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We're still awaiting the equality promised us by the Labour government in regards to equalising the age of consent for gay sex, the abolition of Section 28 and the ban on gays within the armed forces (though why we would want to join the armed forces is beyond me anyway).
So, when is it going to happen? Take a guess, is it going to be sooner or later, perhaps another ten years? If you opt for sooner, then you're probably mistaken, it looks as though we aren't going to see equality until a good few years after the new millennium.
Another question is how far have we come since the first drag queens, gays and lesbians took a stand and fought for their, and our, rights at the Stonewall Inn, July 1969?
Well this is a little ambiguous. Many perceptions of gays, lesbians and bisexuals still equate us to that of paedophiles and child molesters as well as Satan worshippers.
Okay, this may be the older generation, our parent's parents, and we understand that their perception of the world maybe more limited than our own for reasons beyond their control, but this does not make it any easier for us, does it? I remember back to last year when I saw an episode of Panorama, this was around the time of the age of consent debate.
There was an interview with a man, probably in his late 50s/early 60s, in a working men's club and I recall his words hauntingly vivid, "I think a third of them should be burnt and that's the truth." Harsh words and harking back to the dark ages where gays were burnt at the stake for being witches, the origin of the word 'faggot', which refers to the bundle of sticks of which was used to light the funeral pyre.
It would seem that in recent months, having kept a close eyes on the gay press, that there has been an increase in gay hate crimes and particularly violent crimes, the majority occurring in America, beginning with the murder of 21 year old college student Matthew Shephard in his home town of Wyoming in October of last year, followed by the death of Sebastian Diggs, 26, who was shot in the head at a cruising area, Orlando, Florida, and the murder of a 13 year old student Josh Bell, Georgia, by a 15 year old fellow student, who ran after him shouting "gay people deserve to die" before beating him to death, it isn't known whether or not Josh was gay and finally the suicide of 15 year old Darren Steele after years of homophobic taunts because he enjoyed drama classes and preferred cooking to sports, to name a few. What has sparked this sudden increase?
Perhaps a heterosexual fear of the unknown, i.e. gays, gaining equality, perhaps the hatred and fear of gays being taught to children throughout the world that no matter what gays will be after your arse (obviously no regard for how cute their arse actually is!), perhaps it's the millennium nuts coming out.
More than likely it's a combination of these and many other factors. So is this nurtured hate diminishing? It would be nice to think so, but I believe it isn't, and at this stage it is so easy to become complacent about what we have achieved.
With increased and continued exposure there does become increased and continued awareness but this, in turn, increases hatred and fear. Of course, all children should be exposed to anything considered diverse from birth, I believe this is the only sure fire way to eradicate hatred, racism and homophobia from our societies, but if gays are perceived on the same level as paedophiles, when will this happen?
It's an extremely vicious circle and an extremely difficult one to break.
Of course, thirty years ago, the hatred we face now wasn't as rife and evident, low exposure equalled low hatred and fear, I do however recall seeing one of those scary 1950's public information films on 'homosexuality', explaining it as a disease of the mind. Most gays did not want equality, they were happy to have what they had at that moment, they didn't want a high profile as we have now, being accepted by the establishment was the last thing on their minds. Why is it so now?
I believe that what we have achieved now in terms of acceptance and equality is extremely fragile balance and that balance could tip at any moment, which is why we must continue to strive for this equality, we can no longer go back.
It would only take a tiny occurrence such as a an increase in the cases of HIV and AIDS in gay men or a damning court case and we would be back again to square one, where we started, forced back into the dark ages, where some people believe we belong.
And what if Equality 2000 did occur?
How would we react to it after so many years of hate?
Where I live it is extremely dangerous to walk hand in hand down the street with another boy (of course if I was living in Amsterdam or San Francisco this would be very different) and perilous to stop and kiss him and wish him good-night, but once we have this ingrained fear, how do we begin to move away from it? Imagine if it was illegal to gay-bash, if we faced no threats walking down the street, I'm not sure if I would feel comfortable holding hands with my boyfriend because of that ingrained fear and society's programming, it will take many years of trying not to look over my shoulder before I would finally be able to do it without having the fear of homophobic abuse.
I don't think that equality, true equality will be achieved in my lifetime, unfortunately it will probably take at least another century before being gay and living gay is looked upon again as being nothing other than the ordinary.
Stuart Sandford
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