This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2020) |
![]() | |
Location | Yangon, Myanmar |
---|---|
Founded | 2014 |
Founded by | Hla Myat Tun, Jan Willem van Rooij, Billy Stewart |
Language | Bilingual Burmese and English |
Website | http://www.andproud.net |
&PROUD (Pronounced: "And Proud") [1] is a non-profit organization in Yangon, Myanmar, that organizes LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay Bi, Transgender, Intersex, Queer) art and culture events. &PROUD is best known for their yearly Yangon Pride festival, which takes place over two weekends at the end of January. The festival includes &PROUD LGBTIQ Film Festival, [2] [3] which usually occurs during the second weekend. In addition, there is an 'On The Road' programme that takes film screenings to other towns, cities and universities around Myanmar.
Since 2019, &PROUD runs an LGBTIQ community space in the Sanchaung Neighbourhood of Yangon as well as a mental health service called Yin Pwint Yar ('Open Your Heart'). The organizations receives funding from international donors such as embassies, UN organizations and INGOs.
&PROUD was founded in 2014 by 3 co-founders, with the backing of Colors Rainbows [4] (the main LGBT rights organization in Myanmar). At the time, there were no large public LGBT events in Myanmar, and same-sex relations remain illegal in Myanmar to date. [5]
&PROUD's first activity was a queer photo exhibition with work from Myanmar and Vietnam. As the exhibition was a success and without any government interference, the first LGBT film festival was organised at the French Institute in Yangon in November 2014. Between 2014 and 2017 &PROUD continued to organise both a yearly film festival and photo exhibition, as well as film-making workshops and small screenings around Myanmar. [6]
In 2018 the organisation has received government permission to organise the festival at Thakhin Mya Park in downtown Yangon. That year, the festival was held over 2 weekends at the end of January, with the first weekend being a large Pride event in the park. In 2019 the festival changed its name to become Yangon Pride and the River Pride Boat Parade was added as a yearly event. [7]
The &PROUD Yangon LGBTQ Film Festival had its first edition from November 14 to the 16 during the year of 2014 at the French Institute in Yangon. [8] [9] The festival showcases films on Asian LGBTI lives, and combines film screenings with debates, performances and parties.
The 2015 edition was moved from November to January 2016 due to the 2015 Myanmar general election. It was hosted at the French Institute between January 28 to the 31 and attracted 3500 visitors over four days. [10] [11] For the third edition, the festival will return to the French Institute from January 26–29 in 2017. &PROUD Film Festival is a founding member of the Asia-Pacific Queer Film Festival Alliance (APQFFA). [12]
Part of &PROUD's main activities is a yearly photo exhibition at Myanmar Deitta gallery that coincides with the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) on May 17. In the run up to the exhibition, a photo competition is organised, welcoming photos that portrait the Myanmar LGBT community in a positive light. The week-long exhibition combines the best photos from the competition with an exhibition from a leading Southeast Asian photographer.
In 2014, Vietnamese photographer Maika Elan's work "The Pink Choice" was exhibited. [13] Elan's work was one of the winners in the World Press Photo 2013. The 2015 edition showed "Continuum" from Malaysian photographer kG Krishnan on Kuala Lumpur transgender women. [14] The 2016 edition showcased work from Vlad Sohkin, titled "Being Gay in Papua New Guinea" [15]
Queer is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or are not cisgender. Originally meaning 'strange' or 'peculiar', queer came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the late 1980s, queer activists, such as the members of Queer Nation, began to reclaim the word as a deliberately provocative and politically radical alternative to the more assimilationist branches of the LGBT community.
Shanghai Pride is a Chinese LGBT NGO who organize LGBT pride events in Shanghai, mainly in the form of art exhibitions and film projections. It was one of the first LGBT event to take place in mainland China. The events organized by the NGO in Shanghai under the appellation 'Shanghai Pride' have been on hiatus since 2020.
Mezipatra is a Czech queer film festival screening films with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themes. The name Mezipatra translates as "mezzanine" and refers to the festival's mission: creating space for meeting of people regardless of their gender or sexual identities. Each edition explores a chosen theme and hosts a variety of international guests. The accompanying events range from lectures and debates to art openings, theatre performances as well as exciting parties. It takes place annually in November in Prague and Brno with related events in Ostrava, Olomouc and other cities in Czech Republic. Throughout the year Mezipatra offers additional screenings within the Mezipatra Approved edition. Mezipatra also participates in Prague Pride festival by organizing screenings and debates with LGBT themes.
Seoul Queer Culture Festival, formerly Korea Queer Culture Festival, is an annual modern Korean festival, whose theme is LGBT rights. It includes a pride parade and film festival events. The festival lasts for a week or two, and usually takes place in late May to early June. As it was the only queer culture festival in Korea until 2009, when Daegu Queer Culture Festival began, it was also commonly called Korea Queer Festival or Queer Culture Festival.
Chennai has LGBTQIA cultures that are diverse concerning- socio-economic class, gender, and degree of visibility and politicisation. They have historically existed in the margins and surfaced primarily in contexts such as transgender activism and HIV prevention initiatives for men having sex with men (MSM) and trans women (TG).
Bangalore is a multicultural city and has experienced a dramatic social and cultural change with the advent of the liberalization and expansion of the information technology and business process outsourcing industries in India. With much expatriate population in the city, Bangalore is slightly more relaxed.
XUKIA is a queer collective based in Assam, India that works for LGBT issues in the region. It is one of the first Queer Collectives to come up in the North East India.
Queerala, a registered community based Organisation (CBO) for Malayali LGBTIQ people, gives adequate support to Malayali persons who belong to the sexual and gender minorities. Queerala originally started in May 2013 as a secret Facebook page where closeted LGBTQAI+ community members met over the internet. Since its start of operations, Queerala has been an active platform for the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community in Kerala and India and focuses on various awareness campaigns on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity/Expression and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC). Queerala's representatives has been marking its presence, in areas of literature, art, cultural spaces, academic discourses as well, besides conducting case studies on issues pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity. They also focus on sensitisation on SOGIESC inclusive healthcare services, educational curriculum, workplace policies and local self governance.
The Chennai Rainbow Pride March has been held by members of Tamil Nadu LGBTIQA+ communities every June since 2009. The pride march is organised under the banner Tamil Nadu Rainbow Coalition, which is a collective of LGBT individuals, supporters, and organizations working on human rights and healthcare for the LGBTQIA community. The Pride March occurs on the final Sunday of June every year. The Pride March is usually preceded by a month-long series of events organized by NGOs and organizations to inculcate awareness and support for the LGBTQ community, such as panel discussions, film screenings, and cultural performances. The Chennai Vaanavil Suyamariyadhai Perani a.k.a. Chennai Rainbow Self-Respect March is known for being inter-sectional in nature as it addresses issues with multiple axes such as caste, class, religion coupled with gender discrimination.
D.C.Black Pride is the first official black gay pride event in the United States and one of two officially recognized festivals for the African-American LGBT community. It is a program of the Center for Black Equity (CBE) and is also affiliated with the Capital Pride Alliance. DC Black Pride is held annually on Memorial Day weekend.
Beirut Pride is the annual non-profit LGBTIQ+ pride event and militant march held in Beirut, the capital of the Lebanon and aiming to decriminalize homosexuality in Lebanon.
Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk (KRPW) is the oldest pride walk in India and South Asia. The first march in Kolkata was organised on 2 July 1999. The walk was called The Friendship Walk. Kolkata was chosen as the first city in India to host the march owing to Kolkata's history of movements for human and Political Rights. Currently, Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk is organised by the Kolkata Rainbow Pride Festival (KRPF).
The Chandigarh LGBTQ Pride Walk is an annual march held as part of the "Garvotsava" pride week celebrations in Chandigarh, the capital city of the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana. The event aims to celebrate and bring together the LGBTQ community and its supporters.
The following list is a partially completed compilation of events considered to have a profound effect on the welfare or image of Tamil sexual minorities. The use of bold typeface indicates that the event is widely considered to be landmark:
Abhimani Film Festival, also known as Celluloid Rainbows, is an annual LGBTIQ film festival held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was established in 2006, and is the only LGBTIQ film festival in Sri Lanka. The 2018 Festival begins on 18 June 2018.
The Geelong Pride Film Festival (GPFF) is an LGBT film festival held in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Vienna, the capital of Austria, has an active LGBTQIA+ community. Vienna is considered Austria's queer capital, with several LGBTQIA+ spaces, organisations and a history of LGBTQIA+ activism going back to the late 19th century.