Airy Fairies

Chiara and entourage.

The Guardian today reported that, on the day that Eurovision was held, Moscow riot police violently broke up a peaceful gay pride rally, drawing attention to Russian authorities' appalling record on gay rights. The worst part of watching this year's Eurovision is that no artist has spoken out against this (apart from the Netherlands' representative who did not make it to the finals). I am sorely disappointed in the absence of any public show of solidarity towards Russian gays from Chiara and her Maltese entourage, a good number of who are otherwise openly gay. More hurtful is outspoken UK gay BBC presenter Graham Norton's cluelessness as reported by the Guardian.

Yesterday Norton professed ignorance about the tough line taken by the Moscow authorities against the gay rally. "I feel really bad, but I don't know very much about this," he said.

"...abysmal songs, absurd dancing, tacky costumes – and we wouldn’t want it any other way."

At the end of last year I was asked by PBS to design their logo for the local competition that leads to Junior Eurovision. It was the first time I had heard of the junior version of the European festival. Daniel Testa went on to win the Junior Eurosong and represent Malta in Cyprus with great verve and pizzazz.

The title above is how Tim Robey described Sounds Like Teen Spirit, a new popumentary released this month in the UK. It's "a cross between Borat and Little Miss Sunshine" according to Jamie Jay Johnson of The Telegraph. I have only seen the latter and it's one of the favourites in my DVD collection.



Kev Geoghegan writes about some of the protagonists in director Jamie J Johnson's film:

There's 12-year-old Mariam, raised in a crumbling, Soviet-era high rise in Gori, 47 miles west of Georgia's capital Tbilisi, and the birthplace of Josef Stalin.

Yiorgos, a doe-eyed imp from Cyprus, goes fishing with his dad but hasn't landed a single fish in two years.

In one of the documentary's many heart-wrenchingly honest exchanges, he admits he is bullied and called "gay" at school because of his interest in singing and dancing rather than football.

Bulgarian hopeful Marina, 14, of the seven-piece Bon Bon, had a comparatively luxurious upbringing in a large house with a swimming pool but exhibits a kind of sadness and maturity beyond her years.

In a genuinely moving segment, she volunteers the information that her businessman father has recently left her mother for another woman.

She hopes he will see the documentary and come home.

I shall be looking out for an appearance by the sweet Daniel but I have a feeling he doesn't feature amongst the young chosen ones.

Substance, Chiara.

I read in the Times today that Moscow has banned the gay parade planned to coincide with its hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest because the city's mayor insists that it would "destroy morals" in the capital.

1. Gay men make up a significant part of the Eurovision audience.

2. We empathise with the under-trodden gay community in Russia.

3. The organisers of the march are asking for artists to back them up.

4. Dear Ms. Siracusa, a designer's dress, lights and makeup may be important but it doesn't take much to figure out what would really make us give you our vote. It only takes a little show of solidarity, a hundred ways of doing that.

'What if we could be free' in Moscow

Back in the UK, for the past few years I have met up with a group of gay friends for refreshments on Eurovision night. We relish Sir Terry's bitchy commentary and I'm sure that this year we expect nothing less from the camp Norton. We make fun of the kitsch costumes and dance routines (Malta has certainly had its share of this). The last thing on our minds is making a political statement. This year, the contest is being held in Moscow.

A press conference was held on Tuesday by the Moscow Pride Movement to launch the May 16 Slavic Pride March. With 50 or so journalists present, they took the opportunity to speak out on Gay Rights in Russia.

I still recall reading about Right Said Fred's Richard Fairbrass and Peter Tatchell's nasty experience at the hands of Russian ultra-nationalist thugs and the Russian riot police at the 2007 Moscow Gay Pride. According to the Guardian the police failed to arrest any of the skinheads who chanted "death to homosexuals" but detained several Europeans present at Pride, amongst them German MP Volker Beck of the Green party, and the radical Italian MEP Marco Cappato. Religious orthodox protesters were also amongst the violent thugs, presumably following the teachings of Christ.

According to gayrussia.ru's report on the news conference:

“Moscow Pride is an incredible platform which allows us to speak and get attention from the public not only about Freedom of Assembly but about gay rights in general in Russia every year” said Nikolai Alekseev in introduction.

“There has not been any more powerful initiative to put gay rights in the society in the history of the Russian LGBT movement” he added.
2009 sees the fourth attempt to host a March for the Rights of Sexual Minorities in Moscow. This year, the event which is to be held together with Belarusian activists was re-branded as the “Slavic Pride”. It is also expected to take place next year in Minsk, Belarus, for the first time.

The temptation for the gay community to make use of the platform that the Eurovision in Moscow presents it with is too great. The march has been timed to coincide with the Eurovision final and this should make things a bit more interesting for me and my gay friends, introducing a serious note into the proceedings. Let us see if the authorities allow for the march to happen. They have not been so forthcoming in the past. Gay activists have sworn they will go ahead regardless.