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Video of the Week: France legalizes gay marriage

Saskia Joreen — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:32:01 +0000

This week, France has become the 11th country to legalize gay marriage, narrowly missing a top ten spot.

French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, stated that he was "tired of France sagging behind" and "upholding discrimination". He went on to say, "France was embarrassingly late in giving women the right to vote, I don't want us to be last in giving gays equal rights as well."

While the pope and members of his own political party were "shocked" by Sarkozy's announcement, most young people who actually knew and had gay friends welcomed the news. The only complaint came from a third year university student who complained that her already stretched budget would be even more burdened by more wedding gifts.

Kudos to JPSNewsTV for making this video (and for supplying the press release quoted above), who have stated:

In a country where it is legal for a dead man to marry a live woman (this is actually a law in France), we must ask ourselves, why do we not declare our rights ourselves. We believe gay marriage should be legal, therefore it is.

Let's give gay people the same rights as the dead.

Well, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Happy April Fools Day!

15-year-old lesbian Sarah wins Danish X Factor

Saskia Joreen — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:39:22 +0000

The 2011 edition of the Danish X Factor was won by an out lesbian candidate last Friday.

Competing against 16-year-old Babou and 32-year-old Annelouise, it was 15-year-old Sarah that won the most votes in the Danish edition of the talent show, walking away with a record deal that’s worth one million Danish crowns (ca. 123,000 euros).

The three finalists opened the show together with reunited boy band Take That, after which Sarah took the stage first with her rendition of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face.

Later on in the show, Sarah shared the stage with her idols Carpark North, a Danish electronic rock band. She also performed a song in Danish, which eventually set her apart from runner-up Annelouise by a mere 2,086 votes.

After winning the show, Sarah rushed into the stadium to be congratulated by her family, friends, and girlfriend Frederikke.

© DR / Photo by Kasper Christensen

Surprised by her own victory (“I did not fucking see that coming!”), Sarah never expected to make it through all the live shows. Her proud girlfriend commented: “She’s just herself all the way through and people love that.”

Congratulations to Sarah, who will hopefully have a wonderful career ahead of her! Seeing how this young lady already has four years of musical experience in her pocket, combined with her varied interests (ranging from Elvis Presley to musicals), we’re probably going to hear a lot more from this young talent.

Amar en Tiempos Revueltos - season 5, recap 18

Chantal — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 16:01:17 +0000

In case you don’t know what happened last time, let me show you:

Yes, that’s right. The ladies kissed; passionately, very passionately. It was the accumulation of weeks, months even, being on the outs with each other over a variety of things.

One thing you cannot deny is that these two have chemistry, a lot of chemistry. It doesn’t hurt that Carlota Olcina (Teresa) and Marina San José (Ana) are friends in real life as well.

Let’s get back to the scenes at hand.

After the extremely passionate kissing you could see from the video above (go ahead, re-watch. I know I did a gazillion times), Teresa had a minor ‘oh my god what did I just do?!’ moment. Yes. If you watched that clip properly, you definitely saw that Teresa was the one who initiated that kiss. Ana was just trying to fend off some flailing hands.

At home, Ana is reminiscing about not only the hot passionate store kiss, but also the loving and sweet first kiss in the elevator. While looking through her memory box with pictures, she thinks back to moments the girls shared.

Meanwhile, Teresa isn’t having such a great morning; she has been quite upset since their kiss, to the point where she is worrying Héctor and Carmen. Teresa plays it off as her breakfast not agreeing with her and the pair let it go for now.

At the Rivas home, Ana is talking with Cristina and tells her that after thinking hard and long, she is still going through with the divorce from Alfonso, though she knows, and is warned by Cristina, that it will not be an easy road to take. Ana tells her that if it even comes close to what she’s had to put up with from Alfonso, she’ll be able to handle it just fine.

Teresa is working in her shop when Ana walks in and Teresa immediately goes on the defence, albeit quite softer than how she used to react to Ana being in the same room; claws out and ready to dig in.

She accuses Ana of coming in to take a jab at her business, but Ana reassures her she’s not in for Teresa’s or her own business – just the business that happened the day before.

Teresa: There’s nothing to talk about.
Ana: If you want to bury your head in the sand go ahead, but be aware of what you are doing, and do not deny it.
Teresa: Think what you want.
Ana: What happened yesterday was important to me Teresa, not because we kissed, but…

As soon as Ana says the ‘kiss’ word, Teresa flings her pregnant self across the room so fast I got a whiplash.

Teresa: Don’t please, be quiet, be quiet.

Ana just picks up where she left off.

Ana: … but because it made me remember what we meant to each other, and because it confirmed to me that we are still what we were.
Teresa: We aren’t anything.
Ana: Yes, Teresa, we love each other.
Teresa: God. I cannot believe I am hearing such madness.

Ana: So you can think about them, but you can’t hear them.
Teresa: Are you calling me a hypocrite?
Ana: Coward.
Teresa: I just have one love in my life and that’s Héctor. I love him with all my heart.

Can you two just stop breaking my romantic heart already? Jeez Louise.

Ana: You can fool yourself if you want, deny all what happened between us, but you’ll end up hurting yourself like you are already hurting me.
Teresa: You are crazy, completely crazy! You… how can you think that I can love a woman?
Ana: We are not talking about a woman, we are talking about me and you love me.
Teresa: Get out.
Ana: Teresa, we are adults.
Teresa: Go, please, go.
Ana: To deny the obvious is not adult behavior.

Teresa’s had enough and pushes Ana out of the door, clearly devastating her.

Teresa’s not so sure either though. The attractions are there; Teresa was the one that kissed Ana first. Yes, I will keep milking that fact for as long as I can.

You have to understand, though, that while Ana is clearly more open-minded than Teresa in the scenario of expressing her feelings openly, most of the reasons why Teresa keeps denying Ana is because of the times they lived in.

It was absolutely not done back then to have a relationship, or even be in love with, the same-sex. Teresa knows she has the feelings, she is comfortable around Ana, she has been since the beginning, but everything that happened in between made Teresa doubt everything she believes in.

The attraction was clear from the beginning, even before their first kiss; they were comfortable around each other, they spent most of their time together and no matter what they did, they always gravitated back towards each other. And when that first kiss did happen, it was Teresa who made the first move; Ana was just asking what was going on. While it is clearly Ana who is more comfortable with her sexuality, it has always been Teresa who initiated the kiss.

But I digress.

Back in the shop, Teresa isn’t doing so well after Ana left and when a friend walks in seconds after Ana left, she notices it too and hurries over to Teresa to dispense some motherly type love.

Teresa tells her that she is fine, but as motherly types do, they often know best. She tells Teresa that it is fine to feel upset after a father dies and Teresa just whispers “that”, as in “that is not what I’m upset about” before bursting into tears.

After Teresa calms down a bit, she asks if there is something else bothering Teresa, but Teresa says there isn’t. The friend tells her that she seemed to be thinking about something else because she was so far off in thoughts. Teresa explains that she was thinking about her father and how he loved them, but sometimes couldn’t show it to them.

Isn’t that exactly what you are doing at the moment?

The friend tells her that some men just pretend to be hard and Teresa reflects it to herself and wonders if it is something that runs in the family, not being able to show how you really feel, or if it is just something she and her father shared. The friend tells Teresa not to worry and that both she and her father knew how much they loved each other, even if they didn’t express it. Then her friend dispenses her a little advice: “Look Teresa. Love… you have to take love when you have it in front of you, because it never lasts too much, nothing lasts too much.”

A few moments later, Carmen walks in and the friend asks Teresa what is going on as she looked like she expected the devil to come walking in.

Not the devil, just Ana.

Teresa plays it off as pregnancy protection instincts, which all parties agree and accept. Carmen then goes all tough love on her daughter and tells her she should have stayed home, to which their friend agrees, but Teresa goes on an ‘I don’t want to think’ mantra and starts crying again.

Oh, the pain we suffer when we cannot accept the things that are.

Ana, meanwhile, is on a bit of a rampage of changes at her office, telling her assistant she wants some changes done; not only redecoration, but also expanding The Rivas Department Stores. She then calls someone on the phone that she apparently hasn’t seen in quite some time and is quite friendly with.

Next week:
Teresa gets some advice, and romance novels, from her teacher, while Ana gets reacquainted with an old friend and Rosa seems to be finding her way back into Teresa and Ana’s lives.

You can read previous recaps here.

Moldovan parliamentarians called on to combat discrimination and hatred

Saskia Joreen — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:55:49 +0000

Currently, the Moldovan Parliament is debating an anti-discrimination law which in its current form provides protection against discrimination on various grounds, including sexual orientation.

The draft law was approved by the Moldovan government and is now in the hands of parliamentarians.

The proposed law caused strong reactions and criticism from religious organisations, encouraged by right wing American evangelicals, who are calling for the rejection of the entire draft law labelling it as a ‘gay law’.

A number of parliamentarians are also calling for a deletion of sexual orientation from the draft law and are making hateful and openly homophobic statements.

Former interim president of Moldova and the leader of the Liberal Party Mihai Ghimpu has declared for the media on March 17, that his party will not vote for the anti-discrimination law:

We are liberals, but we are healthy and we want a healthy family. Homosexuality is a deviation, nature is nature, but it doesn’t mean that we need to put them [homosexuals] in the forefront. We don't take patients from psychiatric institutions to bring them on our main square. With all the respect for them, I will not vote.

On the same day, a demonstration of 150 opponents of the anti-discrimination law took place outside the Moldovan Parliament under the slogan ‘homosexuals stay at home!’.

ILGA-Europe is seriously concerned about the increasingly volatile situation in Moldova: aggressive homophobic rhetoric by religious organisations and a number of parliamentarians already resulted in threats being made to the members of GenderDoc-M, the leading Moldovan LGBTI rights organisation. Alexei Marcicov, President of the organisation, was verbally abused and had stones thrown at him near his home. Other human rights defenders supporting the anti-discrimination law have been threatened on the streets and near their homes.

Linda Freimane, Co-Chair of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board said:

We are concerned with the situation in Moldova which is worsening with every day. There are serious concerns regarding growing homophobic sentiments and safety of LGBTI activists. ILGA-Europe calls on Moldovan politicians to immediately refrain from further incitement to hatred and act responsibly. It is their duty to protect all citizens from discrimination, particularly those who belong to marginalised and vulnerable communities.

Martin K.I. Christensen, Co-Chair of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board, added:

Moldova is under obligation to introduce comprehensive anti-discrimination law and protect its citizens from discrimination on any ground, including sexual orientation. Moldova committed to passing an anti-discrimination law protecting all minorities under its visa liberalisation agreement with the European Union and within the EU-Moldova Action Plan. We call on the EU to assert its position with the Moldovan authorities and hold them accountable under their obligations.

As a Council of Europe member state, Moldova has supported the adoption of the Council of Europe’s Recommendation to combating discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Additionally, the United Nation’s Human Rights Committee called on Moldova to introduce such a law in 2009.

[Source: ILGA-Europe]

Review: K’s Choice Echo Mountain tour in Eindhoven

Little G — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:00:07 +0000

K’s Choice were supposed to play at the Effenaar shortly before Christmas 2010.

But I heard their American record company planned a US promo tour, which took precedent to their European one, so part of their European tour got postponed to a later date. I was informed the Eindhoven date was set for March 2nd, 2011. That was fine with me until I found out Serena Ryder and Melissa Etheridge were going to play Halifax Metro Centre the exact same day. Well, poop!

K’s Choice kicked off the Eindhoven concert with Favorite Adventure, a song they wrote for bass player Eric Grossman’s wedding. It was clear that this audience showed up to see K’s Choice - even though they gave opening act Arid, fellow Belgians, a shot. I have heard of them, and the one song I recognized off their set list was Too Late Tonight (which they played early on, but judging from the response from the audience, it might have been better if they played it towards the end of their set).

Singer Sarah announced at the start that this show consisted of two parts: an acoustic set and a full on “rock and roll” set. It’s very much like their latest album Echo Mountain of which the first disc contains up-tempo songs, and the second one consists of the slower songs and ballads. I was glad they decided to turn that around for the show and start off with the acoustic set first to get everybody warmed up and ready to rock out later.

The acoustic set lasted about half an hour (it seemed shorter), after which the band took a quick break, allowing their roadies to ready the stage for a regular rock concert.

I was pleasantly surprised when the band also played Virgin State Of Mind: Buffy fans may recognize this song from an episode in which K’s Choice had a cameo. They, of course, played their biggest hit - worldwide - Not An Addict as well.

I had a great time people watching: it almost felt like Pride. The audience consisted of people of all ages (anything from teenagers to your mom and dad), straight couples, lots of queer women. I eavesdropped on a conversation happening behind me where a straight guy introduced his lesbian friend to K’s Choice. (He, too, appreciated Sarah Bettens’s singing voice.)

K’s Choice came back for two encores. The first one was kicked off by Gert performing Shadowman, a song which (in a past tour) he had paired up with Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. It’s a slightly haunting song, and in total contrast to the rest of the show, but a good indicator the show is coming to an end. Both encores consisted of songs that are slower and have a more intimate feel to them.

If I remember correctly, they ended the show with God In My Bed. People in the audience either hummed along, or were silently listening. And I was reminded of the fact there once was a time where smoking at venues and public spaces was still allowed: moments like these lent themselves to fish out one’s lighters and sway along to the music. Not anymore. People didn’t even take out their cell phones do to something similar.

Sarah thanked the audience for coming out (no pun intended), and said that playing at a sold out venue on their first date back in the Netherlands was wonderful. I had a great evening.

In case you’re interested, I found a slide show of band pictures taken at the Eindhoven show here.

Dates and divorces: Coronation Street recap – March 17 through 21

Ley — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:45:16 +0000

Last week we saw Sophie take a drunken fall off the church roof after she became paranoid of Sian leaving her, Kevin and Sally got a strict talking to from Sian about having not paid attention to Sophie through all their fighting or it wouldn’t have ended up with Sophie in hospital, and Sally and Kevin are back fighting after Kevin misread signals and kissed Sally. Wow, as if that weren’t enough drama for one family: let’s see what’s happened to our little lesBians this week...

17^th March
Sophie arrives home from the hospital and Kevin runs over from the garage to see her, but Sally can’t get her inside quick enough to avoid him. Once inside, Sophie’s on the couch and Sally’s fussing over her. Sophie tells her mum to go to work and not to worry about her. Sophie reminds her that Sian will be there to get her anything she needs. I think the phrase “personal slave” even comes out of Sophie’s mouth in relation to her girlfriend.

Later, Jeff arrives to see how Sophie is and to ask Sally if she needs any help with anything. Sophie suggests he take her out for a drink, but Sally declines him saying she has to keep an eye on Sophie, but Sophie tells her to go. Sally asks if she’s sure and she tells her mum that Sian’s upstairs if she needs anything, and reminds her mum that she’s not dying! Sally eventually caves and goes to change her top before going out with Jeff.

18^th March
Sally is power-dressed leaving the house in the morning and when Sophie tells her she looks smart, she tells her daughter she’s meeting a solicitor later about the divorce. Kevin calls round later to see how Sophie is and she tells him the college are letting Sian study at home while Sophie recovers. She asks her dad if he’s going to the appointment later with Sally, but he looks puzzled when she mentions it. After she explains it’s with a solicitor about the divorce he seems taken aback, but knows he can’t kick off in front of her.

When Sally heads home later that day, Kevin catches up with her and asks her about the solicitors. She said that before the divorce goes through they have to decide who gets what, so he better organise something with his solicitor.

Sian asks Sophie if she’s really ok with the divorce, and she says yes. Sian says that she’s glad to have Sophie back, and comments that the fall finally knocked some sense into her girlfriend. Sophie then says that it could be called a miracle, but Sian doesn’t want to believe that Sophie’s survival was down to God after all the hurt they have both suffered from their belief while coming out. She asks Sophie if she really believes that God saved her from the fall, and Sophie jokes that gravity helped with the fall... He just chipped in with the landing. The pair laughs and Sian leans over and kisses the tip of Sophie’s nose.

21^st March
Sophie and Sian are settling down to watch TV with bowls of crisps or popcorn or other similar yummy salty snacks, when Jeff arrives. Sian shouts up the stairs to Sally that he’s there, while he and Sophie make small talk about how she is doing after the fall... and to stay away from roofs in future. Sally comes down the stairs and tells them she’s away. As they leave, Sophie shouts “bye Jeff”, while Sian shouts the same in a younger more child-like voice to poke fun at Sophie.

- - -

Looks like Sophie’s back to her old self again, thankfully. The Random Rosie Diva Bitch personality really didn’t suit her... just made me think she needed a good slap to wake up. Now that the divorce proceedings are starting between her parents, I wonder how well she’ll handle them and how it’ll affect her relationship with Sian. Check back next time to find out. You can read previous recaps here.

eurOut.org magazine April 2011

Saskia Joreen — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:07:50 +0000

It’s been a while since we presented our last magazine to you, but sometimes good things just take some time to come to full fruition. So today, we proudly offer you a brand new April edition of the eurOut magazine!

This issue is filled with the best articles from the site, as well as an exclusive interview with Australian drag king Sexy Galexy, who was interviewed in Amsterdam by the newest member of our writing team, Anaïs. You can read about her hilarious experiences of being a French lesbian expat in the Netherlands in the middle of this magazine.

And besides our regular columns, we’ve featured articles on the Teddy Awards, web series, and lots more.

We hope you enjoy reading this edition of our magazine. Let us know your thoughts about it in the comments!

- - -

You can read previous issues of the magazine here. If you would like to receive an e-mail notification of new magazine launches, send a blank e-mail with the title 'Magazine Subscription' to faith@eurout.org.

Amar en Tiempos Revueltos - season 5, recap 17

Chantal — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:05:46 +0000

Teresa is still going on about Ana not being able to make it to the funeral of her and Alfonso’s father, but like with everything these days, Teresa keeps hearing to just let it go; even Héctor keeps telling her to ‘not start this again’.

Meanwhile, Rosa is either trying to woo or suck up to Ana by buying her some purple colored treats that Ana loved when she was younger because her father always brought them over.

I can’t tell if Rosa is genuinely interested in friendship (or more), or is just keeping Ana sweet until a better business type of opportunity comes along.

Later at the Rivas home, Alfonso is apologizing to Ana for his behavior for the past couple of months and tells her that he needs a doctor. A real doctor that can help him get off the booze and pills he’s taking.

That doesn’t last long though, because later he’s boozing it up again and this time it’s Ana who is getting the full brunt of it. Alfonso wants sex, but Ana is having none of that when he’s drunk (or any at all for that matter), so tells him to buzz off. Alfonso doesn’t take this so lightly though and tries to force himself on Ana, but she kicks him out of the room.

She talks to Cristina about what happened and with tears in her eyes tells her that she is going to separate from Alfonso and that she made a huge mistake marrying him in the first place.

The next morning at the table, Alfonso apologizes for what he did and Ana tells him that his bags are ready. Alfonso questions if she is kicking him out, but she tells him he is going to a specialized clinic to help him with his demons and clear his body and soul, otherwise known as Rehab. She tells him that she’ll support him, check up on him with the doctors, but tells him to not be very hopeful about anything else.

Ana later goes over to Teresa’s shop to tell Carmen and Teresa that she dropped Alfonso off at a ‘resting sanatorium’ and that he will be receiving treatment for his substance abuse. Both Carmen and Teresa look at Ana dumbfounded, but Carmen, when questioned, confesses that she did indeed suspect Alfonso was having problems. This confession nearly makes Teresa’s eyes pop out of her skull and she questions Carmen on why she kept this a secret from her as they could have done something for him. Ana gives them the details on the treatment centre Alfonso is staying at, but tells them she was advised by the doctors to not visit him for a while because it would be better for his progress.

Teresa, meanwhile, is ready to blow a fuse though, accusing Ana that she is leaving Alfonso to deal with this on his own. Ana calmly rebuffs her, saying that she left Alfonso in the best care possible.

Carmen leaves to process things at home, leaving Ana and Teresa at the shop alone and things get heated fairly quickly between the two:

Teresa: It’s hard to believe for me that my brother’s become a drug addict as you say.
Ana: I understand. It is hard to accept that somebody you love has taken that route.
Teresa: I’m wondering what you have done to get him in this situation.
Ana: I would have sent him to a clinic much earlier, but it is right now that I could because he decided to.
Teresa: No, not for sending him there. I don’t think my brother is taking drugs just for mere fun. No, he is not that kind of person.
Ana: What are you insinuating?
Teresa: That after marrying you he was under so much pressure that he couldn’t overcome. Maybe that’s why he was taking drugs; running away from a relationship that was hurting him.
Ana: I don’t like what you’re saying, Teresa.
Teresa: Me neither, but that is what I am thinking and neither do I believe that my brother’s admitted to a sanatorium of his own free will.
Ana: If you don’t believe me, ask Héctor. Héctor can tell you what happened with your brother.
Teresa: Don’t get my husband involved in this.
Ana: Why not? Hasn’t Héctor told you he saw Alfonso the last couple of weeks?
Teresa: I told you, do not say his name! I am fed up with everybody talking to him behind my back!
Ana: Héctor is a good friend to his friends and you don’t care about him, or your brother or anyone, just that nobody talks unless it is under your control. People are free to talk to whom they want and you can’t avoid that.
Teresa: Are you calling me egocentric?
Ana: I just call that selfish.
Teresa: You are the only one who is selfish, who has no friends, who looks down on all of us: YOU!
Ana: I don’t have an inferiority complex like you.
Teresa: But which complex of inferiority…

And then ladies and ladies… this is what happens:

And with that I will leave you for now.

Next week:
The girls both reminisce about what happened, while everything else still goes on.

You can read previous recaps here.

Trouble... with a capital T: Coronation Street recap – March 28

Ley — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:24:43 +0000

Last week saw Sophie returning home from the hospital after her fall, and discussing her feelings about how she survived it with her pessimistic girlfriend, Sian. Sophie has returned to work and stumbles across a new addition to the street’s residents, who makes life interesting for our lesbionic couple.

28^th March
Random Rosie tries to encourage Sophie to stay on Kevin’s good side after his recent lottery win. She explains that if Sally doesn’t get half in the divorce, then it’s better to be in with their dad for the money. Sophie’s shocked at how easily her sister is swayed by money and how disloyal it is to their mum, and Random Rosie can’t believe that Sophie is her sister with the things that go on in her head. Oh Double R, how I have missed your superficial logic recently.

Kevin sent Sally a bouquet of flowers, but she mistook them as being sent from Jeff. When she finds out the truth about Kevin trying to buy his way back into her life, she doesn’t like it one bit. I think this divorce is going to get very ugly, very quickly.

Sophie is back working at the shop, and has her first encounter with a new addition to the street. He flirts and she just rolls her eyes and barely even gives him the time of day... or the correct change for his purchases.

Sian is next in line to meet the newest addition to the street, and he flirts with her too, while she just looks at him and walks on. Wow, this guy really can’t take a hint.

He’s looking for Tyrone and goes to the garage, where he meets Kevin in a bad mood. Surprise, surprise! He then goes to the cafe and finds Sian... who he begins telling about the way Kevin spoke to him, and how he was treated by the stroppy girl in the shop. Sian smirks and tries not to laugh at her girlfriend’s mood and Kevin’s response.

He decides to show Sian some of the tricks he learned out in Thailand for relieving stress and starts to sort her Chi with reflexology on her hand. Just as he’s manhandling Sian’s palm... Sophie arrives in the cafe.

“What the hell is going on?!” To be fair, I’d probably ask the same thing if I walked in on a guy I didn’t like, playing with my girl’s hand. Kevin also walks in and as the guy tells Sophie where to go, Kevin tells him to back off from his daughter. All the while Sian’s trying not to laugh as the guy works out Kevin and Sophie are related... then when he discovers Sophie and Sian are a couple he comments on it being a waste. Daddy Kevin to the rescue again when Sophie says he’s being homophobic to them. The guy says he wasn’t making comment on her sexuality; he was making comment on her. Kevin goes all caveman on his ass and wants to take it “outside!” Sian points out to the guy that Tyrone’s just walked in and he’d better go. Sophie takes his seat and the guy introduces himself to Ty as Tommy Duckworth, Jack’s grandson... and wonders if Jack’s about, not knowing that Jack died just a few months before.

- - -

Well, Sophian seem to be getting more comfortable at telling people they’re together, and Sophie really needs to take that green-eyed monster off of her before it gets her in more trouble with Sian. Come back next week to see what happens next with the divorce and it’s affect on our little lesbionic couple. You can read previous recaps here.

United under the Rainbow? - Political lesbian perspectives in Europe

Daniela Zysk — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:09:40 +0000

The first conference for the networking of eastern and western European lesbians entitled ‘United under the rainbow?’ was held in Dresden, Germany, from March 11-13.

The event was organised by the wonderful team of the local association Frauen leben Vielfalt (Lesbians Living Diversity) and around forty women from five different European countries came together for a weekend to discuss the different situations relating to homosexuality in their home countries. There were six different work shops with themes such as ‘Lesbian life in Hungary or Poland’ and ‘Lesbians and the church’. In the subsequent panel discussions, potential support possibilities were examined.

It always makes a difference if one exchanges personal experiences with those actually concerned rather than only reading about the difficult situation for homosexuals in other countries. A few points were even interesting for lesBians from the rather liberal western countries.

For example, since 1961, homosexuality has been decriminalised in Hungary between men over 20 years of age. This was decades before this happened in Germany. Also, adoption and insemination for women wanting to have children is much easier in some eastern European countries than in the ‘enlightened’ western nations. Admittedly, the situation is more difficult for partnered lesbians in these countries. Generally speaking, legislation for the protection of homosexuals in many former Eastern Bloc countries appears to be much more advanced than actual acceptance in society. Find out more about this topic at non-discrimination.net.

As a German, I found the report about the lesbian movement in the former German Democratic Republic very interesting. From 1983 onwards under the umbrella of the protestant church, diverse gay meetings were founded in different eastern German cities such as Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden. The condition for such meetings was always an open and tolerant minister who held out his protective hand for the group. The amalgamation of homosexuality and the church very much depended on the peace movement, which both groups belonged to. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, this partnership of convenience disbanded very quickly.

One thing became very clear in the panel discussions. For many lesbians from the west, Pride events have for many years no longer belonged to their agendas. However, for homosexuals from the east, these events have become more important than ever before. Also, the flagship mega Pride events in Cologne, Madrid and London have been picked up as being very positive for homosexuals from eastern Europe and under locally tightened homophobic circumstances are played out as their own Pride events.

All convictions were put aside regarding whether or not Prides in the west are becoming too commercial. It is also not what many of the brave and very dedicated lesBians from the east had hoped for from their fellow combatants in the west. A look at the bigger picture is called for and if possible a visit to one of the Pride events there. Because a homophobic politician dreads nothing more than negative PR in the west and the associated risk of a reprimand from EU headquarters in Brussels. Therefore, I have already noted down the dates for Pride in wonderful Budapest on the 18th of June.

So, what do you think of all this? Should the east and west join forces? What can we do to help each other and what’s it like in your country? Let us know in the comments.

Jump to the next page for some interesting links!

Further reading:

German speaking readers can find another interesting article about the conference on L-talk.

Interesting links:
(thanks to L-talk.de)

Budapest Pride 2011 (Hungary)
Labrisz Lesbian Association (Hungary)
Queer Parade Brno (Czech Republic)
Lesba.cz – Site for Czech lesBians
Lesbijka.net – Site for Polish lesBians
Kobiety-kobietom.com - Site for Polish lesBians
Porozumienie.lesbijek.org - Site for Polish LesBians
Innastrona.pl – Gay and lesBian portal (Poland)
Yes we are! – A movie documentary project about Polish lesbian activists
Bratislava Pride (Slovakia)