BY MARIA DANILOVA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
KIEV, Ukraine -- If a group of Ukrainian lawmakers succeeds in its mission, TV shows and movies sympathetically portraying homosexuals such as "Brokeback Mountain" will be banned. So will gay pride parades.
The recently introduced bill, supported by the president's representative in parliament, would impose prison terms of up to five years and unspecified fines for spreading "propaganda of homosexuality" - defined as positive public depiction of gays in public.
It has sparked an outcry from rights organizations in Ukraine and beyond, who condemn the bill as a throwback to Soviet times when homosexuality was a criminal offense. They also warn that harassing the gay community could lead to a spike in the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine, one of Europe's most severe, by driving gays further underground.
It is well beyond time that homosexuality be treated for what it is, a mental illness.
When homoseuxality was removed from the APA's list of sexual disorders, it wasn't because it was no longer an illness, but due to politics. The psychiatrist who successfully lobbied to have it removed, was gay himself.
Homosexuality is no different than beastiality, necrophilia or incest. It is an inappropriate or abnormal sexual attachment to a person or object.
Posted by: Vicky | July 23, 2012 at 03:33 PM