A Question

Is Peter Tatchell a douchebag?

No no, I don't ask this question in any rhetorical sense whatsoever; I'm genuinely unsure how I should look at this guy.

His citizen's arrest on Mugabe is certainly commendable; his strive for Gay Rights in awkward countries such as Russia is extremely honourable - without doubt, he does some excellent things. He does face criticism from assbags like Jon Gaunt and the Mail brigade on one side, and from the other side, equally moronic assbags like George Galloway, and his pathetic emulsion of a "Respect" (LOL) Party, on the other side. Being capable of annoying idiots from "both sides" is certainly a talent not to be overlooked.

But....I can't help thinking that he's somewhat of an...uhm, pantomime figure, almost.

I was just reading this article from Tatchell; a few things came to mind, when reading this excrement.

It seems increasingly common for gay rights activists to have a snipe at black people; I'm not accusing Tatchell of that, per se, but the constant accusations of there being a problem of homophobia within the "black community" that you hear, make me very wary; sure, there's a problem with homophobia within the black community, as there is with the white community, the Asian community etc. But the specific finger pointing does put me on the edge a little; Jamaica, as a disturbingly violent and homophobic country, is often used as a so-called "example" of black homophobia. This finger pointing is duplicitous to say the least, given that Jamaica is a country rife with Orthodox Christian fundamentalism. (A fact that is often ignored about Jamaica).

One also would argue about the homophobic lyrics in reggae and hip-hop; sure. That is undeniable, but influence from song lyrics is an influence which is often overstated. Fucking hell, if the Anti-Vietnam war movement within music, in its vast and powerful might, couldn't influence policy or even opinion, for the most part, then I don't think homophobic lyrics, coming from the scummy likes of Buju Banton, and "gangster rappers" are that much of an influence. (I have often made the case that politics and music don't really work well together, or achieve much, if anything) Sure, homophobic artists are fucking arseholes and bigots; that's stating the obvious. But they're really just not that influential, as far as opinions go. Books and newspapers are FAR more powerful for the objective of influencing opinion, than music could ever hope to be.

So, it seems like thin excuses, honestly. I mean, it's just a fact that there are people out there, who will be the first to play the persecution card, then go on to attack a minority group. (Think: White van man reading the tabloids, complaining how Political Correctness and affirmative action are hurting the white, heterosexual male, then goes on to make a racist, sexist or homophobic remark. That's an example)

The above trait seems to be within a few self-proclaimed Gay rights activists, who go on to attack black people.

Again, I'm not accusing Tatchell of that, but the article certainly does have a whiff of that.

Apart from this (And the laughable fact that Tatchell does view Malcolm X as a "hero"), it's really a pathetic trivialisation of the honourable cause of Gay rights. Perhaps Peter Tatchell is the one needs to "get over it", that Malcolm X was a bisexual? Given that it's BLACK History Month, who the fuck would care about Malcolm X's sexuality? Because, for most people (Evidently not Tatchell), Malcolm's sexuality is IRRELEVANT.

What would please Tatchell though? Oh, look, Malcolm X was a black nationalist, AND DID YOU KNOW THAT HE WAS BISEXUAL!?!??!?! DID YOU!??! DID YOU!??!?!?! I BET YOU FUCKING DIDN'T!!!!!!!!111111111111111111111

Of course, I take his point that some homophobes will make the endeavour of covering his sexuality up, but what makes Tatchell think that making it more apparent will have some vast difference? If he honestly thinks black nationalist homophobes (Surely the black nationalist element is fucking bad enough in itself?) are going to stop being homophobes, down to them knowing that one of their pioneers, and greatest spokesmen, Malcolm X, was a bisexual, then he's a complete fucking joke. And it would reaffirm my suspicion that he's a pantomime figure, all in all.

I don't know...he seems such a turd at times: his self-appointed nature of being this self-appointed spokesman for LGBT people, much to the disdain of many other LGBT people, as well as his one-trick pony nature, of making flagpoles out of matchsticks, yet often being silent about other humanitarian disasters. All are distasteful, to say the least. Yet at the same time, the kind of people who do fling shit at him regularly are often people who I have absolutely no time for. I don't know. Please come back to me with your thoughts, and I honestly don't want to view Tatchell in a bad light, but I am often placed in doubt.