[Peace] April 13, Dangerous Living

[Nejan Huvaj]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Through April 13

CONTACT: Danielle Schumacher
dlschuma at uiuc.edu
815.375.0790

COMING OUT IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD:
FORMER EGYPTIAN PRISONER TO SPEAK AT UNIVERSITY Y

WHAT:  The UIUC chapters of Amnesty International and PRIDE are
hosting a showing of the documentary 'Dangerous Living: Coming Out in
the Developing World,' narrated by Janeane Garofalo. Following the
film, Wissam, jailed in Egypt for being homosexual, will speak about
his experiences. Kim Mongoven of Amnesty International's OUTFront
program will talk about what AI does to promote and protect LGBT
rights. She will also lead the audience in letter-writing and other
actions.  Popcorn and drinks will be provided.

WHO: Kim Mongoven, Amnesty International OUTFront Midwest Youth
Organizer; Wissam, former Egyptian prisoner of conscious;  UIUC
PRIDE; Amnesty International Chapter 124

WHERE: Latzer Hall, University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign

WHEN: Tuesday, April 13 from 7 to 9pm

WHY: The film has received acclaim from audiences and critics, and we
wanted to take this rare opportunity to hear from Wissam.  This event
falls during LGBT Awareness Month and 8 days before the Day of
Silence.

Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World, is a
feature-length documentary that explores the immense changes that
occurred for gays, lesbians and transgender people living in the
Global South. In the last decade of the 20th Century, a new
heightened visibility began spreading throughout the developing world
and the battles between families, fundamentalist religions, and
governments around sexual and gender identity had begun. But in the
West, few people knew about this historic social upheaval, until 52
men on Cairo.s Queen Boat discothhque were arrested for crimes of
debauchery. That explosive story focused attention to the lives and
trials of gay people coming out in the developing world and the film
chronicles those events.  Dangerous Living opens with one of the
Cairo 52 defendant.s, Ashraf Zanati, who was tortured, humiliated,
beaten and forced to spend 13 months in prison. His simple, but
powerful statement sets out the basic theme for the film: 'My
sexuality is my own sexuality. It doesn't belong to anybody. Not to
my government, not to my brother, my sister, my family. No.'

Directed by John Scagliotti and Produced by Janet Baus and Dan Hunt.
Executive Producer is Reid Williams.


Amnesty International, Chapter 124 http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/amnesty/
UIUC PRIDE http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/pride/


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