#larry_king

  • The wisdom of #Akon
    http://africasacountry.com/the-wisdom-of-akon

    The Senegalese-American singer Akon may be a very talented musician, but he has terrible politics. That doesn’t prevent him from acting statesman-like. Remember when George W Bush was still President in the United States and Akon opined to rap magazine, “The Source”: “… (Black people) can nag about the president all they want and how the system is against black people, but if they saw how other people lived [in Africa] they would see how blessed they really are. All the decisions they think the government has made against black people really are for black people here.” He later defended Barack Obama against Lupe Fiasco’s criticisms. Then there was his association with the very unpopular Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade (who was eventually voted out) or the government of Gabon and (...)

    #MEDIA #Larry_King #monogamy #Senegal

  • Sur l’usage des notions de « Gay/Trans Panic » comme défense dans les procès pour meurtre aux Etats-Unis, un biais idéologique qui conforme la décision de justice à la norme hétérosexuelle et cisgenre.
    http://www.autostraddle.com/american-bar-association-confirms-neither-gay-panic-nor-trans-panic-ar

    “Gay panic” has been most commonly used to claim that unwanted sexual advances from gay men naturally provoke heterosexual men to commit murder, and that they therefore cannot be held responsible for violence in those cases. “Trans panic” follows the same warped logic and has been used in cases where heterosexual men claim a woman’s trans history or identity (especially if they felt it wasn’t clearly disclosed enough before engaging in sexual activity) “threatened their sexuality and self-image” to the point of committing murder. The “gay/trans panic” defense argues that it is the victim’s identity, and not the perpetrator’s bigotry, that is at fault for the crime — this is victim-blaming in action and institutionalized. The defense is based on the idea that, based on heteronormativity and cisnormativity, someone’s LGBT identity can be so shocking as to send an otherwise reasonable person into a state of temporary insanity characterized by unusual violence. This defense is not officially considered a legal defense — it’s just a bigot’s way of going for a “temporary insanity” or “diminished capacity” angle.

    It is quite noteworthy that a concept which excuses violence as a response to unwanted sexual advances has been historically used to defend heterosexual, cisgender men.

    In 2006, California became the first state to limit the use of the “gay panic” defense in criminal trials. The state revised jury instruction to ensure jurors understood they had a duty to “operate free from bias” and that “a defendant’s prejudice against his victim cannot affect their deliberations.”

    (...)

    ABA President Laurel Bellows explains that this measure "gives the lawyers facing [the “gay panic” defense] the power of the ABA to indicate we don’t believe this is a viable defense." The measure has immediate relevance as the “gay panic” defense is currently being used in the murder case of Marco McMillian, an openly gay mayoral candidate in Mississippi found dead earlier this year.

    While ABA’s official rejection of the “gay/trans panic” defense is particularly relevant to those in the legal field, one hopes their stance will carry a message that goes beyond the courtroom. D’Arcy Kermnitz, executive director of the National LGBT Bar Association, explained this defense represents “the notion that LGBT lives are worth less than other lives.” After reading through transphobic and homophobic media reports that blame a victim for their own murder, it’s always encouraging to learn that more people and institutions in the U.S. are willing to call bullshit on homophobia, transphobia and victim blaming all at once.

    #gay_panic #trans_panic #American_Bar_Association #ABA #gender #homophobia #transphobia #LGBT #US #justice #Larry_King #Marco_McMillian