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3 May 2007

catholic college expels 5 students for making gay short film

Five students at a Catholic Church-run college in Kerala, India have been expelled for failing to defend their gay themed film to school officials.

Five students at a Catholic Church-run college in Kerala, India have been expelled on April 2 after producing a short film with gay themes for an inter-college film festival.

The 5-minute long film, titled Secret Minds, which is said to contain partial nudity explores the secret woes of being gay. The film was directed by a postgraduate student in cinema and television, at St Joseph's College of Communications, Changanacherry in Kottayam, while four other undergraduate multimedia students at the same college had acted in the film.

The students have defended their film on grounds of artistic expression saying that their film was not intended for public viewing and was "targeted at the festival crowd" where "only creativity matters and issues of morality are swept aside," but school authorities were unconvinced.

"We teach modern technology and so we are generally open to new ideas. But this film was outrageously indecent," a senior teacher at the college was quoted as telling a local newspaper.

Despite the thriving gay scenes in the major cities, gay sex is considered taboo and is criminalised under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. The move also comes weeks after three Indian states - Maharashtra, Gujerat and Madhya Pradesh - banned sex education in schools.

India

Reader's Comments

Comment #1 was deleted by its author
2. 2007-05-05 17:54  
Ridiculous!
3. 2007-05-06 07:48  
when does this indian film get posted?
4. 2007-05-06 08:51  
thats why i live in america! freedom of speech and expression. that really sucks but im glad they made the gay video. the catholic religion is a hypocrisy!
5. 2007-05-06 08:52  
thats why i live in america! freedom of speech and expression. that really sucks but im glad they made the gay video. the catholic religion is a hypocrisy!
6. 2007-05-06 17:42  
f**kn' pathetic!
Comment #7 was deleted by its author
8. 2007-05-07 04:55  
How absolutely ridiculous!
9. 2007-05-07 15:12  
Avoiding the issue and problem is not the solution!
Punishment does not stop someone from Loving!
Look at the crime rate and HIV+ cases in India!
Wake up my dear friend!
10. 2007-05-07 20:55  
This reflects hypocricy which begins at the top! The Pope was once in the Hitler Youth, poor boy, he couldn't help it. My mother was also in the hitler youth, but she doesn't claim to be infallible. Roman catholic doctorine does make this claim. The "church" has a lot to answer for.
11. 2007-05-08 06:45  
stop with the pro-america anti-asia statements that some people make. there are ridiculous universities in the USA that expel people for being gay as well. like a mormon university in utah. the west is not synonymous with 'good' and asia synonymous with 'repression'.
12. 2007-05-08 19:02  
Do we really care what happens in India anyways ? I am from Malaysia and I study in Sunway University College and there are no problems being a gay student here . There are no discrimatory restricitions on my lifestyle or school work product . I dare anyone in Asia to tell me that they have a similiar educational experience . I know Malaysia is said to be a Muslim Country and all but honestly
those retrictions are usally only for the Malays . I can tell you there are many places here where you can hold hands on the beach or while you are shopping with your boyfriend with no fear of prejudice . Honestly I feel so much more liberated here then I would anywhere else . I do kiss and hug the guy I am dating on the sofa at my local starbucks , can you ?

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