Michael Ryan

A Return to Chaos

OPINION Michael Ryan writes about the renewed fight for queer liberation in America, as a second Trump administration makes attacks against the LGBTQIA + community.

News Cycle Numbness

“I was hoping it’d be less dystopian than this,” read a message from a friend back home. Sadly, I had to agree. The past week of U.S. inauguration news has been simultaneously disorienting and addicting. In today’s minute-by-minute news climate, it’s easy to be glued to notifications, updates, and commentary from any side of the political spectrum while also being numb to it. A lot is going on.

“What did he say now?”
“Did you see that executive order?”
“He wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico to what now?”
“No, no, Elon’s hand movement was only a Roman salute, not what you think it is”
“The CBP One app is down”
“Her hat was so big to prevent him from kissing her”

And on and on it goes…

Despite obvious flaws with the Biden administration, the thing I’ll miss the most about the past four years was the occasional quiet news day. Between Sleepy Joe’s naps, there were at least a few times when the news cycle didn’t revolve around whimsical policy decisions. The work of an albeit flawed political office was being done without fanfare and sensationalism. In hindsight, it seems our democratic activism was just as sleepy as Biden was.

For better or for worse, the inauguration of Trump for a second term means we’ve returned to the constant uncertainty that comes with a Trump white house. What could be tomorrow’s topic?

Fundamental human rights chipped away?
A culture war on the Kool-Aid man?
Major policy changes regarding NATO in the Baltic Sea?

Would any of us be surprised at this point to wake up to global headlines covering a newly declared war on, I don’t know, escalators just because his shoelace got stuck on one? Armed with a Twitter (I mean X) account again and a larger audience listening, we’ll have to take the next four years one step at a time and learn to filter out the bulk of the unserious noise if we can. No human brain was ever meant to properly process and filter the mountain of political trash created daily, so minding our news diet is as important as ever. Remember that politicians have distracted us with outlandish headlines for centuries to divert our attention away from their more nefarious schemes.

Why do I feel suddenly less secure approaching a US border security guard and declaring my Icelandic husband with me upon entry? Surely I shouldn’t, not yet at least.

Iceland’s Reaction

Following Trump’s election, Samtökin ‘78 (Iceland’s National Queer Organization) began receiving information requests from US citizens looking to relocate. Simply put, Iceland is at the top of search results for the most safe and queer-friendly places to live globally. Their statement, now linked on their homepage due to so much web traffic, points out that the US is currently classified as a “safe country” by Icelandic law. This means Americans, no matter what their sexual orientation or gender, would need to apply at ÚTL (Útlendingastofnun, The Directorate of Immigration) just like any other applicant. Essentially, the threat isn’t serious enough for queer Americans to claim refugee status in Iceland on the basis that they face persecution in their country.

Chairman of Samtökin ‘78 Bjarndís Helga Tómasdóttir.

Chairman of Samtökin ‘78 Bjarndís Helga Tómasdóttir was interviewed by national broadcaster RÚV explaining why they were receiving so many inquiries and explained that the language being used by the White House regarding “only two genders” specifically endangers trans, intersex, and non-binary people living in the US.

In the Americans Living in Iceland Facebook group, an anonymous member asked how the sex marker “X” in their passport would be handled moving forward. News broke recently that future applications have been suspended until further notice. The validity of these passports and gender markers is now up in the air. Commenters on the post noted that there have been whispers of passports with an “X” marker being taken at the border.

In general, the new fear surrounding anything “DEI” or “queer” makes international travel risky for individuals who deviate from the Trump administration’s definition of sex. It also inadvertently creates an example that other countries may follow. Suddenly international progress to improve conditions for queer minorities may be put on hold while other nations wait patiently to see what the US does. It bodes poorly for all nations and delegitimizes the Icelandic version of the non-binary identity marker.

The Minister vows to defend Iceland’s position

Newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir took to Facebook to defend Iceland’s reputation for queer rights and claimed she’d use all the tools at her disposal to call out America’s homophobia. In her post, Þorgerður said “the rights of gay people worldwide are among Iceland’s main focus points in the United Nations Human Rights Council, where we took our seats on January 1. I plan to attend the session of the Council in Geneva next month and intend to highlight the rights of gay people in my address.”

Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Photo / Viðreisn (The Liberal Reform Party)

She continued “Regarding the new presidential order in the United States, I would like to say that I am very sorry to see the US government so quickly depart from the liberalism and the position that the government has shown on the international stage in this area in recent years. We will encourage the United States, as well as other states, to respect and protect the human rights and freedoms of all people, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender characteristics, or other variables. You can count on that.”

Chairman of Samtökin ‘78 Bjarndís Helga reposted the Minister’s stump speech while simultaneously calling her to action and asking to do more: “Þorgerður Katrín asks us to trust that she and the Icelandic government will “encourage the United States, as well as other states, to respect and protect the human rights and freedoms of all people, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender characteristics, or other variables” and I want to trust that. However, I ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs that this encouragement not only be at the level of international organizations but that the discussion be taken up in direct bilateral relations with the United States.”

Whether or not representatives of the current Icelandic government would call these things out during an in-person meeting is yet to be seen, but past examples during Mike Pence’s trip to Reykjavík set a good example.

 It will never cease to amaze me how a family member can look me in the eye and say I have nothing to worry about after the vote they cast for Trump put my rights directly in jeopardy.

“It is crucial that the Icelandic government reflects the national spirit on the international stage,” continued Bjarndís, “and the national spirit of Icelanders is absolutely clear – we stand for human rights and we want to be a good example and a guiding light of compassion and love in the world.”

Where’s the resistance?

Are the Democratic, Independent, and Green parties in the U.S. dead? Why has the organized reaction been non-existent? November’s election proved two main points. First, Trump has undeniable support because he’s been able to activate an incredibly frustrated working class with populist messaging. Secondly, it confirmed the failure of the neoliberal approach Democrats thought was still working, despite this method’s effectiveness running out before the end of the second Obama term.

I’ve even heard from naive Icelanders, politically woke and democratically minded, willing to take on the conversation: “How did Trump get re-elected? I don’t believe it!” Yet, it’s easy to be in disbelief if you missed signs like the wage stagnation and cost of living crisis that has unfolded in the U.S. since the 2008 financial crisis. Along with the government’s debt ceiling, people’s hopes and dreams of a financially viable life have risen into the clouds never to be seen again. People support populism when its simple messaging promises a better life for everyday citizens and the Democrats did a crap job at offering anything better, plain and simple.

It’s not too unlike the situation Iceland finds itself in today with massive inflation causing political tension. The hard truth is that it’s more difficult to talk about ideal human rights when people can’t afford rent, their mortgage, or groceries on a minimum wage salary. Yet, we must. No matter how difficult the economics and populism become we still have to keep our dignity and fundamental personhood as a non-negotiable. One can only hope that the newly elected Valkyries of Icelandic politics defend every inch of our progress.

The political tension is palpable

What’s different in Iceland is the temperature at which these debates are taken. Undeniably, political violence is on the rise again in America threatening the ability for any town hall meeting to go on peacefully without the fear of a bold gun owner’s decision ruining the peace. I rest easier at night knowing that no bulletproof vest or security guards are needed for a gathering at city hall in Reykjavík. Sadly, I can’t say the same for my hometown. With the proud boys and oath keepers released from prison, it’s hard to imagine myself feeling safe anywhere in the US.

I’ll feel less safe being gay in public. Sure, it’s possible to take a trip to one of our community’s safe havens: Palm Springs, Provincetown, the West Village in NY, San Francisco, and Boystown in Chicago. We should feel safe in all those places, no? Yet, why then do I feel a tension in the air that wasn’t there before, causing me to stop and wonder if those safe havens are really as safe as we claim they are? Why do I feel suddenly less secure approaching a US border security guard and declaring my Icelandic husband with me upon entry? Surely I shouldn’t, not yet at least.

The right-wing would call my concerns the crying of a sensitive snowflake. Even some of my family members from the US, who voted for Trump, would probably tell me I’m just overreacting and anxious. Yet it will never cease to amaze me how a family member can look me in the eye and say I have nothing to worry about after the vote they cast for Trump put my rights directly in jeopardy.

For now, the internet as a whole seems like a “safe space” for the LGBTQ+ community to continue communicating. Let’s just remember how quickly these privileges and social benefits can be taken away, and how we might be taking them for granted today.

I’m considering traveling to World Pride this year in Washington D.C. with a group of Icelanders, and the risks associated with the trip are real. Both our group and the global LGBTQ+ community gathering there will need to strategize and speak out while minimizing the potential risks. This year the pride marches in D.C. and Reykjavík are bound to be more of a protest than a parade. Now more so than ever before we as a minority have less to celebrate and more to defend.

Is being gay online as safe as it once was?

I’ve known for a while that the CIA agent tracking my data knows I’m gay, the chinese spies too as TikTok is still on my phone. Gays online joke about the ads being pushed to us. It’s the Lady Gaga tour tickets I was looking at and the scented candles in my online shopping cart that give my sexual orientation away. Platforms across the internet have mountains of data proving it.

For years we’ve all recognized that the algorithms are feeding us more of what we want to see, and I’ve wanted to see and communicate with the gay community online. But is that the best thing to do now? Are certain hashtags, content, and queer voices going to be censored a bit more than they were before? Or is it just alarmist to imagine that happening?

Tech industry titans with reserved seats on inauguration day confirm what was already so obvious: a handful of immensely wealthy people are now vying for as much influence in the Trump administration as possible and they’re all information technology companies. Whereas before there may have been a veil of disguise to oligarchic playtime, this time it’s clear. These deals no longer need to be made in cigar-smoke-filled gentlemen’s clubs in D.C. because they’re hashed out in our newsfeeds in real-time for all to see.

Orwell’s 1984 hasn’t fully realized itself yet. For now, the internet as a whole seems like a “safe space” for the LGBTQ+ community to continue communicating. Let’s just remember how quickly these privileges and social benefits can be taken away, and how we might be taking them for granted today. Even in Iceland, our digital social lives are mostly on platforms owned and headquartered in the U.S. Vigilance and awareness about these matters are key.

The solution: grassroots community organizing

I’m reminded in these times that the only way our queer community has survived and thrived over the decades is by sticking together. Solidarity, unity, and grassroots organizing are the only foolproof tools at our disposal for sticking it to the man. They always have been. Now more than ever it’s important to not be gay on your own. If you haven’t gotten involved, volunteered, educated yourself, or reached out before, there’s no better time to start than now.

In Iceland, various groups exist to find your tribe and defend the queer community’s position. Samtökin ‘78 can point you in the right direction and introduce you to our shared collective action. Globally organizations like ILGA Europe, Outright International, and the Human Rights Campaign have the weight to carry our message. Whether you work for a small business or a big corporation, ask your employer how they’re supporting the queer community year-round. Maybe putting flags or stickers on a reception desk at your school or office can be your first action. Even something small can be the visibility someone is looking for.

I’m reminded in these times that the only way our queer community has survived and thrived over the decades is by sticking together. Solidarity, unity, and grassroots organizing are the only foolproof tools at our disposal for sticking it to the man.

We’ve been through this before

My last recommendation in these crazy times is to mind your own capacity and energy. The fight for queer liberation will go on even if you need to take a minute to rest. Sometimes the news cycles and dystopian headlines can make the whole queer struggle seem futile, but it’s not. Unplug from it all when you’re feeling down, and silence the news notifications if you need to. Check in on your allies and your queer siblings and friends. Strength in the community is built from within brick by brick.

Lastly, remember we’ve been through this before. Quasi-fascist governments censoring our “otherness” has happened before, and yet we persisted. Queer rights are human rights, and common sense and decency are on our side. Love wins.

In the words of U.S. queer rights activist Barbara Gittings “Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.”

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