UPDATE: It seems that the issue was resolved with some damage -- our main banner/logo as well as two of the bloggers "buttons" are gone. I'll fix these after taking my good buddy from San Diego out Clubbing in SOMA (so professional, yes, I know). Thus, I'll likely, actually, fix in several hours or early tomorrow morning or night.
Thanks for the patience y'all! : )

hi all,

as you may have realized, the blog looks rather ... strange (especially for those using Firefox/things other than Safari.) I was just updating a post when bam all this text started showing up. It seems that a group/movement called "Anti-Sec" has taken over (how long, we don't know) imageshack hosted images.

So ... bear with us while we figure out these technical difficulties. We're deciding between waiting to see if ImageShack will handle it on their own OR if we'll have to redesign everything, fun.

Just wanted to let everyone know what's going on!

Thanks for the patience

I have been a strong advocate of porn since I first found a gay magazine at a local bookstore when I was 11 years old. Encountering gay pornography before even figuring out who I am, I was given a "gei" identity to embrace, a "gei" community to enter, "gei" sex to explore, and "gei" porn to enjoy the shit out of. Never depressed by my "normal" same-sex attraction, I was such a healthy gay teenager in Japan. Here I am, coming so far as to aspire for a doctoral degree by studying anything Queer.

This is why I believe that porn can be empowering to some Queer youths, despite my awareness of oppressive aspects of straight porn and gay porn. I have written research papers on heteronormative racial stereotypes in U.S. gay pornography and facilitated workshops on Queer men of color in gay pornography at several conferences, exploring how racist commercial gay porn can be. I continue to explore this topic by going online and visiting various gay porn websites. For academic purposes.

One day, while I was doing this daily research, I encountered a website that features young Asian men who seem to be in pain (and pleasure) while receiving anal penetrative sex.

Let's look at their narratives, shall we?


"Welcome To AsianBoysInPain.com - Our site features exclusive asian twink models that you won't see anywhere else. We find these asian boys in countries like Thailand, China, Philippines, Korea, Singapore, Japan and more. We only shoot the youngest and cutest boys that we find who are willing to let us abuse their tight young holes. Watch as we rail these boys till they scream in pain from hard long white cock!"

"Small Asian Twinks Getting Slammed By Hard White Cock––These Twinks Scream In Pain As We Abuse Their Tight Asses"

"Hot Young Asian Boys Being Abused By Hard Cock––We Don't Care If It Hurts! Shut The Fuck Up And Take It!"

"Aum is a 19 year old student from China. We found him in a local market that was near the hotel we were staying at. We saw him looking at our white stud and new [sic] he would be a solid candidate. We approached him and offered him a chance to get layed [sic] by our big dicked white stud. He quickly agreed. We picked up some lupe [sic] and hit the ATM for some cash to make the pain more worth his while :) Watch us strech [sic] this cute 19 year olds [sic] ass and mouth till we give him a load of cum up his ass in the end."

"Hong Kong is a city of fast life and fashion. We picked up Mark from a Christian Dior store. He's a sales man at the store. We offered him a pretty nice amount of cash to be punished by our hard dicked stud. We got him back to the studio and had him do some sexy poses etc. We then got down to businesses. We really gave it to this poor boy, gagged him, made him choke, fucked his ass extra hard, had him scream and much much more! Join now for access to all our amazingly hardcore scenes!"

"A sweet 18 year old ass is what we have here. We meet [sic] Tik at a disco in bangin [sic] Bangkok :) He was a bit tipsy and I can't lie and say we didnt [sic] capitalize on that! We gave it to this young asian boy in a hardcore way! Hardcore deep throating and gagging, some amazing anal in many positions and a load of cum into his ass in the end! Join our site now and gain instant access!"


So these "white" men believe that...
-Asian boys are willing to do anything for cash.
-Asian boys are always looking for a white dick.
-Asian boys are always looking for a big dick.
-Asian boys are in need of big a white dick.
-Asian boys are small.
-Asian boys have a small dick.
-Asian boys can be picked up anywhere.
-Asian boys can be abused.
-Asian boys need to be punished.
-Asian boys can be silenced.
-Asian boys actually enjoy painful sex.
-Asian boys are consumable and disposable.

These ideas didn't come from nowhere. They are all products of colonial, imperial, and patriarchal discourse from back in the days. These images have historically been applied to Asian women for straight white gaze first, and then to Asian men for gay white gaze. Why Asian women? Because straight white men believed that they were entitled to "civilize"=colonize Asia by raping the women and raping the land; as Andrea Smith explains, "sexual violence is not simply a tool of patriarchy but also a tool of colonialism and racism." Now colonization is taking place in the global Queer sphere through the Internet, in very similar ways, creating controlling images and colonizing the minds of gay men of all races who love jacking off to Internet pornography marketed for white gay men.

This is why it's important for the oppressed to gain knowledge about our his/herstory. To figure out why we find this website offensive and how to condemn it, we may go as far back as the days of our ancestors.

Is this enough? Is Rockstar just playing the media and the boycotters? Many are calling it "rainbow/pink-washing." Many are incredibly skeptical and not satiated -- as well as they should be. How come Rockstar didn't retract any of the Cease & Desist letters that they sent out? How come Rockstar didn't address the issue of threatening individuals by trying to bully them to shut up and take away their rights of free speech? We think this is a good step on Rockstar's part, but seriously, actions speak louder then words and as CEO Russell Weiner can freely buy multi-million condos/homes in Beverly Hills, $100,000 is nothing. As wiqaable.com was one of the blogs that Rockstar tried to bully, we obviously have our own thoughts. But, more importantly, what're your thoughts?

Here's the press release that was issued:

ROCKSTAR Energy Drink Expands LGBT-Friendly Corporate Policies; CEO Russell Weiner Announces Additional ROCKSTAR Donation of $100,000 to LGBT Organizations

Las Vegas, Nevada – ROCKSTAR Energy Drink CEO Russell Weiner announced today that the beverage company will expand its LGBT corporate policies and make $100,000 in donations, shared among several prominent LGBT organizations. The donations represent a significant contribution given ROCKSTAR’s relatively small staff of 120 employees.

The contribution will be shared among the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and The Trevor Project, and ROCKSTAR Energy Drink will also financially sponsor the National LGBT Bloggers Initiative. The donations and affirmation of LGBT-friendly corporate policies mark steps by ROCKSTAR to demonstrate support for the LGBT community.

“It has recently come to ROCKSTAR’s attention that there might be a misconception about our company’s policy and my personal support for LGBT rights,” said Weiner. “We apologize for that misunderstanding, and want to make clear today that our company fully supports our LGBT employees and our LGBT customers.”

"Some have erroneously associated our company with offensive language directed at LGBT people, specifically statements coming from Michael Savage, who is not and has never been a shareholder or officer of ROCKSTAR Energy Drink. On behalf of our company and directors, including myself and CFO Janet Weiner, I would like to take this opportunity to disavow any offensive statements directed toward LGBT people, including statements from Michael Savage. ROCKSTAR assures our customers and the general public that our brand will never be associated with any language that does not affirm the essential dignity of every person in our diverse national community."

In response to encouragement from bloggers, including social change media site Change.org (www.change.org) and LGBT news site The Bilerico Project (www.bilerico.com), ROCKSTAR Energy Drink is expanding its corporate policies related to LGBT issues. In addition to reaffirming its corporate anti-discrimination and equal opportunity employment policies, which include protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, ROCKSTAR has announced that it has included an LGBT component in their company’s corporate-wide diversity training and will begin to offer company resources for employees who may want to start an LGBT workplace group.

Additionally, ROCKSTAR will continue to offer domestic partnership benefits to LGBT employees, a company policy that has been in place since ROCKSTAR Energy Drink was founded in 2000. Under this policy, LGBT employees in domestic partnerships receive the same benefits coverage as heterosexual married employees, as well as the same protections afforded under the company’s sick leave, bereavement, leave for victims of domestic and sexual violence, and family military leave policies.

“These policies demonstrate that ROCKSTAR is committed to equality in the workplace,” said Weiner. “But while corporate policies are one plank in the struggle for equality, we recognize that supporting the LGBT population requires an even greater effort.”

To this end, Weiner announced that ROCKSTAR has pledged to give $50,000 to The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, a community-based organization which supports and promotes activities directed at furthering the well being, positive image, and human rights of the LGBT community and its allies in Southern Nevada, near ROCKSTAR’s office in Las Vegas.

ROCKSTAR has also committed $25,000 to Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students, and The Trevor Project, a leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among LGBT youth. Both gifts will be disbursed in 2010.

On top of these donations, ROCKSTAR Energy Drink will contribute $12,500 to sponsor the National LGBT Blogger Initiative, which provides training and support for LGBT bloggers, and pledges to support LGBT-related pride festivals in the future. These contributions are in addition to the $25,000 Weiner recently gave to Project Open Hand, a San Francisco charitable organization that works closely with LGBT communities on HIV/AIDS outreach.

“We’re grateful for the opportunity to support the work of these organizations, who are at the forefront of the struggle for LGBT rights in this country,” said Weiner. “We are proud to enhance our corporate policies and contribute to these organizations, and we hope that these actions clear up any misunderstanding or misconceptions about ROCKSTAR’s support of the LGBT population.”
Candice Nichols, the Executive Director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, said that ROCKSTAR’s contribution to the Center shows its commitment to LGBT rights and will be immensely helpful in serving the needs of the LGBT community in its hometown of Las Vegas and throughout Southern Nevada.

"We are pleased to see ROCKSTAR taking bold steps as a company to ensure the dignity and self-worth of LGBT people, both within their own corporate policies and within the city where they are incorporated," said Nichols. "ROCKSTAR's contribution to the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada will help our organization continue to provide vital services to the LGBT population of this area, including services for LGBT youth. During these tough economic times, we appreciate the significance of ROCKSTAR's contribution and look forward to working with them as a partner down the road to continue to support the needs of Southern Nevada's LGBT population."

Eliza Byard, Executive Director of GLSEN, said that ROCKSTAR’s efforts to expand support for LGBT employees and the local LGBT community are significant steps in the right direction.


“GLSEN is very pleased to have helped reach an agreement that immediately benefits the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, a community center that serves the needs of LGBT people in ROCKSTAR’s own backyard,” said Byard. “ROCKSTAR seems sincere in its efforts to affirm the dignity of its LGBT employees and the greater LGBT community, and in its recognition of the damage language can cause - damage that GLSEN confronts daily in its work in K-12 schools. We look forward to seeing continued evidence of this commitment in the weeks and months ahead, and to accepting their contribution next year so long as they continue upholding the principles they’ve publicly articulated.”

Charles Robbins, Executive Director and CEO of The Trevor Project, also said that ROCKSTAR is taking the right steps to partner with LGBT organizations.

“The Trevor Project is pleased that ROCKSTAR is moving in the right direction to act as a responsible corporate citizen that truly embraces diversity,” said Robbins. “It is important to recognize that the kind of offensive language which ROCKSTAR has now disassociated itself with can be truly dangerous, especially to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth who remain at a higher risk for suicide. Whenever a company or individual supports our work, we know that it is lifesaving, and we look forward to the impact that ROCKSTAR’s systemic support will have in our community for years to come.”

Michael Rogers, the Founder of the National LGBT Bloggers Initiative, echoed these sentiments. “I'm excited to see that ROCKSTAR Energy Drink is not only committed to positive messages about LGBT Americans, but that they have demonstrated that commitment with generous support of community organizations. I applaud the company's recognition of the unique partnerships that can be built between corporations and online activists and their goal of working for positive social change.”

For its part, Change.org has been working with ROCKSTAR Energy Drink over the past few weeks to make a bold statement on behalf of LGBT rights. Both Change.org’s CEO, Ben Rattray, and Gay Rights blogger Michael Jones, have been leading discussions with ROCKSTAR.

“ROCKSTAR’s show of support for LGBT rights and Russ Weiner’s significant financial contribution demonstrate that the company is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen when it comes to equal rights for its employees and its customers,” said Rattray. “This is a model for other companies to follow who wish to make it unequivocally clear that they support equal rights for all.”

Jones added that discussions between ROCKSTAR and Change.org have shown that the company is solidly behind equal rights.

“The overtures made by ROCKSTAR and Russell Weiner to foster an LGBT-friendly workplace, as well as the generous contribution to leading LGBT organizations indicate a level of engagement with LGBT rights that should be commended,” said Jones. “This is a great example of how bloggers, companies and LGBT organizations can work together to foster equal rights.”
Bil Browning, Editor-In-Chief of the popular LGBT group blog The Bilerico Project (www.bilerico.com), echoed these sentiments. "I'm pleased to see ROCKSTAR is taking steps to ensure all their employees and customers are treated with dignity and respect. ROCKSTAR’s commitment to continuing multi-year support of the LGBT community through both organizational and blogger outreach demonstrates their willingness to move beyond any misunderstandings surrounding their company. Not many companies would be willing to reach out to their main critics and find common ground for a solution that leaves all parties satisfied; ROCKSTAR should be commended for their eagerness to correct any previous problems."

Should someone who teaches human rights back human rights for all people?

That's the question being raised by some students at New York University's law school, who are upset that a visiting professor in the fall semester, slated to teach human rights law, is Thio Li-ann of the National University of Singapore, an outspoken opponent of gay rights. Thio has argued repeatedly and graphically that her country should continue to criminalize gay sexual acts.

In a speech to lawmakers in Singapore, Thio said that gay sex is "contrary to biological design and immoral," argued that gay people can change their sexual orientation, said that anal sex is "like shoving a straw up your nose to drink," and rejected arguments based on a diversity of sexual orientations by saying that "diversity is not license for perversity."

NYU OUTLaw, a group of gay and lesbian students at the law school, last week sent an e-mail message to all students drawing attention to Thio's statements, saying that it was crucial to "raise awareness of anti-gay statements made by an NYU visiting professor" because "it is important for LGBT students and allies to be aware of her views in order to make fully informed decisions regarding class registration."

The letter does not call for the invitation to Thio to be rescinded. Ethan Park, co-chair of the group, said that the organization wanted to gather reactions before deciding what it was going to ask NYU to do, and that discussions were taking place electronically as students are scattered for summer internships.

"One of the options would be to take a strong position and demand that the law school rescind the appointment, but others say that this could be an opportunity to teach about why we have somebody at the law school who promotes hatred," he said. Park said that the group has been receiving many strong reactions from students and alumni. He said there is widespread anger over Thio's appointment, but a range of views about what to do now.

In an e-mail interview, Thio said that those who are attacking her are engaged in political correctness.

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion, free conscience, free thought -- that is a cardinal principle for every academic community. I hold to it, in my own law school, and I would expect the NYU law community to do so as well. We can be united in commitment to this principle, without slavishly bowing to a demanded uniformity or dogma of political correctness set by elite diktat. I cannot say I am impressed by this ugly brand of politicking which I hope is not endemic," she wrote.

Thio added that she "was encouraged when the president of an NYU student organization committed to free debate wrote to welcome me and to point out that the negative, prejudicial and frankly, hostile views expressed are not representative of everyone in the student body. While I am disappointed at the intolerant animosity directed at me by strangers who do not know me and have decided to act on their own prejudices, forged from whatever sources, I am nonetheless glad that there are still some at NYU, who uphold a commitment to academic freedom and who entertain dissent with respect. As a recent NYU graduate, a Muslim friend of mine said, one must have courage in the face of bullying."

On the substance of her views on gay rights, she argued in the e-mail that plenty of Americans may agree with her, and those who don't have no right to impose their values on other countries.

She wrote: "Do some Americans by appropriating the rhetoric of human rights assume they can impose their views on another sovereign state? Is there a human right to sodomy? Is this a core right or a contested one? There are countervailing views that this is the wrong way to characterize the issue -- so do students who dislike this view refuse to engage with dissenting views? Or seek to censor views they disagree with? That's hubris. I think certain Americans have to realize the fact that there are a diversity of views on the subject and it is not a settled matter; there is no universal norm and it is nothing short of moral imperialism to suggest there is. Correct me if I am wrong, but there is no consensus on this even within the U.S. Supreme Court and American society at large, even post Lawrence v. Texas." (The court case is the 2003 Supreme Court ruling that barred states from criminalizing consenting sexual acts between adults of the same sex.)

Thio will be teaching at NYU under a program that brings legal scholars from all over the world to the campus as visiting professors. John Beckman, an NYU spokesman, said that faculty panels review and select candidates based on "a record of excellent scholarship and fine teaching." He added: "Professor Thio was selected on the basis of her published academic scholarship, not on the basis of the statement she made to the Singapore Parliament as a member of that body. We believe that she will make a valuable contribution to our global classroom and to the intellectual life of the law school when she is here this fall."

Beckman also noted that the law school at NYU "has a long record of opposing discrimination based on sexual orientation, and we are well known for being a supportive home for an activist lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Many in our faculty, staff, and student body will be in sharp disagreement with Professor Thio on the content of her speech, and we expect there will be a dynamic exchange on these issues."

Cary Nelson, national president of the American Association of University Professors, said that he would not advise NYU to rescind the invitation to Thio to teach there. But he said that it would be legitimate to raise questions about whether she should be teaching human rights.

"Academic freedom protects you from retaliation for your extramural remarks, but it does not protect you from being prohibited from teaching in an area where you are not professionally competent, and there are doubts on whether she has the competency in human rights," Nelson said. He said that there is in fact an "international consensus, save a few countries like Iran" that gay people should not be treated as criminals.

Nelson also said that in a tenure decision, he would judge a candidate -- however offensive his or her views on unrelated subjects -- only on a question of whether the person's scholarship and teaching in his or her discipline met appropriate standards. But in a hiring decision (whether for a visiting or permanent position), he said, it is appropriate to consider other factors, and the reality is that it's impossible to know what professors are really thinking when they vote one way or another.

Professors can appropriately ask prior to appointments, he said, whether hiring someone whose views on certain subjects are "poisonous" could limit "the department's ability to do its business." - Inside Higher Ed

Thio Li-Ann's infamous anti-gay agenda presentation to Parliament


Read about the AWARE Saga where Thio Li-Ann's mother Thio Su-Mien orchestrated a hijacking of a women's group

As you may have already heard, there was a protest today by Uighurs in Xinjiang autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (mainland China), which left at least 156 people dead, more than 800 injured and at least 1,434 detained, according to several news reports (Al Jazeera; Voice of America; CNN). For background information, you can refer to this article and watch this video:



You can also see a deep and intense photojournalistic report on Uighurs under Chinese occupation here.

For wiqaable, I asked my Queer Uighur friend Meza to write a testimony because I wanted to hear his perspective and spread his words since my information and knowledge about this conflict is very limited. He's an activist, a health educator, a performer, and a (would-be) social worker in Toronto. So here you go:

_____
I'm a gay man who was born in Urumuqi, Xinjiang, China. I just heard the news about this protest, and I thought I needed to write something. I don't know what I should say about this protest because I have always been limited to say, write, read, or learn information about activism in our region. I think the only thing I can do is sharing my experience and some of my thoughts.

I think it's good to introduce myself first. I was born in China as an Uighur which is one of Chinese muslim minorities. I moved to Japan when I was 9, and I have Japanese passport right now, so I'm no longer under the Chinese government. I've been in Toronto since last year, and my English is still not good enough, so please be kind with my grammar.

I was born in Urumuqi in 1985, and I felt many difficulties to live as a minority in China even though I was a kid. Many Chinese kids treated me differently because of my ethnicity and how I looked. There were 2 kinds of school that I could go in Urumuqi, and which were Chinese language school and Uighur language school. If I went to Uighur language school, I would never get a job in China, so my family decided to put me into Chinese language school. I felt like I was losing my culture and language. In fact, I can only speak Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, and English, but not Uighur.

Chinese government started reconstructing our city when I was leaving Urumuqi, and it had been changed so much when I went back in 2004. The city became such a rich city, but I didn't see a lot of Uighurs eating at expensive restaurants or shopping at brand stores. Everyone you see there is Chinese, not Chinese muslim minorities. Also, many of my family couldn't find jobs even though they were highly educated and experienced.

After 9/11, Chinese government changed ways to treat us. They became more strict about activism and unionism. I think they were scared of protest like 9/11. Last year, there were huge protests in Tibet, and Uighur community was influenced by the protest, so there were many conflicts between the Uighur community and Chinese government. There has been many protests around the world as well.

When I was in University, I was going to write a graduate thesis about conflicts between Uighur community and Chinese government. However, my mother was really angry about it because she knew it would become risk to us and our family in China. There was an Uighur activist in Japan who was writing a lot of articles about political issues around Uighur community in China, but he was caught by Chinese government many years ago. He was my father's friend, and I ended up changing the topic for my graduate thesis.

Right now, some of my family are visiting Urumuqi from Toronto. Also, the protest was happened at the place very close to our home in Urumuqi. When I saw the news, I was really shocked because the building in the picture is next to our home. I called my uncle, and he said that my family was going to go shopping when he called them, and it was just before the protest happened. We are trying to call them, but call and internet are all shut down, so there are no way that I can know if my family is fine.

I'm very angry about this situation, and I'm reading all articles about the protest. I have never done any activism about this issue, but maybe it's about time to start. For now, I can only wait to see if my family is fine. This is all I can say right now.

Meza
_____

I went to London Pride today and it was nothing short of spectacular, but then again, everything seems spectacular in contrast to sitting in bed all day wailing about how those assholes in the hostel gave you swine flu. I spent the first 1/3 of it looking for the event, not realizing the event hadn't started yet, the 2nd 1/3 of it rubbing up against strangers, and the final 1/3 trying not to step in vomit.

Here is a picture of half of a displayed liquor selection in SoHo.


And here is a picture of my favorite tranny (hey, don't bitch at me, that's what their float said).


After running around like a stupid I hid in a "cloakroom" (which = toilet) in a hotel from around 9:30 to 11:00. Then I went outside to figure out where the fuck everything was, because I remembered vaguely reading somewhere that the thing was supposed to start at 11:00. I'd even woken up at like 7:00 just to get onto the train station early so it wouldn't be congested because clearly everyone would be out supporting the gays. I also forgot where it was taking place, so after nothing happened for a while, I ended up following the barred streets upwards towards the source of all the floats. I got there and sat around for 2 hours wondering why it wasn't going, when, really, it was supposed to start at 1. Then it went. There weren't many nakeds, which was okay, I guess. This was my favorite person in the parade.


Then I got bored with the start/stop and the sound of my clapping so I wandered away looking for a cheap Belgian waffle but instead ate Thai food. It was pretty good, even though it probably cost me like 12 dollars because British pounds are stupid.

Then I was going to go to the main stage in Trafalgar Square, but I didn't because I decided to go to SoHo instead because it was closer and there were plenty of strangers for me to rub up against there. I ended up on Old Compton street where you couldn't swing a dildo without hitting at least 24 pert buttcheeks. It was pretty hot. I didn't particularly know what to do so I started waiting in line for something, which ended up being a line to get into the park where I saw a man sucking another younger man sucking an older man's nipples (I didn't get that on camera). Then I flailed wildly while a DJ played music and some man touched my shoulder and said "Looking good" as he passed by. Then I realized that he probably just said that instead of "excuse me" and it was less exciting. I spent more time flailing in the streets like a maniac and before I knew it, it was like 7 PM and I hadn't spent any money on booze yet. (hint for anyone that ever wants to take advantage of me: it's not very hard)

I wanted to go to this club but there was no way in hell I was going to make the dress code, and I knew the appeal of my lovely sexylovely charm would have been marginal, at best. So I lurked around outside and ate a crappy dinner instead and then realized that I have a flight to catch tomorrow. Crap. Oh, but these drunken bachelorettes in a limo drove by and sang James Blunt at me. That was pretty rad.

While I was visiting Korea a few weeks ago, I found out that there was a gay pride in Seoul. I changed my travel plan and headed for Seoul just to see the event, march in the parade and report back on wiqaable!

Named 2009 Korea Queer Culture Festival, this celebration of Korean AND Queer identities and cultures consisted of a film festival, stage performances, a parade, an afterparty, and many other special events around the southern part of the Korean peninsula from May 30, 2009 through June 13, 2009. I took part on the last day on which the parade was rescheduled to happen because of the recent death of a former president Mr. Noh.

Around 2pm, I arrived at the Berlin Plaza, where part of the Wall of Berlin is being displayed, and found big rainbow balloons raised proudly. It wasn't a huge space, just a corner of a block along Cheong Gye Cheon, a stream whose sides had been renewed to beautify the city and offer relaxation for their busy lives (that's the intent I assume). There were about ten booths of local community organizations, gay magazine, public health organization, and support groups. Some of them were selling various items to fundraise, and others were handing out info sheets, flyers, pamphlets, condoms, postcards, and the like.

I started bothering...I mean, talking to folks in English and my broken Korean. They told me that this was the 10th anniversary of this festival. According to their official magazine, the first one took place on August 26, September 8 and 9, 2000. In the following ten years, they have been disrupted not only by rain but also anti-gay Christians. I didn't see any anti-gay things happening when I was there; or maybe they were just unnoticeable. After all, it was sunny and very peaceful.

At 3:30pm, the opening ceremony that led to the parade began. It featured drag king and queen shows, men's chorus group, youth dance performances, hip hop performances, and traditional Korean dance performance, as well as speeches made by the organizers, the first openly gay actor (see photo below), and a couple of folks who seemed to be some kind of officials.

The youth teams looked like they were still in high school, and they probably choreographed by themselves––they were soooo cute! As someone who work with Queer youth, I was so happy that I found powerful agency in their performance. Many of them probably can't tell their family or friends that they're Queer, but they still have this opportunity to unite with their folks and express themselves. And it felt like the community was supporting them well. I know it was only a handful of Queer youths that could be there, but it made me very hopeful. While these pop music dance groups were mostly (femmy) boys, the hip hop groups were interestingly mostly girls/womyn. And they were hella dope. Hip hop is very popular in South Korea because of the presence of the US military, and now it has, of course, been appropriated by Queers.

The parade followed the ceremony, leading people along the Cheong Gye Cheon and back. It wasn't big, with only a handful floats, and the actual time we marched was like an hour; but we held up signs, blasted K-pop, and made appearance. Honestly, I don't know exactly how much it meant for the Korean society to see us for real; but I thought it was meaningful for us to do that before big companies begin to exploit our celebration.


I liked how I saw a lot of younger folks and female-bodied folks volunteering because what I see at SF Pride is older White men getting paid to be there. But at the same time, I need to be real about the privilege of being able to choose do this kind of work for money. Availability of "pink-collared" jobs doesn't necessarily indicate how "developed" a local Queer communities are, but money is important for our sustainability. It would be ignorant of me to say that this is better just because it's more volunteer-based, when in fact they can't afford to hire anyone to do anything. It just made me ponder on what Pride really means to various communities.


Another difference I noticed between this festival and SF Pride was people's behaviors. For a lot of Americans, Pride is about drinking, (un)dressing as Queer as possible, and having sex––at least from my observation. At this festival, most of Koreans seemed sober, dressed as usual, and...well, I don't know about the sex part. No, I really don't. Not so much. Indeed, the contrast between Koreans and White people at the festival were so sharp. I felt so awkward as I saw White folks getting drunk, dressing gay (some of them were wearing American Apparel's "Legalize Gay" t-shirt), and feeling entitled to even be there without respecting the space. I felt seriously awkward. Like OMG.


What I liked the most about this festival was traditional Korean dance. Dressed in traditional Korean costumes with traditional Korean colors (red, blue and yellow) and rainbow, plus masks for confidentiality, they performed just so fiercely. It was amazing. It was a simple representation of Korean identity and Queer identity combined, but I personally experienced something more than that. To me, it was the moment when I recognized how the two identities collide with one another to form an entirely new, profound, calm, integrated, calm and powerful identity all together. Struggles against thousands of years of military oppression and colonization, and struggles against the oppression that divides us from our own people we love. But we can still be proud of ourselves and express the pride so powerfully, even with masks on. It is my dream to achieve unification of my people over borders, nation-states, abilities, sexualities, languages, politics, and geographical locations. I learned from this festival what it really means to celebrate who we are.

I'm not a movie person at all. First, I can't always understand what they're saying in movies without subtitles. Second, it's expensive to see movies in theaters, and they can be as horrible as Twilight. Therefore, I would usually watch DVDs but not movies.

However, I took MUNI all the way to the Castro Theater on Saturday, June 27 to see this film even by myself. Why? because it was directed by the filmmakers of my most favorite movie ever, Colma: The Musical, and it was free since I had vouchers for Frameline's 33rd San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival.



Since you can find the storyline elsewhere, I won't go into the details other than that it's about a woman who has a lot of gay friends, hence "fruit fly." What I liked about this movie is that I saw API womyn couple kissing. How many times have I ever seen something like that? Barely. I'm not saying this with a sensationalizing gaze, I just felt good that I saw it on a big screen at a theater full of people. I also liked that it made me even more in love with San Francisco. I kept trying to figure out in which part of the city certain scenes had been filmed.

The director H.P. Mendoza is a Filipino American musician, filmmaker, and actor who grew up in the Bay. While Colma is his autobiographical film, Fruit Fly is more about L.A. Renigen, an actor from Colma. According to him from the Q&A session after the screening, the idea of this film is to feature a fruit fly character, who always plays a sidekick role in gay films, whereas a gay character always plays a sidekick role in staright films.

There were some weird/questionable/problematic things about this film, but I'm definitely buying the DVD and the soundtrack. Did I mention that I'm not a movie person?

FYI: for our queer community, allies, and people of color. A sailor was murdered this past Tuesday at Camp Pendleton (here in southern California) and the story has received very little mainstream coverage. Moreover, of the little coverage available, very little of it recognizes the obvious--that August Provost was murdered due to his sexual orientation. Provost's passing gives us pause to consider the ways that an ethos, or long-standing attitude and value-system, permeates the military, continuing to punish those who do not perform their gender "right," and those who express desire among same-sex individuals. Same-sex desire in the military is not a disease nor a shadowy concept. In fact, in many cultures there is a long-standing link between the martial and desire between men. As Yukio Mishima attempted to demonstrate in Japan during the 60s and 70s, there was a long-standing tradition of erotic and sexual contact between men in samurai culture. Let's take this opportunity to call out the military for its lack of response to August Provost's murder, and for turning a blind eye to a long-standing tradition of same-sex erotic practice in the military.

Most residents of Fort Worth have never even seen the inside of a gay bar. Fort Worth's police chief Jeff Halstead is counting on that fact—counting on the average person's ignorance about gay bars and certain stereotypes about gay men—to get a half a dozen Forth Worth police officers off the hook for conducting a violent raid on a Forth Worth gay bar, the Rainbow Lounge, late last Saturday night. Seven men were arrested during the raid, which took place on the 40th anniversary of the raid on the Stonewall Inn that kick-started the modern gay rights movement, and one of those men—Chad Gibson—remains in intensive care with a brain injury. Gibson may not survive.

The officers who raided the Rainbow Lounge claim that the men in the bar made "advances" on them—and Forth Worth's police chief is backing them up:

Monday, police chief Jeff Halstead said the officers' actions are being investigated. However, he also said that officers that entered the bar during the scheduled inspection were touched inappropriately.
"You're touched and advanced in certain ways by people inside the bar, that's offensive," he said. "I'm happy with the restraint used when they were contacted like that."

Allow me to translate the chief's comments: "Them faggots in that thar bar touched mah officers and now they're complainin' about some rough stuff and one little ol' faggot with a brain injury? Those perverts should be grateful they're alive."

This is a classic example of the Gay Panic Defense. In the very recent past all a straight man who brutally murdered a gay man had to say was, "He made a pass at me!", and the jury would ignore the evidence and let the murderer off. The Gay Panic Defense doesn't fly in many courts of law these days but it still has currency in the court of public opinion. And the chief of police in Forth Worth, a major U.S. city, is attempting to use the Gay Panic Defense to convince the citizens of Fort Worth to ignore the evidence—to ignore photographic evidence and credible eyewitness accounts—and let his officers off.

And you'll never guess who the police are accusing of being the groper: Chad Gibson, the one man arrested at the Rainbow Lounge who can't defend himself and may never be able to give his side of the story. But another person at the bar witnessed Gibson's arrest:

"They were hyped up. They were loaded for bear," said Todd Camp, a veteran journalist who was there celebrating his birthday with friends. "They were just randomly grabbing people, telling them they were drunk."
Camp told me he has been in bars during TABC/police "checks" before, "and it was never anything like this." Usually, he said, officers discreetly walk through, looking for anybody who has had too much. This was different. "They were shoving patrons," Camp said, "asking, 'How much have you had to drink?'"

...

"[Gibson] was taken down hard," said Camp, with "four or five" officers wrestling him to the floor inside the club. Cellphone photos shot by patrons and posted to blogs show a person being held facedown by officers in a short hallway inside the club, then show a dent in the wall where his head was apparently banged.

The police claim that Gibson wasn't injured when those four or five cops slammed him to the floor of the bar, but after his arrest, when, drunk and handcuffed, Gibson somehow fell and hit his head on the pavement outside the bar.

All of this is bullshit.

I've been in a million gay bars. I've been in gay bars on multiple occasions when the police came in to check everyone's IDs and make sure no minors were being served. Gay men don't grope police officers when they enter gay bars. I find it inconceivable that the gay men drinking in the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth responded to a raid by attempting to grope the police officers. This "they groped us!" shit is a lie. As the owner of the bar, J.R. Schrock, put it at the protest the night after the raid:

"The groping of the police officer—really? We're gay, but we're not dumb," Schrock said to the crowd that gathered at the bar Sunday afternoon. "That is a lie, and I am appalled by it."
Jeff Halstead can't be allowed to use the Gay Panic Defense. His officers weren't groped, no one was "touched and advanced." Homophobic cops raided a gay bar, roughed up the patrons, and a young man is in the hospital and may die.

Some will say that this was just an ill-timed raid on a gay bar in Texas, of all places, one that got out of control. So what's the big deal? But this is exactly the kind of state-sponsored violence that gays and lesbians fought back against at Stonewall 40 years ago. Gay men all over the country are going to have to speak up and defend the patrons of the Rainbow Lounge. We can't allow the chief of police in Fort Worth to use the Gay Panic Defense or exploit stereotypes about gay men—so sexually reckless that they can't even keep their hands off cops during a raid!—to get away with violating the civil rights of gay men in Fort Worth or murdering Chad Gibson.

UPDATE: More on Chad Gibson's condition:

Chad Gibson, the 26-year-old Fort Worth resident who wound up in John Peter Smith Hospital in the intensive care unit after a law enforcement raid on a gay bar over the weekend, remains in danger with a blood clot on his brain. Dallas Voice senior editor Tammye Nash reports on the newspaper's blog, Instant Tea, that Gibson's sister, Kristy Morgan, told her a CAT scan had revealed the blood clot has quit growing, but it is still considered a life-threatening situation. Until the clot dissolves, there is a danger that the clot could break off and cause severe brain damage or death. A rupture of the clot could also start bleeding again.
The blood clot could take from six months to two years to dissolve, according to the update. Gibson, shown in a picture from facebook.com, will likely remain in the hospital for the rest of the week and will be referred to a neurosurgeon for follow-up treatment. Surgery is reportedly not being considered at this time.

Discussion is under way about the establishment of a medical fund to assist Gibson. His hospital bill will undoubtedly be enormous, and it is unlikely that he will ever recover any of those medical expenses from the City of Fort Worth. Police officers and other government employees are protected by state law from liability in any legal action that arises in connection with the performance of their official duties, unless they are involved in misconduct or broke laws.

UPDATE 2: Someone needs to put this follow-up question to Fort Worth's police chief:

If Chad Gibson—the 160-pound, 26-year-old gay man that it took five of your officers to subdue—groped one of your officers, and if it was Gibson's lewd action that caused your officers to go absolutely apeshit, then surely Gibson—who is in an intensive care unit and may not survive his injuries—was charged with assault, right?

Wrong:

Officers then went to the Rainbow Lounge, which had opened about a week ago. They encountered two drunk people who made "sexually explicit movements" toward officers and another who grabbed a TABC agent's groin, according to the police report.
No one was arrested for assault but about half a dozen people were arrested on charges of public intoxication, according to police records. Police Chief Jeff Halstead said Gibson was the patron who grabbed at the agent's groin.

So... Chad Gibson sexually assaulted a Fort Worth police officer and, according to the Fort Worth's chief of police, Gibson's assault not only prompted but justified the actions of his officers at the Rainbow Room, but... Gibson wasn't charged with assault.

Can someone please ask the chief of police to explain how that works?

UPDATE 3: Via Slog commenter jasonzenobia: The Fort Worth Police Department's email address is fwpdweb@fortworthpd.com and the number for FWPD's internal affairs office is 817.392.4270. That's the number to call to report officer misconduct. Joel Burns is the openly gay member of the Fort Worth city council and he's been all over this. You can reach him at his email is Joel.Burns@fortworthgov.org.

UPDATE 4: I've heard from folks in Fort Worth that Joel Burns' office is being slammed with furious phone calls and emails about the raid on the Rainbow Lounge and the assault on Chad Gibson. Burns, however, has taken action on this and has called for an investigation and is doing everything an openly-gay elected official is supposed to do in a circumstance like this. If you're itching to send an outraged emails, Sloggers, I'd urge you to send emails to the six Fort Worth councilmembers who haven't joined with Burns and two of his colleagues in calling for a full and independent investigation into the appalling raid on the Rainbow Lounge.

Councilmember W.B. "Zim" Zimmerman
817-392-8803
District3@fortworthgov.org
Councilmember Danny Scarth
817-392-8804
District4@fortworthgov.org
Councilmember Frank Moss
817-392-8805
District5@fortworthgov.org
Councilmember Jungus Jordan
817-392-8806
District6@fortworthgov.org
Councilmember Carter Burdette
817-392-8807
District7@fortworthgov.org
And send an email to the mayor, Mike Moncreif, who has yet to make a statement:

Mayor Mike Moncrief
817-392-6118
mike.moncrief@fortworthgov.org
Tell them the whole country is shocked and outraged and that you're appalled by their failure to join their colleagues Joel Burns, Sal Espino, and Kathleen Hicks in calling for an investigation into the raid on the Rainbow Lounge and the assault on Chad Gibson. - The Stranger, SLOG