QX Gay London Magazine - N 1075 (15 October 2015).pdf

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No 1075 15 October 2015
18
Suitable only for persons
of 18 years and over
Drown
PECCADILLO PICTURES PRESENTS
Drown &
Dean Francis
Drown follows the story of lifesaving champion Len
in Australia. Bold and eye-catching, the film explores
the male body, sexuality and the consequences of
same-sex attraction in a masculine environment.
QX magazine caught up with director Dean Francis.
When you set out to start making the film,
what did you want to get across to the
audience?
I read Stephen Davis’ play Drown in the context of
an epidemic of drunk male violence in Sydney which
culminated in numerous senseless killings. The play
vividly dramatises some of the factors underlying
Australia’s violent masculine culture - the idea that
“mate-ship” leads to a pack mentality where being
different can be fatal. The characters in the play use
violence to fortify themselves against perceptions
of weakness and to banish uncomfortable feelings
of same-sex attraction. I felt that there were many
uncomfortable truths in Drown and as a film it
could be provocative and feed into the emerging
discussion about the nature of masculinity.
Masculinity is a hot topic right now with
social media trends like #masculinityisfragile
getting national attention in the press.
How does the film address the theme of
masculinity?
Drown looks at the chasm that exists for many
guys between what they say they are and how they
actually feel. For our lead character, Len, fitting into
expectations handed down over generations is a
matter of life and death. In a culture where intimacy
between men is absolutely taboo, the attraction
between Len and Phil becomes toxic and can
only be expressed is through violence. Yet there’s
something really interesting about guys “proving”
their heterosexuality by inflicting sexual violence
on other guys. It’s sad and shocking to watch but
it’s the closest our characters will ever get to the
sexual relationship they both long for. Its a complex
psychology and fascinating to explore in the story.
How much of masculinity do you think is
tied up in the male physique and is this
something that’s explored in the film?
In many places where beach culture is prevalent,
identity becomes very tied up with the body as
status symbol. You see guys obsessed with sculpting
themselves into a perceived state of perfection,
preening, wanting to be wanted. It’s the same at the
beach, on the footy field or in the Gay and Lesbian
Mardi Gras. Yet the body has a different meaning
in these different contexts and there are subtle rules
around acceptable behaviour. When you juxtapose
these different contexts, like in Drown, you realise
it’s often a very thin line, but the consequences of
stepping over it can be dangerous.
What message were you hoping to get across
with the film?
Identity, like gender and sexuality, is fluid and labels
are often destructive.
What other themes does the film explore?
The film also looks at the homogenisation of “gay
culture”. Just as our protagonist Len feels forced
to live a certain way by the culture of athleticism,
the openly gay Tom is also forced into an identity.
Because he’s gay he feels he has to act a certain
way and do certain things. His closeted boyfriend
Phil is not completely comfortable in either gay or
straight worlds and he doesn’t feel he should have
to fit in to either. Phil is our “post-Queer” icon and
he’s a very inspiring character because ultimately
he never stops being who he is, even if that
challenges the world around him.
What were some of the challenges you faced
when making the film?
So many challenges making Drown! Shooting on the
beach sounds like fun but its actually hell. We had
cast too terrified of sharks to get in the ocean, other
cast who were attacked by swarms of jellyfish as we
were shooting, and some overcome with exhaustion
because of all the running and swimming. The main
cast had to bulk up very quickly for the shoot and
then stay on a strict training regime throughout. We
had one of the rainiest summers in years so filming
just seemed to stretch on forever. It really was an
incredibly challenging shoot and I’m looking forward
to doing a “two people in a room” type film next.
“Fitting into
expectations
handed
down over
generations is
a matter of life
and death.”
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Drown is out on DVD and On-Demand from October 12th.
For more info visit www.peccapics.com
The Samaritans of the Switchboards
Despite progress, too many in the LGBT community still find
themselves struggling to cope with issues relating to their
gender identity or sexual orientation; too often they’ve no one
to talk to. Chris Godfrey speaks with Switchboard co-chair,
Nuala O’Sullivan, and Gay Switchboard Ireland director,
Adam Shanley, about how their charities continue to help the
community’s most vulnerable and isolated.
Solace in Strangers:
where LGBT
issues aren’t discussed the only thing that thrives is
homophobia. In a society where an LGBT-inclusive
curriculum in schools is suppressed, where talking
about experiences and feelings is discouraged, where
parts of the mainstream media continue to ignore the
queer community, it’s ignorance that reigns supreme.
Last Sunday marked National Coming Out day, an
attempt to smash the silence around LGBT issues that
still pervade many facets of society. It’s a day reserved
for celebrating queerness and raising awareness of
the issues people still face when coming out; because
despite all the progress that has been made in the
UK in recent years, coming out can still be a bleak
process, one fraught with anxiety and depression, fear
and loathing, isolation.
Simply having someone to confide in can often be
the difference between life and death. Not everyone is
lucky enough though to have a sturdy support network;
for those who feel completely alone LGBT switchboards
could be their last resort.
“We’re a listening service,” says Nuala O’Sullivan,
co-chair and trustee of Switchboard, the UK’s longest
running LGBT helpline. “We don’t give people advice
and we don’t tell people what to do, but we listen to
them and reflect back to them what they’re saying, to
help them find their own solutions.”
Switchboard has been fielding calls from LGBT
individuals since March 1974, helping people cope
issues ranging from mental health to sexual health,
coming out to going out. The service originally operated
for five hours every evening above a bookshop near
Kings Cross station; such was its popularity though,
it soon transformed into one that runs for 24 hours
a day. It soon
transformed into
one that ran for
24 hours a day
In a vacuum
“Simply having
someone to
confide in
can often be
the difference
between life
and death.”
(it’s phoneline now operates 10am-11pm everyday). It
now averages over 15,000 interactions a year.
Switchboard has recently rebranded (originally
called the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard)
to appeal to the entire community, nationwide, and
to better reach those who are more secluded, such
as people living in rural areas or strongly religious
households. It’s not just LGBT people from outside the
community that are reaching out to Switchboard.
“We take calls from the straight community too,”
says O’Sullivan. “We get a lot of calls,
particularly from parents, but also from
work colleagues and other people who
know somebody who’s LGBT. It’s usually
“The UK may now
parents of younger teenagers coming to
terms with some aspect of their child’s
enjoy some of the
life. They’re super-inclusive and want
most progressive
to be supportive, but they just want to
help; they haven’t faced the situation
laws and, arguably,
before. They just want to talk to us to get
one of the most
reassurance and some useful pointers.”
accepting societies,
Since Switchboard was founded the
landscape has shifted drastically; there’s
but the calls keep
near total legislative equality, Section 28
coming in.”
has been and gone, and mainstream
society has probably never been more
accepting. The UK may now enjoy
some of the most progressive laws and,
arguably, one of the most accepting
societies, but the calls keep coming in.
“People call us when they’re in some kind of
crisis and those crises don’t change, despite all the
legislation,” says O’Sullivan. “Still 15-year-olds will call
to say I don’t know if my mum will love me anymore
if I tell her I’m a lesbian. That has not changed.
Each generation, particularly with young people,
still face the same issues.”
It’s a similar story in Ireland. The Gay
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Switchboard Ireland (GSI) was founded in
1974, a time when homosexuality was still
criminalised, and was originally called Tell
A Friend. Had ‘gay’ been included in the
title it would have been illegal for them to
advertise their services; even with adopting
a subtler name though, just one national
newspaper published Tell A Friend’s number.
“The whole idea was to have a reassuring
voice with the capacity to listen and to
engage, not to shower people with advice,
but to just listen and be there for them,” says
Adam Shanley, director at GSI. “We probably
see the most amounts of calls come from
what we call rural and isolation settings; it
tends to be those over 35 who grew up with a
more difficult impression of being gay.”
Since homosexuality was decriminalised
in 1993 the number of calls GSI takes has
steadily risen, with over 1,500 taken last
year. The situation for LGBT people in Ireland
has improved drastically too, culminating
in the recent euphoria around the equal-
marriage referendum. But while history will
no doubt look back at the result as a time of
celebration for the LGBT community - and
rightly so - for some who lived through the
intense campaigning it was anything but.
“We’re actually still fielding calls from
people that were affected by the marriage
equality referendum,” says Shanley. “A
lot of younger callers are ringing and
saying they stayed quiet in the referendum
because they heard their parents talking
about it and they had a bigoted views. It
[the referendum] has a knock on effect on
their coming out process.”
Even the more experienced members
of the LGBT community found themselves
speaking with GSI during the referendum.
Some of those who went out canvassing
for the Yes Vote, Ireland’s ‘out and proud’
population, were shocked by some of the
responses they received.
“We saw a spike in people calling
and saying they couldn’t believe there’s
people that I’ve met this week on the doors
that have this type of opinion of us,” says
Shanley. “We saw as well in any of the
televised debates or high profile articles in
the Irish Times or Independent that people
were affected by it. They would turn to us to
debrief and get it off their minds.”
Recently both Switchboard and Gay
Switchboard Ireland have introduced instant
messaging services, making them more
accessible to a generation more likely to
turn to a keyboard
than a phone for
help. Both have
noted its popularity
with the younger
generation, who
generally less likely
to find themselves in
a position to speak
on the phone, but its
appeal has stretched
to anyone lacking the
confidence to vocalise
their problems.
“We spoke to one
guy through it who
was in a heterosexual
marriage,” says
Shanley. “He said he
wouldn’t have had
the confidence to pick
up the phone and talk, and he definitely
wouldn’t have been comfortable walking
into an LGBT community centre
“We’ve had a lot of people be silent
on the phone. They’ll ring us and we’d be
encouraging them that we’re there to talk
“Since
homosexuality
was
decriminalised
in 1993 the
number of calls
GSI takes has
steadily risen.”
whenever they’re ready. But we’d have a
lot of people ring up, be silent, then hang
up. It can be very difficult to verbalise
something for a lot of people and being
behind a keyboard can really help that
person open up.”
At a time when technology (specifically
Grindr) is being lambasted (rightly or wrongly)
for breaking up the community, it’s refreshing
to see that it can also empower. While it’s
a mark of how both charities are evolving,
finding new ways to reach those who may
be stranded, it’s also a reminder that despite
progress the same problems persist. Laws
change, the crises stay the same. As things
stand it’s likely to
remain that way for the
foreseeable future.
“In an ideal world
I would love for us
to be so good at
our jobs that we put
ourselves completely
out of business,” says
Shanley. “But that’s an
unrealistic expectation.
We’ll always have
people that are
struggling with coming
out, sexual health will
always be an issue and
while there’s been a
really positive outcome
from the marriage
equality referendum
even that topic itself
had some adverse effects. So there will
always be a need for services like ours.
“We’ve been around for 41 years and we
definitely want to stick around and be there
for the community, ready to talk, for as long
as they need us.”
If you need to talk about any of the issues mentioned in this piece,
Switchboard can be reached on 0300 330 0630 or through its website
www.switchboard.lgbt. Gay Switchboard Ireland can be reached on
+353 1872 1055 or through its website at www.gayswitchboard.ie.
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