Stonewall Gazette is being placed on an indefinite hiatus due to my health. I have stage four peritoneal cancer.
Life's journey can be a rough road with many hard turns along the way however I'm determined to persevere and stay active for my community. My hope is to possibly continue the Gazette in some capacity in the future.
Starting tomorrow, I'll be taking a break to enjoy the long Easter weekend. Hubby has a few extra days off and we want to take full advantage of that. There will be no new posts on Stonewall Gazette until I get back late next week. In the meantime, I hope all of you are well and staying safe.
Thank-you for your support and loyal readership. 😘
Cheers,
Shane Smith, Editor
P.S.
I hope the Easter Bunny loads your basket full of goodies. 😉
New Tina Turner Documentary Puts a Triumphant Final Stamp on a Tragic Story.
Tina Turner was almost in the film, The Color Purple. She was the first choice to play Shug Avery, a magnetic singer whose character arc would become one of cinema’s most moving engagements with the radically transformative power of queer love. Turner was from the South, a musician at a spectacularly high point in her career, and the blueprint of Black femininity as beautiful, tender, and almost humbling; the role seemed tailor-made. “I denied The Color Purple because it was too close to my personal life,” she later told Larry King.
Bobby Drake aka Iceman Could Offer a New Lens to View The X-Men Through.
For years, Iceman has been a fan-favorite for readers of the X-Men comics. This has become even more true recently, as Bobby Drake is openly gay in the comics now. Bobby Drake (played by Shawn Ashmore) was great in the X-Men movies but, like so many other X-Men, never got enough time to shine. If he was made the protagonist of the X-Men movies, not only would so many characters that never got space finally get it, but the franchise would have an openly queer protagonist. This is important on many levels. Separate from that, Iceman is just downright cool and much better as a protagonist for the franchise than Wolverine.
Voguing Balls in China
Let the LGBTQ Community Shine.
The underground dance phenomenon has seized Beijing and given China's queer community a platform to celebrate their identities.
Out Swimmer Amini Fonua Making a Splash In and Out of the PoolAmini Fonua has represented Tonga at two Olympics and is striving to make another one in Tokyo this year. He’s won a bunch of regional medals in the pool and carried the Tongan flag at the 2012 London Games. But his impact outside of the pool as a gay athlete is just as significant, becoming a spokesman and advocate for the rainbow community. “I think it’s incredibly important to be a role model for the LGBTQ community, the rainbow community, I don’t think we really realize how important role models are until we start growing up and thinking back to what we were like when we were younger... I just remember sitting at a computer and being like 14 or 15 and trying to find other LGBTQ sportspeople, and trying to sort of maybe mirror a little bit of myself after them and feel inspired and finding some common ground with people that have probably ventured out on the journey.”
LGBTQ Students File Class-Action LawsuitAgainst Department of Education. Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination, contains an exemption for religious entities. The suit claims Title IX’s religious exemption allows religious schools that receive federal funds to discriminate against LGBTQ students. The students allege that they faced discrimination at 25 federally funded Christian colleges and universities in 18 states.
TV Series Invincible Doesn't Include William Clockwell's Coming-Out Story. In the comics, the coming-out story was William's only real story arc and by not showing his journey on the TV show it robs the audience of much-needed queer representation.
Exploring Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Willa Cather’sLesbian Relationship. "A lot of research that’s been done on Willa Cather is about the fact that she doesn’t represent queer relationships in her fiction and the assumption is that she lived a closeted, lonely life... It’s really to rethink Cather’s life by recognizing the importance of her partner."
Dr. Lucas Murnaghan Dies from Rare Cancer at 45
Murnaghan was a renowned orthopedic surgeon, athlete and celebrated underwater photographer. He is survived by his partner Antonio Lennert. "Today, I lost the love of my life," Lennert wrote on Instagram. "Not only the love of my life, I lost my greatest mentor, my business partner, my best friend."
WATCH:
How a Kiss with a Pilot in an Elevator Changed This Man's Life and Could Help Fight LGBTQ Discrimination in China.
Former flight attendant Chai Cheng still has nightmares about the moment of passion that cost him everything.
In October 2019, footage was leaked online of Chai kissing a male pilot from the same airline -- China Southern, the country's largest carrier. Both men were off duty, and the kiss -- which has since been viewed millions of times -- occurred in an elevator in a private apartment building.
As the clip spread online, Chai was quickly grounded by the company and eventually let go. He is now suing the airline for lost wages, in a case that is seen as a test of China's stance on workplace discrimination. Campaigners say Chai's dismissal highlights the perils faced by LGBTQ workers in China due to lack of legal protection -- and now they're calling for workplace equality laws.
On Chinese social media, Chai is often referred to as "the China Southern cabin boy." But in China's LGBTQ community, he has become a hero and an unlikely activist. The 29-year-old said the episode has upended his life, both professionally and personally. He lost his dream job, and has struggled to start a new career or find a relationship. "I sometimes wish I could rewind to the time before the incident," said Chai. "So I could just be an ordinary flight attendant."
Homosexuality is not illegal in China and it was officially removed from a list of mental disorders in 2001. But experts and activists say LGBTQ people still face persistent discrimination and prejudice.
Chai said he had kept his sexuality private during his five years working at China Southern for fear that it would damage his career prospects. After the video of him kissing his co-worker went viral, Chai said he was taken aside by a senior manager who told him that homosexuality was against "socialist core values," and asked him to remain silent on the topic.
Queer Music Artists Phoebe Bridgers and Luminous KidTeam Up for New Song ‘Mountain Crystals’.
Photographer and visual artist Olof Grind, AKA Luminous Kid, can now add “upstart indie musician” to their already impressive resume. The Swedish artist has teamed up with friend and former client Phoebe Bridgers on the new song ‘Mountain Crystals’, the first release from their upcoming debut album at the end of the dream.
Olof Grind, AKA Luminous Kid is already prepared to stand up as a positive force in the world of entertainment. “I think the more role models and queer experiences that exist in popular culture, the better,” Luminous Kid said in a statement about his forthcoming album. “If a song or a work of art can make a sad and trapped young queer person feel better about themselves, then it is a step in the right direction.”
