Gay News

G.B.F. is a 2013 USA comedy by Darren Stein.
With Natasha Lyonne, Evanna Lynch and Sasha Pieterse.

In G.B.F., social warfare erupts when three high school clique queens battle for supremacy: drama diva Caprice, Mormon princess 'Shley and blonde fashionista Fawcett. When unassuming Tanner is outted, he finds himself cast as the hottest new teen-girl accessory: The Gay Best Friend.

The MPAA rated the US comedy G.B.F. (gay best friend) as R for sexual references.

However, the film makers were targeting a PG-13. The film's director, Darren Stein, wrote in a Facebook post:

I always thought of G.B.F. as a PG-13 movie, Unfortunately, we were given an R 'For Sexual References' while not having a single F-bomb, hint of nudity or violence in the film. Perhaps the ratings box should more accurately read 'For Homosexual References' or 'Too Many Scenes of Gay Teens Kissing.'

I look forward to a world where queer teens can express their humor and desire in a sweet, fun teen film that doesn't get tagged with a cautionary R.

Screenwriter George Northy told Gawker:

I watch the shows Awkward and Glee and you can find pretty much around the same level of references, and those are TV-14. It's so silly when you really think about the MPAA in terms of how every 13-year-old in the country has seen hardcore pornography in this age of the Internet, and yet they can't go to a movie theater and see a movie like G.B.F. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

Ugandan MPs have passed a nasty anti-pornography Bill that will ban miniskirts and other clothing deemed to be sexually explicit.

The Bill, widely opposed as a threat to women's rights, could also see many films and TV dramas being banned. Opponents claim it would stop performers such as Beyonce and Madonna appearing on their television channels.

According to the Daily Monitor the anti-pornography Bill outlaws anything that shows sexual parts of a person such as breasts, thighs, buttocks or any erotic behaviour intended to cause sexual excitement or any indecent act or behaviour tending to corrupt morals.

The Bill needs to be signed by the president before becoming law.

The Ugandan parliament's has also made an abrupt decision to pass anti-homosexuality laws that would condemn same-sex couples to life in jail for mere touching,

The bill, rushed through by MPs, also bans the promotion of homosexuality and makes it a crime punishable by prison not to report gay people to the authorities or to conduct a marriage ceremony for same-sex couples.

The law was first introduced in 2009, when it advocated the death penalty, but after a worldwide outcry, that was removed from the final version .

The morality extremist MP who proposed the bill, David Bahati claimed:

This is victory for Uganda. I am glad the parliament has voted against evil. Because we are a God-fearing nation, we value life in a holistic way. It is because of those values that members of parliament passed this bill regardless of what the outside world thinks.

Frank Mugisha , a leading Ugandan gay rights activist, said:

This is a truly terrifying day for human rights in Uganda. It will open a new era of fear and persecution. If this law is signed by president Museveni, I'd be thrown in jail for life and in all likelihood killed. We urgently need world leaders to call on president Museveni and demand he stops this bill of hate from becoming law.

More than a million people have backed Mugisha's campaign on the petition website Avaaz to stop the laws.

Update: Presidentially unsigned

13th January 2013. See  article from  xbiz.com

Uganda President Yoweri Museveni is giving Ugandans a little hope by dragging his feet on signing a new anti-porn bill recently passed by the country's Parliament.

Update: Presidentially signed and quickly followed by mass arrests of gays

15th January 2013. See  article from  bbc.co.uk

Dozens of gay men are reported to have been arrested across northern Nigeria as police begin to enforce nasty new laws that criminalise same-sex marriages and membership of gay rights organisations.

The legislation, condemned by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and human rights groups in Europe, has come into force shortly after the Ugandan parliament passed an Anti-Homosexuality Act.

Last week Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, signed the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, which provides penalties of up to 14 years in jail for a gay marriage and up to 10 years' imprisonment for membership or encouragement of gay clubs, societies and organisations.

Dorothy Aken'Ova, executive director of the country's International Centre for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights, said that the legislation, hailed the Jail the Gays law, had led to mass arrests. Police in Bauchi state, she claimed, had a list of 168 purportedly gay men, of whom 38 had been arrested.

India's Supreme Court has upheld a disgraceful law which criminalises gay sex. The Supreme Court ruling reverses a landmark 2009 Delhi High Court order which had decriminalised homosexual acts.

The court said it was up to parliament to legislate on the issue.

According to Section 377, a 153-year-old colonial law, a same-sex relationship is an unnatural offence and punishable by a 10-year jail term.

Several political, social and religious groups had petitioned the Supreme Court to have the law reinstated in the wake of the 2009 court ruling.

Correspondents say although the law has rarely, if ever, been used to prosecute anyone for consensual sex, it has often been used by the police to harass homosexuals.

The Supreme Court ruling has come as a huge surprise for activists who have described it as retrograde and say this is a black day for gay rights in India. Nobody had expected the Supreme Court, often seen as a last recourse for citizens faced with an unresponsive government, to reverse an order many had hailed as a landmark. Justice GS Singhvi sad:

The legislature must consider deleting this provision (Section 377) from law as per the recommendations of the attorney general.

Update: UN asks India to reconsider its ban on gay sex

14th December 2013. See  article from  theguardian.com

The UN has called on the Indian government to seek a rapid review of the country's supreme court's decision to criminalise gay sex.

Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner on human rights , said that the decision by the court to reinstate a ban on same-sex relationships overturned four years ago by a lower court represents a significant step backwards for India and violates international law:

Criminalising private, consensual same-sex sexual conduct violates the rights to privacy and to non-discrimination enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which India has ratified.

Meanwhile dozens of Bollywood stars have also now come forward to criticise the supreme court's decision to reinstate Section 377 of India's penal code which bans sex against the order of nature . Aamir Khan, one of India's biggest film celebrities, described the judgment as very intolerant and violative of basic human rights . Freida Pinto, who starred in the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, said on Twitter she was absolutely appalled by such narrow mindedness .

Sonia Gandhi, the president of the ruling Congress party has called on the national assembly to address this issue and uphold the constitutional guarantee of life and liberty to all citizens of India, including those affected by this judgment . Gandhi described Section 377 as an archaic, repressive and unjust law that infringed on basic human rights and said that [the Indian] constitution has given us a great legacy ... of liberalism of openness, that enjoin us to combat prejudice and discrimination of any kind .

Update: Appeal

21st December 2013. See  article from  bbc.co.uk

The Indian government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking it to review its decision to reinstate a 153-year-old law that criminalises homosexuality.

The government asked the court to review its order saying it believed it violated the principle of equality .

There has been outrage over the ruling seen as a huge blow to gay rights. There have been street protests and many activists and even government ministers have criticised it.

The government has filed the review petition on Section 377 in the Supreme Court today. Let's hope the right to personal choices is preserved, Law Minister Kapil Sibal tweeted on Friday.

Creators of the first film to come out of Egypt which directly tackles gay issues have been told they must delete a large chunk of scenes, despite that the film contains no sexually explicit content.

The censors demanded that thirteen scenes be cut from Family Secrets directed by Hany Fawzy.

The director said deleting such a high volume of scenes would remove vital segments of the plot, and damage it artistically. One of the scenes sees the gay protagonist come out to his sister, and in another he accuses his father of being responsible for his sexual orientation .

The censorship comes after the head of the censor board Ahmed Awad, told the AFP last month that the film would not be censored just because it addresses homosexuality ... [BUT] ...

Update: Gay film without the gay

12th January 2013. See  Egyptian debut director Hany Fawzy fears for film on homosexuality from  theguardian.com

When Hany Fawzy finished editing Family Secrets , he thought he had made one of the first Egyptian films to focus primarily on homosexuality. Then Egypt s censors watched it. After 13 requested changes, Fawzy fears their edits will turn the protagonist's love affair with another man into a romance-free friendship.

His relationship will seem like a heterosexual relationship, said Fawzy, a seasoned screenwriter making his directorial debut with Family Secrets. It'll mess up the film. You won't be able to understand the psychological dilemma of the character, or his relationship with others.

Family Secrets tells the story of Marwan, a young man who visits five psychiatrists in an attempt to cure himself of what society has led him to consider a disease. Those who come out to their families in Egypt are often encouraged by their parents to do the same.

According to Fawzy, there are no sexually explicit scenes in the film but censors want to cut 13 details, including shots of Marwan resting his head on another man's shoulder in a cinema, and a crucial conversation about homosexuality between the pair in bed. They are also uncomfortable with a scene where a psychiatrist asks him if he wants to sleep with one of his male colleagues.

Rare though the film is, its plot has nevertheless also angered many gay Egyptians, who expect it to imply that homosexuality is something to be ashamed of. From what I have read, it deals with homosexuality in the way that everyone does -- that it's a disease, and that we are not pleased with ourselves, that we want a cure, said Ramy Youssef, known as the first Egyptian to come out on Twitter . This isn't something that can be presented as a disease, said Mahmoud, an activist concerned with gender issues. It's what concerns me most -- that this false psychiatry, the idea of converting people from gay to straight, which has been copied from the west, is recognised as therapy.

The Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) Monday condemned what it called moral policing by the right-wing brigade of Hyderabad, which exerted pressure on an art gallery to cancel gay artist Balbir Krishan's exhibition.

The exhibition, on the theme of nudity and homosexuality, was displayed at the Muse Gallery in Hyderabad and enjoyed a smooth preview Saturday.

However, exhibition curator Kaali Sudheer received a call late night from someone claiming to be a right-wing activist who demanded that the exhibition end.

The gallery complied with the demand as the people making the threats had strong political connections .

An official statement from SAHMAT said:

The work was up on their (gallery's) website and social media, and it is clear there was nothing pornographic or obscene in the works which were male nudes. The gallery was fully aware of the work and had invited the artist to exhibit and the opening was well attended.

It is because the artist is gay that the moral police of the right has swung into action. Their threats and intimidation are in fact against the law, and the gallery should have complained to the police.

Pastors from across the Oklahoma City metropolitan area say they are outraged and offended over a play featuring biblical satire and simulated gay sex.

Members of the clergy are planning a protest to be held at the city-owned Civic Center Music Hall on the opening night of OKC Theatre Company's production of, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told . The play's opening night is Dec. 6.

The comedy features a twist on stories of the Bible. In one scene at the Garden of Eden, God creates Adam and Steve along with the first lesbians, Jane and Mabel.

We feel like we have a responsibility to speak out and say, 'this is wrong,' Rev. Steve Kern of Olivet Baptist Church said. Kern, who is running for a seat in the Oklahoma State Senate, says the play accepts a sinful lifestyle and anyone involved should pray that gays become straight.

Church leaders from across the metro are asking the city to prohibit the play from being performed on Oklahoma City property.

The New York Daily News reports that Chelsea's newly opened Splosh Sex Shop doesn't simply plan to sell supplies for getting your rocks off. No, it'll also include an American bistro and cafe.

It's straight, it's gay, it's everything, the store's manager told the Daily News . There's nothing like it in the country. It's one place to eat, drink, shop and do everything.

There are also plans to open a bar and lounge upstairs at the first of the year, DNA Info reports , though the store has yet to secure a liquor license. An employee also insisted it would be open 24 hours.

It's probably safe to assume the menu will be heavy on the supposed aphrodisiacs, lewdly decorated desserts and sex puns.

Update: De-Licensed

16th January 2013. See  article from  dnainfo.com

Splosh Sexy Boutique, a combination sex shop, cafe and bar that recently opened at 115 Eighth Ave., got its liquor license application shot down by Community Board this week.

A few angry neighbors attended a meeting of CB4's Business Licenses and Permits Committee to oppose the liquor license, claiming without evidence that they feared Splosh would host loud parties and become a magnet for prostitution .

The committee voted unanimously to ask the State Liquor Authority to deny a liquor license for the shop, which has alternated between the name Splash and Splosh.

A Christian group has lodged papers at the High Court attempting to force Transport for London to take down hundreds of new billboards on double-decker buses telling people who disapprove of homosexuality to get over it .

It claims that transport chiefs are deliberately ignoring a ruling by a High Court judge that the posters, from the gay rights group Stonewall, are highly offensive to fundamentalist Christians who claim that gay sex is a sin .

Core Issues Trust, a Christian counselling group which advocates controversial reorientation therapy, booked advertising space on London buses last year promoting the idea that people can become post-gay through therapy. The posters were modelled on advertisements taken out by Stonewall a few weeks earlier reading: Some people are Gay. Get over it! Mayor Boris Johnson stepped in and banned them saying it was clearly offensive to suggest that being gay is an illness .

The ban was allowed after a court challenge, but the judge did question the decision to allow the earlier Stonewall advertisements, and Christian groups have asked to get the Stonewall ads banned too. The outcome is due later this year.

But pre-empting this decision, further similar Stonewall advertisements have begun to reappear on buses across London as part of a new campaign.

Dr Michael Davidson, founder and Core Issues Trust, is lodging an urgent judicial review application seeking an injunction forcing TfL to ban the new advertisements.

Eminem's new single Rap God has been praised as a sign that the rapper is still relevant in today's music industry, but its lyrics have offended gay campaigners at Stonewall.

The group said the song's content was outdated and deeply offensive , and claimed the rapper was stuck in the last century .

Rap God is currently top of the UK and US iTunes charts, and has earned positive write-ups in Time and Rolling Stone. MTV lauded its expertly laid verses .

The lyrics are complex and layered with metaphor. An offending passage seem to be:

I attempt these lyrical acrobat stunts while I'm practicing that
I'll still be able to break a motherfuckin' table
Over the back of a couple of faggots and crack it in half
Only realized it was ironic I was signed to Aftermath after the fact

The second verse frequently references gays, eg:

Little gay-looking boy, So gay I can barely say it with a straight face-looking boy

Richard Lane, media manager at Stonewall, said:

Compared to inspirational modern artists like Frank Ocean and Macklemore, who have vocally supported tackling homophobia, Eminem seems stuck in the last century with these outdated and deeply offensive lyrics.

Facebook took down a photo of two men kissing because it supposedly violated Community Standards.

Of course, it may also have been the fact that the photo was posted by gay porn star, Titan Men exclusive Jesse Jackman, who told sfist.com that in the aftermath of posting the picture of him kissing husband Dirk Caber:

I received multiple public death threats after posting this photo, endured countless homophobic slurs, and received dozens upon dozens of hate-filled messages, and yet Facebook did nothing about those disgusting comments, choosing to censor love instead of hate... This is a travesty. Hate must not be allowed to prevail in this world.

Jackman also took to Twitter to express his amazement at the censorship for something so sweet as a kiss and then the story went kind of viral, with HuffPo also taking stock.

As usual once a decision is widely criticised, Facebook rescinded the ban with the claim:

As our team processes more than one million reports each week, we occasionally make a mistake, Facebook told the site. In this case, we mistakenly removed content and worked to rectify the mistake as soon as we were notified. We apologize for the inconvenience caused due to the removal of this content.

Presumably thousands of similar 'mistakes' go unrectified as they lack the clout of Huffington Post  in putting things right.

Cal/OSHA (California's Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health), recently issued multiple workplace safety citations and fines to San Francisco-based Factory Video, an adult film company that primarily produces gay bareback, or condom-less, adult films. Factory was fined close to $60,000 for numerous occupational safety and health complaints

Anti-porn campaigner,  Michael Weinstein of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation crowed:

I am very pleased to see that Cal/OSHA is really starting to step up its enforcement of existing California health and safety statues that have long required the use of condoms in adult films produced anywhere in California.

Update: AHF Snitches

12th October 2013. See  article from  latimes.com

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation reported that Factory Video was fined nearly $60,000 for the violations. The nonprofit said it had filed a series of complaints over the last two years.

Marc Sterling, office manager at Factory Video, responded to Michael Weinstein of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation:

All workers deserve a safe workplace

The truth is, he said, there have been no worker complaints from Factory Video, and it was AHF, not anyone working on a Factory Video set, that filed the Cal/OSHA complaint.

A medical test being developed by Kuwait will be used to detect gay people at the border to prevent them from entering the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC), according to a Kuwaiti government official.

The GCC member countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, already deem homosexual acts unlawful.

Yousouf Mindkar, the director of public health at the Kuwaiti health ministry said:

Health centres conduct the routine medical check to assess the health of the expatriates when they come into the GCC countries. However, we will take stricter measures that will help us detect gays who will be then barred from entering Kuwait or any of the GCC member states.