Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Forbidden Fruit
Gay Asian men talk about their experiences - coming out, love, life, sex, fun, society, etc.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
It's that time of the year again.
Visit the March10.org site and know more about the significance of this day in the tragic story of Tibet. Tibetans in exile and their supporters across the globe have been observing March 10th since the 1960s as a comemoration of the sacrifices and risks that thousands of Tibetans took when they tried to resist Chinese invasion in 1959 in Lhasa.
In the last few years, the Tibetan Government in exile has been cautious of Chinese reactions to these actions of protests in exile. The TGIE in a rather silly move, had even adviced Tibetans and Tibet activists, all over the world not to get into heavy serious protests. This, some say is in inorder to please the Chinese and make way for some kind of a dialogue between the leaders of TGIE and China.
This year's March 10 protest plans are underway across the globe, spear-headed by Students for a Free Tibet in New York. On their website, they announce: "IT’S TIME TO TAKE MARCH 10 BACK! Help us make 2007 the biggest March 10 observation since 1959. We’ll show China, and the world, Tibetan resistance lives on."
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Thursday, February 15, 2007
China’s gays call for same sex marriage
By Dinah Gardner
During a busy lunch hour on Valentine’s Day in Beijing’s central business district, six lesbians and gays handed out 200 red carnations wrapped in leaflets calling for the acceptance of gay love and marriage. A Beijing exclusive by Dinah Gardner.
A group of gays and lesbians in Beijing have held the country’s first public appeal for the support of same sex marriage in China.
A gay man handing out red carnations wrapped in leaflets calling for the acceptance of gay love and marriage in Beijing’s central business district on Feb 14. (Photo by Dinah Gardner)
During a busy lunch hour on Valentine’s Day in Beijing’s central business district, around half a dozen lesbians and gays handed out 200 red carnations wrapped in leaflets calling for the acceptance of gay love and marriage.
“Love has no boundaries; it is nothing to do with gender,” the flyer read. “We are homosexuals. We also want a life together with our loved one… please support all kinds of partnerships and all kinds of love. Please support same sex marriage.”
This kind of action is very unusual in China; unauthorised public protests are usually broken up the police. In 2005 a gay and lesbian culture festival was broken up by the police on the grounds the organisers had not sought permission to hold the event.
“We were concerned about security, we had lots of meetings about that,” said Xian, one of the protest’s lesbian organisers.
“This is different, our action can be considered kind of political. So we chose this area because we think there will be less police here. Also there are a lot of white collar workers here, higher educated people, the group we are seeking support from.” Their protest, which lasted about 20 minutes, went ahead undisturbed.
Many of those who accepted the flowers said they supported the action and gay marriage in China.
“I think it's only fair; it's everybody's right to get married,” said Liu Peng, a 21-year-old student of banking. “I support them. I think it's great."
"I don’t know when China will have gay marriage,” he added. “Not now, but in the future I think China will have gay marriage but I can't say when, maybe far in the future." Lie said he was not gay.
Rain Xia, a 25-year-old straight male said: “It's kind of surprising to get this kind of thing [public call for gay marriage]. I never expected it was this. But I can understand them and I support them. It's a human right for everyone to be able to get married.”
But not everyone was so sympathetic. His colleague, Christina Wang, said she did not support the protest.
“I don't support this because of my religion,” the 31-year-old headhunter, who is married, said. “I am a Christian and I don't think it's right. I don't think it's healthy to be gay."
Xian said she felt it was the right time to make this kind of protest because China’s gays and lesbians are growing more confident.
“We're doing it now because there are now so many lesbians ready to come out and to stand up for their rights,” she said. “When we started organising this we had no trouble at all finding people. In fact we had trouble finding boys.” Only one gay man helped hand out flowers.
Ming Ming, who was helping to film the protest, said she was surprised how attitudes towards gays have changed over the past few years.
“Compared to a few years ago people seem more open to gays and gay marriage and more accepting. The change is really noticeable.”
Xian said she was happy with the way the protest had gone.
“I think it was a success,” she said. “People said they supported us. One girl took a flower and said it’s great because she’s a lesbian too.”
While life has become easier for China’s urban gays and lesbians and the media has become more queer friendly, many homosexuals still end up in conventional marriages because of familial and societal pressure.
Renowned sexologist, Li Yinhe, has submitted proposals to legalise gay marriage in China three times at the annual meeting of parliament. Each proposal was rejected. The country’s gays and lesbians were hoping she would submit a fourth proposal this month, but Li wrote in a recent blog entry that she was retiring from campaigning for sexuality-related civil rights because of pressure from her higher-ups. The professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as once listed as one of China's 50 Most Influential People by Asiaweek magazine.
“Gay marriage is not something that our country can accept at this stage of its cultural development,” wrote Li. “History will change when it must. And perhaps I will only be able to be a bystander when the change comes, rather than a participant.”
During a busy lunch hour on Valentine’s Day in Beijing’s central business district, six lesbians and gays handed out 200 red carnations wrapped in leaflets calling for the acceptance of gay love and marriage. A Beijing exclusive by Dinah Gardner.
A group of gays and lesbians in Beijing have held the country’s first public appeal for the support of same sex marriage in China.
A gay man handing out red carnations wrapped in leaflets calling for the acceptance of gay love and marriage in Beijing’s central business district on Feb 14. (Photo by Dinah Gardner)
During a busy lunch hour on Valentine’s Day in Beijing’s central business district, around half a dozen lesbians and gays handed out 200 red carnations wrapped in leaflets calling for the acceptance of gay love and marriage.
“Love has no boundaries; it is nothing to do with gender,” the flyer read. “We are homosexuals. We also want a life together with our loved one… please support all kinds of partnerships and all kinds of love. Please support same sex marriage.”
This kind of action is very unusual in China; unauthorised public protests are usually broken up the police. In 2005 a gay and lesbian culture festival was broken up by the police on the grounds the organisers had not sought permission to hold the event.
“We were concerned about security, we had lots of meetings about that,” said Xian, one of the protest’s lesbian organisers.
“This is different, our action can be considered kind of political. So we chose this area because we think there will be less police here. Also there are a lot of white collar workers here, higher educated people, the group we are seeking support from.” Their protest, which lasted about 20 minutes, went ahead undisturbed.
Many of those who accepted the flowers said they supported the action and gay marriage in China.
“I think it's only fair; it's everybody's right to get married,” said Liu Peng, a 21-year-old student of banking. “I support them. I think it's great."
"I don’t know when China will have gay marriage,” he added. “Not now, but in the future I think China will have gay marriage but I can't say when, maybe far in the future." Lie said he was not gay.
Rain Xia, a 25-year-old straight male said: “It's kind of surprising to get this kind of thing [public call for gay marriage]. I never expected it was this. But I can understand them and I support them. It's a human right for everyone to be able to get married.”
But not everyone was so sympathetic. His colleague, Christina Wang, said she did not support the protest.
“I don't support this because of my religion,” the 31-year-old headhunter, who is married, said. “I am a Christian and I don't think it's right. I don't think it's healthy to be gay."
Xian said she felt it was the right time to make this kind of protest because China’s gays and lesbians are growing more confident.
“We're doing it now because there are now so many lesbians ready to come out and to stand up for their rights,” she said. “When we started organising this we had no trouble at all finding people. In fact we had trouble finding boys.” Only one gay man helped hand out flowers.
Ming Ming, who was helping to film the protest, said she was surprised how attitudes towards gays have changed over the past few years.
“Compared to a few years ago people seem more open to gays and gay marriage and more accepting. The change is really noticeable.”
Xian said she was happy with the way the protest had gone.
“I think it was a success,” she said. “People said they supported us. One girl took a flower and said it’s great because she’s a lesbian too.”
While life has become easier for China’s urban gays and lesbians and the media has become more queer friendly, many homosexuals still end up in conventional marriages because of familial and societal pressure.
Renowned sexologist, Li Yinhe, has submitted proposals to legalise gay marriage in China three times at the annual meeting of parliament. Each proposal was rejected. The country’s gays and lesbians were hoping she would submit a fourth proposal this month, but Li wrote in a recent blog entry that she was retiring from campaigning for sexuality-related civil rights because of pressure from her higher-ups. The professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as once listed as one of China's 50 Most Influential People by Asiaweek magazine.
“Gay marriage is not something that our country can accept at this stage of its cultural development,” wrote Li. “History will change when it must. And perhaps I will only be able to be a bystander when the change comes, rather than a participant.”
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Beleive it or not - Rinpoche Rapper
Ever Heard of someone named Singa Rinpoche? Apparently he is a young Tibetan lama obsessed with glamour and had a fan following even before he crossed over into art and business. His latest venture is a music CD titled "Wish you Well" released in Taiwan by Forward Music.
The genre is R n B and Rinpoche mixes Tibetan Buddhist chants with modern R n B sound sung my himself. In his songs he uses three languages - Chinese, Tibetan and English.
Rinpoche claims to have studied Tibetan Buddhism in India and Nepal for three years. He is currently 30 years old and is banned from entering Taiwan due to his bad behavior on a previous visit to Taipei.
Anyways whether we approve of him or not, his music is a sure hit and he is hot. One more name to our list of Tibetan celebrity Rinpoches. Who else is out there? Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche from Bhutan, Neten Chokling Rinpoche...
Listen to the tracks here
Watch his music video here
Amaechi's Coming out story
In a groundbreaking revelation that began to reverberate around the NBA on Wednesday, former player John Amaechi has become the first professional basketball player to openly identify himself as gay.
Amaechi, who played at Penn State and spent five seasons in the NBA with Orlando, Utah and Cleveland, comes out in an upcoming book entitled "Man in the Middle" to be released later this month by ESPN Books (owned by the Walt Disney Company, parent company of ESPN).
Click here for for the full ESPN Report
Amaechi, who played at Penn State and spent five seasons in the NBA with Orlando, Utah and Cleveland, comes out in an upcoming book entitled "Man in the Middle" to be released later this month by ESPN Books (owned by the Walt Disney Company, parent company of ESPN).
Click here for for the full ESPN Report
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