Gay film festival keeps low profile Toronto Star
BEIJING–When China’s homosexual moviemakers decided to hold their fourth-ever film festival this year, they took pains to avoid confrontation with the cops.
They’d had confrontations before.
So this year, they didn’t issue any press releases. They picked a venue where they didn’t have to apply for a government permit. And they insisted on calling the event The Beijing Queer Film Festival.
“The translation of queer in Chinese is `ku er,’” explains film director Cui Zi’en. “In the Chinese language, it’s actually a less well-known word – a less provocative word than `gay.’”
The idea, Cui says, is not to wave flags in the authorities’ faces.
Yesterday, the five-day film festival opened in a village on the outskirts of Beijing without incident.
It’s no longer illegal to be gay in China: that ended in 1997.
In 2001, the Chinese Psychiatric Association delisted homosexuality as a disease. But gay books and films remained banned here in China and the gay community continues to test the limits.
Cui and other organizers hope this week’s festival goes smoothly – and doesn’t get busted. Gay film fests in the capital were shut down in 2001 and 2005, while a festival in 2007 squeaked by under the radar.
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The Church and Gay Marriage: Are Mormons Misunderstood?
Last November, Jay Pimentel began hearing that people in his neighborhood were receiving letters about him. Pimentel lives in Alameda, Calif., a small, liberal-leaning community hanging off Oakland into the San Francisco Bay. Pimentel, who is a Mormon, had supported Proposition 8, the ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage. And that made him a target. “Dear Neighbor,” the letter began, “Our neighbors, Colleen and Jay Pimentel” — and it gave their address — “contributed $1,500.00 to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign. NEIGHBORS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THEIR NEIGHBORS’ CHOICES.” The note accused the Pimentels of “obsessing about same-sex marriage.” It listed a variety of local causes that recipients should support — “unlike the Pimentels.”
Pimentel, a lawyer and a lay leader in the small Mormon congregation in Alameda, is markedly even-keeled. Yet the poison-pen note still steams him, even though in May the California Supreme Court validated Prop 8 as constitutional. He is bothered less by the revelation of his monetary contribution, which he stands by, than the fact that the letter’s author didn’t bother to find out that every other Saturday for 15 years, he or someone else from Alameda’s 184-member Mormon ward has delivered a truckload of hot meals to the Midway Shelter for Abused and Homeless Women and Children — one of the organizations the Pimentels allegedly wouldn’t support. “The church does a lot of things in the community we don’t issue press releases about,” he says. “And when people criticize us, we often just take it on the chin. I guess you could say I’m not satisfied with the way we’re seen.”
Across the country, that’s the dilemma facing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With 13 million members worldwide (by its own count), the LDS is the fourth largest church in the country, the richest per capita and one of the fastest-growing abroad. The body has become a mainstream force, counting among its flock political heavyweights like former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid, businesspeople like the Marriotts and entertainers like Glenn Beck and Twilight novelist Stephenie Meyer. The passage of Prop 8 was the church’s latest display of its power: individual Mormons contributed half of the proposition’s $40 million war chest despite constituting only 2% of California’s population. LDS spokesman Michael Otterson says, “This is a moment of emergence.”
See The Church and Gay Marriage: Are Mormons Misunderstood?
TIME
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Revisiting 1969 and the Start of Gay Liberation
On Friday afternoon, officials from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and also to honor Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.
The embrace of the gay rights movement by Wall Street — the title of the stock exchange event was “From Stonewall to Federal Hall” — was a striking example of how much things have changed for lesbians and gay men in four decades. The change is brought into relief in a monthlong exhibition, “1969: The Year of Gay Liberation,” that opened June 1 at the New York Public Library.
Using the Stonewall uprising, which began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, as a starting point, the exhibition focuses on the pivotal months that followed, charting the emergence of a new strain of militant activism — exemplified by groups like the Gay Liberation Front, Radicalesbians and the Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries — that expressed a new vision of gay freedom.
The activist vision of that era, the exhibition suggests, was more far-reaching than the so-called homophile movement, which had used a more cautious approach, and also more critical of societal institutions like the family than the contemporary gay rights movement, which has been dominated in recent years by the debate over same-sex marriage.
Jason Baumann, who curated the exhibition and also coordinates the extensive collection of gay materials in the library’s Manuscripts and Archives Division, contrasted the new exhibition with “Becoming Visible: The Legacy of Stonewall,” the library’s landmark show in 1994 on the history of gay and lesbian life in New York.
Photo: Photo: Diana Davies. Gay Liberation Front marches on Times Square, 1969.
See Revisiting 1969 and the Start of Gay Liberation
New York Times -
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Gay & Lesbian community responds to Gov. Gibbons veto
Monday, Governor Jim Gibbons vetoed SB 283-the Domestic Partner Bill that Revises provisions governing the rights of domestic partners. SB 283 would establish a Domestic Partner registry through the Secretary of State’s office where couples, whether same-sex or opposite-sex, could register their relationships with the state and enjoy the protections granted to spouses under Nevada Revised Statutes. State Senator David Parks introduced the bill in an effort to provide same-gender and opposite-gender couples the legal protection and obligations for one another not otherwise allowed under current law in Nevada.
Gibbons writes that he vetoed the bill based on his opinion that it violates Section 21 of Article 1 of the Nevada Constitution. He surmises the will of the voters expressed in Question 2-which amended the Nevada Constitution in 2002, to define Marriage as, “Only a marriage between a male and female person shall be recognized and given effect in this state,” without providing any basis for his opinion. Legal opinions expressed by experts in legislative testimony during hearings on SB 283, and the opinion issued by the Legislative Council Bureau contradict his reasoning. Gibbons also claims in his letter that couples can contract privately through “estate planning…living wills..and amendments to leases and deeds of trust.” “If legal contracts were as simple as Governor Gibbons claims, more people would enter into them-same-gender couples or otherwise. The process of drawing up legal documents is expensive, time consuming and easily challenged in court. There is no guarantee that these contracts will stand up in court. LGBT couples seek only to provide security for their partners and families and that the decisions they make for one another will actually be binding,” said, Jennifer Bolton, Center Board Vice President. See Gay & Lesbian community responds to Gov. Gibbons veto
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New UN plan to boost HIV services targets gay men and transgender people
Two United Nations agencies are launching a plan to provide increased HIV-related information and health services to men who have sex with men and transgender populations, while stressing the need to make universal access to treatment, care and support a reality for all.
The initiative, spearheaded by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), comes ahead of the International Day Against Homophobia, observed on 17 May.
“The case is clear and urgent,” said Jeffery O’Malley, Director of UNDP’s HIV group. “If we are going to make universal access for sexual minorities a meaningful reality, we must work towards ending homophobia and transphobia. We must address the legal and policy barriers.”
In a news release issued today, the agencies noted that in many parts of the world, HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men is more than 20 times higher than in the general population.
In addition, studies show that HIV prevention services reach only one tenth to one third of people who engage in male homosexual activity. At the same time, there is growing evidence that the majority of new infections in many urban areas are among men who have sex with men.
“Yet, these same groups have limited access to HIV-related information and health services due to discrimination, violence, marginalization and other human rights violations,” the agencies stated. “In many countries, they still face criminal sanctions and lack access to justice.”
Paul De Lay, acting Deputy Executive Director at UNAIDS, stressed the need for rigorous monitoring by countries of the evolution of their epidemics, and for tailoring national responses to the needs of those most at risk.
“In many settings this will be men who have sex with men,” he said, adding that responses must be based on local epidemiological and social realities to be effective.
The plan being launched – the UNAIDS Action Framework: Universal Access for Men who have Sex with Men and Transgender People – outlines several factors that impede access to HIV services, such as unwillingness on the part of governments and donors to invest in the sexual health of sexual minorities.
It also sets out how UNAIDS will work towards achieving universal access through three main objectives – improving human rights, strengthening the evidence base through better data, and reinforcing capacity and promoting partnerships to ensure broader and better responses.
In a message to mark the International Day, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé called for greater efforts to end homophobia and ensure the barriers that stop access to HIV services are removed.
“I urge all governments to take steps to eliminate stigma and discrimination faced by men who have sex with men, lesbians and transgender populations. They must also create social and legal environments that ensure respect for human rights and enable universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support,” he stated.
Mr. Sidibé added that while governments committed in the 2006 UN Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS to removing legal barriers and passing laws to protect vulnerable populations, more than 80 countries still have legislation that prohibits same sex behaviour.
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‘Kite Runner’ and gay penguins
Not everybody loves “The Kite Runner.”
Khaled Hosseini’s million-selling novel about friendship and betrayal between two Afghan boys, a book club favorite that became a feature film, was among the releases most likely to inspire complaints last year from parents, educators and others, the American Library Association announced Thursday.
“The Kite Runner,” which includes a rape scene, has been criticized for offensive language and sexual content. A parent in Champaign, Ill., and a school board official in Morganton, N.C., were among those who challenged “The Kite Runner” last year.
The association listed 513 challenges last year, an increase of 93 from 2007, but well below the levels of 700 and higher in the 1990s. The ALA defines a challenge as a “formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.”
For every challenge tallied, about four or five end up unreported, according to the association.
For the third year in a row, the most challenged book was “And Tango Makes Three,” Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell’s award-winning picture story about two male penguins that become parents. “Tango” was cited for being anti-family, pro-gay and anti-religion. See ‘Kite Runner’ and gay penguins @ Barre Montpelier Times Argus
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Theater company leaves in protest
SAN DIEGO — Ion Theatre, a small but well-regarded young theater company, has vacated its performance space in what it calls a protest of the property owner’s personal contributions to Proposition 8, the November ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California.
“It is with a very heavy heart that we make this decision,” said Glenn C. Paris, Ion’s producing artistic director. “(But) we believe theater teaches us to act.”
The Grantville theater space, known as the Lab @ the Academy of Performing Arts, had been Ion’s full-time home since fall 2007, though the company has staged occasional shows there since 2003. Ion subleased the space from the performing arts school that in turn leases from the property owner, the Caster Cos.
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San Diego Union Tribune – San Diego,CA,USA
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Theater company leaves in protest
SAN DIEGO — Ion Theatre, a small but well-regarded young theater company, has vacated its performance space in what it calls a protest of the property owner’s personal contributions to Proposition 8, the November ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California.
“It is with a very heavy heart that we make this decision,” said Glenn C. Paris, Ion’s producing artistic director. “(But) we believe theater teaches us to act.”
The Grantville theater space, known as the Lab @ the Academy of Performing Arts, had been Ion’s full-time home since fall 2007, though the company has staged occasional shows there since 2003. Ion subleased the space from the performing arts school that in turn leases from the property owner, the Caster Cos.
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San Diego Union Tribune – San Diego,CA,USA
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Fed court asks Calif. to weigh in on Boy Scouts case
(San Diego, California) A federal appeals court has asked for a legal opinion from the California Supreme Court in a lawsuit over whether San Diego acted illegally in granting leases to the Boy Scouts of America.
At issue is whether the BSA is a religious organization, and if the leases violate …
