E IZ N See inside for exclusive B.I.D articles...
Scotland Gay Marriage Equality: The Fight Continues... ON 30TH NOVEMBER, The Church of Scotland tweeted “Love one another as I have loved you”. On 1st of December, they tweeted that they were against samesex marriage in Scotland. JENNA SPENCE reports.
© Christine McIntosh
A few months ago I wrote with such joy and excitement about the recent news that the Scottish Parliament was going to hold a consultation on same-sex marriage in Scotland. Over the last few months the LGBT community has been urging supporters to take action and fill out an online ‘Equal Marriage’ form. While the support for same-sex marriage in Scotland has been largely positive, in recent weeks condemnation of the policy has emerged from various religious bodies. This week the Church of Scotland, following in the footsteps of the Roman Catholic Church and members of the Muslim community, stated that they were against gay marriage as it “goes against the Will of God”. For these religious groups, the main argument for rejecting same-sex marriages is centered around the concept of a traditional, nuclear family. But in today’s progressive society, can religion not see past this obsolete vision of a ‘family’? Love, regardless of sexual orientation, is something to be celebrated, not condemned or pushed to the side. Scotland should pride itself on diversity. The message that this minority of religious fundamentalists brings to the table of the Scottish Parliament can’t and won’t go unchallenged. Such bigotry can do so much damage, particularly in a society where it is still often difficult for young (and older) LGBT people to come out. In the coming weeks, there is due to be more rallies and protests from both sides regarding same-sex marriage in Scotland. I’ll be proud to stand on the colourful, more accepting and tolerant side. I can only hope that the Scottish Parliament makes the right decision on behalf of the people when it comes to crunch time. @JennaSpence If you want to fill out the ‘Equal Marriage’ form: http://www.equalmarriage.org.uk/consultation.php
©Alan Light
BLAST FROM THE PAST Ellen DeGeneres is arguably the world’s most famous lesbian. Not only does she have a primetime US talk show but she has also hosted the Academy Awards, voiced Dory in Finding Nemo and acted in numerous movies. Everybody knows that Ellen is gay and it’s hard to believe that just 14 years ago she was still in the closet. After years of speculation Ellen decided to come out in a truly original way: she was featured on the cover of the April 1997 issue of Time magazine with the headline “Yep, I’m Gay” and at the same time outed her character Ellen Morgan on her sitcom Ellen. Reactions were mixed, while religious groups and advertisers condemned her actions and lifestyle others were nonplussed, stating that her sexuality didn’t matter so long as she was still funny. Many criticised the way she chose to come out, saying it was too elaborate and not ‘serious’ enough. Ellen Morgan was the first lesbian main character in a popular TV show but it appeared audiences weren’t interested in following the character as she VIDEO OF THE WEEK grappled with LGBT issues, ratings gradually declined and the show was cancelled. The backlash halted her career and she took a 3 year hiatus before returning to television. Eventually America embraced Ellen once again; her talk show has won 32 daytime Emmys, she advertises Vitamin Water and is one of the faces of Cover Girl make-up. When it comes to memorable coming out stories, Ellen really set the benchmark.
Yuri in Anime Piotr Marszalek looks at the development of lesbianism in anime and manga LGBT RIGHTS ARE AN INTERESTING ISSUE IN JAPAN. While any gay marriages and civil partnerships are not acknowledged by Japanese law, Japanese courts regard any sex between two consenting adults as legal, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. There is almost no opposition whatsoever to the occasional Gay Pride Parade, but at the same time few people hear or care about them. Socially, being gay is frowned upon, and many gay individuals spend their entire lives in the closet to avoid discrimination. But despite this political flaccidity and general ignorance of homosexual culture, Japan is the birthplace of two art forms that contain positive portrayals of homosexual relationships. Even more curiously, the majority of this material is aimed at teenagers and young adults, and demand is very high. The art forms I am talking about are of course Manga and its animated cousin Anime. Lesbian stories began appearing in shōjo manga in the 1970’s and was probably a result of the increasingly feministic ideals of the 1960’s. Many of these early works followed a similar formula: the forbidden love between an older, sophisticated woman and her more awkward admirer being exposed, leading to scandal and the tragic death of the more mature character. The principle reason for this was that societal norms wouldn’t accept lesbian relationships as something
positive; they were seen as sources of drama and a good story, but were still made to portray a gay relationship between women as something forbidden and wrong. Lesbian characters also occasionally appeared in shōnen (the male counterpart to shōjo), but were sources of comedy or fanservice. This all changed in the 90s, principally because of the advent of Sailor Moon in 1992. It still is one of the biggest and best known series, and was one of the first manga franchises to reach the west and be noticed by the mainstream. Most importantly, it’s immense popularity also helped pave the way for more manga that contained lesbian themes portrayed maturely; it was the first series to present an open Sapphic relationship amongst its supporting cast (between the butch Sailor Uranus and the more feminine Sailor Neptune) in a positive and natural light.
Much of the people involved in the creation of Sailor Moon went on to work on Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997), which is a masterpiece, and also was one of the first major anime series that had central yuri themes. Once again, the critical and commercial success of this series encouraged both publishers and artists to produce and release more yuri manga. Around this time a number of women’s lifestyle magazines, female manga magazines and even a few erotic lesbian publications began to have regular sections dedicated to lesbian manga. The first manga anthology quarterly dedicated to lesbian material appeared in the early 2000’s. Many of these were discontinued, but one that was first published in 2005 called Comic Yuri Hime is still going strong today. In 2006 dedicated yuri manga began to be commercially published in America and the rest of the western world. And so we return, full circle, to the present.
There’s still loads of “lesbian” anime that is poorly written, aimed at men and contains softcore fanservice. Japanese civil rights haven’t changed with regards to homosexuality and, despite all my hyping, I can only name a handful of series with lesbian themes, let alone ones where the love between two girls is central to the plot. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Considering the fact that manga has only been around since the postWW2 period, and the first lesbian stories were published in the 70’s, lends hope to the belief in rising global tolerance and forwardthinkingness of important individuals in publishing. There are several great series out there, and more and more aspects of lesbian life are being presented with increasing maturity and talent. If it hadn’t been for all this slow but encouraging progress, we wouldn’t have amazing series like Revolutionary Girl Utena or Aoi Hana. Ultimately, it’s about using art as a medium to communicate stories and empathy to readers, and manga and anime are calling out loud and clear.
Lesbian Animation: The Next Big Thing? With the upcoming release of Strange Frame: Love and Sax next year, animated lesbian stories may be the new thing. When Avatar hit the big screen two years ago, I found myself transfixed to the screen, following Jake and Neytiri jumping through the forest. The story itself may not have had originality or innovation but the animation and 3D technology used made it brilliant to watch. On the back of the success of films such as Avatar, filmmakers have become increasingly adventurous, mixing acting with computer generated 3D effects. With the anticipated release of Strange Frame and the posibility of future LGBT animation we decided to have a look through some of the best LGBT women in Anime. Below is our top 5.
Top 5 lesbian Anime CHaracters 1. YASUKO SUGIMOTO: Aoi Hana. Older and more mature (and slightly more butch) than most of the other characters in Aoi Hana, she’s highly assertive, immediately going for any girl that catches her fancy, Although initially caring, she reveals an incredibly manipulative and domineering side as the series goes on. Ultimately, though, she manages to be both hated and loved in equal measure.
2. KAORI: Azumanga Daioh. Kaorin’s (as she is known to her friends) crush on the “cool” Sakaki is a neverending source of anxiety for her and hilarity for the viewers. Despite being a bit of a joke character, her shy, panicky, unrequited brand of love has probably been felt by most of us, and ultimately makes her highly endearing.
3. ANTHY HIMEMIYA: Revolutionary Girl Utena. Although initially expressionless and submissive, Anthy has a fair amount of depth. She frequently exhibits cruel, vengeful behaviour, but always in an incredibly passive manner. This juxtaposes her “doormat” facade, creating a terrifying but brilliant character.
4. FUMI MANJOUME: Aoi Hana. Tall, shy and a complete crybaby. Nonetheless one of the core themes of Aoi Hana is her slow realisation of her sexuality and first lesbian relationship (with the aforementioned Sugimoto). It is a touching tale, told gently with the clear intention of realism. Fumi comes out of the closet with grace and dignity, though not without a few bumps.
5. SHIZUMA HANAZANO: Strawberry Panic! Imagine a person with the beauty of Helen of Troy, the libido and disregard for the responsibilities of office of “Diamond” Joe Quimby and the apparent hypnotic powers of Kaa the snake. Now release said individual onto the grounds of three combined all-girl Catholic schools. And with that premise, one of the most inadvertently funny characters ever to grace lesbian manga was created. Although not really any part of the plot, with a little imagination you can pretend it is. Watching Shizuma shirk her important duties in the Student Council, hide from her assistants and go around seducing freshmen she finds in the woods using her alluring beauty to paralyse them is absolutely hysterical.
B.I.D ZINE Issue 1
With Thanks To: Holly Richardson Lotte Murphy-Johnson Jenna Spence Danielle Malinen Piotr Marszalek