The State We’re In - 8 August 2009: Video letters reconcile war-torn friendships. We meet a man who embraces his right to be naked wherever and whenever he can, and talk to Muslims about their right to be gay - including an openly gay Imam.
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When being face to face is too painful
Katarina Rejger and Eric van den Broek produced a series of video letters which helped to reconcile friends and lovers estranged by war.
Cinema refugee
Liberian refugees are turning their camp into a soundstage for a thriving amateur movie industry. They say it’s their way of helping to heal the wounds of war.
This week’s theme is “The right to be naked”
Get naked!
For Mick Ayers from the International Naturists Federation, nudity is a form of liberation and self expression.
The naked sculpture
The Norwegian Sculptor Kirsten Kokkin talks about the removal of her naked art work from a roundabout in the American city of Colorado.
Get naked together!
The film maker Jill Woodward describes what it was like to take part in a mass naked photo shoot by the photographer Spencer Tunick.
More…
The right to be gay and Muslim
Gay in Egypt
Homosexuality is not specifically prohibited in Egypt, but gays are regularly arrested and charged with “debauchery”. One of the most infamous cases occurred in 2001 when 52 men were arrested during a police raid on a floating night club, the Queen Boat.
We speak to one of the men, Mazen who was jailed for a year and sought asylum in France.
Gay life in Istanbul
Homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey but gays and lesbians are regularly harassed by the police and the general public. Homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender people have been fighting for over a decade to create space for themselves.
We talk to Emre-Can, a young man living in Istanbul, about gay life in Turkey.
The gay Imam
Most Muslim clerics condemn homosexuality outright, citing several verses from the holy Koran. But there are Imams who are actually gay themselves. Eric Beauchemin speaks to Imam Muhsin Hendricks from South Africa who explains how he reconciles his faith with his homosexuality.
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