Meant To Be Mint

THE NEWS
ACCORDING TO
GARÇON STUPIDE

• Race Cooper's Black Facts: "Black Fact #24 - Black people love to say the n-word. LOVE IT! But like so many things that we love, we were afraid of white people copying us (see music., culture, fashion) and starting to say it too.... So we told them it was 'racist', and made them say 'african-american' instead. Genius, huh?" Guaranteed to push people's buttons...

• Win a copy of Kirk Shannon-Butts's debut film Blueprint. Released on DVD this week, the festival hit follows "two college freshmen's (Keith, 17 and Nathan, 18) romantic journey from New York to the countryside and back to Harlem". Don't forget to become a Facebook fan!

• The Wishing Well - anonymous notes between men. What will they think of next?

• School proms uphold straight privilege: "They have long reinforced race and class barriers – and now a school has cancelled its prom to stop gay students attending".

• The 10-year-old advocate Will Phillips demanding Obama do more for gay rights.

• How a gay man could have prevented 9/11.

• In 1995, thousands of Muslim men and boys were slain by Serbian forces in what was supposed to be a UN safe haven in Srebrenica. But who was really behind the massacre? Gay Dutch soldiers, of course.

• Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende brands the comments "disgraceful". A defence ministry spokesman dismissed them as "complete nonsense".

• So what else are we guilty of? The Israeli and Haiti earthquakes, Hurricane Katrina and, of course, 9/11.

• Catholic Church lets sex abusers guide children, but not gay parents?

• Meanwhile, gay Catholic group Dignity USA took this ad (left) out opposing the decision by The Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School to expel two children for having lesbian parents.

• Why is Tony Blair courting anti-gay pastor Rick Warren?

• Clinical trials financed by the United States government and pharmaceutical labs exclude gay participants.

• Facebook deletes Seattle gay youth group.

• Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter instrumental in a surge of hate speech websites.

• Unzipped is the latest casualty in the gay print media bloodbath.

• Confessions of a call bear.

• Homo Hill, the South Korea bar district offering a safe haven for gay servicemembers.

• Jeff Sheng talks about his book Don't Ask, Don't Tell; it comprises portraits of gay men and lesbians in the armed services, with their faces hidden.

• Dan Choi, a lieutenant in the Unite States military who's in the process of being discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, is arrested after chaining himself to the White House fence. The Advocate has more.

• Did Dan Choi jump the shark, or has the gay community forgotten what real activism is? Military veteran Rob Smith ponders on publicity stunts, activism, and figureheads.

• Choi speaks out following the court hearing on Friday:

• Brooklyn kiss-out. Report includes video.

• Rev. Robert Carter (pictured fourth from left in the picture), one of the first Roman Catholic priests to come out in the United States, died on 22nd February in the Bronx. He was 82.

• One Life to Live's Brett Claywell: "We told a story in a world where most people are afraid to tell it."

• Boys take it off...

• In Africa, a step backward on human rights, writes Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu.

• Uganda: It's up to you to stop the anti-gay bill.

• Malawi: Homosexuality is a sin, and Western countries should back off, church leaders declare.

• Malawi: Major budget donors, comprising Norway, Britain, Germany, the African Development Bank, the World Bank, the IMF and the European Commission, warn that human rights abuses could affect aid.

• Inside India's closet: 50 million Indian men have sex with other men - in private.• In Turkey, they're talking about banning discrimination.

• Japan's manga artists angry over sex and violence curbs.

• Shanghai's openness offers hope to China's gays.

• There is no word for 'gay' in Khmer, but a little gay haven has sprung up in Siem Reap, a small town in Cambodia.

• Video: Brazilian Catholic priest allegedly abusing 19-year-old altar boy.

• Chile's leading gay rights group, Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual (Homosexual Integration and Liberation Movement), has released preliminary findings on earthquake damage to the GBLT community infrastructure.

• UNAIDS - the coalition of United Nations agencies formed to fight AIDS - will push to overturn laws that criminalise homosexuality in 85 nations.

• Sitges in Spain will hold its first Gay Pride this summer.

• Australia: A former High Court judge - who came out in 1999 - is predicting a time when the government makes an apology to the GLBT community.

• A protest against the arrest, trial and imprisonment of the Malawian couple, Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, will be held Monday, 22 March 2010, 12:30-14:00 at the Commonwealth Secretariat's head office in London. The protest is sponsored by OutRage!, Black Gay Men's Advisory Group, Red Room, Rukus Foundation, Gay Activists Alliance International and an informal coalition of black and African LGBT activists. More info here.

• I wish I'd seen this sooner: send letters of support to Tiwonge and Steven. If there's any justic, come Monday, they won't be receiving them in prison.

• Sixty-five British MPs have signed a House of Commons Early Day Motion condemning the couple's arrest. Peter Tatchell says: "The EDM has been communicated to the Malawian High Commissioner in London. It will hopefully add to pressure for the acquittal of Steven and Tiwonge and for the eventual decriminalisation of homosexuality by the Government of Malawi."

• Rikki Beadle-Blair - the filmmaker behind Metrosexuality, new film FIT and the forthcoming KickOff - is appearing at London's The Drill Hall to present a two-hour crash course in independent film-making, Friday 26th March. Collaborator John R. Gordon (the award-winning writer of Noah's Arc: Jumping The Broom, and Souljah) will guest.

• The Independent raves about the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival - but then it would do, it's a media partner. Shame this elite playground for wealthy fags (and their cronies) does nothing for the wider gay community...

• ...And gee, just have a look at the diverse crowd who showed up for the opening gala (left).

• Why were neither Shank, nor Rikki Beadle-Blair's eagerly anticipated KickOff (both accomplished British productions) included in the festival? We'll be hearing about this next week from a special guest writer who's something of an expert on the subject.

• Europe minister Chris Bryant and his partner Jared Cranney will be the first gay couple to marry in the Palace of Westminster later this month.

• 18-year-old Danny Fryer (right) was the first-ever Stonewall Youth Award winner on Wednesday.

• Drag queen tries to stab policeman! And more crazy headlines from the world of local press...

• The only gay disco in the village: BANNED. Christians would be offended, you see...

• The High Court gives the Catholic Church permission to discriminate against gay couples hoping to adopt...

• ...Despite the fact Catholic priests are abusing so many children, the Vatican can't cope with the workload.

• The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement condemns the decision.

• Never mind - there's always religion and gays.

• Boy George and George Michael kiss and make up, after 25-years.

• Rape not just a women's issue.

• A new website - LoveScotland.com - promotes Scotland as a destination for gay-friendly holidays.

• Atheist in battle to remove 'In God We Trust' from US currency. Good luck with that mate.

• Australians: even the kangaroos can't stand them.

• The Big Picture: Shanghai prepares for Expo 2010 (or the Rape of Shanghai, depending on your point of view. Above and below (29 more photos).

• Remember those Romanian road signs from last week, depicting drunk pedestrians? They're not going up after all, sadly: "Following the excessive coverage of the... road signs... (the) local government decided to change them," the council announced on its website.

• The dark side of Swedish society.

• French rail company SNCF announce 102 killed in train disaster. Trouble is, there wasn't any train disaster.

• Sexist and discriminatory: Men who have sex with drunk women "should be charged with rape". Whatever happened to accountability?

• Joanna Lumley's despair over our "something for nothing" culture. "We've stopped having an interest in things, we just sit there watching other people's lives on TV. It's not pitiful — it would be snotty and stupid to say that — but it's dull. Teeth-rottingly dull."

• Could you be stereo-blind?

• Middle age begins at 35 and ends at 58.

• Bald is good! Men who lose their hair by 30 less likely to develop prostate cancer.

• Melancholia should be a recognised mental illness, boffin claims.

• Loneliness raises blood pressure.

• Good news from the men in white coats: Short blasts of exercise as good as hours of training. Yay!

• Chewing gum causes wrinkles around the mouth.

• Health services of the world: United States.

• Health services of the world: Australia.

• Health services of the world: Netherlands.

• Health services of the world: France.• Field day for the bloodthirsty butchers of Canada: Quota for seal hunt raised by 50,000.

• Swimming with dolphins traumatises them. Ya don't say?

• A lot of pussy!

• Animal pictures of the week (30 pictures). Left, dogs guard their drunken owner in Northern China, preventing emergency services getting close.

• Oh deer...

• Zebra gives hippo good head.

• The awesome spectacle of migrating wildebeest in Kenya (10 more pictures).

• Fish nibble on turtle.

• Animal pictures of the week, part 2 (31 more pictures).

• 2010: The year spring didn't come.• The terrifying problem presented by the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a giant, floating mass of plastic roughly the size of the United States.

• Delhi turns on giant air purifier.

• Dotcom celebrates 25th anniversary.

• The calculator is one gadget that's here to stay.

• An end to our plug nightmare?

• OMG! Aston's shaved his head! (Anything else, Aston...?)

• Maxwell: interview.

• Michael Jackson's furniture, which is being auctioned in Las Vegas...

• ...Or you could buy the syringe that killed him.

• Meet Brother Ali, the albino Muslim face of hip hop. "He spoke out against homophobia, racism, slavery and encouraged us all to accept one another."

• Finally, someone else who hates Glee as much as I do.

• Ugly Betty's Justin gets his first kiss.

• The BBC issues the press pack for the forthcoming fifth series of Doctor Who, featuring interviews with new Doctor Matt Smith, Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) and new showrunner Steven Moffat. The new trailer is here.

• Who's the best screen doctor of all time? Who indeed...

• 2010's blockbusters movies: Kiss kiss, bang bang, ker-ching! If you haven't seen a huge pile of cow dung before, just check out this lost. And I thought Alice In CGIWonderland was depressing.

• I Love You, Phillip Morris: The Guardian review, The Independent review.

• With so many actors having recently played gay characters, why are there so few openly gay stars?

• Writing "Dear Sir/Madam" is sexist, according to psychologists. Which seems as good a reason as any to keep using it.

• Oh my... That's a big one, innit?

• Guess what this is a photo of (below)?

• Dr Gunther von Hagens, the plastinator, is exhibiting an "anatomical safari" in Germany (13 more pictures).

• For sale: one male model webzine.

• Model Fernando Fernandes, who last year was left paralysed below the waist. Below, a shot from an upcoming magazine spread.

• And finally, Qaadir addresses someone else who bores me to tears: Lady Gaga...

Issue 56 of The News According To Garçon Stupide

covers the period 12th-19th March 2010.

(What do all the headlines for each edition of

The News According To Garçon Stupide have in common?)

ka-os|theory is not responsible for the content of external websites.

POSTSCRIPT

"You know, we might just as well not have bothered to come.

The whole thing's been ridiculous."

© 2010