By Jeff Walsh

Snehal Desai is 28 years old, and only finished his master's degree in directing from Yale University three months ago, but he's already made his way to San Francisco with his one-man show.

"Finding Ways to Prove You're NOT an Al Qaeda Terrorist When You're Brown (and other stories of the gIndian) is Desai's one-man show exploring his life as a gay Indian through monologues that explore his sexual, spiritual, pharmaceutical, and cultural dimensions. From ex-boyfriends who both invent and then eroticize his curry-scented skin to family members who keep pushing him toward arranged marriages, the show moves quickly through its various terrains.

Some of the show's best moments take place when Desai's character (we'll get into the whole non-autobiographical one-man show aspect in the interview) visits India and finds the country's openness about same-sex intimacy refreshing, even if it isn't completely indicative of its acceptance of homosexuality. He also explores the pain of queer children forced to confirm to that society's will, yet at the same time finds poetry and beauty in a kite-flying competition that encapsulates the best qualities of the human spirit, if we could all looking at one another the same way permanently.

I saw the show tonight, but spoke with Desai yesterday, catching up with him in middle of tech rehearsal for his West coast premiere. Here's what we said:

I've always been more feminine.
And because of that, I'm apparently "Gay"
I know I am, but I don't think that being feminine makes someone gay.
School REALLY sucks for me.

Sign up now, and give to charity, all u gotta do is sign up and with each person u get to sign up ur donating to a charity and it dont cost u a cent just sign on to
http://www.socialvibe.com/ and sign up its that simple

05/27/2008

I recently saw a movie by the late Derek Jarman of the title, "Sebastiane."

Before Derek Jarman had died, he was found to be HIV-positive. He was open about homosexuality. He once regarded the British film industry as containing "hardly any room for us to kiss."

By Jeff Walsh

"A Four Letter Word" is a new gay independent comedy playing select theaters (check their website for the release schedule) and, while I didn't hate it, it certainly seemed like it lacked the cohesion that could have made it a better, more enjoyable movie.

But, let's start with the basics. Luke is a sex-friendly, quick-witted hottie who wakes up after a night of bar-hopping in a pile of naked strangers -- clearly not the first time this has happened. He works at Gayborhood, a sex store in NYC's gay Chelsea district with his co-worker Zeke. Luke is a free spirit who happens to meet Stephen, who challenges him to question whether he really could give up his life of random sex with strangers and settle down. There is also a cute young interracial couple, Peter and Derek, who are making the big transition of moving in together. On top of that, Peter's boss, Marilyn, is engaged and maniacally planning her wedding.

Those are the stories in a nutshell. If you don't quite see the relationships linking the first three characters to the latter three, I didn't either and I saw the movie twice. There are some scenes where you see them all interact, but even then they never gel as being all one large group of friends. They're just funny lesser stories to cut to in between telling Luke's story.

Last weekend I was in my school's production of the Laramie Project it was awesome. I mean I cried by the end of every show but it was amazing to be a part of. For those of you who don't know, Laramie Project is a play that is made from a collection of interviews with people of the town of Laramie Wyoming after the beating and death of Mathew Shephard in 1998 because he was gay.

Wats yer opinion on bisexuals?? I went out w/ one and it seemed she was really unsure of wat she wanted, personally I don't think there is such a thing.Yer either gay or straight...but then again there are people that are curious and questioning so what fuck????? any bisexuals wanna inform me ?????

Outlet services. All our groups are free, confidential and drop in.

Connections every Monday night from 7-9pm. This group is only for lgbtqq youth 13-20.
HYPE! - HIV Youth Prevention Education the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month from 6:30-8:30pm.
De Ambiente for young latinos, mostly spanish speaking, every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month from 4-6pm.

I am new to Oasis and just bopping around to see what it is like. I am the assistant director of Outlet, a queer youth program in Mountain View, CA. We have services such as in-person discussion groups, movie nights, counseling and HIV/AIDs education available for free for youth 13-20. So I thought it was important to have a face on this site. I am also excited just to see it here!!

By Jeff Walsh

"Boys Love" is a Japanese movie that doesn't need much translation. A lot of foreign movies require you to make assumptions about what life is like there in addition to the story that's actually being told, but Boys Love is a very modern film set in Japan, but with a universal, relatable story.

Mamiya is a young shy editor at a magazine whose first assignment as a writer is to interview teen model, Noel. Over the course of the interview, Noel makes a sexual play for Mamiya. Again, what could have turned into an angsty quest to determine his sexuality is avoided, and we only know Mamiya is drawn to Noel. Sexuality is a huge element to the film, but a largely unspoken one.

Noel (Takumi Saitoh) handles his role well, since it seems like it would be easy to find fault in the role of someone in the spotlight that exudes charisma. It would be easy not to buy into the conceit that this person would not draw such attention in real life (then again, I still think that about Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, I don't get what the fuss is about). Whereas Mamiya (Yoshikazu Kotani) seems like it would be the easier role, playing the shy, non-famous journalist.

So there's a guy I know, who I think might be gay, who's my age (11) and who I'm crushing on. Now, in a couple of days he's leaving on a 4 day school trip (Some school band thing to Ottawa) and I'm wondering if it would be a good time to tell him. Advice?

Also, I saw (what I think was) a lesbian couple today walking down the street. I never noticed that my town actually has LGBT people.

Well my close friends were the first to find out.. Then I went on and broke the silence with my Mom..

So recently I've been noticing the extreme criticism that gay and bisexual life style gets in my school. People aren't using gay as a general insult, rather actually referring to sexuality. I don't react- I'm too shy. I wish I could though. It hurts.
It's hard trying to fit in when you're 11 and gay D:
Advice please?

DesuCake

By Jeff Walsh

"Shelter" is a sweet story of a young artist/surfer in southern California. Zach (played by Trevor Wright) works low-paying jobs, juggles his schedule with his sister to take care of her 5-year-old son, and when he's not doing those things he either works on his art of goes surfing. The movie opens in limited release, including San Francisco and Berkeley, this weekend and will debut on the here! Network next month.

Zach and his girlfriend have been in an on-again, off-again relationship. He doesn't see any way out of his entire situation, despite his dream of going to art school, which his sister dismisses as more trouble than its worth. Things change when he runs into his best friend's older brother Shaun (Brad Rowe, who you might remember from Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss), who is staying at his family's beach house for a while.

The two have chemistry together and, after a few beers, kiss one night. Things progress on a subsequent meeting. Eventually, Zach's sister has a problem with her son being around Shaun because he's gay, and this is before she even knows that he and Zach are dating.

By underdarkness

Having watched many gay-related movies, Keillers Park felt as though I had already seen it. We have a closeted gay man, Peter, who's engaged to a woman, and ends up being propositioned by a gay man, Nassim, in a park, they have sex and fall in love. Peter's fiance "discovers" that he's gay when he tries to penetrate her from the behind, because that is, apparently, a sure giveaway. Straight men NEVER have anal sex with women! Of course not...

It seems as though you're supposed to feel bad for the Peter, but he comes off as a bit of a jerk. The only thing that makes you feel bad for him is the fact that his family disowns him for being gay. Other than that, he isn't exactly likable. Though, as far as the story goes, it's hard to tell if it's an intended distaste or poor character writing.

I wouldn't call this movie entirely unoriginal, however. On top of this story line there is a shred of originality. The overlying theme is a murder mystery, and you're plagued with the question of whether or not Peter murdered his lover.

I spent half of my gorgeous Sunday tutoring my kids in East LA and the other half discovering music artists. Don't tell me I'm lame. Well, here are a few of my new faves (some you probably already know):

Matt Wertz
Matt Nathanson
Gran Bel Fisher
Dave Barnes
Christopher Jak
Graham Colton
Michael Tolcher
Will Hoge
Emerson Hart

does anybody know where you can find cute gay anime pitures? because whenever i look, i end up getting hentai porn and yeah...=/

so, anyone have any suggestions?

Okay, I seriously need some help. So, I am a senior in high school and play the straight role. Some people tend to think I am gay sometimes but not all. I mean, I dont act it, I think. Well anyways, I met this guy in one of my classes. His name is DEE and he is a freshman. But I'd say he looks and acts much older. Seriously, I am not attracted so hispanic men but, he is gorgeous.

Hi,

I am a student at Ohio Wesleyan and was wondering if there are other gay students from OWU posting on the forum here?

I was wondering if anyone has encountered racism in the LGBT community personally and how the feel about it and what they have done to handle this. This was brought up at a Citywide GSA meeting put together but an LGBT organization here in Philadelphia. Thanks in advance for your time.