Rights of Passage: Interconnected

Friday, May 8, 2009

Interconnected

New Conservatory Theatre Center cast of Some Men by Terrence McNally, Directed by Ed Decker. West Coast Premiere May 29-July 12, 2009.

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It’s been weeks since our last posting and time for working on the play has all but vanished recently. Robert is preoccupied with organizing his program's participation in an upcoming International Public Health Conference in Washington, DC www.ghfp.net and Ed is directing a new play by Terrence McNally called Some Men at his theatre www.nctcsf.org. Both projects happen at the end of this month.

In between moaning about how the toils of our daily lives keep getting in the way of our Rights of Passage project we stumbled upon a rather obvious realization. It’s all interconnected. Ed is directing a play about eight decades of gay relationships in America and Robert is supporting the advancement of health and well being in developing countries around the globe. The work we do everyday is what inspired Rights of Passage to begin with and this work continues to inform our effort.

So enough of the feelings of guilt. Limited time or not there are bigger issues. Let’s take a quick look at some good news for LGBT human rights world-wide.

USA: Maine legalizes gay marriage. www.cnn.com

Cambodia: Phnom Penh Pride! May 12-17, 2009 - Supported in part by Rights of Passage www.phnompenhpride.blogspot.com/

Iran: Arad, a young gay Iranian man who fled to Turkey as been granted asylum and begins a new life in Canada. www.irqr.net

Serbia: A new anti-discrimination law is adopted. www.iglhrc.org

Even though there are simply not enough hours in the day to do it all, our commitment to Rights of Passage remains steadfast.

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What is Rights of Passage?

Rights of Passage is a new play about courage and love. About people all over the world who want to be who they are and why that simple concept is not always so simple to make real. The play is both personal and universal as it illuminates the lives of LGBT people from different cultures and backgrounds. The storytelling style of the play is based on the ageless performance techniques found on the Indonesian island of Bali; these same theatrical techniques, in somewhat different forms, also represent cultures throughout the world. Monologues, scenes, puppetry, masks, and dance will bring the play’s stories to life. Rights of Passage has been developed through extensive research, hundreds of interviews, and the unyielding support of LGBT citizens and activists around the world. Rights of Passage will have its world premiere at The New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco, beginning its run on August 17, 2012.

Post your story here or contact us privately at sfwave@comcast.net

Project Background

In the summer of 2007 we began our research for Rights of Passage, a new play project for The New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco http://www.nctcsf.org/. At the same time, The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) http://www.iglhrc.org/ in New York enthusiastically offered their support to the development of the play. Their assistance ignited our relationships with the vast international LGBT human rights network . ILGHRC continues as a primary guiding force for Rights of Passage, as does the work of Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/ and Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/

The themes in Rights of Passage are based upon the Yogyakarta Principles http://www.yogyakartaprinciples.org/ a set of international principles relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. This document is a universal guide to human rights which affirm binding international legal standards with which all States must comply. They promise a different future where all people born free and equal in dignity and rights can fulfill that precious birthright.

Thanks to the power of the internet we are able to reach out to LGBT organizations, individuals, and our allies around the globe. We have also traveled traveled througout the US, Europe, Canada, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia conducting research for the play. Our future travel plans will take us to the Middle East, Africa, China, South America and the Ukraine.

Rights of Passage is supported in part by The James Hormel Small Change Foundation and the generosity of individual donors world wide. We welcome new sponsors at http://www.nctcsf.org/donation