Waving the Flag

Thanks, everyone, for participating in my June 2011 Translesbigayapalooza by reading these posts and leaving such great comments! I always enjoy reading your thoughts and opinions on GLBTQ issues. And I'm touched when you share your personal stories. It's been a great month of Pride! But we know that Pride really carries on all year long, so wave that flag and toss that rainbow glitter EVERYWHERE!

Gay and Gray

When I first came out 25 years ago, it was pretty rare to meet a GLBTQ senior citizen. Not because there weren't any, but because they belonged to a generation whose lives had taught them that coming out was dangerous. So even when things started to change and baby boomers were coming out of the closet in droves, this older generation remained leery and closeted. Some did venture out. Many more did not.

These days it's the out baby boomers who are fast approaching their senior years. Retirement communities, assisted living facilities and nursing homes are soon going to have to deal with same-sex couples and GLBTQ issues. The process has already started, in fact.

Today, of course, people come out at all ages and stages of life -- including when they are seniors. There's a new movie called Beginners which has this as one of its themes. I haven't seen it yet but it looks pretty good. And who doesn't love Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor? Here's the trailer:

Gay Swan Lake

One of Tchaikovsky's most famous works is the score to the ballet Swan Lake. In 1995, British dancer and choreographer Matthew Bourne staged a startlingly new interpretation featuring all male swans. His version is now unofficially known as Gay Swan Lake. I can't help but think that Tchaikovsky would have loved the homoerotic pas de deux of love and seduction between the Prince and the lead Swan --

This ballet also enjoys a moment of glory in the final scene of the movie Billy Elliot, when Billy's father and childhood friends come to see him dance professionally. The movie ends with Billy leaping onto the stage as Matthew Bourne's lead Swan. When I first saw the movie, I had no idea that the reference was to Gay Swan Lake so all I could think was, "WTF? What is with that ugly makeup and feather pants?" (If you want to see the final scene, click here.)

Tchaikovsky and Queer Russia

This photo is of a Pride Protest Against Homophobia held in June 2010 outside the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Every year there is also an ongoing battle to hold a Pride March in Moscow. GLBTQ people are starting to demand their rights in Russia too.

All this makes me think of Russia's most famous gay son, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Now there was a poor bastard tortured by self-hatred his entire life due to his homosexuality. Yet against that tragic backdrop, he wrote the most sublimely beautiful and exquisite music that one could ever hear. Truly, he knew the highest heights and lowest depths of life and emotion.

As a gay man, it would have been better for him to have lived today instead of the 1800s. Yet as a classical composer, it was better for him to have lived when he did. Not that he had any choice about it, of course, but still. It would have been nice if both parts of his life could have been fulfilled.

We're Inclusive Too!

Have a great weekend, everyone! Go to the theatre!

Same-Sex Marriage

We have same-sex marriage here in Canada, but of course it is still being fought for in most other countries. It's an important struggle, so fight on! Some day, people will wonder what all the fuss was about. That will be a great day.

My Favourite Gay Cartoon

[Cartoon by William Haefeli of The New Yorker]