Decriminalizing homosexuality, religious upbringing,
& remembrance

How many economists are aware of the work and life of Scott Johnson , a brilliant gay economist/mathematician? He was a young man who was thrown of the cliffs at Blue Fish Point in Sydney on December 8th 1988? He was only 27 years old and his Econometrica paper was published posthumously. The police refused to investigate for decades!!! They simply brushed it off as a suicide even though Scott had everything to live for and the area was known to be a gay cruising area that was frequented by gay bashers. It took a massive effort by his family and allies and three (!!!) inquests before his death was classified as a homicide and seen as a hate crime. After 33 year his murderer was found guilty. Sadly, he is only one of many.

When talking to young gay men, I observe that they are aware that homophobic physical and verbal abuse used to be worse. But, I also feel that they don't quite fully understand how (the fear of) violence was something that played such a big part of gay life. And especially how scary it was because the only protection to expect was from other gay men and not from the police or the establishment. It is pretty obvious that trans people understand this much better as they are the ones who are the ones currently under attack. And, of course, violence against women is also still very problematic.



Speaking in the House of Commons in 1953, UK Home Secretary, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe promised that he would "rid England of this plague" because "Homosexuals, in general, are exhibitionists and proselytisers and are a danger to others, especially the young. So long as I hold the office of Home Secretary, I shall give no countenance to the view that they should not be prevented from being such a danger."

On the 25th of September 1822, John Holland (42), William King (32), and William North (61) were sentenced to death for sodomy. The recorder (judge) told them: "You have, by your abominations, disgraced human nature, and dishonoured the country in which you live. In the early ages of the world, the Almighty destroyed whole cities through the commission of crimes like yours; you have polluted the world, and must depart from it. Those unfortunate men who have forfeited their lives, feel a repugnance to ascending the same scaffold with you, therefore the Court order that you be executed at an earlier and distinct period." [link]

Start of the ZERO FLAGS PROJECT during Amsterdam Pride 2021. Homosexuality is still criminalized in 71 countries and the penalty for homosexuality is death in 11 of them.
*
*
This does NOT mean all is well in other countries. First of all, there are hate crimes: Jimmy Zappalorti † 22-01-1990; Matthew Shephard † 12-10-1998; Normunds Kindzulis † 28-04-2021; Dr Gary Jenkins † 6-08-2021; Aidan Moffitt † 11-04-2022 and Michael Snee † 12-04-2022 to name just a few. When I am wearing my gay face mask in a crowded Rotterdam subway (August 2021), then a young man spits at me before he gets out. Also, young sexual minorities are still much more likely to deal with drugs and mental health problems; Suicide attempts/thoughts were five (!!!) times higher among US youth who do not identify as heterosexual according to this 2015 report of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2010, the Dutch Sociaal and Cultureel Plan bureau found the same disturbing ratio for Dutch youth; see NRC news paper reporting and this SCP press release. Read Matthew Todd's superb "Straightjacket" for UK focused analysis, background, and advice. These numbers are national averages, so the situation is obviously even more shocking in religious families. And then my sister tells me that she cannot listen to me when I mention the horrors of my religious upbringing because I get "too angry." Fortunately, there were two members in my family whose love compensated for their conservative religious beliefs with abundance: Moeder en Oma. In 1990, ACT UP members wrote I HATE STRAIGHTS. It really resonated with me when I first read it. It isn't 1990 anymore, but still relevant. Queers may not live in an AIDS "war zone" anymore, but the info above indicates that us queers are still surrounded by "bomb blasts". And are straights aware of what those are and do they care? Btw, many people still die from AIDS, both in the world (680,000 in 2020) and in countries like the US (15,815 in 2019) and HIV infections with its nontrivial live-lasting consequences are still a problem (1.5 million new infections worldwide in 2020), and in countries like the UK especially among young gay men. So the AIDS war isn't quite over either.