Gay Today: World

Gay Group Gets 1.4 Million
from British Government

Korean Film Festival Seeks Entries

By Rex Wockner
International News Report

Gay Group Gets 1.4 Million
from British Government

The British gay lobby group Stonewall received $1.41 million from the National Lottery Charities Board April 13.

The money will be used in Stonewall's Citizenship 21 program to challenge prejudice and homophobia, foster institutional change and build links among minority communities.

Stonewall's efforts to fight Britain's homophobic Section 28, which prohibits the promotion of homosexuality by the British government

Five people will be hired to run workshops on gay issues for employers and government entities. A national gay database will be created for use by gay groups, police, health officials and charities.

Lottery Board Chair Lady Brittan said: "Our aim is to support those at greatest disadvantage in society, and we believe that the lesbian and gay community is as equally disadvantaged as many others.

The Citizenship 21 project is an exciting attempt to tackle disadvantage across England by challenging prejudice and homophobia. It will also improve our understanding of lesbian and gay issues. In the scheme of things this award is very small, but we hope that Stonewall's innovative approach will make a real difference across the country."

Korean Film Festival Seeks Entries

The second Seoul International Queer Film & Video Festival is seeking entries.

The first festival, in 1998, "was a big success," organizers said.

"The festival's percentage of seats was up to eighty-five percentage and about more than 10,000 audiences met the queer film works during ten festival dates," Executive Director Seo Dong-Jin said April 11 in an English-language press release. "And we are proud to abolish almost all lawful and institutional obstacles to head off the queer view in Korean Society. In the end, the festival won the cultural civil rights to make and show queer film and video works."

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Related Sites:
Stonewall UK

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The festival runs September 1-7. Submissions should be sent by June 20 to 2000 Seoul International Queer Film & Video Festival, Organization Committee, Soongin-dong 207-40, Yonghwa Building #206, Chongno-ku, Seoul 110-550, South Korea. For detailed information, e-mail queer21@thrunet.com.