Gay News

The Prince is a 2019 Chile/Argentina/Belgium gay prison drama by Sebastián Muñoz
Starring Juan Carlos Maldonado, Alfredo Castro and Gastón Pauls

The film hasn't troubled film censors but it did offend Amazon Prime and so it was banned on that service.

Summary Notes

A '70s-set homoerotic prison drama based on a low-circulated pulp novel, tracking the sexual, often-violent and eventually murderous experiences of 20-something narcissist Jaime.

Versions

uncut run: 96m pal: 92m		UK: Passed 18 uncut for sexual violence, strong sex, nudity, gory injury detail: 2020 Peccadillo Pictures R2 DVD at UK Amazon
banned		UK: Banned from Amazon Prime in December 2020 See article from deadline.com The Prince has been banned from Amazon Prime UK after distributor Peccadillo Pictures was informed the movie contained offensive content that clashed with the streamer's guidelines. Distributor, Peccadillo's MD Tom Abell said: We have been trying to overturn their decision without avail and cannot understand why, when we have overwhelming support from all other platforms, they have taken this stance.We cannot deny that The Prince has some explosive and bold scenes but this is what makes it stand out and is such an enjoyable and admired film. It certainly contains nothing that hasn't been seen before in a prison drama and pales in comparison to scenes in many of Amazon's own productions. We are something of a loss to explain the situation. Amazon seems happy enough to continue selling the BBFC 18 rated DVD though.

The Christian moralist campaign group One Million Moms has taken issue with woke advertising for Oreo biscuits. The group writes:

Oreo and parent company, Mondelez International, have begun airing a gay pride commercial which has absolutely nothing to do with selling cookies. Mondelez International is attempting to normalize the LGBTQ lifestyle by using their commercials, such as the most recent Oreo ad featuring a lesbian couple, to brainwash children and adults alike by desensitizing audiences.

The ad has a daughter going home to see her family and brings her lesbian lover with her. The commercial focuses on the mother approving of her daughter's girlfriend, but the father is hesitant and has reservations. He later has a change of heart and even displays his acceptance of her lifestyle by painting his picket fence in rainbow colors to further show his approval. The advertisement ends with: A loving world starts with a loving home. Followed by: Show you're a proud parent #PROUDPARENT. And the final statement: In collaboration with PFLAG. Oreoproudparent.com.

PFLAG is the United States' first and largest organization uniting parents, families, and allies with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. PFLAG National is the national organization, which provides support to the PFLAG network of over 400 local chapters. Founded in New York City, New York, with their headquarters based in Washington, D.C., PFLAG is the most visible group showing support for LGBTQ youth and acceptance of this lifestyle.

When we purchase Mondelez International products then we are helping fund and support PFLAG. In 2011, the popular snack-food company Nabisco became known as Mondelez International. Its most popular brands in the United States are Oreo, belVita, Chips Ahoy!, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Honey Maid, Halls, Philadelphia, Ritz, Sour Patch Kids, Triscuit, Trident gum, and Wheat Thins.

Strictly Come Dancing
BBC One, September 2020

We've received complaints from some viewers about a same-sex pairing on the programme.

Our response

Strictly Come Dancing is an inclusive show and is proud to have featured same sex dancing amongst the professional dancers in group numbers in previous series.

We have stated, in the past, that we are open to the prospect of including same sex pairings between our celebrities and professional dancers, should the opportunity arise.

Nicola Adams requested an all-female pairing, which we are happy to facilitate. The show is first and foremost about dance, the sex of each partner within a coupling should have no bearing on their routine.

More people are catching gonorrhea in England and Wales than ever before, official figures have revealed.

There were 70,936 cases of the sexually transmitted infection last year, the highest number since records began in 1918. It marks a 26% increase from 2018 and 71% jump from levels seen in 2015, according to Public Health England.

Health bosses said the spike is largely being driven by gay and bisexual men, but diagnoses have also risen among women and straight males.

Experts have blamed increasing infections on budget cuts to sexual health clinics across the country, as well as online dating apps. Apps such as Tinder, Grindr and Bumble make it relatively easy for people to meet new sexual partners, meet them quickly and move onto someone else. This could increase the risk of catching STIs by allowing a quick turnover of partners and make people less likely to contact past partners if they're diagnosed.

Clinics dealing with restricted budgets are rather short sightedly restricting their opening hours and, therefore, the number of patients they see. This leaves some unable to get tested or treated when they need it, leaving them at risk of infecting others while they wait for an appointment with a doctor.

BBC Three has commissioned a major new documentary series exploring human sexuality, hosted by Cara Delevingne.

The series has been jointly commissioned by Hulu and BBC Three and is currently in production by Naked, a Fremantle company.

Planet Sex is an epic six-part documentary series in which actress, activist, model, author and LGBT advocate Cara Delevingne explores the biggest questions in human sexuality. Why are some of us straight and some of us not? Is there even such a thing as straight? Are gender and sexuality independent or intertwined? Why do our sexual tastes vary from person to person and culture to culture? The series will explore and address key questions related to our gender, our sexual orientation, our relationships, the popularity of porn, and more.

In this deeply personal, but also universally relevant series, Delevingne plans to put her mind and body on the line, opening herself up to experiments and demonstrations in the world's leading sex research labs, visiting communities who experience gender and sexuality very differently, and voyaging into people's hearts and homes to share their unique stories.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has said she wants to explicitly remove any legal ban on supplying poppers, a muscle-relaxing drug used by gay men during sex.

In a letter to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, she acknowledges the law on the liquid, whose scientific name is alkyl nitrites, is uncertain. Possession is not illegal but supply can sometimes be an offence.

Poppers, used recreationally since the 1970s, give an instant high when inhaled, usually from a bottle, and work as a muscle relaxant. The government's Frank drugs information website says:

Poppers have a strong solvent smell and are often sold as 'room aromas', 'deodorisers' and 'leather cleaners', but they're not actually used in this way. They can be found in sex shops, clubs, market stalls and online. Because poppers increases blood flow and can relax the walls of the anus and vagina, some people take it while they're having sex.

During a Commons debate in 2016, Conservative MP Crispin Blunt declared himself a user and asked for poppers to be specifically excluded from the Psychoactive Substances Bill - aimed at stopping the use of legal highs - arguing that banning supply would be fantastically stupid. MPs rejected his call and the bill passed into law without this exemption.

But the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) advised ministers that poppers would not fall into the scope of the Psychoactive Substances Act because, unlike legal highs, they did not have a direct effect on the central nervous system.

However, this view was thrown into doubt in 2018 when a Court of Appeal judgement confirmed that substances which have only an indirect psychoactive effect, such as poppers, could still be covered by the legislation.

Offsite Comment: Have We Banned Poppers by Mistake?

15th August 2020. See article from lawandsexuality.wordpress.com

Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council, or RTÜK, recently confirmed that they had requested Netflix remove a gay character from the Turkish teen drama Ask 101 (Love 101) -- and that Netflix had complied.

Main character Osman, played by Selahattin Pasali, had been originally conceived of as gay, but it appears that any scenes which actually say so have now been cut.

An anonymous RTÜK official said the problem about that character has been removed.

Update: Gay culture cancelled

20th July 2020. See article from reclaimthenet.org

On July 18, reports from Turkish media indicated that Netflix was canceling the popular drama Ask 101 (Love 101). RTUK, the country's broadcasting regulator, demanded that the streaming platform should censor the character in the series.

The director of the series, Ece Yörenç, told Fasikül, a Turkish entertainment website, that it was "very scary" that the production of series can be halted because of a gay character. The director argued that RTUK was unreasonable because no gay intimacy even takes place in the show.

Netflix is yet to release an official statement regarding Love 101 or whether they will continue their service in Turkey despite the increasingly strict censorship laws.

Instagram will block the promotion of conversion therapy, which tries to change a person's sexuality or gender identity.

Campaigners are urging the government to act now on a two-year-old promise to make the practice illegal. This year, 200,000 people have signed an online petition calling for action.

In 2018, the government announced that gay conversion therapies were to be banned as part of a government plan to improve the lives of gay and transgender people, but activists note that such a ban has not been initiated. The government has since said it will consider all options for ending the practice.

Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Tara Hopkins, EMEA public policy director, Instagram, said the company is changing the way it handles conversion therapy content:

We don't allow attacks against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity and are updating our policies to ban the promotion of conversion therapy services. We are always reviewing our policies and will continue to consult with experts and people with personal experiences to inform our approach.

Earlier this year, Instagram banned the promotion of conversion therapy in ads. From Friday, any content linked to it will now be banned across the platform.

The UK is set to see its first to open its first gay male lap dancing night in Soho, London.

STRIP London say they're set to confirm an opening date once current UK lockdown restrictions are lifted and the club is allowed to safely operate. The exact venue is currently being kept under wraps, but organisers say the lap dancing club will aim to provide an attitude-free, safe space for both their staff and customers.

STRIP London are currently looking to recruit dancers for the regular club night, which is expected to tour to other cities after launching in capital.

God's Own Country is a 2017 UK gay romance by Francis Lee.
Starring Josh O'Connor, Alec Secareanu and Gemma Jones.

Spring. Yorkshire. Isolated young sheep farmer Johnny Saxby numbs his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker Gheorghe, employed for the lambing season, ignites an intense relationship that sets Johnny on a new path.

God's Own Country director Francis Lee has revealed his film was butchered by its American distributor, who censored several of the movie's gay sex scenes for a streaming release.

The censorship first came to light earlier this week, when Lee tweeted that fans should not stream the movie via Amazon Prime Video, due to edits made without his consent. He Tweeted:

Dear friends in USA, God's Own Country appears to have been censored on Amazon Prime. Until this is investigated please do not rent or buy on Amazon Prime. It is not the film I intended or made.

However the director later seems to have got the Amazon Prime version fixed and he tweeted the following day:

After investigation, God's Own Country was not censored by Amazon, but by the US distributor Samuel Goldwyn Films, who butchered the streaming version without consultation to get more 'revenue'.

The rental version of God's Own Country on @PrimeVideo is the correct version of my film. I would like to thank Amazon Prime for being supportive and I would caution any film maker of working with the aforementioned 'distributor'.

The film was banned in numerous Arab countries and China as a result of its LGBT+ themes, with only Secareanu's native Romania playing the film in Eastern Europe.

Rafiki is a 2018 Kenya / South Africa drama by Wanuri Kahiu.
Starring Patricia Amira, Muthoni Gathecha and Jimmy Gathu.

Rafiki, which means friend in Swahili,  is adapted from the 2007 Caine Prize-winning short story, Jambula Tree, by Ugandan writer Monica Arac Nyeko. It follows two close friends, Kena and Ziki, who eventually fall in love despite their families being on opposing sides of the political divide.

Rafiki was banned by Kenya's moralist film censor in April 2018 for its gay themes. The film makers have been pursuing the censorship through the courts, on the grounds that Kenya's constitution includes the right to artistic freedom of expression.

But now the High Court of Kenya has upheld the violation of the film makers' rights to freedom of expression ruling that the film's ban:

Does not in any way violate Artistic Freedom of Expression, but instead protect the society from moral decay

Filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu expressed disappointment in the court's decision:

We are disappointed of course. But I strongly believe in the constitution and we are not going to give u. I think it is very important for us to define what freedom of expression means in Kenya as per our constitution. We are going to appeal. The ruling today is not a true reflection of what the constitution says.

Onward is a 2020 USA children's cartoon comedy by Dan Scanlon.
Starring Tom Holland, Chris Pratt and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Set in a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, go on an journey to discover if there is still a little magic left out there in order to spend one last day with their father, who died when they were too young to remember him.

Disney's latest Pixar cartoon Onward has been banned by several Middle Eastern countries because of a reference to lesbian parents. The film will not be shown in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Police officer Specter, voiced by Lena Waithe, has been heralded as Disney-Pixar's first openly gay character. Her lines include: It's not easy being a parent... my girlfriend's daughter got me pulling my hair out, OK?

Other Middle East countries, Bahrain, Lebanon and Egypt are showing the film.

And according to Deadline, Russia censored the scene in question by changing the word girlfriend to partner and avoiding mentioning the gender of Specter, who is a supporting character.

Meanwhile in the US the christian website LifeSiteNews has launched a petition calling for a boycott of the movie. Gualberto Garcia Jones Director of Advocacy for LifeSite whinged:

It's a relentless onslaught against our children's innocence. And, we parents have got to be just as relentless in rejecting Disney's attempt to sexualize our children.

The petition has been signed by about 55,000 people and states:

By forcing the LGBT agenda on us, you are seriously disrespecting our values. The days are now over where we would give you our hard-earned dollars just so you can turn around and offend us and our children's innocence. Please do not pursue this agenda again in the future.

Eternals is a 2020 USA action Sci-Fi fantasy by Chloé Zhao.
Starring Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden and Salma Hayek.

Following the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), an unexpected tragedy forces the Eternals, ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years, out of the shadows to reunite against mankind's most ancient enemy, the Deviants.

One Million Moms is a US morality campaign group. It has called for the boycott of an upcoming Marvel Studios movie because it features an openly gay superhero. The Eternals is said to an include a kiss between superhero Phastos and his husband.

The movie's release is still eight months away, but the campaigners getting early. The group wrote:

Warning! An upcoming Marvel Studios movie will include a homosexual superhero and a same-sex kiss in the film The Eternals , set to hit theaters on November 6. One Million Moms needs your help to make sure as many people as possible are aware of Marvel pushing the LGBTQ agenda on families in the upcoming superhero movie The Eternals , which will be distributed by Walt Disney Studios.

Marvel has decided to be politically correct instead of providing family friendly programming. Marvel should stick to entertaining, not pushing an agenda. As moms, we all want to know when Marvel is attempting to desensitize our family by normalizing the LGBTQ lifestyle.

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan is a 2020 India gay comedy by Hitesh Kewalya.
Starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Jitendra Kumar and Gajraj Rao.

Presenting the life of two gay men who are in love, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan depicts their struggle to convince their families to accept the relationship. But things are never as easy as they seem and one of the boy`s family decides to get him married to a girl. Will their `unconventional` love prevail?

A major Bollywood gay film has been banned in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Touted as India's first gay male romantic comedy, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (Be Extra Careful About Marriage) stars popular actor Ayushmann Khurrana as an openly gay man, who battles traditional attitudes to be with his boyfriend.

Film director Hitesh Kewalya said: Yes, it's banned adding that he had no further details about the move.

Meanwhile the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) CEO Ezekiel Mutua has also banned the screening of Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan'. In a statement he maintained that the 'gay-themed is not in line with Kenyan constitution and the institution of family, hence the decision to ban its screening. He added:

The film is worse than the ones we have banned in the past as it has scenes involving children in homosexual practices and openly attempts to legitimize same-sex marriage.

Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya. Further, Kenya is a God-fearing nation which places a great premium on family, an institution derived from a union between two people of the opposite gender.

Kenya will not be the dumping ground for all manner of filth that seeks to destroy the institution of family and our cultural identity.

For comparison the film was passed 12A uncut by the BBFC for implied strong language, suicide references, discrimination theme

Lingerie retailer Honey Birdette says it was forced to censor an advert in Australia that would get the green light to be shown in the United States and Britain.

Eloise Monaghan, the founder of the company which started in Brisbane, stripped off for the photoshoot herself along with her wife Natalie. The two women and a number of other male and female models feature with their chests bared in the photoshoot campaign dubbed fluid.

The models are body-painted in rainbow colours in a nod to the famous Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras which is being held on February 29.

Monaghan said she could show the ad in her New York and London stores but constant complaints to the advertising watchdog in Australia forced her to censor the poster in her own country. Monaghan said Australia used to be free-thinking but has recently become stricter which she says is frightening.

The Australian moralist group Collective Shout whinged:

Collective Shout has campaigned against Honey Birdette's pornified representations of women for close to a decade. Honey Birdette has been found in breach of Ad Standards rulings 31 times since January 2018. Caitlin Roper of Collective Shout said:

Far from promoting equality, this is an act of rainbow washing for profit. The company claims diversity while featuring flawless bodies and large-breasted women.

The ad has received an outpouring of criticism on Honey Birdette's Instagram and Facebook page, including for profiting off of Pride and as a blatant attempt to cover up an orgy with a rainbow filter.

Collective Shout has supported a petition launched by Melbourne father of three Kenneth Thor directed at CEOs of shopping centres which host Honey Birdette's porn-inspired portrayals which has attracted almost 77,000 signatures. Honey Birdette has a counter petition which we have been told by a source close to the company comprises a large percentage of fake names added by staff.

Legislation approved by the Siwss parliament in  December 2018 extends anti-racism hate speech laws to encompass discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

However opponents of the law, the Federal Democratic Union (FDU) party, the youth wing of the Swiss People's Party and the Youth and Family Working Group -- gathered over 70,000 signatures. A minimum of 50,000 is required to force a referendum.

And that referendum is now set to take place on 9th December 2020. Needless to say it has split opinions in the country as to whether free speech or restricted speech should prevail.

Spiked offers a passionate speech for free speech: 

 

Offsite Comment: Switzerland must reject these new hate-speech laws

Criminalising homophobia will only make challenging homophobia more difficult.

See article from spiked-online.com   By Andrea Seaman

Update: Referendum result

11th February 2020. See article from pinknews.co.uk

Preliminary results have confirmed that voters have backed the hate speech law by a by a comfortable margin of 1,413,609 votes to 827,361.

Librarians and free speech advocates are fighting back against a proposal in the Missouri House of Representatives that would ban certain books from the state's libraries with the threat of a misdemeanor charges meaning the possibility of jail for librarians.

Missouri House Representative Ben Baker introduced the bill, dubbed the Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act , in January that calls for the creation of a panel made up of non-library workers who will determine the removal of age-inappropriate sexual material, from their local branch.

Libraries that don't comply will lose their funding. Library employees providing material deemed inappropriate would be hit with a misdemeanor charge and liable for a $500 fine or a maximum jail sentence of a year, according to the bill's current language.

The bill is targeted at protecting minors but the impracticality of age verification and making adults only spaces would probably mean that the censored books would end up being banned for everyone.

Cynthia Dudenhoffer, the president of the Missouri Library Association, said she was shocked when she first heard about the bill and said it was unnecessary. Each of the state's library systems, which account for a total of 365 branches, already have their own protocols in place to determine which materials are allowed for their younger members.

Eleven countries have banned an episode of a new Apple TV Plus series, Little America , that focuses on a gay immigrant from Syria.

The episode released Friday internationally but 10 Arabic nations and Russia are preventing it from being screened in their countries.

The episode, The Son, centers on Rafiq (Haaz Sleiman) as he applies for asylum in the United States after facing violence and family rejection for his sexuality.

The episode was filmed in Canada rather than the US due to the casting of Syrian actors.

In response to the news of Little America s censorship, writer Amrou Al-Kadhi, a drag performer from Iraq, expressed a renewed commitment toward telling stories that reflect these experiences. "We will prevail," he told Pink News.

The First Temptation of Christ (A Primeira Tentação de Cristo) is a 2019 Brazil comedy short film by Rodrigo Van Der Put.
Starring Evelyn Castro, Gregório Duvivier and Fábio Porchat.

Jesus, who's hitting the big 3-0, brings a surprise guest to meet the family.

A judge in Brazil has ruled that a film depicting Jesus as gay must be removed from the TV streaming service Netflix.

The film, The First Temptation of Christ, infuriated some Christians in the country.Two million people signed a petition calling for it to be banned, and the production company was attacked with Molotov cocktails last month.

In the ruling against Netflix, the judge said: The right to freedom of expression... is not absolute.

The ban is a temporary injunction whilst a final decision is made by a higher court.

Update: Injunction overturned

10th January 2020. See article from bbc.com

Brazil's Supreme Court has overturned a ruling that TV streaming service Netflix must remove a film depicting Jesus as gay.

The film, The First Temptation of Christ, infuriated fervent Christians in the country. But Supreme Court president Dias Toffoli said on Thursday that Netflix should be allowed to continue streaming the show, stating that freedom of speech was fundamental in a democracy. The judge said:

One cannot suppose that a humorous satire has the ability to weaken the values of the Christian faith, whose existence is traced back more than two thousand years, and which is the belief of the majority of Brazilian citizens.