g_b the Queers Pets Meet this Sunday!
Gay Bombay, Queer Ink and the Hive present the Queers Pets meet! As we recover from an amazing Pride 2015 Gaybombayhas a fun and interesting meeting lined up for this Sunday @ The Hive, Khar:the first Queers Pets Meet! Anyone who knows queer people know how we love ouranimal friends. Dogs, cats, birds, tortoises, fish, you name it and you’ll findqueer people who have made them a cherished part of their lives. Even when people can’t keep them as pets (Mumbai’sflats can be constricting!), they feed strays near their homes, care for themat animal shelters and lavish love on the pets of their families and friends. And there’s a good reason for this. Queer peopleknow the difference that pets can make to their lives. In a world which isoften lonely and hostile, animals can offer love, companionship and affectionwithout judgment. Many queer people will say their pets are liketheir children. Taking care of them gives a routine and added purpose to theirlives, and can be part of the glue that keeps couples together. (And otheruses. Some guys say that cute dogs are the best way to pick up other guys…) This Queers Pets meet will talk about allthese emotional reasons we keep pets, but we will also talk about practicalmatters. Having pets is a big responsibility. They reshape our lives and if wearen’t careful we can cause unthinking problems for both our pets andourselves. For this meet we are getting both people who havepets and people who are experts on animal behaviour and how to live with pets.If you don’t have a pet but want one, this would be a great chance to find outwhat sort of pet might work for you and how best to get and care for one inMumbai. And of course, this meet won’t just have people –we’ll have quite a few pets as well! (For practical reasons these will mostlybe dogs). So we’ll talk about pets – why we have them, how to get them, what tokeep in mind. But above all, we’ll have a chance to play with them, both ourown (if you want to bring yours) and those of others. This meet will be happen alongside the Q Fest thatQueer Ink plans on organising regularly at the Hive. As part of this there willbe a sale of queer books and films.
g_b servants and sexuality
This very well written piece brings up a subject that matters to most middle-class Indians - the servants who are the ubiquitous, if often un-acknowledged parts of our lives: http://www.ndtv.com/article/blogs/a-hole-in-the-heart-of-my-family-641504 It reminded me of a piece I wrote some years back on how LGBT people deal with their servants. Of course, I'm not assuming all Indians employ servants - the piece specifically mentions some gay men who don't. But I sometimes feel that one of the definitions of being middle-class in India is if you can at least employ someone to come clean the house or make rotis, so servants and what they might make of our sexualities is one issue that does come up - and sometimes, rather surprisingly, can become an important issue. Here's the piece. Have people on these lists had interesting experiences where their servants and their sexualities intersected? Queer I – Coming Out to ServantsAlly Gator,Chennai, 22/3/2011 In Indianfamilies coming out as gay or lesbian is never like the pole vault, a singlejump out of the closet. It’s more a hurdle race: first siblings, then parents,aunts and uncles, the older generation, distant relatives asking marriagequestions, and then the final hurdle – the servants! It is startling howotherwise supportive parents can suddenly turn antsy when their kids come tostay with gay or lesbian partners, and don’t want them to share rooms “becausewhat would the servants think?!” To be fair,many gay men also have this problem, as a friend of mine discovered. He onlydates much older men, a genuine attraction, but also one with practicalbenefits since such older men usually tend to stay on their own, so it’s not aproblem finding a place to have sex. Except that these men sometimes haveanother hang-up – they require my friend to sneak in home, or to get up earlyand leave because, again, they have long time servants “and what would theythink if they found you here?” Since theopinions of servants otherwise rarely seem to count for much, this unexpectedconcern might indicate a deeper discomfort, perhaps heightened by classbarriers. People might be ready to deal with judgments from peers, but not fromthose they don’t put on the same level. Whatever the reason, this is oneproblem that gays and lesbians in the West rarely face. Even when families haveservants there, they are rarely of the long-term, live-in kind here, whereservants become like family – but not quite. And that gap is where theawkwardness lies. The stockimage for this is Kantaben, the elderly maid of Saif Ali Khan’s character in Kal Ho Na Ho, who reacted with suchshock to what she thought was his gay relationship with Shahrukh Khan’scharacter that she’s become a by-word for conservative Indians who can’t handlehomosexuality. R.Raj Rao, in a poem called ‘Opinion’, which Riyad Wadia madeinto one of the short films in his pioneering BomGAY, wrote of “Shantabai/ who comes once a day/ to wash yourundies...she thinks/ a man without wife and kids/ is cremated by the BombayMunicipal/ Corporation/ upon death... You wonder whether she’s making a pass.” Thisunderlines the uncomfortable nature of the employer-servant relationship withboth sides needing each other, but also resentful of this need. The employerfears being taken advantage of, especially since servants have access to theirpersonal domain. What if the maid, while cleaning, finds the porn stash at theback of my cupboard? What if she sees me in bed with my boyfriend, and tellsthe neighbours or, worse, blackmails me? I know several gay men who refuse toemploy servants, preferring the tedium of doing all the household choresthemselves, rather than risk giving an outsider such access. But what areservants likely to feel? The chances are that most are more concerned with youbeing a generous and easy employer, rather than who you sleep with. And heregays and lesbians do have the chance to form a different sort of relationship.Since most don’t have children they have that extra disposable income withwhich to pay better (and also, without families, they need less work). One ofmy gay friends has decided to invest in the servants that he knows he will dependon more and more as he grows older – sponsoring the education of the childrenof his driver, helping his maid buy a house and so on. Another groupof lesbian friends has a common maid who has over time become a key support forthem all. She asks about their girlfriends, cooks good food to comfort themwhen they break-up and keeps going to their different houses as they change,and now they in turn have helped her buy her own house. She may never deliver aspeech in support of their lives as lesbians, but has done as much simply byhelping them lead such lives. I have no idea what my own bai thinks of my life(she likes my boyfriend since he speaks Marathi to her), but her constant,quiet cleaning of my flat hugely helps me with living it. And
g_b LGBT food
Pearls Before Swine, an engagingly offbeat comic strip that runs in Mumbai Mirror, recently had this strip which referred to a LGBT sandwich (thanks to the lag that Indian newspapers run comics, the strip came out in September, but only ran here this month):Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis, September 03, 2014 Via @GoComics But here in India we already have a LGBT sandwich, which was created by a friend of mine who happened to be working at the Coffee Bean Tea Leaf chain. Its still sold at their outlets, so must be popular. If I have time while waiting to fly I always order one at the outlet at Mumbai Airport. I also wrote about it in a column which I'll paste below, but I should note that my hope for a rainbow mishti has sort of been answered, not in Kolkata, but in Mumbai where a rainbow coloured cake has become a trend. It seems to follow on from red velvet cake - but where that is just a lurid shade of red, someone seems to have had the idea of making a cake with layers in all colours of the rainbow. It is quite startling to see and while it wasn't created from any LGBT intent, its not gone unnoticed by the community. At a gay friend's birthday party recently, one of his friends had got him this cake, which when you cut through the icing, came blazing out in rainbow colours. I wish I could say I liked it, but all I can think of when I see it is food colouring! Chemical Food Colouring! Here my column, and I still hope for a naturally rainbow coloured kind of food, or just any kind of food that could be convincingly and non-luridly be called LGBT food. Queer I – consuming communitiesAllyGator, 6/8/2008 Ihave got many reactions to the term ‘LGBT’. Confusion: “Is it a cellphonemodel?” (No, it stands for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender, a more inclusivegrouping than just ‘gay’, and more neutral than queer, which many findstigmatizing). Derision: “All you activists are so full of jargon!”Disputation: “What about indigenous identities like hijras and kothis?” Butthis was the first time that the only possible reaction was Consumption. Whatelse could you do with a Lettuce, Goudacheese, Basil oil and Tomato sandwich? Iencountered this concoction, which really is labelled ‘LGBT Sandwich’, inCoffee Bean Tea Leaf, a new café chain that has started in Delhi and Hyderabadand will soon open in Mumbai. Is it a coincidence or is the chain quietly signallingsupport of diversity? Whatever the reason, I can report that the LGBT Sandwichwas quite good, though I wish they’d used something with a bit more taste thaniceberg lettuce (peppery arugula would better suit many of the lesbians Iknow!) and the basil was barely detectable, another sad sign of how oftenbisexuals are marginalized. Still,the LGBT Sandwich was welcome because I’ve always wished for explicitly gayfood. I think its because community identities so often seem bound up withtheir cuisines, like East Indian bottle masala or Parsi dhansak. But as the gaywriter Edmund White once wrote “gays don’t have a national cuisine unless itsquiche.” (He added that if we’re butch we serve meat loaf and if we’re lesbianswe serve whole grains). Evenif we don’t have our own dishes though, food is hugely important to the LGBTcommunity. Since most of us must start meeting others outside our homes,restaurants end up being backdrops to large parts of our lives. After fashion,the food business also seems to attract many community members – I know ofseveral Indian chefs abroad who are gay, and a notable lesbian one in India. Athome too, with many of us living alone, cooking is a necessary skill and manybecome really good. Activist Ashok Row Kavi is famous for his fish dishes, butthe most passionate cook I know is my lesbian friend Lesley who, when I wassetting up my kitchen, firmly took me in hand and told me what to buy. And myboyfriend insists that few chicken curries can match the one made by our transactivist friend Gauri. No wonder that the regular cooking meets held by theGaybombay group are always packed. Butit still doesn’t mean specifically gay food, which is why I got so excited withan idea for Kolkata’s Gay Pride. What better way to celebrate in that sweetsobsessed city with a special Rainbow Pride Mishti? With the reluctant help of afriend’s mother we tried getting it made, but lack of time and permissible foodcolours came in the way. I’m still hoping to do it next year, but if it doesn’thappen we could just serve LGBT Sandwiches! | | | | | | | | | | | Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis, September 03, 201...One of the many great comics you can read for free at GoComics.com! Follow us for giveaways giggles. | | | | View on www.gocomics.com | Preview by Yahoo | | | | |
g_b In case you are photographed in a compromising position...
Just in case you ever happen to be photographed in an intimate position with someone of the same sex and happen to need to explain it away you might want to use this masterful explanation from Vivek Mishra, who seems to be someone intent on making himself a celebrity by becoming India's first nude yoga guru. Given his resume and aims one should keep in mind that this 'leak' might even be done on purpose and more power to him, especially if the intimate positions photographed involve some particularly interesting asanas. But just assuming an explanation is needed, his is quite a good one - he says he was making a short film on homosexuality! This explanation has the benefit of sounding supportive of homosexuality, whatever his sexuality might be. And it has the extra benefit of promising that such a film might appear, because if he's said he's doing it he should show it. And again, as I said earlier, it might include some interesting asanas so who is complaining! http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/tv/news/Vivek-Mishra-caught-in-a-compromising-position/articleshow/45226886.cms A few pictures of the nude yoga guru, Vivek Mishra, who was a participant on the seventh season of Bigg Boss, caught in a compromising position with a friend in his bedroom have leaked online. But he is unfazed as these pictures are from his upcoming short film on homosexuality. Ask him about the movie and Vivek says, I had no issue in doing a short film supporting the cause. I am not a hypocrite and have always been open about my sexual preference. Sex is as basic as eating or drinking, but it is still the most repressed aspect of life in India.
g_b RedFM Bengaluru speaks to the wife who filed the 377 case
This recording of a RedFM show is really worth listening to because the host manages to connect with the wife who filed a S.377 case against her husband when she learned he was gay. https://soundcloud.com/redfm-bengaluru/disha-oberoi-explores-section-377 There has been quite a lot criticism for her actions, and sympathy for the husband, but the recording does show some of the complexities in the case. While I think its fair to wish she hadn't done this, one does get a sense from her interview of how she was driven to this by the selfish and unsupportive response she got from her husband when she asked him for a divorce. She says he said she could leave if she liked, and when she went to his parents they said the same. By putting the onus on her to leave it seems like they were trying to ensure they wouldn't have to give her a settlement - and I bet they are really regretting that today. These situations where gay men are forced into marriage with women are awful and there are victims all around, but I have to say, having spoken to some of these guys, many of them are really messed up about it, but you do find a few who are just jerks. They are so focused on themselves and their problems, they have no empathy for the women who are in this situation from no choice of their own. The families of the guys can be even worse. Quite often, they force the marriage despite full knowledge of the son being gay. Its some combination of wanting to do what society expects plus wanting to ensure their beloved sons are taken care of. I've heard of mothers who tell their sons to treat their wives as servants, but get married. It is a real sign of the poison contained in a patriarchal system that a woman can be driven to treat another woman in this way.
g_b remember sections 388 and 389 IPC
When the Supreme Court upheld Section 377 one of the immediate reactions was that this was a shocking case of the court empowering blackmailers. Throughout its history S.377 - and similar laws across the world - has been used extremely successfully to extort money from gay men who are too scared of prosecution under the law to fight back. This is exactly what we are now seeing. From across the country cases are coming of queer people being blackmailed or harassed by threat or sometimes the actual use of S.377. Just today I have heard the most startling case where a businessman gave Rs10 lakhs because he got a letter saying that the person sending it had video evidence of him having sex with other men. One reaction that such stories sometimes get is that people who give in to blackmail deserve what they get - that (a) they should not have been stupid enough to get into the situation in the first place and (b) they should not give in, but call the blackmailer's bluff. Blackmail depends on the victim being afraid, and if you are not, it can't work. But saying this doesn't allow for the extreme loneliness that drives people to take risks, and yes, stupid risks too at times. Yes, you should be careful who you pick up and where and what you do, but its always easier to say this in hindsight. And it is also easy to be courageous when its not happening to you. When you are the one who opens an email or letter and finds not just the threat of your privacy being exposed, but the knowledge that someone is malign enough to want to do it, you can feel the bottom falling out of your world. This still does not mean one should give in to blackmail. It may be tempting to just give the money and hope it all goes away, but it never does. Blackmail is an addiction, and quite lucrative too, and blackmailers very often repeatedly keep coming back for more. And even if they don't the victim is always afraid that they, or someone else, will. So if this situation happens to you, or to someone you know, the first thing to tell them is to find a way not to be afraid. If they have family from who they fear exposure, they should ask themselves one hard fact - in the long run will the family mind more that one of them is gay or that he is giving away Rs10 lakhs, and probably even more over time. Whatever people might feel about homosexuality, they usually don't want to lose a lot of money! The second thing to tell yourself, or them, is that S.377 is not easy to prosecute. This is why the police actually does not use it very much, but prefers to use the threat of it, or more easily implementable and vague laws like 'obscene conduct' in public or drinking without a permit (which is what most people who are arrested at parties are usually prosecuted under, which is why responsible party goers get permits, and party organisers arrange for them). Proving S.377 without a doubt really requires a medical examination and this is not going to be easy to organise. Video evidence might count too - though of course there are all the arguments about video being tampered with which politicians routinely trot out! But this is one good argument not to record yourself having sex, however much this turns you on! At least one S.377 case which has been going on for a while involves recording that a husband made with his male lover which his wife got her hands on. And finally, we actually have protection from the same source that threatens us - the Indian Penal Code. Buried away in IPC are two sections, S.388 and S.389 which state that attempt to blackmail using sections of IPC as a threat, is as much of a crime as going against those sections of IPC! This perhaps recalls some residual wisdom among people, like Lord Macauley who drew up IPC, that the law can be misused and it is best to provide remedy against it. This is what Sections 388 and 389 do, and they specifically mention S.377. S.388 says that whoever extorts money by putting someone in fear of being accused of a grave crime is liable to be punished severely, and S.389 says that whoever even threatens someone with a view to extortion, will be punished severely, and both of them end by saying and, if the offence be punishable under section 377 of this Code, may be punished with 1[imprisonment for life]. It is really quite remarkable and worth reading: Section 388 in The Indian Penal Code Section 389 in The Indian Penal Code Somehow in drafting IPC, the framers did acknowledge that S.377 in particular was liable to be abused, and hence they tried to provide some protection. Of course, the best solution is not to prosecute people for consensual same sex relations, but at least this attempt at balance does exist. The problem is that these are obscure sections of IPC and few people, even lawyers know about them. They are not easy to use because the victim, in going to the police to implement the law, has
g_b (unknown)
An interesting article from the excellent online news magazine Scroll.in on how children's and young adult books in India are starting to include lgbt characters: Gay characters, single-parent families: Books for Indian kids begin to reflect real life Gay characters, single-parent families: Books for Indian... The narrative is broadening. Issues like sexuality and class are getting reflected in children's books. View on scroll.in Preview by Yahoo This follows a trend from around the world. LGBT characters started appearing in children's and young adult (YA) books sometime back. It includes some real classics like the short story Am I Blue (link below, and well worth reading) and some really good novels like Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower (which really shows how these classifications like YA and so on are pointless, since this is a good novel by any standards or classifications). For a while many of these kids and YA books were, as they are in India today, a niche genre which, ironically, only became well known outside the LGBT community when homophobes found out of them and started screaming about 'indoctrination' of kids and trying to ban these books from school libraries. Some of these quite innocuous books feature on the lists of most banned books! But in a sign of how much things are changing, lgbt characters are cropping up in mainstream childrens and YA books, and these are much harder for the homophobes to ban. One of the best examples is Rick Riordan's phenomenally successful Percy Jackson series. In the current Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus series it was revealed in the second last book, The House of Hades, which released last year, that a key character, who had been part of the first series Percy Jackson and the Olympians had come out as gay or, at least admitting to same sex attraction. This caused lots of homophobic parents to start screaming about inappropriate themes, which simply and happily showed up their dilemma - they were letting their kids read this series thinking there was and would be nothing gay in it, and now they either had to let them continue or ban them, and good luck with that. Riordan himself released an extremely robust and common sense statement that firmly refuted allegations of inappropriateness. It is worth reading the relevant parts which don't reveal the name of the character, but if you click on the link you'll get his FAQs which do reveal the character's name (this is in case there are any Riordan fans here who haven't read House of Hades, which I realise is unlikely, but you never know!): http://www.rickriordan.com/about-rick/faq.aspx (the answer is in the only FAQ with a SPOILER alert) I’ve been lucky enough to teach all sorts of students – fifth grade to twelfth grade, rich and poor, from numerous ethnic backgrounds, with diverse religious traditions and a variety of learning differences. I’ve also taught gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. Some self-identified as early as elementary school. Some came to terms with their sexual orientation later in high school. Most had a hard time during the middle grades, which are tough years for any child. All my middle school students enriched my classroom. They made me a better teacher and a better writer for children, and they all deserve my support. I am committed to writing appropriate books for the middle grades. This means no bad language, no gratuitous or explicit violence, and no sexual content beyond what you might find in a PG-rated movie – expressions of who likes whom, holding hands, and perhaps the occasional kiss. The idea that we should treat sexual orientation itself as an adults-only topic, however, is absurd. Non-heterosexual children exist. To pretend they do not, to fail to recognize that they have needs for support and validation like any child, would be bad teaching, bad writing, and bad citizenship. There's also the Kevin Keller series from Archies comics. Again, a gay character was introduced into a series so mainstream and familiar that its hard for parents to stop their kids reading them. Remarkably, as this Salon article points out, Kevin is just one element in a remarkable reinvention of the Archies series: How “Archie” went from dull to daring: The world’s tamest comic series is now our most groundbreaking How “Archie” went from dull to daring: The world’s tames... Archie used to be the safest, squarest comic book franchise out there. But in the past few years, something changed View on www.salon.com Preview by Yahoo Rather sadly, the importer of Archies in India - one of their biggest markets - doesn't seem to be getting most of these more cutting edge series, but in time it will get harder for him to keep out these new Archies comics, and for those who want to read them they are anyway available online. I've bought the whole Kevin Keller series as e-books and you can probably
g_b Are you watching... Faking It ?
For those who haven't discovered this MTV US comedy show, just find some way to watch it! It is, sadly, not showing in India and I wonder if it ever will (70:30 chances I think, since MTV India sometimes likes to push the envelope and the show doesn't show explicit sex, even if it hints at a lot!). But it it doesn't seem to be hard to find ways to download it, and it is totally worth doing so. The basic premise of the show does sound potentially offensive - two girls in high school who are best friends are accidentally taken to be a lesbian couple and instead of causing problems, this makes them very popular in their super progressive school. They decide to go along with this, one of them because she thinks it might give her a chance with the hottest straight guy in school who, in the way of apparently many straight guys, is obsessed with the idea of having sex with a lesbian. All this sounds like the set up for a totally stereotyped, borderline offensive American high school film of the kind that tries to be slightly 'alternative' but isn't really. But Faking It does a couple of unexpected things. For one, it has very smart dialogue and plots that spool together intricately and expertly in each half hour episode. Second, it has some really cool and attractive actors - not just drop dead gorgeous ones, though there are several (image google Gregg Sulkin), but there are actors who can put a smart, complex spin on what could easily just be a candyfloss role. But mostly its what Faking It does with the queer themes, which far from being marginalised in the usual way, are up front and centre, but rarely in cliched ways. Its also inclusive, with gay, lesbian, possibly bisexual and, in a real surprise and some kind of first, an intersex character. In its low key, comedy focussed way, this is quite a revolutionary show. Revealing more details will require spilling plot twists, so I won't (though if you can't wait look up the recaps on sites like The Backlot). Just try to find a way to download and watch it! Vikram
g_b from Indian Express: A letter from a mother to her son
In advance of Children's Day on November 14th, the Indian Express' Sunday supplement published a collection of letters from parents to their children. This is a particularly moving one from a mother to her queer son. (Please consider posting comments about it. All too often we leave online commenting to homophobic trolls) : Children’s Day: A letter from a mother to her son Children’s Day: A letter from a mother to her son Every day, my day begins at six with a cup of tea that I make for myself. Whenever you are in town, I go back to stare at your face. View on indianexpress.com Preview by Yahoo From a mother to her son ‘I know you are afraid of nothing now’ Dear Babu, Every day, my day begins at six with a cup of tea that I make for myself. Whenever you are in town, I go back to stare at your face. You sleep peacefully, with your lips parted and eyes half open. For as long as I can remember, this is how you have slept. That’s the only time I see you absolutely peaceful. When you wake up at 11, frantically asking for your coffee, and rush to get ready for lunch with your “BFFS”, my day begins. That day, my day began at 5.55 am. For the first time, you woke me up with a cup of tea. I asked, “Are you leaving early today?” “No. I’ll be with you today.” We cleaned up your room together. You made me lunch. Some vegetables and meat tossed in a pan, brown bread and old port wine from my closet. At 4 pm, you said, “Ma, let’s go out.” I was happy. Like always, you picked out a sari for me. We went to Flury’s. We ordered a club sandwich and a pie. I saw you fidgeting. I asked you, “What’s the matter?” “I want to tell you something. I know you know, though.” “What do I know?” “You remember that film, Ma?” I knew. I remembered. I had denied it. Two years ago, you wrote and made a film as a part of your cinematography course. It was a rather intense film about a young man and his terminally ill mother. When we watched it, I had cried. I didn’t think of anything else back then. Or did I? If I didn’t, why did I feel you needed to tell me everything about your life since then? Why do I check all the time to make sure you get all my assets after me? Why do I feel the need of a guardian for you, after me? I’m not very old. Forty-five is definitely not an age to feel threatened. Then why this craving for your glimpse, every day? “Well, I made that film for you. I thought you would understand.” “Understand what?” “That I’m … I’m a … I do not like girls … not in a girlfriend-boyfriend way…” You need not have said anything else. I couldn’t hear anything else. No more living in denial. In fear. It’s out there. I should feel free. The sandwich arrived. Like always, I broke off a piece and put it in your mouth. You had tears in your eyes. We didn’t speak that day. The next day, I called your best friend in Bangalore. You didn’t know that, did you? I said, “You knew something more about him than me. But the truth is, I did know. Always.” He said, “Aunty, it’s as simple as the fact that I prefer rice for lunch and he prefers bread.” I knew you chose your life correctly, your career, your friends, your clothes, your hairstyle, even the kohl you apply on your eyes. I also knew that the one thing that you didn’t choose, but were born as, is also correct. It’s like I get to see you as you are, every day. Strangely, when you leave for college now, I miss you and fear for you a little less. I know you are afraid of nothing now. “So, you are going to find someone for yourself, right?” “Well, you can save me all the work and find someone for me.” Love, Ma Sanchita Sarkar is a Kolkata-based homemaker and her son Aritra is a student of cinematography at the Film and Television Institute of India
g_b GB Film Club Screening on Sunday November 30th
This is just to tell everyone to mark their calendars for Sunday November 30th when GB will be having one of its super popular Film Club screenings. It will be happening, as usual, at National College in Bandra from around 1.30 pm to 8 pm. This is a free event, but entrance is restricted to those who respect the space. A lot of excellent gay films are being released as DVDs before the end of this year, and it looks like friends coming from abroad will be able to get us some just in time for this event, so it should really be worth attending. More details on the films to be shown will be posted closer to the date.
g_b What Tim Cook is telling Singapore and India
A piece by me in response to Tim Cook's coming out: Will Singapore, India continue to disregard LGBT rights? Will Singapore, India continue to disregard LGBT rights? As multinationals become quiet advocates for equal rights for LGBTs how long will investment and technology hungry countries like India and Singapore continue to di... View on blogs.economictimes... Preview by Yahoo
g_b Australia's anti-gay churches shift focus to Asia Pacific
An article that really should be read to alert us to the threat that these ex-gay organisations might pose to use in India. As this article notes, because they are facing a dead end in places like Australia they are shifting their focus to places like India. And far from providing just an individual focused service, they are actively contributing to the rise of institutional homophobia. This will not come as a surprise to many of us. We have got hints of this over the years. I think there was a case when someone from Exodus International came to NLS in Bangalore and was confronted by activists. The participation of evangelical groups like Apostolic Churches Alliance among the petitioners against the Delhi High Court verdict in the Supreme Court also hinted at this kind of support, though groups like these might be trying to cover their traces in order to prevent exposure of this international lobbying - even as they accuse lgbt groups of being funded by international lobbies. We need to be alert for these efforts and try to expose them. So please make note of the names involved here - Ron Brookman, Living Waters Australia, On Eagles Wings to Asia, Exodus Asia Pacific, Shirley Baskett - and publicise their involvement if you come across it. And for real evidence of how twisted and harmful these people are, don't just read the story, but also the extensive discussion in the comments after it. Vikram Australia's anti-gay churches shift focus to Asia Pacific Australia's anti-gay churches shift focus to Asia Pacific The country’s final gay conversion ministry closed last weekend. Now the same pastors are taking their mission overseas. View on www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au Preview by Yahoo from The Saturday Paper: Australia's anti-gay churches shift focus to Asia Pacific Luke Williams The country’s final gay conversion ministry closed last weekend. Now the same pastors are taking their mission overseas. The little group met last Saturday at Ramsgate Community Church, on the southern flank of Sydney. Attendance at the service was by invitation only. Guests were asked to sign confidentiality agreements, assuring they would not discuss what was said inside. This was the final meeting of the country’s last remaining gay conversion ministry, Living Waters Australia. In a letter to followers issued a few weeks earlier, long-time director Ron Brookman confided that he had been unable to find anyone willing to take up the running of his ministry, and that he sensed God telling him it was “time to wind up”. He blamed a change in Christian culture over the past decade, deficiencies in his own leadership, and changing views on how to “bring healing to the broken”. “Wholesome heterosexuality alone reflects God’s image,” wrote Brookman, who believes the healing power of Jesus Christ eliminated his own homosexual desires. “Though society resists this and is abandoning Godly moral foundations, God’s truth will prevail.” On the other side of Sydney, on the second floor of a Darlinghurst pub, a soft-voiced man named Anthony Venn-Brown stood and spoke. “The trauma, the grief … some of us have taken our own lives because of these ‘change is possible’ programs,” the former ex-gay ministry member said. “Many of us sit here today knowing we too have been to those dark places, where we thought about taking our own lives. And some of us here today know we have tried it.” This event was supposed to be a celebration, marking the end of the Living Waters ministry and the so-called “ex-gay movement” in Australia, but the mood was positively sombre. “It’s not when we first go to these gay conversion programs that does the damage,” Venn-Brown continued. “It’s in the months that follow … Every time we wake up and think about another man we are tormented. You feel like a failure, you feel evil. It’s living out those moments every single day which eventually drives people to suicide.” Living Waters Australia had its heyday in the 1990s when, along with Exodus International, it had popular weekly workshops and programs in all major cities. It also outsourced its material, which meant many local churches ran Living Waters programs for people who sought pastoral advice on same-sex attraction. Conducted like Alcoholics Anonymous but for unwanted homosexual attraction – with support groups, counselling sessions, ex-gay testimonies and prayer meetings – the ministry built itself on messages of grace and salvation. It appealed to shy Christian men, mainly Baptists, Presbyterians and Pentecostals. In recent times, however, Living Waters had been reduced to a trickle. Just two or three social support groups were operating, in middle-ring suburbs in Melbourne and Sydney. They were often frequented by fewer than half a dozen men, many of whom didn’t stick around for long. Brookman spoke to The Saturday Paper after his final thanksgiving service in
g_b two attempts to take on homophobes
Here are two recent attempts to take on homophobes which are worth seeing, though this first one is frankly a bit of a train wreck: Check Out This Irish Senator's Awesome Smack Down of Russia's Anti-gay Propaganda Ban: VIDEO |News | Towleroad Check Out This Irish Senator's Awesome Smack Down of R... Check Out This Irish Senator's Awesome Smack Down of Russia's Anti-gay Propaganda Ban: VIDEO -- News |-- David Norris, Gay Rights, News, Russia View on www.towleroad.com Preview by Yahoo This isn't really the fault of the person defending gay rights, Senator David Norris of Ireland in this extended clip from Russia Today. Norris is a wonderful and hugely entertaining man. He fought and won the case to decriminalise homosexuality in Ireland and has been an important voice for human rights across all areas - as he says in this clip he doesn't even talk about homosexuality all that much and it seems he came to RT assuming he was going to talk about Gaza. But he's confronted with an interviewer who is perhaps sort of well meaning in her own way, but is incredibly confused and fixated on a few things and cannot see how prejudiced this makes her from the start. It is almost painful to see, yet it is the reason this clip is worth seeing because I think this sort of confused prejudice that conflates homosexuality with Western propaganda and sees all sorts of problems coming from it like falling population is exactly the sort of argument I can see similar TV anchors making here in India. The clip is worth seeing as a way to make us think how to counter it. Norris, I have to say, could do a slightly better job of it. He misses the obvious retort to her constantly harping on about how gay couples have fewer children by pointing out that its because of all the problems they face when they try to have children by surrogacy, or adopt children unwanted by straight people, which is sort of where this programme starts. He and she just talk past each other on the population decline issue, and there are a few other moments where this happens. But really, who can blame him, because he's dealing with her nonsense in real time and you can see he can hardly believe what he's hearing and there are few great moments where he calls her out on it and says she's talking lies or nonsense. Or there's his wonderful dismissal of this weird term she keeps using 'homonormativity' and towards the end he clearly decides just to give up and have fun, and starts talking about Putin riding around barechested and you can see the Russian anchor nearly have a heart attack on air at that point. Norris just lets go his inner camp old man and its great. (I was lucky enough to meet Norris in Ireland some years back and he was a blast! I called his office out of the blue and he agreed to meet almost at once, and showed me around Leinster House, the Irish Parliament, while pointing out to me in very loud whispers all the scandals that the different Irish Parliamentarians who were walking around were involved in. He was a real and very charming character and one who has used his personality and intellect greatly for the general good). As a corrective to that nutty interview, check this short clip from Australia. Its worth seeing just for the contrasting impressions you get of the two people involved - Bob Katter, an Australian politician who has been very homophobic in the past and really looks like he has a boomerang stuffed up his backside, its like he's almost ill at have to talk about this at all, and Josh Thomas, a young and quite happily camp actor and TV writer, who goes quite adorably - to use one of his own terms - manic and starts waving his arms around. Its worth noting that Katter is not the standard hardline anti-progressive homophobe. As Thomas says, he's actually done really good things, supporting his farmer constituents, and also Aboriginals, not a position many Australian right wing politicians have taken. But this is what makes his homophobia and, even more, his refusal to apologise for past open expressions of it so mystifying. Its like he knows - and has even almost admitted it - that he was wrong in the past, but he just can't bring himself to do what Thomas tells him to do (adorably!) which is just say sorry: Bob Katter | Towleroad Gay News Hub Bob Katter | Towleroad Gay News Hub Bob Katter Hub. Towleroad's ongoing posts on Bob Katter, General interest coverage from a gay point of view. View on www.towleroad.com Preview by Yahoo
g_b isumasuqputit
When queer Indian kids come out to their parents they sometimes say that one of the problems they had is they didn't have the words to explain the concept of being queer to their parents in the language they speak. What words they could think of often had negative connotations which they felt would complicate the coming out. But in the end they manage, and here's a fascinating story of a community very far from here (though note the presence of a queer girl of south asian origin even there!) which is also dealing with this and managing. Its well worth reading, not least for finding out what isumasuqputit mean: http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674gay_in_nunavut_discovering_a_new_language/
g_b RIP Goolam Vahanvati, an advocate for LGBT rights
Goolam Vahanvati, the ex-Attorney General of India passed away yesterday from a heart attack. He was much in the news in the last years of the previous government particularly for having to defend some dubious legal decisions. But what should matter to us is that he was a supporter of decriminalisation of homosexuality, both from before he became A-G and while he was serving. The full text of the article below is from a column he used to write in the Asian Age (hat tip to Nitin for posting it on the GB list long back) and was written before he became A-G and while we were fighting the matter in the Delhi High Court. The Union of India was against us at that time and it is significant that Vahanvati, who was a well known senior lawyer, was willing to take a public stand at that time. When he became A-G I remember hearing speculation that he would not stick to his earlier stand when the matter came up in the Supreme Court. He was the first Muslim A-G and there were rumours he was under pressure from fundamentalist Muslim opinions not to support LGBT rights. And it did seem that was in the first chaotic days of the SCI arguments when the government lawyer who had opposed us in the High Court got up to reiterate the arguments. Almost immediately another government lawyer got up to say that he was wrong, but the damage was done and the judges were annoyed and demanded the A-G come to clarify matters. I remember we speculated he would not and just avoid the case, but to Vahanvati's credit he came towards the end and fully supported us and said the law needed to change. Sadly, the judges didn't listen to him. The links below show Vahanvati saying, as far as he could, that the SCI decision was wrong. And the other link shows him arguing in an international forum (hat tip to Aditya for posting this) that contrary to what our opponents argue ancient India did not see homosexuality in a very bad light. RIP MrVahanvati, we will need more allies like you. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/edit-page/Law-cant-remain-static-Government-told-SC-that-Section-377-didnt-reflect-Indian-values/articleshow/27246846.cms? http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Ancient-India-didnt-think-homosexuality-was-against-nature/articleshow/4708206.cms Straight On - By Goolam E. Vahanvati A public interest litigation has been filed challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Section 377 is said to make homosexuality a crime. The Union of India is opposing the petition. The affidavit filed by the Union of India in this petition has made headlines recently. The petition seeks to delete the provisions of law which makes homosexuality a criminal offence on the ground that it discriminates against homosexuals. The Union of India has opposed the petition contending that Indian society is not yet ready to accept the legalisation of homosexuality. Section 377 is in three parts. It talks of carnal intercourse against the order of nature. These are the key words. What really goes against the order of nature? What does nature order? Gay activists would argue that this is an outdated concept. They are probably right. More interestingly Section 377 prohibits carnal intercourse against the order of nature of any man, woman or animal. The chapter and the section are entitled Unnatural Offences. The explanation provides that there must be penetration to construe carnal intercourse. Carnal intercourse is sexual intercourse. It would follow that male homosexuality would be a crime in this country but lesbianism would not. And they talk of gender discrimination! In England buggery is no longer an offence if committed in private between two consenting adults above a certain age. This is the view now in most advanced countries. In America the Supreme Court recently struck down the provisions of some state laws making homosexuality a crime on the ground that it violates the right of privacy. It is argued that what two persons of consenting age do in the privacy of their home is not the concern of society. This is a strong argument. People have the right to lead their lives, privately, so long as they do not affect others. Some states like Canada had gone further and is contemplating making homosexual marriage valid. America has not accepted this. A serious controversy rages. In several western states there is a huge division in society with regard not only to making homosexuality legal but also with regard to legalising homosexual marriages. Society is divided deeply on religious and social lines and it is obvious that the debate is not going to die down in the near future. People are understandably worked up on both sides of divided opinions. Our country has always a rather lopsided approach towards sex. There is a lot of promiscuity around, but it is shrouded in secrecy and hypocrisy. It is rather similar to what used to happen in England two hundred years
g_b Pride the film, and the documentary on the story behind it
The trailer of Pride, a new British film about an unlikely alliance between gay activists and striking miners during the Thatcher years has been getting a lot of publicity. It looks like its going to be a really great film to watch, Billy Elliott with much more gay interest (Billy did have that nicely handled bit about his camp best friend). But this piece from the Observer is worth reading and watching because, apart from giving the trailer for those who haven't seen it, it also gives a lot about the true story the film is based on and interviews with people who were part of it. Most of all, it gives a short documentary that was made at that time which really gives you a strong sense of what the story was and why it is important. http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/31/pride-film-gay-activists-miners-strike-interview The very strong point that comes from both film trailer and documentary and all the interviews is the importance of looking beyond the struggles of one's own group and linking up with those of others. Sometimes its important to support people who might not be directly supporting you back, and it can pay off. The gays and lesbians supported the miners at a time when there wasn't much support for them in the labour rights movement, and it paid off when the miners supported gays and lesbians in pushing their issues onto a larger platform. It is a lesson that we have started learning in India. Groups like LABIA and Sangama, and many individuals on both sides have played an important role in getting labour rights activists to support lgbt issues. And it works in other directions as well - animal rights activists, religious groups and corporates can be teamed up with as well, but of course all this has its risks. There will always be issues of conflict, where one group of allies clashes with another and perhaps some disputes can never be bridged. The other problem is that over time different groups benefit differently from broader social progress. In this case it seems that lgbt rights have advanced whereas labour rights have not. The miners lost and lost badly. LGBT rights have become mainstream. And perhaps this was inevitable given the realities of dying industries and a greater focus on individual rights. There are complex trade offs and some inescapable realities. But this is why reading the interviews with the people involved is important. The piece tracks how their lives changed and the extent to which the events dramatised in the film affected them - not a huge amount maybe, in the course of longer lives, but still significant. And it seems unlikely that any of them have ever regretted the involvement. In the end, however it played out, it was a generous gesture and well received and the goodwill it created on both sides was the really important legacy. Vikram
g_b Listen to judges tearing apart homophobic arguments
For all of us who were in court during the Supreme Court hearings on the Naz case and remember the awfulness of hearing Justice Mukhopadhaya responding to our lawyers arguments with total ignorance and prejudice, the audio in this link affords a certain irrational satisfaction. Because it shows the opposite - judges tearing into homophobic arguments with incisive questions, humour and even contempt for what they are hearing. If the states lawyers weren't defending such rubbish it would almost be possible to be sorry for them! http://www.towleroad.com/2014/08/7th-circuit-hears-challenges-to-same-sex-marriage-bans-in-indiana-and-wisconsin-listen.html The audio is of the arguments against gay marriage heard in the 7th circuit of the US judiciary, which concerned Indiana and Wisconsin. The legislatures in these states had passed bans on gay marriage which courts in these states had struck down. The governments in these states appealed the courts decisions to the higher federal level, the 7th circuit, which can be seen like a level of judiciary between the state courts and the Supreme Court. Each circuit covers certain US states. Gay marriage has been having a great run in the US courts and has got a lot of great decisions. This isn't a decision, and we don't know how the three judges hearing these cases will decide. But its still worth listening to even if you have no great interest in gay marriage in the US - and lets face it, when we are fighting for basic rights, these US battles can seem like an almost enviable luxury. These recordings are still worth listening to because they give amazing examples of judges - judges! - totally demolishing, even ridiculing a lot of standard homophobic arguments. And what's amazing is the most incisive, dismissive, devastating judge is Richard Posner, who has a reputation as a conservative, but a thoughtful, intellectual one, and one who was appointed by Ronald Reagan. Posner is generally social liberal, but has not always been automatically supportive of all gay rights positions. But here he is totally onboard. He is appalled at the way the states disregard the rights of kids of same sex partners and the effect that lack of marriage has on same sex couples. He is almost sneering at the argument from the states that they are not homophobic, but just thinking about the kids. And his attack on 'tradition' as a basis for laws, which is at the start of the Wisconsin arguments (the second segment) should be printed out and pasted up in every legislature. And its not just Posner. The other two judges talk less, but they also have their moments. Listen to Justice David Hamilton incredulous What?! when the Wisconsin lawyer says that Loving vs.Virginia, which decriminalised interracial marriage in the USA was a deviation from common lawyer. Or when the same lawyer really desperately suggests his time is up - imagine a lawyer actually trying to stop arguing - Justice Anne Clair Williams jokes that that tactic isn't going to win. Its amazing. Listen and weep for what judges unlike Mukhopadhaya and Singhvi can be like. Vikram
