Some thoughts on London, life, making poverty history, gay pride and Independence Day

Some thoughts on London, life, making poverty history, gay pride and Independence Day;

I landed (finally) around 10:30 pm on Thursday night at Heathrow. The flight and preceding agenda were some of the most trying moments of my life. Not only was I leaving the country but, I was doing so after a truly fatiguing couple of days work on the film. We wrapped on Wednesday night around 9:30. Of course, once filming is done, it’s time for a wrap party and, against my better judgment I decided to go. I stayed until 12:30 and then went home, semi-buzzed to clean my apartment. Clean, clean, clean till 4:30 and then off to the airport. Naturally, my emotions were all over the place because I hadn’t slept in over 24 hours and I was moving far away; extreme excitement, sadness and fear all at once. However, nothing was as challenging as what I faced at the airport: staying awake long enough to get on the plane to Chicago.

London is as I remembered but noticeably more busy. This weekend brought not only my arrival but also the huge Live 8 concert, Wimbledon, Canada Day, and Gay Pride. This place is overrun but it’s fun.

Yesterday, I went to the London Pride 2005 rally in Trafalgar square. This was one of the best gay experiences I’ve ever had. Thousands of people gathered to celebrate equality and justice. The really wonderful thing was that we weren’t just celebrating the local equality and justice but, rather, the whole world. Of course, with a celebration of our society’s advances there must also be a reminder of the work still to do. Many brave men and women got on stage to speak about their experiences with institutionalized homophobia in their home countries. These speeches were incredibly personal and moving and it’s difficult for me to convey the emotion felt, I assume, by the entire crowd. Attention was paid, applause was given, work must be done.

Outrage, a group dedicated to providing asylum to those seeking it on a homophobic/misogynistic stance, spoke on the need for Western nations to recognize how wrong it is to return these people to their native country when, it is common knowledge that they face rape, imprisonment, forced labor and death because of who they are. A man from JFLAG, a group dedicated to providing help to LGBT persons in Jamaica was forced to speak with a mask on because of the Pride organizers’ fears that he would be arrested on his return to Jamaica. The summation of these feelings for me was embodied by a Pakistani man who declared, “I’m Muslim, I’m Asian, I’m gay, and I am Proud!”

It’s shocking to me how aware the people of London must be. Everywhere, from every newspaper and window display, I see ads for the “Make Poverty History” campaign. I’m pleased to say that I knew of the campaign but only because I have a friend in Canada who used to work on it. Why is it that the US isn’t picking up on this amazing campaign with the full force displayed by other nations? Something must be done and, hopefully, by the end of the G-8 Summit, something will be. The outpouring of support here, if only in word, is truly astounding. The advancement of peace in our world, the eradication of homophobia, the development of democracy does not depend on a war but rather on the education of all the world’s people and the push by the haves, to really help the have-nots. Poverty in Africa is destroying the continent and really providing a breeding ground for the “enemies of freedom”. The US-led war in Iraq is creating poverty for more people and doing nothing to foster peace or create freedom. Instead, we’re creating terrorists and ensuring that for the foreseeable future, large groups of people will continue to hate America and the so-called “values” that it has shown it stands for. It makes me sad.

229 years ago, Thomas Jefferson delivered his declaration to the 2nd Continental Congress, declaring our freedom from an oppressor. 229 years after that historic event, the United States of America is the oppressor. We’ve been occupying Iraq for a long time now under the guise of peace and the destruction of a corrupt government. Sadly, however, every day brings more news of the corruption of our own government. It’s truly ironic to celebrate our independence as we occupy a foreign, sovereign nation which shows, ever-increasingly its disdain for us. I’m not saying we should just abandon a country that we’ve decimated but, let’s remember the revolution and how our forefathers threw off our oppressors. Let’s not be surprised by the insurrection when, it was the American insurrection that has secured for us, the life that we now know. Spare a moment on our most patriotic day to reflect on what it really means and the strange flip/flop of circumstances in which we find ourselves. Happy 4th of July!

And now, as summary of my new adventure, the desire I feel for long-awaited equality for the LGBT community, the upcoming G8 Summit and everything else: the words that Sondheim taught us:

‘Something is stirring,
Shifting ground,
It’s just begun.
Edges are blurring all around
And yesterday is done.

Feel the flow,
Hear what’s happening,
-We’re what’s happening.
Don’t you know?
We’re the movers and we’re the shapers,
We’re the names in tomorrow’s papers,
Up to us man, to show ‘em.

It’s our time,
Breathe it in-
Worlds to change and worlds to win.
Our turn, coming through,
Me and you, man, me and you.

Fell how it quivers, on the brink –
Everything
Gives you the shivers, makes you think,
There’s so much stuff to see.
And you and me, we’ll be singing it,
Like the birds,
Me with music and you the words.
Tell ‘em things they don’t know.
Up to us, pal, to show ‘em.

Our time,
Breathe it in-
Worlds to change and worlds to win.
Our turn, we’re what’s new,
Me and you, pal, me and you.’