When Threats Become Normal

Someone sent me an anonymous threat, this is the 'new normal' towards people with opinions not 'on message'

I have been working as an artist for 30 years.  In 30 years I have made hundreds of pieces - all seek to bring people together and remind us of our inherent goodness. 

Despite being trained formally with a Masters in Performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, most of what I have made been outwith cultural or establishment organisations.  This is due to the fact that I witnessed early on that these organisations by accident or design are on a feedback loop with the same audiences performing with the same artists again and again.  

As I see myself in service to ‘the world’ with my talents and gifts my starting point has always been ‘what is needed’ and ‘what can I do’.  This has never gone in a trajectory of what others were doing.  I have been a single torch warming cold spaces and bringing people together for decades. I have never followed the herd, instead recognising other possibilities and potential.

And I did this successfully, beautifully, and happily for 30 years.  Some of it more recently was documented (with advent of online forms) but many not. In a way I felt myself connecting to an older tradition of troubadour, or (in Gaelic) seanchai - as a roving performer connecting to people in real time in their day to day and not only was I able to create centres of dance - be it in Pollokshields or the Broomielaw- but I became a keeper and passer on of stories, as people would seek me out to relate theirs.  I did this because I felt it was right, it provided a service to the community and world that was needed. And I always got positive feedback. And that spurred me on.

13 years ago I started to make wee video logs after my dancing at the Broomielaw.

  Early on in the new process (people were not doing this then, twitter was new and I filmed on my ipod!) some anonymous person left a comment about ‘what a terrible person’ I was. I don’t remember specifically even what the comment was as I deleted it at the time, shocked that a stranger would take time to find me and direct vitriol when my only intention was to create fun in a dark, dreary corner of Glasgow.  Fast forward 13 years and I get this.

Now let’s just acknowledge from the outset this in addition to being BONKERS (anti-masker? who talk about that anymore? T-party???) it is also libel and slander, with has malicious intent and, if the person contacts me again, is part of the dossier I am collecting that will contribute to proof of stalking.  

And it begs the question. How the HELL did we get to this place?  All I ever wanted was to create a place where people could get together, get to know one another and feel good expressing themselves.  That’s it. Most simply.  And this person throws out all sorts of words designed to destroy me.  Why?  

I reported him (based on the email associated with the comment I am assuming him) to the police, who were sympathetic but unlike times of past where the idea of attacking someone with whom you disagree anonymously online was abhorrent and striking, now it has become de rigour.  

And it’s awful, because rather then address my *actual* factual concerns, he choses to twist my position on things in that dead cat strategy (look a dead cat!) rather then respond in a way wherein we might actual help people and come to a consensus for a happier and healthier world.

I was thinking about the ideological capture of our institutions and artists (so radical they are in alignment with Shell Oil, Blackrock and Burger King to name a few), and it occurred to me that they are providing a dry biscuit laced with arsenic to our children and telling them this is the only food available.

Meanwhile they are being denied a feast of flavours, nutrition and celebration. I made feasts for thirty years. I will not be relegated with a few carefully chosen cancellation words to silence me. I know what is good. I now realise that the reason posts like this are circulated is not because they are sensible but because although this individual may have the support of establishment organisations and corporations they do not hold the moral high ground.

In the words of a very amazing Evangelical Minister the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.

And on that note from this place of discomfort, where I’ve been cancelled and silenced for not holding the establishment view, I’d like to be reiterate a few facts about where I stand on things, in life and in my practice.  

1. Bodies are good.  There are no ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ bodies.  Your body is your body.  If someone comes on ‘my dance floor’ I don’t care how you identify or what you are wearing.  But I am certainly not going to champion the idea that someone can be born in ‘the wrong body’ to children.  This is lying.  This is child abuse. The revelation of the WPATH files revealing the Mengele experimentation done in the name of gender medicine that is leaving children and adults with life long debilitating problems and early death should be a huge wake up call.  “Being kind” is not signing someone up for cancers, for brain deterioration and for even greater mental health distress then they started out with by messing with a healthy endocrine system.  Your body is GREAT.  Your body is YOU.

That said, if you, an adult are struggling with the reality of your body I will be as compassionate as possible to your position.  In the same way I would to an anorexic.  But I am not going to lie. I am not going to encourage children to lie.  This is a failure in basic duty of care. And I did bring the ‘Trans’ nursery worker to the public eye for this reason. These are important discussions. Adults used to prioritise and protect children above all else. What happened?

2. Skin colour is not an indication of how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ you are.  This robs us all of agency and steals our ability to build genuine relationships with one another.  It creates division.  It is nihilist.  It denies our ability to see the unique and multi-faceted individuality of a person.  No one person is better then another on any superficial reading.  It is our actions that determine our goodness, and everyone is capable of good and bad. 

When I first watched ‘Star Wars’ with my son I pointed out that Darth Vader went from good, to bad, to good again.  We are all capable of that.  Me, you, anyone.  And we are not responsible for the sins of our forebears.  Each one of us has in our family history -victors and villains, ordinary folk just struggling and getting along mostly I expect.  What is important is the shared human stories. What is important is what we do now.  These are represented in great works of literature and film which have become classic because they are so universal.  And there are universal human truths.

3.  Child innocence should be valued and preserved.  Childhood as a precious, fleeting and fragile time of life should be recognised and supported.  We should not give children adult problems to grapple with, making them feel that they are somehow responsible.  

We should not introduce adult concepts to them before they are developmentally ready.  This includes sexuality (ALL sexuality).  I grew up with my Uncle George & Uncle Joe whom I adored. I saw them as no different to my other Aunts and Uncles who had families and shared households. They all were my family.  My Uncles shared a life together and they were amazing because of who they were and how they related to me. I loved them a lot.  As a child I did not need to understand any more of their intimate and personal lives then that.  Their sexuality was of no relevance to that any more then my other relatives.

I do not see any evidence that the current cohort of ‘LGBT’ education does any good.  Like the anti-racism program it creates a sense of division through getting kids to see the world through a very limited lens.  And sexuality (of any sort) should not be spoken about to pre-pubescent children.  I was asked to take part in a ‘Pride Disco’ for Primary school children in P4. I asked ‘why would I be interested (as an adult) in children’s sexuality’?  The same thing goes for drag. Drag is adult entertainment. It is not in the best interests of children. The programs being brought in are an adult sense of a child world.  (see point 5)

4.  Surrogacy IS human trafficking. It doesn’t matter what relationship form the commissioning person is involved with.  Two men, Man and Woman, Married, Straight, Two Women - whatever.  I believe no one has a right to another’s body.  And I also believe that this creates a commodity of babies.  And this is not good.  But this is not about gay men becoming fathers.  I have two wonderful pals who are married and they adopted a wee boy a few years ago.  I am delighted for them. That child is getting a loving upbringing by two superior individuals.  The focus is on what is best for that child, not what perceived ‘right’ the adults may have. Children are a blessing not a right.

5. Theatre and performance should offer children any opportunity to *not* be themselves.  It should be rooted in the world of imagination and pretend.  If later on, when their brain is more fully matured they want to explore political activism via theatre so be it. But as children the centre point should be creativity, fun and learning actual performance skills.  No child can be truly informed about a political position, therefore they can only become mouthpieces for the adults who are leading them.  

Now as for the accusations libelled against me.

1. I am a single Mum which is isolating in and of itself. Clearly this person has no experience of being a mother firstly, or a single mother for that matter. Speak to any (working) Mum and you will find that their life revolves around the school run and ferrying their kids to and from where they need to be.  Add to the fact that there are less services then ever before there is added pressure for families to fill the gaps.  Despite this fact until my son changed school a year ago I continued to work with and for my community, creating discos in the park attended by hundreds, not mention raising vital funds for warm banks and activities for kids.  How dare you suggest that my commitment was not honourable?  Despite my limitations I gave my time and resources.  And I am proud I did that. It made a lot of people genuinely happy.

2. Funding for the arts is always under threat.  What we are seeing now however is if you want funding from our public funding sources you need to subscribe to ideological positions. And, as noted above, that is not my moral or ethical starting point. Therefore I am excluded from accessing public funds.  

3. I managed to keep going independently and commercially but the evening and weekend work became untenable having to constantly find childcare for my child.  Also as I turned 50 I found myself physically not as able to take on a  seven hour dance shift, as I had for the past 30 years. I have never had issues or complaints from any of my gigs, projects or performances.  As a matter of fact, in Pollokshields parents and children still ask when I am going to come back and make dance with them again.  

I would like to thank the person for gifting me £3 for my coffee and allowing me this opportunity to state my positions.  To be honest you don’t sound well.  I hope whatever struggle you are facing finds a source of stability to recover from. But please note, I will not stand for false accusations against me, or threats. It does us both a great disservice. You can be better then that.

To all my readers what stimulated this great hoo-ha was my setting up a ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ Page. As many self employed artists, I am finding my way in this crazy world. I do not have the time resources for dancing anymore so am investing more into my writing. If you like what I have to say, or want to support me you can become a paid subscriber or ‘buy me a cup of coffee’ here!

Thanks so much for reading.

Onwards!