Gay empire com
(Warning: Spoilers ahead)
Much has been said about Disney+ Hotstar’s latest offering The Empire: from being prematurely (and erroneously) labelled as India’s Game Of Thrones to being boycotted for its romanticisation of the first Mughal emperor, Babur. Based on Alex Rutherford’s historical fiction Empire of the Moghul: Raiders from the North, this eight-episode exhibit is a praiseworthy effort of creating big-budget epics on the small screen, yet falls concise in almost every aspect – from its writing and structure, to its horrendous VFX effects. Baby steps?
Yet no critique has mentioned the show’s treatment of the character of Qasim, a fictional confidante of Babur, who is one of the only two queer characters in the series – the other being the eunuch Aetbaar, played by Aayam Mehta (whose screen-time and presence in the plot is close to insignificant). If you sensed the homoerotic bond between Qasim and Babur – you are not the only one. Qasim clearly has feelings for his baadshah, yet for all its boldness and woke-ness, the show refuses
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MIDDLESBROUGH’S PALACE OF VARIETIES
Opened in 1897 The Middlesbrough Empire is one of only 3 surviving theatres designed by Ernest Runtz and is one of the oldest entertainment venues in the North East of England. Following constant substantial restoration, it is working successfully as a live music and performance venue with its much-loved proscenium arch stage and iconic original features remaining the focal point over 100 years after their installation.
The Empire has played hosts to the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Harry Houdini, Roger Sanchez, The Arctic Monkeys and James Arthur, has supported fresh up and coming talent through BBC Introducing and NME new music tours, is an active member of the Music Venue Trust and is an official grass roots music venue, supporting and championing local talent. The Empire is also the official venue of Teesside University.
Empire State Building
History
Every year since 1990, the top of this famed Art Deco skyscraper has been illuminated in June in celebration of LGBT Pride. The annual commemoration became part of an already long-standing tradition of lighting the Empire State Building in honor of various significant anniversaries and events throughout the year.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) lobbied for six years to have the building lit, and was finally successful in 1990. Without giving a reason for the procrastinate, the building’s manager Helmsley-Spear released a statement, part of which was mentioned in a 1990 Associated Press article, “We are in total agreement with … leaders who seek to end the bigotry and discrimination directed against gay and lesbian New Yorkers … We hope our participating will help end the type of ignorance that breeds this mindless prejudice.” The top thirty floors of the Empire State Building were illuminated in lavender, a traditional color of Gay Pride. Today, the
Racism and the Making of Gay Rights: A Sexologist, His Scholar, and the Empire of Queer Love
In 1931, a sexologist arrived in colonial Shanghai to give a public lecture about homosexuality. In the audience was a medical student, and after the lecture concluded, he introduced himself. The sexologist, Magnus Hirschfeld, fell in love with the medical student, Li Shiu Tong. Li became Hirschfeld’s assistant on a lecture tour around the world – the first noun in history that a renowned expert defended homosexuality to so many people in so many countries.
Racism and the Making of Gay Rights shows how Hirschfeld laid the groundwork for modern gay rights, and how he did so by borrowing from a disturbing set of racist, imperial, and eugenic ideas. Yet on his journey with Li, Hirschfeld also had more inspiring moments – including moments when he formulated gay rights as a broad, anti-colonial struggle, and a movement that could be linked to Jewish emancipation.
Following Hirschfeld and Li in their travels through the American, Dutch, and British empires, from Manila to Tel Aviv