I recently wrote about gay marriage, which is not even on the radar in Sri Lanka. But we have another type of marriage discrimination here as well. Foreign marriage. If you marry someone non Sri Lankan, they can never become a citizen. Their lives and their rights to even be in the same country as their children are permanently unstable, and it’s patently unfair.

When Obama announced his (legally unbinding) support for gay marriage, he cited gay people he knows – members of his staff, friends, families, neighbors, soldiers. When Joe Biden pre-announced his personal opinion, he cited Will And Grace. I’d say Modern Family. Both TV shows, humanizing gay families and bringing them into American homes. Which is how it happens. Exposure, basically. I think that’s how reconciliation and social justice ultimately happen.

Most wars are civil, and most violence is domestic. I’ve had enough and more conversations about how bad domestic violence is and ‘what to do’. The latter phase, in Sri Lanka at least, is more of an impotent shrug than an actual question. But something can be done, as this article about Maryland shows.

It’s becoming a forlorn trope that comic-style heroines will fight (or at least pose) butt-first. This is kinda silly, as you can see above, where the Avengers are readrawn to have the males take similar postures. It’s not really a fighting stance.

Birth control is usually seen as the woman’s responsibility, presumably because they get stuck with the birth. In a better world, however, there would be more responsibility on the male, and options would go beyond condoms. A male pill, however, is elusive. Now, however, Indian scientists have found something simple and revolutionary that may work. It’s called RISUG (Reversible Inhibition Of Sperm Under Guidance), and no it doesn’t involve bureaucracy in your tubes.

I was reading this horrifying undercover by Tehelka, where Delhi police are essentially blaming women for getting raped. As Inspector Sunil Kumar of Delhi Police said, “First, it is my fault because I courted disaster. No rape can happen in Delhi without the girl’s provocation.” This is pretty much the attitude. But why?

After the gang-rape of a 23 year old in the Delhi satellite, the Gurgaon administration has asked women to just not work at night. They’ve called for commercial establishments (like bars) to send female employees home by 8 pm. There have obviously been bad reactions. Because it’s stupid.

Official statistics released in a court case estimate the number of homosexuals in India at about 3 million. I think that’s a bit low. Some estimates (from the west) are that 1-5% of the population is gay, tho those are really rough. Estimating from estimates, that would mean that 12-60 million of Indians could be gay.

Around Kollupitiya, you can see Chinese women (who I think are prostitutes) walking between the casinos and karaoke joints or whatever. Recently one was picked up for ‘loitering’, but only fined Rs. 10 because the laws are so old. It’s kinda funny.

Humans are sexual dimorphic. Men are bigger than women. Animals are thought to evolve this way to compete over mates (ie, male on male, or male on prey violence), not to beat their mates directly. Still, we live in a time where the Maldives still publicly flogs women for adultery and Sri Lankans often look the other way at domestic abuse.