Posts tagged France

Periodical Political Post *48

A man in Cornwall, England was barred from hosting a gay disco at a community hall because of fears a party full of homosexuals could offend the local Christians in the town of St Agnes.

Periodical Political Post *46

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D.C.'s Catholic Church blames the Gays for abandoning its Foster Care Program After threatening to end its adoption and homeless services programs in Washington D.C. if the City Council approved gay marriage there, the catholic church’s charities unit is indeed dismantling its foster care program because they fear the city might somehow "force" the church to officiate gay unions and recognize same-sex partners of employees. However, maybe this has turned out for the best. The children, their families, and even the program’s semployees have found a new home — at the National Center for Children and Families, which is not affiliated with any religious institution. Which means these children will still have the services they very much need, without the intervention of a church that abandoned them to uphold discrimination and seeing how church institutions have sexually & physically abused thousands of kids it might be for the better.

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Smoking is Gay. For Real.

It looks like the Onion has more influence on the real world than they might prefer to think. Their satire video about a teen health campaign that compares smoking to being gay triggered a discussion about what comedy is allowed to say when it comes to minorities. The French, who aren’t exactly squeamish when it comes to sex or racy content in advertising, are already a step ahead. A controversy has erupted over an ad that some feel has gone a step too far: it doesn’t just evoke oral sex, but actually simulates it. And these salacious images are targeting young people in what is actually a laudable campaign — trying to stop them from smoking.

The ads are meant to link smoking to submission and have a caption that reads: “Smoking means being a slave to tobacco”

The campaign of the Droits des Non-Fumeurs (Non-Smokers’ Rights) association features male and female adolescents kneeling at the waist of a businessman with a cigarette in their mouth.. Queer activists are concerned the ads could rehash prejudices and clichés against gays; an organisation for rape victims says “the campaign trivialises sexual abuse – worse, it implies guilt on the part of the abused”. France’s conservative minister for families, Nadine Morano, said she would take measures to get the advert banned on grounds of “public offense to decency”.

Tobacco is the number one cause of avoidable deaths as well as of cancer in France, according to the health ministry. Half of French students over 14 have tried smoking at some point. While Droits des Non-Fumeurs argues that young smokers tend to ignore adverts focusing on health, other activists were doubtful about the effectiveness of the provocative posters.

What do you think, are these ads too much or just enough?

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Wet Wednesday *35

Periodical Political Post *45

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Boy, 4, Chooses Long Locks and Is Suspended From Class How easy it became for boys to scare the hell out of our society. They just have to dare to look a little bit too feminine: A suburban Dallas school district has suspended a 4-year-old from his prekindergarten class because he wears his hair too long and does not want his parents to cut it. The boy, Taylor Pugh, says he likes his hair long and curly. But the school board in Mesquite voted unanimously to enforce its ban on Beatles haircuts, much less anything approaching coiffures of bands like Led Zeppelin. School officials say the district’s dress code serves to limit distractions in the classroom.  No exception could be made for the pint-size rebel, who sat through the hearing with his hair in a ponytail, manifestly bored. Read more at the New York Times.

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La Fonte des Neiges

Twelve-year-old Leo thinks he’s going to faint when he finally gets to the nudist camp where his mother has dragged him. But then an encounter with Antoinette and her magic mushrooms makes him change his mind entirely.

Paris, 3 a.m.

 
A video by the wonderful Markus Bollingmo

Omar

Omar is one of five French short films against homophobia. The story is pretty easy to follow even with my poor French skills from school ;) The other videos can be seen here. Thanks to shezatokyo for posting this on the milkboard.

 

C’est l’histoire d’Omar, un jeune homosexuel qui vit dans une cité. Une cité qu’il aime et qui l’aime mais où la pression est telle qu’il ne peut vivre, ni même révéler son homosexualité. Pas même à son meilleur ami Morad. Jusqu’au jour où son histoire d’amour cachée avec Arthur est découverte. Une décision s’impose alors : renoncer à son amour ou quitter la cité pour d’autres horizons.

Periodical Political Post *38

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Periodical Political Post *37

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Matthew Wayne Shepard (1976 – 1998) was a student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured & subsequently murdered.

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Periodical Political Post *36

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Periodical Political Post *35

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