Tag Archives: sexual identity

New Web Series ‘As We Are’ Aims High As It Brilliantly Tackles Gender And Sexual Identity

If you haven’t seen the trailer yet (you can check it out right below), the story focuses on Chloe, a gay woman, as she travels back to Brighton for a week to take care of Robyn’s cat, her ex-girlfriend, while she is out of town with her new girlfriend.

Chloe dates a couple women during her stay, but ends up taking a special interest on Blake, Robyn’s neighbour. Upon knowing Chloe has met Blake, Robyn quickly outs Blake as a trans man, who becomes the first trans person Chloe has ever met.

Nevertheless, Chloe finds herself attracted to Blake, but what could this all mean?

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Is she attracted to men, or does she not see him for who he really is?

Deborah Espect, the writer and creator, is a published novelist, screenwriter and playwright, with several awards under her belt as well as critically acclaimed short films shown in Canes, London, West Hollywood and Brighton.

Espect is also openly gay and we can count on a cast and crew composed mainly of LGBTQ+ women.

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Fox Fisher (Blake) is no stranger either! He is a trans activist who first appeared on Channel 4’s My Transexual Summer and since then has been a spokesman for Trans matters. He also has vast experience behind the cameras, having made more than 50 short-films for My Genderation, a project focusing on the gender spectrum and its variations (you can check out their Youtube channel right here).

With such a unique story finally brought to our small screens, it’s quite hard not to be excited and ready to tune in as soon as possible!

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Well, good news, the release date is Autumn 2016, although a specific date hasn’t been given yet, so stay tuned for more information.

 

 

Cartoonist Alison Bechdel Countered Dad’s Secrecy About His Sexuality By Always Being Open About Hers

Since coming out as at the age of 19, graphic novelist Alison Bechdel has made it a point to be open about her sexuality.

It was a decision she made consciously as a reaction to her father – who was gay and closeted – who sadly died four months after Bechdel came out.

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Talking Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross, Bechdel says

In many ways my life, my professional career has been a reaction to my father’s life, his life of secrecy. I threw myself into the gay community, into this life as a lesbian cartoonist, deciding I was going to be a professional lesbian. In a way, that was all my way of healing myself.”

Also read: ‘My Old Flame’ by Alison Bechdel

In 2006, Bechdel’s “healing” took the form of a graphic novel called Fun Home, in which she details her own coming out, and how she grappled with her father’s death, which she suspects may have been a suicide.

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Fun Home has since been turned into a Broadway play, which recently won five Tony Awards, including the award for best musical.

Bechdel says seeing her life story put to music was a visceral experience:

I was kind of blown away. I was not at all prepared to hear the music. … It was much more emotional than I had been anticipating.”

Listen to her interview below, where Fun Home lyricist Lisa Kron and composer Jeanine Tesori join Bechdel in a conversation about the play.

Study Concludes That Sexual Identity Changes Linked to Symptoms of Depression

Lesbian and bisexual women who initially were in heterosexual relations and do not discuss their same-sex attractions, or romantic feelings are more likely to experience depressive symptoms than others, a survey has found.

The study was carried out by sociologist at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), who conducted a this survey with heterosexual, bisexual, gay and lesbian individuals. People selected either said they were open with there sexual identities throughout the survey period, as well as people whose identities changed from gay, lesbian, or bisexual to heterosexual or from gay or lesbian to bisexual.

Bethany Everett, assistant professor of sociology at the UIC in a paper that appeared in the Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, explaining…

This findings highlight the need for social support during periods of sexual identity transition toward same-sex attraction, not just for adolescents, but also for young adults.”

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, Everett’s study included over 11,200 respondents.

A sexual identity change toward same-sex attraction may continue to be a stressful life event despite the society’s increasing acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

Supporting people during this time-period may be critical for improving their mental health.”

Future research should continue to investigate the factors that contribute to the link between sexual identity change and symptoms of depression.

It may be that changes to bisexual, gay, or lesbian identities expose young adults to new sources of LGBT-related discrimination.

Additionally, there is a certain amount of stigma attached to sexual fluidity itself that may impact mental health during this developmental period.”

Broadway To Have its First Ever Lesbian Lead Character Next Month

Broadway is to have its first ever lesbian lead character from next month.

Award-winning musical Fun Home, about family, sexuality and acceptance will open at the Circle in the Square Theatre on April 19, following an extended run off-Broadway.

The musical is based on the graphic memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel. The coming-of-age musical revolves around Bechdel’s dysfunctional family and relationship with her late father, who as a closeted gay man who ran a funeral home and taught English in rural Pennsylvania.

The musical, a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for drama, begins previews at the Circle in the Square Theatre on April 19 after a sold-out, extended run Off Broadway.

Also: Book Review | Fun Home – A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

Director Sam Gold told Reuters:

“It is the first lesbian lead character in the history of musical theater and that is a story that needs to be told. It feels like a very good time in our culture to give voice to that character.”

Tony nominee Lisa Kron has adapted the book and provided lyrics to Jeanine Tesori’s music.

The non-linear play will star three actresses as Bechdel. Beth Malone will play the adult version, while Emily Skeggs and Sydney Lucas will play younger versions.

“All of these things are swirling around Fun Home as we tell the story of the detrimental cost of shame, and that is ultimately what this is about, and the redemption that comes from forgiveness and living in truth.”

Beth Malone

Tony winner Michael Cerveris will play father Bruce Bechdel.

“I think people are able to identify with the struggles of these characters, the aspects of being a family. They are not focusing solely on Alison’s or Bruce’s sexual orientation.”

Michael Cerveris

‘My Old Flame’ by Alison Bechdel

Alison Bechdel is a cartoonist, best known for the long-running comic strip ‘Dykes to Watch Out For’.

She began ‘Dykes to Watch Out For’ as a single drawing labeled “Marianne, dissatisfied with the morning brew: ‘Dykes to Watch Out For’, plate no. 27”.

Over the years Bechdel’s comic strip involved into multi-paneled strips introducing a regular cast of lesbian characters – Mo and her friends, and a serialised storyline. ‘Dykes to Watch Out’ For was the origin of the “Bechdel test,” which has become a frequently used metric in cultural discussion of film.

Since Dykes to Watch Out For, Bechdel has produce other graphic memoirs, ‘Fun Home’ and ‘Are You My Mother?’. The focus of ‘Are You My Mother?’ was Bechdel relationship with her mother, and ‘Fun Home’ chronicles the her childhood in rural Pennsylvania, United States, focusing on her complex relationship with her father.

Bechdel is featuring in the The New Yorker, and their love-stories-themed Summer Fiction Issue.

This new comic – ‘My Old Flame’, has Bechdel reflecting on an old flame. Bechdel came out as a lesbian at age 19 and her sexual identity are a large part of the core message of her work.

“The secret subversive goal of my work is to show that women, not just lesbians, are regular human beings.”

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