| Saturday, 31 March 2012 13:38 | Update: Tickets for this event are sold out! Thank you for your support. For those going, we hope the performance makes an impact. 
[Click here for bigger version]
V‑DAY Singapore presents Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues at the Singapore Arts House!
Comprising Sayoni and friends, V-Day Singapore joins the global effort to stop violence against women and girls. The ‘V’ stands for Valentine, Vagina and Victory over Violence. Further information about V-Day and its other campaigns to end violence against women and girls worldwide can be found at www.vday.org. Date: 22 April (Sunday) Venue: The Arts House, Play Den Time: 6pm Tickets: Through
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or at the door Please note that this performance is rated 'R18' due to mature content and strong language.
The play will be performed by local women activists, not actors, in the spirit of the V-Day movement, and funds raised from the performance will benefit Sayoni's programmes to empower queer women towards greater community involvement and presence through open dialogue and public education.
What is V-Day? from V-Day Until the Violence Stops on Vimeo.
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| Written by sayoni
| | Friday, 24 February 2012 11:36 | 
Last year, SlutWalk Singapore planned to screen the documentary Courage Unfolds together with Sayoni as part of our fringe programme. However, due to the noise SWSG started to make, MDA approached us and told us that the film had to be rated by the Board of Film Censors, despite it being a private event. We have finally paid for, and received the license to screen this film.
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Courage Unfolds is a video highlighting the struggles and triumphs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists in Asia and promoting the use of international human rights law as a tool for social change. This video was co-produced by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and Lesbian Advocates Philippines (LeAP!).
The video highlights the issues faced by LGBT people in Asia as a way to make the Yogyakarta Principles accessible in layman’s terms. This set of 29 international legal principles – articulated in 2006 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia by a group of experts from around the world – addresses the application of international law to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The video shows how the Yogyakarta principles are a relevant and effective tool that LGBT activists can use in their advocacy for human rights.
For this screening, we will be showing extra footage from the DVD and this will be followed by a Post Show Discussion with SlutWalk Singapore and Sayoni. In particular, we will examine how the Yogyakarta Principles are relevant to activism in Singapore, and how they can be used to address violence and discrimination against sexual minorities.
This film is rated R21 by MDA.
The Yogyakarta Principles: http://www.yogyakartaprinciples.org/
Entry is by donation to cover the cost of venue hire (suggested amount of S$10).
http://slutwalksg.com/
www.sayoni.com Date : 28th Feb 2012 Time : 7.30pm Location : The Arts House, Screening Room http://www.theartshouse.com.sg/contact.html
| | Last Updated on Saturday, 10 March 2012 10:59 |
| | Saturday, 31 March 2012 12:26 | The LGBTIQ People's Caucus in Cambodia has issued the following statement, also endorsed by Sayoni, calling for sexual orientation and gender identity to be included in the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. [Source] Inclusion of SOGI Issues and Rights in the ACSC/APF and in the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration The second convening of the ASEAN Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ) People’s Caucus at Phnom Penh, Cambodia was not only to celebrate diversity but moreso, to remind the governments and members of civil society that the recognition, promotion and protection of LGBTIQ rights are still long overdue. For the second year, issues pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) have been given equal priority and attention as other struggles and issues at the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF). While we appreciate the long overdue acknowledgement and opportunity, we need the ACSC/APF to do more than just lip-service. During the 8th ACSC/APF in Jakarta, Indonesia, the LGBTIQ caucus explicitly made visible the violations of human rights and the corresponding emotional and psychological impacts to the lives of ASEAN LGBTIQ persons. Hence, we are incensed and extremely disappointed by the exclusion of SOGI in the draft of the ASEAN’s Human Rights Declaration, which is a blatant manifestation of discrimination against LGBTIQ persons. |
| Friday, 10 February 2012 13:14 | In the past week, the state of gay marriage in the US wavered again. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California's Proposition 8 (upheld in 2008) was unconstitutional. Then one day later, Washington voted to approve gay marriage, and the bill will be signed into law very soon. That will hardly be the end of the matter, and the US will certainly witness more back and forth in the days to come, but it could be a step in the right direction.
On Proposition 8, the burning question is whether the case will be brought all the way up to the Supreme Court. The Huffington Post, in its The Top Ten Questions on the Next Steps article, claims that "many legal experts" say "the Court is less likely to take the case". For a more provocative read, The Slate attempts to unmask some of the politics between the DOMA lobby (that's "Defense of Marriage Act") and the anti-Proposition 8 group in A Losing Proposition: Why gay-rights leaders don’t want their big Prop 8 victory to go to the Supreme Court.The more technically inclined might want to read up on a legal analysis of the case that points out how groundbreaking the ruling is.
To quote SFGate, "Judge Stephen Reinhardt said there was no evidence for the claims of Prop 8 sponsors that banning same-sex marriage would promote children's welfare or responsible procreation, and no legal basis to exclude an entire group of people from marrying merely because of tradition."
Looking back at 2009-2010 in the early days of the case, it was trumpeted as famed attorneys Boies and Olson challenging the law. Many of the same elements reported on now were present even then; the strong legal team, existing groups' initial disagreement on their approach, and the possibility of it going to the Supreme Court for the final battle. The combination was arresting -- in tinderbox style -- conservative and progressive, coming together in a landmark case that many worried was too much too soon. Now the first hurdle has been cleared, and what happens next remains to be seen.
As for Washington, it now follows in the footsteps of the US states of Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont in allowing same-sex marriage.
But change did not come overnight. HuffPo writes, "Washington state's momentum for same-sex marriage has been building and the debate has changed significantly since 1998, when lawmakers passed Washington's Defense of Marriage Act banning gay marriage. The constitutionality of that law ultimately was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2006. But earlier that year, a gay civil rights measure passed after nearly 30 years of failure, signaling a change in the Legislature. The quick progression of domestic partnership laws in the state came soon after, with a domestic partnership law in 2007, and two years of expansion that culminated in 2009 with 'everything but marriage' expansion that was upheld by voters." (Full article)
One of the Republicans who crossed the party line on the vote was Maureen Walsh, recorded on video in a moving speech here. |
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