Mala Fe's Pluma Gay conquers Puerto Rico

Moldovan boy-band O-Zone probably never thought their cheesy Euro-pop hit Dragosetea Din Tei would have such an after-life. Then again who would have thought that a teenager filming himself singing the - hum - lyrics, would become the precursor to viral video mania?

In the meantime, a whole other type of 'tribute' was given to the song when a pair of comedians from Spain did a video parody for their television skit and titled it "Pluma Pluma Gay" ("Feather Feather Gay") eventually making it to the radio as a single and becoming a minor hit. The lyrics:

Fag who? Fag you? Fag I? Fag ha-ha (repeated ad-nauseum)
Strength! Toward the light...
If gay you are... Think about it
It's your life
And if they talk, let them talk - Let them say whatever they want to say

Strength, strength, much strength
How dark can a closet get
Step out of it, step out of it
and come here, your destiny is to be happy

Party, party
Feather feather gay

What does it matter if the kid is gay
You were born gay
Even if it costs, you have to shout it
I AM GAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!

Well, that was 2004. Jump to 2005 and find "Pluma Pluma Gay" at the top of the pop-charts in Chile and Argentina and spreading to other countries throughout South America. Ok, as gay-themed parodies go, that's pretty inoffensive despite the over-the-top stereotypes used for the video. But I though it would end there.

Well, at the end of last year I was forwarded an amateur video of Dominican group Mala Fe performing a merengue version! Soon, everyone wanted Mala Fe to perform it at every presentation which inevitably led to the official single and video (YouTube above).

This week, Mala Fe has been touring Puerto Rico and Hector Aponte Alequin of Primera Hora sat down to talk to Mala Fe singer Javier Gutierrez in an interview published yesterday:

[EXCERPT]
Primera Hora: To be openly gay in the Latino art world, is it a problem?
Javier Gutierrez: No, it's not a problem. For some persons it can be, and they hide it, but for me it is not a problem. Gays have tremendous power to pull ahead in media... I say this because I have friends and relatives who are gay.
PH: ...but "Pluma Gay" has been seen as an insult.
JG: No, never, ever. I could never wish anything bad towards gays; that's the public that I love. I consider myself a daring artist. No merengue singer has ever sang to this community. I've received massive support from them, they thank me for remembering that they exist.
PH: Within the comedic chorus, the song talks of having strength, of living a life in a sincere way. To promote such a strong message one has to live it and believe in it. Do you identify yourself with the lyrics?
JG: (laughing) That was the goal, everything is not just a party, it's liberation. As for the other thing (his identity) I don't have an opinion but let's go back to [discussing] the song, please.
PH: What did you mean to say with such an album cover?
JG: I like to work with concepts. There, I look completely gay. It goes with the song like a ring on a finger, with me. One thing goes with the other. You see it and you immediately get the concept, it draws attention, it's what grabs you.
PH: Ah, so you realized that gays are great music buyers?
JG: Yes, in part yes. Why am I going to deny it? But it's not the only thing, it's a show of support, of showing solidarity with happy music, sending a message...
PH: Of vindication? Tolerance?
JG: Yes, but more of being present. Gays are not invisible.
PH: In the Dominican Republic being gay is almost a crime from a moral point of view...
JG: (interrupts) That's why I did it, so that people see that merengue is for everyone, the gays and the straights.
PH: But it's more than that because you strongly attack the closet and you include the topic of [other] artists. You invite other merengue singers to come out of the closet such as Toño Rosario, Peña Suaso, Eddie Herrera, Sergio Vargas... Is the intention to include something else that will draw attention?
JG: I mentioned them because they're friends of mine and the merengue-loving public knows who they are. It's to motivate them and to liberate them. If they are, well come out. Some have taken it as a joke, others as an insult. It's not a dispute or anything against them. I am not affirming that they are, even if there are comments in the Dominican Republic that say that some of them are.
PH: And are you worried that there might be such rumors about you?
JG: (burst out laughing) It wouldn't matter if they think that I'm gay, independently of whether I am or not.
PH: But are you gay?
JG: I prefer to leave it a question mark.
PH: Why? If that is precisely what you attack in the lyrics to your songs, and even stronger in "Lo Digo," which is a song of yours.
JG: (silence)
PH: "Straight" (heterosexual), bisexual...?
JG: None of those.
PH: Well, and what do you think of being in the closet?
JG: Something truly sad, because when one can express what one truly is, it's a sad and dark life.
PH: Is your life sad and dark?
JG: (laughs) Never, ever; the opposite, it's a party.
PH: And if you were gay, would you come out of the closet?
JG: Of course I would, of course, definitely...
PH: So, are you confirming that you are not gay?
JG: I am not confirming a thing (laughs and winks one eye)
PH: Why do you say that you are not confirming a thing?
JG: Because if I am, I'll come out. But for now I prefer that it remain a question mark.
PH: What do you mean "for now"?
JG: Well, I don't know what could happen in the future
PH: You mean, turning gay? Since this is what you say in "Lo Digo" and "Pluma Gay." There you insist that "gays are born and not made," isn't that the case?
JG: Yes, indeed, that is very very true. I can confirm it: [You are] born gay... (silence). What happens is that sometimes you realize things later in life. If it happens to me and if I want to say so publicly, I will say it.
PH: Or is it that with this album you are preparing a way [out], in the way you do in the song where in the end you shout "I'm gayyyy!"?
(laughs, groans, lifts his eyebrows) It could be, it could be... Leave it there, please, leave it there. The record, the record...

In an interview published today by Primera Hora,Toño Rosario, one of the singers mentioned in "Pluma Gay," says it'a all a joke: "He's my friend," he says of Javier Gutierrez, "he's just joking."

Latino gay life in Southern Florida

Window Media's Florida publication Express Gay News has an article this week on what life is like for Latino gays and lesbians living in South Florida.

In the article, Phil LaPadula interviews "more than half a dozen" Latino gays and lesbians living in the area (including Roberto Romero, pictured) and talks to them about whether they feel accepted, whether they are openly gay or not (some of the men decline to give their last names not because they are not socially out but because their families back in Latin America do not know that they are gay), the rise of Latino-themed bar and club nights in the area, and perceptions about family and love.

LaPadula also interviews the great Herb Sosa and Ron Brenesky of Miami's Unity Coalition about their work doing outreach and providing services to the community as well as about efforts to fill the void left by the closing of the only national Latino LGBT organization, LLEGO, back in 2004.

As a snap-shot of a culture, the article is extensive and provides interesting information. Unfortunately the article is marred by presenting the experiences of six people as representative of the community as a whole and, furthermore, by delving into the complex dynamics of dating between gay Latino men and white gay men by noting that a common link among the men interviewed for this article was that - while complaining that white gay men "don't show their emotions much," are "aloof," and "are cold and not family oriented" - most accepted, when asked, that they were exclusively dating or seeking to date white men.

Research has begun to explore the tricky relations between immigration, degree of acculturation, class status and racism that infuses the dynamics of dating when a Latino gay man enters what might be recognized as a larger urban gay community. It's a sometimes dangerous mixture that can lead to increased risk taking during sexual encounters, a decreasing sense of self-worth and, in some extreme cases, to rejection of one's ethnic identity for the sake of being accepted into a desired group.

That would have been an interesting angle to explore but LaPadula only seems to raise the issue to prove a point that if Anglos have stereotypes of Latinos, so do Latinos of Anglos, when reality is a bit more complex than that.

By the way, I assume that the guys at Unity Coalition referred LaPadula to me and I also spoke a bit about the national picture though the interview came on deadline and I'm afraid some of the points I wanted to make got lost. For example, I spoke of the work we had done in monitoring media in the past while urging LaPadula to talk to Monica Taher at GLAAD but the article gives the appearance that there are no other projects out there monitoring Spanish-language media. I also spoke of some of the funding we have been able to provide some of the local (NY) Latino LGBT grassroots organizations and, when asked about Jovenes Latinos en Accion, I erred in saying that we had provided funding to the program in the past, confusing it with Latino Gay Men of New York's VOCES youth institute program (we have funded VOCES in the past but not Jovenes Latinos en Accion, which is a program of the Hispanic AIDS Forum).

Crimen: Cerati rocks Central Park

Gustavo Cerati made good on his promise to visit New York during his current tour by performing at Central Park's Summer Stage series which, unfortunately for Cerati fans, meant that he was sharing the bill with another two bands and could not do a full set.

Surprisingly opening band Mexican Institute of Sound were jaw-droppingly bad (I had heard good things about them, maybe the electonica heavy set wasn't necessarily best served by the outdoors venue). Things picked-up considerably when Puerto Rican reggaeton band Calle 13 came on stage and nearly blew the place up in no small thanks to their charismatic lead singer Residente and a great back-up band. Their own jaw-dropping moments came from some of the raunchy lyrics (no surprise there) and their over the top lyrics for Japon (which trades on racist stereotypes for both Asians AND Puerto Ricans).

Cerati's set launched with a series of electric guitar-heavy tracks from his most recent album, Ahi Vamos, which some are calling a return to form to his early and rockier sound as former band leader for the disbanded Soda Stereo (I was more enamored of his later trippier psychodelic electronic experiments with later Soda Stereo albums and as a solo artist). On the CD, the electronic experimentation still bubbles behind the wall of electric guitar, on stage and outdoors the guitar was God. For some of the fans that might not have been aware that there was a new album out, they were left initially in the lurch as they sought to find familiarity, and they were partially rewarded by later re-toolings of early Soda Stereo tracks "Te Para Tres," "Profugos, "Ecos" and the great "Toma la Ruta" - though there was no "Zoom" (as well as more recent songs from previous efforts as a soloist including the amazing "Paseo Inmoral").

The set, though, was definitely dominated by the new with outstanding performances of "Bomba de Tiempo" (video here) and the best track on the new album, "Crimen."

The performance had me going back to listen to "Ahi Vamos" once again the moment I got home and finding new depths to the whole piece. All in all, a great Saturday afternoon.

Other experiences (not all about Cerati perse):

• Perreo & Sandungueo: Residente activo al Central Park
• Yo he visto algo raro: Concierto raro
• Sugarlowdown: Cerati en Concierto
• Freehaircuts: Gustavo Cerati day and Cerati photos part 2
• A Mi Paso: Buen concierto
• Hernanii: Esta tarde vimos
  

Anyhoo, you get the point... MORE photos here.

Tomorrow at Central Park: Cerati

You got ample notice: Cerati at SummerStage tomorrow!
(UPDATE: Crimen: Cerati rocks Central Park)

Quinceañera opens tomorrow in NYC and Los Angeles

The reviews are in for Quinceañera and they are overwhelmingly positive:

Stephen Holden at The New York Times: "As smart and warmhearted an exploration of an upwardly mobile immigrant culture as American independent cinema has produced"

John Anderson's 3 1/2 starred review at Newsday: "An ostensibly innocent act, with vibrations that travel around forever" (the lead actors are also interviewed here)

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times: "Endearing and perceptive"

Ella Taylor of the LA Weekly: A "saucy, rowdy, heartfelt and terribly sweet movie" and ads "Quinceañera neither skirts nor condescends to the difficulties faced by poor urban communities assailed by rapid change. Like Mi Vida Loca, Allison Anders’ 1993 Echo Park girl-gangbanger melodrama, it’s an act of solidarity with a threatened minority, but one that never falls into Anders’ exuberant embrace of ethnic stereotype"

Gary M. Kramer in Gay City News: "Profoundly moving"

Dissenting voices come from indieWIRE and the conservative-leaning New York Sun (who pass similar judgements as I perhaps did in my previous post, though I am willing to reconsider in light of some of the reviews and this interview from Jennifer Merin in the New York Press).

(Above photo of Quinceañera directors, writers and lovers Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival taken by Brian Brooks for indiWIRE)

Gay City News: Ongoing debate about hanging of Iranian youth

Today's issue of Gay City News continues to report on the ongoing fissures among activists regarding the hanging last year of two Iranian youths possibly for being gay. It's a fascinating if painful debate that only seems to widen as the days go by. The related articles are as follows:

• The Fog of Debate by Duncan Osbourne
• Iran: Setting the record straight by Doug Ireland (in response to an OpEd by Scott Long last week)
• Letter from the Editor by Paul Schindler
• People-to-people dialogue key to human rights progress by the founders of the Queer Iran Alliance

We had previously written about this when an as of then internal debate on the hangings broke out publicly and after we attended an event at the LGBT Center put together by Human Rights Watch and IGLHRC, among others, on the same day that public demonstrations were happening elsewhere in New York and the world.

Last we heard about CP...

Last we heard about CP on Blabbeando, he was giving us his thoughts on "Brokeback Mountain."

This morning, when I picked up the New York Times and saw a story on married men who take years to come to terms with their sexuality and begin to make the difficult choice of staying or leaving their marriages, CP came to mind and I planned to forward it to him when I got to the office.

That is, before I read the last few paragraphs which actually mention his blog, Coming Out at 48, and quotes him on his experience. Not sure that CP was looking for quite that amount of attention when he began his blog but it felt like seeing a friend after a while of not hearing from him.

It's a truly amazing blog even if CP has indicated in the past that there is the possibility that there won't be any additional postings.

You should check it out sometime.

Hot Hot Heat

Summer in the city!

Of heretical reverends, NYS Senator Ruben Diaz and a cure for AIDS

Reading Hoy newspaper last Friday, something caught my attention:

On the eve of "a historic Christianca community gathering" humbly titled "The Last Crusade" which took place at the Madison Square Garden this past weekend, Pastor Ricardo Reyes of the Queens-based El Elyon Church told reporter Tommy Calle:

[Translated by yours truly] In this 'crusade' at the Madison Square Garden' we hope to count with the presence of people who are sick with AIDS, cancer and all types of incurable illnesses so that they will be healed through their faith and the power of God

The event not only counted with performers such as the Pastor's wife, Lucy Reyes, but Christian reggaeton 'sensations' The Reyes Queenz (daughters of the Reyeses).

Now, many a congregation nowadays promises to 'cure' people of everything and, though the quote stuck in my head, the whole article just struck me as a puff piece on the Reyes clan.

Then I caught this WNYC radio report and transcript and realized it was more than that.

REPORTER: Most of the crowd is Latino, though there are many blacks, Asians and some whites. Yirzavit Castillo, whose father runs a church in the Bronx, is here, because he saw one of the many Spanish-language TV ads, complete with celebrity endorsements

The event was actually a revival by controversial South Korean preacher Jae-Rock Lee and the WNYC reporter mentions other supporters:

REPORTER: At the Garden, [Lee] was joined on stage by New York State Senator Rev. Ruben Diaz and by the head of the National Religious Broadcasters, one of the country’s most influential evangelical groups

Outside the Garden, there were protests by South Koreans, who claimed that Lee was setting himself up to be the next Reverend Myung-Sun Moon, by seeking to align himself with foreign religious leaders to gain respectability when in South Korea, some see him as being a heretical preacher. WNYC says:

REPORTER: Like Reverend Moon, Jae-Rock Lee has been disowned by the Korean evangelical establishment. He was kicked out of his denomination for teachings his critics say are heresy. One website says he has claimed to sit at the throne of God, command angels and performed every miracle in the Bible except walking on water... In 1999, Jae-Rock Lee made headlines when his followers stormed a television station in Seoul and took over the control room, as it was preparing to broadcast a documentary about him. But at the Garden, few of those attending knew or cared about Lee’s clashes back home or his alleged blasphemy. They came because they had seen the ads, or because their preachers had told them to come witness Lee’s teaching

A 'healing session' closed the opening day ceremony with people "limping up to the stage" on crutches and screaming in joy after being 'healed.' WNYC says:

REPORTER: Little noticed by the crowd were those who were turned away – those who couldn’t get out of their wheelchairs, including one man wearing a yarmulke. In the meantime, Jaerock Lee kept chanting, while on the stage below him Juan Sanchez kept tossing his cane in the air and catching it. The semi-paralyzed gunshot victim was one of more than a dozen people exuberantly shuffling back and forth, smiling, shouting and blowing kisses to the crowd. Afterward, Sanchez explained what happened.

SANCHEZ: Today, when the pastor prayed, I felt my leg becoming straight. And my lower back – the pain is gone. I can walk normally. Now I’ve got more faith in my heart and my body and my soul, too.

REPORTER: Sanchez said that he trusts God will help him continue to improve, and he’ll pray every day, just like he always does. Then he leaned on his wife, limped toward the subway and returned to Queens.

This level of cross-pollination between conservative minority religious denominations and leaders makes me a bit queasy and not in small part because it's happening under the radar.

Richard Bartholomew at Salon blogs does and deconstructs the event press release here. Money quote (on an announced 'medical table' at the event were American and Korean doctors were supposed to pray for healing and assess afterwards if the person had indeed been cured thru prayer):

How exactly doctors will be able to make medically-valid diagnoses from a swift once-over at a “medical table” is not explained. However, one New York senator is not bothered by such a detail. ASSIST’s Dan Wooding spoke to Johnny Kim, who liases with mere mortals on behalf of Lee.

My Super Sweet Fifteen

Ok, so I'll confess that the only reason I wanna see Quinceañera (which opens on Friday in New York and Los Angeles after getting some good and some not so good reviews in the festival circuit) is Jesse Garcia (pictured) playing what he calls a "gay cholo" (though we much prefer the term vato).

Call me a softie (or superficial), but I always fall for those cholo thug to vato thug love stories, as stereotypical as they may be (considering that the gringo producers wanted to make a movie of what they saw outside their comfy apartment windows near Echo Park in Los Angeles).

Now Michael Musto of the Village Voice reveals in tomorrow's issue that the movie was actually made with gay bareback porn money (the scandal!) and captures the film stars' horrified reaction.

Sure enough, you Google the facts and get the porn to Oscar-glory-bound story (pending Oscar glory). Any thoughts?

Kevin Aviance at Washington Hts LGBT Pride Picnic

As we do pretty much every single year since we began living in New York, on Sunday we headed over to Washington Heights for the 16th Annual Dominican/Latino LGBT Pride Picnic and Health Fair put together by the Gay and Lesbian Dominican Empowerment Organization (GALDE) under the majestic George Washington Bridge.

The hot and sunny weather had everyone turning out for the event which seemed to have the largest attendance in memory. There was some trouble with the stereo system but the performances were pretty cool. The highlight was to see Kevin Aviance come out and perform once again (see first picture above) following the assault he suffered over the summer. I'm not sure that most of the Latino families out with their kids knew exactly who he was but for many it was truly moving to see him sing again, particularly when he bid the crowd good-bye with an accapella rendition of "Din Da Da."

Additional photos of the picnic can be seen here.

UPDATE: Turns out Kevin Aviance has joined the blog-o-spehere. Just head over to Kevin Aviance World.

Alejandra Sarda leaves IGLHRC

Long-time Latin American LGBT and women's rights advocate Alejandra Sarda has announced that, effective immediately, she will no longer be the Latin American and Caribbean Program Coordinator at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), where she had been for more than a decade.

In a terse Spanish-language statement sent out yesterday to some human rights e-mail lists, Sarda states:

"The reasons that motivated this decision are my disagreement with the political vision implemented by the current Executive Director and my need to prioritize my work in a South-South [Southern hemisphere] context."

Under Executive Director Paula Ettlebrick, who was named Executive Director of IGLHRC in 2003, the agency has experienced a series of strategic and structural changes, some which have had a deep impact on its staff, including a decision to move its office from San Francisco to New York City.

I briefly joined the IGLHRC Board of Directors upon learning of Paula's intention to strengthen the work done by the agency in Latin America and, under Alejandra, Mauro Cabral and Marcelo Ferreyra, the agency has certainly done great work there. So it is unfortunate to find out that the split between Alejandra and IGLHRC does not seem to be amicable.

We wish good luck to Alejandra in her future endeavours and hope that this does not foretell a weakening of IGLHRC's focus on Latin America.

Sunday School: A grab for the soul of Latinos in Brooklyn and elsewhere

An interesting article on Thursday from, of all places, The Florida Baptist News:

In "LifeWay Spanish resources promote unity, strengthens Hispanic church in Brooklyn" we are introduced to Dominican-born evangelical pastor Felipe Arias from the Evangelical Mission Church of Brooklyn who says that he mostly models his religious teachings on materials he receives from the United States-based LifeWay Christian Resources.

According to the article, this makes Ralph Tone very happy: LifeWay's international department had already begun to translate its documents into 80 other languages and with an increase in the numbers of "internationals" in the United States, particularly Latinos reaching out to Baptist ministries, LifeWay saw an opportunity to convert immigrants. And, as a regional consultant for the international department, Tone saw an opportunity to connect Arias and other Latino preachers with the LifeWay way of being.

“So many of the Latino pastors have the calling from God but not many of them have much formal training,” Tone says. “We can help them become better pastors and leaders and help their churches become more committed believers. Through our ministry we have the opportunity to help develop healthy local churches.”

I have always believed that the issue of homophobia in Latino communities is more an issue of education and awareness as to who we are as Latino lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and the need to challenge some ingrained stereotypes in order to overcome a fear of 'the other.' But you need resources and tools to do so and they're sorely lacking in our communities.

If you look at LifeWay's "tools" you will have no trouble finding out that they also have a "Task Force on Ministry to Homosexuals" in which they preach ways to "Find Freedom from Homosexuality" and actively deride LGBT advocates as militant activists intent on a "calculated, planned 'homosexualization' of America'" (on HIV they compare HIV positive individuals to lepers). In these articles they still call homosexuality a "deviant perversion" and link up to a number of so-called "conversion theory" evangelical groups that claim that they can change a gay person's sexual identity.

The article in The Florida Baptist News indicates that most of the congregants at the masses in Brooklyn only speak Spanish. For decades churches in this country have reached out to Latino immigrants and provided much-needed services as well as a sense of belonging instead of rejection. For immigrant families that often struggle to find footing in this country, the strict teachings of some evangelical churches provide a sense of clarity and purpose from which they draw strength.

Unfortunately, ministries such as LifeWay also use their desire to find clarity as a means to spread a vile homophobic message and some of the preachers in our communities are more than willing to play along.

It's ironic that some accuse the Latino community in the United States of being more homophobic than others when it's large right-wing religious institutions such as LifeWay setting the agenda. On the other hand, as happy as he seems to regurgitate LifeWay's creed to his immigrant parishoners, how would Reverend Felipe Arias defend LifeWay's not so immigrant-friendly positions on the current immigration discourse?

Hypochrisy abounds and homophobia spreads.

Ms. Watley if you're nasty

She's back, show her luv

Update: Willie Ninja happy to see friends

[UPDATED-INFORMATION: Unfortunately, while Willi Ninja did live another day, he ultimately lost the battle with his deteriorating health and passed away on September 2nd, 2006. For more information please go here - Andres]

Over on his blog, Emanuel Xavier has posted a couple of updates on Willi Ninja's health status here and here following reports that he was in the hospital and might not make it through the weekend.

And, while the situation does not seem as dire as some reported, it is not necessarily all good news either.

According to Emanuel, Willi has been in the hospital for more than three weeks and might not be able to walk after he leaves the hospital. He is also poor of sight but concerned that his death might have been foretold a bit too soon. He has asked, through Emanuel and others, to request that bloggers spread out the news that he is not on his deathbed and will make it out of the hospital soon (Emanuel also says that he was among those who went to see Willi at the hospital and that, while Willi's still very much a diva, he has been grateful for the notes of support and visits he has received).

Aimee, who posted an older message on Willi Ninja's blog saying that he was in the hospital with some back ailments, also posted a new message asking for people to stop sending alerts that Willi might be dying this weekend and, like Emanuel, she says he is in good spirits.

That's Willi in the photo with "The Devil Wears Prada" fashion maven Patricia Field at a party to celebrate her 40 years in the fashion industry (photographed by Andrew Der back in April).

Seems as if Willi will live another day! Yay!

Cuba's rebellious youth find gay men's g-spot

Back in June we told you about a television soap opera in Cuba called "The Hidden Side of the Moon" which is said to have been the first time that Cuban television addressed the issue of homosexuality in such a candid and moving way (the serialized drama, which was originally produced as one of several stories that would address HIV prevention, told the story of a married man who loved his wife but found himself falling in love with another man and torn about what to do).

Sometimes it's hard to gauge the extent of progress of LGBT rights in Cuba from the outside, particularly because any discussion that involve Cuban matters in the United States easily become polarized. On the left I've heard some praise Cuba's HIV treatment services, highlight a new openness on LGBT issues after years of persecution (which are sometimes too easily dismissed by the left) and claim that Cuba would be perfect if only for the US embargo. On the right I've heard of gays still being arrested, raids at gay bars, ongoing limits to personal freedoms including expression of one's sexual identity, etc.

Signs of change for the better:

On July 3rd Reuters ran this article on Mariela Castro (pictured), the Director of Cuba's National Center for Sex Education, who talks about doing work behind the scenes to make sure that "The Other Side of the Moon" aired on Cuban television. Castro, Fidel's niece, also talks about a new bill that might become law in December that "would give transsexuals free sex change operations and hormonal therapy in addition to granting them new identification documents with their changed gender."

And now this:

Today, Juventud Rebelde, a Havana-based web-portal that disseminates the Communist word to Cuba's youth and their allies, reports that anal sex is "habitual behavior [between gay men] but not exclusive to them, just like kissing, hugging, or touching the rest of their bodies."

The article says that men have an anal g-spot (or "p-spot, as it's known to be related to the prostate," they say) and sings the merit of massaging those particular erogenous zones, advising women to give it a try with their boyfriends.

Try Babelfish if you want to translate the piece for additional valuable information.
----
BLABBEANDO, NOW WITH INSTA-UPDATE (Ugh! more translation work):

Not seconds after I published the above we find this:

Writing about the opening day of the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights which began yesterday in Montreal (parallel to the 1st Ever World OUTGames), Alejandro Brito reports for Mexico's La Jornada newspaper that the Cuban Communist Party has allegedly officially recognized that it made an error in persecuting the LGBT community back in the 1960's and denounced decisions that kept gays from reaching important leadership positions in Cuba's Communist Party as well as in the Cuban government.

Those statements were made in Montreal by the leader of the Cuban delegation to the conference, Mariela Castro (mentioned earlier), at one of the meetings, though she also said that it was never meant to be a public statement, "just an internal matter."

Brito reports that Castro said that "there is no repression against gays in Cuba, what exists is a socio-cultural reaction similar to that of other countries."

NOTE: Activist (and blogger) Michael Petrelis also writes about Mariela Castro and recent developments in Cuba regarding LGBT rights here.

Ozzie Guillen a no show at Chicago's Gay Games?

Last time we wrote about it, Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen had "quote unquote" apologized for calling a sports columnist a "fucking fag" (video here, including Ozzie's own quotation marks), blamed his upbringing in home country of Venezuela for not realizing that calling someone a fag was homophobic (never mind he's lived in the United States for more than a quarter of a century) and, to top it all off, showed text messages to reporters from his bestest gay friend in the world (his hairdresser) to prove that he was not homophobic (actually, he also said he enjoyed Madonna concerts and WNBA games to prove his homo-cred).

He also told reporters that he'd be attending the closing night ceremony at the Gay Games in Chicago to show he truly, madly, deeply loves the gays. Now that the games are over let's check up on that!

Nope! No reports of Guillen sightings anywhere at the closing night ceremonies. If anyone knows differently, we'll appreciate the tip.

Nibbly bits get revamped: Blog search engines

Oooh! Woke up this morning to a newly revamped and re-tooled QueerFilter. They streamlined stuff, changed the fonts and color schemes and added even more nibbly-bits such as 'Popular Posts,' 'Top Keywords' (obviously the word 'hot' is hot and there's also the inevitable combination of the words 'Lance' and 'Bass' though I'd be willing to bet that 'hot' will endure while Bass boy will probably disappear soon).

They're looking a little bit like the old Technorati (but gayer, of course) though even Technorati got a revamp last week. I think I like the Technorati revamp but prefer the older less busy one.

Recently revamped as well was that other blog search tool, Talk Digger. I also preferred the old version but who am I to say.

When Andrew Sullivan's blog tags you

Who knew? Within the past hour pundit Andrew Sullivan added a link to my Fotki photo site, on his Time Magazine owned blog. On Fotki, I've uploaded photos of different LGBT-related events that I have attended and also acted as a host to images that accompany reporter Rex Wockner's weekly columns for several newspapers. Well, within that hour more than 1,400 people have visited with more than 7,300 hits. Kinda scary.

The direct link on Andrew's site is to a folder of photos in one of the Wockner folders taken by Nikolai Alekseev of GayRussia.ru at an anti-gay pride rally in Latvia last week (pictured: A religious woman with holy water and an icon flings herself upon a car carrying gay activists).

Bt the way, Rex Wockner's report on the Latvia gay pride disaster can be read here.

Word is Willi Ninja is in the hospital

An e-mail message has been making the rounds with disturbing news that legendary Willi Ninja is in the hospital and not doing well. The original message, sent by ballroom house Mother Juan Aviance, says that Willi "is in the hospital amnd he's not doing well and may not make it through the weekend."

Emmanuel Xavier reminices:

"Willi recently stepped forward as yet another one of our most legendary ballroom figures living with HIV, lovingly referred to as "The Grandfather of Vogue." I've known Willi since I was barely legal and surviving at the West Side Highway piers as a hustler. They were just filming the documentary "Paris Is Burning" which would introduce the world to voguing and launch his career as a talented performer. Besides being amazing to watch on the dance floor, Willi Ninja remains one of the most beautiful and gifted souls of our community. He has reached so many people with his love and laughter. Willi was one of the very first people to support my dreams and ambitions as a writer and with the founding of the House of Xavier. Of course, I am simply one of many lives he has touched."

He also send out an excerpt from his poem "Legendary"

There are Gods amongst us in these ghettos
so black, so fierce,
so brown, so beautiful,
their time on earth may be as oppressive as ignorance
limited to the demons flowing in their blood
but after safely passing over back to the clouds
the wind will still carry their auras and prophecies
their bones will still beat drums for their children to dance'
the phoenix will still rise from the flames of Paris with hope in womb

Over on Willi Ninja's MySpace.com page, someone called Aimee posted a message on the 24th that simply says: "[Willi] asked me to let his friends and fans know that he is sorry for not getting back to anyone that has emailed him but he hurt his back and is resting. He will answer you as soon as he feels better. Thank you again for your love and support. Have a wonderful day & God Bless."

Let's hope he does get better.

• UPDATE: Willi Ninja, rest in peace (Blabbeando, September 2, 2006)
  

Matarile al maricon: Molotov at Webster Hall

Following up on issues related to homophobic lyrics in music:

I have yet to hear how it turned out but last night a group of people were supposed to hold a protest outside the House of Blues in Chicago where rap-performer and actor DMX was performing (as Keith Boykin reports in his blog). They were objecting to lyrics in songs such as "Where the Hood at?" and "Touch It" (sang with Busta Rhymes) which call in no uncertain terms for the shooting of gays [UPDATE: Here's Keith's report on what went on in Chicago yesterday]

The action follows ongoing efforts to highlight homophobic content in lyrics by popular music artists, most recently taking the shape of a successful effort by a number of bloggers to challenge the LIFEbeat foundation for hiring dancehall reggae singers Beenie Man and TOK to perform at a HIV/AIDS services benefit (btw - novalism has some choice words about media representation of the action here)

Now, if you remember, that particular event was supposed to take place at Webster Hall in NYC (LIFEbeat cancelled the show despite calls to replace the performers with dancehall stars without a history of calling for the death of gays). Now comes word that a band that also has called for the death of gays in their lyrics will be performing there next week on August 1st and this time it's not a dancehall act or a rap act but a Mexican rock band called Molotov.

In "Puto" (closest translation: fag or man-whore) from Molotov's 1997 album "Donde Jugarán Las Niñas," the band sings in Spanish:

[EXCERPT]

So you are macho man, no? Ah, so macho, no?
Faggot, girly, you're rather a little male-whore, no?

Background chorus: Fag, Fag, Fag, Fag, Fag. Fag, Fag, Fag

FAG!! He who doesn't jump up and down
FAG!! He who doesn't shout and swear
FAG!! The guy who remained in conformity
FAG!! He who believed the official reports
FAG!! He who takes away our food
FAG!! Also he who covers it up
FAG!! He who doesn't do whatever he wants
FAG!! Born a fag, dies a fag

Love the killer
Kill the faggot
And what does that son of a bitch want?
He wants to cry, he wants to cry

According to Wiki-Pedia (which is not always trustworthy), the original album first came under-fire upon its release in Mexico for its cover which depicts "a young woman's legs seductively displayed in school uniform" (I might ad that the young girl is depicted in the front seat of a car with her underwear lowered around her legs). "Puto" did not actually come under fire until the band traveled to Europe where it met resistance from protesters in Germany (according to the Wiki-Pedia link) and Spain (according to the band's MySpace.com page).

In the past, Molotov have denied that the song is in any way, shape or form homophobic. In an article published in Uruguay's Ultima Hora on February 19, 2004 (which is no longer online), they were asked about the lyrics during a press conference. Band member Randy Ebright, who was actually born in the United States, was the one who came to its defense telling reporters that the song was meant to attack Mexican government officials and not the gay community. According to Ebright in Mexico the word "puto" meant "queer, someone who is fearful, who doesn't want to confront certain things."

"They cannot censure our presentations; the ones who censor us are radio stations and television. That is why we like to invite people to come to our presentations so that they get to know the group, the type of music we put out there, what topics we address and how we are in reality" (the argument that it's simply a protest song against the government has striking similarities to dancehall star Beenie Man's defense of his homophobic lyrics which, at one point, he said were not directed at gays but at Jamaica's Prime Minister).

The British monthly magazine The Economist certainly didn't make those distinctions when they published a piece on LGBT rights developments in Latin America back in December of 1999 that begun with an anecdote that involved the song playing at bars in Mexico City.

And then there are Molotov's fans which seem to skew towards the younger side and mostly male segment of the Latino community. I'm not sure they make those distinctions either judging by this, this, this, this, or the audience requesting that the band perform it here.

Back in 2004, some of us complained to the organizers of Central Park's Summer Stage after another Mexican band, El Tri, covered "Puto" at their presentation that year. After raising the issue, Summer Stage promised that they would be more careful about scheduling bands that promoted hateful violence.

If you actually read the lyrics above you can actually see how they do reflect a blistering attack on those who might be passive to conformity and official corruption. But, as a Mexican friend of mine told me, why is it that when bands seek the worst thing to call anyone they immediately grab for the homophobic language? Daniel, my friend, says that in Mexico it's directly related to macho culture and the fact that bending over is seen as the worst thing a real man can do (not that it doesn't happen in the United States as the DMX protest shows). But, whether we actually take Molotov's defense of the song at face value and recognize it as a critique on government, it doesn't mean that the crowds who have embraced the song haven't done so because it allows them to embrace the calls to kill a faggot.

Believe me, I have been at concerts where the song has been played over the speakers before the actual show, and the crowd reaction is immediate, aggressive, loud, violent and extremely homophobic.

Molotov will begin their 2006 US tour at Webster Hall on August 1st, 2006, and end at Austin Stubb's in Austin, TX on August 19. In between, they'll be touching base at Chicago (at the House of Blues), Denver, Los Angeles and Dallas, among other cities.

Double-whammy: No to gay marriage says WA, I'm gay says Lance Bass

While we wake up to yet another set-back for gay couples who would like to get married in this country (check out this morning's Washington State Supreme Court decision, as well as dissent statements, here and read about it here), allow us to look elsewhere and also bemoan the news that former N'Sync'er Lance Bass is gay (and dating former Amazing Racer Reichen Lehmkuhl).

Why, oh, why couldn't it have been hottie (and fellow former N'Sync'er) Joey Fatone instead? Sexyback, indeed.

Alexis Gorriaran for Rhode Island State Senate

This Thursday, a bunch'o'political leaders from New York will be hosting a cocktail reception fundraiser to support Rhode Island State Senate Candidate Alexis Gorriaran.

As you'll read in this In Newsweekly article, 33-year old Gorriaran is running for a vacated State Senate seat and is promising, as a Democrat, to bring social and economic justice to all Rhode Islanders. Gorriaran is a former Rhode Island Pride Committe co-chair and is of Cuban heritage. Not that being Latino and gay makes anyone a better candidate but, in this case, he IS the best candidate in the race (and, yes, it is great to see gay Latinos become more involved in politics).

To check out his campaign go to www.alexisgorriaran.com and to make a donation go here.

If you are in New York and interested in the cocktail reception, please write to me at andresito_ny@yahoo.com to request additional details. Host committee members include NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, NYS Senator Tom Duane, Councilmember Rosie Mendez, political consultant Tonio Burgos, Daryl J. Cochrane, James Van Bramer, yours truly and a few other local political movers and shakers.

In the meantime, in Dallas, TX, Rogelio "Roger" Herrera has also announced that he'll be running for another vacated seat: He'll be running to become the Mayor of Dallas. Herrera, a Mexican-American gay man, is also running as a Democrat and is running on a progressive line of issues as well, though I have yet to find additional information on his campaign.

Don't call it a comeback: Scritti Politti back in fine form

'tis been a good summer for great music and today brings the US-release of Scritti Politti's 2nd release of the decade (and 4th release since the classic 1985 Cupid & Psyche 85 album). The new album, White Bread Black Beer, is a meticulously produced (at home) and melodic 14-track treat for lovers of smart, beautiful pop-music. The key attraction, as always, is Green Gartside's incomparable honey-dew vocals that you'll recognize immediately if you were in high-school back in the '80's (YouTube of the week, I guess)

Talking about '80's romantic pop, there seems to be a resurgence of sorts of the New Romantic and New Wave pop music periods with the recent tour by Thomas Dolby, the Human League touring Europe at the moment and the original line-up of Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark (OMD) planning a 2007 tour (to think that I saw them back in 1984 when they were promoting their amazing Junk Culture - YouTube redux, I guess). And then, you also have the stupendous new Pet Shop Boys release, Fundamental. Now, get the Thompson Twins (YouTube thrice) back in the recording studio and I will be oh-so-happy.

What is a bit surprising about the new Scritti Politti release is just how much attention it has been getting. The New York Times profiles Green Gartside in the front page of their arts section today and calls the new album "his best work in 20 years, remarkably beautiful... subtle and exacting."

Amazingly, it's also been picked up on the short-list for the UK's Mercury Prize (along with other great acts such as Hot Chip and Thom Yorke).

Not sure I'm ready to call it the album of the year (Zero 7's The Garden is my fave right now and then there's Beat Pharmacy's dubby bubbly masterpiece Constant Pressure which includes this track) but a fine record indeed.

• thus spake drake has this take on white bread black beer
• k-punk deconstructs it big time
• silence is a rhythm too has a track
  
• and even the new yorker (yes, the magazine) gets into the groove (with blogger edits)
  
• the boys at harvard don't know whether to swoon or puke
  

Riddim magazine: Homophobia in dancehall music

The 4th issue of the English-language version of Germany's Riddim magazine is out in the stands and selling for $5.99 in local magazine shops. Each issue takes a look at an array of reggae artists, some from Jamaica and the Caribbean, others from the Caribbean communities in Europe and the United States. Each issue also has a free CD packed with music that often showcases some great stuff from known and not-so-known acts.

A few days removed from the LIFEbeat debacle, it's interesting to note how a magazine devoted to reggae culture does not shy away from the issue of homophobia in reggae dancehall music.

Yup, that's Elephant Man on the cover. Some of us staged a protest against him and others for their homophobic lyrics when they performed at the Hammerstein Ballroom in September of 2004 at a concert promoted by local radio station Hot97 in New York.

In a featured interview, Elephant Man talks about his love for strip-bars, his many girlfriends and his 'anaconda' ("which I'm informed by a reliable source is eye-watering large" writes the British reporter), his glorification of guns and gangster culture and, oh yeah, his love for God.

He also addresses recent ellegations that he has AIDS by giving a direct if somewhat myopic response, considering his repeated boasts about the number of sexual partners he has: "That is the most terrible rumor there could ever be about you. When people spread those kind of t'ings, they trying to hurt you very bad but I got over it. Whoever started it know it's not true. They see me every day at stage show, dancing, performing, drinking liquor with my friends and doing all dem good t'ings. How could I have AIDS?"

Hm, at least he wasn't on the original LIFEbeat line-up.

Of the 2004 protests against "murder music" he is less forthcoming and, while there are no appologies, he does seem to indicate some sort of truce brought upon by the demands of being on a major music label: "I know why all that happen, but now we put it aside. We don't talk about them. We just do music, we happy, they happy. Nobody wanna go back to being a problem to nobody. Everyone's just taking it easy and being cool. If you'e on a major label, you can't think of saying those kind of things."

Turn over to page 44 though and you'll see another side of the issue. Tanya Stephens, a Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter who has been in the industry for more than two decades, is also profiled in advance of the August 29th release of her new CD Rebelution, which the magazine crowns as the release of the month. In the review Riddim says "It seems unlikely that any other [reggae] album will be able to top Tanya's this year" ("These Streets," a track from Rebelution included on the free covermount CD is simply beautiful, hear it and more on Tanya Stephen's myspace page).

In an amazing interview in which she talks candidly about the state of dancehall reggae, her refusal to play into industry pressures to be more "sexy," her repudiation of the "lynch-mob mentality" that permeates some dancehall culture, and her new found responsibility to serve as a mentor to a number of upcoming female performers, she also talks about breaking sexual taboos through her songs and the issue of homophobia in dancehall lyrics.

Take "Freaky Type:" In the song, Stephens questions some men's hatred of "bow-cats" (other men who perform oral sex on women) and confesses that she rather enjoys "being bowed" but also says that what two people do between the sheets is nobody's business. She tells Riddim "People in Jamaica need to understand the concept of free will. As long as you're not affecting or hurting anybody in a negative way, what right have people to intervene in a way like that?"

In the new album, the magazine contends that the track that will probably draw the most controversy will be "Do You Still Care?" In it she starts by asking listeners to put themselves in the shoes of someone who is different than them, someone who needs help. She then flips the situation and asks people to think if, in a time of need, they would accept help from someone who was different from them. She ends by explicitly drawing comparissions between racism and discrimination based on sexual identity.

"By tying the race issue to the homophobic issue I'm making the point whether someone is different by birth or choice they should be accepted for what they are. We need to learn to leave with each other and share the space that's not intrinsically yours, but ours. All discrimination is as stupod as the next; one shouldn't be more acceptable than the other. I felt it my duty to make that point."

Memo to LIFEbeat: How about a Caribbean benefit concert featuring Tanya Stephens?

By the way, talking about the LIFEbeat incident, Terence Heath has some interesting comments on possible next steps and on how the issue reverberated through the blogosphere (just thought I'd share).

And, talking about homophobia in the Caribbean, after initially runing an excerpt, Out magazine has decided to give complete online access to a feature story in this month's issue on the recent attack in St. Marteen that left two gay US tourists with massive head wounds. Although the attack still seems the result of a homophobic reaction, the article dares to question whether there was some provocation and indicates that one of the gay Americans who knew the victims and was there at the moment of the attack called one of the assailants a "crazy nigger" while the attack was taking place. The article still condems the vicious attack but, not surprisingly, most readers who have left comments at Out online are up in arms about some unflattering details about the American tourists' aggressive behavior.

The Washington Post on Iran youth hangings (and more)

Scott Long of Human Rights Watch (l.) and Paula Ettlebrick of IGLHRC (2nd from r.) at last night's gathering on Iran at the LGBT Center in NYC (photo by Andrés Duque)

The Washington Post on the nuances of the year-old pictures depicting the hanging of two youths who were allegedly either gay lovers or rapists.

Also today, Gay City News' Paul Schindler has an "Editor's Memorandum" on the fissures that have appeared among activists, rights-groups and journalists.

Gay.com has a piece on the gathering at the LGBT Center which pundit Andrew Sullivan derides here.

Joe.My.God. has photos of the uptown demos (and commentary as well).