Category Archives: Human Reproduction

MEMPHIS, TN -

(WMC-TV) - A proposal dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill passed the House Education Subcommittee Wednesday.

The legislation limits all sexually related instruction to "natural human reproduction science" in kindergarten through eighth grade.

"This bill, if amended, does not prohibit the use of the word gay, it does not change the anti-bullying statute, and it does not prohibit a school guidance counselor from discussing issues of sexuality with a student," said Rep. Bill Dunn (R) of Knoxville.

Anne Gullick with the Tennessee Equality Project said if the law is passed, it will have a chilling effect on the teacher-student relationship.

"If we take that adult resource that our kids have from school and muzzle that resource, what purpose would that serve for the protection of kids?" asked Gullick.

Last year, protesters crowded outside the capitol in Nashville when the senate considered and passed the same proposal.  Protesters returned Wednesday, this time wearing purple tape across their mouths, symbolizing what they consider silencing teachers.

Opponents fear the law would prevent teachers from speaking out against the bullying of gay teens.

"If the classroom teacher is muzzled, is quieted, what message are you sending?" said Gullick.  "That you're not worth my time, our involvement in your life is not worthy."

The bill will come up for discussion again next week.  It has been placed on the state education committee calendar February 21.  It is on track for the full house before the current session adjourns.

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Contentious "Don't Say Gay" bill passes subcommittee

Sen. Stacey Campfield’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill made it out of a House subcommittee today, banning discussion of all but “natural human reproduction science” before the ninth grade in public schools.

Before the House education subcommittee acted, chairman Joey Hensley scored bonus points by admonishing all Tennessee parents not to let their children watch “Modern Family” on television because they might discover there are homosexuals in the world.

Coincidentally, President Obama says "Modern Family" is one of the first family’s favorite shows to watch in the White House. Hensley didn’t mention that, but we’re certain that if he knew it, it would only strengthen his belief in the show’s evil influence.

“I don’t think ‘Modern Family’ is appropriate for children to watch,” Hensley said solemnly after a Nashville preacher testified children might find out about gay people by seeing the show even if teachers aren’t allowed to say gay in schools.

The state Senate adopted the “don’t say gay” bill last year but amended it first to allow only the teaching of “natural human reproduction science."

Democrats argued the amendment actually liberalizes state law, which now makes it a misdemeanor to teach any kind of sex education before the ninth grade.

Nashville high school students have made regular trips to the Capitol to demonstrate against the bill, chanting “It’s OK to say gay!” They attended today’s hearing too.

"I really don’t know the purpose of bringing this legislation at this time," House Democratic leader Craig Fitzhugh said. "It looks to me like a solution looking for a problem. This is certainly unnecessary. If it’s unnecessary why do we do it? I think we need to look long and hard at our motives."

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'Don't Say Gay' Bill Flies Out of House Subcommittee

MORE enlightening news from a member of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. A Libyan diplomat told the UN: “Gays threaten the future of the human race.” The comment was picked up by UN Watch. But, oddly, no news organ gives the nem of the Libyans “envoy” who said it. Pink News writes:

“Protesting the council’s first panel discussion on discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation, scheduled for March 7th, Libya’s representative told the gathering of ambassadors today that LGBT topics “affect religion and the continuation and reproduction of the human race.”

The Human Rights Council is a nonsense. Libya was on it until March 2011, when it was kicked off, presumably because peace-loving Gaddafi had suddenly said something rude about Mormons. Libya was year but allowed back on the Council in November after Gaddafi was murder by Libya’s answer to the BNP.

Still, bit odd that no-one can name the envoy…?

Anorak

Posted: 16th, February 2012 | In: News Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink

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Libyan homophobe makes UN Human Rights Council an still bigger joke

A United Nations delegate from Libya’s newly formed government told a human rights panel that gays and other groups threaten “reproduction of the human race,” drawing a stern rebuke from leaders of the international body.

The remarks, reported by Geneva-based U.N. Watch, came just months after the North African nation’s membership was restored to the U.N. Human Rights Council. The reinstatement came amid assurances that the new government that supplanted the brutal regime of Muammar Qaddafi would not brook human rights violations.

Yet the unnamed representative told a panel discussing violence based on sexual orientation that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, topics "affect religion and the continuation and reproduction of the human race.”

Council Chair Laura Dupuy Lasserre replied that "the Human Rights Council is here to defend human rights and prevent discrimination."

The Libyan outburst prompted questions by human rights activists about Libya's reinstatement on the council. The nation was one of 47 represented on the council for a term that was scheduled to end in 2013, but the full body kicked it off the council in March 2011, amid criticism of Qaddafi’s human rights record. Gays were subject to flogging and imprisonment during his regime, according to human rights advocates.

“This is our duty to all the men and women who are hoping and struggling to have their rights respected and who, today, are running the greatest risks,” General Assembly President Joseph Deiss told the body before the vote. “Their hopes must not be dashed.”

But the harsh stance against gays voiced Monday has some critics wondering if the new government ushered in by the so-called Arab Spring is any more tolerant than its predecessor.

"Today's homophobic outburst by the new Libyan government, together with the routine abuse of prisoners, underscores the serious questions we have about the new regime's commitment to improving on the dark record of its predecessor, and about its pandering to Islamists in its ranks," U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer said.

Back in November, when the U.N. General Assembly reinstated Libya on the council, deputy U.N. envoy Ibrahim Dabbashi said "the new Libya deserves to return to the Human Rights Council to contribute with other members to the promotion of values of human rights."

"No violations of human rights will take place on Libyan territory in the future and if it happens the perpetrator will never get away with it,” he pledged.

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New Libyan leadership takes harsh stance at UN against gays

Tuesday, 14 February 2012, 2:09 pm
Press Release: UN Watch

Libya Tells UN Rights Council: "Gays threaten continuation of human race"

Libya’s Islamist objection to gays dampers hopes of Arab Spring

GENEVA, Feb. 13 – Gays threaten the continuation of the human race, Libya's delegate told a planning meeting of the UN Human Rights Council today, reported the Geneva-based UN Watch monitoring group. It was the first appearance in the 47-nation body by the post-Gaddafi government, whose membership was restored in November following Libya's suspension in March.

Protesting the council's first panel discussion on discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation, scheduled for March 7th, Libya's representative told the gathering of ambassadors today that LGBT topics "affect religion and the continuation and reproduction of the human race." He added that, were it not for their suspension, Libya would have opposed the council's June 2011 resolution on the topic.

In response, council president Laura Dupuy Lasserre said that "the Human Rights Council is here to defend human rights and prevent discrimination."

The Libyan outburst prompted questions by human rights activists about Libya's reinstatement on the council.

"We were happy to see the Gaddafi regime finally suspended last year," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, which in 2010 led a campaign of 70 human rights groups to expel the Libyan dictator from the council membership, "but this is not the Arab Spring we hoped for."

"Today's homophobic outburst by the new Libyan government, together with the routine abuse of prisoners, underscores the serious questions we have about the new regime's commitment to improving on the dark record of its predecessor, and about its pandering to Islamists in its ranks," said Neuer.

In November, when the UN General Assembly reinstated Libya on the council, deputy UN envoy Ibrahim Dabbashi said "the new Libya deserves to return to the Human Rights Council to contribute with other members to the promotion of values of human rights."

"No violations of human rights will take place on Libyan territory in the future and if it happens the perpetrator will never get away with it,” he vowed.

According to Neuer, however, "the restoration of the new Libyan regime to the council, supported by 123 states including all of the Western democracies, was carried out precipitously and without any record of its commitment to human rights domestically and abroad."

"Gays are now paying the price, with their right to be free from violent attacks now being undermined at the UN by a country that democratic countries fought to liberate, and by a goverment that our leaders helped install. It's all very disconcerting."

http://www.unwatch.org

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UN Watch is a Geneva-based human rights organization founded in 1993 to monitor UN compliance with the principles of its Charter. It is accredited as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and as an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI).

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ENDS

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Libya Tells UN: Gays Threaten Human Race

Washington, Feb 15 (ANI): The malaria parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) changes into a banana shape before sexual reproduction, an Australian research team has found.

The finding could provide targets for vaccine or drug development and may explain how the parasite evades the human immune system.

The team was led by Dr Matthew Dixon and PhD student Megan Dearnley from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne.

Dr Dixon said the new study solves a 130-year old mystery, revealing how the most deadly of human malaria parasites, Plasmodium falciparum performs its shape-shifting.

"In 1880 the banana or crescent shape of the malaria parasite was first seen in the blood of a patient. Using a 3D microscope technique, we reveal that malaria uses a scaffold of special proteins to form a banana shape before sexual reproduction," said Dr Dixon.

"As the malaria parasite can only reproduce in its 'banana form', if we can target these scaffold proteins in a vaccine or drug, we may be able to stop it reproducing and prevent malaria transmission entirely," he added.

When in its banana shape, the malaria parasite is passed from a human host to a mosquito where it reproduces in the mosquito gut. The study found that specific proteins form scaffolds, called microtubules, which lie underneath the parasite surface and elongate it into the sexual stage banana shape.

The work suggests that when the parasites are ready for sexual reproduction, they adopt the banana shape so that they can fit through the tiny sinusoidal slits in the spleen. This enables them to avoid the host's mechanical filtering and immune surveillance mechanisms and to survive in the circulation long enough to be picked up by a mosquito and transmitted to the next victim.

The banana shape was revealed in greater detail than ever before by using high-end imaging techniques - 3D Structured Illumination Microscopy and Cryo Electron Microscopy - conducted with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coherent X-Ray Science.

The discovery has been published in the Journal of Cell Science. (ANI)

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Sex makes malaria parasite go 'bananas'