I had already written a log to post today, but I heard this news that Raffi has also posted which ticked me off, and so I decided to write about it.

The leader of one of the political parties has claimed that he has proof that there are homosexual MP's in our parliament. Can it be? So now many MP's have said a lot of nasty things, such as, "These homosexuals are a threat to our national security", and "They should be kicked out of parliament", or the comment one obnoxious female deputy made, "They should sit on a donkey backwards and spat on by the people who elected them."

Should I be surprised by these immature remarks? Expressed in a country where if you wear blue you must be gay (while in Europe and North America blue is the most masculine colour.) I have local friends that compliment my 'non-typical in Armenia' facial hair or certain jewelery or clothing I wear, but they say they can not wear that stuff because their friends won't accept it. One friend who loves hip hop and hip hop clothing wears typical rabiz clothes ... head to toe in black with sharp-toed formal shoes, but tells me that his friends have threatened to befriend him if he wears baggy jeans.

What am I doing here? I grew up as an alternative punk in my boring Armenian community. I grew up in a city where toplessness and homosexual marriage are legal, and where the biggest gay parade in North America takes place ..... where even thousands of non-gays party. How am I supposed to adapt to this backwards society? I'm not disrespecting traditions, but really! What the heck is this?

Fortunately, one smart doctor made some legitimate comments, "Why don't we talk about MP's that have sex with prostitutes", and "I don't care what these people do after work, as long as they are doing their jobs professionally."

Just today one of my local friends told me that a kid from his village was beat up because there are rumours that he is gay. Now the kid has no friends. Just imagine, this took place in a village where everyone knows each other, not Yerevan. And so my friend told me that he knows the kid as well as the guys that beat him up. He said, "If I see that kid I won't say hello anymore" .... why? .... "because I don't want anyone to see me talking to him." My response .... "Why not talk to him instead to check if he is ok?"

This is the mentality of our European civilization claiming Christianity? How are we members of the Council of Europe? And how did we just become a "European Neighbour"? This is really embarrassing.