We all want world peace

While there have been scattered hijra pageants in India in the past, earlier this week, Mumbai hosted the nation's first formal transgender pageant. Auditions for "Super Queen" have been taking place across the country for the past several weeks; contestants had been handpicked from ten Indian cities. Veteran actor Zeenat Aman and starlet/LGBT activist Celina Jaitley were on hand as judges.

The event has been organized by 12 Noon entertainment; some of you may be familiar with its CEO, trans-activist Lakshmi Narayan Tripathi. Impressively, they have been able to garner support from the likes of Salman Khan and even Pratibha Patil, the current President of India. While we at Queeristan are sorting through the media trickling in, we have been by conflicted by the dichotomous the use of "eunuch" by some sources and "transgender" by others. From our knowledge, the pageant did not require contestants to be hijras; however, if any of our readers know more information, please do share.

Regardless, it is extraordinary that such an undertaking has gained so much (positive) media buzz both within India as well as abroad. We send our congratulations to the winner, Bobby, and all the contestants. We would take this chance to drop the word "fierce", but it's not 2006.

If you're ever confused, the Olympics Commitee will help you out

In feeble attempts to calm myself from flipping out over the imminent demise of the human race, I've stuffed myself with virtual ice-cream, staring all day Michael Phelps. Did you know he's double-jointed? Wonder if all his bones are double-jointed, eh? Apparently, his physical abnormalities (some say abnormal, I say hot) are well-known to have given him an advantage as a swimmer, allowing him to make Olympic history.

Now as much as I love Michael Phelps, I'm going to have to use him as a political point here. This double-jointedness and bodily abnormalities shit - all new news to me. But you know what's not new? The fact that the Olympic Committee created a gender determination lab to determine if women atheletes were really women. No male athletes were tested. For the sake of actually using the globs of cashmoney I spent to get my Philosophy degree, let's try to follow their logic. Understandably, they don't want to give any of the athletes an unfair advantage. The assumption is being male gives the athletes an advantage (regardless of type of sport - remember what we learned in gym class? Women have better endurance) and that they are in the right to disqualify any player with an unfair advantage. But if you apply these rules to Michael Phelps, shouldn't he be disqualified as well? He has a physical abnormality that clearly gives him an advantage over other swimmers. Testing positiviely has male because of chromosomal variance does not give female athletes any clear obvious advantages.

In the 2006 Asian games, Santhi Soundarajan, a middle distance runner, was stripped of her silver medal after failing to test postiviely as a woman (according to the qualifications of "female" from the International Olympic Committee). Afterwards, several articles stated that she is intersexed. Something, like Michael Phelps, that she had no control over. Why is the Olympics commitee taking such a strong interest in female gender and trying to figure out exactly what females are? If the reason really is to remove any unfair advantages, then Michael Phelps clearly violated that rule. What's disturbing is the large international institutions are still fumbling with understanding anything outside the straight male model.

Queeristani Travels -- Bhai-Sexuals

Hey guys, sorry about the long hiatus! My visit to Kolkata has been a frenzy at best, it's just now is settling down! The City of Joy is changing significantly, but one specific change has garnered my attention on my current trip. Perhaps it's an effect of the nation's changing social mores and ideals, or perhaps its just how things play out, but I can't stop wondering -- where have all the bhai-sexuals gone?

To any resident/traveller of the subcontinent, bhai-sexuality is (or perhaps more accurately, was) a fact of life. This sort of brotherly love is showcased by men holding hands, embracing each other, and playfully being affectionate towards one another. Bhai-sexuality unknowingly (but effectively) challenged the West's view of heterosexuality. I always found these actions to be endearing, not to mention strangely appealing during my days in the closet. However, like I said before, things are changing.

When walking to work or taking an auto across town, I'm seeing less and less bhai-sexuals. There is still a sense of dosti between male friends, but the attitude has shifted. Suddenly what the West deemed as "gay" is now seen as gay in India. There is no room for bhai-sexuality today, not in Bollywood or TV. Instead, a constant stream of hypermasculinity has taken over. The media pulsates six-packs, biceps, and an overall sense of machismo. Young boys are growing up with a new notion of how men should act around one another. It would be too easy to hold Westernization and globilization fully accountable for this, afterall didn't the West (particularly America) experience a similar shift not so long ago?

Male-male friendships in post-war America exhibited similar features to bhai-sexuality. However, once homosexuality gained visability by the late 1960's, men began overly stress their heterosexuality. While today America is breaking down the black-and-white mentality of sexuality, it has taken our society over a quarter century to do so. However I can't help but wonder, with the emergence of a Queer Desi identity, is South Asia headed towards a similar path?

Can we say "whipped"?

"A sex change is not always good. Neither is blind love. Dipu Ghosh, a homosexual from New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, thought that by changing his sex, he would seal the deal with his fellow gay partner, Ajit Mondal. In fact, Mondal had allegedly egged Ghosh to go in for the sex-change operation. But three months later, Mondal has done a vanishing trick. Dipu, on the other hand, cannot go back to his pre-operation status as a sex change operation is for good. Riled by his ex-partner's selfishness, Ghosh has lodged a complaint with the Jalpaiguri police station. "Money is not a problem for me. I am ready to give Ajit everything, a beautiful life... I'll fulfil all his dreams. But he has no right to insult my love," says Ghosh who makes a living by working as a bar girl in Mumbai. "

Moral of the story- don't change yourself for someone else. And if you do, you're whipped!

Times of India

Weekly Mix Masala

The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina), a gay-themed spoof of Bollywood, finally gets a debut in India four years late, after being banned by critics
Solaris Pictures

Happy Hookers -- Documentarian Ashish Sawhny trails three men who moonlight as part-time sex workers in Mumbai, India.
FILMOUT: What not to miss

Pregnant Man Thomas Beatie Appears on Oprah. Click for clip of show.
Jezebel

McCain, Clinton, & Obama call on UK to stop deportation of gay Iranians
CNBC

Anti-homophobia books removed from schools at the request of Muslim parents
UK's The Telegraph

A queer woman harshly criticizes India from an outsider's point of view
GenerationQ

A rally for Sally Kern, who made the statement that "the homosexual agenda is destroying the [US] nation," draws more than 1,000 supporters
NewsOK.com

A member of the new group, The World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, urges Muslims to donate towards HIV/AIDS causes. "[Although] ıt is associated wıth sexual promıscuıty and the gay lifestyle, which are anathema to Islam, the needs of AIDS victims in sub-Saharan Afrıca are too great to ignore."
Philanthropy.com

And Shiva replied " Oh, oh uh uh .. no no no no."

The Pregnant King

Finally! The queerness that saturates Hindu mythology is given center-stage, instead of being miserably repressed into the background. The Pregnant King, a perfect title for such a gender-bending book, is by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik and it focuses on certain stories of the Mahabharata. Easy to relate to in today’s queer world (note: a pinch of imagination needed as well!), are stories of machismo warriors being castrated, FTM able to father children with borrowed penises, and of course, a king that’s preggers!

Now, as a medical student, I am forced to go off on this tangent. How possible is male pregnancy? Surprisingly, it is theoretically achievable (warning: science babble ahead). With in vitro fertilization, the zygote may be transplanted ectopically (outside of the uterus), and can attach onto abdominal organs like the liver or colon. The zygote, not only develops into the fetus, but is also the source of part of the placenta, which nourishes the fetus; thus the placenta is able to grow in the abdomen as well. So, fetuses should be able to grow in males, right? Well, easier said than done. The right hormones need to be thrown into the mix, the male’s body needs to be able to adapt to the extra strain, and, don’t forget, guys don’t have a vagina – the baby would have to be caesarean sectioned!

OK, in summary: Check out the book. And don’t be too surprised if you see some daddy-mommas in the future.

M.I.A. = Man, in Actuality

Joining other it-girls in fashion campaigns, artist M.I.A. is one of the new faces for Marc Jacobs. But aha! Ek twist hai! She is posing for the men's clothing in these first series of ads. Now, girl is short...if she can be a model (albeit for mensware) then I have a chance!

It's rumored she'll be appearing with other music idols in Converse Nike ads. So much for being genuinely political. In case you were worried that this was getting to her head...in response to DJing Marc's NY Fashion Week afterparty, "Last year I wasn't let into the Marc Jacobs party and this year I own it!" Yeah, someone remind me. What's the return policy on people who sell out?

Another first-timer to Marc Jacobs show: Kevin Federline. M.I.A., you are movin' on up! But thanks for the gender-bending on the way to the top. We apprech much. XOXO.

Fashion Week Daily