🇺🇸 Why Do Some People Think They Are Straight Until They Come Out?
Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/und...until-they-come



Recently, Colton Underwood, a contestant on the popular TV show The Bachelor, went on Good Morning America and announced that he was gay. My first thought was about how sad it was that in 2021 and at the age of 29, coming out is still hard and delayed. So many say that things are better, but are they?

Have you heard all the questions and accusations? “How could he not know he was gay?” “Why would he pretend to be heterosexual in such a public way?” “Leading everyone on like that shows he has no integrity or sense of honor.”

People mistakenly think that it has to be easier to come out today because of all the media stars who are out, such as Ellen DeGeneres, Rachel Maddow, Pete Buttigieg, and Anderson Cooper, and because of programs like Will & Grace. But in Underwood’s case, it appears that he maintained the self-illusion of being straight well into his 20s. He may have really believed he was straight until he gained perspective and courage and was successful enough in his football career to feel safe enough to come out publicly. I don’t mean to imply that as kids or teens we consciously choose to have an easier heterosexual/cisgender identity. Underwood was groomed and rewarded for being straight, as are all of us, and if he came out as gay would not likely have been rewarded in the same way in his environment.

Could we take just a moment, then, and have some compassion for Underwood and other LGBT people who need a minute (or more) to come out?

Little Room for Expression in Childhood

We typically don’t teach children to be anything other than heterosexual and cisgender (identifying as having a gender that corresponds to the sex one has been assigned at birth). If we see a little boy holding hands with a little girl, we call it “puppy love.” We ask them if they are “sweet” on each other and maybe even encourage their age-appropriate little romance. When a little girl or boy develops a crush on their teacher of the opposite sex, and maybe wants to give them a Valentine, our reaction is, “Aww, that’s so cute.” But if they are of the same gender it’s a different story. In many cases, they’ll most likely be told that this isn’t proper behavior.

LGBT children and youth are lured into heterosexual/cisgender compliance by heterosexism, cisgenderism, and homophobia, groomed from childhood by our parents, teachers, neighbors, religion, and even movies and TV. You’re left to your own resources to figure your real identity out, and it's usually not until you’re an adult. Teens may not have even had sex yet, but their identities have typically already been formed and imprinted as straight. If they’re LGBT, their romantic and sexual thoughts have often become completely separated from their identity.

If you’re heterosexual in this world, you are holding the golden ticket. If not, budding affections and erotic interests will likely compete with what you are taught your identity is. There may be an internal split: “These only are sexual fantasies, only what brings me to orgasm, not who I really am.”

Imagine for a moment that everyone in your family, all your friends and nearly everyone you see in the media, is green … and you’re blue. When you look in the mirror you realize that something about you is different, but no one in your life has ever hinted that being blue is a valid way to live and you just want to fit in. So, you take all your cues from others and act as green as you can, never really acknowledging your blueness even to yourself. Also, you’ve learned that some folks don’t like blue people, so it’s a lot safer to just pretend you’re green.

I am reminded of the words of Brian McNaught, a sex educator and author of Now That I’m Out What Do I Do?, who puts into perspective what happens to a young LGBT person's development:

“... most gay people have been enormously, if not consciously, traumatized by the social pressure they felt to identify and behave as a heterosexual, even though such pressure is not classified as sexual abuse by experts in the field. Imagine how today’s society would respond if heterosexual thirteen to nineteen-year-olds were forced to date someone of the same sex. What would the reaction be if they were expected to hold the hand or slow dance with, hug, kiss and say “I love you” to someone to whom they were not and could not be sexually attracted?

The public would be outraged! Adult supervisors would be sent to prison. Youthful “perpetrators” would be expelled from school. Years of therapy would be prescribed for the innocent victims of such abuse. Volumes would be written about the long-term effect of such abhorrent socialization. Yet, that’s part of the everyday life of LGBTQ teenagers. And there’s no comparable public concern, much less outcry, about the traumatizing effects on their sexuality.”

Underwood grew up Catholic—a religion that continues to deny validity to homosexuals—in what he calls a “conservative environment” (where hetero/cisgender privilege reigns). He was very athletic, excelling at football, not a sport considered particularly friendly toward homosexuals. It’s not difficult to imagine how he became split between his secret sexual attractions and the identity he developed after being born into the culture of his family and community. Even though he was in his 20s when on The Bachelor, he claimed to have still been a virgin, never having found the “right one.” Compartmentalization like this is common in a culture where children only have permission to explore heterosexuality and being cisgender.

Compassion Instead of Criticism

Of course, acceptance of homosexuality varies from region to region. In some nations, homosexuality is so taboo that they deny it even exists. In relatively few places in the U.S., there may be teen clubs for LGBT youth, supportive teachers and counselors and such, but in most parts of our culture we’re rewarded from birth into our teens for being straight.

So, again, I’d like to encourage compassion instead of criticism for Underwood. Likely because of the grooming of children and expectations of the adult world around him, he was 29 years old by the time he announced who he really was. I wish him the best for the future, and hope that other young men and women who are struggling with this internal erotic/gender identity problem will be more supported as they begin to deal with the confusing inevitability of attraction and love.

🇺🇸 Absolutely No One Is Getting Behind Caitlyn Jenner’s Campaign Right Now
Source: https://www.thedailybeast.com/lgbtq-groups-...fornia-governor



Caitlyn Jenner seems to have no one in her corner in her high profile run for governor of California.

The Olympian, who would be among a small handful of transgender office-holders if she were elected, can’t even bank on support from members of the LGBTQ community with several groups and activists slamming her campaign.

“Make no mistake: we can’t wait to elect a #trans governor of California,” the influential LGBTQ rights group Equality California tweeted on Friday. “But @Caitlyn_Jenner spent years telling the #LGBTQ+ community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out. Now she wants us to trust her? Hard pass.”

Jenner announced her long-rumored run on Friday morning. In a statement, she raised issue with California’s “over-restrictive” lockdown and vented about high taxes, claiming they were “killing jobs.” Beyond that, there was little mention of her platform. Jenner’s campaign website is empty, aside from pages where you can buy merch or donate to her campaign.

The 71-year-old immediately faced scrutiny from members of the LGBTQ community due to her politics, citing her support of former President Donald Trump. Although she walked back her support the next year, citing Trump’s policies on LGBTQ issues, her campaign advisors are some key Republican Party members and former Trump aides.

Equality California hammered home Jenner’s former stances, adding “After Trump banned transgender troops from serving in the military, attacked transgender students and even tried to allow homeless shelters to turn away trans women, @Caitlyn_Jenner STILL hired his former inner circle to run her campaign.”

“Californians — and #trans Californians, in particular — understand all too well the risk of electing another reality TV star who cares more about fame and money than civil rights, healthcare and the safety of our communities. We can’t let that happen.” The group said it still supported Gov. Gavin Newsom, a “pro-equality champion.”

Other LGBTQ members and trans advocates chimed in, too.

Star Trek actor George Takei wrote, “Black people wouldn’t vote for Candace Owen for office. The disabled community wouldn’t vote for Madison Cawthorn. I’m LGBTQ but I won’t be voting for Caitlyn Jenner. Just so we’re clear.”

“Caitlyn Jenner is a deeply unqualified hack who doesn’t care about anyone but herself,” trans activist Charlotte Clymer added. “Her views are terrible. She is a horrible candidate.”

Even those close to the Olympian aren’t fully supportive of her run.

Jenner’s friend Jennifer Finney Boylan, a transgender writer and Barnard College professor who appeared on her reality show, I Am Cait, told the Associated Press that while she wishes Jenner “well personally” she couldn’t “see how the conservative policies she is likely to embrace will help Californians.”

Noticeably quiet in Jenner’s gubernatorial run is her famous family, with daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner silent on the announcement. She also hasn’t received public support from her ex-wife Kris Jenner, nor from Kim, Khloe, or Kourtney Kardashian.

🇺🇸 Blinken Will Allow U.S. Embassies to Fly Pride Flag
Source: https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/22/pride-...rump-embassies/



Secretary of State Antony Blinken has issued a blanket authorization for U.S. diplomatic outposts around the world to fly the Pride flag on the same flagpole as the U.S. flag at their embassy or consulate showcasing support for LGBTQ rights. The directive marks a departure from how the Trump administration handled the matter while the State Department was run by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

In a confidential cable reviewed by Foreign Policy and sent to diplomatic posts around the world, Blinken gave authority for diplomats to fly the Pride flag before May 17, which marks the international day against homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia, as well as June, which in the United States and many other countries is Pride month.

The cable contained a hedge, though, saying the authorization is not a requirement and chiefs of mission who run each embassy or consulate can choose whether to fly the Pride flag or showcase other symbols connoting support for LGBTQ rights based on what is “appropriate in light of local conditions.”

Flying the Pride flag at U.S. embassies became a point of contention during the Trump era, when, under Pompeo, the State Department blocked embassies’ requests to fly the flag on the same flagpole as the U.S. banner. Diplomats were told they could display Pride symbols elsewhere in embassies.

In 2019, then-Vice President Mike Pence defended the move, telling NBC News in an interview that “when it comes to the American flagpole and American embassies and capitals around the world, one American flag flies.”

Some U.S. embassies worked around the Trump-era directive. The U.S. Embassy in South Korea, for instance, displayed a large Pride flag on its facade, rather than on a flagpole. It later removed the flag at the same time as the State Department ordered it to remove a Black Lives Matter banner.

All U.S. diplomatic missions require prior written approval from senior State Department leadership in Washington to fly any flag from the same halyard as the U.S. flag, with the exception of a foreign service flag or a prisoner of war/missing in action flag. In accordance with U.S. law, such flags are to be flown under the U.S. flag.

When asked for comment on the matter, a State Department spokesperson said: “Chiefs of Mission are the president’s direct representatives overseas. The Department supports their prerogative to manage mission operations to maximize their effectiveness in that role, within the confines of U.S. law and regulation.”

During his Senate confirmation hearing in January, Blinken vowed to stand up for LGBTQ rights, including allowing embassies to fly the Pride flag and swiftly appointing a special envoy once confirmed as President Joe Biden’s secretary of state.

“I think the United States playing the role that it should be playing in standing up for and defending the rights of LGBTQI people is something that the department is going to take on and take on immediately,” Blinken said in January.

Three months into his job, Blinken has yet to name a State Department special envoy for LGBTQ rights, a post that was left vacant for much of the Trump administration.

U.S. embassies in countries with broad protections for LGBTQ communities—such as those in Western Europe, Latin America, South Africa, and Australia—are likely to fly the Pride flag. The presence—or absence—of one above a U.S. embassy could have greater significance in countries where LGBTQ communities face wider discrimination or even the threat of criminal prosecution or the death penalty, such as in Russia or countries in the Middle East and North Africa. At least 69 countries around the world have laws criminalizing same-sex relations, according to Human Rights Watch.

The internal State Department cable also noted that in some countries, a U.S. embassy flying the Pride flag, or discussing legalizing or decriminalizing same-sex relationships, could do more harm than good. Such measures could fuel a backlash against local LGBTQ communities themselves.

“Posts should support efforts to repeal [criminalization] legislation, while ensuring that ‘do no harm’ remains our overarching principle so U.S. efforts do not inadvertently result in backlash or further marginalization of the LGBTQI+ community,” the cable read.

---

Added on
I hope the US embassy here decides to fly the Pride Flag next month! It will send a very clear message to the local authorities.

Hey there! I'm not really well-versed about citizenship laws but I wanna point out that on February there was an incident of a Malaysian gay man getting his application to visit his partner overseas rejected by the Immigration Department. If you decide to go with your plan, be prepared to face these sorts of challenges in the future. Good luck!

🇺🇸 8 openly LGBTQ people who won Oscars



Elton John has won the best original song award twice in his career.

In 1995, the best original song category was Elton John's to win because three of his songs from "The Lion King" were nominated. In the end, the famous gay icon and Tim Rice won for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" He dedicated the award to his grandmother who died the week before.

In 2020, John won another best original song award for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again," which he wrote with his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin for his musical biopic, "Rocketman." In his acceptance speech, John thanked his longtime partner, David Furnish, and their sons.

Melissa Etheridge took home the Academy Award for best original song in 2007.

After coming out as a lesbian in 1993, Etheridge continued a long career in music. In 2006, her song "I Need to Wake Up" premiered in the documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth," which profiled Al Gore and global warming.

"This feels as good as you think it does," Etheridge said in her speech before thanking her wife, who was in the audience.

In 2016, Sam Smith won best original song for "Writing's on the Wall."

Smith, who identifies as gay and non-binary, wrote a song called "Writing's on the Wall" for the 2015 James Bond movie, "Spectre," with fellow songwriter Jimmy Napes.

"I stand here as a proud, gay man and I hope one day we can all stand as equals," Smith said in their speech.

While accepting the Academy Award, Smith wrongly said they were the first gay person to win an Oscar, which was met with backlash on social media. They later apologized.

Read more @ https://www.insider.com/lgbtq-oscar-winners-2021-4

🇯🇵 Japan's Olympic chief marks pride week with LGBTQ event
Source: https://japantoday.com/category/tokyo-2020-...ith-lgbtq-event



The head of the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday took part in an event marking Japan's LGBTQ pride week at a center in the capital, as activists and dozens of lawmakers pushed for an equality law to be enacted before the games begin in less than three months.

Seiko Hashimoto visited Pride House Tokyo, an international initiative to provide a place for LGBTQ people and others to connect during the games. The first Pride House was set up during the 2010 Winter Games.

Japan is the only country in the Group of Seven major industrialized nations where same-sex marriages are not legally recognized. A Japanese court ruled last month that same-sex marriage should be allowed under the constitution, although the ruling has no immediate legal effect.

"We need to take action now,” Hashimoto said, adding that she wants people to remember the Tokyo Games as a “turning point in achieving diversity and harmony, including understanding for LGBTQ” issues. Hashimoto toured Pride House and met with LGBTQ activists, including athletes, for talks.

Elsewhere in Tokyo, over 40 lawmakers and their aides from the governing and opposition parties — all wearing matching rainbow-colored facemasks — as well as activists and supporters gathered in person and online for what they called a Rainbow Parliament event to push for enactment of an LGBTQ equality act. Tennis great and equal rights advocate Billie Jean King also sent a video message of support.

Late last month, activists submitted a petition with over 106,000 signatures to the governing and opposition parties calling for an equality law before the Tokyo Games begin on July 23. They say momentum for the legislation is growing as Japan gets more attention over its handling of gender equality, diversity and other rights issues.

“We hope to speed up an enactment of the equality act," said Yuri Igarashi, co-chair of the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation.

Kanako Otsuji, a lesbian lawmaker from the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said she was a target of bullying at school. “I was often called a ‘manly girl’ and bullied," she said.

“Many people cannot speak up because of fear of discrimination. Then how can we change the situation? Legal protection is the only way,” she said. “For the children of the next generation to not face this kind of bullying, we need anti-discrimination laws.”

Many sexual minorities still hide their sexual identities in Japan, fearing discrimination at school, work and even from their families. In addition, transgender people must have their reproductive organs removed before their gender can be changed on official documents — a requirement that international medical experts and human rights groups criticize as inhumane.

Aki Nomiya, a transgender activist, said people whose appearances and official records don't match feel especially vulnerable. “Unless we are free of fear of prejudice and discrimination, we cannot live peacefully," she said.

Gon Matsunaka, who heads Pride House Tokyo and led Hashimoto on the tour, said the sports world remains unfriendly to LGBTQ people because of its gender specificity.

“In many sports, players are divided between men and women. In sports, masculinity is often emphasized because of competition in speed and power, and sexual minorities are often made fun of or harassed," Matsunaka said.

🇿🇦 Africa’s LGBTQ communities need more protection and support
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/4/3...ion-and-support



On April 22, Them, an online publication, reported that four gay men had been murdered in South Africa in less than a month. The disturbing report made national headlines after a local government official, the spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Castro Ngobese, shared a link to the story on Twitter alongside a fist emoji and the caption “Aluta Continua” (the struggle continues).

LGBTQ activists and allies in South Africa immediately condemned the tweet celebrating hate crimes, and the opposition Democratic Alliance Party called for Ngobese’s suspension. Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Lebogang Maile, meanwhile, released a statement on April 23 promising to “address the matter” of the “unfortunate and inappropriate Tweet”.

Ngobese’s tweet received nationwide attention not only because it revealed a government official’s unapologetic homophobia, but also because it was emblematic of the widespread and stubborn resistance to the establishment of LGBTQ rights in South Africa.

South Africa’s constitution prohibits unfair discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and guarantees equality for gay and lesbian people. Same-sex marriages are legal and transgender people can change their sex description and gender marker in the national birth register. Nevertheless, the LGBTQ community has long been subjected to hate speech, discrimination, and grotesque violence in the country. Moreover, many South Africans still perceive LGBTQ individuals as inherently immoral and “un-African”, and thus pay little attention to the abuse they endure on a daily basis in the country.

It is time for South Africa to respond decisively to this growing problem by adopting preventive measures against homophobic hate speech and hate crimes.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance of South Africa has urged the parliament to pass a proposed hate crimes law. The Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill 2018 aims to outlaw hate crimes and hate speech on grounds of race, gender identity and sexual orientation, among others. The bill’s ratification has been delayed due to concerns that it may inhibit freedom of speech.

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) party has always been progressive in this sphere and should demonstrate bold moral leadership by ratifying the planned hate crimes bill without further delay.

It must also use every single tool at its service to raise awareness about LGBTQ rights at home and abroad, as this persecuted community’s most fundamental human rights are under threat not only in South Africa but across the continent.

Indeed, in many African countries, colonial anti-LGBTQ laws and attitudes are still in full force, and LGBTQ individuals continue to be routinely targeted by government authorities, religious groups and those who claim to be fighting to preserve “traditional values”.

The endless stigmatisation of homosexuals and the presentation of unfounded links between LGBTQ communities and public health or socioeconomic crises are deplorable and inhumane. The persistent and unjust framing of LGBTQ individuals as threats to a society’s wellbeing serves only to hide the discrimination and persecution they suffer at the hands of those very same societies.

Moreover, the continent-wide discrimination prevents most LGBTQ individuals from obtaining gainful employment, leaving them struggling to make ends meet.

In South Africa, for instance, the monthly earnings of gender nonconforming, gay or bisexual men are, on average, 30 percent lower than that of gender conforming heterosexual men. Worse still, LGBTQ people also suffer from higher rates of suicide, rape and violence.

Despite these extensive impediments, the African Union has steered clear of providing strong leadership on this longstanding and largely unresolved human rights matter.

This is why the ANC government, which takes pride in its support for human rights at home and abroad, has a responsibility to assume the leadership position on this issue and help facilitate positive change in South Africa and beyond.

LGBTQ Africans deserve to enjoy the rights and freedoms enshrined in the African Charter on Human Rights just like cisgender heterosexual Africans.

While Ngobese is just one person who tweeted a hateful opinion in his personal capacity, he represents so many in South Africa and across the continent who are determined to deny LGBTQ Africans the most fundamental human rights. The South African government should take action without delay to ensure Ngobese and others like him do not define what Africa and Africans stand for.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

🇺🇸 Can Gay Bars Survive Without Sex in the Air? An Interview with Jeremy Atherton Lin
Source: https://www.intomore.com/culture/can-gay-ba...y-atherton-lin/



Just like so many of our private parts, gay nightlife is on the rise again!

I recently told you about a Hell’s Kitchen club called the Q, which is planning to open when we’re safely out of lockdown. And let me now advise you that promoter Daniel Nardicio has taken over the old Escuelita space on 41st Street and 9th Avenue and is looking towards an October opening.

(I also hear the Boxers owner has taken over the closed Therapy space for some new life, plus the long-running leather club the Eagle NYC has been approved to do a ground floor expansion that will accommodate a kitchen and sit-down eating section.)

With a gay Roaring Twenties about to explode—not just in NYC, but everywhere–Jeremy Atherton Lin’s nocturnal memoir Gay Bar: Why We Went Out is as perfectly timed as a two-hour top-shelf Happy Hour.

The New York Times rave called the book “beautiful, lyrical…Atherton has a five-octave, Mariah Carey-esque range for discussing gay sex.”

This is the first book for the author–an essayist/editor—and each chapter is set in a particular bar, whether it be in London, L.A., or San Francisco. I asked Atherton some questions about the art of gay-barring and ended up hangover-free.

Hi, Jeremy. Congratulations on your book! Has the possibility of sex traditionally been the number one motivation for going to a gay bar?

I’d like to think so. I know some people are mad at me for writing from that angle–like they’d rather I’d written about searching for an alternative family, not a hot daddy. But the sex was an important motivation, not just for going to bars, but writing the book. For me, though, the sexy stuff took some time, because when I first went out — and I was taken out, you know, identified and taken along — it was more to see and be seen. This was the ’90s and a lot of us were terrified of disease. So you put it exactly right — the possibility of sex, if not actually having any. And then up through writing the book, up to the pandemic, I continued to go out for the frisson, for the feeling there could be trouble in store.

Today, with everyone looking at Grindr on their phones, is the sexual urgency at bars completely gone?

I’m pretty “meh” about dick pics. I want to be surprised. That’s not about being a size queen, I’m talking about the tease. About seduction rather than vetting. And humor — and changing your mind about somebody. Online, we’re so self-contained. I went out to be led astray. I have a feeling that the urge for spontaneity will kick back in now that we’ve had nothing but screens.

When we fully come out of lockdown, do you predict a wild sense of abandon in gay nightlife?

Maybe. I think for the young, that’s a possibility. I’m old enough that the thought of being cheek by jowl is kind of terrifying. One thing my book addresses is how nightlife took a while to recover from the height of the AIDS crisis; how that slick, contagion-free aesthetic took over by the ’90s. Smooth bartenders, smooth bar fixtures, everything low-risk and wipe-clean. Of course, there was rave, and scuzzy rock-and-roll queer nights started happening in New York, as you know. So there’ll be that kind of stuff — the roving, illicit, peripheral parties. But I’m never one to cancel the mainstream spot for the basic gays. And those kinds of bars, the ones able to reopen in the first place, may face challenges in getting everything right, to allow for a sense of abandon and bonhomie, and make it feel effortless. Then again, maybe I’m just being cautious and everyone else is going to pile in.

Many gay bars now have nights where guys congregate to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race on a big screen. Is it weird that so much of gay nightlife has basically turned into communal TV watching?

I know, totally. I was doing that myself. To my shame — to not be focusing on local talent and site-specific artistry. But you know, I found it reassuring to be in a room full of gays who cackle at the same things— to be reminded that we as a people still get camp. I’m a bit sentimental about that resonance, this thing of interpreting pop culture for ourselves. That bond over spectating together, it’s a loose and caustic connection that I really do appreciate, as opposed to any far-reaching notion of community.

Do other countries do gay bars better than the U.S.?

I don’t think so. Berlin is fun, I get it, and Amsterdam. They’re raunchier, probably. And I’d love to hang out in Mexico City and in South Africa. One of the main differences in UK bars is that the drag queens tend to sing rather than lip-sync. It’s old school, working-class, vaudevillian. But you know, I am very attached to a good old American beer bust.

With modern gays finding other ways to connect [Internet, apps, etc.] than my generation did, are gay bars less important?

Probably, honestly — to them, anyway. I mean, I’m sure there are new modern gays who never used a fake ID to get into a gay bar and still have never been to one past their 21st birthday. I’m sure they’re fluid and queerer than gay, and all kinds of new positive, lovely things. But that more antiquated gay culture — in its archness, its facades, its reliance on not just sex but sensibility, on language and pastiche — I continue to appreciate its allure and would like to think it has repositories around the world. Gay, despite its problems, has given the world a lot.

We deserve a place to drink.

🇨🇭 Switzerland to hold referendum on same-sex marriage
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/...me-sex-marriage



Switzerland will hold a referendum on whether to push ahead with same-sex marriage after opponents forced the government to hold a binding vote on a 2020 law allowing gay couples to marry.

The Swiss parliament passed a bill recognising same-sex marriage last December, several years after most other western European states.

On Tuesday, the country’s federal chancellery announced that critics of the law had gathered 61,027 valid signatures in favour of putting the matter to a national vote.

Under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy, members of the public can veto parliamentary decisions via a referendum if they manage to collect 50,000 valid signatures within 100 days of the official publication of the act.

The federal chancellery will in May set a date for the plebiscite, which would not be held before September. Swiss citizens are sent envelopes stuffed with ballot papers and voter information about four times a year, asking them to cast their vote on a range of questions.

The push for the same-sex referendum came from a cross-party initiative, campaigning with the slogan “Yes to marriage and family, no to marriage for everyone”, which decries same-sex marriages as “fake” and argues only a man and a woman can enter a “natural” bond for life.

The law passed in December also grants lesbian couples access to sperm donation, which opponents said would create a slippery slope: “What next?”, asks the campaign’s website. “Surrogate motherhood for gay couple – the degradation of women to the status of a purchasable birthing machine?”

Operation Libero, a liberal political movement launched in the aftermath of the Swiss immigration referendum in October 2014, has said it will campaign to keep the law in place.

A petition launched by Operation Libero, stating that “it is important that people in Switzerland can get married irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity”, has gathered 100,000 signatures this month.

In a November 2020 poll by the LGBT umbrella organisation Pink Cross, 82% of respondents expressed approval of same-sex marriage in strong or mild terms.

Most western European countries have over the last two decades introduced laws allowing couples of the same sex to marry, with the Netherlands leading the way in 2001. France legalised same-sex unions in 2013, followed by England and Wales in 2014, and Germany in 2017.

🇺🇸 Disney unveils LGBT rainbow-colored toys and clothes as Pride Month approaches
Source: https://www.christianpost.com/news/disney-u...nd-clothes.html

The Walt Disney Company, well-known for its family-friendly programming and theme parks, is promoting a series of toys and clothes for children decorated with the LGBT rainbow flag ahead of Pride Month.

Disney, which produces several television programs and movies designed for children and operates several theme parks worldwide that cater to children and families, has unveiled the Rainbow Disney Collection.

The catalog of apparel and toys features rainbow-colored merchandise designed to honor the upcoming annual Pride Month in June that celebrates the LGBT community and movement.

“The countdown to Pride Month is on with a colorful array of Pride products available now!” the Disney Parks Twitter feed announced Monday.

Several rainbow-colored hearts accompanied the announcement of the company’s Pride Month collection. Additionally, the Twitter account noted that “The Walt Disney Company is giving funds as part of our ongoing commitment to organizations around the world that support LGBTQ+ communities.”

The pro-LGBT organizations Disney is donating to are listed on the Rainbow Disney Collection’s website. The advocacy groups supported by Disney include GLSEN, Diversity Role Models, Minus18, BeLonG To Youth Services, ARELAS and the It Gets Better Project.

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Communications Manager Anthony Armenia elaborated on the Pride Month merchandise in a post on the Disney Parks Blog Monday.

The blog features several pictures of the merchandise, which includes a Mickey Mouse “Love” T-shirt.

On that particular shirt, the “o” in the world love is replaced by Mickey Mouse ears bathed in the rainbow colors. The rest of the shirt features pictures of Mickey Mouse’s face in different colors of the rainbow.

In Disney’s pride collection, other apparel includes a sweatsuit with a hoodie and pants decorated with the word “Love” that also features rainbow-colored Mickey Mouse ears instead of an “O,” and shirts with the Pixar Animation Studios logo in rainbow colors.

The collection also features a rainbow-colored depiction of the character “Stitch” accompanied by the phrase “Ohana Means Family” illuminated in rainbow colors.

“Starting this month, the incredible diversity of our fans will also be celebrated around the world with products rolling out from licensees and retailers including Amazon, BoxLunch, Funko, Kohl’s, and Torrid, with more to come in Europe and Latin America,” Armenia wrote. “In June, our friends at Funko will have a plethora of new Pop! Vinyl figures in screaming color including Stitch and Wall-E.”

The collection of Pop! Vinyl figures consist of rainbow-colored toys resembling Disney and Pixar characters.

In recent years, Disney has made overtures to the LGBT community by introducing LGBT characters in its programming.

The Disney-Pixar animated film “Onward," released in March 2020, featured a lesbian character, making it the first film produced by the animation studio to feature an LGBT character.

Later in 2020, Pixar’s short film “Out” became the animation studio’s first production to feature a gay lead character.

Also, the Disney Channel cartoon “The Owl House” became the network’s first cartoon to feature a bisexual main character after the show’s creator identified the sexual orientation of the protagonist last summer.

Before introducing LGBT characters in its animated programming geared toward younger children, the Disney Channel depicted a same-sex teen romance on the live-action TV series “Andi Mack.”

Disney is not the only company that markets heavily toward children to promote Pride Month or LGBT advocacy. In 2019, Cartoon Network used its Twitter account to promote Pride Month.

A year earlier, the network’s animated show “Steven Universe” became the first children’s show to feature a same-sex wedding proposal. More recently, Cartoon Network worked with a social justice advocacy organization to create four comic strips asserting that there are multiple gender identities.

Earlier this year, the Nickelodeon series “Blues Clues and You” unveiled a song designed to teach children the alphabet while promoting LGBT advocacy.

“The ABC song w/ Blue” contained lyrics explaining that “P is full of pride.” In the on-screen graphics accompanying the song, the letter “P” is featured in rainbow colors and surrounded by flags representing the transgender, asexual, pansexual, intersex and gender-fluid communities and other LGBT identity groups.

🇲🇾🇹🇼 Overseas release brings Malaysian LGBTQ film to the screen
Source: https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Arts/Over...m-to-the-screen



KUALA LUMPUR -- "We were well aware from the start that the subject matter would have had its challenges in Malaysia and most other Asian territories," says Jin Ong, the producer of "Miss Andy" (2020), a Malaysian-Taiwanese film about the life of a transgender woman living in Kuala Lumpur. The film was released in Taiwan on Jan. 8 to circumvent a likely ban in predominantly Muslim Malaysia, where the LGBTQ community still struggles for equality.

Directed by Teddy Chin, "Miss Andy" follows in the footsteps of controversial Malaysian Chinese filmmakers such as Lau Kek Huat and Wee Meng Chee (also known as Namewee). Both also turned to Taiwan, one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in Asia, to release films that could not be screened in straight-laced Malaysia, where gay and transgender activity remain taboo topics.

The community rejoiced on Feb. 25, when the Federal Court -- Malaysia's highest judicial body -- unexpectedly invalidated a Selangor State law that criminalized "intercourse against the order of nature." The court's ruling that the law was unconstitutional was hailed as a historic development by Malaysian gay rights activist Numan Afifi. But LGBTQ activity remains largely illegal, and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's Perikatan Nasional government has recently strengthened criminal penalties.

Cinema and the visual arts are under particular scrutiny. For example, a 2018 ruling by the Malaysian film censorship board reinforced earlier restrictions, ensuring that movie content concerning LGBTQ activity is likely to be deleted. As a consequence, films like "Miss Andy" that expose the sad reality of one of Southeast Asia's most shunned communities can only be shown in foreign markets. 

"Miss Andy," produced by MM2 Entertainment of Singapore, is one of the first Malaysian films to use a mak nyah (Malay slang for a transgender woman) as a protagonist. The film has been in the can for more than a year because of its controversial topic and cinema closures caused by COVID-19 social distancing protocols.

"While it's shot in Malaysia, the issues that plague the transgender community are common in a lot of other places, and Taiwan being one of Asia's most LGBTQ-friendly countries made it the perfect launchpad for the film to highlight their plight," says Jin.

"Miss Andy" follows a handful of earlier Malaysian LGBTQ films. "Bukak Api" (2000) directed by Osman Ali, was the first independent documentary to depict the life of Malaysian transgender people, and "I Don't Want to Sleep Alone" (2006), a Malaysian-Taiwanese coproduction directed by Tsai Ming-Liang, depicted the homosexual attraction that a Bengali migrant worker develops for a homeless man to whom he gives shelter.

"Waris Jari Hantu" (2007) by Suhaimi Baba mixed supernatural folklore with the story of a man who wants to become a woman and eventually undergoes a sex change operation. "Dalam Botol" (2011), directed by Khir Rahman, tells the story of a gay man who changes his sex to please his partner, and then regrets his decision when the latter falls in love with another girl.

"Miss Andy" casts a powerful light on the tribulations that LGBTQ people must face daily in one of the Southeast Asian nations that disregards them the most. In the film, 55-year-old Andy, played by Lee Lee-zen,completes his transition into a woman called Evon five years after the death of his wife. Andy's son and daughter cannot cope with the shame of having a transgender father, and shun Evon. If that was not enough, the degrading sex work that Evon must resort to in order to make ends meet turns grimmer and more violent day after day.

The film's opening scene pulls no punches as we follow Evon from the street, where she is almost killed for refusing to service a client, to a police station where she is harassed and ordered to strip naked in front of a group of foul-mouthed Malay officers who want to body-search her.

But sweet-natured Evon is far from being the monster that society thinks she is. Although she needs income from sex work to pay the bills she owns a decent home, and has regular work driving a delivery van. She has friends too, including a joyful fellow trans woman and a handsome and gentle work companion called Teck (Jack Tan), who is hearing impaired and with whom she shares a feeling of being a "lesser" human.

"Prior to doing research for this particular film, I didn't know that the LGBTQ community faces legal challenges in Malaysia," says Lee. "A heterosexual person can conduct himself/herself in a normal and courageous way when it comes to his/her pursuit of love. So why are LGBTQ individuals, [who are] also perfectly normal people, forbidden from loving someone of their choice and doing things of their interest," says Lee.

"But all of the above is forbidden in Malaysia, as well as many other countries, which is very saddening to me."

The movie's plot also incorporates the evergreen issue of illegal migration to Malaysia. Evon gets a chance to regain some balance in her life when she serendipitously meets Sophia (Ruby Lin), an illegal Vietnamese worker, and her son Kang (Kyzer Tou). Starving, and on the run from Sophia's abusive husband, the two gladly accept Evon's assistance and end up becoming her housemates -- a choice that leads to a new set of bittersweet consequences.

"Miss Andy" earned international acclaim at several movie festivals in 2020, including the Osaka Asian Film Festival, the New York Asian Film Festival, the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival, the Kaohsiung Film Festival, and the Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. But it is unlikely to receive a premiere in Malaysia, where LGBTQ themes are mostly embraced only by independent film producers.

"As a filmmaker, it would be amazing to see my work change public opinion and making a direct/measurable impact on larger society," says Kuala Lumpur-based LGBTQ activist and filmmaker Justice Khor, whose short film "Lonesome" (2020) focused on Malaysian LGBTQ people's experiences of the COVID-19 lockdown in what he describes as "a metaphor [for] LGBTQ's oppressions & experience."

"Lonesome" was funded and showcased by the Southeast Asia Queer Cultural Festival 2021, an online virtual festival in February and early March organized by ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, a network of human rights activists from Southeast Asia.

Khor, who says his immediate priority is to create content that rings true to the Malaysian LGBTQ community and to himself, laments Malaysia's strict censorship laws. "I doubt [that] my work, [which] actively presents important social and political issues, would survive their cuts," he says, referring to the country's film censorship board.

Chen Yih Wen, a Kuala Lumpur-based director whose "Eyes on the Ball" (2019) depicted the story of a visually impaired Malaysian football team, also took up LGBTQ issues in the short film "She Ain't Heavy, She's My Brother" (2017) about a Malaysian Chinese trans man. Chen is now completing a documentary called "Shh...Diam!" about a celebrated Malaysian LGBTQ punk rock band.

Chen has also secured support from outside Malaysia -- "Shh...Diam!" is being produced by Alex Lee, co-founder of the Doc Edge Film Festival in New Zealand, with Hong Kong-based director Ruby Yang, winner of an Oscar in 2006 for "The Blood of Yingzhou District" (2006) as creative producer. It also has the backing of the Hong Kong Documentary Initiative.

"With the release of ["Shh...Diam!"] we plan to run an impact campaign to provide a positive portrayal of the community and spark change in perception and attitude towards LGBTQ people, and that there will be legal recognition for them," says Chen. "We hope the film can be used as an educational toolkit to discuss queer issues in a supportive environment with professional and guided knowledge."

Yeah me too! Too bad it won't screen in Malaysia.

It's about a cisgender gay man who cut his didi to please his boyfriend but ended up regretting the decision. So I guess it is about transgender a bit.

🇺🇸 US reverses Trump policy, restores LGBTQ healthcare protections
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/10/us...are-protections



The United States will protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination in healthcare, the Biden administration announced on Monday, reversing a Trump-era policy that sought to narrow the scope of legal rights in sensitive situations involving medical care.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the action restores protections under a provision of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, against sexual discrimination in healthcare.

“It simply says what everyone already should know: You should not discriminate against people,” Becerra told CNN. “That includes those based on sexual orientation or gender identity and when it comes to healthcare – we want to make sure that’s the case.”

The new policy represents a reversal of a reversal. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Trump in June 2020 issued a rule that lifted some anti-discrimination protections under Obamacare, a law signed by former President Barack Obama in 2010.

In 2016, the Obama administration introduced rules that made clear that LGBTQ people would be protected under the federal healthcare discrimination provision. The Trump-era rule reversed those provisions of the law that extended civil rights protections in healthcare to cover areas including gender identity and abortion.

“So now it’s clear, there’s no ambiguity: You cannot discriminate against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Becerra added.

HHS said in a statement on Monday that its Office for Civil Rights made the decision in light of a June 2020 US Supreme Court ruling and subsequent court decisions.

The Supreme Court last year delivered a watershed victory for LGBTQ rights and a defeat for Trump’s administration, ruling that a longstanding federal law barring workplace discrimination protects gay and transgender employees.

“The Supreme Court has made clear that people have a right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sex and receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation,” Becerra said in the statement.

Despite that ruling, the Trump administration had proceeded to try to narrow the legal protections against healthcare discrimination, issuing rules that narrowly defined “sex” as biological gender. A federal judge had blocked those rules from taking effect, although Trump administration officials argued that as a legal matter, healthcare discrimination was a separate issue from the employment case the Supreme Court decided.

The Trump administration had defined “sex” to mean gender assigned at birth, thereby excluding transgender people from the law’s umbrella of protection.

Monday’s action means that the HHS Office for Civil Rights will again investigate complaints of sex discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Hospitals, clinics and other medical providers can face government sanctions for violations of the law.

Under the Obama-era rule, a hospital could be required to perform gender-transition procedures such as hysterectomies if the facility provided that kind of treatment for other medical conditions.

LGBTQ groups say explicit protections are needed for people seeking gender transition treatment, and even for transgender people who need care for illnesses such as diabetes or heart problems.

More than 1.5 million Americans identify as transgender, according to the Williams Institute, a think-tank focusing on LGBTQ policy at the UCLA School of Law. A bigger number – 4.5 percent of the population – identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to Gallup.




This post has been edited by internaldisputes: May 11 2021, 08:46 AM

🇩🇪 German priests defy Vatican ban and bless same-sex unions
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/11/europe/g...-grm/index.html



Berlin, Germany — The Catholic Church has lost touch with the "living reality" of LGBT+ people, said one of more than 100 German priests who are defying the Vatican this week by blessing same-sex couples.

In a move that angered liberals within the 1.3 billion-member church, the Vatican's doctrinal office said in March that priests cannot bless same-sex unions in lieu of marriage, despite ministers doing so in countries such as Germany.

"If we say that God is love, I cannot tell people who embrace loyalty, unity and responsibility to each other that theirs is not love, that it's a fifth-or sixth-class love," said Christian Olding, a priest in the western city of Geldern.

"I look forward to the blessing. We're going have all forms of relationships: Classic heterosexual marriages, divorced and remarried couples, unmarried couples and yes, also same-sex couples," Olding told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"We're going have the whole diversity of love."

Priests and dioceses all over Germany have joined the "Liebe Gewinnt" or "Love Wins" initiative, with blessings taking place this week in cities like Berlin, Munich and Cologne, home to Germany's largest archdiocese, as well as rural areas.

The March ban on blessings, which Pope Francis approved, sparked dissent within the church and surprised many because he has been more conciliatory towards gay people than perhaps any other pontiff.

The Pope has held meetings with gay couples and encouraged those who want to raise their children in the church to do so. In 2013, he made the now-famous remark "Who am I to judge" about gay people seeking God and trying to live by the church's rules.

The church teaches that being gay is not inherently sinful but forbids same-sex sexual activity.

In March, more than 2,000 priests, theologians and other members of the Catholic Church in Germany and Austria signed a petition in favor of blessing same-sex couples.

"When someone says that something cannot be discussed anymore, I find that unreasonable and inappropriate," Olding said, adding that the church had lost touch with its LGBT+ followers.

"I live in the centre of society. I don't want to be separated from the daily living reality of the people I accompany as a priest."

According to the Pew Research Center, a US-based think-tank, 86% of Germans think homosexuality should be accepted.

Anyway, Selamat Hari Raya! HOPE Y'ALL HAVE A GAY TIME!

The only thing worse than a homophobe is an internalized homophobe.




This post has been edited by internaldisputes: May 15 2021, 09:26 AM

🇪🇺 14 of the biggest, brightest and most proudly queer performances in Eurovision history

Eurovision 2020 may be cancelled, but the contest’s queer legacy remains something to celebrate. Here, we list the first, best and most significant LGBT+ performers from Ketil Stokkan and Dana International to t.A.T.u and Conchita Wurst.

To some it’s a source of amusement, to others a camp spectacular, but for many, the Eurovision Song Contest has come to represent a celebration of queer identity.

While many parts of Europe remain bitterly divided on LGBT+ rights, the contest has served as a beacon of inclusion beamed directly into millions of homes on an annual basis.

But while we’d like nothing more right now than to build bridges, come together and celebrate diversity, unfortunately the 65th edition of the contest has become a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Eurovision 2020 not be going ahead as planned, we’re taking a trip back through time to look at some of the best and most significant queer moments the contest has produced.

Ketil Stokkan, ‘Romeo’ (Norway 1986)


The first LGBT-themed performance at Eurovision came at the 1986 contest, two years before Section 28 would ban all mention of homosexuality in British schools.

Norwegian singer Ketil Stokkan made history by performing alongside drag troupe the Great Garlic Girls — providing the first glimpse of LGBT+ identity at Eurovision.

The track “Romeo” was nothing to write home about musically, coming in a solid 12th place.

Stokkan now works as a school teacher, while the Great Garlic Girls are still going strong after 39 years — albeit, with some changes to their line-up.

Krista Siegfrids, ‘Marry Me’ (Finland 2013)


There’s a song with a message, and then there’s “Marry Me”.

Krista Siegfrids underlined how straight allyship should work in 2013 with her campy pop bop, utilising her entire performance as a not-particularly-subtle protest in favour of equal marriage, which skirted right under Eurovision’s rules banning political gestures.

The track sees Siegfrids beset by male suitors, singing about her desire to get married. However, the final drop-the-mic twist reveals the object of her desires — a female backing dancer. After sharing an on-screen kiss with her, the singer shouts: “Ding dong!”

Ding dong indeed, Krista.

The song finished 24th in the final, but it’s definitely not the points received that matter with this one. Same-sex weddings finally became legal in Finland in 2017.

Conchita Wurst, ‘Rise Like a Phoenix’ (Austria 2014)


Well, it’s the one you’ve been waiting for. Eurovision’s drag superstar.

When the bearded Austrian drag artist known as Conchita Wurst stepped onto the stage in Copenhagen, it was to some snarky remarks from commentators – but few were still laughing as she sang her final note.

So many parts of “Rise Like a Phoenix” are iconic, from the perfect staging to the orchestration, that it seems almost reductive to reduce Conchita to her queerness.

But there’s no escaping the fact that the artist became a true symbol of the contest’s inclusiveness, and to this day remains one of the only Eurovision winners who can boast of having performed for both the European Parliament and the United Nations.

As she raised the trophy, Conchita declared: “This night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. You know who you are — we are unity and we are unstoppable.”

We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.

Read more @ https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/16/eurov...conchita-wurst/

---

Added on
Eurovision 2021 starts tomorrow with semi-final 1! The final show will be on Sunday, around 3am local time. You can catch all the shows on the official Eurovision channel.

🇸🇬 Singapore warns U.S. embassy over webinar with LGBT group
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/...oup-2021-05-19/



Socially-conservative Singapore on Wednesday said it "noted with regret" that the U.S. embassy in the city-state had co-hosted a webinar with a local LGBT support group earlier this week.

Multi-ethnic Singapore has strict laws regulating public assembly. Foreigners are prohibited from participating in events dealing with a political cause.

"Ministry of foreign affairs has reminded the U.S. Embassy that foreign missions here are not to interfere in our domestic social and political matters, including issues such as how sexual orientation should be dealt with in public policy," it said in a statement.

"These are choices for only Singaporeans to debate and decide."

The May 17 webinar marked the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia and focused on the economic advantages of LGBTQI+ equality and inclusion around the world, the U.S. embassy in Singapore said.

LGBTQI refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and/or queer and intersex.

"The U.S. Embassy regularly works with civil society partners on a wide range of issues to build awareness and advance the human rights of all persons," it added. The event was co-hosted with support group Oogachaga.

Under Singapore law, sex between men is punishable by up to two years in jail, though prosecutions are rare. Previous attempts to overturn the colonial-era law have failed.

Oogachaga's Executive Director Leow Yangfa said the organisation "notes with surprise" the Singapore government's statement.

Leow said none of the speakers in the invitation-only webinar discussed how sexual orientation should be dealt with in public policy.

🇮🇩 Before Grindr, Indonesia’s LGBT folk used zines to search for love, friendship
Source: https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-as...nes-search-love



When Indonesian researcher Ais last year came across a trove of retro LGBTQ zines in Bali, he was taken by the significance of the find.

One of the covers, which featured two men embracing, would be considered more than risqué for Indonesia, where although homosexuality is not illegal – except in sharia-ruled Aceh province – it is generally considered a taboo subject.

“Suddenly, it felt like I was a part of something bigger than myself,” said Ais, 29, who does not want to reveal his full name due to the sensitivity of the matter, of his discovery of the zines. “Turns out I have a history.”

LGBTQ zines, or community-based publications printed in small batches, were distributed across the Indonesian archipelago during the 1980s and 1990s, a sign of more permissive times in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

The country has over time become less tolerant of the LGBTQ community, with some politicians in recent years being more vocal about Islam playing a large role in the state.

The discovery of the LGBTQ zines gave Ais and Beau Newham, an Australian who works in HIV prevention and support, the impetus to digitise as many copies as they could to give the publications a second lease on life online. Their website, Queer Indonesia Archive (QIA), went live last June.

“If it’s any sort of material that reflects the stories of queer Indonesians and we can digitise it, we will,” said Newham, 34. “That’s the premise.”

Equipped with four scanners and aided by volunteers, fundraising and non-governmental grants, the duo has found more than 18 titles of Indonesian LBGTQ zines and the archive has reached 30 gigabytes.

Ais said the group usually goes to the head of the community that produced the zine to ask if they would share copies.

The first LGBTQ zine in Indonesian history was published in 1982 and was called G: Gaya Hidup Ceria (G: Happy Lifestyle), according to Dede Oetomo, a gay scholar who founded the longest-running zine GAYa NUSANTARA, which finally went online in 2014.

Though they never received mainstream recognition, the zines circulated freely from Java island (Jaka Zine) to Sulawesi (GAYa Celebes), containing poems to personal ads, where people in search of a partner would post basic information and photos of themselves.

“I was happy, because I could get lots of friends. In hindsight, those bulletins did what the social media apps are doing today,” Dede said, referring to gay dating apps such as Grindr.

To evade Indonesian authorities, the zines were called a “series of books”, instead of bulletins, Dede said, adding this was the closest they came to self-censorship.

“I’m glad Queer Indonesia Archive is doing this. We never had such skills,” he added.

Archiving these zines has been soul-searching for Ais, who said his exposure to queer communities in recent years has always centred on queer persecution.

While the Queer Indonesia Archive has not yet raised any ire with the authorities, “we’re in a perpetual fear of backlash”, Newham said.

There has been a rise in discrimination and violent attacks against Indonesia’s LGBTQ community in recent years. Police have prosecuted members of the community under anti-pornography and other laws.

More than 1,800 cases of persecution of LGBTQ Indonesians occurred between 2006 and 2017, advocacy group Arus Pelangi reported in September 2019.

A survey by the Pew Research Center think tank last year showed that 80 per cent of Indonesians believe homosexuality “should not be accepted by society”.

After the Covid-19 pandemic ends, Ais and Newham plan to start recording audio accounts of older members of LGBTQ communities.

“We want to archive more of our history in an inclusive manner,” Ais said. “Through QIA, I hope to make people more aware of Indonesia’s queer history.”