As usual… 5.5 minutes to read. A weekly digest of the most important queer news in your backyard! Exclusively for paid subscribers every Monday, “The 9” is curated weekly by Taylor Abbot + the GenZ editorial team.
This week, Uganda’s first gay facing the death penalty, and then:
Miles Fowler in “Bottoms” (2023)
WORLDWIDE. FILM. “BOTTOMS” RELEASED.
The new ‘horny’ queer high school sex comedy Bottoms was released on August 25. The movie follows two unpopular Queer friends, PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) who start a fight club at their high school in order to lose their virginities to cheerleaders. Well-respected critic Richard Brody wrote in The New Yorker: “A flimsy high-school comedy provides just enough of a vehicle for a generation-defining cast.” And he continues: “It’s not exactly a mark of cinematic art, but it’s nonetheless a major achievement. Bottoms Is a major film but not a good one.” In a Vogue interview costume designer Eunice Jera Lee spoke about the look of the movie. “We wanted the fashion to be timeless, to bring in inspirations from Y2K films and films from past eras, from Grease (1978) to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), Heathers (1988), Jawbreaker (1999), and Bring It On (2000)—all movies that were part of our formative youth.” We tend to agree.
CANADA. POLITICS. ADVICE FOR LGBT+ TRAVELING IN THE USA.
Canada has updated its travel advisory for the United States, warning its LGBTQ+ residents that they may be affected by some state laws if they travel across the border. As more US states pass damaging laws that limit LGBTQ+ rights, prohibit teaching about gender and sexual orientation in schools, and restrict gender-affirming care for minors, other countries are starting to take notice. Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has now been updated to advise LGBTQ+ visitors to the US to check state and local laws before planning a trip. As of Tuesday 29 August, the Canadian travel advisory’s ‘Laws and Culture’ section, which warns citizens of risks when travelling to the US, has been updated to recognise the risks posed to LGBTQ+ people. The update reads: “Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws.” We thought could not be worse. It is. Now the USA joined the list of LGBT+ unsafe countries. We hope Harvey Milk’s fight was not in vain.
A Ugandan man with a sticker on his face takes part in the annual gay pride in Entebbe, Uganda, on August 9, 2014.
UGANDA. POLITICS. FIRST QUEER FACES DEATH PENALTY.
First Man Faces Death Penalty for ‘Aggravated Homosexuality’ in Uganda. A 20-year-old man is facing a potential death sentence after he became the first person to be charged with “aggravated homosexuality” under Uganda’s new law that calls for the death penalty for some same-sex sexual relations. This month the World Bank said it would halt new lending to the Ugandan government after concluding that its anti-LGBTQ law, which has been condemned by many countries and the United Nations, contradicts the bank’s values. We cannot underline enough how important is to be vocal about this.
28 adults being arraigned for engaging in homosexuality before the Yaba Magistrate Court by Lagos
NIGERIA. POLITICS. ARRESTED GAY WEDDING.
The Nigerian police have arrested dozens of people who participated in an event in a hotel that was allegedly a gay wedding. As the Associated Press reports, the police in the Nigerian state of Delta stormed a hotel in the city of Ekpan early Monday morning, where a gay wedding allegedly took place. In a tweet on Tuesday morning, the police command of the state of Delta announced that the officials had arrested more than a hundred “gay suspects in a hotel holding a gay wedding ceremony.” The Nigerian law on same-sex marriage punishes same-sex relationships and provides for up to 14 years in prison. Accordingly, with The Guardian, 67 persons were arrested and waiting for a trial.
GERMANY. UNIVERSITY OF BONN. GAY45.
The founder of GAY45, Dr Răzvan Ion, will speak at the University of Bonn in the interdisciplinary lecture series on the topic of “ParaVerse_Digital Cultures of Curating, Exhibiting and Collecting”. Dr. Ion’s lecture will address a note titled “Edit Your Future: Queerverse Radical AI”. Based on the world-theoretical figure and virtual realization of the paraverse, the lecture series examines which parallel worlds of curating, exhibiting, and collecting art have emerged in digital spaces and networks. This serves as the inaugural event of the newly established Chair of Contemporary Art and Digital Image Cultures at the University of Bonn in January 2024.
GERMANY. AUTOTECHNIK. GAY CAR CLUB
“Die Motorboys”, Germany’s largest gay car club, organize a nationwide trophy once a year. in the summer. This year over 100 “summit strikers” climbed the Austrian Alps around Zugspitze and Hahntennjoch. There is no winner, just fun and driving in the magical Alps, parties and friendship. In five regions – Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia – the Motorboys meet for monthly regulars’ tables, trips or spontaneously privately. Founded in 2002, “Die Motorboys” have 335 members and is thus the largest gay car club in the country. We are excited to see there are more entertaining activities for gay people than Go-Go boys and glory holes.
USA. ECONOMY. BIG GAY ICE CREAM MISMANAGEMENT AND FRAUD.
The fight to control the company Big Gay Ice Cream, which made the rainbow its brand reached a new level. On Friday, a founder and partner, Doug Quint, filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court accusing another partner, Jon Chapski, of mismanaging the company and fraudulently collecting government loans during the pandemic. The company that rode to success with an inclusive message has shrunk to a single store, as a founder sues a partner he accuses of mismanagement and fraud. It was all rainbows and unicorns for a while. But like many fun ideas, Big Gay Ice Cream has wound up in debt and in court. With a rollicking rise that leveraged queer identity as a brand strategy, the New York City-based soft-serve chain opened seven shops in the Northeast and landed its products in supermarkets nationwide. The company now is down to just one location. Big for smaller, when money got in the middle. As usual.
UK. FILM. “SALTBURN” TRAILER RELEASED.
The first trailer for the British gay drama Saltburn has dropped. The movie will be launched on October 4 in the cinema. “A Vicious ‘Talented Mr. Ripley’ Knockoff From the Director of Promising Young Woman. Big on style but thin on substance, Emerald Fennell’s predictably confrontational second feature gives gifted Banshees of Inisherin scene-stealer Barry Keoghan an overdue starring turn.” says Variety. We still wanna see it.
Gay couple Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dang
INDIA. ECONOMY. GAY WEDDINGS MAKE BILLIONS.
A ruling to allow same-sex couples to marry would be a huge boost to the LGBT+ wedding industry in the country of more than 1.4 billion people, where families often spend the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars on lavish ceremonies that can last for several days. Indians spend a fifth of the total wealth accumulated in their lifetime on their weddings, according to loan provider Reliance Money, in a trillion-rupee (€12 billion) industry. The court case prompted a rush of LGBT+ people across the country to openly admit their sexual identities and seek life partners. A member of the Indian LGBT+ community, said many same-sex couples want traditional religious marriage ceremonies, in line with cultural norms. Remember when we said marriage is a liberal capitalist action that limits freedoms and the only financial benefits are for the state and corporations?
Recommendations from our favourite newspapers. This week NYT.
Serve up a perfect summer salad.
Listen to songs by Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and more.
Abandon your bra (if you like).
Watch a strange but beautiful movie about a woman who grows a tail.
Track a songbird from Alaska to Peru.
Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today’s Mini Crossword and Wordle.
Curated every Wednesday by Taylor Abbot & GAY45 editorial staff. Exclusive for subscribers on Monday through Substack.
Taylor Abbot is a 23 y.o. staff writer for GAY45 and MA student at the University of Oxford. Previously he studied at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is passionate about journalism, contemporary literature, poetry, technology, socio-political involved art forms and queer implications in society. He wrote previously for several magazines as Bay Area Reporter or Männer. Nerdy curious, passionate about the weird parts of life and the good stories written by great journalists. Taylor decided to delete all his social media accounts two years ago. Lives and works between Berlin and London.
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