The Betty Pages sprung out of some conversations Betty Desire a local drag queen adn I were having in a gay bar. These editorials may be out of context now and were written for a local audience in the Belligham area. but I am sure readers everywhere can make some sense of parts of them.

Political Change in BC

May 2005

I have had a lot of conversations lately about politics and sexuality. some of it on a micro scale, and some on a much larger scale. And while I have always worked some in this area, these new conversations have made me think about things in some different contexts.

One of these conversations was with John Ince founder of the Sex Party in BC. a new political party formed solely to run candidates for office in BC on a platform of sexual freedom. My first impression of this effort was that they were shooting too radically and the only effect was going to be to harden everyone's position and convince them to dig in their heals. One of John's first targets is to allow people to perform live sex acts in places that serve alcohol in BC. Now I have personally done SM and bondage in public clubs that serve alcohol. And I am all in favor of nudity wherever there are consenting adults. But, I am still not sure where I stand on sex acts in public places like bars.

Part of me says the approach they are taking is just to confrontational. Provoking the authorities in the past John has had people perform live sex acts in his adult toy store and art gallery. Calling the Press and Police ahead of time daring them to come in and arrest someone. Now no-one was arrested, but there were public threats to do so and that one isolated performance came and went. But, now he has his sites set on establishments that serve alcohol. If he does not get a letter allowing him to stage a performance from the liquor board there he will sue them for one.

When I met with John my intention was to steer him to a less confrontational approach. I work with the NCSF (National Coalition for Sexual Freedom) and we have had very good success on the local level all over the US by befriending liquor boards and local police instead of taking them on head on. These victories are small and only binding on a local area. John wants to provoke a lawsuit so he can make a province wide change. Possibly nationwide in Canada. I have to admit the NCSFs approach is working down here. And I am leery of his approach working in Canada.

John explained one very big difference. And it is one to take note of for everyone involved in any type of Civil Rights struggle. The Constitution in Canada is still brand spanking new. It was only ratified in 1986. Before that Canada's Constitution was an act of British parliament, not written by Canadians. Because of that many of their civil rights are not as entrenched in legal precedents as ours are. When John works for sexual rights up there he is plowing a fresh field, with no cloudy moral precedents set decades or centuries before to overturn. That might explain why civil unions in Canada are accepted so much more easily than here.

One possible drawback is that many in BC's established press see the party as a joke. A nice way to boost circulation or ratings in a slow week, but not a real serious political party. Well in most civil rights journeys the first step is to be hated, the second is to be the punch-line and the third is to be taken seriously. The trick is to not be stuck too long in the middle phase in order to get what you want.

I will probably stick to my own brand of sex activism for now. While I am still not sure of the results he will get Im happy to wait and see how things work out. One way or another people in BC will be talking about things they never expected to regarding their sexuality and their politics this next election.