eurout - the magazine 7 by Sandra Showtime

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O c t o b e r 1 s t , 2010

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L e s B i a n L i f e | S t u d y i n g L e s B i a n s | W e A r e E v e r y w h e r e | T h e L e s b i a n N e w s S t a c1k

eurOut magazine Dear reader While working on this edition of our magazine, I got reminded of how things that seem quite small or like an isolated issue at the moment, can have a huge impact on your life. Take the internet, for example. Now I’m not saying that this has been a small development in the history of the world; it’s rather the opposite. But for many people, the internet has just become a synonym for using Google to look up stuff. Not for me, though. I have no idea what my life would’ve looked like if it wasn’t for the internet. This medium has shaped my life, my loves, my work. Would I have been a writer if I hadn’t started my first blog many years ago? Possibly not. Would I have even been out of the closet without the internet? I hope so, but I’m sure it would’ve taken me some extra years to do so. Heck, eurOut wouldn’t even have existed without the internet! That’s a weird thought, and one that I luckily don’t have to think much about. Because we are here, and we have been for 2 years now, in fact. With all the gayness and fun that were the Gay Games in August, it already felt like a

gave me a good excuse to take some time to look at eurOut’s history and future with our founder and former Editor in Chief, Ms Sandra Showtime. You can read what we talked about in this month’s magazine exclusive interview. And there’s more, of course. Both in Studying LesBians and LesBian Life, Natazzz and Anna look at the role of the internet in our lesBian lives. We also provide you with two nice little lesBian lists, and take a look at the highly anticipated new lesBian mini series Lip Service. On a more serious note, Gwen takes a critical look at what’s going on in the Netherlands when it comes to homophobic violence and laws. You’ll find out that even the Dutch are not quite there yet. But then again, the whole reason that eurOut is here is because Europe’s not quite there yet when it comes to lesBian visibility and LGBT emancipation. That, combined with you, our readers, is why eurOut is here and will continue to be. So thank you for reading us – you are the reason why we do what we do! Warm regards, Saskia Joreen Chief Editor

About: This magazine is a biweekly publication of eurOut.org, the leading website for European lesBian entertainment and political news in the English language. EurOut.org was launched in September 2008, and is now one of the most frequently visited sites on the web for gay women who are interested in European lesBian entertainment news, storylines on television, movies, music, events and political news. On a day-to-day basis eurOut.org provides thousands of readers with news, columns, in-depth articles, opinionated pieces and interviews. Readers also have the opportunity to connect with each other, to learn more about each other’s culture, environment and life, or to just have chats about the concerts they visited. Besides giving lesBians their much needed visibility, eurOut.org wants to create more understanding and solidarity among European lesBians, so that we can grow and develop into a European community that supports each other. Feel free to contact us with any questions, tips, remarks, or to just let us know what you think. Find our website at

www.eurout.org.

huge celebration of our birthday. But I’m glad our 2nd birthday also

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Saskia Joreen (editor@eurout.org) PR-OFFICER: Anna McFaith (faith@eurout.org) Editor of Entertainment: Natazzz (entertainment@eurout.org) Editor of Politics: Maxime (politics@eurout.org) Art DirectION & layout: Embla (embla.eurout@gmail.com) ContributORS IN THIS ISSUE: Ley (ley@eurout.org) Gwen (gwen@eurout.org) Joan (joan@eurout.org) Little G Special inspirational thanks go out to Sandra Showtime, founder of eurOut.org.

In This Issue

Lip Service Gives Us Charcter(s)

Protesting Anti Gay Violence in Amsterdam

10 The Lesbian News Stack 12 9 Austrian Lesbians You Need To Know

14 LesBian Life: The Evolution of the LGBT community 16 Gay Themed Flights: Supportive or a cheap gimmick? 17 Penny for Your Thoughts: Too Queer or Not Too Queer 18 Studying LesBians: Are we Happy Singles, and/or

Hoping to Find True Love Online? 20 We Are Everywhere 22 End of Dutch Single Fact Construction in Sight 24 Lists Are Hot: 10 Bad Lesbian Movies You Shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

Watch 27 Interview: Sandra Showtime 32 Where Are We on Television? 33 A List of LGBT Organizations

“Lip Service” Gives Us Character(s) It’s been months since TV channel BBC Three have teased us with the promise of the British answer to The L Word in the form of the 6-part mini series Lip Service. Now, the wait is almost over. The series are scheduled to air this month, but the character descriptions are already in. Anna took a closer look at them for you, so sit back and enjoy some lesbian processing! By: Anna McFaith, Images: BBC / Kudos

From left to right: Cat, Sam, Frankie, Sadie, Lou and Tess We all know that in order for a show

giving it a chance, escaping to New

control freak with a tendency to fret

to be good, the characters must be

York. For Frankie, casual sex offers an

and analyze everything and anything,

good. If you can’t relate, what’s the

opportunity to run away from herself

rarely leaping before she looks. A loyal

point of watching, right? We have

when the rest of her life is in freefall.

friend and loving sister to Ed, Cat is

told you about Lip Service before and

Frankie’s home life is difficult. Her

able to be very open with those closest

right now we’re going to take a closer

parents died when she was a child

to her but is often cagey and secretive

look at the character descriptions that

and she was raised by her Aunt Carol

in relationships, finding it hard to really

have been provided on the official Lip

and

who’s

open up. Cat’s first big love was the

Service website.

always treated her like an outsider.

exciting - but wild - Frankie. Teenage

When Aunt Carol dies, Frankie returns

best friends, they fell in love in their

home but her return isn’t welcomed by

twenties but then Frankie bailed out

everyone.”

and took off to the States.”

Frankie: “A

spirited

emotionally attracts

photographer off-the-rails,

trouble

every

who’s

bullish

Uncle

Cameron

Frankie As Frankie (Ruta Gedmintas) is the

The only thing the trailer gave us of Cat

She comes across as fearless and

turn.

protagonist,

(Laura Fraser) is the best way to screw

irreverent but strip away the bravado

imagine she is also the one to stir up

up a date before it even started, so I’m

and she’s the most vulnerable of the

the chaos. I predict broken hearts and

not sure what to say about her yet. All

group. Occasionally bisexual, Frankie

catfights. The butch factor says she’ll

I know is that if she bailed out of that

generally only uses men for sex but

win.

dinner date with Sam (*swoon*, but

it’s

not

that

hard

falls in love with women. Intimacy

I’ll get to that later), she needs a new

is a problem for Frankie. She bailed

Cat:

set of eyeballs. I’m not digging Cat’s

on her relationship with Cat before

“A self-assured architect, Cat is a driven

hair, but that’s preference.

“Lip Service” Gives Us Character(s) Tess: “Struggling

actress

Tess

Cat’s

best friend and flat mate who has an uncanny knack of falling for all the wrong sorts of women. Terribly sardonic, is

buried

Tess’s under

vulnerable

side

self-deprecating

comments, sarcasm and anger. In contrast to her organized and tidy flat mate Cat, Tess is scandalously messy and lives a chaotic life. Sometimes lacking confidence, Tess is a sucker for women who treat her badly. Although she might rant to her friends when a girlfriend treats her badly, Tess generally ignores their advice, letting lovers off the hook whenever they feed her a sob story.” I did not expect this kind of person from the trailer but I guess you can

From left to right: Sam, Cat, Sadie, Frankie, Lou and Tess

never tell a book by its cover. I think

Benson (Mariska Hargitay’s character

a train wreck coming on. I’m also a bit

Tess (Fiona Button) is terribly cute

on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)

afraid this is the ever-present coming

but I’m a little worried about possible

and I approve! Sam sounds like the

out story. Ah well, Lou (Roxanne

burn moments (like in Eminem and

only one of the bunch who actually has

McKee) sounds like a lesbian version

Rihanna’s Love The Way You Lie video).

her life in order, which will probably

of That ‘70s Show’s Jackie Burkhart

I guess we’ll have to see. Her romantic

make her the odd one out for the

(and I did always wonder about her

interest (patience, patience) sounds

rest of the series. Too bad because as

friendship with Donna…) so how bad

like she fits the above description of

far as favorite characters go, Sam is

can it be, right? Perhaps things will

Tess’s girlfriends to a tee. Poor Tess.

definitely it for me!

even out for her and Tess in the end.

Sam:

Lou:

Ed:

“A detective sergeant with the police,

“Stunningly attractive and charming

“A gentle bloke and true friend, Ed is

Sam is Cat’s first date since her break-

when she wants to be, daytime TV

very close to his sister, Cat. A would-

up with Frankie. Sam is stable, funny,

presenter

quickly

be novelist, Ed pays the rent with

cynical and insightful. She rarely hides

worked her way up the media ladder.

temping work, often working alongside

her feelings, preferring things out in

On a superficial level she has an

Tess in times of need. Ed’s love life

the open - Sam can be disarmingly

amazing ability to charm and knows

is a disaster and he puts his lack of

honest and expects the same level of

how to flatter, but her mood can change

success with women down to not being

honesty back. She doesn’t like to play

in an instant and she can be hugely

macho enough. Ed has a secret and

games in her relationships. Although

selfish and unreasonable. Although

long-standing crush on Tess but she is

she can be very understanding she

Lou likes the attention she gets from

completely oblivious to his adoration,

has a lot of self-respect and won’t be

men, she has always secretly fancied

seeing him merely as a good friend

messed around.”

women. Lou doesn’t like the idea of

and confidante.”

Lou

Foster

has

being viewed as a lesbian, but she is That jaw line… Good Goddess! The

desperate to sleep with a woman and

Ed (James Antony Pearson) sounds

character description of Sam (Heather

her relationship with Tess brings out

very sweet and adorable and I’m afraid

Peace) tells me nothing about the

the best and worst in her.”

he’s going to get his heart handed back

chances of success between her and Cat but I’m flashing back to Olivia

to him in a gazillion pieces. Secretly, I Oh boy… I hate to admit this but I feel

kind of want it to be this way because

“Lip Service” Gives Us Character(s)

Frankie (played by Ruta Gedmintas) and her former girlfriend Cat (played by Laura Fraser) I like the idea of Tess with a woman.

confessed womanizer, Jay has been

of minutes to give the bisexual and

Having said that; if Ed makes her

faithful to his current girlfriend Becky

straight audiences something to look

happy and finally makes her forget

for quite some time - by his standards

at; even I have to admit that Emun

about her need to be put down by

at least. But, unfortunately for Becky,

Elliot, the actor, is hot.

her lovers, I’ll gladly accept Ed as her

her love doesn’t diminish his never-

romantic interest.

ending desire for affirmation through

So there you have it; the main cast

sex.”

of Lip Service. We’re curious to see if

Jay:

the show will deliver on its promise of

“Jay has been friends with Cat since

Uh-oh, straight Jay/Frankie sex alert!

being a good, lesbian drama series,

their days at university and they now

If you have seen the special character

but it’s looking pretty good so far. Keep

work together at a city centre architect’s

portrait video of Frankie, you can tell

an eye on eurOut.org for recaps of the

firm. A key part of the group, Jay is

the two of them are pretty darn close.

show once it starts airing.

particularly close to Frankie. A self-

Well, I can look away for a couple

Protesting Anti-Gay Violence in Amsterdam Several protests against anti-gay violence have taken place in Amsterdam in the last couple of months. Gwen looks at the most recent one and at the stories behind it. By: Gwen

‘Love conquers all’ – one of the signs at the protest / Image: Right to Feel Safe’s Facebook page There are some reasons to believe

What is happening is that even in

Safe. They started on the Dam Square

that anti-gay violence is on the rise in

Amsterdam, which I always slightly

right in the city center and marched

the Netherlands. For example, I recently

naively thought was some sort of gay

towards the Homomonument through

heard it is now on average two times

Mecca, people are being chased out of

the

per week that someone gets beaten up

their neighbourhoods, awaited at the

several

in Amsterdam for being gay.

end of the gay clubbing district to get

from the member of the House of

beaten up, and beaten into hospital

Representatives and former Borough

Some media claim that there’s just

when they are carrying around a bag

Chairman of Amsterdam-Slotervaart

incidents

from a gay shop. The victim of this

Ahmed Marcouch, and the acting Mayor

as opposed to an increase of actual

specific incident, by the way, was

of Amsterdam, Lodewijk Asscher.

incidents, but I don’t think you can really

straight. Back when this happened

say that. What I think happens when we

in January, there had already been

What

keep encountering more reporting on

a demonstration, as there was on

peaceful protest however, turned out

anti-gay violence, is that we’re starting

June 13th, but there was one again

to be surrounded with a negative

to think there’s nothing effective being

in the first weekend of September.

atmosphere. It wasn’t long after the

done against it and that there’s no use in

I of course agree there can never be

protest ended that the first messages

reporting it anyway. So just to get that

enough protests.

could be read online referring to an

increase

reported

question out of the way, I don’t think

shopping

district.

speeches,

was

There

amongst

supposed

were others

actual gay bashing having taken place

people are all of a sudden more eager to

The demonstration was organized

during or right after the march. What

report anti-gay violence.

by the Dutch action group Right to Feel

happened was somewhat unclear, but

Protesting Anti-Gay Violence in Amsterdam

The flag of Amsterdam / Image: Wikipedia as far as I have been able to piece

leave and even more protesters got

situation was crystal clear. However, in

together, it’s that two girls shouted

involved by taking their bikes and

the following days everything got less

abuse at a few gay men. According

making sure they stayed until the

and less clear. Through [Amsterdam

to the girls, the gay men then drove

police arrived. A written account from

local news channel] AT5 I heard the guy

into them with their scooters. Another

someone who was on the scene was

who was bleeding had provoked the

protester got involved and told them,

posted to Right to Feel Safe’s Facebook

girls, and that they weren’t Moroccan

if they wanted to beat a gay man, they

page in which he explained from his

either, and that it was actually a traffic

should just beat him. One of the girls

point of view what had happened. At

fight that had gotten out of hand. I was

hit him with a handbag, resulting in a

some point when the girls wanted to

called several times by the police, also

head injury.

leave, he had held one of them by

to ask if I thought it was gay-related

the arm and another man told him to

violence. In all honesty, I don’t think

At first, it seemed the two girls were

leave the girls alone. “I said he had no

this was the reason the guy gave me

from Moroccan descent, which lead to

business getting involved and probably

a headbutt”.

the kind of comments on gay news

shouted profanity at him, because

websites

I was very angry this could happen

“When I later heard the other victim

and

after a demonstration against anti-gay

had provoked the girls himself, I

eighteen years old respectively, set

violence at the Homomonument”, he

wondered if I and the others around

out and e-mailed Dutch gay news

writes. Then, the man who had only

me had been too quick in drawing

site Gay.nl that they weren’t from

just arrived gave him a headbutt.

our conclusion. I realize that there

The

girls,

never who

read

are

voluntarily.

nineteen

Moroccan descent and had gay friends

were a lot of people involved in this

themselves. After the man was hit

He gave a statement to the police, and

incident who all benefited from a

with a handbag, the girls wanted to

went home. He continues: “For me, the

different explanation of the situation.

Protesting Anti-Gay Violence in Amsterdam Don’t let this be our pitfall. I know that because of my experiences in the past (…) I assumed all kinds of things without knowing for sure. There have been some videos of the incident and I noticed that although the girls were yelling, they remained polite. I know I wasn’t.” Although I know this is only one of the people involved giving his opinion, I do think lately we all have been too quick to draw conclusions. If anyone gets beaten up for being gay, the first question usually is if they were Moroccan or not. This sentiment is something that every comment I read is drenched in and I know such is the nature of the internet, but it does mean it is a sentiment that is out there. One of the people giving a speech in one of the videos made of the march says: “I believe in Amsterdam, I believe that everyone has equal rights, so I’m not going to point any fingers to any

The Right to Feel Safe logo / Image: Right to Feel Safe’s Facebook page

demographic. I do however want to make sure we all take into account that

what is going wrong and what should

take an even bigger risk every day of

a lot of the offenders are youths. (…)

actually

their lives without any choice in the

Let’s focus on what we are teaching

marching. I’m actually mostly talking

matter. Then at some point I might

our kids in school.”

about people my age now, because

be writing an article about a protest I

although I know a number of gay

have actually attended and might even

I realized she is right and in a few

people who live in Amsterdam, none

be able to give you a better view of

of the articles I have also read there

of them went to this demonstration.

what had actually gone down. Because

weren’t many young people protesting.

Some of them don’t even want to join

in all honesty, I’m still not sure what

Suddenly I realized that I, too, was at

gay action groups because they think

the ethnicity of the girls was, or if that

home, thirty minutes from Amsterdam,

it’s stupid to join that ‘just because’

should be treated like more of a thing

making homework I could have easily

they’re gay. I know it’s not a big deal

than their age, or the specific part of

taken a few hours off from.

for them personally and it shouldn’t be,

Amsterdam they were raised in.

better.

But

we’re

not

but clearly for some people it still is. We shouldn’t have just the white, middle-aged, stand

male

for our

gay

community

rights.

So the next time, I’ll be there. And

Because

with violence now happening after

honestly, that is the majority of the

demonstrations and me being not very

people I saw in the videos of the

courageous, I’ll feel like I’m taking

march. The rest of us are mostly busy

a very big risk with that. Especially

writing annoying comments on gay

because I’m used to falling under the

news websites, or writing articles such

radar – I look increasingly straight. But

as myself in which we try to pinpoint

I’ll take the risk because some people

Further Reading: Right to Feel Safe on Facebook: bit.ly/fb-right-to-feel-safe YouTube: youtube.com/user/ righttofeelsafe

The Lesbian News Stack

By: Maxime

Political editor Maxime provides you with a fresh pile of political news with a focus on European LGBT content.

Austria: Marco

Schreuder,

politician

out

persons belong to our society.

is not that surprising, though still not acceptable, that they think

that we are in need of role models

Confirming their lack of knowledge

homosexuals, people belonging to

as long as gay and lesbians are

rights

religious or ethnical minorities and

discriminated

against.

also

include, a survey showed that only

asylum-seekers cannot claim the

added

gay

lesbian

32% of Austrians know of the right

same level of protection of their

politicians have the possibility to

of minorities and refugees to be

human rights.

demonstrate

protected. Seen in this context it

that

and

homosexual

World: The 25th (XXV) ILGA World Conference ‘Building the way forward in times of crisis’ will be held in Brazil, São Paulo, December 4-9 2010.

gay

for the Greens, says what

rights

human

Ireland: At the occasion of the Voice for

same-sex parents. Schools and many

Children conference, organized by

other institutions don’t accept the

Marriage Equality, a leading family

non-biological parent as legal parent

lawyer pointed out the necessity of

which in the end creates situations

legislation centering on children with

children shouldn’t have to deal with.

The Lesbian News Stack Poland:

Iceland/Faroe Isl.: Jóhanna

Sigurðardóttir,

Polish

gay

rights

group

criticized

for

Vld demands an action plan

the Faroe Islands on an official

accepting a new book directed

against gay hatred in Brussels;

state visit, accompanied by her

at second graders, that implies

current figures show that one in

wife. The leader of the Christian-

that homosexuality is a choice

ten has been physically attacked

based and conservative Center

and not normal. This is actually

for being gay and one in six has

Party

the

the already toned down edition,

been verbally attacked.

state dinner, as he refused to

a previous version going “further

eat in the company of a lesbian.

by putting homosexuality on a

Others quickly tried to appease

par with incest and pedophilia”.

attend

government

Flemish liberal party Open

Prime Minister of Iceland, visited

declined

the

Belgium:

this situation by insisting that Sigurðardóttir was indeed very not what headlines were made of.

Russia: Nikolai Alekseev, Russian gay rights activist, was abducted last

Lesbian and gay organizations

Europe:

welcome to the Islands, but that’s ‘Red

card

in Serbia have shown outrage over a doctor who claims to is

have cured twenty persons of

a campaign that started mid-

homosexuality since he opened

September, subtitled with “kicking

his centre for the treatment of

the

homosexuality last year.

hate

homophobia’

out

the

world’s

Beautiful Game”, which means football (soccer) in this case.

Dutch MEP Marije Cornelissen,

month, supposedly by security

Moldavia and the Ukraine were

agents, and released two days

accepted as member countries

later. He was immediately back

of the Slavic Pride movement, in

at organizing protests against the

addition to St. Petersburg which

mayor of Moscow, Luzkhov. As

joined earlier this year. Together

always the protest didn’t receive

with founding members Russia

permission on bogus grounds and

(Moscow) and Belarus (Minsk),

police broke up the rally quickly.

the

Slavic

now

Pride

movement

five

countries,

counts

respectively cities.

out one of the highest Catholic a

mayor

and

announced that she will attend the first gay Pride in almost ten years in Belgrade, scheduled to take place on October 10th.

France: Le Réfuge (an NGO offering a are experiencing homo- and/or

A Bulgarian bishop handed to

from Dutch party GroenLinks,

safe haven to young adults who

Bulgaria: awards

Serbia:

The Netherlands: Dutch

police

released

transphobia) has been approved by

the

National

Agency

for

community services; they are now

new

prosecutor, both known for their

allowed to welcome volunteers

figures about hate-crimes last

anti-gay policies.

aged 16-25, currently looking for

month, which are still on the

six of them.

rise, +12.6% in comparison to

Around the Corner: Three islands of the Nether-

2008. COC Netherlands (LGBT organization) calls for action from the new government against this disturbing development.

lands Antilles will come under

Italy: Two historic protestant Italian churches announced that they

Dutch law this October 10th, and

In September the University of

agreed to bless same-sex couples,

the Dutch Parliament approved a

Amsterdam opened a Gender &

certain conditions given.

law which would legalize marriage

Sexuality research center, which is

and adoption for same-sex couples

part of the Amsterdam Research

by 2012 on these islands.

Institute for Social Sciences.

www.eurout.org 11

9 Austrian LesBians You Need to Know In our continuous effort to show you how lesBian Europe actually is, we regularly provide you with lists of out lesBian women you should know. With countries like Norway, the Netherlands and France already covered, Joan now takes a look at her home country, Austria. By: Joan the mother of two children and decided to

Clara Luzia / Image: Manfred Werner

divorce their father when she fell in love with a woman. In 2006 she came out as a lesBian to prevent her political adversaries from using her sexual orientation against her during campaigning and to make a political statement.

Ulrike Lunacek Like Lisa Rücker, Ulrike Lunacek is a member of the Austrian Green Party. She has been the first and only out lesBian

member

the

National

Council of Austria. Since 2009 she is a Member of the European Parliament. She’s also the Austrian Green Party’s spokesperson for European Politics and for LGBT equality.

Elfi Mikesch Elfi Mikesch is a cinematographer, director and writer. Most notably she worked with Rosa von Praunheim and Werner Schroeter. In 2006 she won the Deutscher Kamerapreis, an award for outstanding cinematography. I should add that I don’t have any confirmation if she self-identifies as a lesBian. I Ever since I started writing for eurOut I wanted to do a list of Austrian lesBians. I’ve put it off for a long time because whenever I started to think about which openly lesBian Austrian women I would put on said list I didn’t get very far.

Clara Luzia We’ve written about this fab Austrian singer-songwriter before. Clara Luzia’s debut album was Railroad Tracks, much appreciated by critics. Concerts and two other albums followed. In 2008 Clara Luzia won the Amadeus Austrian Music Award in the category

I don’t know if there really are so few

‘FM4 Alternative Act of the Year’.

out lesBians in my home country or if I’m just that out of the loop. Even

included her in this list because she’s featured in Out! 600 Lesben, Schwule & Bisexuelle (Out! 600 Lesbians, Gays & Bisexuals). I’m afraid that’s it for our contemporaries. Let us delve into history starting

with

recently

deceased

feminist icon:

Johanna Dohnal

though it’d be embarrassing I kind

Lisa Rücker

of hope it’s the latter. Let’s do this in

Since 2008 Graz has an openly lesBian

Johanna

reverse chronological order. Ready?

vice-mayor. Lisa Rücker (Green Party) is

feminist, many would say a feminist

(1939-2010) Dohnal

was

Austrian

9 Austrian LesBians You Need to Know

Ulrike Lunacek / Image: Helge Fahrnberger

Auguste Fickert / Image: Wikipedia

icon. In 1978 she initiated the founding

Drohobycz, then part of the Austro-

help for her children. Burlingham was

of the first women’s shelter in Vienna.

Hungarian Empire (now Drogobych,

Freud’s life partner, though historians

After many years of fighting for women’s

Ukraine). She acted on stage since

aren’t clear if this relationship was of a

rights she was appointed Secretary of

the age of fifteen and made her film

sexual nature.

State for Women in 1979. She was the

debut in 1923. She was nominated

first person ever to hold this position.

for an Academy Award in 1935 for her

In 1990 she became the first Austrian

role in Escape Me Never. Allegedly

Leontine Sagan

Women’s Minister, which she remained

Bergner was the inspiration for the

(1889-1974)

until 1995, when she retired from

character

Leontine Sagan is the woman who

politics. One of Dohnal’s quotes:

All About Eve. She had affairs with

brought

various women, most notably Viola

movie Mädchen in Uniform (1931).

“I think it’s time to remember: The

Bosshardt with whom she bought

She trained to be an actor and director

feminist vision isn’t a ‘female future’.

a villa in Berlin and later with the

with Max Reinhardt in Vienna. Later

It’s a human future. Without being

author Bryher. In the end Bergner

she fled Nazi Germany and moved to

forced into roles, without struggles

married Paul Czinner in 1933. To

South Africa, where she founded the

for power and control, without male

escape Nazi Germany they first fled

National Theatre of Johannesburg.

supremacy and femininity craze.”

to Vienna and then to London.

As soon as it became possible earlier

Margo

Channing

the

legendary

lesbian

Auguste Fickert

this year, she registered a partnership

Anna Freud

with Annemarie Aufreiter, her partner

(1895-1982)

Auguste

of many years. Johanna Dohnal died

Anna Freud followed the footsteps

feminist.

in February. In August the Austrian

announced

council of ministers rejected Annemarie

she’s considered to be the founder

the repeal of women’s suffrage in

Aufreiter’s request to be granted a

of psychoanalytic child psychology.

municipal elections. She co-founded

widow’s pension.

Freud’s most important relationships

the

were with her father and close female

Frauenverein

friends,

and

Women’s Association) in 1893. She

Dorothy Burlingham. She met Dorothy

lived for 12 years with Ida Baumann,

Burlingham when the American moved

with whom she remained very close all

to Vienna and sought psychological

of her life.

Elisabeth Bergner (1897-1986) Elisabeth

Bergner

was

born

her

famous

Lou

father

(1855-1910)

Sigmund,

Andreas-Salome

Fickert In

was

1889 her

Allgemeiner

pioneering

she

publicly

protest

against

Österreichischer

(General

Austrian

LesBian Life: The Evolution of the LGBT Community In this edition of LesBian Life, Anna discusses how the LGBT community has evolved from chasing each other in caves to meeting like-minded people online. By: Anna McFaith

eurOut’s Facebook page in Norwegian As

know

much of a revelation for many of you,

tendencies in our cavemen ancestors,

by now, I’m not very involved in the

faithful

readers

will

but it was for me. It just never struck

as well as every generation afterwards.

lesBian community. At least; I have

me what the invention of the internet

After all, I can’t imagine one of those

always thought so. I don’t go clubbing

has done for the LGBT community;

previous generations just stumbled

much and when I go, I never go to

until now.

upon the possibility of homosexuality

gay-only parties or places. I wouldn’t

and thinking, ‘Yeah, let’s stick with that

be able to tell you the location of the

As a Dutch citizen, I expect there

nearest LGBT centre, let alone take

are plenty of places to go to meet

you there, and I always thought I

other like-minded people, but if you

That means that even then, like-

had more straight friends than LGBT

live in one of those countries where

minded people sought out each other’s

ones. But then I took into account my

homosexuality is still frowned upon –

company for relationships, friendship

internet life.

or worse – the internet might be the

or a chance to discover something

only way to contact other lesbian and

about themselves. I’m not sure if it

My online friends are almost exclusi-

bisexual people. That brings me to this

was so thought out back when we were

vely LGBT, most of the websites I visit

month’s topic: the evolution of the

still having clan meets, but you know

revolve around lesBian interests and

LGBT community.

what I mean.

lesBian information. My internet life

Now, I wasn’t around at the time,

Back

is plenty gay! I know, I know, it’s not

but I suspect there were lesbian

limited by the distance one could

one from now on!’

I work for Europe’s major source for

then,

the

community

was

LesBian Life: The Evolution of the LGBT Community

travel. I guess that

have no need to find

I think the advantage of (and also

phenomenon endured

one offline.

the problem with) online connections

until the invention of

is that you only speak to a facet of This

the internet. Of course

still have had to meet the other

a person, making the relationship

result of being part of

you have more fleeting and non-

Generation Y. We caught

committal. My online friends are mostly

we could write and call before that, but you would

might

the first public use of the

categorized;

lesBian

friends,

role

person in order to acquire that person’s

internet and although we didn’t grow

play friends, Twitter friends, femslash

address or telephone number.

up with it as Generation Z or the yet

friends, writer friends, religion friends,

unnamed generation after it, it’s in the

etc. The two rarely overlap (except for

Now we have LGBT dating sites, we

blood of some of us.

the lesBian part) and that’s just

have femslash forums, we have social

how I like it.

media like Facebook and Twitter. There

girlfriend

is no reason to meet in real life (first).

completely

A simple Google search can get you

story; she has trouble

are more per-sonal.

in contact with like-minded people in

looking beyond the

You’re

a matter of minutes. Our isolation has

pixels. She’s always

been lifted due to the internet, like

aware that you might

yourself with them as

nothing before has ever done.

not know who you’re

a Real-life friendships

different

required more

the topics of discussion

really talking to, while

shift a lot. In the case of

That leaves me with a couple of

I have long decided that

questions: are internet connections

that doesn’t really matter.

the lesBian friends, being gay becomes a secondary link.

(whether it be a love connection

It binds you but doesn’t define you.

or friendship or just support from

I have decided that if you remain on

someone who knows what you’re going

the safe paths (e.g., no anonymous

You have lesBian friends who you

through) enough to satisfy the need for

chat boxes which form perfect hunting

do certain things with or who share

grounds for child molesters),

certain characteristics with you. They

the people you meet will

become the ‘lesbian literature’ friends

companionship? Are internet connections

the

people

real

meet

represent

offline? Is the support

themselves

or the ‘lesbian ex-housemates friends’

as they want to be

with whom you have overlap in a lot

gathered over internet

seen.

That

image

of areas. That rarely happens in my

equal in worth as the

might

not

match

online relationships.

support one might get

up with the person

from someone who is

but

I don’t know if this is a good thing,

I don’t see why that

but in my opinion, this is how the

actually

physically there to give it?

typing,

should matter.

internet simplified and ‘shallowed out’ the community. There is easier access

I don’t know. I think it depends

example;

to the community, but the connections

on the person. I value my online

transgendered woman, I could make

formed are less deep and often don’t

friendships as much (or sometimes

a Twitter account as a male and

last. Does that give them more or less

more) than my real life friendships.

everyone would finally see me the

value than offline relationships? I’m

The community I have gathered online

way I want them to. Does it matter

not sure. I guess that it depends on

has always been a bit closer to me

that the person sitting behind the

your own preferences which you will

than the offline one. In fact: because I

computer

feel more comfortable with.

value my online community so much, I

doesn’t to me.

physically

were

female?

Gay-Themed Flights: Supportive or a Cheap Gimmick? Would you want to get married on a plane? Ley expresses her opinion on something that looks like it could become a trend: gay-themed flights and contests. Are they good exposure and visibility for gay issues and marriage? Or are they tacky attempts at gaining media exposure and business? By: Ley I’ve heard of some crazy things in

air! On a flight from Stockholm to New

Another airline that is appealing to

my life, and I’ve seen a few with my

York, we will let love take over and wed

gay passengers is KLM, with their KLM

own eyes too, but this by far has to

one loving couple, hopefully making it

Gay Getaway. You have to correctly

be top of my list. Call me fickle, but I

one of the world’s first gay-themed

identify gay cities from 10 clues and 10

was actually under the impression that

flights.”

photos, and you’re entered into a draw

after all the fighting and challenges

to win flights to one of the gay cities of

and trials overcome to allow same-sex

Everything the airline is trying to

the world. All leaving from a UK airport

marriage to happen in many countries,

support and show in a positive light

and only available to UK residents. The

that those who are able to would do so

becomes slightly less significant when

questions and pictures aren’t exactly

in a special surrounding with families

they call it a ‘gay-themed’ flight. It

brain surgery to give the correct

and

friends.

answer, so this

Where the words

will ensure the

said

largest

meant

than

the

amount

entries

preparations

possible,

that

there’s just one

went

the

into

dresses,

but

question

that

suits, cake, and

keeps niggling in

everything

else

the back of my

that goes with a

mind: why the

wedding.

sudden rush of gay-orientated

With

this

competitions?

mind, I’m a little unsure take

how the

In my heart I

new

want to believe

‘competitions’

it’s

that some airlines

these companies

are

want

choosing

to run for their

because to

help

support the fight

gay passengers.

for gay marriage

SAS wants to host the first same-sex

makes the ceremony seem trivialised

in countries that don’t yet allow it,

wedding while flying – all you have to

as if it were a 70s-themed flight, or a

but I have to admit that my head is

do is enter to win. Couples from all

movie-themed flight. Being gay isn’t

somewhat sceptical about the whole

over Europe have entered, including

a reason for companies to ‘cash-in’

matter.

couples from Poland, Ireland, and

as if it were some novelty that can be

the UK, everywhere! The tag-line is

commercialised. For those who aren’t,

original: “Love is in the Air”... and the

they don’t seem to quite realise that

description of it seems a bit cheese-

being gay is just the same as being

tastic, particularly the last line:

straight, and you’d never see an advert for a ‘straight-themed’ flight,

“In December, SAS hopes to host the world’s first same-sex wedding in the

would you?!

Further Reading: The SAS contest: love.flysas.net The KLM contest: theklmgaygetaway.co.uk

Penny for Your Thoughts: Too Queer or Not Too Queer? In this edition of her column, Little G discusses first impressions, prejudice and sneaky queers. By: Little G

A couple of months ago I met up

them to do that. Couldn’t they tell I’m

often enough that a hate crime is

with a friend of mine to have dinner.

as queer as a $3 bill as well? Or was

committed and the perpetrator turns

I was early and waited for her at the

it something else? I mulled it over in

out to be someone with a different

main hall of the train station where we

my mind for a short while, hoping my

cultural background, or someone with

were supposed to meet. It gave me a

friend would finally arrive.

extremist religious views. Depending

good opportunity to people watch.

on geography, there are plenty of cases After they sneaked in a couple of

where it turned out to be someone with

A tall, slender guy with long blond hair

smooches behind my back (literally),

a different skin color.

caught my eye: he was pretty, rather

I lost sight of them as they continued

than handsome. He had a certain way

their way to the platforms, and my

While I think it’s obvious I’m out

of walking which made me wonder

friend finally showed up. While we were

(just not in people’s faces about it),

whether he’s a dancer, or maybe used to

catching up on the past six months or

people’s perceptions can differ on that.

wearing heels. I would not be surprised

so, in the back of my mind I couldn’t

People’s perceptions are partly colored

if he turned out to be a drag queen.

help but wonder what stereotype I

by experiences, partly by the media.

fitted in those girls’ eyes. Several minutes later a young couple

Interestingly enough, during the

entered the main hall holding hands.

Maybe they hadn’t noticed a fellow

editing process of this article AfterEllen.

Their silhouettes told me they’re both

queer lady, but mistook me for a guy

com posted a vlog on ‘sneaky gays’.

women. And once they were both in

instead (which happens every so often).

While I think I’m so not a sneaky gay,

the main hall I saw I was right. What

My friend David once told me I’m pretty

I often ‘pass’ for a young man. Does

surprised me was that they immediately

effeminate if I had been a man, so that

that make me a sneaky queer after

let go of the other person’s hand when

would make me a flaming gay.

all? My friend AJ points out that sneaky

they saw me. I wasn’t imagining it;

is in the eye of those who think that

they looked at me, and when I turned

Maybe they saw the color of my skin,

someone else was deliberately being

around I noticed there was nobody

and assumed I was one of those crazy

sly or secretive about their orientation,

standing near me.

folks who don’t condone homosexuals,

but don’t bother to examine their own

vocalizing their disapproval by shouting

assumptions. Good point. I’m not a

homophobic slurs. I mean, it happens

sneaky queer.

I wondered what had prompted

Studying LesBians Are We Happy Singles and/or Hoping to Find True Love Online? Studying LesBians is a monthly column in which Natazzz discusses recent and not-so-recent research involving lesBians or the LGBT community as a whole. This month she discusses a study that was published in August, which shows that lesBians and gay men are happy to be single. At least, that’s what the headlines in the queer media say. By: Natazzz

Qoud.TV, a website that offers queer

quite happy to be single. I think this

being single, you don’t get the whole

TV channels and movies on demand,

result is not very surprising, as these

picture because it just might be they

conducted a survey together with UK

days we’re no longer all sitting at home

are happier and more able to be single

gay charity Stonewall among over

desperate and lonely, waiting for Miss

than those in relationships. Secondly,

1.000 gay men and lesBians about

Right to come along.

just because you might answer you are

their relationship status and how they felt about it.

happy to be single, doesn’t mean you Still, as a researcher I cannot help

are not secretly hoping for that one

but feel these numbers are a little

perfect girl to share your life with.

It showed that 61% of all single

misleading. First of all, when you only

people questioned said they were

ask single people how they feel about

Another part of this survey that I

Studying LesBians Are We Happy Singles and/or Hoping to Find True Love Online? found interesting was that 51% percent

comparable studies to confirm this.

of queer respondents thought they could find true love on the internet, compared

respondents.

36% I

think

straight

So what does this survey really tell us and how representative is it

those

for all lesbians everywhere? I

numbers are pretty high

think it tells us that many of

for both groups, but it’s not

that

us enjoy spending time

surprising

online,

it’s a lot higher for us. After all, if easier

meet

because

it’s not too unlikely

you’re gay it’s much

and

we do we also think we’ll

find

girlfriend there. However,

someone

online than

do not think

the

majority

everyday

lesbians

life. Unless,

happily

single,

course,

you

have

lots of queers at

work,

home

they might be quite

happy,

but they would

and

prefer to be in

everywhere else

a relationship. Or am I just thinking of

you go.

stereotypes? It’s

shame

the When

results are not divided by

look

personal situation, I know that

gender, as I am pretty sure

I was single for a long time, and I

gay men score higher on being happy with being single than lesbians.

was quite happy with this fact too. But

I also think that more lesbians are

then I met the love of my life online,

in relationships than gay men are,

and I have to say, it’s made me so

but unfortunately I couldn’t find any

much happier than I ever was.

Further Reading/Watching:

Hilarious Canadian web series about lesbian online dating: seekingsimone.com

We Are Everywhere

By: Natazzz

Here is your overview of everything that happened and is about to happen in the world of European lesBian entertainment. We’ll keep you up-to-date on all the latest events and movie releases, what’s been happening in TV land and who did what to whom.

TV-land:

Movies: France:

The Netherlands:

Filmmaker Céline Sciamma

There’s a lesbian couple on the new Dutch reality show Herman’s

makes her comeback with

Kookeiland (Herman’s Cooking Island), which sounds like a cross

Tomboy (2011) after debuting

between Survivor and Top Chef. I’m trying to decide whether that’s a

with the lesBian teen drama

really good or really bad thing. Probably the latter.

Water Lilies (2007). Tomboy is centred around Laure who moves into a new neighbourhood with her little sister. Because she is in need of new friends and doesn’t know anybody, Laure decides to dress as a boy. She meets Lisa and they become close, but Lisa doesn’t know that her new best friend is not a boy.

Movies:

Magazines:

Movies:

The Netherlands:

France:

Comedian and radio and TV

Oscar-winning French actress

presenter Claudia de Breij

Marion Cotillard plays

has a new regular column in

a ‘conflicted bisexual’ in the

Opzij, the Netherlands’ leading

new French movie Les Petits

feminist magazine. To celebrate

Mouchoirs (Little White Lies).

this fact the October issue of

Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure

the magazine also features an

out what exactly her character

interview with De Breij.

is conflicted about, let’s hope it’s not her sexual orientation.

TV-land:

Norway:

UK:

A new celebrity travel show on

New lesbian BBC Three series

Norwegian TV has started airing

Lip Service will start airing on

in September and will include

October 12. Be sure to keep your

several Norwegian celesbians

eye on their site, as the creator

like Heidi Marie Vestrheim

of the show will have a blog

and Else KÅss Furuseth.

about making the show on there soon. Visit the BBC Three blog at: bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcthree

Movies: Iceland: UK: The classic lesbian vampire movie (if there really is such a thing) Daughters of Darkness from the 1970s, will finally be released on DVD in the UK.

TV-land:

The Icelandic documentary The

France:

Stand-up Girls has premiered

There will be a lesbian character on

at Reykjavik’s international film

the new French TV series Maison

festival that opened last month.

close (Brothel). The series will

This documentary is of interest,

start airing on October 4 on Canal

because it features a few

Plus and is all about a nineteenth

lesBian comedians.

century brothel in Paris.

We Are Everywhere Magazines:

Events: Europe: Feel like going on a lesbian cruise that takes you from Spain to Germany next spring? Then make sure to sign up for the L-CRUISE by the end of October. They need more reservations in order to keep the cruise exclusively lesbian. Find out more online at l-cruise.eu Denmark: The city of Copenhagen is to open a gay cultural centre. The culture and leisure administration has approved the establishment of such a centre where homosexuals, bisexuals and transvestites can feel at home. Belgium: On the 31st of October it’s L-day in Ghent, a day full of serious and less serious events geared towards lesbians. Find out more at l-day.be

The Netherlands: The latest issue of Dutch leading lesBian magazine

Music:

Zij aan Zij is all about breast cancer and worth checking out. In a special report, police spokesperson Ellie Lust and her wife, as well as a number of other women, pose topless and talk about their personal experiences with breast cancer.

Sports: Norway: Gro Hammerseng might not be happy in love, but luckily her handball career is going just fine as she is now back to being team captain.

Music:

Books:

Russia:

Norway:

Lena Katina, one half

Author Anne Holt is

of the Russian faux-

keeping busy. After her

UK:

lesbian band t.A.T.u.

latest medical thriller,

Skunk Anansie have released their new album

has decided to embark

she’s now planning to

entitled Wonderlustre in most European countries (and

on a solo career. Does

write a children’s book.

around the world) and you can listen to the entire thing

anybody care?

How versatile.

on myspace.com/skunkanansiemusic

End of Dutch Single Fact Construction in Sight Even though the Netherlands are one of the most progressive countries when it comes to LGBT rights, some laws and legal processes haven’t quite caught up yet. Gwen looks at the socalled ‘single fact construction’; a law that enables religious schools to fire or suspend gay teachers and students for being gay. By: Gwen

D66 party leader Alexander Pechtold

Boris van der Ham, member of the Dutch House of

Image: Alexander Pechtold

Representatives for D66 / Image: Sophie Knijff

After I had seen Milk, there was one

people want it to be. One thing not a

which can be translated to ‘single

scene that kept coming back to me. It’s

lot of people I generally talk to know, is

fact construction’. The name sounds

when Sean Penn shouts: “All men are

that when you’re transgender and want

confusing until you realize that is

created equal. No matter how hard you

to officially become male, you have to

exactly what is meant: teachers can

try, you can never erase those words!”

be without female reproductive organs.

be fired for the single fact of being

That, I think, is inhumane, and a prime

an openly gay teacher in a religious

Well, it’s not always that simple. When

example of not having it all figured out.

school. I have also heard of schools

I was younger, I always thought real

Whenever I mention this, everyone’s

that let students sign contracts in

inequality by the law was something

shocked and surprised. However, the

which they promised not to be openly

that didn’t happen in my country, or in

laws surrounding gay teachers and

gay. This is especially problematic, but

the West. It’s this silly notion that ‘they’

students in religious schools have been

in fact, the whole construction is one

are the ones who got it all wrong, and

on the news so often, it never has the

I’d rather throw out of the window

‘we’ have got it all figured out.

same shock value.

(and I live on the fifth floor, so that’d

But the Netherlands don’t have it all

The term that has been used to

figured out. And I’m not sure if it’s just

describe the way the law deals with

When this first came to the attention

legal processes that are taking too long

gay teachers and students in religious

of the media, the government explained

to catch up, or if it’s actually the way

schools is ‘enkele feit constructie’,

that it was specifically about teachers

do quite some damage).

End of Dutch Single Fact Construction in Sight who were gay, who could be fired when there are ‘additional circumstances’. This can be anything between going to Pride or having a relationship with someone of the same sex. There are already several issues I can find in this, if anyone’s really planning to go through with regulations such as these. What do you do about bisexual teachers who are in a relationship with someone of the opposite sex? What do you do with people who’ve decided they don’t want to be in relationships altogether, but who still go to Pride? A lot has already been written about this, and probably also in English for those of you who don’t speak Dutch, so you might be wondering why I’m bothering you with it again.

The movie poster for Milk (2008), starring Sean Penn as California’s first openly gay

Well, there’s change in the air. A few

elected official, Harvey Milk.

days ago, a member of the House of

Liberal party VVD, Labour party PvdA,

influence SGP (which is not hoping

Representatives for Liberal Democrat

Socialist party SP and Green party

to be a coalition partner) has in the

party

called

GroenLinks, it is unclear what this bill

right-wing cabinet. That’s why they

Boris van der Ham presented a bill to

will lead to with an eye on the current

proposed the bill at this moment.

parliament proposing the abolishment

formation.

me,

Of course, a member of the House

of this single fact construction.

stopped following the news on that

for SGP, Kees van der Staaij, has

front because it wasn’t going anywhere,

stated it’s a shame this equality is

Boris van der Ham was invited to

let me tell you not much has changed

dominating other basic rights, such

new

Moraalridders

so far. However, in the negotiations

as freedom of religion.

(Moralists), where he sat at a table

between Christian Democrats CDA on

with two reformed Christian television

the one hand, and Liberal party VVD

Right now, there will be some more

hosts in a program produced by the

and national liberalist party PVV on the

waiting, because just proposing a bill is

Evangelical Broadcasting Association

other, it might just prove the last push

not enough. First, one of the advisory

(EO). He pointed to a number of rules

to make everyone see these three

organs, the Raad van State (Council

religious schools employed, such as

parties are not meant for each other. Or

of State), will have to give advice on

‘women have to wear skirts’, and

perhaps that’s wishful thinking on my

the bill. Then, the House of Commons

said it was okay for schools to make

part. [Right before this issue went to

will vote on it, and only after the

these rules. However, “you can’t say,

print a minority coalition government

Senate has voted on it, too, it could

you have to wear a skirt at home as

was agreed on by CDA and VVD’s party

become law. Those are the processes

well”. One of my favourite parts of this

leaders, backed by Geert Wilders. The

I was referring to in the beginning.

segment was when one of the hosts

agreement is still to be voted on by

Although of course part of me can’t

asked if he was really going to change

CDA’s party members, Ed.]

believe these things are taking so long

D66

(Democrats

television

show

’66)

case

you,

to change, it’s a good thing we have

the law for a few cases, and Van der The

single

fact

them in place, or anyone would be

people don’t rob a bank that often

supported by Christian parties CU,

able to change the law just like that.

either, and that’s not allowed either.”

SGP and CDA, of which CDA is the

And in the end, I know it’s true what

largest and the one with the most

Milk said. Everyone’s created equal,

Although there is a majority in the

influence. According to D66 party

and you can never erase those words.

House of Commons to support Van der

leader Alexander Pechtold earlier this

So I’m positive for this law to change,

Ham’s bill, as it has been signed by

month, D66 wants to see how much

somehow, someday.

Ham

immediately

retorted:

“Well,

construction

Lists Are Hot: 10 Bad LesBian Movies You Shouldn’t Watch Lists Are Hot is a monthly column for all those of you that love lists. This time Natazzz talks about a topic we all love to hate, or hate to love: bad lesBian movies. By: Natazzz In the time between I realised I was

These days I try to watch movies

I have picked 10 movies with lesBian

into girls until after the first two years of

because I think they are going to be good,

content that I thought were really bad,

coming out, I watched pretty much any

fun or interesting and the fact that it has

for various reasons. Obviously, there

movie with lesBian content I could get

lesBian content has become secondary.

are many more and you might even like

my hands on. Needless to say, not all

This lessens the chance of finding more

some of my choices. Nonetheless, here

of those films were very good. In fact,

bad lesBian movies, although of course

are my bad lesBian movie picks in no

at least half of them were rather crap,

working for eurOut doesn’t really help.

particular order (apart from number 1).

but I did not care, because it had girls

I watched and reviewed plenty of bad

in them who liked girls and they often

lesBian movies the last two years, most

ended up making out with said girls.

of those have ended up in this list.

Go Fish (US, 1994) Go Fish was one of the first lesbian movies I ever saw. I rented it from my local video store, hidden among a bunch of other films. I remember being scared, yet intrigued, wondering if lesBians were really like that. I hoped not, because I didn’t think I would fit in. I watched it again a few years later and I was amazed at how bad this movie is. I get what they were trying to do here, but it clearly didn’t work.

Chasing Amy (US, 1997) Another movie I watched around the same time was Chasing Amy. I know, it’s a controversial pick, as lots of people like this film. To be fair, the quality of the movie isn’t that bad, but the storyline bugs the hell out of me! In a nutshell: uninteresting, dumb, average straight guy falls for lesbian, who can’t resist him, but he can’t handle her previous sexual experiences. The main problem I have with this film is they make it out to be like any lesbian could just change teams if the right guy comes along. It would’ve been better if they had just made her out to be bisexual in the first place, but then, we wouldn’t have the ‘interesting’ plot. Seriously, would you switch teams for Ben Affleck?

Lists Are Hot: 10 Bad LesBian Movies You Shouldn’t Watch

Producing Adults (Finland, 2004) Let’s move on to another great subject for lesBian movies: lesbians trying to get pregnant or have babies. It’s such a boring, unoriginal storyline (of course, there are good exceptions like Chutney Popcorn). One of those bad ones in the Finnish movie Producing Adults, about a woman with a dumb jerk of a boyfriend, who desperately wants to get pregnant. She goes through extreme measures to achieve her goal, including secretly seeking help from a bisexual co-worker and against all odds, the two women end up falling for each other. They fall for each other while inseminating each other, it’s all so very unrealistic. It doesn’t really matter though, because the main character of this movie is sperm, and lots of it.

Tick Tock Lullaby (US, 2007) Producing Adults is a good movie compared to Tick Tock Lullaby, which is also about having babies. However, this time it’s a lesbian couple who desperately want a baby and decide insemination just isn’t natural enough. Yes, they prefer to conceive the ‘natural way’ by one of them having sex with a guy until she’s pregnant. Needless to say, this isn’t very beneficial for their relationship. I can’t believe someone thought this was an interesting, plausible story to tell.

Bandaged (Germany, 2009) I’m a big fan of weird, unusual movies, but sometimes things get a little too weird even for me. A good example of this is the movie Bandaged, which I guess you could describe as an erotic lesbian thriller. A young, innocent girl - who’s tried to set herself on fire - and her nurse, spend too much time together in a creepy mansion and decide to play weird sexual games together. Or something. This is the first regular film from a woman mainly known for her S&M porn movies, so be warned.

Choses Secrètes

(France, 2002)

Another movie that revolves around sex is the French movie Choses secrètes (Secret Things), about two women who have a lot of sex with each other and with all the men they come across, because they want to sleep their way to the top. Another great plotline, and also not really a lesBian movie, although it does contain some hot girl-on-girl sex scenes. Still, this movie often shows up in lists of lesBian movies, and I just want to tell you it’s not one. It’s more like soft porn.

Lists Are Hot: 10 Bad LesBian Movies You Shouldn’t Watch

The Girl

(France/Germany, 2000)

At least the previous movie had some sort of plot, which can’t really be said for The Girl. This movie has no plot, makes no point and also makes no sense. An androgynous looking woman named ‘The Painter’ falls for a nightclub singer and they start having some sort of affair, but the nightclub singer is busy sleeping with a bunch of men as well. It’s all very artsy and the film has little dialogue. This is actually a good thing, as everything that’s spoken is just so bad. Like the voiceover: “The Girl gives me a name. She calls me lover. She never asks about my life. She doesn’t know anything about me.”

Lesbian Vampire Killers

(UK, 2009)

I remember so looking forward to seeing this movie: Lesbian Vampire Killers. I thought it was going to be one of those good bad horror flicks, with some nice lesbian content. I was wrong. This movie is just very mediocre, not that interesting, not that good. More importantly, the title is very misleading as the lesbian vampires aren’t all that lesbian. Well, they do like to make out with their fellow female vampires, but they seem to be mainly there to entertain the men.

Love and Suicide

(US, 2006)

I had to include this film. Not because it’s the worst movie ever made, it’s actually not that bad, but because it’s one of those majorly depressing lesbian movies. A little like Lost and Delirious, but so much worse. Then again, are you really surprised with a title like Love & Suicide? I think there should be a law against making a movie where teenage girls fall in love with each other and think this is a reason to end their lives.

The Fine Art of Love

(Italy/Czech Republic, 2005) I saved the best for last. The Fine Art of Love is the most horrible lesbian movie I have ever seen. In fact, it’s probably one of the worst movies I have seen ever, and I have seen a lot of movies. Why? Because it’s so horrible and so misleading. The first hour of the movie you see two cute, innocent teenage girls learning to dance for the prince in a fairytale-like forest and they fall in love with each other. Then everything goes horribly wrong, girls start disappearing and find brutal deaths. One half of the cute couple gets hung on a rope and the other girl gets raped by the prince in the longest scene ever. DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE. Seriously, just DON’T.

Exclusive Interview: Sandra Showtime Even though I haven’t been around for the entire ride, I’m very proud to tell you that eurOut celebrated its 2nd birthday last month. I caught up with my predecessor and dear friend Sandra Showtime, who founded and built up eurOut back in 2008. I found out that without South of Nowhere or YouTube, eurOut might have never even existed! The world works in mysterious ways, and I’m so glad it does By: Saskia Joreen did. I was drawn to all the smart things she said and the activist in me awoke. I started to wonder why we didn’t have something like this for Europe. So then what did you do? Well, first I had to google what a blog was! (laughs) Like I said, I was hardly online at the time. I just used the internet to research things for my work as a psychologist. The only lesbians in the media that I knew of were Ellen DeGeneres and Melissa Etheridge… After

doing

some

research

about

blogs and websites I contacted Sarah Warn to tell her about my idea and to ask her if she would be alright with a European variation of AfterEllen. Sarah was so enthusiastic about it and wanted to help any way she could. She mentioned my idea in her column Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. and then the reactions came pouring in at the forum thread that I made on AfterEllen. The response was huge! What did you put in the forum eurOut: How on earth do you go

AfterEllen before?

thread?

No! So I checked it out, and I thought

I had already gathered some people

to myself: ‘What the fuck is going on

to help me with this undertaking, but

Sandra: I was watching clips of South

here?’ I was looking at this site that

we needed more. Writers, editors, web

of Nowhere on YouTube because I liked

featured nothing but lesbian stuff!

designers, etcetera. So basically it was

the lesbian storyline. I googled the

I wasn’t used to that. I mean, I’m

a call for more helping hands.

show and then the name AfterEllen

German. And I wasn’t online much at

kept popping up, so I decided to check

that time. It was an entirely different

How long did it take you to put

it out.

world to me. So there I was, on that

eurOut.org online?

from being a freelance psychologist to the owner of a lesBian site?

site, and I got inspired by a vlog that Wait

–

you

never

heard

Sarah Warn, the founder of AfterEllen,

About 2 or 3 months. But we actually

Exclusive Interview: Sandra Showtime

Sandra (right) with the founder and CEO of One More Lesbian, Shirin Papillon already started posting our first articles

many media personalities or ‘rock stars’

more involved with what’s going on in

in the forum thread on AfterEllen. We

like the States have. Entertainment

politics and in what their leaders decide

were still working on some technical

is a huge part of American culture,

about them and their rights. From the

website stuff, but we already had the

but Europe is less fancy. And when

responses I got I noticed that this was

material ready. So technically eurOut’s

you want to deal with LGBT topics in

something that people were longing

first posts are in that forum thread.

Europe, you can’t really get around

for. Now lesBians that met on eurOut

politics. So that’s why eurOut covers

are

both entertainment and politics.

Our community has stepped over the

Even though you could call eurOut the European version of AfterEllen,

actually

meeting

face-to-face!

boundaries of the internet. I love that.

both websites are very different.

Why

was

creating

eurOut

Would you agree?

important to you?

Of course. We never wanted to do

Apart from increasing lesBian visibility,

the exact same thing that AfterEllen

I wanted to create a home for European

It’s just been a great learning process.

did. There’s no point in doing two

lesBians. On AfterEllen they always

We changed course a lot during it,

very similar things. But both sites are

looked a bit like guests and I wanted

which

centered around lesBian visibility. I

to make them a place of their own. I

start something new. And personally

think eurOut handles increasing that

also wanted to make Europe more like

I learned so much. In my other work

visibility in a very European way.

‘Europe’. To create a community and

as a psychologist I was used to being

Everything in Europe is very decent

not focus on the differences between

the outsider, to take on the role of

and humble. Europe doesn’t have as

our countries. And to make people feel

advisor. I found out that it’s completely

How do you look back on the past 2 years?

always

happens

when

you

Exclusive Interview: Sandra Showtime different when you’re the owner of something. You meet a lot of headwind and pressure. You have to make tough choices, you have to accept you can’t please everyone. You feel responsible for everything. It’s like having kids! Are you a perfectionist? I used to be. But at some point I had to accept that I couldn’t do everything on my own and do it perfectly too. With that realization also came some sort of peace. What made you decide to step back and leave as Editor in Chief? I was never a good editor! (laughs) I’m good at building up things and structuring processes. And on that front, my work for eurOut was done. The people that I gathered to work for eurOut could run it themselves. So I took on a new challenge as Chief Operating Officer over at One More Lesbian. You were with us at the Gay Games though. What was your experience of eurOut at such a big, international event? The Gay Games were fantastic! They were an invaluable experience. It was so nice to get a direct response to eurOut from the visitors. Some of them already knew about eurOut and came over to chat – amazing! And I think it was very much in the spirit of eurOut to also be present at the info desk to

Sandra at one of One More Lesbian’s Theatre Nights at the Gay Games Cologne

just help people out and give them

earlier this year

information about what was going on