http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Ibrahim_sodomy_trials

!

BTW, it is unfortunate she is a lesbian. If you are a woman, you are a woman. If you are a man, you are a man. Depeneding on what you are, you are always supposed to be with the opposite sex.

1+1 does not equal 3 no matter how good it makes you feel.

On a less sensitive note, the picture shown is quite flattering compared to the other ones I have seen in the news. Woof!

Affirmative action is a uniquely US thing.

And also Obama didn’t get elected due to AA.

Democracy doesn’t work like that.

The black guy doesn’t get extra votes, there is no quaota for the post of President.

The society I live in (the USA) is still massively retarded about sexuality. Television shows performances depicting violence without any problem; similar performances depicting sexuality, however, are deemed too “shameful” to display. Arbitrary “lines in the sand” cripple our legal system (and our citizens) instead of tests for competence. Religion poisons the well of reason everywhere we turn, declaring “normal” to be an arbitrary set of metrics derived from mythologies.

I can only hope for us to become rational, someday. It is entirely cheering to see people do the right thing, as this situation in Iceland signals; it means the problem isn’t a limitation of people, per se, but one of culture. Things can actually get better.

It’s still way more acceptable for openly gay women in this world. Men like that sort of thing, and women think it empowers them somehow. Or maybe they like to keep their options open.

Hopefully she’ll get a good start on turning things around there.

“Racism is different from “sexual-orientationism”. Race has nothing to do with if you’re straight or not. At least time I checked.”

Yes, I know. I never implied that it did. Brent’s post also mentioned race.

“Also, Binky, Brent seems to be mentioning that he’s tired of seeing people being mentioned with their orientation (NSEW) as the most important characteristic of the person. Nothing offensive or racist or sexist about his post.”

Her orientation is the most important part of this story from a “neatness” perspective. Brent’s post isn’t offensive, and he seems to be saying “this stuff shouldn’t matter,” which I agree with. But saying that you’re sick of hearing about minorities succeeding where it was very difficult for them to in the past, and not hearing about all the things white males continue to achieve, is sort of a weird thing to complain about.

Let’s face it, A dead Walrus would do a better job than the people she is replacing.

Nuff said.

I guess the reason this gay/race thing is an issue is the fact that, conversely, it is not an issue! I’ll be typical sexist male here though…This P.M. is smokin’ like one of them geysers they’ve got all over Iceland.

The marginalized populations of society need visibility to break out of assigned cultural stereotypes. Iceland and the US have twice in as many weeks made huge strides as regions of people who are willing to get over themselves and their collective preconceived notions. When a person with high visibility in a community is associated with a cultural sub-set (speaking hierarchically for pure reference), it gives more individuals the chance be confronted with their own bias and prejudice. To be shown common humanity.

I know it isn’t fair to assign this responsibility, to ask Obama or Sirgudardottir to represent all the people they share a race or sexuality with, but I really do think it’s positive. We’re in this mess together, as a planet, and the sooner we can introduce ourselves to each other in all our gorgeous diversity the sooner we can start helping each other.

Yes, I just made it about world peace. So what?

Affirmative action these days is now an excuse for people who don’t get the job due to a black man, or a gay woman getting it, but need to give themselves a reason for not getitng it other then being mentally incompetent.

“Johanna is a very private person,” said an Icelandic government source. “A lot of people didn’t even know she was gay. When they learn about it people tend to shrug and say, ‘Oh’. That’s not to say they are not interested; they are interested in who she’s living with – but no more so than if she was a man living with a woman.”

Why is this gay thing such an issue? It wasn’t when she was elected, why is it a problem here and even newsworthy to begin with?

Wat?

Brent, why are you so angry about minorities getting acknowledged for achievements that previously were very difficult or impossible for them to achieve? Overcoming the social biases of the past is certainly something to celebrate. I’m sure her campaign motto wasn’t “Vote for me, I’m gay,” and that she’s as qualified as anyone else may be.

So Iceland has an Affirmative Action PM, we have an Affirmative Action President.

Really. It is not a big deal. Affirmative action is for people that can’t make it on merit.

Really they have so much to contend with that a gay PM is not even on the list.

Though, in some ways I feel that pointing out that she’s the first gay MP actually both detracts from her political carreer and is a disservice to homosexual people. I mean, if we just stopped making such a big deal over whatever thing someone is or looks like and focus on what they do in their choosen profession we’d have a much better world. The fact that she’s homosexual should be so far removed from the whole issue that no one would even consider writing an article about it, that’s the kind of world I want to live in.