Gays for Sale : report Queer Netherlands - 09.08.2008 22:52
Gays for Sale was an event organised by QueerNL on Aug 2nd during Gay Pride in Amsterdam. A bunch of us gathered at the Homomonument at noon, with flyers and banners. This action was aimed at highlighting the commercialisation and the related depoliticisation of Gay Pride. Included here are the flyers and some pictures. Flyer in dutch - Flyer in english - The Gays for sale all lined up ... And their buyers. The auction begins ... A transgender is sold ... The buyers cant decide ... This one is trying hard to sell himself. Walking through the Prinsengracht ... Gays for Sale was an event organised by QueerNL on Aug 2nd during Gay Pride in Amsterdam. A bunch of us gathered at the Homomonument at noon, with flyers and banners. This action was aimed at highlighting the commercialisation and the related depoliticisation of Gay Pride. There were gay men who wanted to be sold to the highest bidder among corporate companies -- we had a representative of the banking industry, traval agencies and insurance companies. These company representatives bid for each gay guy till all of them were sold. We also had a transgendered person who was sold for very little money - given the high unemployment among the trans community, they didnt seem to be a very attractive component of the Pink Market. Lesbians, we thought, would also fetch a small price, but we couldnt any lesbian to sell, unfortunately. After that, we took our banners and remaining flyers and walked through the Prinsengracht, which reached a lot more people. Seeing the Pride Parade was interesting. There were indeed a few boats which had a more liberatory or political message - including the one of Amnesty. There were also boats of Surinamese, Aruban and Antillian lgbt people, of Stichting Trut, COC, ONE lesbian boat, and that of assorted political parties. However, there were quite a few corporate company boats, all carrying the logo 'Personal Pride = Company Pride" which is quite a strange concept. Especially where one of them was of Shell - we dont see what there is to be proud of, if you work for Shell. The flyers (in dutch and english) are being attached here, along with some pictures. For more information, and to be a part of future events, contact us at queernl@gmail.com E-Mail: queernl@gmail.com Website: http://www.queer-nl.org |