Dunno Y … Na Jaane Kyun is already being dubbed “India’s Brokeback Mountain” by the press, in advance of its release in May this year.
“The film, which promises to break new ground deal by telling the story of “a serious”– and explicitly sexual – relationship between two men, comes just months after a law outlawing homosexuality was overturned in the Delhi High Court. It will star Kapil Sharma, an actor in his debut role who plays an aspiring gay model who is forced to “compromise his morals” to further his career. Its director, Anil Sharma, is one of the best known in Bollywood, whose most recent offering, Veer, was a macho action adventure. Little else is known of the project, which is due to premiere in May, but promotional posters showing two semi-naked young men in a passionate embrace have already fuelled controversy” (more at timesonline.co.uk)
It will be interesting to see how they handle the song and dance numbers which are such a big part of any Bollywood movie….
“You don’t have to fight to change the world. Promote love and equality by the simple act of holding hands.” That’s the message of A Day In Hand, a worldwide campaign to get same-sex couples to hold hands in public; and if you do, you’re encouraged to have a photo taken and uploaded to the campaign web site. “
I know that homophobia exists because of ignorance. And I know that every time I hold hands with a man publicly, I am striking a blow for ignorance. Same-sex hand holders, inject a dose of 21st century reality into the minds of people who still believe that to exist you have to hate. And as for me, well the sight of same-sex hand holding stirs the lover and the hero in my heart. I hope it does in yours. Same-sex hand holding? Sshh! Enough talk! Let’s do it. You know.. the world won’t fall apart. It might actually feel like a better place.”
Dave Watkins’ idea - he thought up the campaign - is simple but powerful. So let’s do it…
Throughout 2010, the campaign is holding a series of Sshh! Saturdays (aka Same-sex hand holding Saturdays), and the next one is on the 30th of January. They want photos sent in from all over the world. “We particularly need photos of same-sex hand holding from Germany, Australia, Brazil, Portugal, Russia, Ireland, South Africa, Spain and Asia.”
Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, is the setting for Baltic Pride 2010, which is due to take place on the 7th and 8th of May. The event is organised by LGBT organisations from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
It’s taking place just two months after a new law comes into force in Lithuania, which bans the promotion of “any concept of the family other than that set down in the constitution”. This law is an amended version of an earlier draft which specifically mentioned homosexuality, which threatened to put the country on a collision course with the European Union.
Though Lithuania’s President claims that “The homophobic clauses have been removed. The law is in line with European standards”, most activists feel that the broad brush approach of the new legislation mean that officials and police will have every opportunity to act as they please against the gay community. The wording of the law also makes it difficult to take complaints to the European Court of Human Rights.
As Vladimir Simonko, from the Lithuanian Gay League, told UK GayNews earlier this month, “From now on, any of our public events could fall under that clause and be banned”
“A project about beauty and desire…another non-profit initiative demonstrating do-it-yourself philosophy and artistic quality are compatible” is how Christian Fernández Mirón describes this free downloadable calendar. This drawing, by Spanish artist José Manuel Hortelano-Pi, is for October.
Bears, Illustrated brings together the work of a dozen very different artists from across the world, each of whom has contributed a suitably beary image, and an explanation of the thinking behind the work. You can download the calendar in .pdf format here.
Police closed down the Mr Gay China pageant in Beijing, just as it was about to begin. One of the organisers, Ben Zhang (pictured above from AFP) explained to the waiting media that he’d been told they didn’t have the correct license for the stage show. Most had expected the event to go ahead, given the level of advance publicity it had received in state-run media.
“Its a disaster. I’m full of disappointment. I thought the government was becoming more and more tolerant,” said Jiang Bo, 29, a contestant from Sichuan province in southwestern China. “They were making a big step. The whole world was thinking China was doing a very good thing. But now I think everybody will be disappointed.” (more here)
The clampdown on this event will sadden many in China and elsewhere, as it was being seen as an example of growing openness about homosexuality and an increasing level of tolerance towards the gay community by the authorities. And it appears that the cancellation of the event is creating more of a media stir around the world than the pageant itself might have done.
“I am honored to be able to continue to raise awareness and money for this cause and these outstanding organizations. Organizations like these are in the trenches every day working on behalf of all of us whether you are LGBT or straight. Equal and full civil rights are supposed to be for all of us.”
Lady Gaga continues her support for the LGBT community this weekend when she appears at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ, as host of a night to raise money for gay civil rights organisations.
And this isn’t a question of a star getting a fat fee for headlining an event. Organisers say that 100% of the $20 admission fee will benefit The Power, Empire State Pride Agenda, Equality Pennsylvania and Garden State Equality. (more here)
Yes, it’s election year in the UK, and all parties are making promises and raising fears about their rivals in an attempt to woo voters. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has made a clear statement about what he would do on LGBT issues, should his party be returned to power when Britain goes to the polls.
- Force all schools – including faith schools – to implement anti-homophobia bullying policies and teach that homosexuality is “normal and harmless”.
- Change the law to allow gay men and women the same marital rights as straight couples, including the symbolic right to use the word “marriage” rather than civil partnerships.
- Reverse the ban on gay men being allowed to give blood.
- Guarantee any refugees genuinely fleeing a country because of persecution over their sexual orientation asylum in the UK. -
Review Uganda’s membership of the Commonwealth if its government was to bring in the death penalty for practicing gays. (more at independent.co.uk)
Though the Liberal Democrats often do well in local elections in the UK, they’ve not been in power at a national level in living memory; nonetheless, some political commentators have suggested there’s a chance they might hold the balance of power following the forthcoming general election. In any event, it’s not a bad set of points to put to local candidates in your area, should you get the opportunity to grill them….
Though China doesn’t legally recognise gay relationships, there’s little doubt that this is going to become an increasingly important issue for the LGBT community as it grows in confidence. 47-year-old Zeng Ge and 27-year-old Xiao Pan went through an unofficial marriage ceremony - reportedly the first to be held in China -in a small bar in Chengdu earlier this month, and as well as the photos being circulated via sites like news163.com the event has also made the pages of China Daily. But as Zeng told reporters, the news hasn’t gone down well with friends and family. “All the capital in my company has been frozen by my younger brother,” Zeng said in a dimly-it teahouse in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. “My sister warned me she would never call me her brother unless I break up with Pan; and I have answered hundreds of phone calls from friends and relatives, who say they feel ashamed of me. “But we are deeply in love and will never desert each other,”
Image via Wikipedia
The extraordinary fall from grace of homophobic Northern Ireland politician Iris Robinson - you’ll recall that she called us “an abomination” - has led to a flurry of parodies of Simon & Garfunkel’s famous song for the film The Graduate. And a campaign has been launched to get the original version to the top of the UK’s pop charts, with celebrity endorsement from people including Boy George, who has urged his twitter followers to download the classic. In an echo of the plot of the film, in which Anne Bancroft played a married woman who seduced a young Dusting Hoffman, the real-life Mrs Robinson - who was 59 at the time of the affair - reportedly took 19-year-old Kirk McCambley to her bed while her husband Peter, Northern Ireland’s first minister, was away. “Posters have also been placed around Belfast encouraging people to download the song and it is currently at number 45 in Amazon’s download charts. The Official UK Charts Company told AFP yesterday that download sales of the song in Northern Ireland last week were up 1,200 per cent on the week before.” (pinknews.co.uk)
