Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.07.2011, Blaðsíða 23

Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.07.2011, Blaðsíða 23
23 The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 11 — 2011 'If you're worried about your parents reading your letters, what are you? This is a fact: you are gay, I am gay. And we need to stick together.'” The confusion others had over whether Hörður was trying to start a sex club or not persisted, with one man telling him, “I don't need to join any or- ganisation to get laid.” Bizarrely, some even quoted the Bible to him on the sin- fulness of homosexuality. In the end, though, he managed to convince some of them to help him form Samtökin 78. Meanwhile, Hörður began touring again in the countryside. He says at first no one would come to his shows apart from the house managers of the clubs and cafés where he played. Little by little, though, as his tours circled the country, year after year, these house managers would bring their friends and family. Over a period of two de- cades, the crowds—and the tolerance of others—began to grow. Hörður says this was for instance evident in the way that teachers would approach him, asking for help with how to deal with a gay student in their class- es. He was pleasantly surprised to see teachers wanting to confront the issue, rather than ignore it. Hörður's open, personable nature disarmed the fears and prejudices of others regarding gay people. “People would tell me, 'You're very different from what I thought you would be'. And that's when I thought, OK, this is working. A big part of my job is being there for people. Be an hon- est person, and people come to you.” At this point in the interview, Hörður cannot help but ref lect on how, in the face of tolerance, there are still some aspects of Icelandic society that stand in the way. “The main problem comes from the church,” he says. “I never really talked about this openly. The people aren't the problem. If you talk to people, they're maybe not gay themselves but they re- spect you as you are. But then comes the church. They put conditions on love. And that to me is unacceptable. You cannot put rules on love.” From Crash To Revolution This leads us to politics. Issues of class and abuse of power are prevalent in Hörður 's songs, and his growing activ- ism ref lects these issues that are close to his heart. “I tell people, 'I'm not demonstrat- ing. I'm fighting for a better life.' I think aloud, ask questions, seek an- swers. I knew there was corruption in this country. But I never thought in my wildest dreams that the banks would crash. We have been told lie after lie after lie, and people just accept them. They say 'þetta reddast' ['it'll all work out'], until it affects them personally, and then they come screaming.” The 2008 economic collapse of Ice- land would send Hörður's life path in a whole new direction—one that would take him beyond the bounds of even his own country. Hörður had been active in protest- ing the deportation of Kenyan asylum seeker Paul Ramses, who was brought back to Iceland and now lives here. So when the banks collapsed and an angry crowd gathered in front of the Central Bank on October 10, 2008, Hörður went to see for himself. The organiser of the event, who had never expected a crowd of the size that had gathered and was quite overwhelmed, gladly gave control of the rally to Hörður. He then invited people to move the protests to Austurvöllur, the park in front of par- liament. And it was there that history was made. Not everything went according to plan, though. Other groups came into the fray and wanted to take over, even with violence. “I told them, look—I have the authority’s permission to do this here on Saturdays at 15.00. And you are stepping into what I am doing. My meetings are without violence—I use reason, and I do not hide my face. To me, freedom does not wear a mask. Make your own protests; there is plenty of space and time for you. I only use three hours at Austurvöllur on Satur- days; the rest of the week is yours.” More and more people began to gather in front of parliament, week af- ter week, and it was in fact Hörður who put the “pots and pans” in the Pots and Pans Revolution. On January 17, 2009, he told those in attendance in front of parliament, “Go home, polish your pots and pans, and start training your voices because I will ask you to use them very soon. And next Tuesday, we will stand in front of this house, and make a lot of noise, because these people keep telling us to keep quiet.” While popular support was grow- ing, and even the police were getting along civilly with him for the most part, public opinion towards him would hit a nasty bump in the road when then Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde an- nounced that he had cancer. Hörður ac- cused the prime minister of making a ploy for sympathy. The rhetoric against Hörður, in the blog world and in the media, was brutal. Looking back, would he do anything differently? Hörður emphatically stands by what he said, explaining, “I don't get paid one crown for what I do and I don't take this shit. You do not come as a prime minister and say, 'I have cancer, feel sorry for me, don't criticise the work I do.' I would never, ever bring forward a personal problem in my work. It has nothing to do with what I'm doing. I never spoke of the cancer of the man nor would I attack a sick person. What I criticised was that he was using this, his sickness, to get sympathy. I mean, how dare they do this? There's a lot more at stake than their personal life.” Nonetheless, Hörður would press on until the beginning of March 2009, when he withdrew after all three de- mands of the protesters in his camp— the resignation of the government, the Central Bank chairman (Morgunblaðið editor Davíð Oddsson) and the director- ship of the Financial Supervisory Au- thority—had been met. “What people have to understand is that I do not do this kind of work to get rich or get into power. It is my work as an artist and sometimes words are not enough. Action is needed. And I step forward to ask people to help me. The reason is that I simply want to live a good life and I wish the same for ev- eryone, but that does not come free. We have to fight for it. We must stay awake to protect our freedom and welfare, be- cause out there are always people who will misuse our trust and try to steal it from us. And these people don't use kind, polite methods. “Like I've said to the people in Spain, Sweden, Greece, Mexico and Ice- land: stay awake, don't give up. There is always a way. It takes time. Maybe it doesn't succeed today, but there comes another day tomorrow. Let's use the politicians, talk to them, make clear de- mands. Make them listen to us. That is what they are for. Let's make them work properly. Do what we, the people, want and need. Everyone can make a mis- take: individuals, nations, parliaments. Let's take a good look into our own gar- den. A society that does not embrace everyone is no longer a society—it has become a private club that is dangerous and destructive to all its citizens. When we, the people, have reached this point, the politicians have failed us and they are serving the minority who are sick from greed. Let us correct the situation and work together.” Always the optimist Hörður's attention now, as then, con- cerns Iceland's new constitution, a draft of which is currently being polished by a 25-person committee for submission to parliament. “I think whatever they come up with is going to be better than what we have now. The power structure in this country is so sick, so corrupted. There's going to be a lot of fights this coming winter. I mean, a new constitution: are we going to let the politicians and their rich friends take it and destroy it? Or are we going to get a new constitution and a better society? I cannot imagine the people in power saying, ‘Alright.’ They are not going to accept this. Have you noticed how well they live? I don't mind people getting rich, but the par- liament members are working for us, the people. Yet they seem to have the attitude that we are their slaves. They have lost the people's trust and we must change this situation for the better. It will take time.” Hörður would rather see the com- mittee tour the country, explaining all the proposed changes to the new consti- tution, and then have the document put to referendum. He is currently in meet- ings with a number of people, discuss- ing plans for demonstrations in front of parliament, in order to try to inf luence the new constitution's fate. I asked him what advice he might pass on to the younger generations of Iceland's gay community. Facing his autumn years with a smile—and still with plenty of energy to spare and no intention of stopping—he said, “What I'm telling younger people today is, don't fall asleep. We fought for this. What you have today didn't come for free. I'm not sitting around crying be- cause of this, but I really fought and sacrificed. The clock can easily turn back. There are signs of it in Europe, and it may well come here.” Having said that, Hörður remains, as always, an optimist. “I am very confident they will find a way by themselves. I don't believe in giving advice to people, unless they come in person. Because coming out can be a very difficult decision. I just wish them luck along with the rest of the people in this world.” “A society that does not embrace everyone is no longer a society - it has become a private club that is dangerous and destructive to all its citizens.” An IntervIew wIth hörður torfAson By Paul Fontaine Photography by Hörður Sveinsson You Cannot Put Rules on love “I came to the conclusion that the role of the artist is to speak out, to fight the misuse of power.”
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