g_b Rajesh Khanna as a Gay Icon
Rajesh Khanna as a Gay Icon Pic. The legendary bollywood super-star,a young and handsome Rajesh Khanna The death of Rajesh Khanna, former Indian superstar of bollywood in the early nineteen seventies made me take a closer look at him and his films for the first time. His songs were an all-time favorite with me and his movies that I had seen were truly great. The young Rajesh Khanna had such a boyish charm and the hot guy next door appeal. I seriously wonder why this handsome star never appeared in my gay fantasies before. The obvious reason maybe that he belonged to an era much before I was even born or he was past his prime long before I attained sexual awakening. A handsome personality, cute face winning smile, vulnerability and romantic aura coupled with the boy next door appeal would have qualified Rajesh Khanna to be a gay icon alongwith being the greatest superstar in bollywood film industry. My tributes to the greatest star and condolences to the bereaved family. The legend of Rajesh Khanna will live forever and he will be always in our hearts. Rajesh Khanna barged into the bollywood film industry suddenly from nowhere when it was being ruled by many successful iconic male stars. There were at least 20 very popular heroes ruling the Indian Film Industry and there comes a Young Panjabi guy and launches himself at the top in only a year ot two and remained there for no less than 25 years.This young Panjabi guy was very hot and handsome and I am sure must have been as much a heartthrob of the gay men of his times as he was the cynosure of his many many female fans. Female fan following is widely reported, but gays lusting him is a fact which stays in the closet as the many gay men in india themselves. Rajesh Khanna existed in an era where the words gay or homosexual was not used in the media. Understanding about homosexuality was quite limited. Even gay men of those days were quite bewildered by their sexual preferences. So Rajesh Khanna who was the heartthrob of millions,largely female fans could not have been voted as a gay icon then. There are stories galore about Rajesh Khanna that women chased him, young girls got married to his photograph and ladies planted their lip marks on his car as the reigning superstar was not so accessible. Today with understanding of homosexuality quite widespread and Indian courts making life for homosexuals easier,the sexy hunks of bollywood are quite open to the idea of becoming a gay icon. In fact many make their career moves also with an eye on the gay audience in mind apart from their largely female fan followers. But I am sure gay men of his times must be lusting Rajesh Khanna the same was as they would for any sexy and handsome guy. So if girls got married to Khanna's photographs,it would not be wrong to assume gay men must have masturbated watching Khanna's photographs. For Rajesh Khanna indeed was a very handsome man.His appeal endures to this day. The media coverage he and his films got post his passing away has made me determined to know more about him and his films. Rest In Peace.. Rajesh Khanna.
g_b Gay man on a Business Trip
A gay man checks into a hotel on a business trip and was lonely and really horny. He decided he needed some companionship for the night so he went down and asked the very old, wrinkled desk clerk if there was a gay bar close by. The old clerk grunts and points to the building next door. So he walks to the bar, goes in, but the bar is totally dead. He has a quick drink, goes into the bathroom to take a leak and spots a bulletin board with pictures of gay prostitutes on it. He picks out the hottest stud he's ever seen and copies the phone number, then returns to his hotel. When back in the room he figures, what the hell, I'll give this hot stud a call. 'Hello,' the man says. God, he sounded sexy. 'Hi, I hear you give a great massage and I'd like you to come to my room and give me one... No, wait, I should be honest with you. I'm in town all alone and what I really want is sex. I want it hard, I want it hot, and I want it now! Bring implements, toys, rubber, leather, whips, everything you've got in your bag of tricks. We'll go at it hot and heavy all night; tie me up, cover me in chocolate syrup and whipped cream, piss on me, fuck me raw, anything you want! Now, how does that sound?' The man says, 'That sounds fantastic honey, but I'm working. and you need to press 9 for an outside line. *** Another lesson learned... When in a hotel, you need to press 9 for an outside line! LOL Smiles for everyone!
g_b Is this Homophobia?
Is this Homophobia? A while back I had an internet chat session with a so called straight guy who indulges in gay sex once in a while maybe for some sexual experimentation. This guy has chatted with me in the past quite politely and we have also indulged in cyber sex through internet one or two occasions. But today he came across as an extremely homophobic person and became needlessly became belligerent and started making personal attacks on me.The idea to put the transcript of this homophobic chat session in my blog hit me at the fag end of my chat. Indian Guy is me and The Rock is the homophobic guy I was chatting with. The chat session begins as follows: the rock: what's this? indian guy: it is my blog on gay issues indian guy: please check my blog the rock: so why u have gay issues? the rock: its just a sex issue indian guy: read my blogposts for answers the rock: which u can solve it in 4 walls on a bed the rock: na i dont hate the gays but i hate the way gays expresses themselves as a victims the rock: n why gays have to come as gays in the society the rock: they can b a normal person nobody is aksing u with whom u r sleeping the rock: u thr? indian guy: yes indian guy: do u know having gay sex was against indian law till 2009 and still u ask why gays were expressing themselves as victims? the rock: so no-one is coming in ur bedroom to see with shom u r doing sex the rock: if u r doing it in public areas u have to b punished the rock: don't u? indian guy: what u r talking are not gay issues ? sex in public is not an issue indian guy: decriminalisation of gay sex is a issue with the supreme court about to take a decision indian guy: and people don t have sex in public , gay or straight the rock: ok so now u r happy so u want to celebrate in gate way of india the rock: whats ur issue the rock: now u get decriminalised indian guy: why don t u read my blog? the rock: so stop being as victim indian guy: decriminalisation of homosexuality is an urgent need. the rock: na when the writer is with me why should i go the rock: n why is that? indian guy: i am not being victim , it is all your perception indian guy: i am not a victim the rock: u know the country like india has its very basic needs tht r remain unfulfilled so plz dont force one more indian guy: decriminalisation of gay sex is urgently required the rock: indian children r starving they r not getting education the rock: n why it is required so u can have gay or lesbian marriages? the rock: why u think it is as urgent need indian guy: the point of indian children u r making is irrelevant to the discussion , gay marriage is a separate issue from decriminalisation of gay sex which is in courts. the rock: r the homosexuals dying without it? the rock: ya i know the rock: but if the main issues r not fulfilled why u r forcing one more? the rock: which i think of so importance the rock: n who u r? the rock: voice of lbgt community. indian guy: did i say that ? i think u assume a lot of things.i make no tall claims of being a voice of any group. the rock: no i m saying why u r representing them indian guy: i am not a representatives of gays indian guy: though i am a gay guy the rock: ok so what u want indian guy: decriminalisation of homosexuality in india the rock: means why u required that decriminalised the rock: ok so supreme court accept it right the rock: so it will b done the rock: so why u r fighting now? indian guy: i don't think i am fighting now , i think u assume a lot of things indian guy: i said , read my blog , there was never a hint of fight indian guy: don t read if u don t want to the rock: hey u think u r the cool gay guy n u can handle this all the rock: let me tell u mr cool guy indian guy: here u go again with your assumptions the rock: if u r not following the indian constitution dont keep your nick as indian guy the rock: u r not an indian guy the rock: oh thank u for noticing indian guy: u r mistaken when u feel i am not following indian constitution , this is one of the most bizarre remark i have heard about myself indian guy: and i am an indian guy regardless of what u say the rock: ya u r bcoz u r breaking the constitution of indiaso u will bcome not indian guy the rock: so ur parents know that u r a gay? indian guy: i am not breaking indian constitution and no my parents do not know of my being gay the rock: hey congrats the rock: u r brave enough to write a few lines on blog the rock: but u cant tell this to ur parents the rock: good the rock: n u r assuming urself as a leader in this fight of homosexuality indian guy: it is not me who is the leader of gays , it is u who assumes a lot of things without basis the rock: oh so enlighten my poor brain with ur supreme gay brain indian guy: are you a hard core straight guy? don t u ever have gay sex? the rock: i not hard core gay sex the rock: i just want u
g_b Hotels That Only Accept Homosexuals Are Being Investigated
Hotels That Only Accept Homosexuals Are Being Investigated Jonathan Wynne-Jones wrote this article for The Telegraph. Hotels that only accept homosexuals are being investigated by a government-funded watchdog for discriminating against heterosexual couples. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is examining whether “gay-only” guesthouses breach new laws designed to prevent people being treated unfairly in the provision of goods or services. Last month, Christian owners of a guesthouse in Cornwall became the first to be found guilty of discrimination under equality laws after they refused to let a homosexual couple stay in a double room, in a legal action supported by the EHRC. Now, the watchdog says it must establish an “objective balance” by considering if gays-only accommodation also defies the legislation.
Re: g_b how can i find my partner in city like indore for love
Try www.indoreonline.com chatroom. --- On Mon, 7/4/11, Aditya Bondyopadhyay adit.b...@gmail.com wrote: From: Aditya Bondyopadhyay adit.b...@gmail.com Subject: Re: g_b how can i find my partner in city like indore for love To: gay_bombay@yahoogroups.com Date: Monday, July 4, 2011, 2:03 PM Try planet Romeo? I did a search and found 218 persons from Indore. I am sure you can find someone there. Best, Aditya B On 7/2/11, ashu powermarketi...@gmail.com wrote: kindly suggest as a gay how can i find partner -- Sent from my mobile device -- ADITYA BONDYOPADHYAY Development Sector Consultant Advocate (Regd. No. F-218/192 of 1997, Bar Council of W.Bengal, India) Website: http://adityabondyopadhyay.webs.com/ Notice to all recipients: Communication not intended for you but reaching you inadvertently needs to be treated as confidential and destroyed or deleted immediately. Use of such communication in a manner prejudicial to the interest of Aditya Bondyopadhyay and/or his principals, and/or his clients, and/or his agents respectively, may attract legal proceedings which may be of a civil or criminal nature. Aditya Bondyopadhyay and/or his principals, and/or his clients, and/or his agents respectively cannot be held liable or accountable for any and every communication reaching out through this email account that is an unaltered forward of another communication received by this email account, or a referred source available on the internet and accessible to the public. Email: modera...@gaybombay.in E Groups: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gay_bombay http://groups.google.com/group/Gaybombay http://groups.google.com/group/GayIndia Public archives at http://www.mail-archive.com/gay_bombay%40yahoogroups.com/maillist.html Rss feed: http://www.mail-archive.com/gay_bombay@yahoogroups.com/maillist.xml GB Internet Radio at http://www.gaybombay.in/gbradio Web Sites: www.gaybombay.in www.gayindia.org Orkut: http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Profile?uid=15084918632470824129 Blogs: http://gaybombay.blogspot.com http://gaybombay.wordpress.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/gaybombay http://twitter.com/gayindia Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gaybombay http://www.facebook.com/gayindia Yahoo! Groups Links
g_b India health minister calls homosexuality disease
India health minister calls homosexuality diseaseBy MUNEEZA NAQVI NEW DELHI (AP) — India's health minister has derided homosexuality as an unnatural disease from the West, drawing fire Tuesday from activists who said the comments set back the country's campaigns for gay rights and its fight against HIV.The comments Monday by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at a conference on HIV/AIDS in the Indian capital echoed a common refrain in the conservative country that homosexuality is a Western import.Unfortunately this disease has come to our country too ... where a man has sex with another man, which is completely unnatural and should not happen but does, Azad said.Anjali Gopalan, who heads the NAZ Foundation, a rights group that works with HIV positive people and promotes equal rights for homosexuals, said Azad's comments were deeply troubling coming from the health minister of a country fighting a tough battle against HIV infections.These comments help no cause. It's definitely not going to help in our fight against HIV, she told the Associated Press.Roughly 2.5 million Indians have HIV making it the country with the largest number of people living with the virus in Asia.Experts say the marginalization of gay people in India hinders the fight against the disease.If you're not going to invest in community building then gay people will continue to be marginalized, she added.In 2009 the Delhi High Court struck down a colonial era law — Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code — that made sex between people of the same gender punishable by up to 10 years in prison. While actual criminal prosecutions were rare, the law was frequently used to harass people.The court ruling was noteworthy in a country where even heterosexual sex is rarely discussed openly.Over the last decade homosexuals are slowly gaining a degree of acceptance in a few parts of India, especially in its big cities. Many bars have gay nights, and some high-profile Bollywood films have dealt with gay issues. The last two years have also seen large gay pride parades in New Delhi and other big cities such as Mumbai and Calcutta.Still, being gay remains deeply taboo in most of the country, and many homosexuals hide their sexual orientation from friends and families.
g_b Katrina Kaif , the current reigning Bollywood princess
Honestly, one more Ms Goody-twoshoes story about Katrina Kaif should give the junta a diabetic stroke. Since she is s, everyone has only nice things to say about her. But this little story is still worth telling. Apparently, Kat who travelled to some small time village a couple of months ago for her charity work surprised the locals when she was most non-fussy about the toilet she used. It seems the locals were embarrassed with their modest facilities and thought that a superstar like Kat would hesitate to use their loo. But the actress just cleaned the loo on her own and used it without a fuss. She even remembered to thank the village folk for letting her use their toilet. Nice to know Kat still has a reality check going. We know of one Bengali siren who actually threw a fit in some far out location and had her producer pulling his own hair out in sheer frustration because of her unreasonable demands.
g_b A Gujarati Boy
A Gujarati Boy One day many years ago at a school in South London a teacher said to the class of 5-year-olds, I'll give $20 to the child who can tell me who was the most respected man, whom people consider God, who ever lived. An Irish boy put his hand up and said, It was St. Patrick . The teacher said, Sorry Alan, that's not correct. Then a Scottish boy put his hand up and said, It was St. Andrew . The teacher replied, I'm sorry, Hamish, that's not right either. Finally, a Gujarati boy raised his hand and said, It was Jesus Christ . The teacher said, That's absolutely right, Jayant, come up here and I'll give you the $20. As the teacher was giving Jayant his money, she said, You know Jayant, since you are Gujarati, I was very surprised you said Jesus Christ. Jayant replied, Yes, in my heart I knew it was Lord Krishna, but business is busin ess!
g_b Gay but not happy
Gay but not happy The murder of a gay scientist in Mumbai has turned the spotlight on the dark world of homosexuals. Many of them live dangerously, says Reena Martins It was a sad little legacy that the scientist left behind. The police found 2,000 pornographic CDs and packets of condoms in Mahadevan Padmanabhan Iyer’s house. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre employee’s laptop was crammed with pictures of men in the buff. The 48-year-old scientist, killed in his apartment at upscale Breach Candy in Mumbai, used to pick up men — from taxi drivers to models — on his way back from work. The police say Iyer, known as Rocky in the gay circuit, used to give them lavish gifts and have sex with them. One night, the tryst ended with his death. In Delhi, a United Nations worker called Pushkin is in the news. Earlier this week, almost six years after he was killed in his tony south Delhi house, a court sentenced his killers to a life term in prison.
g_b So Long As the They Turn Straight By the Credits, Gay Characters Are Approved For Malaysian Movies
So Long As the They Turn Straight By the Credits, Gay Characters Are Approved For Malaysian Movies We imagine a time, sometime soon, where there is an Exodus International Gay Lesbian Film Festival, and it plunks down in Kuala Lumpur. Because thanks to a revision in the Muslim-backed regulations regulating Malaysia's film industry, gay characters on the big screen are just fine when it comes to censorship regulators. So long as movie producers make sure they triumph over their homosexuality. The new censorship guidelines reverse a ban on scenes featuring homosexuality, Malaysian Film Producers' Association president Ahmad Puad Onah said. But there's a catch. We are now allowed to show these scenes, he told AFP. As long as we portray good triumphing over evil and there is a lesson learnt in the film, such as from a gay (character) who turns into a (straight) man. Previously we are not allowed to show these at all. The new rules, he insists, will allow greater freedom of expression for film-makers. But kissing, undressing and obscenity scenes will still be banned. We can do almost anything now but we are urged to give due considerations on the film's impact on certain areas like public order, religion, socio-culture elements and moral values. But lest you think only homosexuality is the moral ill that must be cured by the denouement It is not just homosexuality – subjects such as illegal racing can also be depicted. A report at the weekend said local movie V3 Road Gangster was being shown in the cinemas since the illegal racers either died or were caught by police at the end. Death and imprisonment? That's probably a qualifying ending for gay characters, too.
g_b Funny Questions Straight People Ask
Since I came out I am an ambassador to the gay world for all the straight people. What's really funny is that straight people are curious and ask a lot of questions...and many many personal ones...here are some of the funnier ones and what i'd really like to say, but am too passive agressive to really say aloud. Does it hurt? *Do you really want to know, because I could explain in full detail how it all works! Are you the boy? *The point of being gay is there are two boys...and when two boys like each other very much they have gay sex! Are you sure you're gay? *Um...lets see...YES! Are you sure you're straight? When talking about love- I thought being gay was just about sex *Yes, being gay means we are all heartless and just hang around in bathroom stalls and alleys waiting to give bj's to random strangers Can you give me tips on giving oral sex to my husband? *That's a given talent...if you aren't doing it right now...you're screwed Does it bother you if I say homo? *Does it bother you if I call you hetero, or how about stupid ass? Wow...it feels good to get this off my chest...anyone else been asked crazy questions by straight people?
g_b Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Sooo, on the topic of rock roll piano players. Who do you think is the best? Personally, I think the best rock roll piano player is Sir Elton John. SO I decided to post my favorite song from him, Someone Saved My Life Tonight which was recorded in 1975 on his album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy Musically, the song is driven by Elton John's signature piano playing. Very melodic in style. I say it is his best piano work, along with his song Bennie and the Jets. Hard to decide between the 2 of them as they are both excellent songs. The lyrics refers to the time before Elton John was a popular musician. It concludes side one in the album's telling of the history of John's and his lyricist Bernie Taupin's struggles to find careers within the music industry. John was distressed over whether to marry his girlfriend and he almost committed suicide over it. We all know he came out as gay later in his life. His friend, blues singer Long John Baldry, told Elton John to give up the marriage chance so his musical career could continue. So Someone Saved My Life Tonight began on that moment as a song written by Bernie Taupin to show his respect and gratitude for Baldry's advice. I always enjoy listening to this song. I hope you do too!!! Artist-Elton John Song-Someone Saved My Life Tonight Album-Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy When I think of those East End lights, muggy nights The curtains drawn in the little room downstairs Prima Donna lord you really should have been there Sitting like a princess perched in her electric chair And it's one more beer and I don't hear you anymore We've all gone crazy lately My friends out there rolling round the basement floor And someone saved my life tonight sugar bear You almost had your hooks in me didn't you dear You nearly had me roped and tied Altar-bound, hypnotized Sweet freedom whispered in my ear You're a butterfly And butterflies are free to fly Fly away, high away, bye bye I never realized the passing hours of evening showers A slip noose hanging in my darkest dreams I'm strangled by your haunted social scene Just a pawn out-played by a dominating queen It's four o'clock in the morning Damn it listen to me good I'm sleeping with myself tonight Saved in time, thank God my music's still alive And I would have walked head on into the deep end of the river Clinging to your stocks and bonds Paying your H.P. demands forever They're coming in the morning with a truck to take me home Someone saved my life tonight, someone saved my life tonight Someone saved my life tonight, someone saved my life tonight Someone saved my life tonight So save your strength and run the field you play alone
g_b Historic Gay and Bisexual Rulers
Historic Gay and Bisexual Rulers The following list is taken fron the Lavender Lists, Vol 2. As you can see it includes some of the greatest political leaders of all times. It also include some of the most ruthless end evil rulers in history which leads one to believe that sexual orintation alone is not necessarily relevent in politics. Most of the men mentioned will go down in history without any or little notariety. Alexander the Great, 336-323 BC Demetius Poliotcetes of Greece, 294-288 BC Antigonus of Greece, 280-261 BC Antigonus II Gonatas of Greece, 206-194 BC Ptolemy of Greece IV, 221-205 BC Emperor Gaozu of China, 206-194 BC Ptolemy VII of Greece, 145-144 BC Emperor Wu of China, 140-144 BC Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, early 1st century Julius Cesar of Rome, 60-44 BC Augustus of Rome, 31 BC- 14 AD Emperor Ai of China, 6 BC-01 AD Tiberius of Rome, 14-37 AD Caligula of Rome, 37-41 AD Claudius I of Rome, 41-54 AD Nero of Rome, 54-68 Otho of Rome, 69 AD Domitian of Rome, 81-96 AD Nerva of Rome, 96-98 AD Trajan of Rome, 98-117 Hadrian of Rome,117-138 Commodus of Rome, 180-192 Heliogabalus of Rome, 218-222 Emperor Wei Diyi of China, 336-371 Velentian of Rome, 425-455 Emperor Lian Jianwen of China, 550-551 Constantine the Great, 741-775 Micheal III of Byzantia, 842-867 Al-Hakem of Cordoba, 961-976 Hisham II of Cordoba, 965-1013(joint ruler with Al-Hakem) Basil II of Byzantia, 997-1025 Sebukitigin, founder of the Ghanzanud Empire(Afghanistan)10th century Mahmud of Ghazani (Afghanistan) 997-1030 Constantine VIII of Byzantia, 1025-1028 Constantine IX, 1042-1055 Al-Muranid of Seville, 1069-1090 William the Conqueror of England, 1087-1100 Richard the Lion Hearted of England, 1198-1199 Fredrick II of the Holy Roman Empire, 1212-1250 Edward II of England, 1307-1327 Ashikaga Yoshimitsum, shogun of Japan, 1368-1394 Sultan Beyazid I of the Ottoman Empire, 1389-1402 King Juan II of Castile and Leon, 1454-1474 Sultan Mehmed II if the Ottoman Empire, 1451-1481 Charles IX of France, 1560-1574 Oda Nobunaga, military dictator of Japan, 1568-1582 Henery III of France, 1574-1589 Rudolf II emperor of Germany; king of Bohemia and Hungary, 1572-1608 James the I of England, 1603-1625; king of Scotland(as James IV),1567-1625 Emperor Jahangir of India, 1605-1627 Louis XIII of France,1610-1643 Tokugawa Iemotsu, shogun of Japan, 1622-1651 Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, shogun of Japan, 1680-1709 Willian III of England, 1689-1702 Charles XII of Sweden, 1697-1718 Frederick the Great of Prussia, 1740-1786 Christian VII of Denmark, 1766-1808 Kamran, enir of Afghanistan, early 19th century Charles XV of Sweden, 1859-1872 Ludwig of Bavaria, 1864-1886 Abd Al-Rahman, king of Afghanistan, 1880-1901 Mwanga, King of Buranda(Uganda) 1884-1897 Gustavus V of Sweden, 1907-1950 Ferdinabd I if Bulgaria, 1908-1918 Rama VI, King of Thailand, 1910-1925 Amanullah Khan, King of Afghanistan, 1919-1929 President Manuel Azana of Spain, 1931-1933, 1936-1939
g_b Gay Romance
g_b Indian natural herb Tulsi to fight back swine flu
Indian natural herb Tulsi to fight back swine flu Wed, Aug 12 11:56 AM Ayurveda, the traditional 'science of life', has a remedy for diseases when every other stream of medicine fails. Now, at a time when swine flu is spreading like wildfire across the world, Ayurveda has the remedy in the form of the miraculous herb, the basil leaves commonly known as Tulsi.Tulsi, the purest and most sublime plant, has been known and worshipped in India for more than five millennia for its remarkable healing properties. Considered as an 'Elixir of Life', this wonder herb has now been claimed to keep the deadly swine flu at bay and help fast recovery in afflicted persons.The anti-flu property of Tulsi has been discovered by medical experts across the world quite recently. Tulsi improves the body's overall defence mechanism including its ability to fight viral diseases. It was successfully used in combating Japanese Encephalitis and the same theory applies to swine flu, Dr U K Tiwari, a herbal medicine practitioner says.Apart from acting as a preventive medicine in case of swine flu, Tulsi can help the patient recover faster.Even when a person has already contracted swine flu, Tulsi can help in speeding up the recovery process and also help in strengthening the immune system of the body, he claims.Dr Bhupesh Patel, a lecturer at Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar is also of the view that Tulsi can play an important role in controlling swine flu.Tulsi can control swine flu and it should be taken in fresh form. Juice or paste of at least 20-25 medium sized leaves should be consumed twice a day on an empty stomach. This increases the resistance of the body and, thereby, reduces the chances of inviting swine flu, believes Patel.As its name suggests, Tulsi has again proved to be the 'the incomparable' medicine - this time, in the prevention and cure of swine flu.The symptoms of the H1N1 flu virus in people are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with novel H1N1 flu virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting. The high risk groups for novel H1N1 flu are not known at this time, but it's possible that they may be the same as for seasonal influenza. However, Please consult a practitioner in case of any such symptoms. Doctors have strictly advised against self medication. (With PTI inputs)
g_b Leading Spiritual Teacher in India Discusses Being Gay as it Applies to Spirituality
Sunday, July 26, 2009 Leading Spiritual Teacher in India Discusses Being Gay as it Applies to Spirituality Copenhagen, Denmark - July 26, 2009 Richard Ammon, GlobalGayz.com Many years ago, I attended a couple of seminars offered by this guru when he was little known. Today he is one of India's most respected spiritual teachers, and I came across an article about what he recently said about being gay. So much has been written about homosexuality since the Delhi High Court judgment to strike down Section 377, which the British imposed on the Indian legal system in 1861. Here is what Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had to say in a recent interview on the subject. Question: The new Pontificate (Vatican) is expected to take a rigid stance on issues like those of gay relationships. What do ancient scriptures say about these matter? Guruji: As far as the ancient scripture is concerned, there is neither mention nor prohibition of it. One thing the ancient scriptures say, as far as I know is that every human being is made up of both Mother and Father - half-female, half-male. The male tendency may be dominant; sometimes the female tendency may be dominant. It is a biological phenomenon. So if people are bound to have sunch tendencies, they should acknowledge it. Question: Are you approving of gay marriages? Would you conduct gay marraiges? Answer: Conducting marriages is not part of spirituality at all. It is a religious thing. Spirituality simply makes you aware that you are spirit and it uplifts you from all tendencies, whether you are for, or against, or paranoid about the sexuality of other people. All this is not concerned with spirituality. Spirituality makes you realize that you are not just flesh. You are light. So there is a gender equality in spirituality. Religion will not give you gender equality, whereas in spirituality, whether you are a mother, or father, it doesn't matter - you are equal. Question: But here we are not talking about parenthood. Answer: I am talking about the male and female tendencies in a person. Depending on whatever tendencies are strongest in the system, biologically, this will accordingly reflect in one's life and sexuality. So, I think, one should see that one is not just flesh because it's a temporary thing. Tendencies are temporary, but the spirit is much more than tendencies. You are the spirit, which is all light, all love, wisdom and knowledge. Your identification must shift from gender to spirit... and this is exactly what spirituality means - to rise above the tendencies that are impermanent. We have seen that many straight people get gay tendencies, sometimes... and this creates fear in them. They are so scared about what is happening to them. When they start meditating, they rise above this, and become natural and loving. Even people, who brand themselves as being gay, suddenly find themselves being attracted to opposite sex... and it creates big confusion. This is why I say that you should not label yourself. You are much more than your tendencies. You are the beautiful spirit, and if that is also a label, it is better to have this label, than any other. As a gay person, this is lovely to read. But it certainly is not new insight. Living inside the skin and spirit of the gay psyche, virtually all LGBT people feel the essential purity of their sentient self. (I'm not talking about closeted or self-hating homosexuals who deny their truth.) Different as our sexual orientation may be from the majority of people, we are not living in any separate reality. We are all far more similar than different as human beings. What Guru Shankar is talking about is human essence, not human psychology or human behavior. When we allow our minds to go into a higher level of awareness, sexual orientation becomes irrelevant. Ram Dass spoke about the experience of coming from a higher plain of awareness as well. Using tantric yoga breathing techniques infuses the body with an energy that offers a lighter view of sexuality that is neither maleness or femaleness. It is is-ness, and I think this is what Shankar is talking about, not carnal issues or gay identity or sexual orientation.
g_b Precautions to keep swine flu at bay
Precautions to keep swine flu at bayThu, Aug 6 11:57 AM The deadly Swine Flu has reached the Indian shores following the global outbreak and now, claimed one life. However, Swine Flu is certainly one of those diseased where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Here are ten tips for you to keep away from the pandemic. 1. Wash your hands frequentlyUse the antibacterial soaps to cleanse your hands. Wash them often, at least 15 seconds and rinse with running water. 2. Get enough sleepTry to get 8 hours of good sleep every night to keep your immune system in top flu-fighting shape. 3. Drink sufficient waterDrink 8 to10 glasses of water each day to flush toxins from your system and maintain good moisture and mucous production in your sinuses. 4. Boost your immune systemKeeping your body strong, nourished, and ready to fight infection is important in flu prevention. So stick with whole grains, colorful vegetables, and vitamin-rich fruits. 5. Keep informedThe government is taking necessary steps to prevent the pandemic and periodically release guidelines to keep the pandemic away. Please make sure to keep up to date on the information and act in a calm manner. 6. Avoid alcoholApart from being a mood depressant, alcohol is an immune suppressant that can actually decrease your resistance to viral infections like swine flu. So stay away from alcoholic drinks so that your immune system may be strong. 7. Be physically activeModerate exercise can support the immune system by increasing circulation and oxygenating the body. For example brisk walking for 30-40 minutes 3-4 times a week will significantly perk up your immunity. 8. Keep away from sick peopleFlu virus spreads when particles dispersed into the air through a cough or sneeze reach someone else’s nose. So if you have to be around someone who is sick, try to stay a few feet away from them and especially, avoid physical contact. 9. Know when to get helpConsult your doctor if you have a cough and fever and follow their instructions, including taking medicine as prescribed. 10. Avoid crowded areasTry to avoid unnecessary trips outside.
g_b Gay activists: Marriage secondary to basic rights
Gay Rights Gay activists: Marriage secondary to basic rights August 1, 2009 Gay marriage and gays in the military may dominate the headlines, but activists in many states say their fight is much more fundamental: basic rights and protections against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation, even to overturn a ban on changing gender on a driver’s license or birth certificate. “In Missouri, you can still be fired for being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender,” A.J. Bockelman, executive director of PROMO, Missouri’s statewide organization advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, said Thursday. “Sexual orientation is not a protected class in Missouri.” A spokeswoman for the Missouri Commission on Human Rights confirmed that is the case, saying past efforts to include sexual orientation as a protected class have failed. Activists from state-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organizations from throughout the U.S. are meeting here this week to share their efforts to make inroads in state legislatures, municipalities and school districts. Toni Broaddus, executive director of their national alliance, the Equality Federation, said gay marriage has never been the movement’s No. 1 priority. Rather, it’s about the ability to work, get housing, adopt children, have families and have their partners recognized, she said. “We just want the rights that everyone else has,” she said. “This is about being equal citizens under the law.” At a get-acquainted session Thursday, dozens of activists provided updates on progress and setbacks in the states. In Tennessee, transgender activist Marisa Richmond said advocates are working to pass a hate crimes law that would include lesbians, gays, bisexuals and the transgendered under its protection. In recent weeks, she said, they won a commitment from Memphis-based Federal Express to add gender identity to its nondiscrimination policy. Wisconsin passed new domestic partnership protections this summer that the Wisconsin Family Action recently challenged in the state Supreme Court, saying the new registry for same-sex couples violates the state constitution’s ban on gay marriage and civil unions. In Oklahoma, a group formed recently to fight what Oklahoma State University professor Laura Belmonte called “an intensely hostile environment” where only one small municipality has an anti-discrimination law. “People ask me why I stay, but I say, ‘It doesn’t have to be this way,’” she said. “You can put your head in the oven and blow out the pilot light, or you can fight back.” Last year, gay and lesbian groups demanded Oklahoma state legislator Sally Kern apologize after she told a political group that “the homosexual agenda” poses a bigger threat to the United States than terrorism. Kern said by phone Thursday that gays and lesbians want “approval for their behavior.” “What are we going to approve next, adultery?” she asked. The Equality Federation’s Broaddus said the top priorities for gay-rights activists at the state level are passage of new anti-discrimination laws or strengthening of existing ones; passage of anti-bullying laws that address sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, and recognition of their relationships, whether in marriage, civil unions, or a domestic partnership registry.
g_b An interview with Celina Jaitley
An interview with Celina Jaitley By glamsham Friday Jul 17 10:40 AM Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network Recently Baba Ramdev publicly made comments around sexual life of 'actresses like Celina Jaitly' on the front page of a leading newspaper. On her standing up for gay rights, he stated, ''These actresses know nothing about Bhartiya sanskriti. They stay away from their parents and have no morals. Unke partner har mahine badalte hain.'' Not just that, he also termed homosexuality as a congenital disease and claims that he can 'cure' it. Truly livid, Celina bares her heart out.Baba Ramdev seems to have termed homosexuality as a disease. What's your take on it?If he says so, then this self proclaimed doctor has gone against the medical community of the entire world. With all due respect, just because he is a yoga maestro, he cannot and does not have the qualification or degree to diagnose any illness/disease. Without any medical background, it would anyways fall under fake medical malpractice.But he does have a wide following, isn't it?Of course, but then he has the right to teach yoga and help people to use it to their benefit based on prior approval and diagnosis of a trained medical practitioner. However, he cannot make serious medical diagnosis based on religious beliefs and his own personal perspective.It appears that you have really turned offensive this time around and aren't willing to take it lying down.And there is a reason behind that! Reactions such as those coming from the likes of Baba Ramdev are bound to happen every time there is a cultural revolution. Let me state an example. When 'Sati Pratha' was abolished, many people were offended and there were protests. It was the same in case of widow remarriage and child marriage as well. I feel eventually people do come out of it. Didn't Shikhandi, who belonged to sexual minority, fight in the Mahabharata 5000 years back?He has also made comments around 'actresses like her' changing partners every month. Aren't you offended?Well, isn't it strange that this great Brahamachari seems to know more about my sex life then I may know myself? I couldn't be more amused when I heard him making such statements. I really believe though that he himself does not know the meaning of true 'Brahamacharya'.'' He has also challenged on my knowledge of 'bhartiya sanskriti'. Well, this is my take on it:1) I am a 4th generation Bhartiya Fauji kid2) I am a Bhartiya Sundari 20013) My 80% education has been in Bhartiya Hindi medium Kendriya Vidyalaya4) My education background is science and computers5) I had Sanskrit as a subject until 10th grade6) I have lived all my life in the interiors of India7) I speak five Indian languages8) I can recite 500 Sanskrit shlokas9) I have been a Yoga practitioner since the age of 14Need I say more?
g_b Indian gay 'marriage' follows legal ruling
Indian gay 'marriage' follows legal ruling08/07/2009 - 16:35:12 Just a week after a New Delhi court decriminalised homosexuality, the first gay “marriage” has taken place in India. Amrit and Jeeta, both 18, decided to get married following the landmark judgment which changed a 148-year-old British colonial-era ruling that made homosexual sex a punishable offence. However, the verdict can still be challenged in India’s Supreme Court. “I was so delighted after the court’s verdict that we both decided to get married,” Jeeta said after the ceremony at the Shiridi temple in the north Indian city of Chandigarh. “We had been facing discrimination in public, at the work place and at home. But things may look up for people like us now.” The couple fell in love about three months ago, but have been facing opposition from a traditionally conservative society. Muslim and Hindu groups have united in opposing the court ruling and are now trying to convince other religious associations to join in their resistance. A Vishwa Hindu Parishad activist today told the Press Association: “This is not our culture and I don’t know why people allowed this to happen. “After the Delhi High Court verdict, it seems that it has become a fashion to champion gay rights.There should be strong resistance and we will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court” Jeeta’s mother reportedly refuses to accept her son’s sexual orientation. “He is not a homosexual and is employed with a pharmaceutical factory,” she said. His partner Amrit, however, said he felt “alive” after his decision to get married. “I will be calling a few selected friends [for the reception] who encouraged us in this bold step. “But it will be open, with no fear of anyone. There are so many like us who secretly love each other,” he told Indian newspaper the Times of India. “Few have the courage to get married. Maybe this step of ours can motivate the rest of the community to break the fetters of society,” he added.
g_b Gay rights: India sets an example!
Gay rights: India sets an example! Delhi High Court has set a landmark in the history of human justice and equality with its historic judgment of legalising homosexuality. By this judgment the nation has showed the courage to challenge all tradition which restricts human rights.. WITH THE historic judgment of Delhi High Court legalising homosexuality, India has set a fine example before the world. By this judgment the nation has showed the courage to challenge all tradition which restricts human equality and justice. Not many countries in the world have shown green signal to homosexuality. In its judgment in response to a public interest litigation filed by Naz Foundation, a voluntary body working for gay rights, Delhi Court observed that Section 377 of Indian Penal Code which criminalises homosexuality is unconstitutional as it discriminates against a section of population who were born with a sexual orientation to his/her own sex. The court also observed that consensual sex between those people above 18 years of age is illegal. This day will be remembered as a landmark in the history of human justice and equality. Kudos for the voluntary organisations who worked for gay rights and all those people who showed courage to march through the streets of Indian cities for the fulfillment of their rights. The time when this judgment came out is also important. The central government a few days ago announced that they are holding serious discussions about repealing section377. But there seems to be a lack of consensus between Home Ministry, Law Ministry and Health and Family Affairs Ministry in this regard. The judgment by Delhi HC can be viewed as the first step. Lot more needs to be done. The other high courts in the country can make similar stands with Delhi HC. The parliament also needs to discuss the issue seriously. There will be many differences in the opinions regarding this matter. The church authorities had already announced their protest. Such diverse opinions are a part of democratic system and the government should have some leverage to settle down diverse voices and make a consensus. It is the personal right or freedom of an individual to determine whether he needs a partner of opposite sex or same sex. We cannot deny their rights in the name of anything.
g_b NO GAYS, SAYS SOCIETY
NO GAYS, SAYS SOCIETY Dr. Neelam Verma Of late, a number of Western countries have accepted homosexual behaviour in individuals and they are no longer discriminated against. In India, people tend to avoid talk of sex or homosexuality, yet it does not mean that it is not prevalent. Naveen is a disturbed man. While his family was insisting that he should marry and settle down , he was sure he wouldn't be happy with a woman and lead a normal life. For, he was a homosexual and secretly met male friends. But he was also ashamed about his abnormal trait and did not want the family to know his preference for a male. His is a typical case that worries thousands of gays in the Indian society. India is the world’s largest democracy, yet its laws remain as outdated as ever. Indian laws are still governed by the British Raj which introduced colonial laws in India and other colonised countries in that period. However, though many laws have been amended, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code still needs amendment and of late has been challenged by voluntary organisations. According to Section 377, gay sex is illegal, but lesbian sex is not mentioned. Homosexuality is punishable under the provisions and the offence is called sodomy. There has been no change with regard to the concept of this offence and its administration by the Indian courts. The law says that Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature, with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine. Penetration is sufficient to constitute carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section. The form of homosexuality, which is reported either by the police or society, is generally related to use of force by the one over the other, though even if there was consent of any of the partners, the offence is not mitigated. It is considered to be an offence against society, therefore, the legal system is obliged to punish all those who are proved to have indulged in it for correctional purposes. It is due to the prevalence of such laws that many gays in India are ostracised in society, blackmailed by those who stumble upon their sexual behaviour, either family or neighbours or prying relatives, etc. They are thrown out of jobs, too. Of late, a number of Western countries have accepted homosexual behaviour in individuals and they are no longer discriminated against, unlike in India. In an attempt to bring some semblance of respect for homosexuals, a voluntary organisation working for AIDS awareness, Naz, has filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminally penalises what is termed as unnatural offences, in so far as the provision affects private sexual acts between consenting adults. Says Shaleen Rakesh of Naz, who works with MSM or gay men who have sex with men: Our main work is with a section of men who are vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS. During the process of our work, we discovered that the best way is to promote respect and protect human rights of vulnerable populations, especially the MSM community. For that, we need to change the draconian Section 377 as it is an infringement of fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution of India. The petition states that Section 377 is meant to criminalise sexual acts, which are against the order of nature. This provision is based upon traditional Judeo-Christian moral and ethical standards which conceive of sex in purely functional terms, that is for the purpose of procreation only. A non-procreative sexual activity is thus viewed as being against the order of nature. Since homosexual behaviour is a crime under the provisions of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, therefore, organisations of homosexuals are not permitted as legal bodies. However, in Mumbai and Delhi, there are groups that hang out together. There have been demonstrations outside the office of the World Health
g_b Thoughts from a married homosexual
Thoughts from a married homosexual I don't know where or when the posting (reproduced below) first appeared, but it is evidently by a man with homosexual yearnings in India. I think it represents the feelings of a lot of people who know they don't belong to the heterosexual world but cannot see any other world. I am a 38 year old guy and have spend a greater part of my life in Delhi, right since I was born, my education, my first job etc. I never had any real sexual experience with any guy till my first job, though I always fantasised myself having sex with some of the good looking guys in my class, getting pics from magazines such as Gladrags and shagging in the bathroom looking at those pics. I also spent a good amount of time cruising for guys in Andheri and Bandra railway stations when I was in Mumbai. It was a time when the internet had not caught on and you had a very decent crowd coming to these stations, that is now abound with touts. I also allowed myself to be probed by guys in crowded trains. Once the internet came in, then the means changed and the web became a new field for cruising. One thing I did observe in the gay community, whether it was in the stations or in the web, the focus was tremendously on sex. It all boiled down to ASL and stats in 99 % of the cases. I also got confused with this approach and the meaningfulness of the same and during the time I was also under pressure to get married. I was with a good organization, was very well qualified and had the advantage of good looks. Even today if I happen to chat, I say am 25 and am able to get along with that. In fact most of the guys I met who were in their mid 20s actually looked much older than me. Before I get into something else, let me come back to the issue of marriage that started troubling me. I spent long hours wondering on how to tackle this issue, I never came out in the open to my family. Even today I am not out. I had lengthy discussions with my elder brother on the significance of marriage and what it means to my life. I also had fears of sexual compatibility with my wife and how I intend to do justice to her and my kid in the future. I was also disillusioned with the gay world, not because it was not socially acceptable, but with the hollowness of the whole concept of adopting a gay life. I am also an avid reader of the Bhagwad Gita and must say that it's the mother of all books on modern thinking. And I must share with you that it's a book which is very practical today and sends a very powerful message across and the best part is that it does not insist on you following it nor has it anything to do with religion. Its about doing your duty with all the skill and excelling in whichever field you are in. This is one thing that was deeply etched in my mind and I started evaluating what is the course of action that best supports my objective of focusing on my skills and that takes me towards excellence. After spending quite some time contemplating of my sexual orientation, I finally agreed to get married. My marriage was arranged and my wife comes from a good family with a professional qualification like mine. The initial month was good in terms of sexual experiences and since I was indulging in sex with a woman for the first time, I myself was exploring and I did enjoy. After a month the novelty died down and the pressure of my work took on me. I must admit at this point of time that I was not sexually attracted to my wife and still used to fantasize about guys. I often came thinking about guys when I made love to my wife. The fact however is also this that though I never liked her sexually, I did love her, took care of her and always looked forward to being with her. I took her along with me for every assignment, though I had to incur huge amount of expenses in traveling and lodging. I remember being with hospitalized and how she spend those moments with me, at times she often fought with the doctors for me and often broke down in front of the doctors when they were not able to diagnose my illness. But she never shed a single tear in front of me. We then decided to have a kid, and again we spent a long time discussion on whether we should really have a kid, whether we are capable of giving it a meaningful life. We finally went ahead with our plans. All this time I always was wondering whether I should tell my wife about my sexuality. I had actually stopped going to the net and somehow the gay environment was sickening most of the time. I also wondered whether the kind of support that I got from my wife, being with me when I needed help the most and supporting me in my career, could these things have been achieved with a gay partner. I felt sex is just one of the binders in a relationship, it may be critical. But a relationship that is based purely on sexual orientation may actually end up in a disaster. Relationship or lets call it partnership is
g_b India's Gays See Small Improvement in Cultural Outlets
India’s Gays See Small Improvement in Cultural Outlets Marriage-conscious society mostly frowns, but homosexuals are finding a club here and a movie there that accepts them. It’s a ‘sea change,’ says one. By Vanessa Gezari, Special to the Tribune NEW DELHI—Under purple strobe lights, a man in a sleeveless T-shirt with “Daddy” on the front slow-dances with a long-haired guy in a tight seersucker blouse. At the bar, a slender man in a tie-dyed shirt whispers into the ear of his muscular friend, who wears iridescent green sunglasses despite the darkness of the room. In shadowy corners, under the stairs and behind the half-open door of the women’s bathroom, men embrace, taking advantage of the relative safety of the Indian capital’s only gay nightclub to meet and flirt. Others, unable to forget the stigma attached to homosexuality in India, sit alone at tables, eyeing the men on the dance floor with a mixture of admiration and anxiety. “If my family knew I was here, they’d kill me,” said Samir Agarwal, a 25-year-old businessman who attended the weekly gay night at Pegs N’ Pints, a New Delhi club, recently. “In India, if a family knows their child is gay, it creates a big chaos. Gays and lesbians are not acceptable. It’s a matter of shame, a matter of embarrassment.” In traditional India, where marriage is life’s most important event and no family is complete without children and grandchildren, homosexuality is rarely acknowledged, let alone accepted. But increasingly, gay Indians are meeting in Internet chat rooms, organizing marches, hosting parties and showing up at support groups, generating a wave of activism that is bringing the gay community into public view. “It’s been like a sea change,” said Shaan Thadhani, 25, a fashion designer who returned to India recently after several years in Britain and attended the gay dance session at Pegs N’ Pints, which is a bar catering to heterosexuals six nights a week and a gay club only on Tuesdays. “Before I went to London, we never had this. We had one support group. The scene here is very new.” In the last year, the Bombay-based Indian film industry, known as Bollywood, has released several movies featuring gay characters, including “Mango Souffle” in which two male characters skinny dip in a pool. Activist writes novel “The Boyfriend,” a novel published this year by Indian college professor and gay activist R. Raj Rao, offers what may be the most detailed account yet of gay life in Bombay, exploring the relationship between a journalist and his lover, who is an untouchable, a member of India’s lowest caste. Neither the films nor the book have generated the level of controversy that surrounded “Fire,” a 1998 film about two women falling in love that drew angry protests from the Shiv Sena, a right-wing Hindu group. Lesbians are even less prominent than gay men in India, in part because of the “basic inequalities” that hamper women in most aspects of life here, said Geeta Kumana, chairwoman of Aanchal Trust, a lesbian group in Bombay. In June, about 35 men, many wearing jewelry and lipstick, took part in a rare gay pride march in Calcutta. The Internet, which is easily accessible in India, has given the gay community a relatively safe way to connect, while at the same time exposing young people to the more permissive cultures of the West. “The Internet has changed so much for the gay community,” said Shaleen Rakesh, an activist with Naz Foundation Trust, a Delhi-based group that works on HIV/AIDS and sexual health issues. “The way society, even in Delhi, has changed in the last four or five years, people are so much more open to the issue of sexuality, and it’s so much easier to talk about sexuality and being gay.” Activists from Naz, which runs a clinic for people with HIV and AIDS, recently went to court in an attempt to repeal India’s law against homosexuality. Under the law, enacted by the British in 1860, “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” is punishable by life imprisonment or up to 10 years in jail and a fine. In India, where there are an estimated 4 million people with HIV and the number is expected to surge in the years to come, police have used the law to justify harassment and detention of AIDS outreach workers. A report by New York-based Human Rights Watch said “police abuse” has sometimes prevented workers from handing out condoms and information to sexually active gay men. The Humsafar Trust, a gay non-governmental organization in Bombay, offers workshops in how to hide condoms “because if you’re caught with a condom by the police at night, you can be badly beaten up,” said Ashok Row Kavi, chairman of Humsafar’s board. “We teach men to hide them in socks, in wallets.” Rakesh said the court appears to favor getting rid of the law against homosexual activity. But on Monday,
g_b India's Different Gay Divide
India's Different Gay Divide BANGALORE, India -- Gay men aren't accepted in Indian society, and as a result they have been extremely closeted. But in the last five years, the Indian gay community has moved into and flourished on what has probably been the most accepting space they could have ever hoped to find -? the Internet. But in India, the Net is still an urban phenomenon, available only to those who can afford to be connected as well as communicate in English. Now, the more affluent meet people online and avoid the dangers associated with cruising the streets to look for partners. But the Net is also creating new class divisions within the gay community. Before the Net, everyone had to go to the common cruising areas within every city, said Elavarthi Manohar, who works with Sangama, a sexual rights organization based in Bangalore. If you are gay or bisexual, you know about these places. They are usually public toilets, parks or secluded lanes, and when one goes looking for sexual partners there, one tends to meet people from different socioeconomic backgrounds. You would come across servants and businessmen, so at least some interaction across the class would happen. But going to these cruising areas make gay men easy targets for police actions. The police frequent these places and very commonly either rape the men they catch there or try and extort money from them, so I suppose from that point of view meeting people online provides more immediate safety, Manohar said. While gay online dating does not work much differently than how it does for heterosexuals, the anonymity it provides is of great significance in a country where gay men usually give in to family pressures and get married rather than choose to come out about their sexuality. They will then spend the rest of their lives frequenting cruising areas for sexual partners, said Chandra Shekhar Balachandran, founder of the Dharani Trust in Bangalore. What they do not understand is that they are under enormous threat of contracting STDs and AIDS, which they will probably go home and pass on to their wives. Balachandran started KhushNet -- one of the most popular Indian gay mailing lists while he was in the United States. The Net does isolate groups as far as connectivity goes, Balachandran said. But about the language barrier, I have noticed that just a basic familiarity with English is enough. People tend to create their own way of talking, by typing Hindi words using the English alphabet. What Balachandran finds most interesting are the kinds of conversations that take place on popular chat rooms such as Indiatimes.com and Datingdesis.com. The discussions are quite elite due to the kind of medium it is, he said. Indians have this thing for fair skin. So often I come across someone who says, 'I am 24, a software engineer. But I am a little on the dark side. Is that OK?' It is as though the whole concept of a fair girl in a heterosexual match has been lifted and placed right into the homosexual arena. For those who can get access, the fact that they can communicate with organizations across the globe has played a vital role in helping them shape and manage fledgling nonprofits here in India. Vinay Chandran started Swabhava in 1999 to provide online, telephone and personal counseling to sexual minorities. He is slowly mobilizing resources and networking with similar organizations in India to repeal Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalizes sodomy. People like to believe that no one around here has sex, they just make babies. So, gays are not even given any sort of consideration, Chandran said. But the Net has helped us bring about some sort of change. Like when I go to a debate about gay rights, there is so much more information available now that it gives us an idea of the bigger picture -- about what groups in the West are lobbying for, and on what they are basing their arguments. Chandran works within tight parameters. The Indian police recently arrested two men in a cruising area in the northern city of Lucknow, and Chandran is concerned that cops in other cities might begin to bear down upon gay organizations. They might just come in here and shut me down for what they consider possession of pornographic material -- though it might just be some gay literature, he said. And once people hear that our offices were raided, even if we do clear stuff up, they will always be hesitant in approaching us for any sort of counseling. Just to be safe, I have boxed up all my copies of Bombay-Dost (India's first magazine for the gay community). For us in India, it is just the beginning. And it has been such a tough journey, said Chandran
g_b Cadinot, Jean-Daniel (1944-2008) , French pornographer extraordinaire
Cadinot, Jean-Daniel (1944-2008) A Portrait of Jean-Daniel Cadinot by François Orenn (2003). Jean-Daniel Cadinot, French pornographer extraordinaire, attracted an international following for his audacious films, which manage to be both unusually artistic and enormously arousing. Cadinot was born in 1944 in Paris, at the foot of Montmartre hill in the Batignoles Quarter. His parents were tailors who custom fit clothes. In reference to his parent's occupation, Cadinot noted the irony that whereas they clothed men, he earned a reputation for undressing them. Cadinot realized he was gay at the age of twelve, but he did not delve into gay erotica until 1972. Prior to that, in the early 1960s, he studied at École des Arts et Métiers and at the National School of Photography. He then began his professional career at Valois Studios, where he directed mainstream films for French-speaking audiences. Cadinot's professional coming out as a gay photographer began in 1972, when he created nude photographs of gay author Yves Navarre and popular singers Patrick Juvet and Pascal Auriat. These photographs, which circulated only among a small, appreciative coterie, did not receive widespread notice. In the early 1970s, Cadinot continued his mainstream career, but took ever more photographs of nude men, gradually earning a reputation as a skilled still photographer. By 1978, when he turned to filmmaking, he had published 17 photo albums, which had sold more than 170,000 copies. In 1978, Cadinot established his own production company, French Art, and issued his first 16mm film, Tendres adolescents. Cadinot explained his embrace of filmmaking as an expression of gay activism: The still photo became too limiting. I quickly reached its boundaries and I had a desire for action and movement, he remarks. I wanted to go further, to tell our collective stories as gay men. Video enabled me to do just that. I have to say that when I'm shooting photos I prefer to work as an artist and make artistic photos because otherwise it's not long before it gets pornographic and I don't like that. In that sense there was a progressive evolution towards films in order for me to tell stories about men. In a way it was my first gay activism to illustrate our sexual stories. While Cadinot disliked the term pornography, because of its pejorative connotations, he had no apologies for the depictions of sexual action that animate his films. This action is often raw and even brutal, but sometimes tender and sweet. Cadinot's films are plot driven, usually featuring interesting and strong narratives. They also usually involve a journey, either literally, as in Sex Bazaar (1982) and Sex Oasis (1984), which feature young Frenchmen in North Africa; or figuratively, as in Tough and Tender (1989), which chronicles the search for love in a boys' reformatory. In Sex Drive (1985), the journey is imaginary. There the protagonist is supposedly running away from home, but in the end it turns out to be a dream. Of course, all the journeys are picaresque; they, quite naturally, involve many adventures, especially of the sexual kind. Another characteristic of Cadinot's films is that they feature young men in their late teens or early twenties. They are not the pumped up, well-endowed, hot-waxed men who now dominate American pornography, however. Although they often interact with older and larger men, frequently of non-European background, the protagonists tend to be youthful and nonmuscular, and they tend to be more sexually versatile than actors in American pornography, who are often limited to top or bottom roles. Regarding his young actors, Cadinot had this to say: To me they represent the freshness and innocence of youth. They are provocative: a 20-year-old is more subversive than a 30-year-old; there is not yet the weight of socialization and education on his shoulders; he is not yet molded into society. I like the freshness but also the intelligence of these guys. I do not choose Apollo-type men with big penises. I want men that could be your average next door neighbors, fresh, natural without any complexes regarding their sexuality or their sexual tastes. In devising his sex scenes, Cadinot stated: I write a scenario that fits the young guys. This is the essence of my films. The performers do not portray things that are imposed on them by me, but things they like to do themselves. These 'puppies' kiss each other with real passion, with real lust. It is emotions that make my particular style. I tell a story. I don't do things that are 'robotical' like we often tend to see in the porn industry, my scenarios are based on the actors' tastes.Although Cadinot said that he tailored his films to his actors, he also, rather paradoxically, insisted that his films are autobiographical, which may account for their intensely personal quality. He said that his works constituted a saga that traces my life from the age of twelve when I became aware of my
g_b Being gay is as normal as being straight: Samir Soni
Being gay is as normal as being straight: Samir Soni Sudipta Dey, Hindustan TimesKolkata, October 23, 2008 It was as simple as getting a phone call from Madhur Bhandarkar… and I knew if he would offer me half a decent role I would agree immediately,” says actor Samir Soni. The role embodied all the right nuances a character in a Madhur Bhandarkar film typifies, and Soni took up the challenge of portraying a gay character in Bhandarkar’s latest film Fashion. Excerpts from a chat: So why did you accept the role in Fashion? I play a closet-gay fashion designer. It was a very challenging role to play. Madhur and I did a lot of research to sketch the character and his personality. But the greatest challenge was not to make him a stereotypical gay character, but subtly express his sexuality through his personality and his relationship with the other characters in the film. What kind of research did you carry out? I observed people. It was great fun, observing certain gay designers in our own fashion fraternity. Being gay is as normal as being straight, but still people look down upon the gay community. A person’s sexual orientation does not define the person, and that is what we have tried to focus on in this film. Did you have to work on your looks? Well, I don’t want to reveal much about it now, but I did change a few things. And as for Madhur, he is a stickler for authenticity… so both of us agreed upon a certain look for me, which is very metrosexual. Rita Dhody has done a fine job in styling my character. How has your association with the fashion world helped in shaping the character? It helped a lot. I had to understand the rapport that a designer shares with the models and his fellow designers. I needed to understand what goes on behind the scene. What are your expectations from the film? Obviously, I’m expecting a lot. I’m already teasing Madhur to get ready for the fourth National Award. The promos look great. I am just waiting for the release.
g_b PM skips gay issue, leaves it to Ramadoss, Patil
PM skips gay issue, leaves it to Ramadoss, Patil Fri, Oct 17 02:23 AM Avoiding any judgmental call on the conflict over orthodoxy and liberalism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday asked health minister A Ramadoss and home minister Shivraj Patil to sit together and sort out the issue over legalising homosexuality.''The Prime Minister has directed the two ministers to sit together and discuss the matter and sort out differences,'' science and technology minister Kapil Sibal told reporters after the cabinet meeting.The contentious subject has developed into a major controversy after health minister Ramadoss, a qualified doctor himself, sought legalisation of homosexuality arguing that it can help in better treatment of people suffering from HIV/AIDs. Ramadoss' latest campaign, however, has encountered strong opposition from the Union home ministry, which holds the traditional view that gay sex is immoral. In the same vein, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) under Section 377 bans sexual relations among people of the same gender and carries a punishment of upto life imprisonment for such acts.The matter came up before the Union cabinet in the backdrop of the Delhi high court pulling up the Centre on Wednesday while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that has challenged the legality of Section 377. While responding to the court's queries, the additional solicitor general PP Malhotra had cited religious texts to justify the prohibition of gay sex in the country.Ticking off the government counsel for relying on religious texts, the court had asked it to come up with scientific reports instead in justification of the ban.The court maintained that India would not be the first country to decriminalise homosexuality in that case that it did. ''Your arguments should be based on scientific reports. Show us scientific reports which justify criminalisation of such acts,'' the division bench comprising chief Justice AP Shah and Justice S Muralidhar had said on Wednesday.The government, however, faces a paradoxical situation as the National Aids Control Organisation has already filed an affidavit on behalf of the Union health ministry which holds that sex among consenting adults belonging to the same gender should be decriminalised. The dilemma before the government was further evident when Kapil Sibal told reporters that it would abide by any court decision on the issue. ''Whatever the court decides, we will agree'' he said. He said the cabinet deferred a decision on the issue as it was already being argued before the court.Ramadoss, who successfully led the campaign against smoking and was instrumental in laying severe restrictions over smoking in public, had said that he would take up the issue of legalising homosexuality with the Prime Minister after his ministry was ticked off by the home ministry in the courts.Claiming support from ''progressive'' ministers in the Union cabinet, Ramadoss has proposed abolishing of the penal provision on those found indulging in gay sex.There has been varying views on the subject, with some like NHRC chief S Rajendra Babu supporting the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
g_b India's condom ring tone a huge global hit
India's condom ring tone a huge global hit
Mon, Sep 8 03:45 PM
New
Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS) Guess which Indian ring tone is being downloaded
the most all over the world? No, it is not the latest Bollywood
chartbuster, but a public health message that goes 'condom, condom'.Its
makers are amazed by the popularity of the ring tone that was launched
last month and aims to promote safe sex, the use of condom and to thus
tackle the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country where about 2.5
million people are estimated to be living with it.'It is a hit
internationally. Nowhere in the world are we aware of a ring tone for a
product,' said Yvonne MacPherson, country director of the BBC World
Service Trust, the international charity of the BBC.'The 'condom
a cappella' ringtone is really innovative. What is amazing is that
India has started the trend of a ring tone which carries a social
health message. People are excited about this ring tone internationally
and are looking to India for this,' MacPherson told IANS.What has perhaps
caught the imagination of the people is the fresh voice, sound and music, which
are totally Indian.'I think the ring tone has international appeal. It has
quirky music and sound,' said MacPherson.In
the three weeks since its launch, the makers have already received
257,744 SMS requests for download and over two million hits on the
website.The ring tone can be downloaded by SMSing 'CONDOM' to
56887 (download charges apply) or free from anywhere worldwide on the
website www.condomcondom.org. The ring tone has been composed by Rupert
Fernandes and sung by Vijay Prakash, who is a professional singer, and
has chanted the word condom more than 50 times.'As it became
international news, there has been demand for it from all corners of
the globe,' said an excited MacPherson, who got calls from radio
stations from across the US and Britain.The ring tone marks the
latest phase in the three-year intense mass media campaign to make
condom use more socially acceptable. It was partially launched in Aug 8
but was nationally seen on television, cinema, radio and in print in
Aug 22.The campaign uses a multitude of youth friendly platforms
such as website downloads, online games, mobile advertising and
downloads, along with the TV and radio advertisements, MacPherson said,
adding that the campaign is funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation.The National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) is also using
the ad to support its condom promotion efforts.The objective is to connect with
all age groups and across the socio-economic strata, MacPherson added.In
the advertisement, a wedding is shown where a mobile rings with the
sound of 'condom, condom'. An embarrassed man holds the phone and looks
for others' reactions. Then he finds the reactions smart and
responsible. The tagline is 'jo samjha wohi sikander' ('the one who
understands is a winner').MacPherson said the ring tone has also scored big
time as many have sent messages to them.One
of the messages they have received on their website is from Denmark and
it reads: 'I have just read an article about this latest ring tone from
you, i have heard it and i love IT!! you are tearing down the walls
around this taboo.'Another one from the US said: 'I found this
and my sons overwhelmed and they love it. ...opened up a new dialogue
regarding sexual health. Thank you for such a fun way to open up with
my kids about HIV and AIDS.'It is getting accolades from Indians
too. 'Awesome, from today onwards this will be my mobile ring tone,
it's a good effort to spread awareness...' a message from a man in
Karnataka said.MacPherson said: 'The objective was to make
condom socially acceptable and to remove the taboo around it. Condoms
are a health product and a life saving device to protect a person from
HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.'People feel
embarrassed when it comes to protection so we have to first take care
of this. This is how we would be able to check the epidemic nature of
the disease. The shock value coupled with bringing the subject out in
the open will also help in dispelling the myths,' MacPherson added.According
to Radharani Mitra, the creative director of the trust which is
producing the advertisements, 'ring tones have become such personal
statements that a specially created condom ring tone seemed just the
right way of combining a health message in a fun way'.(Kavita Bajeli-Datt can
be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED])
g_b India working on herbal cure for AIDS: Kalam
India working on herbal cure for AIDS: Kalam Mon, Sep 8 06:11 PM New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS) Indian and Japanese scientists are working on developing herbal and Ayurvedic formulations to treat the dreaded HIV/AIDS, former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said here Monday.Indian and Japanese scientists are working together on nearly 60 plant species and have found 16 plant species which have properties to fight AIDS, said Kalam, an eminent scientist himself.He was speaking at the Southeast Asian conference on Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases after inaugurating it. He, however, did not specify the plant species or the institutes where this research was on.Kalam said the Army Medical Corps too were working on some formulations based on Ayurveda, ancient Indian system of medicine, to cure HIV/AIDS.He said herbal medicines are part of our age-old traditions and we should work on them to treat diseases.About discrimination against people suffering from AIDS and TB, he said: HIV-positive students were thrown out of a school in Kerala and many women are thrown out of in-laws' place due to TB infection. Discriminations must stop. Every one needs dignity.India is home to 2.5 million HIV/AIDS patients including over 70,000 children below the age of 14. Similarly, every year at least 320,000 Indians die of TB.Nearly 500 experts from Southeast Asian countries are in Delhi to participate in the three-day TB and Chest diseases conference here.
g_b India's Anti-Gay Law Set for Biggest Court Challenge
India's Anti-Gay Law Set for Biggest Court Challenge By Raymond Thibodeaux Bangalore, India 11 August 2008 Efforts by activists to force India's government to strike down a Victorian-era law banning homosexuality are gaining momentum. It is another sign that India's deeply conservative society is changing. Raymond Thibodeaux reports from Bangalore, capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Gay rights activists hold placards and shout slogans during a protest in New Delhi, 08 March 2008 At the center of a series of court challenges in India is Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, an 1860 law banning homosexuality. Among gay-rights activists it is known simply as 377. High courts in several key states and cities in India are reviewing the law, and activists are hopeful that it will be repealed. Arvind Narrain, an attorney for the Alternative Law Forum, a Bangalore-based human rights group, explains how 377 affects the lives of gays and lesbians. What that translates to, from 'legalese,' is that any forms of sex that are non-procreative in nature is a criminal offense. What it translates to on a ground level is it is basically used and enforced against people who are not heterosexual. So it is used very much against gay men, lesbians and transgender people in a big way to extort, blackmail and harass, said Narrain. Narrain says in India criminal gangs often extort large sums of money from gays and lesbians by threatening to out them to their families, the community and the police. Under 377, offenders could face hefty fines and up to 10 years in prison. Activists for the Alternative Law Forum, a Bangalore-based human rights group, from left to right are: Ponni Arasu, Arvind Narrain and Siddharth NarrainA gay-rights activist at the Alternative Law Forum, Ponni Arasu, says gays and lesbians who live together are sometimes charged with other crimes, such as kidnapping, by disapproving parents. We have gone to court many times where we actively cover up the nature of the relationship between two women because we do not want to complicate the case. You just want to get rid of the kidnapping charge so they can go on and live their lives. And that is because of a law like Section 377. If we were not actively criminalized by such a law, then we would be able to go to court and say, 'They are lovers. They are adults. And they have the right to live with each other,' said Arasu. In their fight to overturn 377, gay activists recently found a strong ally in India's health minister, Anbumani Ramadoss. Speaking at an international AIDS conference this past week in Mexico City, Ramadoss called on the courts to scrap 377. He said the law tends to drive gays and lesbians under ground, hindering the country's efforts to prevent the spread of HIV and treat those with HIV and AIDS. An estimated 2.5 million people in India are living with HIV and AIDS. But many in India want 377 preserved, among them supporters of India's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. The party made headlines a decade ago when its supporters attacked theaters showing Fire, a feature film by an Indian director that depicted a lesbian affair between a mother and her daughter-in-law. Party spokesman Prakash Jawadekar refused to comment for or against the 'anti-gay' law, but he downplayed its importance in light of other, more pressing problems facing India, including rampant inflation and the plight of farmers. Basically these issues of gay marriages and gay rights are not very important issues in this country, said Jawadekar. We have various other issues for which we are fighting. We are the party of spreading more Indianness amid families and with regular marriages, male-female marriages. That is what the order of the day is. The Delhi High Court is set to address a petition filed in the court by the NAZ Foundation, a Delhi-based non-government organization for HIV and AIDS prevention. The group is challenging arrests under 377. Observers expect a ruling later this year.
g_b CELEBRATE
A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up! In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies. The head monk, says, 'We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son.' He goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery here the original manuscripts are held as archives in a locked Vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years. Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot. So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him. He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing, 'We missed the R ! We missed the R ! We missed the R !' His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably. The young monk asks the old abbot, 'What's wrong, father?' With A choking voice, the old abbot replies, 'The word was... CELEBRATE
g_b Indian Sex Ban
Indian Sex Ban In what must be one of the weirdest laws ever made, Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code deems any kind of sex that is against the order of nature to be unnatural and therefore illegal. It bans sodomy which is basically anal sex, and it bans coitus through mouth which is oral sex. Aren't these common forms of sexual activity among heterosexual as well as gay couples? If the idea was to ban homosexuality by banning oral and anal sex then the lawmakers have fallen flat on their faces. To begin with, the fundamental concept behind this piece of legislation is flawed. Its assertion that all sexual activity should result in procreation or otherwise be deemed unnatural, is ridiculous. Human beings don't always have sex for procreation. Most of the time we have sex to make love, for sex is the ultimate form of physical love that you could engage in with your partner. So to deem sex that does not lead to procreation as unnatural would make what we do ninety nine percent of the time illegal. Arrest me now!
g_b Nepalese army 'sacks lesbian'
Nepalese army 'sacks lesbian' Charles Haviland BBC News, Kathmandu 1 st July , 2008 The army denies any form of discrimination (Photo: Nepal army website) A gay rights group in Nepal has accused the army of expelling a woman officer for being a lesbian. The woman's appeal against her sacking has been rejected by an army court. However a military spokesman said that Bahkti Shah, a physical training instructor, was punished for violating army discipline and not for being gay. Most Nepalis are very traditional and find homosexuality beyond comprehension but a court ruling last year enshrined the rights of sexual minorities. Underground Ms Shah, who was based at a barracks near the capital, Kathmandu, was one of two women expelled from the military after being kept in army detention for several weeks. Ms Shah filed an appeal at the army's special court supported by two activist organisations, including the Blue Diamond Society which campaigns for the rights of sexual minorities. Its head, Sunil Panta, said she had been sacked on a false charge of having an illicit sexual relationship. However, army spokesman Brig Gen Ramindra Chetri told the BBC Ms Shah had not been expelled for lesbianism but for two other things - violating military discipline and the army's code of conduct, and collecting money from cadets for her personal benefit. He refused to elaborate but did say that army instructors should not go to out-of-bounds areas including cadets' barracks. A special army court has now dismissed Bahkti Shah's appeal against her sacking. The other woman did not appeal and has gone underground. On paper at least the rights of sexual minorities have recently advanced in Nepal more rapidly than in other South Asian countries. In December the supreme court instructed the government to change laws in order to safeguard the rights of all such minorities. The Maoist former rebel party said in its election manifesto this year that the state should pay special attention to such minorities' problems and in April, Sunil Panta of the Blue Diamond society, who is openly gay, became an elected member of Nepal's new assembly.
g_b Iran is safe for 'discreet' gays
Iran is safe for 'discreet' gays, says Jacqui Smith By Robert VerkaikLaw Editor Monday, 23 June 2008 Gay and lesbian asylum-seekers can be safely deported to Iran as long as they live their lives discreetly, the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, has claimed. In a letter to a Liberal Democrat peer, seen by The Independent, Ms Smith said there was no real risk of gay men and lesbians being discovered by the Iranian authorities or adverse action being taken against those who were discreet about their behaviour. Her comments were condemned by human rights campaigners. Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, described the notion of gays escaping persecution by being discreet as nonsense. He said: You only have to listen to people who were terrorised by the Metropolitan Police in the 1950s and 1960s to know that telling gay people to live discreetly is quixotic.Ms Smith gave her verdict after MPs and peers called on the Government to change its immigration policy and immediately end the deportation of failed asylum-seekers who fear persecution in Iran. Their call for a moratorium on asylum removals was a response to the plight of Mehdi Kazemi, a gay Iranian teenager facing execution if he returns to Iran, whose case was taken up by The Independent. They said the case of Mr Kazemi, who has since been granted asylum, showed that a change of policy was the only moral course for the Government.But in her letter to Lord Roberts of Llandudno, Ms Smith rejected a call for an immediate halt to the deportation of gay and lesbian asylum seekers. We recognise that the conditions for gay and lesbian people in Iran – and many other countries – are such that some individuals are able to demonstrate a need for international protection, she wrote. We do not, however, accept that we should make the presumption that each and every asylum-seeker who presents themselves as being of a particular nationality or sexuality, regardless of their particular circumstances, should automatically be ... allowed to remain in the UK.She added: With particular regard to Iran, current case law handed down by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal concludes that the evidence does not show a real risk of discovery of, or adverse action against gay and lesbian people who are discreet about their sexual orientation.Gay campaign groups estimate that 4,000 Iranians have been executed because of their sexuality since the late 1970s. Ms Smith suggests it is far fewer.Lord Roberts, who has gathered support from more than 20 other peers and MPs, said: It is not good enough for the Government to say that people will be safe from punishment if they behave discretely. The only ethical course of action is to declare a moratorium on deportations to Iran for all who fear execution.Mehdi Kazemi moved to Britain in 2005 to study English in Brighton. In April 2006 his former boyfriend was executed after naming Mr Kazemi as his partner during interrogation.
g_b “Gay” Murder In India
“Gay” Murder In India Indian police may have a gay panic case on their hands. Coppers arrested 18-year old Kalpesh Patel this week for the murder of 35-year old Mohan Patel, with whom he has no familial relation. Kalpesh admitted to killing the older man, but claims he was simply defending himself from Mohan’s sexual advances: On Monday night, Mohan asked him to accompany him to the Natraj theatre for some work. On finding a deserted place, Mohan asked him to have a homosexual relationship with him. On his refusal, Mohan threatened to kill him and even slapped and punched and later tried to rip his clothes. On finding no way to escape, Kalpesh took a stone lying on the ground and inflicted repeated wounds on Mohan’s head before escaping from the spot. Mahidharpura police inspector A R Desai said, “We have arrested Kalpesh. This teenage boy was forced to have a homosexual relationship with Mohan, who stays with his wife and children and works in the diamond firm in Katargam. During investigation we talked to some of the employees of Khodiar Krupa diamond firm and his friends and learnt that Mohan was into homosexual relationship with several [other] people.” We can’t say whether or not young Patel’s telling the truth - we’re not psychic - but it would be a great motive: Indian law continues to marginalize the gays, a legal leftover from the colonial days.
g_b When it comes to sex, men don't have all the answers
When it comes to sex, men don't have all the answers Tue, Jun 17 01:15 AM AT A time when the government is trying every possible method to bring down the ever-increasing population, curious young men who are turning to it for answers on sex and related matters may just do the trick. An analysis of data collected by the government's first interactive call centre of the Indian Population Stabilisation Fund, run by international BPO Vcustomer, shows men - especially those from the not-so-affluent sections - are seeking more information on sex than their female counterparts. Of the 1,655 calls received till June 11, the first week of the call centre, about 60 per cent were from young men asking about things like the ill-effects of masturbation or oral sex, homosexuality and orgasms. Women, on the other hand, wanted to know about abortion and contraception options, including natural ones. Among older men and women, infertility was a major issue of concern, the data shows. The call centre also received some strange calls. About two-three per cent calls were from adolescents who wanted to know how women react in bed if satisfied after intercourse, said Shailaja Chandra, executive director of the Fund. How to abort a baby was another frequent query from youngsters, she added. That a majority of the queries came from young men is understandable, as they live in a society where talking about sex is still taboo, an official of the United Nations Population Fund said. Normally, girls have their mothers who tell them about important issues like menopause. But boys don't find such a framework in their families. It shows there is paucity of information for youngsters who want to know more, Chandra explained. Another interesting aspect noticed was the eagerness among young Indians to opt for modern contraceptives like condoms and pills. Till recently, a health ministry study had shown the participation of men in contraception going down.
g_b How a gay friend helped change my mind about same-sex unions
How a gay friend helped change my mind about same-sex unions It's not that big a deal to give homosexual couples equal rights, says Louis Jacob By Louis Jacob Sunday May 11 2008 If gay couples want to get married, for Christ's sake, let them. Gay marriage is going to happen someday so let them get on with it. Last week, I was visiting Kielce, an ultra-conservative city to the south of Warsaw in Poland, and I experienced what they call a 'moment of clarity'.This moment occurred while I was talking to a 24-year-old woman who has been openly homosexual, in a society that is largely hostile to gay couples, since she was 16. She struck me as a very down-to-earth and brave character who has had to fight her battles and she made me realise that far from being something seedy or shameful, being openly gay is more often than not a mark of extreme courage. Previously I would have been firmly rooted in the, 'Just get on with it and stop moaning' camp. But this is too convenient and it is wrong and unfair. In fact, the most important thing with this issue is to encourage homosexuals to be open and not to force them into a life of denial and misery.It's funny, when you are in a place that seems to be a few years behind Ireland in the area of social norms, you get that kind of smug feeling of knowing something that everyone else doesn't. It's kind of amusing to be around people who think that homosexuality is a mental disorder. But you see, it's easy to be smug when you are dealing with hindsight. It's typical of the nature of society that we have to keep these 'norms' alive because they serve our need to feel better than someone else. Marriage is 'sacred,' we say, so be gay if you like, there's no problem there, but just don't go trying to join any of the clubs which are after all, the cornerstones of society. But you see, social norms are in a constant state of flux.When you think about it, all we are doing is depriving gay people of something that will be perfectly acceptable in the not-too-distant future, in much the same way that people were deprived of the right to divorce in Ireland for so long. I think that currently we are in a state of denial, struggling against the tide of history. I think that nobody would deny that same-sex marriages are only around the corner.The hypocrisy of allowing a same-sex civil union, but not marriage, is now very apparent to me. There is surely a cruel irony in the fact that although homosexual relationships are now socially and legally acceptable, marriage is not. When you consider that traditionally cohabiting with someone outside of wedlock would have been considered 'living in sin', it brings home how unnecessarily complicated is the situation. How we scoff these days at the idea of cohabiting being described as 'living in sin'. It's the old hindsight thing again. It really is time to move on. Is the heterosexual version of marriage such an ivory tower? I think not. You show me a perfect marriage these days and I'll call the Vatican and proclaim a miracle. I myself am 31 years old and getting married has never even entered my head, so when I hear about two people who love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together, I say 'give them a fair crack at it'.By the way, I am as sick of gay rights marches and activists as the next 'normal' heterosexual. But surely the way to make them go away is to give them the same rights as everyone else and that includes the right to marry. And I think that deep down most of us would admit that it's not as big an ask as a lot of us like to pretend.My friend in Kielce made me realise that it is all a question of courage, and in my book, courage should be rewarded not punished. Maybe it's time that we took a deep breath, got over ourselves and allowed same-sex marriage. Maybe then we can all get on with our lives. - Louis Jacob
g_b Brokeback Mountain to be turned into an opera
Brokeback Mountain to be turned into an opera Mon Jun 9, 2008 11:17am NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Opera has commissioned American composer Charles Wuorinen to write an opera based on Brokeback Mountain, a love story about two U.S. ranch-hands that won three Oscars when it was turned into a movie. The opera house's spokesman Gerard Mortier said in a statement on Sunday that Wuorinen had accepted an invitation to compose an opera based on Annie Proulx's short story. It is slated to premiere during City Opera's 2013 spring season. This would mark New Yorker Wuorinen's second world premiere at City Opera. He also composed Haroun and the Sea of Stories, an adaptation of a Salman Rushdie novel which opened in 2004. Ever since encountering Annie Proulx's extraordinary story I have wanted to make an opera on it, and it gives me great joy that Gerard Mortier and New York City Opera have given me the opportunity to do so, Wuorinen, 70, said in a statement. Brokeback Mountain is the story of two men who meet and fall in love on the fictional Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming in 1963 with their complex relationship lasting 20 years. The story was made into a film in 2005 which won three Oscars. The late Australian actor Heath Ledger, who died in January this year of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs at the age of 28, was nominated for an Oscar for his role. Reuters/Nielsen
g_b Thousands of California Gays Expected to Wed After June 16
Thousands of California Gays Expected to Wed After June 16 By Mike O'Sullivan Los Angeles 12 June 2008 Thousands of same-sex weddings are expected in California after June 16, the day the California Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriages takes effect.nbsp;nbsp; VOA's Mike O'Sullivan reports from Los Angeles, the gay marriage issue is not yet settled in the state.nbsp; Voters will weigh in on the question in November. Actor T.R. Knight, left, stands with his companion during a celebration of the California Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriages, 4 June 2008In a 4-3 decision May 15, the California Supreme Court struck down a voter-approved law that restricted marriage to a man and woman.nbsp; The court said the state constitution's guarantee of equal rights gives same-sex couples the right to marry, so the law banning gay unions, approved by voters eight years ago, is unconstitutional. The ruling was good news for Michael Galluccio, 46, and his partner, Jon Holden Galluccio, 44.nbsp; The same-sex couple lives in suburban Los Angeles.nbsp; Michael and Jon met in college and have been together for 26 years.nbsp; In the 1990s, they adopted two HIV-positive babies, named Adam and Madison, as well as Madison's older sister, Rosa.nbsp; Today, the men are also grandparents, and live with their two younger children.nbsp; Michael says they plan to marry. Michael Galluccio, left, and his partner, Jon Holden GalluccioFor me personally, it is so much about right, what is right and what is fair and what kind of world I want to raise my kids in, he said.nbsp; And I do not want to raise my kids in a world where their family is different just because the two parents who happen to be in love are both men. In 2007, the couple registered in California as domestic partners, but Jon says that is not enough. There is only one accurate way of describing what we have with each other and with our family, and that is marriage, Jon added. The dispute over same-sex unions made headlines in 2003 and 2004.nbsp; The Massachusetts Supreme Court authorized gay marriage in that state, and then the city of San Francisco issued marriage licenses to nearly 4,000 same-sex couples in defiance of California law.nbsp; The California Supreme Court voided those unions because they violated the state law that limits marriage to a man and a woman.nbsp; With the law overturned, on the evening of June 16, California will join Massachusetts as the second U.S. state to allow gay marriages. Lorri Jean, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian CenterLorri Jean, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, calls the ruling a landmark that she says ends decades of discrimination in the state.nbsp; But the issue is not settled. We spent a number of days celebrating this decision, she said.nbsp; It was so great.nbsp; Now we are preparing for battle because there are right-wing forces in our state and around the country who want to try to take this right away from us.nbsp; And we are going to fight them with everything we have got. The decision outraged some.nbsp; Opponents have collected petition signatures to qualify a measure for the November ballot that would change the state constitution, limiting marriage to a man and a woman.nbsp; Robert Tyler, general counsel for the conservative group Advocates for Faith and FreedomRobert Tyler, general counsel for the conservative group Advocates for Faith and Freedom, helped with the petition drive in suburban Murrieta, California.nbsp; He says gays and lesbians have always been able to marry, just as anyone else can. They can get married, he explained.nbsp; They just cannot marry another person of the same gender.nbsp; You know, you have the same rights as anybody else because marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman, and it always has been. Tyler says governments already place restrictions on who can marry, excluding unions, for example, between close relatives, and banning polygamy.nbsp; Why do we do that?nbsp; Why is polygamy no longer acceptable in America?nbsp; Because we know it is not the best thing for the kids, he added.nbsp; We know it is not the best thing for families.nbsp; We know it is the best thing for society. A total of 27 U.S. states have amended their constitutions to limit marriage to a man and woman.nbsp; If California's measure passes, the legal question will be closed in the state.nbsp; Gay marriage will be banned here.nbsp; If the measure fails to pass, same-sex marriages will continue. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger does not support same-sex marriages, but he opposes changing to the state constitution to ban them. A recent survey by the Field Poll organization shows a slight majority of Californians support the right to same-sex marriage, but the pollster says the vote in November could go either way. Thousands of gay and lesbian couples are expected to tie the
g_b Farewell, all you old homophobes
Farewell, all you old homophobes California's extraordinary, newfound majority support for gay marriage? Thank the young By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist Wednesday, June 11, 2008 It's a generational thing, you could say, grinning just a little as you do so.It's because younger people today — those under, say, 45 or so — have been far more exposed to the gay lifestyle and to more fluid notions of gender and sexuality, to the idea of homosexuality as a common, nonthreatening, everyday, what's-the-big-deal shrug, and therefore, as a demographic, they/we understand that allowing gay people to wed doesn't actually mean our shaky notions of God and family and society will collapse like a priest's willpower at a Boy Scout jamboree. This, I think, was perhaps the most fascinating tidbit of insight to emerge from the most recent poll of Californians where, for the first time in state history, a majority of those polled said they support the idea of gay marriage and/or oppose a new and vile push for a state constitutional amendment to ban it outright. And that majority consists, by and large, of the young. It's an intriguing — if slightly morbid — thing to note, because on the flip side, the poll also found that most people over age 65 don't like the idea of gay marriage one little bit because, well, they usually can't exactly explain why, though it's not difficult to guess: It's what they were taught, what was implied, it's what their own parents passed on to them, as did their church, their culture, society as it was during their upbringing, and it was largely a narrow and repressed and sexually unaware period that finally, mercifully seems to be gasping its last. And hence the obvious conclusion: It's only because the Greatest Generation is finally dying off that something like gay marriage can be realized as less of a silly threat. Or, more bluntly: As die the old, so dies the ugly intolerance so many of them carried like a sad, hereditary disease. I know, it sounds a bit harsh. And it probably is. But just looking at the raw data, it appears to be one of the more lucid, clear-cut cases of generational upheavals in recent history. Hell, just 30 years ago, support for gay marriage was a measly 28 percent. In 1985, it was 42 percent. Now, at least according to one major poll (others aren't quite there yet, but it's getting very close) it's 51 percent, and growing fast. What's more, among those 18 to 29 years old, support is at a whopping 68 percent, whereas only 36 percent of people over 65 think it's totally OK to love whomever you want and marry them and then redecorate the kitchen and fight about appliances and money and sex and kids and, later, who gets the dog in the divorce. Translation: The tipping point has finally been reached, and there's no going back. Gay marriage as an issue, as a hot button, as a nasty right-wing political weapon will soon vanish into the dustbin of history. I mean, thank God. But is it fair to say that it's always the older generations who cling to outmoded, oppressive inhibitions and constraints, who tend to impede real progress and social change because, well, they just don't understand the new ideas and what's happening around them (Hi, Sen. McCain!) because, as the disheartening maxim goes, the older you get the more you tend to stiffen and clamp down and mummify your notions of how it's all supposed to work? Sure seems that way. Then again, it's also certainly no universal truth; I get plenty of e-mail from wonderful, open-minded septuagenarians who happily celebrate the notion of gay marriage (or a female president, or a black president, or the green movement, or teaching real sexuality in schools, and so on), just as I get plenty of nauseating e-mail from young, violently homophobic Midwestern fag-haters who wouldn't know open-minded gender fluidity if their favorite NASCAR driver suddenly revealed a passion for tiramisu and old Judy Garland movies. Either way, you gotta admit, it's sort of staggering, this shift. It's also sort of wonderful. Because it also means that, while the brutal Bush regime tried to clamp down and convince everyone that clinging to homophobia and Biblical literalism was actually a nice way to live, all it did was create a nasty little speed bump. So then, can you extend this line of thinking a bit? Can you suggest, say, the fact that Hillary Clinton came within inches of the Democratic presidential nomination also indicates a similar generational turning point, because it marks the long overdue death of a certain strain of vile, tired sexism that's been carried around for generations by the old-boy network? Maybe you can. Because my guess is, the next time a smart, experienced,
g_b Is It Time for Gay Arranged Marriages?
Is It Time for Gay Arranged Marriages?BySandip Roy, New American Media. Posted June 10, 2008. Some conservative Indian parents are telling their kids that it's OK to be gay -- as long as they are not single. When I left India for America, my aunts worried about who I might end up marrying. I hope you'll marry another Bengali, an aunt told me. Over the years that relaxed to, I hope she's a Hindu, even if she's not Bengali. Then it became, At least another Indian, until finally we reached, I hope you'll get married to someone before we all die.She probably didn't mean another man.But now it might just happen. Same-sex marriage is on a roll in California. First a Republican-dominated Supreme Court said there was no reason gays and lesbians couldn't get married. Now there comes a new Field poll that says that, for the first time ever, a majority of Californians think same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.As the pink confetti settles around us, I'm left wondering how immigrants are going to come out anymore. Many of us come from countries that really don't have a word for gay. India certainly doesn't. There are epithets and some rather technical terms. Coming out in India is usually about marriage. This is the default coming out line: Mom, Dad, I don't think I am going to get married.Now the California Supreme Court has yanked that line away.Perhaps it's time. After all, the Oxford English Dictionary has apparently had to recalibrate its definition of marriage to allow same-sex marriage. The Field poll shows that Californians support the right of same-sex couples to marry by a margin of 51 to 42 percent.In a state where one in four Californians is foreign-born, that seems to be an astonishing change. When San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom started issuing same-sex wedding licenses in 2004, some of the first protests came from Chinese churchgoers. After all, immigrant families are supposed to be socially conservative.But that might be part of the reason why the tide is finally shifting on gay marriage. (Of course a younger, more socially liberal state helps.)For my immigrant friends, being gay in California is not much of an issue. Being unmarried in their 30s and 40s is the real issue, the conversation-stopper at Indian potlucks, the thing that makes them stick out at Chinese banquets.My friend said that when a heterosexual but unmarried Chinese friend of his told his parents that at least he wasn't gay, the parents retorted We'd rather you were gay with kids.Immigrant families just understand marriage, even same-sex marriage more easily than singlehood. Singleness means you never grew up. It's the biggest failing of parenthood -- the incompleteness of the unmarried child.It leads to acts of desperation. I've seen the ads for marriages of convenience -- 29 year old professional Indian gay, 5'9, good job, looking for Indian lesbian facing similar family pressures. There was even a website devoted to Assisting Matrimonial Arrangements for Lesbians and Gays from India, complete with a gaylerry of posted ads.In 1993 my friend Aditya Advani went to India with his boyfriend Michael Tarr and complained to his mother that no one would ever come to his wedding. She promptly organized a ceremony. The family priest presided over it. Openly gay and married in my parents' drawing room at the age of thirty, marveled Aditya. Right on schedule as a good Indian boy should be!I recently watched their wedding video again at their home in Berkeley while their cats purred on the couch. It still felt like a fairy tale, a lump-in-the-throat act of domestic revolution. In 2004 when San Francisco started issuing the same-sex wedding licenses Arvind Kumar and Ashok Jethanandani rose at 5:30 am to drive from their home in San Jose to San Francisco to stand in line to get married.The couple were already married in a sense. Arvind's mother, who had once adamantly rejected her son's sexuality, presided over a Hindu ceremony for the two after they had been together for more than a decade. They are registered as domestic partners in Palo Alto and the state of California. The registration licenses hang on the wall where other couples might have pictures of their children.Arvind and Ashok couldn't get married in 2004. Despite getting up so early they were behind 300 other couples in line. They finally got an appointment but by then the Supreme Court had halted the marriages.At that time Arvind was philosophical. He knew it was going to be a long fight. We are just fighting to simplify our lives, says Arvind. I don't want a Palo Alto date, a state of California date, a Hindu ceremony date. I just want one date, one wedding anniversary like everyone else.Now Arvind and Ashok can get their one date after all. On June 17 California counties will start issuing marriage licenses to couples like them.The next generation of gays and lesbians will have to come up with some other coming out line.And the revolution
g_b Sleep: A Necessity, Not a Luxury
Sleep: A Necessity, Not a Luxury By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay Reporter - Sun Jun 8, 8:49 PM PDT- SUNDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- The pace of life gets faster and faster, and people try to cram more and more into every minute of the day. As things get more hectic, sleep tends to get short shrift. It's seen as wasted time, lost forever. For healthy people, there's a big temptation to voluntarily restrict sleep, to stay up an hour or two or get up an hour or two earlier, said Dr. Greg Belenky, director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University Spokane. But you're really reducing your productivity and exposing yourself to risk, Belenky added. That's a message doctors are trying to spread to Americans, including the estimated 40 million people who struggle with some type of sleep disorder each year. Before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1880, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. These days, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours a night on weekends, according to the National Sleep Foundation. The group of people getting optimal sleep is getting smaller and smaller, said Dr. Chris Drake, senior scientist at the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit. When a person's sleep drops to six hours or less, that's when a lot of things become very problematic. While experts recommend seven to eight hours of sleep each night, the amount needed for an individual can vary. But lack of sleep affects a person in one of two ways, Belenky said. First, sleeplessness influences the day-to-day performance of tasks. The performance effects are seen immediately, he said. You short-change yourself of sleep, and you see the effects immediately. You can make a bad decision. You can miss something. Have a moment's inattention, and you're off the road. The longer-term effects of sleep deprivation involve a person's health. Doctors have linked lack of sleep to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression and substance abuse. Hormones that process appetite begin to get disorganized, said Drake, who's also an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. There's a decrease in the amount of leptin, an appetite-suppressin g hormone, when a person gets too little sleep. At the same time, ghrelin -- a hormone that stimulates appetite -- increases with a lack of sleep. Too little sleep also interferes with the body's ability to regulate glucose and can cause inflammation leading to heart problems and a rise in blood pressure. There's a stress response to being in a sleep loss, Belenky said. The types of people not getting enough sleep also break down into two groups. First, there are those who make the conscious choice to go without enough sleep. It's sort of part of the culture, Belenky said. People pride themselves on getting little sleep. You'll hear people bragging, 'I only need six hours a night.' So there's a macho element here. On the other hand, there are people who are suffering from sleep disorders. These disorders include: Insomnia, an inability to go to sleep or stay asleep.Sleep apnea, or breathing interruptions during sleep that cause people to wake up repeatedly.Restless legs syndrome, a tingling or prickly sensation in the legs that causes a person to need to move them, interrupting sleep. Someone suffering from any of these problems should visit their doctor or see a sleep specialist, Belenky said. Sleep apnea, the most prevalent sleep disorder, can have particularly serious long-term effects if left untreated. You're waking up out of sleep to breathe. You can't sleep and breathe at the same time, Drake said. It's a risk factor for developing major cardiovascular health effects. Some people who have trouble sleeping will resort to mild sedatives like Ambien and Lunesta. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently asked the makers of these sedative-hypnotic drugs to strengthen their warning labels. This action followed reports of dangerous allergic reactions, as well as a host of bizarre behavioral side effects that include sleep-driving, making phone calls, and preparing and eating food or having sex while asleep. Drake and Belenky both consider sleeping pills to be fine for the short term if taken properly. Sleeping pills are a temporary solution, Belenky said. If you're upset about something or have situational insomnia, or you're trying to sleep at the wrong time of day because you've traveled across time zones, they are effective. But, both doctors noted the pills will do nothing to help a chronic sleep problem. They don't address the pathology of their sleeplessness, Drake said. The U.S. National Institutes of Health offers these tips for getting a good night's sleep: Stick to a regular sleep schedule.Avoid exercising closer than five or six hours before
g_b India on Track to De-Criminalize Homosexuality .
India on Track to De-Criminalize Homosexuality by Steve Weinstein New York Editor-In-Chief Friday May 23, 2008 The Delhi High Court, sitting in the capital of the sprawling Southern Asian nation of India, is seeking advice from the countrys attorney general about the legality and enforcement of the infamous Section 377, which outlaws homosexual acts. The Press Trust of India is reporting that a rights group called NGO Naz Foundation is looking for the court to find 377 unconstitutional for violating a citizens fundamental right and making sex illegal. Section 377 demeans a gay man. It silences a gay man into accepting the discrimination against him. He will not come out to declare his orientation, the NGO contended in its suit, which was filed in defense of a male couple. It can be criticised on the basis of moral ground but it is illegal to make homosexual acts between consenting adults an offence, NGOs Anand Grover told the court. The Times of India is reporting that the gay community of Mumbai and other cities is looking at the courts decision with bated breath. Living with ones partner is taken for granted by my straight friends, but I have to make sure who I tell about our relationship, a gay man told the paper. There was a move in 2001 to amend or get rid of 377, but nothing came of it. Now, in todays climate, and with the memory of incidents like the recent self-immolation of a lesbian couple forced to marry men in Northeast India, activists are hopeful of a change.
g_b Unspeakable Love
Unspeakable LoveGay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East by Brian Whitaker Homosexuality is still taboo in the Arab countries. While clerics denounce it as a heinous sin, newspapers, reluctant to address it directly, talk cryptically of 'shameful acts' and 'deviant behaviour'. Despite growing acceptance of sexual diversity in many parts of the world, attitudes in the Middle East have been hardening against it. In this absorbing account, Guardian journalist Brian Whitaker paints a disturbing picture of people who live secretive, often fearful lives; of sons beaten and ostracised by their families or sent to be 'cured' by psychiatrists; of men imprisoned and flogged for 'behaving like women'; of others who have been jailed simply for trying to find love on the Internet. Amid all the talk of reform in the Middle East, homosexuality is one issue that almost everyone in the region would prefer to ignore. Deeply informed and engagingly written, Unspeakable Love draws long overdue attention to this crucial subject. REVIEWS: 'An extremely well-researched and well-written text that allows us an insight into the lifestyle of the gay and lesbian community in the Middle East...educates, informs and engages the reader from the outset to the last page.' Sable Magazine 'I enjoyed and learnt much from Brian Whitaker's book, which is excellent. It was inspirational to me on the challenges to international law, and the uses of nationalism to suppress dissent within countries.' Professor Fred Halliday 'This is a compelling read. It captures with detail and with disturbing accuracy the difficulties and dangers facing lesbians and gay men across the Middle East.' Lord (Chris) Smith, former UK Secretary of State for Culture ' 'This is an important, timely book, and lucid to boot - a must-read for anyone who believes in human rights.' Rabih Alameddine, author of Koolaids and I, the Divine 'This genuinely groundbreaking investigation reveals a side of Arab and Muslim culture shrouded by the strictest taboos... Anyone interested in reform in the Arab world must read this book.' Mai Yamani, Research Fellow at Chatham House and author of Cradle of Islam 'It is high time this issue was brought out of the closet once and for all, and afforded a frank and honest discussion. Brian Whitaker's humane, sophisticated, and deeply rewarding book, Unspeakable Love, does exactly that.' Ali Al-Ahmed, Director of the Gulf Institute AUTHOR BIO: 'Veteran Middle East journalist Brian Whitaker's groundbreaking book tackles the still taboo issue of homosexuality in the Arab world, the first in any language to do so.' Time Out Beirut - Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
g_b The gaze of strangers: Morocco, male love and modernity
The gaze of strangers: Morocco, male love and modernity KA Dilday The new-media exposure of homosexual activity in the Muslim world highlights the paradoxes of its collision with modernity, says KA Dilday. 30 - 01 - 2008 In December 2007, the Moroccan court of justice sentenced six men to jail terms of between two and ten months for the crime of homosexuality. The men had been filmed participating in a mock wedding of two men in the northern town of Ksar el-Kebir. Moroccans saw the video on the internet: someone, and than many people, loaded what appeared to be low-quality mobile-phone videos of the ceremony onto You Tube. YouTube has become the Moroccan samizdat. Moroccans post videos of officials accepting bribes, and of all the things that are forbidden in the establishment press. It is likely that the video was posted by someone friendly to the guests, but once it was in cyberspace it was available to everyone. In Morocco as in most Muslim countries (and many non-Muslim countries across the world), homosexuality is technically a crime. But in truth being gay isn't the taboo in Morocco. Refusing to live in the shadows is. Morocco isn't like Egypt where the police actively hunt gay men by luring them with internet ads and arresting them when they turn up for a meeting. The man who received the harshest sentence in Morocco was already a well-known gay figure in the town. The men were prosecuted because the video was so prominent. After it became popular on You Tube, an Islamist faction held an anti-gay rally in the village and attacked one of the men featured in the video at his home. Imams and other religious figures likely insisted that the men in the video be punished to remind Moroccans not to get too cocky in flouting the religious stipulations which form a large part of Moroccan law. Moroccans are the greatest comedians in the world, Abdellah Taia told me, using the French word for actor. Before the trial, the novelist Abdellah Taia was famous as the only gay person in Morocco. Other gay Moroccan writers have used pseudonyms or initials to protect their identities. In 2006, the Moroccan press called Taia, the first Moroccan to have the courage to publicly assert his difference, after he acknowledged that he is gay when questioned about his sexuality by a Moroccan newspaper reporter. Taia is certain that his family knew he was gay but they suffered when the news became public because Taia had broken the unspoken taboo. Have you lost your mind, his mother asked him, Saying these things which are not said? Gay Moroccans are expected to marry and have families and if they pursue their desires at all, it should be discreetly. I've often written about the illusions societies build and the private illusions we reserve for ourselves: the acts of writing, photographing, filming, force people to confront these illusions. Homosexuality has been an open part of Moroccan culture for centuries even as it remains taboo. One of Arabic literature's most famous poets, the 8th-century writer Abu Nuwas, wrote paeans to his gay lovers. I die of love for him, perfect in every way, Lost in the strains of wafting music. My eyes are fixed upon his delightful body And I do not wonder at his beauty. His waist is a sapling, his face a moon, And loveliness rolls off his rosy cheek Also in openDemocracy on Moroccan politics and society: Nelcya Delanoe, Morocco: a journey in the space between monarchy and Islamism (5 February 2003) Nelcya Delanoe, Morocco and Spain: united by tragedy? (25 March 2003) Ivan Briscoe, Dreaming of Spain: migration and Morocco (27 May 2004) Rashi Khilnani, How Morocco's free media is silenced (19 April 2006) Yto Barrada, Morocco unbound: an interview (17 May 2006) Gregor Noll, The Euro-African migration conference: Africa sells out to Europe (14 July 2006) I die of love for you, but keep this secret: The tie that binds us is an unbreakable rope. How much time did your creation take, O angel? So what! All I want is to sing your praises. Nuwas lived in Baghdad and is honoured with a statue and grand boulevard. Taia remembers studying these poems in school. But this is consistent with the complicated relationship with homosexuality, and with culture and learning in the Muslim world (see Brian Whitaker, Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East [Saqi, 2006]). The conundrum of Morocco is mirrored in many Muslim countries. It is two countries; one rich, well-travelled and at home with western culture; the other, poor, poorly educated, conservative and devoutly Muslim. Rich Moroccans attend university in Europe or America and return to Morocco with the coveted foreign degree and a taste for western culture. Legally, Morocco is a conservative Muslim country with a penal code rooted in sharia law, but women in rich neighbourhoods wear the latest revealing
g_b Indian, gay -- and fearless
Fri, April 18, 2008 Indian, gay -- and fearless Southeast Asians find pride in being queer By TEENAZ JAVAT, SPECIAL TO SUN MEDIA checkCookie();When Rahul and PJ met in Brampton, they knew they were meant for each other. Having immigrated with their families to the GTA 15 years ago from the conservative heartland of North India, they have similar cultural backgrounds. That also meant that they both came from deeply traditional families, which had scant tolerance for gay men. For Rahul and PJ (both go by their first names), it was love at first sight. I have passed that stage of being a closeted gay a long time ago, PJ says. In New Delhi, where we used to live, I used to get sick to my stomach when almost everyone who was anyone had taken it upon himself or herself to get me married, he says. My family used to line up brides-to-be from matrimonial advertisements asking me to pick one. fctAdTag(bigbox,MyGenericTagVar,1); Together for more than eight years, the pair had few places to go to as a gay couple in Brampton. Brampton being the quintessential Little Punjab of Ontario, wherever we went we would bump into someone from back home, PJ says. After a while we had to explain ourselves. Some times, these explanations led to interrogation sessions at kiosks in malls, so we were quite fed up. We really needed a place to party and to just chill out, says PJ. That is when the seeds of Mela were sown. It all happened one rainy Saturday afternoon in May 2002. A few friends were at PJ's place when they hit upon a plan to hold a fun night for queer south Asians in the heart of Toronto's gay district. Mela is Hindi for country fair. Every 28 days, on the night of the full moon, by the light of powerful hurricane lamps people from nearby villages in rural India meet at the maidan (fair grounds) to sell their wares. A rudimentary midway is set up for kids and villagers to have a good time meeting and greeting everyone, as well as selling their wares. This coming together was what inspired us to name our club Mela. Since we wanted it to be a place for queer south Asians to party, we added on the prefix Queer Indian. We had just hit upon a plan and decided to put it to effect ASAP, says Rahul. So Rahul, PJ and two other friends, Bugzy and Rajat, came together, pooled their skills and Queer Indian Mela was born. It is a place for south Asian queer men to come and have fun. We make it a point to advertise it as such so that straight people, and persons from all ethnic backgrounds who are also very welcome, come knowing fully well as to what is in store for them. No surprises here, says PJ. At the first Mela, 50 people showed up and organizers were a little disappointed by the turnout. Now, six years later, more than 150 patrons can be found attending any given Mela night at Gladaman's Den (formerly Pinocchio's) on Yonge St. The Mela is held there the second Saturday of every month. It is a magnet for gays, bi-sexuals, lesbians, trans and crossdressers. In addition to dancers gyrating to hot Bollywood music, the Mela also has a slew of regulars who attend to watch the song and dance performances by Chandramukhi, Maya and Reshma (not their real names). These dancers are all men by day, but at night they transform into sultry Bollywood look-alikes. In addition to the monthly Mela nights, Queer Indian Mela has an active agenda during Pride week and in 2006 won for best community float. The next project is doing a play called Devdas on Church Street, a musical love story with a modern twist. However, not everybody wants to have his or her name associated with us. The south Asian community is very homophobic, so recognition at that end is a painfully slow process, say Rahul. We are a bunch of proudly gay men. We want to be what we are. Hence, a lot of Desi and Indian newspapers have shunned us as their advertisers do not want to be associated with a bunch of Indian gays, For more information, go to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
g_b How gay is Superman?
How gay is Superman? Read the Advocate cover story that has Warner Bros. nervous about whether the gay appeal of Superman Returns is good for the box office. As featured in the Los Angeles Times and on the Drudge Report. By Alonso Duralde An Advocate.com exclusive posted June 2, 2006 What I learned from Superman With Superman Returns headed at us faster than a speeding bullet, Advocate arts and entertainment editor and lifelong comics fan Alonso Duralde looks at superheroes and their appeal to gays and lesbians My oldest sister was a crappy college student. Dont get me wrong; shes one of the smartest people I know. But her university years were spent doing lots and lots of, shall we say, unassigned reading. Lucky for me, she has great taste in junky pop culture, so as a child, I was exposed to some of the best the 70s had to offer. Namely, comic books. There was the darkly funny horror series PLOP! which took Grand Guignol and punched it up with gruesome twist endings that Rod Serling and O. Henry would have chuckled over ruefully. And romance comics, featuring girls in miniskirts and white lipstick who longed for the perfect man, despite all obstacles. (Usually he was rich and she was poor or vice versa, or he was getting over the drug addiction hed picked up in Vietnam and didnt want to tell her why he always avoided hospitals. You know how these things happen.) Best of all were the Superman and Batman comics she bought, particularly because, in the early 70s, DC and Marvel were having price wars. One of DCs responses was to put out mammoth 100-page comics for just 50 cents. Naturally, you couldnt fill a book that big with new stuff, so DC would pad the books with stories from the vaults, vintage adventures from the 40s and 50s. Those 100-page specials, combined with hardcover Superman and Batman anthologies that featured everything from their origin stories in the 30s up to their contemporary 70s incarnations, made me fall in love with superheroes. When Christopher Reeve starred in 1978s Superman, it blew my little kid mind; so, naturallyso what if almost 30 years have passedIm really excited about Superman Returns. But as I look back on my early affection for superheroes, my addiction to comics doesnt necessarily scan with the rest of my childhood. As with the kid in Todd Hayness Dottie Gets Spanked, most of my cultural tastes tended to lean toward the feminine. I was addicted to reruns of I Married Joan and old Ingrid Bergman flicks on the afternoon movie. I was the only boy in my sixth-grade class to read Are You There, God? Its Me, Margaret. Nothing could make me change the channel faster than an old Rat Patrol or Daktari episode popping up in the middle of my afternoon of TV. So why was I drawn to these heroic tales of adventure and derring-do? I have three theories: 1. Like most gay kids, superheroes have to keep their difference a secret. Even before I could mentally process that (a) I was gay and (b) I needed to keep that hidden from everyone around me, I could totally relate to the idea of having something about you that sets you apart and must be concealed. There were consequences, after allwhenever a prewomens lib Lois Lane would hector Superman about marriage, he would constantly remind her that he could never be married, since criminals would try to hurt or kidnap his wife in order to keep the Man of Steel in check. Of course, why being known as Supermans girlfriend, Lois Lane didnt make her a constant target of the bad guys was never discussed, but Supermans efforts to avoid intimacy, much less matrimony, with Ms. Lane probably rang true with a lot of young gay readers back in the Eisenhower era. Chris Ohnesorge, drummer and vocalist with the San Franciscobased band the Ex-Boyfriends, discovered comics as a kid through the 1970s Wonder Woman TV show. Hes tangibly devoted to the Amazon princess, with two WW tattoos on his arm and a third on the way. The characters dual natureravishing, heroic Wonder Woman and her mousy alter ego, Diana Princecontinues to resonate. To me, it was the idea that you could spin around and there would be a flash of light and youd be this amazing person. Someone that everyone loved, observes Ohnesorge, 33. You have this secret identity; you cant be who you really are, and you only can be that in these certain moments. And even at those times, you still have to maintain all this secrecy; you cant have a real relationship. It was this idea of escaping your stifling secret life to become someone incredible who people were in awe of. As kids with a nascent understanding of our queerness, a lot of us tamped down our own fabulousness not to keep Lois safe or to stem the Nazi menace, but to watch our backs. Would our families still love us? Would we have friends? Would we be harassed at
g_b An Arab Gay Experience
An Arab Gay Experience The Following Was received by e-mail from a gay Arab: AMMAN-- I was molested by several men when I was a child. When I became a teenager I became very religious and tried to block my gay fantasies, something which proved to be very difficult. At the same time I was reading a lot of English language publications, such as Time, Newsweek and the Economist. There, I found gay culture and at 19 I decided that I was gay. It took another year for my first adult sexual encounter. I was in medical school at the University of Jordan. We were studying ophthalmoscopy, the science of how to examine someones eyes. A colleague proposed that we go to a separate room in the hospital to practice on each other, and we did. Instead of looking at my eyes he landed at my neck and mouth kissing and biting. I said no but I meant yes. This started a sexual relationship. However, since he was the active partner, he considered himself straight and me gay. There was a little of psychological abuse there. We lived at the second circle. I started walking at night like most people of the time between the first and third circles. Soon, I discovered people driving slowly behind me and would also follow me into side streets. One guy picked me up and we had sex that night. At the end, he offered me a five dinar bill. I felt like a prostitute and I threw the money in his face. He did not mean harm but I took an offence at it. The guy met me several times after that, I think he liked me but I could never forgive him and he knew it. All my Arab encounters were with men who were either married or who married later. I felt that to be gay in a western sense is not yet an Arab idea. This was in the years 1983-1989. Please remember the confidentiality issue since I am not out to my family, although I think that they know. - You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.
g_b Gujarat campus takes a 'gay' turn
Gujarat campus takes a 'gay' turn Radha Sharma Raheel Dhattiwala ,TNN AHMEDABAD: Gone are the days when 'bird-watching' was the only obsession on campus hostels. Who needs babes when the young get experimental with people of their own sex? Playing homosexual games, ragging along gay lines and even chance homosexual encounters by otherwise straight boys and girls have become commonplace in hostels as homosexuality is fast ceasing to be a dirty word. Ask boys in the Gujarat University hostel and they tell you how one of the most popular party games for guys is one where they compare and feel body parts. A student of NHL Medical College narrates how he gets patted by senior students all the time. I like pursuing girls but have to deal with guys hitting on me all the time. A resident doctor once tried to get up close inside the operation theatre. It's getting part of hostel life now, he says. A recent study by BJ Medical College students titled 'Profiling sexual attitude and practices of youth' conducted on 200 students in premier colleges like National Institute of Design (NID), LD Engineering College, among others, revealed that 7% conceded they were bisexuals. Of the respondents, 38% boys and 44% girls said homosexuality was normal. Around 50% conceded their behaviour would not change if they came to know a person was homosexual. Significantly, 75% said homosexuality should be included in formal sexual education. For some, it gets serious. A student leader told TOI that recently a girl from a reputed university in Ahmedabad consumed poison after she was forced to live away from her same-sex partner in her hostel room. Apparently, her parents had brought about the separation. Students in hostels are more likely to accept a different sexual orientation these days even if society doesn't. Homosexuality has become more acceptable, agrees Vinay Tomar, Ahmedabad city president, National Students' Union of India. The youth are basically getting more experimental. Most of the homosexual encounters in the young have roots in experiments and not in pathological homosexuality, says psychiatrist Hansal Bhachech. - You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.
g_b 30 Men Arrested On Morals Charges In Raid On Iran Home
30 Men Arrested On Morals Charges In Raid On Iran Home by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Posted: March 28, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET (New York City) Thirty men have been arrested in a so-called morals raid on a private home in the Iranian city of Esfahan an international human rights groups said Friday. Citing sources within Iran the New York-based Human Rights Watch said that the men were arrested in late February and have been held for almost four weeks without access to lawyers and without formal charges. The men allegedly are accused of consensual homosexual conduct, drinking alcohol, and other related morals offenses. Police reportedly referred them to a forensic medical examiner to look for evidence that they have engaged in homosexual conduct. Human Rights Watch urged Iranian authorities to release the men. When police routinely break down doors to enforce a brand of morality, it means a line has been crossed to invade peoples privacy at any time, said Joe Stork, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. Irans repressive system of controlling peoples dress, behavior, and personal lives violates fundamental rights. In May 2007, during a nationwide crackdown to enforce dress codes and conduct, police raided another private party in an apartment building in Esfahan. They arrested 87 persons, including four women and at least eight people whom they accused of wearing the clothing of the opposite sex. Victims told Human Rights Watch that police stripped many of them to the waist in the street, and beat them until their backs or faces were bloody. Several reportedly had bones broken. Of those arrested, 24 men were tried for facilitating immorality and sexual misconduct, as well as possessing and drinking alcohol. In June 2007, an Esfahan court found all of them guilty of various combinations of these charges. Most were sentenced to up to 80 lashes and to fines up to $5,000 (US). The verdicts are under appeal and have not yet been enforced. Citing its unnamed sources in Iran, Human Rights Watch said that since the May 2007 arrests, police have intensified surveillance, harassment, and abuse against people connected to the 87 arrested men, or otherwise suspected of homosexual conduct. Several described being detained by police and interrogated to reveal contacts. According to one mans account, provided by Human Rights Watch, police poured water over me. They threatened me, they said cooperate with us. They are after everyone, they said, You are completing your gang, you are creating new members, where do you gather? They told me, Go out and meet people. In essence, I should spy for them. Iranian law provides punishments up to death for penetrative same-sex sexual activity between men on the first conviction, and punishes non-penetrative activity with up to 100 lashes. Homosexual conduct between women is punishable with death on the fourth conviction. Irans Penal Code requires four reiterated confessions, or the testimony of four righteous men as eyewitnesses, to prove lavat, or sodomy. However, judges are permitted to accept circumstantial evidence or inference. At the May 2007 raid in Esfahan, police reportedly brought four civilian witnesses to prove that immorality was taking place. The last documented death sentences for consensual homosexual conduct in Iran were handed down in March 2005. It is not known whether they were carried out. Human Rights Watch said that in interviews with men and women inside and outside Iran, it has documented widespread patterns of arbitrary arrest and torture based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Some Western sources have suggested that charges of consensual homosexual conduct are converted to charges of rape in the Iranian judicial system, but Human Rights Watch said it has found no independent evidence. In Iran, for some people, the spy at the bedroom window or the knock at the door can mean the threat of a death sentence, said Stork. Privacy, freedom from arbitrary arrest, and freedom from torture are human rights. Police and judges must respect them. Last September President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a speech at Columbia University, declared there were no homosexuals in Iran. In Iran we don't have homosexuals like you do in your country. We do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have it, Ahmadinejad said. ©365Gay.com 2008 - Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.
g_b Being gay in China or Tibet
Being gay in China or Tibet Posted in: Features By Craig Young - 30th March 2008 Given current debates about China and Tibet, what stances do both societies have on LGBT issues? Before Communist China occupied it in 1948, Tibet was a theocracy, ruled by a monastic hierarchy, whose population growth tended to be low, given the high proportion of celibate Buddhist monks and nuns in the mountainous Himalayan nation. The current Dalai Lama believes that lesbian and gay sex are closed to his school of Buddhism, in which they are depicted as bad forms of sexual contact, although monogamous heterosexual recreational sex with birth control is okay. However, it should be noted that he acknowledges that there is global Buddhist debate on the subject, does not claim infallibility, although from this perspective, lesbian and gay Buddhists are not good Buddhists. He also stated he did not believe that homosexuality should be subject to criminal sanctions. As for China, it had a rich tradition of male homoerotic literature, with accompanying candid artwork. Emperors, nobility, civil servants and peasants all embraced same sex love, especially in cases of exemplary spousal fidelity between partners and otherwise virtuous ethical conduct. Taoism and Chinese Buddhism didn't concern themselves about regulating gay sex, and while Confucianism was puritanical and family oriented, it was only intermittently so. Unfortunately, the Chinese Empire began to disintegrate in the nineteenth century, leading to an influx of antigay western Christian proselytisers, as well as unwelcome attention from rapidly modernising adjacent Japan, which began a programme of aggressive colonial expansion on the East Asian mainland after the First World War. When the last Manchu Emperor was deposed in 1912, China descended into anarchy as powerful regional warlords struggled for control. However, Shanghai and other eastern Chinese coastal cities developed thriving gay subcultures. Japan and the United States came to blows over the colonial and territorial ambitions of each, leading to the Pacific theatre of the Second World War. Spider Lillies: A lesbian-themed Chinese film When that conflict ended with Japan's defeat, China had to endure four more years of civil war between the conservative nationalist Kuomintang and Mao Tse-Tung's communists, ending in victory for the latter in 1948. Maoist marxist-leninism was strongly agrarian, and while male homosexuality and lesbianism were not criminalised, they were considered 'bourgeois decadent' or lumpen acts, and led to imprisonment within 're-education camps.' Metropolitan gay and other intellectuals suffered during Mao's disastrous Cultural Revolution of the sixties, due to its anti-urban and anti-intellectual bias. After Mao died in 1976, China gradually embraced market capitalism, although the Communist Party of China still does not permit meaningful political pluralism. However, burgeoning trade, economic growth, technological development, urbanisation and higher education have led to the regrowth of Eastern Chinese lesbian and gay social networks, particularly in Shanghai. Due to the arrival of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Chinese health authorities have abandoned their earlier homophobic stance. The Chinese Psychological Association has not considered homosexuality to be a 'psychopathology' since 1994, and while there are no autonomous LGBT rights groups, Beijing has had to recognise LGBT social networks to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, China has no national anti-discrimination laws, nor does it extend legal recognition to lesbian and gay couples. As for Tibet, China has occupied that territory continuously for more than sixty years now. It has suppressed uprisings, such as that in 1968, but as China has become an economic and military superpower over the last twenty years, it has faced increasing western criticism of its internal human rights abuses, exploitative labour practices, environmental degradation and other foreign policy concerns. In addition to the thorny issue of Tibet, we would do well to remember Beijing's support for the current military dictatorship in Burma, and itsarms shipments to Sudan's repressive and racist Islamist government, which has resulted in the Darfur humanitarian crisis. However, it is Tibet which has aroused sympathy, due to export of its indigenous spiritual traditions to the west, as well as the charismatic and articulate leadership of the Dalai Lama. Unfortunately, no tidy resolution to that troubled nation's suffering is immediately obvious. - No Cost - Get a month of Blockbuster Total Access now. Sweet deal for Yahoo! users and friends.
g_b Martin Mark , The Story of a Civil Union
Martin Mark By Chris Banks Martin Kaulback and Mark Newdick (both 32) have been together nearly seven years and now live in Wellington, having originally met in London. They held their civil union at their home last year with around 45 family and friends, some of whom travelled from overseas for the occasion. Was there a proposal? MARTIN: Yes. Mark proposed to me. How did that happen? MARTIN: On his knee (laughs). On a beach, just outside Dunedin. It was just after Easter last year, and we had our civil union on the 29th of December. MARK: I had been planning it a couple of months. I looked at rings, and we'd had this trip down to Dunedin planned, and I saw that as a good opportunity. I wanted to make it a romantic occasion, somewhere that we'd remember. I actually planned to do it at the albatross colony because Martin has always been a big fan of birds, having grown up on a farm in Zimbabwe, but it didn't quite work out that way, so I just kind of went with the flow, bottled my nerves, waited for the right moment and that came when we went down to a beach by ourselves. Did it come as a surprise? MARTIN: It did come as a surprise to me, I guess because we'd made a commitment to each other quite a long time before. We actually met in London and moved to Australia before coming here. I guess it was just something that I thought we'd do one day, maybe, but I certainly didn't think we'd be doing it so quickly after it had been legalised. MARK: I think I was probably more taken by surprise than Martin was in terms of the emotions. Were you nervous? MARK: A little bit nervous, I didn't feel any fear of rejection, because as Martin said, our relationship had already taken that level of commitment anyway. For me, this is really a romantic way of expressing that commitment. I wanted to do it in the nicest possible way, cos you only get to do that sort of thing once. What were the reasons behind moving to New Zealand from Australia? MARTIN: So Mark could be closer to his family. He's a Kiwi, he grew up in Blenheim. Also, my parents were leaving Zimbabwe. We were in Australia at the time and they asked us what our plans were. We said we were going to end up in New Zealand eventually, so they came over here. How did your families react to the announcement? MARTIN: My family reacted very excitedly. They love Mark, and they value our relationship, I've been out to my parents for a long time. I came out at school to my friends in Zimbabwe. So they've known Mark for all our relationship, just about. I think it appealed a little bit to my Dad's traditionalist views of relationships. MARK: We initially phoned Martin's parents the next day [after the proposal] and told them and they were overjoyed. They were all in tears, it was all very emotional and very lovely. But their view on everything is quite different to my parents, who don't cope with it as well. I saved it for when I was going to see them face to face, cos I knew it would be difficult. Their reaction was quite horrific, and quite traumatic to be honest. In their words, it was a bridge too far. They can accept that Martin and I live together, because they can't change it, and this was pushing it a little bit further. Did any of your family come to the ceremony? MARK: I invited every single member of the family, and everybody checked with mum and dad about their feelings. They swear and declare that they didn't tell anybody that they shouldn't come, but most people didn't come because of my parents' feelings. I did have some family there, and it was a really important thing, in hindsight, for me, that they were there. It made it have a lot more weight. I had really strong reservations about whether I should tell or invite any of the family, because I did suspect that there would be quite a reaction to it, and I didn't want to be turned down. You don't want to ask somebody's blessing and have it refused, and have to carry on anyway... but that's the situation that we did have. How have relations been with the family subsequently? MARK: My parents have a really strong will to carry on despite our differences. It took a little while for the bruises to heal, but since then, we're talking, calling each other... we just don't talk about it, I guess. That's the way we've resolved it. Are the objections to do with religion? MARK: Ostensibly, partly. There's a fundamental belief that it's wrong', but I don't actually think they know where that comes from other than a general sense of homophobia. I don't think they fully understand those feelings, but that's just my theory. How did you go about building your ceremony? MARTIN: We wanted to build it around what gave us meaning. We established quite early on that we didn't feel the need to follow any tradition... that doesn't mean that we did anything wildly untraditional, but it was about our commitment to each
g_b Here Comes The Bride...... And The Bride
Here Comes The Bride.. And The Bride By: Kavita Chhibber The gray cat dozes contentedly on a bench in the afternoon sun as Arvind Kumar, his head shaded by a floppy blue hat, plucks weeds from his garden. Upstairs in the San Jose home they have shared together for over a decade, Ashok Jethanandani is enjoying his Sunday siesta. It's a scene of cozy, almost Normal Rockwellesque Americana. But in it lie the seeds of a domestic revolution that has caught the attention of everyone, including the White House. Ashok and Arvind are gay. They have the house, the cats, the twin Toyotas, the joint bank account and the Costco shopping card. Now they would like to get married. Ashok Jethanandani and Arvind Kumar just got an email from the city of San Fransisco cancelling their April 30 marriage appointment. On Friday, Feb. 20, Ashok and Arvind rose at 5:30 am and drove an hour to San Francisco to do just that. When they reached City Hall, there were already some 300 couples ahead of them in line. Around noon they realized it was futile. But Ashok has no regrets. It was so festive. So many people were rooting for us. Even the garbage truck went by and honked its support. Though they came home empty handed that day, Ashok, editor of India Currents magazine, found on their doorstep a huge bouquet of flowers and a card from all his co-workers. It was completely unexpected, says Ashok. I hand't really given them any warning. The weekend before when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom set the nation abuzz by instructing City Hall to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Mala Nagarajan and Vega Subramaniam were visiting Mala's sister in San Francisco from Seattle. They watched the excitement but decided not to be a part of it. They had already had their own wedding ceremony at their home in Washington in 2002, what they laughingly call perhaps the first lesbian Hindu wedding in America! Personally I would rather have the state be out of our personal relationship, says Vega. For me the most important thing was to have a ceremony with our loved ones. We were not sure we wanted to take the legal step. But within a month the repercussions from San Francisco had reached Seattle. On March 8, the Northwest Women's Law Center and Lambda Legal Defense Education Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of six gay and lesbian couples who were denied marriage licenses. One of the couples was Mala and Vega. We wanted to help get the right to choose whether or not to get married. We wanted people to be able to bring their partners over (from another country) and have access to health care benefits, says Mala. A decade ago, few lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) Indians were visible in the United States. though major cities like San Francisco and New York had organizations like Trikone and SALGA. While mainstream gay America was fighting about the right to serve in the military or job discrimination, LGBT South Asians were grappling with issues of coming out and marriage. Now as America wrestles with the idea of same-sex marriage, LGBT desis find their Number One issue is suddenly headline news. Yatin Chawathe married his boyfriend of five years Thomas Zambito III in Seattle this FebruarySamina Ali can relate to this desi preoccupation with marriage. The San Francisco writer entered into an arranged marriage 13 years ago with a man who turned out to be gay. In Western culture, children grow up, leave the home, have lovers, get married or not; in the end, a person's life belongs to him/her, says the author of Madras on Rainy Days. In India, children's lives belong to their parents, to their community. So the idea of a person having the freedom to declare his/her homosexuality and then getting married to a person of the same sex seems almost unbelievable. But that was what happened to Aditya Advani. When he came out his mother suggested running a matrimonial in the Hindustan Times looking for a husband. I think Indians can understand marriage, even same-sex marriage, more easily than singledom, says Aditya, a landscape architect in Berkeley. In 1993 when he took his partner Michael Tarr home to New Delhi, he resisted going to yet another family wedding. No one is ever going to come to my wedding, he complained. His mother thought for a moment and then said, Why not? We could have a ceremony for you and Michael. Swami Bodhananda, the family's spiritual mentor, presided over the ceremony dedicating it to Ayyappa, son of an unusual union between two male gods, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. I couldn't believe my luck, hreflects Aditya. Openly gay and married in my parents' drawing room at the age of thirty. Right on schedule as a good Indian boy should be. Not everyone's mother is quite so understanding. My father and brother were excited because Mala is so likeable, says Vega. But my mother
g_b MSPs back asylum campaign for gay Syrian facing jail and torture
MSPs back asylum campaign for gay Syrian facing jail and torture By Kurt Bayer POLITICAL pressure is mounting on the UK Government to reverse its decision to deport a gay Syrian teenager from Scotland to his homeland, where he faces almost certain imprisonment and torture. Scotland on Sunday revealed last week that 19-year-old Jojo Jako Yakob was being held in Polmont Young Offenders' Institution awaiting deportation, despite evidence he had been tortured almost to death in Syria, where homosexuality is illegal. Shirley-Anne Somerville, a Nationalist MSP for the Lothians, has lodged a parliamentary motion in support of our campaign to let Yakob stay in the country. It has already been supported by several MSPs, including Jamie Hepburn, Roseanna Cunningham, Rob Gibson, Christina McKelvie, Patrick Harvie, Bill Kidd, Alex Neil, Joe FitzPatrick, Robin Harper, Elaine Smith, Gil Paterson, Sandra White, Iain Smith, Dr Bill Wilson, Dr Christopher Harvie, Jamie McGrigor and Michael Matheson. Somerville said: I felt that it was very important to raise a motion so that politicians of all parties could support the campaign. We need an urgent review of the cases currently ongoing in Scotland so that we don't have anyone sent home and face persecution and violence. Pete Wishart MP, the SNP's home affairs spokesman, has taken up the case at Westminster and has vowed to make representations to the Home Office. He said: After Mr Yakob's terrible ordeal in Syria, it is unacceptable that the Home Office would consider sending him back. There is a very real risk that he would suffer further ill treatment or even possibly death. He has sought asylum in Scotland and I will make an immediate representation to the Home Office in an effort to overturn their ruling before his final hearing in May. Yakob has appealed against the Home Office deportation order and has instructed top Scottish QC Mungo Bovey to fight his case. Yakob will appear before a full immigration hearing in Glasgow on May 7, when his fate will be determined. A spokesman for Dundee law firm Caird Vaughan, which is representing Jojo, said: Jojo has been overwhelmed and greatly touched by the tremendous support he has received from complete strangers since his plight was highlighted. He has asked us to thank everyone who has signed the Scotland on Sunday petition and also for their messages of support. Jojo is also extremely grateful to the politicians who have been shocked by his case and vowed to fight his corner. Jojo fled his homeland two years ago after surviving a harrowing ordeal at the hands of Syrian police and prison guards, when he was arrested for distributing anti-government leaflets. Following his transfer from police interrogation, prison guards soon discovered that Jojo, a member of the repressed Kurdish minority in the Arab state, was homosexual. He then suffered horrific beatings and was assaulted so badly that he fell into a coma. - Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
g_b The world through the eyes of a gay person
The world through the eyes of a gay person Shobha Warrier in Chennai February 26, 2008 February 26, 2008 It was at a drive-in restaurant in Chennai that I met Sunil Menon. As he walked towards me, I noticed people staring at him. The way he walked, his colourful costume and the ornaments he wore attracted their attention but he ignored them. It is about this behaviour of the public that Menon complains about. Out in the open, those who do not know me treat me like this. But to all those who know him, he is Sunil Menon, a well known fashion designer, the man who started Sahodaran (an organisation for MSM [men having sex with men]) and an HIV/AIDS activist. He is a gay person. As the curious public started at us unashamedly, we stood under a tree and he spoke to me about his life in India as a gay person and his journey from a zoologist to anthropologist to HIV/AIDS activist to a fashion choreographer (Incidentally he designs Rose's dresses for the talk show, Ippadikku Rose). Childhood: Looking back, the first time I got attracted to the male body was when I was seven. Whenever I saw a masculine person removing his shirt, I used to stare at him. When I stared at our servant, he advised me not to do that as it was bad. After that, I didn't even think about such things, and immersed myself in my studies and other extracurricular activities. At the age of 13, I got into a relationship with a 21 year old and it was he who told me society was not yet ready to accept a person like me. He also told me if people got to know about our relationship, it would be really bad. It remained our little secret and he made me remain stable. When I came to realise that I was different from other men, and got attracted to men and not women, I was extremely disturbed. The first question that came to my mind was, why me? I wanted to live as normal a life as everybody else, and not be ridiculed for being feminine. I loved dancing, the performing arts, etc. When people ridiculed me, it hurt a lot. I would rather be a normal guy. I tried not to focus on my sexuality by studying really hard. Those were the eighties and talking about sexuality was taboo and unheard of. After doing my Masters in Anthropology with a gold medal from the Madras University, I started my PhD. What changed my life: While I was doing my PhD, I got a call from an anthropologist asking me to do some work on HIV/AIDS for the World Health Organisation. That was in 1992. My research was on a group that was hidden; it was a network of men. I would use the acronym MSM (Men having sex with men). After meeting them and talking to them, I realised that I was not the only person who was like that. Till then, I hadn't come across another gay person. I would say the work changed my life; it was a kind of awakening for me and I got the courage to deal with my own sexuality. I saw these sex workers and MSM fighting against all odds all the time and still smiling even though there was nothing to look forward to for them. I stopped wallowing in self pity after that. I felt I had no right to feel sorry for myself. Family support: My father came to know about my sexuality when one of our relatives in Kerala [Images] blackmailed him. When he started crying, I asked him, 'If this upsets you and you cannot accept me the way I am, I will walk out of the family forever. But do I stop being your son?' My sister, who is in the US, was my biggest support. I called and told her everything, and she handled the whole thing. After that, the topic never came up for discussion in the family. I still feel guilty because I feel my 43-year-old sister never got married. Because I am openly homosexual, a lot of families would not accept my sister. But I am extremely lucky to have a sister like her. She told me, 'I don't want a husband who can't accept my brother.' At that moment, I felt I was really blessed. Starting Sahodaran: Though I started my research in 1992, I had a break in between. I had some disagreement with the WHO group here, and I left them. I was quite disillusioned by then. What I had done on MSM in 1992 was pioneering work. Nobody had done any work on them till then. In 1993, my paper was presented in Berlin at the International HIV/AIDS conference. What I presented was an eye opener to a lot of people. Still many people thought I was crazy. They now realise that if you want to tackle HIV/AIDS, you have to deal with this community. Interestingly, the latest WHO report says MSM along with IV drug users are the most high risk group. It took them these many years to come to this conclusion. At least I feel I am vindicated. From 1994-98, I explored my love for fashion. But then a friend of mine who works for the Naz Foundation in the UK asked me, 'With your expertise, why are you not working on HIV/AIDS? Why are you wasting your time on
g_b Britain Halts Deportation Move Against Gay Iranian
Britain Halts Deportation Move Against Gay Iranian Teenager Could Face Execution at Home By Mary Jordan Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, March 14, 2008; Homosexuality is illegal in the Islamic republic. Fearing for his life, Kazemi sought asylum in Britain, but his claim was rejected. LONDON, March 13 -- Britain halted deportation proceedings Thursday against a gay Iranian teenager who has said he would likely be hanged because of his sexual orientation if he is returned to Iran. Mehdi Kazemi, 19, moved to Britain in 2005 to study and has said he then learned that his boyfriend in Iran had been hanged after being convicted of sodomy. Homosexuality is a severe crime under Iranian law, and Kazemi's case has drawn concern from gay rights groups around the world. An initial appeal for asylum was turned down here. But Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, Britain's top law enforcement figure, said Thursday that in light of new circumstances Kazemi's appeal would be reconsidered, handing him a temporary reprieve that his supporters hope will ultimately lead to him being granted the right to stay in Britain. When the government first rejected his appeal, Kazemi fled to the Netherlands, where lawmakers took up his cause. He remains there but is expected to return to Britain within days. A Dutch court this week refused to grant Kazemi asylum on the grounds that he had initiated proceedings in Britain and needed to return there to continue them. In recent years, the British government has been under enormous public pressure to reduce the number of refugees and asylum seekers that it admits. Critics say too many foreigners abuse the system. Kazemi has said he did not arrive in Britain with the intention of staying, but then found out that Iranian officials would be looking for him if he returned. Gay rights leaders in Britain said that Kazemi's former partner was tortured into naming Kazemi before he was killed and that Kazemi has been suicidal over the whole ordeal. An uncle who lives in Britain was also quoted in a British newspaper as saying that if authorities didn't kill Kazemi , his father in Iran would. Eighty members of Britain's upper house of Parliament signed a letter sent to Smith urging the government to show compassion and allow Mr. Kazemi to have a safe haven in the United Kingdom. There is no doubt that he will be persecuted and possibly face state-sanctioned murder if he is forced to return, said Roger Roberts, a member of the House of Lords from the Liberal Democratic Party, who initiated the petition. It's cruel to even suggest sending him back, said David Allison, a spokesman for Outrage!, a gay rights group in Britain. The history of gays in Iran has been horrific. Human rights advocates have long deplored the treatment, including executions, of gay men in Iran. Last year while in New York City, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was asked about executions of homosexuals in his country, and he replied: We don't have homosexuals like in your country. I don't know who told you that. Britain granted a gay Iranian teenager a reprieve on Thursday from deportation to Iran, where he says he could be hanged for his homosexuality. Interior Minister Jacqui Smith said in a statement that in the light of new circumstances 19-year-old Mehdi Kazemi's appeal for asylum in Britain should be reconsidered. This is very positive. But reconsidered doesn't mean he'll get a permit, they could still deny what he is asking, Kazemi's Dutch lawyer, Borg Palm, told Reuters by telephone. Kazemi came to Britain to study in 2005, lawyers have said. He later learned that his lover in Iran had been hanged after being charged and convicted of sodomy. Homosexuality is illegal in the Islamic republic. Fearing for his life, Kazemi sought asylum in Britain, but his claim was rejected. Senior British lawmakers urged Smith earlier on Thursday to show mercy and grant Kazemi asylum in Britain, where his uncle has lived for 30 years. We are deeply concerned at the possible execution of Mehdi Kazemi if he is refused asylum in the UK and is deported to Iran, read a letter to Smith signed by 63 members of the House of Lords, Britain's unelected upper chamber of parliament. Kazemi fled to the Netherlands and sought asylum there, but a Dutch court this week turned down his application, saying as he had applied in Britain he must return there to pursue his case. He is due to be deported from the Netherlands back to Britain within days, Britain's Independent newspaper said on Thursday. Human rights groups and gay rights advocates have rallied to Kazemi's cause, highlighting the Iranian government's track record of executing homosexuals. If returned to Tehran, he will be at risk of imprisonment, torture and execution, said Peter Tatchell, the founder of Outrage, a gay rights
g_b Some Things About Cary Grant.....and Randolph Scott
Some Things About Cary Grant...and Randolph Scott 1932: Grant and Scott are either living together at the time of this article, or very close to it. By 1935, there are photographs and other indications that they are involved in the gay and lesbian social scene in Hollywood. [William J. Mann, Behind the Screen, 2001] Clark Gable, on the other hand, had one drunken night in 1929 of being seduced by William Haines, an openly gay star, and was not happy about it. Ten years later, in 1939, he had George Cukor (also openly gay, and a friend of Haines', as were Grant and Scott) removed as the director of Gone With the Wind, stating, I can't go on with this picture. I won't be directed by a fairy. I have to work with a real man. All because someone remarked, at a party during filming, that George was directing one of Billy's tricks and the story flew around Hollywood. [Patrick McGilligan, A Double Life: George Cukor, referenced in Murray] I find the subtext in this article rather interesting. 1935: Cary Grant was encouraged to marry in 1934. The disastrous marriage ended a year later--Grant had tried to commit suicide after only a few months. His wife stated in her complaint that he had been drunk and sullen for the duration. After the divorce, Grant went back to live with Scott. [Mann, Behind the Screen] They are pictured here at their Malibu beach house in 1935. Mr. Blackwell, as Dick Ellis, spent a few months living with Grant and Scott. He said in his memoirs that he considered them, deeply, madly in love, their devotion complete...Behind closed doors they were warm, kind, loving and caring, and unembarrassed about showing it. [Blackwell, From Rags to Bitches, referenced in Mann.] Raymond Murray, in his encyclopedia of gay and lesbian cinema, quotes Carole Lombard: Good friend Carole Lombard made a near-legendary comment on both their union and Cary's well-known frugality: 'Their relationship is perfect. Randy pays the bills, and Cary mails them.' [Murray, Images in the Dark, 1996] 1940: The only movie they were in together, My Favorite Wife, with Irene Dunne. By this time, the Grant-Scott cohabitation had been permanently dissolved, with more encouragement from the studios and marriages for both. They remained lifelong friends. I include these photos because when I first saw this film, around age 17, I was pretty confused by the dynamics between the two men. They were supposed to be fighting over Irene Dunne (it's a long and vaguely complicated plot about Dunne having been lost on a desert island, now returned...) but Grant and Scott just didn't seem to have enough hostility behind their fascination with each other. I had no idea at the time, of course, that they had been lovers, nor would I have even understood what that meant. Someone said to me, upon hearing my memories, Well, I bet what you were seeing was the chemistry between them. The camera always picks that up. I think she's right. There are other references to Grant and Scott in William Mann's book, Behind the Screen: A 1933 profile in Modern Screen, written by gay journalist Ben Maddox, showed the two men in the house they shared, and used various code words to describe them to gay readers. One photo of the spread had both men in matching aprons, which heterosexual columnists snidely remarked upon and had the studios a tad bit upset about (sarcasm intended). A letter found in Hedda Hopper's personal papers, in which she blasted Look magazine for their profile of Grant, extolling his appeal to women (Whom does he think he's fooling? He started with the boys and now he's gone back to them.). And an addendum, if one could call it that, to Cary Grant and Randolph Scott's lifelong friendship, taken from Grant's biography, Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart, by Roy Moseley and Charles Higham. Mr. Mosely interviewed the maitre d' at the Beverly Hillcrest Hotel. The maitre d' saw both actors in the 1970s, sitting in the back of the restaurant, after the place had emptied. They were holding hands. As I said in my Live Journal entry, A Cautionary Tale, looking at past lives led in the closet is a way of caring about what will happen in the future. Because nobody should have to leave the person they love, simply to pacify those who are frightened. Thanks to Donna Moore for the scanned image of the 1932 article. The 1935 photo is public domain, I believe, as I found any number of copies of it around the internet, none with attribution or copyright. - Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
g_b US soap viewers demand gay kiss
US soap viewers demand gay kiss 3 rd March Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann play the couple in soap Fans of a US daytime soap opera have launched a campaign demanding that two gay characters kiss more often. Viewers of As the World Turns are writing to CBS and have set up a website to count the time elapsed since Luke and Noah last exchanged a kiss. They first kissed in August - which is thought to have been the first gay kiss shown in a US TV soap. But they did not smooch at Christmas or Valentine's Day, which some fans have called extreme. Roger Newcomb, a fan of the show from New York who is leading the campaign, said there was widespread support for the couple's ongoing storyline. 'Creative decision' We applaud the show for this, but just don't understand why they have to be censored or treated differently, he said. Mr Newcomb criticised the decision to show the couple declaring their love at Christmas, when the camera panned away to a sprig of mistletoe as they were about to kiss. I've been watching soaps for decades and that doesn't happen, he said. If they were not going to follow through with it, they shouldn't have started it As the World Turns fan Theresa Webber Jeannie Tharrington, a spokeswoman for the production company behind the series, said there was no kissing ban and the mistletoe scene was a creative decision. Barbara Bloom, the CBS network's head of daytime, has come out in favour of the two characters' relationship being developed. If this means there is a natural progression to the physical relationship, then I would support it, she said. Weekday serial As the World Turns has been aired on US TV since 1956. Another fan of the show, Theresa Webber from Boston, said: It's 2008. It's something that's real. If they were not going to follow through with it, they shouldn't have started it. - Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
g_b Sometimes It's Easier To Live A Lie
Sometimes It's Easier To Live A Lie I am a 17 year old guy turning 18 this july. I am gay, or so i thought. Let me start from the beginning. I am a child of six. i have been raised by my parents in idaho falls, ID my whole life. I am the middle child. I have 2 older brothers and two younger brothers. I also have a half sister who is a year older than me. I never really consider her to be my half but just my sister. While I was growing up I always thought that my two younger brothers were too young to play with and I never got to do anything with my older brothers because I was never big enough. I always hated action figures which is what my younger brothers were doing and I hated football, what my older brothers were doing. The closest sibling I had to even talk to was my sister. Since I can remember, we have been best friends. We did everything together. we played barbies, told secrets, we grew to know eachother inside and out. I dont think there was a place that we went by ourselves. I always loved to do things that she was doing, I admired her in every aspect. My parents knew we were very close and loved to see us playing around the house. Fast foward to elementary school. This is when i started having a lot of girlfriends and not so many platonic friends that were boys. During recess the girls and I would chase the boys and make fun of them. I thought it was perfectly normal and so did everyone else. It wasnt until much later that the accusations started at school. I was always fond of the boys. In seventh grade I was in a computer class and infatuated over a boy who sat infront of me, his name was Salvador. He was the cutest person I had ever seen at the time. At this point I had not been introduced to homosexuality. I had no idea what it even was. I didnt think of myself as wierd or abnormal. I felt content with myself. I actually didnt have a complete definition of gay until high school in the ninth grade. That is when I knew I was gay and I liked boys. I then figured that I was different. I was somewhat of a loner. I walked the halls by myself and had one or two friends that I didnt talk to much. In fact almost nobody even knew who I was. I entered 10th grade in a new school with new people and teachers. I felt alone and by myself for the first time. I was not a sports fanatic like most guys and I didnt enjoy talking to any of the girls. The only friend I really had was my cousin and we didnt talk much. My femininity was obvious to many and I was constantly a target of anger or just someone to make fun of. I kept everything inside and would go home and cry myself to sleep. I was lost and didnt know what to do. I had never been so alone. There was not a single person to talk to. My sister at the time was living in Iowa. We share the same father and so when her mother moved (which was frequent) so did she. The eleventh grade came and went with as much fun and joy and tenth none. The summer of my junior year is when I came out to my friends. I was at work and I worked at a call center with 500 other people so I had made some friends. I started out with telling them first. Many were open minded and if anything.. loved me more. There were some that were unaccepting and cut off all communication with me..but it was a few amount. The school year approached and it was time for me to tell my classmates. I had changed drastically over the summer and became a whole new person. I started many friendships and became well known. I have grown to have very liberal views on the world and everything that surrounds me. I have had the best teachers who supported me the whole way. I came out to my mother about six months ago. Now my mother is a very conservative member of the church of Latter Day Saints-mormon. I was forced out to my mother by my older brother who read an email I had sent a friend not knowing that my brother knew the guy I sent the email to. My brother told my mother everything. She came to me and asked me. I was straight with her and gave her the answer she was hoping to be untrue. Unfortuanately for her it wasn't. She ranted and screamed and yelled for days. She told me I would contract AIDS and die, she said it was immoral and that I would be sent to Hell for it. She said I was defying God and the church. To her I was wrong in everyway. She yelled for 2 weeks. She gave me the silent treatment for the next week after that. My mother can be not-so-nice, but every man's best friend is his mother and I coudnt handle the fact that she wouldn't speak to me. it was hard. My older brother told me to tell her the lie she wanted to be true. She is one who will live in denial to be happy. She would live a lie if she could. She hates facing the truth or the possible outcome of anything. She wants life to go smooth and will choose to not look at the things she wants to be untrue. She wants everyone to be a
g_b In the closet
The harm caused when homosexuals stay in the closet Mac was ten years old when he experienced a gay encounter for the first time. Before he even knew or heard the word homosexual, he was being intimate with a young friend of his same sex and age. Somehow, the news got around that Mac and a friend had been seeing each other privately in his friend's house, where all the lights were turned off. Mac quickly denied all charges when asked by another boy what went on. He and his friend never met in that house with all the lights turned off again. One day Mac was taking a shower along with some other boys at his school. Another friend who was showering nearby began to stare and laugh aloud to the other boys. He was staring right at Mac. This experience made Mac feel very uncomfortable. Before this, Mac thought that they were good friends, because they used to play together with other boys in their neighborhood. Now, Mac felt very unsure of this so-called friendship. He felt betrayed and confused. Mac began to understand that he was not going to be like just anyone. Mac could see from his reflection that his body was growing differently from other boys that he was acquainted with. He was going to be an individual with a unique body and personality, and would have to learn to accept life's challenges on his own. Mac looked in the mirror. He could see that the flat chest he remembered as a little boy was now turning more round and plumper than most of the other boys he was growing up with. It made him feel insecure and Mac resolved never to stare at or touch his own chest. He feared that his peers might notice his girl like breasts. While in high school, Mac had a friend who was gay. They spoke often about different things and got along well together. Once, Mac's friend offered to kiss him while they were talking in a secluded classroom. Mac quickly became annoyed and refused his gay friends warm invitation. Somehow, Mac had grown to believe that homosexuality was wrong. Nevertheless, he had learned to believe, that it was was O.K. to kiss and fondle strangers of the opposite sex. - Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
g_b The 100 Greatest Movie Quotes
The 100 Greatest Movie Quotes The American Film Institute, AFI, has voted the 100 greatest movie quotes of film history. These 100 quotes are unforgettable: amusing, surprising, consoling, touching, funny, and always very emotional and full of memories. Read, remember and enjoy! BTW: What's your favorite quote? 1 Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. GONE WITH THE WIND 1939 2 I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse. THE GODFATHER 1972 3 You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am. ON THE WATERFRONT 1954 4 Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. THE WIZARD OF OZ 1939 5 Here's looking at you, kid. CASABLANCA 1942 6 Go ahead, make my day. SUDDEN IMPACT 1983 7 All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up. SUNSET BLVD. 1950 8 May the Force be with you. STAR WARS 1977 9 Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night. ALL ABOUT EVE 1950 10 You talking to me? TAXI DRIVER 1976 11 What we've got here is failure to communicate. COOL HAND LUKE 1967 12 I love the smell of napalm in the morning. APOCALYPSE NOW 1979 13 Love means never having to say you're sorry. LOVE STORY 1970 14 The stuff that dreams are made of. THE MALTESE FALCON 1941 15 E.T. phone home. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL 1982 16 They call me Mister Tibbs! IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT 1967 17 Rosebud. CITIZEN KANE 1941 18 Made it, Ma! Top of the world! WHITE HEAT 1949 19 I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! NETWORK 1976 20 Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. CASABLANCA 1942 21 A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 1991 22 Bond. James Bond. DR. NO 1962 23 There's no place like home. THE WIZARD OF OZ 1939 24 I am big! It's the pictures that got small. SUNSET BLVD. 1950 25 Show me the money! JERRY MAGUIRE 1996 26 Why don't you come up sometime and see me? SHE DONE HIM WRONG 1933 27 I'm walking here! I'm walking here! MIDNIGHT COWBOY 1969 28 Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.' CASABLANCA 1942 29 You can't handle the truth! A FEW GOOD MEN 1992 30 I want to be alone. GRAND HOTEL 1932 31 After all, tomorrow is another day! GONE WITH THE WIND 1939 32 Round up the usual suspects. CASABLANCA 1942 33 I'll have what she's having. WHEN HARRY MET SALLY 1989 34 You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow. TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT 1944 35 You're gonna need a bigger boat. JAWS 1975 36 Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges! THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE 1948 37 I'll be back. THE TERMINATOR 1984 38 Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES 1942 39 If you build it, he will come. FIELD OF DREAMS 1989 40 Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. FORREST GUMP 1994 41 We rob banks. BONNIE AND CLYDE 1967 42 Plastics. THE GRADUATE 1967 43 We'll always have Paris. CASABLANCA 1942 44 I see dead people. THE SIXTH SENSE 1999 45 Stella! Hey, Stella! A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE 1951 46 Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars. NOW, VOYAGER 1942 47 Shane. Shane. Come back! SHANE 1953 48 Well, nobody's perfect. SOME LIKE IT HOT 1959 49 It's alive! It's alive! FRANKENSTEIN 1931 50 Houston, we have a problem. APOLLO 13 1995 51 You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk? DIRTY HARRY 1971 52 You had me at hello. JERRY MAGUIRE 1996 53 One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know. ANIMAL CRACKERS 1930 54 There's no crying in baseball! A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN 1992 55 La-dee-da, la-dee-da. ANNIE HALL 1977 56 A boy's best friend is his mother. PSYCHO 1960 57 Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. WALL STREET 1987 58 Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. THE GODFATHER II 1974 59 As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again. GONE WITH THE WIND 1939 60 Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into! SONS OF THE DESERT 1933 61 Say hello to my little friend! SCARFACE 1983 62 What a dump. BEYOND THE FOREST 1949 63 Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you? THE GRADUATE 1967 64 Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room! DR. STRANGELOVE 1964 65 Elementary, my dear Watson. THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 1939 66 Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape. PLANET OF THE APES 1968 67 Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine. CASABLANCA 1942 68 Here's Johnny! THE SHINING 1980 69 They're here! POLTERGEIST 1982 70 Is it safe? MARATHON MAN 1976 71 Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet! THE JAZZ SINGER 1927 72 No wire hangers, ever! MOMMIE DEAREST 1981 73 Mother of mercy,
g_b Bones Linked To Gay English King's Lover
Bones Linked To Gay English King's Lover by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Posted: February 18, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET (London) Bones found in a abbey in rural England are believed to be those of Sir Hugh Despenser the Younger, one of the executed lovers of King Edward II. Despenser was publicly hanged, and then drawn and quartered for treason in 1326 after the king was deposed. The remains found at at Hulton Abbey on Despenser's brother-in-law's estate in Staffordshire bear the signs of his violent death anthropologist Mary Lewis tells the Reuters news agency. The bones were originally found in a casket in the 1970s and initially the condition of the remains was attributed to the coffin being disturbed over the centuries. But recently Lewis began a detailed examination. Carbon dating showed the remains were from the era of Edward II. The bones also showed that they belonged to someone who had likely been ripped apart, consistent with being drawn and quartered. The hands were missing. At his trial Despenser had also been found guilty of theft. The sentence of the day was to have one's hands hacked off. Treason meant disembowelment but there were not enough bone fragments to confirm that. Nevertheless, Lewis said she believes the bones are Despenser's. He was the second of Edward's lovers to be executed. The first was Piers Gaston. When Edward's father, King Edward I, brought in Gaston as a tutor for the then Prince of Wales Edward, the prince fell madly in love with Gaston. The tutor was soon exiled. In 1307 Edward II ascended the throne and had Piers brought back to England and made him the Earl of Cornwall. For convenience, Edward married Isabella of France and had 4 children. As a king, Edward II was a failure and Piers who was constantly at the king's side had way of antagonizing people. In 1310, the barons got together and forced King Edward II to accept the rule of a 21 member council of Lords. The first order of business for the Council was to banish Gaston. Secretly Piers returned and rejoined his love. Fearing he would once more attempt to gain control of running the country the barons had him hunted down and killed in 1321. The king then turned to Despenser. The barons exiled Despenser and his gather, but in 1322, King Edward II regained sole control of the country, and recalled the young blonde lover. Although open about his gay love affairs, Edward was married. Queen Isabella had her own lover, Baron Robert Mortimer. In 1326, they usurped Edward and took control of England. Despenser was captured. He was roped to a pole, castrated, and forced to watch as his genitals were burned. He was then beheaded. Edward fled to Wales, but was captured and forced to give up the throne to his son. He was imprisoned, and on the night of September the 21, 1327 King Edward II was lashed face down to a bed. A red hot poker was brutally shoved into his anus, and he died writhing in pain. ©365Gay.com 2008 - Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
g_b Suggestions Lincoln, Buchanan Gay Roils Historians
Suggestions Lincoln, Buchanan Gay Roils Historians by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Posted: February 18, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET (Washington) As the country observed Presidents' Day the debate over whether two former Presidents - James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln - were gay continues. James Buchanan was born in 1791 near Mercerburg, Pennsylvania. He was elected five times to the House of Representatives; then, after a serving as ambassador to Russia he was elected to the Senate where he served for a decade. Buchanan became Polk's Secretary of State and Pierce's Minister to Great Britain. Service abroad helped to bring him the Democratic nomination in 1856 because it had exempted him from involvement in bitter domestic controversies. The 15th president of the United States was the only bachelor to serve in that office and his private life soon became fodder for Washington wags. For Buchanan had lived with William Rufus King, the Senator from Alabama. The two were inseparable and the friendship did not go unnoticed. Andrew Jackson dubbed King Miss Nancy. Aaron Brown in a letter referred to King as Buchanan's better half, his wife, and Aunt Fancy . . . rigged out in her best clothes. When Buchanan appointed King ambassador to France in 1844 the president wrote to King saying that I am selfish enough to hope you will not be able to procure an associate who will cause you to feel no regret at our separation. Historians for decades have debated whether the references showed a love attachment between the two or whether the friendship was blown out of proportion by political foes. The friendship between Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed is equally contentious. Noted gay author C. A. Tripp in The Intimate World of Abraham published in 2004 shortly before Tripp died, lays out what the author says is the evidence Lincoln had a gay relationship with Speed. Tripp was a noted psychologist. He previously wrote The Homosexual Matrix and was a researcher for the Kinsey Institute. The Intimate World of Abraham was the result of more than 20 years of studying Lincoln's private life. Using the methodology of the Kinsey sex-research model he probes Lincoln's personal relations with men and women and concludes that Lincoln was unnaturally uncomfortable around women, never had a love match with Ann Rutledge, suffered through a strained marriage with Mary Todd Lincoln, and had a gay sexual relationship with his longtime friend Speed. He also details the relationship Lincoln had with another man with whom he shared his bed, David Derickson, captain of his bodyguards. As well, Tripp describes another lover who said Lincoln's thighs 'were as perfect as a human being could be'. The book contains a poem discovered by Tripp that was written by the young Lincoln which includes the lines: Billy has married a boy The girlies he tried on every side/but none could he get to agree All was in vain he went home again/and since that is married to Natty. ©365Gay.com 2008 - Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.
g_b Handsome Models
Ezzio Cavallaro Ernesto Calzadilla Freddy Aquino Luciano De Alessandro Giancarlo Pasqualotto Manuel Sosa Miguel Gutiérrez Numa Delgado Víctor Babino Stuard Rodríguez Ricardo Álamo Oscar Cabrera Roberto Messuti Rodolfo Renwick Carlos Guillermo Haydon Hugo Vásquez Arturo de los Ríos Miguel Augusto Rodríguez César Román César Suárez Carlos Felipe Álvarez Winston Vallenilla Daniel Elbittar Daniel Blasco Carlos Montilla - Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
g_b The Greatest Gay Love Stories Never Told
The Greatest Gay Love Stories Never Told by Brian Juergens , Associate Editor February 13, 2008 If Hollywood is in love with anything more than it is with itself, its with, well, its with love itself. From comedic to sweeping to lush to musical to historical, romance has been the backbone of the American film industry not to mention its heart, its teat, and its moneymaker. Historical romance is no small part of that equation. Hollywood has struck three-hankie gold with true-life romance in classics like Out of Africa (1985), Reds (1981), Cleopatra (1963), and even Bonnie and Clyde (1967). And an even more popular strategy of placing fictional lovers in the crossroads of history has paid off in spades with epics like Dr. Zhivago (1965), Titanic (1997), Casablanca (1942), Pearl Harbor (2001), The English Patient (1996) and Atonement (2007). Biopics about gay and bisexual men are rare enough, and those that are told rarely focus on the love lives of these men (Capote) and sometimes remove the subjects sexuality altogether (A Beautiful Mind, Lawrence of Arabia). Meanwhile, historical gay romances like Maurice and Brokeback Mountain have become classics of the romance genre. So why not combine the two? In honor of Valentines Day, AfterElton.com takes a look at some of the greatest true gay love stories in history and makes a few gentle suggestions as to how these forgotten romances could become the breakout romance films of tomorrow. Abe Lincoln Slept Here The Love Story: A somewhat comic look at the possible same-sex loves of our nations greatest President, Abraham Lincoln. The possibility that Abraham Lincoln was gay or bisexual is a topic that gets people on both sides of the fence worked up into a froth worthy of a prizewinning macchiato. So why not have some fun with it? A screwball romantic comedy about the many gay loves of Lincoln seems rife with possibilities, especially given some of the hilarious accounts recounted in the recent C.A. Tripp biography The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln (which already sounds like a sex comedy). For example, Billy Greene, with whom a 22-year-old Lincoln shared a narrow bed in New Salem, noted, His thighs were as perfect as a human being could be. Indeed! Another companion, Joshua Speed (this time in Springfield), was noted to be closer to the soon-to-be-Prez than one might expect (Lincolns letters to him read Yours forever) and while in the Oval Office, Lincolns relationships with Col. Elmer Ellsworth (who died on the battlefield, crushing the President emotionally) and Capt. David Derickson (who guarded the Lincolns and reportedly slept in Abes bed with him when Mary was away) have come under scrutiny. Its impossible to know, of course, what truth there is to these rumors, but that doesnt mean that a skilled filmmaker with a flair for satire couldnt have fun with the topic in some way. And whats more of a cinematic challenge than making Abe Lincoln into a sex god? Come on, Hollywood step up. The Pitch: The American President meets Tom Jones The Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen as Lincoln (come on, we already know he can share a bed with another man and those thighs!) Lush Life The Love Story: The historical record may not show that jazz composer Billy Strayhorn had a notorious love affair to be remembered down through the ages, but a man who wrote such beautiful love songs must have known something of romance himself. Billy Strayhorn is considered to be largely responsible for the lasting success of jazz legend Duke Ellington. So why have most people not heard of him? Well, being an openly gay black man amidst the heavy-hitters and glitterati of the Harlem jazz scene wasnt exactly easy, and Stayhorn died at only 51 from cancer and alcoholism. But the man responsible for such numbers as Lush Life, Chelsea Bridge and Take the A Train had to have known something about love, and what better way to approach the life of a great composer than by musing on his muse? We picture Strayhorn falling deeply in love with a working-class man (like My Beautiful Laundrette) and writing some of his greatest songs as a result. And really, to get a chance to visit the time of Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne and more would be magical, and this quiet, spotlight-dodging outsider might be the perfect tour guide to one of the most exciting periods in American music history. The Pitch: Ray meets My Beautiful Laundrette The Cast: Rockmond Dunbar as Strayhorn; Taye Diggs as his man. Pedro The Love Story: AIDS activist and reality television pioneer Pedro Zamora joined the cast of The Real World to help raise HIV awareness. What he didnt expect was to fall in love in front of America. When The Real World: San Francisco premiered in 1994, roommate Pedro Zamora was the first authentic gay person that most Americans
g_b A Gay Valentine's Day
A Gay Valentine's Day by AfterElton.com Staff February 13, 2008 Despite all of the progress made when it comes to gay visibility in recent years, ranging from out actors like Neil Patrick Harris and T.R. Knight to hit television shows like Brothers Sisters and Ugly Betty, gay men still have to look pretty darn hard to find images of themselves as romantic couples in the traditional media. That was why it was such big news when The New York Times started including gay couples as part of their wedding announcement section and why it mattered so much when Brothers Sisters' Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys) was allowed to have an actual love life that included physical affection. But even with that progress, its doubtful that on this day devoted to love there will be too many television stories, newspaper articles or much else that reflect the lives of gay men as couples. So to help celebrate Valentine's Day and to celebrate the romantic moments between gay men we asked a number of AfterElton.com staffers and readers to share their stories of romance. Frank and Craig (AfterElton readers) When my partner Craig and I first met, President Bush (the first) had recently taken up residence in the White House. It was the beginning of a new decade the 1990s (remember Deee-Lite?) We were both living at home (in the closet) while attending the live at home college, Wayne State University in Detroit, which meant we didnt get a whole lot of alone-time, and were constantly looking for whatever opportunity. Luckily we often got it, thanks to my best friend since 7th grade, Grat Dalton. Frank and Craig While I was sponging off my parents and getting a degree in Theater, Grat was working to support himself. He also lived at home, but in a tiny room he rented on the second floor of his fathers house. Sure it was small, but it had its own separate entrance and a bathroom out in the hallway ... and a bed! On several occasions, Grat would give us the key to his hide-away so that Craig and I could escape from the outside world where nobody (other than Grat) knew why we needed an escape. One particular evening about a month into what we still werent calling a relationship, we were sitting on the floor in Grats bedroom Now I dont know if it was because wed been listening to Love Changes Everything on the latest Andrew Lloyd Webber cassette (remember Aspects of Love?), or because of the candlelight flickering off Craigs face as we split an entire bottle of white zinfandel ... but I started to cry. For the first time, the reality of the situation hit me. This wasnt something Id been doing just because Id hit my sexual peak and it felt good, even though it totally did. I was in love! I was also terrified that Craig didnt feel the same way and everything would come crashing to an end if I dared tell him. Which I did on our first Valentine's Day. Thankfully our relationship has lasted long enough to see President Bush (the second) take up residence in the White House (Whatever happened to Deee-Lite?) Dave and Chad (AfterElton readers) About a year ago the right half of my face suddenly became paralyzed. It sagged lifelessly, making me look like something out of a haunted house. Chad and I spent eleven hours in the emergency room to confirm that I was not having a stroke; meanwhile, most of that time was spent waiting, people-watching, and talking. At one point, I asked Chad to take a picture of me. I clowned and smiled for the camera, which made my asymmetrical face look all the more ridiculous. Somehow, despite everything, we were both having a good time, in circumstances that most people would neither consider fun nor romantic. Dave and Chad Sure, I have memories of how exciting it was when we first started dating. There were some attempts at traditional romance back then: flowers, intimate dinners, daring to hold hands in public. I remember the giddy feelings, but I also remember feeling self-conscious a lot, worrying about whether I looked good enough, hoping my personality was engaging. I like it so much better now. After 13 years, we are so comfortable together that I can be my silly self and pose for a picture at my absolute ugliest moment, without worrying whether I am meeting his beauty standards. That's romantic to me. Chad and Tshombe (AfterElton readers) There are certain pivotal moments in a relationship that define the direction the relationship will go. In our exciting, emotional, and slightly tumultuous new relationship of little more than 2 months, we had already talked about moving in together. Still, neither one of us had as yet uttered the L-Word. Chad and Tshombe It was a beautiful Sunday morning in November. Tshombe woke up early and had an agenda, while Chad took the opportunity to sleep in late. While Chad was grading papers, Tshombe phoned to ask if
g_b Gujarat's gay prince to adopt child soon
Gujarat's gay prince to adopt child soon 31 Jan 2008, 0248 hrs IST,Yogesh Pareek,TNN The gay prince, who wants to ensure the lineage does not end with him just because he can't have children, wants to adopt a child and make him the royal heir (TOI Photo) BHARUCH: Gujarat's gay prince of Rajpipla, Manavendrasinh Gohil, who was disinherited by the family for going public about being gay but later taken back into the fold, now wants to carry on the royal bloodline, in a manner of speaking. The gay prince, who wants to ensure the lineage does not end with him just because he can't have children, wants to adopt a child and make him the royal heir. Manavendra hit the headlines recently by going on the Oprah Winfrey Show and proclaiming his homosexuality. The prince was in Rajpipla on Wednesday to perform the annual ritual of garlanding his great-grandfather Vijaysinh Gohil's statue on his 119th birth anniversary. Asked who would continue this tradition after him, he said: I have carried out all my responsibilities as the prince so far and will continue as long as I can. I will also adopt a child soon so that all traditions continue. Manavendra, who is a divorcee, added that adoption was not new for the royal families as many had taken this route in the absence of a legal male heir. The Gohil dynasty itself is a case of adoption. Rajpipla was ruled by the Parmar clan, not the Gohils. But the Parmars at one point did not have a male child. One of the Parmar princesses then married the maharaja of Bhavnagar. One of their sons was adopted by the Parmars giving birth to the Gohil dynasty. But the boy is unlikely to be a complete commoner. Manavendra said it was common in royal families to adopt a child from the extended family. I will also adopt a child from my extended family only. Although there are no known cases of single gay men adopting children in India, advocate Sudhir Nanavati says Manavendra should not have legal hassles in adoption. The law states that one should not have any children before you apply for adoption, he says. There also has to be a respectable age difference between the person wanting to adopt and the child. If these conditions are met, there should be no problem. - Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
g_b Heath Ledger's 'suicide' film
Heath Ledger's 'suicide' film By CARL STROUD Published: 23 Jan 2008 HEATH LEDGER filmed himself commiting suicide in an eerie tribute video to British songwriter NICK DRAKE, who killed himself in 1974. The actor, who was found dead yesterday in a New York apartment with sleeping pills nearby, is seen drowning himself in a bath in the clip he shot for track Black Eyed Dog. The song is about depression, which Ledger is rumoured to have suffered from and is allegedly the last song Drake wrote before overdosing on antidepressants. The film has only been shown twice at a Drake festival in Seattle last Summer and in Los Angeles last October. The clip is owned by the Drake estate, who are currently deciding whether to make it public or not. Ledger was fascinated by the depression-prone singer Drake. He once said: I was obsessed with his story and his music and I pursued it for a while and still have hopes to kind of tell his story one day. - Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
g_b Questions Raised About Safety Of Unprotected Sex
Questions Raised About Safety Of Unprotected Sex by The Associated Press Posted: January 31, 2008 - 3:00 pm ET (Geneva) Swiss AIDS experts said Thursday that some people with HIV who meet strict conditions and are under treatment can safely have unprotected sex with non-infected partners. The proposal astonished AIDS researchers in Europe and North America who have long argued that safe sex with a condom is the single most effective way of preventing the spread of the disease - apart from abstinence. Not only is (the Swiss proposal) dangerous, it's misleading and it is not considering the implications of the biological facts involved with HIV transmission, said Jay Levy, director of the Laboratory for Tumor and AIDS Virus Research at the University of California in San Francisco. The Swiss National AIDS Commission said patients who can satisfy strict conditions, including successful antiretroviral treatment to suppress the virus and who do not have any other sexually transmitted diseases, do not pose a danger to others. The proposal was published this week in the Bulletin of Swiss Medicine. The Swiss scientists took as their starting point a 1999 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which showed that transmission depends strongly on the viral load in the blood. The other studies had also found that patients on regular AIDS treatment did not pass on the virus, and that HIV could not be detected in their genital fluids. Let's be clear, the decision has to remain with the HIV-negative partner, said Pietro Vernazza, head of infectious diseases at the cantonal hospital of St. Gallen in Switzerland and an author of the report. The studies cited by the Swiss commission did not themselves definitively conclude whether people with HIV and on antiretroviral treatment could safely have unprotected sex without passing on the virus. The World Health Organization said Switzerland would be the first country in the world to try this approach. There is still some concern that you can never guarantee that somebody will not be infectious, and the evidence I have to say is not conclusive, said Charlie Gilks, director of AIDS treatment and prevention at WHO. We are not going to be changing in any way our very clear recommendations that people on treatment continue to practice safer sex, including protected sex with a condom, in any relationship, he added. In any case, of the 2 million people worldwide now receiving HIV treatment, only a very small number receive medical care comparable to that in Switzerland, Gilks said. ©365Gay.com 2008 - Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
g_b Remembering Heath Ledger ( Brokeback Mountain )
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g_b 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Turns 15
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Turns 15 Monday, Jan. 28, 2008 By MARK THOMPSON/WASHINGTON Joan Derrah, a lesbian who kept her sexual orientation to herself during her Naval career, recalls how the don't ask, don't tell policy led to a rise in interest regarding homosexuality among the ranks. SLDN It was 15 years ago, Tuesday, that President Clinton rolled out the policy that came to be known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which relaxed the long-standing bar against gay men and women serving in the U.S. military. While the move was initially hailed as progress for the rights of gays in the military, today many see it as a liability. Her Navy career had been relatively stress-free before Don't Ask, Don't Tell took effect, says Joan Darrah, a retired captain, and a lesbian, who served in various intelligence billets from 1972 to 2002. She kept her sexual orientation secret during her career, but that denial took its toll after Don't Ask, Don't Tell led to increased focus on homosexuality in the ranks. She recalls having to administer a survey on the topic to 250 subordinates in the wake of the new policy. We all sat down taking this survey asking, 'Do you know a gay person, and, if you did, what would you do?' Dannah recalls. I was physically sick after I did it I went into the bathroom and threw up because of the stress of standing in front of the command and saying, 'We're now doing a survey about gays in the military.' The issue exploded during Clinton's first week as President, triggered by those in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill opposed to his campaign pledge to reverse an executive order barring gays and lesbians from serving. The issue is whether men and women who can and have served with real distinction should be excluded from military service solely on the basis of their status, Clinton said at the time. And I believe they should not. While the phrase don't ask, don't tell wasn't used at that January 29, 1993, press conference, that's what everyone soon began calling the policy. It boiled down to this: the government would no longer ask recruits if they were gay, and so long as military personnel didn't tell anyone of their sexual preference and didn't engage in homosexual acts they were free to serve. But, by the end of 1993, opponents of the change, led by Georgia Democrat Sam Nunn, who chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee, succeeded in writing into law the ban on openly gay men and lesbians in uniform. Barring the pre-enlistment question about homosexuality was the only compromise Congress let Clinton get away with, says Elaine Donnelly, president of the non-profit Center for Military Readiness which supports continuing the ban. The law respects the power of sexuality and the normal human desire for modesty in sexual matters. Writing Don't Ask, Don't Tell into law meant that no new President can eliminate the ban without first convincing a majority of Congress to go along a far higher hurdle than Clinton faced. All the Democratic candidates favor lifting the ban; the G.O.P. candidates support keeping it. I think President Clinton meant well, but when he set out to implement his vision he ran into a buzz saw, says Aubrey Sarvis, an ex-GI and executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a nonprofit group dedicating to lifting the ban. I see very few, if any, good things about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' it means you have to lie or deceive every day. About 12,000 service members have been booted from the military since the law took effect, including dozens of Arabic speakers whose skills are particularly prized by the military since the advent of the war on terror. While the number discharged for their sexuality has fallen from 1,273 in 2001 to 612 in 2006, Pentagon officials insist they are applying the law as fairly as ever. Gay-rights advocates disagree, suggesting the military pressed for personnel amid an unpopular war is willing to ignore sexual orientation when recruiting becomes more difficult. Last May, a CNN poll found that 79 percent of Americans feel that homosexuals should be allowed to serve in the military. But Americans in the military seem less friendly to the idea of junking the ban. A 2006 opinion poll by the independent Military Times newspapers showed that only 30% of those surveyed think openly gay people should serve, while 59% are opposed. I don't think they'll succeed, but I think they'll try, Donnelly says of the Democrats' efforts to repeal the ban. Darrah, the retired Navy officer, says success depends on who moves into the Oval Office a year from now. I believe if we get a Democratic President we'll get rid of the ban, says Darrah, who is backing Hillary Clinton's bid for the White House. The younger generation doesn't care one bit. - Be a better friend, newshound, and
g_b Resistant Bacteria, Football Players and Gay Men
Resistant Bacteria, Football Players and Gay Men January 28, 2008, 6:38 am Recent media reports about a new strain of resistant bacteria among men in San Francisco angered national gay rights groups concerned that the reports would create hysteria and a backlash against gay men. The university researchers who first announced the problem even issued an apology, saying their press release about the original study contained some information that could be interpreted as misleading. Football players are at risk for infections from drug-resistant bacteria. (Credit: Julie Jacobson/Associated Press) Now, the online magazine Salon.com has weighed in on the controversy. In a humorous essay, the magazine makes a serious point its not just gay men who are at risk for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a potentially fatal bacterial infection that killed two schoolchildren last fall. The article starts by quoting a 2005 study in The New England Journal of Medicine. According to the medical journal, MRSA affects men who had frequent contact with others and often did not shower before using communal whirlpools. The article blames factors such as compromised skin and close skin-to-skin contact.' But then Salon delivers the punchline. When it comes to spreading the bacteria, it is not homosexuals we have to worry about .The medical researchers were not studying gays, they were studying the St. Louis Rams. That is correct: football players; in particular, linebackers. The article goes on to quote the New England Journal report. In our investigation, infection occurred only among linemen and linebackers, and not among those in backfield positions, probably because of the frequent contact among linemen during practice and games .All MRSA skin abscesses developed at sites of turf burns. The magazine points out that all football people are not that clean.' The New England Journal researchers observed a lack of regular access to hand hygiene for trainers who provided wound care; skipping of showers by players before the use of communal whirlpools; and sharing of towels all factors that might facilitate the transmission of infection in this setting. While it is true that clusters of MRSA have been identified among men who have sex with men, it has also been found in areas where people share close quarters, such as military barracks and prisons. Athletes also are at risk. In 1998, The Archives of Internal Medicine published a report on MRSA among high school wrestlers. Last fall, The Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine published a report calling MRSA the latest sports epidemic. According to that report: Clusters of cases in various athletic teams, particularly contact sports, have been reported since 1993 in the United States and more recently in Canada. Community-associated MRSA infections are not limited to North America, and all athletes are considered high risk. Skin-to-skin contact appears to be the primary mode of transmission. This doesnt mean athletes should panic about MRSA; nor should gay men or anybody else for that matter. The bottom line is that everyone needs to pay attention to hygiene, wash hands often, limit the sharing of personal items and seek medical attention when a blemish or pimple seems to get worse quickly. - Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
g_b Gays Join Heath Ledger Mourners, Autopsy Inconclusive
Gays Join Heath Ledger Mourners, Autopsy Inconclusive by The Associated Press Posted: January 23, 2008 - 10:30 am ET (New York City) An autopsy on Heath Ledger was inconclusive, and more tests are needed, the medical examiner's office said Wednesday, a day after the 28-year-old actor was found dead with sleeping pills nearby. It will take about 10 days to complete the investigation, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner. Earlier, police said the death was caused by a possible drug overdose and appeared to be accidental. Fans left flowers and candles outside the apartment building in Manhattan's SoHo where the body of the Oscar-nominated star of Brokeback Mountain was found. Khaled Ali, 41, a stage manager for a Broadway show, dropped off a candle on his way to work. He said he and his fellow cast members were devastated by the news of Ledger's death. I felt a connection with him as an actor, as a fellow in the theater community, he said. With `Brokeback Mountain' he touched me personally in telling the story of my community. It was very touching. Ledger was known for grueling, intense roles that became his trademark after he got his start in teen movies like 10 Things I Hate About You. The Australian-born actor was found dead Tuesday by his housekeeper and masseuse - lying naked and face-down at the foot of his bed, with prescription sleeping pills nearby, police said. It was a shocking end to a career built on unpredictability. Ledger avoided the safe path in favor of roles that forced him to bury his Australian accent and downplay his leading-man looks: a tormented gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain, a drug addict in Candy, an incarnation of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. In what may be his final finished performance, he took a rare role in a guaranteed summer blockbuster, playing Batman's nemesis, the Joker, in the upcoming The Dark Knight. But the role was nothing he could phone in; it forced him to re-brand a character last played on the big screen by Jack Nicholson. I had such great hope for him, Mel Gibson, who played Ledger's father in The Patriot, said in a statement. He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss. Ledger split last year with Michelle Williams, who played his wife on the set of Brokeback Mountain. The two had a daughter, the now 2-year-old Matilda, and had lived together in Brooklyn's Boerum Hill neighborhood. Early Wednesday, Williams and Matilda left Trollhattan, Sweden, where the 27-year-old actress had been shooting scenes for the upcoming film Mammoth, said Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film. She received the news at her hotel late last night, Stromberg said, adding he had not spoken to the actress after she learned of Ledger's death. The actor's personal strife was accompanied by professional anxiety. Ledger said in an interview in November that Dark Knight and last year's I'm Not There, took a heavy toll. He said he stressed out a little too much during the Dylan film, and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy. Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night, Ledger told The New York Times. I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going. He said he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour. News of Ledger's death spread quickly, from the crowd of 300 people that gathered Tuesday outside his Manhattan apartment to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where those with close ties to the actor included Naomi Watts, who dated him after they met on the set of Lords of Dogtown, a fictionalized story about the birth of modern skateboarding. Ledger was born in 1979 in the western Australian city of Perth to a mining engineer and a French teacher, and got his first acting role playing Peter Pan at age 10 at a local theater company. He began acting in independent films as a 16-year-old in Sydney and played a cyclist hoping to land a spot on an Olympic team in a 1996 television show, Seat. Speaking in Perth, Ledger's father called the actor's death tragic, untimely and accidental. Kim Ledger called his son down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving, unselfish and extremely inspirational to many. Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life, he said. Please now respect our family's need to grieve and come to terms with our loss privately. After several independent films, Ledger moved to Los Angeles at age 19 and starred opposite Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You, a reworking of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Offers for other teen flicks came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he didn't like. It wasn't a hard decision for me, Ledger
g_b Cameroon Sentences Three To Hard Labor For Being Gay
Cameroon Sentences Three To Hard Labor For Being Gay by The Associated Press Posted: January 16, 2008 - 1:00 pm ET (Yaounde) A Cameroonian court has sentenced three men accused of being homosexuals to six months hard labor, their attorney Alice Nkom said on Wednesday. Lazare Baeeg, Emmanuel Balep and Tony Dikongue were arrested last August and have already spent nearly six months in detention at a prison in Douala, Cameroon's port city. Under Cameroon's penal code, homosexuality is a crime carrying a maximum penalty of three years in jail and a fine of up to 200,000 African francs (USD$450). Several countries in Africa, notably Nigeria, treat homosexuality as a punishable crime. Following the Douala high court's decision, their defense attorney Nkom said she was filing an appeal. None of these people were caught in homosexual act, so the court cannot condemn them for something they never did, she argued. She said these people have already suffered innocently so they need to be released, since they have already spent nearly six months in prison cells without trial. ©365Gay.com 2008 - Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
g_b Pride and prejudice
Pride and prejudice2008-01-14 07:26:46.0Xie FangPride and [EMAIL PROTECTED]/enpproperty-- By Xie Fang (China Daily) Updated: 2008-01-14 07:26 Two bold young men kiss each other during a kissing contest held by a Beijing department store on the Valentine's Day in 2006. Li Fangyu Three homosexual Chinese tell of the challenge they face, and their hopes for a day when they will no longer be judged. Name: Tong Ge Age: 57 Occupation: Writer and independent researcher Tong Ge was married to a woman for more than 20 years, and has raised a son. But Tong is gay. If I could turn back time, I would never have married a woman, he sighs. Even though my wife has forgiven me, I cannot forgive myself, and feel guilty all the time. Tong says he has been attracted to the same sex since he was a boy. The son of a rich family, Tong was sent to the countryside to learn from farmers during the cultural revolution (1966-76). His best friend, a former classmate, was willing to follow him. No matter how tough the living conditions got, no matter how poor they were, they were always deeply attached to each other. One day after both had been drinking, they had sex for the first time. It had never crossed our mind that we were gay, and also we had no idea how to define our behavior, Tong recalls. Two years later, his friend was called to the city. It would be the darkest moment in Tong's life - having to say farewell to his first lover. It might sound silly nowadays, he says with a laugh. But I have missed him a lot over the years. At age 27, Tong went back to the city, where he was astonished to discover scores of secret places where gay men met at night, such as public parks and toilets. According to Tong, the phenomenon emerged in the mid-1970s when the cultural revolution had yet to come to an end. The more you try to oppress sex, the more resistance will rise up, he explains. He says that men rarely used condoms at the time. They were not available in any shops. Only the birth control offices of Stated-owned companies had them, and of course it was impossible for us to ask, he says. Tong declined to explain what drove him to tie the knot, except to say in the past, it was right and proper to get married when people reached a certain age. Tortured by his double life, Tong studied various medical books, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Finding no answers, he decided that the only way he could live with himself was to confess to his wife. I thought she would be furious after I told her, he recalls. However, she said that she had known it for a long time. Tong was waiting for his wife to ask for a divorce, but she chose to stay with him. He says that despite their past difficulties, their relationship remains strong. A lot of Chinese gay men have had similar experiences, he says. As an independent researcher, Tong has devoted himself to the academic study of homosexuality, not only from a social perspective, but also how to best combat AIDS. My goal is to make a general report on Chinese gay relationships, he says Name: Ruo Zhe Age: 33 Occupation: Webmaster of the first gay website www.gztz.org in China Ruo Zhe used to think he was a monster, because of his attraction to the same sex. He even tried having a girlfriend at university, even though he knew that he felt nothing for her. It's like your left hand touching your right hand, Ruo says. The Beijing native decided to leave for Guangzhou after graduating from university, partly because there were job prospects and partly because he didn't want his parents to discover the truth. In 1997, he spent all his savings on a computer, which led him to a bigger world than he had ever imagined. By visiting foreign websites, I realized that I was not the only gay man in the world, he says. In order to meet other gay men, Ruo put his personal information both in English and Chinese on the Internet. A few months later, someone responded. Rather than feeling overjoyed, Ruo says that the prospect of meeting anyone face to face was terrifying. I do care about being called a gay man in public, therefore emails are safer for me, he admits. Eventually he met more men after being taken by a foreign friend to a local gay bar. I was shocked to see so many people there. It seemed like a totally different world, where people all looked so relaxed, chatting and smiling, he says. Ruo then launched the first Chinese website for gay people at the end of 1998, which aims to provide a platform for people to meet each other. The website offers news, health tips, entertainment listings and overviews of gay and lesbian communities in other countries. Despite being the only full-time staff, Ruo says hundreds of people have offered to help out. The current registered membership has grown rapidly and now stands at 220,000. According to Ruo, most
g_b Morocco Imprisons 6 For Homosexuality
Morocco Imprisons 6 For Homosexuality by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Posted: January 16, 2008 - 1:00 am ET (Rabat) An appeals court has upheld the convictions of six men who prosecutors had claimed took part in a gay wedding. After a video of what authorities claimed was a man in a dress dancing at the wedding appeared on the internet people in the northern town of Ksar el Kebir identified the six for police. When the video and arrests became public in the Moroccan media Moslem faithful demonstrated in the streets demanding harsh sentences. Homosexuality in Morocco is punishable with prison terms ranging up to three years. All six pleaded not guilty at their trial. Western human rights groups who monitored the proceeding said they were convicted on flimsy evidence. It also was not determined if any of the men were gay or transgendered. The man said to have been the organizer was convicted of homosexuality and serving liquor illegally. He was sentenced to 10 months. The others received six month sentences. The appeals court examined the evidence and upheld the convictions but reduced the sentences for five of the six. The alleged organizer's sentence was held but sentences for the five purported partiers were reduced to four months but could be released earlier. Amnesty International called the convictions a travesty and called for the immediate release of all six. The group also said it was concerned about the personal safety of the men after they are freed. The public controversy sparked by this case in Morocco begs for an urgent review of the country's discriminatory laws which criminalize homosexuality, said Philip Luther, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa program at Amnesty International. We urge the Moroccan government to drop the charges that contravene Morocco's obligations under international human rights law. ©365Gay.com 2008 - Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
g_b Amnesty Demands Release of Six Facing Jail for Being Presumed to be Gay
MOROCCO Amnesty Demands Release of Six Facing Jail for Being Presumed to be Gay YouTube gay party video shown at original trial LONDON, January 4, 2008 Amnesty International today called on its 2.2 million members worldwide to write to the Moroccan authorities demanding the release of six men who are facing jail because of their presumed sexuality. The six were convicted on 10 December under Article 489 of the Moroccan Penal Code for lewd of unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex a video posted on the internet website YouTube was used as part of the prosecution. Their appeal hearing begins on Tuesday January 8. Fouad Friret and five other men were arrested following public denunciations that a private party held by the men on 18 and 19 November in Ksar El Kebir, a small city in northern Morocco, was simulating a gay marriage. A video of the party was circulated on YouTube and prompted some local newspapers and Islamist parties to denounce perverse acts and to call for the participants in the party to be punished. Hundreds of angry local inhabitants took to the streets and on one occasion marched to the house where the private party had been held, which led Fouad Friret, the house owner, to take refuge at the local police station. At the trial, all six men maintained their innocence of the charges. All denied that they had engaged in same-sex sexual relations during the party. The YouTube video was broadcast at the trial but did not present any evidence of lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex. Despite the lack of evidence, the men were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms and fines. Three men were sentenced to six months imprisonment and two others to four months imprisonment. Fouad Friret was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment on account of homosexual conduct and for allegedly selling alcohol illegally. The fact that the six men were convicted purely on rumour shows how prevalent homophobia is in Morocco, said Tim Hancock, campaigns director at Amnesty International UK: Amnesty International considers the use of laws to imprison individuals for same-sex relations as a grave violation of their fundamental human rights. Amnesty has called for their sentences to be overturned and is calling on its members across the world to email or fax the Moroccan embassy demanding their immediate release. - Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
g_b Harsh becomes a gay designer!
Harsh Chayya (TOI Photo) Harsh becomes a gay designer! 6 Jan 2008, hrs IST,TNN Director Madhur Bhandarkar has finally found his gay designer for Fashion. And guess whos finalised for the role? Harsh Chhaya! Harsh, no doubt, is a good actor, but because of his serious image on screen, it does come as a surprise that hell be playing a gay designer. I put in a lot of effort to get this role, smiles Harsh. I first read somewhere that Madhur was looking for an actor to play this character. I got in touch with him and told him I could do a very good job. But things didnt work out then. Later someone from his office told me there was nothing gay about me so maybe I didnt suit the role! Thats when Harsh planned a getup for himself. He bought a wig, some clothes to go with the look and screen-tested himself. I edited it myself and made a 5-minute DVD which I gave Madhur along with some stills. I just told him to watch it for my sake. It did not matter if he cast me or not, says Harsh. In five days, he was finalised for the role! So why was he so keen on this particular role? Its something totally different from what I have done so far. For an actor, its the body of work that matters. I want to do varied roles. The roles I played in Laaga Chunari Main Daag and earlier Corporate were very different too. Theres another film Mithiya where I play a gangster. He adds, There are very few opportunities of this kind available to an actor in a span of his career. I saw one here and I had to at least try for it for my own sake. Apart from his own effort, Harsh also highlights the directors openness in giving him a chance. Nowadays successful directors have no time for anyone and often theyve already made up their mind about who to cast. But Madhur gave me the opportunity to put across myself. Thats commendable about him. Meanwhile, Harsh continues to balance work on the big and small screen. On TV currently, he is seen in Ghar Ek Sapna and Love Story. And his effort to do different kinds of roles continues whichever the medium. - Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
g_b Researcher: Gay Men Behave Like Women
Researcher: Gay Men Behave Like Women by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Posted: January 3, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET (London) Gay men navigate in a similar way to women, according to a new study from researchers at Queen Mary, University of London. In a new study published this week in the journal Hippocampus, Dr Qazi Rahman, from Queen Marys School of Biological and Chemical Sciences used virtual reality scenarios to investigate if spatial learning and memory in humans can be linked to sexual orientation. Differences in spatial learning and memory - our ability to record and recall information about our environment - are common between men and women. It has been shown that men consistently outperform women on tasks requiring navigation and discovering hidden objects; whereas women are more successful at tests which require them to remember where those objects lie in a particular space. This is the first study to investigate if those differences are also true for gay, lesbian and straight individuals. Dr Rahman used virtual reality stimulations of two common tests of spatial learning and memory, designed by researchers at Yale University. In the Morris Water Maze test (MWM), participants found themselves in a virtual pool and had to escape as quickly as possible using spatial clues in the virtual room to find a hidden platform. In the Radial Arm Maze test (RAM), participants had to traverse eight arms from a circular junction to find hidden rewards. Four of the arms contained a reward, four did not. Dr Rahman and his research assistant, Johanna Koerting, found that during the MWM test gay men and straight women took longer to find the hidden platform than did straight men. However, both gay and straight men spent more of their dwelling time in the area where the hidden platform actually was, compared to straight and lesbian women. Dr Rahman explains: Not only did straight men get started on the MWM test more quickly than gay men and the two female groups, they also maintained that advantage throughout the test. This might mean that sexual orientation affects the speed at which you acquire spatial information, but not necessarily your eventual memory for that spatial information. In previous studies we have also found that gay men tend to use similar navigation strategies to women, like using land-marks, and we now want to explore whether navigation strategies on these virtual navigation tasks are also the same for gay men and women. In particular, we are interested in whether heterosexual men are using a unique strategy from their first attempt at traversing a new environment, which accounts for why they are so quick off the mark. The researchers also found that gay and straight men were similar in their performance on the Radial Arm Maze. This suggests that sexual variation in spatial cognition is not straightforward gay people appear to show a mosaic of performance, parts of which are male-like and other parts of which are female-like, adds Rahman. Dr Rahman also commented that it would be interesting to see if these sexual differences change with age. We know that spatial ability declines more rapidly in men with age than in women, and this might be related to changing hormone profiles. This may have some relevance to sex differences in ageing-related diseases of cognitive functioning, such as dementia. If we can understand more about how people of different sexes and sexualities differ in spatial performance, we might be able to tailor cognitive remediation therapies more effectively to specific groups within an ageing population. ©365Gay.com 2008 - Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
g_b Iraq Prisoner Amnesty To Exclude Gays
Iraq Prisoner Amnesty To Exclude Gays by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Posted: January 2, 2008 - 11:00 am ET (Baghdad) The Iraq government is considering the release of some 5,000 prisoners but a spokesperson said it would not include terrorists or homosexuals. The Iraqi government has about 20,000 people in custody, while the U.S. military holds about 25,000. Homosexuality itself is not illegal in Iraq, but police regularly arrest gays on other charges often trumped up. The amnesty bill drafted by the Shiite-dominated government falls far short of Sunni demands. About the only thing on which the two sides agree is that imprisoned gays not be freed. The amnesty would cover less than a quarter of the total number of people held in Iraqi prisons, and none of those held by the American military. Sunni parliamentarians have criticized the bill for its limited scope. They have argued that most prisoners are charged with terrorist crimes, rendering it ineffective. Some also fear referring the bill to Iraq's gridlocked parliament will actually delay prisoner releases. The total number of gays being held is not known. And, they may be the lucky ones, according to some LGBT activists. Death squads imposing strict Islamic law are reportedly responsible for the murders of hundreds of gay men across Iraq. Last year the leader of an exiled Iraqi LGBT rights group told a London conference on homophobia that that militias blamed for the murders of hundreds of gay men and women are sanctioned by the government and the US-led coalition is doing little to stop the killings. Ali Hili said that the Badr and Sadr militias - the armed wings of the two main Shia parties that control the government of Iraq - are routinely rounding up men and women, primarily in Baghdad, suspected of being gay. The men and women are never heard from again. Five members of Hili's own group were taken away in November of 2006. About a dozen members of Rainbow For Life, another Iraqi LGBT group also have been seized and are presumed dead. Another 70 have been threatened with kidnapping Rainbow For Life has said. In 2006 the Iraq government strongly criticized a U.N. report on human rights that put its civilian death toll in 2006 at 34,452, saying it is superficial because it included people such as homosexuals. ©365Gay.com 2008 - Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
g_b When the Intolerant Kill Christmas: My Gay Friend's Holiday Story
When the Intolerant Kill Christmas: My Gay Friend's Holiday StoryPosted December 24, 2007 Steve Clemons A very close friend of mine just came out to his brother as a gay man. He did the same with his mother about ten months ago -- and it didn't go well. . .with either of them. He's a former soldier who worked on some of the most classified missions the military had going -- and despite my criticism of the Bush administration on its invasion of Iraq, I know that my friend had a hand in successfully delivering some of the world's real bad guys to the next world -- both in Afghanistan and Iraq. He reads my blog -- and he has kept an open mind about some of my criticisms of this administration and the national security course it has been on. But his mother and brother have tried to tell him that if he's gay -- he must not believe in God, he must be a reprobate and must be such a deviant that his brother told him that he will never give him a moment's rest and peace about this issue. My friend is earnest, a patriot, sober, sane -- and he's being betrayed in America by a lack of the kind of tolerance and modernity that our society is supposed to be about. Iran and any place under the control of the Taliban hang, stone, or castrate gay youth. Egypt imprisons them. In middle America, the intolerant who somehow have decided to channel a vindictive, judgmental, and sin-obsessed Christ harass, disown -- and in the case of young Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming or active duty sailor Allen Schindler -- kill them. I hate to hold Dick Cheney and his wife out as models, but I'm absolutely going to in this case. Cheney is convinced of how right he is in matters of war and state -- but when it came to family, Cheney and his wife evolved. I know that he does not harass his daughter Mary. He accepts her, her partner, and his grandchild. This is my personal message to my friend's mother and brother. Your son has options. He has friends and a family he can surround himself with until the end of his days as he is a prince of a person whether you see it through your judgmental eyes or not. I'm sure when Lynn Cheney was not yet ready to broadcast discussion about her daughter being a lesbian -- she was privately tormented. The fact that her daughter. . .that's right. . .the Vice President of the United States' daughter was homosexual -- took time to accept. But they did it. They remained a family, and I credit them for privately demonstrating tolerance in a way that should influence the most theocratic corners of the nation. I have friends that argue that Mary Cheney hasn't done enough -- but she and her family are one -- and that's enough in my view. And it should be in the case of my friend's family. Your views about your brother and son can't even be called Medieval -- because as we have recently learned, Medieval knights, lords, and nobility committed themselves to each other in property and love in much the way that civil unions are emerging today. You think your brother and son chose a lifestyle that he has tried not to accept for years -- to the point of considering ending his life. He made no choice. But you are. You are choosing to reject him and who he decides to be. If Cheney accepts his daughter and her partner, you should think about why you refuse to do the same. Why aren't you able to join our modern world? Theocracy -- when it harms rather then helps -- is no better here than it is over there. Merry Christmas, and if you get a chance during your lives to visit the site where Matthew Shepherd was brutally killed, I want you to think real hard about who is saved and who is not. By the way, I forgive you -- but your son is going to live a good life whether or not you accept him for the great man he is. I hope that something in this note may be useful to many of the others emotionally abandoned or victimized by a righteousness that has lost its bearings. - Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
g_b Don��t Leave Iranian Gays Abandoned
IRAN Don¡¯t Leave Iranian Gays Abandoned By Mehdi The following was written by a 19-years-old gay Iranian who tells how, while he was a student in London, his boyfriend back home was executed for being gay. Mehdi says he was scared of returning home and meeting the same fate when his student visa expired last year ¨C and of his asylum application to the Home Office. His article is based on his written statement accompanying the application from last year. Parts have been deleted for his safety and are clearly shown. A few minor corrections have been made to his English for reasons of clarity and are indicated in italics. I am an Iranian national, was born on [deleted] 1988, in Tehran. I am Shia Muslim. I have one sister. I have lived all my life with my parents and sister until I came to the UK [in September] 2005. My father owns [deleted]. I attended primary school called [deleted], in Tehran for five years. I was 12 years of age when I started my secondary school called [deleted] School. When I finished my secondary school I started my high school called [deleted]. I was 17 years old when it was decided that I should study in the UK. My father made all arrangements for me to come to the UK to study. I was granted six months student visa until March 2006. In February 2006, I decided to continue my studies and extended my student visa until November 2006. When I arrived in the UK, I began my English course at Leicester Square School of English in London. For the first two months I lived with my uncle in London. I then moved to Brighton and joined Embassy CES College in Hove. When I was in Iran I did not have any problems. However, I used to have a male partner whom I used to meet secretly. I was 15 years old when I started dating one of my class mates in school. His name was Parham. He was also Iranian and we used to spend a lot of time together. I had just turned 15 years of age when I found out that I was sexually attracted men. I was very scared of this feeling and did not tell anyone about it. Parham was my best friend and one day he told me that he was attracted towards men and not women. When he told me that I started feeling comfortable with him and decided to tell him that I felt the same, we were 15 years of age when we decided to start our relationship. We used to meet everyday in school and sometimes out side school, in cinema or park. We started having sex about eight months after dating each other. We used to meet either in his house or my house when there was no one around. No one knew about our relationship. Everyone believed that we were best friends and nothing more than that. Very rarely did he visit our house. My parents knew him as I used to spend a lot of time with him. We were very scared of our relationship. But I had strong feeling towards him and could not stop meeting him. We had decided to keep our relationship a secret. We continued our relationship as I knew that if any one from the government had found out about our relationship we would be executed. When my father decided that I must study in the UK, I was sad that I was leaving Parham behind in Iran. But I knew that I could return to Iran during my college holiday and after I had completed my studies in the UK. The thought of returning to Iran gave me the courage to leave Parham behind. When I came to the UK, I was in touch with him via email. We used to email each other almost once a week. He used to tell me that the situation in Iran is getting worse and there is more restriction on people and we used to write about general issues. We missed each other a lot and I wanted to return Iran at the end of my studies. Around December 2005, Parham stopped emailing me. I wrote about two three emails to him but he did not reply. I thought that this was maybe because he was outside Tehran or did not have access to internet. Towards the end March 2006, my uncle in the UK called me and informed me that my father had called and informed him about my male partner in Iran. He further informed me that Parham was arrested by the authorities in Iran and he had mentioned my name to the government of Iran. The authorities had been to my father¡¯s house looking for me and my father was very shocked and scared about the whole situation. My uncle is an opened minded man and has lived in the UK most of his life and was not angry with me about this issue, as I had expected him to be. However, he informed me that my father was very angry with me and had informed my uncle that I must return to Iran as he wanted to beat me up. I was very scared and my uncle advised me that I must not return because I am in trouble with my father and the authorities. He told me that I must try to find a way for me to stay in the UK as my life would be in danger if I had return to Iran. He told me that I must wait for his call.
g_b Does Rule of Law Govern Iran?
Does Rule of Law Govern Iran? By: DUNCAN OSBORNE 12/13/2007 Hours before Makwan Moloudzadeh was killed by the Iranian government, Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch (HRW), issued a press release saying the Iranian government should prevent the execution. Moloudzadeh, 21, was arrested in 2006 and charged with raping three other young men seven years earlier. Though his alleged accusers withdrew their charges and Moloudzadeh said his confession was coerced, he was convicted in June and sentenced to death in July. HRW, Amnesty International, and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) had made appeals to senior Iranian government officials and believed that they had won a reprieve, perhaps only temporarily, of the sentence. I think that was the dominant perception, said Ariel Herrera, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Human Rights Program at Amnesty International USA. It was a reprieve, it was not an overturning. The chief justice had reviewed the case and had said to the courts that the sentence was not valid, said Paula L. Ettelbrick, IGLHRC's executive director. The local court is not required to follow what he said... but the chief justice does have the power to set the parameters of the law. On December 3, HRW was told by Moloudzadeh's lawyer that the execution would go forward even though the required judicial review had not been completed, the group said in a press statement. This made the killing that much more shocking because it appeared that despite the efforts of human rights groups and a ruling from a senior government official, a lower level Iranian bureaucrat was able to drag Moloudzadeh from his cell and hang him in the prison court yard on December 5. It just took my breath away and obviously it makes us all stand back a bit and re-evaluate for every single case that comes up what our role will be, Ettelbrick said. The Moloudzadeh case may be an example of an extra-judicial killing, effectively a murder by an official of the Iranian government. We are still investigating what really happened on the judicial level to determine if this execution was legal or not, said an Iran researcher at HRW. We are investigating this to see if this was legal even within their framework. The researcher travels to Iran and asked to remain anonymous to avoid being barred by the Iranian government in the future. Making the case even murkier, on December 11 a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary claimed that the chief justice had never issued an order challenging the sentence, the Iran researcher said. The killing has been questioned by Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Angela Merkle, the German chancellor, the French government, and the head of the European Union. In the Moloudzadeh case, the events in Iran looks more like a story out of an American western where a lynch mob decides the fate of a prisoner than a nation that is ruled by laws. And that raises an inevitable question about the work these human rights groups do. Implicit in their approach is the view that any government they appeal to can enforce any decision it makes. In the Moloudzadeh case, it would seem that the Iranian government could not do that. Moloudzadeh, however sad an instance, is only one case and human rights groups say they have had other successes in Iran, particularly fighting for women and students. The Iran researcher said that, at times, the Iranian government had arrested women and student activists and held the prospect of prosecution over their heads. Pressure from rights groups led to a quicker resolution of those cases. We've had some successes that we can point to, the researcher said. We've been told by activists on the ground that cases are resolved more quickly. One approach they have clearly rejected is to tie a gay identity to individuals like Moloudzadeh and organize any lesbian and gay community response around opposing the killing of young gay men because they are gay. Prior to the killing, Long, who did not respond to three calls and an email seeking comment, attached a personal note to a press release on the case saying that HRW was communicating with Moloudzadeh's family and lawyer. Some of them are grateful that the speculation that he is 'gay' has mobilized some supporters in the West, Long wrote And they are also concerned about Iranian authorities being besieged by well-meaning but ill-thought personal appeals describing him as 'gay.' Please, please, think before acting, and let us not put our egos and our identity politics before a young man's life. Long, joined by some gay Iranian expatriates, battled with Western gay activists in 2005 and 2006 over representations of Ayaz Marhoni, 18, and Mahmoud Asgari, whose age was given as 16 or 17, as two young gay men
g_b The Year in Gay Books: Mouse Soars, J.K. scores and more!
The Year in Gay Books: Mouse Soars, J.K. scores and more! by Jesse Monteagudo December 12, 2007 For gay books, 2007 was the best of times and the worst of times. Setbacks in the gay publishing industry did not keep good gay books from being published or good gay writers from doing what they do best, but several gay publishers and one gay book club went, or are going, out of business. Here are the literary highs and lows of the year along with our choices for the author of the year, the top five books of the year and other assorted honors passed out with bright, shiny holiday bows. Author of the Year Entertainment Weekly recently named J. K. Rowling its Entertainer of the Year, no surprise considering the huge success of Rowlings Harry Potter books. Almost as famous within the gay book world is Armistead Maupin, the beloved author of the Tales of the City series. This year Maupin came back strong with his seventh Tales of the City volume, Michael Tolliver Lives (although Maupin really doesnt consider it a Tales sequel). It is the present-day story of Tales Michael Tolliver, now a 54-year old gardener and AIDS survivor. MTL allows us to catch up with other characters from the Tales series and introduces us to some new ones, including Michaels much younger lover. For bringing the much beloved Michael and his friends back, we name Armistead Maupin our Gay Author of the Year. The Top Five Books of the Year As youll read below, many good gay books were published in 2007. Picking only five is difficult, not to mention arbitrary, but here are our five. 1. All: A James Broughton Reader (White Crane Press). 2. Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman (Farrar, Straus Giroux). 3. The Child by Sarah Schulman (Carroll Graf). 4. Gay Artists In Modern American Culture: An Imagined Conspiracy by Michael Sherry (University of North Carolina Press). 5. Man to Man: A History of Gay Photography by Pierre Borhan (Vendome Press). Best Gay News of the Year: Dumbledore is Gay! In the literary outing of the century, J.K. Rowling caused a post-publication stir last October when she told a Carnegie Hall audience that Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is gay. Rowlings post-publication revelation surprised many, since Dumbledores sexual orientation was never mentioned in any of the Potter books (though there were those readers who suspected). In a world where most books, plays, movies, television shows and music videos are 100% heterosexual, it is refreshing that Rowling allows the existence of homosexuality in her literary universe. And the impact of having the author of the bestselling book of 2007 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows put her stamp of approval on gay characters in childrens literature is hard to underestimate. Best of all, the news also validated many LGBT Potter fans and upset a fair few of the bigots. Whats not to love about that? Best Mens Fiction (tie) The Child by Sarah Schulman (Carroll Graf) Though Sarah Schulman is best known for her lesbian novels, The Child should be read by every gay man. It is the story of Stew, a gay teen led to commit murder when his adult online lover, David, is charged with pedophilia. Though Stew is deemed too young to consent to sex, he is tried for murder as an adult, and sentenced to 70 years in prison. The Child tells the story of Stew and of Eva, the lesbian lawyer who agrees to represent David at his own trial. It is also an indictment of our sorry criminal justice system. First Person Plural by Andrew Beierle (Kensington) This is not the kind of book one would expect from the author of the frothy The Winter of Our Discotheque. Gay Owen and straight Porter are conjoined twins who have two heads and hearts but share one (admittedly hot) body. When Porter marries Faith, Owen falls in love with her closeted brother Chase, leading to all sorts of complications. The plight of a gay conjoined twin has never been dealt with before (as least as far as I know) and Beierle has made it the theme of a very interesting and thought-provoking novel. Best Mens Memoir and Autobiography The Grand Surprise: The Journals of Leo Lerman (Knopf) Leo Lerman (1914-1994) was a notable writer, critic, editor (Condé Nast) and bon vivant: a man who was in Whos Who and knew whats what. Though Lerman never wrote his memoirs, he kept a journal throughout his busy life. These journals, now published, give us with an intimate look at New Yorks arts and social scene for much of the 20th century. Best Mens Biography The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein by Martin Duberman (Knopf) In Lincoln Kirstein (1907-1996), Martin Duberman has found a subject worthy of his talents: patron of the arts, founder of the New York City Ballet and other institutions, and friend of the rich and
g_b EU Leaders Sign First International Treaty Guaranteeing Gay Civil Rights
EU Leaders Sign First International Treaty Guaranteeing Gay Civil Rights by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Posted: December 12, 2007 - 3:00 pm ET (Strasbourg, France) The European Union has become the first international body to have a treaty containing explicit language prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of signed Wednesday at a ceremony in Strasbourg, seat of the European Parliament. Parliamentary President Hans-Gert Poettering, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, and the current head of the Council of EU member states, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates put their signatures to the document amid cheers from some member states and jeers from others. Britain and Poland had wanted the charter put to a referendum and have refused to sign onto the document. The Charter brings together into a single document all of the separate EU laws and regulations on human-rights but despite the fanfare it has no legal force. That will only happen when the parliaments of all 27 member states ratify a concord called the Lisbon Treaty that reforms the way the EU operates. The International Lesbian and Gay Association - Europe hailed the Charter on Wednesday and urged member states to ratify the Lisbon Treaty saying that the document will advance the rights of LGBT people throughout Europe. While welcoming the first ever international treaty containing an explicit ban on sexual orientation discrimination, we are disappointed by the decision of the UK and Polish governments to opt out of their duty to provide their citizens with the same rights as the rest of EU citizens, said Patricia Prendiville, Executive Director of ILGA-Europe. While the reasons for not ratifying the Charter are different in both countries, we believe the lack of unanimity among the EU member states weakens the strength and authority of this significant document. The dissident government could still hold national referendums on the Charter. Even so, they have negotiated an opt out clause that could be used to negate some of the Charter's rights. ©365Gay.com 2007 - Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
g_b Spared by chief justice, Iranian hangs anyway
Spared by chief justice, Iranian hangs anyway Young man executed after 'victims' recant allegations of teen sex crimes By Mike Stuckey Senior news editor MSNBC updated 5:01 p.m. ET Dec. 5, 2007 Mike Stuckey Senior news editor - Less than a month after Irans chief justice spared the life of a 21-year-old condemned to die for sex crimes allegedly committed at age 13, the young man was reportedly hanged Wednesday morning at a prison in Kermanshah province. This is a shameful and outrageous travesty of justice and international human rights law, said Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, one of a number of human rights watchdogs that had focused attention on the case. Just last month, Ettelbrick had labeled the reversal of the young mans death sentence a stunning victory for human rights and a reminder of the power of global protest. Word of Makvan Mouloodzadehs death came from family members who were notified by prison authorities and relayed the news to his attorney, Saeid Eghbali, who in turn passed it along to Western contacts. The execution also was reported on the Persian language Web site of Mitra Khalatbari, a Tehran-based journalist who first reported on the case in Iran. Makvan Mouloodzadeh - Hossein Alizadeh, a spokesman for the gay and lesbian rights group, said the execution appeared to have been hurriedly carried out by local authorities to avoid further interference by Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Sharudi, Irans chief justice. It was Sharudi, in the wake of a lengthy appeal from Eghbali and growing international pressure, who ruled Nov. 10 that the trial and sentencing of Mouloodzadeh violated Iranian law and Islamic teachings. Mouloodzadeh was convicted at a closed trial in June of numerous acts of rape and sodomy that allegedly occurred when he was 13, charges that were initiated by an angry cousin. Homosexuality is punishable by death in Iran, but only under a strict legal protocol, and the alleged sex partners and rape victims all later denied the charges against Mouloodzadeh. But the trial judge used a legal maneuver to find Mouloodzadeh guilty and sentence him to death anyway. Some observers believe the case was really rooted in retaliation for anti-government political activity by relatives of the defendant. Sharudis ruling was supposed to be reviewed by a bureau of the justice department and scheduled for retrial, Alizadeh said. But with attorney Eghbali suspecting heavy lobbying from local authorities, the legal body decided to ignore the chief justices decision and ratify the courts decision, said Alizadeh, who saw the execution as defiance of Sharudis ruling. Proof of that was the hurried, non-public nature of Mouloodzadehs hanging, he said. The execution was supposed to be carried out in public in the city where Makvan was born, Alizadeh said. But I think that they realized that it was going to take a few days and the chief justice could have intervened again. Neither the condemned mans family nor his attorney, Eghbali, was told about the execution until after it had occurred, according to Alizadeh, who spoke with Eghbali and journalist Khalatbari after the hanging. Msnbc.coms requests for comment via telephone and e-mail to the Mission of Iran at the United Nations in New York were not answered Wednesday. The pre-dawn execution came as the Muslim nation basked in vindication of a U.S. intelligence review released earlier this week that concluded Iran stopped developing an atomic weapons program in 2003. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday called the report a declaration of victory for Iran's nuclear program, the focus of extensive saber-rattling recently by the Bush administration. Nuclear, military distractions The Iranian government is taking advantage of that story and violating peoples basic rights, Alizadeh said. Since the start of the nuclear crisis, the international community has paid less and less attention to the human rights issues and more and more to the military and nuclear issues with Iran. Of particular concern to groups like Alizadehs is what appears to be a surge in Iran of executions for crimes alleged to have occurred when the perpetrators were children. With Mouloodzadehs death, Iran has now executed 18 such young men and women in the past four years, according to Human Rights Watch. According to Amnesty International, Sudan has executed two juvenile offenders in the same time period, while China, Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia executed one each. The United States last executed a person for crimes committed as a juvenile in 2003. - Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.
g_b Cartoon Series Features Boy With Two Moms
Cartoon Series Features Boy With Two Moms by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Posted: November 26, 2007 - 3:00 pm ET (Omaha, Nebraska) A small Nebraska-based film company has released what it calls the first animated series featuring a family made up of two moms. Buddy G - My Two Moms and Me a five year old boy named Buddy who loves science and solves daily problems with the help of his sidekick Socrates, an armband computer with Internet capabilities. In addition to Buddy G's 2 moms, the cartoon includes a 7 year old next door neighbor Owen, who is fascinated with Elvis. In the premiere episode, The Lost Rings, the boys learn the value of being truthful while picking up some facts from Socrates about the science of metal detectors. The series was created by Margaux and Donna Towne-Colley who say it was inspired by the birth of their own son. It took longer, cost more and was way harder then we thought it would be, but we couldnt be happier or more proud of the cartoon and the potential it represents said Margaux Towne-Colley. While today's children have ready access to literature depicting families headed by parents of the same gender, this is the first time that children with two moms or two dads will able to see the star of a show with a family just like their families, she said. Future episodes will include a variety of families including those with 2 dads. Even though the series was designed for children with gay and lesbian parents, the Towne-Colleys say the show is great entertainment for all families. The premiere DVD can be ordered from the cartoon's website: http://buddyg.tv and retails for $10.00. ©365Gay.com 2007 - Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.
g_b Are One Third of the American Football Players Gay? - Study says so
Are One Third of the American Football Players Gay? - Study says so By: Stefan Anitei, Science Editor You cannot even guess from where does the surprise come in this case from the straightest and most macho game of all, the American Football. A new research made amongst former high-school American Football players revealed that over a third of them stated of having had homosexual sex. 19 out of 47 male subjects, aged 18-23, participated in sexual activities with other men, from kissing to mutual masturbation and oral sex. All the subjects, coming from south, Mid-West, west and north west, previously played American Football at the high school (secondary school) level but did not enter into their universitys team and were now cheerleaders. The study showed that societys increasing open-mindedness about homosexuality and decreasing stigma concerning sexual activity with other men had allowed sportsmen to speak more openly about these sexual activities., said study's author Dr Eric Anderson, a sociologist now of the Department of Education, University of Bath, UK. The homosexual sex was generally in a two men and one woman formation, as well as two men alone. The sexual acts described differed from acts of hazing or team-bonding that often include pretend-homosexual acts. The evidence supports my assertion that homophobia is on the rapid decline among male teamsport athletes in North America at all levels of play, wrote Anderson in his study to be published in the journal Sex Roles in January. These finding differ from previous research on North American men who have sex with men, in several ways. First, previous research describes heterosexual men in heterogeneous group sex as men symbolically engaging in sexual practices with other men. However, I find informants actually engage in sexual activity with other men. But this does not mean that they are gay. Second, my informants do not feel that their same-sex sex jeopardizes their socially perceived heterosexual identities, at least within the cheerleading culture. In other words, having gay sex does not automatically make them gay in masculine peer culture. said Anderson. Anderson explains the results of his research by the positive image of homosexuality on television, but also on the internet, which allowed easier to gay man to express and present themselves, and also talk with straight men; the decline of religious fundamentalism has also contributed to this. Gay men could express more freely their homosexuality, and engage in homosexual acts easier. The study was not biased by talking to sportsmen who were now cheerleaders, which is often seen as a feminine activity., said Anderson, the first openly gay man high school sports coach in the US, which he left. The selected subjects considered themselves traditionally masculine, typical American Football players. Men have traditionally been reluctant to do anything associated with homosexuality because they feared being perceived gay. There has been pressure on them to conform to the notion that being male is about having traditionally masculine traits, in terms of dress, behaviors and sexual activities. But as more men are open about their varieties of sexuality, it becomes less stigmatized to be gay or to have sex with men,, said Anderson. I see this in other areas of my research too, including how men behave in straight nightclubs, where I find that university-aged men dance as much with each other than with women, and how heterosexual men are increasingly free to wear clothing styles or colors that once were taboo for them. This isnt something that would have happened ten or twenty years ago, he added. - Be a better pen pal. Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how.
g_b Three Sentenced in Death of Gay Man
Three Sentenced in Death of Gay Man By MICHAEL BRICK Published: November 21, 2007 In a case that put sexual identity, hatred and ultimately forgiveness in leading roles, three men were sentenced to prison yesterday for their roles in chasing a gay man to his death in highway traffic in Brooklyn last year. Annie Tritt for The New York Times Denise Sandy, the mother of the victim, Michael, on Tuesday. Their terms diverged: For the planner, 7 to 21 years. For the lure, 13 to 21. And for the aggressor, 17 1/2. The numerical accounting covered a confounding set of circumstances. The defendants had played starkly different roles. One had claimed to be gay, just like the victim. Their juries had returned contradictory verdicts. And the very nature of hate had been drawn into question. This was not simple arithmetic, it was algebra. As the moment of sentencing drew near, the victims father, Zeke Sandy, stood up in court and lamented the killing. These hate crimes become a cancer; its a disease, Mr. Sandy said. I dont know why we have to go butcher one another because we dont like what they are, who they are. From the start, the case had drawn equal measures of outrage and beguilement. In a working-class section of Sheepshead Bay, prosecutors said, four young men conspired to rob a gay man of money or drugs. From an online chat room, they chose Michael J. Sandy, 29, a designer from Williamsburg. On Oct. 8, 2006, Mr. Sandy was lured to a secluded beach by the Dead Horse Inlet, then was punched and chased onto the Belt Parkway, and struck by a sport utility vehicle; he later died. The driver never stopped, and has not been arrested. Four men accused of planning the attack were arrested on hate crime charges. Prosecutors said they had selected Mr. Sandy for his sexual orientation, believing a gay man would hesitate to resist or report the attack. The youngest defendant, Gary Timmins, 17, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery as a hate crime. He agreed to testify against his friends in exchange for a four-year prison sentence. Charges against the remaining three were assigned to Justice Jill Konviser-Levine of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. Appointed to the bench in March 2005, she had yet to conduct a highly publicized criminal trial. As a senior assistant counsel to Gov. George E. Pataki, she had helped draft the hate crime law. In pretrial hearings, defense lawyers argued that the hate crime charges were unfounded. The defendants, they said, harbored no animosity toward gays. As the case developed, Mr. Sandys mother, Denise Sandy, quietly made herself a spectral but central figure, by faithfully attending pretrial hearings. When Justice Konviser-Levine upheld the hate crime charges, the defense cases diverged. John Fox, 20, and Anthony Fortunato, 21, were tried together before separate juries. A lawyer for Mr. Fox, John D. Patten, focused on the composition of the felony murder charge, which required the element of attempted forcible robbery. By posing as a gay man, Mr. Fox had sought only to trick Mr. Sandy out of money or marijuana, Mr. Patten argued. Jurors convicted Mr. Fox of manslaughter and attempted robbery as hate crimes but rejected the murder charge. Mr. Fortunato testified in his own defense, saying that he was gay. Luring Mr. Sandy to the beach to smoke marijuana, he said, had been meant as a plan to test his friends attitudes toward homosexuality, a prelude to revealing his own orientation. He was convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime. The last defendant, Ilya Shurov, 21, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempted robbery as hate crimes. As Justice Konviser-Levine contemplated the sentencing, she received letters from some of the defendants, their relatives, friends and supporters of the Sandy family and the public. As the hearing began yesterday, all but Mr. Timmins (who will be sentenced later) were led into the courtroom together. Mrs. Sandy stood and spoke of her son. In a steady monotone, she said: I no longer have Michael in my life. I am hurting every day of my life. Turning to the convicted men, she said: I do forgive you for what you have done, but I also want justice to be done. I now leave your sentencing in the hands of Judge Jill Konviser. With that, Mr. Shurov rose. Though he had punched Mr. Sandy and led the chase, he had also been the only one to accept his responsibility, said a prosecutor, Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi. The judge endorsed his negotiated sentence of 17 1/2 years. For Mr. Fortunato, prosecutors asked for the maximum penalty of 8 1/3 to 25 years. Without participating in the chase, Ms. Nicolazzi said, he had orchestrated the attack. When his turn came, he faced the Sandy family. I wish I had the resolve to stop what happened that night, he said, but I acted like a coward and I turned and walked away. Justice
g_b Gays should be hanged, says Iranian minister
November 13, 2007
Gays should be hanged, says Iranian ministerDominic Kennedy
Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both, an Iranian
leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference, The
Times has learnt.
Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit that Iran believes
in the death penalty for homosexuality after a spate of reports that gay youths
were being hanged.
President Ahmadinejad, questioned by students in New York two months ago
about the executions, dodged the issue by suggesting that there were no gays in
his country.
Britain regularly challenges Iran about its gay hangings, stonings and
executions of adulterers and perceived moral criminals, Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (FCO) papers show.
The latest row involves a woman hanged this June in the town of Gorgan after
becoming pregnant by her brother. He was absolved after expressing his remorse.
Britain said that this demonstrated the unequal treatment of men and women in
law and breached Irans pledge to restrict the death penalty to the most
serious crimes.
A series of reported executions of gays, including two underage boys whose
public hanging was posted on the internet, has alarmed human rights
campaigners.
The Pet Shop Boys dedicated Fundamental, their Grammy-nominated album, to
Mahmoud Asqari and Ayad Marhouni, who were hanged in Justice Square in Mashhad
in 2005. Graphic photographs of the execution of the youths, who were under 18
when arrested, were released by the Iranian Students News Agency.
Gay rights groups in Britain, such as Outrage!, accuse Iran of cloaking
executions for homosexuality with bogus charges for more serious crimes.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, the FCO released papers to The Times
about the death penalty being used in Iran for homosexuality, adultery and sex
outside marriage.
Minutes taken by an official describe a meeting between British and Iranian
MPs at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a peace body, in May. When the Britons
raised the hangings of Asqari and Marhouni, the leader of the Iranian
delegation, Mr Yahyavi, a member of his parliaments energy committee, was
unflinching. He explained that according to Islam gays and lesbianism were not
permitted, the record states. He said that if homosexual activity is in
private there is no problem, but those in overt activity should be executed [he
initially said tortured but changed it to executed]. He argued that
homosexuality is against human nature and that humans are here to reproduce.
Homosexuals do not reproduce.
Nicole Pichet, a researcher who also took notes of the gathering, told The
Times that the discussion began with British MPs discussing the underage gay
hangings. Mr Yahyavi responded by saying homosexuality was to blame for a lot
of diseases such as Aids.
Ann Clwyd, the Labour MP and head of Britains delegation, said yesterday:
It is of great concern that these attitudes persist and we made it clear what
we felt.
Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and
Nigeria apply the death penalty for homosexuality, according to the
International Lesbian and Gay Association.
Sharias victims
2005
Homosexuals Farbod Mostaar and Ahmad Chooka sentenced to death. Iran said
Chooka had kidnapped, knifed and raped a student
A woman called Soghra was sentenced to stoning for adultery and being an
accomplice to her husbands murder
Two men executed in public after being found guilty of a homosexual
relationship. A newspaper said they were convicted of sodomy, rape and
kidnapping
Zhila Izadi, 13, sentenced to stoning after becoming pregnant with her
brothers child
2006
Malek Ghorbany sentenced to stoning for adultery
Leila Qomi sentenced to stoning for adultery and assisting a man who killed
her husband. He received 100 lashes
2007
Jafar Kiana stoned for adultery. His female lover Mokarrameh Ebrahimi
sentenced to the same fate
Source: Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents released under Freedom of
Information Act
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g_b Gay Muslims Find Freedom, of a Sort, in the U.S.
Gay Muslims Find Freedom, of a Sort, in the U.S. By NEIL MACFARQUHAR Published: November 7, 2007 SAN FRANCISCO About 15 people marched alongside the Muslim float in this citys notoriously fleshy Gay Pride Parade earlier this year, with various men carrying the flags of Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine and Turkey and even Irans old imperial banner. While other floats featured men dancing in leather Speedos or women with scant duct tape over their nipples, many Muslims were disguised behind big sunglasses, fezzes or kaffiyehs wrapped around their heads. Even as they reveled in newfound freedom compared with the Muslim world, they remained closeted, worried about being ostracized at the mosque or at their local falafel stand. Theyre afraid of the rest of the community here, said Ayman, a stocky 31-year-old from Jordan, who won asylum in the United States last year on the basis of his sexuality. Its such a big wrong in the Koran that it is impossible to be accepted. For gay Muslims, change may come via a nascent body of scholarship in minority Muslim communities where the reassessment of sacred texts used to damn homosexuality is gaining momentum. In traditional seats of Islamic learning, like Egypt and Iran, punishment against blatant homosexual activity, not to mention against trying to establish a gay rights movement, can be severe. These governments are prone to label homosexuality a Western phenomenon, as happened in September when Irans president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, spoke at Columbia University. But far more leeway to dissect the topic exists in places where gay rights are more protected. As a rule, gay Muslim activists lacked the scholarly grounding needed to scrutinize time-honored teachings. But that is changing, activists say, partly because no rigid clerical hierarchy exists in the West to bar such research. Nonetheless, gaining acceptance remains such a hurdle that Muslims in the United States hesitate. Imam Daayiee Abdullah, 53, a black convert to Islam, was expelled from a Saudi-financed seminary in Virginia after the school found out he is gay. His effort to organize a gay masjid, or mosque, in Washington failed largely out of fear, he said. You have these individuals who say that they would blow up a masjid if it was a gay masjid, he said. Mr. Abdullah and other scholars argue that there is no uncontested record of the Prophet Muhammad addressing homosexuality and that examples of punishment would surely exist had he been hostile. Mirroring the feminist school of Islam, gay advocates pursue a holistic interpretation that emphasizes accepting everyone as equally Gods creation. Most Koranic verses treating same-sex relations are ambiguous, said Omid Safi, an Islamic studies professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They are talking about an abomination, Professor Safi said, but what an abomination is remains open to interpretation. Since the primary Koranic verses used to condemn homosexuality also suggest male rape, the progressive reading is that the verses revile using sex as domination, said Scott Kugle, an American convert and university professor who specializes in the topic. The arguments are not entirely modern; some are drawn from a medieval scholar in Andalusia, once a seat of enlightened Muslim governance, he said. The classical attitude toward lesbians is even murkier, Mr. Kugle added, because sex was defined as penetration. Hostility is rooted in the Koranic story of Lot, which parallels the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah. At Al-Tawhid Mosque in San Francisco, the imam, Hassan al-Jalal, a Yemeni with a short beard, printed a sheaf of Koranic verses that he said condemned homosexuals. This is the main sin in Islam, Mr. Jalal said, describing how the town housing Lots tribe was lifted high into the sky and then dropped, killing all in the town before they were buried under what is now the Dead Sea. He sent the flood to clean the earth from AIDS. There were no doctors at that time, but God knew they had a virus. All sects mandate capital punishment, he argued, although others differ. Sunni, Shiite, they all agree that they have to be killed. But who does it? Not me or you, only by law. Muslim clerics reject being gay as biologically coded and advise anyone with homosexual stirrings to avoid temptation. They see America as rife with it given practices like open gym showers. The hostility pushes some gay Muslims to interpret for themselves or to withdraw from the faith. For Rafique, a 56-year-old Southeast Asian Muslim in San Francisco, resolution came through a combination of medieval mystic poetry and individual spiritual efforts endorsed by Sufi Muslim traditions. Renowned poets wrote odes glorifying handsome boys. Some were interpreted as metaphors about loving God, but some were paeans to gay sex. Rafique and others argue that
g_b HIV/AIDS In India Explored In New Film
HIV/AIDS In India Explored In New Film by The Associated Press Posted: November 4, 2007 - 3:00 pm ET (Washington) Ashley Judd says education and prevention is the best way to combat AIDS and HIV, which disproportionately affect women and girls and prey upon the vulnerable and less fortunate. Speaking about her new documentary film, India's Hidden Plague, in an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's This Week, the actress said it costs just $10 to educate a person about the risks and protect them for an entire year. The actress met with HIV/AIDS orphans in India while making the film, including two sisters, ages 9 and 12, whose parents died in quick succession after their father infected their mother with the disease. It's very real and it's real stories and real heartache and also real opportunity to focus on a solution that is very cost effective and has an extraordinarily meaningful impact in the lives of young people, Judd said. In a previous documentary film, Confronting the Pandemic, Judd and actress Salma Hayek traveled to Central America to look at AIDS prevention there. India's Hidden Plague is set to premiere Nov. 30 on the National Geographic Channel. ©365Gay.com 2007 __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
g_b A Jihad for Love
A Jihad for Love by Jennifer Vanasco, 365gay.com Parvez Sharma spent six years filming gay Muslims in 12 countries. The result, his moving documentary Jihad for Love, shows a surprisingly diverse, inside look at men and women who are trying to be gay while faithful to Islam. 365gay talked to Sharma about the myth of the Muslim monolith, how he found his unlikely storytellers, and the jihad - the struggle - to reconcile who you are with what you believe. What compelled you to tell these stories? I'm a gay Muslim myself - I think everything in my life moved me to tell these stories.I was recently arrived in America in September 2001, when so much of the world changed forever, especially for Muslims. I remember in January 2002 I was realizing very intensely that I needed to take responsibility for my own Islam. I knew that I needed to come out as a Muslim. And I also needed to come out as a gay man. To be a Muslim first and gay second and lay claim to both, and to bring this discussion into the public arena, that was what we were seeking to do with this film. What I find really interesting about you and about this film is that you seem to be struggling to find a path where you can be both a faithful Muslim and an out gay person. It seems to me that in the West that might be possible do you think that's possible in Islamic countries? I think the history of Islam and homosexuality is a complex one. Islam has now been around for 1426 years. We often rush to pronounce all these general statements about Islam and how we should perceive it. One of the most problematic things is that in the West we consider Islam to be this violent monolith. All I can say is that from my experience, filming in 12 countries, believing in Islam myself, Islam is very diverse, speaks in many different languages, and in many different profound ways. You've talked elsewhere about how the West and Muslim countries see homosexuality very differently. In the West, we traditionally apply those titles of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender very easily to sexual identity, and to almost construct political choices around these identities.In Muslim countries, those labels of affirmation aren't applicable. The labels don't apply very easily. That touches on an op-ed you wrote in the Huffington Post about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia University. I think President Ahmadinejad is very easy to turn into a monster. It is extremely unfortunate how he was treated at Columbia. What people need to understand is the statements he made are open to interpretation. There is a huge debate over what he actually said. Did he mean that homosexuality does not exist like it does in the West? If so, I agree with him. It's not the same construct. If he is denying the existence of homosexuals, then I take strong exception to that and invite him to see the film, because I filmed them. Islam is more diverse on the subject of homosexuality than a lot of non-Muslims realize.Because homosexuality has existed for as long as Islam has existed, in many of these cultures it has often been tolerated, and has sometimes been celebrated. If you look at the history, you see examples of homosexuality being celebrated in the arts, in poetry, through the courts of the Ottoman in Turkey, through the courts of the Mughal in India, though different phases of the Persian empire as it developed. A lot of the hatred, a lot of the homophobia that exists in the Muslim world today is inherited from Colonialism. Many of the laws that remain in countries like Egypt or India are laws that were enacted by the British or the French. And those laws remain. There's also sharia. Yes. In the 20th century, there was a revival of extremist Islam. But most gay people living in Muslim societies today are not living under sharia law. They are also not engaging in western constructs of homosexuality in the same language. Pretty much they are allowed to be, as long as they're not flaunting their sexuality or owning it in a public way, by let's say organizing a gay pride parade in Tehran. I found in the film that the majority of people who have same-sex tendencies assume that being married in a heterosexual marriage is perfectly normal and something they're required to do by society and by religion and by culture. So you're saying that if someone marries a person of the opposite sex, then they can have a same-sex lover as long as they don't call themselves gay? And they won't have any trouble? Absolutely. I can say this with confidence. I have filmed this for six years and grew up in India, I know that the majority of people who are attracted to the same sex within these societies are within marriages. But then you have someone like Maryam in your film, who's clearly a very devout Muslim. She tried to be married and now feels this great conflict between loving someone of the same sex and also
g_b Winnning or Silencing?
Winnning or Silencing? by John Corvino It wasnt the first time an audience defied expectations. This time it was in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. I was there with Glenn Stanton, my debate buddy from Focus on the Family, to discuss same-sex marriage. The only thing we knew about Rhinelander before arriving was that its number one cause of death is bar-room brawlsor so we had been told by several Wisconsinites, who warned us of the small towns redneck reputation. Bar-room brawls? Glenn joked. I suppose that has heterosexuality written all over it. Oh, we gays have them too, I responded. We just call them hissy-fits. Unlike most of our university debates, the Rhinelander event was advertised primarily to local residents, rather than students, and when we arrived we noticed lots of gray hair in the audience. An older crowd in a redneck townGlenns territory. I braced myself. Then the QA began, and one audience member after another attacked Glenn. I kept waiting for a critical question directed at me. Nothing. After about an hour of Glenns getting grilled while I fielded softballs, I turned to him and announced, Well, Glenn, this has been exactly the right-wing audience we expected in rural Wisconsin! The audience howled with laughter. Are you sure they didnt bus you guys in from Madison? Glenn quipped back. I could tell that he was weary and that he appreciated the lighthearted moment. The following week we debated again in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the same thing happened. I found myself wanting to stand up and shout, This is the deep South, people. Youre supposed to be on HIS SIDE! Its not that Im complaining. I do these debates to convince people. Not to convince Glenn (although Id like to think my time with him has had a positive effect). And not to convince ideologues, who have made up their minds and wont budge no matter what. I do them to convince the fence sittersfolks who show up curious about the issue, eager to listen, willing to engage arguments. So when people agree with me, I should be happy, and I am. But But there are plenty of people who dont agree with me. One merely has to look at voting patterns to realize this. Last November, Wisconsin voters passed an anti-gay marriage amendment 59-41%and much of that majority came from more liberal towns than Rhinelander. Even college students are far from unanimous in supporting marriage equality. Which means that opponents are either not showing up, or not speaking up, at our debate events. Either way, I miss the opportunity to engage them. Such engagement would have two potential benefits. First, it might help convince the opponents themselveseven if slowly and gradually. Second, it might help convince the fence-sitters who are watching, since they would receive the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error (in the words of the great liberal theorist John Stuart Mill). The more we confront the opposition head-on, the more obvious their fallacies become. Thats why Im willing to travel the country with someone from Focus on the Family addressing the same bad arguments over and over again. It was the hope for such engagement that led me to interrupt the QA in Baton Rouge to plead for some audience opposition. Any critical questions for me? Please? I asked no fewer than three times. It felt like announcing last call at the bar: Last call last call for traditionalists Finally, a woman took me up on my challengesort of: Im a religious conservative, she began gently. And I appreciate your kindness to Glenn and to us. But I havent spoken up because I feel a lot of hostility from the audience. I think more of us would show up and speak up if we didnt feel like we would automatically be shouted down. She didnt offer any questionjust that observation. I was both impressed and surprisedimpressed by her courage in speaking against the (immediate) tide, and surprised that she found the audience hostile. I could recall no anger or viciousness from the various questioners. But since they were on my side, perhaps I simply failed to notice. Her remarks spotlighted an important distinction: its one thing to silence your opponents; its quite another to convince them. And sometimesperhaps oftensilencing is done at the expense of convincing. The social pressure that makes certain views taboo has its uses. But political reality indicates that its not yet time to halt the conversation over same-sex marriagecertainly not in Rhinelander or Baton Rouge. Strange as it sounds, we may sometimes need to work at making people more comfortablenot lessin voicing their opposition to us. ©365Gay.com 2007 __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
g_b Gay rights don't trump faith
Gay rights don't trump faith October 27, 2007 DEBORAH DOUGLAS [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gay activists made a big hairy deal this week when Sen. Barack Obama hired formerly gay gospel singer Donnie McClurkin to lead some fund-raising concerts in South Carolina this weekend. So what. McClurkin doesn't have to stay gay if he doesn't want to. For gays who insist they are born that way and that's the end of it, suggesting that someone could choose not to be homosexual is a slap in the face. The science on this isn't clear. The search for the gay gene is ongoing, and while doubt remains, individuals continue to make up their own minds about the nature of being gay. So when gay activist Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out demanded McClurkin be dropped from Obama's Embrace the Change tour, he should have followed suit and embraced McClurkin's change. Instead, Besen said: ''We strongly urge Obama to part ways with this divisive preacher who is clearly singing a different tune than the stated message of the campaign. I beg to differ. Like anybody else, McClurkin's life story is his to tell. McClurkin told Ebony magazine he battled homosexuality for 20 years after several episodes of sexual abuse. Anyone should be able to understand how a child who was abused that way could grow to be confused about the role of sex and sexual identity. As a Christian, McClurkin adheres to a fundamental view of the Bible that condemns homosexuality: ''I don't believe that it is the intention of God,'' he said. The Grammy-winning singer also mirrors contemporary black religious thought when he says he does not believe in discriminating against homosexuals: ''What people do in their bedrooms and who they are as human beings are two different things.'' I thought about my gay friends and was torn. Then I got over it. Gay people must not stop fighting for their right to equal access and treatment. Nobody has a right to deny a gay person a job or a home, or kick him in the head because they don't like the way he lives and loves. But society's rules stop at the church-house doors, folks. We cannot let our passion for civil rights negate the right for people to hold their heartfelt religious beliefs. Despite what gay activists insist, believing the Bible's admonitions against homosexuality does not make Christians homophobic. It is not an either/or proposition. If it were, guess who would lose? Christianity has a better PR machine, considering it has a best-selling book attached to it. Ultimately, those who denigrated McClurkin and Obama (who says he does not hold the singer's views) were really condemning people of faith. Christianity, especially the black church legacy and experience, has supported and bolstered African Americans through a tough history. From higher education to civil rights, the church has been the launching pad. To force a change in its theology to fit a contemporary social agenda is anathema to the foundational purposes of the church. If anything, Obama waffled when he asked the Rev. Andy Sidden, a South Carolina pastor who is openly gay, to appear on Sunday in Columbia. It smacks of pandering, but this is politics, not the pulpit. But let's get real. If you've never had a swinging good time on a Sunday morning in a black church, you don't know what you've been missing. You can bet McClurkin doesn't give an anti-gay lecture before he turns and motions the choir to stand and give an A-and-B selection. Gays smarting over McClurkin's transformation should know the rest of us sinners get talked about, too. For most Bible believers, sin is sin. Whether it's lying (even white ones), heavy drinking (free drinks!), stealing (pilfering office supplies) or fornication (the heterosexual and gay kind), it is not acceptable. Besides, anybody who has been to a black church with good gospel music knows gay guys are always singing in the choir. Deborah Douglas is a Sun-Times editorial board writer. This column represents her views and not necessarily the views of the board. __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
g_b Stay visible
Stay visible I personally take for granted how important it is to come out until I see its effects in front of me. You look at people like Jerry Sanders who cried in front of the world when he realized that his opposing gay marriage stood in the way of his own daughter being happy. Think about the people in your own life who would never be tolerant to LGBT people ever unless they were to meet someone and realize, wait a second, they're just like me...except he can get fired because of who he loves. 72 percent of Americans say that they know someone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, a sharp contrast from the 11 percent of people who said they associated with a male homosxeual in 1987 (which was when the inaugural Lesbian and Gay March on Washington took place). This visibility helps lead the everyday struggle for equality. When people who don't know queer folk realize that we're all just normal people who want to live a good life and be happy, acceptance should soon follow. I know it's idyllic, but with every generation comes more acceptance: 82 percent of 18-29 year olds support equal opportunities for all employees, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. There's also tons of other studies that show this nation's youngest block of voters support same-sex marriage or civil unions, abolishing don't ask, don't tell and generally are more accepting of LGBT folk. For me, it's pretty rad to be a part of this generation. Today, 60 percent of Americans support same-sex marriages or civil unions, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll. Twenty years ago only 12 percent of Americans agreed that homosexual couples should have the right to marry, according to the National Opinion Research Center. Earlier this year, 89 percent of Americans said they support equal employment opportunities for gays and lesbians -- a 30 percent increase since the early 1980s. In 1993, 40 percent felt that gays and lesbians should serve openly in the military. In contrast, a recent poll showed that 79 percent of Americans believe gays and lesbians should be allowed to openly serve in the military. Visibility and openness (with a heaping amount of diligence) leads to tolerance... that goes for all civil rights movements: blacks, women, Latinos, disabled people, etc. Being out and willing to speak up is a simple way to make sure that you can get married (when the time comes -- you still have a lot of game left). Being out can sway some jerk from calling someone else a slur. Just being yourself is your everyday struggle, but it's a simple way to keep the movement alive. __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
g_b Home for greying gays in Gujarat
Home for greying gays in Gujarat Soumik Dey Friday, October 05, 2007 09:01 IST An old age home for gays will soon come up on the banks of the Narmada in Gujarat to help them battle the problems they typically face in the autumn of their lives loneliness and HIV/AIDS. The complex will come complete with a 200-bed hospital and crematorium to be built at a cost of Rs10 crore. The scion of the erstwhile royal family of Rajpipla, Manavendrasingh Gohil, himself a gay activist, and a Canada-returned octogenarian are spearheading the move. The project has four acres and efforts are on to get more land. Octogenarian Jayant Trivedi donated land at Kumbheshwar about 15 kilometres from Rajpipla. Trivedi is currently engaged in securing another 11 acres from the Narmada district authorities for the project. Some initial hiccups in acquiring the land are being faced by us as the government is yet to clear whether the land could be donated to our registered trust Narmada Har Seva Ashram, or if it needs to be procured at a government valuation rate. I have written to the Gujarat Chief Minister two days back and am hoping that he will be sensitive to the cause of HIV/AIDS patients at least, said an optimistic Trivedi. Gohil, who won an UNAIDS award for his work to contain the spread of HIV/AIDS in the community, said: Back in the year 2000 when we were forming Lakshya Trust with a group of friends, we could forecast the scenario for gay men who mostly stay single and succumb to loneliness later in life. Young gay men have multiple partners but at an old age you will not be as attractive as you used to be and that leads to depression or to becoming a recluse. Insecurity runs high among greying gay men, he says. As we get older we try to separate ourselves from the heterosexual society. Human beings are social animals but old gay men are deprived of any social binding. Since there are no social bindings in gay partnerships, breakups are often. This results in loneliness and insecurity. The trend of old age homes exclusively for gays first started in Berlin some three years back and has gained popularity in the US as well. __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
g_b Lost Gravy Ladle
Lost Gravy Ladle John invited his mother over for dinner. During the meal, his mother couldn't help noticing how handsome John's roommate was. She had long been suspicious of Johns' sexual orientation and this only made her more curious. Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between John and the roommate than met the eye. Reading his mom's thoughts, John volunteered, I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Mark and I are just roommates. About a week later, Mark came to John and said, Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. You don't suppose she took it, do you? John said, Well, I doubt it, but I'll write her a letter just to be sure. So he sat down and wrote: Dear Mother, I'm not saying you 'did' take a gravy ladle from my house, and I'm not saying you 'did not' take a gravy ladle. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner. Several days later, John received a letter from his mother which read: Dear Son, I'm not saying that you 'do' sleep with Mark, and I'm not saying that you 'do not' sleep with Mark. But the fact remains that if he was sleeping in his own bed, he would have found the gravy ladle by now. Love, Mom __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
g_b Homophobia
Homophobia Whether you are homosexual or not, you should repost this in support of your friends and loved ones who are. Love is not defined by color, creed, or gender. I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman. I am the boy who never finished high school, because I got called a fag everyday I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian. I am the prostitute working the streets because nobody will hire a transsexual woman. I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights. We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time. I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of twenty-seven years into the room. I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the only loving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me. I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was simply too much to bear. We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men. I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the management called on me. I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant when they found out my abusive partner is also a woman. I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male. I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other men. I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted to teach gym until someone told me that only lesbians do that. I am the woman who died when the EMTs stopped treating me as soon as they realized I was transsexual. I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I didnt have to always deal with society hating me. I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don't believe, but because they closed their doors to my kind. I am a warrior for my country serving proud, but can't be my true self because gays aren't allowed in the military. I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love. ..LiKE THIS..PEOPLE ARE iGNORANT . I am the person ashamed to tell my own friends I'm a lesbian, because they constantly make fun of them. I am the boy tied to a fence, beaten to a bloody pulp and left to die because two straight men wanted to teach me a lesson. This is the boy, Matthew Shepard. On October 7, 1998 Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson lead him to a remote area east of Laramie where they demonstrated unimaginable acts of hate. Matthew was tied to a split-rail fence where he was beaten and left to die in the cold of the night. Almost 18 hours later he was found by a cyclist who initially mistook him for a scarecrow. Matthew died on October 12 at 12:53 am at a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. KILLED BECAUSE HE WAS GAY!!! ---IF YOU BELIEVE THAT HOMOPHOBIA IS WRONG... REPOST THIS AS HOMOPHOBIA. ---IF YOU ARE IGNORANT... IGNORE - Check out the hottest 2008 models today at Yahoo! Autos.
