>> Blue Diamond Society, Nepal's only NGO fighting for gay rights
> met a Maoist leader, Dev Gurung, to try explain the rights of gays,
> lesbians and transgenders to him. The rebel leader reportedly said
> that homosexuality was a byproduct of capitalism. "Under Soviet rule
> and when China was still very much a communist state, there were no
> homosexuals in the Soviet Union or China," Gurung reportedly said.
> "Now they are moving towards capitalism, homosexuals may have arisen
> there as well. So homosexuality is a product of capitalism. " Under
> socialism this kind of problem doesn't exist."
>
> Some thinking just never dies does it? Next thing you know "Subways
> Are For Sleeping" will be revived on Broadway.
Brian, be sceptical of this story. And be sceptical of NGOs until you know where their money comes from.
It is just Ulhas vomiting up - as always when it comes to Nepal & India - anti-communist propaganda. The source, MJAkbar's sheet, is unreliable, and the story itself in a totally yellow journalist style does not quote the Maoists but hearsay accounts from unnamed third persons presented inside quotation marks, to fool the careless reader.
In fact, for at least four years the Maoists have had openly homosexual cadre and boasted of it: ------- Party woman Ghatna Ra Bichar, 18 June, 2003 ... Five months into the ceasefire, Hisila Yami, Central Working Committee member and chief of the Women Department of the Maoist party, recently attended a meeting in Kathmandu. It was her first public appearance in eight years after she went underground. ...
Yami said nearly 33 percent of the Maoist army were female, and that two had risen up the ranks to become brigade commanders. “In some cases men have abandoned weapons and run from encounters, but women have never done so. We won all the battles that involved a large number of women guerillas,” said Yami.
The party not only arranges weddings between members but has also set up “childcare centres” around Rukum, Rolpa and other Maoist hotbeds. Literacy among Maoist women is highly encouraged. Yami also confirmed the recruitment of homosexuals. In a short conversation regarding monarchy, Yami said the crown could never be a symbol of Nepal’s unity. Yami wore military green shirt and pants. There was a conspicuous lack of personal bodyguards.
<http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/150/FromtheNepaliPress/2818> ---- john mage