Posts Tagged “politics”
As read on AfterEllen:
When you’re a teenager, rebellion seems like a rite-of-passage. Whether it’s swiping a pint of vodka from your parents’ liquor cabinet or shaving your head, you are an individual going through some serious life changes and you need everyone to know it.
For me, the ultimate outlet for my post-pubescent angst was punk rock. From an ill-advised nose piercing in a scary, Indiana tattoo shop to telling my parents I was going to the mall and ending up in a sketchy basement watching Anti-Flag’s side project, the punk scene introduced me to people I actually related to — feminists, gays, politically-motivated band geeks — many of whom I am still friends with today.
For 17-year-old Michael Knight, his ultimate rebellion came in the form of leaving his mother’s home and heading to a Pakistani madrassa, where he would study Islam. He burned out on the “demands of religious dogma” years later, but in 2003, he went on to write a novel titled The Taqwacores, a “punk-rock manifesto” that went from work of fiction to real, cultural movement:
Melding the Arabic word for god-consciousness with the edge of hardcore punk (hence Taqwacore), Michael imagined a community of Muslim radicals: Mohawked Sufis, riot grrrls in burqas with band patches, skinhead Shi’as. These characters were entirely fictional. But the movement they inspired is very real.
The book became something else when actual Taqwacore bands were popping up nationwide. This caught the attention of filmmaker Omar Majeed, who decided to film the bands as they toured the U.S., leading to the documentary Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam.
After 9/11, many of the Canadian and American Muslims involved in the project felt the need to do some serious venting, and Knight’s book gave them a platform to do so.
Sena Hussain, a lesbian “Pakistani Canadian drag king from Vancouver,” is the front woman for the first all-girl Taqwacore band, The Secret Trial Five. She told the Globe and Mail this spring that she didn’t have much interest in political music until 9/11 seriously changed how Muslims were portrayed in pretty much every aspect of life.
“It’s far from being a religious music, in that it’s not at all similar to Christian rock,” Hussain told the paper. “It’s about Muslims post-9/11, that’s the perspective I take. It’s very political and satirical.”
Hussain’s band caused quite a stir at the Islamic Society of North America’s Chicago convention in 2008. After a reading of the Koran and some “stern, spoken-word stylings,” her band took the stage and burst into their song “Middle Eastern Zombies,” prompting much of the crowd to leave, a call to the police and (the best part) a group of “excited hijabi girls rocking out” and chanting “Stop the hate!”
Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam screened last month in Canada, and will be showing at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam Nov. 19 to 29.
The film’s goal is to show the wide array of young voices within the Muslim community. People who are willing to challenge everyone: from “homophobic Mullahs to warmongering Western politicians,” Majeed told the Globe and Mail.
“I don’t think Western media as a whole is ready for a complicated Muslim voice — they divide the world into good Muslims and bad Muslims,” Knight said. “But these kids are pissed off about everything.”
For more information about the Taqwacore movement or upcoming film screenings, check out the film’s website.
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COC Nederland pleit voor een erfrecht dat beter is afgestemd op de wensen en leefvormen van homo- en biseksuele Nederlanders.
 fotografie: Ibrahim Farah
Volgens het huidige erfrecht geldt een laag belastingtarief wanneer iemand een erfenis aan haar of zijn kind nalaat, maar is er sprake van een tarief dat tot vier maal zo hoog is als je een ander als erfgenaam wilt aanwijzen. Aangezien veel homo’s en lesbiennes geen kinderen hebben, pakt dit ook voor hen negatief uit.
‘Wij vinden dat de wet geen onderscheid moet maken,’ zegt Vera Bergkamp, vice-voorzitter van COC Nederland. ‘Het is goed dat een dierbare voor een lager belastingtarief kan erven, maar of die dierbare een kind is of een goede vriend of vriendin zou niet uit mogen maken.’
De Tweede Kamer stemt op dinsdag 3 november over een voorstel van Fatma Koşer Kaya (D66) om zélf een dierbare aan te kunnen wijzen die fiscaal voordelig kan erven. Dit zou voor veel holebi’s een aanzienlijke vooruitgang betekenen.
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Posted by: punksmurf in Current Affairs, Music, Web/Tech, tags: Facebook, homophobia, Music, Muslim, politics, same sex marriage, Serena Ryder, Sports
Currently listening to A Girl Called Eddy (album: A Girl Called Eddy)
You might - or might not - have read about the outrage caused by a British “journalist” called Jan Moir. The first time I heard about it was when a British friends of mine started posting about it, clearly showing their disapproval and disgust for Moir’s total ignorance. One even went as far as calling her the C-word (and he is one of the smartest, nicest straight man I know - so for him to use that word…). Anyway, read about it here and the update here (hello, 21,000 complaints and then some). Sounds to me as if Moir has a problem with certain possible “assets” of the homosexual lifestyle. And she’s conveniently forgetting the fact that similar “assets” can be found in heterosexual lifestyles as well. She’s issued some sort of apology in the meantime, but she clearly doesn’t get it. Jan Moir may think she’s not a homophobe, she can at least pride herself in being a bigot.
Fortunately, there are still good things happening in the UK; like this Scottish LGBT-friendly soccer team who are deservedly nominated for a Stonewall Award.
AfterEllen.com reviews an interesting comic book called Dolltopia, which is really a book for all ages, and discusses diversity. I’m not a big fan of the graphics, but it serves its purpose, and it does look interesting to me. Looks like creator Abby Denson’s been promoting Dolltopia across North America.
Globe and Mail ran an interesting article about the wiring of boys’ and girls’ brains. It turns out there’s no significant difference, but it’s magnified by parents… And - surprisingly - same sex schools.
According to this article the Taliban has published a rulebook, and reading it I didn’t know whether to wince or snicker at the stupidity of it all. I mean, any educated person instinctively knows that a band of bearded men telling others to treat women badly (I’m not even sure they are considered second class citizens), what to think, how to act and how to dress cannot be for the greater good. To the advantage of the Taliban; yes. For the greater good; no.
This veteran spoke out in favor of same sex marriage. I can only say that if he’s honored with any medals I am sure he has earned each and every one of them! I’d just want to give a hug and say thank you.
In the meantime President Obama is tackling DADT, the Canadians again show they may not shout as loud as the Americans do, but they are just as great. Halifax’s Chronicle Herald published an article on Canadian forces and their inclusion of gays. A friend of mine can attest to that; she didn’t join till she was 33. And she is still serving 19 years later. Just sayin’, President Obama.
Are you on Facebook, and confused about “live feed” and “news feed”? Check out this page on how to adjust the settings to make it less confusing, and more desirable for you to read (some people seem to post every fifteen minutes - if you know what I mean)…
Charlize Theron. I like her. Vocal human rights advocate. Don’t get me wrong, but she is such a hussy! She kissed a lady for charity. Some lucky lady (she coughed up $140,000 but got a 20-second smooch)…
More Serena Ryder news. (I should get paid for this. I’d settle for a smooch with Serena. Just kidding! Or am I?) She’s currently touring the US with labelmates NeedToBreathe (Serena’s playing Chicago on Halloween!) and “Is it o.k.” will be released in the US on November 3rd - almost a year after its release in homeland Canada. Read more on it here. In the meantime Serena’s also featured in one of City Sonic’s episodes on how she started out. Watch it here.
When I found out Vertical Horizon had a new album out (”Burning the days“) I was thrilled; I wasn’t aware of the fact the band had reformed. Their album “Everything you want” was one of my favorite albums in the late ’90s. Now and then, I still play a couple songs with the singer of my band. Let’s hope they start touring again 
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… why I don’t like Stephen Harper. At. All.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper hires homophobe speechwriter: “Referring to former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s 1969 decision to decriminalize homosexuality, Hannaford wrote in 2005, ‘Fine, said lots of people. Leave gays alone? Fair enough. But, let ‘em be Boy Scout leaders? Have each other’s benefits? Adopt kids? Marry each other? Ridiculous. Anybody seeking political office who suggested it would have been laughed off the hustings. Yet, the Liberals are ready to legalize gay marriage. How did we get to this point?’”
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Peter Davies, the Doncaster mayor who tried to ban funding for gay Pride marches, has caused shock by claiming people should look to the Taliban as a good example of family values.
Davies, an English Democrat who was elected in June, claimed that under the Taliban, Afghanistan had an “ordered system of family life”.
Referring to recent child abuse scandals in the town, he added: “The one thing that can be said about the Taliban is that they do have an ordered society of some sort and that they don’t have hundreds of cases of children under threat of abuse from violent parents as we do in Doncaster.”
Although the mayor has been praised by some for his crusade against ‘political correctness’, his latest pronouncements have drawn rather less support.
Rosie Winterton, Labour MP for Doncaster Central, pointed out that the regime refuses to let girls go to school and punishes women who overstep dress or sexual rules with execution.
Defending the remarks, Davies said: “The point I was making was that even a regime as hideous as the Taliban at least appears to have some sort of decent sort of family affairs. In fact, probably… they have an ordered society. We in this country have created mayhem through lax social policies of disregard for marriage and the family and we have created mayhem in society.”
Although Davies’ decision to cut funding for Doncaster Pride was heavily publicised, he was forced to back down after admitting in a radio interview he had no idea how much revenue the event generated for the town
At the time, he said: “I don’t think councils should be spending money on them [gays and lesbians] parading through town advertising their sexuality.”
He later said his “main concern” was “value for money” in public spending.
Can someone smack that man?
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Currently listening to Sarah McLachlan (album: Mirrorball - the complete concert)
I haven’t blogged about it, but you’ve undoubtedly read about the passing away of Senator Ted Kennedy. He was laid to rest alongside slain brothers John and Robert on hallowed ground at Arlington National Cemetery, celebrated for “the dream he kept alive” across the decades since their deaths.
Vice President Joe Biden’s said:
“I think the legacy of Teddy Kennedy can be measured in no small part as a consequence of how we in America look at one another. How blacks look at whites. How gays look at straights. How straights look at gays. How we literally look at one another. And in turn how we look at ourselves. Because when you were with him you had to measure yourself against him. And it always required you to be larger than you were inclined to be.”
To read more about him click here or here. May he rest in peace.
I have a thing for harmonies (must be musical gene in me that also enables me to play the guitars and drums without ever having had tuition. Anyway, from the moment I heard “Two weeks” by Grizzly Bear I have been humming along with them. Now a fan’s taken it upon himself to remake the video into something queerer. Watch the new, animated version here - ain’t it sweet?
As off Friday, there’s an actual Gay Tourist Information Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Welcoming everybody, they’re specifically aimed at helping queer tourists find their way in the Dutch capital. They can be found at Spuistraat 44, Amsterdam.
Hours: Mon-Sat 11.00 - 20.00 hrs, Sun 12.00 - 18.00 hrs.
In the meantime, internet television and radio programming platform based in Manchester Fruit TV revealed some of its programming. I hope they’ll add programs to pull and appease female viewers.
Last night hurricane Danny made it’s way through Nova Scotia, bringing buckets of rain and strong winds. It caused power outages in Halifax, but nothing major (it lasted about 4 hours before the power came back on).
Here’s an example of a dog who is indeed man’s - or in this case, a woman’s - best friend. Unfortunately, the story has no happy ending.
And who knew George Eads (Nick Stokes on CSI) is such an avid fan of superheroes? And from what I read he’s got quite a hand at drawing them, too!
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An article about a girl’s perfect (school) attendance grabbed my attention. Seriously; wow! And in the meantime a high school elects a gay student for prom queen.
And more on gender bending: HBO aired a documentary called “Kick like a girl“.
AfterEllen.com also ran an article on a comic book called “No girls allowed“, which is a kid’s book about women throughout history who dressed up as men to achieve their goals and dreams (and succeeded). I ordered my copy a few days ago. Do check out the trailer on the site.
TransLondon’s announced it’s boycotting London Pride, after trans women were denied access to female toilets at last year’s Pride and one was allegedly sexually assaulted. I’m not transgendered, but no stranger to what I’d call gender politics either. I suppose unisex toilets are out of the question?
Hillary Clinton seems to beat Obama to the punch when she notified the state department of forthcoming changes for gays and lesbians. It’s about time if you ask me.
Doesn’t that look awesome? Read *here* why it didn’t make the Guinness Book of Records. Seriously, people… How lame is that?
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China made headlines with their first sex theme park. BUT before it’s even finished it sounds as if it’s not going to open at all…
Jon Stewart nails it with his “moral combat”. He rocks!
Comic artist Terry Moore decided to go ahead with the omnibus after all. I tried to resist temptation, but finally caved in and pre-ordered. My wallet is now emptier than empty… So, I hope it’s going to be worth every penny. (It is according to my friend Michael.)
On a totally unrelated note: London-based tailor Sir Tom Baker has been trying to go “viral” with an ad for his tailoring services for weeks now. Unfortunately, the video hasn’t been spreading the way he had hoped as it seems to get a lot of attention from queer ladies. I wonder why that is. Can you figure out why?
Planning on visiting NYC? You might wanna check out Ace Hotel.
Artist Den has a nice photo series on Serena Ryder
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I read a brilliant column in today’s Globe and Mail, which - in my opinion - points out all the reasons why Canada is just a blip on the European radar. I think Canada has the potential to be as big as (and maybe even better than) the US. Just not with Stephen Harper!
DOUG SAUNDERS
Globe and Mail May 16, 2009
This was meant to be Canada’s season on the Continent.
For three years, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has had his diplomats and ministers sell the idea of a “new, muscular Canada” to Europe – a forward-leaning image of a wealthy, militarily strong, export-oriented country that is more than just another middle power.
This spring, in a dizzying series of transatlantic visits, summits, trips, meetings and forums, Canada was set to build a new and powerful set of eastward-looking relationships to shift weight away from our U.S. ties and establish us as an important power on par with Europe’s best. We would use our economic health at the G20 summit to promote a “Canadian model” of well-managed banking and fiscal prudence. We would parlay our investment of money and lives in Afghanistan into a central, influential role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, possibly right at the top. We would use our northern presence to build influence as an Arctic power.
And to complete it all we would win the attention of 400 million Europeans by launching extensive free-trade talks with the European Union.
What happened? Canada did indeed capture Europe’s attention this season. But not at all the way we intended.
It began on April 3, the day after Mr. Harper and his ministers arrived in Britain for the first round of summits. That day, as the G20 was wrapping up in London, the Daily Mail featured a photo of blood-soaked snow below the headline: “Is this what the Canadian government means by ‘humane’ slaughter?”
As the Canadians moved to Strasbourg, France, for the NATO summit, the influential German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung led with “Slaughter on the pack ice” and a pile of big-eyed seal corpses. The angry coverage continued to escalate throughout the month, until it became the main issue at two summits that were meant to showcase Canada’s importance. At the Arctic Council meeting in Norway on May 29, Canada’s new northern clout was eclipsed by Mr. Harper’s move to punish the EU for attempting to ban imports of seal products by barring the 27-nation federation from the council’s membership.
Then, last Wednesday, the seal ban became the main issue at the Canada-EU summit in Prague, making the free-trade talks a secondary matter.
After all the planning and diplomacy, Europeans and their leaders were left with two images of Canada: a man clubbing a seal, and a prime minister missing a photo opportunity because, the European media kept reporting, he was on the toilet. Absolutely nothing else registered: In the public eye and in many official circles, Canada failed to arrive.
“I don’t think Canada is sending any message at all. It has become invisible in Europe,” says Jeremy Kinsman, who was Canada’s ambassador to the European Union until 2006 and served as prime minister Brian Mulroney’s ambassador to Moscow.
“I think you can see that. This government has failed to reciprocate initiatives from the Europeans, it has not listened or offered anything that matters to them – we have just faded from the European picture.”
That view is echoed, in less-public language, by Canadian officials across Europe, who say it has become difficult to get any significant hearing from European leaders. The free-trade talks were successfully launched, largely as a result of aggressive efforts by Quebec Premier Jean Charest, but the lack of enthusiasm among Europe’s national leaders was palpable. Our NATO ambitions were rebuffed when Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s bid for the secretary-general position won no major supporters, and countries such as Germany complained openly about Canada hectoring them to take more risks in Afghanistan.
Canada’s Arctic-ownership agenda is being pushed, but Nordic leaders and EU officials complain that Ottawa’s bellicose tone sounds more like Moscow’s unilateralism than their co-operative vision.
Likewise, the effort to proffer a “Canadian model” of bank and finance reform went nowhere, and even seemed to annoy some leaders. In a Globe and Mail interview in April, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was asked repeatedly about “the Canadian example” and would not acknowledge any inspiration or that there was such an example or for that matter even utter the word Canada.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has taken lessons from Canada’s policies as a model for his own domestic reforms and pays close attention to Canadian affairs, seems to have cooled, turning his attentions to Britain and Germany and appearing to disengage from Canada.
“Canada’s mistake,” says a senior EU official involved with the trade talks, “was that they didn’t play the diplomatic game – they didn’t do the Henry Kissinger stuff and make a big, visible sacrifice so they could get something in exchange. They just wanted to win everything.”
In political-science terms, Mr. Harper is an idealist. His approach is to project and impose his strongly held, broadly neoconservative ideals on to other countries. He is the opposite of realists such as Mr. Kissinger or Barack Obama who will compromise or sacrifice principles to benefit their national interest. With George W. Bush out of the way, he is perhaps the last idealist on the scene (aside from extremists such as Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). His immovable principles collided head-on with Europe’s needs and desires, sending exactly the wrong messages on several fronts.
The seal misstep. It really was unfair that the seal hunt swamped the agenda. Europe’s views are probably outdated, wrong and ignorant of aboriginal traditions. But Mr. Harper did nothing to make it go away: He wasn’t willing to make a public statement along the lines of his apology for residential-school abuses, signalling a change in Canada’s values and practices. Nor would he consider sacrificing the seal hunt, despite its negligible role in the economy, in order to gain a larger victory.
On the contrary, he championed it; his party whips even allowed Tory MPs to vote for an untenable, symbolic bill to make seal pelts part of the Olympic uniform. That made Canada a very visible opponent of Europe’s values at the very moment we were asking them to embrace us.
The African withdrawal. Mr. Brown and Mr. Sarkozy both take Africa very seriously, and devote much of their foreign-policy energy to the continent. They actively sought Canadian partnerships on African initiatives from Millennium Challenge aid programs to peacekeeping troops for Sudan and Chad.
Mr. Harper could have thrown a bone in this direction, but again went the opposite way: Just as the European summits were looming, he withdrew almost all Canadian aid from Africa, devoting it instead to Latin America. That got noticed, and did not please Europeans.
The military bullying. Canada has the fourth-largest troop commitment in Afghanistan, and suffers the highest death rate there.
Because of this, much of our NATO diplomacy has been devoted to cajoling European countries to add more troops and send existing forces to join the fight in the Taliban-laden south. But in Germany, which has more troops in Afghanistan than Canada (and an understandable sensitivity about aggressive combat), this comes across as bullying – from a country that took only passive military roles until 2003.
“It really does not help to have Canadians telling us we are not tough enough,” says a politician with the governing Christian Democrats.
The sabre rattling. Just as Western European and U.S. leaders are trying to engage deeply with Russia, in classic realist form, to help improve things there and maintain peace, Mr. Harper has launched an outspoken campaign to portray Russia as a retro-communist aggressor in the Arctic and in Eastern Europe.
Canada’s outspoken support for NATO expansion into Georgia and Ukraine, a clear provocation of Russia with no tangible benefit, has alarmed Western European leaders, who nowadays would rather avoid confrontation. As a result, Canada almost alone is returning to the tropes of the Cold War, just as everyone else is going for détente.
The great spring European campaign has ended with a few barely visible victories and a full-scale retreat. As with most unsuccessful campaigns, this one seems to have failed because we did nothing to win the locals’ hearts and minds.
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A while ago I blogged about West Point graduate Dan Choi. He appeared on Rachel Maddows show… and was recently fired. WTF?! The US army lieutenant is going to fight his dismissal with tooth and nail.
A week and a half ago Tweety (congrats, chicky!) told me she passed for her exam and now has a license that allows her to ride motorbikes as well. By that time I had been drooling over the new Honda Fury:
 *sigh*
A recent survey shows that UK Muslims have zero tolerance for homosexuality; significantly less than their French and German counterparts.
A lesbian on the Supreme Court? That would be progress.
Oh, and on that subject: have you seen Wanda Sykes at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner? No? Watch her here. Heh heh…
Jon Stewart cracked me up when he took on the latest marriage equality decisions in Maine and Washington D.C. earlier this week. Heh heh…
Also earlier this week the California Senate Education Committee voted 7-2 to designate a day to honour murdered gay rights activist Harvey Milk.
If passed by the Senate, it would designate May 22nd, Milk’s birthday, as a special commemorative day and encourage schools to recognise the activist’s work. However, the day would not be an official holiday.
The legislation has been supported by Dustin Lance Black, who wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for the film Milk.
Serena Ryder scored even more brownie points (just as I thought that wasn’t possible) by Twittering about singing Springsteen songs.
Finally, Placebo’s new single’s out and on high rotation on certain radio stations. Since I don’t watch MTV anymore I only recently saw the video (last week), and between singer Brian Molko looking pretty and the tattoos I actually find the video interesting to look at: “For what it’s worth.”
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