Bash Back or Assimilation

My experience of Stockholm Pride was very positive. In a large part due to the fact that I worked as a volunteer in Pride House where most of the "serious" events took place. The Pride Parade through the City was exhilarating, 350 000 chering us 35 000 in the parade.

The theme for this year was hetero, how the hetero norm impacts all of our lives, something you don't usually reflect on every day. The basic norm is a white heterosexual male with a wife, a couple of kids, a car, a house in the suburbs and who have "missionary" sex every Friday night after the TV is turned off and the kids turned in. The only way I fit in that norm is being white. I'm a transwoman, lesbian with strong leanings towards BDSM and other fun sex games, and I'm unemployed, living in a small city apartment.

What bothers me is that the all inclusive policy of Stockholm Pride, and other movements around the globe, may water down the goals and messages. Marching in a parade together with the police, the military and sundry conservative organisations feels a bit strange to an old leftie, anarchist. Sure, I understand that it's necessary if we are ever to stop the hate and persecutions. But at what price? I've always been proud of being an independent outsider. I don't want to be a part of the grey, anonymous mass of middle class bourgeoisie. I walk the streets as a tall, proud transwoman and if any one have a problem with it it's their problem, not mine.

Then I stumbled across this blog: http://bashbacknews.wordpress.com/ and I felt a whole lot better. While I don't agree with everything they say and do it's good to see that the Stonewall spirit is not dead. We could use a lot of this especially here in Sweden. While it's great that we have so many openly gay people in the public sphere, artists, actors, an openly lesbian bishop and more, there is still a lot of predjudice and hate out there. Compared to other countries it might not seem so much but we still have to fight it.

But if the price of getting the peace we all long for is to conform to what's "Average Joe" expects where does that leave us? Do we have to eradicate what makes all of us so special, unique and loveable, each in our own way?

Should I dress like a woman of 60 is supposed to? Go back to hiding that I'm a transwoman? Pretend that I want to make love to a woman as a man? And admitting that I'm a top into BDSM is of course also out of the question.

I am who I am! And fuck any one who have problem with it! I'll never confirm to your arbitrary rules?