Author Archives: Jamie

Jamie

About Jamie

Jamie has lived around the world and seen all to often how both acceptance and pure ignorance effects society. Being a writer and an activist, Jamie is all about human rights and equality. A keen writer of LGBT fiction, Jamie and not only boycotts anything heteronormative and shreds society with her glamorous transwoman girlfriend - one bigot at a time.

‘Boys Meets Girl’ is a Queer, Trans-Inclusive Love Story

Girl has boyfriend, girl meets girl, two girls become friends and they eventually fall for each other. Think that’s another example of that queer movie trope? Think again as both girls turn out to be bisexual and one of the women is actually transgender.

That’s the plot of ‘Boy Meets Girl’, a hilarious upcoming indie.

http://vimeo.com/95299762

Starring Ricky Jones (played by trans woman Michelle Hendley) as a twenty-something fashion blogger in Kentucky, Ricky soon meets rich girl Francesca who, after moving back from boarding school has bagged herself a Marine with issues as her fiancé. As the story goes, Ricky and Francesca strike up a friendship and despite having only ever dated boys, the relationship between the two women soon develops into something more.

Having been wheeled out at a recent spate of queer film fests, ‘Boy Meets Girl’ has received rave reviews. Not only does the film provide a refreshing take on gender identity (Ricky’s identity as a trans woman is discussed but the people in her rural town are accepting and it’s not really a big deal), it also deals with bisexuality well.

As well as addressing bisexuality, ‘Boy Meets Girls’ tackles the idea that sexuality is fluid, with none of the creepy biphobia or sudden gay awakenings that we’ve come to see from other queer media including ‘Glee’ and ‘Imagine Me and You’.

Furthermore, ‘Boy Meets Girl’ is also breaking ground by casting a trans actress in a trans role (and in starring the character as the lead). As has been discussed on the blog, this is a startling rarity so the fact that director Eric Schaeffer has also said the following is music to the ears:

“I also wanted to make sure every moment of this story rang true and was never false. Doing a lot of research in the transgender community taught me a tremendous amount and taught me there are many differing viewpoints within that community about certain issues. Having a transgender actress play the part made me feel confident that while the story could not reflect every transgender woman’s experience, at least I would not be making up an experience from my imagination that was not vetted by a transgender woman so I could make sure it was at least germane and authentic to her experience and therefore valid.”

Eric Schaeffer

‘Boy Meets Girl’ is set to be released next year, so we’ll keep you posted once we know more.

A Polyamorous Marriage – Legal in Brazil

One thing our modern society requires is for us to be is straight, cisgender and monogamous.

However, we are slowly making progress regarding LGB people, and even regarding T people. A big part of LGBT communities has always been polyamory.

What is polyamory? Well it is a Greek word, which means the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time, with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved. It is distinct from swinging (which emphasizes sex with others as merely recreational) and may or may not include polysexuality (attraction towards multiple genders and/or sexes).

It is our natural tendency to think that we need to be monogamous, because that is what you are taught to think, and what society requires from us for marriage.

However, in Brazil it is not illegal to be married to more than one person, therefore a judge can grant a polyamorous couple their right to marry.

In Tupã, which is in the state of São Paulo, a triad was married, which is a huge step for polyamory. The triads were living together in Rio de Janeiro for 3 years and they admitted to have been sharing their finances throughout this time period. The group consisted of two females and a male. It  was made possible to unite the females due to the legalization of gay marriage back in 2004.

“We are only recognizing what has always existed. We are not inventing anything”, said one of the women in the married triad. Her words are indeed true; polyamory has always been around, it’s just society that tries to tell us otherwise.

In Brazil because it is not illegal, a judge may easily, if they wish so, accept such unions. So in Brazil, in theory, you can also have a lesbian or a gay triad. All variations are possible as long as you find the right judge. Still keep in mind, though the law might be accepting, people may not ne. Many religious groups have since stepped forward, and people against gay marriage have said that this is the downside of civil marriage and gay marriage. In reality, we are just breaking the restrictions people have put upon us due to hatred.

Rise of LGBT rights in Cuba

In the early 1970s and 1980s Cuba, like any communist country, looked at the other countries for guidance in the hope that they all would be moving in the right direction. Some people think that Cuba grew more tolerant due to the rise of the feminist movement. Many believe this was the key to a more liberal-minded attitude and greater social tolerance towards Cuba’s LGBT community.

This is usually backed up by the Cuban National Centre for Sex Eduction, which was funded by the Cuban Women’s Federation in 1977. The centre’s goal was to enlighten the outlook on homosexuality and slowly start to undermine traditional sexual prejudices and taboos. Also around this time the law of sexual division of labor was broken within the traditional family unit. By 1979 it was no longer a crime for two queer people to have sex.

But even with all these laws in power and feminism on the rise, the government still encouraged people to discriminate against open homosexuals. Some LGBT people were forced to leave as “unnecessary” parts of society, who in the eyes of the government were hampering Cuba’s development. It is believed that this strong aggression was due to Cuba’s devotion to Stalin’s ideology towards LGBT people.

Thankfully in 1986 there was a huge positive shift in Cuban law, which was the full annulment of any other laws restricting homosexulaity. Authorities were told to release anyone who had been previously jailed due to the absurd laws which had put them behind bars for simply being who they were. During this period the government became rather sex positive and were encouraging everyone to practice safe sex,. This was seen as a move to gain the support of the LGBT community. As odd as it sounds now, homosexuality was no longer seen as perversion by the medical society. This was an enormous step!

One of the biggest achievements came in June 2008, when the Cuban government permitted doctors to perform sex change operations. These are still being successfully performed. Also, state television continues to portray gay characters. Even if it’s still highly controversial, it is an essential step for society to let go of the tainted past. The Castro family have all been apologizing for their mistakes and stating that they are sorry for what they have done. It is believed that the rest of the government will not go against their words, but the fact that many LGBT people’s lives were destroyed by their hands still remains.

Dark Side of Cuban LGBT History

The future of Cuba has often been on people’s minds and thoughts; a lot of people have high hopes for it and others just dismiss it. Just like any other country, Cuba has a big population of LGBT people. In Cuba and around the world, the LGBT community is not really a minority, but often the numbers lie and unfortunately many are still in the closet.

Cuba still scores ridiculously low when it comes to basic human rights. LGBT people have always been targeted and still are to this day. Even if there is a positive gradual shift, Cuba still has a long way to go, just like the rest of the world.

The country had a few openly LGBT bars in Pre-Revolutionary Cuba, but soon that was to change. In the 1930s, a new law came to power: the Public Ostentation Law. This law heavily encouraged the discrimination of queer people and was only repealed in 1988!

Cuba’s revolution raised a lot of hope for many people and especially for LGBT people, who helped the revolution to take place. Unfortunately Castro wasn’t any kinder than the previous rulers of Cuba. Homosexuality was widely regarded as a product of capitalism, which should be entirely rooted out of a communist society.

The country used different methods to get rid of homosexuals, because in their eyes the ideal “New Man” was a strong and surely heterosexual male. UMAPs (Military Units to Aid Production) were soon introduced. These were labor camps designed to turn men into heterosexuals.

Castro later apologized for the mistreatment in the camps, but the government still tried to keep enforcing the Public Ostentation Law. The government decided that in order to rebuild the country, they had to get rid of “unwanted” people such as homosexuals, disabled people and criminals. If you were deemed undesireable by society, you were given a span of two months to leave Cuba. This was known as the Mariel Boat lift.

This was the darkest period of LGBT persecution in Cuba, but there is still more to the story.

Going Forward With Acceptance The Brazilian Way

In Brazil, soap operas are hugely popular and it is a very interesting to see the entire population drop everything to watch them, whether they like it or not. Televisions are even put in buses to make sure that no one misses an episode. There are usually three or more running soap operas on the country’s main channel, Globo, and the most watched is the prime time show at 9 PM. The prime time soap is usually regarded as the best.

Em Familia, the current prime time soap, has already sparked controversy in Brazil and beyond. The main couple is involved with a theme of family incest. The uncle of the main character is pursuing her, claiming she resembles her mother (with whom he had an affair many years ago). Said uncle, Laerte, isn’t very well liked by viewers. Recently in Brasilia there was a protest in the main mall to take Laerte down! That’s how much the people care about the soap opera.

However Em Familia really caught the attention of many abroad due to the fact that one of the characters is having a lesbian relationship. This is a very big thing when it comes to Brazil, which doesn’t often portray gay relationships, particularly lesbian couples. The first gay kiss ever aired was between two men (of course it was rather brief as well).

The lesbian couple on Em Familia has sparked controversy among everyone, but it is a very important and positive step for Brazil. The characters Marina and Clara have gained many international fans and there have even been outcries to keep the couple together whenever anyone tries to break them up!

The show recently had a moment when these characters had to face homophobia and show how wrong it is, by highlighting how ridiculous it was for another character to say that queer women were not welcome in a bar.

The creator of the novella, Manuel Carlos, confirmed that the season finale which will be airing in a few weeks will feature the wedding of Clara and Marina! This will truly be a first for a lesbian couple to be married and also to kiss on prime time. We at KM are very excited to follow this story. Thankfully for those who do not speak Portuguese there are many versions available online for you to follow these two glamorous Brazilian women in love!