{"id":44867,"date":"2011-09-28T10:22:04","date_gmt":"2011-09-28T14:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=44867"},"modified":"2011-09-28T10:22:21","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T14:22:21","slug":"we-deserve-respect-and-to-be-treated-on-equal-terms-gay-dsc-student-calls-for-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/news\/general\/we-deserve-respect-and-to-be-treated-on-equal-terms-gay-dsc-student-calls-for-change\/","title":{"rendered":"We deserve respect and to be treated on equal terms &#8211; Gay DSC student calls for change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-39981\" title=\"letter to the editor\" src=\"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/letter-to-the-editor.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/letter-to-the-editor.jpg 150w, https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/letter-to-the-editor-113x113.jpg 113w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>Editor&#8217;s note: Below is a letter submitted by a gay 18-year-old economics major at the Dominica State College calling for tolerance towards gays in Dominica.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>It is time for change. It is obvious that the majority of Dominican populists are in condemnation of &#8220;Homosexuality&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this main view, homosexuality is growing at an unprecedented rate, and we should come to the realization that they do live among us some closer than you think,in your families, your wife, your husband and even your kids.<\/p>\n<p>Now one might wonder, how can this person be gay? She&#8217;s not a tomboy, he&#8217;s not effeminate! But a person&#8217;s behavior has nothing whatsoever to do with a person&#8217;s sexual preference. We are ordinary persons just like our heterosexual counterparts, it is true that some of us are a little more flamboyant than the rest, but then again everyone has the right to expression especially where individuality is concerned.<\/p>\n<p>We play integral roles both in the public and private sectors, we may be the scholars who excel at local educational institution, we may be the ones who keep the business afloat, we may be the ones who care for you at the hospitals, we may be the ones who represent you in court.<\/p>\n<p>We believe that the time has come, for society at large to be sensitive and concerned about our feelings, more so with regards to the high levels of discrimination and violent crimes being perpetuated towards members of our kind.<\/p>\n<p>The views of key individuals, such as a lead director of the world health organization, former minister of health,\u00a0 government productivity consultant Parry Bellot and more recently Sir Brian Allen have confirmed that the anti buggery laws is something we need to abolish.<\/p>\n<p>The discrimination factor is becoming prevalent, gays are denied jobs, vital social services such as police assistance, gay teens fear being tested for HIV out of being the laughing stock of there peers, family, and friends, being treated as social outcast and more shockingly losing their lives.<\/p>\n<p>We deserve respect and to be treated on equal terms. Government officials should seriously look into repealing the anti buggery laws in the constitution so as to provide to us our human rights and privileges. In this change we intend to foster positive relations, and work collaboratively towards driving the economy, we look towards remaining on the island to make our contribution to its development and also helping reduce the instances of the HIV virus.<\/p>\n<p>You may not necessarily agree with our sexual orientation, but the time has come for change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor&#8217;s note: Below is a letter submitted by a gay 18-year-old economics major at the Dominica State College calling for tolerance towards gays in Dominica. It is time for change. It is obvious that the majority of Dominican populists are&#8230;","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>We deserve respect and to be treated on equal terms - Gay DSC student calls for change - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/news\/general\/we-deserve-respect-and-to-be-treated-on-equal-terms-gay-dsc-student-calls-for-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We deserve respect and to be treated on equal terms - Gay DSC student calls for change - Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Editor&#8217;s note: Below is a letter submitted by a gay 18-year-old economics major at the Dominica State College calling for tolerance towards gays in Dominica. 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