Fafafini [Samoa]

Ivan Monforte from Smack Mellon on Vimeo.

Pretty Little Liars Back with More Lady-Gay Stuff

Spoiler Alert

The first season of Pretty Little Liars resumed this month, and while the show took some steps forward (in the lesbo department), by the latest episode I started to get the feeling it was retreating. Emily (played by heart-throb Shay Mitchell) comes out to her parents, and shows a great deal of resolve and strength with her un-accepting mother. However, by episode 113, Maya, Em's lady-love, was getting shipped off to boot camp or some shit. Let's hope ABC Family is doing more than sending a brief, superficial message for It-Gets-Better purposes, and will give Emily some serious character development...

You can watch new episodes here.

Visibility Project (rough cut): Kit Yan 2011

Visibility Project (rough cut): Kit Yan 2011 from mia nakano on Vimeo.

The Visibility Project is a photographic portraiture series focused on the Queer Asian American identified community. All the participants have identified as female at one time and the project is inclusive to: trans, ftm, mtf, genderqueer, bisexuals, lesbian, gay, intersex, andro, two-spirit, or any other gender or sexual identifications. Definitions of Asian Americans are inclusive to the general: East, Southeast, South Asian, to mixed race, transplants, etc.

The project seeks to break down ethnic, gendered, and sexual stereotypes through the powerful and accessible media of photography and video. Please visit the website at visibilityproject.org for more information about the project.

Trans Thailand

 Some Girls, by Aaron Joel Santos, straddles the line between fantasy and reality and aims to explore the lifestyles of the transgendered community in Thailand, from the daily lives of young women in Bangkok to the sex workers and cabaret stars of Pattaya and beyond.

In the real world, some girls are born boys. The dream is to escape or transcend that body. To flourish and transform into a beautiful and more feminine being. Oftentimes these worlds merge in wonderful and weird ways. Life becomes a stage where the myths and stereotypes of gender are all played out.

Some Girls is a work in progress and as such is constantly growing and transforming, much like the subjects it depicts.

Long Island Lesbian Engineer Wins Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

SheWired.com

by Michelle Garcia

A Long Island Rail Road locomotive engineer was awarded $480,000 Friday after a federal jury decided she was wrongfully accused of and arrested for fondling a coworker's breast, New York's Daily News reports.

Engineer Melissa Stampf tapped Angela Trigg's shoulder as a greeting in July 2006, but Trigg accused her of touching one of her breasts. Stampf, 43, was then arrested, but the Manhattan district attorney declined to prosecute.

Stampf sued the railroad and Trigg in Brooklyn federal court, claiming she was treated differently than white males implicated in similar incidents because of her race (she is believed to be the only Asian female locomotive engineer), gender, and sexual orientation — she is a lesbian.

Australia's First Openly Lesbian Senator Finally Stepping Up

The Australian

Senator Penny Wong, Australia's first openly lesbian and Asia-born cabinet member, today backed a motion passed at the ALP conference in South Australia for a federal policy change in favour of gay marriage. The openly gay senator from South Australia seconded an amended motion by the Florey sub-branch at today's conference. In doing so, she broke her silence over the national debate on equal marriage rights with a deeply personal speech about the need for the Labor Party to respect the principles of equality. [...]

Senator Wong, a Left factional ally of the Prime Minister, shifted her public position by announcing she would advocate at national conference for a policy change "to support equality including in relation to marriage for same sex couples."

"Like many in this room, I do know what it is like to be a subject of prejudice," Senator Wong said, noting she joined the ALP because it stood for equality and had historically worked against discrimination. "There has been some commentary which has confused my position of not commenting publicly on this issue with my position on the actual issue itself. I have been privileged and honoured, not only of being a member of our party, but an elected member of the federal parliament and of the federal Labor cabinet. I have had the opportunity to advocate for equality at the highest levels of our party and within our party processes, as I do today. And I will do so again at the next national conference. Talking about change is not the same as delivering it," Senator Wong said. "This state was the first state in this nation to decriminalise homosexuality, why should we now resile from expressing our views, our support for the principles of equality here today?"

That's What She Said [****]

Oh, the lesbian webseries! The easiest window into media within your own community. If it weren't for the LNF Show (now in its fourth season), I would not have heard the likes of Khaos Da Rapper or Charmain Johnson. And now a new series has hit the ground running in 2010. Pearl Girls Productions brings us its first major production, a new webseries with an all Asian-American cast. Groovy. Quirky. A bit awkward, but absolutely endearing. That's What She Said is about a midwestern lez named Nicole "Nic" Tran who relocates to L.A. after being caught kissing her best friend and shunned by her family. In L.A. she meets a diverse group of friends (Rae-Anne "Rae" Constantino, Babette "Baby" Liu, Leslie Park, and Shin Tanaka), gets thrown into the gay scene there and (you know) drama ensues. So far there are 13 webisodes averaging about 5 minutes each. What I like most about this series is that it boasts women from various ethnic backgrounds, including those from southeast Asia. While she waits for more episodes, Lady gives That's What She Said 4 stars out of 5.

Queer Arts Now

Ks Stevens brings us some queer arts! And she's reppin' QWOC, too. Check it out!

Monique Truong's Bitter in the Mouth

From Monique Truong, the bestselling and award-winning author of The Book of Salt, comes a brilliant, mesmerizing, beautifully written novel about a young woman’s search for identity and family, as she uncovers the secrets of her past and of history.

Growing up in the small town of Boiling Springs, North Carolina, in the 70’s and 80’s, Linda believes that she is profoundly different from everyone else, including the members of her own family. “What I know about you, little girl, would break you in two” are the cruel, mysterious last words that Linda’s grandmother ever says to her.

Now in her thirties, Linda looks back at her past when she navigated her way through life with the help of her great-uncle Harper, who loves her and loves to dance, and her best friend Kelly, with whom Linda exchanges almost daily letters. The truth about my family was that we disappointed one another. When I heard the word “disappoint,” I tasted toast, slightly burnt.

For as long as she can remember, Linda has experienced a secret sense—she can “taste” words, which have the power to disrupt, dismay, or delight. She falls for names and what they evoke: Canned peaches. Dill. Orange sherbet. Parsnip (to her great regret). But with crushes comes awareness. As with all bodies, Linda’s is a mystery to her, in this and in other ways. Even as Linda makes her way north to Yale and New York City, she still does not know the truth about her past.

Then, when a personal tragedy compels Linda to return to Boiling Springs, she gets to know a mother she never knew and uncovers a startling story of a life, a family. Revelation is when God tells us the truth. Confession is when we tell it to him.

This astonishing novel questions many assumptions—about what it means to be a family and to be a friend, to be foreign and to be familiar, to be connected and to be disconnected—from others and from the past, our bodies, our histories, and ourselves.

The Girl Who Played with Fire [****]

I FINALLY got to sit down and watch The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second installment to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Decidedly, not as good as the first. But still good. It flirted a little with over-the-top this time around. And over-the-top action flicks don't sit right with me. In fact, they annoy the hell out of me unless done ridiculously well. Anyway, the best part about this sequel is you get a satisfying girl-on-girl scene between Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and Miriam Wu (Yasmine Garbi). That's right! The Swedes had the courtesy to write a Swedish/French speaking, bad-ass Asian into the plot. Not to mention there's a little martial arts, too! If you're in the mood for some martial arts, queer, criminal, mystery, action flick, I highly recommend The Girl Who Played with Fire (after you've watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, of course). Lady gives this one four stars out of five.

Stream it with Netflix!

I Heart Stephen Colbert

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Fear for All Pt. 1
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Fear for All Pt. 2
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Lt. Dan Choi and Other Growing Concerns

If you read anything today, I need you to read these two articles:

Bad Lieutenant [A feature article on Lt. Dan Choi by The Village Voice]

Dan Choi is People [Autostraddle.com's aptly named article regarding the Voice's article on Lt. Dan Choi]

Times like these I need someone to talk to over a pot of tea....

Will this become a decisive, unmistakably historical movement for the LGBTQ community? Or will we as a nation fall short? This decade, I swear...

Beautiful Boxer [****]

I wasn't expecting to like Beautiful Boxer. I watched it because I was interested in Nong Toom's story, I love the martial arts, and Netflix has been insisting that I see it for years. And so I did. I usually don't enjoy bio-pics, mainly because in every life worth making a movie about the main character undergoes some sort of severe depression. And when I watch hours worth of severe depression, I get depressed. Who knew? But Nong Toom's story truly is a beautiful, empowering one. And though the movie went a little overboard with the dramatic music in the beginning, it finishes strong. Unlike some bio-pics, this one gives the viewer a satisfying ending, with a sense of closure and optimism.

Teen Suicides and the Gap We All Experience

It seems that in the wake of bullying-awareness in general (which didn’t become a nation-wide issue until Phoebe Prince), LGBTQ teens are finally getting more visible support. And though a television broadcast will not comfort teens when they’re in their school corridors, hopefully it will force those with the power to be a good Samaritan to be just that. Nevertheless, too many names are being left out of the discussion. When supportive people list a few names of those whose lives we’ve lost, what color are nearly all the faces?

Carl Walker-Hoover

I have a few names that I’d like to mention and remember. People of color who cater to their own communities have long been seen as self-segregators, unpatriotic and hatemongers (i.e., Arizona). I’m not listing these names because I don’t value the lives of my white brothers and sisters. I list these names because the media does not value the lives of my colored brothers and sisters. One of my favorite quotes of all time is “we stand for what we stand for, not what we stand against.” This blog exists to fill a gap. Not segregate. And I will continue to fill that gap until latino, black, native, arab and asian faces are universal, too. Unfortunately, these are all that I could find in terms of teenagers. I'll continue to update and expand this list. I ask those of you who know names of others (INCLUDING WOMEN AND TRANS FOLK!) we’ve lost to please share.

Carl Walker-Hoover http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7366805

Raymond Chase

Aiyisha Hassan http://www.metroweekly.com/news/?ak=5654

And I’m not saying that people who fail to address these victims are doing it intentionally or because they are prejudiced. But what I am saying is that the media holds a lot of power. And the power of omission is a bitch. Just imagine if all the major news networks neglected to report on the Haiti earthquake. Now take the dozens (maybe hundreds) of LGBTQ teens lost to suicide this year, and consider how the major news networks primarily report on white deaths. Teens of all colors are looking for a sign. They can find the story when we’re criminals/suspected criminals, can’t they?


Do the iReport Challenge:

If you support the mission to end anti-LGBT bullying around the world, do one or more of the following:
- Put on purple, take a photo or video of yourself and upload it to iReport
- Change your Twitter profile or Facebook page to purple
- Tweet: I’m wearing purple to end anti-LGBT bullying. #spiritday #BeAHero
- Record a video for the “It Gets Better” YouTube project (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the latest to join the campaign. See also Barack Obama)

The National Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans Suicide Hotline:  

1-866-4-U-TREVOR

Staceyann Chin's Performance at Spelman College

I once again had the privilege of seeing One Miss Staceyann Chin, but this time at Spelman College. I know that she was excited to be there: women of color dominated (understatement) the auditorium, and people were comfortable with (and didn't have to be taught) call-and-response, and we weren't afraid to laugh when she made light of her experiences. And though she kept going on and on about having babies and being committed, she still singled me out, again, and this time... she touched me (squeal!). I see you, Chin. But seriously, what better way to skip dinner and spend an evening? Unfortunately, she only performed one poem (mostly performing excerpts from her memoir), but that one poem, at the very end, made my heart stop.

Fashion Moment:

Brought to you by LOOKBOOK.nu

Jerome C.

Denny Wenny

Jerome C.

Jerome C.

Happy Disability History Month!

“I would like to challenge movement leadership to grow, support, and create space for disabled people of color. I do not mean this as a platform for encouraging simple diversity or one-dimensional multiculturalism, but as a push for us to rethink and revision what we understand as disability community and history.

I want to talk about why disability looks white. I want us to understand how ableism has been leveraged against communities of color with black folks historically being thought of as less capable (therefore fit for slavery) and special education commonly serving as a means of segregating students of color both with and without disabilities. I want us to create a disability pride that acknowledges the complexities of our experience and does not pit living resiliently and proudly against the knowledge that disability is often created by injustice our communities face.

All of this must be done without flattening our differences, without saying being disabled is just like being of color, just like being poor, just like being queer. Let us bring our best selves to community and learn to be with each other in ways that transform and grow who we are, even when (and though) the work is hard.”

Read more at cripchick’s blog here.

TAO

Article brought to you by Lez Get Real:

She is a talented, dedicated fighter, Black, lesbian , and no, we are not just talking about the author C.D. Kirven. Rather, her creation, TAO (Pronounce TA as the ‘o’ is silent) will be the central character of the first comic book to center around a Black lesbian super hero. TAO is is the child of a Chinese-British billionaire dollar shoe company owner father and an Afro-American dancer mother from Brazil. TAO’s parents were killed when she was young and raised by Monks who trained her in Taoism and the art of Capoeira.

She will be fighting Corporeal, King of the Living Dead, who wants world domination. In order to achieve that goal, he will be using his evil army of spirits to inhabit human beings. These unwilling pawns will be used to do his bidding. TAO’s reason for hating Corporeal and his sidekick Mink is that the two murdered TOA’s love Bliss. TAO is not only on a mission to prevent the world from being overrun by the living dead, but to avenge the loss of the love of her life.

C.D. Kirven will be at Austin’s Comic-Con, which runs from 12 November to 14 November, to support her creation. She is also the co-founder of Get Equal Now, the Lambda Literary nominee for “What Goes Around Comes Back Around”, and the author of short stories she posts to Wattpad. She is also a weekly columnist on Cherrygrrl.com where she writes the column “RUNDOWN”. She is also a regular contributor to Bilerico, ABIENTE magazine, Dallas Voice, Bay Windows, Dallas Post Tribune, San Diego Gay & Lesbian News, KVUE ABC, Telemundo and many others.

At the age of sixteen, Kirven wrote an article about corporal punishment that went over the AP wire. The publicity that it generated ultimately resulted in Texas public schools restricting the use of corporal punishment.

Kirven has done a lot of work with regards to the darker side of the LGBT Community including highlighting the tendency towards racism within the community and the issue of same-sex partner abuse, which she documented via cell phone. Her documentary “The Dark Side of the Rainbow” was featured in several film festivals.

Kirven is a nationally known artist as well with her work appearing at the 2009 Butch Voices Conference in Oakland, CA, and being featured on the December 2009 issue of Curve Magazine. She is also editing her online reality show about her life called SOULPRINT and is currently working on a screenplay and her second book called The Glass Closet.

Staceyann Chin coming to the ATL

FANTASTIC news! Staceyann Chin is coming to Spelman College! I've had the privilege of seeing her at my ole alma mater a couple years ago... and she got two feet from my face... stared straight into my eyes... did her thing... and I blushed uncontrollably.

See y'all there? It's going down on Thursday, Oct. 14th, from 12pm til 1:30pm. 

Pretty Little Liars and It's Queer Little Co-star

Emily and Maya

I don't watch television on television, so bear with me. I'm just hearing of Pretty Little Liars now. And when I watched the first episode, I admit that I wasn't sure if I would make it through the first season. Teenage dramas. Ugh. But anyway, it's an ABC Family show about a group of five friends, how one of them disappeared and their secrets. The more morbid aspects personally saves this show for me (Dexter meets Powerpuff Girls? ...Maybe?). But what excited me the most, the character Emily. You see, Emily's secret is that she likes girls. She's played by Filipina/Irish/Scottish actress Shay Mitchell. And her interest? Maya, played by another beautiful woman of color, actress Bianca Lawson. You get kisses! And you get a relationship between two girls that seems to be coming back for the second season! 

Queer women of color are really gaining face in the media. It's no longer limited to just HBO and Showtime, nor to just adults... nor white women... nor a woman of color with a white woman (not that I'm opposed).

http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/pretty-little-liars/photos/