Customer Reviews

Dangerous Living - Coming Out in the Developing World

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This documentary gave sizeable presentation to gay men, lesbians, and transgendered people. The topic covered Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Interviewees were English-speaking and non-English-speaking. (It was amusing to hear such heavily British-influenced English and how people would stress the "ed" in past tense verbs, as if they were all pronounced like 'learned' or 'affected.')

There is a big argument among gay academics about whether all gays are alike or different; it's called essentialism versus constructionism in academese. Most experts favor the latter and go into detail about how gays abroad or in the past differ from those in the West today. However, this documentary shows numerous gays of the developing world saying how happy they were to hear the word "gay" or "transgendered" instead of epithets, how pleased they were to meet other gays for the first time, or how excited they were to see gay films. This is very similar to the coming-out stories of modern, Western gays. Further, many gays and lesbians of color in the West have suggested that white culture may promote or enforce homophobia in communities of color. (You can hear this in the independent documentary "Our House: Gays and Lesbians in the Hood.") Here, one Pakistani man notes that homophobic laws were not in Islamic legal books, but were handed over by the British. Several commentators wonder if the West is to blame for homophobia, rather than for gay rights.

This documentary does tend to suggest that what is happening now in the developing world happened in the West 30 years ago. The Cairo 52 controversy is portrayed as the Egyptian Stonewall Riots. However, this idea is worked against because homoerotic art from Ancient Egypt, India, and Japan is shown. Gay rights may be new in this region, but not gay desire or relationships. I hate to contradict myself, but whereas Western gays can join gay-exclusive activist organizations, this documentary mentions that AIDS activism, feminism, and the Internet are often the only ways, though circuitous, that gays in this region can fight for freedom.

Unfortunately, too many people, in the West and outside of it, think that gay rights is just ephemeral, nebulous, marginal politicking. Especially in nations worried about starvation, civil war, and lack of health care, gay rights often take a back seat. However, this documentary shows how homophobia is no joke. It focuses upon people that have been arrested, almost raped, and lashed just for consensual, non-violent behavior. Furthermore, it shows how the bigotry of leaders often floats down to the masses to make the lives of everyday gay men, lesbians, and transgendereds dangerous.

There are small comments from IGLHRC staff members and Congressman Frank. Still, this documentary is wonderful because gays and lesbians from the developing world got to speak for themselves. To be truthful, Janeane Garofalo's narration gives a straight, white, Western stamp of approval. However, I thought she was being a pro-gay ally by performing here. Also, she is not seen whereas non-Western gay activists are.

When the documentary ends, it notes that many gay rights activists in the developing world have to migrate to the West. (They show many individuals now in Canada or the UK, but rarely in the US, CIS officials wake up!) They do note that most gays and lesbians from those regions will not be able to immigrate. I wish they would have added that some developing countries do have strong gay rights laws. South Africa and Ecuador are examples.

I was incredibly moved by this documentary. I want to thank the makers for putting it together. This work must be publicized more than it has been. This will make you want to write a check to Amnesty or IGLHRC in a second. All gay men and lesbians of color, regardless of their citizenship, should buy this work and share it with their allies. All progressive individuals, regardless of sexuality or nationality, should peep this piece as well.

Unfortunately, in the global justice movement, little attention is ever given to the day-to-day struggles of queer human rights activists in the Third World. Likewise, mainstream LGBT organizations in the global north tend to whitewash LGBT activism, silencing not only voices living in the southern hemisphere, but often also voices of color living within the colonizing states. As such, "Dangerous Living" is a wonderful intervention to the sometimes subtle homophobia of the radical left and the often overt racism of queer politics in North America and Europe. However, like what one of the other reviewers on this site wrote, it would have been nice to see some examples of Third World countries where queer human rights are affirmed like Argentina or Costa Rica or South Africa. Nevertheless, this film is amazing and I hope it reaches a large audience!

This documentary is an eye-opener. It shines a long overdue light into the often perilous shadow world of GLBT people in the developing world. After watching this program, I thanked God for my parents, my family, my friends, and the luck of being born in a place like Boston. At the end of the day, cultural differences and ideology are rendered meaningless in the face of biology: WE ARE ALL PART OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. This dvd is a MUST see.

In many ways, this long overdue documentary updates Eric Marcus' once-groundbreaking, 13-year-old book OUT IN THE WORLD: both take an examination of the state of LGBT liberation and rights out of the West, and both stand as remarkable reminders of the intersection between the fight for LGBT rights and of human rights and social justice in general.

DANGEROUS LIVING uses a well-publicized and well-covered raid in Cairo as a jumping off point - filmmaker John Scagliotti travels and interviews activists from Jamaica, Brazil, Guatemala, Namibia, Uganda, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Fiji and elsewhere; the results are must-see filmmaking and history. Several of the individuals interviewed have been driven into exile elsewhere, but each continues to do their part in this battle. And a few of the figures here - specifically from Egypt and Jamaica (both now resident in the US), and from India have begun to make a name for themselves as globally important activists; and especially in that last instance - an activist of considerable repute already, and a potentially historically vital figure.

My lone complaint with this doc is its' brevity - I'm fairly certain that a fair amount of material had to have been left on the cutting room floor, and throughout I was hoping to hear more from the individual activists, and a bit less voiceover.

Still, this is essential viewing.

-David Alston

Great video, extremely educational and illuminating of the plight of GLBT indivduals in the third world. As difficult as it can be to be GLBT in the USA, this reminds you of the freedoms we have here, that are uncommon or unheard of in the third world. A must for any GLBT outreach organizaiton.

I really enjoyed this documentary and was really opened up to
the reality of the international gay community and the ongoing
struggle for human rights, not just gay & lesbian, but HUMAN!!
As a gay man who is african-american & native american and grew up
in the bible-waving, racist, virulently homophobic U.S. south
as well as other urban areas abroad from the late 60's (Stonewall),
coming of age in the late 70's (The Gay Rennaisance!)
to adulthood in the mid 80's (The onslaught of the AIDS epidemic!)
I can truly feel and understand this film in a very personal way!
You don't have to be gay or lesbian--if you have a brain & a heart,
then you will be touched by this documentary!

This is a wonderful example of, how we as a world, have to open our eyes and discover that people are different and that it's ok. There are more important issues in the world that people should "worry" about and give judgement about than who someone decides to have a relationship with.

This DVD is worth watching, because gay rights is important. I know that God taught us to love our neigbhor as he has always loved us. Treating each other with respect is important. My favorite part of the documentary is when the Phillipino choir sang in Australia. Enjoy!

This is an incredibly compelling, insightful, and harrowing wake-up call to activists and people who care about human rights around the world. The voices of the courageous LGBT folk interviewed from around the world in this film are inspiring and challenge us all to join in the international struggle for human rights.

Disappointed in the length of the documentary and the content. When paying over $20 for a DVD of this calibre i was hoping for more substance. Aside from the Cairo 52 story ( and not a complete coverage )there wasn't much else. Sad Journalism and even sadder for a Documentary.Had good intentions but failed to score.