Family Watch International Newsletter
Family Watch International

In This Issue:
   President’s Message:
      New Lows at the United Nations
         High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS

   Help Us Defend Marriage in the U.S.!
   News Items of Interest
      Abortion
      Homosexuality Related
      General Interest
   Have We Gone Mad?





www.familywatchinternational.org

June 25, 2008




New Lows at the United Nations
High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS


Dear #Salutation#,Sharon Slater, President

Presidents, First Ladies, Ambassadors and other high level government leaders gathered in New York this month at the UN High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS.  Our Family Watch team was there as well and witnessed the worst conference we have seen yet for openly promoting an anti-family agenda.  We watched and listened as a parade of homosexuals, transsexuals, prostitutes, and drug users demanded in official speeches on the UN floor that their behavior be decriminalized and recognized as a human right.

Both the speakers and the conference materials distributed to participants claimed the answer to the AIDS pandemic was to “destigmatize” the very activities that spread AIDS.  They reasoned that otherwise, these “vulnerable groups” would go underground and would not seek testing or treatment. 

One participant, in an impassioned speech advocating for prostitutes declared that “sex work is a legitimate form of work and should not be criminalized,” and called on the UN to “empower sex workers.”

Another speaker, advocating for “sexual minorities,” began his speech equating the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights with the Yogyakarta Principles, (click here to read and excerpt of my soon to be published book, “The Worldwide Assault on the Family: Exposed, which explains the dangers of this radical document) and complained that two-thirds of all the countries in the world prohibit sex among men.  He blamed governments for the disproportionate amount of infections that occur among gay men and other men who have sex with men, (lest you be confused there are now two different groups mentioned as not all men who have sex with men identify as homosexuals) and transgenders.  He then called on governments to “empower sexual minorities” and give them leadership roles at the national level.  

Unlike other conferences we have attended, there was no negotiated document.  Instead, the chairman of the conference will issue a report that will summarize all of the proceedings, allowing all of the radical messages and terminology to be recorded in an official UN report -- messages that would likely be rejected by member states in a negotiated UN document.  (At the UN, language is power, so to simply have words like “sex workers” instead of “prostitutes” and “sexual minorities” instead of “homosexuals” recorded in an official UN report was a huge victory for them.)   

We were able to schedule a UN conference room to launch the Family Rights Caucus.  Lynn Allred, FWI communications, director moderated heated discussions regarding the difference between destigmatizing people infected by HIV (which everyone agreed is wrong) versus destigmatizing the behaviors that spread AIDS.  You can imagine the reactions we got from sexual rights advocates that were present.

One woman challenged me claiming that the two cannot be separated.  I gave her an example of my friend who smokes, who I care about very much, but who I encourage to stop smoking.  I said I could not imagine a smoking treatment center that would condemn her for smoking, rather I believe they would offer her all the help and support that they could.  I explained that we will never be able to solve the HIV/AIDS crisis if we cannot openly and honestly discuss how to change the very behaviors that spread AIDS.

Another man attending the caucus meeting challenged our stand on preserving marriage between a man and a woman and was silenced with the question as to which parent children should do without, a mother or a father. 

The caucus meeting allowed us to identify new allies in several countries, including an official UN delegate representing Kenya, who pleaded with us to come to Kenya as soon as possible to launch an African movement for the family.

We also launched a caucus on the “Prevention of HIV/AIDS in Youth and Children” as well as a caucus on “Families for Orphans Affected by HIV/AIDS.”  Jenipher Otieno, whom we flew in from Kenya, presented her highly successful program that has integrated over 4,000 AIDS orphans into families in rural Kenya. 

We were also able to have a private meeting with the Ambassador from Uganda who gave us a wonderful interview for the new documentary we are creating on the assault on the family at the UN.  He pledged his support to help us organize and strengthen the Family Rights Caucus.  

And finally, we met with the Ambassador of Poland who accepted our “Defender of the Family” award on behalf of the president of Poland whom we were honoring for standing up for the protection of life and family values against pressure from the European Union.  He also agreed to collaborate with us in the future on protection of life issues.

First-time Family Watch representative, Rachelle Baum, said that she was shocked to see transgender individuals and prostitutes actually representing their countries as official members of UN delegations.  She concluded that it is important to increase the number of pro-family advocates at the UN so a voice for the family can be heard.

Sincerely,
Sharon Slater
Sharon Slater
President

 



 

Help Us Defend Marriage in the U.S.!

Family Watch is making a maximum effort to defend marriage in the U.S., and we need your help.  The most critical need is additional financial support.  There are several critical ballot measures where we need to provide important input and support, including California, Florida and probably Arizona.  You can easily and securely make a tax-deductible contribution online here. You can also print out a form on that same link to mail in a contribution if you prefer.  We have also set up a periodic contribution option where you can make a monthly contribution that will be charged to your credit card.  We encourage you to make a monthly commitment of at least $25 for a minimum of five months to help us through the November election effort.

In addition to financial support, we also need your help contacting people in these key states.  We will be sending appropriate state-specific information to policymakers and others on developments in their state.  Please forward this newsletter on to everyone you know in these key states and urge them to sign up for this free e-newsletter on our Web site.

What happens in the next few months will have a major impact on whether we can save marriage in the U.S.  Please help us in this critical effort in any way you can!
 





 

News Items of Interest


Abortion  

Mexican State Legislators Reject Legalization of Abortion.  The Congress of the state of Tamaulipas even refused to allow the measure on the agenda.  Abortion was legalized  for women in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy last year in Mexico City.  Read more here.

Homosexuality Related

Parents Cannot Opt Kids Out of Homosexual Indoctrination Classes.  The Canadian Board of Education will allow parents to remove their children from health classes when “sensitive” issues are being discussed but not from any other classes that may be teaching about alternative sexuality.  Read more here.

California Homosexual Activists Seek to Block Marriage Amendment Vote. They have filed suit claiming that the amendment is actually a “revision” of the constitution which requires action by the legislature rather than being put before the voters through a petition drive.  Read more here.

Arizona Marriage Amendment Fails in Senate.  The 14 to 11 vote on the state marriage amendment, already passed by the House, was two votes short of the majority needed to place it on the November ballot.  It could come up again before the legislature adjourns in a few days.  Read more here.

UK Study Shows HIV-Positive Men Having Unsafe Sex.  Of 3500 gay men surveyed, one-third who know they are positive are engaging in unprotected sex.  Men who had been HIV positive for a long time took more sexual risks.  Read more here.

Clerks Reassigned After Refusing to Perform Same-sex Marriages.  Fourteen employees of San Diego County who have religious objections to performing same-sex weddings are being forced to do so.  The employees were originally told that they would not be required to perform same-sex marriages, but now must officiate or be reassigned to another post within the department or the county.  Read more here.

Fears Grow Over Anglican Split Over Homosexuality.  Hundreds of Bishops of the international Anglican Communion are boycotting the Lambeth Conference held once every 10 years due to the acceptance of a homosexual bishop and same-sex unions.  The conservative bishops issued a manifesto stating that they see no possibility of a reconciliation with the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada.  Read more here.

General Interest

Maryland Judge Rules in Favor of Transgender Opponents.  Transgender rights advocates were attempting to block a  referendum that would allow residents of Montgomery County to vote on a law passes recently that would require gender-neutral public facilities including bathrooms and locker rooms.  Circuit Court Judge Robert A. Greenberg ruled that a deadline for challenging petition signatures was missed.  Read more here.

World Health Organization: No Pandemic of AIDS Among Heterosexuals.  Dr. Kevin de Cock, head of the WHO department of HIV/AIDS, has said that there is no global threat of a heterosexual AIDS pandemic outside of Africa.  It is clear that outside of sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS is confined to groups involved in high-risk behaviors such as men who have sex with men, IV drug users, and prostitutes and their clients.  Read more here.

 


 

Have We Gone MAD?

FWI Communications Director Lynn Allred offers some bizarre, real-life examples that make us wonder. . . Have We Gone MAD?

Here Come DUH Judge

My sources tell me this is the absolute truth.  Still, ‘tis hard to fathom.

OK.  Stay with me.

A 12-year-old girl.  Sixth grader.  Canadian.  Disobeys her father who tells her not to post photos of herself on a dating Web site.  (That’s right.  A dating Web site.  Remember.  Sixth grader.  Probably in braces and still mastering compound fractions.)  The father grounds her from a school trip. 

Still with me?  Good.  Because here’s where all heck breaks loose.

The sixth grader. . . The sixth grader. . .

I can’t even say it.

(Deep breath. . .) 

Thesixthgradertakesherfathertocourt.

TO COURT!

But get this!

The judge. . .  The judge. . .

(Another deep breath. . .) 

Thejudgeoverrulesthefatherandgrantsthegirlpermissiontogoonthetrip.

Yes, you heard me right.

Thejudgeoverrulesthefatherandgrantsthegirlpermissiontogoonthetrip!

“Excessive punishment,” says the judge.  “Extreme circumstances,” says the judge.

And the sixth grader goes on the school trip.

SOMEBODY NEEDS TO BE GROUNDED!

Yup.  You’re exactly right.

The judge.

 


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