Report from UN Meeting

Family Watch International

In This Issue:
President’s Message:
Multiple Pro-Family Victories
at CSW!
News Items of Interest
Abortion
Homosexuality Related
Marriage Related
News Items of General Interest
Have We Gone Mad?


www.familywatchinternational.org

March 14, 2011


Multiple Pro-Family Victories at CSW!

Nations Stand Strong on Family Issues

Probably the single most exciting thing to emerge from this year’s CSW was witnessing the great unity that existed on critical family issues among a loose coalition of pro-family nations which included the African, Islamic, and Caribbean voting blocs, Russia, and the Holy See (the Vatican). The Vatican holds UN observer status and aggressively defends the family in UN negotiations.

On several critical family issues, this loose coalition of UN member states and the Holy See refused to succumb to the pressure to ram through anti-family provisions that was exerted on them by the European Union (EU), the United States, and several other developed nations, as well as from UN agencies such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

In all the UN conferences I have attended, I have never seen the pro-family delegations better prepared and more resolute in defending the family.

Negotiations on the Agreed Conclusions document often continued late into the night, and on some nights even into the wee morning hours. Delegates debated language regarding “negative gender stereotypes,” the definition of “gender,” “comprehensive sexuality education,” “sex education,” parental rights to guide the sex education of their children, and many other controversial terms and phrases intended to advance the liberal sexual rights agenda in subtle and deceptive ways.

A Major Victory: Reference to HIV/AIDS Guidelines Deleted

One of the major victories was defeating very bad language in another CSW document being negotiated simultaneously which addresses the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

For the last several years at CSW the European Union (EU) has proposed an amendment to this HIV/AIDS resolution aimed at endorsing a controversial version of a document called “The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights.”

Sounds like a great document right?

Not so fast.

Among other things of concern, these HIV/AIDS Guidelines call for the legalization of same-sex marriage, legalized prostitution, protections for “men having sex with men,” mandatory and graphic sexuality education for children and penalties for people who criticize homosexuality.

Our primary goal at each CSW conference is to ensure that there is no reference endorsing these dangerous guidelines. One of the key things we did to get the reference to the Guidelines deleted was to distribute the controversial excerpts to pro-family delegations with an analysis of our concerns. We also provided delegations with our new policy brief entitled, “Wrongheaded UN HIV/AIDS Policies Versus Evidence-Based Approaches” which contains emerging research showing that many of the things the HIV/AIDS Guidelines promote actually fuel the AIDS pandemic.

In addition we presented this brief in a PowerPoint presentation at one of the CSW Family Rights Caucus meetings we organized.

So what happened?

With critical last minute help from Russia, the Islamic and African delegates joined the Holy See in successfully deleting the reference to the Guidelines once again!

FWI Presentations and Events

FWI organized and led a total of three Family Rights Caucus meetings, and two “side events” (seminars for delegates and NGO representatives) and participated on two other important panels. We also presented our new policy brief “Myths and Facts About Maternal Mortality and Abortion” at a side event we co-sponsored.

And finally, in addition to consulting with UN Member States on the CSW documents that were under negotiations, (the most important work we do at the UN), we met with UN delegates and Ambassadors on a number of upcoming family issues.

Link to Our More Detailed, Revealing and Insightful Reports

I do not have room in this president’s message to do more than hit some of the highlights of our many successes. For interesting details and to get a real feel for what happens at CSW for good and for bad, click here. We hope you will take the time to read this as it describes some of the specific threats to the family we dealt with and includes revealing statements from our opposition that were heard at a number of CSW events.

This report also includes some of our personal experiences. One is my encounter with a discouraged delegate who after we talked for a while told me that she was convinced that God intended that we meet at CSW. Another recounts how one of our panel presentations brought a UN Ambassador and others in the audience to tears. One particularly interesting report is of a conversation that one of our young male volunteers had with a young woman who was attending specifically, she said, to promote premarital sex and sexual pleasure. As you will see, that conversation was an eye-opening experience for both of them, but it also capsulizes what we confront at these UN meetings.

Many readers will also no doubt be interested in the comic book presented at two CSW events that uses the infamous “Yogyakarta Principles” to encourage youth to assert their “rights” to enter into same-sex relationships with their peers.

Finally, I want to recognize our amazing CSW team of dedicated volunteers led by Family Watch’s Director of UN Activities, Annie Franklin. Our team consisted of 18 representatives from the U.S., Canada, Nigeria, Mexico, Uruguay, Spain, and the UK. Without them we would not have been able to accomplish all the many things we did. I summarize in more detail the important contributions our team members made in my more detailed report.

Once again I want to thank all of you who support FWI financially. We could not accomplish what we do without your financial support. Unfortunately, we have several more critical UN meetings coming up in the next few months and, frankly, we do not have the funds we need to adequately cover them.

If you can support us financially, I invite you do so. Even small amounts are helpful, and because FWI is a 501(c)(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code, contributions are tax deductible for U.S. taxpayers. Click here to contribute.

Sincerely,
Sharon Slater
Sharon Slater
President


We Urgently Need Your Help!

We have never faced greater challenges to the family and family values than we do now and there is no doubt these challenges will only increase in the months ahead. Not only do we face more threats at the UN than ever before but at the national level we are fighting to defend marriage in the U.S., prevent the liberalization of abortion and dealing with other issues as well. As a result, our budget is stretched to the breaking point.

Please help in this effort to defend the family and family values by making the most generous contribution you can. Contributions are tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers and any amount you contribute will be used effectively and efficiently. You can easily make a secure contribution on line here or print out a form to mail in a contribution.

News Items of Interest
Abortion

U.S. Abortions Declined in 2007. Data on abortion statistics for 2007 released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control show that abortions were nearly at a 10-year low that year. The figure is the second lowest since 1998. The statistics also showed that New York had the most abortions of any U.S. state, and among racial and ethnic groups, black women had the highest abortion rate. Read more here.

New Planned Parenthood Report Shows It Performed Record Number of Abortions. According to a fact sheet published by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, 332,278 abortions were performed in 2009, an increase of 2.5 percent from the previous year. The organization also distributed over 1.5 million emergency contraception kits. Read more here.

Homosexuality Related

U.S. Judge Rules Anti-gay Shirts Worn by Students OK. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals ruled that students at Neuqua Valley High School in Illinois are allowed to wear T-shirts that say “Be Happy, Not Gay.” School officials prohibited students from wearing the shirts to prevent hurt feelings. The ruling stated that a “school that permits advocacy of the rights of homosexual students cannot be allowed to stifle criticism of homosexuality.” Read more here.

UK High Court Rules Foster Parents Must Affirm Homosexuality. A Christian couple has been banned from being foster parents because according to the court, homosexual rights “should take precedence” over religious beliefs. Owen and Eunice Johns were told that their Christian beliefs could conflict with homosexual children who might be placed in their care, although the couple has stated that they would accept and love any child in their care regardless of their sexual orientation. Read more here.

Marriage Related

Facebook Adds Civil Unions Option to Profiles. The world’s largest online social networking Web site has added civil unions and domestic partnerships to the list of relationships that individuals can choose to describe their status. The nonprofit organization Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has been working with Facebook on the changes. Read more here.

Same-sex Couple Files Discrimination Complaint. The homosexual couple is claiming they were subjected to discrimination by the owners of two Illinois bed and breakfast establishments that refused to rent out their facilities for a ceremony and reception. Illinois recently passed legislation legalizing civil unions. The complaints were filed with the Illinois Attorney General’s office and the Department of Human Rights. Read more here.

U.S. House Speaker Boehner to Defend DOMA. Shortly after the Obama administration announced that it would not defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court, Boehner said that the House of Representatives would take action to defend the constitutionality of the legislation. The first step will be to convene a meeting of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group. Read more here.

Black Americans Concerned About Obama’s DOMA Decision. It is believed that religious African Americans who came out in record numbers to defeat Prop 8 in California also may have helped to elect Barack Obama. With Obama’s announcement that the government will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) some African Americans are reconsidering their views. Read more here.

UK Catholic Church Will Fight Government on Civil Unions. The church has declared that it will oppose in the “strongest terms” changes in legislation that will allow same-sex couples to hold civil partnership ceremonies in houses of worship. Churches and Christian groups have criticized the decision to lift the ban that previously prohibited such ceremonies. Read more here.

Same-sex Marriage in Mexico City After One Year. Seven hundred same-sex couples have married in Mexico City since same-sex marriage was legalized one year ago. There have been 367 male couples and 333 female couples married. All but 73 individuals were Mexican citizens. Read more here.

“Marriage” No Longer Recorded in Birth Statistics Great Britain. Instead, official statistics will record the number of pregnant women who were in a “legal partnership.” The Labour government decided in 2003 that the word “marriage” should be removed from official documents so as not to discriminate against homosexuals. Read more here.

California Attorney General Seeks Resumption of Same-Sex Marriage. State Attorney General Kamala Harris has requested that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals consider allowing same-sex marriage to resume immediately. Read more here.

Maryland Homosexual Marriage Bill Unexpectedly Dies. The Maryland House unexpectedly could not muster the votes to pass the homosexual marriage bill that has already been passed by the senate. Passage had been considered certain in the traditionally more liberal House of Delegates. However, strong and growing opposition from black churches and the Catholic Archdiocese stalled the bill and convinced enough legislators, including a number of the actual cosponsors of the bill who withdrew their support, to oppose the bill, killing it. Read more here.

Unusual Gay/Lesbian Marriages Working in Israel. A program to promote marriages between homosexual men and lesbians is showing surprising successes, including some children. Read more here.

News Items of General Interest

Study Finds More U.S. Teens Not Having Sex. The study released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that among youth ages 15 to 24, the percentage who said they had never had sex rose from 22 percent to about 28 percent. Interviews were conducted with 5,300 young people, making this survey the largest ever done on sexuality. Read more here.

Teen Pregnancy Rate at 30-year Low in Great Britain. In 2009 there were 38.3 pregnancies per thousand among 15- to 17-year-old teens. This is a 5.9 percent decrease from the previous year. There is concern that funding cuts to teenage pregnancy services could reverse the trend. Read more here.

U. S. Teachers Union Promotes Graphic Sex Ed at UN. The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute reports that at a parallel event during the Commission on the Status of Women meetings in New York, a representative from the National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the U. S., stated that “oral sex, masturbation and orgasms need to be taught in education.” Read more here.

Pedophilia a Sexual Orientation. In a parliamentary session on Bill C-54, legislation relating to sexual offenses against children, psychology experts stated that pedophilia can be considered a “sexual orientation.” Read more here.

UNAIDS Study Finds Reduction in Zimbabwe HIV Rate due to Abstinence, Fidelity. HIV prevalence has dropped 50 percent in Zimbabwe since the late 1990s, and according to Daniel Halperin, PhD of the Harvard School of Public Health,” partner reduction appears to have played a crucial role in reversing the HIV epidemic.” Read more here.







Have We Gone MAD?

Bizarre, real-life examples that make us wonder. . . Have We Gone MAD?
Weapons of Trash Destruction
by Seymour D. Kaye

It had to happen.

It was just a matter of time.

If you yourself are not a video game player, then you either gave birth to one, married one, live next door to one, work with one, go to school with one, or spend a national holiday with one.

Do not, NOT send this to them.

You will not want them to know about this uber sleazy video game. “We Dare,” manufactured by Ubisoft for the Wii gaming system, is touted as “a sexy, quirky, party game that offers a large variety of hilarious, innovative and physical, sometimes kinky, challenges.”

You will not want them to know that the Wii controller is used “in the most unexpected ways, as you’ve never imagined before.” They aren’t kidding.

You will not want them to know that the game fits into the genre “Sexy Party Game,” and it requires that you “get up-close and personal with your friends” in a “wide variety of naughty and silly challenges.” There are “40 fun and flirtatious games” to be exact. The introductory video showed only a few of the 40, but their suggestion that the game is an “invitation to let yourself go because life is short and what happens in this game . . . stays in the game,” appeared disgustingly accurate.

You will not want them to know that the game includes “a satisfying finish” that “ends in a light hearted, match-making session.” I believe another word for this is . . . orgy.

Ubisoft says the target is men and women 20-35 years old, but the game is rated for age 12+.

THIS IS NOT A TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR!

Nope.

Ages 12 years and up.

The good news for those of us who live in the U.S. is that the game will not be released here. For those of you outside the U.S. this is bad news.

So consider yourself warned. If your 12-year-old child brings home a Wii video game that claims to be suitable for an adolescent his age, take a good look at the cover. If it has women’s underwear and handcuffs on the cover, grab it and run, don’t walk, to the nearest trash can and throw it in.


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