Bi The Way

In these politically charged times, particularly with the US presidential elections just a few weeks away. I thought I’d write something explaining my take on the differences between gay and bisexual politics and possibly add some insights into why the gay community exists as a political movement, whereas bisexuals don’t even seem to have a community, much less an organised political movement.

I’m a liberal and I personally find my sexuality is very much aligned with my politics. However, I can’t help but notice that gay activism is very much rooted in the socialist movement. The UK Labour Party has the largest gay membership of any UK Political party and the TUC (Trade Union Congress) works very hard supporting LGBT workers, however their remit only included bisexual and transsexual workers from 1998.

For the benefit of US readers who confuse socialism with liberalism, I can split the difference very suscintly: Socialism emphasises collectivism, whereas liberalism emphasises individuality.

Herein, is the main distinction between being gay and bisexual. When you come out as Gay, you instantly belong to a community. The Gay Community. References to “the LGBT community” which I frequently make myself, are little more than an acknowledgement that politically, we occasionally share common ground (EG: Gay marriage), but bisexuals frequently don’t exist within or as part of a wider gay, lesbian or transsexual community.

I know I don’t. I move in very straight circles. Which frustrates me to a certain extent because it makes it rather hard to meet men. But can I cross-over to the gay community? Not really. It feels very alien to me, there’s too much emphasis in gay circles and the gay media on fitting a stereotype, on conformity within the community. Are you a bear or are you a twink? If you are a twink what’s your twink code? Do you like Disco or Pop Musicals? Theatre goer or drag act fan?

Whichever way you look, the gay media is projecting an image of how the ideal gay ought to be. This shared identity, although not universal, gives the gay community power as a political force. Just as the socialist movement emphasises the shared values of worker rights, and your duty as a worker to stand together under the banner of the proletariat, the gay media emphasises the “right way to be gay”.

There seems to be little room for individuality and self-expression in either movement. Homosexuality doesn’t naturally celebrate diversity, its the lesbian, bisexual and transsexual folk who’ve allowed the gay community to claim that distinction under the LGBT banner. Equally socialism and trade unionism doesn’t celebrate diversity, instead preferring to lump us together as the proletariat. “The masses against the classes,” (to quote the Manic Street Preachers.) Where is my identity celebrated within all that?

I’m the son of a working class parents made good, my parents ran their own businesses for as long as I’ve been alive and although I no longer speak to my father, its never occurred to me that I would ever work for anyone other than myself. I cannot identify with the socialist mentality of being entitled to a “job for life” any more than I can identify with the gay media ideal that I should shave my (light) body hair and start watching musicals or dance to Disco.

I want a place where I can celebrate my individuality and feel accepted for being different without anyone else judging me. That I think in essence is why most bisexuals feel more comfortable identifying with liberal politics. Especially when you consider that after 11 years in power the Labour Government in the UK is now suffering from the plight of a party that’s been in power too long, namely that you can’t admit anything is wrong without laying the blame at your own feet. Worst they are giving out a lot of signals which seem to be saying, “We accept your views as long as *we* share your opinion.” The Conservative opposition, also seems quite happy to back the majority consensus. Hence they now support gay-rights having long opposed them.

But only liberals stand-up for the real minorities. Its only liberals who say “I don’t care what you are or what you do, as long you don’t hurt anyone else.” (Or as I once articulated at a party where I’d had a little too much to drink: “Do what you like, just don’t be a cunt!”)

This belief, known as the harm-principal, is the cornerstone of Liberalism. It gives everyone the space to be themselves, without fear of prejudice, or requirement to conform to society’s expectations. And this I think is its appeal to bisexuals, who like me don’t really fit into the gay community and find the straight world uncomfortably homophobic and sexually unfulfilling.

Liberalism is the natural home for anyone who values their own identity above conformity to someone else’s ideals. This is not to say that all bisexuals are liberals, or all gays are socialists, but the gay community has been built on solidarity, as was the socialism movement. Whereas bisexuality revolves around the individuals own, often private, form of self-identification. This emphasis on oneself, on our own personal and individual right to be ourselves rather than the need or responsibility to be part of a wider community is what distinguishes liberals from both socialists and conservatives.

It also explains why an organised bisexual movement hasn’t developed in the same way as it has for the gay community. We’re frankly far to diverse to come together under a single banner

Well recently, I’ve not been posting as much as I would have liked or as regularly as I have done previously, there are several reasons, so I felt I kinda offered everyone a bit of an explanation.

Firstly I never wanted to post for the sake of it and to a certain extent I’m breaking that rule by posting this entry. I really only wanted to post when I have something to say, and whilst I have a lot I’d like to say, not much of it has anything to do with bisexuality.

Mind you, Mark Simpson has posted anything on his blog in the Bisexual Category since January, so I’m doing better than the erstwhile leader of British male bisexual movement (ahem!).

Occasionally something topical has cropped up, but I’ve been too busy with work to find time to write a post about it and the moment passed. I’ve also joined the Geek Squad proper and become addicted to World of Warcraft, which is about as unsexy as you can get and as sapped up large quantities of my leisure time.

So this post is a quick round-up, a relatively short entry full of bite sized gems which have caught my attention or amused me over the past few weeks.

• Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill appeared at a Conservative Party Conference fringe meeting. Somewhat surprising considering the Tories less than favourable records on LGBT rights. Summerskill expressed hope for a future when LGBT people might be able to vote for a political party base on real issues like Economic and Foreign Policy and LGBT rights were removed from the equation.
• Sir Ian McKellen (aka Gandalf the Grey) has given his backing to the Stop Homophobic Bullying Campaign launched to tackle victimisation of LGBT children in schools.
• DELGA (Lib Dem LGBT Group) managed to get the UK Party conference to back their campaign to end the deportations of LGBT asylum seekers to countries where they face persecution, torture or even death because of their sexuality. (Lets see if the government takes notice.)
• For Harry Potter fans, I finally managed to convince my work colleagues that Dumbledore was gay - I had to dig out a news story which reported J K Rowling’s revelation. But lets face it, wasn’t it obvious? Why else would he have entered Goderic’s Hollow?
• Apparently in the US, some conservatives have accused homosexuals of recruiting people to their cause and turning people gay. GT Magazine responded by commissioning leading advertising agencies to design posters to actively recruit straight people to the queer cause. (Not on-line but buy this month’s issue for a good laugh.)
• Keeping on the gay recruitment theme. Watching Magnum PI can turn you gay… apparently. Well no not really, this is a spoof of Christian Fundamentalism. However, listening to these bands definitely will turn you gay, or at least a bit bisexual… no-one is quite sure whether this guy is for real or not.

That’s all for now. Hopefully I’ll be back with something more meaningful shortly.

With the US presidential elections just weeks away, has anything changed in the political landscape that allows, lesbian, gay or bisexual people to feel comfortable voting Republican? With the economy and foreign policy dominating the issues in this year’s campaign, social issues such as abortion and gay-marriage have slid down the agenda.

The fact that these rather emotive issues are not headline news, probably benefits the Democrats as there are no sound-bites about Obama being a ‘child-killer’ or wanting to ‘destroy the institution of marriage’. Equally though whilst social issues haven’t dominating the headlines its easy for a casual voter to forget who they are voting for.

The GOP (Republican Party) is inherently anti-gay rights, it always has been. Whilst its main funding comes from Oil and Big Business, its main voter block comes from conservative evangelical Christian groups.

Whilst Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain I think is inherently more moderate than many of his GOP colleages, he is forced to appease the Christian Right to carry his campaign. Hence the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate.

We’ll come ot Sarah Palin shortly. Let’s focus for a second on McCain’s record on Gay Rights.

• He admirably opposed a proposed federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, that was promoted by George W. Bush in 2004.
• On California’s attempt to ban gay-marriage he said: “I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona.”

My interpretation of this is that Senator McCain is a Federalist, believing that the legalisation or baning of gay-marriage (and all the rights that come with it) is something that each state should decide for itself. His own position seems largely governed by appeasing his voter base. This gives gay, lesbian and bisexual people two reasons not to vote for McCain.

The first obvious, his position on same-sex marriage is going to be swayed by the people that make up a large chunk of his voting block, the Christian right.

The second is that he is determined to let the majority decide on its legality. On the face of it, this seems democratic, but it leaves the gates wide open for gay, lesbian and bisexual people to fall victim to the tyranny of the majority. This is why the US has federal and state constitutions. To protect the rights of minority groups from a majority keen to oppress them.

As a minority group to secure equal rights, the LGBT community, must either gain support from the masses or where it is unable to do this, requires protection from the courts as happened in California. Too many people use their ‘democratic rights’ to oppress minorities, this is neither fair nor right. America does not need a president who will allow this to happen. And McCain will allow this to happen because he doesn’t like “activist judges” which is his code for judges who uphold the constitution in the face of popular biggotry.

On to the vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin. OK how did she get the job again? She was mayor of a small town (9,000 residents) and then became governor of Alaska, which with all due respect is the most remote state in the Union after Hawaii. So not exactly a fertile political proving ground. And get this, before her selection to the VP ticket she even said that “Obama’s message resonates well” and that Senator Obama was “dynamic and charismatic”. Don’t believe me? Watch here.

Truth be told she got the job because she’s a social conservative and has influential friends in upper echelons of the Christian right. She believes the world is 6,000 years old for Pete’s sake! What kind of deluded moron thinks that? Well Palin believes in the bible above all else and that’s what got her the job. This should be a major cause for concern amongst lesbian, gay and bisexual people, even before we look at her one great foray into legislating against gay-rights.

From Wikipedia:

Palin supported a non-binding referendum for an Alaskan constitutional amendment to deny state health benefits to same-sex couples; however, as governor she was forced to veto such a bill, as it is currently unconstitutional.

That’s laughable. It’s effectively saying: “It’ll be nice deny health benefits to same-sex couples, I’d really like to do it, but you know… the constitution says I can’t.” I bet there was a tear in her eye when she signed the veto on that bill. I bet she pretended her pen wasn’t working a few times before her closet gay aid finally passed her his ballpoint.

The truth is whilst Sarah Palin first dazzeled us all with her pefect complexion and sexy-boss look, she is quickly becoming the joke of the Presidential Campaign. Its one gaff or sleazy revelation after another. The VP candidate has to be the attack dog of any campaign, the one to deal the vicious blows at the rival camp. For the democrats Biden can do this, just as Cheny could for Bush. But when a woman does it, (especially one who hardly looks whiter than white herself,) she just comes across as a bitch.

So in conclusion is it safe for lesbian, gay or bisexual people to vote republican? I think the answer is a resounding “NO!” Though to behonest, with Palin on the Republican ticket, I’m not sure its safe for anyone to vote Republican.