The Daily Sting, Thursday: Super Queer Coachella Lineup Announced, Russia Bans Kissing Video
Among the day’s biggest gay headlines, the lineup for three-day California music festival Coachella has been announced, and it features the most queer lineup of artists yet. And why did a kissing video — literally a video of people kissing one after the other — get banned in Russia? Can you guess?
In other news, new Brazilian President Bolsonaro has attacked the LGBT community within hours of taking office, one of the world’s largest airlines stands accused of censoring queer content on its planes and an update to HIV laws in the Philippines could be a great thing for the nation’s youth.
From a queer AF Coachella to a Russia-banned kissing video, here are the day’s big gay stories:
1. On First Day of Office, Brazil’s Bolsonaro Strips LGBT Issues From National Platform (News)
Yesterday we reported on far-right politician and “proud homophobe” Jair Bolsonaro taking office in Brazil. Later that same day, with an executive order he officially stripped any reference to LGBT issues from the national platform. The country’s Human Rights Ministry will now no longer consider LGBT issues. Damares Alves, the country’s new Human Rights Minister, is herself anti-LGBT issues. In the months prior to Bolsonaro taking office, many LGBT Brazilians rushed to get married before what they fear is a stripping of LGBT rights in Brazil.
2. Emirates Airline Accused of Censoring Gay Content From Planes (Travel)
International airline Emirates has been accused of censoring content on its planes. Specifically it stands accused of stripping films and TV shows of gay content, specifically the film Ladybird and the TV series Killing Eve. The Evening Standard newspaper, which initially reported on the censorship, says these efforts to censor LGBTQ content against its stated values of progressivism. The airline, based in Dubai, said in 2017, “As a multicultural global company, [we do] not discriminate against people of any race, religion or sexual orientation. Diversity is a foundation of our brand.”
3. Philippines Updates Its HIV Laws, Let’s Minors Get Tested Without Parental Consent (Health)
New HIV laws in the Philippines will allow minors to get tested without the consent of their parents. It’s an effort to cease the rising rates of HIV among the nation’s youth. The Philippines has undergone a 174% increase in new HIV infections this decade, and some HIV experts have described the epidemic as a national emergency. The bill which did away with required parental consent only became law because President Rodrigo Duterte failed to sign it, and after 30 days it lapsed into law.
4. Russia Bans Kissing Video Meant to Promote Queer Tolerance (News)
In an effort to promote tolerance and acceptance of LGBTQ people, Roman Bashinsky posted a 15-minute-long kissing video to his YouTube channel in which people were blindfolded and asked to kiss different people before describing the experience. Most were heterosexual pairings, but some were same-sex pairings, which led the kissing video to be removed from YouTube in Russia less than 24 hours later. Since 2013, Russia has had an anti-gay propaganda law in place. You can watch the kissing video in question above.
5. Coachella Music Festival Announces Most Queer-Friendly Lineup to Date (Music)
— Coachella (@coachella) January 3, 2019
Famed three-day music festival Coachella has announced its 2019 lineup, and it’s the most queer batch of performers yet. Artists playing the festival — which takes place over two weekends in Indio, California — include Janelle Monáe, Jaden Smith, Sophie, King Princess, Christine and the Queens, Kaytranada, Blood Orange and more, all of which are queer artists. This year’s headliners include Childish Gambino, Tame Impala and Ariana Grande.
Over the past two years, several LGBTQ people have called for a boycott of the festival due to its owner, Philip Anschutz, donating large sums to anti-gay organizations. Following news of his donations, Anschutz claimed he would no longer give money to those groups, though as Hornet reported one year ago, he continued to give money to Republican politicians.
