Brotherhood: Gay Neo-Nazi Romance Wins Rome Film Festival

Brotherhood, a Danish film about a gay neo-Nazi romance, has won the Rome Film Festival:

"The winning movie, 'Brotherhood,' takes a hard look at the neo-Nazi group that the leading character, Lars, joins after leaving the army. The group carries out raids on homosexuals, but Lars and his mentor in the group, Jimmy, begin a love affair that they try to keep secret. 'Brotherhood' is the first feature film by Nicolo Donato, a 35-year-old who previously worked as a fashion photographer. The jury handing out the awards was headed by Oscar-winning director Milos Forman."

Watch the trailer, AFTER THE JUMP...

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1,000 take to the streets in Friday protest over homophobic attacks in Rome.

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USA Today on Judy Shepard, her new book, and a federal hate crimes law: "Shepard, who loves playing mah-jongg and drinking martinis, admits to being 'flummoxed' at times about the gay and lesbian world. But, she adds, 'It's not important that I understand it. It's important that I accept it.'"

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Maine Archbishop Richard Malone asks churches to fill coffers for fight against marriage equality: "The bishop has asked churches to take up a special second collection next weekend to support Stand For Marriage Maine, the group leading the effort to repeal Maine's same sex marriage law."

Hundreds Protest in Rome After Attacks in City's Gay District

Hundreds protested near Via San Giovanni in Laterano (aka Gay Street) in Rome on Wednesday night, following a bomb attack earlier this week.

ADN Kronos reports: "There was widespread panic when two letter bombs were thrown at a bar in a gay neighbourhood in the centre of the Italian capital Rome late Tuesday in an escalation of anti-gay violence. Italian media reports said the explosive devices were thrown from two motorcycles. Several people were injured in the attack, and one was taken to nearby San Giovanni Hospital for aid. 'It all happened very quickly unleashing panic in the streets. There were people screaming and running everywhere,' said the president of Italy's national gay rights organisation, Arcigay, Fabrizio Marrazzo, quoted by Italian media. 'If anyone would have been closer [to the explosions], someone would have lost their life,' Arcigay said on the organisation's website on Wednesday."

A recent surge in violence has many concerned: "Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said Wednesday that the attacks were 'extremely worrying' and promised to beef up security in areas frequented by homosexuals. Vladimir Luxuria (above), a transgender activist and former PM, commented that 'Rome isn't a safe city for gays' and warned of 'a cycle of homophobic terrorism'. Monday's incident is the third case of homophobic violence in Italy in under a week. Last week, a young man was stabbed in an attack near the site of Rome's summer gay and lesbian festival. Days later, a pair of tourists in Naples were beaten up by a gang of young men. The incidents spurred a gay musician in Rome to come forward saying he'd been assaulted by a man shouting insults earlier in August."

Mayor Gianni Alemmano has condemned the attacks. The gay rights group Arcigay plans to hold torchlight marches every Friday night calling for stricter laws against anti-gay violence.

An Italian news report on the attacks, AFTER THE JUMP...

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NCLR, ACLU, and Lambda Legal back federal challenge to Prop 8: "In legal documents filed late Thursday, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal and the ACLU signaled a significant break with past legal tactics that avoided taking the fight to federal court."

NYT revelation: Gay men and straight men can be friends.

Zachary Quinto has a couple of male beach dates in Malibu, on the same day.

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Despite ban, Russian gay activists plan to protest Obama next week on his trip to Moscow: "In a statement, Nikolai Alexeyev said the Moscow authorities had banned a proposed demonstration outside the U.S. embassy next Tuesday, the second day of Obama's July 6-8 trip...'We don't intend to abandon our plans and in the near future we will determine the format of action on July 7 during the visit of Barack Obama in Russia.' A Moscow municipal spokeswoman confirmed city authorities had turned down a request from gay activists to protest in front of the U.S. embassy on July 7. She said the area had already been booked for another event and that Muscovites were against the gay protest."

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NYDN: It's time to end LGBT discrimination. "That Stonewall has hit its fourth decade is only part of the reason that the media are giving this anniversary attention. The other reason is that there is a sense of excitement that, with the spread of gay marriage to more states, the struggle for gay rights may be about to reach a new high-water mark. But all this excitement glosses over a critical fact: Gay people have the same federal protections against discrimination in terms of the most basic civil rights that we had at the time of Stonewall. And that is exactly: zero."

Rome, Zagreb, Warsaw, Athens: Gay Pride Across Europe

Many Gay Pride celebrations are taking place this weekend. One is in Rome:

"Costumed demonstrators carrying rainbow flags and signs reading 'freedom for all' attacked the conservative government of Premier Silvio Berlusconi. They demanded rights for same-sex couples and the recognition of gay marriage. Activists dressed as fake clergy with colorful hats and signs reading 'No Vatican' protested what they say is the church's excessive influence on Italy's policies."

One thousand took to the streets in Warsaw (right), 2,000 in Athens.

Zagreb, Croatia had a similar spirit but a much different tone (photo below):

"In Croatia, another mostly Roman Catholic country, about 500 gay activists marched through Zagreb. No violence was reported, but about 50 people held a counterdemonstration and shouted anti-gay slogans. One was led away by police after trying to break through a cordon that authorities had created around the Gay Pride parade to protect it."

Video of today's parade in Rome, AFTER THE JUMP (warning: nsfw moments)...

Gay Activists Protest Vatican Over UN Anti-Discrimination Declaration

Last week I posted an item about the Vatican's opposition to a UN declaration formally condemning discrimination against gays. The Vatican feared doing so would pressure nations which do not recognize same-sex unions to do so. The resolution, which the Vatican claims would "de-criminalize" same-sex unions, is set to be introduced by France on December 10th at the UN General Assembly, on the 60th anniversary of the UN declaration of human rights.

On Saturday, hundreds protested near St. Peter's Square in Rome objecting to the Vatican's position:

"Some 250 people staged a sit-in by St Peter's Square on Saturday to slam the Vatican for its opposition to a UN resolution that would decriminalise homosexuality worldwide. Under banners of the two main gay and lesbian advocacy groups Arcigay and Arcilesbica, many held candles and some wore nooses around their necks, dramatising the fact that homosexuality is punishable by death in nine countries...Arcigay president Aurelio Mancuso slammed 'the bad choice the Vatican has made as a state, not as a church.' Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi argued that such a resolution 'could clearly become a way to pressure or discriminate against those who ... consider marriage between a man and a woman to be the basic and original form of social life.'"

An Italian news report on the action, AFTER THE JUMP...