Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.07.2011, Síða 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.”