Today is no more a day of queer issues than any other, but as I spent my day doing “the internet thing,” I was struck by two articles on BuzzFeedLGBT, one about the subtle erasure of a film’s queerness in its marketing, the other about an entire country seemingly trying to immobilize its entire transgender population:
Take a good guess why the movie Pride — recently nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy — is called pride. A word that has become central to LGBT activism clearly, when used as the sole word in a film’s title, suggests LGBT themes. And indeed, it’s even clearer that a film has LGBT themes when, like Pride, the film actually has LGBT themes! (It centers around LGBT activists who come to the support of striking miners.) It’s therefore strange that the synopsis on the back of the American DVD removed the words “gay and lesbian,” from the original description, and that a banner on the cover that read “Lesbians & gays support the miners” was also eradicated. Buzzfeed attempts to get to the bottom of the erasure.
In a much larger, and much more egregious — though not unrelated — story, BuzzFeedLGBT reports on a new decree in Russia that bans people with “disorders of sexual preference” from driving. Yes. According to this decree, “transsexualism,” “dual-role transvestism,” “sadomasochism,” and “exhibitionism” clearly impair your driving, and should thus disqualify you from being able to get around. By the way, these are on the same list as “pedophilia” and actual physical impairments. To wong fuck that.
It should be mentioned that it’s because such injustices are still being enacted by governments that something as seemingly minute as the erasure of the word “gay” from a DVD cover still deserves being called out.
While ridiculous laws are tightening around and immobilizing Russia’s “disorder of sexual preference”–labeled communities, here’s one nice that’s been going on (it’s always good to find one!) stateside: Colorado has set many a precedent on marijuana-legalizing legislation, and the Fourth Corner Credit Union, the first credit union devoted to the legal marijuana industry, is opening this month in Denver; Rolling Stone spoke with the Mason family, who, led by 25-year-old Alex Mason, developed the pioneering organization.
In wary anticipation of the announcement of Oscar nominations (which will get announced on January 15), A.V. Club explains the rigid rules that typically ensure the nominees for Best Original Song will suck, and why, as usual, you’ll likely have to endure more than a few saccharine piano ballads during this Oscar ceremony. And while the Golden Globes likewise have their share of problems and annoying rituals, at least they also sometimes have Pee-wee Herman, as they did back in 1985, when the above photo was taken. Gearing up for this weekend’s Golden Globes, UPROXX reminisces on a Golden Globes ceremony of yore.