Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.08.2007, Blaðsíða 10

18_REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE 1_007_ARTICLE/GAY PRIDE
finance the various costs we face by throwing benefits throughout the year.
To some people’s surprise, we are very clear on the fact that advertising at
the parade is strictly forbidden.”
Jónsdóttir tells us that she expects around 25 floats at the 2007 parade,
which is an increase from last year. She says that participants usually put a
lot of work into their floats, and that the week leading up to the parade
is resultantly an extremely busy one for them, usually with great success.
“Marchers are envisioning and planning their floats for the whole year
leading up to the parade, and it’s amazing what many of them come up
with. They put such work into their costumes, practicing dances, it’s a great
thing to witness.” She says that while many floats promote some message
or the other, however cunningly, the parade is mostly about showing the
gay community’s strength through joy: “We can be angry for the other 364
days of the year, Gay Pride is about celebration more than anything.”

“I’m Coming Out”
The positive effects of the Gay Pride celebrations are obvious to anyone who’s
paying attention. With increased visibility comes increased confidence; the
sight of gays, lesbians and transgender folk marching openly and proudly
through a city centre will hopefully convince those currently in hiding to
embrace their gay selves, to come out to the world and to themselves.
Twenty-year-old Arna Arinbjarnardóttir was busily organising the Junior Gay
and Lesbian Coalition’s float when the Grapevine caught hold of her. This
year’s theme will be “coming out”, and they hope to inspire. She recalls,
following the junior coalition’s very first float down Laugavegur in 2004,
“They had a huge wedding cake, promoting gay marriage. That was my
first march, and I still cherish the memory. I wasn’t out at the time, but the
experience encouraged me to set my own coming out in motion. I kept
wishing I were up there with them. Well, now I am.”
RVK_GV_1_007_GAY PRIDE_19
Further information on www.or.is www.or.is
The area surrounding the geothermal power
plant at Nesjavellir is a region of spectacular
nature within easy reach of Reykjavik, acces-
sible to hikers and other nature lovers. A visit to the power plant
itself is also a revealing experience.
Reykjavík Energy has put much effort into making the area
accessible to visitors by providing marked paths, information signs, cabins, and
maps. The visitor centre is open this summar on Mondays through Saturdays from
9:00 to 17:00 and on Sundays from 13:00 to 18:00.
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Nesjavellir:
Experience Nature
at Reykjavik’s
Doorstep
Take part in an adventure at sea with an unforgettable 3-hour
trip into the world of whales and sea birds.
Located in Reykjavik's old harbour, only a 5 minute walk from
the city centre.
A spacious double-deck and a special viewing area on the
third deck ensures a spectacular view into the deep blue sea.
Whales&Puffin Island
www.elding.is
or visitCall us on
555 3565
Elding Whale Watching, Reykjavík harbour
Tel: (+354) 555 3565, Fax: (+354) 554 7420
info@elding.is, www.elding.is
Puffin season
Oct
13:00
9:00
Sept
13:00
9:00
July
13:00
17:00
9:00
June
13:00
17:00
9:00
May
13:00
9:00
Aug
13:00
17:00
9:00
April
13:00
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The publication of this issue goes hand in hand
with Iceland’s annual Gay Pride festivities, a
merry tradition championing gay, lesbian and
transgender rights since 1999. The celebration
will peak on Saturday, when a huge, merry and
colourful Gay Parade will make its way through
downtown Reykjavík onto Lækjartorg square,
culminating in a massive outdoor concert that
usually sees around 50,000 attendees showing
their support for gay rights.
This is a far cry from Iceland’s first celebra-
tion, when a few hundred marched through
Reykjavík, and it is even further removed from
places where marching in a Gay Parade will
pose a direct threat to your life (as it reportedly
will in many Eastern European countries). That
the festivities are increasingly considered to
rival Iceland’s 17th of June Independence Day
celebrations in terms of popularity and sheer
JOY indicates that a lot of ground has been
won, but there’s still a lot to be done and thus
room for plenty of criticism and discourse on
the subject.
Curiously, a lot of that criticism may be
found in the parade itself, taking the cheerful
form of floats that, at first glance, seem akin to
those found in your average small town ticker-
tape parades. However, further inspection will
reveal that a lot of those floats carry messages
that, like most good ones, are snuck into the
general consciousness under the guise of good
spirits and party fun. This is of course a brilliant
strategy, one that should (and hopefully will)
be carried out relentlessly.
Gay Fishermen Unite!
Some of the floats carry enormous weight
on the sole strength of their appearance and
visibility. The MSC fetish club’s float, for in-
stance, features hordes of eroticized, muscular,
leather-clad men in various states of undress
prancing to a soundtrack of Rammstein and
shitty Eurotechno. With the courageous act
of subjecting their usually tabooed fetish to
a suburban, middle-class public, they are ac-
tively and cleverly promoting diversity and
acceptance: “We’re here, we’re queer, don’t
be scared!” seems to be the message, and it is
one worth celebrating. This of course applies to
the whole Pride parade in general, and should
be lauded as such.
Others carry a subtler message, even if
they fit in with the general theme of things.
When asked, many of those interviewed for
this article cited the “queer fisherman float”
of a few years back as their all-time favourite
one. “I just thought the whole message was
brilliant,” Hilmar Magnússon, a young architect
(who admittedly partook in said float) told the
Grapevine. By dragging a full-fledged fishing
boat down Laugavegur, smoking pipes, sing-
ing sea-shanties and carrying signs that read
“Fishermen are fags, too!”, it underlined the
fact that not all young gays are choreographers
or hairdressers – being gay isn’t a choice at
all, especially not a career one. Gays, lesbians
and transgender folk are a considerable part
of every society, whether that society chooses
to acknowledge it or not, and may as such be
found in every rung of the economy.
Architect Magnússon has marched in the
parade since its first incarnation, sometimes
carrying a flag and sometimes waving from a
float. He will partake in another float at this
year’s parade, now presenting a collaborative
effort between Samtökin 78 (The National
Organisation of Lesbians and Gay Men) and
Amnesty International entitled “Verndarvæt-
tirnar” and meant to advocate action and raise
awareness on the international struggle for
gay, lesbian and transgender human rights.
“We are building a float that we’ll ride
down Laugavegur. Our slogan will be ‘Illegal in
100 countries’ and is meant to emphasize the
fact that there are presently 100 nations that
enforce laws against homosexuality in some
way, by doling out fines, jail-time or even public
executions. We’ll also be collecting signatures
and handing out pamphlets, enlisting new
members. We are a new organisation and
Gay Pride 2007 is our first major operation,”
he told the Grapevine. When asked about the
so-called “message floats”, he says that he
knows about at least two others that will be
promoting a specific cause in this year’s march.
“I think people may be opening up to the
idea that the parade is an excellent venue to
promote messages and sentiments, in front of
50,000 people who are all in good spirits.”
Gay Pride Is Brought To You By…
As Reykjavík’s Gay Pride celebrations grow in
popularity, it would seem natural that adver-
tisers and corporate sponsors were desperate
trying to latch on to some of the good pub-
licity. Lest we forget, Iceland’s Independence
Day celebrations are becoming increasingly
reminiscent of an extended, perverted version
of a cell-phone carrier ad.
As we learned, they are. And they’re not
having any success. As Katrín Jónsdóttir, vet-
eran marcher and manager of this year’s parade
told the Grapevine: “We are part of InterPride,
which is an international organisation that
oversees Gay Pride celebrations around the
globe, and their rules state that the parade
isn’t meant to advertise anything but ourselves.
All the work is done by volunteers, and we
Gay Pride Celebrations Float On
Text by Haukur S. Magnússon Photos by Gulli and Skari
“The MSC fetish club’s
float, for instance, fea-
tures hordes of eroticized,
muscular, leather-clad
men in various states of
undress prancing to a
soundtrack of Rammstein
and shitty Eurotechno.”
Cappuccino + bagle + yoghurt = 650 kr.
Situated in the Central Bank´s main building in Kalkofnsvegur 1, Reykjavík.
Open Mon.-Fri. 13:30-15:30. Free admittance.
Numismatic Museum