Pioneers Of (Gay) Pride

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

Over the years many gay people have led by shining example and the result is a better deal in society for gay men and women in some parts of the world. In parts of the UK they may be labelled ‘activists’ (Kent and Cornwall, for example) and yes, they were, but not in the way the term is used these days. Gay activists had more integrity then and were prepared to put themselves in the firing line for their beliefs and for the sake of others; they didn’t court the media by way of pandering to huge egos. [I could name names but won’t. I’m sure you know the type.]

Here in the West, we should never forget those who publicly sowed the seeds of Gay Rights (Stonewall) and acceptance of gay people by society for ourselves, not some token tolerance of homosexuality. We owe them much. In the days, for example, when a Pride march really meant something instead of being hijacked by Trade Unions keen to be seen jumping on the Equal Opportunities bandwagon and certain publicity-seeking people who care more about their own self image than much else, not to mention all those straight people who see it as a fun if not trendy day out. Nor should we pay too much attention to some of those whom the media has chosen and crowned as its gay heroes.

For some people, participating in Pride is still a brave first step in acknowledging their sexuality and demonstrating how sexuality in no way undermines our integrity as human beings. Sadly, it strikes me that they are in a minority these days. In this sense, it seems to me that Pride has lost its way here in the West. That is why I don’t participate in Pride Day here in London. [The last time I did, it was so awful I left early.] I know a lot of gay people who feel the same away although I dare say many reading this will find their hackles going through the roof.

Could it be that too many gay people in the West have become complacent about the gay ethic and are inclined to overlook that, even in the West, many people continue to feel that coming out will stigmatise them?

Time and time again, I have spoken to gay people who despise those who remain in the closet (even more than bigots despise us). Closets have their reasons and we should respect those reasons. Yes, we can encourage them to come out and offer support but it is wrong if not immoral, especially for other gay people, to make a closet gay person feel less of a human being for that.

In some parts of the world, as in Serbia only recently, a Pride march still sends out a very serious message to the less enlightened among the heterosexual majority; those who take part are to be applauded for having have the courage of their convictions.

Yes, Pride it is a way of celebrating our sexuality, whatever our race, culture or religion and wherever in the world we live; some Pride events here in the UK do this very well. At the same time, should we not take care that we don't score an own goal by promoting the very stereotypes we are there to protest against ...?

PIONEERS OF (GAY) PRIDE

Ghost faces in a cloud,
footprints in the clay;
voices shouting aloud,
‘I am gay!’

No keeping out of sight
as some might prefer
or (ever) keeping quiet
anywhere

Peoples of the world
and their cultures
descend on the gay word
like vultures...

Pick our bones, they may,
but cannot deny
footprints in the same clay,
faces in the same sky

If progress means maturity,
time meant to heal,
let this twenty-first century
get real

Where ignorance prevails,
still much to do,
dispelling Old Wives’ tales,
stereotypes too

Lose heart though we may,
take strength and pride
from footprints in the clay,
faces in a cloud


[From: On the Battlefields of Love by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2010]

The Rhetoric of Separatism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

After a number of requests that I do so, I mentioned some time ago that I would record myself reading some of my poems on You Tube. This is our first attempt (me and my close friend Graham) and we are quite pleased with it. Yes, it could be better but I have decided to carry any fans I may have left after this (!) on our learning curve, warts 'n' all. We had great fun on the heath and will return soon. We also recorded a couple of poems at the flat that I will upload sometime next week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1z_NiNpRQw

If anyone shows much interest, we will make it a regular event, possibly reading more poems in one session as rime goes by although, for now at least, but I think two is quite sufficient. To be honest, it was such fun to do (and more difficult then we anticipated) that we will probably continue anyway... [If the link doesn't work, try going into You Tube and keyword' Hampstead Heath Reading.'

Meanwhile…

Years ago when gay relationships were illegal I the UK I used to fee a strong sense of separatism, not to mention alienation. Not any more and never again. We are all different. Making people feel different, though, that is indefensible.

'Prejudices are what fools use for reason.' - Voltaire

THE RHETORIC OF SEPARATISM

Some declare us sick
who are gay, only sure cure
by way of this religion
or that for rejecting laws writ
in Holy Books, kneeling
on a customised prayer mat
wishing for Heaven

I decline the way
of bigots and zealots, reply
that I am happy as I am
nor do I feel any shame
in the way Mother Nature
writes my name

Some place us beyond
the pale who are gay, only
salvation by capitalizing
on religion's preferred option,
and if sexuality still
won’t conform, it can
at least be discreet

I decline the way
of bigots and zealots, reply
that I am happy as I am
nor do I feel any shame
in the way Mother Nature
writes my name

Copyright R. N. Taber 2007


[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears in Accomplices to Illusion, Assembly Books, 2007.]

Body Beautiful

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

Today’s poem first appeared on the blog in March 2009 and several readers have asked for it to be repeated.

Now, I am often criticised for expressing the spirituality of sex as well as love. Well, sex for me has always been a very spiritual experience. I’ve never been a wham-bam-thank-you-Sam sort of guy.

Yes, of course sex is fun and physically satisfying…but why should it be any the less a spiritual experience for that? Me, I find sex for its own sake so boring. Foreplay is not only an art worth the learning, but it can also transcend the sexual experience into another dimension altogether….if you let it.

It is always worth remembering too, of course, that beauty is very much in the eyes of the beholder, and we all see people differently.

BODY BEAUTIFUL

Beads of sweat
on a fine chest, pearly nipples
demanding to be explored,
diving instincts exposing them
to a mind intent on…
an explosion of sexual activity
between legs like jelly,
all-quivering desire making ripples
through this body, so near
yet so far from such perfection
that no erection could last
for long, but needs burst like some
joyous song, hymn to love,
lust, desire - call it what you will
but nothing quite like it,
pounding like gospel on the ears,
filling our eyes with tears
for such beauty in a world much
maligned for an absence
of sensitivity towards whatever
icons we may choose
to invest a body of feeling within,
yearning for free expression
and more, much more but even now,
dripping into oblivion - unless
we open our mouths to say exactly
what we mean, try pricking
the heart of any adversary who
will, for sure, never best
the sheer thrill of licking sweat
on your fine chest…

Copyright R N Taber 2009

[Note: This poem was centred on the page in 1st eds. of A Feeling For The Quickness Of Time by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2005 but otherwise remains unchanged.]

They, Who are 'They'? AND Ode to a Homophobe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

I read yesterday that openly gay USA TV host Ellen De Generes recently made a tearful appeal to America’s young gay people facing prejudice following a series of deaths. She is reported as saying the US faces a ‘wake-up call’ after student Tyler Clementi leapt to his death after his room mate allegedly a romantic meeting with a man and streamed it on the web. This is appalling. Our hearts must go out to Tyler, his family and friends as well as the families and friends of all those driven to such lengths by sick, ignorant cowards. For that is what bullying is, the work of narrow minded, bigoted cowards.

Comments by people like rapper 50 Cent don’t help. He is reported as refusing to apologise after he appeared to urge gay men to commit suicide in a rant on Twitter. Nor is it the first time he has aired homophobic views. In 2004 he told Playboy magazine ‘I don’t like gay people around me because I am not comfortable with what their thoughts are……but women who like women, that’s cool.’ What a nice man! And what an ego! As if any gay man would give such a jerk a second thought…!!

This is the 21st century, for goodness sake. By now, homophobia like racism should be stone dead. Instead, both are very much alive and kicking. Interestingly, in the West, where some people would probably think twice about saying anything that might be construed as racist these days, gay people are often considered fair game by the less enlightened among the heterosexual majority. Do they realise, I wonder, what a good many ordinary, decent people think of them?

People in the public eye have a responsibility to lead by example, surely? Thank goodness for those who not only have the courage to be openly gay but will also speak up for us; we should not underestimate their contribution to the fight against homophobia.

While I am not impressed by today’s celebrity culture, there is no denying that celebrities exert enormous influence in society, especially over impressionable young people. That is what makes 50 Cent’s rant so irresponsible and inexcusable. Of course he is entitled to his opinions and I would be the last person to deny anyone freedom of speech. But those in the public eye do have a responsibility to lead by example. The BAD news is that many don’t. The GOOD news is that more do than don’t. Unfortunately, it’s invariably those that don’t who make a splash in the media and exert a bad influence, especially on impressionable young people and fans.

I well remember how it was when I was a young gay teenager and in my early 20s when homosexuality was a criminal offence here in the UK. It was tough and I contemplated suicide more than once…until I found life, beauty and hope in nature and began to understand I am as I was born and there is nothing wrong, sinful or unnatural about that.

They’ have a lot to answer for…

THEY, WHO ARE 'THEY'?

They said I should
have stood up to the bullies
who tormented me
each day, that they would
have run away
had I not made so vulnerable
a picture, fair game
for any small-minded
conjecture

They said I should
have stood up to the thug
who demanded
I key n my P.I.N. to obtain
my own ransom
from a handy cash machine
or I’d be certain
to have makeshift surgery
on my spleen

They said I would
be a fool to dare embark
on a gay lifestyle,
as it would only bring me pain,
a wasted life;
better to go straight (they said)
prove to everyone
how I'm a 'real' man'
and take a wife…

They said I could
not survive in today's world
where life
is all about surviving a rat race
where 'real' men
need to walk tall, be strong..
but I ignored them,
went my own way, resolved
to prove them wrong

Let the bullies
have their say, web trolls
and gossips
do their worst, I will
overcome
with (more than)  a little help
from my friends,
(hopefully) family too,
and win through

Copyright R N Taber 2005

[Note: First published as 'They' in A Feeling for the Quickness of Time by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2005.]

Why is it, I wonder that homophobes love a bigoted rant?  Could it be perhaps that they are frustrated by their own sexuality? Regular readers will be familiar with this  next poem; it has appeared on the blog before. In the context of this post, I feel it bears repeating yet again. [If interested, you can see/hear me reading it on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square last year as part of sculptor Antony Gormley’s One & Other ‘live’ sculpture. [One reason I included the poem is because homophobic attacks, in particular on gay men, had been on the rise in the London area for some time.]

http://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20100223121732/oneandother.co.uk/participants/Roger_T

The web stream had a global audience and it may be of some reassurance to any distressed gay person anywhere in the world that I received messages of support from all over.

Stuff the homophobes! We are all human beings and, as such, have a right to live our lives in peace and freedom, regardless of colour, creed, sex…and sexuality.

ODE TO A HOMOPHOBE

You parade your macho like a trophy
and frequently abuse gay men,
but if so confident in your sexuality
why this crass overreaction?

You say gay people are sad, sick cases,
at the very least immoral,
yet you go to church, sing His praises
(and expect Him to be grateful?)

You say being gay is a mortal sin,
love to take the moral high…
yet what less right gay men and women
to love and be loved till they die?

Gay people need to give truth a name
and learn to give it substance;
Homophobes would never dare the same
for fear of exposing their ignorance

We are all God’s children, the churches cry,
each worthy of His love and our own;
Yet, time after time. their holy leaders lie,
leave gay people to pray alone

The century is changing it has to be said,
a War on Terror all around.
and while one homophobe wishes us dead,
it is a war without end

Copyright R N Taber 2007

[Note: Despite the title, the poem is, of course, also a villanelle, first published in  Accomplices to Illusion by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007]

Hearsay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

In May, I gave a special mention to the U.S. gay playwright Robert Patrick. I had a particular reason for this. You see, there was a time many years ago when I was young, I was on the streets. Thankfully, it was only for a short time. I will be 65 later this year and don’t think I could survive that kind of life for long again. So I was very sad to receive an email from Robert to say that his savings have reached ‘the point of no return’ and ‘unless the male/male XXX business recoups miraculously, I will be on the street as of November 1st. I haven't been on the streets since Albuquerque in 1959, and it wasn't pleasant then. I don't like to think what it's like now.’

I heard from him again only recently and it appears he has a reprieve until next spring. Meanwhile, though, I continue to share his apprehension.

You can, if you like, help by buying his DVD lecture on The Caffe Cino; the birthplace of gay theatre and other collectors’ items related to his life and work:

http://robertpatrickpersonal.wordpress.com/2010/04/04/lecture-on-dvd-caffe-cino-the-birthplace-of-gay-theatre/

To see over sixty pages of pictures from the first Off-Off Broadway theatre, and the cradle of gay theatre, the Caffe Cino (New York 1958-1968): http://caffecino.wordpress.com/

See also: MY THEATRIKAL KAREER - 1

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=106603&id=614794354&l=832fffa610

MY THEATRIKAL KAREER -2

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=106608&id=614794354&l=a0adadb933

People like Robert Patrick have been clearing a path for gay people for years. We owe a lot to the likes of this man. He has given much of his life to people like us. Maybe now’s the time to give something back, yeah?

Meanwhile…

Here’s another poem from the Taber archives, written in 1963. I considered revising and updating it to make it more meaningful to today’s parents and young people. In the end, I decided to make just a few revisions, retaining the sentiment and much of the wording in the original poem, discovered among others in a pile of old exercise books last year. Hopefully, readers will think my struggle to decipher a schoolboy’s hieroglyphics as best I could was worth the effort.

Although I was in the closet at school, a few people asked me outright if I was gay and there was some gossip. It was a criminal offence in those days. Even so, to my shame, I denied my sexuality to most people and (worse!)  even tried to go straight. Regular readers may recall that I have said before how I was in and out of that damn closet for years before I finally came out to stay. [I honestly don't think I'd have waited so long if I had been born much later than 1945.]

Teenagers, arguably more than anyone, go some tough rounds with maturity. I may not have been out when I was seventeen but I wasn’t (quite) down either…

HEARSAY

Some say that Heaven’s got it in for me
because I’m gay,
that I should get a grip on morality
and look away
from a wicked history of homosexuality

Some say it’s sure to rain on my parade
because I’m gay,
that I should get a grip and not be afraid
to look away
from a life that puts devilry in the shade

Some say I’m flirting with hell’s flames
because I’m gay
and shouldn’t wonder we’re called names
day after day
who choose to play, oh, such queer games

Some ask, is it that I cannot or will not see
what it is to be gay,
chasing lepers’ shadows, the worse misery
because they’re gay,
don’t I realise I am my own worst enemy?

I simply point to the sun coming out for me
not because I’m gay
but (bisexual) Apollo wasn’t one for bigotry
and if old gods fade away,
there’s still a lot to be read into mythology…

There is no way any Heaven has it in for me
because I’m gay,
believing wholeheartedly in the right to be
however it is we may
relate to our colour, creed, sex and sexuality

Copyright R. N. Taber 1963; 2010

Sexuality, Life Force

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

From time to time, teachers ask me if they can use one of my poems to help kick-start a debate on contemporary issues; it might be on street crime, bullying, political and/or religious issues, whatever. Occasionally, I am asked to send a selection of my poems on a gay theme. Only recently, a teacher reported back to say how today’s poem and another (Ode To A School Cap) ‘inspired a very lively debate on sexuality and gay issues.’ I was thrilled. It was especially nice for me as the teachers adds, ‘A few days later two pupils came up to me on separate occasions to say they had borrowed one of your collections from the local public library.’

Regular readers will know I believe very strongly that discussing gay issues in schools (including Faith Scgools) and colleges is the best if not the only way to put down all the misleading, outdated and often offensive stereotypes that continue to attach themselves to gay men and women in the minds of the less enlightened among us, especially in the context of world cultures /religions. While gay issues are all but ignored in schools, many gay young people will continue to resist and suppress an awakening sexuality while many heterosexual young people (especially boys) will grow up in an atmosphere that, by default, not only condones and but actively encourages homophobia.

We are living in the 21st century, for goodness sake!  Yes, gay and transgender people are better off than when I was at school, but something needs to be done NOW about a rising tide of homophobia and other socio-cultural-religious prejudices across the world and schools should not shy away from placing themselves in the front line where educating the less enlightened among the heterosexual majority is concerned.


SEXUALITY, LIFE FORCE

Once, I met a young man by a river
under a leafy awning of willow;
in a summer’s heat I could but shiver
nor would my lips  frame a ‘hello’

We glimpsed a kingfisher on fair wing,
a flash of breast. colour of his eyes;
in one body. we watched its descending,
as if a blessing on nature’s surprise

We found a voice and let it lay us down,
river anxious we should hear a story
about desire and sex, seeds for sowing
and nurturing as inspire nature’s glory

Come twilight, we went our separate ways,
glimpses of gay love, a life force always

Copyright R. N. Taber 2007; 2010

[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears in Accomplices To Illusion by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007.]