Weekly Mix Masala

StarAsia Censors the Homos out of the Oscars
Queerty

Check out a free copy of Pukaar, the journal of Naz Foundation International! Includes such topics as the Evolution of Homosexuality, MSM's, eunuchs, Nepal's courts, HIV, prostitution, virgins, and much much more...
Naz Foundation International

"I can be a good Muslim and be gay"
Muslims against Sharia Blog

Bobby Jindal declares gay marriage for everyone! (yeah right..)
Queerty

Oh no they didn't - Pussycat Dolls put the "Ho" in Jai-Ho. Listen to it here...
zSHARE

Anyone into water sports? India launches new cow urine soft drink.
Times Online

When Pink turns to Red.. A slightly annoying article that makes homosexuals look like sex-craved murders.
Mumbai Mirror

Weekly Mix Masala

Sunil Babu Pant, from Nepal, addresses the UN on LGBT issues.
Gays Without Borders

This guy is on fire! Pant also received a "People of the Year Award" from The Advocate magazine!
Advocate.com

Nepal - one step forward, two steps back. Journalist Uma Singh, one of many journalists targeted in Nepal, is hacked to death by 12 to 20 men. One issue Uma covered was women's rights.
SAJA Forum

The Star Screen Awards were very... pseudo-gay this year! Priyanka Chopra wins the Best Actress award for Fashion and Jon Abraham and Abishek Bachchan win the best couple award for Dostana.
Screen India

Which Bollywood stars have Hollywood look-a-likes? These pairings are amazing!!
Ultrabrown

Queer Masti: Bi-sexual Prejudice - Bi Ladki talks about the lack of understanding towards bi-sexuals.
Desiclub.com

Court rules that Bangladeshi trans-persons are full-fledged citizen and are allowed to vote for the first time ever!
Globalgayz.com

What are the HIV related needs of sexual minorities in India? Download the document here:
msmasia.org

Cop torches wife to death in Nagpur, India
Times of India

Getting the Ball Rolling!

NDTV ran a segment about two weeks ago on the decriminalization of homosexuality. Some good arguments are raised and most of the panel (and the host) seems to be in our favor. Check it out!

The Pink Visa Scandal

This irritates the hell out of me. Time and time again we hear stories about how openly gay men from countries like Iran, Bangladesh, etc. are forced to plead for their lives by requesting asylum from other countries. Unfortunately, the wonderful country of Australia, which frequently grants asylum to the homos, is getting duped.

"IMMIGRATION officers are investigating claims that a Sydney migration agent hired a gay sex worker in a bizarre bid to gain political asylum for his clients.

On three occasions in May last year, Raymond Solaiman took Indian and Bangladeshi tourists to visit a male prostitute in Kings Cross.

It is alleged Mr Solaiman paid cash to the escort who agreed to be photographed in sexually explicit positions with the men. He later used the photos as supporting evidence in protection visa applications, which claimed his clients were homosexual and had suffered persecution in their homeland.

The Department of Immigration was alerted to a potential problem last year when as many as a dozen applications arrived, all containing photographs with the same backdrop and male partner."

Wow, this whole story sounds like it could make for a really bad movie (ie Chuck & Larry). Thoughts?

The Pink Visa Scandal

Positively a Runaway Groom

The pressure of marriage is something many of us will face at some point in our lives. However, Chennai would-be groom, Satish, has dealt with his marital pressure in a rather unique way. Satish was all set to marry the girl chosen out for him by his parents; the couple was engaged and a wedding date was set in early September. However, unknown to the parents or the bride was the fact that this Tamil heart already belonged to someone else. Satish has always been in love with his college sweetheart and a marriage to someone else suddenly felt impossible.

So this South Indian techie used some ingenuity and forged a lab report claiming that he was HIV positive. He presented the evidence to his future in-laws in tears and conveniently wiggled his way out of the predicament. Or so he thought. Something about the story must have seemed specious, because the in-laws called the lab to verify the results and discovered that Satish never even got an HIV test.

Now poor Satish is, as they say, out of the frying pan and into the fire. The bride's family has called and authorities and Satish has been slapped cases under Sections 420 (cheating) and 4 (1) of Prevention of Women Harassment Act. In a last ditch effort he offered to marry the girl once again, but not surprisingly the family turned him down.

Oh Satish, perhaps it's the balance of the universe at work or just rotten luck, but be forewarned runaway grooms (and brides), faking an HIV positive test may not be the best way out of marriage. I'll be surprised if this story doesn't make its way into a Bollywood plot.

Why India needs more HIV/AIDS awareness:

"An Indian couple who were infected with the virus that can lead to AIDS have committed suicide after killing their three children, police in Mumbai say. Relatives say the couple had been depressed by news that their daughter also had the HIV virus.

Police say the parents hanged themselves after poisoning their children, aged between five and 10. India has one of the largest numbers of HIV-positive people in the world and they suffer serious social stigma."

Indian HIV parents kill children

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

Deepa Mehta lends her support for India's pride parades
NDTV Movies

Sex and the Indian City- taking a look at what the show would look like set in India.
Times of India

Interview with Manil Suri, queer author of "The Death of Vishnu"
New York Times

Although the total number of HIV infections in Asian and Pacific Island men in the US remains low, the annual increase is estimated to be 12.1%.
Aidsmap News

Do progressive/activist minorities care about transpeople or is this an issue they want to avoid? Read about black civil rights group's treatment of the policy brutality towards transperson Duane Johnson.

The F Word

How sad! Queer flick When Kiren Met Karen isn't finding any love in India
NDTV Movies

Coming out isn't easy for gay kids. And what if you have traditional Indian parents?
Toronto Sun

Historical records suggest that the first women's shelter was started in Istanbul

The F Word

Watch out! A gang of criminals in Mumbai is targeting young gay men looking for one-night stands. And the modus operandi? They pick them up and dupe them into taking them home. Once there, they pretend to be policemen and extort their money and valuables
Times of India

Weekly Mix Masala

BREAKING NEWS: Many dead in Sir Lanka bus blast
BBC News

Transsexuals vie to win first-ever trans pageant in Kolkata!
Hindustan Times

Alarming trend continues with MORE Queer Crime: 30-year-old married man arrested for the murder of a man who refused to pay him after sex
India eNews

"I am coming out as a Muslim man. My gay identity is secondary." -Parvez Sharma
Advocate.com

A South Asian theater group at Harvard University pushes the borders with a new play, involving queer issues, interracial relations, and the word 'vagina'!
India New England

Controversy over Cricket cheerleaders: are they making the sport flashier or trashier?
BBC News

Law and Order: Special Queer Unit

There must have been something unusual in the air the past few weeks. One sniff and all the crazies came out to play! In an alarming trend, queer desis made headlines all over the world- mostly bad news, I'm afraid.

Let's start with the least offensive. Akash Maharaj, an (ex-)Yale student, was found to have forged his Columbia University transcript (giving himself straight A's), letters of recommendation, and financial aid forms (hey, might as well make some money out of it, right?). So, how was he caught? This is the interesting part: threatened by Maharaj, his ex-gay lover, Victor Cazeres, contacted Yale authorities. Cazares happened to reveal to the police that Maharaj was older than he had stated on his application. This red flag propelled an investigation into Maharaj's file which uncovered the many more falsifications. Our advice to Maharaj- next time you want to lie on your applications, don't change your age just so you can get with younger guys.

Moving onto another college story. At a university in Punjab, 25-year old Inderpal Singh committed suicide by hanging himself to a ceiling fan. In his suicide note was a description of the suffering that he had endured throughout the prior year. This next part could seriously be straight out of a scene from a flick like Cruel Intentions. One night while intoxicated, Singh found himself having sex with fellow male classmates. The sexual encounter was videotaped by none other than a PROFESSOR of the university! Blackmail followed the encounter, where...nope, the classmates did not stop at just asking for money, but also forced Singh to be their sexual slave. A year later, when Singh finally refused, copies of the video were dispersed, and Singh found himself unable to cope. Our advice - if you're into authoritarianism, stick to reading sexual stories about it rather than acting it out in real life.

Alright, last but not least. In the state of Gujarat, 18-year-old Kalpesh Patel was arrested for the murder of an older man, Mohan Patel (no relation!). According to Kalpesh, Mohan had made advances towards him, which he refused. When Mohan became more aggressive, Kalpesh took a nearby rock and smashed it into Kalpesh's head until he was dead. Now, the kicker: Mohan was married, had children, and was definitely not openly queer. Now we know that there are many MSM's in India, who have relations with men outside from their traditional families, but was Mohan one of them? Could Kalpesh have had another reason to murder Mohan? And if so, claiming that Mohan was trying to elicit a homosexual act would be a brilliant move in trying to gain the government's empathy. Our advice to you - carry some pepperspray, it's a dangerous world out there...


Yale student is accused of lying on his application

Sexually abused, youth hangs self

"Gay" murder in India