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The passing of federal-level anti-gay legislation in Russia has been the source of much recent attention. The law criminalizes positive portrayals of gay people in the name of the children. For the Russian government, this represents the latest in a series of policies aimed at oppressing queers.

This bill is terrible and there has rightly been much attention devoted here on that matter. However, I think that there needs to be a critical look at why this issue gained such prescience in the media. Especially since I’ve come to believe that the causes behind this outcry are also what drives the silence against the treatment of queers in states like Iraq, where they can be executed.

So let’s start with the fact that human rights are wielded by Western governments as political tools. It’s a way to get public support and amplify our power through intermediaries like the United Nations.

Now I’m sure that there is some genuine concern by politicians. However, it is no coincidence that human rights are brought up exclusively against states that don’t bow to our interests. We will publicly denounce Iran for their human rights record yet Saudi Arabia, where treatment is much worse, will at most get a chat behind closed doors.

When it comes to Russia, tensions have been on a high with the West. More acutely, the Russians did not hand over Edward Snowden at the request of the United-States. Cue this atrocious bill in a country sensitive about its image ahead of the Sochi Olympics, and cue a means to get back at Russia for not doing what the US wanted.

There’s a word for feigning interest in queer rights to exert power. It’s called homonationalism. While it worked in the favour of human rights in this one instance, it is also what sustains oppression through strategic silence in nations that do cater to our interests.

Governments are no less psychopathic than corporations when it comes to treating people and their well-being as commodities.

So that’s the government. What about the people? Because this outcry did get lots of ground-up attention. That’s great. What’s not great is that we just have to wait a few months and all those people attending rallies today will have close to zero interest in this issue.

That highlights the second problem around popular culture and causes. Mainly that it is not aware of situations, but rather changes to situations, and only then for a brief moment. After that, it gets incensed by the next thing.

I suspect that it might be because there’s a certain gratification that comes from being angry at new things. There’s a social element too. Keeping tabs on existing things meanwhile takes work and is boring. Here’s a completely unscientific chart because I like charts.

The last thing on people’s radar for queer rights was Uganda. How many people care about Uganda now? How many people even know what is going on? There’s no coverage, no more likes on Facebook or reblogs on Tumblr. It got boring.

This kind of way to look at the world makes us completely oblivious to situations that are more dire. There’s no awareness of things even at home. So we become silent about all the places where atrocities are committed, only speaking out when there’s a flurry of Internet activity about somewhere new.

Human rights are a long term thing, and this formula isn’t how we’re going to get there. We can do better than this.

It starts with holding our government accountable when it is silent about human rights violations among its allies. There is a cost to doing this – the UK at one point spoke about concerns around losing precious counter-terrorism arrangements with Arab allies. This isn’t a black and white decision, but it’s nonetheless the right decision.

“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
– Elie Wiesel

As for the problem of slacktivism, which is what you can call this social-network instigated model of very ineffective advocacy, it’s a bit of a harder issue to solve. Advocacy groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch do a good job of keeping global tabs, though both are subject to bias of the “popular” causes of slacktivists for the sake of securing donations.

But going back to individuals, you’re competing against the instant gratification afforded by social media. Maybe it’s erroneous to believe that every slacktivist could be an effective advocate.

Perhaps the solution is then not to turn them into one, but capture their short-lived bouts of interest to expose them to awareness materials to make them more empathetic as a whole. Give them the skills to be better people in those moments when they’re receptive. Maybe insert some hints as to how the home situation isn’t nearly as good as they’re led to believe it is, and leave the advocacy work to traditional groups.

I’ll just say it: Gone Home is my favourite game so far of 2013.

When the game starts, you’ve just arrived at your parent’s home with your bags from the airport. It’s 1AM but no one’s there. There’s a note on the door. Where is everyone?

You find out the answer to that as you explore this home in this game. It plays a bit like a real-time rendered adventure game of a decade ago, but there are no real puzzles to speak of. There are no monsters. It’s really just a process of discovery.

In the two hours it took me to explore this house, I learned the answer. There was a story delivered here, in the newspaper clippings, in the crumpled pieces of paper, in the photos… and part of it was narrated cued by my discoveries.

What I really appreciate of this game is that it makes an adventure out of the more or less ordinary. There is no supernatural here, no guns, no need for an entirely different world. It’s just a story about a family. I really like that.

This game reminded me a bit of Journey in how it let you deliver the story to yourself, and Dear Esther in terms of the general gameplay. I’m careful not to say too much, because I really want you to discover this house for yourself.

I highly recommend this game.

A number of things have happened on the personal front in the last little while. Beyond the gender fuckery, my three year long relationship came to an end. Actually “ending” isn’t so much the right term as “evolved into a state of awesome friendship.” My other relationship also came to a close.

As part of that whole shebang, I moved into a new place two Saturdays ago. A big shout out goes to the friends that helped me move and clean!

And this place really needed that cleaning.

The oven had trays in it full of food with so much mould that it was eating at the metal. The entire unit reeked. The bathroom was just filthy. Vents were clogged with a thick layer of dirt. So too was each window screen. Some how, every single wall, cabinet interior, and appliance was peppered with stains and/or marks. It was clear that the previous tenant had never bothered to clean the apartment during their own stay.

This place also needed some fixing up.

Covers for electrical sockets and light switches were broken or missing. The sockets themselves weren’t installed properly. Internet was delivered through a broken surface mount box exposing its lose wiring. The rod on which the toilet paper roll rests was missing. The towel rack was loose. The laminate on a kitchen cabinet door was peeling off. The crisper in the fridge had huge cracks. The floor reducer between the two rooms was just broken off wood at the ends and laid loosely on the ground. The top of the window sill was pulling away from the wall exposing the insulation beneath. Power was shoddily delivered across rooms using an extension cord.

That said, the place had and has lots going for it.

The apartment’s location is as close to perfect as you can get in this town for an urban-dweller. Rent is dirt cheap and includes hydro. But it’s not just that. There are beautiful brick and stone walls, and a tunnel! The tunnel is sealed off, but it would have previously led to the building next door. It’s now my pantry. Nice French doors separate the living space from the bedroom. There’s a really good washing machine and dryer next to my unit that accepts debit/credit. The unit itself is also well insulated from neighbours sound-wise, though the pipes running through the apartment are constantly buzzing.

Plus this building has Herman the cat.

What this place needed was just a bit of work.

That started before I moved in. I removed the food in the oven and aerated the place for a few days. My ex-now-best-friend began to paint the rooms. Then on move day, friends helped clean things like the bathtub and surrounding tiles. We also got rid of the shoddy bookshelves that had been installed against the walls. BFF applied bolt cutters to the padlocks that had prevented me from opening up my windows. Over the following days, I just started to clean.

It took me two days to clean the bathroom, three for the kitchen, and the rest has been an ongoing process. I got rid of the broken tall mirror and the extension cable that delivered power across the room. I threw away the oversized curtains that become no more than dust collectors. I replaced all the covers for the electrical sockets. I contacted the ISP to replace the broken surface mount box. I used a mending plate and fixed the window sill. I tightened the bathroom towel rack. I got a replacement rod for the toilet paper dispenser. I glued the loose cabinet cover back on.

I did some painting. I perked up the bathroom with a bright shower curtain and some new wares. I procured a new table set and shelving. I installed wall lighting and mirrors for decoration. I put up all the art I had.

Now, the place looks pretty damn nice. There’s still work to do: the floor reducer needs to be replaced, there’s more painting in my future, as well as a dehumidifier. But it feels like a home.

You might wonder where the landlord was in all of this.

I kind of gave up on day one. They were unresponsive via email leading up to my getting the place, and meeting them in person on the official move day did not inspire any further confidence.

They passed me a wad with a dozen keys and stated that they hadn’t checked the apartment but they were sure it was fine. They made it clear that if any appliance malfunctioned, I’d have to jump through hoops to get it looked at. When I asked which of these keys was for the front door of the building; they said that I’d have to figure it out and promptly left me at the entrance.

Meanwhile, you walk by a bunch of construction materials on the way to my apartment, still untouched since my first visit over a month ago. A note beside the washer/dryer is dated 2008.

So yeah, I’m on my own. But that’s okay! As far as I’m concerned, that these landlords have zero interest in their buildings means that I have greater flexibility on what I can do with it. That’s actually really liberating.

The pictures of the new place are found below.