Queer Nation NY: Desperately Seeking Attention

The furor in the West over Russia’s new law placing restrictions on the discussion of homosexuality continues to dog the conductor Valery Gergiev, who is one of Russia’s most important cultural exports these days. Mr. Gergiev, a prominent supporter of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who signed the law, drew protests Thursday night at Carnegie Hall, just as he did last month at the opening night of the Metropolitan Opera.

Shortly after Mr. Gergiev walked onto the stage at Carnegie Hall to begin leading the celebrated Mariinsky Orchestra in a program of three Stravinsky ballets, the concert was briefly delayed by several members of Queer Nation, a protest group that has been vocally pushing for gay rights in Russia.

“Gergiev, your silence is killing Russian gays!” several protesters shouted, as Mr. Gergiev, in tails, kept his back to the audience. Some members of the audience booed the protesters; others applauded. One woman yelled, “This is an artistic event!”

The protesters were removed from the auditorium, and the concert proceeded...

New York Times blog.

On their website Queer Nation NY, describe themselves as "a direct action group dedicated to ending discrimination, violence and repression against the LGBT community."

It's notable that this new group - Fagburn is unaware of any connection between them and the radical Queer Nation groups of the early 90s - have only been concerned with what's happening to LGBT people in Russia, and not in New York.

Which  is odd - but is now standard for a new breed of gay campaigners whose main function is patriotic service to US imperial hegemony. 

Queer Nation NY's idea of "protest" begins and ends with urging consumer boycotts; first they came for the Stoli, now corporate sponsors of the Sochi Olympics; naughty McDonalds, Coca-Cola etc, you must play nice!

Their "direct actions" have consisted of two protests, at an opera at the New York Met and a ballet at Carnegie Hall. 

Talk about taking the revolution home!

Oh, and they took part in that inspirational action of pouring Coke down the drain at Times Square.
So brave...

Judging by their website, Queer Nation NY, judge their successes by the amount of media coverage they get for their self-publicity stunts.

"We're here! we're queer! And we want our photo in the papers!"

'The point of the action is nothing more than the action.

Queer Nation seem to think our only power can be as consumers, or by campaigning as a continuum of celebrity culture.

If you ever wonder why the gay "movement" seems currently halted, here's one perfect example.

• Are Protests And Boycotts Enough? asks Viktor Kerney on the Bilerico Project...

"Yes, you can gain attention, but where do we go from that? How do we utilize that attention to create long-term results? I'm sorry, colleagues, but we can't be okay with step one, we have to think ahead and provide step two, three, and four and so on. We should never be okay with just gaining attention; we have to do more and better than that.

"Our overall focus should be on creating change. Just gaining attention for the sake of doing so isn't really cutting it. And we shouldn't be so quick to claim that tactic as a winning strategy. Again, it's just the first step in on-going battle for justice and equality."

It is often argued that at the least these boycotts and protests raise awareness about what's happening in Russia.
Sadly, all too often, they only compound ignorance about what's really happening there.