#because discrimination based on mental disorders is illegal!

[cassarson]

Occasionally I type something in while writing tags, so ove decided to purge my especially strange/specific ones onto this post, just cause I can.

Is this annoying? Probably!! But this is Tumblr. We're all annoying, and I wanted to see what has in there.

[southeastasianists]

Carolyn* can never get out of her head the memory of her parents bringing her to conversion therapy. The transwoman from South Sulawesi was 13 then, and society expected her to identify as male in accordance with her biological sex at birth.

“Deep inside, I kept telling myself that I’m not sick, that I’m okay,” she recalled.

Carolyn experienced ruqyah firsthand, a form of conversion therapy imbued with Islamic exorcism that is common among Muslim communities in Indonesia. Carolyn’s parents explained away her feminine expression as the work of a malevolent female demon.

At the time, the teenager did not fully grasp the situation she was in. She agreed to go along with her parents’ wishes due to her deeply embedded fear of sin.

Carolyn was taken before the local cleric, who prayed to expel the female demon in her body. The cleric also asked her parents to leave her with him for a few days so she could undergo several rituals.

“But at that time, I refused. I wanted to go home and didn’t want to be there. I was fine, I cried and said to my mom, ‘Mom, I want to go home, I’m fine,’” she said.

After begging her mother, Carolyn’s mother finally agreed to send her home on one condition: she had to stop expressing feminine traits and stop hanging out with her female friends. Carolyn repressed her feminine expression for several years after that day.

“To be honest, I felt very tortured. I felt very tortured mentally,” Carolyn confessed.

Carolyn said she placed a lot of pressure on herself over the years. She never felt that she was a man. She was always more comfortable expressing herself as a woman. In the final year of high school, Carolyn decided to stop lying to herself and her family. She ran away from home and learned to become a hairdresser at a salon that accepted her gender expression.

In the early days of Carolyn’s emancipation journey, her past and concerns over her identity continued to haunt her. Not a day went by that she didn’t fear persecution, socializing with others, fully expressing herself, all the while saddened by the irreparable burned bridge with her family.

Even now, at the age of 32, Carolyn is still traumatized by her conversion therapy experience. She gets easily triggered by watching religious TV shows or films that feature ruqyah scenes.

But ultimately she believes that she made the right choice, because nothing can take away her freedom to fully express herself as a woman and her achievement of becoming a fully functioning adult in a society that generally does not tolerate her people.

“I also feel comfortable and feel very relieved that in the end, I can accept myself as a transwoman. I feel like I have found myself. This is me, I am a transwoman,” she stresses.

In contrast to Carolyn, Sofia*, a lesbian living in the capital, was encouraged by her family to undergo ruqyah when she was old enough. By that time, she was mature enough to make her own decisions; and so she ran away from them.

“At that time, I was 25 years old and I was studying for my master’s degree. My position was quite privileged, right?” Sofia said.

Living in Jakarta, Sofia was more exposed to open discussions on the issues of gender and sexuality. When her mother asked her to go to therapy, Sofia was already certain about her sexual orientation. Furthermore, she had been involved in the advocacy for gender and sexuality issues.

“So I think there was nothing to lose at that time, and my identity is the core of my life,” she said.

However, Sofia’s refusal for therapy did not sit well with her family. She said they still pressured her “recover” to the point that they used violence against her.

“But I didn’t want to. I insisted because they already know me as a lesbian, so why do I have to back off?” she said.

Sofia believes that her knowledge of diversity in gender expression and sexual orientation was one of the biggest sources of courage that emboldened her to emancipate. If LGBTQ+ people are exposed to the same knowledge, Sofia said, they will be able to accept their identities and acknowledge that they’re not the problem — homophobia and conversion therapy are.

“We must fight together to convince the world that being gay is okay. You need to learn about yourself. You’re not sick. It’s society that’s sick,” she added.

Ika*, a transwoman from North Sumatra, experienced conversion therapy when she was 13, 17, and 18. The methods that she went through were quite diverse, ranging from ruqyah, to burial rituals, admission to Islamic boarding schools, and goat sacrifice.

None of them worked. And she said she had to live with the constant pressure from her parents to get rid of her feminine expression, which, according to them, was also the work of a demon.

“What should be removed from my body? Because according to their assessment, there is an evil spirit who made me like this,” Ika said.

“In my opinion, conversion therapy is bullshit.”

Ika now works for an NGO advocating to end HIV discrimination and stigma suffered by trans communities.

‘Individual will’

Conversion therapy is not a new phenomenon in Indonesia, but the matter was hotly discussed recently when several Indonesian queer activists, including Lini Zurlia and Kai Mata, received targeted ads on social media encouraging them to undergo conversion therapy.

“It feels like I was targeted by a group of people. It made me upset, especially because this is very sensitive regarding LGBTQ+ rights in Indonesia,” Kai Mata said.

“What I think the government should do is to make it illegal. I also think that LGBT people in Indonesia deserve the right to live in this country without fear.”

Attempts to contact the conversion therapy service through the ad failed as of the time of this article’s publication. Another conversion therapy center in Jakarta, which claims to use hypnotherapy as one of its “healing” methods, did not come across like it has a vendetta against LGBTQ+ people despite providing the harmful service.

“When does sexual orientation become a problem? It happens when the values that are taught ​​[by people’s environment and family] are different from their sexual orientation,” therapist Adrianto Darma Setiawan said.

Adrianto claims to have treated around 2,500 patients in the last 12 years. About 20 percent of these patients are (or were, if he succeeded) gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The standard therapy to “heal” sexual orientation consists of about about five to six hypnotherapy sessions lasting around three hours per session.

Adrianto said that some of his patients underwent therapy out of their own accord, but most were there due to encouragement or pressure from relatives. The therapist did not say how many of his patients he managed to convert, but said that “recovery” depends on the will of the individual.

The government’s failure

Imam Nahei, a commissioner at the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said that LGBTQ + groups in Indonesia still have a long way to receive adequate protections from the government. For as long as homophobia prevails in Indonesia, conversion therapy will remain as one of the most harmful and real threats that haunts people from minority sexual groups in Indonesia.

Nahei said that conversion therapy is an obvious human rights violation, yet the state, which should be responsible for protecting all of the country’s citizens, has not done anything to protect LGBTQ+ people from the practice.

“The state has not done anything because, in Indonesia, this issue is still very controversial as it is associated with dominant religious views,” Nahei said.

There’s little hope for progress in this regard when homosexuality and alternate forms of sexual expression are still seen as a deviation or a disorder by the country’s lawmakers, such as House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VIII Deputy Chairman Marwan Dasopang.

Marwan supports the existence of conversion therapy in Indonesia. Not only that, he wants DPR to eventually pass legislation allowing the state to provide the service to the public. If conversion therapy was normalized, he argued, patients would not experience extreme psychological trauma, such as from being forced to “recover” by their parents.

“It needs to be regulated,” Marwan said, adding that discussion on the regulation of conversion therapy are still in their infancy.

Indonesian policy makers, and even psychiatrists, have long gone against the scientific fact that homosexuality and other sexual identities are not a disease or disorder. Their stance have emboldened homophobia, which, in turn, has fostered the continued existence of conversion therapy.

Riska Carolina, director of Advocacy and Public Policy from the Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies at the University of Indonesia (SGRC UI), said among the many forms of conversion therapy in Indonesia, most are performed with ruqyah. Others who aren’t forced to go the conversion therapy route are still made to see shrinks who practice with heavy religious influence, hypnotherapists, or admitted to religious boarding schools.

“[Conversion therapy] is a threat to the LGBTQ+ community. It is persecution to the LGBTQ+ community. It violates their basic human rights. LGBTQ+ people are not a disease,” she stresses.

Riska believes that regulating conversion therapy would violate the minority groups’ rights even more than they have suffered. Even if the therapy is carried out based on patients’ willingness, Riska argued that it still validates the idea that LGBTQ+ people have mental disorders.

“Conversion therapy must be banned. It is more necessary to provide protection, even though I know that protection is still a long way off. So I prefer that, at least, [the government] treats us equally and gives us affirmative action,” she said.

“I’m ashamed to know that Indonesia is very late in terms of acceptance and it’s already 2021. You don’t need to like LGBT people, but you also don’t need to discriminate against us, especially to the level of torture. What you do with conversion therapy is torturous.”

*Carolyn, Sofia, and Ika’s real names have been omitted, at their request, to protect their identity.

[pointlesstrashyexistence]

Groups who shouldn’t follow my blog

So a transphobe followed me last night and I immediately blocked them because they are again, a transphobe, so I just have to say this.

If you are RACIST, do not follow this blog. I am pro-BLM and believe in racial equality. This means I believe that all people of Caucasian, African, Asian, Indigenous, and Pacific-Islander descent should be treated equally.

If you are a COLORIST, do not follow this blog. This means if you believe people in your own racial group who are lighter skinned are better people and more physically attractive than darker skinned people in your own racial group and people should lighten their skin if they want to be thought of as attractive, do not follow this blog.

If you are XENOPHOBIC, do not follow this blog. Depending on which side and specific family member I’m referring to when I explain my nationality and ethnicity, I am a second, third, and fourth generation American. I am a Hispanic-American who believes humans are not illegal, ICE should be abolished, people should not be put in cages and malnourished, and children shouldn’t be forcefully separated from their parents only to be given to non-ethnic white Americans in an intentional act of cultural genocide. I also believe people should not be discriminated against based on their religion, so do not follow me if you’re anti-Semitic and or an Islamaphobe.

If you are HOMOPHOBIC, BIPHOBIC, TRANSPHOBIC, ACEPHOBIC, and or HATE NON-BINARY PEOPLE, do not follow this blog. I am out on this app. Depending on how I feel attraction to different genders and if I feel like certain personality or aesthetic traits or more attractive to me in one group than another, I identify as pansexual or omnisexual. I will not invalidate anyone’s sexual or gender identity even if we have differing definitions for different labels.

If you are MISOGYNISTIC, ANTI-FEMINIST, a TERF, or a MENINIST, do not follow this blog. Just as I believe in racial equality, I also believe in gender equality and intersectional feminism. Men, women, and people who exist outside the binary idea of gender or disrupt the idea in some way should be treated equally, and your sexuality, romantic identity, racial and or ethnic identity, or disorders (mental and physical) should not impact the respect you’re given as a human. This also includes trans-people, meaning I believe cis and trans people should be treated equally.

If you are ABLEIST, do not follow this blog. I do not post about it often or reblog much stuff about ableism, primarily because it doesn’t come up on my dashboard often. However, I do believe that what you can and cannot do or what you have trouble doing mentally or physically and how that affects your ability to interact with people and the world should not determine your worth as a human and the amount of dignity and respect you are given.

[prisonnapkin22]

3 definitions of health

What is health? The word health describes a state of total emotional and physical wellness. Healthcare exists to assist people preserve this optimum state of health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health care expenses in the United States were $3.5 trillion in 2017. Nevertheless, in spite of this expense, individuals in the U.S. have a lower life span than individuals in other industrialized countries. This is because of a range of aspects, consisting of access to health care and way of life choices. Health is central to managing tension and living a longer, more active life. In this post, we explain the significance of good health, the kinds of health a person needs to think about, and how to maintain great health. What is health ? Regular exercise adds to health. In 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health with a phrase that modern-day authorities still apply. " Health is a state of total physical, psychological, and social wellness and not simply the absence of disease or infirmity." In 1986, the WHO made additional information: " A resource for everyday life, not the goal of living. Health is a favorable idea highlighting personal and social resources, along with physical capacities." This implies that health is a resource to support an individual's function in wider society, instead of an end in itself. A healthful lifestyle supplies the means to lead a complete life with significance and purpose. In 2009, scientists releasing inThe Lancet specified health as the capability of a body to adjust to brand-new dangers and imperfections. They base this definition on the concept that the previous couple of decades have actually seen modern-day science take substantial strides in the awareness of illness by comprehending how they work, discovering new ways to slow or stop them, and acknowledging that an absence of pathology may not be possible. HEALTHLINE EVENT Healthline Live Town Hall: Healthcare Policy Edition Ask the professionals about the future of health care at a Live Town Hall hosted by our sis site, Healthline, featuring healthcare policy experts and patient supporters. Types Mental and physical health are probably the two most frequently gone over types of health Spiritual, emotional, and financial health likewise contribute to total health. Medical specialists have connected these to lower tension levels and improved physical and mental well-being. Individuals with better monetary health, for instance, may worry less about financial resources and have the methods to buy fresh food more frequently. Those with good spiritual health might feel a sense of calm and function that fuels good mental health. Physical health. A person who has good physical health is most likely to have bodily functions and procedures working at their peak. This is not just due not just to an absence of illness. Regular workout, balanced nutrition, and sufficient rest all contribute to great health. Individuals get medical treatment to preserve the balance, when required. Physical well-being involves pursuing a healthy way of life to decrease the threat of disease. Preserving physical conditioning, for instance, can secure and develop the endurance of a person's breathing and heart function, muscular strength, flexibility, and body composition. Taking care of physical health and wellness also includes minimizing the risk of an injury or health issue, such as: decreasing hazards in the work environment When having sex, using birth control practicing efficient health avoiding the use of tobacco, alcohol, or unlawful drugs taking the advised vaccines for a specific condition or nation when traveling Excellent physical health can operate in tandem with mental health to enhance a person's general quality of life. For example, mental disorder, such as depression, may increase the threat of drug usage conditions, according to a 2008 study. This can go on to adversely impact physical health Mental health. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, psychological health refers to a person's psychological, social, and mental wellness. Psychological health is as essential as physical health as part of a complete, active lifestyle. Because lots of mental diagnoses depend on an person's perception of their experience, it is harder to define mental health than physical health. With enhancements in testing, nevertheless, doctors are now able to identify some physical signs of some kinds of mental disorder in CT scans and genetic tests. Great psychological health is not just classified by the lack of anxiety, stress and anxiety, or another condition. It also depends on a person's ability to: take pleasure in life recuperate after difficult experiences and adapt to misfortune balance various components of life, such as household and finances feel safe and secure accomplish their complete potential Physical and mental health have strong connections. For example, if a persistent disease affects a individual's capability to finish their routine tasks, it may result in depression and tension. These feelings might be due to financial problems or movement issues. A mental disorder, such as anxiety or anorexia, can affect body weight and total function. It is very important to approach "health" as a entire, rather than as a series of separate aspects. All types of health are connected, and people must go for general well-being and balance as the keys to great health. Learn how psychological health can impact physical health here. MEDICAL NEWS TODAY NEWSLETTER Stay in the know. Get our free everyday newsletter Anticipate extensive, science-backed toplines of our finest stories every day. Tap in and keep your curiosity satisfied. Enter your e-mail Your personal privacy is necessary to us Factors for great health Health depends upon a large range of aspects Genetic elements A individual is born with a variety of genes. In some people, an unusual genetic pattern or modification can cause a less-than-optimum level of health. People may acquire genes from their moms and dads that increase their risk for specific health conditions. Environmental aspects. Ecological aspects contribute in health. In some cases, the environment alone suffices to impact health. Other times, an ecological trigger can trigger health problem in a person who has actually an increased genetic threat of a particular disease. Access to health care contributes, but the WHO recommend that the following factors might have a more substantial influence on health than this: where a individual lives the state of the surrounding environment genes their income their level of education employment status It is possible to categorize these as follows: The economic and social environment: This might consist of the monetary status of a household or neighborhood, along with the social culture and quality of relationships. The physical environment: This includes which bacteria exist in an area, in addition to pollution levels. A person's qualities and habits : A person's genetic makeup and lifestyle options can impact their total health According to some research studies, the greater a person's socioeconomic status (SES), the most likely they are to delight in great health, have a good education, get a well-paid task, and manage excellent health care in times of illness or injury. They also maintain that individuals with low socioeconomic status are most likely to experience stress due to day-to-day living, such as monetary problems, marital disruption, and unemployment. Social elements may likewise influence on the risk of bad health for people with lower SES, such as marginalization and discrimination. A low SES frequently suggests reduced access to health care. A 2018 study in Frontiers in Pharmacology suggested that individuals in developed nations with universal health care services have longer life spans than those in industrialized nations without universal health care. Cultural concerns can impact health. The traditions and customizeds of a family and a society 's reaction to them can have a excellent or bad effect on health. According to the Seven Countries Study, scientists studied people in select European countries and discovered that those who ate a healthy diet plan had a lower 20-year death rate. The study showed that individuals who consumed a healthy diet plan are most likely to take in high levels of fruits, veggies, and olives than people who regularly take in quick food. The research study likewise discovered that people who followed the Mediterranean diet plan had a lower 10-year all-cause mortality rate. According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, this diet plan can help protect a person's heart and minimize the risk of a number of illness, consisting of type 2 diabetes, cancer, and illness that trigger the brain and nerves to break down. How a individual manages stress will likewise impact their health. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, individuals who smoke tobacco, beverage alcohol, or take illegal drugs to handle stressful situations are more likely to develop health issues than those who manage tension through a healthful diet, relaxation techniques, and exercise. Protecting health. The best way to keep health is to maintain it through a healthy lifestyle rather than waiting until sickness or imperfection to address health problems. Individuals use the name health to explain this constant state of enhanced well-being. The WHO define wellness as follows: " Wellness is the optimum state of health of groups and people . There are two focal concerns: the realization of the maximum capacity of an private physically, psychologically, socially, spiritually, and financially, and the fulfillment of one's roles and expectations in the family, community, place of worship, and other settings." Wellness promotes active awareness of and taking part in measures that maintain health, both as an individual and in the community. Preserving health and optimum health is a long-lasting, daily commitment. Steps that can help individuals obtain wellness consist of: consuming a balanced, nutritious diet from as lots of natural sources as possible engaging in a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate to high-intensity exercise weekly, according to the American Heart Association screening for illness that may present a risk learning to manage tension efficiently participating in activities that supply function connecting with and caring for other people maintaining a positive outlook on life defining a value system and putting it into action The definition of peak health is highly specific, as are the actions a person might require to arrive. Every individual has various health goals and a range of ways to achieve them. It may not be possible to avoid disease completely. However, a person ought to do as much as they can to develop durability and prepare the body and mind to handle diseases as they occur.

[tomshufflepuff]

you literally said that someone calling someone else conservative is an insult. and you get so riled up when I call your beliefs a mental problem. most liberals tend to be hypocritical snowflakes. Trump has done more in his short time as president than Obama did in his 2 terms.

okay and? Lmao I didn’t say it was a mental disorder. It can be an insult in my opinion if it’s by match the actual 100% conservative that don’t believe in equal rights for everyone (don’t fight me on this lmao most conservatives don’t like the LGBTQ community and are very traditional and don’t support women’s rights). I got all “riled” up because what you said is bullshit and disgusting. And nah you’re not right about Trump doing more. If you mean saying more offensive things then yes you are correct. Sorry I don’t know how you can support someone who calls Africa a “shithole country” and insults the CONTINENT’s people, but welcomed white immigrants from Norway? (His wife is an immigrant and doesn’t have US citizenship just an fyi) and someone who categorizes Mexicans as rapists and blaming them for the drug and job problems in this country.Let’s look at what good things Obama did:1) He rescued the country from the Great Recession, cutting the unemployment rate from 10% to 4.7% in 6 years2) He signed the Affordable Care Act which provides health insurance to over 20 million uninsured Americans3) Ordered for the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden4) Passed the $787 billion America Recovery and Reinvestment Act to spur economic growth during the Great Recession5) Supported the LGBT community’s fight for marriage equality7) Commuted the sentences of nearly 1200 drug offenders to reverse “unjust and outdated prison sentences”8) Saved the U.S. auto industry9) Helped put the U.S. ontrack for energy independence by 202010) Began the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan 11) Signed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals allowing as many as 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally to avoid deportation and receive work permits12) Signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to re-regulate the financial sector13) Dropped the veteran homeless rate by 50 percent14) Reversed Bush-era torture policies15) Began the process of normalizing relations with Cuba16) Increased Department of Veteran Affairs funding17) Signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act18) Boosted fuel efficiency standards for cars19) Improved school nutrition with the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act20) Repealed the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (which is honestly one of my favorite things he’s done)21) Signed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, making it a federal crime to assault anyone based on sexual or gender identification (something our country desperately needed)22) Helped negotiate the landmark Iran Nuclear Deal23) He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to combat pay discrimination against women (he a feminist lmao don’t fight me. Another thing he did that’s one of my favorites)24) Nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, making her the first Hispanic ever to serve as a justice25) Supported veterans through a $78 billion tuition assistance GI bill26) Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”27) Launched My Brother’s Keeper, a White House initiative designed to help young minorities achieve their full potential (again, he believes in equality FOR ALL)28) Expanded embryonic stem cell research leading to groundbreaking work in areas including spinal injury treatment and cancersooooo should I go on orrrrr 🤷‍♀️🤔And the things Trump has done for this country can be debated on if it’s actually good.He wants to be allies with Russian and North Korea. North Korea has gone back on MANY promises in the past to not attack using military weapons. Russia, well Putin was a spy and now he’s president and he’s involved with multiple dangerous people.He pulled out on the Paris Climate convention which says the US will not be participating with other major countries in trying to stop global warming. Oh and he said global warming isn’t real.He said his inauguration crowd was larger than Obama’s (lmao it wasn’t.)He accused Obama of wiretapping him, which Obama never did.He kinda confessed on Twitter that that Trump tower meeting with DJ jr. was to get “dirt” on Hilary. Keep in mind that he lied about it many times. He supports Roseanne Barr who is a known anti Jewish and a racist.He called Mexicans, “rapists” and said they were bringing drugs and crime into this country. Not knowing that there’s more white American citizens who have been prosecuted for rape. He blames immigrants on everything, including “stealing jobs”. No okay lmao first of all, no one is “stealing” any jobs. The employer is often going to hire the employee who is a better worker. So stop complaining like a little bitch saying a Mexican stoke your job and start working on becoming a harder and better worker. Plus another reason why more immigrants are being hired is because a lot of them don’t have much money after coming here from Mexico. And they are willing to work for anything to be able to have enough money to provide for their families. The American employer sees that and doesn’t give them a fare pay because they know the immigrant will work for anything. So they take advantage and lower the pay for that employee so they can keep the money for themselves.He also body shames women and treats them as if they were objects. He hates NATO because okay lesson time, NATO was put together because of the Soviet Union’s (Russia) rose to power during the Cold War and were taking over many nearby cities and torturing people. So some countries in Europe and and the Americas established NATO as an alliance to fight against the Soviet if they ever rise to power like that again. And you know why Trump pulled out of it? Because he’s friends with Putin and doesn’t want to be in an alliance against him.He also wants DACA gone because it protects immigrants. Not knowing that you can’t get a DACA if you have a criminal record of any kind.Says he loves all of the dreamers yet he’s very racist and unfair to the majority of the dreamers in this country (Latinos and Latinas).Promotes a “Space Force” lmao what even is that the next Star Wars movie.He wants abortion and birth control gone and his excuses is because of his religion (along with Mike Pence) and they wanna get rid of Planned Parenthood just because they give abortions. Planned Parenthood does get government funding, but that funding does not go to abortions, just basic medical help to new moms. My mom went to planned parenthood, she obviously didn’t get an abortion 😂And recently, Trump locks children in actual cages in support of Jeff Session’s “no tolerance policy” saying that if you come into this country illegally, they’re gonna rip your children away from you. Not only that, but they didn’t even bother to keep track of children in any way and many children are still separated from their parents. And Sessions quotes a bible verse while speaking about the policy. Yet Trump supporters who call themselves Christians ignore this one bible verse, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself for you were foreigners in Egypt. For I am the LORD your GOD.” Hmmmm 🤔Also, there’s this thing called Separation of Church and State that was mentioned by one of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, going into detail about the First Amendment in the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise of the First Amendment. So he really shouldn’t use a bible verse to back up his shit. Along with Pence and Trump using their religious beliefs to cancel abortions.

But I do not agree with everything Obama did. He did do some, well not so good, well bad things too. So I do acknowledge that Obama isn’t all perfect. And I’m pointing out a lot of bad things Trump has done because those are the major key points. He hasn’t really done anything good for this country, or our allies. And he’s not a good leader by being racist and sexist.

[samg772]

Special Interests Brief: LGBTQ Rights in Russia

Russia stands as one of the major sources of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation from the developed world. Much of this stems from its complicated modern history with the issue. As a revolutionary force defined by relatively forward-thinking values, sections of the Bolshevik movement were very pro gay rights while others remained staunchly against it. A compromise between the two sects was met by decriminalizing homosexual acts soon after the group took power. Under Stalin, homosexuality was criminalized once again, and an estimated 1000 men were imprisoned each year for suspected sexual acts. This ushered in a culture of homophobia which largely defined the Union for the rest of its time as a country. Yeltsin, the leader who took power after the Union fell, had a much stronger pro-LGBTQ stance than those who came before him. In 1993, homosexual acts were legalized under consenting males, though this was more so because of pressure from the European Union. Finally, homosexuality was formally removed from the Russian list of mental disorders in 1999.

Propaganda often labeled Stalin as a “father” and promoted “traditional” family values. There’s an implicit homophobic message.

Under Putin, the situation for gay rights has continued to worsen. Though the leader was never for LGBTQ rights, his public stance on the matter hardened once he took power for his third term in 2012. Now, Russia has a series of laws which either fail to protect against hate crimes on gay individuals or actively suppress or in some cases encourage harassment against homosexuals. There are no legal protections for discrimination, housing rights or employee discrimination for gay individuals. Gay marriage is illegal. In addition to this, there is a comprehensive law introduced in 2013 known as the “gay propaganda ban.” This law employs censorship against any media entity which might go against a “traditional agenda.” Those found guilty of the crime can invite heavy fines.

Putin’s opposition to gay marriage seems born out of 2 things: an embrace of rhetoric and aesthetics from the Soviet era and as a measure of “anti-liberalism.” The former appeals to the largely conservative social values of older Russians and gives him a convenient minority group to channel harassment towards. Putin also rhetorically positions the Russian state as opposed to “global liberalism.” This term is very loosely defined and can encompass a variety of opponents, but it is usually invoked as a sort of catch-all for “western countries.” Putin’s anti-gay stance seems to be born of a primarily aesthetic concern and to appeal to his base more than anything else, as he does not identify as deeply religious which is the most cited reason for his position.

                                Gay rights activists protesting in Moscow.

As a result of these policies and Putin’s public stances, public opinion on homosexuality is incredibly poor. About 1 in 5 Russians have said they would commit an act of violence towards a gay individual. Support for gay marriage is incredibly low and 3/4s of people surveyed have said that society should not accept queer individuals. Pro-LGBTQ organizations and parties in Russia are not technically illegal, but few exist as they usually find themselves bombarded by hate and forced to dissolve. Populist opposition figure Alexei Navalnv is pro-LGBTQ and there are some outspoken advocates within the Russian mediascape. However, they are dwarfed by the state’s official stance and the widespread bigotry held by most Russians.

[lydmill26]

The Law and the Intersectional Global Feminist

The focus of my commonplace book project is how laws affect women worldwide. Laws are rules put in place to regulate behavior. Laws can be derived from religious texts as well as from general  societal needs. Laws should be constructed to help and protect people. Laws ensure our rights against abuses by other people, organizations and by the government in charge. Unfortunately, laws are created by those who are in social, religious and governmental power. These leaders are not always elected by the majority they govern and therefore may not represent the needs of all the people. These individuals who are in religious and secular power are predominantly men who may not be able to relate to or understand how the laws affect women specifically. Lawmakers may also be motivated by selfish gains.

Women cannot be defined by gender alone. Intersectionality is the concept of how a person’s many experiences and identities combine to create a unique perspective on how things and events affect them. Women are affected differently by unfair practices and laws because their identity is based on multiple sources. Race, culture, gender identity, religion, economic situation, education level, political climate are all factors that determine how a woman is affected by a policy or law. Good intentioned laws, therefore, do not result in the same fair and equal treatment of all women worldwide. Women around the world are not all the same and their needs and goals cannot be reduced to a single story. Women’s intersectional identities must be understood and considered when advocating for their feminist rights and to eliminate and change unjust laws. Women should also have the freedom to determine for themselves what laws are most beneficial to their wellbeing. They must also position themselves to have the power to change laws that are unfair to them.

Kimberle Crenshaw’s article, Mapping The Margins, shows that laws and policies against domestic violence in the United States do not benefit all women equally. For example, women of color who seek emergency shelter from their abuser do not receive adequate services and counseling because the government funded agencies and its leadership use “intervention strategies based on women that do not share their background”. (Crenshaw, 201). Although these women experience the same physical abuse as affluent white women their lack of job skills, economic disadvantages, childcare issues and limited housing options makes their abuse experience unique. Counseling services and resources need to catered to helping them achieve independence and self reliance to overcome the circumstances that perpetuate domestic abuse. Leadership in domestic violence shelters must institute policies that are in line with their clientele’s identity in order to be effective in helping them. Immigrant women who do not speak English are also discriminated against in domestic abuse shelters. They can be denied access to emergency care because a ruling has determined that if they cannot understand English they would not be able to participate in counseling. Immigrant women may also believe that they must remain with their abusive partner or face being deported. The laws and policies do not seem to recognize the unique identities and the needs of immigrant women. “By failing to take into account the vulnerability of immigrant spouses to domestic violence, Congress positioned these women to absorb the simultaneous impact of its anti-immigration policy and their spouses’ abuse.” (Crenshaw, 202). It can be argued that the government is attempting to protect as many abused women as possible by funding emergency shelters. However, what I have learned is that these shelters do not meet the needs of the intersectionality of women living in American most desperate for help. Leadership must include women who more closely identify with the struggles of the women they are attempting to serve. Only then can strategies and policies be developed to end the cycle of domestic abuse.

Around the world, women are expected to adhere to the male acceptability of conduct. When they don’t laws are created and their meaning interpreted to force women to conform. The LGBTQ+ community has experienced hash and inhuman treatment and punishment for publicly announcing who they are. In a large number of African countries religious and governmental laws prohibit homosexuality. What I have discovered is that religious laws are inconsistent and their meanings are interpreted to benefit those in charge. Buddhism, for example, identifies “sexual misconduct”as one of the “10 non-virtuous deeds”. (https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/07/religious-groups-official-positions-on-same-sex-marriage/ ). Some scholars interpreted this to mean homosexuality and others understand it to mean adultery. Religious laws are open to the interpretation of the individual scholar. Religious laws can also be skewed so that their meaning justifies why people must behave in a certain manner. In the novel Under The Udala Trees, by Chinelo Okparanta, Adaora tells her daughter Ijeoma, “‘God intended for it to be man and woman. And God intended also for man and woman to bear children.’” (Okparanta, 73). However, in the Bible Jesus tells his male disciples, “Love one another; as I have loved you”. (John 15:12). These examples can be viewed as conflicting Bible interpretations on who one should love. Religious leaders are predominantly male and it appears to me that the teachings in the Bible are used by some as a weapon to intimidate women into certain behaviors that conform to men’s desires of acceptable behavior.

In addition to religious laws, governmental policies and laws can also limit a women’s freedoms. Homosexuality is illegal in many African countries. The punishment is jail, stoning and death. Some leaders such has as President Mugabe of Zimbabwe introduced legislation banning homosexual acts. President Jammeh of Gambia established laws that would decapitate any lesbian discovered in the country. Biases and the threat of legal action for being a gay woman in certain African countries is rooted in cultural and religious values. According to Ilan H. Meyer of Columbia University members of  the LGBT community “have a higher prevalence of mental disorders than heterosexuals.” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pec/articles/PMC2072932/ ). Laws that alienate and prosecute lesbian women have both physical and mental consequences. What I have learned is that a woman who identifies as lesbian is not protected by religious or governmental laws in some countries. They are discriminated against both socially and legally and are denied access to services. Advocating for feminist rights in countries that outlaw same sex unions must take into consideration more than sexual orientation. To best serve and assist the LGBTQ+ community of women we must also understand how their intersectional identity combines with being gay. Creating support for lesbian women and changing laws and mindsets must be done in conjunction with understand the life and customs of these women.

An aspect of this class that interested me and prompted me to learn more about is when religious laws intersect or affect secular governmental law. Most notably in this class it was seen in Muslim countries. Islamic law is also referred to as Sharia. Sharia “guides all aspects of Muslim life, including daily routines, familial and religious obligations, and financial dealings. It is derived primarily from the Quran and the Sunna.” (https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/Islam-governing-under-sharia). Some Muslim countries observe a “dual legal system” which incorporates religious laws with secular laws. Other Muslim countries observe a fully secular government. However some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and others practice a “Government under God” system of law. In these countries Sharia is the law followed and in forced. Under this strict interpretation of the Quran, and interpreted mainly by ruling male scholars and officials, women are under male guardianship at all times and must be covered in public. The interpretations of the teaching of Muhammad in this form of government limits a woman’s choice in dress, marriage, divorce and inheritance. According to Anne Sofie Roald, an associate professor at the University of Malmo, Sweden, “differences in interpretations resulted from differences in the scholars’ social and cultural settings. (Http://www.exhibitions.globalfundforwomen.org/exhibitions/women-power-and-politics/elections/Quran). What can be surmised is that the Quran and its laws are open to the  perception and understanding of the mostly male clergy. Islamic feminists believe that the teachings and laws of the Quran should be structured around concerns that fit Muslim women. For example, women should have the choice to wear a hijab or burqa and wear it as a way of practicing and asserting their Muslim identity. It is important not to define Muslim women who choose to cover themselves by a single perspective. The veil is not a symbol of oppression for Muslim women but rather an independent way of doing what they feel is righteous and safe. However, wearing a veil, hijab or burqa should be a choice rather than a command.

Feminism strives for the fair, just and equal treatment of women. What this class has emphasized for me is that fair, just and equal treatment of women is not simply remedied by the good intentioned few. To fully defend and support global feminism we must first understand a woman’s unique perspective of life and how circumstances will affect them. Identifying and comprehending a women’s intersectional identity will enable us to advocate for the feminist interests and needs of women different from ourselves. Developing alternative strategies based on the background of the women most in need will allow for better and more complete assistance. The results will have longer lasting effects on their lives. Laws and policies that directly affect women need to be created and instituted by women who can relate to the unique needs of thewomen they serve. Leadership must therefore include more women with different backgrounds. Both religious and secular laws need to be interpreted by the women who share and can relate to their intersectional identity. Global feminism is also the ability and willingness to support the choices of women different from ourselves. Education, tolerance and compassion can help make great strides in the battle for women’s equality and global feminism. Most especially, I have learned that laws are enacted to protect and defend the masses. I believe this is right and admirable. However, I also believe that these laws need to be interpreted by those who understand the unique intersectionality of women they are designed to help.

[lgbtq-resources]

History

Historical social stigma has cause health disparities and discrimination upon the LGBTQ+ community.

In this blog Im going to talk about some key points in LGBTQ history

In the nineteenth century, have same sex attraction was considered to be straying from culture and "normalcy"

It was believed that gay men were "individuals who are born with the sexual drive of women and who have male bodies".

Throughout the twentieth century consensual same sex behavior was deemed illegal. Homosexuality was considered a mental illness.

In 1952 the DSM was created. This is a diagnosis handbook used for mental disorders. Its authors labeled homosexuality a sociopathic personality disturbance. This was then used to base laws and regulations. People were then able to be denied employment and unable to receive licensure in many jobs.

Opportunities., C. O., Select., P. B., & Medicine, I. O. (2014). Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding. Washington: National Academies Press.

More recently in 2013 the American Psychiatric Association approved their fifth addition of the DSM. The key importance of changes made has to do with changing names of disorders. The previous disorder entitled “Gender Identity Disorder” has been replaced with “Gender Dysphoria”. An additional change includes “Transvestic Fetishism” to “Transvestic disorder”. This within itself is very problematic since it can cause stigmatization among patients and health care professionals. Over time these changes have helped make a positive change to understanding and supporting Transgender civil rights. We still have a long way to go!

All around the US there are annual PRIDE festivals. But do you know how and why it came to be a tradition?

In New York in 1969 solicitation of same-sex relations was illegal. Because of this gay bars were very popular so people could escape discrimination and racism. Many of these bars were Mafia ran in New York. One that you might recognize is the Stonewall Inn. Having the police raid this bar was a regular occurrence. Usually the police would tip off the Mafia run bars about the planned raids so they could hide illegal things. But on June 28 1969 the bar owners were not tipped off and the police raided the Stonewall Inn. Many were arrested and assaulted. Because of this people started throwing things like pennies, bottles, cobble stones, and other objects at the police. Soon hundreds of people were participating in a riot. Protests continued with thousands of participants for five days. These protests kick started LGBTQ political activism and birthed many gay rights organizations.

Http://www.history.com/.amp/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots

In the 1970s the HIV strain started to sweep the United States causing a pandemic. In 1980 an evangelical Christian leader gave President Jimmy Carter a petition to stop the advancement of gay rights in the United States. He explained that "God's judgement is going to fall on America as on other societies that allowed homosexuality to become a protected way of life". because of this action the United States became even more anti-gay then they were before. Ronald Reagan completely ignored distressed calls for help as the crisis raged through the community. It was not until 1985 that Reagan publicly spoke about the AIDS epidemic. by then 12,000 Americans died and the virus was sweeping through hemophiliac and IV drug using populations. Since the government refused to help during this time of need, many HIV/AIDS organizations started. The oldest one that is still running today is the Gay Men's Health Crisis that was founded in New York in 1982. From the start of the epidemic to 2016 it was reported that 700,000 people have died from the virus.

For more information about this topic, visit:

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/lgbtq-history-month-early-days-america-s-aids-crisis-n919701

Additional resources for LGBTQ+ History

https://www.glsen.org/lgbtq-history

http://www.lgbtqhistory.org/lgbt-rights-timeline-in-american-history/

[brain-garden-blog]

Stop Taking Adderall, Start Playing Video Games

Doctors could soon prescribe screen time for children with ADHD.

In the video game Project: EVO, you navigate roiling river rapids while dodging rapidly shifting obstacles and connecting with friendly flying characters. To earn stars and advance to the next level, you have to demonstrate multitasking mastery. Unlike other games that reward these kinds of skills, in this one you must prove to the game’s algorithm that you have made a leap in neurological function.

This is no ordinary entertainment — it’s a video game designed to lessen the symptoms of ADHD. And one day soon, it may be available by prescription and reimbursed by your insurance company.

The creator of Project: EVO, a Boston-based tech company called Akili Interactive, is betting that video games, often blamed for exacerbating behavioral and mental conditions, could actually provide successful treatments for ADHD. And it won’t just be kids playing on doctors’ orders. People on the autism spectrum, seniors with Alzheimer’s, and patients recovering from brain injuries may also benefit from playing games targeted to their specific neurological deficiencies.

Akili is working with the University of California, San Francisco’s Neuroscape Lab to build on the success of a game called Neuroracer, developed by UCSF neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley, which was shown to be a powerful tool for cognitive enhancement in adults aged 60 to 85.

In a 2013 study featured on the cover of Nature, Neuroracer’s multitasking features were shown to lead to improvements in real-life tasks that required working memory and sustained attention. In that game, players steer a virtual car while carrying out other actions that challenge their executive functioning. After 12 hours of this training, seniors were able to consistently beat 20-year-old novice players. The results were so astonishing that Gazzaley, a strikingly fit and even-keeled 40-something, became a darling of the Silicon Valley self-optimization set, a sort of med-tech celebrity who regularly speaks at tech conferences and dazzles the media with his plain-spoken charisma.

Over the past 12 years, Gazzaley and his team have collaborated with designers and artists to develop a range of video games that might be able to treat a wide range of brain disorders. Now with investment backing from PureTech Health, an R&D and venture creation firm, Gazzaley and the Akili team are charging into unknown terrain: securing approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a video game.

It’s a slow, deliberate process that’s at odds with the shoot-first way tech is usually developed. The FDA requires any kind of drug or medical device to go through multiple phases of large-scale, randomized, double-blind clinical trials that must all succeed. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of legal and procedural details that must be airtight, so Akili has 11 full-time employees working in its compliance department. Now in the final Phase 3 trial, the Project: EVO game is close to becoming the first prescription-based video game.

If it gets approved, the implications are big. Prescription video games could become an enormous market even though they face the perception that screen time is generally not beneficial. And they could give children with ADHD an intriguing alternative to the stimulants that are prescribed for them with astonishing regularity.

Safeguards

Matt Omernick heads up product development for Akili, and was recruited by Gazzaley while he was executive art director at LucasArts. Omernick says the rigorous FDA approval process will assure medical professionals that the game is beneficial. “Get to market fast is not the strategy, and our investors know that,” he says. “Hopefully we will be the first to define a very new industry — digital medicine.”

Aside from a company called Posit Science, which is in talks with the FDA about using video games to treat various cognitive disorders, competition is virtually non-existent. However, persuading doctors and regulators is a steep uphill climb because several companies, including Lumosity and Neurocore — which counts Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as chief investor — have come under attack for making false claims about their benefits. Gazzaley himself has been among the critics.

The very idea of using video games therapeutically goes against the “you’ll rot your brain” conventional wisdom that is in fact validated by numerous studies. While some research has shown that playing video games consistently can lead to significant improvements in vision and attentiveness, even more studies demonstrate the negative effects of screen time, including serious addiction — particularly for those with ADHD, attention problems, and anti-social tendencies.

It’s a slow, deliberate process that’s at odds with the shoot-first way tech is usually developed.

Omernick says that Project: EVO has built-in safeguards to ensure that it’s only used for one 30-minute session per day, so kids can’t get addicted to it. It stops functioning entirely after the daily session. He stays away from the swirl of controversy surrounding kids and screen time by taking a very pragmatic approach: “No matter what, video games are not going away, and this is one that is actually beneficial for your brain,” he says.

Kids who are prescribed the game will go through behavioral and neurological assessments first. Then, they’ll play the game on an iPad for half an hour a day, five days a week, for four weeks. The game is entertaining and visually immersive, offering up the kind of rewards that kids are familiar with from other video games. At the start of the training, a cartoon character in a lab coat explains the session’s objectives. Players learn to position and tilt the tablet to control an avatar traveling through outdoor environments while hitting targets and avoiding distractors. Even for me, a neurotypical 39-year-old, the game is fun, challenging, and hard to put down.

Unlike an over-the-counter game, in which all players have to do the same things to advance to higher levels or earn rewards, Project: EVO is a completely individualized tool for each player. It measures neurological skills such as perceptual discrimination, visuomotor tracking, and multitasking ability, says Omernick, and players move on only “once you demonstrate that you’ve actually changed something neurologically. So the game pushes you to improve a part of your brain, like a personal trainer.”

After the four weeks of gaming, the players are once again thoroughly assessed for attention, processing speed, and reaction times. The clinical team asks parents to report kids’ symptoms, observes how the children behave during the month, and interviews the kids themselves about how they are feeling and how they believe they might have progressed. The Project: EVO pilot study results released last April showed significant improvement in attention abilities for all participants, and sustained effects for up to nine months.

Other possibilities

The Akili team is also setting up similar studies with autism spectrum disorder, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and traumatic brain injury. Last December, Akili announced promising results in a study of a digital screening platform that detects biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease. The device, called AD Screen, is also in late-stage clinical trials.

But unlike with ADHD, this space is a bit more well-traveled. Posit Science has offered a cognitive enhancement game, BrainHQ, for five years. The Southern California branch of AAA offers older drivers a chance to complete 10 hours of training in the game in exchange for a discount on their auto insurance, says Posit Science CEO Henry Mahncke; he believes that health insurance discounts for patients who complete brain training will soon follow. Some of the exercises in BrainHQ, when combined with other treatments, have been shown to reduce the risk for dementia and even to help people with early Alzheimer’s.

Gazzaley says that most of the Akili games in development offer preventive potential as well, possibly protecting kids from developing ADHD, or lessening cognitive decline in adults. In fact, he maintains that the games could enhance cognitive abilities in everyone. The Neuroscape team is now working with school systems in the San Francisco Bay Area to train students to perform better academically using its video games.

But it’s not yet clear what the overall experience would be like for people who just pick up the game on their own, without a prescription for a certain condition. Among the details that haven’t been nailed down: Would non-prescription users have access to Akili’s clinical team as well? Would it be prohibitively expensive?

Cutting back on meds

It’s clear that parents and medical professionals are looking for an alternative way to treat ADHD. Diagnoses of hyperactivity disorder have skyrocketed in the past decade, affecting an estimated 11 percent of kids ages 4–17. About half of these kids take powerful drugs to lessen their symptoms and make them more amenable to classroom learning, following rules, and staying still.

Prescriptions of Adderall, Ritalin, and related drugs are up 28 percent since 2007. These drugs often present side effects, ranging from loss of appetite and weight to cardiac irregularities and slowed growth. They’re also widely used illegally off-label for their stimulant effects among the college set. It’s not yet fully understood how these drugs affect the developing brain, making each child a walking experiment. Adding to this, concern is growing that the ADHD diagnosis — which has criteria that are subjectively determined by clinicians — is incorrect about a third of the time, leading millions of kids to take drugs that they don’t really need. So Project: EVO offers a completely new framework for helping ADHD kids.

The idea that a video game could replace or reduce pharmaceutical treatments makes more sense when you consider that social, rather than behavioral and neurodevelopmental factors, frequently influence diagnosis. It’s the youngest kids in a classroom cohort who are more likely to be labeled hyperactive. Black and brown kids are diagnosed more often than their white classmates. To put it in historical perspective, hyperactivity wasn’t even acknowledged before compulsory schooling began in the 19th century. In many respects, children have become the target of modification because — let’s face it — fundamentally changing the social and environmental structures that negatively influence their behavior is more than a bit daunting. It’s widely acknowledged that in less rigid environments, children appear to evidence ADHD symptoms much less.

It’s clear that parents and medical professionals are looking for an alternative way to treat ADHD.

Emory University physician and anthropologist Mel Konner has proposed that ADHD is a matter of what’s known as evolutionary mismatch. The trait of short attention may have once provided survival advantages, but in the modern context it has become maladaptive because our environment is so different from the context in which Homo sapiens evolved, and our genes haven’t caught up. “These kids have hunter-gatherer brains in the modern context,” he says. “The testing regime in schools, coupled with the cutbacks in outdoor recess and art programs means that we are making the mismatch worse.”

Some solid research has found that kids with ADHD show significant improvement after getting regular outdoor play in natural settings, essentially recreating the hunter-gatherer lifestyle in small doses. And adventure sports disproportionately attract people who can successfully channel their ADHD energies into mountain climbing or paragliding. Similarly, Posit Science CEO Mahncke says that cognitive decline in seniors could be caused by lifestyle factors. Most people in the developed world are now sedentary, and our professional lives involve becoming narrowly focused on one type of task, in one place. Even if that task is intellectually demanding, that intensity is not what keeps our brains sharp. “Humans are one of the most adaptable animals — we can live anywhere — and what sustains us and maintains our brain health is constant new learning and adapting to environments,” Mahncke says.

But health professionals find it hard to write a prescription for an environment or a lifestyle. Take the idea of outdoor play — how much is effective? What kind of play is best? Are some spaces more beneficial than others? And what about the majority of people who don’t have easy access to wilderness?

That’s why Gazzaley thinks a video game prescription will likely be the most reliable treatment alternative for ADHD — and eventually for other disorders. “With almost 100% of newly diagnosed cases of ADHD, parents are asking: ‘Is there anything else I can do for my child besides drugs?’” Gazzaley says. “Our goal is to be on the pharmacy shelf next to Adderall. Any doctor will have the ability to prescribe our video game, which has a delivery system that is better than any drug.”

- by Jessica Carew Kraft

[mentalhealthandaging]

Programs, Policies, and Laws to Address Mental Health Stigmatization

Recall earlier I had indicated that I will present a blog post about the initiatives, programs, policies and laws that can be implemented to reduce and prevent stigmatization and discrimination of people with mental illness. Well, here is the post.

Here are several ways to address stigma:

Increasing awareness and Education:Through increasing education and awareness, this includes increasing education for those with mental illness, for the public, and for structural and institutional sectors and participants such as health and social services and healthcare professionals. This can be done by implementing mental health education in the school curricula whether that is in highschool, university, or a health profession schools such as medical school. In addition, opportunities for healthcare professionals to pursue continued educational and professional development is crucial for ensuring good quality of care (WHO-WPA, 2002). Healthcare professionals should receive and have access to education and training in order to “recognize, address, and diagnose the full range of mental illnesses and addictions and differentiate them from the signs of normal aging “ (Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario; 2010). Education related stigma reduction programs also need to help healthcare professionals and providers improve their skills with working with older adults with mental health problems or illnesses (Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), 2014). The Canadian Mental Health Association also identifies the need to educate individuals about “the differences between normal aging and signs of mental illness `` (Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario; 2010). It encourages the the dissemination of resource materials about aging and mental health across senior groups, senior centers, conferences and workshops in order to increase awareness about the stigmatization and discrimination that exist regarding aging and mental health (Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario; 2010).

Mass media anti-stigma campaigns can also be implemented. Advertisements through multiple forms of media (TV ads, flyers, posters on public transportation) can be distributed. Websites and resource/ advice lines with information about the topic can be created (WHO-WPA, 2002).  With today’s technology education campaigns and mass media anti-stigma campaigns can be presented in the forms of videos, radio stations, newspapers, training materials, conferences, and community presentations (U.S. Department , 2005).The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) recommends that each anti-stigma program needs to target content to a specific or particular mental health problem or illness. They state that designing anti-stigma program will be unique and different to different audience groups as anti-stigma programming developed for students will be different than the anti-stigma programming developed for healthcare professionals (MHCC, 2014).

Another initiative to address stigma is to empower and educate older adults. Campaigns need to be implemented to encourage older adults to share their narratives, stories, and experiences regarding mental health (MHCC, 2014). Anti-stigma initiatives should promote and incorporate social contact with older adults living with mental health problems. Older adults need a platform to share their personal testimony and real-life narratives of their experience with a mental illness (MHCC, 2014). This is known as social contact or contact based education (MHCC, 2014). Through personal testimonies and narratives of older adults living with mental illness we can start to understand the challenges and struggles the individual has experienced (MHCC, 2014). We can start to look beyond the preconceived notions and perceptions we have towards aging and mental illness (MHCC, 2014). This allows us to see who the individual truly is and helps us identity their circumstances and needs (MHCC, 2014). Furthermore, it is important to implement campaigns to educate older adults about mental illness to prevent the internalization of stigma from occuring. Peer- Educators (PE) are individuals that are trained to provide support and education for individuals suffering from mental health problems in the community (McKinnon et al., 2019).  Many of the PE have experienced a mental health problem like depression and have been previously treated for it, thus they have an understanding of what it is like to suffer from mental health problems (McKinnon et al., 2019).Studies have shown that using PEs is an effective and in-expensive approach to help and meet the needs of older adults suffering mental health problems, whom underutilize mental health services (McKinnon et al., 2019). A pilot study also found that PE reduced public and internalized stigma because PE support encouraged older adults with depression to develop positive attitudes and encouraged older adults with depression to search and seek out help and information (McKinnon et al., 2019).

Finally, mental health policies and laws can be implemented to promote human rights and promote the inclusion of those with mental illness. In Ontario, examples of such laws include the policy on mental health and services known as the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act which makes denying healthcare or any type of service (e.g. housing, insurance, education, etc.) to people with mental health disability or addiction illegal (Ontario Human Rights Commission) (Refer to previous post for more information about the importance of policies and laws in regards to mental illness).

In my next post I will give examples of anti- stigma initiative that I have talked about in this post.

Sources

Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario. (2010). Mental Health and Addiction Issues for Older Adults: Opening the Door to a Strategic Framework. Retrieved from https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/mental-health-and-addictions-issues-for-older-adults-opening-the-doors-to-a-strategic-framework/

McKinnon, S. A., Conner, K. O., Roker, R., Ward, C. J., & Brown, C. (2019). The Reduction of Public and Internalized Stigma in Late-Life Depression: A Pilot Study. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 38(3), 424–433. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464816687079

Ontario Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Human rights and mental health (fact sheet). Retrieved from http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/human-rights-and-mental-health-fact-sheet

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services. (2005). Mentally Healthy Aging: A report on overcoming stigma for older Americans. Recommended Citation: Mentally Healthy Aging: A Report on Overcoming Stigma for Older Americans. DHHS Pub. No. (SMA) 05-3988. Rockville, MD: Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2005.Retrieved from https://www.quantumunitsed.com/get-material.php?id=122

World Health Organization and World Psychiatric Association. (2002). Reducing stigma and discrimination against older people with mental disorders. WHO-WPA. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/mental_health/media/en/499.pdf

[treysenglishclass-blog]

Why do They Have to Shove it in Our Faces?

As a queer man, I know the struggles that come along with that. I know what it’s like to feel like I have to keep my identity a secret; specifically in certain situations that I feel unsafe in. I know how it feels to get unpleasant and disapproving looks from people, just for holding my partner’s hand in public. I know what it feels like to be discriminated against. Now, over the years I have come to accept my sexuality and learned to express myself more freely in safe situations. The way I learned to be comfortable in my own skin was by seeing examples of happy LGBTQ+ people in media, and specifically family-friendly media. I want to express the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in family-friendly media.

Over the past couple of years, you may have seen more and more instances of LGBTQ+ representation in media. While some people are wildly excited about this, there are some individuals that will argue against this inclusion of these characters. Many of which come from a religious or conservative background where it is taught that being LGBTQ+ is a sin, unnatural, and against God. A scientific journal released by the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin in 2015, talks about a survey that was done in America to highlight the relationship between Religion, Conservatism, and the LGBTQ+ community. The study found that the more religious and conservative a person is, the more likely they are to honor tradition, resist change, and oppose the LGBTQ+ community. When America was first founded, religion played a huge part in culture, and because of its impact on the early American settlers, the laws and societal standards set by our founding fathers were based on religious bias. This created a status quo that inadvertently encouraged the discrimination of LGBTQ+ people because of what their religions taught. Because of religion being highly ingrained in America’s culture, conservative citizens often align with the same ideologies to maintain the status quo. During much of the 20th century, LGBTQ+ people have been largely discriminated against. “Public opinion studies over the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s routinely showed that, among large segments of the public, lesbian, gay and bisexual people were the target of strongly held negative attitudes.” The AIDS pandemic was also a large push back in accepting LGBTQ+ people. The argument made by religious and conservative citizens that LGBTQ+ people are unnatural is understandable when taking a look at it from their perspective. These are people who were raised in environments where they’re not used to seeing LGBTQ+ people, and when the AIDS pandemic broke, it cast LGBTQ+ in an even darker light. With the inclusion of more LGBTQ+ representation in media, it must seem like the whole world is flipping upside down. 

I understand that change is scary, and it’s normal to get scared and angry when the status quo begins to change, but things are changing and it’s important to change with it. Throughout my research, I’ve come to the conclusion that most people that oppose the LGBTQ+ community just don’t understand the community. Caitlyn Ryan, a social worker for over 40 years and has helped numerous LGBTQ+ people in that time. Through Ryan’s social work, she’s found an alarming amount of caregivers who’ve admitted to not knowing how to treat their LGBTQ+ children. These caregivers often feel pressure to choose between religion and their LGBTQ+ child and are often unsure and uneducated on the LGBTQ+ community. With caregivers being uneducated and uncertain about the community, because of past events, such as the AID pandemic, and stereotypes seen in media, such as the queer trope.  created about the LGBTQ+ community, they often times act out of fear and anger when they see the paths their children are going down. Some even going as far as to kick their children out of their houses. Obviously, these actions drive a wedge between the caregiver and the LGBTQ+ child. 

There is still a large amount of discrimination, majorly due to misunderstanding and stereotypes of LGBTQ+ people, but the most important thing to remember when it comes to LGBTQ+ people is that they’re just that, people. People who want to be accepted for who they are. Ryan has found through her research and work with families over the years, that there is a lot of misconceptions when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community. For example, it is believed that sexual orientation is strictly about sex and not felt until late teens or adulthood, when in reality children on average form an understanding of their gender identity by age three, start realizing their sexuality at age 10, and identify with LGBTQ+ around age 13. This fact is further backed by The American Psychology Association (APA), an association that has made tremendous advancements in the world of psychology. The APA released a pamphlet in hopes of helping people understand the LGBTQ+ community. The pamphlet explains, “According to current scientific and professional understanding, the core attractions that form the basis for adult sexual orientation typically emerge between middle childhood and early adolescence.” It goes on to explain that while there is no scientific consensus as to why people have a certain sexual orientation, people overwhelmingly feel no sense of choice in their identity. Homosexuality is not a mental disorder either. “Despite the persistence of stereotypes that portray lesbian, gay and bisexual people as disturbed, several decades of research and clinical experience have led all mainstream medical and mental health organizations in this country to conclude that these orientations represent normal forms of human experience”. During adolescence, people tend to be the most exploratory with their sexual feelings. When these young people come to their conclusion, it’s important to be supportive no matter what. Support leads to happy, satisfying, and healthy lives. 

When it comes to representation of LGBTQ+ people in family-friendly media, LGBTQ+ people are still often seen as jokes. In Denmark, an analysis of 545 television programs, and interviews with stakeholders in Danish society, including, Save the Children, LGBT Denmark, The Danish Media Council’s Unit for Children/The National Council for Children, and DR’s Children and Youth Department was held on the issue “children and sexuality” to examine what the dominant ideas about children and childhood are in today’s society, and how those influence what is considered appropriate for children. After the content analysis was done, it was determined that most of the characters on these shows were heterosexual, and the ones that are LGBTQ+ were seen as jokes. “One example is from an episode of the US non-DR comedy series Big Time Rush (Nickelodeon, 2009–2013). The boys have been planning on at least one of them being crowned prom king at the prom. A series of events leads to one of the boys being forced to switch clothes with a girl in an attempt to save their plan to win prom king. Thus, he puts on her dress and she puts on his suit. When the other boys see him in the dress, they all grimace, as if the situation is utterly ridiculous and humiliating for him – making it a comic situation for the viewer.” Portrayals of the LGBTQ+ in this way starts to alienate LGBTQ+ children and makes the statement that it’s okay to laugh at and make fun of LGBTQ+ people. When the interviewees were asked about supporting positive portrayals of LGBTQ+ people in family-friendly content, each organization stressed the importance of making sure the content doesn’t get sexual, and each answer was directly related to censoring the sexual aspect of an LGBTQ+ relationship. They argued that children are extremely vulnerable at a young age, and the children’s age should be considered when exposure to LGBTQ+ representation, is brought before them. These Organizations saw being LGBTQ+ as being all about the sexual aspect of a relationship and associated it with being more adult. This is the same misconception Caitlyn Ryan found in her study, and this further emphasizes the idea that LGBTQ+ content is inherently more adult. 

LGBTQ+ children are at higher risks when they don’t feel supported by their family members and peers or don’t have positive representations of themselves in media. Caitlyn Ryan conducted a study gauging both LGBTQ+ people and the family’s responses to LGBTQ+ children coming out. “We started with in-depth individual interviews ranging from two to four hours each with LGBT youth and key family members who were accepting, ambivalent, and rejecting of their adolescents' LGBT identities. Our research explored family, school and peer experiences, gender expression and related experiences, cultural and religious values and experiences related to the adolescent's sexual orientation and gender identity, the development of their LGBT identity, specific family reactions to their LGBT identity, victimization, social support, and future hopes and dreams.” Their interviews found that children who were rejected are more than eight times as likely to have attempted suicide, nearly six times as likely to report high levels of depression, more than three times as likely to use illegal drugs, and  more than three times as likely to be at high risk for HIV and 2 sexually transmitted diseases.

Furthermore, in 2019, the Science Direct academic journal released a study done through twitter that asked people questions about their age, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, school enrollment and grade, social connectedness, truancy due to feeling unsafe, school-based and cyberbullying victimization, sadness, suicide ideation and attempt, social media use, and preferences regarding survey mode and recontact. The study concluded that LGBTQ+ people between 14-21 are twice as likely to be at risk of suicide than other people the same age, due to bullying and rejection, and this number is still growing. Because of the stigma surrounding the LGBTQ+ community, it is harder for people of this community to reach out for help, and instead, these people begin to internalize their feelings. The study further finds that support at home and school greatly decreased these numbers, but there are gaps outside of home and school where LGBTQ+ people still face discrimination. Places of belongingness, such as church and religious youth group involvement, are good places for heterosexual people to decrease suicide ideology, but this involvement has the opposite effect on LGBTQ+ youth because of the religious discrimination they face. The study concludes by arguing that exposure to LGBTQ+ people helps decrease LGBTQ+ youth suicide rates. The study finds that integrated learning, without excluding anyone, on LGBTQ+ people and issues is most beneficial for decreasing LGBTQ+ bullying and suicide ideology. Since children often don’t have the power to make these changes, the responsibility falls on the adults to teach their children about LGBTQ+ people. Adults should be calling for action for garnering more support for the LGBTQ+ community. 

With all of this being said thus far, I feel it is extremely important for children and adolescents to have exposure to LGBTQ+ characters in family-friendly media. As we learned according to APA, Caitlyn Ryan, and my own experience on my queer journey, feelings of same-sex attraction and gender variances emerge in early adolescence. Because of this exploration and formation of identity at such an early age, it is important that these individuals have access to positive portrayals of LGBTQ+ people in the media they consume. The argument that LGBTQ+ content is inherently adult is flawed because with LGBTQ+ feelings emerging in the adolescent years, it is clearly not an adult concept! By labeling the LGBTQ+ community as inherently more adult, you are depriving LGBTQ+ children exposure to a positive representation of themselves. This results in LGBTQ+ children feeling isolated during their crucial years of development and they grow up thinking they’re wrong. Scholars have argued that the lack of representation can lead members of the LGBTQ+ community to feel they’re victims of “symbolic annihilation” and may receive the message that they don’t matter to culture at large. You also deprive heterosexual children of the opportunity to learn about people who are different from them, which results in more bullying of LGBTQ+ children. 

Children are very Perceptive! In 2005, there was a study done that recorded how children responded after 6 months of watching prosocial content vs watching violent content. The results found that children exposed to prosocial content have more positive social interactions, show more altruistic behavior and self-control, and have less stereotyped views of others. Positive social interactions increased when the viewing of prosocial content was pair with discussion afterward. With this finding in mind, think about how we can change the stigma surrounding LGBTQ+ people! The Science Direct academic journal suggested, “integrated learning, without excluding anyone, on LGBTQ+ people and issues is most beneficial for decreasing LGBTQ+ bullying and suicide ideology.” By giving all children the ability to watch content that supports, teaches, and illustrates positive interactions between LGBTQ+ people, it teaches all children, whether they’re heterosexual or LGBTQ+, that LGBTQ+ people are normal, worthy of respect, and should be treated equally. 

There have already been great strides made in family-friendly media, but one of the most important moments came from Rebecca Sugar, creator of Steven Universe on Cartoon Network. Steven Universe is well known in the LGBTQ+ community because of its inclusion of metaphors for same-sex relationships and gender variant characters. On the Steven Universe podcast, Rebecca discusses an episode of Steven Universe called “Reunited”; an episode that she later won a GLAAD award for “Outstanding Kids & Family Programming”. In the episode, there is a scene where two female-presenting characters, Ruby and Sapphire, get married, and the episode displays the first same-sex kiss on family-friendly content. While this is an extremely exciting moment, the moment didn’t come easy. Rebecca talks about the argument she had with Cartoon Network on whether or not LGBTQ+ content is suitable for children. The Network expressed that since the show would be airing in a G timeslot, this type of content wouldn’t be acceptable. Rebecca was repulsed by the idea that these two characters wouldn’t be acceptable for a G rating when throughout the history of G rated content, a majority of the stories revolved around characters falling in love and living “happily ever after”. That is the exact same thing being represented in her show, and she feels that it’s her character's right as a cartoon couple to be able to experience everything that heteronormative cartoon couples get to. Rebecca, also argues that by labeling LGBTQ+ content as adult content, you are depriving children of learning about LGBTQ+ people and possibly stifling their own growth. By showing LGBTQ+ content to children it allows them to learn more about themselves and others without the subject feeling taboo. 

Rebecca mentions that it's bittersweet getting the wedding approved and hearing the fans’ responses. She is happy that it went through and is proud of the fight she fought, but she feels like there is still so much more work to do. This wedding is a small piece of representation when compared to the last hundred years of heteronormative family-friendly content. 

Another instance of pushing for LGBTQ+ content in family-friendly content comes from Alex Hirsh, creator of Gravity Falls on Disney Channel. In an interview, Hirsh was asked about an episode titled “Love God”.  The episode follows Cupid, and in this particular scene, it shows Cupid using his magic to make people start falling in love. When the storyboard artist first drew up the scene, there was a moment depicting 2 elderly ladies falling in love. Alex knew immediately that Disney wouldn’t allow this to go through, which led him to keep it in the story. Sure enough, the storyboard came back with the note, “The scene of the two old ladies kissing in the diner is not appropriate for our audience. Please revise.” To which Alex responded with a one-word answer: “Why?” 

Disney couldn’t come up with a good reason, other than the scene would make homophobic parents angry, and so that they could avoid the headache, they asked Alex to just drop the moment. Alex had a discussion with Disney six more times after that; he stated that a small moment like this would make a lot of fans happy and argued that since Disney is such a big company, they should just ignore the homophobic parents; it wouldn’t make a difference in the long run. The censors told him that if he doesn’t revise the storyboard, they will cut the moment themselves. Alex finally gave in, but this didn’t stop him from representing the LGBTQ+ community later in the show. In the finale, two male police officers declared their love for each other, and Disney censors didn’t bat an eye. 

We need to teach the older generations that being LGBTQ+ isn’t an issue. Caregivers sometimes don’t understand that their behaviors and actions, in an attempt to help their LGBTQ+ children have a “good life” can sometimes be highly problematic, even when motivated by care and concern. Phrases such as, "It's just a phase", “he'll grow out of it", "how could he possibly know?", "he's just confused.", or ultimately avoiding discussion and discouraging the child to talk about their LGBTQ+ identity creates a disconnect by denying/minimizing the LGBTQ+ children’s feelings. Caregivers should never try to change their child’s sexual orientation or gender identity, or prevent them from having an LGBT friend. These actions break any trust built between the two and lead to higher risks for their LGBTQ+ children. Caregivers should instead advocate for their children when others mistreat them because of their LGBT identity, require respect for them within the family, and help their congregation become more welcoming of LGBT people in an attempt to keep their children connected with their faith.

So, “Why do they have to shove it in our faces?” Because exposure to this content saves lives. By allowing LGBTQ+ content in family-friendly media, it helps normalize LGBTQ+ and shows that there is nothing inappropriate about this community. It helps LGBTQ+ children understand themselves and makes them feel like they belong. It’s important to remember that children cannot make this change, which is why adults need to carry this responsibility. Adults need to be educated about the community in order to make positive changes for the community and their children. It’s unfair that religion has had such a huge impact on American culture, as not everyone is religious. But people should remember that in America there is religious freedom, meaning that not everyone will aline with their ideas. It is not my intent to say that your religion is wrong, but I urge you to take this into consideration the next time you speak with someone from the LGBTQ+ community. You never know when someone is LGBTQ+, so please remember that your actions and words have consequences. Consequences that if you’re not careful with, may result in harming your child. 

Cartoon Network. “Reunited with Rebecca Sugar and Ian Jones-Quartey (Vol.3/Ep.5).” The Steven Universe Podcast, Cartoon Network, 20 Sept. 2018.et 

al. “Suicide Etiology in Youth: Differences and Similarities by Sexual and Gender Minority Status.” Children & Youth Services Review, vol. 102, July 2019, pp. 79–90. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.03.039.

Kaiser, Vrai. “Interview: Gravity Falls' Alex Hirsch Talks About Disney's Censors, Pacifica's Parents, and Future Plans.” An Interview With Gravity Falls Creator Alex Hirsch | The Mary Sue, The Mary Sue, 14 July 2017, www.themarysue.com/alex-hirsch-interview/.

Thorfinnsdottir, Dia, and Helle Strandgaard Jensen. “Laugh Away, He Is Gay! Heteronormativity and Children’s Television in Denmark.” JOURNAL OF CHILDREN AND MEDIA, vol. 11, no. 4, 2017, pp. 399–416. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/17482798.2017.1312470.

van der Toorn, Jojanneke, et al. “In Defense of Tradition: Religiosity, Conservatism, and Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage in North America.” Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 43, no. 10, Oct. 2017, pp. 1455–1468. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/0146167217718523.

Ryan, Caitlin. “Generating a Revolution in Prevention, Wellness, and Care for LGBT Children and Youth.” Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review, no. Issue 2, 2013, p. 331. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edshol&AN=edshol.hein.journals.tempcr23.16&site=eds-live.

Kelso, Tony. “Still Trapped in the U.S. Media’s Closet: Representations of Gender-Variant, Pre-Adolescent Children.” JOURNAL OF HOMOSEXUALITY, vol. 62, no. 8, pp. 1058–1097. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00918369.2015.1021634. Accessed 6 Nov. 2019.

“Media Portrayal of LGBT People.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Nov. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_portrayal_of_LGBT_people#cite_note-3.

Mares, Marie-Louise, and Emory Woodard. “Positive Effects of Television on Children’s Social Interactions: A Meta-Analysis.” Media Psychology, vol. 7, no. 3, 2005, pp. 301–322. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1207/S1532785XMEP0703_4.

The American Psychological Association. “Answers to Your Questions For a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, 2008, https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/orientation.

[secret-diary-of-an-fa]

Donald Trump: Psychopath Elect

IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not a a professional pscyhologist or psychiatrist. I do not purport that my findings in this blog entry have any clinical validity. They are the conclusions of a relatively well-informed layman. Oh, and some of the crimes I mention in Point 20 are unproven. I’m confidet that Trump is guilty of all of them, but for legal purposes, I’m obliged to tell you that they are allegations, not prove acts of criminality.

TRIGGER WARNING: Rape and sexual assault.

Have you ever heard of the Bob Hare checklist of psychopathic traits? Basically, it’s a list of personality traits that can be rated 0, 1 or 2 for any given person. If a person scores a certain number or higher (most clinicians use 30 as their benchmark), that person is a psychopath. I just had a go at rating Trump on the checklist, because I have a sneaking suspcion that America may have elected a bona-fide, certifiable psycho, neurologically incapable of empathy and prone to extreme, dangerous callousness.. And let me be clear here, the Hare test is the most widely-used psychopath-testing tool in psychology. It is the gold standard for checking if someone is a remorseless hazard to those around them. Let’s run Trump through the checklist and see what we come out with.

1. Glib and superficial charm Personally I find Trump about as charming as anal polyps, but a lot of people would seem to disagree, since he was a successful gameshow host for quite some time. Let’s split the difference and score him 1 out of a possible 2 points.

2. Grandiose sense of self-esteem This is a man who routinely boasts about his obscene wealth and privilege; who insists that he climbed to the top on his own despite being given a million dollar loan by a family member at a young age; and who owns an apartment filled with fucking gold-leaf. Also, any casual listener to his political speeches can tell his got a big ego. Do I really have to justify this score? 2 whole points!

3. Need for stimulation I don’t know how much stimulation Trump needs in his personal life, but it’s worth noting that this guy has pinged from one high-energy career to another throughout the course of his life and who has the kind of ridiculously overblown public persona that requires constant activity to maintain. Even when he has a spare moment, the cunt never fucks off or calms down: he gets on Twitter and picks fights with people. With some hesitation (but not much), I’m going to give him 2 points.

4. Pathological lying. I think he’d prefer the term “alternative facts”. Then again, I’d prefer to be addressed as “Your Highness”, but it aint’ going to happen. 2 Points.

5. Cunning and manipulative He managed to win an election despite being one fo the least qualified people in the running. He’s definitely manipulative. I’ll also grant that he has a form of low cunning, like a fox or a predatory weasel. However, I refuse to credit it him with the true, machievelian cunning of the truly successful political animal, so let’s split the difference again and give him 1 point.

6. Lack of remorse or guilt Trump has demonstrated that he has no qualms about mocking the disabled, sexually assaulting women or ripping healthcare away from the poor. 2 points. If it was an option, I’d give him 3.

7. Shallow affect/ superfial emotional responses In this repsect, Trump is a perfectly typical politician. 2 Points.

8. Callousness and lack of empathy See item six. 2 Points.

9. Parasitic lifestyle Trump’s wealth was initially granted by family connections and has grown as a result of his continued willingness to exploit other people. Now he’s taken the final step in the parasite skill-tree and become a politician. 2 points.

10. Poor behavioural control He couldn’t resist boasting that his fame allows him to “grab women by the pussy” while running for election. He can’t resist a fight on Twitter. He says the first idiotic thing to pop into his head at political rallies. 2 Points.

11. Sexual promiscuity Once again, I refer you to him boasting about grabbing women “by the pussy”. 2 Points.

12. Early behavioural problems During his school days, Trump would become a juvenile delinquent, but since juvenile deliquency is another item on this checklist, I guess ‘early’ must mean ‘earlier than his late boyhood and adolscence’. I don’t know about this period of his life, but we can assume that his later deliquency didn’t come from nowhere. Let’s be cautious and score him 1.

13. Lack of realistic longterm goals. The dude wants to build a wall stretching across America’s entire southern border. Then he wants to force Mexico to pay for it. Even with the power and backing that go with his position as American president, this scheme is clearly insane and unworkable. If the wall gets built at all, it’ll be a shambolic mess that’s impossible to maintain within a limited budget and Mexico sure as shit won’t give him a penny for it. 2 points.

14. Impulsivity He decided to run or president on a whim. Also, I would (for the third time) refer you to his comment about grabbing lassies by their lady-parts. 2 points.

15. Irresponsibility 2 Points. He’s been president for barely a week and it’s already pretty obvious he isn’t going to take it seriously.

16. Failure to accept responsibility for his own (negative actions). Trump thinks everything he does is wonderful. He doesn’t so much refuse to take responsibility for his fuck-ups as reframe them as triumphs. Er, 1 point I guess?

17. Many short-term marital relationships Many psychopaths enter into marital relationships in order to appear normal, but can’t hold them down for long because, well, their psychopaths. Trump has had three marriages. I don’t know if that qualifies as “many”, but it’s rather suggestive. Let’s give him 1 point and move on.

18. Juvenile deliquency Trump’s behaviour at school was so disruptive that his name was used as shorthand for “getting into trouble” by his classmates and he was evenutally sent to military school. 2 Points.

19. Revocation of conditional release To the best of my knowledge, Trump has never been imprisoned, so I have to give him a 0. However it’s worth pointing out that he hasn’t been to prison because he’s excessively wealthy and privileged, not because he’s never done anything illegal.

20. Criminal versatility Let’s see, there’s sexual assault, defamation (of one of the women he sexually asssaulted), violation of anti-discrimination laws (he refused to rent or sell housing that he owned as a property tycoon to people based on their race), and con-artistry (he once set up a fake “university”, ostensibly to teach his business skills to young entrepeneurs. He charged students over $30,000 apiece. Later, they found out that Trump had almost nothing to do with running the university, which failed to teach what he had promised. It also turned out not to be a university, because it was operating without an educational liscence in a state that required them. It eventually had to change its name). Oh, there’s also tenant intimidation, refusal to pay workers and contractors what he legally owed them, violation of the legal rules surrounding casinos, violation of corporate takeover laws, mafia ties and a possible marital rape. 2 points.

Right, let’s tot up the numbers and find out if Trump really is a psychopath or if he’s just a run-of-the-mill arsehole. Drum roll, please. Trump’s final score is... 33. Even if we discount the point for ‘early behavioural problems’ (which I can’t know about with certainty), we’re still left with a score of 32. In short, yes: Trump is a psychopath. It’s not even marginal. He’s just a psychopath.

Incidentally, I’m not the only one to come to this conclusion. A study reported in The Independent newspaper came to the same conclusion, using a different test. Three Harvard Professors in the field of psychology have all suggested that he has narcisstic personality disorder (psychopathy is more-or-less the extreme end of this disorder, and the disorder is the closest clinical dianosis available to psychopathy).

Well, done America. You’ve elected Patrick Bateman. Y’know? The guy from American Psycho?

SOURCES

I did a lot of reading to create this blog entry. If any of you would like to verify it, these are the places you need to check out.

Jon Ronson, The Psychopath Test (2011)

Various authors, The Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders (no date given), ‘Hare Psychopathy Checklist’. http://www.minddisorders.com/Flu-Inv/Hare-Psychopathy-Checklist.html

The Atlantic, David A. Graham, ‘The Many Scandals of Donald Trump’ (2017). http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/donald-trump-scandals/474726/

Counter Current News, Admin, ‘Harvard Psychologist Explains that Trump is Dangerous Because Hes Literally a Narcissistic Psychopath’ (2017). http://countercurrentnews.com/2016/02/psychologist-explains-trump-is-literally-a-narcissistic-psychopath/

The Independent, Shehab Khan, ‘How much of a psychopath is Donald Trump’ (2016). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-psychopath-researcher-oxford-university-kevin-dutton-a7204706.html

Psycho Donald, Unknown Author, ‘Juvenile Delinquency’ (2016). http://psychodonald.com/category/psycho/jd/

[phynxrizng]

A HISTORY OF THE US GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

The American Gay Rights Movement: A Timeline This timeline provides information about the gay rights movement in the United States from 1924 to the present: including the Stonewall riots; the contributions of Harvey Milk; the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy; the first civil unions; the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York; and more. 1924 The Society for Human Rights in Chicago becomes the country's earliest known gay rights organization. 1948 Alfred Kinsey publishes Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, revealing to the public that homosexuality is far more widespread than was commonly believed. 1951 The Mattachine Society, the first national gay rights organization, is formed by Harry Hay, considered by many to be the founder of the gay rights movement. 1955 The first lesbian-rights organization in the United States, the Daughters of Bilitis, was established in San Francisco in 1955. 1956 The Daughters of Bilitis, a pioneering national lesbian organization, is founded. 1958 Joe Cino, an Italian-American theater producer, opens Caffe Cino. Caffe Cino is credited with starting the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. Six years after Caffe Cino opens, it hosts the first gay plays, The Madness of Lady Bright, by Lanford Wilson, and The Haunted Host, by Robert Patrick. 1962 Illinois becomes the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults in private. 1966 The world's first the transgender organization, the National Transsexual Counseling Unit, was established in San Francisco. 1969 The Stonewall riots transform the gay rights movement from one limited to a small number of activists into a widespread protest for equal rights and acceptance. Patrons of a gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, the Stonewall Inn, fight back during a police raid on June 27, sparking three days of riots. 1973 The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders. Harvey Milk runs for city supervisor in San Francisco. He runs on a socially liberal platform and opposes government involvement in personal sexual matters. Milk comes in 10th out of 32 candidates, earning 16,900 votes, winning the Castro District and other liberal neighborhoods. He receives a lot of media attention for his passionate speeches, brave political stance, and media skills. 1976 San Francisco Mayor George Moscone appoints Harvey Milk to the Board of Permit Appeals, making Milk the first openly gay city commissioner in the United States. Milk decides to run for the California State Assembly and Moscone is forced to fire him from the Board of Permit Appeals after just five weeks. Milk loses the State Assembly race by fewer than 4,000 votes. Believing the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club will never support him politically, Milk co-founds the San Francisco Gay Democratic Club after his election loss. 1977 Activists in Miami, Florida pass a civil rights ordinance making sexual orientation discrimination illegal in Dade County. Save Our Children, a campaign by a Christian fundamentalist group and headed by singer Anita Bryant, is launched in response to the ordinance. In the largest special election of any in Dade County history, 70% vote to overturn the ordinance. It is a crushing defeat for gay activists. 1978 On January 8, Harvey Milk makes national news when he is sworn in as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Running against 16 other candidates, he wins the election by 30 percent. Milk begins his term by sponsoring a civil rights bill that outlaws sexual orientation discrimination. Only one supervisor votes against it and Mayor Moscone signs it into law. John Briggs drops out of the California governor's race, but receives support for Proposition 6, also known as the Briggs Initiative, a proposal to fire any teacher or school employee who publicly supports gay rights. Harvey Milk campaigns against the bill and attends every event hosted by Briggs. In the summer, attendance greatly increases at Gay Pride marches in San Francisco and Los Angeles, partly in response to Briggs. President Jimmy Carter, former Governor Ronald Reagan, and Governor Jerry Brown speak out against the proposition. On November 7, voters reject the proposition by more than a million votes. On November 27, Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone are assassinated by Dan White, another San Francisco city supervisor, who had recently resigned and wanted his job back, but was being passed over because he wasn't the best fit for the liberal leaning Board of Supervisors and the ethnic diversity in White's district. San Francisco pays tribute to Harvey Milk by naming several locations after him, included Harvey Milk Plaza at the intersection of Market and Castro streets. The San Francisco Gay Democratic Club changes its name to the Harvey Milk Memorial Gay Democratic Club. 1979 About 75,000 people participated in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Washington, D.C., in October. It was the largest political gathering in support of LGBT rights to date. 1980 At the 1980 Democratic National Convention held at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Democrats took a stance supporting gay rights, adding the following to their plank: "All groups must be protected from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, language, age, sex or sexual orientation." 1982 Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. 1984 The city of Berkeley, California, becomes the first city to offer its employees domestic-partnership benefits. 1993 The “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy is instituted for the U.S. military, permitting gays to serve in the military but banning homosexual activity. President Clinton's original intention to revoke the prohibition against gays in the military was met with stiff opposition; this compromise, which has led to the discharge of thousands of men and women in the armed forces, was the result. On April 25, an estimated 800,000 to one million people participate in the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. Several events such as art and history exhibits, public service outings and workshops are held throughout Washington, DC leading up the event. Jesse Jackson, RuPaul, Martina Navratilova, and Eartha Kitt are among the speakers and performers at a rally after the march. The march is a response to “Don't Ask Don't Tell”, Amendment 2 in Colorado, as well as rising hate crimes and ongoing discrimination against the LGBT community. 1996 In Romer v. Evans, the Supreme Court strikes down Colorado's Amendment 2, which denied gays and lesbians protections against discrimination, calling them “special rights.” According to Justice Anthony Kennedy, “We find nothing special in the protections Amendment 2 withholds. These protections . . . constitute ordinary civil life in a free society.” 2000 Vermont becomes the first state in the country to legally recognize civil unions between gay or lesbian couples. The law states that these “couples would be entitled to the same benefits, privileges, and responsibilities as spouses.” It stops short of referring to same-sex unions as marriage, which the state defines as heterosexual. 2003 The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that sodomy laws in the U.S. are unconstitutional. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, “Liberty presumes an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression, and certain intimate conduct.” In November, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that barring gays and lesbians from marrying violates the state constitution. The Massachusetts Chief Justice concluded that to “deny the protections, benefits, and obligations conferred by civil marriage” to gay couples was unconstitutional because it denied “the dignity and equality of all individuals” and made them “second-class citizens.” Strong opposition followed the ruling. 2004 On May 17, same-sex marriages become legal in Massachusetts. 2005 Civil unions become legal in Connecticut in October. 2006 Civil unions become legal in New Jersey in December. 2007 In November, the House of Representatives approves a bill ensuring equal rights in the workplace for gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. 2008 In February, a New York State appeals court unanimously votes that valid same-sex marriages performed in other states must be recognized by employers in New York, granting same-sex couples the same rights as other couples. In February, the state of Oregon passes a law that allows same-sex couples to register as domestic partners allowing them some spousal rights of married couples. On May 15, the California Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. By November 3rd, more than 18,000 same-sex couples have married. On November 4, California voters approved a ban on same-sex marriage called Proposition 8. The attorney general of California, Jerry Brown, asked the state's Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of Proposition 8. The ban throws into question the validity of the more than 18,000 marriages already performed, but Attorney General Brown reiterated in a news release that he believed the same-sex marriages performed in California before November 4 should remain valid, and the California Supreme Court, which upheld the ban in May 2009, agreed, allowing those couples married under the old law to remain that way. November 4, voters in California, Arizona, and Florida approved the passage of measures that ban same-sex marriage. Arkansas passed a measure intended to bar gay men and lesbians from adopting children. On October 10, the Supreme Court of Connecticut rules that same-sex couples have the right to marry. This makes Connecticut the second state, after Massachusetts, to legalize civil marriage for same-sex couples. The court rules that the state cannot deny gay and lesbian couples the freedom to marry under Connecticut's constitution, and that the state's civil union law does not provide same-sex couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples. On November 12, same-sex marriages begin to be officially performed in Connecticut. 2009 On April 3, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously rejects the state law banning same-sex marriage. Twenty-one days later, county recorders are required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. On April 7, the Vermont Legislature votes to override Gov. Jim Douglas's veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry, legalizing same-sex marriage. It is the first state to legalize gay marriage through the legislature; the courts of the other states in which the marriage is legal—Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa—gave approval. On May 6, the governor of Maine legalized same-sex marriage in that state in Maine; however, citizens voted to overturn that law when they went to the polls in November, and Maine became the 31st state to ban the practice. On June 3, New Hampshire governor John Lynch signs legislation allowing same-sex marriage. The law stipulates that religious organizations and their employees will not be required to participate in the ceremonies. New Hampshire is the sixth state in the nation to allow same-sex marriage. On June 17, President Obama signs a referendum allowing the same-sex partners of federal employees to receive benefits. They will not be allowed full health coverage, however. This is Obama's first major initiative in his campaign promise to improve gay rights. On August 12, President Obama posthumously awards Harvey Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 2010 March 3, Congress approves a law signed in December 2009 that legalizes same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia. August 4, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker rules that Proposition 8, the 2008 referendum that banned same-sex marriage in California, violates the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. "Proposition 8 singles out gays and lesbians and legitimates their unequal treatment," Vaughn writes. "Proposition 8 perpetuates the stereotype that gays and lesbians are incapable of forming long-term loving relationships and that gays and lesbians are not good parents." December 18, the U.S. Senate votes 65 to 31 in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the Clinton-era military policy that forbids openly gay men and women from serving in the military. Eight Republicans side with the Democrats to strike down the ban. The ban will not be lifted officially until President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agree that the military is ready to enact the change and that it won't affect military readiness. On Dec. 18, President Obama officially repeals the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy. 2011 June 24, New York passes a law to allow same-sex marriage. New York is now the largest state that allows gay and lesbian couples to marry. The vote comes on the eve of the city's annual Gay Pride Parade and gives new momentum to the national gay-rights movement. The marriage bill is approved with a 33 to 29 vote. Cheering supporters greet Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he arrives on the Senate floor to sign the measure at 11:55pm, just moments after the vote. After making same-sex marriage one of his top priorities, Cuomo emerges as a true champion of gay rights. 2012 February 7, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California rules 2–1 that Proposition 8, the 2008 referendum that banned same-sex marriage in state, is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. In the ruling, the court says, the law "operates with no apparent purpose but to impose on gays and lesbians, through the public law, a majority's private disapproval of them and their relationships." February 13, Washington becomes the seventh state to legalize gay marriage. March 1, Maryland passes legislation to legalize gay marriage, becoming the eighth state to do so. May 9, President Barack Obama endorses same-sex marriage. "It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married," he said. He makes the statement days after Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan both came out in support of gay marriage. Nov. 6, Tammy Baldwin, a seven-term Democratic congresswoman from Wisconsin, prevails over former governor Tommy Thompson in the race for U.S. Senate and becomes the first openly gay politician elected to the Senate. Also on Election Day, gay marriage is approved in a popular vote for the first time. Maine and Maryland vote in favor of allowing same-sex marriage. In addition, voters in Minnesota reject a measure to ban same-sex marriage. 2013 Feb. 27, in a policy shift for party members, several Republicans back a legal brief asking the Supreme Court to rule that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right. More than 100 Republicans are listed on the brief, including former New Hampshire Congressman Charles Bass and Beth Myers. Myers was a key adviser to Mitt Romney during his 2012 presidential campaign. The brief is filed as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider overturning Proposition 8, the California initiative banning same-sex marriage, as well as overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law passed during Bill Clinton's presidency, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. March 26, the Supreme Court begins two days of historical debate over gay marriage. During the debate, the Supreme Court consider overturning Proposition 8, the California initiative banning same-sex marriage, and the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law passed during Bill Clinton's presidency, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The Supreme Court's decision will be announced in June 2013. April 29, Jason Collins of the NBA's Washington Wizards announces in an essay in Sports Illustrated that he is gay. "I'm a 34-year-old N.B.A. center. I'm black and I'm gay," he writes. "I've reached that enviable state in life in which I can do pretty much what I want. And what I want is to continue to play basketball. I still love the game, and I still have something to offer. My coaches and teammates recognize that. At the same time, I want to be genuine and authentic and truthful." Collins is the first active athlete in the NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB to make the announcement. May 2, after same-sex marriage legislation passes in both houses of Rhode Island's legislature, Governor Lincoln Chafee signs it into law. The new law, legalizing same-sex marriage, goes into effect on August 1, 2013. May 7, Governor Jack Markell signs the Civil Marriage Equality and Religious Freedom act, legalizing same-sex marriage for the state of Delaware. The new law goes into effect on July 1, 2013. May 13, in Minnesota, the State Senate votes 37 to 30 in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage. The vote comes a week after it passes in the House. Governor Mark Dayton, a supporter of same-sex marriage, says he will sign the bill the following afternoon. Gay couples will be able to marry in Minnesota in August 2013. June 26, the Supreme Court rules that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. In a 5 to 4 vote, the court rules that DOMA violates the rights of gays and lesbians. The court also rules that the law interferes with the states' rights to define marriage. It is the first case ever on the issue of gay marriage for the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. votes against striking it down as does Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. However, conservative-leaning Justice Anthony M. Kennedy votes with his liberal colleagues to overturn DOMA. July 17, Queen Elizabeth II approves a same-sex marriage bill for England and Wales. Her approval comes a day after it passes in Parliament. While the queen's approval is simply a formality, her quick response clears the way for the first gay marriages to happen as soon as 2014 in England and Wales. The bill allows same-sex couples to marry in both religious and civil ceremonies. It also allows couples currently in a civil partnership to convert it into a marriage. Scotland is currently considering its own new legislation on same-sex marriage. Aug. 1, Minnesota and Rhode Island begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples this month. Oct. 21, in an unanimous vote, the New Jersey Supreme Court rejects Gov. Chris Christie's request to delay the implementation date of same-sex weddings. Same-sex couples in New Jersey begin to marry. Just hours later, Christie drops his appeal to legalize same-sex marriages. Therefore, New Jersey becomes the 14th state to recognize same-sex marriages. To see a current list of all the states that have legalized same-sex marriage, go here. Nov. 5, Illinois becomes the 15th state to recognize same-sex marriages when the House of Representatives approves the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, which passed the state Senate in February 2013. Governor Pat Quinn, a strong supporter of same-sex marriage, will sign it into law. The new law will be implemented on June 1, 2014. Nov. 12, Hawaii becomes the 16th state to recognize same-sex marriages when the Senate passes a gay marriage bill, which had already passed in the House. Governor Neil Abercrombie, a vocal supporter of gay marriage, says he will sign the bill. Beginning December 2, gay couples who are residents of Hawaii as well as tourists can marry in the state. Hawaii is already a very popular state for destination weddings. State Senator J. Kalani English says, "This is nothing more than the expansion of aloha in Hawaii." To see a current list of all the states that have legalized same-sex marriage, go here. 2014 Jan. 6, The United States Supreme Court blocks any further same-sex marriages in Utah while state officials appeal the decision made by Judge Shelby in late December 2013. The block creates legal limbo for the 1,300 same-sex couples who have received marriage licenses since Judge Shelby's ruling. Jan. 10, The Obama administration announces that the federal government will recognize the marriages of the 1,300 same-sex couples in Utah even though the state government has currently decided not to do so. In a video announcement on the Justice Department website, Attorney General Eric Holder says, "I am confirming today that, for purposes of federal law, these marriages will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages. These families should not be asked to endure uncertainty regarding their status as the litigation unfolds." With federal approval, same-sex couples will be able to receive spousal benefits, like health insurance for federal employees and filing joint federal income tax returns. May 19, Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Oregon when a U.S. federal district judge rules that the state's 2004 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage violates the Equal Protection clause in the U.S. Constitution. May 20, A judge strikes down the same-sex marriage ban in Pennsylvania, making the state the 18th to legalize gay marriage. The judge rules that Pennsylvania's 1996 ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The state is the last in the Northeast to legalize same-sex marriage. Before now, the state did not even recognize domestic partnerships or civil unions. Oct. 6, The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear appeals of rulings in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin that allowed same-sex marriage. The move paves the way for same-sex marriages in the five states. In fact, Virginia announced that unions would begin that day. Nov. 12, The U.S. Supreme Court denies a request to block same-sex marriage in Kansas. Nov. 19, A federal judge strikes down Montana's ban that same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Nov. 20, The U.S. Supreme Court denies a request to block same-sex marriage in South Carolina. The ruling means South Carolina becomes the 35th U.S. state where same-sex marriage is legal. 2015 June 26, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples have the fundamental right to marry and that states cannot say that marriage is reserved for heterosexual couples. "Under the Constitution, same-sex couples seek in marriage the same legal treatment as opposite-sex couples, and it would disparage their choices and diminish their personhood to deny them this right," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion. July 27, The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) ended its ban on gay adult leaders. The new policy was approved by the BSA National Executive Board by a 45-12 vote. The new policy did still allow church-sponsored Scout groups to ban gay adults for religious reasons. 2016 In the year since the June 26, 2015 landmark Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges that extended the right for same-sex couples to marry nationwide, the LGBT community has been fighting against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. On May 13, 2016, President Obama weighed in on the "toilet wars"—legislation being hashed out in some states about which bathrooms transgender people have the right to use—with the guidelines: students may use bathrooms according to their self-identified gender. Go to International Policies on Same-Sex Marriage for an updated list on which countries have legalized gay marriage.

[victorodhiambo-blog]

Suicide across the globe

Suicide—Audio CASI

Research Questions

1.      Associations

        i.            What is the association that exists between having a suicidal thought, number of times someone attempts to commit and any injuries that come as a result in the attempt?

      ii.            Is it true that if an individual has suicidal thoughts it means that one of their family member or friends is going through the same?

2.      What is the chance that an individual can come out and talk honestly about their suicidal thoughts, attempts in regards to their family and friends?

Literature Review

Suicide means wanting to take your own life or thinking about suicide. In regards to suicide there are two types of suicidal thoughts that is passive and active. In passive thought an individual wishes they could die but they actually don’t have the plans to commit the act while in active an individual think about committing the act and plans how to do it. There are various causes of suicide, for instance social pressure, depression, illness, drug and substance abuse and loneliness just to mention a few causes

Loneliness

The feeling of being alone. Many people start feeling this when they join new workplaces, join universities or when they are facing a challenge in life and feel that no one is there for them. From research the feeling of being lonely grows for people who are introverted compared to extroverts. Introverts are loners who find it difficult to make friends and associate with others. The feeling also grows when an individual lacks the knowledge concerning the new work place, university setup and when they are going through challenges, they don’t know how they can solve.

Illness

This may affect the mental or physical wellness of an individual. Diseases such as HIV/AIDs, diabetes, epilepsy, hypes, STD, each of the above stated diseases have a potential of being fatal if not effectively treated and cared for. The need to constantly be under treatment could lead to seclusion and withdrawal from others to avoid discrimination. This may lead to depression as a result of the loneliness experiences and in turn could lead to suicidal tendency as a way out of the suffering being experienced.

Depression

Depression is a mood disorder that affects an individual’s feelings and adjustment to

how they feel. It does not mean that they do not feel but depressive feelings are often

time-based and can change without warning or thought process. This makes it

impossible to pinpoint which specific emotion can be identified as an emotion of

depression.

Depression has been identified as a major cause of suicide behaviour in the society.

Suicide behaviour among individuals across the world is a highly influenced by

depression as it   hinders proper functioning and causes psychological distress

among university students.

Alcohol and substance use

Alcohol and substance abuse are amongst the greatest vice that is found within the

university compounds. Although alcohol is not illegal the manner in which alcohol is

taken within universities is an actual factor to worry about. On the other hand, drug

abuse is the use of substances that alters the mood, emotion, or state of consciousness of an

individual. Drugs are illegal compared to alcohol and therefore are not easily found. These

substances therefore are hidden and used with great deal.

According to Sher L, (2005) Individuals with alcohol dependence who complete suicide

are characterized by major depressive episodes, stressful life events, particularly

interpersonal difficulties, poor social support, living alone, high aggression/impulsivity,

negative affect, hopelessness, severe alcoholism, comorbid substance (especially

cocaine) abuse, serious medical illness, suicidal communication, and prior suicidal

behaviour.

 Challenges faced to come out and speak about suicide

In the united states, the rate of people committing suicide has increased by 30% according to the data released by centers for disease control and prevention, from the data released it is the tenth leading cause of death in the country.

Some studies have supported this belief, to a degree. In one study conducted in London health clinics, a quarter of family doctors and a fifth of patients believed that asking people about suicidal thoughts could induce ideas of self-harm. This may be a minority only, but this belief is worth examining in more detail because it means that many people avoid the subject – which could prevent desperate people from discussing their feelings, not to mention pursuing other options or getting help.

Hypothesis

From the discussion above it is noted that suicide is an issue that id coming up very fast and if not taken care of so many people may end up being mistaken for committing suicide. From the first question of the research there is a possibility that for one to come up with a suicidal thought its because they are having temporary feelings. From the first research question there is a probability that the number of times someone has suicidal thought there is an equal chance of attempting the act and an equal chance of having physical injuries.

In a family that has a suicide history there is also a great chance that an individual may commit the act. In addition, people that come out and talk about suicide may not reveal the actual reason for wanting to commit the act because they fear of being stigmatized and people judging them. The fear is mainly associated with depression and can lead to further damage of the individual mental health.

         References

Barlow and Durand (2012). Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach (6th Ed.). USA:

Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Beautrais, A. L. (2004). Suicide Post-vention - Support for Families, Whānau and

Significant Others after a Suicide: A literature review and synthesis of evidence

Retrieved. From

http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/0/8BB9192555C20FCCCC2570A800074A2E/$File/ber

eavedbysuicide-litreview.pdf

Ndetei, D. (2011). Suicide in Africa. Radio interview by Radio Netherlands RNW. Available

at: www.africamentalhealthfoundation.org

Nganga M., (2012), Recognizing suicidal tendencies, Business Daily, Nairobi.

[marymosley]

Victimization in India

The concept of Victimization defines as the process of becoming a victim or being victimized. In this field, we study the process of incidence, rates, effects etc.

Victim: victims means the person who collectively or individually have suffered harm including physical, emotional, mental, economic loss or substantial impairment of the fundamental rights through the omissions or act that violates the criminal law operator within the members of the state. It includes those laws which prescribed criminal abuse of power [1]

There are different theories of Victimization:

Primary Victimization

Secondary Victimization

Re Victimization

Self-victimization

Primary Victimization

Primary Victimization is the process that helps in distinguishing between the effects and consequences of the results of the crime and their impact on the victim. Many crimes Intel physical effects which involve the degree of pain and suffering, and it may also contain the loss of ability. Some of the crime include loss of income, medical treatment, and emotional effects on the victim like depression anxiety fear and also can affect the quality of life.

For example rape victim, Murder victims

Secondary Victimization

Secondary Victimization is a process that accused the direct results of criminal acts through the response of the institution as well as an individual to the victim. Institutionalized secondary Victimization is the most obvious within criminal justice. It is the circle of the person impacted by the harm or loss to the direct victim.

Re Victimization

It is the process of being victimized again and again. It is associated with both higher distress and psychiatric disorders.

Self-Victimization

The self-victimization is the process of the act which results in Victimization. It can be included in the repeat imagination only as it results from the company of the wrong person or bad habits.

Criminal Victimization in India

The data on crime, prosecutions, and arrest is a huge part of the annual Report on the crime, which is published by the National crime record bureau. The analytical crime report is the most comprehensive compilation of the statistical data on the crime, crime rate and police activity in India. Although the statics of official crime is not accurate, there are the most reliable sources available, and they indicate crime trends [2].

Offences classified into seven subcategories according to the criminal code:

Violent crimes

Property prime

Forgeries

Crime by government officials

Crime against the public model

The crime of medicines and others

The violent, as well as property crimes, consist of approximately 75% of all criminal code offences.

The violent crime category is consist of

Criminal homicide

Robbery

Arson

Rape

Assault

Aggravated assault

Kidnapping

Illegal confinement [3]

  Property crimes consist of

Stolen property

Larceny theft

Frauds

Breach of trust

Embezzlement

Destruction of property

Trends of crime India

This section presents an overall picture of the crime trends in India. Indian society experienced rapid industrialization as well as urbanization and a notable increase in the population over the past 40 years. Result of increasing of population the crime and crime rates are also increased [4].

Crime over time in India

The national crime record bureau publishes the crime rates Report from 1953 to 2006. In 2006, there were total 5,102,460 cognizable crimes case were committed including 1,878,293 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes. There are 3,224,167 Special & Local Laws (SLL) crimes it increase of 1.5% over 2005 that is 50,26,337 crime cases. Indian penal crime rate in 2006 was 167.7, and it was 165.3 in 2005, which shows an increase in crime of 1.5% in 2006 over 2005. The local laws crime rate in 2006 was 287.9 and 290.5 in 2005, which shows a decline of 0.9% in 2006 over 2005 [5].

Crime Rate of increasing (%) Number in 1953 Number in 2006 Burlagy 79.84 14,737 91666 Murder 7.39 9803 32481 Kidnapping 47.80 5261 23991 Robbery 28.85 8407 18456 Riots 10.58 20529 56641

  Crime by the reason (6)

State Increase crime rate (in %) West Bengal 79% Tamil Nadu 227.6% Delhi 16.2% Mumbai 9.5% Bangalore 769% Bhopal 719.5% Jaipur 597.1% Jammu and Kashmir 33.7% Manipur 33.0% Assam 30.4% Daman and Diu 29.4% Puducherry 18.4% Uttar Pradesh 12.1% Bihar 11.8%

  Crimes in India

According to the statistics of national crime bureau record, the murder rate doubled from 1973 to 2007.

In 1973 there were 17072 cases, and in 2007 there are 32318 cases.

It concluded that the penal court or law of India had not done much work to prevent the society from such crime where a man avails the life of another the man. The crime rate doubled according to the data National crime record bureau.

Rape statistics have the process all the boundary in India. There were 2919 rape cases in 1973, and it increases by six times in 2007. The total 20737 ki rape cases recorded in 2007.

The rate of kidnapping doubled in 35 years. There were only 10223 kidnapping cases in 1973, but in 2007 almost 27560 kidnapping cases were recorded.

The above statistics confirm that the crime against the human body has increased significantly in the last 35 years [7].

The factor responsible for rising of crime rates in India

They are many factors responsible for increasing crime rates in India:

The social changes always tend to produce social disorganization, which increases the crime rate.

The increasing of the population in urban areas, the standard of the living and the existing political system and the value system is one of the significant factors contributing to increasing the crime rate

The other reason may be due to the revision as well as improvements of the criminal justice system, laws and regulations [8].

The other factors are:

Poverty

Peer pressure

Drugs

Unemployment

Society

Family conditions

Religions

Unfair judicial system [9]

The essential features of India are that India is independent of judiciary and democratic country. It provides justice to all the cities and without any discrimination based on sex, colour, caste, creed, religion etc

In the present time, India is not working correctly because many cases are still pending in our country. The most important is that our country fails to provide justice at the right time as to get justice the people need to wait so long. There are many cases in India where the people did not get justice due to improper investigation. Many problems cause a delay in prosecution, and one of the leading cause is the corruption in the Indian criminal justice system. The crime rates on India are on tremendous speed, so the Indian people need to be more careful. There are many laws in India, relating to the victim and their protection [10].

References

By -Theodore Roosevelt.

For the meaning and details of victimology, see Andrew Kaemens’ Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology, 8th Edition. It offers the most comprehensive and balanced exploration of victimology available today.

Definition of Victim defined by Oxford Dictionary (English Oxford Living Dictionaries).

See. Ncrb.gov.in

See. https://www.bjs.gov

2007 NSSC 96 (CanLII)

Criminal Procedure Code of India 1973, Section2(c)

Criminal Procedure Code of India 1973, Section2(1)

Criminal Procedure Code of India 1973, Section2(h)

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2013

AUTHOR:

Priyanka Kumari

Intern at Dept. of Forensic Sci & Cri Investigation (June 2020), Legal Desire Media & Insights

She is pursuing MSc Forensic from the University of Lucknow.  She has three years of experience in blogging, content writing and also a YouTuber, social worker and a motivator. She is currently working as an intern in legal desire media & insights.

The post Victimization in India appeared first on Legal Desire.

Victimization in India published first on https://immigrationlawyerto.tumblr.com/

[cochrancaliforn]

Racial Profiling Law Services: A Relief To The Victim Of Discrimination

Racial Profiling Law service is the exercise of targeting particular people because of their ethnic background or race. It is the practice followed by law enforcement officers of using race and national origin as a salient basis for suspicion of criminal activity. Police officers are racially profiling when they view people as suspicious because of who they are, what people look like, rather than what they have done. 

 Basis

Racial Profiling performed based on the following factors:

Race

Nation Origin

Ethnicity

Religion

  Examples

Law officers are pulling over a minority driver because     they are driving an expensive car.

When the police see a group of African American males     walking down the street, and they stop and frisk them under the mistaken     belief that they are selling drugs.

If a police officer stops a person, they believe to be     of Middle Order descent under the assumption that they are planning a     terrorist attack.

 Quantitative Evidence

v Black Americans and White Americans are drug users at a similar rate, but Black Americans are six times more likely to be arrested for it. 

v One US study founds that job cv's with traditionally white-sounding names received 50% more callbacks than those with historically black names. 

v Black Women are 3 to 4 periods more likely to experience a pregnancy-related death than White Women, even at a similar level of education and income. 

v In the US, Black workers are less likely than White workers to be employed in a consistent job with their level of education.

 Effects

Depression

Mental disorder

Physical and mental stress

Human Rights exploitation

Physical injuries

Fear in community

 General tips of prevention

Focus on diversity

Educate the public

Write or review your policy

Communicate

Build your team 

 Legal facts 

Racial Profiling is against the laws of California and the US. The law states that the person targeted by a police officer for their skin color, race, national origin, and so on are victims of discriminatory practices. US constitution provides equal protection to every American and also prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. 

Lawyer services

Racial Profiling attorneys are working tirelessly to ensure the satisfaction and peace of the mind of the victims. They represent their clients in courts and use all their resources to claim or to fetch the justice and compensation amount they deserve. The compensation amount includes medical expenses, income loss, future income loss, pain, and sufferings. We ensure the safety of the victims and their loved ones from the hectic and stressful legal issues. 

 Summary 

In recent years, Racial Profiling becomes a more complex and hectic legal issue for various persons. Most probably, the police officers are misusing their forces for troubling the civilians based on their race. It is an illegal exercise, and any person who is facing this comes under discriminatory factors. The victim has the right to file a case against the defaulted party and fetch a positive outcome for the pain and suffering he faced.