At one time it was considered extremely effeminate for a man to wear trousers, which were basically to cover up the legs of women while men wore a tunic, the precursor of the dress. Wearing the Kilt in Scotland is a sign of virility.
If a young man pecks a young lady on the cheek in public, people smile knowingly. If he pecks her on the lips, ditto. If he kisses her mouth to mouth, tongues entwined, people say it's unnecessary. If two girls meet and kiss, nobody bats an eyelid. If two boys meet and kiss, they are branded with labels.
Yet Russian men traditionally greeted a friend with a kiss on the mouth. Latins are more tactile than Anglo-Saxons, the further south you go the less personal space you need, yo soy yo en mi circunstancia (Ortega y Gasset, I am myself any what surrounds me).
So in a globalised world of globalised values and concepts, who has the right to complain or to point fingers, throw stones and apply insulting labels? Surely we deserve to have reached a point where a person's sex, colour, race, creed, attire or sexuality do not matter.
Sexual activity is a private matter to be exercised between consenting adults behind closed doors. However sexuality and sexual expression is a basic human right and if two men want to walk down the street holding hands, happy, so what? And if one of them is wearing a skirt, so what? And if your boss is a lesbian, so what?
And for those who cast stones and shout names and throw insults, how many of them are "normal" behind their closed doors? Happily, today Serbia's first Gay Pride Parade ended in a festivity for those involved and in utter defeat for the Neanderthals who tried to impose their homophobic will over the freedom of others to express themselves.
And that is a victory not only for Serbia but also for Humankind.
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Pravda.Ru