The theatrical trailer for Bollywood’s first gay romantic comedy Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (“Extra careful of marriage.”) has been released starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Jitendra Kumar.
The movie narrates the story of the central duo, played by Ayushmann and his love Jitendra Kumar and their journey into convincing their parents, the society and themselves to stay together. The comedy film with a powerful message is set to open in theatres on February 21st.
A queer India youth advocacy group called Yaariyan shut down a major Mumbai plaza during rush hour with an intricate Bollywood-style dance routine to support LGBT rights
Very very awesome.
H/T to Lester Brathwaite of Queerty
* The Human Rights Campaign Only Spends 3.2% Of Their 2009 $45.7 Million Budget On Lobbying. Anyone ever wonder what REALLY happens to the other 96.8%? With $45.7 Million I could have BOUGHT the votes in Washington needed to secure all our civil rights. – The Petrelis Files
* Gay Man FIRED After Complaing About Gay Slurs Made By Co-Workers – Michael Aguayo, a A former employee of Oak Park, in Chicago, Illnois is suing the village, claiming it fired him after he complained about anti-gay remarks that co-workers made towards him. Co-workers allegedly referred to things that didn’t work properly as “being gay” and made verbal threats, the suit said. The suit seeks more than $600,000 in damages.- Chicago Sun Times
* The Supreme Court Hold Up DADT…For Now. The Supreme Court upheld “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the Pentagon’s ban on openly gay men and women serving in the military In a nutshell……..
All I can say is that it sucks to be gay in America. “All men are created equal” MY ASS! – House and Home Gazette
* Gay Couple Uses Skype to Legally Marry in Texas – Mark Reed and Dante Walkup had been together ten years when they decided it was high time they tied the knot. Unfortunately, though they wanted nothing more than to get married in their native Texas, theirs is a state that does not legally allow same-sex couples to marry. However, Reed and Walkup were not to be deterred and the two came up with a way to have a legal wedding without flying family and friends to another state. The couple traveled to Washington D.C. back in May to receive their certificate of marriage. Fast forward five months and the two were married in Texas, with a D.C. official (accompanied by several witnesses) marrying them via Skype – They MESSED with Texas and WON! Take that Rick Perry! – tomsguide.com
* Austrailain Officials Raid Film Festival Director’s Home Looking For Zombie Gay Porn – Austrailian officials raided the Melbourne home of a film festival director, Richard Wolstencroft, a noted film-maker and head of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) because of the screening of a controversial zombie porn film in September called “LA Zombie” Thursday’s search was fruitless for police because his copy of “LA Zombie” had been destroyed. HA – HA! – mediandia.net
* Mormon Church Tells Gays and Lesbians It’s Okay To Be Gay. Just Don’t FUCK! – How about this? It’s okay to be Mormon, just don’t be so judgemental, bigoted, money hungry and fucking asshole? Hows that work for you LDS? – Lez Get Real
* Bollywoods Version of Brokeback Mountain Is Released – This weekend brings the release of the movie Dunno Y…Na Jaane Kyun, the first Bollywood film to feature an onscreen gay kiss, in India. In the months leading up to its release, the movie has been touted as that country’s Brokeback Mountain. Censors in India, where homosexuality was legalised only last year, have apparently cut many of the gay scenes. (Which is too bad because the guys are smoking hot!) – Towleroad
* Gay Student Graeme Taylor, 14, Is Sticking Up For Michigan High School Teacher Jay McDowell. And He Is FRAKING Awesome – Michigan high school teacher Jay McDowell was suspended for a day without pay after trying to make his classroom a place for acceptance rather than intolerance, McDowell was disciplined for telling a student to remove a confederate flag belt buckle (because it represented racism) while defending the purple clothing of Spirit Day, Howell administrators insisted McDowell was at fault for infringing on students’ First Amendment rights.
14 Year old Taylor stood up at the School Board meeting and quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Taylor told board members about how their district isn’t just home to the KKK (Grand Wizard Robert Miles lived nearby before he died), but to intolerant students who drove him, at the age of nine, to attempt suicide.
What McDowell tried to do, says Taylor, was move the needle ever so slightly in the other direction and defend LGBT kids who have found hallway torment to be status quo. “The best thing you can do right now is just give him his pay for that day, and just reverse the disciplinary actions,” Taylor told the school board. “He did an amazing thing. He did something that’s inspired a lot of people. And whenever — ever — I have a teacher stand up for me like that, they change in my eyes. I support Jay McDowell, and I hope you . Graeme Tayor is AWESOME. I only wish more ADULTS would stand up, speak out, and do whats right, – Queerty
* The Catholic Church: We Need More Exorcists – More than fifty Catholic bishops and priests are in Baltimore this weekend for a training event on how to perform exorcisms. Maybe they should train on Linda Blair. She SUCKED this weekend at the HorrorHound Weekend Convention in Cincinatti, TRES UNPROFESSIONAL! – Joe My God
Indian authorities are deciding weather or not to censor “Dunno Y… Na Jaane Kyun”, an Indian gay romance movie directed by Sanjay Sharma and compared by critics to Brokeback Mountain, because of two gay kisses and a gay sex scene between stars Kapil Sharma and Yuvraaj Parasher.
“Why should the censors be scandalised if two men are kissing and making love? Said Sanjay Sharma. “The ones in my film are very aesthetic. And so what if it’s two men making love? Love is love regardless of gender.”
Bollywood has rarely mentioned homosexuality in the past and even heterosexual kisses are still unusual. But since the Indian capital Delhi legalised homosexuality last year, homosexuality is very slowly becoming more accepted in culture.
One of “Dunno Y… Na Jaane Kyun”‘s stars, Yuvraaj Parasher has been disowned by his family and thrown of of the family home in Agra because of his role in the film. His father Satish Parasher told the newspaper:
“I feel what he has done is against the culture and tradition of our country and it challenges the purity of the relationship between a man and a woman. He kept us in the dark right from when he signed the film and told us that he is acting with a girl. When we heard about the poster and the things he has done in the film, we were shocked, hurt and humiliated. People will make fun of us and we won’t be able to live peacefully ever again.” and added. All the dreams and hopes we had built around him are over. For just a film role, he has lost out on his blood ties. We don’t want to see his face ever… not even when we are dying.” The family claim that no woman will consider marrying him after playing a gay man on-screen.
A recent film, Dostana, showed two men pretending to be gay in order to win over a female love interest, but Dunno Y . . . Na Jaane Kyun is the first big release to tackle the issue of homosexuality seriously. And is having a serious impact within the Bollywood film industry.