London Mardi Gras and the Commercialisation of Queerdom
air | 15.06.2001 09:17
London Mardi Gras is another example of the ongoing trend in the commodification of identity within the Queer community, and the neutralisation of politics and protest by commercialisation and consumerism.
air
e-mail:
laika001@hotmail.com
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So..........
15.06.2001 09:37
can't really afford mardi gras 2001?
then come along to...
La-Di Dah!
WE'VE BEEN PLOTTING & PLANNING:
propaganda - pranks - performance - politics - perversity - partying
does the idea of spending the day surrounded by bland corporate pop, burger stalls, seas of litter, GWMs with OHAC (own home and car...drrr) consumerism madness - oh, and a huge big fence - not turn you on?
don't cry, you can still come to the ball!
RECLAIM YOUR PRIDE
spend the day with us!
COME, THIS YEAR, IN THE COMPANY OF:
rebellious fags - transgressive punks - anti-capitalist androgynes - outraged celibates - subversive dykes - insurgent faeries - frustrated freaks - queers of all sexualities
saturday 30th june
....in memory of the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, the white night riots and countless other fights queer people have had to face we remember them on this day.
The people in '69, like many others before and since fought back that night in and outside the stonewall club, they took their space & physically defended it from the cops, they were the people who were used to taking the stick for their sexuality. They included drag queens, prostitutes, (passing) butch women... who paraded their visible difference on the streets every day and were regularly beaten by the police for it. They were also silenced/ outcast by the liberal homophile organisations of the day for refusing to assimilate to staight society's norms & expectations of seemly, patriotic, clean-living behaviour. After the Stonewall riots, the ideas of the Gay Liberation Front - including a Pride March on the anniversary each year - spread around the world. The founders of the GLF were radical & unapologetic. They condemned the exploitation of the gay community by bar-owners, the police, the Government, employers, capitalism itself. They recognised that while any are oppressed, none are free, and actively supported strikers, anti-war protests, food co-ops, immigrants, housing struggles etc.
Were they striving to be assimilated at any cost?…
Or were they seeking a world more full of passion and freedom!?
we want to “reclaim our pride” for these and many more reasons, we want Mardi gras to be free and different from it current banality. Mardi gras is now a sad reflection of the triumph of capitalism, just look at the overt sponsorship and the comodification of sexuality as an image. Why have we a “privatised” enclosed and “branded” party space in the park, ironically closing a free cruising area for the day?
get in touch:
Anarquist c/o 56a Crampton St, London SE17
or join the discussion group at
=================
Alternative Pride
The group behind the 1998 Queeruption festival is planning a free alternative to the commerical Mardi Gras event, with parties, pranks, performance spaces, politics, perversity and more parties. The aim is to reclaim Pride for all those excluded by the expense and GWM-orientation of Mardi Gras (just how many times can you listen to Steps anyway? -- this years main stage acts have been chosen from a list voted by Boyz readers!) and to celebrate the original meaning of Pride as the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising of '69 when lesbians, gays, bis and
trans people fought back against homophobia and launched the radical Gay Liberation Front. An alternative event close to Finsbury Park is planned on the 30th June, as well as a post-festival party.
Meet 11am at Wellington Arch, Hyde Park Corner or watch out for information at the march or festival, or contact
AnarQuist c/o 56a Crampton Street, London
SE17
www.queeruption.com
or join the discussion group at
IMC'ista
Homepage:
http://www.queeruption.com/queeruption3/default.htm