Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Remember Our History.

In the past few years I have noticed a push towards pretending that gay relationships are and have always been, exactly like straight relationships in society. Not so fast, there seems to be this dismissive attitude towards the older gay generations and the struggles they went through. Society was not always this inclusive, you would only have to live in the wrong country for a year to understand what it was like. I don't want to dwell in the past but I don't want things smoothed over either just to make people feel less guilty about prejudiced thinking they once had. Like many gay people, I was happy to see Will and Grace come back, interesting enough they touched on this subject in one episode, focusing on the importance of remembering our past. ............................................. Today in our Parliament the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau will apologize to members of the LGBTQ community, specifically the older people who were persecuted for being gay. Yes I know this makes the younger people squirm but even in Canada you would be investigated and hunted down by the police if it was thought that you were gay. Your face would end up on the evening news and in the papers. You would lose your job, family and friends would abandon you, people would think of you as a pervert on the same level as drug dealers and thieves, you would be an outcast. Many people committed suicide once it was revealed that they were gay. ............................................. It is ironic to note that the past Justice Minister who stopped this from continuing was Pierre Trudeau, Justin's father, who would later go on to become Prime Minister as well. Pierre had a famous quote "the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation" which makes perfect sense to most people now but many at the time were horrified by the thought of two people enjoying sex without some sort of rules being applied. People spread rumors that Pierre was a homosexual to try and discredit him, even though he appears to always have been a ladies man. Along with the apology will be compensation for lost wages and expenses brought on by the persecution of these people, that is important I feel because it's not just an "oops sorry" it's a "we were really wrong". It is important for gay people to finally move into their rightful place in society, just as important however is not forgetting the people who suffered to get us here.

8 comments:

Vivian said...

Apologies mean a lot in personal and social relationships. It's acknowledging fault, it's recognizing that unjustifiable hurt has been inflicted, and it's a way to be responsible for making amends. A lot of individuals, and a lot of societies, find it almost impossible to apologize, even for the sins of the elders (America) so I'm happy that Justin Trudeau is making an official apology on behalf of all the Canadian people, to those Canadian people who were wrongfully persecuted. I don't know if it's possible to make a young person understand how bad it used to be -- I mean, what can a young person really get hold of about a time that didn't exists for them? -- but this act might bring it out in the open for review, study, and discussion. That's a good thing.

Mistress Maddie said...

Great post and I whole heartily agree. I've long said people and government need to stay out of bedrooms and religion. I know from having done drag, that drag queens really embrace the back history of the gay community. I've been to many a show where queens will remind the young gaylings remember the past and be kind to the older gays and not pick on them.

For it wasn't always like this.

John Going Gently said...

I can see both Vivian's and Maddie's view....and there. Is sort of a place for both me thinks.
Apologies have their place but things change for the better

Old Lurker said...

I suppose I ought not to be cynical about this, but it is so easy to apologise AFTER societal attitudes have shifted. In twenty years there is going to be an apology for something that the government is doing right now, and we are all supposed to applaud the government for doing the right thing or something.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Vivian, I surprised myself by becoming a little emotional while watching the apology. It hit me that our government was officially saying the past attitudes towards gay people (towards me) were wrong, wrong, wrong. Something I always felt deep down inside and couldn't understand why society refused to see that.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Mistress Steven, yes it wasn't always like this. Drag Queens have always had this strength about them, we have to admire that.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

John, yes apologies have their place. Things sadly don't always change for the better, do you think that transgender people in the US worried about being kicked out of the military two years ago? Things can change quickly with the wrong charismatic leader or mob rule.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Old grumpy Lurker, lol don't be cynical. I understand your point but we in Canada can look at it another way, it could be the period on the end of a bad chapter for the gay community. Now we will write a new chapter.