Life In ROW

Reading this morning about Peter Tatchell's eyewitness account of the brutal quashing of the first ever Moscow Gay Pride Parade, I wondered where in the hell the Americans were. The British Tatchell, a representative of my mayor Bertrand Delanoë, and the German MP Volker Beck were all there (the latter two were injured by the crowds of fascist thugs).  In the many, many articles I saw about the incident, I did not see one mention of an American activist in Moscow, let alone a well-publicised show of support from any of the prominent gay rights organisations in the US. This glaring omission on the part of the US homorati is the second global gaffe in a month. The US virtually ignored IDAHO, the International Day Without Homophobia, which my pal Brad discusses on his videoblog here. I am increasingly disgusted by a US gay "movement" (more a market than a movement, but that's another post) that consistently fails to tackle global issues while constantly stroking themselves for being the genesis of modern gay rights (see the documentary After Stonewall to get what I mean here).

Through my work experience in the US, I have found that many of the mega-corporations categorised their activities in two categories: the US and ROW. ROW, an accidentally poetic acronym for 'Rest of World', always made me twinge a bit every time I saw the term's use. How could a complex map hundreds of countries and billions of people be lumped into a three-letter word? I came to learn that in the American office environment, American politics, and just about American everything, ROW was and is a mere tool in allowing for America's everyday existence – a profit centre, a lucky beneficiary of our superiority, a patronised friend.

In my time at University studying History – 18th and 19th century FRENCH History, the only relatively recent non-Anglophone academic reading I was assigned by my history professors was from Michel Foucault. Nothing else. 

Glass-half-full person that I am, I honestly believed that the everyday ingorance of the street was counterbalanced by intellingence in the American office, the American advocacy organizations, the American university – but I was sadly wrong.

UPDATE: Brett Lock at Lock & Load says the following in the comments, which deserves being brought to the front:

It's not entirely fair to say that no US Activists were in Moscow. I know of at least one. Scott Long, the LGBT director of New York-based Human Rights Watch was there, and in fact kept an online journal as events unfolded

(link added within quoted text by me)

Thanks for the correction, Brett, but I want to note the following:

1)  Human Rights Watch is not by nature a GLBT organisation, nor a US organisation. I am grateful to Long (and all the other brave souls in Moscow) for his efforts and appreciate the blogging for the Blade.

2) Beck, Tatchell and Delanoë's envoy Pierre Serne were consistently mentioned in mainstream press articles, including American news outlet CNN. If they could get the mainstream quotes, why didn't Long? Did he think his blogging for the Blade was enough? I certainly don't think Long is so dim as to not take the opportunity to talk to the mainstream press, so what was stopping him? He hasn't posted since 10:27 (Washington or Moscow Time, I'm not sure, but there's another sign the US is not set up to operate globally) on Saturday. Was Long arrested and held (he did say on the Blade blog: ' The   problem is, of course, that the foreigners (like me) will be there for the day,   then go home.'), or is he holding his cards?

3) While I am grateful for the correction, I stand by what I say. With all the funding, resources and manpower available in the US, it's a crying shame that the British activists have taken on the brunt of the global advocacy in the Anglophone world. I know of no strictly GLBT US organisation that is set up to take on global issues quickly and effectively – and in a way that makes mainstream noise in the world's media capital. I suppose that the HRC, the NLGTF, GLAAD, and the other behomoths believe that the ROW is a job for ROW.

Comments

[Brett Lock]

It's not entirely fair to say that no US Activists were in Moscow. I know of at least one. Scott Long, the LGBT director of New York-based Human Rights Watch was there, and in fact kept an online journal as events unfolded:

http://washingtonblade.com/2006/redpride/index.cfm

[MattUK]

I would not be so hard on your countrymen, while what you say is true to a certian extent, there is an even bigger failure of LGBT organisations in the West in addressing the issues facing gays and lesbians across much of the developing world. We only have European organisations in Russia as Russia is 'apperently' a European country. I doubt these people would have gone to Egypt, or Iran!

Your right, we are nothing more than a 'market'. I buy there for I am!! Makes me want to vomit!

P.S. Tatchell is Australian ex-pat who has been in the UK for years. He has lead an intresting life!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Tatchell

[Edouard]

You're right, of course — it's depressing how little impact the crushing of the Moscow Gay Pride Parade had here, even in New York, which is sometimes a little more aware — but we are, admittedly, somewhat overwhelmed with news about massacres by Marines in Haditha and elsewhere, so maybe there's a (somewhat) plausible reason for our indifference. Needless to say, Ms Rice didn't mutter a peep about it, perhaps because of being forced to renege on her promise not to deal directly with Iran. Anyway, good for you for being bothered by it.

[Gamefly]

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