Film Review: ‘Pride’

Now I love an angsty-gay/trans* film as much as the next girl; Boys Don’t Cry, Milk, Brokeback Mountain, The Laramie Project, but Pride was really in a genre of its very own. Packed with the humour we have come to expect from a British-made comedy film, but without loosing the important messaging of gay culture in the 1980s. Also, as a self-confessed gay-geek, it was fantastic to learn about a part of the history of the gay rights movement that I have never known about before, and to see how it linked into other political movements of the time.

The film starts with the 1984 London Pride Parade; I was at London Pride this year, 30 years on, and it made me remember just how far we have come. The film went on to highlight the issues specific to the day, such as the difference in age of consent between ‘the breeders’, as described by self-defined dyke Steph, and gay men. However, it also showed issues that are still present, such as coming out, hate crime and HIV. It wouldn’t be a gay-film set in the 80s without some reference to HIV, but it was done subtly and appeared throughout the film in a way that tied in well with the storyline.

Joe/Bromley’s plight was particularly resonating for me as I sat in the cinema next to my parents. I was reminded once again how fortunate I am to not have experienced the negative and detrimental impact of having parents who unable to accept their child’s sexuality. Although times have moved on, there is still a plethora of young people who struggle with coming out and never get that all-important acceptance from their families. I know Q:alliance help to tackle this issue through the HQMK youth group, but there are still so many who have no support network at all.

What was refreshing about this amazing film was the way it seamlessly switched between pure comedy (the ongoing lesbian cuisine discussion was one of my personal favourites) to poignant moments that sent goosebumps down your spine and set a little tear in your eye.

The film really demonstrated how issues of equality and discrimination shouldn’t be kept in silos, with all the many minority groups badgering away at their own cause. There are so many commonalities between us and although standing up for striking miners in a small village in Wales is an extreme example of this, the message remains the same.

Five stars! A must see for everyone, not just the LGBT community.

Blogger Ellie

‘Not in my lifetime’

Over the past ten years, I have often heard the phrase ‘not in my lifetime’ from people who identify somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum. With the recent news that England and Wales will indeed be introducing same-sex marriage, I realised that I didn’t think I would see same-sex marriage in my lifetime. Now I know there are problems with the Bill, it isn’t perfect, but we shouldn’t let that distract us from this monumentally historic moment. It is incredibly upsetting now to think that as a teenager, I had such little faith that I did not believe I would ever have the choice to get married to a woman.

For me the emotional impact of this change in the Law is amplified by the recent news reports from Russia. As we legislate to improve and champion equality, their government is taking even bigger backward leaps to endorse an unequal homophobic and transphobic society. I have nothing but admiration for the activists and LGBTQ people in Russia, who are brave enough to stand up for their rights regardless of the consequences.

Despite all the Laws in the UK which have discriminated against or criminalised LGBTQ people, some not so dissimilar to those we are seeing in Russia now, I still think we should take a moment to be proud of what happened in the House of Commons on the 17th July 2013. Yes, we don’t have a perfect record when it comes to LGBTQ rights, and maybe it shouldn’t be just Alan Turing receiving a posthumous pardon, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that we are a society that appears to be heading in the right direction.

Although I believe we should celebrate, I am not naive enough to assume that same-sex marriage is our final step for equality, or that it will prevent everyday homophobia and transphobia. We still have battles ahead of us, both in the UK and Worldwide; we certainly can’t afford to become complacent. As Nelson Mandela said: “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.” However, when you reach a summit, you should always take a moment to enjoy the view.

Ellie Walsh
Community Engagement Officer

Q:alliance

TV’s Lesbian Ladies…

Over the past decade there have been some great lesbian couples shown on mainstream UK and US television. This is a list of some of my favourites, sorry for any that I have missed!

Spoilers Alert!
If you haven’t seen the shows and don’t want to know happens then probably best not to read.

Emily and Niomi
I had stubbornly refused to watch Skins because I thought I was too old to watch teenagers getting drunk, taking drugs and having sex. I was grossly wrong. The series is well written; fluctuating seamlessly from very funny to angst-ridden, this program is definitely worth a watch. Emily Fitch (Kathryn Prescott) and Niomi Campbell’s (Lily Loveless) journey from acquaintances that just have some underlining sexual chemistry, to a relationship is not entirely smooth; the writers successfully show the problems that lesbian relationships come up against, including Niomi’s initial denial and Emily having to move out of her family home.

Kim and Saint
Sugar Rush was another fantastic Channel 4 series which deals with teenagers coming to terms with their sexuality and lesbian relationships. Unfortunately the show was ended after two series, but in that time there were some great storylines and lesbian action. The gorgeous Kim Daniels (Olivia Hallinan), moved to Brighton with her interesting (and charmingly dysfunctional) family and falls in love with her best friend Sugar (Lenora Crichlow). In the end, after much confusion and heartbreak with Sugar, Kim has a relationship with Saint (Sarah-Jane Potts). Their relationship is pretty turbulent (mainly due to the drama caused by Sugar being released from prison) but by the end of the show the couple move in together (with Sugar in tow) and it appears to be setting up for a third series… which unfortunately never came along.

Tara and Willow
The makers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s decision to make Willow (Alyson Hanngian) a lesbian was possibly one of the best choices the show ever made. There were inferences from very early in the program that Willow was going to be gay, which made her eventual relationship with Tara (Amber Benson) not seem strange or a “phase” that would only last for one season. The couple had a huge lesbian following and was probably the first lesbian couple I had ever seen in a television series.

Willow and Kennedy
Although Tara’s death made a lot of fans extremely angry (including myself) the show did try to redeem itself by giving Willow a new love interest in the form of feisty potential slayer Kennedy (Iyari Limon). Personally, I didn’t have a problem with her, I loved her passion and watered-down Faith-like attitude… not to mention that she was extremely attractive. Although their relationship only lasted for one season (the episode ‘The Killer in Me’ is still one of my favorite episodes ever) at the end of Buffy both women are still alive, together and riding off into the sunset in a yellow school bus. Very romantic.

Callie and Erica
The relationship between Calliope Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith) blossomed organically out of a friendship, prior to which both women had only been interested in men. The storyline had the potential to be offensive and could have been similar to the ‘lesbian coming out and going back in’ story arcs as seen in Kissing Jessica Stein and Sex and the City but the writers managed to pull it out of the bag. Lesbian audiences warmed to the new couple and Dr Hahn’s speedy departure from the show, left fans anger in a way that was reminiscent of Tara’s death in Buffy.

Callie and Arizona
After Hahn’s speedy exit from the show, it seemed as though Grey’s Anatomy had opted away from the lesbian drama and I was convinced that Callie would return to men. However, I was ecstatic when the stunning pediatric Surgeon Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw), makes her feelings for Callie known in the toilet of a bar. I wasn’t a huge fan of the relationship between Hahn and Callie, so I had no problems accepting Arizona as Callie’s new girlfriend. Although the new couple had a rough ride throughout series 6, their reunion in the finale (and what a finale it was!) was brilliant. Again in series 7 they had a tough time with Arizona leaving and Callie getting pregnant by Mark in her absence; they now seem to have achieved marital bliss and an inspiring approach to parenting.

Bette and Tina
The L Word was probably the most important lesbian television show to hit TV screens. It followed the lives of beautiful, funny, intellectual and over-sexed women in Los Angeles and was a worldwide success. Bette Porter (Jennifer Beals) and Tina Kennard (Laurel Holloman) were the title couple of the show, having been together from the beginning. The audience followed the ups and downs of their relationship, from affairs, a miscarriage, a law suit and a child, but by the end of series 6 they get the happy ending we all predicted would happen.

Alice and Dana
Alice Pieszecki (Leisha Hailey) and Dana Fairbanks (Erin Daniels) are best friends at the beginning of The L Word, and at the end of the first series, we get to see (in my opinion) one of the sweetest TV moments when Alice knocks on Dana’s front door in the early hours of the morning. I think this couple is such a favorite because they are awkward, funny, romantic and sexy.

Nikki and Helen
Bad Girls couple Nikki Wade (Mandana Jones) and Helen Stewart (Simone Lahbib) were such a great couple because there were so many obstacles in the way of their relationship. Helen was straight, in a relationship with a man and the prison Wing Governor, whereas Nikki was a lesbian and a prisoner. The relationship has many ups and downs, but eventually the couple were reunited with Nikki’s release from prison. Who could forget that romantic kiss in the street!

Santana and Brittany
Any lesbian Glee fans were probably jumping up and down in their seats when the hit TV show decided to explore the blatant sexual tension between the super hot cheerleaders Brittany S Pierce (Heather Morris) and Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera). The road to a harmonious relationship was by no means smooth, with roadblocks such as Santana being outed in a public video and acquiring a ‘beard’ boyfriend to hide her sexual preferences, but eventually in series 3 the couple hooked up officially.

Have your own favourite couple? Comment below!

Blogger Ellie

Homophobia in Sport?

As those of you who know me are already aware, aside from loving my friends and family, there is another thing in my life that I love, that perhaps some would say borders on obsession: hockey.

I have played the sport since I was ten years old, for my school, local club, university and county. It is responsible not only for introducing me to the wonder that is Strongbow Black, but has introduced me to a number of fantastic individuals that I am proud to call my friends and team mates.

When I moved back to MK nearly two years ago, I felt quite unsettled in the city that I had grown up in and lived in for nineteen years. I had been away for five years, which meant that I still had the close friends I’d stayed in contact with, but it also meant that the previously socially infused lifestyle I’d had at university was missing. However, I decided to turn to the place that had always provided me with a sense of community and an amazing group of friends: the local hockey club.

Milton Keynes Hockey Club didn’t let me down and was the same welcoming and diverse place that I had found at previous clubs. Within two weeks I had told some of my team I was gay and within a month most people in the senior club knew. As I had previously experienced, no one batted an eyelid. Being a lesbian in a hockey club really isn’t a big deal and homophobia simply wouldn’t be tolerated, not only by the committee of the club but by the members too.

With all the recent campaigns to tackle homophobia in sport (all who are doing great work) I wanted to describe my experience of being a lesbian hockey player. Now I am aware of the stereotypes involved with women’s sport and homosexuality, but I can assure you that at all the hockey clubs I’ve played for we are definitely in the minority. We probably make up about ten percent of the club, which reflects the general statistics for the percentage of LGB people in the UK.

So this is just my experience of local clubs, but I get this impression this positive attitude to lesbians in the hockey world extends beyond the local. A few weeks ago a friend and I attended the London Prepares Visa Invitational Hockey Tournament at the Riverbank Arena in the new London 2012 Olympic Park, and got to see Great Britain win the final against the world champions Argentina. During the game a group of spectators were sitting beside us and a lesbian couple were sat separately, one in our row and the other in the row in front. One member of the couple stood up, leaned over the back of her seat and kissed her partner on the lips in plain view. This took place practically on the lap on my straight friend that I was seeing the game with and she didn’t even flinch; in fact no body around us made any kind of reaction at all.

On leaving the game I noticed a number of female same-sex couples holding hands as we were leaving the stadium and it gave me the inspiration to write this blog post. I decided to put the idea of writing about it by the friend I was with and I mentioned the lesbian couple that had kissed earlier at the game and she looked at me slightly confused because she hadn’t even noticed. For me this sums up just how accepting women’s hockey players and supporters are – they have become so used to their lesbian team mates and seeing them being openly affectionate with their partners, without fear of homophobia, that they no longer even notice it happening.

I am so grateful for my hockey friends and proud to be part of a sport where, in my personal experience, this is the case. And I really hope that in the future this will be the case for most sports in the UK and indeed in wider society as well.

Blogger Ellie

(To find out more about MK Hockey Club visit www.mkhockey.co.uk)

 

Welcome to Q:alliance’s brand-spankingly new Blog!

Here at Q:a we’ve decided that it is time to hear directly from members of the LGBTQ Community of MK and so we have invited some lovely Resident Bloggers to entertain us with their witty comments and insightful delights. They will be writing on a whole host of topics, from the personal to the political, for your enjoyment.

Until now we have been using Facebook and Twitter to inspire conversation, which has sparked some fantastic conversations but we want to take it that step further. The whole premise of this project is to empower the MK community to speak for themselves and describe the world around them as they experience it.

And thus, a Blog was born!

So, where do you come in? We love discussions here at Q:a, so please comment on the posts and start a dialogue (nothing too abusive though or it won’t be approved! We like constructive debate here folks, not aggressive slander) or post it on your Facebook wall and see what kinds of conversation you get there!

So I should probably also take this opportunity to introduce myself, I’m Ellie, and I work for Q:a as their Community Engagement Officer. I will be one of your Bloggers on the site, alongside a number of Resident Bloggers and some Guest Bloggers, so keep checking back to meet them when they post their own Inaugural Posts.

Enjoy Reading!

Blogger Ellie