I was looking through my high-definition video footage of the 2007 Manchester Pride parade and found this frame which seems to sums up much of what is wrong with our community today.
A group of slim hairless gay men in speedos, carrying yellow bags and umbrellas which promote a well known store, are apparently oblivious to the fascists across the street.
It shows the invasive, over commercialisation of this parade to the extent where the store name and colour become the main focal point, the lack of political awareness these days, the body fascism and shallowness.
What are these guys ‘proud’ of? The freedom to walk through the city centre in swimming trunks while promoting shopping? When you take a step back and look, what is this all about?
We may have beaten the fascists (for the moment) but boy have we fallen victim to the market over the last fifteen years. It’s as if this sneaked up on us while we were looking in the opposite direction.
We’re being shafted by these businesses (which claim to love us) and most of us haven’t realised it yet. A friend who is in his mid-20’s owes £35,000 on his credit cards. Meanwhile, gay men are continually targeted with material that features ‘perfect’ hairless bodies, an image that many will never manage to achieve (and why should they?). Gay companies promote bareback films while trumpeting their support for HIV charities.
Being £35,000 in debt and HIV+ because you bought into all this crap is not liberating…
As a whole generation has grown up thinking that businesses and money are the answer to everything, maybe a recession would be a good thing and open their eyes?