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No place for gays in Chiang Mai culture?
Posted by Administrator
Conservative groups in Chiang Mai have petitioned the governor to ban the second Chiang Mai Gay Pride parade planned for February 21, arguing that such an event undermines the city's age-old culture. As director of MPlus, one of the event's organisers, I believe that cultural heritage and the expression of sexual identities are not mutually exclusive.
A flowing current brings fertility from upstream to downstream and prevents the decay that comes with stagnation. Likewise, culture, without being held hostage, renews itself in time and nourishes subsequent ages. This is true of all cultures, as they withstand the passage of time and pass on the legacy of previous generations.
For a culture to bear the passing of time, it needs to evolve alongside the people in that culture. It can't be frozen like a dead entity, because like life itself, culture goes through the cycles of creation, change and evolution. Should it stand still and fail to enrich itself with new values, decline would immediately set in. We should remember that all cultures are social constructs that are born, exist and pass away, according to the Buddhist principle of impermanence.
It is simply untrue that local cultures are completely distinct and separate from other cultures, as no cultures exist in a vacuum. They evolve through interaction within the culture and with other cultures. As a result, no individual or group can claim exclusive ownership of the culture in question.
What exactly is a culture? How did it come to be? Who owns it? For whom does it exist? These are questions that must be asked about any culture, including Chiang Mai culture, rather than accepting exclusive claims and definitions imposed by powers-that-be such as the nation state.
Culture is the total sum of the ways of life for various groups of people. It is not a sole property of the government, or capitalists, to be conveniently put in a neat package and sold for monetary gain,
Every Chiang Mai citizen is entitled to dignity and the right to contribute to their own culture according to their life being lived, not for other incentives. The capitalist culture or the authority culture is obviously not the same as the people's culture.
However, even in terms of people's culture, Chiang Mai culture today is not the same as it was 100 years ago. The differences reflect the inevitable changes in society. It is neither possible nor desirable to stop new elements flowing into Chiang Mai culture, just as it's impossible to stop tributaries pouring into a river.
A more constructive way to preserve Chiang Mai culture is by recognising impermanence and the changes to social and cultural constituents rather than categorically blocking all new elements without any guiding principles or sense of direction. The latter will become a dead weight that inhibits the regeneration of culture.
It is time to expand the ownership of Chiang Mai culture to include all subgroups of people with different ways of life and who are ready to share with and learn from others. A society and culture of diversity is more adept to cope with adverse social issues. To resist change and hang on to outdated images of culture will only cause conflict and alienation, both mental and physical. The question should be how to happily exist in a society with great diversity in sexuality, ideas, religion, politics and history.
Most importantly, every individual has a unique way of life, often in contradiction of an imaginary "golden age" of culture. The simplistic value judgement of good versus bad is an obstacle to the flow of the cultural stream and the recognition of the inherent diversity within culture.
Gay Pride is the expression of a group of people who exist in our society. Notwithstanding the negative portrayal of gays and lesbians often fed to society at large, it is important to remember that homosexuals exist in all professions; that they are our colleagues, friends and relatives; and that they make no less a cultural contribution to society than any other group.
When we talk about gay pride, some people conjure up the tired image of "improperly dressed" marchers. The truth is, Gay Pride parades in various countries also vary in character, depending on the issues being presented. Some Gay Pride participants in the West may be scantily clad, but that's to attract the attention of the public and not to sexually arouse. (This writer also believes that anyone who is so easily aroused by such images needs professional help.)
Intelligent viewers can recognise the message that any parade intends to impart, whether its human rights, HIV prevention or anti-discrimination. Nobody seeks out a Gay Pride parade for sexual pleasure, which can be found much more easily and abundantly elsewhere.
On the contrary, Gay Pride is a form of social expression by sexual minorities who, as citizens, are entitled to the right to freely express their identities and sexualities - so long as that expression does not infringe on the rights of others.
Such rights of expression are also afforded to heterosexuals. But Gay Pride has another dimension for gays and lesbians. In addition to allowing people to "come out" on an individual level, Gay Pride is also a "coming out" on a social level, because it opens up not only a physical space but also a conceptual space in the minds of others to recognise sexual minorities.
Gay Pride is thus part of the natural cultural evolution, a reflection of the river of social change and diversity. It's hoped that people in our society will think further than the simplistic binary system of what's sexually explicit or sexually arousing, polite or impolite, good or bad. This will be a learning process that takes us beyond the superficial attitudes that can only increase social conflict. Let us all hope for peace based on the understanding of the inherent diversity in all areas of life.
MPlus is an NGO working in HIV prevention among men who have sex with men, in Chiang Mai since 2002. Pongsathorn can be reached at
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If you want to know about this subject please click on this link: http://www.avert.org, It will lead you to AvertT which is an international HIV and AIDS charity based in the UK, working to AVERT HIV and AIDS worldwide.
