92 Percent of LGBT People Seek Treatment for One or More Mental or Physical Disorders

Jun-26-2014-

What Is LGBT?

For the first time, LGBTQ people have access to comprehensive treatment that recognizes and addresses all of the significant issues they face.

For the first time, LGBTQ people have access to comprehensive treatment that recognizes and addresses all of the significant issues they face, including community issues traditionally avoided or solved through population segregation.

(PORTLAND, Ore. ) - Armed with compelling new data from Hazelden's Butler Center for Research, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, the nation's leading addiction treatment provider, has tailored an innovative treatment model specifically for the millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people who seek lifelong freedom from substance abuse.

Housed at Hazelden's Springbrook residential facility, 25 miles southwest of Portland, Ore., the LGBTQ-Integrative Treatment Program - the first of its kind in the nation - integrates culturally LGBTQ specific treatment with the traditional Twelve Step recovery model. The program equally accommodates heterosexual and LGBQT clients.

"New data tell us LGBTQ individuals come to treatment with deeper and more complex trauma," explains Buster Ross, director of Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's LGBTQ-Integrative Treatment Program, and a prominent national voice at the intersection of sexual health and substance abuse recovery. "LGBTQ clients benefit from treatment that is integrative, affirming and tailored to their needs."

The LGBTQ-Integrative Treatment Program addresses the trauma of living closeted, of family and religious rejection, and of physical and emotional antigay abuse - issues not previously recognized or addressed by other addiction treatment programs.

For the first time, LGBTQ people have access to comprehensive treatment that recognizes and addresses all of the significant issues they face, including community issues traditionally avoided or solved through population segregation.

According to the new data, 92 percent of LGBTQ clients come to treatment with a co-occurring disorder. LGBTQ clients are also: Nearly twice as likely as heterosexual clients to report physical and emotional abuse; Three times more likely to have a history of sexual abuse; Significantly more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety; More likely to be dependent on more than one substance; More likely to suffer a mental health illness in addition to substance abuse; and Significantly more likely to report previous detoxification and inpatient treatment.

The next issue of "Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services" will publish a full report of the findings, co-authored by Audrey A. Klein, Ph.D., and Buster L. Ross, M.A.

Informed by the new data, LGBTQ-Integrative Treatment Program focuses on co-occurring mental illness and trauma.

"Primary issues that LGBTQ individuals face include shame, rejection, depression, anxiety, internalization of cultural sex-negativity and identity conflicts," Ross notes.

Using an LGBTQ-specific curriculum, every part of the program considers LGBTQ needs. To help LGBTQ clients overcome internalized homophobia and shame, the program creates a safe and supportive environment in a predominantly heterosexual setting.

"Together, we find we all have commonalities," Ross says. "We find opportunities for LGBTQ clients to experience community support and validation, imperative to successful recovery."

The program treats clients holistically and strives to help clients uncover the complex interplay between sexual identity, chemical dependency and mental illness.

"The program views sexual health from a sex-positive perspective," says Ross, who is certified as both a sexuality counselor and a drug and alcohol counselor. "With the right care and support, clients find hope, health and freedom from addiction."

To learn more call 866-866-4662. Calls are answered 24 hours a day.

Source: Hazelden's Butler Center for Research

As Pakistan wages an offensive against militants, tensions with Afghanistan rise

Internally displaced Pakistanis, fleeing a military operation in the North Waziristan tribal agency, wait in line outside a World Food Programme aid distribution centre in Bannu on June 25, 2014. (A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images)

BY TIM CRAIG AND SHAIQ HUSSAIN June 26
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan has evacuated more than 450,000 civilians from a terrorist-plagued district in the northwestern part of the country, but its offensive against the militants there is complicated by fresh tension with neighboring Afghanistan.

As Pakistan Wages an Offensive Against Militants, Tensions With Afghanistan Rise by Maria Anderson

Iraqi parties pursue talks that could oust Maliki over insurgency

BY RAHEEM SALMAN AND NED PARKER

Sat Jun 28, 2014 

(Reuters) - Iraqi party leaders planned delicate talks that could end Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's divisive rule after a top Shi'ite cleric called for a new premier to be chosen without delay to tackle Islamist rebels threatening to tear apart the country.

Iraqi Parties Pursue Talks That Could Oust Maliki Over Insurgency by Maria Anderson

Sergei Lavrov accuses US of fuelling Ukraine crisis

Lavrov has given the Russian government and pro-Russian insurgents in Ukraine until Monday to improve the situation. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

Saturday 28 June 2014

Russia's foreign minister says chances of settling crisis would have been higher if it only depended on Russia and Europe

Russia's foreign minister on Saturday accused the United States of encouraging Ukraine to challenge Moscow and heavily weighing in on theEuropean Union.

Speaking in televised remarks on Saturday, Sergei Lavrov said that "our American colleagues still prefer to push the Ukrainian leadership toward a confrontational path."

He added that chances for settling the Ukrainian crisis would have been higher if it only depended on Russia and Europe.

Lavrov spoke after Friday's European Union summit, which decided not to immediately impose new sanctions on Russia for destabilising eastern Ukraine, but gave the Russian government and pro-Russian insurgents there until Monday to take steps to improve the situation.

Ukraine on Friday signed a free-trade pact with the EU, the very deal that angered Russia and triggered the bloodshed and political convulsions of the past seven months that brought Russia-west relations to their lowest point since the Cold war era.

In November, under pressure from Moscow, a former Ukrainian president dumped the EU pact, fuelling huge protests that eventually drove him from power. Moscow responded by annexing the mainly Russian-speaking Crimean peninsula in March, and pro-Russian separatists soon rose up in Ukraine's eastern provinces.

The US and the EU slapped travel bans and asset freezes on members of Russian president Vladimir Putin's inner circle and threatened to impose more crippling sanctions against entire sectors of Russia's economy if the Kremlin fails to de-escalate the crisis.

The EU leaders on Friday gave Russia and the rebels until Monday to take steps to ease the violence, including releasing all captives, retreating from border checkpoints, agreeing on a way to verify the cease-fire and launching "substantial negotiations" on Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko's peace plan.

The week-long ceasefire, which both sides have been accused of violating, expired at 10 pm local time (1900 GMT), but Poroshenko quickly declared its extension until 10 pm local time on Monday.

Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Koval was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying on Saturday that the situation in the east was largely quiet overnight and there were no casualties among Ukrainian troops despite sporadic shooting.

Lavrov acknowledged that Russia has some leverage with the rebels, pointing at their move this week to release four observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe after weeks of captivity, but claimed that Moscow's influence is limited.

"There are reasons to believe that they hear us on other aspects of Russian position regarding the crisis in Ukraine, but that doesn't mean that they immediately move to heed our calls," he said.

Four other OSCE observers are still being held, but a leader of the insurgents promised on Friday to free them "in the nearest days".

Following talks with a troika including a former Ukrainian president who represented the Kiev government, the Russian ambassador and an OSCE envoy, rebel leader Alexander Borodai also promised to abide by the extended ceasefire.

He rejected the EU leaders' demand to retreat from three checkpoints on the border with Russia captured by the rebels, but invited OSCE to send its monitors to the border crossings and any other areas in the east.

Venezuela’s Military is a Political Party

• BY JUAN NAGEL-JUNE 27, 2014

The separation between the military and politics is a delicate matter in most Western democracies. In the United States, active members of the military participate in their democratic process, but within 

Venezuela's Military is a Political Party by Maria Anderson

Thai coup leader sets polls for October 2015

By AP News Jun 28, 2014 

BANGKOK (AP) — The leader of Thailand’s military junta says a new interim constitution will be introduced next month and elections will be held around October 2015.

Army commander Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, who seized power in a coup last month, announced Friday night that the temporary constitution will allow an interim legislature and Cabinet to begin governing the country in September. He said an appointed reform council and constitutional drafting committee will then work on a permanent charter to take effect July 2015.

Prayuth said a general election would be held three months after the adoption of the constitution. He made no mention of a public referendum on the new charter, as was held in 2007 after an earlier coup against an elected government.

SRI LANKA, HUMAN RIGHTS AND ETHICAL 

TOURISM

This article is part of our June Issue, focusing on Human Rights and History.

By Amra Lee

Human Rights Council Resolution

On 27 March this year the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted a resolution on Sri Lanka. The Resolution mandates the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to undertake a comprehensive investigation into a long list of serious human rights violations and potential war crimes that reportedly took place during the final phase of the twenty-six year civil war. In late 2012 the UN Internal Review Panel Report found the Sri Lankan government’s own Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission deeply flawed, failed to meet international standards and failed to credibly investigate allegations of war crimes by the government’s security forces.

Sri Lanka, Human Rights and Ethical Tourism by Maria Anderson

UN Team is Strong: Ex-Lankan Envoy

By P K Balachandran- 27th June 2014 

COLOMBO: The three-member panel of experts appointed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, to “advice and support” the team she had set up to inquire into rights violations in Sri Lanka, is “very strong” says Dr Dayan Jayatilleka, a leading Sri Lankan political commentator and former Ambassador to the UN in Geneva.

“The UN fact finding mission on the Gaza conflict had only one person - Richard Goldstone - but the inquiry panel on Sri Lanka is a troika. It is very strong, and  heavily front-end loaded,” Jayatilleka told Express on Thursday.

Asma Jahangir

The Lankan panel has Martti Ahtisaari (former President of Finland, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and an international expert in peace building); Dame Silvia Cartwright (former Governor General of New Zealand and a judge in the Cambodian war crimes court); and Asma Jahangir (leading Pakistani lawyer and a former holder of several UN human rights mandates).

The 12-member investigative team of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will have investigators, forensic experts, a gender specialist, a legal analyst, and others with special skills. It is expected to complete its work by mid-April 2015.

The team is mandated to conduct a “comprehensive investigation” of incidents of rights violations by both the Lankan state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the period covered by the Lankan government’s own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), ie: from February 21, 2002, when the ill-fated Ceasefire Agreement was signed; to May 19, 2009, when the LTTE was militarily defeated.

Drone Strike

The team will also “monitor” the rights situation in post-war Lanka and “assess” progress on domestic reconciliation processes. This suggests that the panel will look into the recent anti-Muslim riots in Aluthgama. Within days after Navi Pillay condemned the riots and called upon Colombo to “protect all religious minorities” she appointed Asma Jahangir to the investigation panel. Jayatilleka described this as a “diplomatic drone strike against Sri Lanka.”

In 2005, Jahangir had done a report for the UNHRC on religious freedom in Lanka, in which she said that there was a “deterioration of religious tolerance and absence of appropriate action by the government which have brought respect of freedom of religion or belief to an unsatisfactory level.”

The UN Human Rights System And Its Relevance To Us

By R.M.B Senanayake - June 27, 2014

R.M.B. Senanayake

The recent violence against the Muslims in Alutgama and Beruwala are being discussed in civil society and in the Opposition political party. Discussions are mainly on what happened and who is to blame. Most people end up blaming both communities. But different communities will always have differences of opinion. But resorting to violence is not an option for any community to resolve such differences. Don’t we have a government which was elected on the Sinhala Buddhist vote? Surely if any Buddhist monk or group of Buddhist monks have a complaint against any other community shouldn’t he or they take up the issue with the Government? Have they done so? Can anybody in society including Buddhist monks resort to violence?

In July 1983 the government of President J.R Jayawardene failed to protect the Tamils who were subject to violent attacks by mobs. He failed to maintain the Rule of Law by declaring Emergency and calling out the Forces. It is true that the incident was sparked off by the killing of 13 soldiers. Would the Army have refused to obey the orders of the President? If so what was his option? Rumor has it that some Buddhist monks prevented the President from declaring Emergency. But some say the President wanted to teach the Tamils a lesson.  Whatever it was , it was the failure to protect the unarmed civilians that led to the intervention of the Indian government in the ethnic issue in our country.

The view of Mr. Mangala Samaraweera as well as several others is that the violence itself was contrived by the Government. Whether this is so or not will be difficult to prove or disprove. But that is not the most relevant issue. They say President MR has to create a new enemy of the Sinhala Buddhists to win their votes at the next Presidential election. He won earlier because he was the champion of the Sinhala Buddhists against the LTTE. He needs another enemy they say to win the votes of the Sinhala Buddhists who number 70% of the population. So these people say that it is necessary to create a new enemy and the Muslims and the Christians have been earmarked for the exercise. It is necessary to demonize them first. This is being done. But that is not enough. The Muslims must be provoked so that they will resort to counter attacks. So the richer Muslims particularly the shopkeepers have been targeted. It is very necessary that there should be counter violence by the Muslims for this plan to succeed. Some Muslims like the Jews believe in ‘eye for an eye’ or a tooth for a tooth”. But to do so would be a great mistake and will be playing into the hands of the provocateurs.Read More

SRI LANKA: Why are the police allowed and encouraged to lie?

by Basil Fernando-June 27, 2014

The video footage is fairly clear. First we see a tall policeman wearing a helmet standing with his arm stretched towards the other side of the road. Then we see a scooter stopped just next to him. There is one man sat on the scooter. Looking closer, we see that the policeman is carrying a pistol in his outstretched hand. The pistol is directed towards somebody on the other side of the road. Then we see the rider of the motorbike stretching his hand out towards the policeman, in an obvious gesture telling the policeman not to shoot.

Video Footage courtesy: News First Sri Lanka

Bribery commission acquits president’s relative!

Friday, 27 June 2014 

Following the Bribery Commission’s withdrawal of a bribery charge against Yasalal Samarasinghe Dissanayake, a valuer at the Maharagama East branch of the Department of Inland Revenue and a very close relative of president Mahinda Rajapaksa from his mother’s side, the Colombo chief magistrate’s court has acquitted him.

Officials of the commission caught Yasalal red handed, in the act of accepting a Rs. 400,000 bribe from one Rasanga Lanka Pathberiya, a resident of Pore, Athurugiriya, at Wijerama Mawatha in Colombo on 30 October last year.

Remanded upon his arrest, he had got himself admitted to the prison hospital, and before less than two weeks elapsed, was enlarged on two sureties of Rs. 500,000 each by Colombo chief magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya.

According to the due procedure, a person caught in the act of obtaining a bribe amounting to such a sum should remain in remand prison for at least three months before being allowed bail. In breach of all the due procedures, it is surprising that the president’s relative from his mother’s side had received bail in less than two weeks on two sureties.

It is more surprising that in six months’ time, he had been cleared of all the charges and got acquitted. This man will return to the Maharagama East branch of the Inland Revenue Department within the next few days. It is possible that the Bribery Commission of Jagath Balapatabendi will take this Rasanga Lanka Pathberiya of Pore, Athurugiriya to court on a charge of making a false complaint, and punish him.

UNP slams Govt’s wasteful ‘nightly carnivals’

June 27, 2014

The United National Party today requested the Government to do away with “nightly carnivals” and heed the request made by the Mahanayakes to cancel ‘Night Races’ scheduled to be held in Kandy, while terming them as “wasteful tamashas”. 

The Rajapaksa regime that has been governing through a constant flow of ‘media carnivals’ is poised to stage another spectacle in the coming weekend in Kandy, the ancient citadel of Ceylon, Chairman of the UNP Leadership Council Karu Jayasuriya said. 

“A massive and obscene exhibition of racing cars and motorbikes is being planned with their notorious efficiency which is woefully manifest in such wasteful tamashas but not in the day-to-day administration of the country’s burning issues,” the Gampaha District MP said in a statement.

He stated that objections and protests have already been raised by the denizens of Kandy, including the religious dignitaries in the Hill Capital. 

In a joint communique, the Mahanayakes of the three Nikayas have opposed the holding of nightly car races scheduled for June 27th and 28th.

“The rulers, in this instance, should have paid more than cursory heed to the request made by the Mahanayakes,” he said, adding that “scant respect and attention” have been paid to the request of the Maha Sangha. 

Jayasuriya says that the most unfortunate feature of all this is the fact that there accrues neither economic benefit to the country nor any advantage in the field of sports by holding these nightly car races in a serene city such as Kandy. 

“Their personal glory and stupid arrogance have overtaken sane thinking and prudent decision-making. No lover of the country could justify the enormous amount of country’s resources squandered on events such as this.” 

The United National Party most steadfastly request the Government to do away with this nightly carnivals and heed the request made by the Mahanayakes, he said.

“If the rulers are what they profess to be, Sinhalese Buddhist patriots and guardians of our cultural values, then they should not hesitate to cancel this maddening exhibition of obscenity and arrogance,” Jayasuriya said.

Dr. Wickramabahu shows the true Buddhist way to Galagoda Aththe –‘join us and save Buddhism sans weapons and clubs’

(Lanka-e-News-27.June.2014, 10.30PM) Nava sama samaja party (NSSP) leader Dr. Wickremebahu Karunaratne made a most cordial invitation to open the eyes of Galagoda Aththe Thero. If Galagoda Aththe truly wants to rescue Buddhism Dr. Bahu asked him to join Dr. Bahu and stage a ‘sit in’ on the road in protest against the night car race to be held in the city where the Dalada Maligawa is situated and considered as a holy place where the tooth relic is.

The NSSP leader made this invitation as it is the sane thing to do by true followers of pristine Buddhism against the night race which is being exalted and going to be enjoyed by corrupt Buddhist followers .

Dr. Wickremebahu went on to comment as follows :

''Kandy , the most holy and biggest city in this country that is reputed for its Buddha dhamma as taught by Lord Buddha is being brought to disrepute with all the international crooks , rascals and scoundrels organizing themselves to witness this race which is a disgrace to Buddhism. This event will be tantamount to desecrating the holy city and profaning true Buddhist traditions. 

Mind you this has been organized by the ‘Royal house’ itself . It is the sons of the ‘Royal family’ who have arranged this ‘grand Tamasha.’ They do lip service to the Dhamma but in action they disparage true Buddhism. Talk is cheap. Therefore the more they talk about Buddhism without practicing it , they are cheapening Buddhism. These groups who pose and parade as true Buddhists are in the very name of Buddhism getting ready to pollute the sacred area and degrade Buddhism.

The Ven. Mahanayakes said , they would not allow this event to take place in Kandy.. Car racing is not a Sri Lankan tradition. Yet , pressures have been exerted to allow this time only. But , even the Ven. Mahanayakes have been shunted aside to have this race this time. The ‘Royal sons’ say this is the first and last time they are going to have this Tamasha . 

Buddhists of Sri Lanka and the world recognize Sri Lanka as the country where the Dalada maligawa is and the sacred tooth relic.
What these material pleasure seeking ‘sellers of religion’ are vehemently insisting is : it is alright soiling the religion and corrupting the Buddhist tenets just once. ‘Thereafter we shall perform pilgrimages.’ This is what they are trying to convey through the Ven. Mahanayakes , that is , degrading the religion once is not objectionable. Indeed , not only the monks in the holy city and Buddhist organizations , but even religious dignitaries of other religions have frowned upon this. One Muslim Minister said , “this is like holding races in the holy city of Mecca” 

Even previously I asserted the only way to halt this sacrilegious activity is by the monks taking to the streets in protest if they are truly and sincerely following the religion. Vehicles are not going to run over the monks. Hence , I am advising Ven. Galagoda Aththe Thero who is making loud and proud announcements from roof tops , if he is prepared to take to the streets to safeguard Buddhism , he has now got the golden opportunity to prove his mettle practically unless of course he is contented with only lip service and hypocrisy. Now is the time for him to come out and use his might to stop the deplorable car race. Therefore come and rally round us and halt this. You don’t need to bring weapons , clubs and rods . Just come. If you just come and take part in the ‘sit in’, that will suffice , in which case the cars cannot run. That is all Galagoda Aththe has to do, instead of going on a marauding and murderous spree with weapons and rods to demolish and burn houses of innocent Muslims. By destroying homes , you cannot save Buddhism. But if you heed what we are urging , certainly you can save Buddhism and yourself . If you are ready , just tell us , we shall all join to stop this race which is a disgrace to Buddhism , and to you too if you are still left with any grace after the Alutgama violence.

Might I reiterate ,this is a good opportunity for us to work together and set an example with a view to rescuing the Buddha dhamma . ''

Stop Telling Blatant Lies: Muslim Council Writes To GL, Champika And IGP

June 27, 2014

The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka has today written to the Minister of Minister of External Affairs GL Peris, the Minister of Technology & Research Patali Champika Ranawaka and the Inspector General of police regarding the stamens made by them regarding the riots in Aluthgama.

We publish below the letters in full;

Letter to Minister of Minister of External Affairs GL Peris

June 27th 2014

Hon. G. L. Peris

Minister of External Affairs, Republic Building,
Colombo 1.

Honorable Sir,

We wish to bring to your kind attention the blatant misinformation disseminated by Sri Lanka’s permanent mission in Geneva, Switzerland, with regard to the recent unfortunate incidents in the South Western part of the country. It is unfortunate that the suffering and destruction caused to the Muslim population have been disregarded and the gravity of the situation has been distorted for political purposes.

We wish to place on record that fabricated charges were leveled against the Muslim youth who were part of the conflict with the driver of a Buddhist monk which resulted in the entire Muslim community coming under attack by Buddhist mobs, incited by the inflammatory hate speech of Venerable Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thero. To this day, the police have not taken any action to question the Venerable Thero and take him in to custody for the death of three persons, injury to hundreds, destruction of homes and livelihood of thousands of Muslims which caused the loss of hundreds of millions of rupees due to unchecked arson, looting and theft.

The report presented by Ms. Manisha Gunasekera, Deputy Permanent Representative gives figures of casualties that are ridiculous to say the least. She, like the Inspector General of Police is implying that the Muslims were the cause of the violence as they have cast the first stone when the procession was allowed to go through a Muslim village. We have video evidence to the contrary, which we could present to you if you wish.

Muslim civil society and religious leadership handed over a letter on the morning of 15th June to the IGP and the Senior DIG Mr. Anura Senanayake clearly stating that the meeting called by the Bodu Bala Sena and Sihala Ravaya to teach a lesson to the “Marakalayas” as per attached Facebook poster could ignite violence against Muslims. Assurances were given that law and order would be maintained, but the police failed to protect the lives and property of the Muslim population.

It appears that the statement made in Geneva is very similar to the anti Muslim statements made for local consumption by certain vested interests. This complicity while it cannot be overlooked would only further erode the negative opinion among the international community of our failure to address minority issues and human rights.

We do not understand the reasons for accusing the Muslim community for the incident in an international forum when what one would have expected is an assurance that such ugly incidents would be prevented and action taken to hold the offenders accountable for their deeds. It seems that the Geneva statement has missed out on a golden opportunity to state our position against violence and hate campaigns in Sri Lanka.

Thanking you, Yours sincerely,

Hilmy Ahamed  -Vice President                                                  Read More

UNP Should Close Ranks, And The 

SLFP? Oppose Rajapaksas!

| by Laksiri Fernando 

( June 27, 2014, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lanka is definitely at cross roads after Aluthgama. It is not merely a question of the magnitude of the events, but the way the events were unleashed and the purported investigations were/are conducted by the police and the security establishment. It is very clear that the government or, more correctly, some sections of the government are behind the carnage. If there is any threat of ‘fascism’ in the country, then that definitely comes from those sections. The BBS or other similar organizations are obvious tools of that threat or the organized movement to overthrow democracy. 

UNP Should Close Ranks, And the SLFP Oppose Rajapaksas! by Maria Anderson