Swedish Pirate Party attended the Stockholm Pride festival
Written by Ben Jones on August 12, 2006Last week was the Stockholm Pride festival, which is arranged by the Swedish homo/bi/transsexual community. The festival has been a huge success in recent years. It is supported by the established Swedish society - authorities, media. organizations of various kinds back it up.
Due to this, political parties generally make a point of being present, save of course for right-wing extremist parties and the Christian democrats, which have policies that make such a participation difficult to say the least.
Prior to this year’s festival, the online community connected to Sweden’s largest gay movement magazine, QX, started a project where members could put the logo of the party they supported on their presentation. A bit surprising to many, the party with the most logos on presentations was not the Social Democrats, who has ruled Sweden almost without stop from the beginning of the 20th century. Nor the largest opposition party, the Moderates. But it was the Pirate Party. Around 20% of all presentations with logos had the Pirate party logo.
The Pirate Party had decided long ago to participate in the festival, but this was even more a reason. So, they rented a spot on the festival area and put up a tent, where they handed out information folders, flyers, sold t-shirts and other stuff. The reaction was, according to the party members present, very positive. Many parties were critized because they show up on the Pride festival with tailor made material and voicing policies specific to the gay, bi and transsexual community, to portray themselves as the most “gay friendly” for the elections. Many representatives of the gay community have argued that this makes them feel like voters and not a group needing the support of these parties.
The Pirate Party, however, openly said to everyone that they have no points related to the gay, bi and transsexual community interests. Instead, they claimed that their aims to change copyright legislation, guard privacy and patent opposition are questions that benefit everyone, regardless of such things as sexuality. Many of the visitors to the Pirate Party tent liked this attitude,. The Pirate Party claims that every individual has the need to have their privacy defended. The gay community, who has often been subjected to oppression, threats and violence, understands this need for privacy. If the Pirate Party had a slogan on the festival, it would have been, ‘Being gay, bi or transsexual should not be an issue. But no one should be forced to declare their sexuality either, should they choose not to.’
The aftermath, rounded up on a Pirate Party meeting I attended this thursday, was alot of positive reactions, probably a bunch of votes, public goodwill and alot of sold t-shirts and baseball caps.
posted by Mathias
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In Vancouver, Canada, the Gay Pride Parade is way better than any other annual parade, attracting several hundred thousand people in this city of metro 2 million pop. The message, apart from being a lot of fun and a lot of bright colours, is that people are welcome to be accepted as they are; some say God loves you the way you were created. Vancouver is an open, tolerant place, and we heteros are proud of our gay people.
The idea of relating free distribution of software, or of really contributing your best without using money, is likely to catch on as people reconsider not only gay rights but freedoms of all kind. Money doesn’t work. Nobody can properly handle money; the concept seems to be beyond human fears and greed. It isn’t necessary for our world to be wrecked ecologically and culturally through human desperation for money. No other species uses money, though many species have advanced communication and cooperation.
“Give away the very best you do.” Most people reading this (especially older people) will realize that, say, the halfg dozen very best actions they have done in their lifetimes, were not in fact done for money. Such commodities as joy and respect are far better motivators, and don’t motivate people toward over-explotatation of resources or war. Money makes people poor, and money creates the headlines you read in the paper today—in newspapers that should have been left as trees to produce critical oxygen; but which were cut down for money.
One Bureau of Piracy/Pirate Bay slogan that worked very well on the Stockholm Pride, from what I’ve heard, was “Sharing is caring.”
However, I am willing to agree. From what I’ve seen from the gay, bi, trans subculture, it has been one very open to various and alternative ways to express and spread cultural material - it has distinguished itself by having an openess almost unheard of elsewhere. Piracy isn’t really about a free lunch - it’s the same thing. To look at culture and the spread of said culture at least in a way that corresponds to the current possibilities, instead of adapting current legislation to outdated views on culture.
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