Notice: Join AWARE and Vote

Notice: Join AWARE and Vote

There has been a flurry of activity and posts here at KRC regarding the coup at AWARE. I leave it for the the reader to judge if the new EXCO really has a religious agenda, but in any case here is an email going around which I thought might benefit from some publicity here.

I have reservations about the allegation that the organisation “Focus on the Family” is homophobic, but otherwise it seems likely that the new EXCO at AWARE might really harbour unfriendly attitudes towards the lesbian community! The email is as follows:

Dear Reader ,
AWARE is a leading advocacy group in promoting gender equality. They have never been explicitly pro-gay but they are definitely very gay friendly (they were strongly seen to support Repeal 377A last year). Their visions are such that a woman should not be discriminated against, regardless of her gender, race, religion, age and sexuality. However, this may not be the case anymore.

In an election last week within AWARE, 9 out of 12 seats within its exco went new faces. Among these 9 new faces, most of them have something in common. They have either written pretty homophobic stuff to the Straits Times Forum or they are from the same church, the Anglican Church Of Our Saviour. In other words, many of them hold a strongly religious and an anti-gay stance. These new members were also people who were never AWARE members previously but have only joined within the last few weeks or months to vote in the last election.

Most importantly, the new president of AWARE, Josie Lau, is also the VP of the credit card department in DBS. Some of you may recall reading about DBS credit card promotion last December where DBS/POSB card holders who spend up to $300 would assist DBS in donating up to $15,000 to the homophobic organization - Focus on the Family. During an interview shown on Channel News Asia on Sunday 19th April, Josie Lau also stated that AWARE will step in if a woman is being discriminated against due to her race or religion and hinted that the new AWARE may have to discuss whether they would step in to interfere if she was discriminated due to her sexuality.

NGOs (non-governmental organizations) should ALWAYS be secular but now it is being hijacked by these Christian fundamentalists who have a religious agenda. One of the reason why AWARE was hijacked because it is very established as an NGO and the government does listen to AWARE at times when it concerns gender issues. Secondly, if these Christian fundamentalists were to start their own organization, it would be labeled a Christian organization and hence it would be seen as being biased and its credibility greatly diminished.

I am urging all of you as part of the LGBT community do your part by JOINING AWARE as members and casting a no-confidence vote against the new administration during the EGM meeting. The EGM meeting will be held on the 2nd of May.

… Many of you may be apathetic about such issues, but gay-friendly organization such as AWARE which has been helping the LGBT community throughout the years has made our lives easier and better and also the community’s presence more visible too. It is about time that we help Constance Singam (the old president of AWARE) help AWARE get back on track.

Regards,
(name removed to protect identity).

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=27734.39