Homophobia
Images and text from the Chumbawamba EP
Album Sleeve of the same name.
reprinted in Issue #6

    "I don't mind queers as long as they keep it to themselves and don't try anything on me." How many times have you heard that? Bigots always believe they're irresistible. Homophobes guard their arses and genitals as if there were a queue to get at them. Hands up all those who fancy Bernard Manning, Buju Banton, Geoffrey Dickens, Victoria Gillick, Mary Whitehouse... or those super-straight rosy-cheeked christians with their "Jesus In Me" TV smiles? The answer to the ludicrous assertion that "perverts" are trying to secretly slip into their underwear has to be... only in your dreams, Bernard, only in your dreams.

    Arrogant to the core, homophobes - people scared of others choosing a gay relationship - behave as if it's up to us gays/ lesbians/ trannies/ sluts to prove that we're harmless. They queer-bash and bait with words, legislation and physical violence, and in the next breath talk about setting a good moral example. Homophobia is looked upon as a gay and lesbian problem rather than the homophobe's. We're living in the dark ages; fear, ignorance and prejudice is more acceptable than sexual diversity. Songs about killing gay men still sell by the million whilst two people of the same sex kissing is deemed too offensive for the big screen. And we're supposed to be grateful that "straight" society is willing to 'tolerate' our sexuality... just as long as we don't display it publicly. Holding hands in a pub can mean ending up in casualty.

    Homophobia tries to bully and pressurise us into concealing our preferences. Hiding sexuality is just another way of apologising for it. Anybody who's ever enjoyed sex which isn't strictly missionary knows that the over-riding sensation isn't regret. Deviant sexuality isn't 'harmless'. It's liberating and dangerous to the status quo; when girls are no longer good and the boys stop playing daddy - childless or otherwise - the family stereotype breaks up. We stop following the straight and narrow and start making our lives up as we go along. It's not cock-sucking, anal sex, dildos, tits-against-tits or a woman sexually dominating a man that threatens society. It's the fact that we've started to play instead of playing by the rules.

    Queer culture looks fun and that sticks in the homophobe's gullet. They want to pretend that we're sad, sick little bastards with no lives - anything other would throw 2000 years of tradition into question. Homophobes swear by tradition. The order of gay nuns, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, are the homophobes' worst nightmare. Perpetual Indulgence is a habit, not a religion; the sisters flaunt their habits in the face of prejudice. Whether appearing at demonstrations or just partying, a nun's visibility announces: "Here I am, deal with it! If there's a problem - it's yours." Their upfront gay pride makes a mockery of the paralysing guilt which stops us from exploring and expressing sexuality. The Sisters drag sexual politics onto the streets, and the streets are all the brighter and safer for it.

    Celebrating love, lust and choice is confrontational. There are those, even in the gay community, who say that exhibitionism reinforces 'straight' prejudice. Well, 'straight' implies a restricted state of mind and says nothing about how and what we desire - and what will be taken as offensive. Disappearing between the cracks in the pavement only leads to sexuality being trampled on. When we're not around to prove them wrong, homophobes can dishonestly claim that there's only two types of sexuality: right and wrong. In the real world, desire and excitement are more complicated. Whether we're gay, lesbian, bisexual or heterosexual, most of us have our own personal deviations and kinks. The spectrum of sexuality is as wide as the Atlantic Ocean... when you swim against the moral tide, someone's going to label you a little bit queer. Admitting that that's the way you like it might lead to better sex and less homophobia - and a little less fear, ignorance and mindless thuggery (either with words or boots) would do us all a favour...

    Chumbawamba was around and doing great political and musical works long before "Tubthumping" (the "Danny Boy" song). Though not exclusively Queer, they're extremeley blunt and definite in their support of Queer rights. For the Homophobia ep, they joined together with The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (an international order of gay nuns) , and also included a tribute track to Derek Jarman (the Queer British Filmmaker and AIDS activist). Those of you who have seen Jarman's "Edward II" may remember the Sisters from the riot scene.