joan y. psmith

ILGA Europe Maps Out Countries That Legally Protect You against Homophobic Hate Crimes

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:30:01 GMT

First posted at eurOut.

If you've ever wondered if the country you're currently living in will protect you against homophobic hate crimes this map by ILGA Europe will come in handy. It highlights those 18 European countries that explicitly mention homophobia in their legislation against hate crimes and it provides a short summery of each country's laws against homophobia.

Reading these summaries Scotland seems to be the only country that specifically mentions transgender identities in their law.

Scotland: Article 2 of the Sentencing of Offences Aggravated by Prejudice Act: recognises bias on the grounds of sexual orientation and transgender identity as an agitating factor to be taken into account during sentencing.
ILGA Europe

What is apparent at first glance is that there's a line running down along Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, to the east of which only a couple of countries (Estonia, Lithuania, Croatia, Romania and Greece) are saving the map from being completely blank.

map of homophobic hate crime legislation - ILGA Europe

I can't really answer why practically all of central Europe and most of east and south-east Europe's laws are lacking in this regard. Clearly Europe still has a long way to go.

---
* You can download the map here on ILGA Europe's website: Map of homophobic and transphobic hate crime/speech legislation in Europe [0.6 MB, pdf]
* Further reading on hate crime laws: Hate crime - Subsection Eurasia (Wikipedia)

This entry was originally posted at http://joan-psmith.dreamwidth.org/9123.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

German lesbian novel "Clara * Blues in Rosé" to be turned into TV movie

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:02:28 GMT

First published at eurOut.

Sylvia Knelles' novel CLARA * Blues in rosé, first published 1991, is probably going to be a TV movie.

CLARA * Blues in rosé is the story of the young geriatric nurse Dani, who is in desparate need of a job and takes on the care of an old woman, Clara Bernstorff. Clara lives in a messy house and is usually apathetic, only now and then she whispers the name "Sophie". While tidying the house Dani finds traces of Clara's past. Intrigued she begins to search for Sophie, who is eventually found in a nursing home.

The author Sylvia Knelles lives in Germany. She writes non-fiction books about life in the lower classes and how to avoid the dept trap and is also the author of a couple of lesbian novels, all published by her publishing house Mysterious Women

Sylvia Knelles. Photos © sylvia-knelles.de

The CLARA * Blues in rosé movie project itself is in it's earliest stages. Sylvia Knelles rewrote her novel into a screenplay and is now searching for collaborators. According to the project webpage there are castings planned in Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne and Hamburg, dates are yet to be announced. The project is also on the outlook for a band and/or female musicians.

When I first read on Konnys Lesbenseiten last week that a lesbian novel is going to be made into a TV movie I prepared myself to be exicited and started to look for more information. I do feel bad that I can't fall over in gleefull expectation, but there it is. Just because a project is a "lesbian project", doesn't mean I automatically have to love it.

If the quality of writing in the excerpt pages on Amazon is any indication there's certainly no great art to be expected. The prose is uninventive and stale, the dialogues clumsy. There are three different settings on the first page alone, which doesn't help the reader to settle into the life of the first person narrator at all.

But lets give Sylvia Knelles the benifit of doubt. I haven't read the screenplay and after all the novel is almost 20 years old; she might have worked on her writing since then. Lesbian movie projects are rare enough, so to have someone show the energy to start one herself is admirable. I wish Sylvia good luck and many inspired collaborators.

This entry was originally posted at http://joan-psmith.dreamwidth.org/8673.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Getting on with my New Years Resolution

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:55:35 GMT

I'm ridiculously pleased that I finally (finally!) managed to sit myself down and write a tiny little original fic. Since it really is very short I was able to also post it to ficly (a social platform for original fiction with a 1024 character limit). If you have a ficly account feel free to add me there. I always love to make new friends. :)

Dare [~ 200 words]
Summary: Instead of taking what she wanted, which tended to have the side effect of people being able to blame her for wanting it in the first place, Celia had learned to get people to fulfil her wishes without her even asking.

This entry was originally posted at http://joan-psmith.dreamwidth.org/7350.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

LGBT History Month in the UK

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:52:07 GMT

First published at eurOut.

February is LGBT History Month in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

There always have been LGBT people in this world. We might not always have been visible, but we've been there. Often there were - and sadly still are - laws that keep us from freely speaking out for our cause and educate our country about LGBT history. This was the case in the UK from 1988 to 2003; Section 28 was an amendment to the UK's Local Government Act that stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship"[opsi.gov.uk].

In 2005, 2 years after Section 28 finally had been repealed, Sue Sanders and the late Paul Patrick from Schools OUT, Britain's first LGBT organisation for LGBT people in education, initiated LGBT History Month. It's goal is to help promote the achievements of LGBT people and thereby raise awareness.

Peter Patrick and Sue Sanders, Photo: Schools OUT

The LGBT History Month website provides a number of helpful information and resources. Each week there's an update on LGBT television and radio programmes. There's also lots of material that can be used in schools, complete with suggested lessons and presentations.

But what makes LGBT History Month so exiting are all the events that take place throughout the country. You can find out if there are any near where you live by searching the Events Calendar.

Unsurprisingly the bulk of activities takes place in Greater London (214 events), the East Midlands (248 events) and the North West (68 events), but Norfolk needs to get a special mention, because this year it's the first county outside London to organise an event for every day of February.

Nottingham City Council's Fostering and Adoption team take LGBT History Month as an opportunity to actively encourage applications from the LGBT community.

"Nottingham City Council welcomes applications from the LGBT community to become foster carers. This month is a great opportunity to highlight how fostering and adoption offers a chance to serve our city in a very special way."
Councillor David Mellen

If all this isn't enough for you, there's always the possibility to organise your own event. LGBT History Month's website provides ideas if you need inspiration. So, let yourself be inspired and be part of LGBT History Month this February.

This entry was originally posted at http://joan-psmith.dreamwidth.org/6953.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Family Celebrations with Lesbian Daughters

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:40:01 GMT

First published at eurOut.

The German psychosocial counselling centre for women donna klara published Familienfeste mit lesbischen Töchtern - Zutaten für ein gutes Gelingen (Family celebrations with lesbian daughters - ingredients to succeed), a booklet mainly aimed at relatives of lesBian women.

The dreaded family gathering, often a not that pleasant scenario for the sturdiest among us. Even if you've been out and proud for a while, big family celebrations can be challenges, can feel like coming out yet again and some women have given up on it and try to avoid attending these gatherings whenever possible. On top of that coming out isn't an isolated endeavour that only concerns yourself. Often a big family get together is when your near relations are confronted with coming out as a lesBian's mother/father/sister/brother... to the rest of the family. How shall they go about introducing you and your girlfriend to the other guests? How shall they react if someone insults you or your girlfriend? And if everything goes well, would it be appropriate for them to ask you or your girlfriend for a dance?

donna-klara interviewed 19 lesbians from Schlesweig-Holstein in Germany between the ages of 22 and 59 to find out about their experiences and wishes. The result of these interviews is a collection of dos and don'ts, that cover everything from written invitations and seating plans to what to consider, if the lesbian couple needs to stay over night. I've summarised some of their suggestions below:

To show that you really want to invite them both, address the invitation to both women, not just to your daughter.
If all your children sit with you at the same table, your lesbian daughter should sit there as well.
Avoid lesbian jokes and such classics as: "Your girlfriend doesn't even look like a lesbian!", "Who of you is the 'man'?".
When you introduce your daughter's girlfriend make sure that you call her that and not just her "room mate".
Especially when you give a speech consider that it might hurt your daughter, if you overly emphasise old fashioned values, or treat marriage and "bearing your grandchildren" as big achievements.
If one of your guests insults your daughter you have to take her side. Depending on the situation this can range from a simple remark to more drastic measures like showing your undiscerning guest the door.

---
The booklet is available for download here:
Familienfeste mit lesbischen Töchtern - Zutaten für ein gutes Gelingen [pdf, 2.4 MB - German]

This entry was originally posted at http://joan-psmith.dreamwidth.org/6840.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

The Ten Most Influential Norwegian Lesbians in 2010

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:21:13 GMT

First published at eurOut.

Lesbetoppen 2010 (Top Lesbians 2010) lists the ten most influential Norwegian lesbians. Each year gaysir.no, a news site and online community for LGBT people in Norway, puts together this list of those out women in their country, who were most prominent in the fight against homophobia (see last year's eurOut report). The majority of the women on this list made an appearance on it in previous years ( 2007, 2008, 2009), but four of them are quite new.

1. Anette Trettebergstuen (28)
[2009:1|2008:2|2007:4]

Anette Trettebergstuen. Photo: Arbeiderpartiet
Anette is clearly the Top Lesbian here; she's in first place the second year in a row. Not only is she the only out lesbian in the Norwegian parliament, of which she's now been a member for over four years, she is also involved in the fight against what is know as the HIV paragraph (section 155 of the Norwegian penal code), which is mostly used to criminalise HIV transmission. She is a member of Arbeiderpartiet (Labour Party), where she has played a part in getting lgbt rights into the party program. In 2009 she received the Skeive Dagar honorary award along with Andre Oktay Dahl.

2. Lisa Dillan (40)
[new]

Lisa Dillan. Photo: Geir Dillan
Lisa is new on this list, but eurOut readers might have already read a portrait about her on this website.
The Jazz singer, composer, performance artist and teacher Lisa Dillan stood out for her committed fight for freedom of speech, as she launched a petition to prevent the "Freedom of Expression Award" to go to Nina Karin Monsen, a moral philosopher, who had been very outspoken against the gender neutral marriage law and expressed her views that homosexuality was hedonistic and inferior to heterosexuality (eurOut reported). Beside the petition Lisa launched, she also took part in protest rallies.
One of her other projects is to stand on her head for lgbt rights around the world.

3. Anne Holt (51)
[2008:8 | 2007:9]

Anne Holt. Photo: Peter Knutson
Today Anne Holt is known as a best selling author of crime fiction, but before her first novel Blind gudinne was published in 1993, she was a lawyer and briefly served as Minister of Justice of Norway. Anne cares about how lgbt people are presented in public and also spoke out strongly against Nina Karin Monsen. Her latest novel Pengemannen (Moneyman) deals with homophobia and hate crimes against homosexuals.

4. Else Kåss Furuseth (29)
[new]

Else Kåss Furuseth. Photo: tvunderholdning.no
Another new face on this list is Else Kåss Furuseth, a standup comedian, reporter and presenter for both radio and TV, most notably for Torsdag kveld fra Nydalen (Thursday Night from Nydalen). She came out on air at Blymandags sommershow last July.
The open way in which she deals with her sexuality and lgbt issues in a comedy show that's mainly aimed at a young audience can not be understated, gaysir.no argue and rightly declare her as one of Norway's top lesbians.
Don't miss the burlesque video Else recorded for Torsdag kveld fra Nydalen.

5. Christine Koht (42)
[2009:6|2008:3|2007:3]

Christine Koht. Photo: seminarparnter.no
Christine Koht is a teacher, writer, comedian and television personality. She is open about her relationship with Pernille Ryg and devoted to promoting lgbt rights
Starting next year she'll have her own TV series Koht på jobben.

6. Karen Pinholt (34)
[2009:10]

Karen Pinholt. Photo: Jarle Vines
Karen is the leader of LLH, the Norwegian Association for lgbt people. She has made a continued effort to strengthen schools' competence in dealing with and the prevention of mobbing of lgbt pupils.
Karen was also part of the campaign against Nina Karin Monsen's nomination for the "Freedom of Expression Award", she is involved in the fight against the "HIV paragraph" and speaks up for lgbt refugees, who are about to be sent back to Iraq by the Norwegian government.

7. Mimi Bjerkestrand (45)
[new]

Mimi Bjerkestrand. Photo: Utdanningsforbundet
Mimi is the new head of Utdanningsforbundet (Union of Education). She promises that in her work she will strengthen the Union's work on lgbt issues. She earned her place on this list because of her influential position and her commitment to make homosexuality a natural part of school life for all age groups.

8. Hanne Børke-Fykse (35)
[new]

Hanne Børke-Fykse.
Hanne is also new on Lesbetoppen this year. She is the director of LLH's Rosa Kompetanse (Pink Competence) project, which aims to educate people working in health care about lgbt issues. As a trained social worker herself she also works with the national family protection offices' therapists to help them understand the needs of lgbt youths.

9. Linda Eide (40)
[2008:10]

Linda Eide. Photo: www.nrk.no
Linda is a journalist, comedian, essayist and the presenter of Norsk Attraksjon, a TV series about Norwegian tourist attractions you won't find in a guidebook. She is proud to write in Nynorsk (New Norwegian), which is the second, less commonly used official Norwegian written language.
Linda is open about her relationship with Elene Schough.

10. Karen-Christine (Kim) Friele (74)
[2009:9, 2008:9, 2007:8]

Kim Friele. Photo: GAD
Kim Friele famously was the first Norwegian to publicly acknowledge and advocate for her sexuality, in June of 1965 (wikipedia). She hasn't tired of actively speaking out for lgbt rights. As a protest against Nina Karin Monsen's nomination for the "Freedom of Expression Award" she handed back her own, which she had been awarded with in 1978.

This entry was originally posted at http://joan-psmith.dreamwidth.org/6257.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

movie review: Other love (Jiná láska)

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:47:58 GMT

First published at eurOut.

If you're in the mood for a story about coming out later in life and you're not scared off by infidelity, messy divorces and other complications this one is for you.

Soukromé pasti (Personal Traps) is a czech series of television films; in each one of the films different characters find themselves at a difficult point in their lifes. Jiná láska (Other Love) is the story of 33 year old teacher Eva (played by Zuzana Stivínová), who falls head over heels in love with her colleague Daniela (Zuzana Norisová).

Eva (Zuzana Stivínová)

Daniela (Zuzana Norisová)

An avalanche on complications awaits when Eva and Daniela start an affair while Eva is still married. Eva likes her husband and they've been quite happily married for about 10 years, but now she has to admit to herself that she has never really been in love with him. Coming out to herself and the world is not easy, much less since she's already settled into a heterosexual lifestyle for most of her life.

Eva and Daniela give in to their attraction.

Petr, Eva's husband, deals in his own way with the new revelations when Eva eventually tells him about Daniela. At first he refuses to see it as something serious, but when Eva announces that she wants a divorce he charges into a nasty fight over the custody for their children.

Petr, Eva's husband (Sasa Rasilov)

Jiná láska is not a romantic movie but a more realistic one. The story is every now and then interrupted by what seems to be Eva talking to a counsellor. I enjoyed that this film didn't try to judge any of it's characters for their decisions. It appeared to me that the goal was to let the viewer take a glimpse into someone else's life and see that it is not easy for anybody.

I won't tell you exactly how the story ends, but I can say that Eva emerges a stronger woman and appears satisfied with her life and her decisions.

[Note: watch it with English subtitles on One More Lesbian.com]

This entry was originally posted at http://joan-psmith.dreamwidth.org/5709.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Poland: British Ambassador criticised for handing out guide on LGBT rights

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:57:25 GMT

Also published at eurOut.

On June 9^th 2009 Ric Todd, the British Ambassador to Poland, handed out a Polish translation of the 'UK Guide To Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual And Transgender People And Their Rights' to organisers of the Polish Pride Parade (held on June 13^th in Warsaw).

Polish civil rights ombudsman, Janusz Kochanowski, felt that Todd, by handing out this guide, implied that Polish LGBT people lived in fear of discrimiation and told the Daily Mail, "Ambassador Todd has exceeded his authority. He is being improper and doesn't understand the role of a diplomat. He represents the UK, he is not meant to intervene here in the way that he chooses."

Todd responded that he was not interfering in Polish politics or society nor was he criticising it. "Foreign Office policy is clearly spelt out and I am acting in accordance with policy. [...] None of this is any suggestion by me or the Foreign Office that the Polish policy on LGBT rights is wrong."(pinkpaper.com)

Todd is already known for his support of LGBT people. Last year he was criticised for hoisting the rainbow flag next to the Union flag in front of the British embassy to celebrate Pride.

The guide Todd handed out last week is phrased in a way that does not address a particular country, however by pointing out the issue of governments banning LGBT Pride marches it arguably did strike a nerve in Poland. In 2004 and 2005 the Pride Parade in Warsaw was banned by mayor Lech Kaczynski (pradarownosci.pl, bbc.co.uk).

The guide's last two pages constist of a Questions and Answers section, which is written in first and second person respectively (e.g. 'our traditions', 'your government') which could probably be (mis)read as speaking to Polish people in general. My guess is that it was this section that brought forth Kochanowski's protest.

The British Foreign Office makes this guide available to all British diplomats who want to provide information on the human rights of LGBT people. You can get a copy in English as well as in Polish at the embassy's website.

A British Foreign Office spokeswoman stated that, "the FCO promotes human rights around the world regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Showing support for Pride events, where people seek to assert their rights and highlight the challenges they face, is part of this work."

Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and TUC wrote a letter to Foreign Secretary David Miliband to applaude Ric Todd's work as an example of how British ambassadorial work in this area "sets a standard which other countries ... should follow"(amnesty.org.uk).

While homosexuality is legal in Poland since 1932 and was deleted from the list of diseases in 1991(Wikipedia), president Lech Kaczynski's party is still of the opinion that homosexuality was a "pathology"(guardian.co.uk).

How these lingering homophobic tendencies will effect next year's Europride, which is to be hosted by Poland as the first slavic country, only the future can show.

Originally published at my other blog..

Portrait: Ulrike Lunacek

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:35:58 GMT

Also published at eurOut.

Please consider: I vote green. I'm partial to LGBT people. Hence, I might be biased. ;)
- Joan

Ulrike Lunacek is the front-runner of the Austrian party Die Grünen - Die Grüne Alternative (The Greens - The Green Alternative) for the EU elections.

She was born in 1957 in Krems an der Donau. After graduating from the University of Innsbruck with a degree in Translation Studies (English and Spanish) she worked as a socialworker in a women's shelter, as a journalist and interpreter and taught German as a second language to refugees.

In 1999 Lunacek successfully ran for parliament. She is the first out lesbian Member of the National Council of Austria. As a memeber of the Green parliamentary group she is spokeswoman for foreign affairs and development, as well as for the equality of LGBT people.

Last January she won the run-off ballot against Johannes Voggenhuber, the former front-runner for EU elections, 54,7% to 45,3 % and now succeeds him in this position (www.marco-schreuder.at).

What followed hasn't always been pretty. There has been a lot of talk about Lunacek being the wrong decision, mainly from Voggenhuber and his many devotees (derstandard.at). Voggenhuber suspected that the party had longe since planned to get rid of him and complained about sexism (Interview at derstandard.at). This was obviously directed at the fact, that the Austrian Green Party now had three women in important positions: on the same day that he had lost his canditature to Ulrike Lunacek Eva Lichtenberger had taken second place and Eva Glawischnig had been elected federal spokeswoman.

Voggenhuber argues that, contrary to himself, Lunacek had little experience in Brussels and might cause a loss of one of the two seats the party holds in the European Parliament (derstandard.at).
Taking a look at Lunacek's CV one finds that she isn't quite as inexperienced as that. Since 2006 she is a spokesperson of the European Green Party and before that she was and still is the spokeswoman for foreign affairs of the Green parliamentary group.

The controvery isn't solely based on hurt feelings, though. It appears that there are dynamics inside the Austrian Green Party that go beyond that and are concerned with a change of generations (or the lack thereof). This debate isn't very public, angry blogposts and forum-comments aside, and I don't feel confident to analyse it based just on this.

In my point of view it would be a shame if the Greens lost votes over inner party tussles and therefore I want to close this post with a plea to direct the focus back to issues. Marco Schreuder just blogged 10 Gründe Grün zu wählen (10 Reasons to Vote Green), the Guardian and the German Financial Times both spoke in favour of voting green.

We need more out LGBT politicians to speak up for us. I am confident that Ulrike Lunacek is the right person to do so.

In her speech at the party convention in January Lunacek said, that she loves the EU the way Thomas Bernhard had loved Austria (www.marco-schreuder.at). Bernhard was famous for the fierce criticism he voiced against his home country and so I hope that with Ulrike Lunacek we will have a MP both with a love for the EU and the strength to voice criticism.

~~~

In Austria the election to the European parliament takes place on Sunday.

Wherever you live, whatever party you may favour: Please, vote!

Originally published at my other blog..

identities 2009 - the lesBian content

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:31:17 GMT

Also published at eurOut.

The identities - Vienna's International Queer Film Festival will take place from June 4th - 12th 2009. With more that 60 films screened at three different locations it's not easy to figure out what to watch. Especially since the official program website can not be filtered for lesBian content and that's what I'm sure you're all most curious about! ;)

Ploughing through all those exciting films and compiling them into a readable post turned out to be a lot more work then I expected it to be and so I'm afraid my writeup is a bit late. The festival starts Thursday and ticket presale has already begun some time ago, find out more here.

1. Life, Love and Drama (features)

The Festival opens with Mein Freund aus Faro (To Faro) in which Mel is mistaken for / posing as the Portuguese man 'Miguel'. The situation becomes more complex when she falls in love with Jenny.

Affinity is the movie adaption of Sarah Waters' novel by the same name. It is set in 1870s' London und follows Margaret, who becomes a do-gooder visitor at Millbank women's prison.

Miao Miao Miao Miao is a film about the unknown longings of youth, the wonderful moments in life, and the desire to love and to be loved. (Cheng Hsiao-Tse, director)

Vivere - Drei Gründe zu Leben (Vivere) The lives of Francesca, Antonietta and Gerlinde cross on Christmas Eve. They soon will find out, that each is not who she appears to be and it becomes less and less clear who is saving whom. Don't pass up this chance to watch Hannelore Elsner in a lesbian role!

Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven) A depiction of lives colliding and converging in modern Istanbul and Hamburg [...] the movie features a lesbian couple at the center of its complex East-meets-West plot. The film is a clever, twisting affair, making use of three languages and multiple concurrent story lines. (identities.at)

La Naissance du pieuvres (Water Lilies) deals with teenage sexuality portraying the team mates of a synchronized-swimming team.

Ha-Sadot (The Secrets) Naomi is the daughter of an ultra orthodox rabbi. A fascinating glimpse into how women are perceived and treated in orthodox Judaism. (israelfilm.blogspot.com)

The World Unseen A moving and passionate love story set against a backdrop of 1950s Apartheid. (identities.at)

Puccini for Beginners A fresh cocktail of racy, clever and self-ironic dialogue mixed with a shot of American sitcom from the director of Two Girls in Love (1995). (Lesbisch Schwule Filmtage Hamburg 2008)

Les Chansons d'amour (Love Songs) At first, Les Chansons d'amour feels almost campy, like a sixties sex comedy, as the silly, somewhat precious Ismaël consorts with his long-time petite amie Julie and their recently acquired threesome third, the mostly lesbian Alice in a way-too-fabulous apartment. But young, polyamorous puppy love veers into tragedy as Julie perishes of a massive coronary on a Paris street. (Noah Cowan, Toronto Intl FF 2007)

Dos Mirades (Two Looks) Intellectual in the sexiest way, Two Looks will have you rapt. (Sarah Schieron, Frameline 2008)

Love and Words While filming in Yemen, Sylvie Ballyot had her tapes seized by authorities and lost the key subject of her feminist documentary. Adrift in an unknown country she decides to continue with the project, filming herself in public places, the only woman in a sea of men. (Anna Dunwoodie, London Lesbian & Gay FF 2008)
Before 'Love and Words' the short film Donkey Girl will be shown.

2. Music (documentaries and features)

Were the World Mine Timothy's daydreams are Technicolor musicals. Because of his beautiful voice he is cast as Puck in the school's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Aside from Timothy's 'heteroflexible' but dyke-a-licious girl-pal Frankie (Robin William's daughter, Zelda), this small town is teeming with homophobes. Without giving too much away, let's just say that lovestruck Timothy really gets into character and turns all that upside down. (Miami Gay & Lesbian FF 2008)

The documentary International Sweethearts of Rhythm tells the story of the swinging, multi-racial all-women jazz band of the 1940s.

Tiny & Ruby: Hell Divin' Women is also a music documentary and screened after International Sweethearts of Rhythm. It tells the story of Jazz trumpet player Tiny Davis and her partner drummer Ruby Lucas.

3. Documentaries

verliebt, verzopft, verwegen. (amorous, antiquated, audacious) is a queer documentary from Austria. It takes a look at Vienna in the 50s and 60s. How and where did lesbians meet? The three very vivid and outspoken protagonists tell in a rare and important example of oral history (identities.at).

Bana Bak - Schau mich an (Bana Bak - Look at Me): Nevruz is a 28-year-old photographer in Istanbul and she doesn't want to be a part-time lesbian anymore.

A Jihad for Love: Parvez Sharma interviews gay and lesbian Muslims living in different countries about how they integrate their faith and their sexual orientation.

Improvvisamente l'inverno scorso (Suddenly, Last Winter): Gustav and Luca want to understand the different arguments for and against the Italian law on civilian unions, and undertake a journey into a country they did not know and did not expect to find: their own. (identities.at)

Working on It: A group of Berlin-based artists gather to explore how perceptions of femininity and masculinity are constructed and ask, "What happens when you don't fit firmly into one box or the other?" (Holly Roach, Frameline 2008)

4. Trans- and Intersexuality (documentaries and features)

Be Like Others: In Iran changeing ones gender is not seen as problematic, while homosexuality is punishable by death. This documentary explores the consequences this situation has.

XXY: Alex is fifteen years old and was born intersex. When she starts to explore her sexuality with Alvaro, both their families are forced to deal with their worst fears.

20 Centimetros (20 Centimeters):
Marietta is a transsexual who longs to get rid of certain 20 centimeters. As a narcoleptic she falls asleep at the most inconvenient times and dreams about being a glamorous woman.

5. Classics (documentaries and features)

Festivals aren't just a great time to watch the most recent movies but also to catch up on classics one wants to rewatch or hasn't managed to watch yet.

Les Biches (Bad Girls) is a landmark in film history; its theme of bisexuality and upper-class decadence is surpassed only by its cool precision of cinematic style and exceptionally subtle performances. (identities.at)

The Killing of Sister George The Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Film and Video calls it "an entertainingly dated tale of love and loneliness that treads a strange line between comedy and sensationalist, perverted drama."

On the surface Les Voleurs (Thieves) Téchiné reunites Daniel Auteuil and Catherine Deneuve, playing exceedingly dissimilar characters, a cop and a philosophy professor, who are brought together over their sexual involvement with a much younger and very desperate woman (Laurence Côte) who works for a crime family of which Auteuil is the 'white' sheep. (Joseph Milicia, filmreference.com)

Immacolata e Concetta, l'altra gelosia (Immacolata and Concetta. The Other Jealousy) is a lesbian lovestory in Napels during the 70s and distinctly feminist. Explicit masturbation scenes were cut by censorship, but the remaining sex scenes were nonetheless controversial.

8 Femmes (Acht Frauen) I don't need to tell you about this movie, do I? ;) This is a great chance to rewatch it in a theatre.

Hanami - Kirschblüten (Cherry Blossoms) When his beloved wife Trudi dies, Rudi is devastated. He learns from his daughter's girlfriend that Trudi gave up the life she wanted to live in love for him. In remembrance of his wife he embarkes on a journey. This movie embraces queerness very naturally, which one doesn't find to often in a mainstream movie.

Anna und Edith (Anna and Edith) was originally produced for German Television and tells the story of two politically active female insurance clerks who fall in love with each other. It's the first German TV movie ever to feature a lesbian relationship.

Zärtlichkeit und Rebellion (Tenderness and Rebellion) In 1973 this German documentary was the first of it's kind. Lesbians talk freely about their relationships, their political feminist demands and their experience with society and their surroundings. (identities.at)

Before Stonewall examines the historic background of the Stonewall Riots.

Comizi d'amore (Love Meeting) In 1963 Pier Paolo Pasolini sets out to ask people on the beach at Ferragosto about their love life.

Nicht der Homosexuelle ist pervers, sondern die Situation, in der er lebt (It is not the Homosexual Who is Perverse, but the Society in Which He Lives) This classic by Rosa von Praunheim roused a scandal at its German TV premiere in 1973. This movie is about Daniel, who moves to Berlin and falls in love with Clemens.

6. Shorts

If you still haven't had enough, here's my take on fishing out all the lesBian content of the identities shorts program for you:

Gnist shows a collection of Scandinavian shorts.
It constists of En liten Tiger (A little Tiger) about Simon, who has two mothers, Spinning, Hjerteklipp (Heartcut) about 16-year-old Inga, who is in love with her father's new girlfriend, Gnist (Spark) about Carolina, who tries to decide between conforming to bourgeois standards and comeing-out. Finally there's Premieren (The Premiere) about Esther who finds it is never too late to choose love.

Café com leite is a collection of Brasilian shorts. Saliva about 12-year-old Marina, who is obsessed with the antecipation of her first kiss (also shown on june 7th | 10pm | Cinemagic) and Páginas de menina (Pages of a Girl) about Ingrid, who works in a bookstore and finds herself drawn to her elegant boss Silvia.

Flores en el Parque shows a collection on Spanish shorts. Flores en el Parque (o los primeros besos) (Flowers in the Park (Or First Kisses)) is about Ana and Lola who, after flirting online, meet for the first time in RL. A ciegas (Blindfolded) is also about online-dates. Dícen (They Say) deals with infidelity and jealousy.

Girl's Room: Its namesake Girl's Room is a dark comedy about Sammy, who must confront the much-feared school bathroom. In Pitstop 12-year-old Margaret finds a kindred spirit in June, the owner of a gas station. In Blodsøstre (Blood Sisters) Sidsel feels her positions as Dea's best friend threatened. Sexy Thing: The landscapes of the film are intended to create a sense of claustrophobic endlessness; of a world that's wide, dry and stained by sunshine, but in which there is nowhere to hide.(identities.at)
Saliva was already shown on june 6th (see above).
No Bikini takes a look at Robin's childhood, when she managed to pass for a boy in a swimming camp.

Mars - Dramatic Shorts: Mars is about Lisa, who is the leader of a girls gang, and Anna, who is more of a loner and how meeting each other changes their lifes. Tel Père, telle fille (Like Father, Like Daughter): Julie and her father have one thing in common: they both like women. Gnist (Spark) was already shown on june 5th (see above).
Na koncu ulicy (At the End of the Street) is the story of Alexandra, who can't accept that her girlfriend has left her.

Lusty Ladies' Night an erotic 'late night for the ladies' starts with Aria de Mustang by Katrina Daschner, the rest of the program is a surprise ;)

I hope you have a good time at the festival!

Originally published at my other blog..

Richard Beymer's Twin Peaks Gallery

Fri, 29 May 2009 23:17:34 GMT

If you are a Twin Peaks fan like me, you don't want to miss the stunningly beautiful photos at Richard Beymer's (Benjamin Horn) MobileMe Gallery:

Twin Peaks Photos

---
Found via Coilhouse

Originally published at my other blog..

my articles @ eurOut

Sat, 23 May 2009 00:33:53 GMT

A few month ago I started to write articles for eurOut, an online platform dedicated to the visibility of lesbian and bisexual women in Europe. Below I provide a list of the articles I wrote since then. In the future all my contributions to eurOut will be cross-posted to this blog as well.

March 20th, 2009: Denmark grants homosexual couples right to adopt: a summary on the development of adoption rights in Denmark.
March 31st, 2009: Book presentation "Frauenliebe": an event review and book introduction to Hilde Schmlzer's Frauenliebe. Berhmte weibliche Liebespaare der Geschichte.
April 12th, 2009: Amazon removes sales ranking from LGBT books: my take on the "Amazon glitch"/"Amazon fail".
Be sure to read Sandra Showtime's follow up post: The Amazon Case A Reflection Of What We AreAble To Achieve as well.
May 4th, 2009: A Walk Through Feminist/LesBian History: write-up on lgbt and/or feminist themed guided tours in Germany, Switzerland, and Vienna.

Originally published at my other blog..

Amazon removes sales ranking from LGBT books

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:26:31 GMT

If you haven't heard: Amazon is removing the sales rank information from books that are tagged lesbian, gay, transexual,... right now.
This means that these books won't show up in general bestseller lists anymore. There are even cases in which you can not search for a book, you have to "know" it's direct-link to find it!

Read more about this in the article I wrote for eurout.org.

Originally published at my other blog..

Start Tracks on Rails automatically on your Mac

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:43:00 GMT

I'm ~~testing~~ playing around with Tracks on Rails (a GTD app) at the moment. So far I like it a lot.
After setting it up I thought, that it would be convenient if it started up automatically when I turn on my Mac.
There's a "better startup item for Mac OS X Tiger" linked on the official page, but it didn't work for me.
With the help of my brother I changed it so it does now work.

The old Not-Solution:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>Label</key> <string>com.rousette.tracks</string> <key>Program</key> <string>/usr/bin/env</string> <key>ProgramArguments</key> <array> <string>/usr/bin/ruby</string> <string>/PATH/TO/YOUR/tracks-1.7/script/server</string> <string>-e</string> <string>production</string> <string>-p</string> <string>3000</string> </array> <key>RunAtLoad</key> <true/> <key>StandardErrorPath</key> <string>/dev/null</string> <key>WorkingDirectory</key> <string>/PATH/TO/YOUR/tracks-1.7/</string> </dict> </plist>

Changes
* we changed Line 8 from /usr/bin/ruby to /usr/bin/env
* we inserted Line 11
* we changed Line 12 from a relative to an absolute path

How to use it
* In the lines 12 and 23 change the path, so that it fits the path to your Tracks-folder.
* Save the whole thing as com.rousette.tracks.plist to ~/Library/LaunchAgents (if this directory doesn't exist make it).
* If you want to start Tracks manually to test it, use the following command in Terminal:
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.rousette.tracks.plist

EDIT 2009-03-27: It still doesn't work though (as I had to find out). *goes-back-to-fiddling-with-this*

EDIT 2009-03-28: Here's what finally worked for me:
Write a shell-script along these lines (where NAME is your username, and line 2 matches your path!). Save it as tracks.sh.

Open a terminal and do the following:

The important thing is, that your shellscript has the same name as the app and is executable!

Now you've got a neat little thing called "tracks" in your Applications folder, which you can doubleclick to start the server or put into you "Login Items".

Originally published at my other blog..

Aglaonike (~200 BC) - a female astronomer

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:58:07 GMT

Today is Ada Lovelace Day, an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology. The idea is to get bloggers worldwide to post an article about a woman scientist or engineer to raise awareness on women in technology and shine a light on all the possible role models for women who want to persue a carreer in this field.

Ada Lovelace, who inspired this event, lived in the 19th century. But there were women in science before her. I want to take this opportunity and tell you about Aglaonike, a female astronomer in ancient greece.

Aglaonike

Aglaonike lived around 200 B.C., we know about her because she gets mentioned in Plutarch and Apollonius of Rhodes.
By her contemporaries she was regarded as a sorceress, who possessed the power to make the moon dissapear at her will. Plato, Horace, and Virgil all refer to women from Thessaly with this particular skill.

Plutarch on the other hand does not appear to attribute her skills to magic or sorcery but to astronomical knowledge:

"she, through being thoroughly acquainted with the periods of the full moon when it is subject to eclipse, and, knowing beforehand the time when the moon was due to be overtaken by the earth's shadow, imposed upon the women, and made them all believe that she was drawing down the moon".
after Women in science (Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie), p.25f

Aglaonike is therefore often regarded as one of the first female astronomers whom we know by name.
En Hedu'anna, who predates Aglaonike by 2000 years, is sometimes regarded as the first. She was princess of Akkad and held the position of high priestess to the moon god Nanna in Ur, but she is most famously known for her hyms.

Originally published at my other blog..

Crosspost to LJ from your selfhosted WordPress Blog

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:31:50 GMT

I'm fiddling with software again. This time it's a wordpress-plugin.

If you've got a self hosted WordPress blog and a LiveJournal you might want to automatically update your Journal when you post to your blog.

I tested Live+Press and JournalPress with WP-Flock.

The winner for me is option number one: it has everything I want neatly packed into one customizeable plugin.
If you want to synch to more than one journal at the same time or to InsaneJournal, DeadJournal and so on you will want to take a closer look at option number two.

1. Live+Press (GPLv3) last updated in November 2008
It has a security option which allows you to choose how you want to post to LJ. It even supports your custom groups (I didn't test this).
What I'm really psyched about is, that it does LJ cuts in exactly the same way you do them in LJ and also displays them in your WP posts! How awesome is this?

Features
* current mood
* current music
* choose userpic
* disable LJ comments
* linkback to the original WP post
* security levels
* fill tags from WP-tags or WP-categories
* synch entire post or only the excerpt
♥ parses LJ-cuts in your WP-posts!
* multiple LJ-accounts (though you can't post to more than one at the same time!)

2. JournalPress & WP-Flock (GPL) last updated in January
JournalPress not only posts to LJ but to every LJ-engine powered site (InsaneJournal, JournalFen,...).
In theory it should be able to convert the WP more-tag into an LJ-cut. But this didn't work for me.
Bear in mind that it's only in beta at the moment. So watch out for improvements! Especially if you want to synch with IJ or multiple accounts at the same time.

Features
* Support for multiple different mirror journals as well as IJ,... (you can post to all of them at the same time!)
* Support for custom security groups (via WP-Flock)
* Support for scheduled posts (I didn't test this)
* Mood, music and location support (it didn't work for me)
* Support for cut text (it didn't work for me)

Originally published at my other blog.

Song: Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:11:23 GMT

Title: Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
Pairing: OFC/Starbuck
Warnings: implied femslash
Spoilers: I think none, but if you want to be super careful you should watch 417 first.

Summary: Ginger 'Lightweight' Thomson is a Viper Pilot. She's also gay. And she's got a crush on Kara Thrace (who would have guessed).
I sing this song from her perspective and play along on my guitalele.

Disclaimer: This song is based on "Taylor the Latte Boy": Music by Zina Goldrich / Lyrics by Marcy Heisler.
Lyrics-adaption (and probably wrong chord-guesswork) by me.
In this song I reference the TV show 'Battelstar Galactica' which I of course do not own and with which I am in no way affiliated.
Ginger 'Lightweight' Thomson is an original female character that I created.

Con-crit & comments are love! ♥

Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace from Joan Psmith on Vimeo.

Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace

You might know our new CAG Starbuck
who is very inspirational
she is very inspirational
because of many things

She walks by at 0640
and she grins and says "Good huntin'"
when she grins and says "Good huntin'"
I could swear my heart grows wings

So today at 0640
I decided I should meet her
I decided I should meet her
in a proper, formal way

so today at 0640
when she grinned and said "Good huntin'"
I said "Thanks, and my name's Ginger"
And she softly answered, "Hey."

And I said, "My name is Ginger
and good huntin' to you too."
And she said "I guess I'll see you"
then she vanished in the crowd of the crew.

Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
I'd totally let her get to third base
Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
I love her, I love her, I love her

So I'd like to get my nerve up
to strike up a conversation
in an undisturbed location
if I ever get that far

when today late in the evening
I saw Kara sittin'
at the old untuned piano
on the low decks in Joe's Bar

she sat there all by herself
but for me shoved over
and she pat the seat beside her
and I knew this was my que

when she saw me she shoved over
and she let me sit beside her
I tried to edge closer
and her hair smelled like shampoo

Then I ordered some ambrosia
'cause ambrosia is what we prefer
She said "Keep the 3.55"
because tonight the drinks were on her!

Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
I'd totally let her get to third base
Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
I love her, I love her, I love her

I used to be the kind of girl
who'd run when love tried to invade her,
but finally a voice whispered "Love can be yours,
if you fly your bird and shoot down a raider!"

Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
I'd totally let her get to third base
Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
I love her, I love her, I love her

So many years only boring ladies,
who'd have thought that love could show on my DRADIS

Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
I love her, I love her, I love her
I love her, I love her, I love her

Dear Journal ...

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:23:22 GMT

... it is March 14th 2009. I am sitting in front of my computer, obviously.

Let me tell you about myself. I am a musical special agent for sparkwood and 21.

You can expect me to post sci-fi related stuff. If I do post things. We will see about that, I can't tell yet.

Good night and sleep well!

Agent Y.

joan y. psmith

ILGA Europe Maps Out Countries That Legally Protect You against Homophobic Hate Crimes

German lesbian novel "Clara * Blues in Rosé" to be turned into TV movie

Getting on with my New Years Resolution

LGBT History Month in the UK

Family Celebrations with Lesbian Daughters

The Ten Most Influential Norwegian Lesbians in 2010

movie review: Other love (Jiná láska)

Poland: British Ambassador criticised for handing out guide on LGBT rights

Portrait: Ulrike Lunacek

identities 2009 - the lesBian content

Categories

1. Life, Love and Drama (features)

2. Music (documentaries and features)

3. Documentaries

4. Trans- and Intersexuality (documentaries and features)

5. Classics (documentaries and features)

6. Shorts

Richard Beymer's Twin Peaks Gallery

my articles @ eurOut

Amazon removes sales ranking from LGBT books

Start Tracks on Rails automatically on your Mac

Aglaonike (~200 BC) - a female astronomer

Aglaonike

Crosspost to LJ from your selfhosted WordPress Blog

Song: Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace

Dear Journal ...