Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

WORLD Bollywood film, UK employers, assault, Rainbow Railroad
by Andrew Davis, Windy City Times
2020-02-25

This article shared 3398 times since Tue Feb 25, 2020
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


The India film capital of Bollywood is releasing its first major romantic comedy with a lead gay character, Advocate.com noted. Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan ( translation: Be Extra Careful About Marriage ) stars Ayushmann Khurrana as a young man fighting anti-gay stigma in his society and family. While the queer subject matter is conveyed with comedy, writer/director Hitesh Kewalya told Agence France-Presse it was important not to make fun of gay people, as has been the case historically in Indian films.

Speaking of that film, the director said it has been banned in the conservative United Arab Emirates ( UAE ), home to a sizeable South Asian community, Openly News noted. "Yes, it's banned," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by text message, adding that he had no further details about the move. "I am just happy and proud that I live in a country where homosexuality has been [decriminalized] and we are able to make and watch films like these in a commercial space."

Newcastle City Council was named the most inclusive employer in the United Kingdom by LGBTQ charity Stonewall in its 2020 rankings, CNBC.com noted. The city council in northeast England was the first local authority to top Stonewall's annual list since it launched the rankings 16 years ago. ( Newcastle has been chosen as the host city for the national 2020 UK Pride celebrations. ) Housing association Gentoo Group came in second place, followed by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service. Stonewall saw 503 UK companies apply to get a spot on its 2020 Workplace Equality Index.

Philip Sexton, 54, pled guilty to four charges of assault after his "unprovoked and nasty" public attack of a 22-year-old gay man, his boyfriend and his mother as the families were celebrating the 22-year-old's birthday in the UK city of Leeds, LGBTQ Nation noted. Sexton was sentenced to 12 months of community service and 100 hours of unpaid work. In a surveillance video of the attack, Sexton punched the young man in the face outside of Gino D'Acampo, an Italian restaurant; he continued to attack the boyfriend and the mother when a waitress ( who suffered a bruised nose and bloody face from his attack ) intervened.

Canada-based pro-LGBTQ charitable organization Rainbow Railroad released its 2020-22 strategic plan. In a media release, Executive Director Kimahli Powell said that, by the end of 2022, the organization plans to expand its service delivery mix, diversify the demographics it serves, improve its social deliver model, drive social impact through strategic advocacy, build a more sustainable fundraising mix in the United States and Canada, and enhance organizational capacity.

Indonesia is considering the Family Resilience bill—proposed legislation that calls homosexuality a form of "sexual deviation" and compares it to incest and sadomasochism, according to LGBTQ Nation. The bill would make LGBTQ citizens report to government-run treatment "rehabilitation centers" for "treatment." Also known as conversion therapy, the practice is a widely debunked form of psychological torture that purports to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity.

A Polish mayor criticized the decision by a sister town in France to suspend 25-year official ties with her town because it declared itself an area "free of LGBT ideology," France24.com reported. The mayor of the southeastern town of Tuchow, Magdalena Marszalek, blamed the rare decision by the French community it had been twinned with, Saint-Jean-de-Braye, on campaigning ahead of local elections there. Saint-Jean-de-Brayen officials said in a statement that "France is committed to combating human-rights violations based on sexual orientation. ... We cannot accept that the ties that unite our two cities by a twinning oath be tainted. We condemn the position taken by our twin city of Tuchow."

LGBTI activists in Uzbekistan say that, despite high hopes for reform ever since Shavkat Mirziyoyev assumed the presidency in 2016, they continue to face routine violence and discrimination, IWPR.net noted. Observers say that not only does violence against LGBT people often meet with public approval in Uzbekistan, but local human-rights activists show little solidarity with those discriminated against for their sexual orientation. Following the collapse of the USSR, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were the only Central Asian states not to decriminalize homosexuality.

In England, the life stories of long-dead people from the LGBT community are being told for the first time as part of a new project in Bristol, the BBC reported. The Drop Dead Gorgeous tours of Arnos Vale Cemetery are run by Sacha Coward and Sheldon Goodman to raise awareness of "histories that aren't spoken of," the outlet noted. The pair have run similar tours in London's Brompton Cemetery, which they called Queerly Departed.

In Liberia, an anonymous donor defrayed the cost of student Mohammed Sheriff's semester 2 tuition to enable him to complete high school, Front Page Africa noted. Sheriff ( not his real name ), a young gay man whose mother disowned him over his sexuality, stirred the hearts of readers when his story was published by journalRAGE and later run by FrontPage Africa. During a meeting, the donor urged Sheriff to remain steadfast and focus on his education as it is the only surest path to get out of his lowest moments.

Soccer player Shiho Shimoyamada has been encouraged by the response she has received since she became Japan's first openly gay professional athlete in February 2019, The Japan Times noted. With this summer's Olympics focusing the world's sporting attention on Japan, she is hoping that attitudes towards LGBT people in her home country can continue to evolve. Shimoyamada came out publicly while playing professionally in Germany, for SV Meppen.

An amateur soccer player in France was suspended for five years after biting the penis of an opponent during an altercation after a match, Bleacher Report noted. According to Le Republicain Lorrain, the attack occurred Nov. 17 after the 1-1 draw between Terville and Soetrich, with the victim requiring 10 stitches. A player from either side started a fight in the car park, and when a second member of the Terville squad stepped in to break things up, the Soetrich player bit the peacemaker; the victim was also suspended for six months for his role in the fight.

Designer Philipp Plein is facing backlash for a Kobe Bryant tribute included in his Fall 2020 runway show during Milan Fashion Week, Page Six noted. The presentation's finale featured a number of bedazzled Los Angeles Lakers-inspired jerseys adorned with the late basketball legend's number, 24, along with Plein's own last name; the looks were modeled by stars including Jada Pinkett Smith and Olivia Culpo. However, the controversy really erupted because Plein's runway was decorated with a duo of gold helicopters—a decision many on social media pointed out was exceptionally insensitive considering Bryant's cause of death.

Colombian reggaeton sensation Maluma denied gay rumors during an Instagram Q&A with his 49 million followers, NewNowNext.com noted. "People are stupid, aren't they?" the 26-year-old heartthrob replied, translated from Spanish. "How can they say that I am gay? If I were gay, I would have already talked about it." Maluma has collaborated with musicians such as Madonna and Ricky Martin.

British actor Harley Bird is leaving Peppa Pig after 13 years voicing the gay icon, PinkNews noted. Bird, 18, has voiced the cartoon character since she was 5. The queer seal of approval came following the release of Peppa's debut album last July—a 16-track, feel-good record crammed with uplifting bangers.


This article shared 3398 times since Tue Feb 25, 2020
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97 2024-03-22
- series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds 2024-03-21
- It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21
- Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08
- Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01
- Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

Dorian Film Awards: 'All of Us Strangers' takes top prizes 2024-02-27
- February 26, 2024 - Los Angeles, Ca. - For its 15th Dorian Film Awards, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics fully embraced All of Us Strangers, writer-director Andrew Haigh's fantastical and tear-inducing tale of two ...


Gay News

SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors 2024-02-25
- Queer entertainers made their mark—although not a major one—at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...


Gay News

WORLD Caribbean ruling, Pussy Riot, Russian raid, Canadian warning, anti-trans bar 2024-02-23
- The top court in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed a challenge to colonial-era anti-gay laws, Reuters reported. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish—two gay men who had pushed to decriminalize ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Kristen Stewart, Rock Hudson, Talia Keys, 'True Detective,' Marvel comic 2024-02-23
- At the Berlin Film Festival, Kristen Stewart defended her photo shoot for a Rolling Stone magazine cover that went viral and divided audiences on social-media platforms, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The existence of a female body ...


Gay News

Second Glance Productions hosts LGBTQupid Soiree 2024-02-16
- In celebration of Valentine's Day, Chicago based film and media production company Second Glance hosted The LBGTQupid Soiree. The event, which was focused on spinning attitudes on this particular day, was presented at The iO ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Elton John, Hannah Gadsby, video game, Jennifer Lopez, queer thriller 2024-02-16
Video below - Sir Elton John has sold his Atlanta home and is now auctioning off more than 900 of his personal items that were kept in the 13,500-square-foot condo, The Daily Mail noted. The massive collection includes rare ...


Gay News

GALECA announces nominees for the Dorian Film Awards 2024-02-07
--From a press release - Feb. 5, 2024 - GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, consisting of over 500 entertainment critics, journalists and media icons, today announced the group's democratically chosen nominees for its 15th Dorian Film Awards. All of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ JoJo Siwa, Tom Holland, Bowen Yang, Pet Shop Boys, Mariah Carey 2024-02-02
- In the wake of Nigel Lythgoe exiting So You Think You Can Dance, queer personality JoJo Siwa is returning to the series, per Deadline. Siwa, who was a judge on season 17 of the Fox show, will replace Lythgoe, who left ...


Gay News

Leather Archives & Museum announces 2024 Fetish Film Forum 2024-01-27
--From a press release - CHICAGO, Illinois—After a wildly successful inaugural year, including a 10-film series at the Leather Archives & Museum and a 5-film series at FACETS, the Leather Archives & Museum is thrilled to announce the continuation of Fetish ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.