BY MATT MILLS –BBC 2 television in the UK broadcast Christopher and His Kind on Saturday night. It’s a 90-minute drama about Christopher Isherwood’s life in 1930s Berlin. Check it out…
Isherwood, who died in 1986, is a fascinating figure in gay history and culture. If you’re unfamiliar with him, you might remember Tom Ford’s 2009 film, A Single Man. It’s a stunning onscreen adaptation of Isherwood’s autobiographical novel of the same name. If you haven’t seen/read it, you really should. But back to Christopher and His Kind… It’s set in 1930s Berlin. That was an amazing period of sexual liberation with thriving gay communities. Of course, the chain flew off when the world changed, but those years were the genesis of the modern Western gay movement. There is a set of powerful and sobering historical lessons there, too.
Anyway, no word yet on when Christopher and His Kind will be broadcast here in Canada, but I bet you a shiny nickel it will be on Masterpiece Theater in a few months and on DVD before then. I’ll keep you posted.
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This story from the Shanghai Daily caught my eye this morning:
A gay porn website was shut down by Chinese authorities and 32 young women were detained, accused of writing gay fiction for the site. “One writer, Long Juan, said she took the job out of ‘curiosity’ because gay novels were quite popular online,” reads the story. Does anyone know any women from mainland China who write gay porn for a living? I’d love an account of it for Xtra. Email me: matt.mills@xtra.ca. Obviously, there’s a huge civil liberties dimension to this story. Governments can and do play hardball when it comes to free expression on the internet.
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I’m not much of a sports fan, but I have been following outsports.com lately. Professional sports remains one of those cultures, especially in North America, in which most of the gay players are on the down-low. It’s sad, especially when you consider how many kids idolize pro athletes. A few more key gay role models in each of NHL hockey, NFL football, NBA basketball and Major League Baseball would serve to change the world for gay kids in ways It Gets Better never will.
Random sexy dudes kissing pic…
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Finally, I blogged last week about the St Paddy’s Day parade in Staten Island. Check out this piece from The Boston Globe about how the St Paddy’s Day parade turned out in that city this weekend.
It makes me glad Toronto’s gay community didn’t choose multiple Pride parades.
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