USA – conservative grgoups are accusing LGBT organisations of “sexual assault on our children” through public schools’ recognition of LGBT History Month (this month). They accuse schools of teaching “sex and murder”, following the inclusion of the ‘trans panic’ story of teenager Gwen Araujo on the curriculum.
October is LGBT History Month in the USA. As part of their celebrations, they are featuring a Hero-A-Day. Check out who is today’s LGBT USA Hero….
An interesting review of a new book published in the USA that looks at a (literally) unspoken aspect of queer history – the male flight attendant. The book also looks at how the murder of a male flight attendant spawned what would later become known as the “gay panic defence”
The review comes from www.labornotes.org
John McCain, defeated Republican candidate in the 2008 US Presidential election, has submitted an ‘op-ed’ piece to Russian neswspaper Pravda. While the piece was not published in Russia, it has been released on the English language website Pravda.ru. In it, McCain says “President Putin and his associates… don’t respect your dignity or accept your authority over them. They punish dissent and imprison opponents… they write laws to codify bigotry against people whose sexual orientation they condemn”. Putin’s laws were then debated in the studio, where Stuart Milk was a guest.
“A Queer History of Fashion” Gives Us Crossdressers, Dandies, and Haute Couture: This groundbreaking exhibition, for which a companion text is in production at Yale University Press, will feature approximately one hundred ensembles, from 18th century menswear to 21st century haute couture.
Stephen Fry’s call for a boycott of everything Russian was widely reported, Cher won’t sing at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014. The prime minister raised the issue when meeting president Putin at the G20 two weeks ago. But it’s important that such solidarity is properly informed and doesn’t lead to unintended consequences – like the campaign started in the USA for boycotting vodka actually made in Latvia, not Russia.
Homophobia’s still going strong in 21st-century comedy – large swaths of standup comedy remain vigorously anti-gay. The most recent evidence of this was the 26 “you’re gay!” jabs directed at James Franco during his Comedy Central Roast last week.
Stranger in my homeland – Realizing I was Gay in Russia felt like a terminal disease diagnosis
by Wes Hurley – Special to the Seattle Gay News. An article showing that homophobia, and persecution as a mid-set, are nothing new in Russia.
Epic Gallery: 150 Years Of Lesbians And Other Lady-Loving-Ladies – Photographs of women dating back well over 150 years. An old piece (from September 2012) but some fantastic pictures.
For all literary fans of the great Armistead Maupin, you’ll be hugely excited to know that the 9th book in Maupin’s critically and popularly acclaimed ‘Tales of th City’ series will be published in January 2014. “The Days Of Anna Madrigal” chronicles the twilight years of literature’s most beloved trans woman, now 92, and her journey from San Francisco back to Winnemucca.
