditioning. 2. Whether being gay provides re ligious grounds for eternal damnation or is just clean, post-industrial fun. 3. How many gays there are any way, and what they are doing in the military? Answers lor these questions are scarce and suspect. I could consult the recent best seller, “Is It A Choice?” by Eric Marcus. But since Marcus also is the homosexual author of “The Male Couple’s Guide,” that would be like consulting Yassar Arafat’s “Is Ter rorism Right For You?” A quick scan of The Holy Bible confirms that, indeed, a homosexual will not enter the kingdom of God, but neither will an adulterer, a thief or a liar. Pray hard. As a way out of this moral dilem ma, two of my truth-telling, non-thiev ing homosexual friends claim their relationship of mutual sodomy is caused by a gland implosion in their brains. This being so, they say God has forced them to become sexual mutants, like being cursed with teen age Frankenstcinian hermaphrodit ism. Ifit’sGod’sfault.itmustbcOK. Well, maybe. If God loved natural things, I say, he would have given self-conceit, ly ing and envy his blessing; all of which I engage in, naturally, every day. Consistently through the Bible, God asks people to deny themselves and do things that are decidedly unnatu ral. God may be love, but he ain’t necessarily fun. Whether homosexuality is genetic or sociological provides another ar gument, one more appropriate for They say God has forced them to become sexual mutants, like being cursed with teen-age Frankensteinian hermaphrodit ism. If it’s God’s fault, it must be okay. medical research journals than polit ically saturated debates. I don’t know how a genetic predisposition to not procreate could make it past Darwin’s malicious boot camp of the centuries. But I can’t explain why poodles exist, either. Even more perplexing: Why do proud homosexuals link their sexual identities to a DNA breakdown? If homosexuality is an inherited trait, then it may be an inherited, detect able, correctable trait. The implica tions of this are obvious. What heterosexual parent would allow his or her gene pool to be erased when a surgical operation could set junior back to “normal?” Even an abortion would provide a way out and another chance at the descendant game. If you lived in Chi na, would you want your one allowed child to be a psychologically infertile deadend? Feminists may reverse their position on “a woman’s right to choose” when it is the death of gay and lesbian unborn that most women are choosing. Gay parenthood is certainly possi ble, but it can’t be counted on as a solution. Gay fertilization must nec essarily be forced or artificial. Defenders of the gay gland theory typically support it by saying, “Why would anyone choose to be gay?” but this argument isself-defcating. It sup poses homosexuality to be an un avoidable affliction, like leprosy or mental retardation. If homosexuality is a healthy and moral occupation, people should enjoy being gay. Persecution couldn’t stop early Christianity, the Jolo serpent-handlers or political anarchists from flourish ing and doing seemingly unnatural things. Why should it slow down Barney Frank? To the contrary, sociology con firms that persecution and bigoted attacks are selling points for sub-cul tures. The more persecution a group has, the more people will want to sign their roster. Inevitably, Colorado’s anti-gay rights law and recurring vio lence against homosexuals will pro voke more people to “come out.” Common sense denies this, but histo ry says it’s so. If homosexual culture is a scat tered glandular effect, then why is it so often a trend that envelopes all of a society? History is full of homosexual tribes and towns. The early Celts were a warrior band of gay men who kept their women on an island and visited them occasionally. Sparta was also a city of bisexuals. Even today, homosexual societies exist. The Etoro men of Papua-New Guinea believe all women are witches after their sperm and shun heterosex ual relationships whenever possible. The men share their sperm with young er boys, believing this rite is neces sary for puberty. Anthropologists say the Etoro de veloped their sexual habits out of a necessity to thwart overpopulation. Is it not possible that American homo sexuality derives from similar fac tors? Questioning whether a person “chooses” homosexuality is like ask ing whether he or she has chosen to be a criminal or chosen to enjoy the foods he or she does. Though we all have choices, the invisible pressures of society keeps our decisions on a short leash. You can walk out of the closet, but you’re still in the same cage as the rest of us. Hambrecht is a sophomore news-editori al major and a Dally Nebraskan columnist. (It i si Opinion Indigenous peoples still suffer The United Nations has declared the year that began Oct. 1,1993, as “The Year of the Indigenous People.” The decision was made, in part, to pay homage to those people who, in the 500 years since Christo pher Columbus’s arrival in the New World, were affected so negatively by colonization and massive social change. Recent estimates suggest that more than 40 percent of the people around the world do not enjoy basic civil liberties and human rights today. One billion people are poverty-stricken, and more than 100 million people are enslaved. Indigenous peoples com prise one segment of the world’s pop ulation that faces conditions that are especially stark. Sometimes called aboriginals, na tive peoples, tribal peoples, Fourth World peoples, or “frst nations,” these populations have suffered acts of geno cide, discrimination and lack of equal opportunity in employment for centu ries. Despite the fact that human rights concern has become widespread —particularly since the end of World War II, indigenous peoples have suf fered abuses that in many cases are more serious than those perpetrated upon most, if not all, other groups. Some analysts argue that indigenous people are probably the single most disadvantaged set of populations in the world today. The term indigenous people usual ly is used in reference to those indi viduals and groups who are descen dents of the original populations re siding in a country. In the majority of cases they are ethnic minorities, and as a group they do not control the governments of the countries where they live. Indigenous populations include 200.000 Aborigines of Australia, 90.000 San — Bushmen — of south ern Africa, 75,000 Orang Asli of Malaysia, more than 40 million Adivas — Tribals — of India, some 100,000 Inuit of Alaska, Canada, Greenland and the former Soviet North, more than two million Native Americans in the United States and some 91.2 mil lion members of ethnic minorities in China. The Anti-Slavery Society for the Protection of Human Rights esti mates there are approximately 270 to 300 million indigenous people resid ing in some 75 of the world’s coun tries, or about 4 percent of the world’s population. In the past 500 years literally mil lions of indigenous peoples have ei ther been killed ordispossessed. Most groups no longer retain their tradi tional ancestral territories. A large percentage of indigenous populations live below the poverty line. Infant mortality rates are high, while health standards tend to be low. Many indig enous peoples reside in remote areas so they lack easy access to social services and markets. Indigenous peoples also have been denied access to natural resources. In Africa, for example, wildlife rights are usually restricted by the stale, and indigenous people can be arrested for hunting illegally. Penan in Malaysia and Amarakacri Indians in Peru have been jailed for opposing the actions of logging companies. Mining activities in Brazil have had negative impacts on the Yanomamo, some of whom have died from diseases brought by outsiders. In recent years there has been a dramatic upsurge in activity to pro mote human rights for indigenous peoples. Numerous organizations have been formed toenhance the well being of these groups, such as Surviv al International in London and Cul tural Survival in Cambridge, Mass. Meetings have focused on the plight of indigenous populations. Investiga tions of human-rights violations, such as those that occurred in the late 1970s when Ache Indians in Pern were killed or in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, where genocide has been carried out against tribal people, have been conducted. More and more calls have been heard from indigenous people them selves for the right of self-determina tion. Yet even today there are only a few international human rights in struments that deal specifically with indigenous people. For decades, the only international legal statement that dealt with indigenous people’s rights was a convention passed in 1957 by the International Labour Organiza tion. It was not until 1982 that the Unit ed Nations established a Working Group on Indigenous Populations under the auspices of the Sub-Com mission on the Prevention of Discrim ination and Protection of Minorities of the U.N. Human Rights Commis sion. By 1988, a draft of “The Univer sal Declaration on Rights of Indige nous Peoples” was available for con sideration by the members of the United Nations. It is hoped that the declaration will be put into place by 1993. The crucial test will be whether or not nation states enforce the human rights in struments as they exist and attempt to better the lives of indigenous popula tions. Robert Hitchcock U ■■ aalstaat profes sor of aathropology at UNL. Add to your UNL course options, even after you drop the class. UNL's most popular courses In: Accounting AG LEC Art History Classics Educational Psychology Economics English Finance Geography History Management Marketing Math Philosophy Physics Political Science Psychology Sociology Available through UNL College Independent Study: • Study and take exams when your schedule allows, when you're ready. • Take as long as a year or as few as 35 days to complete a course. • Send an average of six assignments per course to your ~ instructor, and receive rapid turnaround of your materials. Call 472-1 926 for a free College Independent Study Program Bulletin or stop by our office at 269 Nebraska Center for Continuing Education, 33rd and Holdrege Streets, UNL University of Nebraska-Lincoln Division of Continuing Studies A BALLET OMAHA PREMIERE Bramttoker's haunting novel comes to life in this stunnirKj'ballet, complete with breathtaking flying effects. A perfectly chilling Halloween entertainment! Also ‘FOOTAGE" A ballet in the ballroom style, choreographed to 1930's English jazz. October 13 • 7:30 PM Lied Center For ticket information, call the Lied Center Box Office 472-4747 Nebraska's Professional Ballet Company Robert Vickrey, Artistic Director DC