40 Years And None The Wiser

It is the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots today. Sadly I bet more than 50% of young gay people in this country couldn't even tell you what actually happened there.

I can pinpoint the day I finally gave up on the idea of a gay community. It was the day that civil partnerships began. There were no protests. Barely a glimmer of dissent. It was all wedding bells and romance as the British GLBT community not only gave up on a dream of "equality" but also on liberation for all. The "community" quietly shuffled into a forced apartheid and one it would be very difficult to get out.

I admit my opinions are often highly influenced by the oft controversial Peter Tatchell, but I think it's more he manages to put them down in writing and have them make sense in a way I simply am unable to. Such as in this article to coincide with the Stonewall anniversary. I don't subscribe to all his ideas but true marriage freedom for all (whether you marry for love, or are just elderly spinster marrying to gain the same rights to property and protection) is one I am behind 100%. It's time the Government and society stopped deciding who can and can't have the special rights of marriage and allow each person the freedom to make decisions themselves.

That's why I've stopped believing in "gay rights" and instead now believe only in human rights for all. It's why I see the fight for gay marriage as not an end in itself but a step forward towards the liberation of all. I know, Americans are going "I told you so, it's a slippery slope! They'll allow minors to marry next, then men and dogs!!" Well sorry, but I still believe in the concept of "consent" too. Dogs can't give consent and children can't legally give consent either. So it's no slippery slope. It's something called "freedom". Freedom means allowing people to do things YOU DESPISE! Freedom does not come without pain.

I know that the world I desire, for instance, can never come into being with true freedom. A world where men and women are truly equal, where sexual orientation is no more exciting than whether you like marmite or not, where religion is a personal thing and where nationalism has given way to humanism. But thanks to human evolution these goals can not exist in a world of freedom. And I am prepared for that. Are you prepared to give up your world view to allow everyone to be truly free? I doubt it, I really do.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist