Forty years after GLF
pioneered a trailblazing
freedom agenda, I am
still celebrating LGBT
Pride. But my eye is
firmly fixed on the real
prize: a world beyond
gay and straight.
More information about
Peter Tatchell's human
rights campaigns:
www.petertatchell.net
Copyright © AMBIENTE
MAGAZINE. Do not
reproduce without citing
this source
pioneered a trailblazing
freedom agenda, I am
still celebrating LGBT
Pride. But my eye is
firmly fixed on the real
prize: a world beyond
gay and straight.
More information about
Peter Tatchell's human
rights campaigns:
www.petertatchell.net
Copyright © AMBIENTE
MAGAZINE. Do not
reproduce without citing
this source
| . |
| . |
| . |
www.ambiente.us JULY| JULIO 2010
OPEd | Beyond gay and straight
After 40 years of gains on homophobic law repeal, is there any more need
for a separate identity?
By Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner
Today's gay pride parade in London celebrates 40 years since the formation of the Gay
Liberation Front (GLF) in Britain. This was a watershed moment in British queer
history. For the first time, thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
people stopped hiding in the closet and suffering in silence. I was one of them. We
came out and marched in the streets, proclaiming gay pride and demanding our
freedom.
This had never happened before. In 1970, many LGBT people were ashamed of their
homosexuality and kept it secret. Some wished they were straight and went to doctors
to get 'cured'.
This internalised homophobia was not surprising. Forty years ago, the state branded
homosexuality as unnatural, indecent and criminal; the church condemned LGBT
people as immoral, wicked and sinful; and the medical profession classified us as
sick, abnormal and disordered.
LGBT people were sacked from their jobs, evicted from flats, refused service in pubs,
arrested for kissing in the street and had their children taken from them by the courts.
There was no legal protection against such discrimination. It was lawful.
OPEd | Beyond gay and straight
After 40 years of gains on homophobic law repeal, is there any more need
for a separate identity?
By Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner
Today's gay pride parade in London celebrates 40 years since the formation of the Gay
Liberation Front (GLF) in Britain. This was a watershed moment in British queer
history. For the first time, thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
people stopped hiding in the closet and suffering in silence. I was one of them. We
came out and marched in the streets, proclaiming gay pride and demanding our
freedom.
This had never happened before. In 1970, many LGBT people were ashamed of their
homosexuality and kept it secret. Some wished they were straight and went to doctors
to get 'cured'.
This internalised homophobia was not surprising. Forty years ago, the state branded
homosexuality as unnatural, indecent and criminal; the church condemned LGBT
people as immoral, wicked and sinful; and the medical profession classified us as
sick, abnormal and disordered.
LGBT people were sacked from their jobs, evicted from flats, refused service in pubs,
arrested for kissing in the street and had their children taken from them by the courts.
There was no legal protection against such discrimination. It was lawful.
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The Gay Liberation Front was the first major challenge to this heterosexism. Inspired by the
Black Power slogan "Black is Beautiful", it proclaimed "Gay Is Good." Back then, it was very
radical to suggest there was anything good about being gay. Most people thought queers
were mad, sad and very, very bad.
Even liberal-minded heterosexuals often supported us out of
sympathy and pity. Many reacted with horror when GLF declared:
"2-4-6-8! Gay is just as good as straight!" Those assertive, affirmative
words - which were so empowering to queers everywhere - frightened
the life out of smug, arrogant straight people, who had always
assumed they were superior.
GLF's rebellion against heterosexual supremacism kick-started a still on-going revolution in
public opinion, laws and cultural values. It overturned the conventional wisdom on matters of
sex and human rights. Our joyous celebration of gayness contradicted the uptight straight
morality that had ruled the world for centuries and which had oppressed heterosexuals as
well as homosexuals.
While most politicians, doctors, priests and journalists saw homosexuality as a social
problem, GLF said the real problem was society's homophobia. Instead of seeking to
justifying our existence, we demanded that the gay-haters justify their bigotry.
GLF's unique style of 'protest as performance' was not only incredibly effective, but also a lot
of fun. Christian morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse had her Festival of Light rally in
Central Hall Westminster invaded by a posse of gay nuns. They staged a kiss-in when one
of the speakers, Malcolm Muggeridge, disparaged homosexuals,
Black Power slogan "Black is Beautiful", it proclaimed "Gay Is Good." Back then, it was very
radical to suggest there was anything good about being gay. Most people thought queers
were mad, sad and very, very bad.
Even liberal-minded heterosexuals often supported us out of
sympathy and pity. Many reacted with horror when GLF declared:
"2-4-6-8! Gay is just as good as straight!" Those assertive, affirmative
words - which were so empowering to queers everywhere - frightened
the life out of smug, arrogant straight people, who had always
assumed they were superior.
GLF's rebellion against heterosexual supremacism kick-started a still on-going revolution in
public opinion, laws and cultural values. It overturned the conventional wisdom on matters of
sex and human rights. Our joyous celebration of gayness contradicted the uptight straight
morality that had ruled the world for centuries and which had oppressed heterosexuals as
well as homosexuals.
While most politicians, doctors, priests and journalists saw homosexuality as a social
problem, GLF said the real problem was society's homophobia. Instead of seeking to
justifying our existence, we demanded that the gay-haters justify their bigotry.
GLF's unique style of 'protest as performance' was not only incredibly effective, but also a lot
of fun. Christian morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse had her Festival of Light rally in
Central Hall Westminster invaded by a posse of gay nuns. They staged a kiss-in when one
of the speakers, Malcolm Muggeridge, disparaged homosexuals,
| . |
saying "I just don't like them." The feeling was mutual.
There were also more serious acts of civil disobedience to confront the perpetrators of
discrimination. We organised freedom rides and sit-ins at pubs that refused to serve 'poofs'
and 'dykes'. I disrupted a lecture by the eminent psychologist, Professor Hans Eysenck, when
he advocated the use of electric-shock aversion therapy to 'cure' homosexuality.
In the 40 years since GLF, queer people have become more visible than ever before and most
of the public are relaxed about same-sex relationships. All major homophobic laws have been
repealed, apart from the ban on same-sex civil marriage. Positive images of LGBT life abound
on television. Politicians and entertainers are openly gay. The police are serious, at last, about
tackling homophobic and transphobic hate crimes. Gayness is no longer classified as an
illness.
At this pace of progress, in the long term, homophobic prejudice and discrimination are
doomed. It is then that the LGBT community will face an unexpected challenge.
LGBT identity is largely a defence against homophobia. Faced with victimisation, we had to
defend our right to be LGBT and create our own community institutions to fill the void created
by an uncaring, bigoted society. But when legal equality and social acceptance have been
won, will there be any need for a separate LGBT identity and community? If one sexuality is not
deemed more valid than the other, much of the raison d'être for distinguishing between gay
and straight disappears.
This is the ultimate paradox. GLF spawned a movement that created the conditions for its own
dissolution. The more we secure the acceptance and human rights of LGBT people, the less
we need a separate gay identity, community and movement. In a queer-friendly society, the
differences between homo and hetero lose their significance. When no one cares who is gay
and who is straight, there will be no point in maintaining a distinction between the two
sexualities. Labelling people and behaviour becomes irrelevant. The movement becomes
redundant.
There were also more serious acts of civil disobedience to confront the perpetrators of
discrimination. We organised freedom rides and sit-ins at pubs that refused to serve 'poofs'
and 'dykes'. I disrupted a lecture by the eminent psychologist, Professor Hans Eysenck, when
he advocated the use of electric-shock aversion therapy to 'cure' homosexuality.
In the 40 years since GLF, queer people have become more visible than ever before and most
of the public are relaxed about same-sex relationships. All major homophobic laws have been
repealed, apart from the ban on same-sex civil marriage. Positive images of LGBT life abound
on television. Politicians and entertainers are openly gay. The police are serious, at last, about
tackling homophobic and transphobic hate crimes. Gayness is no longer classified as an
illness.
At this pace of progress, in the long term, homophobic prejudice and discrimination are
doomed. It is then that the LGBT community will face an unexpected challenge.
LGBT identity is largely a defence against homophobia. Faced with victimisation, we had to
defend our right to be LGBT and create our own community institutions to fill the void created
by an uncaring, bigoted society. But when legal equality and social acceptance have been
won, will there be any need for a separate LGBT identity and community? If one sexuality is not
deemed more valid than the other, much of the raison d'être for distinguishing between gay
and straight disappears.
This is the ultimate paradox. GLF spawned a movement that created the conditions for its own
dissolution. The more we secure the acceptance and human rights of LGBT people, the less
we need a separate gay identity, community and movement. In a queer-friendly society, the
differences between homo and hetero lose their significance. When no one cares who is gay
and who is straight, there will be no point in maintaining a distinction between the two
sexualities. Labelling people and behaviour becomes irrelevant. The movement becomes
redundant.
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