Petition to Ban Conversion Therapy

I signed the petition, "President of the United States: Enact Leelah's Law to Ban Transgender Conversion Therapy."

My reason for doing so was that I am sad and outraged that a debunked therapy can still be used to abuse children and youngsters. 

Rest in peace, Leelah!

I think this is important. Will you sign it too?

Here's the link:
http://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-united-states-enact-leelah-s-law-to-ban-transgender-conversion-therapy

Thanks,

Bock

Linden Lab - Punish Criminals, Not Victims!

From Insyx Piranha:

"You probably have heard my story about being robbed of my Ls and LL not helping me due to me being only a basic account. I am still pissed that LL has yet to help or even acknowledge the crime against me. I have not been reimburse for the monetary values taken from me either. I am sure this has happened to others. Well now you can stand up and use your voice to help me, and others, fight this injustice that LL places upon us."

For the events leading up to this petition please read Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck´s blog Confessions of a Digital Daddy Bear; When bad things happen to GOOD PEOPLE! or Blithe SL Magazine; You´re a Customer, Not the Resident of a Dictatorship

If you wish to sign the petition please go here, Petition - Linden Lab: Punish Criminals, Not Victims

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Linden Lab has an obligation towards all residents in  SecondLife to protect us from criminals and criminal activity as far as they are able to do so and to ban accounts that prey on residents from using SecondLife again.

(Tipped via Ziggy, Eddi, Petr and InsyX himself)

Stop Forced Sterilization

In Sweden sex change is regulated by the "Act (1972:119) concerning the determination of sex in some cases", which includes both transsexuals and intersexuals.

The Swedish law today requires that any person who on the basis of transsexualism applies for sex change should be:

- Unmarried (i.e. unmarried, widowed, divorced and not  in a partnership)

- Swedish citizenship

- Eighteen years or older and

- Sterile

to be granted permission for new legal gender identity and gender corrective surgery.

The current requirement of sterility has by the Swedish National Board of Legal Council and the courts been interpreted as requiring that no viable reproductive cells from the person may be available.

An investigation on social care and assistance for transsexuals has, in its recommendations 2010, proposed a number of legislative changes among those that the requirement to be unmarried and sterile should be removed without being replaced with other requirements. As for the citizenship requirement it proposes that this should be replaced by a minimum level of domicile in the country of at least one year.

The Swedish government has so far refused to act on the recommendations of the investigation. The inaction on the governments part is due to the influence of the Christian Democratic Party, which is a part of the ruling so called "Alliance".

The Christian Democratic Party holds the The Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs under which this issue falls. Although there is an overwhelming majority in the Swedish parliament for the proposed changes (including the other three parties that make up the governing Alliance) the extremely socially conservative Christian Democrats have succeeded in deadlocking the government from taking any legislative action.

On Thursday we were reached by rumors that the government has reached an unofficial agreement between the four parties that form the Alliance to propose a renewed investigation on the issue of whether sterilization should still be mandatory. 

This unholy agreement was reached in spite of the fact that the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights in a so-called issues paper entitled "Human Rights and Gender Identity" already in July of 2009, found that any requirement to undergo medical or surgical procedures to obtain a legal change of sex is contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights and suggested all Council members to stop the sterilization or forced treatment.

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This issue doesn't affect many people but it is still a very important one. It is time for Sweden to change this anachronistic, heinous and discriminatory law, especially bearing in mind our earlier sordid history on forced sterilizations. 

All Out and RFSL (The Swedish National Organisation for Equal Rights of Homosexual, Bisexual and Transgendered persons) have joined forces to collect signatures for a change. Go there and sign the petition to tell the Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and the others that it is time to move ahead for human rights, for human dignity and against the bigotry of the 4 % that vote for the Christian Democrats.

Please sign the petition here (url).

Tell PayPal: Stop Supporting Hate Groups!

PayPal officially states that its users “may not use the PayPal service for activities that [...] promote hate, violence, racial intolerance” but PayPal has become a favorite payment service for anti-LGBT extremists all over the world.

Thanks to PayPal, it's easier than ever to send and receive money across currencies and continents - but it is also PayPal's responsibility to make sure this technology doesn't fall in the wrong hands. Anti-LGBT extremists all over the world are currently using PayPal to fund raise for their dangerous cause.

Not only is it against PayPal's rules to promote promote "hate, violence, [and] racial intolerance," hate groups also damage PayPal's brand and credibility.

We ask that PayPal join the fight against online hate and immediately shut down the accounts of anti-LGBT extremist groups using the service. PayPal must act immediately to shut down their accounts and ban all sites that promote anti-LGBT hate.

I would like to encourage all LGBT people, and all our heterosexually challenged friends, to sign the petition against the hate trade here PayPal, End the Online Hate Trade. You also have the possibility to tell PayPal why you are taking this action.