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We’re here, we’re queer, we’re political

I’m having a good laugh over the complaints that Pride celebrations have become too political.

I’m more accustomed to people beefing about how Pride has become too commercial.

I mean, in the early days of Pride, you couldn’t pay people to join the Pride parade – the risks of being out and proud were too great. Now, you have to pay to get in to the parade and barriers, to say nothing of police officers, are in place to prevent people from crashing the street party.

Check out the irony there. Police keeping the peace at Pride?

The first Pride march came in the wake of the infamous bathhouse raids of 1981 when cops – about 160 of them – were not exactly the best friends of the queer community, arrresting 286 guys at four bathhouses. Outrage spawned that first march which makes Pride’s roots profoundly political.

Now, 28 years later, queer politics are as vital and vibrant as ever – the trans movement has burgeoned and continues to battle discrimination and ignorance. The gay marriage fight has been won – but, possibly, only for the time being. Small-town gays and lesbians continue to have a particularly hard time. The suicide rates among queer teens is disproportionately high. And not all employers love their gay employees.

Rightly, human rights for queers around the world is a theme at Pride this year.

Global Trans Rights Activist Victor Juliet Mukasa has been chosen as Pride 2009’s Grand Marshal, bringing into focus the fact that in other parts of the world, queers can’t even congregate, let alone celebrate.

Richard Fung’s contribution to the Video Art Is Queer program rounds up skype interviews with activists from around the world – China, India, Lebanon, South Africa, for example – and is a huge eye-opener, a reminder that the rights we have are precious. See Fung’s video and the whole Video Art Is Queer program at Trinity Square Video (#376, 410 Richmond West).

El-Farouk Khaki, lawyer and queer activist, is also a Grand Marshal and he’s getting some serious heat. He’s done amazing work as an immigration lawyer, advocating for people seeking protection because of their gender orientation, and supports Salaam: Queer Muslim Community. Representatives of official Jewry (The Canadian Jewish Congress, for example) don’t like his views on Israel, citing his criticism of the Israeli occupation and other state policies. Some Jewish activists – though not the CJC, who will join pro-Israel queer group Kulano in the parade on Sunday- want people to protest Pride, even boycott it, as an expression of outrage against the attention Pride’s giving Khaki.

Here’s another profound irony. On the one hand, Jewish leaders make a point of contrasting the experiences of queers in Israel with queer life in Arab countries, claiming that. where Israel is progressive, Muslim countries are repressive. That makes Muslims who come out brave and courageous, no? So celebrate him, don’t try to control his political beliefs.

Then there’s the hysteria surrounding Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QAIA), who have gone through all the proper channels to secure the right to march in the Pride Parade. They are taking up the humans rights cause so central to Pride in order to support the rights of Palestinians. I don’t see why a group with a political agenda should be excluded. We have queers for the environment, don’t we, happily marching down the street? And, given the huge range of politics among queers, trust me, there are all kinds of conservative gays who don’t think global warming is a problem and who have no intention of changing their lifestyle in order to fight it. So, too are there Jewish gays and lesbians who oppose Queers Against Israeli Apartheid.The members if QAIA may not even get a good reception at the parade. That’s the risk those activists have the right to take.

During a segment on CBC Radio’s The Current, the Canadian Jewish Congress’s Bernie Farber commented that Pride is a time for partying, not partisan politics. I don’t agree. I have a vivid memory of playing on stage with the No Frills band at that very first Pride event. We were performing our political anthem Kick Back as the marchers returned from the street and descended on the green space at the Grange. Yes, we’ve come a long way since 1981, but the work isn’t done yet.

So, party on, please – I’ll be doing some celebrating myself. But don’t dishonour Pride’s political roots. Without our history, we have rights and no community to celebrate with.

Happy Pride.

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