Love, life, liberty
Image credit – Danny Viñoly-Willis
“We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all. We all belong to this family, this human family, God’s family.”
Around the globe, gay pride events are being hosted throughout June in many major cities. From Edinburgh to Oslo, Cincinnati to Helsinki, events are being held to celebrate life, love and liberty.
June was chosen for LGBT Pride Month to commemorate the June 69 Stonewall riots. As a result, many pride events are held during this month. During Pride Month, you might see the rainbow flag being proudly displayed, a symbol for the LGBT rights movement. The flag dates back to 1978, when artist Gilbert Baker, a gay man and a drag queen, designed the first rainbow flag. Baker was encouraged by Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in America, to design a symbol of pride for the gay community. The rainbow flag was born. Baker said “Our job as gay people was to come out, to be visible, to live in the truth, as I say, to get out of the lie. A flag really fit that mission, because that’s a way of proclaiming your visibility or saying, ‘This is who I am!’” The eight rainbow colours, all represent something different; hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit.
While working in Zambia, we had travelled to Cape Town for Christmas and went to the Love Parade as part of a week-long Cape Town Pride event. We had been in Greenmarket Square and somehow we ended up on a party float, in the middle of the parade. There was a fantastically eclectic mix of people but we all had one thing in common; We all wanted to have fun. We partied.
But it’s important to recognise the significance of gay pride and look beyond the parades and parties. In many places around the world, being gay is a criminal offence. We’ve had gay friends who have been living together and have had to keep their relationship secret. Just this year Brunei announced its intention to introduce the death penalty for gay sex. As part of the 2007 Liverpool Biennale, I worked with South African film-maker Lovinsa Kavuma. Her documentary ‘Rape for who I am‘ was released the year before. We screened parts of the film and facilitated a screenwriting workshop with film students. Her film highlighted how homosexuality is such a taboo across the African continent. In South Africa particularly, homophobia is expressed through targeted rape of black lesbians. There are 73 countries, mostly in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, where homosexual activity between consenting adults is illegal, according to Equaldex, a collaborative LGBT rights website.
Gay Pride represents inclusion in our societies and our world. It’s about moving beyond discrimination of all kinds. And for me that represents hope. After living and working in different countries, I have repeatedly thought that we are all so much more similar than different. People are people. Love is love.
Gay Pride is an important celebration of life, equality and human rights, at a time when more and more people are looking inwards, becoming more parochial and sadly more prejudiced towards others. Some people talk of building walls. Others prioritise protecting borders to keep people away. But our world is more fractured than ever. What we need is better connection with others.
Desmund Tutu is a local hero in the Mother City. He is loved and respected. And his words are worth repeating here; “We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all. We all belong to this family, this human family, God’s family.”
Have you travelled to a Gay Pride event somewhere in the world? Or are you attending a gay pride event this month?
©Maggie M/Mother City Time