Month: August 2012

PS MP shows more ”tolerant” side to Helsingin Sanomat concerning homosexuality

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Contrary to what James Hirvisaari commented on the Hommaforum website, the Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP gave a more “tolerant” view on Helsingin Sanomat concerning his statement that homosexuality is “a sexual developmental disability.”  

Hirvisaari said that even a disabled people like homosexuals need to accept themselves for what they are, he emphasized that  homosexuality or disability does not erase human dignity. He said that his comments were not intended to incite hatred against homosexuals.

Outi Hannula, the chairwoman of the Finnish gay rights organization SETA, didn’t buy everything that the PS MP said.

“In what day does seeing homosexuality as a developmental disability differ from labelling it as an illness?” she said. “It seems that this is an attempt to label a person as deviant and unnatural.”

One of the questions that the whole affair raises is why bring up the topic in the first place.

The only sensible answer to that question is that Hirvisaari is trying to raise support and public visibility for the PS, which has seen its poll standings take a hit.

Finland will hold municipal elections in October.

Finnish anti-immigration party MP claims homosexuality to be a “disability in sexual development”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In light of the municipal elections of October 28 and the Perussuomalaliset (PS) party’s poll standings, it’s no surprise that MPs of the right-wing populist party like James Hirvisaari are leading the charge against different minorities in Finland. In a comment on Hommaforum, the PS MP considered homosexuality to be “a disability in sexual development.”* 

Hommaforum is an unofficial PS website used to spread intolerance of minorities in Finland.

Of the Counter Jihadists in parliament, Hirvisaari is in the same league with other Suomen Sisu association fellow members like Jussi Halla-aho, Olli Immonen and others.

“In my opinion there is a good reason to ask if homosexuality is some sort of disability in sexual development if a person cannot develop in the natural order [being able to reproduce] of things,” he is quoted as saying on Hommaforum. “It’s not [homosexuality] a sickness but only a disability.”

Hirvisaari, who got fined for hate speech in December, is a good example of the negative passions and political forces that social media has unleashed in this country.

The decision by the Kouvola Court of Appeal to fine Hirvisaari for hate speech was upheld in June by the Finnish Supreme Court.

The PS MP’s near-constant rants against different minorities are a wake-up call for us on how some politicians like Hirvisaari are breathing life back into intolerance and polarizing our society.

There is a clear connection between xenophobic and homophobic behavior. In order to promote tolerance in a society, we must challenge both of these social ills.

Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen expressed such concern recently on YLE. He said that the actions and comments of parties like the PS have hurt Finland’s international image.

”What is clearly causing harm [to our society these days] is the racist, near-fascist, xenophobic old way of thinking that is propagated by certain sectors…” he said.

 

*Taking into context what James Hirvisaari said, and trying to understand it, probably “disability in sexual development” is a better translation of kehitysvamma in this context than sexual disorder.