Battlefront You're Already Involved

Hello Laura. Thanks for the comment and for your support. It makes a pleasant change to hear a positive story like yours! We hope you're very happy together and wish you all the best

David and Rachael, 29 May 2009 10:19

We just wanted to contact you to offer our support to your campaign. We firmly believe that the lack of positive, realistic representation of the Lesbian community is an example of homophobia on the part of broadcasting corporations. Our new online series hopes to offer a positive, accurate visual to re-address the balance. We would love to meet with you and bring you on set to meet the cast, if you happen to be in London anytime soon. You can check out the show on www.farouttv.co.uk Best of Luck with your campaign! New online lesbian drama begins production A new online drama series about the lives of lesbians has begun, DIVA can reveal. Inner Sanctum has taken the wraps off its debut project – a fast-paced series featuring the lives, loves and dramas of a group of gay women, including a cameo from DIVA's very own editor, Jane Czyzselska. Far Out is a tell-it-how-it-is window on the lives of a group of friends living in London. Already being hailed as the lesbian Queer As Folk, and drawing comparisons with This Life, Far Out is the creation of new talent Faye Hughes. The project is the realisation of more than four years’ work or Hughes. After touting her script – unsuccessfully – to a number of broadcasters including the BBC’s Writers Room, she has raised backing to launch the show online. She says: “The media is so out of touch in the way it portrays gay women. Lesbians are either unattractive dykes, ball-breaking shrews or lentil-eating hippies with hairy armpits – and we’re all gagging to ‘convert’ straight women. Thankfully you can no longer portray gay men in this way – but lesbians still seem to be fair game”. “With Far Out, I wanted to show what life for gay women is really like. That we have real and valid relationships, that we can be butch dykes or girly girls or anything in between, that we have kids, responsible jobs, families, ambitions and aspirations. We can honestly say that we are telling our story from experience, this isn’t a group of men sat in a board room making a series for money” And Far Out is far from being a worthy endeavour. It’s a funny, gripping show that will take viewers on an emotional, sexy, roller coaster of a ride through contemporary lesbian life. Belief in the project is such that production company Jellyfielders (responsible for experimental projects such as ‘The Office The Opera’) is working for free. Designer, Anna Thomas has come straight from the Art Department of Sam Taylor Woods’ ‘Nowhere Boy’ and is booking up Soho locations for the filming. Enclave, on Brewer Street has been secured. Casting is now taking place (DJ Cupcake is set to take a cameo role). Filming will happen early in the summer and a teaser will be launched at Pride. The pilot episode will be released online following a screening in September.

Inner Sanctum Productions, 22 May 2009 09:58

Love your tagline and I hope you're feeling even more motivated by the masses of support you're getting... But, a genuine of slightly random and off topic question (mainly for Rachael I think?)... Is it really unique in being the acceptable face of abusing people? I only ask because you seem to be very expressive in your appearance and in my experience people use "gay" and "freak" as the same kind of insult, usually when they see someone as different from them and are looking for a label which denotes difference as an insult. Having read your reply to Gary's comment I love the fact you are objecting less to the words people use and more to the fact they are saying "gay" like it's a bad thing :)

Fluff, 22 May 2009 07:16

Hello James. Thank you for your comment and for your support. Thanks also for adding a link to our page on your site. A major one of our aims as a campaign is to unite the already existing organisations from around the UK in order to set up a network of campaigns to work towards an end to homophobia. As yet, this is the first contact we have had from such an organisation from Northern Ireland, and we welcome it very much. We are currently at the stage, as we will be announcing in our next video blog, of distributing our communication which provides a run-down of our aims, and goes on to suggest possible tasks for anyone who wishes to become involved. We can email a copy through to your organisation if that's something you'd be interested in. Thanks again.

David and Rachael, 18 May 2009 17:01

Hey Gary, thanks for the comment. As supporters of freedom of speech, it's not the terms as such which we have a problem with, more their connotations in general usage- we'd certainly agree the sort of hostile environment in which they're used in schools is one that needs changing. We also hold the view that people should be allowed to use any terms they wish, but they ought to be prepared for the consequences- which seem to be next to non-existent in schools at the moment. One of the campaign's biggest aims is to make sure homophobia is tackled in schools in a variety of ways (eg. teach pupils about relationships in Social Ed., analyse books about the LGBT community in English, inform teachers of the best way to respond to homophobic comments around school, etc.) We fear that the atmosphere of caution among teachers at the moment as regards LGBT issues is largely a lasting effect of Section 28 and that its repeal hasn't served to counteract the changes that took place when it was still in force, and that moves to directly improve the situation need to be implemented.

David and Rachael, 18 May 2009 16:04

I am Gay. Wow! Weird to actually say it...through a Keyboard, that is the first, and hopefully not the last. I am a normal guy, 18 and living at Uni, I am not "out". I find the idea so frightening...but I can't move on with my life until I do; I am stuck. I am so scared about telling my friends and family, especially when both use 'sayings' that refer to being Gay as wrong; "Stop being so Gay", "You are such a Faggot". I shouldn't have to be accepted into Society because I am already a part of it. I am Gay...it isn't a big deal. Society has made it into one. Thanks.

Anonymous, 15 May 2009 11:24

HI there, I would just like to say that I am a gay man probabley of the worst kind as I am in the Army and in true army fashion i use the words like "puff, gay and foggot" I do not use them directly aimed at gay people but more as just a word aimed at someone for been a bit of a divvy for not wanting to do something that is hard or difficult. I know I shouldnt but its just a word, personally people call me words like that and it doesnt bother me but I can understand that in the school enviroment it is difficult. I think that it should be addressed in schools by educating the youth of today about relationships and sexuality. I mean for **** sake they do RE so people are more wise to religions so why not to sexual orrientation! I think it is a subject that is too quickly dismissed by teachers because alot fo them have their own prejudices.

Gary , 13 May 2009 18:53