 Ghostland. I'm Linda Quinlan. I'm Ann Charles. It's Tuesday July 27th. Welcome to all things LGBTQ. As always, we acknowledge that we're taping in Montpelier, Vermont, which is unceded Indigenous land. Now we have some local news from Keith. Yes, we do. And for this episode, rather than doing the traditional trivia, looking at the beginning of the congressional hearings on the January 6th insurrection, I thought we'd look at some urban myths and legends. And the first one is, they developed a bomb to turn people gay. True or false? True or false? The Canadian government built a gaydar machine. Later on, we'll talk about if you can rent it or not. And there's a campground in California where select groups of world leaders meet on an annual basis. True or false? And we'll give you the answers. So first, I want to start with looking at some local events and this is, and it's Linda's favorite event. The queer critical mass bike rally is coming up because it's the first Friday of the month, six o'clock, meet at the Kellogg Hubbard Library. And I'm waiting to see you on your little scooter. Also, the same group on Saturday, August 21st, and we will mention this again as we get closer, starting at three o'clock, they're doing a cabaret in Hubbard Park called Hot and Wet. And if I say there's a lingerie toss, Mike, that tell you as much as you really need to know. I'm there. We reported on the last show that Gustavo was leaving from their position at the Pride Center working with the transgender program. Well, the Pride Center has posted the position and you can go on to either their Facebook page or website to look at the details. They're hoping that somebody from within our community is going to apply for this position. And they're really looking forward to some renewed activism within the program. Anne recently stumbled across a very interesting group of activists in Burlington. And these were the people who put together the People's Pride event. But they're also involved in the BTV cop watch, and also a group called Food Not Bombs, and then Food Not Cops. And they're looking at renewing that sense of street activism and alternative guerrilla politics. And they make, yeah, and they have an event coming up on August 1st, which is the Food Not Bombs. And this is in support of the homeless or housing insecure community. And also on August 7th, they're doing a bar takeover. And Anne assures me that if you do a search for People's Pride, you can get connected to their Facebook page. And we may be learning more about them in an upcoming interview show. So really quickly, looking at the Olympics, and I'm only looking at the queer aspect of the Olympics, we have had our first openly transgender athlete actually compete in an Olympic event. And it was Quinn, who is a member of the Canadian women's soccer team. And everyone thinks it's a potential for the Canadian team to win a bronze at the Olympics. We've also had our first openly non binary athlete compete. This was Alana Smith, who was part of Team USA Street skateboarding. And they did not qualify to compete. However, what was really pointed out was how the media continue to misgender them, even though they had their pronouns written clearly on their skateboard. Venezuela, Yulimer, Rojas, triple jump, lesbian. People think that she is going to win the gold medal. She carried the Venezuelan flag in the opening ceremonies. Good one. And first gold medal of Tokyo Olympics given to an out gay Olympian went to Thomas Daley from Great Britain, the synchronized diving. And I actually watched it. Of course I watched it. So we're not going to cover a whole lot about the Olympics. However, we're going to look at the queer athletes and maybe do a count at the end. There's an estimate that as opposed to the 54 out athletes that competed at Rio, there are over 156 out athletes in the Tokyo games, 34 of them are Team USA. Really quickly going around the region, Bratabural has a new chief of police. Not only is it she is the chief of police, she is a black woman, which is very interesting because Bratabural was identified as the community with the worst traffic stop data in as far as racial profiling. Is that where that gun guy was? The guy who had the gun range and was harassing his neighbors? No, that was in Rutland County. That was in Rutland. Okay. And the new chief of police is a poet. So let's see what a difference that might make. Massachusetts, real quickly, if you've been at Provincetown recently, and I know there was a recent bear run, please go and get tested for COVID. They've had over 256 cases diagnosed since July 1st. GLAAD was planning their 40th annual summer party at P-town. They've pulled it back and it's going to be a virtual event. Also in Massachusetts, Mass Equality organized a counter protest to the Super Happy Fund America people. Remember them? Straight Pride. Only they called their counter march Patriots for Equity. Rhode Island has passed three positive LGBTQ plus bills that have been sent to the governor for signature. One is fair housing practices, removes old outdated language, and it repeals all of those little exemptions that allowed landlords to discriminate. Gender inclusive restroom act sound familiar. If it's single use, anybody can use it. And this is the one that sort of, I went what? Solemnization of marriage. Apparently in Rhode Island, the general assembly gets to have input into who can solemnize a wedding. So the conservative branch, when there was an application submitted, if they didn't agree with marriage equality, they voted against allowing the person to solemnize it. And then in Maine, and this is, and we're going to talk more about the U.S. Supreme Court coming up, but this is something that Linda had mentioned on a previous show. U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case from Maine, and it is two families that petitioned and are suing the state of Maine to be reimbursed for the tuition for sending their children to a private religious school. And the question is can a private religious school receive governmental funding if they refuse to admit or hire LGBTQ students or staff? I think the simple answer is, but I know. Hold on to that thought, because when we talk more about the Supreme Court in depth, that might explain why they let lower court ruling stand versus hearing the case themselves and issuing a ruling. So we'll discuss that more later. Well, I have the one million moms, which is probably like two moms, actually, is added again. Now it's Eli Lilly. More of that later. Beverly Hill Doctor's Violent Anti-Gay Rant. We'll have more on that. And a high-ranking official in Alaska was caught putting an extreme message online, including a call to murder a drag queen. There was also a there were also racist ones. The account was allegedly run by the assistant attorney general Matthew Cisodi. So that's good news. We don't have a lot of good news. There really is no, but there's some. LGBTQ nation that every Sunday is like, here's the happy news because there's not that much of it. Yeah, really. And then we're going to have more of a talk and maybe a discussion a little bit about one senior Jeffrey Burrell, because he was caught trolling for hookups on Grindr. So we'll talk about that later. Louisiana veto session ends with no bill rejections reversed. Louisiana lawmakers have ended their historic veto session after two days in which lawmakers failed to overturn Governor John Bell Edwards' rejection of the legislative bill to ban trans girls from sports teams. That's good news. Yes, that is good news. There's another good news. Judge Blocks, Arkansas law-abiding healthcare trans youth. So that's another good story. And another one, which, you know, we can use is trans model Lena Bloom makes history on the cover of sports illustrated swim edition. Did you see the cover? Yes. Very nice. Are you showing the picture? I am not. Okay. But I'm sorry. Thank you. Nashville's project comes out as gay prospect, has come out as gay. And the first in NHL history, the Nashville Predators team is probably going to, what do they call it, take this guy, Luke Prokop, and he says he's proud to be gay. He's in Canada right now, but this Nashville team is going to take him as a player. Do you think that's kind of a weird name for a Predators? Yeah, that's a weird name for him. About my NHL is National Hockey League. I think that tells you everything. The Predators. Protest over trans rights, and Los Angeles by a trans violent, we'll have more about that. The Supreme Court declines the case, putting LGBTQ rights versus religious liberty, and Keith is going to talk more about that. In Maryland, man is charged with the murder of trans woman Taya Ashton. Alan Devota Price has been charged, and he was also in a relationship with Taya. Alaska allows Medicaid to cover gender-affirming health care, so that's not more good news. There's more than I thought. Three men are charged in murdering same-sex couple in Texas. We'll have more about that. In Wyoming, a transgender woman was attacked in her apartment's dog park. Ryle Shipley said she believes this was a transgender attack. Maryland cops arrest gay men for perverted sexual practices. We'll have more about that. Texas woman spouts homophobic vitriol on a plane. She went into a rage while being escorted off the plane for refusing to wear a mask. Kelly Cashman is a Dallas-based real estate agent. We're back in Texas. Did she throw her off the plane? Because she wouldn't wear a mask, and then she went into a gay rant. No fines or anything. Well, we don't know. Could be. I would have charged her. You end up being put on the no-fly list as part of it, and I think there may be penalties depending on the state in which it occurred. Yeah, I don't know where this was. Texas. Or she's from Texas. She's from Texas. Okay. And then there's some disturbing evidence in the Ed Buck trial. We'll talk a little bit more about that when we get to our second segment. So, Ann, what do you have? I have many stories, a lot of it focusing on Europe. I've divided it by continent. I don't have any news from Australia, but I have plenty from Europe revolving around Hungary and Poland. The EU sues Hungary and Poland over LGBTQ discrimination. And in response, thousands defy Orban, the head of Hungary, with festive pride parade backing gay rights in Hungary. Over 30,000 people were estimated to have attended. It was huge. It's the largest in 26 years. Members of the European Parliament joined the pride parade. Despite the tension, mostly youthful participants were in a festive mood, dancing to Abba. But there was also a sense that this was an act of defiance. I listened to the whole of the speech by one of the speakers, Terry Reineke, who's a Green Party member of Parliament. And it was so moving, I teared up. I don't have the whole speech for you now, but I have a clip. Let's look at Budapest Pride 2021. Beautiful, the most colorful, and the most powerful day of all days. Let us walk the streets of Budapest today with our head up high and celebrate our lives, celebrate who we are, and celebrate who we love. Happy Pride, Budapest! And it takes a lot to get Professor Charles to tear up. I know, I know it. It's a tough cookie. Let's talk about international backing for Hungary's community. It came from some 30 countries, including the U.S., Israel, the U.K. and 19 EU members, whose embassies issued a joint statement of support. They expressed concerns over recent developments that threaten the principle of non-discrimination and the grounds of gender identity. And in the clip, you saw that Orban has proposed, has initiated plans for a referendum, and that's in response to the EU sanctions. And he's trying to say Hungarian support this discriminatory law, but on the referendum there are five questions, and they're so slanted that, you know, the whole thing is rigged. And the young woman in the clip was right when she said this is just a distraction to turn attention away from the corruption and other problems in the country. I saw a T-shirt recently that said, I don't remember getting to vote on your rights. Maybe we should send some of those. No kidding. No kidding. So more in Eastern Europe. Polish LGBTQ activists refuse to be silenced by lawsuits. And we know that Poland has LGBT free zones and so forth, and that the European Union has acted against those also. But a group of activists in Poland in 2019 formed what they call the activist of hate. It's a website that displays the LGBTQ free zones exposes the depth of anti-LGBTQ discrimination. But the four founders have been sued now by a conservative group, the Ordo-Gurus Institute in Warsaw, and the four people facing trial are Cuba, Gauron, Kamiel Mazuka, Polina Pajak, and Pawel Bruneta. And we've probably sent people over there to tell them how to do it. Well, actually, one of the people who is also involved in the organization said they want to frighten us and prevent us from our actions. It looks like some organizations are afraid of our work and the international pressure on Poland. They're going to appear for their first trial any day now, and a decision is going to be made on the same day of their appearance. More from Eastern Europe. You recall last time I mentioned that the journalist in Georgia was beaten up and killed in Tbilisi pride. There's an aftermath involving a fight in parliament, a fist fight where Jocelyn occurred because hundreds of people protested against his death and they tried to get in to the lower house in protest, and security guards kept many of them out, yet many infiltrated, and footage showed people pushing and shouting next to a door on the floor of the lower house of parliament on the floor itself. People could be seen shouting, Jocelyn, and shoving one another. I saw, well, let me just, 20 people have now been detained for violence against the media, including five held responsible for physical and verbal abuse against TV, Pure Valley's camera crew, and this gentleman was a member of that camera crew. I saw a creepy, creepy clip. The police apparently seized the corpse of this journalist, and dragged him over his family's wishes, and dragged him out, so no one has- Because they wanted to do a private autopsy on his death, and they just stole his body. Make up the cause of death. Yeah. Now I have a picture, one more bad story, of a gay couple on vacation who were brutally attacked as a crowd watched and jeered on Corsica. Their names that they've given out are Michael and Benoit. They were vacationing when a group of about 20 men attacked them. They were dancing, and a crowd gathered and did nothing to stop it. According to two men, the crowd treated the brutal and violent assault as a form of entertainment. The Corsican government has decried this action, a bad story out of Corsica. And finally, good news from Europe, LGBT plus campaigners demand inclusion at the first Reclaim Pride march, and I have a picture now of some of the Reclaim Pride marchers. As we know, this started in New York a couple of years ago, and it's lit a fire all around the world. We're here to say that Pride is about inclusion. Said Ofil Apoku Giama, the executive director of UK Black Pride, Europe's largest LGBTQ plus celebration for people of color, which in its own right attracted 15,000 people in 2019. It's about diversity, about speaking truth to power on a number of different issues for our trans and non-binary siblings and Black Lives Matter. I think we might have tried it here first. I think so. It started in New York. I think we were the first. We're from New York. We are not a trend for Pride Month. We deserve visibility all year, Red One Banner. It's billed like the New York Reclaim Pride march as a people's political march, no corporate sponsorship, or police barricades. We want to say that our human rights should be central, said veteran human rights activist Peter Tatchell, who's the subject of a film that we talked about. He was one of the organizers of the march, as well as his celebration, Pride has to be a protest. So, I'm finished with Europe. Should I go on? Is there time for me to go on to Latin America? Well, you can, I think, in the next segment. How's that? Well, because I have three continents to cover in the next segment, but I can wait. I will talk quickly. You might have time to do all. Yes. I will talk quickly. Okay. U.S. Supreme Court. The action that Linda was referring to is the Stutzman case. This is, again, weddings. A gay male couple went to a floral shop in the state of Washington. The floral shop refused to do the arrangements for the wedding because it offended her relationship with Jesus Christ. So, the state stepped in and said, no, you are a business of public accommodation. You will serve the public. You will serve the public equally. And it went up through the court system. U.S. Supreme Court chose not to take on the case, which means that the lower court ruling stands. And in this case, it was in favor of the gay male couple that, you know, she was trying to say that her floral arrangements are an artistic expression. It's freedom of speech. Therefore, and the court said, we're not buying that. So, in that case, someone saying their personal religious beliefs, running a public accommodation, think those damn cakes doesn't hold. Okay. The other case that the Supreme Court chose not to take up was Gavin Grimm. And in that case, they sent it back to the lower court, which said, no, that the ruling was fair, that Gavin was entitled to use the bathroom reflective of Gavin's gender identity. So, the court chose, again, not to take the case on. And the third case was the Fulton decision, which was the Philadelphia case, where they did take the case up, very narrow decision specific to that suit. And as a part of it, they said, we're not ruling on if you can discriminate based on religious grounds. What we're saying is you have to treat everyone the same, that whatever you do, it's uniform. Everyone has the same standard. So, what does that really mean for us? And I went back and did a little research. Legal scholars agree that there are probably three primary reasons why the Supreme Court would choose not to take a case. One is, they agree with the lower court decision. However, the drawback of that is that that lower court decision may be specific to that region of the country only and that narrow view of the issue as a whole. The other reason they might choose not to take it up is that the issue isn't significant enough to warrant their intervention, such as all of those suits about the election where they said, there is nothing here. Go away. Or they're looking for the good one. The court's not ready to hear the issue, which gets to what you were alluding to. They may be waiting for a bigger case, something that's more well-defined, or for there to be more court action so that more people are engaged in the issue and responsive to it, and state legislators may be acting upon it. Now, the reasons they may choose to take it up is that they perceive there's a conflict of law. There are 13 federal circuit courts. There are 50 state Supreme Courts. Different states may give a different ruling on the same issue. Therefore, it's the US Supreme Court's responsibility to resolve it. They determine that these are cases that are important, such as the voting rights cases prior to the most recent decisions, whereas we need to uphold a person's right to vote and racial equity in the voting process. Or, and this is what we need to be very attentive to, the case may be something that's of interest to a particular judge. They want to debate the issue. It's something that they really have a strong opinion about, or that the lower courts have disregarded past Supreme Court decisions, so they're using that as an opportunity to just restate, no, this is the law, and this is the interpretation. So, as we're looking at cases going forward and looking at the case coming out of Maine, that's a much, that case is more well-defined in as far as what is the core issue. And one of the things that has been debated in some of the rulings recently from the US Supreme Court is with a parochial school, are the teachers considered a representative of the community of faith the same as a priest in a Catholic church, and therefore, the religious exemption holds. We're going to be watching it, but we have a good idea where they're going to land. So, to you my girlfriend. Yes, and you know, this is a story too, which is you know, the one million miles which we talked about. Well, they're attacking Eli, Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company, because of the diverse advertising. And if you've seen anything, and I have seen a few, the ad show people of color, people with disabilities, and the queer community, and the company's tagline is, we make medicine for everyone, not just for some. Well, you know, my argument is, well, that's all well and good, and it's, you know, good that you are putting diversity, but it's not true that you make medicine for everybody. I was just thinking that. You make medicine for people who have health insurance or who can afford it. So, you know. And even then. Yeah. So, good for you for having diverse advertising. On the other hand, you know, you don't really, you don't really make medicine for everyone. So. A quick addendum to that, the Biden administration has told the insurance companies. They can go to Canada. No, they have to cover PrEP. Yeah. The prophylactic. However, you know, what immediately people came back with is, people can't afford this. It's not on the Medicaid formulary in each individual state. You don't have coverage. And then it was revealed, companies such as Lily, they get a write-off. They have a program where you can submit an application to get it for free, but they don't publicize. Exactly. That's what I mean. I agree. Exactly. No, I, absolutely. You know. Yeah. And what about birth control? What about, you know, anyway? Yeah. I was in a position where I could have sued Lily over a birth control that I was using. And it was so deliberately obstructive that I never filled out the form. Luckily, I'm okay. But, you know. And then there's this Beverly Hills doctor who had a violent anti-gay rant that left his neighbors feeling fearing for their lives. He was heard saying, I'll fuck you up, fucking faggots, and was caught on video saying, I'll fucking shoot you in the face. Dermatologists to the stars, Dr. Alex Kadava, was allegedly caught on video. His gay neighbors have filed a restraining order saying that they're afraid for their lives. The doctor was shown in the hallway of his West Hollywood condo going into this tirade about his gay neighbors. Now, I had some inkling that this was about, you know, in condos, you can't put your laundry outside, you can't put a certain size doorbell. I don't know. But it seemed like it was some argument about what you could and could not do in this condo complex. So we'll see. And then we have the controversial issue about Montsourge, Jeffrey Burrell. Montsourge. Montsourge, yeah. Has been controlling fog ups on Grindah. He served as Secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. This was, he was doing this at the same time he was promoting anti-LGBTQ rights. He was outed by the pillar, a right-wing Catholic group that said it obtained Grindah data legally and reconstructed it to identify signals coming from Burrell's phone. So he wasn't outed by the left, but rather by a religious group that targets clergy who are gay. But they threw him out of the Council of Bishops or what were the repercussions? Yeah, they threw him out, yeah. And, you know, so my question is, you know, about outing always is, is it a good thing, you know? And in this case, you know, it was done by the right and not the left. So what do you think? Well, my first impulse, because he wasn't doing anything illegal. Right. He was being gay. But he did propose anti-gay issues in the Church. And promote them. So if that's the case, I guess the people who support outing say that's, you know, if you're being a hypocrite, you deserve it. Well, let's get to a few things so we can finish your story. Uh, protest over trans rights at an LA Spa turns violent, police arrested several dozen people and fired non-lethal projection, projectiles to disperse the crowd after dueling protests as fought over trans rights at the We Spa, WI. A woman claimed that a trans woman was in the locker room and she saw his genitalia. We don't know if this is true or not. When she complained to the management, she was told that the Spa defended its policy of allowing trans customers in the facility. It should be her genitalia. And this is a really, anyway, three men are charged with the murder of four people in New Summerfield, Texas. The man arrested, intended on stealing a gun from one of the victims. John Clinton, 18, believed he was selling a gun to these three guys and met them outside. And, um, instead of selling the gun, they killed him. They also killed his mother, Amy Hickley, Amanda Bain, and Jeff Jermaine. Um, they all died from gunshot wounds in a mobile home. Police said that these three men, um, took guns, a vehicle, and clothes. So, so was the seller gay? Yes, the seller was gay. Um, may I run on police? Oh, this is another one. I mean, this is like from the 60s. Maryland police arrest gay men for perverted sexual practices. I gotta tell you, they burst in wearing, um, riot gear. Burst in wear. Into this bookstore. In riot gear, and they charged the individuals with the law viewed as unconstitutional. Bush River Books and videos netted nine arrests. And they went in, in SWAT team uniforms to pull these guys out from watching videos. I mean, and they weren't happy. They were arrested. They were arrested. Nine of them were arrested. Deviant acts. Right. Public sex. And so, where are they in jail? Like, apparently they are in jail. I haven't heard whether they're out or not, but they were arrested. Need to do some follow-up. I know. Well, there probably isn't any right at the moment. Um, disturbing evidence shown at the trial of Ed Buck, a Democratic donor. Prosecutors say Buck had a fetish for dragging black men with whom he had sexual encounters. He recorded nearly all his encounters and had 2,400 videos. In some of the videos, he used the N word. So, and of course we talked about Philadelphia Pride, um, has, like Boston, disintegrated. I didn't get a really good sense, you know, I closed because there were some objections to, um, Philadelphia's Pride committee saying some, maybe transphobic things and maybe some racist things. I didn't see the actual and they didn't have it in the article in which I read the exact, whatever was being, um, objected to. I think one was about the police, um, and one was about, um, mis, maybe misgendering people from Stonewall. Uh, right. But I'm, you know, there isn't a whole lot about, you know, that I couldn't find anything where it actually said this is what they said. So, oh, and Jeopardy fans react to lesbian Robin Roberts first episode as a guest host. She is crushing it, some said. People took to Twitter to rave about her hosting skills. And here is a picture of her. She's our old, old, um, our fan from New Orleans, you remember, Ian? I do. And I have a couple of, um, sad news about LGBTQ, um, activist. Lesbians actually. Lesbians, yes. New York based Louise Fishman has died in 1982. She was an abstract artist and identified as a queer Jewish feminist. She was involved in Red Stockings, which, and the New York Feminist Art Institute. She is survived by her wife, Ingrid Naibo. And here is a picture of her. It's so sad. Yes. I met her once and she just seemed like a lovely person. Very close friends with Esther Newton whom we interviewed on a previous show. And we also lost, uh, Sally Greenhorne Hart. Gear Hart. Gear Hart. Gear Hart. Yes. She was the first out lesbian to receive a tenure-track position at San Francisco State University and was an LGBT actress. Sally was 90. And there's going to be a documentary about her life coming out soon. And she was in that wonderful groundbreaking film, Word Is Out. Yes, yes. And she wrote the Wonder Ground, that, you know, lesbian utopian novel. I love that. And she was very active with Harvey Milk in the fight about Proposition 8 in California. Yeah. Groundbreaking figure. Yeah. It's very sad. Both, both. And here's a picture of her. And lastly, a little comma. Ania Bryant. The granddaughter of a notorious anti-gay rights activist is marrying a woman and she doesn't know whether to invite her grandmother. Sarah Green says her grandmother still believes homosexuality isn't real. Bryant was a beauty queen and orange juice spokeswoman and got a pie in her face, uh, at some point. Remember that? Press conference. Yes. And so now, Ann, you have some time. Do I have one segment or two? You can read on until I say no. Remember we have the answer to the trivia. Yes, yes. So we'll leave enough time for that. And I have a clip too I want to introduce. All right. Well, you better get started. So let's rush through. Latin America and Central America. She lay senators, approved gay marriage bill, and there's one step left. Peru, I have a picture now before you of Susel Paredes, who is Peru's first lesbian lawmaker. She's vowing a strong battle to boost LGBTQ rights. Same sex couples can't marry in Peru, so she and her partner got married in Miami. And they've elected a conservative head of state who is a homophobe, but she's an open lesbian and she's announced that to the press in 2006. She married her partner in 2016 in Miami. Cuban police. Now I have a picture before you of Michael Gonzalez Vivero. Cuban police violently arrest Blade Media's partner editor. He was just covering all the demonstrations about poverty and food shortages. And he was arrested and harassed. They took his glasses off and kicked them down the street. So he was arrested before and kind of targeted by the Interior Ministry of Cuba, but he's in police custody now. Bad news from Africa. Nigerian police jail five gay men as anti-LGBTQ plus persecution continues. And these men were arrested by the Islamic police force in Nigeria, which is a new development in Nigeria. These Islamic police forces are going around arresting people. Appointed by local governments though. In Cameroon, two women were sitting having lunch in a restaurant and they were trans women, dressed as women, and they were arrested. So now the judge has ordered their release for a short period of time while they appeal their case. They've spent five months in a men's prison where they were harassed and tortured mercilessly. And they have been sentenced for and fined about their cases being appealed. Are they Cameroonian citizens? People who live there. Yeah, natives. And then in Asia, two stories. One is so predictable. Russia, I'm counting Russia and Asia because I had so many Europe stories. Russia rejects the European Court of Human Rights order to recognize sex unions. I know, not too much more to say about that. But now let's look at Funny Boy, which is a gay Sri Lankan coming of age film. And it's going to be on Netflix so we can watch it. It's Candidate Oscar submission for Best International Feature of Film. And it's by the filmmaker who did the Elements Trilogy. The filmmaker, she's an Indo-Canadian director, Deepa Mehta. She's known for her Acclaimed Queer Elements Trilogy Fire in 1996, Earth 1998, and Water 2005. Yeah, she's really good. We saw those films. Funny Boy is Candidate Oscar submission, as I said. It centers on a boy named Argy, who is coming of age and questioning his sexuality in the 1970s and 80s Sri Lanka. Based on the best-selling Canadian novel by Shyam Selvadari, the film follows Argy's journey towards self-acceptance in a society that is not accepting, as the nation also wrestles with political strife between the minority Tommels and the majority Sinhalese. There was a civil war, and I know very little about it. But in any event, Funny Boy has been released by Ava de Verne's production company, Array. And it's now on Netflix in the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and select cities. So let's look at a clip of Funny Boy. You have to find a way not to let these boring people rob you of your precociousness. What you've got to do is this. Don't mess with the grand diva. Don't mess with the grand diva! Yes! Sonali, would you take Argy as your lawfully wedded wife? I do. Argy, would you take Sonali as your lawfully wedded husband? I do. Different? It's wonderful. He's your Funny Boy, and you are different. Welcome to Victoria Academy, Arjun Shelvarathnam. Every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. Hi! So, who cares if he's single-leaves, Amma? I like him. Aunty will never be allowed into any of our houses if she marries a single-leaves. I saw you both. It's dangerous and it's illegal. I'm an angel. You're an old butchered simply because we are talent. I just can't. We don't want you here anymore. So, what do we do? Will it make you happy? Why does everyone say I'm funny? What does that mean? Argy, you're only eight years old. What do you know about love? Don't mess with the grand diva. Well, I can't wait to see that. It looks really good. You're going to have to sponsor a reviewing party. That's right. Yeah. And we can look at some of her elemental trilogy. We can look at them again too. Is it okay? Is this your story then? Yeah, I've rushed through. Well, you did well. Thank you. I can go back. So, urban myths and legends. I got them all right. She's so competitive. A bomb that would turn people gay. Actually, that's a true and false. So, you both got it right. The air force was developing a bomb using female femorrhoids that they would infuse in the enemy. Firm ones. Firm ones. I have the European spelling in front of me. So, it has extra letters and it throws me off. But we were going to use it with our enemies so that, oh my, you all of a sudden get attracted to the person next to you and you're distracted. It is so problematic on so many levels. And it wasn't made, but it was this far in development. Oh, wow. Canadian government in a gaydar machine. This is actually true. And the intent was, I would show you same sex pornography. And if your pupils dilated, it meant that you had an erotic attraction to what you were seeing. Did they just do that with men or with men and women? Men and women. Okay. And if you reacted, you were fired. This was part of, you know, the lavender scare. What if your eyes did both? Well, I don't think that if you were attracted to the men and the women on the screen. All they cared about was that your pupil, your pupil dilated with same sex erotic. So, camcram in California? World leaders invited? Anyone who's read Tales of the City? The Bohemian Grove. This is indeed, unfortunately, very true. It's by invitation only. It's out of the public view. It has happened every year with the exception of last year due to COVID, and it is the rich and powerful. And who is the person? And it's all men. And who is the person who does the invitations every year? Does anybody know? How would we know? I don't know. When we don't know who's being invited and what they talk about? And we don't know which one, which one. Bohemian Grove, Retails of the City. All right. So, I guess that would be it, wouldn't it? Yes, it would. And do you have anything else to add? Well, I've rushed through my important headlines. So, I guess we can leave it. Okay. There. And in that case, remember to exist.