GAY STORIES
The blinding pain slams me around, flips me over. I land hard on my back. Mechanically, like a clockwork doll, I grab my arm. It's bleeding. Another explosion, this one further away, and another hail of bullets. I skitter backwards. I look and see my battalion racing forwards, fanning out through...
Continue »BISEX STORIES
My wife's brother stayed with us this past summer. Originally I wasn't too keen on having this 19 year old street tough around, but as things developed, I'm glad my wife talked me into it. She's 22 and I'm 23, by the way. When Tim arrived, he looked exactly like I remembered him. Leather jacket,...
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Blue Milk, everybody had to have it. The first true aphrodisiac. One
sip or mixed in another drink and the recipient was taken over by
uncontrollable lust. Yea, right. But it was the latest craze
sweeping the nation and my paper wanted a story. Kind of the latest
fad of the month fluff piece.
LESBIAN STORIES
Me and my friends Linda and Kim had just arrived at the camp grounds. We were really excited to have a weekend camping with just us girls. I am 21 yrs old and both Linda and Kim are 22, we go the the same college were we meet and became very close friends. When we got to camp we set up our tent and...
Continue »GFEST arts exhibition censored over fear of offending
A social enterprise running events for Hampstead Town Hall in North London ordered queer arts festival GFEST to censor a selection of its exhibition because it may offend, it is claimed.
Events organisers Interchange felt that owing to the daytime exhibition hours, some of the artwork on display might offend young people and their parents, and subsequently ordered GFEST’s staff into a last-minute frenzy of censorship.
Despite a strong protest, GFEST were also required to censor the same works on the festival’s two weekday evenings and weekends. The shortness of time before the exhibition’s opening meant that GFEST’s organisers were forced into a difficult position.
Jane Hoy, a volunteer at the exhibition, told The Scavenger: "We were intrigued and bemused by the criteria this equal-opportunities charity had devised. Acting on instructions from Interchange staff, we covered up 10 of the 21 photos and paintings.
"Six of these included parts of women’s nude bodies (mostly breasts). Among the other works we covered were a graphic work illustrating the homophobia a young gay man will encounter before he dies, a picture of two pairs of elderly knees, a ceramic mug depicting the many names for vagina and a piece which says ‘Never Mind the Bollocks – here come the transsexuals’.
"I felt more and more ashamed about my role in this censorship, which seemed to suggest that the very existence of works by gay artists poses some kind of threat. For the record, I took some photos of the mutilated exhibition.
"One vivid image remains uncensored. A picture of a man’s head gagged with a red bandana. It says it all."
The art was subsequently covered in paper and masking tape, plus a selection of plastic carrier bags.
An Interchange representative claimed the move was sparked by fear of receiving a small number of complaints. Others, especially the artists, feel it has more to do with prejudice.
Artist Jason Woodson only discovered his work had been banned when he went to collect it.
"There is nothing offensive or inflammatory in the piece and I struggle to understand why it would be deemed too challenging for young children,” he said. “We are living in a world where young gay men and women are killing themselves because they feel that they are alone and that their lives have no meaning."
“It was a no-win and very traumatic last minute decision either to take down the exhibition or be forced to comply with their decision,” GFEST’s artistic director Niranjan Kamatkar told The Scavenger.
“Considering the lack of resources and recourse to an alternative venue, we opted for the latter and ensured that the exhibition went ahead.
“We have written to Hampstead Town Hall Trustees / board of management to seek their official response but it feels as if they are ignoring us. In 2010, initiatives like GFEST need to be encouraged by more mainstream venues rather than inflict censorship.”
A social enterprise running events for Hampstead Town Hall in North London ordered queer arts festival GFEST to censor a selection of its exhibition because it may offend, it is claimed.
Events organisers Interchange felt that owing to the daytime exhibition hours, some of the artwork on display might offend young people and their parents, and subsequently ordered GFEST’s staff into a last-minute frenzy of censorship.
Despite a strong protest, GFEST were also required to censor the same works on the festival’s two weekday evenings and weekends. The shortness of time before the exhibition’s opening meant that GFEST’s organisers were forced into a difficult position.
Jane Hoy, a volunteer at the exhibition, told The Scavenger: "We were intrigued and bemused by the criteria this equal-opportunities charity had devised. Acting on instructions from Interchange staff, we covered up 10 of the 21 photos and paintings.
"Six of these included parts of women’s nude bodies (mostly breasts). Among the other works we covered were a graphic work illustrating the homophobia a young gay man will encounter before he dies, a picture of two pairs of elderly knees, a ceramic mug depicting the many names for vagina and a piece which says ‘Never Mind the Bollocks – here come the transsexuals’.
"I felt more and more ashamed about my role in this censorship, which seemed to suggest that the very existence of works by gay artists poses some kind of threat. For the record, I took some photos of the mutilated exhibition.
"One vivid image remains uncensored. A picture of a man’s head gagged with a red bandana. It says it all."
The art was subsequently covered in paper and masking tape, plus a selection of plastic carrier bags.
An Interchange representative claimed the move was sparked by fear of receiving a small number of complaints. Others, especially the artists, feel it has more to do with prejudice.
Artist Jason Woodson only discovered his work had been banned when he went to collect it.
"There is nothing offensive or inflammatory in the piece and I struggle to understand why it would be deemed too challenging for young children,” he said. “We are living in a world where young gay men and women are killing themselves because they feel that they are alone and that their lives have no meaning."
“It was a no-win and very traumatic last minute decision either to take down the exhibition or be forced to comply with their decision,” GFEST’s artistic director Niranjan Kamatkar told The Scavenger.
“Considering the lack of resources and recourse to an alternative venue, we opted for the latter and ensured that the exhibition went ahead.
“We have written to Hampstead Town Hall Trustees / board of management to seek their official response but it feels as if they are ignoring us. In 2010, initiatives like GFEST need to be encouraged by more mainstream venues rather than inflict censorship.”
