fabulous
So this weekend Toronto goes kind of crazy, if you know what I mean. I hope it's not too hot. I nearly keeled over Friday.
This song was originally written by Tom Robinson, an early UK gay rights activist, for the London Gay Pride march in 1976. The lyrics change and are updated for each performance: this version is from Amnesty International's "Secret Policeman's Ball", 1979. It gives me shivers every time I hear it, the tightly-wound, wounded sarcasm of it, because let's not kid ourselves, even in the gay-marriage haven of Soviet Canuckistan things are still far from perfect.
The British Police are the best in the world,
I don't believe one of these stories I've heard
'Bout them raiding gay bars for no reason at all,
Lining the customers up by the wall,
Picking out people and knocking them down,
'Resisting arrest' as they're kicked on the ground,
Searching their houses and calling them queer --
I don't believe that sort of thing happens here.
[you don't have to be gay to sing on this chorus... but it helps]
Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way
Being a lesbian is wonderful fun --
You ain't fit to mother a daughter or son;
There's no nudes in 'Gay News', our last magazine,
But they still find excuses to call it obscene;
Read how disgusting we are in the press,
The 'Evening News' and the 'Sunday Express':
Molesters of children, corruptors of youth --
It's there in the paper, it must be the truth.
So try and sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way
[skipped verse:
Don't try to kid us that if you're discreet
You're perfectly safe as you walk down the street,
You don't have to mince or make bitchy remarks
To get beaten unconscious and left in the dark,
I had a friend who was gentle and short,
Got lonely one evening and went for a walk,
Queerbashers caught him and kicked in his teeth,
He was only hospitalised for a week.
Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way]
So sit back and watch as they close all our clubs,
Arrest us for meeting, and raid all our pubs,
Make sure your boyfriend's at least 21,
And if you're a lesbian don't be a mum,
Lie to your workmates, lie to your folks,
Put down the queens and tell anti-queer jokes,
"Gay Lib's ridiculous", join their laughter --
"The buggers are legal now, what more are they after?"
Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way
***
The verse which ends the song these days reflects the fact that Robinson now identifies as bisexual. It's a pretty contentious issue for some people (bis are a fabrication, bis are an accomodation, bis are gays too cowardly to stick to their guns or straights seeking attention and glamour, yadda yadda) and it is remarkably rare for the media to refer to anyone as bisexual despite clearly bisexual behaviours; so I think it's important to point Robinson's identity out and underline it. For the record. ;)
For 29 years now I've fought for the right
For people to love just whoever they like,
But the right-on and righteous are out for my blood;
Now I live with my kids and a woman I love,
Well if gay liberation means freedom for all,
A label is no liberation at all,
I'm here and I'm queer and I do what I do,
And I'm not gonna wear a "straight" jacket for you.
Happy Pride, Toronto! Happy 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, too.
This song was originally written by Tom Robinson, an early UK gay rights activist, for the London Gay Pride march in 1976. The lyrics change and are updated for each performance: this version is from Amnesty International's "Secret Policeman's Ball", 1979. It gives me shivers every time I hear it, the tightly-wound, wounded sarcasm of it, because let's not kid ourselves, even in the gay-marriage haven of Soviet Canuckistan things are still far from perfect.
Click to viewThe British Police are the best in the world,
I don't believe one of these stories I've heard
'Bout them raiding gay bars for no reason at all,
Lining the customers up by the wall,
Picking out people and knocking them down,
'Resisting arrest' as they're kicked on the ground,
Searching their houses and calling them queer --
I don't believe that sort of thing happens here.
[you don't have to be gay to sing on this chorus... but it helps]
Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way
Being a lesbian is wonderful fun --
You ain't fit to mother a daughter or son;
There's no nudes in 'Gay News', our last magazine,
But they still find excuses to call it obscene;
Read how disgusting we are in the press,
The 'Evening News' and the 'Sunday Express':
Molesters of children, corruptors of youth --
It's there in the paper, it must be the truth.
So try and sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way
[skipped verse:
Don't try to kid us that if you're discreet
You're perfectly safe as you walk down the street,
You don't have to mince or make bitchy remarks
To get beaten unconscious and left in the dark,
I had a friend who was gentle and short,
Got lonely one evening and went for a walk,
Queerbashers caught him and kicked in his teeth,
He was only hospitalised for a week.
Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way]
So sit back and watch as they close all our clubs,
Arrest us for meeting, and raid all our pubs,
Make sure your boyfriend's at least 21,
And if you're a lesbian don't be a mum,
Lie to your workmates, lie to your folks,
Put down the queens and tell anti-queer jokes,
"Gay Lib's ridiculous", join their laughter --
"The buggers are legal now, what more are they after?"
Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way
***
The verse which ends the song these days reflects the fact that Robinson now identifies as bisexual. It's a pretty contentious issue for some people (bis are a fabrication, bis are an accomodation, bis are gays too cowardly to stick to their guns or straights seeking attention and glamour, yadda yadda) and it is remarkably rare for the media to refer to anyone as bisexual despite clearly bisexual behaviours; so I think it's important to point Robinson's identity out and underline it. For the record. ;)
For 29 years now I've fought for the right
For people to love just whoever they like,
But the right-on and righteous are out for my blood;
Now I live with my kids and a woman I love,
Well if gay liberation means freedom for all,
A label is no liberation at all,
I'm here and I'm queer and I do what I do,
And I'm not gonna wear a "straight" jacket for you.
Happy Pride, Toronto! Happy 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, too.