Friday, March 14, 2008
Can Gay Jokes Kill?
The boundaries of queer-minded comedy come up once again this fine Friday, thanks to a gay punch line and some politically-minded video editing.
We’ve addressed this topic in the past, specifically with regard to Sarah Silverman and the dearth of gay funny bones.
Today we turn our attention to a Canadian comedian named Harland Williams. (And, no, that’s not the wrong clip.)
Williams, whom you may remember from Half Baked and Big Money Hustla$, appeared on Conan O’Brien this week and delivered a fairly recognizable joke: Brits call cigarettes “fags” and it’s confusing for North Americans. Here’s the transcript:
Harland: You know what they call cigarettes?
Conan: What?
Harland: The British — they call them fags.
Conan: Right. That’s what they — yeah, that’s the term for cigarettes.
Harland: Yes. A guy in my class comes up and he goes, “Look mate, you think I can bum a fag?”
Conan: Right… (laughing)
Harland: I said, “I don’t know. Can you?”
Conan: All right… (laughing)
Harland: He’s like, “No mate! I’d like to smoke a fag.” And I said, “Yeah, I’d like to boil a couple of lesbians myself!”
We don’t recommend boiling the lesbians. They’re much, much better fried. Maybe broiled, but never, ever boiled.
We jest, of course, but the Good As You gays are “annoyed:” “…He positioned the punch in the affirmative voice, rather than as a glib question that puts a negative spin on the horror of “smoking fags” (’What’s next, buddy — you gonna boil some lesbians?!’)” Everyone’s a critic!
It seems to us that the joke’s apex is more inflammatory in this video’s particular context: Ellen’s comments on Lawrence King’s death. The question thus shifts. It isn’t whether or not Williams qualifies as funny, but whether or not such jokes can be blamed for anti-gay violence. And we say “nay.”
A little adds up to a lot, yes, but a simple joke on late night television does far less damage than having politicians like Sally Kern running around. Or, even worse, Stacey Campfield, who attempted to prohibit “gay speak” in elementary schools. Williams’ comments on Conan are nothing more than a new take on an old joke. And, to be honest, we found it kind of funny.
Had Williams said, “I like to boil lesbians” or “I think you, the viewer, should go boil some lesbians,” that wouldn’t be funny. It would just be crazy!
Mar 14, 2008
Slain Gay Inspires Film
We gays are an industrious lot! Rather than mooning over slain 25-year old Ryan Skipper, gay activists decided to make a documentary celebrating his life.
Skipper died last year after being shot by William David Brown Jr. and Joseph Bearden, both of whom will soon stand trial for hateful first degree murder.
Though they didn’t personally know Skipper, Vicki Nantz and her partner, Mary Meeks made the film to raise awareness of anti-gay violence and homo alienation. And it’s already changing some minds:
Until Skipper’s death, Wally Mulder hadn’t given homosexuality much thought. Now the Mulders share their opinions freely.
“Some people might want to sleep in the cornfields and some people might want to sleep in the wheatfields,” Wally Mulder said of his position on gay rights. “There’s no need to meet at the line and fight over who’s going to sleep where.”
So, do we gays like corn or wheat?
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Gay peer speaks out against deportations to Iran
11th March 2008 18:10
PinkNews.co.uk staff writer
A gay member of the House of Lords has demanded the government take action to stop a gay teenager being deported back to Iran where he could face the death penalty.
Today it was revealed that 19-year-old Mehdi Kazemi, who was refused asylum in Britain and fled to Holland, will be deported back to the UK.
He had unsuccessfully applied for asylum in the United Kingdom following the execution of his partner by Iranian authorities after being found guilty of sodomy.
Lord Alli is one of only two openly gay peers.
Today he asked minister Lord Bassam to explain the policy of returning gay people to a country where homosexual acts are punishable by execution.
"This young man's partner was hung at an early age for simply being gay," he said in the Lords today.
"The Home Office's position is that gay people can return to Iran safely providing they are 'discreet.' Heavens knows what that means.
"What action will you take if that advice proves wrong and this man is executed for being gay.
"Because if that was me, or any member of this House, in that position, I would hope you would have a good answer."
Lord Bassam replied:
"We do not believe that it is right to make returns when it is not safe to do so.
"We are extremely cautious in the way we operate returns.
"The Border and Immigration Agency only enforces the return of Iranian gay men when we are satisfied they are not in need of protection and we do not seek to enforce returns to Iran unless our decision making processes and the independent courts are satisfied that it is entirely safe to do so."
Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, said the organisation is "deeply disturbed" about his case.
"There is incontrovertible evidence that lesbian and gay people face danger in Iran and we will be raising this once again with the Home Secretary."
PinkNews.co.uk staff writer
A gay member of the House of Lords has demanded the government take action to stop a gay teenager being deported back to Iran where he could face the death penalty.
Today it was revealed that 19-year-old Mehdi Kazemi, who was refused asylum in Britain and fled to Holland, will be deported back to the UK.
He had unsuccessfully applied for asylum in the United Kingdom following the execution of his partner by Iranian authorities after being found guilty of sodomy.
Lord Alli is one of only two openly gay peers.
Today he asked minister Lord Bassam to explain the policy of returning gay people to a country where homosexual acts are punishable by execution.
"This young man's partner was hung at an early age for simply being gay," he said in the Lords today.
"The Home Office's position is that gay people can return to Iran safely providing they are 'discreet.' Heavens knows what that means.
"What action will you take if that advice proves wrong and this man is executed for being gay.
"Because if that was me, or any member of this House, in that position, I would hope you would have a good answer."
Lord Bassam replied:
"We do not believe that it is right to make returns when it is not safe to do so.
"We are extremely cautious in the way we operate returns.
"The Border and Immigration Agency only enforces the return of Iranian gay men when we are satisfied they are not in need of protection and we do not seek to enforce returns to Iran unless our decision making processes and the independent courts are satisfied that it is entirely safe to do so."
Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, said the organisation is "deeply disturbed" about his case.
"There is incontrovertible evidence that lesbian and gay people face danger in Iran and we will be raising this once again with the Home Secretary."
JK Rowling: Homophobia is a fear of people loving
11th March 2008 15:15
PinkNews.co.uk staff writer
The author of the best-selling Harry Potter novels has given a wide-ranging interview to a student newspaper in which she defends her gay character Albus Dumbledore.
JK Rowling also spoke out against fundamentalist Christians in the United States who are trying to ban her work.
Speaking to Edinburgh University's Student newspaper Rowling, whose successful series of novels have made her the richest women in Britain, defended her decision to out Dumbledore last year.
"Homophobia is a fear of people loving, more than it is of the sexual act," she said.
"There seems to be an innate distaste for the love involved, which I find absolutely extraordinary.
"The issue is love. It's not about sex. So that's what I knew about Dumbledore.
"And it's relevant only in so much as he fell in love and was made an utter fool of by love.
"He lost his moral compass completely when he fell in love and I think subsequently became very mistrusting of his own judgment in those matters so became quite asexual.
"He led a celibate and bookish life."
Rowling explained that: "from the outset obviously I knew he had this big, hidden secret, and that he flirted with the idea of exactly what Voldemort goes on to do, he flirted with the idea of racial domination, that he was going to subjugate the Muggles. So that was Dumbledore's big secret."
The 42-year-old, whose seven-series saga about the boy wizard has made her an estimated £545m, sent shockwaves round the world in October when she told an audience of fans in New York that the headmaster of wizarding school Hogwarts was gay.
She revealed Dumbledore's homosexuality at a book reading when asked by a fan if he had ever found love.
Dumbledore, played in the Harry Potter films initially by the late Richard Harris and later by Michael Gambon, is killed in the sixth book in the series.
He makes a ghostly appearance in the seventh, where it is revealed that he fell under the spell of a charismatic but evil wizard, Gellert Grindelwald.
The relvelations about Dumbledore have given evangelical Christians new reason to call for her works to be banned. The author told the Student:
"Fundamentalism is, 'I will not open my mind to look on your side of the argument at all. I won't read it, I won't look at it, I'm too frightened.'
"That's what's dangerous about it, whether it be politically extreme, religiously extreme.
"In fact, fundamentalists across all the major religions, if you put them in a room, they'd have bags in common! They hate all the same things, it's such an ironic thing."
PinkNews.co.uk staff writer
The author of the best-selling Harry Potter novels has given a wide-ranging interview to a student newspaper in which she defends her gay character Albus Dumbledore.
JK Rowling also spoke out against fundamentalist Christians in the United States who are trying to ban her work.
Speaking to Edinburgh University's Student newspaper Rowling, whose successful series of novels have made her the richest women in Britain, defended her decision to out Dumbledore last year.
"Homophobia is a fear of people loving, more than it is of the sexual act," she said.
"There seems to be an innate distaste for the love involved, which I find absolutely extraordinary.
"The issue is love. It's not about sex. So that's what I knew about Dumbledore.
"And it's relevant only in so much as he fell in love and was made an utter fool of by love.
"He lost his moral compass completely when he fell in love and I think subsequently became very mistrusting of his own judgment in those matters so became quite asexual.
"He led a celibate and bookish life."
Rowling explained that: "from the outset obviously I knew he had this big, hidden secret, and that he flirted with the idea of exactly what Voldemort goes on to do, he flirted with the idea of racial domination, that he was going to subjugate the Muggles. So that was Dumbledore's big secret."
The 42-year-old, whose seven-series saga about the boy wizard has made her an estimated £545m, sent shockwaves round the world in October when she told an audience of fans in New York that the headmaster of wizarding school Hogwarts was gay.
She revealed Dumbledore's homosexuality at a book reading when asked by a fan if he had ever found love.
Dumbledore, played in the Harry Potter films initially by the late Richard Harris and later by Michael Gambon, is killed in the sixth book in the series.
He makes a ghostly appearance in the seventh, where it is revealed that he fell under the spell of a charismatic but evil wizard, Gellert Grindelwald.
The relvelations about Dumbledore have given evangelical Christians new reason to call for her works to be banned. The author told the Student:
"Fundamentalism is, 'I will not open my mind to look on your side of the argument at all. I won't read it, I won't look at it, I'm too frightened.'
"That's what's dangerous about it, whether it be politically extreme, religiously extreme.
"In fact, fundamentalists across all the major religions, if you put them in a room, they'd have bags in common! They hate all the same things, it's such an ironic thing."
Simon Hughes: No gay person should be sent back to Iran
The Home Office will confirm that more inquiries are sent about immigration and asylum from my office than from any other MP. Every case is important but some people cause particular concern and Mehdi Kazemi has, from December 2006, been one of them.
This young Iranian lived in Rotherhithe with his family when he first came to the UK and he and his family have kept in touch with me ever since. Originally, they came because the Home Office was to deport Mehdi back to Iran on Boxing Day 2006. I contacted the Home Office to ask for action to be held off until I had reviewed Mehdi's case and the Home Office cancelled the deportation. Mehdi then left the UK because he was scared he would be returned to Iran.
For the past year, this young man has been in Germany and the Netherlands. We have been in contact by email and have continued to meet with his family. The Dublin Convention makes clear that, as Britain was the country where Mehdi arrived first, his case must be dealt with here. Over recent weeks I have been preparing for Mehdi's return and my staff team and I have been in touch with specialist lawyers to make sure he has the best possible legal advice.
My strong view is that, in the present political climate, no person who is lesbian or gay should be sent back to Iran. The Home Office must review its decision to refuse Mehdi asylum – even more so in the light of international campaigns and the press attention his case has received over the past year. This young man's case exposes the cruelty of the regime and the need for Britain, with the rest of the EU, to have consistent and humane policies to prevent people being sent home to be tortured – or worse.
The Home Office claims that a gay person can return to Iran and avoid persecution by being "discreet". All the advice is that in Iran, to be discreet means that you would have to deny your identity. The punishment for giving in to personal feelings might well be nothing less than torture or death. This is clearly a form of discrimination and a serious breach of his human rights. It must now be clear to the Home Office that it is wrong to send back gay and lesbian people to Iran (or any other country with similar laws and practice) where all the evidence shows they will be persecuted.
Mehdi and everybody in the same position needs to know that the EU countries will support them effectively when they turn to us for help.
This young Iranian lived in Rotherhithe with his family when he first came to the UK and he and his family have kept in touch with me ever since. Originally, they came because the Home Office was to deport Mehdi back to Iran on Boxing Day 2006. I contacted the Home Office to ask for action to be held off until I had reviewed Mehdi's case and the Home Office cancelled the deportation. Mehdi then left the UK because he was scared he would be returned to Iran.
For the past year, this young man has been in Germany and the Netherlands. We have been in contact by email and have continued to meet with his family. The Dublin Convention makes clear that, as Britain was the country where Mehdi arrived first, his case must be dealt with here. Over recent weeks I have been preparing for Mehdi's return and my staff team and I have been in touch with specialist lawyers to make sure he has the best possible legal advice.
My strong view is that, in the present political climate, no person who is lesbian or gay should be sent back to Iran. The Home Office must review its decision to refuse Mehdi asylum – even more so in the light of international campaigns and the press attention his case has received over the past year. This young man's case exposes the cruelty of the regime and the need for Britain, with the rest of the EU, to have consistent and humane policies to prevent people being sent home to be tortured – or worse.
The Home Office claims that a gay person can return to Iran and avoid persecution by being "discreet". All the advice is that in Iran, to be discreet means that you would have to deny your identity. The punishment for giving in to personal feelings might well be nothing less than torture or death. This is clearly a form of discrimination and a serious breach of his human rights. It must now be clear to the Home Office that it is wrong to send back gay and lesbian people to Iran (or any other country with similar laws and practice) where all the evidence shows they will be persecuted.
Mehdi and everybody in the same position needs to know that the EU countries will support them effectively when they turn to us for help.
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