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Saturday, April 1, 2006

Fun.

According to a new report from Amnesty International titled Stonewalled,

Thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people across the United States are victims of a system that fuels discrimination and facilitates torture, ill-treatment and impunity, said Amnesty International in a new report on police abuses against people on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity...


Though police forces across the country are increasingly providing some level of training intended to guide interactions with the LGBT community, 28% of police departments responding to AI’s survey reported that they do not provide any form of training. AI’s report clearly describes the persistent and widespread lack of effective systems of accountability for law enforcement officers who commit abuses. Reports to AI suggest that many LGBT individuals do not come forward with complaints about police officer conduct. AI received a number of reports of hostility or attempts to dissuade people from making complaints at police stations.

Stonewalled places the issue of police misconduct and brutality in the context of the lack of recognition of LGBT human rights. Like many other countries, the US has a long history of both criminalizing homosexual conduct and failing to protect LGBT people from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In turn, people are denied access to their full human rights, creating a climate in which LGBT people are more likely to face abuses.

The emergence of a strong LGBT rights movement has been successful in pushing forward greater recognition of the basic human rights of LGBT people in the last three decades. There are many indicators of this progress, including the increased public visibility of LGBT people, and especially at the local level, the successful adoption of anti-discrimination legislation inclusive of LGBT people. Yet, as this report demonstrates, serious human rights abuses targeted toward members of the LGBT community continue to be perpetrated, including by those officials in society whose duty is to serve and protect the entire community.[...]


Via Pseudo-Adrienne's Liberal-Feminist Bias.

Once again, I'm forced to concede the Dixie Chicks did not go far enough. Ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas? Sometimes I'm ashamed the United States is from the United States.

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