Just back from New Scotland Yard (Metropolitan Police HQ), where we were invited to be on a panel about LGBT hate crimes. Hanan agreed to this without consulting me, yet I got to sit up in front of 100 police personnel. That's a hate crime right there. Anyway, I learned many things by the end of this session:
1. Most policewomen do not look like Charlie's Angels
2. Domestic violence against lesbians includes mental abuse and frankly, I will be watching Hanan closely from now on
3. Bar charts and pie charts (even in colour) are no match for the trailer of I Can't Think Straight for getting people's attention.
What can I do with this new-found knowledge, apart from be more vigilant about people making sarcastic comments about my flat shoes? We all agreed by the end that education is the key. I can be flippant about it here, but of course these crimes are too common and too real for many people. I hope that by getting emotionally involved with characters like Amina and Miriam, or Tala and Leyla, people realise that sexuality, colour and gender are the last things we should judge people on. It is, of course, perfectly acceptable to judge people if they voted for George W Bush or listen to Russian pop stars (except Beyonce). I am joking of course (sort of) but I felt a renewed energy to begin I Can't Think Straight 2, where Tala becomes a policewoman, handcuffs Reema and Kareem together, brings them to justice, then takes her handcuffs back home where Leyla is waiting with a pie chart showing how many people thought Lesbian food involved hummus and tabouleh...