Bland svenska bögar och lesbiska i New York
We can go hard – as if we have nothing to lose knowing we have everything to lose!
We can fight.
We can be soldiers.
We can be victims.
We can be victimizers.
We can make music.
We can take cloth, wood, stone and make it walk that walk and talk that talk.
We can dress the king – and undress him too!
We can remember those others feel are best forgotten.
We can tear up the dance floor and put it all back again.
We can talk loud in public.
We can be small.
We can be mighty.
We can be too much.
We can be just enough, just in time.
We can.
We have to.
Power!
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This was the powerful words read out loud at the inauguration of the third Gay Games hold in the New York City in 1992 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots – one of the most symbolic moments in the lgbtqi+ movement. Although I’ve done some online research I unfortunately cannot find the name of the poet (please let me know if you know who it is!) but it is beautifully performed at 8 min in this video.
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This documentary depicts the gays and lesbians travelling from Sweden to NYC for the Gay Games and was aired at the public service television in Sweden. This was three years before the first Pride Parade in Sweden.
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The documentary starts lovely with Pet Shop Boys’ “Go West” while thousands of happy lgbtqi+ people are taking the sunny streets of New York, smiling at the camera. It really holds a message of joy, hope, belief in the future and fight for your rights. It feels very distant from the hyper commercial Pride movement of today.
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The event gathered more athletes than the “straight” Olympics in 1992 and 1996 and was a major success filled with sports, culture, performance art and partying alongside with politics at the height of the AIDS crisis.
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It is a true online gem and can be seen for free at the Swedish public service open online archive. Just search “Bland svenska bögar och lesbiska i New York”. It is produced by Birgitta Karlström.
Makz Bjuggfält