Mahatma
58 years ago today, Gandhi was assassinated. He is perhaps one of the most interesting figures in modern history. Called by some, “a little brown man in a loincloth”, he effectively brought the British Empire to its knees in India. He was far from perfect, but his lesson to me has been that even those things that we may take as unchangeable as the setting sun may only require a new form of thinking.
When I was in India before the turn of the 21st century, almost every town that I was in had a statue of Gandhi. His face adorns monetary bills and his presence is everywhere. At the very Southern tip of India lies a small town called Kanyakumari. This is where the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengel and the Indian Ocean all touch one another. Here lies a shrine to Gandhi where his ashes laid for a year after his death before his ashes were dumped in the water to spread throughout the three bodies of water. Above the tiny pedestal that supported his urn there is a hole in the roof that allows sunlight to hit that spot on the anniversary of his death each year on that day alone.
While his message of non-cooperation is not always the path followed, it was a highly effective method of a “weaker” force beating a mighty army. Justice was on his side too.
We as gay people in the Western World also have a struggle to face although nothing compared to what Indians faced in the first half of the twentieth century. But in a time when we argue over the box office performance and award potential of a gay-themed movie it is easy to forget that all is not the same in the rest of the world. And that includes India.
When I was there homosexuality was punishable by 25 years in prison. And I closeted myself in that country for that very reason (also for the fact that blackmail is prevalent due to this prison deterent). Torture, banishment, murder and every other horror conceivable occur every day against gay men on this planet. We remain an acceptable target and no matter what may truce appear possible on the homefront, we cannot forget that an apocalyptic war rages against our brothers and sisters in many lands far worse than anything I can imagine.
And perhaps this planet needs a gay “Gandhi” of our own. Someone who can find a way to change the unchangeable. Someone who can fight a seemingly invulnerable nemesis. Someone who can alter the world.
For like the liberation of India, justice is on out side.
posted by Rye at 4:33 p.m.
1 Comments:
I think that your idea of a gay Ghandi like figure is truly inspired !! The gay or queer movement (if you could call it that...? ) worldwide cuts across and includes people of all racial, social, political, economic and religious groupings. Our cause is (or should be...in my opinion)profoundly and inherently aligned with that of oppressed minorities all over the world. I feel (and have felt for a long time now) that the only way for our "movement" to really make great strides forward toward our goals of equality and unconditional acceptance is if we join forces with the causes or movements of other oppressed minorities worldwide .... into a larger scale more comprehensive movement supporting universal human rights and dignity of all people everywhere. Such a movement would naturally embrace the passive resistance civil disobedience model (also articulated as "Satyagraha" by Gandhi and effectively engaged by
Martin Luther King on behalf of the oppression against black people) as a form of righteous activism and would stand up for our "gay causes" within the context of a universal peace and justice movement for ALL people !! What we want as gay people are just basic and natural human rights and respect afforded to all non-gay people as a matter of course. We just want to be naturally respected as all people should be simply by virtue of our humanity and not cruely judged and discrimnated against based solely upon our sexual orientation. Is that not all we want... equality pure and simple ?? In this spirit I think it very inspired to consider engaging activism for our cause in the spirit of Gandhi and Martin Luther King and even Jesus for that matter... he was quite the social revolutionary to put it mildly (I'm not talking about the later distorted "Christianity" that has become an instrument of horrific opression of so many people.... the exact opposite of Jesus's sublime example of unconditional love lived in practice). Finally I only want to say that I think that rather than saying we need a single "gay Gandhi" (which is nonetheless a sublime and inspiring idea) I think that what we really need is an army of ....or legions of gay people who put into practice and into action in thier towns and communities worldwide the kind of indomitable spiritual will to (and defense of) what is right and just and good that Gandhi embodied in his own time and place. We need to embody an absolute conviction of our dignity and our right to be treated and respected as all human beings have as inherent inalienable rights, and then to stand for these for ourselves (as gay people) but also stand up for any person or group who is unjustly oppressed or discriminated against based upon race, economic standing or any other superficial distinction that is used to eclipse a persons (or group of people's) basic human rights (See the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html). As Gandhi stated the profound truth that "we need to BE the change we want to see in the world" we thus ALL bear the responsibility to BE that change, to embody it, to live it in our own case and in our own place. Only in this way can the cause of our equality and dignity be advanced. It is not enough for one person to be our "gay Gandhi". We ALL need to have the courage to stand for just and equal treatment for ourselves when we see it violated in whatever context and for others of whatever type of person, non-gay, Bi, Trans..... the whole spectrum of human diversity needs to be stood up for with the determination and will that Gandhi showed in his own circumstances of oppression. We are all human, the dignity and diversity of the FULL spectrum of humanity needs to be stood up for ! That is the greater power inherent in the Rainbow Flag which we have taken to symbolize our movement.... when we realize that it does not just stand for gay people but for ALL people, the FULL spectrum of humanity. Only then will our movement rise up to a sufficient level of universal consciousness and compassion (through alignment with and support for ALL oppressed and discriminated-against people(s) across the board, without discrimination : ) ) to meet our goals and aspirations as dignified and self-respecting gay human beings. I would love any further comments on what I have shared.
With High Regards to ALL,
Mark
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