Today we present to you the book ‘(Im)Maculate love’.
‘In this book, I will tell you a story about love, which can exists not only between a woman and a man. Special love, known as a same-sex love. This is the story about a guy who falls in love with his fitness coach, as well as about racism, harassment, feminism, drug dangers, HIV, AIDS and much more. It is also the story about the life of four people who fled to Germany from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan because of homophobia, rejection by their parents, relatives and society.’ – Victor Muck.
On June 26, 2021, the LGBT World Beside team together with RUSLGBTIQ organised a joint picnic for Russian-speaking LGBT+ people residing in the Netherlands. At first, we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to do the picnic due to COVID-19 related restrictions but luckily most of the restrictions were lifted exactly as of June 26, and our event did take place — with necessary precautions.
The picnic started at 2pm and went till late at night. We were surprised by the number of people who showed up and by the diversity of the group. LGBT+ people of all ages and backgrounds came by. We welcomed guests from Germany, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and other countries.
Most venues were closed in the past 18 months due to the lockdown, so everyone was really missing such events and get-togethers. Together with RUSLGBTIQ we provided snacks and beverages. Some guests brought their own treats, too, including homemade delicacies. We danced and sung songs from different countries in different languages. Adults also played volleyball and other ball games, while kids entertained themselves with drawing.
Our team is profoundly grateful to RUSLGBTIQ and to all those who made the picnic possible. Big thanks go to all the guests who showed up. Many of them also asked us to specially thank Harlem, leader of LGBT World Beside, and Kirill, head of RUSLGBTIQ, for what they are doing. We’d like to organise such events more often.
We also informed our guests about the upcoming Amsterdam Pride, which is scheduled for August 7, and hope to see everyone there again. Be happy and love each other.
Het Vaticaan zei maandag dat de katholieke kerk geen unies van hetzelfde geslacht zal zegenen.
“In sommige kerkelijke kringen circuleren projecten en voorstellen om koppels van hetzelfde geslacht te zegenen”, zegt een document uitgegeven door de Congregatie voor de Geloofsleer. “Het antwoord op de vraag” Heeft de kerk het gezag om hen te zegenen? is “negatief”.
De Heilige Stoel legde zijn beslissing uit in een lange brief en noemde homoseksualiteit een ‘keuze’ en ‘zonde’, en stelde dat het ‘niet kan worden herkend als een objectief doel’ in overeenstemming met Gods voornemen.
“De zegen van homoseksuele vakbonden kan niet als legitiem worden beschouwd”, zei de belangrijkste leerstellige afdeling van het Vaticaan in een schriftelijke verklaring.
Tegelijkertijd voegen ze aan de congregaties toe dat de zegen van bepaalde vertegenwoordigers van de LGBT-gemeenschap niet is uitgesloten.
‘De Kerk van de Heer zal niet stoppen met het zegenen van haar kinderen, maar ze kan de zonde niet zegenen. Ze kan een zondaar zegenen en hem erkennen als een deel van haar universum’, legt het document uit.
Paus Franciscus, die vaak werd geprezen om zijn tolerante toon tegenover vertegenwoordigers van de LGBT-gemeenschap in de kerk en daarbuiten, keurde deze boodschap goed, merkt CNN op.
Afgelopen herfst veroorzaakten berichten dat de leider van de katholieke kerk naar verluidt opriep tot de goedkeuring van een “wet op burgerlijke vakbonden” een brede weerklank. Maar later stuurde het Vaticaanse Staatssecretariaat een “verklarende nota” – het zei dat de woorden van paus Franciscus, die werden gezien als een goedkeuring van het homohuwelijk, “uit hun verband werden gehaald”.
On March 11, the film “Supernova” was released in Russia with Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci in the title role. The film tells the story of a gay couple in which one of the partners is rapidly losing his memory.
But the Russian distributor cut out a three-minute intimate scene with two main characters from the picture.
The director of the film, Harry McQueen, said he opposed the censorship of his film in Russia.
“We, the filmmakers, are strongly opposed to the Supernova censorship in Russia. It is deeply troubling that the film was edited without our permission and against our will,” the statement said.
Sergei Shcherbinin, director of the World Pictures distribution company, declined to comment. Later, the distributor released the full version of the film “Supernova” in Russia.
The press service of the company said that “the essence and message of the film is not in the problems of LGBT people, but in something else – in love, in support, in the pain of losing a loved one, in salvation and in freedom of choice.” They referred to McQueen’s statement, who said that it would be better if Russian viewers saw the film in a cut-down form than not at all.
“Due to the fact that there was a lot of excitement around the film, which fueled interest in the full version of the film, all those who want to see it can contact their cinemas, which usually respond promptly to such requests,” the BBC said. -si at World Pictures. – Any cinemas that decide to release the full version of the film and let us know about it, we will be happy to provide it. “
“Naturally, after permission from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation,” the company added. “The viewer votes, and this is the main thing. Therefore, we hope that the full version of the film can be seen in cinemas this week.”
What happened?
The distribution company, while preparing “Supernova” for the Russian distribution, cut out from the film a three-minute sex scene of the main characters.
At the same time, the film was still released with the mark “18+”.
The film’s director, Harry McQueen, said he understands the pressure that Russian distributors are subjected to, but the filmmaking team “will not tolerate this kind of censorship.”
“We want the film to be shown in its original, unedited form around the world,” the director said in a statement.
“As a team, we stand in solidarity with LGBTQ + communities around the world and have expressed our deep concern to the Russian distributor.”
According to film critic Zinaida Pronchenko, the distributor feared that cinemas would refuse to show the full version of the film.
The orientation of the main characters is not mentioned in the press materials sent out by the distributor.
“Now the inattentive viewer may well think that this is a picture of a strong male friendship”, – sums up the film critic Anton Dolin.
The film tells the story of a gay couple in which a writer named Tasker Mulliner, played by Tucci, is rapidly losing his memory.
Therefore, the couple decides to go on a journey so that the writer has time to write a novel before his memory leaves him.
The film received mostly high reviews from critics.
“Of course,” Supernova “is primarily a film about accepting the death of a loved one, and homosexuality is by no means its central theme. But the entire emotional mood of the film is lost and meaningless when significant details in the characters’ relationships are lost: we say goodbye to a loved one differently than to a friend This means that the most important thing has been removed from the film – the key to its understanding, “writes Anton Dolin.
“McQueen does not need to justify the sexual orientation of his characters, he does not need to make a plot mechanism out of it – because then homosexuality will be shown as exotic, as something that must be justified, otherwise it simply will not find a place in history,” film critic Efim Gungin comments on the film …
In 2019, the film “Rocketman”, based on the biography of the English singer and composer Sir Elton John, was similarly censored.
The film was released in Russia without a sex scene of two men and the end credits, which say that the singer is now married to a man.
“We reject in the strongest terms the decision to indulge local laws and censor Rocketman for the Russian market,” Elton John and the filmmakers said in a joint statement.
In Russia, there is a law prohibiting “the propaganda of non-traditional relationships among minors.”
In the resolution of the conference “Legal and Legislative Aspects of Supporting Families and Family Values in the Russian Federation”, which was held today in the State Duma as part of the United Russia party’s “Strong Family” project, they called for tougher responsibility for homopropaganda, as well as banning propaganda of many – from polyamory to transsexuality.
In the resolution of the conference, which is at the disposal of RIA Novosti, it is proposed to amend the law “On information, information technologies and on the protection of information.” The purpose of the changes is “a ban on the promotion of sex change, a ban on the promotion of bisexuality, transgender (transsexualism), and polyamory.” In addition, clerics insist on tougher administrative responsibility for “promoting non-traditional relations.” Another requirement of homophobic people is a ban on the use of LGBT symbols in state institutions.
Recall that the so-called “homopropaganda” was banned in Russia at the federal level in July 2013. A month earlier, the State Duma adopted a law supplementing the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation with Article 6.21, establishing responsibility for “promoting non-traditional sexual relations among minors”, also known as “Mizulina’s law.”
In June 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found Mizulina’s “law” discriminatory. The ECHR ordered the Russian authorities to pay the three gay activists who filed the lawsuit 49,100 euros in compensation for material and moral damage, as well as legal costs. The State Duma promised to “roll up into a tube and use like toilet paper” this decision of the ECHR. The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in September 2017 challenged the verdict of the ECHR under the “law of Mizulina”.
