ILGCN/TUPILAK PRESENTATIONS

& AWARDS IN ASIA

Stockholm/Beijing/Manila -- ILGCN and Tupilak work have been highlighted in the capitals of China and the Philippines in December, 2014.

China

A multi-media presentation in Beijing at a large and well-known book store at an event arranged by the pioneering LGBT Center Beijing focused on LGBT culture, history and Nordic and iinternational co-operation. A visit the following day to the center itself included discussions on future co-operation between China and Sweden and selections of a ILGCN culltural ambassador and co-ordinator from China.

Award Diplomas in the Philippines

Despite the threat of a severe typhoon battering central Philippines, the 20th Pride Parade in Metro Manila took place in this part of the giant Philippine capital. On stage after the march, the ILGCN "Rainbow Warrior" award honored all Metro Pride organizers over the past two decaded and was accepted by two gay veterans who attended the first Metro Manila pride.

The motivation for the award included a salute to Metro Manila Pride "for -- in this its 20th anniversary year -- continuiing to parade on city streets to make LGBT people visible and to confirm that on the rainbow barriers are men and women, young and old, native and foreign born. differently disabled, HIV positive and negative, queer, trans, bi-sexual colleagues and their supporters."

Another ILGCN Rainbow Warrior award diploma went to an event in another part of the Philippine capital -- the Quezon International Pink Film Festival, the biggest LGBT film festival in Asia. At a festival event sponsored by the Quezon mayor's office which supported the film festival, the award was accepted by Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, festival organizer and film maker, Nick Deocampo, and Soxie Topacio, chairman of the Quezon City Pride Council.

The motivation for the award read: "... for emphasizing that films are one of the most powerful cultural weapons to combat intolerance, ignorance, provinciality and homophobia -- a crucial ally in the political struggle for rainbow and all other human rights ... and for teaching new LGBT generations about the painful sacrifice and pleasures of the past while illustrating how the drama and humor of yesterday help create bridges to today and tomorrow."

Swedish films screened at the Pink Festival included Ester Martin Bergsmark's "She Male Snails" (Pojktanten) -- thanks fo assistance from the Swedish Film Institute -- a trailer for Bitte Andersson's "Dyke Hard." and three ILGCN/Tupilak short films "LGBT Monuments," "Swedish-Belarus Delegations to Kiev," "Survival" by Willi Reichhold.

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Other ILGCN Rainbow Warrior award diplomas this year saluted the World Pride-Toronto 2014 and Öst Gruppen -- the Swedish organization working for human rights and lgbt rights in Eastern Europe.
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​More information: bill@tupilak.org

PRESS RELEASE OCTOBER 13, 2014

INTERNATIONAL LGBT JOURNALIST MEETING IN VILNIUS

Vilnius -- A historic international meeting of Belarus, Lithuanian, Swedish and Canadian LGBT and pro-LGBT journalists,  editors, translators and human rights defenders met in the Lithuanian capital on October 11, 2014 to discuss the present situation in Belarus -- and ways to exchange international experience and increase the collaboration of LGBT activists/human rights groups/mass media in other countries to help ensure LGBT people's equal rights with other social groups.

"We are very eager to increase contacts with other countries including our neighbor, Belarus," said Marius Gorochovskis, communications officer of the Lithuanian Gay League, at the conference which took place at the Human Rights House in the heart of the Lithuanian capital.

"It was great meeting colleagues from Belarus and there is a strong motivation for working together internationally," said Robert Milkovic, writer/editor and LGBTQ activist in Toronto Canada.

"The LGBT Belarus journalist is a powerful tool for educating fellow colleagues and the society on the whole -- since homophobia is a devastating and crippling illness even in Sweden today despite the almost perfect anti-discrimination legislation there," said Bill Schiller of Tupilak, the Nordic organization of rainbow cultural workers and the ILGCN, the international rainbow cultural network.

In addition, a separate discussion was dedicated to the problem of non-ethical comments under LGBT-related publications on mass media Web-sites in Belarus -- with contributions of the Belarusian LGBT Journalists' Group as facilitator, 'GayBelarus', 'GayAlliance', MakeOut, 34Mag, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and Gender Route, a feminist NGO. 

In post-conference discussions including Lithuanian LGBT cultural workers, plans were made to hold a Belarus, Lithuanian, Swedish and Canadian rainbow conference and cultural gathering in southern Lithuania in 2015.