Update

Hi people. I hope this new semester is going well, although I wouldn't really know because I am no longer in the area.  As I was the president and no one was able to replace me, Pride & Color is unfortunately no longer in action until otherwise noted.  That being said, if anyone in any of the Five Colleges (I'm looking at you UMASS) would like to restart the group, you are free to use this blog space or to ask me or Kenneth (the former president) any questions (use fivecollegepc@gmail.com).

In the meantime, please be aware of Amherst College's Pride Alliance and Queer Internationals and People of Color (Hampshire), as well as the UMASS Pride Alliance, although I like the vibe of Amherst College's counterpart better.  Other possible resources include True Colors (Mt. Holyoke) and maybe Familia (also Mt. Holyoke) if it's still running.  Also note Smith's LGBT resources page.

Finally, I was recently recommended a link to the book, "Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation."  I haven't read it, but it may be worth your time.  I'm just guessing that Food for Thought Books might have it if you're interested in owning a copy.

Ok people, peace.

Kiss in!

     Thursday, March 31, Pride & Color recently coordinated a kiss in with participants from Mt. Holyoke, Amherst College, UMASS Amherst and Hampshire College.  A kiss in by the way is a peaceful protest in which homosexual (and sometime heterosexual) couples kiss publicly to redefine sexuality and romance outside of the boundaries of gender.

   The idea to have one here near Amherst was originally brought up as a response to homophobic and racist duct-taping incidents at Food for Thought Books.  So, we took to smooching and hand holding and hugging and rainbow flag waving to inform and remind anyone who passed that love is a queer thing, no matter the color of your skin.  We began on a corner of Route 9 up by Amherst Center and moved down to Food for Thought Books, where it seems the duct taper has taken to chalking inane messages on the walls of the store.  On a very positive note, we were fortunate enough to be passed by a school bus of impressionable little children!  YES!  Hopefully they won't grow up to be as close-minded as whoever is causing this trouble.

     Check out photos from the event below.  Thanks to all of the beautiful people who helped make this a success, especially those who traveled from other colleges.

"Rupture" and "In-ex-clusion"

April 7th through the 9th make sure to catch Sarah Perez' and Kyle Ramsey's Senior Theses in Choreography and Performance in Kirby Theatre at Amherst College:

"Sarah Perez’s original choreography piece 'Rupture' features movement inspired by issues of the gendered body and the violent nature of human interactions.

“In-ex-clusion,” by Kyle Ramsay, involves three unique performances that use song, text, dance and film to convey the quandaries involved with three aspects of identity: sexuality, gender and race. Can we define who we are? Or is our identity imposed on us?"

The performances are free and no reservations are required. Hope to see you there!

No Shame

Check out the killer/adorable new poster, designed by artist Car Lacho:

During one portion of Brother Outsider, the film on Bayard Rustin that was recently screened at Amherst College, one interviewee noticed that, remarkably, Rustin embraced his sexuality without any trace of shame, even way back the 1950s.  In recent meetings, we have been discussing a poster combating the shame that one might feel as queer individual, especially a queer individual of color.  My initial suggestion was violently worded "We are FAGGOTS, and there is NO SHAME in that."  The sentence had several problems, one of which was summarized by Dexter Padayachee as follows:

 "As a subaltern people we need to reclaim language by which to call ourselves, outside of the patriarchal heteronormative Eurocentric metastructure. By calling ourselves by the name of our oppressor we are reinforcing their sentiments."

He makes a good point.  The poster has now changed to what you see above.  Special thanks to Car Lacho for his heartwarming artwork.

Look forward to more NO SHAME posters on the way, and please give your feedback below.  Also, if you are interested in being part of the NO SHAME project, please contact us at fivecollegepc@gmail.com and let us know how you will be willing to help.

Selective Hearing

You know when you're dancing at a club or at a party and suddenly the DJ puts on this one song and every goes absolutely nuts and the energy just rises, and then you realize its the most homophobic piece of crap playing on the radio this month, but you keep on dancing anyway because the beat and the energy and the sound around you feels soooo good?  SHAME ON YOU!

... And the unsettling part is, writing those three words, I couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted it to be a totally serious condemnation or a partially a joke.  It should be shame on us, it should be we go run tell the DJ to turn that crap off as quick as we are to harass them when we feel their playlist needs some musical direction, but instead we're just used to ignoring the lyrics for the sake of the party.

Harold Aarons of the Amherst College class of 2010 recently had published an article on this subject over at XHIBITP.  Go check it out.  Voici le link:

My Guilty Pop Pleasure: Dancehall Music

www.xhibitp.com

This Friday Come Watch "BROTHER OUTSIDER"

Please come if you can, or wiki Bayard Rustin if you can't.  Let's reintroduce homosexuality into history, especially within the black community.  Tell someone you know his name, his sexuality, his race, and his actions.  Thank you for your support, and we hope to see you there at Amherst College on Friday.

P.S. We will have food.

"Pariah" Film Request

A while ago Sentamu stumbled across the trailer for "Pariah," a film summarized on the website as, "A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression."  It looks both exciting and constructive towards a positive perception of LGBT minorities within the community, so if you would like to see it come to the Pioneer Valley area, please request it from the film's official website.  It'll take less than a minute.

Check out a short discussion of the film here. 

P&C Poster Vandalism

It seems like last semester's posters are still raising eyebrows.  Starting from over the Christmas break, someone has taken to covering with duct tape the images of pretty people kissing and laying with each other in homosexual harmony, specifically those in the window of Food For Thought Books.  FFTB has kindly taken down the tape each time.  Pride & Color as well other awesome folks will be talking (and busting a move) TONIGHT [Feb. 12 2011] at FFTB to figure out what we can do to combat the (racist?) homophobia behind these acts.  Check out the duct tape article on the FFTB blog for more information on the incidents.  And, of course, thanks to Food for Thought for their support.

R.I.P David Kato

Uganda: Promptly Investigate Killing of Prominent LGBT Activist

David Kato Was Fearless Voice for Human Rights

JANUARY 27, 2011

David Kato.

© 2009 AP Images

David Kato’s death is a tragic loss to the human rights community. David had faced the increased threats to Ugandan LGBT people bravely and will be sorely missed.

Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch

(Kampala) -  Police in Uganda should urgently and impartially investigate the killing of the prominent human rights activist David Kato, Human Rights Watch said today. Kato had dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender persons (LGBT) in Uganda, facing threats and risks to his personal safety.

The government should ensure that members of Uganda's LGBT community have adequate protection from violence and take prompt action against all threats or hate speech likely to incite violence, discrimination, or hostility toward them, Human Rights Watch said.

"David Kato's death is a tragic loss to the human rights community," said Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "David had faced the increased threats to Ugandan LGBT people bravely and will be sorely missed."

Witnesses told police that a man entered Kato's home in Mukono at around 1 p.m. on January 26, 2011, hit him twice in the head and departed in a vehicle. Kato died on his way to Kawolo hospital. Police told Kato's lawyer that they had the registration number of the vehicle and were looking for it.

Kato was the advocacy officer for the organization Sexual Minorities Uganda. He had been a leading voice in the fight against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which has been before Uganda's parliament since October 15, 2009. While homosexual sex is already illegal in Uganda, the proposed law would criminalize all homosexuality, making it punishable by a fine and life imprisonment. "Repeat offenders" and those who are HIV positive would be subject to the death penalty. The bill would also oblige anyone with knowledge of someone who is or might be a homosexual to report that person to the police within 24 hours.

The bill has been widely condemned internationally, including by US President Barack Obama, who called the bill "odious." Kato had said the bill was "profoundly undemocratic and un-African."

The fight against the bill has also pushed Ugandan activists to the fore, raising concern for their privacy and safety. These deepened in late 2010 when a local tabloid called Rolling Stone, unconnected to the US magazine, published pictures, names, and residence locations of some members of the LGBT community, along with a headline saying, "Hang Them." Kato's photo appeared on the cover, and inside another photo appeared with his name.

Three activists, including Kato, eventually sued the publication and won on January 3. The judge ruled that the publication had violated their constitutional rights to privacy and ordered compensation. He also issued an injunction prohibiting any further publication of the identities and home locations of individuals labeled homosexuals.

"The Anti-Homosexuality bill has already generated hatred before it has even been enacted and it should immediately be withdrawn by its author," Burnett said. "President Yoweri Museveni should categorically reject the hate that lies behind this bill, and instead encourage tolerance of divergent views of sexuality and protect vulnerable minorities."

Article source: Human Rights Watch

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/01/27/uganda-promptly-investigate-killing-prominent-lgbt-activist