Make a noise and don’t be afraid of change.
I have never been able to be categorised. I fit in many boxes, as we all do.
I was born towards the end of the 1950’s. I grew up in the 60’s a time of massive change in attitudes and life styles and dress. I remember my parents’ ideas of success: be a man, be tough, and play around, but not you girls! Oh no. You have to save yourselves for the right man. So there must have been two types of girls, I suppose? Those who play around (they had a “reputation”) and those who saved themselves for the wedding night! Heaven forbid if you became pregnant! Then there were boys and girls who kept themselves to themselves, hiding their true feelings. Being “Gay” or “Queer” or a “Poof” (So many names they were called, both men and women) back then being homosexual was illegal for men and never discussed nor accepted for ladies.
My mother wanted her boys to get a good safe office job or work for a firm! My mother grew up in the depression. She wanted us to find a girl get married, get a mortgage, and have kids…..Simple! And I did! But I took a circulus route to get there.
But it wasn’t that “simple” really, because there were sons like me!
I liked to read, I read so much. I loved books SF, Fantasy, Biography, Travel and those books that explored ideas, made one think. No Google then. I was a loner, I liked my own company. I was the class clown. I was also sarcastic, Ironic and cynical, still am, but I control it better now!
Then a terrible yet wonderful thing happened! The 60’s came along like an explosion and in my tiny New Zealand back water, it happened, albeit slowly, but it happened all the same.
What will the neighbours say!
On top of that another more personal event happened. As I aged into late teens I discovered Theatre! Ah Theatre…..Theatre saved me from what I could have become. I found like-minded people, accepting people! I now had a group of friends, creative friends. I was no longer a loner. Still, I have a few of these friends after the passing of decades.
Life in this small New Zealand town began to change. Even my mother began to have new opinions on morals. Bless her heart. As sexual freedom became the norm, and sex was no longer hidden from view, the idea that sex before marriage became, albeit slowly, more acceptable. To the Church, naturally, it was still a sin, but not necessarily in the wider community. My Mum who once believed in the morals of the 40’s and 50’s decided it was okay to have sex before marriage. “You need to know if he is the right man, not all Men are like your father” My Dad said “Best to try before you buy!” Her views on many paradigms changed as her children grew. My Dad took a little longer.
Movies changed too, now we were seeing sex, nudity and drug taking on screen in mainstream films. Also very graphic violence in some movies. This was also the era of The Sound of Music and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. So there was a greater variety of genres to see. Which was really what life was like then. It was a time of change and aware-ness of life options for all, not just the very few.
You are not going out dressed like that!
Drugs were becoming wide spread. A group of students from my school were expelled for growing Marijuana on the hill behind the school. Similarly there was a new trade in town and in my Theatre life too. Clothing got weird! Have a look at the styles from the 70’s and 80’s. I had the flares and 2 inch heels and the medallion on my hairy chest under my open shirt. In my defence it was the norm!
I got involved in the protest movement on a small scale. I protested against Apartheid and for nuclear disarmament.
But there was one unspoken thing, that still would not change and to be honest the majority of people did not want the change. Homosexuality was still hidden and illegal. If caught a prison term was often the result. It was hidden! Never spoke of, never even thought of. But!!
In my theatre life I met both men who were gay. Not poofs, not fruits and certainly not limp wristed caricatures, made famous by comedians and comedy shows on TV. The people were loving, friendly and talented people who, outside of the safety of theatre, could be themselves. Strangely women were pretty much left alone, apart from insulting “Dyke” characters in TV and Movies It was an awful time and to be honest most people at that time never even thought about this inequality. We were vocal and protested against colour discrimination, but equality for our gay brothers and sisters would take some time.
Warp Factor 6, Mr. Sulu
So fast forward to today…are we in a better place than I was back in my teens and early twenties? As late as the 1990’s Male Homosexuality was still illegal in Tasmania , other Australian States had decriminalised it previously. The same in many other other western countries, but not all.
It is a long slow road. Only recently has Australia legalised Same Sex Marriage. It took too long. Brunei recently, brought in legalised stoning of homosexuals, after world wide condemnation , the new law was quietly reversed. The sultan saying that we in the west did not understand the law. Russia is still imprisoning gay people.
Personal freedoms are being attacked, Racism is again returning. Some politicians around the world are spouting hatred against Muslims this time. It was Asians a few years ago! Who will be next? And why? Certainly there have been terrorist attacks in the past few decades, done by a small group of people. Historically Christians have done horrific things in the name of God. Buddhists have attacked Muslims. Secular governments have committed genocide. None of this is really new. We as a race have harmed each other since time immemorial.
The Peasants are Revolting. They certainly are!
Looking back to my younger days….Humanity changes and gets better. I have an overarching feeling of hopefulness. We learn from the past. The majority of people change their opinions and views as we live and experience life. The idea of same sex marriage back in the 1950’s would have been anathema then. The idea that slavery should be abolished a 400 years ago would have been laughed at as well. So what we are experiencing now is growing pains. Politicians with agendas and bigotry will go. But we, the people of this amazing world, will still grow. 70 years on from the 1950’s the world is much changed. Mostly for the better, but maybe some things are not. Be patient, change is coming. It’s a rocky road, but it cannot be halted because it’s in our God given nature to do the right thing Look at my Mum!
What I have learned over the years is that we are in charge! Eventually those in power will change too. Despite reluctant governments, change does happen. . And, yes even the Church can change too. Governments come and go. But people power is constant, if often hidden!
Change is right. It makes us better and it makes the world better. Look how far we have come in the last 100 years!
So don’t be content with living a life in a box. Be vocal, be angry and question.
And with clenched fist aloft, we cry out.
“What do we want?”
“[Insert Issue here]”
“When do we want it?”
“NOW!!”
