hi
weve been having our first "big b(r)other" contest here in south africa - you know the program where the they stick 12 people in a house & hope someone will murder someone for the sake of "good" tv (now *there's* an idea for the ultimate "locked room" murder mysery :-) anyhow - one of the occupants, the only one with any kind of artistic inclination of any kind, who made a habit of getting the female occupants into bed, etc,, (he even played a guitar, and composed some songs - well - kind-of) - one of the more entertaining people on the show - pretty popular with the viewers, and with a pretty good chance of winning the million rand. then the national papers ran a picture of him at a "mother city queer project" party........ he was voted out of that house the very next weekend, with a huge majority,,, really sad,,,, also - i am really concerned about the tendency of people to react to bigotry with laws. does it, or can it, really work?? surely that is really just legalised mind control? wouldnt the best way be to educate people, and change attitudes?? or does forcing people to be together then cause them to start changing their attitudes?? i dont know - i do have a problem with bigotry (im actually getting some flack where i am at the moment - being an english speaking person in a very afrikaans speaking area) but i also have a problem with forcing people to behave a certain way - simply because you can never force them to think, feel, or be that way. or is it acceptable to force people to be together now, knowing it will be a disaster now, but they, or future generations will eventually adapt. i kind of see this happening here since apartheid was abolished, and people started mixing. - a word of explanation on the "mother city queer project". cape town, where i used to live, is fast becoming one of the worlds premier gay holiday destinations. this is due to the very liberal attitudes to gays, (most people wont even take a second look at gay couples in the streets) and numbers of gay bars, clubs, etc there. the mayor and tourism board are fully behind this - money has no sexual preference. now the locals are fast catching on that the best entertainment is in these gay clubs, and are flocking to them. once a year, around christmas time, the "mother city queer project" - a gay organisation which co ordinates tourist publicity, information, aids counselling, etc holds a party at one the the best clubs there. these parties are legendary in cape town, and attract crowds of thousands (around 15,000 if i remember correctly), including a number of overseas vistors who fly in especially for the party. again - people have realised that, gay or straight, you wont find a better party anyway in the country. ron
