In Canada's gay press, some interesting questions have been asked about the nature of tsunami relief organisations that assist Sri Lankan, Thai and Indonesian victims of that vast calamity. Some might say that the scale of calamity overrides any concerns about ideological provenance. Who cares if we give money to conservative Christian charities, as long as it reaches desperate souls in need of food, shelter and medical supplies? Yes, and what else? While I welcome news that evangelical Christian relief organisations aren't trying to convert Thai or Sri Lankan Buddhists, or Indonesian Muslims amidst this calamity, and aren't imposing confessional tests on recipients of their aid, I have to ask whether we shouldn't exercise discretion in fund donations to relief agencies. World Vision is one of the donor agencies listed on New Zealand websites. However, it allowed its lists to be used against homosexual law reform in the mid-eighties, so many older LGBT tsunami relief donors have chosen to bypass that agency. TEAR Fund is similarly evangelical in orientation, and Caritas is a Catholic relief agency. On the other hand, Christian World Service is ecumenical, and associated with the liberal Conference of Churches in New Zealand (former National Council of Churches), so it can be trusted. In a recent issue of Canada's Xtra newspaper, Suki Lee recommends Oxfam as a worthwhile and socially liberal relief agency that LGBT aid donors can fund to assist Thai, Indonesian and Sri Lankan relief and recovery efforts. What about LGBT rights in the affected areas? Thailand has the most enlightened attitudes, and Thai Buddhism is apparently gay-positive. Anjaree has existed as a Thai LGBT rights organisation for the last eighteen years, and there are LGBT resorts in the ruined coastal city of Phuket, one of the areas hardest hit in the recent tragedy. Indonesia is more conservative, although Gaya Nusantara has existed as a rights advocacy organisation for the last seventeen years, and Jakarta hosts an annual LGBT film festival. Women's Support Group and Companions on A Journey are Sri Lanka's LGBT organisations, as well as involved in feminist advocacy and reproductive health work. Amongst its constituencies are transgendered women. Companions has been hardest hit, and at last count, had lost nearly thirty members to the aquatic apocalypse. So, who should we donate funds to? Red Cross is a nonreligious aid agency, and is one option, and so is Oxfam. Suki Lee recommends the latter, on the basis that its governing philosophy is generally progressive, feminist and inclusive. I should note that I am not condemning TEAR Fund, World Vision and Caritas out of hand. I am sure that they are providing a high standard of professional care to aid recipients and not imposing ideological barriers on relief provision, nor abusing dependency for reasons of religious proselytisation. However, one can't blame LGBT aid donors for charitable choice in this context, given World Vision's past in this country. Finally, I would like to make some observations about those inhumane conservative Christians who are castigating the victims of this calamity for precipitating their ordeal. At the moment, "Primitive Baptist" US 'phobe Fred Phelps is the worst offender, and is reportedly travelling to Phuket to abuse Swedish survivors, families of victims and LGBT resort owners in the area. One hopes that Thai officials don't allow this foul creature and his entourage into their country. Phelps is getting worse. He doesn't only hate us now, he hates the rest of humanity as well. It'd almost be laughable if he wasn't tormenting people in desperate need. I wish I could observe that New Zealanders wouldn't be so crass. Unfortunately, that was before I read the latest Scoop diatribe from Wanganui Reformed Church minister Garnet Milne, making irrelevant observations about embryos and foetuses and grandstanding about abortion. Uh huh. When embryos and foetuses are aborted, they cannot feel pain. When Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand were devastated, that was not the case. One hundred and fifty thousand innocents are estimated dead at the time of writing. This is no time for moronic moralising. At a time like this, I wish caution wasn't so neccessary. Sadly, it is. Recommended Aid Agencies: Red Cross and Oxfam have 0800 numbers listed on TVNZ and TV3's websites. Please, give generously. Recommended Reading: Scoop: http://www.scoop.co.nz [Milne's diatribe is "Mourning the Victims of Abortion," under the Politics menu. It may also be on the Wanganui Reformed Church website: http://www.wanganuireformedchurch.org Xtra http://www.xtra.ca [See especially Suki Lee's "When Relief Organisations and Human Rights Collide" (Capital Xtra [Ottawa]: 13.01.05. Vile Homophobic and Misanthropic Drivel: Fred Phelps ("Godhatesfags"): http://www.godhatesfags.com ...and Swedes, and Thai parents and children, apparently... Craig Young - 18th January 2005