gay love ‣ The Gayly Mirror

PHILADELPHIA – the film about AIDS and Gay Love that shook the world.

1Dec

By RaffaNo Comments

closeUp, Culture, Society

PHILADELPHIA – the film about AIDS and Gay Love that shook the world.

Maybe too few young LGBT+ friends know, remember or have even ever watched this movie, but Philadelphia was and still is one of the first movies that opened the eyes of the world on the stigma of AIDS, Homosexuality and the gay community. On this World Aids Day I am willing to take you back in time, to when in 1993 (Europe saw it in 1994) Philadelphia (the movie) was released in the cinemas across the USA, touching the hearts of so many people, and talking about a very harsh, too often unspoken, issue: HIV stigma and homosexuality. It is a movie that is hard to face, especially in some scenes, and because of the language used in it: but it is part of the real world that LGBT+ and HIV+ people had to face in those years. A movie that I remember having watched several times and different...

Santa’s Gay Love is what we all need for Christmas

25Nov

By RaffaNo Comments

closeUp, Culture, News, Society

Santa’s Gay Love is what we all need for Christmas

Santa Claus pictured in a gay-love relationship in this heartwarming Norwegian tv spot, and marks 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Norway (1972). The Norwegians Postal Services this year decided that yes, they wanted to promote their (apparently very reliable and on time) services, but they also wanted to touch the heart of millions of people… and not only in Norway. The clip depicts the developing and always stronger relationship between Santa Claus and another man, who he visits each Christmas over a number of years. https://youtu.be/tyQ6qD-u-J8 The clip is impressive, not only because it pictures Santa Claus in love with a man, but because it also touches themes which are very delicate and too many times left unspoken, such as loneliness and that feelin...

Raffaella Carrà: why was she so loved by the LGBT+ people?

6Jul

By RaffaNo Comments

closeUp, Culture, Entertainment, News, Society

Raffaella Carrà: why was she so loved by the LGBT+ people?

Raffaella Carrà the Italian and International Gay Icon who never understood why she was so loved by the LGBT+ people. In one of her interviews she once admitted that she really did not understand why she became such a powerful and loved Gay Icon. Raffaella, died yesterday at the age of 78, since the very first appearance on tv, with a natural simplicity, was able to wreck tabus, to sing of sexual freedom, female empowerment, independence and, of gay loves, with a big smile on her face. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ8_q5SBTM-/ Raffaella Carrà, back in 1978, on Rai1 - the equivalent of BBC1 in Italy - sang "Luca". This was a song about her love for this beautiful and stunning guy, who all of a sudden, she lost contacts with. One day - as she tells us in the song - she saw him from ...

7May

By rebeccaNo Comments

closeUp, Entertainment

Film recommendation – Rafiki

Street-smart tomboy Kena and rainbow-haired free-spirit Ziki are daughters of opposing Naoirobi politicians. Both dream of a life beyond the stifling confines of their conservative neighbourhood, parents and church. After meeting by chance, their friendship blossoms into something more serious, but their tender happiness is threatened by violence and restrictive views. Writer-director Wanuri Kahiu transplants a familiar, Romeo & Juliet-style, tale of forbidden love to Kenya, where homosexuality is still illegal – a legacy of British colonial rule. Although Kena and Ziki must deal with violence and disdain from their friends, family and church, the film is also full of the joy of young love full as it is of bright colours, a joyous soundtrack (from all-female African bands) and beaut...

Turkmenistan: famous showman and his partner arrested for being gay.

20Apr

By RaffaNo Comments

closeUp, Gay Pride

Turkmenistan: famous showman and his partner arrested for being gay.

Turkmenistan is not a place for LGBT+ people. We spoke about this side of the world in a recent post, but the news we keep on receiving from this area is not really encouraging. A very famous showman from Turkmenistan has been arrested last month, together with his partner and a dozen of other men around the country simply for being gay, even though police officers used the excuse of suspicion of homosexual activities. News and rumors of the gay showman’s arrest came out just a few days after we reported the horrible experience of the young man brutally beaten by police and forced to flee his country simply because he has HIV. Around the arrest of this famous Turkmen showman there is still too much unclarity, and a source told Radio Free Europe that the well-known actor had been ...