| After reading Hugh Graham’s article "The collapse of queer activism" (Cover, April 1 — April 7, 2004), I agree one cause is Calgary’s perceived conservatism. We elect MPs from the right, so people assume Calgary is a very conservative city. However, the vote goes this way primarily because of general crankiness toward central Canada and economic reasons. Most people don’t necessarily agree with Stephen Harper et al.’s socially conservative views. Yet the gay community sees this ocean of Tory blue, which is disheartening when it comes to public fights over social issues.
The business atmosphere also feeds into this. A lot of people in the corporate atmosphere of Calgary are calculating "how do I get ahead?" This empire-building attitude extends to volunteer activities in the gay community. You end up with certain people whose motto is "I'm the queen of this social/activist group, I must keep everyone else down through whatever means." Anyone who challenges them gets targeted for "gay" character assassination (e.g. "I won't talk to her because she doesn't respect/support/enable/empower/ doesn't really believe in my cause."). This viewpoint divides new members of any organization. Who wants to join a club where the first rite of membership is the unpleasant task of deciding who you will officially exclude?
As well, the people who aren't empire builders either get burned by the idiots mentioned in the paragraph above, or they are expected to do all the work because people have been thus alienated or excluded from the group. Then they get burnt out.
Finally, there's the infamous Calgary attitude, which may be the same in all cities, but former Calgarians have said it seems to bloom here. You know, pissy queens who won't talk to you at all because you're a bear/leather queen/drag queen/rodeo queen/lesbian/gay man/not making enough money (for the record, I'd like to say I'm an equal opportunity bigot – I hate everyone until the person's proven interesting in one way or another).
The irony is that the gay and lesbian, bi and trans community says to the rest of the world they don’t want to be excluded from rights, marriage, etc., but this is how they act amongst themselves. Until people stop with the attitude, start realizing we’re in it together, get over themselves, things will remain as is.
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