Orientation week revellers boo radical heerleaders

TIMOTHY SCHWINGHAMER

During orientation week there was a platform stage on the centre-campus green. I spent the whole week working on applications, and I did not attend the outdoor performances, except for the Inuit throat singer and the radical cheerleaders’ performances. Th ere was a public display of intolerance here a couple of weeks ago. It was carried off with immunity. Some students secured their heterosexual identity, and took action to maintain the status quo. Th eir action was rooted in the colonial racist patriarchy that owns and operates the West. Th eir minds are colonized and they will likely neither read, nor be able to understand what I have written here. Th ey are submerged in a mythology that is authored by their oppressors. In a saner world, the university administration would have known about what happened, and they would have taken action to restore balance.

According to Wikipedia, “Radical cheerleaders often perform at demonstrations, partly to bring something fun to what can sometimes be a scary event. Th ey also often perform at feminist and other radical festivals and events. Radical cheerleading is used at demonstrations to promote a radical message in a media-friendly, people-friendly way. It is also used to support the actions of other activits who are putting themselves at risk, to denounce infi ltrators and opponents, and to escalate or de-escalate situations.”

Th e radical cheerleaders are an anarchist-feminist spirit squad who perform spontaneous anti-capitalist theatre. I am a fan, especially since they chanted during the Operation Charging Bison protest march. Th eir cheers gave a powerful and good energy to the march.

Th e radical cheerleaders’ famous “Coming Out Day” cheer is a funny rhyme with an accepting and queerpositive message. I was disappointed when the orientation week revellers greeted “Coming Out Day” with loud and drunken boos.

I feel it is necessary to speak an idea that usually remains unspoken: allowance for the enigma of sexual preference is basic to civilized behavior. Is it surprising that the university administration neither took notice, nor reprimanded anybody, nor made any positive statements in support of the queer students, faculty and staff ? Shouldn’t we all be appalled?

To be popular, successful, and to have friends, those orientationweek revellers believed that they were obliged to make loud negative noises. After all, homosexuality is not included among the virtues of the high-salaried parents who pay tuition. Homosexuality is not an asset for those who have economic dreams. Owing to the dreadfully high tuition, and the “corporatization” of the campus, even the students subscribe to and advocate the values of capitalism. In any case, the saner, poorer students cannot aff ord to be among us here anymore. Most of us who remain are submerged in an environment that is oppressive, which advocates and rewards the most primitive method of public elevation, that is, pushing other people down.

Homosexuals do not occupy a respected position among those who subscribe to the status quo, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, the status quo is necrophilic (and by that I mean that Canada’s eurocolonial culture wallows in death and destruction) and anyone who proclaims “greed is not good!” ceases to enjoy the audience and accolades of the hierarchy, and is likely to be detained or jailed, to suff er the longdrawn- out processes of (in)justice.

If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to try it. Go and shout it out, really mean what you say, and disturb the people in positions of power with these words. You will be made to suff er. Similarly, homosexuals can be treated as derivative and marginal publicly with no consequence except for the further alienation of the homosexual identity.

Coming Out Day cheer

Yo all you girlz; hey all you boyz, Leave all the stereotypes bring on the toys.
Y’all ready for rhythm y’all ready for rhyme,
Come on everyone it’s gender fuck time Gender, gender, fuck it we say Life’s more fun with gender play. Gender, gender, it’s not what’s down there,
Assigning strict roles, that ain’t fair. Gender, gender, it’s a fl uid thing Fuck their rules we’re celebrating. [. . .]

Timothy Schwinghamer is a secondyear master’s student in plant biology.