More space for LGBT people means more openness for everyone

boss

Be proud. Be bold. be yourself. For your benefit and the benefit of everyone.

It's written to the point of boredom about how criticizing pride is a regular sign of spring. During the month of May, there is a huge uproar – often from a religious perspective – around rainbow flags and allegations of lewd behaviour.

And this spring is no exception. There are rejections of the flag and flag orders, readers' posts, press coverage and television debates where the amount of queer life that can or cannot be seen in public spaces is debated. There are indirect moral motives and misinterpretations of symbols.

There is also a revival of speculative polls from last year. Because what to call a question like “In general, what do you think about Pride celebrations in June?” – where one of the answer options is “completely against the mark”.

48% responded that they “think it might be too much.” A soft tie that suits the reactionary forces, making the shooter say that public opinion is almost on their side in the so-called culture war.

The nature of surveys is that when you ask, you get answers. And very few of us are deeply committed to anything. The majority of people do not belong to extremism. This also applies when it comes to answering in positive or negative absolutes in opinion polls.

Moreover, even the most enthusiastic Pride participants may sometimes feel like there can be too much of a good thing. There are, after all, a fair number of events that can be visited during what, for example, Oslo and Bergen, lasts over an entire week. But even a long weekend at village fairs can be felt on the body. As it should be.

If you look beyond the country's borders, you get a daily reminder that rights are not granted, and nothing is permanent in the face of the forces that limit life.

On the other hand, if you look inward, you can find that the restrictions can also be accommodated. Why also are so few sports figures in general and male footballers in particular absent when asked about queer role models?

There are many signs that it is an individual's fear (which is sometimes justified) that is holding back life as a whole. The fear claimed in an interview in the final installment of Blikk is reinforced by players waiting for their careers to end. Anything else would be too risky and likely to offer too much external resistance.

Internal resistance can have many forms and outlets, as shown in Pia Edvardsen's novel A Well-Made Girl. It's about conversion therapy, which is now banned. In both the interview with Blake and in the novel, she talks about how she asked for help to become someone other than who she was. Something she still suffers from late injuries.

The self-harm was not done in a religious context. The psychiatrist was responsible for the crime. As a reminder, even if religious people are usually the ones who shout the loudest about staying within the norm, social life communities are not the only ones having to regulate a way of life that most people consider their birthright.

The sphere of life that unfolds is more narrow for those with more minority marks. Which makes the need for a third room, such as a papa bar, even greater. In this small place in Oslo, the door is open to anyone who is open to the fact that no one is like anyone else. Places like this give hope that something is going in the right direction after all, when you get frustrated in the face of all the reactionary turmoil.

Moreover, it might be helpful to remind ourselves that while much has happened since 1948, when queer people first organized themselves as a collective political actor in this country, opposing forces have hundreds of years of experience of oppression to draw upon in their assaults on our rights. .

If there is anyone who is good at narrow-minded agitation, it is conservative circles. And the art of making surrender synonymous with freedom as well. Granted, there are sexual practices in which submission in particular can be rewarding, but for most other relationships in life, it's rarely a good thing.

However, it is good that it is possible to see through those who argue under the pseudoscience that queer people are the scapegoats of society. If you look closely, reactionaries rarely want to limit just queers, but everyone who is not in the “right sect.” Thus queer freedom also becomes a struggle for a freer society for all.

Pride is, and must be, politically effective. So be bold. be yourself. Just as everyone else should be allowed to be. With whoever they want, whether it's for the night, or for the rest of their lives, or something in between.

Happy pride!