For those who think that the DR is just a model of Gay tolerance, here is what the Cardinal of the country had to say:
Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez demanded that "authority be imposed" in the Santo Domingo's colonial zone and called for the expulsion of homosexuals because "that sort of social vice is not needed in this historical city", as reported by Listin Diario. "There is nothing for homosexuals here. They should stay in Europe or the United States. We don't need that social vice, we don't need them. I understand that this country should make a show of taking them all out of here", said the outspoken Roman Catholic Church leader. "We cannot allow this place, the historical center of Santo Domingo, to be taken over by foreign and Dominican degenerates", added Lopez Rodriguez.
Now, the Cardinal regularly targets Gays and no one will come out and say anything against him. He is that powerful here. So, again, when visiting please take into account that this country is tolerant to a certain degree, but don't lose sight of the fact that it is still very conservative and Catholic when it comes to Gays.
(This was reprinted from www.dr1.com. The article originally ran in Listin Diario)
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About 10 years ago I participated in a letter writing campaign regarding another Cardinal and his hateful comments, We wrote to Rome in large numbers and we stressed the point THAT A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH SHOULD NOT AND MUST CEASE WITH LANGUAGES AGAINST PEOPLE THAT IS CLEARLY IN THE SAME LINE AS ADOLF HITLER. Over 1000 letters were sent and a few months later this cardinal did not, did not use the media and pulpit for his Personal hate comments against those that were giving out condoms and literature for free,yest it was a gay organization of catholics that no longer exists due to the death of the leader.
If we can type in the blog maybe we can take out 15mins and send Rome the clips of the cardinal's statements and our intelligent and articulate letters denouncing such hate by Card Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez. We also told Rome in the letters that we will no longer contribute $ to any Parish, church that allows a representative of Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic church to use the pulpit and media to spread Hate and insight violence against God's Children. Cardinal Nicolas is attempting to use hate and ignorance to create a violant atmosphere and he should be stopped.!.!.!
This is just my opinion.
BTW, Happy Palm Sunday~
It seems that every time the Cardinal needs a boost in popularity, he decides to get attention by bashing the gay community. He may just be talking to get his name in the papers, but there is always the chance that some officials may take action in response to his calling especially because of Holy Week coming up. I will be in SD next Thursday for a few days and feel it is a possibility that police may be coming into the bars just to say that they are 'doing something' to back up the Cardinal's complaint. I was wondering if the bar owners have gotten together to plan any sort of strategy of their own if things do get a bit delicate. Hello, Anthony?
From Puerto Rico,
Rafael
There is no unity among business owners here, there is little communication even. The fact that crazy people live in this city causes fear among owners. Individually, I'm sure each owner is doing what ever is possible to protect their interest and that of their clients. But where do any of us get off on expecting the business owners to protect us? Between the church, community, police, buggies, gay dominicans and tourist, the business owners have their hands full trying to survive in a climate of hate, distrust and fear. Doing business and making a living should be just that, not all the other bullshit that is attached to it down here. Do we think we can come here and do whatever we want and leave it to the business owners to protect us and get us out of trouble? We visiting Gays should be aware of the situation and be respectful of the Holy Time and the Colonial Zone and the power this prist has over public opinion. Hitler used public opinion to remove his "undesirables" as well. Least we forget our history, we are doomed to repeat it. If we know they are out to get us, why incite them. This is NOT THE USA!!!!! THIS IS SOMEONE ELSE COUNTRY. Don't come here with your high and mighty, I can do what I want attitude and think you won't catch it. DON'T COME HERE LOOKING TO GRAB DICKS AND HOLD HANDS AND KISS IN PUBLIC. DON'T COME HERE WITH CLOTHING SO TIGHT AND ASS AND STUFF ALL OUT! The letter writing campaign that nena suggest is a wonderful idea. What with todays technology, we don't even have to use a stamp, we can send it via e-mail to the Vatican. All we need is a little direction, maybe nena can print a form letter that can be used to be e-mailed to the Vatican and the Vatican embassy of the DR and to President Leonel Fernandez. Contact and mobilize the US and European Gay organizations and join as one voice to put pressure on the Catholic Church to stop the pursecutions of gays in the DR. BUT YOU FAG BITCHES DO YOUR PARTS AND KEEP YOUR CRAZY MADNESS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS AND OUT OF THE PUBLIC EYE. RESPECT THIS COUNTRY, LEAST YOU WANT RESPECT.
Bar or club owners pay patents to the city just like any other businesses and in doing so acquire the right to operate within certain hours no matter if they cater to a gay or staight clientele. This despite that the Cardinal would like to close them all. Second, most people living in proximity of nightclubs (gay or straight) are not bothered by what happens inside the clubs, but mainly by those clients that hang out on the streets speaking loudly, cursing, pissing on their doorsteps, etc. So, in this respect, the owners could try to keep this to a minimum at least for the time being. Also, I have never seen any gay tourists on the streets of SD holding hands, kissing each other, grabbing men's dicks, or any other of the things you mention. In fact, it has been my experience that gay tourists tend to keep the lower profile while the local gays do just the opposite and tend to carry on with public displays of all sorts!
From Puerto Rico,
Rafael
I will definitely look for that form letter we used. If not,perhaps, I would try and make up a form letter to send in emails or by regular mail but I wonder how many are really interested?
Gay pride is coming to nYc soon and the catholic church,the cardinal(s) of St. Patrick's Cathedral, has had a long history of NOT blessing the paraders as it's done to all paraders who pass the cathedral.
We all know there are clergy in all dominations that are gay, in the closet, on the downlow and those are the ones who spread hate and intolereance (it's never all, some/most) and this is 2006.
With love and Respect,
Nena~
To the angry poster; while it is not business owners responsibility to govern and police the political situation down there, many do a great service by informing tourists about what's going on and how to carry yourself in public. As a rule, like the previous poster said, the vast majority of gay tourists i come across and hang with are extremely low key. Keep in mind, not everyone coming down to DR live in San Francisco or the village in NYC. so the idea of acting up in public is for the most part a foreign idea anyway. I can't even remember when or if I ever saw an american gay tourist acting up. Now about those straight tourists.....Also, if you peep some of the outfits the DR brothas are sportin.. leaves very little to the imagination. It's good though to see clothes that are clearly designed for the brothas!
You also seem a wee bit angry. lighten up.
This Cardinal is a pompous ass. Hasn't he heard of all the lawsuits around the world against homosexual priests who prayed on children? Anthony go to the press and media and tell the Cardinal to cease from putting us gays down and look in the closets in the churches and rectories first. Once he gets all those pedophiles in jail then he can talk about us! He probably has abused children himself. I am sure he cannot prove he has been 100% celibate all his life!
The first time C. and I came down to DR, Anthony told us about the Cardinal's comments. I'm not at all surprised by this new outburst, as such nonsense has been par the course from most of the Catholic hierarchy (Cardinal O'Connor, Cardinal Law, Cardinal Egan of New York, who was outed just a few months ago, etc.) since John Paul II.
In 1986, the current pope, Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, wrote one of the most rabidly anti-gay tirades on record. It's called Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, which basically says that homosexuals are "intrinsically disordered" and that homosexual sex is an "intrinsic moral evil," etc.
Now, if all those Cardinals, including López Rodríguez, saw fit a year ago to elect the person who wrote this hateful document to run the entire Catholic Church, this ought to let everyone know where their minds are. Benedict has not backed off of it, and continues to push anti-gay policies.
As Rafael says, maybe this Cardinal López Rodríguez wants attention. You'd think that given the economic and social problems most Dominicans face, as well as the terrible state of affairs in Haiti that he'd be uttering things more in line with the Gospels and the Christian emphasis on love, charity and taking care of the unfortunate, but no, he has a sexuality fixation like most in the Catholic hierarchy. It must burn him up to see all those cute men coming and going in nice outfits, and know that they're not under his or the Church's thumbs (or robes). I say keep an eye open for his comings and goings, and a camera at the ready, since he doth protest too much....
All this crap of this Cardinal and his views about the gays community just makes me sick, all he need is a mirror to look at himself and reflect honestly what he see's,has well has all those priest who molested children for years and then the acts were just covered up by cardinal's , here in the states plus the evil protection given them by higher up's in Rome, now tell Me cardinal Lopez, where were you when this crap was going on???did u speak up and belittle the priest?? bet not, or if you did it was covered up by those in Rome. Be not the one who cast the first stone, espically if you live in a glass house, could come back to haunt you...but still God Loves everyone, does he not, no matter , life style, color , creed or the rich, poor and the homeless, oh and the street people.. must not forget the trade who hussel on the street, we are not here to judge we are merely passing through, lets not forget that, life is too short to hate, it gets you no where in life. Now has i end this I shall saythis I have been to Santo Domingo many times over the last four years and can honestly say i have never seen an american show up nor act out while we were there, we always try and respect the places we visit and treat them with the up most respect and for that reason thats what we have been given in return, they really are beautiful people in Santo Domingo, very caring and alsways welcoming to the tourist.
BRAVO John K! Now can you send that to the Vatican and the Rome Newspapers? Can you get that translated into Spanish and send it to El Diario in Santo Domingo? Maybe Post it on www.dr1.com as he more than likely would read that over Anthony's BLOG. Let's make sure that he sees this response.
I wrote to the new Pope and complained about Lopez Rodriguez directly. Feel free to join me. His email address is:
benedictxvi.vatican.va
I gave him a piece of my mind and gave him a challenge to get this cardinal in line. Tell him to teach love and understanding and goodwill and NOT to spread hatred and intolerance. I also copied a few articles from DR1.com about his protests regarding gays over the last 3 years. If you look at three years data you find that on March 1, 2005 he said and I quote directly from DR1.com:
"Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, reaffirmed this week that the Church does not discriminate against homosexuals, but that they do not belong in seminaries."
If what he said last week does not totally contradict the statement of March 1, 2005 I do not know what does. He is discriminating. I doubt I will ever hear a peep out of the Vatican but if I do I will come back and post it here on Anthony's blog.
My Best to everyone who needs to suffer this Religious Maniac in Santo Domingo!
Jerry from Cape Cod
Thanks Jerry,
I was going to do the form this weekend. I no longer have to as you did some great research.
I will email him about his articles (benedict's stance on homeosexuality)and Lopez's, it's no wonder i'm not a practicing Roman Catholic. Too much hypocracy from too many churches, catholic and non.
Now that is an activist (Jerry).
I am composing my email to the pope now..........I hope others do.........do you suppose he will do some homework and find that I am a Baptist!! (Actually raised a Baptist, I can't claim to practice anything now]
to all that take the time to send Pope Benedict the 16 th a message about Cadrinal lopez roderigues , that s great, tell all your friends to do the same, thanks to everyone who are doing so.
If Pope B finds out you a baptist then we all have to look out coz maybe he's also practicing ummmmm, brujeria(evil witch craft).
LOL LOL!
If he found out i'm not a practicing roman catholic he would probably excommunicate me!
Lata for the men in drags,I'm composing my email to Pope Benedicta this weekend see now he made me SIN during holy week.
darn it (gag)!
LOL LOL enjoy!
This Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez needs an exorcism. Can someone please get a voodoo witch doctor from Haiti to come over and fix this fool?
Jim from Boston
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