Biden names special envoy for LGBTQ rights

Yahoo – AFP, Jessica Stern, June 25, 2021

As Americans celebrated pride month in June 2021, President Joe Biden named
Jessica Stern as his special envoy for LGBTQ rights

US President Joe Biden on Friday named advocate Jessica Stern as special envoy for LGBTQ rights, in a move aimed at increasing global awareness and acceptance of the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities. 

Currently the executive director of OutRight Action International -- a group which advocates for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people around the world -- Stern in her new role will be attached to the State Department. 

At a time when LGBTQ persons "are increasingly threatened in all regions of the world," Stern will work with like-minded governments and civil society organizations to uphold dignity and equality for everyone, the White House said in a statement. 

The special envoy will play a "vital" role in leading the implementation of Biden's push to advance the rights of LGBTQ persons worldwide. 

The appointment comes in the middle of pride month, a celebration of gay life in America that Biden will honor in remarks later Friday at the White House. 

The president will also sign into law a bill that designates Orlando's Pulse gay nightclub, scene of a horrific deadly attack, as a national memorial. 

The June 12, 2016 rampage by a gunman who swore allegiance to the Islamic State shocked the nation and the LGBTQ community, in the middle of pride month. 

The Senate unanimously passed the Pulse memorial bill earlier this month, in a rare moment of bipartisanship in Washington.

Canada shaken by new discovery of 751 unmarked graves at indigenous school

Yahoo – AFP, Eric THOMAS, June 24, 2021 

A new discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves near a former school fir indigenous
 children in Western Canada follows the earlier unearthing of children's remains at
another school in Kamloops, British Columbia

More than 750 unmarked graves have been found near a former Catholic boarding school for indigenous children in western Canada, a tribal leader said Thursday -- the second such shock discovery in less than a month. 

The revelation once again cast a spotlight on a dark chapter in Canada's history, and revived calls on the Pope and the Church to apologize for the abuse and violence suffered at the schools, where students were forcibly assimilated into the country's dominant culture. 

"As of yesterday, we have hit 751 unmarked graves" at the site of the former Marieval boarding school in Saskatchewan province, Cowessess First Nation Chief Cadmus Delorme told reporters. 

"This is not a mass grave site. These are unmarked graves," he said, adding that each grave would be assessed in the coming weeks to determine the final number of victims whose remains are at the site. 

Delorme said the graves -- found through ground-penetrating radar mapping -- may at one time have been marked, but "Catholic Church representatives removed these headstones," adding that doing so is a crime in Canada and they were treating the site "as a crime scene." 

Excavations at the Marieval school, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of the provincial capital Regina, began at the end of May, after the discovery of the remains of 215 schoolchildren at another such former school in British Columbia. 

That first find at the Kamloops school triggered excavation work near several former institutions for indigenous children across Canada, with the assistance of government authorities. 

Some 150,000 Native American, Metis and Inuit children were forcibly recruited until the 1990s in 139 of these residential schools across Canada, where they were isolated from their families, their language and their culture. 

Many were subjected to ill-treatment and sexual abuse, and more than 4,000 died in the schools, according to a commission of inquiry that concluded Canada had committed "cultural genocide" against the indigenous communities. 

Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Chief Bobby Cameron described the finding as "a crime against humanity." 

"The only crime we ever committed as children was being born indigenous," he said. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the findings at both Kamloops and Marieval "a shameful reminder of the systemic racism, discrimination, and injustice that indigenous peoples have faced -- and continue to face -- in this country." 

The discovery of unmarked graves at a former residential for indigenous vhildren in
Canada's Saskatchewan province follows a similar relevation in British Columbia

"Together, we must acknowledge this truth, learn from our past, and walk the shared path of reconciliation, so we can build a better future," he said. 

'We will find more bodies' 

The Marieval residential school in eastern Saskatchewan hosted indigenous children until the mid-1990s before being demolished and replaced by a day school. 

One former student, Barry Kennedy, told the broadcaster CBC he was shocked by the news but not surprised. 

"During my time at Marieval Indian Residential School, I had a young friend that was dragged off one night screaming," he said, adding that he never saw the child again. 

"His name was Bryan... I want to know where Bryan is," Kennedy said. 

He described a history of violence at the school. 

"We were introduced to rape. We were introduced to violent beatings. We were introduced to things that weren't normal with our families," he added. 

And he said he imagined that the graves found so far were just the tip of the iceberg: "By the stories that... were told by our friends and fellow students, there are multiple locations, you know, per school." 

Many indigenous community leaders expect more grisly discoveries in the coming months. Searches have already turned up possible unmarked burial sites in Ontario and Manitoba provinces. 

"We will find more bodies and we will not stop till we find all of our children," Cameron said at the press conference. 

"We all must put down our ignorance and accidental racism at not addressing the truth that this country has with indigenous people," said Delorme. 

"This country must stand by us." 

In early June, a few days after the discovery of the bones in Kamloops, UN human rights experts urged Ottawa and the Vatican to conduct a full and prompt investigation into the discovery.

Canada mourns 215 children after remains found at indigenous school

Yahoo – AFP, 30 May 2021 

Members of the community of the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, Quebec march
through the town on May 30, 2021, to commemorate the news that a mass grave
of 215 Indigenous children were found at the Kamloops Residential School in
Britisch Columbia, Canada.

Canada flew its flags at half-mast Sunday in mourning for 215 children whose remains were discovered on the grounds of a former boarding school set up more than a century ago to assimilate indigenous peoples. 

"To honour the 215 children whose lives were taken at the former Kamloops residential school and all Indigenous children who never made it home, the survivors, and their families, I have asked that the Peace Tower flag (in Ottawa) and flags on all federal buildings be flown at half-mast," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter. 

Several municipalities, including the economic metropolis Toronto, announced they would also lower their flags. 

The discovery of the children's remains, some as young as three, sparked strong emotions throughout Canada, particularly in the indigenous communities. 

A specialist used ground-penetrating radar to confirm the remains of the students who attended the school near Kamloops, British Columbia, the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc tribe said in a statement late Thursday. 

Local children of Kahnawake, Quebec step to view the hundreds of children's
shoes placed in front of the St. Francis Xavier Church, in tribute to a mass grave
of 215 Indigenous children found at the residential school in British Colombia, Canada.

The Kamloops Indian Residential School was the largest of 139 boarding schools set up in the late 19th century, with up to 500 students registered and attending at any one time. 

It was operated by the Catholic church on behalf of the Canadian government from 1890 to 1969. 

Some 150,000 Indian, Inuit and Metis youngsters in total were forcibly enrolled in these schools, where students were physically and sexually abused by headmasters and teachers who stripped them of their culture and language. 

Today those experiences are blamed for a high incidence of poverty, alcoholism and domestic violence, as well as high suicide rates, in their communities. 

Ottawa formally apologized in 2008 for what the commission later termed a "cultural genocide" as part of a Can$1.9 billion (US$1.6 billion) settlement with former students. 

Members of the community of the Kahmawake Mohawk Territory, Quebec march
through the town on May 30, 2021 to commemorate the news that a grave of
215 Indigenous children were found at the Kamloops Residential School in Britisch
Columbia, Canada.

"I've said before that the residential schools was a genocide of our people. Here's just another glowing example of that genocide in practice: undocumented deaths of children," the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Perry Bellegarde, said Sunday on the news channel CTV. 

Bellegarde noted there was still much work to be done to identify the remains, find their families and examine the sites of other residential schools. 

He said the federal government "does have a responsibility to make sure that these resources are in place to get the answers." 

Ceremonies to honor the young victims took place or were to take place throughout the country. About 100 people gathered Sunday in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, near Montreal. 

Participants placed children's shoes and toys on the steps of the Saint Francis Xavier church as a tribute to the victims.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lays flowers at a makeshift memorial in
front of parliament for 215 indigenous students whose remains were discovered
last week at a former boarding school

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Trudeau lays flowers at makeshift memorial for indigenous students