Same Sex Marraige in Punjab - The Aftermath

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New film by: Sridhar Rangayan

The Fag Bug

On the 11th annual National Day of Silence (April 18, 2007), Erin Davies was faced with an unfortunate tragedy. She was victim to a hate crime. Because of sporting a rainbow sticker on her VW Beetle, her car was vandalized in red spray paint with the words "fAg" and "u r gay" placed all over the hood and driver side of her car. Instead of recoiling into the shadows of self-pity and shame that often goes hand in hand with any hate crime, Davies decided to thrust herself into the public eye and take her vandalized “Fag Bug” on the road to raise awareness about the regular occurrence of homophobia in this country.

On June 25th, Erin Davies began her 25-state tour. She plans on visiting “touristy” places where people don’t expect to be confronted by homophobia.
The Slate Street Café will host a meet and greet fundraiser for the “Fag Bug” tour. Come meet Erin Davies and see the “Fag Bug” in person. There is no charge for the event, however donations are welcome. There will be a no host bar, and silent auction.

For more information on “Fag Bug” visit the website at www.fagbug.com. If you would like to schedule an interview with Erin, please contact Edgar Marroquin at 505-720-3488.

Marching through the streets of Taxim



GAY PRIDE ISTANBUL, TURKEY 2007

I wish I was there !!!

I think I'm in love

Students expelled for gay film- in Kerala, India

Saturday, May 19, 2007 (Chenganassery)
Five students of St Joseph's College of Communication at Chenganassery in Kerala were expelled last month for making a film on homosexuality.

Secret Minds is a five minute film that explores the hypocrisy surrounding homosexuality in our society.

Jeo Baby, the director of the film, does not regret making it, but what he regrets is that along with him four of his fellow students were expelled for acting in the film.

The authorities at the institute felt that their film would corrupt young minds.

''I made a film about homosexuality. In our society, lot of homosexual people live with us. How many of them admit to being homosexuals? They are secret minds, that is our mentality, we live in a secret society,'' said Jeo Baby, Expelled film student.

Jeo's earlier films Ponnu - a film on teen pregnancy and God's Own Country - a film on begging - have won awards at student film festivals but this one seems to have touched a raw nerve.

The expelled students have now appealed to the vice-chancellor of MG University in Kottayam.

One of them has even filed a writ petition in the high court.

Dijo Augustine, a close friend of Jeo and co-producer of the film, says that making the film hadn't been easy. They had to do with the Rs 2000 that they had collected from friends.

Now they are very demoralized.

''Secret Minds is an experimental film. We believed that the authorities will encourage our creativity. But the response was quite disappointing for all of us,'' said Dijo Augustine, Co-producer, Secret Minds.

When NDTV contacted the college principal, he refused to comment, saying the matter was now sub-judice.

Intolerance to alternative viewpoints at educational institutions - if this is the message that is being sent out to students, then there is little hope for any real change in our society.

EAGERLY AWAITING KALA

M.I.A. will release her sophomore album on Aug. 21, not on June 26 as had been reported elsewhere earlier this week. The Interscope set "Kala" will include the track "Bird Flu," which has been making the rounds online in recent months.

The set also features contributions from Timbaland, Diplo, Baltimore act Blagstar and house DJ/producer Dave Taylor (also known as Switch). Recording sessions took M.I.A. from India to Trinidad, New York, London and Baltimore over the past year.

"Kala" is the follow-up to 2005's "Arular," which has sold 129,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It reached No. 3 on Billboard's Top Electronic Albums chart and No. 14 on the Heatseekers tally.

I have new founded respect for Europeans.
This is by far the best thing I've seen on YouTube in years.

If I ever have my own country, I will make this the National Anthem