When we were gay
For a while, I have wondered about the issue of dealing with ‘victimless crimes’. Let me be clear about this, these are activities that occur consensually between people, probably in inappropriate places and are criminalised by a public morality because they do not represent what is the ‘norm’.
This is for all intents and purposes a very difficult subject that a blog cannot even begin to address.
One recalls that many years ago a world-renowned musician was caught importuning in a public convenience having been egged on by an agent provocateur member of law enforcement.
Using a public convenience in other members of the public might happen upon a situation that can cause disgust, distress and disdain is unfortunate, but it begs the question why adults of means and ways would do such things. Then when the law serves to entrap people into criminality, I can find no words to express how appalling that is.
This issue dare not speak its name, but one can only wonder how much more advanced our world would be if Alan Turing had not committed suicide in relation to his lifestyle whilst his professional life literally ended the Second World War by the work that broke German ciphers.
Probably Oscar Wilde, Joe Orton and Kit Marlowe a contemporary of Shakespeare might have gone on to do greater works than they have been acclaimed for. We have lost great men to the scourge of what society cannot seem to bear, moral conduct matters a lot, but to what extent the concern of other people about your private business?
There is a history to this talk, and not too far back in the 60s the worst thing anyone could be called was a bugger – it was a term of completely despicable import which supposedly equated practitioners with every unimaginable abomination of sexual activity, it could not be spoken in hushed tones less talked about.
By and large, more can now speak up about a life, a love and a care that is hardly in the majority but is significant to those involved.
So watching Oprah earlier this evening, she was talking about all the charity work that makes changes to people’s lives, one of which was the rebuilding of a community in Sri Lanka where a member of her staff had lost a loved one and that person had returned home to America to get things moving to make a difference in that Sri Lankan community.
Women with jobs, houses and restaurants being rebuild, lives being put together again just because of a love that once before could dare not speak its name.
It still dare not speak in its name in many more places, as the church which is supposed to provide succour to all; privileged, deprived, depraved, destitute and all. It selects those it would accommodate and rails like a screaming banshee against those who probably need it most, because they are probably more problematic to handle than easy social issues.
The greatest animosity now exists between them and the church and they distance themselves even further to be able to handle the conflicts of mind and purpose that has lead others like Justin Fashanu to commit suicide.
Sometimes the message from the church about reinforcing the virtues of good morality is founded on speaking more about ‘immorality’ than about the benefits of greater aspirations to holiness. A business would not survive it is concentrated on managing debt than promoting its core business attributes.
So, it was interesting amidst the crises that encompass Nigeria, most especially the oil conflicts, then the problems of the Presidency, the economy and corruption, they found ample time to rail against this abomination which is a Western sin.
Give me a big break here, the only difference between the West and Africa on this issue is they in the West can speak about it. This ‘sin’ has been within mankind for so long, even some medicine men in the deepest darkest Africa to the townships of modern Africa have names that are as expressive as the activity itself with nothing left to the imagination.
We had names for these activities long before the West civilised us with the concept of acceptance, that level of hypocrisy is daunting if not amazing.
The internet reveals that many are who they are in Nigeria seeking the space to be themselves in a modern democracy and this is going to shut down by the moral police of the church and the Presidency.
Between America and Nigeria we have had the most liberal church that has an ordained priest of that persuasion support, sponsor and equip the most illiberal church that wants to secede from the Anglican Communion because of this.
Methinks we have completely misplaced priorities on the vocation of the church which is to call people and not divide on the basis of not wanting to call in certain people.
Anyway, it is still a topic that whips up such deep emotions most especially amongst non-practitioners that it is laughable and amusing to see the vituperation that could almost accompany the stroke that precedes sudden death as disgust overwhelms their ability to really say how it does affect them – personally.
Love a homosexual, it might just change you or maybe just change your thinking.
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