December 2021

10 Stars That Came out in 2021

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In 2021, a number of celebrities talked about their sexual orientation and gender identity and decided to share details of their findings with the fans. The 10 people listed in the article are just a small number of those stars that came out in 2021 and set an example of courage for their fans.

Emma Corrin

The Crown’s Golden Globe-winning actress, Emma Corrin, talked about her identity in 2021. She said that she has come a long way and awaits many more discoveries ahead, but has realized that she’s non-binary.

“Visibility is utmost. My journey has been long and I still have a long way to go. I think we are used to searching for definitions, society needs binary definitions and because of this, it took me a long time to realize that I am beyond the binary concepts and I still don’t even know exactly where. People that actively talk about this on social media have helped me a lot. When I first publicly announced my identity, I was scared. I felt naked and I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing, but I felt great support from the queer community and this feeling of solidarity is amazing” – said the actress playing the role of Princess Diana.

Demi Lovato

Singer and actress Demi Lovato has informed fans about many challenges in 2021. They spoke openly about drug addiction, overdose and sexual assault, which they had to go through at the age of 15. They later told their fans on Instagram that she’s non-binary.

“I am happy to share with you another important part of my life. I am proud to say that I am non-binary and my pronoun will be them/them from now on. I made this discovery on the path to healing, to discovering myself. I am still learning and trying to find myself, I do not consider myself an expert, but I started talking about self-healing and giving hope to people who have not yet revealed their identities to their loved ones,” Lovato wrote on their Instagram page.

Tommy Dorfman

The 13 Reasons Why star spoke openly about her identity in 2021, saying that she is a transgender woman.

“Special thanks to each transgender individual who has gone through a similar path, tried to break through the barriers, that didn’t give up their identity at the cost of risking their lives. Thanks to all the transgender women who helped me see and fall in love with myself and made me feel part of this world,” the actress said in a post on Instagram.

Kehlani

The American Musician came out as a lesbian on TikTok. In a funny video the singer mentioned that she has finally figured out her sexual orientation.

“They asked me – What’s new, Kehlani? And I responded that I’ve finally figured out that I’m gay!” – says the singer and recalls the failed coming out with her family – “we know, silly“ – they said. I wanted for them to be shocked and to say that they had no idea, but no!”

TJ Osborne

Country musician TJ Osborne came out in 2021 and became the first openly gay country musician that has a contract with a leading country music studio.

He is also one of the first mainstream country performers to came out, which is a big step forward. The country genre still remains a conservative, heteronormative space.

“I have never had a problem with my own identity and it has always seemed strange to me to talk about a topic that is so normal to me,” the singer said in an interview with Time.

Laganja Estranja

One of the most famous drag queens, the participant of the 6th season of Rupol’s drag race, Laganja Estranja, talked about her identity in 2021 and noted that she is a transgender woman. “I no longer have to hide my true identity, which gives me amazing strength. I want to thank all the trans friends who have come this way before me, who have fought in order to help me have a pleasant experience. I’m happy to say that I’m a trans and living in my own truth,” – said the Drag Queen, who is in the process of transitioning.

Kal Penn

Harold & Kumar actor, comedian Kal Penn has openly stated that he is gay and engaged to a man with whom he has had a relationship with for 11 years.

“I discovered my own sexuality quite late in life, there is no predetermined time for such findings. Everybody makes a discovery at some point in their life and I’m just glad that it happened,” – said the actor.

Gigi Goode

Another participant in Rupol’s drag race, Gigi Goode, will be remembered by fans of the show from the 12th season. One of the most fashionable queens became a finalist in the show. Gigi Goode released a video in 2021 stating that she is transgender with a non-binary identity and is going through a transition process.

“Almost 8 months ago, at the beginning of the year, I started hormone therapy. I am a trans with a non-binary identity and my pronouns are she/her,” – says Gigi.

Cassandra Peterson

Elvira star Cassandra Peterson is another star who spoke openly about her identity in 2021, saying that she has been in a relationship with a woman for 19 years.

“For the first time in my life I’m with a person that makes me feel protected, lucky and in love” – said the actress who had previously been in a heterosexual marriage for 25 years.

Billy Porter

The Pose star came out quite a long time ago, talking openly about his sexual identity. However, in 2021 he shared another detail with fans – he publicly stated that he has been HIV positive for 14 years.

“I felt ashamed. Growing up in a religious family, the HIV status was seen as a punishment from god. I was also trying to build my career and I thought my status would just become another opportunity to discriminate; so I stayed silent, but now it’s time to grow up. Shame is destructive and if we do not do something to overcome it, it will destroy everything” – said the actor.

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A Viral Video That Became the Inspiration for Turkey’s Queer Anthem

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On June 26, 2021, the Istanbul Pride was broken up by police and restricted freedom of assembly and expression for queer people. Recent events in Turkey have also brought about a positive change, with the world talking about the challenges facing Turkish queer people, thanks to a single viral video.

Liana Georgieva led the police cordon during the pride as she said: “Honey, can’t you see, I’m wearing shoes with heels. How will I walk? Of course, slowly.” The video accurately depicts the peaceful demonstration of the Pride participants and the pressure from the police.

Months later, Georgieva recorded a song inspired by the video, noting that she wanted to show her love for the LGBTQI + community with the song.

“I wanted to write a gay anthem because it explained my love for my community, showing how much hope and strength they give me, and I also wanted to point out that the viral video isn’t just for me, it’s for all of us – we do everything for love and freedom” – the singer said.

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And Just Like That.. A Sexual Identity Discovered at the Age of 50

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HBO

The new season of Sex and the City, after a 17-year pause, was released a month ago and has offered a lot of news to its loyal fans. A new series called – And just like that, follows the lives of successful friends from New York, all of which are over 50 and have to deal with challenges of the modern world.

The third episode of the series was particularly exciting, because it showed some new experiences of Miranda Hobbes. Miranda, who is in a straight marriage, worrying about losing the connection with her husband, befriends a new character of the series – bisexual Che Diaz. And the newest episode of the series had a homoerotic moment with Che, which indicates the beginning of Miranda’s path to discovering of her sexual identity.

 

Main photo: HBO Max.

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I Must be Happy! – A Story of a Transgender Boy

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“Growing up in a region means that you don’t have a life of your own. All of your decisions are made by your family, relatives, school. People just think that they can point out any step that you take that they might not like, which makes the process of self-discovery so much harder that you have to lie to your own self and just make the easiest choice” – said an 18-year-old transgender boy that started questioning his sexuality at the age of just 12-13 and for 2 years now, he has realized that he doesn’t feel comfortable in his own body.

 

“I always liked being alone and if I ever managed to make some friends, it was always with boys. I only worse dresses on very few occasions and I always protested it, I didn’t feel comfortable. In my adolescent years I had my first crush on a girl. Probably because I was always on my own, I didn’t feel any guilt or find it unnatural. I started researching things on the internet and soon I was convinced that I was a lesbian. When my breasts grew significantly and I could clearly see the resembling signs with the girls around me, I felt discomfort for the first time; however, I still didn’t think that I was a boy at that time” – says the 12th grade student that hasn’t chosen a name for himself yet – “I don’t get it, why the name matters, everyone has known me by this name for 18 years, why would I change it now? I grew up with this name, I have memories, most of which are positive, that’s why my name isn’t a boy’s or a girl’s name, it’s just my name.”

 

A family that became a burden

 

Illustration: Geralt / Pixabay

 

“The gatherings of the relatives have always been important in our family. Since I was a kid, everyone would always call me things like “princess”; when I became an adolescent everyone kept telling me that soon I would be getting married – every time I got very angry. That’s when I became more resistant against my family. Until then, I always wore pants and suddenly they decided that I should be more feminine. My mom would come home and bring a new dress and I still wouldn’t wear it. I had a much better relationship with my dad – he was teaching me how to drive, took me to his work, but even that was a fake relationship” – says the teenage boy as he describes how little by little he realized how distant his family members were at the time – “I constantly had new questions about my identity that I couldn’t tell anyone. I became more estranged with my family, I spent most of my teenage years locked in my room. I think that period made me realize how big of a distance there was between us. My mom and my dad almost never talked, my brother was never home, and the parents only had one things to say: we had to study and be polite. I think that understanding those details made it easier to accept myself without a fight.

 

A new stage of self-discovery that began with a friendship

 

Illustration: Valentin Galmand / Dribbble

 

“I was 15 when I became friends with one of my classmates. We liked the same TV show and it helped us become closer to each other. I never felt that he liked me romantically, and I think if I had, I wouldn’t be able to be friends with him. Even at school we were known more as brothers than as friends. I told him that I liked girls and he took it well. We talked about our crushes, I shared all of my thoughts with him and he always gave me good advice. Thanks to those talks, I was able to slowly find the answers to all of my questions, I decided on many things and also realized that I was avoiding many things out of fear – I didn’t want to go through the trouble of coming out to all of my relatives again.” – says the boy as he’s telling us about his self-discovery process which lead to him coming out to his friend and the small friend group, saying that he’s a boy.

 

First Love

 

Illustration: ELEANOR DOUGHTY

 

“I met her at the football club. We were close and texted each other every day. At that time, I had so many questions that it was hard to think about anything else, but after frequent interactions I realized that I was feeling just fine. She was the first one to tell me that she liked me and soon we were in a relationship. We saw each other every day. She visited me at my house and my family was also pleased with the fact that I was friends with a girl. Soon I realized that I was in love with her. I hadn’t told her yet that I was a boy, and when I finally did she replied that it changed nothing. However, a few times she addressed me as “girl” and we had an argument about it. Then she told me that she couldn’t perceive me as a boy, so we broke up” – the boy recalls the first love, the breakup of which soon lead to a coming out with the mom – “I was feeling really down after the breakup, I didn’t want to go outside and I wasn’t talking to my only friend anymore as well. My mom kept badgering me with her questions and once as I was fed up with them, I told her that I was a boy. She cried and told me not to tell my dad because he would kill us both. She found a psychologist for me that on the first session already knew everything about my identity. She told me that many teenagers go through such phases and soon I would realize that I was a girl. So I went there for months, just sat and listened. I talked to her too. I didn’t really care what she would say, but I didn’t want my mom to go through the trouble of searching for new ways to “save” me.

 

Survival

 

Illustration: iStock / Getty Images

At the time that he was in therapy he resumed the relationships with his friends. He needed someone to talk to other than his mom’s and psychologist’s “attempts to change him”. However, he realized that he had nothing in common with those people anymore.

 

“At first, resuming those relationships was a weight off my shoulders; I could speak freely and I was thinking that I was so lucky to have healthy friends. During one of the conversations they said that even though they viewed me as their brother, they wouldn’t be around other queer people. They jokingly used many homophobic slurs, which I hadn’t noticed before, which they didn’t stop doing even after I had asked them to. Everything added up and slowly we drifted apart. I only have contact with one of them now, but even he doesn’t really try to explain anything to anyone – you can’t just go against everyone, it’s hard, you can just lose respect for them” – he talks about breaking up with his friends, and that studying in the future is not even a choice for him anymore – “my family wants me to study. Everyone around me is making plans and the only thing I can think about is escaping. I don’t have the time to study now, I need to survive. I will probably apply to universities in Tbilisi and move there, but I won’t study. I’ll work and get some money to escape this country. This place is destroying me; why should I stay here?! I know that I can find a place where I feel comfortable. I only have one goal in mind: I must be happy, and I know that I can achieve that!”

Main photo: Natalie Krick / The New Yorker

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Hormone Therapy Reduces the Risk of Suicide in Trans Youth

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New research shows that hormone therapy that is used in the transition process of transgender individuals decreases the risk of suicide and depression. The study, published in the journal Youth Health, combines data from more than 9,000 transgender and non-binary young people between the ages of 13 and 24. Despite the desire of many people, only a small portion are involved in hormone therapy due to the lack of access. Involving people who want to do so reduces the risk of depression and suicide by 40%.

Some states ban the inclusion of transgender adolescents in hormone therapy, which exacerbates the situation. The World Association for Transgender Health recommends starting hormone therapy at age 18, although in some cases it is also considered acceptable for minors. In most states, hormone therapy is less available even for adults, and an additional barrier is the social challenges that prevent young people from receiving significant medical care for their mental health due to isolation, fear of exclusion, and other risks.

Source: NBC news

Illustration: Yoppie

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4 Films from Tbilisi Film Festival That Reflect the Experiences of Queer People

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Tbilisi International Film Festival is over. The winner of the competition program was Otar’s Death by Soso Biladze, and 2 works won the best documentary award – Tatia Skhirtladze’s Glory to the Queen and Salome Jashi’s Taming the Garden.

In the foreign films section, a number of films by famous or novice directors were shown, among which were a number of films based on the experiences of the queer community members. In this article, you will read about the 4 films that participated in the Tbilisi International Film Festival, that depict queer relationships.

Great Freedom

Photo: RohFilm

Paragraph 175, under which homosexual men were sent to concentration camps in Nazi Germany, ended the lives of more than 10,000 people. According to this paragraph, the castration and the elimination of the defendants was a common practice that did not cease with the end of World War II. This article was finally repealed in 1994, but many changes were made to it. Up until 1969, men convicted under this article were sent to prisons, with the purposes of re-education in West Germany.

After the end of World War II until 1969, 100,000 people appeared in court on charges of violations under this paragraph, and up to 50,000 were imprisoned. Great Freedom is a tribute to the victims of vicious practices that affected homosexual men living in West Germany. The film tells the story of Hans, who was repeatedly imprisoned during three decades for homosexuality and was the victim of cruel, degrading treatment and expulsion. The title of the film communicated the main point of the movie – the love story that takes place in the midst of absolute cruelty tells us about the victory of love in the remnants of the Nazi period, which is a sign of gaining freedom in the kind of environment where you least expect it.

Benedetta

Photo: Pathe

The story of Benedetta, who was admitted to a Catholic monastery at the age of 9 and who goes through the process of mastering the manipulation of the blind faith of others or believing in the idea that she was chosen by god is amazing to watch. The 83-year-old famous director, Paul Verhoeven, aimed to study the need for power, to tell the story of the vices of the church and the sexual self-knowledge of a woman in the patriarchal world. While watching this movie you will laugh, feel awkward, you will witness the tragic stories and you’ll have a lot of questions for which there are no direct answers.

Charlotte Rampling plays the role of a temple leader who uses the service of God as a business, seeks to consolidate power, and uses the idea of ​​consecrating Benedetta as a living saint for personal gain until she realizes that this weakens her authority. The events take place during the Black Death pandemic, in which the Catholic Church appears to be an apostate institution, in which those power are enjoying their lives and punish those that seek such privilege, which also offers interesting commentary on the reality of the today’s pandemic.

Benedetta, the bride of Christ, will embark on a path of sexual discovery after Bartholomew, a victim of sexual and physical violence, settles in the temple. Benedetta, who oscillates between the erotic revelations of Jesus and the passions for Bartholomew, does not shy away from the manifestations of cruelty to suppress her own desires and to prove to others that she is the Lord’s chosen one, which intensifies her desires and gradually makes her aware of the possibilities. Verhoeven destroys the notion of good and evil, and by the sudden transformations of the characters shows that all the concepts we have are unstable. Throughout the film, you also realize that there is no absolute truth, all actions are complex and inexplicable, containing in themselves opposite, destructive intentions. We probably won’t get to see Benedetta in Georgian movie theaters, but hopefully the film will be available online soon and you will be able to see with your own eyes the story of the destructive power of power, envy, passion, betrayal and blind faith.

The Girl and The Spider

Photo: Zürcher Film

The Girl and the Spider is the wistful film on this list, which does not have a direct meaning and instead gives the viewer various hints. That’s why, this movie is perfect for those that love to solve puzzles. A film about changes and losses will leave the viewer feeling uncomfortable and empty, which is something that always accompanies loss.

“Lisa moves into a new apartment, but Mara stays behind. When the process of moving the furniture and the boxes begins, the emotional rollercoaster starts to unfold. A tragicomic film. A poetic ballad about change and evolving connections.” – We read in the description of the film, which gives us only a small idea of ​​this remarkable cinematic experience.

The film tells us about how cruel silence can be and how hard, impossible it is to connect with other people, what kind of unnoticed details reveal that great emotional flow that can destroy everything. While watching the movie, you will collect many trifles, as if you’re solving a puzzle. However, at some point you will realize that human relationships are full of broken details and that all of it can never come together.

The Hill Where Lionesses Roar

Photo: Le Pacte

The Hill Where Lionesses Roar is a 20-year-old director’s film is about three friends who live in a real, hopeless, frozen-in-time Kosovo as they can only think about one thing – to somehow escape from the city that is slowly destroying them.

Three girls that live in a cruel environment and have nothing other than the friendship with each other dream of a better life, spending their days in anticipation. However, they don’t have the power to change anything, their country is lost in chaos and full of corruption, crime, patriarchal cruelty, all of which makes it even more difficult to escape. That’s why, he only relief for the three young friends is the formation of a herd of lion cubs, which allows them to vent their anger and frustration.

There is not even a spark of hope in the whole film, and the friends are on their path to crime. The only clear point is the manifestations of sensitivity among the girls who grew up in a violent environment, which helps them overcome the violent experiences at least for a short time.

 

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Catalina – Our Personalities Should Not Be Defined by Our Identities

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I am a liberal, but my values are not pseudo-liberal. I am quite diplomatic, humane and principled, I might lack willpower in some things, but I have demonstrated great willpower to fight, I have not given up and I have come so far.

 

Strict Parenting

 My childhood was probably the same as of every kid’s that grows up in the suburbs. The post-Shevardnadze period, stereotypes… I was against inequality back than as well – if someone was getting bullied I would support them; I thought that time would pass and people would regret their ignorance.

I couldn’t deal with my parent’s strict parenting style. Even at that time I believed that parents shouldn’t be so controlling, and I have told them many times and they don’t actually know their children. When they found out about me it was a shock and I told them that if you had known your children better and if you hadn’t held military-kinds of attitudes toward us, this wouldn’t have happened.

The generation of my parents hates the generation that nowadays tries to be friends with their children. They are surprised that if a child is being beaten by their teacher, they start to protest it – “why would they protest that?” – these are the kind of harmful attitudes they hold toward children. What causes this estrangement? Our parents were brought up with different values, they have been poisoned with the Soviet Union mentality. They think that is a Georgian man doesn’t follow these pseudo-traditional values and then doesn’t teach their son about it, our country will come to an end. I also almost ended up being like that, but I managed to save myself from it.

 

Feelings

 I was 12-13-years-old when I realized that I wanted to be like other girls. Because I didn’t have the environment or the means to do that I felt empty on the inside. For some time, I thought that I could just get over it and I fought with my own self. I had always been kind of feminine. It was noticeable ever since I was a kid, and people in my neighborhood would tell me to stop wearing shorts because I looked like a whore… This is the same period when one man showed up in our school with a yellow tie and everyone laughed at him.

I was distressed. I realized that I could never have what I wanted. The only thing I could think about was how I would be perceived by the people in my environment. I had relationship with guys as well, but someone found out and thought that I was gay. Soon, I was blackmailed by them – they were offering me to have sex with them and unless I did that, I had to bring them money. I’m talking about people that were 10-15 years older than me. Now they pretend that they don’t remember anything.

This experience didn’t manage to damage my mental health, because I lived in my own world, reading books. I also always liked sports and I exercised for 15 years. I played football, went to the gym, and weight-lifted. Lately I’ve been slacking off, but before that I used to wake up at 7 and go for a run.

 

A different world inside one apartment

 In 2015-2016 I was addicted to alcohol and it was extremely difficult to give it up. I was depressed – I couldn’t come out and this is where the inability to realize my personality brought me. Besides this, people “attacked” me, as I was still a boy – “Why won’t you get married, you’re getting old…” I was sick from all this. For those people I am still unpredictable, I have deceived them many times in order for them to have different opinions of me, while I did things that I needed to do, to be free.

When my moral fight began and I realized that it wasn’t something I could give up on, so I came out to one of my friends. I told her that I couldn’t be like a man around her, that she could give me a dress and I’d show her just how feminine I could be. First I only told it to one person, then to another one, and slowly I started to develop myself in this regard. One friend offered me to go to therapy, because they thought that all this was a result of a trauma of having my personality repressed for many years and it would help me discover myself. I went to psychologists and sexologists. I contacted organizations that worked with such things and now I’ve been actively involved with them for 4 years.

During that time, I found a girl like me from Rioni. I was really surprised that there was someone from my region in the queer community. I was so surprised because it is really dangerous there. I recall one time, when I went to a fitness center, I took a photo of myself because I was happy with the progress I was making and posted it on Facebook. My relatives came over right away, telling me to take the photo down, because people’s children and wives would see it and it’s immoral. I talked to this girl and we became friends. We often chatted – at first I didn’t tell her everything; but then slowly, as I noticed her attitudes I explained my situation to her and she told me to bring my women’s clothes to her house. I would leave home saying that I was going to work on something, and I would go to her and we immersed ourselves in our own world. No one could imagine what happened there.

“Our ancestors were true men, what are you doing?”

 My job is ruining my nerves. I served in the compulsory military service for one year, and when I came back my dad got me a job, so I have been here for 13 years.

No one at work knows anything about me. A few years ago they noticed that I had shaved my body and said things like “God look at him, he’s one of the LGBT now”. After that, I was working with comparatively humane ones. But once, I got my eyebrows done for a photo and it didn’t grow back very fast, so they noticed and I was bullied again. This time, they weren’t aggressive, they just made fun of me. I have had conversations about transgenders with them and I know their attitudes, so it’s hard to come out there.

The way that I came out with my family was that someone showed them a picture of me wearing women’s clothes. 7 months before this, I showed my photos to a few people and one of them remembered it and showed it to everyone. I couldn’t imagine that this could’ve happened. Even though I was ready and I knew and I was taking a risk, I was still shocked. At that time, I was at work, I packed my luggage, picked up some basic things and left. Then they mailed the clothes to me as well.

For a whole week I was shocked. First few days were the worst, we had some horrible conversations in the family. They were all mostly worried about our relatives – “what are they gonna say?! You have embarrassed yourself and us, our ancestors were true men, what are you doing?” and so on. I had to deal with all kinds of insults. I told my mom that at some point some criminal will want to kill her child because of orientation, and while most parents are ready to sacrifice themselves to save their children, she was just worried about what people would say. My dad was never told because he isn’t in good health. He’s angry only because I showed photos of myself dressed like that to others.

I asked my parents – what will it change if you kill me now? I asked my mother, “If just for your and your family’s happiness I just say that no, I’m not a woman, I was wrong and I’m sorry, and then I just come home and play the role of a boy, will you be happy with that fake reality?” the answer to that was that my mother didn’t raise me like that, and now by trying to change everything like that I was erasing all of our family’s values. The last time I talked to her she asked me why I never talked to her about it before. I wasn’t afraid that someone would beat me up, I just didn’t want to be neglected, and I knew that my mom would be so upset that they would kick me out of the house. Then I would start thinking about stuff like whether I was ready to lose so many things, to end up in the street…

Now that everything has happened, I’ve realized that I was, in fact, ready. If my father and brother tell me that they’ll never talk to me again, I will not forgive them. I will not give up on myself because of anyone anymore.

 

The Patriarchy Whip

 I have often thought about the women’s situation and equality in our country, and talked about this to many other women. The same way that women born in a women’s body have something that defines their identity, I have that too. I stand in solidarity with all those who have felt the patriarchy whip on their shoulders. I believe that it’s a tragedy that we let the traditions that were created so long ago during the time of monarchs still dictate how women should behave.

To women living in hostile environments I’ll say to once again remember their past, recall what they’ve been through… To have new relationships in new communities, to not drown in clichés and taboos. The one thing that has helped me personally, is the thought that life is already so short and we don’t have time to let other’s opinions influence us. Especially of those people that barely know how to live themselves, as they’re often the ones that criticize us the most. They don’t know what you’ve been through, what’s worth for you to lose, in order to find something new.

 

We want to build a house and we don’t even have a foundation yet

 I hope that things will change and a political party will rule this country, one that will take the needs of the queer community into account. The society needs to see the queer community, the state needs to show that reforms are being carried out in this regard.  A queer person always thinks about how damaging it will be for them and what problems will arise for them after losing something.  When the society sees that a family member, a relative, or someone else standing by this person has been changed… The state should implement trainings to raise awareness, especially in the regions. There should be changed in the educational system, psychological services should be available, and healthcare system needs to be taken care of – a whole chain of changes that needs to take place in order to change people’s opinions. Improving social environments will also influence this.

It would be great if there was some kind of a quota for big companies – for example, to hire 4 queer people out of every 10 people that they hire, of course, if people are interested, so that people don’t have to engage in sex-work on the streets. Maybe I’m a great journalist, a cook, an artist or I work on wood – everyone should be given an equal chance. Just holding the pride and waving the flags in the streets won’t help me realize my potential. People will still hold their toxic opinions; someone will again use this to their advantage. Russian propaganda is already going strong lately, so someone will just take the religious feelings of the people and direct them against us.

It is crucial for people to be more humane toward each other and find a common ground. I don’t mean those people and groups that exist in this country that just hate people, we can’t just teach them and accept their opinions.

 

The Future

 Little by little I’m moving forward. During these 4 years I did many things – I learned to accept that I will lose some things and some people; at the same time, I found some new beginnings, discovered new social circles, created new relationships. What I thought was impossible in past, turned out to be fine. If one year ago someone told me that I would leave home, leave alone and I would even start talking to some politicians, I’d say that it sounds ridiculous.

I’m not only thinking about myself. If that was the case, I would’ve left the country. I can’t live happily anywhere knowing that others are miserable. Half the country entered some religious organization by “Girchi” just in order to avoid going to the military, and as that’s happening, the parents of those people will come out and say that I, the person who went through compulsory military service, am embarrassing the country. I can be involved in any process as a proud citizen and the society should understand that we’re not monsters.

Our personalities should not be defined by our identities; they represent just one side of us.

 

The interview was prepared with the support of the Women’s Fund in Georgia (WFG).

Author: Nino Urushadze

Photos: Vakho Kareli

 

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International Day of Pansexuals and the History of Their Flag

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December 8 is International Pansexual Day.

 

Pansexuality differs from bisexuality in that people who identify as bisexual are emotionally and physically attracted to only two sexes, while a pansexual person experiences a romantic, sexual, spiritual, and physical longing for a person of any gender and identity. “Pansexual” comes from the Greek prefix “pan”, which means “everyone”. The term originated in the 90s, but became relevant later.

 

The flag of pansexuals consists of three horizontal stripes – pink, yellow and blue. Pink indicates female sex; Yellow represents those who identify themselves as gendered, non-binary, generic, androgenic; While blue is a sign of the male sex. It is known that the flag appeared on the Internet by 2010 and has maintained its popularity ever since.

 

Pansexuality has made the community think about how we look at gender, sexuality, romanticism and pushed us to create more space where any of us would feel comfortable.

 

In recent years, the term has become more prominent as celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Cara Delevingne have publicly announced their pansexuality.

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Harvey Milk as Martin Luther King of the LGBTQ Community

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“On this memorial day of events that took place in Stonewall, I urge my gay brothers and sisters to promise that they will fight. For themselves, for their freedom, for the country… We cannot protect our rights hidden in trenches… We are coming out to fight lies, myths, superstitions. We are coming out to talk about truth about gays, because I’m tired of being silent and here, I am starting to talk about it. And I want you to talk about this. You have to be open with your parents, relatives. I know this will be very painful for them, but imagine, how much pain they can inflict on you in the voting booth! 

Be open with your relatives, friends, if they are your real friends. Be open with you neighbors, colleagues, people that work in places that you eat at, shop at, be open with those people that know you and you know them. No one else. But for once and for all, destroy the myths and lies, get rid of the fabricated stories. For yourselves. For others…

Harvey milk. “The hope speech”, June 25, 1978.

 . . .

Harvey Bernard Milk was born on May 22nd, 1930, in New York City to a family of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants. His grandfather was the founder of the first synagogue on Long Island and also owned a department store. As a child he loved to play football and… opera.

He graduated from State College in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. As a student, he worked for a university newspaper.

After graduating from college, he served as a diver on a U.S. Navy submarine for 4 years. In 1955 he was discharged from military service by the Lieutenant and he continued to work at a school, teaching mathematics on Long Island. He soon left the school and for the next 13 years he worked in all kinds of places – sometimes in finance, sometimes in insurance companies…

One day he left Wall street – grew out his beard and hair and joined the hippie movement. At the anti-Vietnam war rally, he publicly burned the credit card of Bank of America.

. . .

Until the age of 40, he was not at all interested in politics and human rights.

He was fired from his last job just because he looked like a hippie and refused to change his hairstyle. In search of work, he moved from city to city, earning some money in provincial theaters.

He met Scott Smith in 1970. They decided to live together in San Francisco and with the last money that they had, they opened a photo equipment store – “Castro Camera” on Castro Street.

In 1974, he founded Castro Village, an association of local merchants, and started an exhibition-sale, which became an annual event attended by hundreds of thousands of people.

After World War II, a large gay colony was formed in San Francisco. Police treated minorities particularly harshly, often even brutally – threw them out of their flats, frequently raided gay bars, and conducted mass arrests.

Harvey was outraged by the actions of the police.

Meanwhile, the queer community was growing. Some politicians realized that their votes would be important during the elections. Harvey also realized that gays could also influence the government and began to form a massive queer movement to defend their rights. He was also looking for allies, but could not find supporters in the circle of influential politicians.

It was at this time that Milk was able to persuade the trade unions of truck drivers with serious authority to cooperate. When beer company Coors ignored trade union demands when signing contracts with drivers, Milk gathered community members – they boycotted this brand of beer at gay bars. In return, the unions promised to hire gays on good terms.

It all soon hit the media and Harvey Milk became a recognizable face – he was called the “Mayor of Castro District”.

. . .

In 1975, Harvey changed his hairstyle, shaved his beard, put on a costume, quit smoking marijuana, and stopped going to gay baths – he had seriously decided to get involved in politics.

That same year, George Moscone was elected as mayor of the city, and he appointed a man as a police chief who had publicly announced that he would hire gays. This outraged certain groups in the society.

Milk tried to get on the city council twice, but he didn’t succeed. By this time, gays that already were in the political elite were happy about his defeat – thinking that they had gotten rid of him, however, their hope’s weren’t going to last very long.

In 1976, San Francisco passed a law according to which, the city councils would not be elected by entire cities, but only by specific districts. The population of the city was 750,000, of which about 200,000 were queer people.

In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to be on the city council – he became the first gay man to be elected to such a position and who did not hide his identity.

In the run-up to the election, in addition to gay rights issues, he focused on child health, the need for free municipal transport, high apartment rental prices, and the initiative to set up a public council to oversee police actions.

For social diversity, a single mother – a Chinese and African-American woman – was elected to the council that same year.

After the election, she addressed the voters:

“This is not just my victory; this is the victory of all of you. If a gay man can win an election, then there is hope that the system can be fair to any minority if we fight for it. We gave them that hope.” 

The fight for gay rights swept across the country, and Harvey Milk had given it a major boost – with his oratory skills, his ability to use the media properly, and his humor.

Milk, a member of the city supervisory board, fought with large corporations and companies that were selling real estate at high prices, he also fought for the rights of senior citizens. With his recommendation, the city council passed a resolution on gay rights – 90 in favor, 1 against.

In 1978, Milk devoted a great deal of time and energy to the fight against the amendment to the law initiated by Senator Brix. The law issued the immediate dismissal of gay teachers.

His tireless counter-campaign paid off – the amendment failed!

During the same period, Milk broke up with Scott.

Milk always had a bunch of guests in his house: acquaintances, strangers, homeless, confused young people…

His last friend, Jack Lyra, a young man addicted to alcohol, was suffering from depression. One day, a tragedy happened in Milk’s life – Lyra hung himself.

Along with Milk, 32-year-old firefighter Dan White was elected to the city council. A good family man and a hero who saved several people in a fire. He was a conservative and religious man, a “faithful knight” of “family pureness”, but had a good relationship with Milk.

The city council had decided to open a psychiatric clinic for adolescents in the White district, in a former Monastery building, but voters went against it. This topic caused so much tension that White stopped talking to Milk.

Eventually, White started to resent everyone and everything and voluntarily left the city council, though he soon changed his mind and asked the mayor to bring him back. The mayor was advised to replace White with a liberal citizen.

On November 27, 1978, White broke into City Hall, first shooting Mary with five shots from a pistol, then rushing to Milk’s office and firing four bullets. Milk knelt down and White fired a fifth bullet into his forehead.

It had been only eleven months since Harvey Milk had been elected to the city council.

The jury found White guilty of second degree murder and sentenced him to just seven years and eight months in prison.

In the gay community such a verdict sparked serious outrage and protests, which known as the White Nights.

. . .

Time magazine named Harvey Milk one of the 100 heroes of the 20th century;

In 2002, Harvey Milk was recognized as the most important and well-known openly queer politician ever elected by Americans;

In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded Harvey Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom after his death;

In 2009, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger officially declared Harvey Milk’s birthday – May 22, Harvey Milk Day and a state celebration;

In 2008, a feature film about Harvey Milk was released, starring Sean Penn;

He was the Martin Luther King of the LGBTQ+ community.

Harvey Milk’s contribution and role in the fight for freedom is immeasurable for America and for Americans, for all freedom-loving people.

His murder is a bitter reminder that the road to freedom is dangerous and difficult.

. . .

One week after his election, Harvey recorded his will on tape:

“If it so happens that a bullet pierces my brain, then let all of the doors of the cabinet be smashed.”

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