Notes on Commandant Harper II

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Corruption at the founding convention of the Conservative party eh? I love the stench so early in summer.

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And what’s with shaking his kids’ hands as they leave for school?

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Liberals! Staring at your shoes because they tripped you up with the extension in Afganistan? Because their accountability law might make it too costly for enough delegates to come to your convention? Snap out of it! They're just trying to rattle you because they know you're still dangerous. Try lobbing some grenades yourself. Be it resolved this House affirms a woman’s right to chose. See the Tories stammer their way out of that one.

But my constituents might not like that. In the short run perhaps but in fact you’ll be upholding deeper values of theirs than affect that one issue. And this is war and you must realize that. You know what Harper wants. Look at his moves so far: the law saving poor horny fifteen-year-olds from the rapists, an ascetic accountability act, a cynical GST cut, a bunkered administration, siege language, the braying over the Supreme Court and Senate, the canceling of day care, the disdain for the media, the tarring of all things that don’t conform as liberal and so corrupt and decadent, and now the second gay marriage vote. Populism for some and a laying of early foundations signaling the supplicants he’s readying to thrust into the heart of liberalism, which yet feeds him, to leave this country rawer and more tribal. Canadians will be more self-sufficient in enclaves perhaps but less free and less aware and more pliable for ministers and marketers as we squabble over the moralities of our own private lots. You need to proudly defend values people forget they share starting with respecting our differences and protecting one another from needless suffering. This is a centre-left country that doesn’t want to admit it. Cheer us on.

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What is the corporatist neo-conservative ethic except greedy and undemocratic? Doesn't it publicly prize conformity over everything else? Doesn't it theorize if democracy actually worked we would descend into nihilism? This hasn’t happened so far so what does it want now? It’s power but to what end? And where in its perfections does it help those who are left behind?

Fundamental Sessions

I've caught myself enthusing about Pet Shop Boys' new album, Fundamental, hoping it to be true, to turn out true, but it isn't. It's crafted with their usual finesse but the range isn't there. It's too sombre, as if it’s missing an optimism gene, and its politics are clunky and tend to the obvious. (Did I buy Billy Bragg? Did someone put Chumbawumba on?) Bush is bad. Terrorism bad. Boo. Immigrants good. If they had written Fundamental in 2000 I might have called it prescient; instead it’s more a sign of the general mass inching its head around to finally see the problem than a flare of thrilling lyrical subversion. You could argue the album needs to be serious to carry its message, but you would be wanking.

Predominantly negative emotion isn’t a weakness in art as long as it’s placed at the right vantage point, as in the stories of Norman Levine, which aren’t cheerful but still leave the reader consoled or elated. And although PSB does attempt this at the end of I Made My Excuses And Left, they otherwise put on their sad act, pack up and leave us with the dirty plates. The lack of catharsis may intend to disquiet the listener and move him to take up arms against the oppressor and if so that's heroic in our tightening world but it still leaves us with an imperfect work.

All is not lost though. Looking over the whole Fundamental collection including b-sides and bonuses, I still see a great album. I offer you therefore my revised play list, the Fundamental Sessions.

THE SESSIONS

Psychological — Dainty Bastard compares this one with One More Chance in part for its agility and I see his point, but I put it with For Your Own Good for its sultry menace, with a side of sex from Some Speculation and guile from The Sound Of The Atom Splitting. “What’s that spilled on the kitchen floor?” Lovely.

In Private — A rosy beauty from Fundamentalism, their least-mediocre disco record, and what Soddom and Gomorrah purports to be. Neil plays diva while Elton swaggers across the stage.

The Resurrectionist — The best of the sessions. Proud, ballsy, joyful, it charges in, grabs you by the neck and carries you off, and you want more.

Indefinite Leave To Remain — The melody is hopeful and anxious, the bridge is beautiful, the lyrics aren't too obvious and "indefinite leave to remain" is a line of found poetry.

Girls Don’t Cry — Lush and wistful. A sentimental side-trip.

I Made My Excuses And Left — That hollow, muted lament in the background, then Neil's clinical voice of shock, devastation and relief. It made me cry too.

Minimal — All day long, at my desk, in the elevator, on conference calls, I am singing M! I! N! I! M! A! L! I cannot stop. I love it. Melancholy done right. Then the song turns towards home and — hang on — I know that guitar. What is New Order doing in here? Another sign Chris is hot for Peter Hook.

I'm With Stupid — I hated this one at first, sounded tinny and gadgety, and therein lies its cunning for it made me listen and as I grouched that melody smoldered in and I was hooked. The media tittered about PSB coming down to make their statement about Blair but I doubt he clutched his heart over it. Still hate the chorus.

Luna Park — Took me awhile to like this one too, and I love songs that take some reaching on my part. It is exquisite. Placid, langorous, nostalgic, reminds me of Enya minus the fangs.

Twentieth Century — The finest of the sessions next to The Resurrectionist. Deft and light on its feet. The lyrics make their point without overstaying their welcome. At last an optimistic song.

Fugitive — A romp. Crackles like their early, gamier b-sides.

Flamboyant (Memphisto Extended Mix) — This one came out with Pop Art a couple of years ago but its style locates it with these sessions. And not the fey yet delightful version from Fundamentalism but the Memphisto mix, which lets the song spread out and move at will. It is a masterpiece, regal, sweeping, presiding over everything in sight.

THE REJECTS

Numb — Me too.

The Soddom and Gomorrah Show — What dreck is this? An absent-minded paint-by-numbers big-budget showpiece. I knew where it was going the whole time. Maybe it’ll become catchier, I tell myself. It doesn’t. Maybe I’m not in the right frame of mind. Maybe it sucks. The remixes on Fundamentalism are better but still what does that say?

Casanova in Hell — Fer Chrissakes. Fine like an expensive watch but I'm asleep before I get the joke.

God Willing — Warmed-over Electronic. If you want to hear it in the original, download Soviet. Another sign Chris is hot for Johnny Marr.

Integral — Pump up the picket lines! A rousing production, makes me want to dress in placards and march; although I heard it in a club the other night and it was impossible to dance to, and those are lyrics to wince at on tributes.

My speech to the kids

(From an interview with high school students about being gay)

1. Were you ever teased or put down because of your sexuality?

Oh yes. Many times. I was called a fag in school. I even felt ashamed over not having a girlfriend when all I really wanted was to go out with one of the jocks. (Not to worry though. I have since met a lot of hot gay jocks.) Someone once scratched "FAG" into the hood of my family's car. I once noticed "FAG" written on my knapsack in heavy ball-point pen and wondered who had done it and when they'd gotten a hold of my bag, and how many had seen. But words are only words and I knew I didn't need to feel ashamed. I am proud to be gay.

2. How do you feel about the Catholic Church's view on homosexuality?

That depends on what part of the Catholic Church you're asking about. Not being Catholic or even Christian it is hard for me to tell. Once the one hand, there are Catholics, such as my mother, who express the positive values of the church by being loving and accepting. And there are others who use the church to rationalize their prejudice and aggression but if the Catholic Church didn't exist they would find another vehicle for it.

As for the institution, their stance against homosexuality is disrespectful, inhumane and anachronistic in a supposedly rational, enlightened world. Mind you, their record on birth control, women, non-Catholics, and so forth isn’t so hot either so homos are in good company.

3. What is your response to people who are homophobic or are opposed to your lifestyle?

One of the deepest values of any society is to respect one another but that principle is too easily evaded when others do what is uncomfortable or strange for us, so we think of them as outsiders when they’re only people. Homophobes are afraid of that strange idea of two men having sex or two women, often brought up thinking it’s bad or wrong and never questioning it. It’s a sign they need to look at their fears — many are afraid of sex itself — rather than project them on others.

I don't support the lifestyles of narrow-minded judgmental bigots but I don't go trying to beat them up or take away their human rights. If I did I would be called a monster and rightly so. Live and let live.

Now let's look at the usual topics of conversation:

MARRIAGE IS FOR STRAIGHT PEOPLE — Marriage has historical roots as an economic or political arrangement. Nothing about sex or love in there but convenient for the children, yes. Since then it's changed to represent the natural pairing of people for love — institutions change all the time — and if gays and lesbians also couple out of love then marriage must encompass that too. If you say marriage is for children, does that mean straight couples without children can't get married? And if gay or lesbian couples have children, as many do, they should by that logic get married anyway.

IT'S NOT NATURAL — If it happens in nature how can it not be natural? In spite of all the oppression, ridicule, violence, rejection, stigmatization, roadblocks, it still exists.

THE PARTS AREN'T BUILT FOR THAT — For having babies, I agree. For expressing love or lust, I don't — and neither does anyone tacitly as long as they have sex for something other than baby-making. Anyone who tells you otherwise is fooling himself. The world doesn't lack for babies, so the fact some people aren't having them hasn't dented our population growth.

IT DOESN'T BOTHER ME AS LONG AS I DON'T HAVE TO SEE IT — Which means it does bother you. Face it. Why should it make you uncomfortable? What you're really saying is homosexuality doesn't bother you as an abstract idea but in fact you don't want to think about it. That's neither tolerance nor acknowledgement. How would you like it if everyone could display affection publicly but not you?

BUT IT'S GROSS — No, ugly people having sex is gross. Having sex with someone you fancy is fun! And if you don't like it, who invited you anyway?

4. What can people do to stop hate crimes against homosexuals?

Report them! Condemn them! They're so hard to prove that victims need all the help they can get. It's too easy for attackers to hide behind convenient explanations and avoid taking responsibility. You have to prove intent. JUDGE: You hit him with a pipe because he was gay. DEFENDANT: No sir, I just didn't like his face.

And learn some self-defence. Anyone in danger of a hate crime — and that includes everyone really — should know something about protecting themselves, and this can cut down significantly the number of attacks.

5. Do you believe that there is a moral issue behind homosexuality? If so, what is it?

I don't understand your question. There are morals everywhere. You could say it's right to raise children to be happy and healthy and therefore it's right to raise gay and lesbian kids to be happy and healthy, and I'd agree with that. But you're probably asking if homosexuality is amoral and it's not.

Morals are not universal. They have to make sense. It is wrong to kill, for example, although many believe it’s justified if your own life is threatened. In the case of two people of the same sex loving one another, it’s illogical to say that’s morally wrong when it doesn’t hurt other people, doesn’t ruin the economy or the environment, and actually strengthens society by increasing the number of happy stable couples. It’s morally right.

6. Do you think that you are treated equally in society? If not, what is your opinion of those who discriminate against homosexuals?

Which society? Canada? North America? It depends. I'm treated equally by the people I know: my co-workers and employer treat me well, friends and family treat me fairly, and I don't feel I'm in danger of someone hitting me with a pipe and calling me a fag. But in general, by society? Not completely. I can't go to a lot of small towns across the country and be openly gay. I can't even hold hands with a guy in certain parts of the city or else I'll be attacked. The federal government is planning to hold another vote to try revoking my right to marriage. Are the rights to marriage of anyone else being attacked or questioned? No.

7. What do you think could be done against the intolerance of homosexuality?

You can change attitudes only one person at a time, through explaining and teaching, showing that we all want the same things: food, shelter, to be loved, to be healthy. It’s only through understanding we are all more alike than not that people see their assumptions and beliefs about our diffences mean little.

What to do? On a personal level, encourage others to be open-minded and welcoming. Point out when your friends and family aren’t being fair and respectful to gays and lesbians. On a societal level, think about whom you vote for — vote period! The policies of some politicians may be good for the economy or certain lobby groups, but if they also promote intolerance, don’t vote for them.

8. If you could stand up in front of a group of people and some something on homosexual rights to leave an impact on them that would make them think differently what would you say?

To all those people who are gay or lesbian or aren't sure what they feel and are hiding and worried what will happen if anyone knows: it does get better. Much better. I know how much it hurts now, but don't let it grind you down. If your friends castigate you, you deserve better friends. If your parents might kick you out wait till you're on your own and then tell them. Consider telling siblings first to build moral support — they’re usually more understanding. No matter what — it’s okay. Have faith in yourself. Claim the happiness that is rightfully yours.

And to those who have ostracized, intimidated, beat up, laughed at or written FAG on the knapsacks of others: stop. Stop being small-minded. Treat others well. Afraid your friends will think you’re gay too? Don’t let yourself be intimidated. You’re not lemmings, you’re intelligent people. I bet there’s something about you others might make fun of, so think about how that might feel. Kindness and fairness are signs of strength. Live and let live.