Friends in hot places

Recently I've been checking in on last year's LGBT Campus Center Student Staff Supervisor, Brad Schmock, who is currently completing a study abroad program in Thailand. His blog, Compassionate Badger, currently deatails all of his latest adventures and has many pictures of his experiences so far. Check it out! Send him a message or comment on some of his entries!

Too good to pass up!

I'm sure some of you Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon fanatics out there might be able to find some random correlation between this story and the queer community, but for my purposes I found it to be amusing (excuse me, tragic) enough not to matter.

Anyway, last Friday a herd of 40 elephants apparently broke into Chandan Nukat, a small village in India, and drank copiously from from their supply of brewed rice beer, became intoxicated and engaged in a frenzied rampage. During the commotion, six of the elephants uprooted an electrical pole, got electrecuted and died! Oops...

Here's the story from MSNBC.

Makin' a plug

Not a buttplug (is there a minicourse for that?)...but a mini-promotion let's say...for Halloqueen this weekend! Details:

Majestic Theater
Saturday, Oct 27
9pm - 3am
All ages
$10 at door ($8 in advance)

The rest is on the flyer, check it out! I will most certainly be there, in the shadow of Velvet Goldmine's Jack Fairy character, and looking somewhat gayer than I or any of you have probably ever seen! There will also be a performance by Chris Daniels and Emily Shor at some point in the night. Truly a sight to see! Go to Indie Queer Madison for more details!

The O has spoken

Oprah has released a trailer for her next program to air this week: Gay Around the World. You can view it here. Some of the guests expected to appear include "United Kingdom’s John Amaechi, the former basketball player who came out after his career in the NBA; the Indian prince, Manvendra Singh Gohil, who came out to the consternation of his royal family last year; and the feminist spoken word poet, Staceyann Chin, who will explain that being a lesbian in Jamaica made her so fearful that she moved to a different country."

I swear sometimes I don't know what to think of this woman, with her *marriage* of convenience and all! It certainly is perfect timing considering Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's claim last month about the non-existence of gays in Iran (I'm sure to the tune of many other world leaders that assume the same thing). Watch out for the program, take a look at it and let Qlisted know what you think! Comment or write to qlisted@gmail.com

Can you say 'love'?

Forgive me, but I have to take two seconds today to express my queeniness and report that Gucci came out with it's newest ad campaign for the fall/winter line...and it is truly something lust-worthy! The entire campaign is set against the a Citizen Kane-esque backdrop with eerie panther paintings and a dark collection complete with feathers and my all time favorite, when done correctly, FURS! mmmmm.......I'm like a regular Cruella Deville!Pretty soon I'll have PETA on my ass.

Here's the link

We've got shoes to fill!

The LGBT Campus Center is HIRING!!! for two positions:

Educational Outreach Specialist

and

Web Services Specialist

For job desciptions and online applications, just go Here or stop by the LGBT Campus Center on the 2nd Floor of Memorial Union for a paper application. All apps due November 13th at 5pm.

The newest addition to the Silverfox network...

Name: Albus Dumbledore
sex: Male
Age: 126
orientation: Gay
Fetishes: Wands, Broomsticks, Potions, BDSM
About me: Tall, mature and hairy
Looking for: Same for mutual witchcraft/NSA fun
Out?: Outed by J.K. Rowling @ Carnegie Hall on Friday, Oct. 19th

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I wish I knew how to quit this movie

This is better than that chain email that went around a couple years ago about "The Fur Traders"! I'm going to take this time to use the few opportunities I've allotted myself for pure trashy gossip on this site to talk about OK! Magazine's new report about the potential greatest film of our time: Brokeback Mountain 2! *Please detect the sarcasm in my electronic pseudo-voice*

Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. I'm not surprised really that I wouldn't be dissapointed either way; at least a sequel would provide some entertainment quality during those more dull intervals before a party...and who ever said the canon of terrible gay cinema was too full?!

More like Hall of Flamers

Last night former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington was inducted in the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame, posthumously. He died in 1987, but like most people who receive this local honor, his efforts to improve the rights of LGBT people in Chicago were far-reaching even after his death. He was also the first African-American mayor of Chicago when he was elected in 1983. Among his achievements was the passing of the 1988 Human Rights Ordinance, protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination. He also "encouraged and facilitated a new group of independent and progressive gay leaders in Chicago," during a time when AIDS and attitudes particularly among South-side Chicagoans did not reflect favorably on the community. "Washington was the first Chicago mayor to appoint a LGBT liaison and headline a gay rights rally. He also established Chicago ’s first official committee on gay and lesbian issues, now called the Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender issues," reports 365gay.com.

Other inductees last night included Jeff McCourt, the late founder of Chicago gay weekly Windy City Times; Vera Washington, HIV/AIDS counselor, LGBT youth service coordinator, and co-founder of Executive Sweet Inc., which provides opportunities for lesbians of color to build a strong community network; and Chicago Games, Inc., which hosted Gay Games VII in Chicago.

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They never learn...

According to the lastest news from an article at 365gay.com today, "Uganda's leading Muslim cleric has proposed to President Yoweri Museveni that gays be rounded up and marooned on an island in Lake Victoria until they die." The statement was a result of escalating opposition to gay rights in Uganda following a plea by masked homosexuals back in August for basic civil rights. This opposition is frightfully characterized often by murders and threats commited by a Muslim Tabliqh youth "anti-gay squad." What's more is that last week's International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission revealed that the Bush administration has "funded groups in Uganda that actively promote violence and discrimination against lesbians and gay men."

Personally I find all of this very upsetting, scary, and perplexing. But at the same time I take a look at the idea of committing genocide against LGBT people and I find the whole thing rather ridiculous, and impossible! LGBT People are not an ethnic group that can be "cleansed," or even identified by any form or external recognition with any real accuracy, and most of all, no matter what theory of sexual orientation development that you accept (whehter it's genetic, by choice, developmental, etc.), all of them support the idea that The Gay will live on forever. The only way to get rid of it is to destroy the human population entirely! Under this philosophy, you could almost assume that LGBTI is really only one of two things (from a demographic perspective): a naturally-occuring advantage in the evolutionary cycle, or a naturally-occuring disease that cannot be eradicated in any way. I think if more people realized this, things would be different.

What do you think? email qlisted@gmail.com or comment!

Xena was robbed!

I love AfterEllen.com, specifically when they post things like the 11 Top Lesbian/Bi Moments in SciFi & Fantasy! The list is quite comprehensive and entertaining, but Xena and Gabrielle were placed at Number 3, which dissapoints me a little bit! Granted I am a little biased, having spent most of my childhood years watching the relationship between Xena and gabrielle unfold everyday after school at 3:30, but who can deny that Amazonian chemistry!? Anyway, check out the list and let everyone know how you feel with a comment, or send a post to qlisted@gmail.com

An apple a day keeps the doctor...wait, bring that doctor back!

Don't forget to check out the LGBTI Health Summit in Madison, WI on November 3rd. It's from 10am to 5pm in Grainger Hall on Universtiy Ave. Refreshments will be povided and the event will feature physicians, therapists, community leaders and keynote speaker Joe Hollendoner from Howard Brown Health Center in Chicago, specializing in LGBT health and HIV/AIDS. If you want more information contact Shawn Neal from AidsNetwork here in Madison.

Why am I not surprised?

Thanks to the negligence of Gov. Mike Beebe of Arkansas, an "inadvertently added word" that went unnoticed was passed as Arkansas state law earlier this year, which can now only be overturned in the legislature. This brilliant piece of legislation now reads:

"In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age and who is not pregnant to obtain a marriage license, the person must provide the county clerk with evidence of parental consent to the marriage," the not being the inadvertently added word. Basically, as it reads, anyone under the age of 18, even babies, can get married with consent of the parent, provided that neither partner is in fact pregnant!

For a state that, like many others in the recent past, amended their constitution to prevent same-sex couples from the right to marry, this sure does send a comforting message about norms in our society ;)

What do you think? Leave a comment or write to qlisted@gmail.com!

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Galleria di Eshto

Check out the fabulous and edgy artwork of my good friend who likes to go by Rygar! Everything from portraits, self-portraits, paintings, sketchings, digital manipulations, and much more!

Hot Topics

In case you have not yet been informed, In April of this year a revised version of the 1996 Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was introduced to the 110th United States Congress, one of the drafters being our district representative Tammy Baldwin. This bill "provides employment protections similar to those of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (also known as "Title VII"), but specifically directed to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees. The bill is different from Title VII in that it contains exemptions for religious organizations and specific provisions about employer dress codes."

The bill is loosely based off of the "gay-rights" bill from 1974, and specifically the first ENDA of 1996, which did not pass, most likely because of backfire due to the sucess of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The newest bill distinguishes itself from the others, however, because of its inclusion of provisions for the protection of transgender people in the workplace. On September 27th, "with no consultation with the community, members of Congress announced that they had decided to rush a new version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that does not include gender identity to a vote in the House of Representatives."

This new development in the bill not only denies protection to those who identify as transgender, but also those who identify as male or female but who do not conform to social norms of what is considered typically male or female. This is really unfortunate from a gay rights history standpoint, figuring the majority of gay rights developments were due to the actions and support of transgender people. The first group to discontinue work with ENDA in 1999 was the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force because of this reason, believing that sacrificing Transgender inclusivity in order to pass ENDA would be unacceptable.

So get involved! Contact your representatives and let them know how you feel about this issue! Or comment or contact qlisted@gmail.com if you want to post an entry!

Calling all closetcases!

Grey's Anatomy star T.R. Knight has reportedly finished recording a public service announcement to air on National Coming Out Day this Thursday, urging for the acceptance of gay friends and loved ones. T.R. of course is the ABC hotness that was the first and most prominent television star to come out while filming a primetime emmy-winning series.

Oh Mr. Knight... he says he's doing this for the people, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was in it for more indirect reasons, aka getting hollywood closetcases *cough* Tom "Tommy Girl" Cruise *cough* to come out once and for all! In the meantime we can thank T.R. for spreadin' the love and awareness across the nation for National Coming Out Week!

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Peace be upon them

Last night I attended the Muslim Student Association's Fastathon event after fasting all day long. It was a wonderful time with great food and fun speakers, and many friends of mine, mostly from classes in Arabic, were there too. The experience really makes you appreciate the religion of Islam free from the press and popular culture's attitudes toward it today. Of course I was there doing a little covert networking, too; would you expect any less of me?! It is, in fact, NATIONAL COMING OUT WEEK next week so everyone get excited! But it has to be said that there are times when being someone who identifies as queer finds him or herself at odds with any religion, Islam being no exception. Homosexuality, and sexuality in general, in the Middle East has always been one of my biggest fascinations as a topic of research, and a number of great books like Islamic Homosexualities or Forbidden Love: Gay and Lesbian life in the Middle East can provide insight into the subject. But the fact is that even today, there are many areas of the region that are suppressive, ignorant and often-times violent toward the concept of homosexuality. And the ares that can sometimes be considered more open, such as Beirut or Jordan or the UAE, are only so on a basis relative to the areas surrounding them.

A story out of Riyadd, Saudi Arabia published yesterday reported that two men convicted of a "deviant sexual acts" were sentences to a prolonged administering of 7,000 lashes each for their crimes. A clamping down by the Saudi government recently, according to the article, has resulted in the raids of numerous gay weddings throughout the country. Two male lovers were also publically beheaded for the murder of man that attempted to blackmail them for their love affair which, had the man reported them, would have resulted in their conviction anyway. These stories combined with old news from Egypt, for instance, of raids in Cairo such as that of the famous gay hangout, the Queen Boat, among other raids, adds to the concern. Just a couple years ago, two teenage boys were publically hanged in Iran, once again supposedly for a murder, but public opinion in the region supports the idea that they were executed for being gay, but of course President Ahmedinejad would argue that homosexuals do not in fact exist in Iran!

My main argument, perhaps due to my bias not only as a queer person but also as a student of Arabic and a sympathizer for the understanding and appreciation of Islam, is that awareness not only of Queer presence in Middle East but also the establishment of gay rights (as far-fetched and farsighted as that may sound) needs to happen, because the culture of Arabs, Persians, Khurds, Palestinians, Egyptians, Turks, North Africans, and all others I've left out is too precious to be tainted by hate.

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That's my opinion, what's yours? Don't be afraid to comment or email qlisted@gmail.com and tell us what you think!

For more information on a wonderful gay rights group in the Middle East go to the site of Helem

Grab your granola...the lesbians are hittin' Broadway!

Well, not exactly. A news report from AfterEllen published a little more than two weeks ago shed light on the resurrection of Broadway's The Captive from 1926 in the form of Bad Girls: the Musical, which is now being performed in one of Britain's best West End theaters. The musical comedy's emotional centerpiece is a lesbian love story between prisoner Nikki Wade and Wing Governor Helen Stewart. Aside from only touched on references to homosexuality between women, not to mention women of color, in the huge Broadway success The Color Purple, and the bold but overshadowed lesbian performances of the international success RENT, prominent and postive portrayals of lesbian relationships in musical theater have been kept mum for many years, unlike numerous portrayals, positive or otherwise, of gay men. Bad Girls: the Musical may seek to change things!

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