HOMOPHOBIA AT THE ATHENS OPERA HOUSE: RUSALKA

Αντιγράφω από το μπλογκ του Gay Super Hero:

Last Friday the greek premiere of czech composer Antonín Dvořák's opera "Rusalka" was staged by the Athens Opera House in a co-production with the Opera de Nice. The french director Marion Wasserman decided to give a homosexual undertone to the play, depicting Rusalka (a siren of the streams and lakes in slavic mythology) as a representation of the repressed homosexual desires of the prince that she falls in love with - in direct parallel with the real story of king Ludwig II of Bavaria. In one scene the prince is seen kissing a male extra - who is really just his mirror image.

During rehearsals, elements in the AOH orchestra (which is funded by the greek government) reacted strongly to the homosexual scene and used their influence to try to suppress it. During the general rehearsal the scene was cut and the excuse cited was that a group of schoolchildren were invited to watch.

During the premiere on Friday, members of the orchestra distributed flyers to the audience signed by the orchestra's administration board in which they expressed their "frustration" that "an innocent fairy-tale" was corrupted by "extreme homosexual imagery". The premiere took place without problems with the male kiss featuring as planned, and was watched among others by former President of the Republic mr. Stefanopoulos. After the end of the performance however, when the french director appeared on stage members of the audience started hissing and booing so loudly that, when she tried to address the crowd, she was drowned out by the noise.

On Saturday night a group of lgbt activists stormed the Athens Opera House and demanded to read a text protesting the orchestra's homophobia and attempted censorship before the start of the performance. They were manhandled by the opera staff and, once inside the hall, a fight broke out between them and members of the orchestra with some members of the audience shouting at them to get out and let them enjoy the performance. After the end of the play the french director gave media interviews claiming there was an attempt at censhorship which is unacceptable in a european country.

You can watch an interview with the director as well as the fight inside the opera on Saturday night here: http://www.tvxs.gr/v6901.
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Επίσης αντιγράφω το σχόλιο του Καναδικού γκέι μπλογκ Gay Persons of Color που το αναδημοσιεύει εδώ:

LGBT issues are not often discussed in Greek politics, and Greece lacks many laws, provisions, and basic civil rights that millions of gay people enjoy in Western Europe and North America, so congratulations to the courageous Athenians who called out the homophobia of the orchestra. Good golly, censorship for a male/male kiss? As Zeus is my witness, I say, ridiculous.