20 Years of Glasgay!

This October, Glasgay! celebrates 20 years of existence. That is, it's been around since 1993. In legal terms, Glasgay kicked off 13 years after the decrimilisation of homosexuality in Scotland (1967 for England and Wales, 1980 for Scotland), and a year before raves were officially illegal in the UK.

In the same way that Robert Softley's If These Spasms Could Speak tries to dispell stereotypes about disability through art – and hence could be considered activist – Glasgay! is an entire festival of artistic activism, or activist art. In the organisers' own words, it is "Scotland's annual celebration of LGBT culture;" a month of celebration, from 9 October to 9 November. The theme this year is legacy, hence why the festival is bringing back Jackie Kay – who was involved in the very first Glasgay! in 1993 – but also looking to the future with the work of emerging playwrights like Stef Smith's Cured. 

Having written Roadkill, which was picked up by Cora Bissett – one of Scotland's most exciting theatremakers – Smith was commissioned to write Cured by Glasgay!'s artistic director Steven Thompson. It is a piece about various kinds of conversion therapy used to 'cure' or condition homosexual individuals to 'convert' to being heterosexual. While the play itself is based on various testimonies and research into relevant legislation and views regarding psychotherapeutic codes of conduct, the methods used are not a relic of the past. 

A similar premise is extensively explored by the French film Electrochocs (2006), set in Franco' s Spain. The plot follows the tale of two lesbian schoolteachers, one of whom is sent to a psychiatric asylum to be 'cured' of homosexuality through electroshock therapy. Of course, some might say 'that was the 70s' and push the idea as a historical nightmare that won't come back, but it doesn't take long to think of places nowadays that might be enforcing these methods – Russia, for example, or, even closer to home, Greece. The latter is a country that is supposed to be a part of the European Union, and thus inherently assumed to be upholding the ideals ascribed in the European Charter of Human Rights. 

Cured is set in Scotland, which doesn't appear to have all the problems other places might be riddled with, but it isn't a stretch to imagine conversion therapy camps being set up here. 

"The legality is slightly different here, but it could exist," Smith points out. Also, she explains, the way you are treated if you are gay isn't only left to relevant legislation but also depends on "where you live, your ethnicity, and access to people who are like-minded."

Of course, it's not all dreary – Smith admits that Cured has more humour in it than Roadkill did. What's more, Menergy returns with Raja, winner of RuPaul's Drag Race (Season 3). Then again, if you look at Scottee's history in Eat Your Heart Out (affectionately abbreviated to EYHO), and his latest piece titled The Worst of Scottee, it becomes very obvious that drag queens – and more broadly, the man in makeup and a dress – is not there JUST for your entertainment. 

Meanwhile, the panel discussion What's Next for Queer Performance? tries to look to the future. The blurb itself asks: 'In the age of equal marriage, where will queer performance look next?' Of course, this is a reference to the recent equal marriage bill, which is a great win for those campaigning for it. However, queer art isn't just about equal marriage, and neither is all queer activism. Considering one of the newest popular TV shows in America is Orange is the New Black, featuring Laverne Cox – one of the first transgender women to have her own reality TV show – and that the country also produced Taylor Mac, and many other names not to be forgotten, it seems there will be a lot of catching up for Scotland to do in terms of the way queer performance, the queer performance scene and its activist intentions are discussed. Even though we can blame the American mentality for a long list of negative attributes in culture, the country is obviously making certain leaps of faith that Scotland isn't willing to make just yet.