Don't Ask, Don't Say

Oooh, I heard another new expression today – and it was to describe me!
As you know, I didn’t lead a sedentary life in New Zealand – always busy, always doing something. Creatures of habit that we are, I seem to have transferred the same energy to this life. A friend and I were sitting brain-storming ideas for new projects here in Makarska (to inspire those who need work) and she laughed and said ‘imas crve u guzici’. And if you want to pronounce it properly, put a ‘sh’ on the ‘s’, and a ‘su’ like in ‘measure’ on the ‘z’. And if you must know, it means ‘you have a worm in your bum’, bit like our ‘ants in your pants’ but funnier! We rolled around the floor laughing!

Apart from the worms and ants, the conversation drifted on to the subject of the ‘Gay Pride’ parades held recently in Zagreb and Split. The one in Split ended up in a bit of a battle, with lines drawn (more lines!) and people taken to hospital with injuries.

There are a few subjects which remain tabu in some circles – they all start with ‘G’ and ‘Gay’ seems to be one of them. The issue goes straight to the heart of a population that is staunchly rooted in the Catholic church – most people dont want this issue to be out in the open and acknowledged, better not to talk about it.

As New Zealanders, we went through this conversation about 20 years ago. If someone said ‘oh, Gay Parade’ in Auckland now, everyone would yawn. My initial reaction was ‘seriously?’ when I heard that there was to be a parade, but it revolves around the same issues that the gay population want to have recognized. What is standard in New Zealand is still impossible here – the right to marry, to adopt children, and the same rights in dissolution of relationships with regards to property sharing (or unsharing).

It seems a bit like an anachronism seeing these battles take place again. All the same arguments abound – the old chestnut from the Catholic Church that this is an illness, that the world will dissolve into sexual depravity if gay rights are recognized formally. That they exist is irrelevant. One brave psychologist interviewed in the paper suggested (Shakespeare again) that those who felt so strongly about the issue perhaps needed to look at why they felt so threatened by it! Brave indeed.

Moving on from that (quickly), Bura is back! You can hear each new gust of wind long before the intensity belts against the shutters – the ferocity is almost animal like, you can almost imagine the eyes on the wind. And the sound – it roars like a very fast train coming through. The Bura supporters are right though – the air has cleared, the colour of the sea has changed back to the deep blue, and the temperature has dropped, nicely so. Last night the promenaders on the riva had an extra layer or two, but the air was not so heavy, and the step was more energetic. There were just as many people out wandering along the promenade at midnight as there were at nine at night. Guess that that’s why the church bells need to be so insistent at seven in the morning – to drag reluctant sleepers out of bed after a late evening with friends.