FREEDOMS TODAY BUT TOMORROW
???
Having lived through a dark period in history when being gay opened
up the possibility of prison, medical diagnosis as suffering from a mental
disorder, ridcule from the press and often friends, even the possibility
of returning to those days is horrific.
Is it possible that the freedoms to be who we are which we have now
could be taken away and in future gay men could find their lives again
devastated by restrictions and persecutions.
In much of the world that is still the situation today. It is unlikely
that despite the freedom Iraq now 'enjoys', gay men there will suddenly
enjoy their 'freedom' Countries all over the world still hassle gay men
and uphold laws criminalising them. Our still not perfect laws here are
very recent and were only passed after endless delaying tactics by those
who hate us.
And there are plenty of people around who do hate us. While an actual
majority of the public do not support discrimination, as in all things,
those who are against us work hard to push their agenda and have an influence
greater than their real strength.
Fortunately this is not a very religious country but the major religions
would all be happy to see us locked up or in some cases killed for our
'crime' Muslims, Jews, Catholic, Baptists, Born again Christians, all would
put the clock back to the old days and even further in some cases.
Many of the aristocracy and upper classes, despite the rampant deviant
sexual practices in their ranks would have us hidden away or worse. Their
motives are very suspect. A taste for rough trade, sex paid for and discreetly
brought to their door or with cute employees in exclusive Gentlemen's clubs,
allowed them to practice their sexual tastes while presenting a moral front
to lesser mortals.
Born again Christians seem obsessed with one single line in the old
testament which even the experts are not sure has been correctly translated.
Muslims deny their young men contact with women and then wonder why their
countries are awash with man to man sex. Punishments are severe but seem
ineffective. The Catholics deny the company of women to their priests and
wonder why so many rape young boys. Confession allows you to sin all week
and make a new start every Sunday.
Let's face it, the desire of men to have sex with other men is very
strong, it crosses all boundaries of race, religion and class. It is natural
and healthy but because of it's strength it is an ideal part of behaviour
through which a human being can be controlled. Laws about sexual behaviour
have always been used by religions and political creeds to control people's
actions.
Deny sex to very young men, give them young brides in arranged marriages
and the boys will jump at the chance to have sex. never mind if the arrangement
is more to do with property, business, family honour or getting a new nationality.
Hardly suprising then that after a while, the boy tires of his partner
and finds the guy across the road, who may also be in the same boat, better
company especially if in the few years before marriage, other boys and
men were his only sexual outlet. The law then has to step in to punish
such acts with a horrible death as the ultimate deterent.
So to return to this country. We do have a lot of freedom now but
could the openess of the Gay World inflame the extremists among us to use
their strength to limit our freedom. Do half naked men walking through
our cities during Gay pride demonstrations help our cause or present a
risk of provoking those who hate us to become more active ?.
Do open displays of gay magazine and videos provoke the same reaction
?
There are many who feel there is a risk of this happening. The Muslims,
Jews, Catholics and born again Christian may hate each other but they all
hate us more.
We really do need to be on our guard to defend the freedoms we do
have and gain new ones. There is a lot at stake.
