Actress Jameela Jamil broke her self-imposed break from social media to come out as queer.
The Good Place star has been outspoken against mental health, body-shaming and positive body image but she hasn't said anything about her sexual preference until recently.
But she is being criticized because she didn't come out until she felt pressured to do so because of her participation in a new show, Legendary, which fans said she shouldn't be passing judgement on a form of ballroom dancing, "Voguing" popular in the gay community.
In her Twitter post, Jamil shared that she “never officially came out as queer because "it’s not easy within the south Asian community to be accepted.” Her father is from India and her mother is from Pakistan, cultures in which being gay is not generally accepted.
She continued in her tweet that she “was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear, and turmoil when I was a kid.”
The LGBTQ community in India is still fighting for their rights and acceptance as human beings.
She said she had hoped that her celebrityhood would help the show's popularity.
The actress had been on a self-imposed break from Twitter, but felt compelled to explain her coming out and why she hesitated for so long.
In a follow-up tweet, she thanked her supporters and offered advice to other people who remain in the closet out of fear.
"Do it whenever you feel the time is right, as long as you think you feel safe. But feel no shame about getting it off your chest and know you are not alone." Her tweet follows below:
Leela Ladnier will voice Mira in the new Disney animated series.
Wow! if you put the voice actors who worked in the new animated series, Mira, Royal Detective, and put them in a live-action movie, it would be promoted as a star-studded blockbuster.
Disney is so confident of the success of the new series of 11-minute episodes that the studio has already ordered a second season before the first season premieres in March of this year.
"Mira, Royal Detective hasn't even premiered yet and we have already seen the excitement building for this series featuring a brave and empowered young girl who will stop at nothing to solve a case,” said Joe D'Ambrosia, senior vice president, original programming, and general manager, Disney Junior. “To ensure that we have plenty of new mysteries ahead for Mira, we are thrilled to begin production on a second season and can't wait to introduce her to the world in 2020." In an exclusive by EW, the cast for the animated series reflects Disney's goal to introduce more racial diversity in its productions.
The new mystery-adventure animated series is inspired by the cultures and customs of India. Set in the fictional land of Jalpur, it follows Mira, a commoner who is appointed to the role of royal detective by the queen herself. Newcomer 16-year-old newcomer Leela Ladnier will do the voicee of Mira. The cast surrounding her are well-known Indian American actors.
Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) wil provide the voice of Queen Shanti.
Jameela Jamil of 'The Good Place' will voice Auntie Pushpa.
Kal Penn of 'House' and 'Designated Survivor' voices Mikka the mongoose sidekick.
Utkarsh Ambudkar of 'The Mindy Project' voices Chikku, a fellow mongoose.
Hannah Simone from 'New Girl' will give voice to Pinky, a commoner.
Actress Jameela Jamil urges anyone considering suicide to seek help.
On World Mental Health Day last Thursday (Oct. 10), Good Place star Jameela Jamil revealed in a series of tweets that she tried to kill herself.
She's beautiful. She's in a successful TV show. She should be on top of the world. However, Jamil's confession shows that anyone can fall prey to mental illness.
Jamil, 33, has previously opened up about some "traumatic" experiences in her life, such as anorexia in her teens, a car accident that bound her to bed for a year when she was 17, anxiety, depression, and being raped in her 20s.
The actress then developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but a type of therapy called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) helped her recover.
In her tweets, she emphasized that for anyone considering taking their own life, there is help available. "Things can turn around," she tweeted. "I promise."
"For a long time I had severe PTSD. EMDR pretty much used a magic trick. It removed my trauma," Jamil told The Sunday Times. "I can remember horrific things and feel like they happened to other people. I couldn't have kept myself together without it."
"I'm aware of what it's like to not be able to go to the toilet by myself, or to be able to breathe because I had asthma, or be able to hear, because I was deaf as a child," she told Ellein an interview. I also stopped menstruating when I had an eating disorder, so my body has been in jeopardy so many times that I've, frankly, by the age of thirty, a little bit late but better late than never, learned to treat it with lots of kindness and respect."
"I don't talk shit to myself anymore. Every time it crops up I stick up for myself the way that I would for a friend or for a stranger even," she told Elle. "The things that women say to themselves in their head, they would never tolerate being said to someone that they love. So I've decided to be my own best friend."
If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741. ___________________________________________________________________
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) last week signed a bill banning abortion at eight weeks. In addition, the state's only abortion clinic could be closed by the end of the week because the state is threatening to not renew its license. Laws introduced by Missouri, Indiana and Georgia drew strong reaction from AAPI women.
“What they are doing is to weaponize the inspection process and to politicize it,” said Dr. Leana Wen, President/CEO of Planned Parenthood, noting requirements that have been placed on abortion clinics such as wider hallways and required pelvic exams.
“All of these regulations have only one purpose, which is to shut down the ability of health centers to provide safe, legal abortions, which is not going to stop abortion, but it will stop safe, legal abortions,” Wen added while appearing Wednesday on "CBS This Morning."
Planned Parenthood is suing to keep providing abortions at that clinic, A judge is expected to announce his ruling today (May 30).
"We hope that the court will see exactly what's happening, which is that over the last 10 years the state of Missouri has imposed regulation upon regulation that has no basis in medicine," Wen said. "We've complied with all of them because we want to keep our health center open. These are things like making our hallways extra wide, forcing women to wait 72 hours — even having unnecessary, invasive pelvic exams."
At a press conference Wednesday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Planned Parenthood’s license would be renewed if the clinic resolved “deficiencies” uncovered by state investigators by Friday, adding that the organization was aware of the renewal deadline months in advance.
“This is not…a pro-life issue at all. This is about a standard of care,
Planned Parenthood's legal action comes as a series of states have passed laws to restrict abortion rights.
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum Executive Director Sung Yeon Choimorrow issued the following statement:
“On the heels of Georgia and Alabama, Missouri politicians have chosen yet again to attack our agency to make decisions about our lives by introducing legislation that would ban abortion after 8 weeks and so-called “sex-selective abortions.”
Sex-selective abortion bans target Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women in particular by promoting dangerous, false racial stereotypes: proponents of the bill misleadingly claim, using overt racism, that these bans on abortions are necessary to prevent AAPI pregnant people from propagating “backwards” cultural preferences for male babies. A study completed in 2014 found that Asian Americans in the United States are actually giving birth to more girls on average than white Americans are.
“Make no mistake: these bans do not promote gender equity, and instead do the extreme opposite, limiting the ability of AAPIs to make crucial decisions with regard to our own health and well-being. Anti-abortion legislators cannot be allowed to hide behind the mantle of “saving” women of color to advance racist, sexist legislation that impedes the rights of all women.
“Abortion will remain legal in Missouri until this ban goes into effect, unless the courts do the right thing and act to stop this racist, sexist policy in its tracks. We refuse to allow our communities to be scapegoated so that politicians can continue to trample our agency and dignity, and AAPI women will continue to resist and powerfully oppose bans like these with even more intensity, persistence, and resolve.”
Missouri's actions is just the latest attempt of some states to severely limit access to clinics like Planned Parenthoodd that offers abortion as one of its healthcare services.
In various states whose state legislatures are controlled by Republicans, conservative lawmakers are trying to eliminate funding for family planning or block Planned Parenthood's participation in public health programs. While state attacks on Planned Parenthood patients vary, the outcome would be the same: women's ability to receive basic health care -— including cancer screenings, well-woman exams, and birth control — from their trusted health care provider would be severely undermined.
In a decision Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied petition for review of an Indiana law banning abortion on the basis of sex, race, or disability of the fetus.
The federal appeals court for the Seventh Circuit found the law to be unconstitutional, and Indiana appealed that decision to the Supreme Court. Because the Supreme Court has denied Indiana’s petition, the appeals court’s decision stands, and the law remains unconstitutional. In its opinion, the Supreme Court explained that it was not ruling on the constitutionality of these types of abortion bans and was denying the petition because no other federal appeals court other than the Seventh Circuit has considered this issue.
The normally reticent Justice Clarence Thomas issued a 20-page opinion on the case indicating how he would vote if ever a challenge to Roe v. Wade were to reach the High Court. Part of his statement, which was riddled with half-truths and many of his assertions were without evidence, raised the spectre of a stereotiype about some Asian countries and he made no distinction between those countries and Asian Americans.
"Thomas points to data on “widespread sex-selective abortions” in Asia and asserts that “recent evidence suggests that sex-selective abortions of girls are common among certain populations in the United States as well,” said Choimorrow in a statement. The racist myth being perpetuated by the states limited access to abortion is that families from these ethnic groups prefer sons over daughters.
“Thomas’ statements promote dangerous, false stereotypes about AAPI women, perpetuating ludicrous claims that these bans are necessary to prevent AAPI pregnant people, particularly Asian immigrants, who they claim have 'backwards' cultural values preferring male babies, from having sex-selective abortions," continued Choimorrow. "In truth, a study completed in 2014 found that Asian Americans are actually giving birth to more girls on average than their white American counterparts.
“Using overt racism and xenophobia, these bans send the dangerous message that AAPIs cannot be trusted to make our own reproductive decisions .... Indiana’s ban was deeply concerning to our communities because the only two women who have ever been criminally prosecuted by the state for their pregnancy outcomes have been AAPI."
Support for women's right to make their own healthcare decisions is strong among Asian-American women, even as it has recently waned in the American population at large. The National Asian Women’s Health Organization found that nearly 70 percent of Asian-American women back the decision to abort; 90 percent support it in cases of rape or incest.
As support for abortion has risen, so has the rate at which Asian-American women undergo the procedure. In 2000, about 35 percent of Asian-American pregnancies ended in abortion, the second highest rate for all racial and ethnic groups behind blacks, and almost double the 18 percent rate for whites.
As the debate over the right for women to make decisions about their healthcare, several AAPI celebrities have come forth to speak out.
Spurred by Trump's appointment of conservative activist judges, including his two appointments to the Supreme Court, states with conservative legislatures and governors have passed laws that will likely be challenged in the courts. Their hope is that if enough of these cases are appealed to the Supreme Court that Roe v. Wade would be overturned.
Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia to ban abortion once a heartbeat is detected, which can occur in the sixth week of pregnancy. Padma Lakshimi, in addition to hosting the Top Chef television show, has been an outspoken social activist.
Georgia imposed the most extreme version of the law, meaning women who get the procedure could face the death penalty.
Jameela Jamil, costar in The Good Place, tweetd about her own abortion following the introduction of Georgia's ban on Monday.
She revealed: "I had an abortion when I was young, and it was the best decision I have ever made.
Can't get enough of the Golden Globes diversity? Besides some of the cast of Crazy Rich Asians, there were plenty of other Asians and Asian Americans making their presence felt.
Here's a few posts from Instagram and Twitter taken at the after parties, the Red Carpet and onstage:
Netflix executive Lisa Nishimura celebrated Roma's success.
Jaime Chung
Jameela Jamil of The Good Place was in a good mood.
Michelle Yeoh, resplendent in green, wore the emerald ring used in the movie Crazy Rich Asians
Gemma Chan congratulates fellow Brit Richard Madden's Golden Globe for his work on Netlflix's Bodyguard.
Gemma Chan on the Red Carpet
Sandra Oh's genuine reaction when she was announced a Golden Globe winner.
Sandra Oh acknowledges Emma Stone's shouted out apology when Oh made a joke about whitewashing joke about Aloha, which starred Stone as an Asian American.
