martes, 12 de marzo de 2013

300-plus LGBT people killed, but who gives a damn? - GCN

300-plus LGBT people killed, but who gives a damn?

New GCN columnist Scott De Buitléir talks about the recent rise of LGBT people being murdered in Brazil.

Grupo Gay da Bahia, a Brazilian gay rights group, recently published the results of an annual survey, which showed that 388 LGBT people were killed in Brazil during 2012. This horrific figure was an increase of 26% since the previous year, where 266 cases had been recorded.

Take a second to think about that. Three hundred and eighty-eight people. If you need to put that into an Irish context, that's about half the capacity of The George. 188 gay men, 128 trans people, 19 lesbians and two bisexuals. One by one, killed off with little attention given. In fact, no arrests were made for 73% of the cases. It's probably also worth noting that these were only the cases that were reported to police; there could easily have been more that went unreported.

It might be possible to say that because this figure deals with Brazil, you might not feel like it has an impact on you. I'd be hard pressed, however, to try and find someone in Ireland who doesn't know a Brazilian  – gay or not. The town of Gort in County Galway made headlines a few years ago for having the highest concentration of Brazilians in any Irish town. Many Brazilians have assimilated into Irish life, with some setting up food stores, capoeira and fitness classes, and restaurants. Some even frequent Ireland's gay bars, and the Irish LGBT community has had a strong Latino contingent for recent years.

And yet despite us welcoming our new Latino neighbours, just as we have welcomed the other waves of New Irelanders, we haven't taken action. We haven't even bothered to care.

Maybe I'm still at an age where idealism courses through my veins. What could I possibly do, you might ask in protest. My response would be that a better question should be asked; why would you do nothing? Lack of empathy? Laziness? The Irish LGBT community has made massive progress since the 1980s, but why become complacent? If you'd rather 'actively' use your spare time and energy to put things right here in Ireland, then fair play. If you're not even doing that, however, then you need to look for another excuse. Fast.

One main reason why you wouldn't feel too concerned could be that you can't relate to something like this. How, in that case, do you connect yourself to the rest of the world? Do you find yourself relating to fellow Irish people, Europeans, rugby enthusiasts, Beyoncé fans or just 'people'? Do you subscribe to the concept of all LGBT people being connected by a community?

Indeed, no man is an island, although we do choose which groups we align ourselves to. Personally, I tend to use two interchangeable labels; Irish and European. I also subscribe to two minorities, because I'm both a gay man and an Irish speaker. I'm also a massive fan of Nordic crime shows, but I wouldn't be adding that to my CV any time soon. My point, though, is that the links we have with people are usually established because of alignments we have consciously made. What worth have those links, though, when so many people can die without a single complaint?

I'm not going to tell you what actions to take, because it's not my style, nor would it be my place to do so. What I can do, however, is get you to think about the 654 people – like you and me – who died in Brazil over the last two years for just being themselves. Other gay-related crimes in countries like the UK and US have a better chance of getting into our news feeds, but that doesn't make them more relevant. We need to realise that even though things are getting better here in Ireland, we cannot allow ourselves to become complacent. We need to care.

You can sign a petition to support Equality Mom's in Brazil right now here.

Scott De Buitléir presents The Cosmo, Wednesdays 10-11pm on RTÉ Pulse. You can follow him on Twitter or via his blog.

 


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