Saturday 7 April 2012
Police officers detain a gay rights activist who tried to protest against local anti-gay legislation in St. Petersburg on April 5, 2012. AFP/Getty
Police in the Russian city of St. Petersburg have arrested two gay rights activists for breaching the new law that bans the “promotion of homosexuality” to minors. The two men were detained on Thursday after picketing against the law. St. Petersburg, Ryazan, Arkhangelsk and Kostroma regions impose fines for the dissemination of “gay propaganda” to minors. Gay rights activists in St. Petersburg have challenged the law in court, arguing that any mention of homosexuality can now be considered an offence under the bill.
Researcher Ghassan Kassisieh. Photo: Nick Cubbin/Sydney Morning Herald
Members of Australia’s gay Arabic community have been the victims of homophobic violence, verbal abuse or family pressure to act straight. The community’s elders and religious leaders say gays should be excluded or “corrected”. 37 gays, their families and community and religious leaders were interviewed in Ghassan Hassisieh’s study. Most respondents were Christians in Sydney. Seven of them said they went to a doctor, priest or imam to be cured of their homosexuality.
Nassim Arrage came out to his parents when he was 20 but he says his Lebanese father still does not accept it. “He wanted me to experience being with women before I made a final decision about being gay.” Mr Arrage says he has never been physically attacked, but he says it hurts to be overlooked. “Arabic culture very much prioritises getting married and having children, so anyone that doesn’t fit that mould, gay or otherwise, is kind of on the margins.”
Kellie says her mother and siblings know she is attracted to women, but she is not sure if she will ever tell her dad. “He suspects, though. He has come out and asked me if I’m a lesbian and technically I don’t identify as a lesbian, so I guess I denied it because there’s not really any point in causing a storm there. … One reason why I don’t talk to him about my same-sex attractiveness is because, well I never spoke to him about who I slept with before I slept with women, so why does he necessarily need to know? But when it comes to situations like, for example, when I finally got into a long-term relationship with a woman, it was a bit weird because my girlfriend would come over and spend time with me but I’d have to say to my father ‘oh this is my friend’ and kind of keep up that façade, which I think did put a bit of pressure on me and my girlfriend as well.”
When Antony Sher was a member of the Gay Sweatshop theatre company in the 1970s he managed to stay in the closet. “I look back and blush. We all agreed to do it on the basis that it was stated that not all the performers were gay so you didn’t know who was and who wasn’t. Then, in the mid-80s, when I did the British premiere of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy, I still wasn’t out. I was doing press interviews about this great gay play that I felt so strongly about for a specific reason and I wasn’t saying it – it was an astonishing waste of energy. But that’s the kind of tangle you get into if you’re not out.” Sher finally came out in 1990, inspired by the example of Ian McKellen and Simon Callow. Yet, more than two decades on, despite strides in gay equality and the entertainment industry’s liberal reputation, many gay actors still fear that being open about their sexuality will damage their careers.
Equity has persuaded some actors to support a campaign helping gay actors who come out. “It’s about giving members the confidence to come out and if they do, that we’ll be there to offer them support,” said Max Beckmann, Equity’s equalities officer. “If actors experience homophobic bullying we would be able to raise that with the employer or if there was a case of member discrimination we would offer them legal assistance.”
Malcolm Sinclair. Photo: Teri Pengilley/Guardian
Malcolm Sinclair, Equity’s president, says coming out has a positive impact on actors’ work: “Acting at its finest is about telling the truth, so being honest about yourself is always going to benefit your craft.” Sher agrees. “When you see any great performer, you sort of see into that person’s soul. Your sexuality is profoundly a part of who you are. I think it’s very difficult to really reveal yourself in that exquisite way if you’re trying to hide part of yourself.”
Ben Bradshaw. Photo: David Rose
Ben Bradshaw, the former culture secretary, thinks we have already won equal rights with the introduction of civil partnerships and “never needed the word ‘marriage’ “. The Labour MP thinks the Prime Minister’s motives are simply to try to show that the Conservatives have changed. Tony Blair’s decision to introduce civil partnerships had given same–sex couples all the legal protection they needed, he told reporters for the Washington Post, reported by the Telegraph. “This is more of David Cameron trying to drag the Conservatives kicking and screaming into the modern world. Of course, we’ll support it, but this is pure politics on their part. This isn’t a priority for the gay community, which already won equal rights. We’ve never needed the word ‘marriage,’ and all it’s done now is get a bunch of bishops hot under the collar. We’ve been pragmatic, not making the mistake they have in the US, where the gay lobby has banged on about marriage.”
Mr Bradshaw, there are many in the UK gay community who have not taken advantage of civil partnerships because (a) we had already made the necessary legal arrangements to protect ourselves, and (b) we do not see why we should live in a form of apartheid.
SP
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