Geography Club is a must-see

It’s quite rare that a foreign gay-themed indie film gets to have a regular screening in local cinemas (outside of film festival events). And whenever one appears, I try to catch it because the local gay indie movie industry is such a huge disappointment. Foreign gay films that I’ve managed to see in local cinemas include Boy Culture, Adam & Steve, and Gay Sex in the 70s. Now I’m adding Geography Club to that list.

Based on Brent Hartinger’s critically-acclaimed novel of the same title, Geography Club is a coming-of-age high school comedy film about a group of closeted gay and lesbian teens who form an after-school-hours “Geography Club” as a support group and to share experiences. They figure that nobody would mind since geography is a boring subject. But of course, things don’t turn out as they planned.

The film’s protagonist is Russell (Cameron Deane Stewart), a fairly attractive and smart guy who’s unsure of his sexuality. He is chased by girls but eventually found himself when he entered into a secret relationship with the school’s quarterback, Kevin (Justin Deeley). Unfortunately, Kevin tries to keep everything on the down-low as he aims for a college football scholarship. Russell struggles with his problems and finds solace in the aforementioned Geography Club.

The film tackles themes of coming out, bullying, peer pressure, and social acceptance. While those seem like heavy topics, the film actually is pretty light and explores the idea that being gay is becoming not a big deal anymore. I also liked how the movie tackled bullying by presenting one of the films most moving characters, Brian, portrayed wonderfully by Teo Olivares. I actually found the film quite refreshing, although I was a bit surprised at the movie’s abrupt ending. I’ve read reviews saying that while the movie is OK, the book is even better. So I’m looking forward to reading it (if I can find it).

Anyway, what I really loved about this film were the very tender kissing scenes between Russell and Kevin. While there are no bed scenes or anything of that sort, seeing two good-looking guys sharing intimate kisses made watching the movie worth my while.

6 years

Six years ago today, I published the very first post here on Discreet Manila. So this blog turns 6 years old today. Yay!

Looking back at the pageview statistics, it is apparently my article about South Bay City Spa that is the most-viewed, getting more than twice as many views as the next most popular article. It is also the article with the most number of comments. Interesting.

Here’s to more years of Discreet Manila!

Prayers for Bobby

I first came across the 2009 TV film Prayers for Bobby (IMDB, Wikipedia) in 2012 and resolved to watch it eventually. I finally got to do that late last year. I heartily recommend everybody to see it, especially those who are struggling with feelings of rejection due to their sexual orientation. There are a few uploads of the complete film on YouTube, such as this one.

Based on a book with the same title, Prayers for Bobby tells the true story of Bobby Griffith and his relationship with his mother, Mary Griffith, a very conservative Christian parent (portrayed very well by Sigourney Weaver). The year was 1979 and Bobby’s homosexuality was revealed to his family. This prompted Mary to help “cure” her son through religion and therapy. This proved unsuccessful and Bobby’s depression and feelings of rejection from his mother led him to commit suicide a few years later. Devastated by his death, Mary started questioning her religious stance against homosexuality and eventually came to terms with her son’s death. In doing so, she became an outspoken advocate for gay rights.

While that paragraph above pretty much tells the whole story, reading about it and actually seeing the film are two very different things. I secretly watched the movie on my laptop hoping that nobody else in the household sees or hears what I was watching. But it was very hard not getting teary-eyed at some scenes and dialogue in the film. The following line uttered by Mary while confiding to a gay-friendly pastor is pretty heart-wrenching, as is her wonderful speech towards the end of the movie.

“I know now why God didn’t heal Bobby. He didn’t heal him because … [breaks down in pained sobbing] … there was nothing wrong with him!”

While conditions nowadays is a far cry from the early eighties during Bobby’s time, there is still a lot more that can be improved. I pray that the day will come when there would be no more Bobbys, Tylers, and Jameys. I just hope that that day would come soon enough.

“Same Love” at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards

Last year, I blogged about Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ song “Same Love”, a pro-gay marriage song that has been getting some airtime in local radio stations. Well, the song got nominated for the Song of the Year Award at the recent Grammy Awards, but they lost to Lorde’s “Royals”. Still, the hip hop duo won a total of four Grammys, namely, Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song (both for “Thrift Shop”), and Best Rap Album (The Heist).

What’s more notable is that “Same Love” was performed during the awards night with Mary Lambert (the featured vocalist on the song), Queen Latifah, and Madonna, who sang her song “Open Your Heart”. In the middle of the performance, Queen Latifah, who had been deputized by the Los Angeles County, officiated the weddings of 33 straight and gay couples standing in the audience, including Lewis’ sister who married her boyfriend. I guess it was the first ever mass wedding held in any awards show and one that featured same-sex couples!

You can watch the performance below:

2013 is a banner year for same-sex marriage

As we celebrate 2013 with a bang, I’d like to look back and see how same-sex marriage has been adopted all over the world during the past year. Back in July, I congratulated England and Wales for allowing same-sex marriage for its citizens starting on March 29, 2014. England and Wales joined Uruguay, New Zealand, and France in recognizing same-sex marriage this year bringing the total number of countries where same-sex marriage is allowed to 15.

But the greatest triumph is in the United States. Over the past 12 months, nine states either passed legislation, had court rulings, or had popular votes allowing same-sex marriage in their territories. These are Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, California, New Jersey, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, and Utah. These series of recognition has effectively doubled the number of states and territories in the United States where same-sex marriage is allowed. The other states and territories where same-sex marriage is already allowed are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Washington, D.C., New York, Maine, Maryland, and Washington. In addition, the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was effectively struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 thus allowing same-sex couples federal benefits such as insurance and social security.

The map below show the current state of same-sex laws in the United States with blue states for and red states against.

Among the states that started allowing same-sex marriage in 2013, the most notable are California and Utah. California’s Supreme Court previously ruled in 2008 that same-sex marriage is permitted in that state. However, Proposition 8 was narrowly passed by voters later that year which stated that marriage can only be heterosexual. Predictably, this set off a series of court cases resulting in the overturning of Prop 8 in 2010. This was appealed and the appellate court affirmed the decision. Finally, the case was brought to the U.S. Supreme Court which dismissed the case last June 26. After 5 years of wrangling, California finally joined the growing list of states where same-sex marriage is recognized.

The case of Utah is quite curious. Utah, where the very conservative Mormon Church (aka Latter-Day Saints) has considerable influence, had previously passed in 2004 a state constitution amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Due to a court case, a federal district judge ruled last December 20 that this amendment was unconstitutional with respect to the U.S. Constitution thus paving the way for same-sex marriages to be performed in Utah.

Pundits noted the irony of the situation because the Mormon Church had poured large amounts of money and resources into pushing for Proposition 8 in California. As mentioned earlier, Prop 8 was struck down earlier this year and now Utah itself allows same-sex marriage. The Republican Utah administration had already started the appeals process and we will see where the legal dance will take Utah in the years to come. Hopefully, like California, Utah will ultimately allow same-sex marriage with finality.