Queer As Art

A magazine about LGBT+ art, history, litterature, cinema, music and politics. Next article scheduled on 1/7/2017! Check out our Twitter & Facebook

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Issue 2 is all published! 

You can read the full pdf over here.

From now on, it’s all exclusive articles!

We’ll be starting in a couple days with a special article on Chopin written by Thomas Béhar !

And then by the beginning of October, we’ll start the publishing of the new issue! :)

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Music in the 60/70s (5/5) | Issue 2

Tom Morrison – Glad To Be Gay (1978)

This is one important song about the gay community, as important as the fact that it became a gay anthem in the UK ! Back in the sixties, Tom Robinson discovered he was gay during his teenage years but the fact that homosexual activity was considered a crime in England (until 1967) pressured him, even pushing him to attempt suicide at the age of 16. during the 70s, he began playing rock music and was also endorsed by The Kinks frontman Ray Davies until he formed the Tom Robinson Band. On his first EP Rising Free, there is the song (Sing if you're) glad to be gay,  which addresses many issues regarding the UK and Gay rights. Even though Homosexuality wasn't criminalized anymore, Police raids still happened at gay bars and Tom Morrison dedicates the song to the World Health Organisation for classifying Homosexuality as a disease. Other topics include coverage of the gay community by the newspapers and queer bashing suffered by Morrison's friends. The chorus, which sounds more like chanting than singing, contributes more to the Anthem aspect of the song and only consists of singing about being proud of being gay. Gay Anthem aside, it remains Morrison’s most popular song and some of the issues addressed in the lyrics still exist nowadays.

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Music in the 60/70s (4/5) | Issue 2

Alix Dobkin – A Woman’s Love (1973)

Without a doubt the least popular artist on this list, Alix Dobkin is a folk singer-songwriter from New-York who publicly came out as a lesbian artist during the early 70s, which was obviously uncommon back then, while being married to a man. On top of the heavy lesbian representation in her music, she’s also a vocal activist in women’s rights, proposing the concept of women-only spaces, extending that radical feminism to Trans exclusion.

Even with that fact in mind, she might be the first female artist to write lesbian-themed songs in a positive way. There are lots of lesbian love songs in her discography (she was playing in a band called Lavender Jane) but A Woman’s Love describes accurately how she first loved a man until she declares that no man can match a woman’s beauty. Besides that, it remains a straightforward love song, but the fact that she sang it without caring about any backlash

that could have happened is courageous (but it also caused modest sales of her albums which would be categorised as Womyn’s Music). Nowadays, Dobkin retired as a musician and writer, focusing on taking care of her grandchildren.

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Music in the 60/70s (3/5) | Issue 2

David Bowie – John I’m only dancing (1972)

This non-album Single from the Great White Duke came out back in his Ziggy Stardust  period and is a smart take on a bisexual relationship. The story is very straightforward, talking about a man at a party who dances with a woman he doesn’t know. The male dancer has a problem though : his man John is worried about the fact that his lover could end up leaving him with the woman. The dancer makes him know about the fact that he is turned on by her but still, he’s only dancing. The key element in this song is how it can always be interpreted as a bi-centered song, whether the narrator is a man or a woman. If a woman sang it, she would still be turned on by a woman while being in a straight relationship, and the fact that David came out as a bisexual during the same year the single was released emphasizes this. Despite the context of the song, the single was another hit from Bowie and wasn’t censored (except for the music video which was considered too risqué due to the androgynous dancers appearing in it), At the very end of the 70s,  Bowie released a reworked version plainly called John I’m only dancing (Again). Instead of the glam rock-ish sound of the original version, it features funk-disco oriented instrumentals as well as rewritten verses. However, the chorus remains the same, which means you can now tease your lover in a groovy way.

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Music in the 60/70s (2/5) | Issue 2

The Kinks – Lola (1970)

Thanks to the radio hits You really got me and All day and all of The Night, The Kinks were one of the UK's most popular band of the mid-sixties. Beginning as a Garage Rock band which sounded more rough than what the Beatles were playing, Their sound progressively changed into Folk/Pop Rock. Near the end of 1970, they released Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneyground Part 1 which is a concept album about criticizing the music industry. The title song Lola is an uplifting rock-folk ballad and could be one of the first times in music history where the subject of transgenderism is not treated as a novelty song. The story is about a man meeting Lola in a club. He acknowledges her as a woman but is still weirded out by the way she talks and acts like a man. For the rest of the song, the narrator becomes aware that Lola’s transgender but still wants to spend the night with her. The only downside to this song, which has aged badly, is how some ambiguous lyrics reference the fact that she was a man (especially in the last verse : « Lola smiled and took me by the hand/She said, "Little boy, gonna make you a man."/Well I'm not the world's most masculine man/ But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man/So is Lola ») but it remains a progressive song back when it came out (in the late 60s/early 70s, Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground also wrote trans-themed song, most of them referencing Andy Warhol’s muse Candy Darling).

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Music in the 60/70s (1/5) | Issue 2

Five pop songs of the 60s/70s which dealt with LGBT by Thomas Béhar

The sixties and seventies were two decades where pop music was a major tool of expression. A brand new generation of singer-songwriters came into the scene and protest songs became much more present in the music industry thanks to figures such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez or Neil Young. However, LGBT representation also became more important thanks to events such as the first Pride Parades, decriminalization of same-sex intercourse and Transgenderism  in certain countries, and the Stonewall riot taking place in New York. It first started with a lot of novelty songs ridiculising the community, but here are five songs depicting different aspects of the LGBT thanks to popular bands or artists.

Boys (Beatles Cover) (1963)

Let’s start off with a funny little accident occurred by the famous Fab Four. Back in 1963 when they were Liverpool’s most popular rock’n roll band, they finally released their first album after 3 years of touring. This first album (Please Please Me) is notorious for having their first hits Love Me Do and I saw her standing there but many covers as well. One of them include the Shirelles B-side Boys, a straightforward upbeat love song talking about girls being excited for boys. The original song being more of a Rhythm and Blues ballad, the Beatles did a cover which sounds closer to the rock’n roll sound of the 1950s. However, there is a partial change in the lyrics. Even though the verses are switched gender-wise (« My girl says when I kiss her lips/ Gets A Thrill through her fingertips »), the chorus remains the same and Ringo Starr sings about boys being « a bundle of joy ». Homosexual undertones are obvious in this cover but due to the fact that this song wasn’t released as a single, no big controversy happened (in fact, back when they were playing at the Cavern, it was one of the crowd’s most requested songs). There were rumours about John Lennon being in a relationship with the Beatles’ first manager Brian Epstein (who only talked about his homosexuality among personal friends) and the former confirmed it as an « intense platonic relationship » which occured during a four-day holiday in Spain. Nevertheless, Boys remains an interesting case where a heteromantic song can be something different based on who sings it.

Fun Fact : Ian Sharp, a friend of John Lennon, knew about Epstein’s homosexuality and mocked it. He was then asked to write an apology letter within 48 hours and was blacklisted from the Beatles’ social circle.

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LGBT RIGHTS IN THE 60/70s (Part 3/3) | Issue 2

LGBT RIGHTS IN THE 60/70s  by EMILIE PARENT AND L.D.

EAST

The social context during the 1960s and 1970s was vastly different in the Eastern bloc than in the Western. While the West was undergoing major social changes, socialist-ruled states struggled to maintain a strict social order despite feeling the ripples of the West’s wave of individualization and liberalization of morals. Despite these two decades being defining for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people of the West, who organized into an actual community, defining a new subculture, making history, winning some fights and starting others, engaging in same-sex relationships or non-gender conforming behaviours in the East still meant living under secrecy or facing overwhelming social stigma. But even in these closely controlled societies, and despite the state-enforced morals, some small and very gradual changes took place. But how did Eastern bloc states come to this? Throughout the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and for a few more centuries after that, Eastern Europe and especially Russia were reputed for their tolerance in terms of sexual practices. Even though same-sex sexual activities were punishable by law (given that the czar was the garant of the Orthodox Church which deemed homosexuality a sin), these jurisdictions were sometimes disregarded, and many notable figures were known to have such relationships. In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution abolished the Russian Empire legal system, and replaced it with the Criminal Code of the Russian Soviet Federalist Socialist Republic in 1922, which allowed homosexuality. Whether this was a conscious decision, reflecting the views held by legal and medical professionals at the time, or rather the result of forgetfulness (considering homosexuality remained a taboo and that homosexuals were still prosecuted sporadically with other articles of the Code in post-Bolshevik Russia), sparks debate.

However, this somewhat laxist tradition when it came same-sex relationship was brought to a sudden halt under the stalinist rule. In 1933 and 1934, the new General Secretary of the RCP re-instaured anti-sodomy laws. Despite Stalin’s death in 1953, this governmental mindset persisted throughout the 60s and the 70s. The morals promoted by state-socialist celebrated purely reproductive intercourse – not unlike traditional, conservative Christians of the West, despite the socialist abolition of religion. The single goal to any sexual relationship was to procreate in order to provide the party and the country with more labor-force. Hence, any kind of sexual behavior done solely for pleasure was considered a perversion, be it masturbation or same-sex relationships. Additionally, gay men were considered a threat to the soviet ideal of a strong, virile working man, which was why it was considered a greater offense to be the one on the receiving end of sodomy. Rejection of homosexuality was also used as a form of propaganda, quite similarly to what was done in the West. While in America, homosexuality was associated to communism as a threat to American values, socialist states spread the idea that such practices came from capitalist countries, where they were widespread. Most socialist ideologies associated homosexuality with bourgeois decadence and aesthete society, and felt that these "perverted Western morals" were dangerous to soviet society.

“Judged by the degree of danger that it poses to society and the difficulties which beset its investigation, muzhelozhstvo (homosexuality, pederasty) holds a specific place among sexual offences. In capitalist countries this type of sexual perversion is now widespread […]. The situation is different in the USSR. As a result of the abolition of prostitution and the ban on pornographic literature (both of which encourage various sexual perversions), the general improvements in the healthy lifestyle of the Soviet people, and our moral code, cases of homosexual behaviour and other criminal sexual offences in the Soviet Union are now rarely encountered. Nevertheless, they pose a certain threat to society” (I. Blyumin, official of the Bureau of Forensic Medical Expertise for Moscow and the Moscow region, 1970)

This was probably why “punitive psychiatry” was used on political dissidents and “sexual deviants” alike. Engaging in same-sex relationships not only meant risking one’s job (and consequently, one’s exclusion from society considering the place that work occupied in a socialist state), and/or imprisonment from 3 to 8 years, but also exposing one’s self to the government’s dangerous experimentations. These consisted in using chemicals to suppress will, so that it could be attempted to impose a certain way of thinking or certain reflexes on them. That kind of conversion therapy mirrored what was done in the West with sexopathology: both capitalist and socialist countries pathologized homosexuality, which is to say they considered it an illness to be cured. But the most effective tactic in order to enforce opinions in every individual in society was censorship and propaganda. Any idea of non-normative sexuality was carefully erased, while a model of the perfect soviet family was tirelessly promoted.


Propaganda poster, for a strong, healthy, happy soviet family

But despite the government’s best efforts, ideas of sexual revolution inherited from the West, were beginning to seep into socialist states by the 60s. This process was different depending on each country. In countries that were situated closer to the USSR, and hence felt the influence of state socialism on a stronger level, the liberalization of morals happened much more slowly and insignificantly. But even in the USSR, family values were marginally relaxed during the 60s, with divorce procedures being made easier under the Krutschev rule. In the beginning of the 70s, homosexuality emerged as a topic that could be discussed. Of course, this was only so long as it wasn't being painted as something positive, but it was still a step away from the overwhelming taboo that it still was. For example, the poem Moscow to the end of the line, published in the USSR in 1973 by writer and satirist Yerofeyev, included a monologue about homosexuality in its last pages.

Meanwhile, in East Germany and most other socialist states, homosexuality stopped being outlawed during the 60s and the 70s: 1961 in Hungary, 1962 in Czechoslovakia, 1968 in Bulgaria and 1977 for Croatia, Montenegro as well as Slovenia. This was due to intellectuals’ and scientists’ ideas changing. In Czechoslovakia especially, the psychologist and researcher Kurt Freund specialized in sexology, and was one of the first to vocally advocate that homosexuality isn't a pathology but simply an erotic preference, and that reassignment therapy is not only ineffective, but also harmful. What explains the marginal liberalism in these countries is the spread of idea of individualization imported from the West. Against the ideas of the uniformization that had been enforced for more than half a century, people were slowly beginning to demand some diversity in terms of clothing, TV, taste in music... However, this was still done under close governmental control, and was coupled with an increase in police surveillance. But the liberalization of the way of life had already been started. A telling example is the one of a Hungarian women's magazine (similar to Cosmo) that led a social experiment on university students in the early 70s, where participants were presented with 8 stories of sexual comportments that were considered "typical and widespread" by the authors, if marginal. The students had to classify the stories, depending on if they agree or not with them. Amongst stories about prostitution, masturbation, people deciding to have sexual intercourse before marriage, was the story of a gay man who kept all his same-sex encounters discreet and consensual. This story was met with mostly pity on the students' part: indeed, despite bit of flexibility that was apparently given, deeply ingrained ideas were slow to change, and the taboo on homosexuality remained strong.

But in this hostile context, how was it really like to be LGBT in a socialist state in the 60s and the 70s? Most people that didn't fit in the conventional family values had to lead double lives. In the USSR, which was way stricter on these matters as stated before, meetings had to be carefully organized, and were only possible in certain social circles, mainly in big cities but also in some organizations where gender separation made same-sex relationships more likely, such as Gulags or the Red Army. There existed some underground press as well, such as the poet Yevgeny Kharitonov and the poet and essayist Gennady Trifonov. In other socialist countries, a few meeting points appeared in big cities after the legalization of homosexuality: public restrooms, bathing houses or saunas, as well as some bars or cinema. Despite having a legal right to exist, they all retained their aura of marginality and secrecy, and tended to be shut down by police if discovered. Lesbians and trans people were underrepresented and struggled to meet like-minded people. For example, only a few bars and cafés were frequented by lesbians, and even then, they represented around 10-15% of the clientele, according to a Hungarian account. 

However, lesbians found themselves less persecuted by the law than gay men, because female sexuality was given so little thought that same-sex female attraction was mostly unrecognized and hence not outlawed. East Berlin was by far the most liberal city of the Eastern bloc, it was also the only place which developed a LGBT community and a gay scene in similar proportions as cities of the West did. In East Germany, homosexual acts ceased to be punished in the 50s, and LG organization were allowed to organize themselves freely as long as they had some kind of connection with the Protestant Church. Several neighbourhoods especially were known for being a centre of LG activity and gained the nickname "the warmest corner of the East". The most well-known organization was the activist group Homosexuelle Interessengemeinschaft Berlin (HIB). It was created in 1973 after a screening of the movie Nicht der homosexuelle ist pervers, sondern die Gesellschaft, in der er lebt (It is not the homosexual that is perverted, but the society in which he lives). This movie had a huge impact on LGBT people at the time, making them realize the importance of their combat, and the need for structured, broad organizations rather than what they had at the time, which was a few hidden meeting points (some apartments were used for political and social meetings or as unofficial libraries).

 The HIB was very active during the 70s. Its goals were to have the community gain visibility, by organizing events for up to 200 people, and lobbying the East German authorities for official state recognition. These activists' tactics (film-making, appropriation of public space) actually blended with Western ideologies and methods, due to broad contact and sharing of resources with Western activists. They had access to Western gay media and films, and met Western activists who travelled to the German Democratic Republic such as Peter Tatchell. But despite benefiting from this support, the dawning LGBT community still faced state intransigeance and surveillance. In spite of this, the activists persisted with some success, and in 1977, the HIB's women group attempted to organize a nation-wide lesbian meeting. But this emergence of an actual LGBT community in East Berlin, due to ties with the West, remained an exception in the East. In most other socialist countries, gay scenes developed later, with the emergence of underground movements such as the punk scene, and on a smaller scale. Homosexuality continued to be met with pity at best, and disgust at worst, as it was still associated with the West. The consequences of the taboo and repression that marked this era are still felt today. Having missed on these defining years, LGBT people in post-socialist countries tend to have a lesser sense of community, of togetherness, of a shared fight throughout the whole community. They also suffer from a feeling of having no history on which to base their experiences, no “elders” to listen to and take advice from. This time, in between wars and massive political awakening from all occidental countries, appears as a nourishing field for the growth of radical political movements. The opposition between capitalist and communist parties, the losing of trust in the institutions after the second world war, the discovery of the horrors of fascists regimes created a propice environment for the development of new ideas. While the sixties were still shy in terms of social changes, the seventies call for more radical actions and a desire to include more people. LGBT rights get a place more and more important in public debates. As LGBT groups appear and gain influence, they create their own history. Being LGBT and being out becomes a political act, as countries try to enforce, with more or less zeal, the ideal of the nuclear family. But it still stays a sort of side-effect of other movements, and people keep facing important backlash, being denied jobs, housing or proper healthcare. Furthermore, politics tend to instrumentalize the issue on both sides of the political spectrum, conservatives raising it as a proof that socialism brings decadence while in Eastern Europe, communists present it as the ultimate perversion of a liberal lifestyle.

As the decade closes, the apparition of AIDS, although not yet named as such, puts the brakes on the huge steps made in the right direction. The sudden disease plagues the next decades and gives conservative associations an excellent reason to invoke the ghost of a divine judgement on impure people, leading to tensions in the public spheres. While LGBT groups keep fighting through, it takes another ten years for the community to see the fruits of its long, hard labour.

On the 31st of March, Gilbert Baker left us. We give thoughts and love to the community, and to Baker for his joyous and indelible mark in our cause.

FURTHER READINGS :

The Gay Metropolis, Charles Kaiser: chronicles of gay life in America since 1945 Russian homophobia from Stalin to Sochi, Dan Healey (to be published in November 2017) Stereophonic: webcomic about a gay couple in 1960s London stereophonic.thewebcomic.com Another Way, 1982 (Hungary): iconic movie about an illegal same-sex affair in late 50s Soviet-occupied Hungary Major! (2015): documentary about the life of activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy (TRAILER)

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LGBT RIGHTS IN THE 60/70s (Part 2/3) | Issue 2

LGBT RIGHTS IN THE 60s/70s Emilie Parent & L.D.

WEST

Europe is a more complicated subject because it is a patchwork of countries and cultures. While some of them, like France, tend to be seen as very open minded, very soon, others like England have a more puritan reputation. But the cradle of the “Swinging Sixties” deserves a more nuanced portrait.

From a political point of view, for example, things actually happen to contradict these assumptions entirely. Since 1942, France condemns homosexual relationships under the basis of protecting minors, but when heterosexual relationships are forbidden with a minor under 13, the legal age for homosexual relationships is 21 - which is the age of majority at the time. This limitation is lowered in 1974 when the age of majority becomes 18 years old. On another note, starting 1960, indecent assault is punished twice as harshly if it’s of homosexual nature. In England, the decade opens with the case of April Ashley, model and restaurant hostess, who is outed as a trans woman in 1961 and loses her job. She is the first known case of reassignment surgery. Meanwhile, homosexuality stops being criminalized in both England and Wales in 1967. In Germany, the political situation is complicated by the aftermath of the war. The law condemning homosexual acts, called paragraph 175, is a remnant of the german empire that had been enforced by the nazis, and it is kept by the newfound Democratic Republic of Germany until 1968, and by West Germany in 1969. In both cases, there is also a difference of legal age between homosexual relationships (21) and heterosexulal ones (14). In Italy, homosexuals acts have been allowed since the unification of the country in 1860, but Mussolini’s regime still persecuted homosexual men, with public admonitions and confinement. As for Austria, the decriminalization of homosexual acts happens as late as 1970.

Activism happens late. Communist movements from all countries tend to be supportive of LGBT rights, but even leftist groups are tainted with homophobia, and the first LGBT organizations only start appearing at the end of the decade: in 1969 it’s the Committee for Homosexual Equality in Manchester who becomes one of the first british organizations fighting for LGBT rights, followed in 1970 by the Gay Liberation Front. In France, it’s in 1971 that the Front Homosexuel d’Action Révolutionnaire presents itself as an alternative over outdated and more moderate groups. As for Germany, it’s in 1971 that the Homosexuelle Aktion Westberlin appears in West Germany, followed in 1974 by the Allgemeine Homosexuelle Arbeitsgemeinschaft who is heavily linked to the communist party.

And once more, the cultural background tells another story entirely. Starting from 1960, London becomes a capital of pop culture, and all fields of art are affected. More popular neighborhoods benefit from this trend and become places where people meet and discuss political activism, based around anti-nuclear movements and sexual liberation. It’s in 1966 that the Times magazine uses for the first time the expression of “the swinging city” to refer to London and it shapes the entire decade. But most of the people involved in this so-called popular revolution are actually middle-class young people. It is the same in France, where the people involved in the events of May 1968 are mostly parisian students, at a time when 90% of students are coming from middle and higher-class, and mostly men. And while the movement calls for a general liberation of people and mentalities, and obtains huge social changes, it doesn’t really cater to LGBT rights.

Again, things change more during the 70s, when feminist movements become more present and vocal, and the development of contraception pushes them upfront in public debates. Sexual liberation allows sex to become a public subject, not just a private one, and “non-procreative sexualities” are seen in a new light - but still a political one. Homosexual acts become something to revendicate, as a form of rebellion against the influence of church in public affairs and the reinforcement of the nuclear family by a capitalist economy who wants to sell household appliance. In 1971, the second Pride sees marches happening in Paris, London, West Berlin and Stockholm. In 1972 in France, the magazine Partisans publishes an article about sexuality and repression and for the first time, considers heterosexuality and homosexuality equally. And in 1979, Sweden is the first european country to remove homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses.

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LGBT RIGHTS IN THE 60/70s (Part 1/3) | Issue 2

LGBT RIGHTS  by Émilie Parent and L.D

The common expression of “the Sixties” and “the Seventies” is widely used to refer to the times succeeding the reconstruction of Europe after the Second world war. They do not refer to a specific cultural or intellectual movement, but rather merely to chronological points, from 1960 to 1979. Nevertheless, the context of this time offers room for the apparition of a specific culture and counterculture, based on social changes and liberation of the voice of minorities, that have retrospectively been raised as emblematic of the period.

In 1960, the reconstruction of the damages of the war has ended and the economy has gone back from the predominance of war industries to more regular activities. The arms race and the huge increase in transports and technologies, however, has left the world with an important amount of infrastructures that can now be used for other purposes. This allows for a general increasing of living standards for the population and a renewal of cultural and social norms.

But this is not the only consequence of the war. In the United States, during the years following the Nuremberg trials, emphasis is put on upholding traditional values against the forces of change, as a reaction against the idea of civil disobedience, which has come out stronger of the revelations brought by the trials. The national paranoia raises after the second world war against communists, anarchists and soon extended to any community seen as “subversive”, such as LGBT people. This movement is known as the Lavender Scare, in reference to the Second Red Scare targeting communists. Police and FBI keep lists of known homosexuals and their relatives, friends, as well as the places they meet up. This leads to the closing of a large number of gay bars, arrestations, and public exposure of people in newspapers, further leading to employment and housing discrimination. Meanwhile, in Europe, fascist governments had heavily repressed homosexuality, and the laws they put in place were not always repealed after 1945 - the french law against homosexuality, written in 1942, stayed in place, and homosexuals were often kept in concentration camps even after the liberation of Jews. In the 50s and the 60s, the opposition between the East and the West blocks creates a climate of unnatural tensions between opposed political stances, and social questions often become symbolic banners to raise whenever one wants to make a point.

AMERICA

The position in the Sixties slowly changes compared to the previous decade. The Vietnam war, started in 1954, comes with a rise of protesting movements. In the United States, the Beat Generation is the first cultural movement showing of the emergence of a counter culture rooted in anti capitalism, rejecting materialism in favour of spiritual quest (through the use of psychedelic drugs), personal exploration and sexual liberation. The “Beatniks” are poets and some of them write about homosexual experiences. Although this movement is very male-centered, because girl rebellion is faced with violent backlash, it brings homosexuality to the table for the first time in a positive light.

A few gay activist groups have started to appear in the 1950s. The Mattachine Society is one of them, heavily linked to the Communist Party and often focusing on the actions of police against gay people, which shows again how anticapitalist politics and lgbt activism go hand in hand. Five years later, in 1955, the group of the Daughters of Bilitis is formed, as an alternative to lesbian bars who were harassed more and more often by the police. This social group is asking for a better education about LGBT issues, as well as civil and political rights for LGBT people.

These are the two axes that start developing in the 60s. More and more groups appear, such as the East Coast Homophile Organization (ECHO) in 1963, and the National Transsexual’s Counseling Unit in 1965, the world’s first transgender organization; and these organizations reclaim and obtain civil rights, such as the decriminalization of homosexual acts between consenting adults (1962 in Illinois, 1969 in Canada). The same year, Franck Kameny, teacher in the Astronomy Department of Georgetown University, is fired because of his perceived sexual orientation and enters a judicial procedure against the US government. He creates the Washington, D.C. branch of the Mattachine Society and sides with the Daughters of Bilitis in a number of protests and picket lines in front of the White House, the Pentagon, the United Nations, and the United States Civil Service Commission. In 1966, endocrinologist and sexologist Harry Benjamin publishes The Transsexual Phenomenon; a Scientific Report on Transsexualism and Sex Conversion in the Human Male and Female, opening the door to the idea of sexual transition and advocating for a humane treatment of transsexual people. This is also the year of the founding of the National Transsexual Counseling Unit in San Francisco, which is the world’s first transgender organization.

picket lines in front of the White House, 1965. Kay Tobin Lahusen - New York Public Library Manuscripts and Archives Division

Meanwhile, the cultural background evolves too. In 1961, the Motion Picture Code allows movies to talk about homosexuality and the same year, the first documentary on homosexuality, The Rejected, airs on TV. In 1962, James Baldwin writes Another Country, a novel set in Greenwich Village and deals with bisexuality of both men and women, interracial couples, extramarital affairs, and it becomes a best-seller.

But these attempts stay mild, essentially coming from people of higher social background, and focus mostly on appeasing the tensions by painting the lgbt community as respectable and acceptable for the rest of the population. They tend to ignore gender nonconforming people and transsexual people, who risk appearing too threatening for the status-quo. Vanguard, an organization founded in 1965, insisted on “peaceful co-existence”.

This changes when the decade culminates in the events of Stonewall, on June 29th, 1969. What was a police raid into a gay bar turns into a rebellion from the clients, led by trans women of colour, and leads the way towards a more inclusive and more radical activism. Directly resulting from the riots, the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance are formed, the first being more radical and the second more reformist. These two groups help spreading LGBT activism and serve as an anchor for the whole LGBT community. Newspapers become a new way to share ideas, events and LGBT culture - Gay, Come Out!, and Gay Power, gathered between 20,000 and 25,000 readers. People are then encouraged to come out en masse, by the revolutionary article of reporter Leo Laurence, “HOMO REVOLT: DON’T HIDE IT” published in the leftist magazine Berkeley Barb. The Red Butterfly published Carl Wittman’s Gay Manifesto in 1970, where the LGBT activist encourages all gay people to find refuge in San Francisco. Also In 1970, the commemoration of the Stonewall riots, organized by bisexual activist Brenda Howard, becomes the first Gay Pride, with marches happening in New-York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Brenda Howard is then called the “Mother of Pride”. Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, who were both leaders to the riots, found the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. 

Berkeley Barb,1969, Volume 8, Issue 13(189)

And things change slowly from there. In 1972 the movie That Certain Summer is the first gay-themed movie to win an Emmy and in 1973, The Rocky Horror Picture Show meets a huge success, becoming a pop-culture phenomenon for decades to come. 1972 is also the year of the first gay synagogue and of the first gay person to be ordained by a major Christian denomination. Politics also move, even more than culture. Canada is faster at decriminalizing homosexual acts between consenting adults - in 1969. In the United States, it’s in 1973 that homosexuality is removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by the American Psychiatric Association, under the combined pressure of activism, social changes and empirical evidence. 

One year prior to that was founded the Lesbian Feminist Liberation, by Jean O’Leary, as the first lesbian activist group to counterbalance the domination of gay men in the activist movements and the exclusion of lesbians from most feminist groups, and this group is the first one to organize a meeting of gay activists in the White House, in 1977. The same year, Harvey Milk becomes the first openly gay person to be elected in public office, in San Francisco. In 1978, he encourages the activist Gilbert Baker to create a symbol for the LGBT Community. Since the US flag has become a symbol for people to gather around during hard times, Baker creates the rainbow flag, made of eight lines stacked together representing people stitched together as one community. The colours also have each a meaning: pink for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic, indigo for serenity, violet for spirit - pink and turquoise have later been removed for technical reasons (pink couldn’t be properly rendered) and balance reasons (a pair numer seemed better). The flag becomes extremely popular after the murder of Harvey Milk in November 1978. As the decade closes, the first case of AIDS appears in the US, yet not registered as such. 

(Part 1/3)

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Fortune and Men’s Eyes | Issue 2

Fortune and Men’s Eyes, directed by Harvey Hart

by Grace Richardson

Shakespeare’s work is malleable, especially in the modern era. This can be seen not only in literary adaptations of his works, but also in theatre productions and films based around his plays. Fortune and Men’s Eyes, released in 1971, is a movie that takes advantage of this malleability; it is fascinating in its transformation of Shakespeare’s twenty ninth sonnet into an exploration of the prison system and queerness as it existed in the twentieth century.

Fortune and Men’s Eyes, directed by Harvey Hart, does not, however, solely take inspiration from the Bard. John Herbert originally wrote Fortune and Men’s Eyes as a play based on his own experience in a reformation center for youth. More on this experience later. Herbert faced a number of obstacles in getting his play onto the stage – Canada, where Herbert was based, seemed reluctant to bring the controversy of Fortune and Men’s Eyes onto their theatre stages. However, the play debuted in 1967, in America instead of Canada, and eventually became a movie in 1971.  

Fortune and Men’s Eyes is rated R and runs for an hour and forty two minutes. The main character, Smitty, is sent to prison after being arrested for possession of marijuana. He shares a cell with the drag queen, Queenie, her companion, Mona, and the dark figure of Rocky. There isn’t an excessive amount of plot in the film – perhaps one of its weaknesses – but it spends some time exploring life in prison, relationships between inmates, and presentations of queerness as they existed in the West during the late 60s and early 70s.

The relationships between the characters make up for the drab prison scenery. It’s important to look at three, in particular: the relationship between Rocky and Smitty, the relationship between Mona and Queenie, and the relationship between Queenie and the society she lives in.

To begin, both Queenie’s relationship with Mona and Rocky’s relationship with Smitty engage with themes of sexual slavery and power dynamics within the prison’s society. Rocky says, early on in the film, that new inmates need “old men” in order to keep themselves from getting attacked or sexually assaulted by some of the older inmates. Queenie fills this role for Mona, and Rocky fills this role for Smitty. The partnerships that are developed, however, are neither platonic nor positive. Mona and Smitty are both surprised when Queenie and Rocky insist on sexual favors in exchange for their protection, and neither party comes out unscathed when their “old men” decide that it’s time for them to “pay their dues”. There are several moments of non-consensual sex throughout the film, primarily between Rocky and Smitty. These scenes are never explicitly shown (they are often paired with shots of water coming out of shower heads), but viewers know exactly what’s happening, even if they can’t see it.

Here, then, the film allows for the opportunity to discuss the negative stereotypes that existed around non-straight individuals during the West’s 60s and 70s. Queerness has frequently been associated with pedophilia or rape, as consensual non-straight sex between two parties is difficult – evening frightening – for non-queer society to consider. By presenting a non-straight relationship, such as the one between Smitty and Rocky, as one steeped in violence, it becomes easier for some viewers to perceive non-straight relationships as inherently immoral. By associating the relationship between Rocky and Smitty with violence, as well, heteronormativity is also preserved. One member of the relationship – Rocky – is presented as particularly “masculine” and “dominate”, whereas Smitty is presented as “submission”, or “feminine”. Here, the illusion of straightness is preserved between the duo. It is worth stating, however, that the relationship between Smitty and Rocky – as well as that between Mona and Queenie – is non-consensual. Fortune and Men’s Eyes depicts male on male rape in the prison system without apology. Neither of these relationships are positive representations of what queer relationships can look like.

The one vaguely positive relationship in the movie is that which exists between Queenie and the society within which she exists. Queenie’s character is best described as aggressive. She is unapologetic in her non-straight nature; she is relentless in pursuing what she wants, be it hair dye or a sexual relationship. She demands respect and receives it as such. This confidence, depicted through a character whose morality is a bit mixed, still promotes the idea that non-straight individuals are allowed to be confident in their queerness. Queenie is, in fact, based off of Herbert himself. Herbert was arrested in the late 1940s while dressed in drag, thus resulting in his time spent in one of Canada’s youth reformation centers. This presentation of one’s self as a confident and unapologetic figure may have allowed Herbert the opportunity to ‘fight back’ against those who had him arrested – through authorial intent is always hard to discern, especially forty years after the fact.

A review of Fortune and Men’s Eyes from the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia claims that Fortune and Men’s Eyes, first as a stage show, then as a film, allowed for authentic queerness to find a place in the media of the time. There’s no doubt that queerness became more easily depictable after the release of Fortune and Men’s Eyes, but I’d disagree that it was “authentic”. There are stereotypes and heternormativity buried in the major relationships of the film – natural, one would supposed, given the time in which it was produced. What Fortune and Men’s Eyes can be seen as, then, if not the gateway for more earnest presentations of queerness, is one of many early attempts to make media viewers aware of queerness in any form and to make its presence acceptable in theatre and film.

[queerasart-blog]

Rubyfruit Jungle| Issue 2

Ruby fruit Jungle

by Audrey Karnicheff 

Molly Bolt is smart as a whip. A deadpan smartass who doesn’t care about being “natural”, about doing what girls are “supposed” to do. She doesn’t care for religion, either. Have you ever wondered if Mary and Joseph even liked each other, if they bickered? Molly did, because a Nativity Play in school is more an opportunity to produce realistic theatre than it is a sacred mission. Liking girls is not quite a cosmic reveal - her first kiss makes her stomach weird, the good kind of weird, that’s alright and that’s it. In fact, most of the book’s soul-searching regards her upbringing as an adopted child.

Molly seems invincible, with a reckless attitude - until, slowly, she’s on the verge of breaking, tired of being “written off” by those who stopped being her friends after she comes out to them. “Written off” by lovers who won’t accept the fact that themselves are girls who like girls. “Written off” because she uttered the word “lesbian”. She talks about her sexuality in passing, like she always does, because it’s a fact of life and not an abomination, not a betrayal of same-sex friendships, not a fundamental misunderstanding of men. She doesn’t shout it out loud for the whole world to hear, but she doesn’t lie, and her sexuality is not played for angst.

"Madam, I am a full-blooded, bona fide lesbian. As for the way I look, most lesbians I know look like any other woman. However, if you're hot for a truck driver I know just the place.”

Molly could have collapsed a thousand times, every time the all-American ideal slammed the door in her face. Her college scholarship doesn’t get renewed “for moral reasons” while her girlfriend is sent away on a conversion therapy.

But then Molly pulls herself together and moves forward. That no-nonsense attitude is what makes Molly a fresh, compelling character.

"Let's stop this shit. I love women. I'll never marry a man and I'll never marry a woman either. That's not my way. I'm a devil-may-care lesbian."

That’s why Rubyfruit Jungle stands out, because it’s not a book about a woman coming to terms with her sexuality. It’s a book about an unapologetic woman, not a stand-in for a young reader confused about sexuality, religion and morals.

Arguably, Molly Bolt isn’t a flag-bearer and expresses her annoyance of labels on several occasions.

“So now I wear this label 'Queer' emblazoned across my chest. Or I could always carve a scarlet "L" on my forehead. Why does everyone have to put you in a box and nail the lid on it?”

Rita Mae Brown shares many a thing with her heroine - her childhood, her academic background, her passion for latin… Unlike her heroine, Brown was heavily politicized in the 70s, first through student movements then as a part of the Lavender Menace. Brown was a key-figure of lesbian feminism, and took part in the writing of the manifesto “The Woman-Identified Woman”. While Brown’s commitment to second-wave feminism brought a lot of attention to the discriminations lesbians were facing, some parts of Rubyfruit Jungle show their age regarding its treatment of butch woman. Molly doesn’t seem to get that being a woman sometimes means having short hair and being buff, without wanting to resemble a man.

"That's the craziest, dumbass thing I ever heard tell of. What's the point of being a lesbian if a woman is going to look and act like an imitation man? Hell, if I want a man, I'll get the real thing not one of these chippies. I mean [...] the whole point of being gay is because you love women.”

It’s important to remain critical of most exclusive aspect of lesbian history to remind ourselves that the advancement of LGBT people in society must be the advancement of all LGBT people, not only those who happen to conform to society’s view of gender and sexuality.

Rubyfruit Jungle is a lesson of resilience and strength - albeit an individualistic one.

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Oranges are not the only fruit | Issue 2

Religion, lesbianism and the crime of loving both

“To the pure, all things are pure” wrote Paul the Apostle in Titus 1-15 ; its the proverb by which Jeanette Winterson seems to rule her life, as to reconcile both God and her love for women. Her novel, Oranges are not the only fruit, is a clear rendering of this difficult situation. Despite being characterised by many as autobiographical novel, Jeanette Winterson herself wrote  that Oranges is far from being only an autobiography. Mixing up fantasy parts to more realistic and personal events, Winterson’s Oranges is a fabulous testimony of postmodernist novels. Despite rejecting the term of “lesbian novel” as a definition, Oranges has indeed become a book that helped many girls and women to overcome their fears.

The beginning of the novel immediately gives the tone. We’re in a small village lost somewhere in England and we evolve through the eyes of a small girl, whom we’ll see growing up page after page. Jeanette is a special little girl, raised by her mother, whose goal is to make of Jeanette the one missionary who will change the world, and her dad, submitted to the latter. Jeanette is thus brought up by her mother until she turns seven, age of reason, when she is forced to go to school. Religion is the main word in the house and biblical readings and tests are the primary focus of her education. The weight of religion on Jeanette’s life is strongly depicted from the beginning. Once at school, she has trouble integrating as she makes everything revolve around God and religion. She’s the abnormal one, for having always lived in a oh so religious home, for not liking the same things as the others, for being too religious. However, Jeanette feels detached from the vision of her schoolmates and teachers, as her direct entourage is as religious enthusiastic as she is. Religion is here depicted as a very pure thing, towards which everyone should turn to.

Even if, little by little, Jeanette realises she is different from others in another way, as she is interested by whom she shouldn’t think of, she never turns her back from religion. In fact for the young adolescent, her love of women, which is developed finely in the book - without any self-questioning of this love she feels - is in no way contradictory to her love for God. In contrary: the love she has for God is as big and as beautiful as the one she has towards the girl she loves, so why one of the two should be condemned? In thus, when Jeanette’s lover is taken aback by their situation, afraid of the consequences, the young woman sees nothing problematic. When her entourage, members of the Church and pious people, discover her secret relationship, she once again does not understand their reactions.

Her mother, with whom she already had a difficult relationship, considers this sin of flesh with another woman as a result of the devil’s play and not as a conscious act of Jeanette. All the rejection of the Church for homosexuality is here written as the entourage of Jeanette forces her to submit to an exorcism session for the devil in her to leave her body. Is thus created a small orange sphere which follows Jeanette, detached from her body but never afar, as a representation of the evil which will never leave her. The young girl finally leaves her village, running away from religious community that tried to diminish her.

If published in 1985, this novel is a testimony of the 60s and 70s - the childhood and teenage years of the author. An image of those religious villages is drawn, villages who rejected homosexuality and pushed people to reject their identity and conform to society’s rules. However, by adding up fantastical bits in her novel about a myth, Jeannette the author tries to show that every history is mystified, personal and a depiction will always be distorted. She shows that history and myth are linked up by putting them side by side. This doesn’t change the strength of her testimony but it does invite people to think more calmly about what is written everywhere. Indeed, the subjectivity of her novel and the fact that it is inspired from real life events give the novel even more weight. This novel is a furious letter of a child who grew up in a religion, who built all her life around it before being rejected by those who constitute this religion, in the name of big rules and convenances. She rejects the latter, throughout her whole novel. Jeanette indeed insists through the eyes of her innocent narrator on the incoherences of marriage, on the unequal relationships between husband and wife, on the difficulties and unhappiness such a sacrament can bring to someone. In the end, isn’t it more worth it to be happy by choice than to marry by condition?

Jeanette is thus a child of faith, who never gets lost between her faith and her identity, but who is shunned for some reason she does not comprehend. In the end, if she is pure and devoted to God, her love of women can only but be pure as well, and does not deserve the violent rejection her community showed her. It is a human journey we’re invited to follow, not in the self-acceptation of Jeanette as a lesbian woman but in the acceptance of all it implies.

Jeanette is never disturbed by her love of women. She never sees the wrong in it. It’s the others who see it and are brusque towards it. This novel is thus an apprentissage for those who do wrong, those who reject, those who believe religion is incompatible with a love that goes outside of heteronormative cases. It draws an example of a young woman accepting herself without questioning herself nor her God but those who spread his message. A novel, all in all, throwing in words all the resentment she could have felt whilst facing a community who wanted her to change because she did not correspond to their image of faith. But Jeanette Winterson was not taken down by that, and her faith goes on, and her love goes on, and her life as well, spreading a message of peace and acceptance - a small village girl, religious as hell, growing up to be gay and happy. What a crime, right?

Further reading:

Jeanette Winterson, by Sonya Andwermahr, Palgrave HE UK; 2008 edition Jeanette Winterson, by Onega Jaén Susana, Manchester New York Manchester university press cop. 2006 Jeannette Winterson, The Art of Fiction N.150, interviewed by Audrey Bilger, issue 145, winter 1997 for The Paris Review

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An open letter to France | Trans rights | Issue 2

Paris’ Pride in 2016 had for revendication that “the rights of trans people are a priority”. Indeed, in the cadre of the law “Justice in the 21st century”, the situation can finally change. Now that the law has passed, it is necessary to come back on the affair of the civil state change, on the revendications and the results of a process that had been going on since 1992. It was estimated that this law affects about 10 000 to 15 000 people in France (who are “in transition”, following the National Assembly’s sayings) but this number is surely under-estimated.

I don’t have time to read, sum it up

Before the law, trans people were facing a juridic void. Changing your civil state is linked to jurisprudence, which means that only competent judges validate or not the change.

The law was brought to the Senate, more conservative. The changes that were then applied provoked a general uproar and were considered as a “huge step back” (Clémence Zamora-Cruz, spokesperson for Inter-LGBT). Trans people are still seen as suffering from psychological troubles, which means they need a tight file to prove that they really live under the gender they demand. However, the psychological follow-up (necessary before the change, for a couple of years) is cut out. The heavy, costly and difficult procedure is in their eyes a way to prevent people “that are troubled to claim to be of an other sex”. 

The National Assembly finally had the last word: no self-determination by a free and easy procedure in mairies but no obligatory sterilisation or modification of genital organs, the file being constituted by the one asking for the change. It is no more talked of a syndrome of transsexualism (this “syndrome” having anyway been outed from psychiatric books since 2010). Organisations such as Fédération LGBT+ underlined the “judiciarisation, the arbitrary appreciation of magistrates, the binary and disparity of the procedure depending on the territories.” Some however judge this procedure as perfectible and consider the supervision of the civil state change as an improvement.

A “juridical void” (Amnesty International)

No law recognise specific rights for trans people: no fight against discriminations is put in place and, more importantly, no regulations around the civil state change. 

Before 1992, trans people were facing a juridical emptiness which led to a systematic refusal of their demands. We had to wait until 1987 for a Mlle B. to appeal to the European Commission of Human Rights. The latter states a violation of human rights and condemn France in 1992.

Following this decision, the civil state change belongs to the field of jurisprudence - meaning that judges have full power on this decision. Judges often badly informed or even completely ignorant, going as far as demanding physical examination of genital organs of the requester, a specific medical treatment (a specific operation, an hormonal treatment or a psychological follow-up) or even sterilisation.

France is an out-law

The right for civil state change is guaranteed by the European Commission of Human Rights since 1992. Despite recommandations from the French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission (HALDE in French), from the UN (France having signed an international agreement where it stated its intention of fighting against discriminations suffered by LGBT+ people), from the European Commission of Human Rights, despite all this little lot knocking at its door and underlining the fact that France is violating its own rights, nothing. It was condemned on multiple occasions for its non-respect of the right to fair trial, of the right to privacy and family life, of the prohibition of discrimination and torture. 

It’s starting to weight heavy - 25 years of international condamnations.

Project “Justice in the 21st century” : adopted on the 13th of October 2016

The project “Justice in the 21st century” is a project to modify laws. The subject of civil state change was thus dug up, which explains why it is finally spoken about after 25 years of silence. After a first reading at the National Assembly, it was sent to the Senate. The National Assembly finally adopted it on the 12th of October 2016, quoting :

Art.61-5 “Any major or emancipated person who demonstrates sufficient facts stating that the mention relative to their sex in the civil state acts do not correspond to the one under which they present themselves and under which they are known can obtain its modification.”

Here are a few points:

- demand of a “physical appearance bringing the person close to the other sex” “of which corresponds his social conduct” “which was medically stated” - the fact of not having gone through an operation of one’s genital organs or of sterilisation can not motivate a refusal of the demand (as judges were too subjective) - it’s not spoken of a “syndrome of transsexualism” anymore (which disappeared of all psychiatric reference books since 2010 et which has thus been de-medicalised internationally seven years ago) - there is no need for medical attestations’. - it is thus not based on auto-determination  - there is still no free access to the change, and it still has a cost - if the person has kids, their wrong gender will be noted in the birth certificate the intangibility of the civil state is considered as one of the big principles of law that cannot be discussed. However transferring the CEC (which has to remain exceptional) to the civil state officer questions this principe and thus the worth of civil state’s data. “The integrality of a person could thus be modified by simple demand to a civil state officer”. The amendment authorising the change of sex and name by a civil state officer was pulled off - the “sufficient facts” are not only a declaration: papers are needed. Not medical papers stating any change but every day life papers: be it bills, mails, letters, gym subscriptions, anything stating you use the name you want to change to in your life - you will need to have declaration and ID papers of at least two to three people-of-age who could testify knowing you under your wanted name

“The problem with their project of law is that we still have to face the high court, thus still need a lawyer, with a remaining blur around the necessary files, whilst on the top of that being too costly, too long and still too arbitrary. Even if they do not demand sterilisation or “medical proof”, the law remains insuffisant” C. trans man

CIVIL STATE

Changing your name is now authorised by the “law of modernisation of the 21st century justice” which was adopted by the end of 2016. This mesure, put in application since the 20th of November 2016, removed the justice-step beforehand necessary to change your name.

Changing your name (or the adjunction, suppression, modification of your names) is now to be demanded to a civil state officer (directly in your town council, which should easy up the processus). Your file will still however be brought to the High Court for it to give its final statement. If the demander is older than 13 years old, his personal consent is required. There’s however no possibility to have a medical transition (as contrarily from the Netherlands and Belgium, we refuse hormones stopping puberty) or a sex change noted on your papers.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Seeing how candidates remained blurry on the matter, (even though Benoît Hamon did declare he is in favour of the ART) the organisation Inter-LGBT decided to send, this week, a questionary to all those demanding the highest function - Marine Lepen apart. “Unnecessary”, said C. Zamora-Cruz, spokesperson of the organisation. The file is a sixty questions file going from rights, health, education, parenthood to the fight against oppressions. The list is long but will have the merit of clarifying each candidates positions’, which will be posted online over here: http://www.lgbt2017.fr/propositions/nationales.html.

Testimonies and reactions of concerned people (in French):

“It’s the worst law draft on the matter of the past ten years!” Stéphanie Nicot, president of the LGBT federation. Delphine Ravisé-Giard, president of the ANT (Transgender National Organisation), describes it as “the worst law voted in an European country”.

http://tetu.com/2016/09/22/video-trans-ilga-avancer-loi/

Come on, France. Country of Human’s Rights. What organisations ask you ain’t much. Even wore, it’ll make your job easier - judges surely have better to do than changement of letters and names on passport. It won’t cost you anything: the person would pay all the way to the re-impression of their papers. What does that change for you? Don’t you think there’s more important in your law “Justice in the 21st century”? Think about all the youngsters killing themselves. Think of all the people losing their jobs or not finding another one. Think of all the people who don’t have enough money, enough time, enough strength. Think of the people who can’t even go to the post office for a parcel without being questioned on their intimacy. Think of the HALDE, of the European Commission of Human Rights, think of the UN, of Amnesty International, of Inter LGBT+ and all those organisations and people knocking on your door, underlining your stupidity. Think even further, and move yourself for the rights of trans people and of intersex people, who are also mainly concerned by this law. 

Don’t you think that’s it, the “Justice of the 21st century”?

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Today in the world (2/2) | Issue 2

Queer britain, a bbc documentary

Irish YouTuber Riyadh Khalaf is starring in Queer Britain, a 6 episodes documentary on LGBTQ+ issues and views in Britain, premiering May 7th on BBC3 ; the goal of the documentary is to show sides of the queer community in Britain that is not spoken about and to bring a new light on the community. It is said to be a hopeful, sometimes anguishing, sometimes saddening documentary. 

https://www.hotpress.com/news/BBC-confirms-premiere-date-for-iQueer-Britaini-starring-Riyadh-Khalaf/20009951.html

Youtube’s lgbt+ restricted contents’ uproar

YouTube’s new restricted content blocked LGBT+ YouTube videos with no other reason but the creators being of the LGBT+ community. This discrimination created an immediate uproar. Influent YouTubers such as Tyler Oakley or Hannah Hart reacted immediately, pointing out their blocked videos or asking for a clarification on what is considered sensible. It seems YouTube explained that subjects related to Health, Politics or Sexuality were deemed sensible but LGBT+ intertwines with everything, leaving the lines on what is sensible or not blurry. However, the biggest issue here is that this restriction took in consideration the apparent sexuality of the YouTubers rather than the subject talked about in videos. YouTube claimed a human mistake, and whilst YouTubers and their community agreed mistakes are agreed on, the   need to clarify restricted content is heavily pressed upon. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/03/21/youtube-reverses-restrictions-gay-themed-content-following-uproar/

Doctor who’s companion gay

The Doctor's next companion, Bill Potts, starring Pearl Mackie, will be openly gay: this revelation pleased some people and displeased others. Is it necessary to announce that she will be gay - can't she be who she is without making a fuss over her sexuality? Indeed it was saluted that it was a necessary character but the way it was announced was disapproved by many. Well now, all the Whovians really want is to see how she combines with the Doctor, really. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/doctor-new-companion-bill-potts-gay-actress-says-time/

“The two maiden”

We all know of the Pompeii’s “Two Maidens”, embracing one another in their final moments. Recent analysis however showed that the two bodies, assumedly women, are two male bodies which are not related, inducing a possible gay couple. Massimo Osanna, director of the archeological site, stated: “You can’t say for sure that the two were lovers. But considering their position, you can make that hypothesis.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/07/embracing-figures-pompeii-could-have-gay-lovers-scan-reveals/

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Today in the World (1/2) : Chechnya | Issue 2

In Chechnya, gay men are being detained and executed.

In this semi-autonomous Republic within the Russian federation, the situation has been dreadful for LGBT+ people for years. Not only do many of Russia’s strict LGBT laws apply, but Chechnya’s legal code is also influenced by powerful Islamist parties intending to implement sharia law. In addition to consensual sexual relations between men being punishable by death, Chechen leader has repeatedly encouraged “honour killings”, which is to say extrajudicial killings by family members as an alternative to law enforcement. Ramzan Kadyrov was appointed by Putin in 2007, and since then accused of widespread brutality, human rights violation and suppression of press freedom. However, despite the long history of violence and persecution against LGBT people, the attacks have never happened at such a large scale.

On the 1st of April, Novaya Gazeta, one of the most important opposition newspaper, published a report on the president’s forces arresting and torturing men “in connection with their nontraditional sexual orientation, or suspicion of such”. This was confirmed shortly afterwards by Ekaterina L. Sokiryanskaya, who is the Russia project coordinator for the International Crisis Group. As of now, three deaths have been confirmed, but estimations are up to 20 deaths.

The arrests began after GayRussia.ru, a Moscow gay rights group, began to apply for permits to stage pride parades, in order to collect denials and to build a case about gay rights and freedom of assembly with the European Union Court of Human Rights.They had applied to 90 municipalities, 4 of which were situated in the predominantly muslim North Caucasia region, near to but not in Chechnya. This prompted a command for a “prophylactic sweep” in Chechnya, according to Novaya Gazeta.

Alvi Karimov, spokesman for Razman Kadyrov deems the article to be “absolute lies and disinformation” in a statement to the news agency Interfax on the 2nd of April. “You cannot arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic. If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return,” he said. He added that: “in our Chechen society, any person who respects our traditions and culture will hunt down this kind of person without any help from the authorities, and do everything to make sure this kind of person do not exist in our society.”

Many non-governmental organizations have taken action. The Russian LGBT Network took immediate action to save as many lives as possible by spreading awareness and evacuating any person in danger. Even those not directly menaced by state harassment find themselves at a heightened risk of family violence. They are fleeing to other, marginally more accepting regions of Russia, or out of the federation. On the 3rd of April, the organization placed an appeal to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. Despite widespread media attention and the publication of several first-hand stories recounting torture and murder at the hands of government officials, no action has been taken to investigate the matter as of today, neither on a local nor a federal scale. Amnesty International has issued a petition and various international officials have condemned what is scaringly reminding of a purge. On Wednesday, a protest has been organized by British activists outside of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in London.

But NGOs also warn against islamophobic, racist, and anti-Russia rhetoric being spread on social media. Jessica Stern of OutRight Action International: “Using a violent attack on men accused of being gay to legitimize islamophobia is dangerous and misleading. It negates the experiences of queer muslims and essentializes all muslims as homophobic. We cannot permit this tragedy to be co-opted by ethno-nationalists to perpetuate anti-Muslim or anti-Russian sentiment. The people and their government are never the same.”

SOURCES

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/gay-and-terrified-in-chechnya/2017/04/09/b128822e-18a1-11e7-855e-4824bbb5d748_story.htmlhttps://www.voanews.com/a/gay-men-chechnya-reportedly-targeted-detained/3792718.htmlhttp://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18188085https://lgbtnet.org/en/content/statement-russian-lgbt-networks-board-regarding-information-kidnappings-and-murders-lgbthttps://lgbtnet.org/en/content/order-get-confession-they-beat-him-hose-and-tortured-electricityhttp://lgbtweekly.com/2017/04/09/russian-lgbt-network-evacuating-at-risk-people-from-chechnya/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/world/europe/chechen-authorities-arresting-and-killing-gay-men-russian-paper-says.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/world/europe/chechen-authorities-arresting-and-killing-gay-men-russian-paper-says.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Chechnyahttp://www.ilga-europe.org/resources/news/latest-news/latest-update-chechnya

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By Abou Merhi Elissa, B. H. , Coz Abel (Foxcoz), Loire Mathilde, Moran Hayate Cha and Parent Emilie

We’ve published all articles of Issue 1 !

We’ll take a break of a couple days before posting issue 2 :)

You can read the full issue on pdf over here 

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Paris Gay Pride 2016

Video property of Mathilde Loire (c)

Full article can be read on the blog xx