Verka Serduchka________
Drag queen places
second in Eurovision contest
Ukrainian drag queen and cult icon Verka Serduchka snagged second place at the wildly popular Eurovision Song Contest extravaganza May 12 in Helsinki.
The contest—famed for its sometimes over-the-top kitsch—is much loved by many European gays.
'It's a homo funfest over here,' said American expat Steve Heist, who lives in London. 'Everyone has parties to watch.'
Serduchka lost to Serbia's Marija Serifovic, who sang the torch song Molitva ( Prayer ) with what the BBC called 'five bouffant backing singers.'
'At times, their routine ... seemed to be a slow-motion lesbian porn film,' the network reported.
A Reuters dispatch said Serifovic's win 'gave hope to Serbia's tiny and harassed gay community, who celebrated the lesbian chic-tinged performance as a rare sight in the conservative Christian Orthodox country.'
The wire service quoted a partygoer leaving 'Belgrade's only gay-friendly club' as saying, 'A big win for Serbia, a small step for gay rights!'
Serifovic was outed in 2004 by the Belgrade tabloid Kurir, but apparently has not addressed the issue publicly.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed source from her inner circle as saying, 'Marija has been in a happy relationship with another girl for a while now.'
The informant also said Serifovic 'recently [ had ] revealed to her father Rajko that she is interested in her own sex. Her father supported her, which is not surprising since the two of them always have been very close and had great communication.'
Coverage of the contest in Ukraine's Kiev Post called Serifovic 'a masculine-looking woman who is openly lesbian ( and she made it obvious performing in a black suit in the company of female back vocalists ) .'
But according to Time magazine, 'In her interviews, Serifovic persistently declines to discuss her private life and her sexual orientation.'
Third to fifth places in the Euro contest went to Russia, Turkey and Bulgaria.
Twenty-four nations participated in the final competition. Ten of them had advanced in semifinal rounds: Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. Ten others made the cut because they finished first through tenth last year: Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine and Finland. The other four—France, Germany, Spain and the U.K.—are automatically in the finals every year because they're the contest's biggest sponsors.
Following performances of the 24 finalist songs, Europeans had 15 minutes to vote by telephone or SMS text message. The contest then went by satellite to the capital city of each of the 42 nations that entered the competition for a live unveiling of each country's tally.
Nine thousand people attended the 52nd edition of the contest in Helsinki's Hartwall Areena hockey stadium, and tens of thousands watched on large screens in the city's central square. More than 100 million people watched on TV, and the contest also streamed a high-resolution 700-kbps feed over the Internet.
The winning nation is always the host of the next year's contest, so the 2008 finals will be in Belgrade.
Foreigners to join Riga, Warsaw prides
Activists from several nations will travel to gay pride parades in Riga, Latvia, and Warsaw, Poland, this year to support the local celebrations, which have seen aggression and hostility from residents and government officials in previous years.
Amnesty International said it will bring up to 100 members from 11 countries to Riga's parade June 3 'as a demonstration of solidarity with Latvian LGBT people.'
There also will be a 'big delegation' from Sweden, said Jonas Hansson of the Swedish gay group RFSL, the National Federation for Sexual Equality.
Hansson said the 65-person delegation will include Members of the European Parliament Héléne Goudin and Maria Carlshamre, Swedish MPs Maria Kornevik Jakobsson, Camilla Lindberg, Börje Vestlund, Marianne Berg, LiseLotte Olsson and Helena Leander, and members of RFSL, LGBT Liberals, LGBT Social Democrats, the Feminist Initiative, LGBT Amnesty, the Gay Police Association, LGBT Students, the Swedish Armed Forces, Stockholm Pride and the gay cultural group Tupilak.
Swedish and Euro MPs also will march May 19 in Warsaw, as will Sweden's minister for European Union affairs, Cecilia Malmström, who also will deliver an address to a pride conference.
During both Riga and Warsaw prides, the local Swedish Embassy will host a reception for members of GLBT organizations and local and visiting VIPs.
Although RFSL ( Riksförbundet för Sexuellt Likaberättigande ) translates as National Federation for Sexual Equality, the group calls itself the Swedish Federation for Gay, Bisexual, Lesbian and Transgender Rights in English press releases.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
