A beautiful, yet non-descript day in Bavaria, to be exact Allgau. A day like every other day, except for Tom who is about to make a momentous decision – that of coming out and hopefully making new friends with other ‘gays’. He is full of fears, indecision, and ideas flash through his mind with all the stereotypes that he has heard people, the media (newspapers, radio, television and movies) discussing.
I found this a very appt short movie, having just read various reports and written my own article on how LGBTQ+ youth have been hit hard by the pandemic, and the effect of being forced back into the closet for some of them as they have had to return home with no job, or no university course continuing.
Friendship and Sharing
During the period 10th to 16th May it is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK, not surprisingly the USA has a Mental Health Awareness Month! But, the aim no matter where you are is to be aware of others, that they may be suffering, but not showing it. Be patient with your friends, but not just during this period of awareness, be aware always and be open to providing support, whether that be a cup of tea or coffee, a chat, a walk in the countryside with friends – you never know what will help a person, so put your hand out and see who grabs it, and don’t be disappointed if there is slow take-up, someone somewhere needs your friendship
Tom – At the destination (Am ziel)
I have been lucky enough to get in touch with Andi from the group, who told me that ‘The actual idea behind the story was to show young queer people in our area what a queer youth group is or isn’t in terms of clichés. The story itself was written by the main character Tom played by Axel, literally telling the story of his first attempts (it took him three) to come to Bonito.’
Movie Information:
Main characters:
Tom: Axel – 23
Guy with the bike: Andi – 26
Spooky Queen: Martin – 25
Length of movie: 5.39
Links:
The National LGBT+ Traveller & Roma Action Group has proudly to produced its first ever LGBT+ Traveller & Roma Calendar and has begun distributing to national and regional Traveller and Roma organisations, as well as national and regional LGBT+ organisations this week. Traveller and Roma families and individuals who want to celebrate their LGBT+ identity or express their allyship with LGBT+ members of their communities will also receive copies through their relevant services.
Over the last 40+ years that I have been involved in the LGBTQ community, I have been privileged to witness the acceptance of gay people into the general community – young and old, we now have more freedoms; however this has only come about through the continued pressure from individuals, groups through lobbying and through legal cases. We have in most parts of the UK an acceptance and understanding that being ‘gay’ is normal, that it does not require “treatment” to correct an illness! Again I said in most parts, there are however still some groups and individuals who wish us to disappear or receive corrective treatment – in most companies LGBTQ rights are now accepted; but we cannot sit back on our backsides; if we do not keep monitoring and interacting with government (both local and national) then the rights that we have fought so hard to achieve will be taken away again.
In America we have seen Donald Trump’s election win, and in the UK we have seen Brexit win out. Whilst we don’t know what the courts will say in terms of the Prime Minister’s rights, it is clear that the referendum has been taken and won and that the New Year will bring many changes, and that the far right seems to have gained ascendancy in terms of leaving Europe and also in terms of how we are supposed to ‘handle’ immigrants and other minorities.
