Speech by James Froch, key organiser of last night’s Queer The Night march, Schools Out facilitator, Wellington Gay Welfare Group trainee co-ordinator, and Workers Party Wellington Education officer.
I’m one of the organisers of this march, but I’m also here as an organiser for Schools Out.
Homophobia is something each of us has to live with. We hesitate to hold our partners hand in public because we fear straight people’s reactions, their dumbfounded staring, their screams of dyke or faggot, their fists and their bottles.
Their homophobic actions aim to rein in our various identities and orientations, to keep us off the streets and in the closets. Its intent is to make queer and trans-people live in fear.
We’re here to say we’re not afraid. We’re here to say we stand as a community against homophobia and transphobia. We’re here to fight until everyone has the right to express and explore their queerness without religious, economic, legal restrictions. Continue reading “Queer The Night speech”
Film review: MILK
Gus Vant Sant’s new film “Milk”, is a biopic of the 1970s gay rights activist Harvey Milk, played by Sean Penn. Penn gives one of his best performances to date as the charismatic and outspoken gay leader, portraying him from his very few last days as a Republican-voting, Wall Street bureaucrat in the late 60s early 70s to his awakening as a fighter against gay oppression and subsequent assassination in 1978.