A Navajo leader who called a Navajo anthropology professor a "homo archaeologist" and made disparaging remarks about gay people in a Phoenix newsweekly is refusing to apologize for his comments.

Albert Deschine, a former Navajo chapter president, made his comments in a December 22 story in The Phoenix New Times. He criticized Wesley Thomas, an anthropology professor at Indiana University-Bloomington, for Thomas' work on Navajo sexuality and gender, and said gay people are "nothing more than a degenerate gene." He also suggested that gay or transgendered Navajos are responsible for the high rate of HIV on the reservation.

"I may have strong beliefs and my story may have offended people, but that's me," Deschine told The Gallup Independent when asked about his comments.

The Phoenix New Times talked about the challenges faced by Native men who live as women. They often leave the reservation for Phoenix and engage in a dangerous life of prostitution.

For Alejandro Lucero, a Hopi man living as a woman in Phoenix, and Raymond Soos, a Salt River Pima man living as a woman, the life proved deadly. Both were murdered within weeks in early 2002. Their murders remain unsolved.

Get the Story:
Gays: Tribe ignoring tradition (The Gallup Independent 1/30)

Phoenix New Times Story:
The Crying Game (December 22, 2005)
Letters in Response (January 6, 2006)

Relevant Links:
National Center for Lesbian Rights - http://www.nclrights.org
Native Out - http://www/nativeout.com
Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits - http://www.baaits.org
Dine Coalition for Cultural Preservation - http://www.dinecoalition.com

Related Stories:
Cherokee court rejects same-sex marriage challenge (01/05)
Cherokee court hears same-sex marriage case (12/02)
Opinion: Taking white man's lead on anti-gay rights (08/22)
Second hearing set in Cherokee Nation marriage case (8/17)
Opinion: Indian Country joins anti-gay nation (8/15)
Cherokee couple faces another challenge to marriage (8/10)
Eastern Cherokees say gay marriage not an issue (8/9)
Cherokee couple claims same-sex marriage victory (8/4)
Cherokee court hears same-sex marriage case (8/3)
Same-sex marriage before Cherokee Nation court (8/1)
Gay Native Americans take top spots in pride parades (06/27)
Navajo Nation Council overrides marriage veto (06/06)
Dine Coalition opposes ban on same-sex marriages (6/3)
Democracy Now: Gay Marriage in Native America (5/31)
Navajo same-sex marriage ban up for vote again (5/25)
Same-sex marriage before top Cherokee Nation court (05/19)
Shirley cites major opposition to gay marriage ban (5/17)
Override of Navajo same-sex marriage bill sought (5/16)
Navajo president explains view on gay marriage ban (05/04)
Navajo president calls gay marriage ban intrusive (5/3)
Navajo president vetoes bill to ban gay marriage (5/2)
Navajo president weighs bill to ban gay marriage (4/26)
Navajo Nation Council votes to ban same-sex marriage (4/25)
Navajo Nation Council takes up same-sex marriage (4/22)
Tim Giago: Gay marriage debate killed Democrats (4/19)
Navajo Nation Council to take up same-sex marriage (4/18)
Blackfeet man says homosexuals unnatural (03/17)
Vote scheduled on tribal same-sex marriage ban (01/18)
Opinion: Cherokees learned bigotry from Baptists (10/01)
Navajo Nation bill would ban same-sex marriages (07/15)
Cherokee couple fights tribe's same-sex marriage ban (06/28)
Cherokee Nation couple denied right to marry (06/16)
Cherokee Nation council votes to ban gay marriage (6/15)
Few Oklahoma tribes have same-sex marriage rule (05/19)
Cherokee Nation seeking to ban same-sex marriage (5/17)
Giago: Gays were highly respected by Sioux Nation (09/22)