it gets better project.
http://www.itgetsbetter.org
dimanche 31 juillet 2011
Pride event continues message of equality
WILKES-BARRE – As organizers of the upcoming Pride Fest in Wilkes-Barre gather, a strong sense of community and celebration will serve to connect gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight people of all kinds.
Pride Fest, set for Sunday, Aug. 14 and organized by the NEPA Rainbow Alliance, will promote the idea of equal rights and gay pride.
After the recent passing of legislation in New York to allow gay people to marry, a feeling of excitement has washed over many GLBT residents in northeastern Pennsylvania, according to Rainbow Alliance Executive Director John Dawe.
“In New York, it is very exciting and a big step forward for the people that live there,” Dawe said. “Unfortunately, when they come back to Pennsylvania, their marriage in the eyes of law means nothing... It has no weight in Pennsylvania, unfortunately.”
Dawe said early estimates show that New York could generate over $4 million over the next three years from gay marriage. He said it is disheartening to residents of the Keystone State to see these numbers and know that the commonwealth is losing potential income.
“It’s something in Pennsylvania that they’re trying to figure out how to continue to discriminate against,” Dawe said. “With all of the nation’s budget problems and economy problems, you’d think that legislators would be focusing on things that are going to help these situations, not discriminating against any specific group of people.”
Progress takes time, but Dawe believes that people’s attitudes on marriage equality have changed significantly over the years.
“The government should not use itself to take away or restrict people from having rights,” Dawe said. “The Constitution begins with the Bill of Rights. Nowhere does it say in there ‘except for gay people, black people, and women.’ ”
The recent developments in New York will likely be a larger topic of discussion during this year’s Pride Fest, but the main focus will continue to be a community coming together.
Those attending the event can look forward to local bands Pop Rox, M-80, and a special appearance from gay rights activist Jade Starling, who was a member of the band Pretty Poison during the 1980s.
“We are very excited to have her perform. She’s performed at pride fests around the country, places like New York and Philadelphia,” said Dawe.
Local entertainment, including DJs and live performances will be sponsored by Twist Nightclub and The 12 Penny Saloon.
There will be a wide selection of food such as chicken fingers, funnel cakes, and more. Each food vendor will also include a dish of the day specially prepared for the occasion.
Last year, the event attracted nearly 2,000 people, according to Dawe, and this year they hope to welcome as many at 3,000.
“It serves as a way to connect members of the GLBT community with vendors and exhibitors who have some stake in the community, whether it’s looking to promote their business to that demographic or an organization that provides services,” Dawe said.
http://www.timesleader.com/golackawanna/news/Pride_event_continues_message_of_equality_07-31-2011.html
Pride Fest, set for Sunday, Aug. 14 and organized by the NEPA Rainbow Alliance, will promote the idea of equal rights and gay pride.
After the recent passing of legislation in New York to allow gay people to marry, a feeling of excitement has washed over many GLBT residents in northeastern Pennsylvania, according to Rainbow Alliance Executive Director John Dawe.
“In New York, it is very exciting and a big step forward for the people that live there,” Dawe said. “Unfortunately, when they come back to Pennsylvania, their marriage in the eyes of law means nothing... It has no weight in Pennsylvania, unfortunately.”
Dawe said early estimates show that New York could generate over $4 million over the next three years from gay marriage. He said it is disheartening to residents of the Keystone State to see these numbers and know that the commonwealth is losing potential income.
“It’s something in Pennsylvania that they’re trying to figure out how to continue to discriminate against,” Dawe said. “With all of the nation’s budget problems and economy problems, you’d think that legislators would be focusing on things that are going to help these situations, not discriminating against any specific group of people.”
Progress takes time, but Dawe believes that people’s attitudes on marriage equality have changed significantly over the years.
“The government should not use itself to take away or restrict people from having rights,” Dawe said. “The Constitution begins with the Bill of Rights. Nowhere does it say in there ‘except for gay people, black people, and women.’ ”
The recent developments in New York will likely be a larger topic of discussion during this year’s Pride Fest, but the main focus will continue to be a community coming together.
Those attending the event can look forward to local bands Pop Rox, M-80, and a special appearance from gay rights activist Jade Starling, who was a member of the band Pretty Poison during the 1980s.
“We are very excited to have her perform. She’s performed at pride fests around the country, places like New York and Philadelphia,” said Dawe.
Local entertainment, including DJs and live performances will be sponsored by Twist Nightclub and The 12 Penny Saloon.
There will be a wide selection of food such as chicken fingers, funnel cakes, and more. Each food vendor will also include a dish of the day specially prepared for the occasion.
Last year, the event attracted nearly 2,000 people, according to Dawe, and this year they hope to welcome as many at 3,000.
“It serves as a way to connect members of the GLBT community with vendors and exhibitors who have some stake in the community, whether it’s looking to promote their business to that demographic or an organization that provides services,” Dawe said.
http://www.timesleader.com/golackawanna/news/Pride_event_continues_message_of_equality_07-31-2011.html
Girls school bans lesbian partners
STUDENTS at a leading Perth girls school have launched a campaign for the right to bring same-sex partners to their school formal.
A group of more than 40 past and present St Mary's Anglican Girls School students have confronted school authorities and started a Facebook campaign to argue for better gay rights.
But they say school bosses are refusing to back down and have told them that bringing a same-sex partner to the school ball is "inappropriate".
WA Equal Opportunity Commissioner Yvonne Henderson said the school could be breaching the Equal Opportunities Act by discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.
Kia Groom, 24, who graduated from St Mary's in 2003 is leading the campaign. She said she formed the online group St Mary's Anglican Girls School Diversity this month.
She said "there are students at the school who don't feel comfortable" and the school policy was "damaging".
Other former students claimed the school chaplain, who is a member of the Facebook group and supported acceptance of gay students, was fired for being "too different" and "open-minded".
St Mary's declined to answer questions when contacted several times this week.
Ms Groom said gay rights had been raised many times at the school and each year students had elected representatives to approach the principal about bringing same-sex partners to the formal. And each year they were denied. Students were now determined to change the policy ahead of the next formal early next year.
"To me that is just unacceptable and it just shocked me ... there was no further explanation as to why," Ms Groom said.
"As a result, my school ball experience was fairly sub-par because I didn't get to spend the night with who I wanted to ... the whole thing was tarnished."
Ms Groom, who is bisexual, said coming to terms with her sexuality was made more difficult by the school. She said it tried to "nip lesbian behaviour in the bud".
Association of Independent Schools of WA executive director Valerie Gould said schools could make their own policies.
The Education Department said it supported healthy growth and development of students and ensured people were treated fairly in public schools.
But Ms Yvonne Henderson said though there were some exceptions for religious schools, anyone had the right to lodge a complaint if they felt they had been treated "less favourably". "Our stance is the Act and the Act makes it quite clear that it is unlawful," she said.
Gay and Lesbian Equality WA co-convenor Kitty Hawkins said other public and private schools had similar policies.
Some public school students were required to meet school heads to "prove they were gay" or in a same-sex relationship before being allowed to bring a same-sex partner.
"I understand that many single-sex schools wish to foster environments where they are able to mix with other genders, but this is still an inadequate reason (to exclude same-sex couples)," she said.
"Same-sex attraction and trans-genderism are not contagious and allowing one or two same-sex couples to attend a dance together will not insinuate that the entire year will then follow suit."
Ms Hawkins said same-sex couples and trans-gendered students were bullied and teased, which often led to mental illness, self-harm, substance abuse and even suicide.
"Schools public or private have an obligation towards their students to ensure that they are able to learn within an environment that is safe, respectful and accepting," she said.
"To bar same-sex couples from a dance sends a strong message. For a young person in such an environment, this can be devastating."
samedi 30 juillet 2011
Lesbians a driving force in east Van Commercial Drive's colourful, left-leaning character is rooted in the community of gay women who came to the neighbourhood in search of affordable, family-friendly housing
A decade ago, Pat Hogan opened up Josephine's Cappuccino Bar and Wimmin's Crafts just off Commercial Drive as a place for lesbians to grab a cappuccino and, if they wanted, each other's hands or lips.
The café, on Charles Street, was a tongue-in-cheek stab at Joe's Cafe a block away, where a few years earlier the owner, Joe Antunes, caused a furore by asking two lesbian customers to stop kissing.
Antunes, a former Portuguese matador, hadn't meant to wave a red cape in front of the bull dykes and broader lesbian community of Commercial Drive. He maintained he was simply trying to uphold family moral values in his popular café, known officially as the Continental Billiards and Toureiro Cafe. His place had long been supported and patronized by lesbians.
But in complaining about the public display of affection, Antunes underestimated the fighting spirit among lesbians and gays who, in the 20 years since the gay and lesbian rights movement had started, were still fiercely passionate about defending their rights.
"Josephine's opened in the 1990s tongue in cheek. It was a hangout for lesbians. I mean, anybody could go there, but it really was my tongue-incheek response to Joe's," said Hogan, 72.
Today, Josephine's is long gone, a victim of a fickle business environment. Hogan couldn't get enough volunteers to keep the place running. Joe's, however, is still turning out its dark cappuccinos with tall, thick starch-like foam pillows. The lesbians have found other places to sip their confections, but his business is one of the few on the Drive that lesbians and gays with long memories still boycott.
That cannot be said of other places along the Drive, whose grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants and coffee bars are patronized by the area's strong lesbian community. If Davie Street in the West End is synonymous with Vancouver's boisterous gay male community, Commercial Drive is certainly home base for the city's gay women.
And on a Saturday in July one day before the Gay Pride Parade downtown, the Drive is turned into a parade route for the annual Vancouver Dyke March. What it lacks in the outrageous costumes of the Pride Parade it makes up for in political messaging.
Commercial Drive, long the spiritual centre of the city's left-leaning residents, became the focal point of Vancouver's lesbian community largely out of economic necessity. While gay male couples are at the top of the economic heap, surpassing even most heterosexual couples, lesbians are down near the bottom in terms of family income.
Ellen Woodsworth, a Vancouver councillor who has been openly lesbian for more than 40 years, attributes this to the "invisibility of the lesbian."
"There's that basic economic reality that two lesbians put together have 60 per cent less of an income than two gay men put together," she said. "It is the invisibility of lesbians in society. How many times do you hear the word 'lesbian' said in council chambers, or even the newspapers or the media? They might sometimes refer to Ellen DeGeneres, but there is this almost complete silence towards lesbians. That has a lot to do with being women and not having the economic power."
As a result, many lesbian couples - often with children from former marriages - sought out the cheaper living conditions of Vancouver's east side. Exactly when this started isn't known. But in the 1970s and 1980s, as lesbian and gay liberation movements were gaining ground, women often formed collectives, living in the large houses that proliferate in the neighbourhood around the Drive.
"It emerged a long time before I came over here. It had something to do with the economics. Commercial Drive has gone through a lot of changes over the years. It was pretty laid back years ago," said Hogan, who is now the chair of Vancouver city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer advisory committee.
East Vancouver wasn't just popular among lesbians.
Many feminists have made their homes around the Drive. The Status of Women kept offices at the corner of Commercial and Grant, along with the Women's Health Collective.
In 1984, Bet Cecill and several friends recognized the need for social and political services for lesbians. They formed the Vancouver Lesbian Connection at Commercial and Venables. It was the first service of its kind in Canada, according to Ron Dutton, the archivist for the gay and lesbian communities in B.C.
The service was eventually replaced by the Vancouver Lesbian Centre, which continued to exist for another dozen or so years before folding due to funding cuts from government supporters.
Claire Robson, a relative newcomer to Vancouver's lesbian scene, teaches writing to older lesbians and gays on the Drive. She notes that unlike Davie Street, Commercial Drive doesn't have many bars. Most lesbians don't seek out the party scene in the way that gay men tend to do, she says. But if the Drive lacks nightclubs, it makes up for it with an earthy liveliness.
"There is a vitality, a cultural richness on the Drive that I don't think you get on Davie Street. I think what you get there are established businesses," she said. "What you get on the Drive is individual quirkiness and grassroots entertainers."
Robson moved to Vancouver six years ago from Boston, where she saw parallels in the reasons lesbians moved to the east side.
"It reminds me very much of Jamaica Plain in Boston. The lesbians can't afford to buy in the West End, so what they tend to do is move into very mixed down-at-heel neighbourhoods and where the lesbians go, gentrification follows," she said.
To some degree, that is the problem facing the Drive's lesbian community now. Like Davie Street, the area is becoming upscale and the very economic conditions that drove lesbians to seek out east Vancouver are now driving them further out. It's harder to find affordable housing, Hogan said, and lesbians are still finding it tough.
"Now there aren't so many big houses you can afford," she said. "There are still a lot of lesbians who live around here. It's important to know that a lot of queer people, gay people, lesbians live in other communities than the West End, which a lot of people get tired of hearing [about]."
Hogan and Robson organize an annual "Bold Older Lesbians & Dykes" conference called BOLDFest. Hogan is also an organizer of Menopausal Old Bitches. Both of those groups, along with the Vancouver Dyke March, keep the lesbian activist drum beating in the heart of Commercial Drive.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Lesbians+driving+force+east/5183534/story.html#ixzz1Tf3DtUZD
The café, on Charles Street, was a tongue-in-cheek stab at Joe's Cafe a block away, where a few years earlier the owner, Joe Antunes, caused a furore by asking two lesbian customers to stop kissing.
Antunes, a former Portuguese matador, hadn't meant to wave a red cape in front of the bull dykes and broader lesbian community of Commercial Drive. He maintained he was simply trying to uphold family moral values in his popular café, known officially as the Continental Billiards and Toureiro Cafe. His place had long been supported and patronized by lesbians.
But in complaining about the public display of affection, Antunes underestimated the fighting spirit among lesbians and gays who, in the 20 years since the gay and lesbian rights movement had started, were still fiercely passionate about defending their rights.
"Josephine's opened in the 1990s tongue in cheek. It was a hangout for lesbians. I mean, anybody could go there, but it really was my tongue-incheek response to Joe's," said Hogan, 72.
Today, Josephine's is long gone, a victim of a fickle business environment. Hogan couldn't get enough volunteers to keep the place running. Joe's, however, is still turning out its dark cappuccinos with tall, thick starch-like foam pillows. The lesbians have found other places to sip their confections, but his business is one of the few on the Drive that lesbians and gays with long memories still boycott.
That cannot be said of other places along the Drive, whose grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants and coffee bars are patronized by the area's strong lesbian community. If Davie Street in the West End is synonymous with Vancouver's boisterous gay male community, Commercial Drive is certainly home base for the city's gay women.
And on a Saturday in July one day before the Gay Pride Parade downtown, the Drive is turned into a parade route for the annual Vancouver Dyke March. What it lacks in the outrageous costumes of the Pride Parade it makes up for in political messaging.
Commercial Drive, long the spiritual centre of the city's left-leaning residents, became the focal point of Vancouver's lesbian community largely out of economic necessity. While gay male couples are at the top of the economic heap, surpassing even most heterosexual couples, lesbians are down near the bottom in terms of family income.
Ellen Woodsworth, a Vancouver councillor who has been openly lesbian for more than 40 years, attributes this to the "invisibility of the lesbian."
"There's that basic economic reality that two lesbians put together have 60 per cent less of an income than two gay men put together," she said. "It is the invisibility of lesbians in society. How many times do you hear the word 'lesbian' said in council chambers, or even the newspapers or the media? They might sometimes refer to Ellen DeGeneres, but there is this almost complete silence towards lesbians. That has a lot to do with being women and not having the economic power."
As a result, many lesbian couples - often with children from former marriages - sought out the cheaper living conditions of Vancouver's east side. Exactly when this started isn't known. But in the 1970s and 1980s, as lesbian and gay liberation movements were gaining ground, women often formed collectives, living in the large houses that proliferate in the neighbourhood around the Drive.
"It emerged a long time before I came over here. It had something to do with the economics. Commercial Drive has gone through a lot of changes over the years. It was pretty laid back years ago," said Hogan, who is now the chair of Vancouver city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer advisory committee.
East Vancouver wasn't just popular among lesbians.
Many feminists have made their homes around the Drive. The Status of Women kept offices at the corner of Commercial and Grant, along with the Women's Health Collective.
In 1984, Bet Cecill and several friends recognized the need for social and political services for lesbians. They formed the Vancouver Lesbian Connection at Commercial and Venables. It was the first service of its kind in Canada, according to Ron Dutton, the archivist for the gay and lesbian communities in B.C.
The service was eventually replaced by the Vancouver Lesbian Centre, which continued to exist for another dozen or so years before folding due to funding cuts from government supporters.
Claire Robson, a relative newcomer to Vancouver's lesbian scene, teaches writing to older lesbians and gays on the Drive. She notes that unlike Davie Street, Commercial Drive doesn't have many bars. Most lesbians don't seek out the party scene in the way that gay men tend to do, she says. But if the Drive lacks nightclubs, it makes up for it with an earthy liveliness.
"There is a vitality, a cultural richness on the Drive that I don't think you get on Davie Street. I think what you get there are established businesses," she said. "What you get on the Drive is individual quirkiness and grassroots entertainers."
Robson moved to Vancouver six years ago from Boston, where she saw parallels in the reasons lesbians moved to the east side.
"It reminds me very much of Jamaica Plain in Boston. The lesbians can't afford to buy in the West End, so what they tend to do is move into very mixed down-at-heel neighbourhoods and where the lesbians go, gentrification follows," she said.
To some degree, that is the problem facing the Drive's lesbian community now. Like Davie Street, the area is becoming upscale and the very economic conditions that drove lesbians to seek out east Vancouver are now driving them further out. It's harder to find affordable housing, Hogan said, and lesbians are still finding it tough.
"Now there aren't so many big houses you can afford," she said. "There are still a lot of lesbians who live around here. It's important to know that a lot of queer people, gay people, lesbians live in other communities than the West End, which a lot of people get tired of hearing [about]."
Hogan and Robson organize an annual "Bold Older Lesbians & Dykes" conference called BOLDFest. Hogan is also an organizer of Menopausal Old Bitches. Both of those groups, along with the Vancouver Dyke March, keep the lesbian activist drum beating in the heart of Commercial Drive.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Lesbians+driving+force+east/5183534/story.html#ixzz1Tf3DtUZD
Montréal La communauté gaie et lesbienne n'est plus confinée au Village
MONTRÉAL – Preuve d’une certaine ouverture d’esprit, la communauté LGBT (lesbienne, gaie, bisexuelle et transgenre) n’est plus confinée au Village gai de Montréal, soulignent plusieurs intervenants, qui soutiennent toutefois que le quartier n’a pas perdu sa raison d’être pour autant.
Les établissements dédiés aux gais et lesbiennes ne plus situés que dans le Village, qui s’étend entre les stations de métro Berri-UQAM et Papineau, autour de la rue Sainte-Catherine.
Il est plus aisé de s’afficher ouvertement et les petits drapeaux arc-en-ciel de la fierté gaie apparaissent dans les vitrines de nombreux commerces des quatre coins de la métropole. On en retrouve notamment sur la rue Notre-Dame, dans le quartier Saint-Henri, ou encore à l’ouest du Plateau Mont-Royal, dans le quartier Mile-End.
S’il s’agit d’une preuve certaine d’ouverture d’esprit, «le Village aura malgré tout toujours sa raison d’être», assure Éric Pineault, président des célébrations de la Fierté à Montréal.
Selon ce dernier, le quartier, qui fourmille d’activités, est toujours aussi attrayant pour la communauté LGBT.
«C’est unique au monde, un Village gai sur une artère principale, a renchéri le directeur général de la Société de développement commercial (SDC) du Village, Bernard Plante. Ailleurs, ils sont dans des coins discrets et reculés.»
«On revient toujours au Village», même si «les jeunes couples n’ont plus besoin d’y venir pour se tenir la main sans se faire lancer des pierres », a ajouté M. Plante.
«Un peu partout dans le monde, il y a eu une décentralisation des activités des communautés LGBT en dehors des villages gais», mentionne pour sa part Julie-Maude Beauchesne, du Conseil québécois des gaies et lesbiennes.
Cette dernière assure toutefois que le Village gai de Montréal est toujours aussi populaire auprès de la communauté LGBT. Même si les membres de la communauté LGBT habitent de moins en moins le Village, il s’agit d’un lieu de rencontre où ils y retrouvent services et divertissements.
Le Village est aussi un attrait touristique important que Montréal mousse considérablement à l’étranger. La métropole est d’ailleurs reconnue pour son ouverture d’esprit. D’autant plus que «la communauté gaie voyage beaucoup», précise M. Plante.
Les établissements dédiés aux gais et lesbiennes ne plus situés que dans le Village, qui s’étend entre les stations de métro Berri-UQAM et Papineau, autour de la rue Sainte-Catherine.
Il est plus aisé de s’afficher ouvertement et les petits drapeaux arc-en-ciel de la fierté gaie apparaissent dans les vitrines de nombreux commerces des quatre coins de la métropole. On en retrouve notamment sur la rue Notre-Dame, dans le quartier Saint-Henri, ou encore à l’ouest du Plateau Mont-Royal, dans le quartier Mile-End.
S’il s’agit d’une preuve certaine d’ouverture d’esprit, «le Village aura malgré tout toujours sa raison d’être», assure Éric Pineault, président des célébrations de la Fierté à Montréal.
Selon ce dernier, le quartier, qui fourmille d’activités, est toujours aussi attrayant pour la communauté LGBT.
«C’est unique au monde, un Village gai sur une artère principale, a renchéri le directeur général de la Société de développement commercial (SDC) du Village, Bernard Plante. Ailleurs, ils sont dans des coins discrets et reculés.»
«On revient toujours au Village», même si «les jeunes couples n’ont plus besoin d’y venir pour se tenir la main sans se faire lancer des pierres », a ajouté M. Plante.
«Un peu partout dans le monde, il y a eu une décentralisation des activités des communautés LGBT en dehors des villages gais», mentionne pour sa part Julie-Maude Beauchesne, du Conseil québécois des gaies et lesbiennes.
Cette dernière assure toutefois que le Village gai de Montréal est toujours aussi populaire auprès de la communauté LGBT. Même si les membres de la communauté LGBT habitent de moins en moins le Village, il s’agit d’un lieu de rencontre où ils y retrouvent services et divertissements.
Le Village est aussi un attrait touristique important que Montréal mousse considérablement à l’étranger. La métropole est d’ailleurs reconnue pour son ouverture d’esprit. D’autant plus que «la communauté gaie voyage beaucoup», précise M. Plante.
Ainsi, de nombreux touristes assisteront cette semaine au festival Divers/Cité, qui s’est ouvert lundi à Montréal. Il se terminera le 31 juillet pour laisser la place, une semaine plus tard, aux activités de la Fierté gaie.
A Montréal, les filles font la fête à «LesboMonde»
«LesboMonde» c'est le plus gros rassemblement lesbien de l'année pour les Montréalaises. Une institution lesbienne qui célébrera samedi sa 19e édition, alors que le clubbing québécois devient de plus en plus mixte.
Entre 600 et 1.200 filles se donneront rendez-vous ce soir au théâtre Télus de Montréal pour leLesboMonde, le plus gros rassemblement lesbien de l'année. Cette soirée à l'attention des femmes est organisée par la désormais célèbre «fête gaie de Montréal», Divers/Cité. «Lesbomonde est un évènement historique et très populaire, qui existe depuis 18 ans», explique Suzanne Girard, directrice générale de Divers/Cité.
L'édition 2011 du LesboMonde accueille des artistes ayant déjà fait leurs preuves lors de l'édition précédente. Au programme: gogo danseuses, percussions du duo torontois Kish/Delish et performance de l'artiste montréalaise Sandy Duperval.
«Une oasis pour les lesbiennes»
Pour Ian Abinakle, directeur de la programmation de Divers/Cité, la spécificité de cette «oasis pour les lesbiennes» qu'est LesboMonde tient surtout à «son énergie unique. C'est une sorte de carrefour international, un point de rencontre annuel pour beaucoup de filles». Un avis partagé par Eugénie, une Montréalaise qui se réjouit de pouvoir «revoir d'anciennes connaissances et de découvrir de nouvelles têtes». C'est aussi une soirée très axée rencontres. «Quand on est célibataire, c'est le soir de l'année où la salle est remplie de touristes. Il y a du bonbon à se mettre sous les yeux», plaisante Geneviève.
Annie, une clubbeuse, estime que la soirée a d'autant plus de raison d'exister et de plaire «qu'en ce moment, la scène lesbienne de Montréal ne connaît pas ses plus grosses années. Il y a encore quelques soirées organisées mais plus de bar exclusivement lesbien». Pour l'équipe organisatrice, il ne fait aucun doute que la nightlife homo a évolué.
Un milieu en pleine mutation
Selon Suzanne Girard, la tendance est à la mixité: «pour les jeunes générations, il n'y a plus de séparation». Ian Abinakle estime, pour sa part, que la mixité est favorisée parce que les gens se réunissent en fonction de leurs goûts et pas de leur genre. «La notion de clubbing a changé avec les années. Les raisons de sortir sont différentes. Maintenant on peut faire des rencontres sur internet.»
Si l'on ne peut que se réjouir d'une telle tendance à la mixité, les spécificités du milieu lesbien n'ont peut-être pas encore joué tous leurs atouts. En témoigne le succès –;jusque-là jamais démenti;– de LesboMonde.
http://www.tetu.com/actualites/culture/a-montreal-les-filles-font-la-fete-a-lesbomonde-19896
Gay and lesbian immigrants aren't alone Colombian refugee runs support group
When Héctor Gomez arrived in Quebec City 10 years ago from his native Bogotá, Colombia, he felt alone and without any bearings: he claimed political refugee status on the grounds that the Colombian government didn't protect him from the violence he endured for being gay.
These days, Gomez leads a non-profit organization based in Montreal that helps gay and lesbian immigrants transition into a safe Canadian haven.
Usually found at the city's outer métro line terminals or the airport, Gomez reaches out to newly arrived immigrants with pamphlets that lead to his support group named Beyond the Rainbow. Gomez knows that most gay immigrants live beyond Montreal's gay village and are used to living in the closet - hence the name of his organization.
"When you come to Montreal as a gay political refugee, there isn't anyone waiting for you at the airport with open arms. You feel abandoned and alone .. If you don't speak French or English, you can easily isolate yourself in circles where you'll find the same homophobia you tried to leave behind," says Gomez.
Gomez's organization relies on volunteers and known non-profit organizations in the city to help with his weekly meet-and-greets where people can access translation services, get a sense of community and learn about their rights in their new adopted country. The meetings are held at Université du Québec à Montréal and attract on average a predominantly Hispanic group of 40.
"The most difficult challenge with these meetings is convincing newcomers they are in a safe environment and that it is okay to be gay in Montreal ... It often takes two or three meetings before new people open up and start making new friends," Gomez says.
In Bogotá, where Gomez lived as an openly gay man, intimidation and beatings were a regular occurrence and police intervention was nonexistent.
"A group of guys once broke my jaw but it didn't make me want to go in the closet," Gomez says.
"The hardest part was dealing with my father and older brothers who were also homophobic ... They kicked me out of the house."
In Montreal, Gomez pursues his career in architecture as he did in Bogotá and hosts a radio show called Out of the Closet on Radio Centre-Ville. He says his true passion is social work.
"It makes me happy when people move on from the support group because that means we helped them find new ties here in Montreal," he says. Beyond the Rainbow has welcomed approximately 400 people since 2006.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/lesbian+immigrants+aren+alone/5182763/story.html#ixzz1TcVQgEgh
These days, Gomez leads a non-profit organization based in Montreal that helps gay and lesbian immigrants transition into a safe Canadian haven.
Usually found at the city's outer métro line terminals or the airport, Gomez reaches out to newly arrived immigrants with pamphlets that lead to his support group named Beyond the Rainbow. Gomez knows that most gay immigrants live beyond Montreal's gay village and are used to living in the closet - hence the name of his organization.
"When you come to Montreal as a gay political refugee, there isn't anyone waiting for you at the airport with open arms. You feel abandoned and alone .. If you don't speak French or English, you can easily isolate yourself in circles where you'll find the same homophobia you tried to leave behind," says Gomez.
Gomez's organization relies on volunteers and known non-profit organizations in the city to help with his weekly meet-and-greets where people can access translation services, get a sense of community and learn about their rights in their new adopted country. The meetings are held at Université du Québec à Montréal and attract on average a predominantly Hispanic group of 40.
"The most difficult challenge with these meetings is convincing newcomers they are in a safe environment and that it is okay to be gay in Montreal ... It often takes two or three meetings before new people open up and start making new friends," Gomez says.
In Bogotá, where Gomez lived as an openly gay man, intimidation and beatings were a regular occurrence and police intervention was nonexistent.
"A group of guys once broke my jaw but it didn't make me want to go in the closet," Gomez says.
"The hardest part was dealing with my father and older brothers who were also homophobic ... They kicked me out of the house."
In Montreal, Gomez pursues his career in architecture as he did in Bogotá and hosts a radio show called Out of the Closet on Radio Centre-Ville. He says his true passion is social work.
"It makes me happy when people move on from the support group because that means we helped them find new ties here in Montreal," he says. Beyond the Rainbow has welcomed approximately 400 people since 2006.
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/lesbian+immigrants+aren+alone/5182763/story.html#ixzz1TcVQgEgh
India’s first legally recognized lesbian married couple live under threat of death
Today while looking through news headlines online, I noticed “India’s First Married Lesbian Couple Under Constant Police Protection” from the Oregon-based LGBT website Just Out. And further down the list of headlines was this one: “In a first, Gurgaon court recognizes lesbian marriage,” taken from The Times of India.
I read both stories, trying to piece together as much information as possible about this historic couple, and about the apparently constant state of danger in which they live. Then I went out and started looking for other news reports about the couple, since the two referenced above seemed to contradict each other in a couple of places. The Hindustan Times in Indian offered this report. The headline here reads “Same-sex couple fears for life.”
There are a few things I am not quite sure on yet — for instance, the Times of India story talks about “khap panchayats,” and I don’t know what those are. But since these “khap panchayats” have been linked to so-called “honor killings,” I am pretty sure they aren’t good.
But here is the story as I understand it, based on what I have read so far:
Beena, 20, and Savita, 25, have been friends for many years, maybe as long as 15 years. Beena (spelled”Veena” in one report) has always been very boyish, and has always been accepted by her family who treat her as a boy. Savita, who is studying for a college degree, was forced by her family to marry a man late last year. Within five months, she ran away from her husband, got a divorce from a khap panchayat and went to live with Beena.
On July 22, according to Times of India, the two women went to a public notary in Gurgaon and got married by signing an affidavit that said, basically, they were marrying each other and were not being coerced into doing so. Then they ended up going to court to ask for police protection because certain people — namely members of Savita’s own family — were threatening to kill them because through their relationship they had besmirched the honor of Savita’s family.
In court proceedings, as best I can tell, the judge basically gave their marriage legal recognition simply by not disputing their declarations that they were married.
That’s an over-simplification of the things I read, and may not be exactly accurate, but I think that’s the basic gist of it. And by the way, two other points to mention, the high court in Delhi decriminalized same-sex relationships back in 2009, and Beena’s family members have said they accept the two women’s relationship.
There are two things about this story that really stand out in my mind. First, these two women appear to have been able to be legally married simply by filling out a form and then declaring themselves married. I wish it were that simple here in Texas (or anywhere in the U.S.).
Second, even though Beena and Savita appear to have managed a legal same-sex marriage, they had to put their lives on the line to do so. Trust me, the threat to these two women’s lives is very real. This report by National Geographic in 2002 says that “Hundreds, if not thousands, of women are murdered by their families each year in the name of ‘honor.’” A study published in 2008 by Gendercide.org says that such murders, while more common in Islamic countries, are on the rise worldwide.
And according to this Wikipedia article, the United Nations Population Fund estimates that as many as 5,000 women and girls are murdered in honor killings each year. Need more evidence? Then read this story about three young women, two sisters and a woman who had eloped with her boyfriend, who were murdered in two separate honor killing incidents within 24 hours of each other earlier this month in India.
Even though honor killings, at least in most places, are illegal, those commit such crimes often get away with it because authorities look the other way, so to speak. (In some countries, though, such killings are not just allowed, but required by law.)
Reading all this made me think about how easy we have it here in the U.S., in so many ways. I mean, sure, there are a lot of anti-LGBT folks out there who want to deny us our civil rights, and who, in many cases, get their way. And yes, the Republican Party Platform in Texas calls for recriminalizing same-sex sexual contact. And yes, I am sure that if some people had their way, “honor killings” of LGBT people would be the law of the land.
But the fact is, those people don’t get their way — at least not to that extent. And there are six states in the United States, plus the District of Columbia, that legally recognize same-sex marriage. More than one federal court has already declared that the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional, and a bill has been introduced in Congress to repeal it.
Yes, lots of people have had to fight long and hard for us to reach the place we are now, and we have a long, hard fight still ahead to finally gain full equality. But from now on, when I started getting aggravated about the seemingly slow pace of our progress, when I start feeling discouraged because the government does not recognize my marriage — well, I will just rememberto stop and think about Beena and Savita. Sure, there are people who don’t like the idea of my wife and I being married. But at least our family members aren’t hiding out there somewhere, lying in wait to murder us over it.
http://www.dallasvoice.com/indias-legally-recognized-lesbian-married-couple-live-threat-death-1084803.html
jeudi 21 juillet 2011
Groups challenge 'anti-gay harassment' in Minnesota school district
CNN) -- Two advocacy organizations filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Minnesota's largest school district, challenging what they call "pervasive anti-gay harassment" in its schools, the groups said in a news release.
The Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed the lawsuit on behalf of "five students who have faced severe anti-LGBT (lesbian gay bisexual transgender) bullying and harassment while attending school in the (Anoka-Hennepin) district," a joint news release states.
District officials contacted by CNN for comment said they are still reviewing the lawsuit.
The filing comes amid a federal investigation into "incidents involving harassment and bullying" in the school district, located in north suburban Minneapolis, according to a Department of Justice e-mail to CNN.
The Justice Department and the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights are looking into a complaint regarding "allegations of harassment and discrimination in the Anoka-Hennepin School District based on sex, including peer-on-peer harassment based on not conforming to gender stereotypes," according to a district memo provided to CNN.
The party filing the complaint to the federal agencies was not named due to privacy concerns.
The federal investigation follows a string of seven student suicides in less than two years, which stirred public debate over the district's sexual orientation curriculum policy.
Parents and friends say four of those students were either gay, perceived to be gay or questioning their sexuality, and they say that at least two of them were bullied over their sexuality.
It's unclear whether the suicides or the policy are a significant part of the federal investigation.
The controversial sexual orientation curriculum policy, adopted in 2009, states that staff must "remain neutral on matters regarding sexual orientation" and that "such matters are best addressed within individual family homes, churches or community organizations."
The policy is local to the Anoka-Hennepin district rather than statewide. However, at least eight states -- Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah -- have statutes specifying varying limits on classroom instruction regarding homosexuality. Tennessee considered similar legislation this year.
Community supporters of the so-called neutrality policy say it is constitutional and consistent with the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which protects rights based on sexual orientation but states that nothing in the law shall be construed to "authorize or permit the promotion of homosexuality or bisexuality in education institutions."
Gay rights advocates who oppose Anoka-Hennepin's neutrality policy say the school district has misinterpreted the intention of the state's human rights law.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/07/21/minnesota.schools.gays/
The Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed the lawsuit on behalf of "five students who have faced severe anti-LGBT (lesbian gay bisexual transgender) bullying and harassment while attending school in the (Anoka-Hennepin) district," a joint news release states.
District officials contacted by CNN for comment said they are still reviewing the lawsuit.
The filing comes amid a federal investigation into "incidents involving harassment and bullying" in the school district, located in north suburban Minneapolis, according to a Department of Justice e-mail to CNN.
The Justice Department and the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights are looking into a complaint regarding "allegations of harassment and discrimination in the Anoka-Hennepin School District based on sex, including peer-on-peer harassment based on not conforming to gender stereotypes," according to a district memo provided to CNN.
The party filing the complaint to the federal agencies was not named due to privacy concerns.
The federal investigation follows a string of seven student suicides in less than two years, which stirred public debate over the district's sexual orientation curriculum policy.
Parents and friends say four of those students were either gay, perceived to be gay or questioning their sexuality, and they say that at least two of them were bullied over their sexuality.
It's unclear whether the suicides or the policy are a significant part of the federal investigation.
The controversial sexual orientation curriculum policy, adopted in 2009, states that staff must "remain neutral on matters regarding sexual orientation" and that "such matters are best addressed within individual family homes, churches or community organizations."
The policy is local to the Anoka-Hennepin district rather than statewide. However, at least eight states -- Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah -- have statutes specifying varying limits on classroom instruction regarding homosexuality. Tennessee considered similar legislation this year.
Community supporters of the so-called neutrality policy say it is constitutional and consistent with the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which protects rights based on sexual orientation but states that nothing in the law shall be construed to "authorize or permit the promotion of homosexuality or bisexuality in education institutions."
Gay rights advocates who oppose Anoka-Hennepin's neutrality policy say the school district has misinterpreted the intention of the state's human rights law.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/07/21/minnesota.schools.gays/
NCLR and SPLC File Lawsuit Challenging Hostile Anti-LGBT Environment for Students in Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin School District
NCLR and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a federal lawsuit today challenging the "gag policy" at Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District that prevents school staff from talking about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues, and creates an environment where LGBT students are relentlessly bullied.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of five past and present students, who each faced severe harassment because they are LGBT or other students perceived them as LGBT. The lawsuit describes numerous incidents, including a student who reported chronic anti-LGBT harassment to school authorities for more than two years, only to have school officials suggest that he leave the school because they could not protect him.
NCLR and the SPLC began investigating reports of pervasive anti-LGBT bullying in Anoka-Hennepin—the state’s largest school District with 38,500 students—in 2010 after several LGBT students from the District died by suicide. We quickly discovered that the issue of bullying was affecting families and young people across the District, and that the hostile environment was clearly rooted in and encouraged by the discriminatory gag policy. No other school District in Minnesota has such a policy.
On May 24, 2011, SPLC and NCLR sent a letter to the District demanding that officials immediately repeal the gag policy, and take action to address the bullying and harassment that LGBT students in the District regularly face. The District announced yesterday that it is sticking by the gag policy, and as a result, NCLR and SPLC filed suit today, along with the law firm of Faegre & Benson.
lundi 18 juillet 2011
NYC restaurant to pay for lesbian couple's wedding
NEW YORK - Owners of a New York steakhouse say they are pulling out all the stops and paying for the wedding of two women who will be tying the knot this upcoming weekend.
Carol Anastasio and Mimi Brown have been together for 20 years, and they will finally get to say 'I do' on July 24, the same day New York's legislation allowing same-sex marriage comes into effect.
The couple told the New York Daily News they rushed to city hall on the Monday after the legislation was passed, only to be told they had to wait a month until the law came into effect.
The two were featured in an article in June and Marc Sherry, co-owner of the Old Homestead Steakhouse, decided he had to help them celebrate their big day.
"They were, I believe, the first couple to apply," Sherry told QMI Agency on Sunday morning. "The story was very touching."
Since news has gotten out about the 145-year-old restaurant's role in the couple's big day, he said they have been inundated with e-mails and phone calls.
"Every one of them is positive," Sherry said.
In fact, he said other people and businesses have come forward also offering their help. He said he had at least 20 messages to return from people willing to perform the ceremony for the couple.
Sherry said he expects the "lavish wedding" -- which will include a meal of foie gras, filet mignon and lobster, as well as $175 bottles of champagne -- will run the restaurant as much as $27,000. They will be sending a limousine for the women to take them from their home to city hall to pick up their marriage license, then they'll be dropped off at the restaurant for the ceremony and reception.
Restaurant staff will be meeting with the women on Monday to finalize the details, he said.
Sherry, who has been married for 17 years himself, said he doesn't like to get into the political nature of the legislation - but he's pleased to be a part of history.
"We just like to be the first on many things," he said. "This is a good one."
No arms, no legs, no worries
Toute chose est possible à la personne qui croit qu'elle est possible
Anything is possible to those who believe it is possible.
dimanche 17 juillet 2011
Les clubs mythiques : le Pulp, une nouvelle identité lesbienne
Entrée gratuite, pas de carré VIP, musique qui défonce : dans un esprit crade et énervé qui venait rompre avec les années French Touch, le Pulp a rythmé dix ans de nuit à Paris. Et accompagné l’affirmation d’une nouvelle identité lesbienne.
C'est l'été 1997. Abus de bières mexicaines, éclair de génie ou inconscience passagère, Jacques Chirac a dissous l'Assemblée nationale. Lionel Jospin prend ses fonctions de Premier ministre. A Paris, c'est la canicule. Les touristes, mouchoir sur la tête, s'allongent sur les bancs à la recherche d'un coin d'ombre. Dans sa maison du XIXe arrondissement de Paris, Michelle Cassaro prépare le défilé de l'Europride. Le téléphone sonne : il faut absolument qu'elle trouve le nom de son nouveau club pour que soit validée sa demande de char.
Michelle vient de reprendre l'Entracte, un petit club lesbien sur le déclin, boulevard Poissonnière. Elle monte les escaliers et frappe à la porte de DJ SexToy, une des colocataires de la maison qu'occupe aussi Rachid Taha."Un nom, me faut un nom." - " Pulp", lui répond SexToy avant de se rendormir. Michelle redescend et reprend le combiné : ce sera le Pulp.
La référence - aux magazines populaires de superhéros, polar ou SF imprimés sur un papier de mauvaise qualité dans les années 1950 et au film de Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, 1994) - est parfaite : pendant dix ans, c'est bien une fiction d'un nouveau genre, populaire, puissante, dark et subversive, menée à un rythme d'enfer, que va projeter le club des Grands Boulevards sur la nuit parisienne.
Comme dans le film de Tarantino, plusieurs récits s'entrecroisent : la montée des droits homosexuels (le pacs sera voté en 1999), l'affirmation d'une nouvelle identité lesbienne, la démocratisation de la nuit et le retour d'un esprit "rock" dans la dance music (que l'on appellera l'electroclash), la fin des années French Touch. A l'époque, Paris ne jure que par la house : Dimitri From Paris, Cassius ou le duo Daft Punk, qui sort Homework en 1997. On clubbe aux Bains (chez les Guetta), aux soirées Scream, ou encore auxRespect qu'organisent David Blot, Jérôme Vigier-Kohler et Fred Agostini au Queen. Les filles y sont belles, les garçons jolis et tout le monde rêve de grandes piscines à Miami.
Punk, crade, énervé, l'univers du Pulp va venir éclabousser ces rêves disco proprets. Le club, qui pendant la journée sert de thé dansant à des octogénaires, est totalement défraîchi : une centaine de mètres carrés, des fauteuils en skaï bordeaux un peu lacérés, une piste de danse au plancher fatigué. Deux mètres de hauteur sous plafond à tout casser, des chiottes peu fréquentables.
"On éteignait les lumières pour que les gens ne puissent pas voir les murs. Il y avait du papier peint qui partait en lambeau", se souvient Sophie, qui gérait le club avec Michelle.
Au début, l'endroit, ouvert six jours sur sept, est peu fréquenté. Derrière le bar et dans la salle, uniquement des filles. "Il y avait des tabourets devant le bar, Delphine (alias SexToy - ndlr) passait des disques et nous on jouait aux cartes. C'était plus un salon qu'une boîte. Il n'y avait pas un rat", se souvient Fany Corral, programmatrice musicale du club pendant de longues années et fondatrice du label Kill The DJ avec Chloé et Ivan Smagghe, deux des DJ stars du Pulp.
"Très vite, on a eu envie de s'ouvrir, se souvient Michelle, qui tient aujourd'hui le Rosa Bonheur, dans le parc des Buttes-Chaumont (Paris XIXe). Que mes potes garçons ne restent pas dehors. L'ouverture, ça a toujours été une idée importante. C'est comme ça que tu fais bouger les choses."
Petit à petit, un noyau d'habitués se constitue. Michelle, Sophie et SexToy y fêtent leurs anniversaires déguisées en carotte, en tomate, en new wave, dans le club redécoré de pied en cap.
"Un soir, j'étais à Nova avec Laurent Garnier, se souvient Fany. On avait fini à une heure du matin, je lui dis : 'Viens, je vais boire un pot dans une boîte, c'est l'anniv d'une copine.' Il m'accompagne et voit Rachid Taha en train de faire un live. Garnier me regarde et me dit : 'C'est quoi ce bordel ?' Des gouines, des Rebeus, des pédés, des trans... Il a adoré. Il est venu mixer quelques mois après. Ce bordel, c'est ce qui séduisait."
Housewife, le fanzine du Pulp créé par Dana Wyse et Axelle Le Dauphin, se charge de colporter l'esprit du lieu. Hardcore, irrévérent, plein d'humour,Housewife est composé de collages, de textes autofictionnels, de détournements d'images publicitaires. Il devient la publication la plus underground et branchée de Paris. "Nous voulions montrer ce que cela signifiait d'être une femme dans notre genre. On buvait. On prenait de la coke. On riait aussi et on disait la vérité", explique Dana Wyse.
De ringarde, invisible et gazon maudit, la lesbienne devient tatouée, sexuelle, subversive. Médiatiquement cent fois plus excitante que les homos mecs, désormais un peu plus acceptés socialement. Immortalisée par des portraits dans la presse branchée et le roman Superstars d'Ann Scott, SexToy devient une icône.
"Elle était le Pulp. Du cul aux tatouages, coeur énorme à fleur de peau, la fragilité qui fait qu'une attitude n'en est pas une", résume Smagghe.
Jeudi, c'est electro. Deux ans après ses débuts, le club décolle ce soir-là de la semaine. La nuit voit débarquer les organisateurs de soirées. Naissent alors les Soirées# de Guido & Desprez, les No Dancing Please de Fany Corral, qui rameute tous les DJ de Nova, ou encore les Paradise Massagede Delphine Queme et Serge Nicolas qui, en janvier 2000, invitent le DJ et producteur Arnaud Rebotini. "Pour la première fois, il y avait la queue sur le boulevard", se souvient Sophie.
Le scénario va désormais se répéter toutes les semaines. C'est la Kill The DJou La Naked des Scratch Massive. On se bouscule pour venir écouter Chloé, Jennifer Cardini, Ivan Smagghe ou leurs invités en provenance de Londres ou de Berlin. Désormais, tout branché fan d'electro qui se respecte "pulpe" le jeudi et va en découdre sur le mini dancefloor surchauffé. Les mercredis deviennent plus rock, les vendredis, majoritairement "filles", sont plus expérimentaux. Chloé, Rebecca Bournigault (qui réalise tous les flyers du Pulp à l'aquarelle) y invitent artistes et musiciens. Les samedis, animés par DJ Ivan, sont 100 % filles.
A la porte, Christine, qui anime les soirées rock Dans mon garage, a du mal à contenter tout le monde. Comment faire rentrer 1 500 personnes dans un club prévu pour 300 ? Au Pulp, on ne croise pas, ou peu, de stars. Quand c'est le cas, elles sont là incognito. Emmanuelle Béart qui danse, une bière à la main, seule au monde. Catherine Deneuve et Björk qui débarquent lors de la sortie de Dancer in the Dark.
"C'était l'émeute, toutes les meufs voulaient les toucher", se souvient Sophie. Despentes et Rocco Siffredi, Roman Polanski, Monica Bellucci, Frédéric Taddeï, Delarue, un Romain Duris débutant scotché au comptoir, et la branchitude parisienne décadente de l'époque : Eudeline, Tintin le tatoueur...
Le Pulp est aussi arty : Nan Goldin y immortalise Axelle Le Dauphin et Joana Preiss sur la banquette des habituées, à droite du bar ; le galeriste Emmanuel Perrotin et Caroline Bourgeois sont souvent de passage. Pour les recevoir, pas d'espace VIP, pas de voiturier ou de tapis rouge. Barbara Bui repart, dépitée.
"Avec Michelle, on a voulu ça dès le départ, raconte Sophie. Ça, et l'entrée gratuite. On voulait que tout le monde puisse entrer."
Au Pulp, pas de sélection au faciès ou au look comme au Privilège et au Palace. Seule règle, précisée sur les flyers : "Le Pulp est une boîte de filles où les garçons aiment bien venir aussi." Les filles sont toujours prioritaires. Les garçons n'entrent que s'ils sont accompagnés.
Ils y entreront pour beaucoup maquillés, juchés sur des talons et accompagnés de filles à moustaches à partir de 2004. Androgyny, Mort aux jeunes, Jacqueline Coiffure : la vague queer naissante déboule sur les Grands Boulevards. Les identités sont mouvantes, les envies de jeux palpables. C'est l'époque de MySpace, des DJ selector, d'une nouvelle explosion de do it yourself, avec ce qu'elle peut avoir d'approximation, de naïveté. On mixe Alizée avec un track d'electro minimale. On fait la fête en lisant les slogans dadaïstes irrévérencieux ou juste couillons affichés aux murs.
Printemps 2007. Sarkozy est élu. Les murs du Pulp sont rachetés par la mairie de Paris. Elle veut transformer le lieu en HLM et en parking. Fin mai, le club ferme ses portes en invitant tous ceux qui l'ont façonné.
Quatre ans plus tard, le Pulp est déjà un mythe. La jeune génération de clubbeurs en parle avec des étoiles dans les yeux, les trentenaires et les quadras s'en souviennent avec regret. Pour la musique, les litres de transpiration, les sets de folie de Smagghe, Chloé et consorts, les vodkas qui cisaillent la tête en deux le lendemain, les conversations surréalistes avec Kouët, le monsieur pipi, la machine à CB en panne, les loges dans le local à poubelles. Pour l'accueil que réservaient Michelle et Sophie. Pour ce frisson qui vous prenait le jeudi matin.
A mille lieues de la nuit bourgeoise, de l'entre-soi du VIIIe arrondissement qui s'affirmera dans les années suivantes, le Pulp aura été un laboratoire sexuel, musical et social. Un lieu dirigé par des femmes dans lequel les garçons ne mouftaient pas. "C'était un espace d'éducation hétérosexuelle, conclut en riant Fany Corral, et d'ajouter : Je me souviens avoir expliqué à un mec qu'on avait sorti : 'Ecoute mon garçon, le monde t'appartient. Nous, on a cent mètres carrés. Donc ici, si on te dit non, c'est non.'" Une très belle utopie.
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