G.W. Bush no children left behind works ... abroad!

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I'm very happy when I wake up in the morning and I hear that a country once famous for apartheid now has got the most advanced constitution in the world. I'm very happy as well when I hear that the country which provides "illegal immigrants" in the United States works so strongly on civil rights and civil unions. I'm very sad instead when I wake up in the morning and I still see racism, homophobia and xenophobia in the most advanced country in the world, what the Americans call "the best country in the world" ... without knowing anything about the other countries. A country that always says "we have the first emendment while the others don't have", but this is the country where religious integralism has more power than ever and the president doesn't give a sh** about the separation between state and church. The same president who ignore the results of the November elections and the popular will and try to sell the concept of "we are in Iraq to export our democracy" while he behaves like a dictator in a country that is an oligarchy managed by the big corporations. Teaching is a fine and a delicate job and requires a humble, passionate, loving, team-working, liberal and non-violent mentality none of the idustrialized countries has today. The only thing we are good at is having guns, violent movies, bashing gays, change constitution to separate class A and class B citizens and finally believe that Christ, Moses and Muhammed hated gays and love wars. So, today is a very sad day here and a very happy day in South Africa and in Mexico, mostly because poor countries are more humble and more tolerant than rich countries and they could teach us many more lessons of life than those we could ever impose to them.
Same-sex marriage now legal in South Africa
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- With the deputy president's signature on a new law, South Africa on Thursday became the first country in Africa and only the fifth in the world to legalize same-sex marriages.
The Civil Union Act entered into force on the eve of a December 1 deadline set by the Constitutional Court for the government to change its marriage legislation to ensure full equality for gays and lesbians.
Gay rights groups have welcomed the law, although they criticized provisions allowing clergy and civil marriage officers to turn away gay couples if their consciences prevented them from marrying them.
Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka signed the law in her capacity as acting president because President Thabo Mbeki is in Nigeria.
South Africa recognized the rights of gay people in the constitution adopted after apartheid ended in 1994, at a time when leaders were determined to bury all kinds of legal discrimination a thing. The constitution, the first in the world to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, provides a powerful legal tool for gay rights activists even though South Africa remains conservative on such issues.
The governing African National Congress had to push the legislation through despite reservations from some of its own members. Influential traditional leaders said the legislation violated African cultural norms. The Roman Catholic Church and Muslim groups -- and many other religious organizations -- denounced it as violating the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. The Anglican church said it was up to individual ministers to decide whether to use the "opt out" clause, while liberal churches like the Metropolitan Churches Community were in favor.
The National Assembly passed the legislation earlier this month and the National Council of Provinces approved it on Tuesday. Mlambo-Ngcuka's signature was the final legal step.
"There will be a huge response from same-sex couples who have waited such a long time for their relationship to be recognized," predicted Melanie Judge of the lesbian and gay project, OUT.
Janine Pressman, a pastor with the Glorious Light Metropolitan Community Churches in the capital, Pretoria, said she hoped to marry a couple on Saturday, provided the paperwork could be rushed through.
Priests wanting to wed same sex couples at a religious ceremony have to apply for permission from the Home Affairs Ministry and possibly undergo exams to get their license, ministry spokesman Jacky Mashapu said.
This could take two to three weeks, he said. But he added that the ministry wanted to speed through the applications.
Civil unions, without a religious component, could be performed virtually on the spot, subject to completion of the proper paperwork, he said.
"We are ready to go," Mashapu said.
The Civil Union Act provides for the "voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnized and registered by either a marriage or civil union."
Radio talk shows and newspaper columns have highlighted opposition to same-sex marriages in a country where gays and lesbians are victims of violent attacks because of their sexual orientation.
South Africa is only the fifth country in the world to legalize gay marriages. It is the first in Africa, where homosexuality is illegal in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana and most other sub-Saharan countries.
Judge, from OUT, said the public reaction had "forced us to confront the deep-seated prejudice and intolerance against gays and lesbians. It's a day to day reality," she said.
"It's been quite a frightening process to see the level of hatred that has been openly expressed against this minority," she said.
Mexico: 'SI' to gay civil union
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico City's assembly on Thursday passed legislation to legally recognize gay civil unions in the capital, the first such vote by a legislative body in the history of the conservative, predominantly Roman Catholic country.
Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas has spoken in favor of the bill and was expected to sign it into law, while at least one conservative non-governmental group said it was considering seeking a court injunction against the measure.
The bill, which would not approve gay marriage, allows same-sex couples to register their union with civil authorities, granting them inheritance rights and other benefits typically given to spouses. Heterosexual couples who are not legally married can also be registered under the bill.
"This law ... does not require anyone else to change their thinking, nor does it hurt the concept of the nuclear family," said legislator Juan Bustos of the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, which has pushed for the law in the capital for years.
The bill has been severely criticized by the Catholic Church and conservative civil groups in the country, which is 90 percent Roman Catholic. The Mexican Council of Bishops has said the law is the first step toward legalizing gay marriage and adoption by gays, while the conservative National Parents Union has characterized it as "aberrant."
While homosexuality is still taboo in many rural parts of Latin America, the region's urban areas are becoming more tolerant. If the law is enacted, Mexico City will join the ranks of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, and the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, which already have approved civil unions.
At the national level, lawmakers in Costa Rica and Colombia have debated, but not passed, similar measures.
Law voted 43-17
The Mexico City assembly passed the measure by a vote of 43-17, with all the opposition coming from the conservative National Action Party of President Vicente Fox and President-elect Felipe Calderon. The party is known for its opposition to abortion and support for traditional families.
PAN lawmaker Paula Adriana Soto said the law simply "conceals a marriage between people of the same sex," which is prohibited by Mexico City civil law.
Mexico City, with a population of 8.7 million, is a federal district similar to Washington, D.C., with its own legislature. The PRD dominates the assembly, which is the first in Mexico to approve such a law.
Legislators in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila on the Texas border introduced a similar bill this week.
As the debate over the bill took place Thursday, groups both in favor and against the measure rallied outside the legislative building, hurling insults at each other.
Jorge Serrano, of the National Pro-Life Committee, said his group would consider seeking a court injunction in the next few days to prevent the legislation from going into effect.
"This is really something sad for our country and it is a direct attempt against the family, because it constitutes the legalization of homosexuality and obviously it is going to lead to an increase in this social wrong," Serrano told The Associated Press.
Tito Vasconcelos, one of Mexico City's leading gay activists, said the law represents "Mexico's entrance into the first world of democracy, along with other countries that recognize this type of union."
Elsewhere on Thursday, a parliamentary committee approved proposals for same-sex marriages in South Africa, clearing the way for the passage of legislation there.
The Netherlands, Canada, Belgium and Spain have legalized same-sex marriage, while several other European countries have laws giving same-sex couples the right to form legally binding civil partnerships. In the U.S., only the state of Massachusetts allows gay marriage, while Vermont and Connecticut permit civil unions.